BACKGROUND <EOH>Modern computer systems typically have different services and resources that can be accessed by users of the computer system.","When users request access to the services and resources, such requests are generally verified before access is granted so that a user does not gain access to services and resources not granted by the set of permissions associated with that user account.","One system typically used for providing secure access to services and resources is based on creating short-term session credentials that are associated with a user.","Once a session is established, a user can use the session credentials associated with the session to issue multiple requests over the life of that session.","Typically, session credentials are encrypted and include a secret key that is used to sign each of the multiple requests over the life of the session.","A drawback of such sessions and the associated session credentials is that any service that can decrypt the session credentials can have access to the secret key.","Since decrypting the session credentials is typically required to verify a request, when the secret key is a symmetric key, the secret key can be used by services to improperly sign additional requests.","For example, a service can receive a request and decrypt the session credentials associated with the request to extract the secret key for the purposes of verifying the request.","However, the service may also use the extracted secret key to generate requests to other services, even though such requests may not necessarily originate from the owner of the session."],["<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>Various techniques will be described with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG.","1 illustrates an environment where session credentials are generated; FIG.","2 illustrates an environment where requests are validated using session credentials; FIG.","3 illustrates a diagram showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials; FIG.","4 illustrates a diagram showing decryption operations associated with using session credentials; FIG.","5 illustrates a process for validating requests using session credentials; FIG.","6 illustrates a process for using a session token to generate resource requests using session credentials; FIG.","7 illustrates an environment where session credentials are generated with asymmetric keys; FIG.","8 illustrates an environment where requests are validated using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.","9 illustrates a diagram showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.","10 illustrates a process for validating requests using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.","11 illustrates an environment where a session associated with a region is retrieved using session credentials; FIG.","12 illustrates an environment where a retrieved session is used across regions using session credentials; FIG.","13 illustrates an environment where session data is used across regions to generate a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.","14 illustrates a process for generating a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.","15 illustrates a process for extracting session data from a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.","16 illustrates an environment where a cross-region session is validated using session credentials; FIG.","17 illustrates an environment where a service intercepts a session using session credentials; FIG.","18 illustrates an environment where an account key and a global key are used to generate a session key for use in generating session credentials; FIG.","19 illustrates an environment where an account key is distributed to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials; FIG.","20 illustrates a process for distributing an account key to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials; FIG.","21 illustrates an environment where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials; FIG.","22 illustrates an environment where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials; FIG.","23 illustrates an environment where global session keys are maintained for use in generating session credentials; FIG.","24 illustrates an environment where sessions are expired using session credentials; FIG.","25 illustrates a process for rotating session credentials; FIG.","26 illustrates an environment where a plurality of session keys can be invalidated using session credentials; FIG.","27 illustrates an environment where a plurality of invalidated session keys can be regenerated using session credentials; FIG.","28 illustrates a process for invalidating and regenerating a plurality of session keys using session credentials; FIG.","29 illustrates an environment where account keys are invalidated in association with session credentials; FIG.","30 illustrates an environment where cross-region roles are assumed across regions using session credentials; FIG.","31 illustrates an environment where policies associated with cross-region roles are applied using session credentials; FIG.","32 illustrates an environment where a cross-region role is assumed using session credentials; FIG.","33 illustrates an environment where a cross-region role is used to access resources across regions using session credentials; FIG.","34 illustrates a process for using a cross-region role session token to generate resource requests using session credentials; and FIG.","35 illustrates an environment in which various embodiments can be implemented.","detailed-description description=\"Detailed Description\" end=\"lead\"?"],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/958,872, filed Dec. 3, 2015, entitled “ASYMMETRIC SESSION CREDENTIALS,” which incorporates by reference for all purposes the full disclosure of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/958,887, filed Dec. 3, 2015, entitled “CROSS-REGION ROLES,” co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/958,888, filed Dec. 3, 2015, entitled “CROSS-REGION CACHE OF REGIONAL SESSIONS,” and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/958,892, filed Dec. 3, 2015, entitled “PERSONALIZING GLOBAL SESSION IDENTIFIERS.” BACKGROUND Modern computer systems typically have different services and resources that can be accessed by users of the computer system.","When users request access to the services and resources, such requests are generally verified before access is granted so that a user does not gain access to services and resources not granted by the set of permissions associated with that user account.","One system typically used for providing secure access to services and resources is based on creating short-term session credentials that are associated with a user.","Once a session is established, a user can use the session credentials associated with the session to issue multiple requests over the life of that session.","Typically, session credentials are encrypted and include a secret key that is used to sign each of the multiple requests over the life of the session.","A drawback of such sessions and the associated session credentials is that any service that can decrypt the session credentials can have access to the secret key.","Since decrypting the session credentials is typically required to verify a request, when the secret key is a symmetric key, the secret key can be used by services to improperly sign additional requests.","For example, a service can receive a request and decrypt the session credentials associated with the request to extract the secret key for the purposes of verifying the request.","However, the service may also use the extracted secret key to generate requests to other services, even though such requests may not necessarily originate from the owner of the session.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various techniques will be described with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG.","1 illustrates an environment where session credentials are generated; FIG.","2 illustrates an environment where requests are validated using session credentials; FIG.","3 illustrates a diagram showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials; FIG.","4 illustrates a diagram showing decryption operations associated with using session credentials; FIG.","5 illustrates a process for validating requests using session credentials; FIG.","6 illustrates a process for using a session token to generate resource requests using session credentials; FIG.","7 illustrates an environment where session credentials are generated with asymmetric keys; FIG.","8 illustrates an environment where requests are validated using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.","9 illustrates a diagram showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.","10 illustrates a process for validating requests using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.","11 illustrates an environment where a session associated with a region is retrieved using session credentials; FIG.","12 illustrates an environment where a retrieved session is used across regions using session credentials; FIG.","13 illustrates an environment where session data is used across regions to generate a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.","14 illustrates a process for generating a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.","15 illustrates a process for extracting session data from a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.","16 illustrates an environment where a cross-region session is validated using session credentials; FIG.","17 illustrates an environment where a service intercepts a session using session credentials; FIG.","18 illustrates an environment where an account key and a global key are used to generate a session key for use in generating session credentials; FIG.","19 illustrates an environment where an account key is distributed to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials; FIG.","20 illustrates a process for distributing an account key to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials; FIG.","21 illustrates an environment where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials; FIG.","22 illustrates an environment where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials; FIG.","23 illustrates an environment where global session keys are maintained for use in generating session credentials; FIG.","24 illustrates an environment where sessions are expired using session credentials; FIG.","25 illustrates a process for rotating session credentials; FIG.","26 illustrates an environment where a plurality of session keys can be invalidated using session credentials; FIG.","27 illustrates an environment where a plurality of invalidated session keys can be regenerated using session credentials; FIG.","28 illustrates a process for invalidating and regenerating a plurality of session keys using session credentials; FIG.","29 illustrates an environment where account keys are invalidated in association with session credentials; FIG.","30 illustrates an environment where cross-region roles are assumed across regions using session credentials; FIG.","31 illustrates an environment where policies associated with cross-region roles are applied using session credentials; FIG.","32 illustrates an environment where a cross-region role is assumed using session credentials; FIG.","33 illustrates an environment where a cross-region role is used to access resources across regions using session credentials; FIG.","34 illustrates a process for using a cross-region role session token to generate resource requests using session credentials; and FIG.","35 illustrates an environment in which various embodiments can be implemented.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION This disclosure relates to managing message authentication within a computing resource service provider environment using short-term credentials.","The short-term credentials are generated based on long-term credentials and can be used within a computer system or across computer system boundaries.","The short-term credentials can also be secured so that they may be used in untrusted environments without compromising either the short-term credentials or the underlying long-term credentials.","The short-term credentials can also be partially based on other, short-term credentials so that, for example, they can be regularly expired and efficiently invalidated at an individual, account, regional, or global scale.","The short term credentials can also be used to assign and validate short-term access to user roles so that a user can have access to resources in a region or location that the user may not generally have access to.","A request from a customer of a computing resource service provider for access to computing resources of the computing resource service provider is typically signed or authenticated by a key and that key is used to verify the request prior to executing or fulfilling the request.","One method of signing the request is to use a long-term secret key that is maintained as a shared secret between the customer and the computing resource service provider.","In this method, the customer signs the request using the long-term secret key and sends the request and the signature to the computing resource service provider.","The computing resource service provider then verifies the signature using the same secret key and, if the signature is verified, the computing resource service provider executes or fulfills the request by, for example, providing resources, executing applications, or performing operations associated with the request.","One potential drawback of using long-term credentials to provide access is that, if the long-term credentials are compromised, they provide a mechanism for the detection of unauthorized access by an unauthorized agent.","Another potential drawback of using such long-term credentials is that, if they are used for multiple transactions by a customer, the likelihood of their being compromised may increase.","A third potential drawback of using such long-term credentials is that, in the interest of increasing their security, the cryptographic operations associated with such long-term credentials can become very computationally expensive if, for example, larger keys and/or more complicated key-generation algorithms are used.","Using short-term credentials such as those provided by session credentials helps alleviate some of the potential drawbacks of using long-terms credentials as message authenticators.","One example of how a customer may obtain short-term session credentials that may be used as message authenticators is the customer may first generate a request for a session, and sign the request with a long-term secret key such as, for example, an account key.","The request may then be sent to a security service which verifies the request signature.","If the verification is successful, the security service can then generate a set of session data (also referred to herein as “short-term credential data”) that includes a session key and encrypt the short-term credential data to produce a short-term credential such as a session credential (also referred to herein as a “session token”).","The session token is encrypted with a session encryption key that is available only to the computing resource service provider and provided to the customer.","The encryption of the session token prevents the customer from accessing the session data in the session token.","The customer is also provided with a session key which is cryptographically related to the session key in the session data.","When the customer sends a message using the session token, the session token is sent with the message and digitally signed with the session key sent to the customer.","The computing resource service provider then extracts the session key from the session token using the secret encryption key and verifies the digital signature of the message using the extracted session key.","If the digital signature is verified, the message is processed.","Using short-term credentials provided by session tokens, the customer can sign messages and have them authenticated without compromising long-term credentials.","The long-term credentials (e.g., a password, a private key, or a certificate) are used to generate the request for the session token and the session token is only valid for a determined period of time.","One example of how a session can be used by a customer is, a customer can request the session token using the username and password of the customer (i.e., the long-term credential) and can also request that the session be active for a certain time period (e.g., 36 hours).","During the 36-hour period, the customer can generate messages and requests for resources using the session token and signed by the session key.","Each request can be verified by the computing resource service provider without compromising the long-term key so, for example, the customer could generate thousands or millions of messages during the 36-hour period, and still have his or her username and password used only once.","If, due to some circumstances, the short-term credentials in the session become compromised, the session token can be invalidated quickly and the customer can simply request a new session token.","In an example of how session tokens can be used as message authenticators, the copy of the session key in the session data that is encrypted in the session token may be the same as the copy of the session key that is returned to the customer.","This type of symmetric key session token maintains the security of short-term credentials with the session encryption key.","While the customer has access to the session key that is sent from the computing resource service provider, the customer does not have access to the session key in the session token.","The session key that the customer has access to can be used to digitally sign messages and requests for resources, but such messages and requests will not be verified if the session key in the session token does not match the digital signature.","Thus, the session key cannot be used to digitally sign messages without the session token and the session token cannot be used without the signature of the session key.","In another example of how session tokens can be used as message authenticators, the copy of the session key in the session data that is encrypted in the session token may one of a pair of session keys that form a public key encryption pair where the private key is maintained as a secret and the public key is used to verify the private key.","In this type of asymmetric key session token, the session key in the session data is a public key and the session key that is provided to the customer is a corresponding private key.","The security of the private key is maintained by the customer and the security of the public key is maintained within the session token with a session encryption key.","As with a symmetric key session token, the session key that the customer has access to can be used to digitally sign messages and requests for resources, but such messages and requests will not be verified if the session key in the session token does not match the digital signature.","In the case of asymmetric key session tokens, the public key in the session token can be used to verify the digital signature generated by the private key.","In a first example of an asymmetric session token, the private key and the public key can be generated by the computing resource service provider and sent to the customer.","In a second example of an asymmetric session token, the customer can maintain the private key for signing requests and provide the public key to the computing resource service provider for inclusion in the session token.","Symmetric key session tokens and asymmetric key session tokens can be used to provide short-term credentials for users and/or customers in several different ways.","In a first example, a customer or user in one zone (or region) of a computing resource service provider can obtain short-term credentials in that region, and can then use those region-specific short-term credentials to authenticate message and/or generate resource requests in other regions.","Because the other regions may not have access to the session encryption keys of the original region, they may not normally be able to extract the session key from the session token to verify the digital signature.","However, by sending a request to the original region to extract the session key from the session token, the message or request can be authenticated by the original region and then the short-term credentials used in the other regions.","Similarly, customers can use session tokens across regions to authenticate access to resources in defined roles.","For example, a user in a first region may create a set of permissions for access to resources in a second region such as, for example, the ability to access a particular database.","This set of permissions defines a role for access to those resources and other users can assume that role to access the resources.","Symmetric and asymmetric session tokens can be used across regions to access the role by providing an identifier associated with the role to the other users in other regions (i.e., regions different than where the resources are located).","When the other users use the identifier associated with the role to assume the role, a symmetric or asymmetric session token can be generated, providing short-term credentials for the access.","Such short-term credentials can also provide access to resources in untrusted regions such as, for example, external regions because the short-term credentials can all be both generated and verified in trusted regions, thereby protecting any sensitive information such as encryption keys from being accessed in the untrusted regions.","Other aspects of symmetric and asymmetric session tokens can also be used to control access to customer credentials, to limit those credentials to certain regions, to personalize those credentials to customers, accounts, or roles, and/or to maintain those credentials, are also described in the present disclosure.","For example, by encrypting a session token with a combination of encryption keys that are global, regional, and/or account-specific, only a customer associated with that account or in that region may be able to use that session token.","Similarly, by encrypting a session token with a combination of encryption keys, the session tokens (and thus, the short-term credentials) may be quickly invalidated by discarding one of the encryption keys while keeping the others that may still be valid and/or usable.","In the preceding and following description, various techniques are described.","For purposes of explanation, specific configurations and details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of possible ways of implementing the techniques.","However, it will also be apparent that the techniques described below may be practiced in different configurations without the specific details.","Furthermore, well-known features may be omitted or simplified to avoid obscuring the techniques being described.","FIG.","1 illustrates an example environment 100 where session credentials are generated in accordance with an embodiment.","A customer 102 of a computing resource service provider 104 may generate a session request 108 (also referred to herein as a “request for a session”) from a security service that may be used as a short-term credential (also referred to as a “session token”) and which may be used to authenticate messages from the customer 102 to the computing resource service provider 104 and which may also be used to generate requests for resources from the computing resource service provider 104.In some embodiments, the computing resource service provider 104 may provide a distributed, virtualized, and/or datacenter environment within which one or more applications, processes, services, virtual machines, and/or other such computer system entities may be executed.","In some embodiments, the customer 102 may be a person, or may be a process running on one or more remote computer systems, or may be some other computer system entity, user, or process.","The commands to connect to the computer system instance may originate from an outside computer system and/or server, or may originate from an entity, user, or process on a remote network location, or may originate from an entity, user, or process within the computing resource service provider 104.The command to connect to the computing resource service provider 104 may be generated by a computer system client device associated with the customer 102, or may originate as a result of an automatic process, or may originate as a result of a combination of these and/or other such origin entities.","In some embodiments, the command or commands to initiate the connection to the computing resource service provider 104 may be sent to the one or more services associated with and/or provided by the computing resource service provider 104, without the intervention of the customer 102.The commands to initiate the connection to the services may originate from the same origin as the commands to connect to the computing resource service provider 104, or may originate from another computer system and/or server, or may originate from a different entity, user, or process on the same or a different remote network location, or may originate from a different entity, user, or process within the computing resource service provider 104, or may originate from a different user of a computer system client device, or may originate as a result of a combination of these and/or other such same and/or different entities.","The customer 102 may request connection to the computing resource service provider 104 via one or more connections and, in some embodiments, via one or more networks and/or entities associated therewith, such as servers connected to the network, either directly or indirectly.","The computer system client device that may request access to the services may include any device that is capable of connecting with a computer system via a network, including at least servers, laptops, mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets, other smart devices such as smart watches, smart televisions, set-top boxes, video game consoles and other such network-enabled smart devices, distributed computer systems and components thereof, abstracted components such as guest computer systems or virtual machines, and/or other types of computing devices and/or components.","The network may include, for example, a local network, an internal network, a public network such as the Internet, or other networks such as those listed or described below.","The network may also operate in accordance with various protocols such as those listed or described below.","The computing resource service provider 104 may provide access to one or more host machines, as well as provide access to one or more virtual machine (VM) instances as may be operating thereon.","The services provided by the computing resource service provider 104 may also be implemented as and/or may utilize one or more VM instances as may be operating on the host machines.","For example, the computing resource service provider 104 may provide a variety of services to the customer 102 and the customer 102 may communicate with the computing resource service provider 104 via an interface such as a web services interface or any other type of interface.","While the example environment illustrated in FIG.","1 shows a single connection or interface used to generate the session request 108 from the computing resource service provider 104, each of the services provided by the computing resource service provider 104 may have its own interface and, generally, subsets of the services may have corresponding interfaces in addition to or as an alternative to the single interface.","The computing resource service provider 104 may provide various services to its users or customers (e.g., the customer 102).","The services provided by the computing resource service provider 104 may include, but may not be limited to, virtual computer system services, block-level data storage services, cryptography services, on-demand data storage services, notification services, authentication services, policy management services, security services, or other services.","Not all embodiments described may include all of these services, and additional services may be provided in addition to or as an alternative to the services explicitly described.","As described above, each of the services may include one or more web service interfaces that enable the customer 102 to submit appropriately configured API requests to the various services through web service requests.","In addition, each of the services may include one or more service interfaces that enable the services to access each other (e.g., to enable a virtual machine instance provided by the virtual computer system service to request credentials from a security service such as the security service 106).","The security service 106 may be one of a plurality of services provided by the computing resource service provider 104 and may be configured to facilitate secure access to the services and/or other resources associated with the computing resource service provider 104.For example, the security service 106 may be configured to control access to resources of the computing resource service provider 104, may be configured to authenticate messages sent to the computing resource service provider 104, may be configured to verify credentials of customers such as the customer 102, may be configured to provide secure storage for credentials, may be configured to generate credentials, and may be configured to perform other security related operations associated with the computing resource service provider 104.For example, the security service 106 may generate cryptographic keys such as those described herein, may receive cryptographic keys from customers and/or other services, may maintain cryptographic keys as a service, and/or may use such cryptographic keys to validate requests and digital signatures of requests and messages.","It should be noted that, as used herein, a “cryptographic key” may refer to a symmetric key, an asymmetric key, or some other authentication credential (e.g., a username and password or a certificate) and may be referred to simply as a “key.” In an embodiment, a security service maintains cryptographic keys as a secret within the security service by, for example, storing the key in a hardware security module (“HSM”).","In another embodiment, a security service maintains cryptographic keys as a secret within the security service by being configured to not expose the key (e.g., because the security service is programmed to not provide the keys).","In another embodiment, a security service maintains cryptographic keys as a secret within the security service by, for example, deleting the keys in the event of an intrusion.","The session request 108 may be digitally signed 134 by the customer so that the security service 106 may validate the session request 110.In the example illustrated in FIG.","1, the session request 108 is digitally signed 134 with a customer long-term key 132 associated with the customer 102.A customer long-term key 132 is a secure credential with a long-term period of validity (e.g., three months, six months, or more) that is uniquely associated with the customer 102.In another embodiment, the session request 108 is digitally signed 134 with a username and password of an account associated with the customer 102.In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 134 with a short-term credential such as those described herein (i.e., a session request 108 may be digitally signed 134 by a session token that may be specific to such requests).","In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed with a public key cryptography key pair that includes a public long-term key and a private long-term key.","In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 134 by a certificate such as, for example, an X.509 certificate, or some other public or identify certificate.","In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 134 by a combination of such cryptographic methods.","As may be contemplated, the examples of cryptographic methods that may be used to digitally sign the session request described herein are illustrative examples and other such cryptographic methods that may be used to digitally sign the session request may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","When the security service 106 receives the session request 108 that is digitally signed 134 by, for example, the customer long-term key 132, the security service may first validate the request 110.Operations to validate the request 110 may include, but may not be limited to validating the identity of the customer 102, validating that the customer 102 is authorized to generate the session request 108, validating that the customer account used to generate the request is authorized to generate the session request 108, and/or validating that the request came from a computing device associated with the customer 102 that is authorized to generate the session request 108.In the example illustrated in FIG.","1, the security service 106 validates the request by verifying that the session request 108 is digitally signed 134 by the customer long-term key 132 and that the customer long-term key 136 is being used by the customer 102 associated with the key.","Although not illustrated in FIG.","1, in the event that the session request 108 is not valid (i.e., that one or more of the operations to validate the request 110 yield a result indicating the request is not valid), an error may be generated and/or one or more notifications may be sent to the customer, an administrator, or some other such entity.","If the session Request 108 is valid 112, the security service 106 may then process 114 the request.","The security service 106 may first process 114 the request by obtaining a session key 116 and a session encryption key 120.The session key 116 may be any cryptographic key, certificate, or credential.","The session key 116 may be generated by the security service 106, may be provided by another service of the computing resource service provider 104, or may be provided by the customer 102.The session encryption key 120 may also be any cryptographic key, certificate, or credential and may be generated by the security service 106 or may be provided by another service by the computing resource service provider 104.In an embodiment, the session key 116 and/or the session encryption key 120 are generated by dedicated hardware and/or software within the computing resource service provider 104 environment configured to generate such keys.","The security service 106 may then store the session key 116 in a set of session data 124 and may encrypt 118 the session data 124 using the session encryption key 120 to generate 122 a session token 126.Each of these operations is described in more detail below, as is the set of session data 124.The security service 106 may then provide 130 the session token 126 to the customer 102.In the example illustrated in FIG.","1, because the session token 126 is encrypted using the session encryption key 120, the customer cannot access the session data 124 and may not otherwise alter the session data 124, including the session key 116 stored in the session data 124.Additionally, the security service 106 may provide 128 the session key 116 to the customer 102 so that the customer 102 can use the session key 116 to digitally sign messages and/or requests that are combined with the session token 126 as described herein.","The examples described below illustrate how the short-term credentials in the session token 126 are combined with the digital signature of the session key 116 to verify requests and/or authenticate messages.","FIG.","2 illustrates an example environment 200 where requests are validated using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A customer 202 may use the session token described above to generate a signed request 204.The signed request 204, which includes the session token, is signed by the session key 218.The signed request is illustrated herein with a “lock” symbol in a circle, which represents the session token and the “pen and line” symbol in the square, which represents the digital signature.","As discussed herein, numerous variations of the cryptographic operations described herein utilize symmetric and/or asymmetric cryptographic primitives.","Symmetric key algorithms may include various schemes for performing cryptographic operations on data including block ciphers, stream ciphers and digital signature schemes.","Example symmetric key algorithms include the advanced encryption standard (AES), the data encryption standard (DES), triple DES (3DES), Serpent, Twofish, blowfish, CAST5, RC4, and the international data encryption algorithm (IDEA).","Symmetric key algorithms may also include those used to generate output of one way functions and include algorithms that utilize hash-based message authentication codes (HMACs), message authentication codes (MACs) in general, PBKDF2 and Bcrypt.","Asymmetric key algorithms may also include various schemes for performing cryptographic operations on data.","Example algorithms include those that utilize the Diffie-Hellman key exchange protocol, the digital signature standard (DSS), the digital signature algorithm, the ElGamal algorithm, various elliptic curve algorithms, password-authenticated key agreement techniques, the pallier cryptosystem, the RSA encryption algorithm (PKCS#1), the Cramer-Shoup cryptosystem, the YAK authenticated key agreement protocol, the NTRUEncrypt cryptosystem, the McEliece cryptosystem, and others.","Elliptic curve cryptography algorithms include the elliptic curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) key agreement scheme, the Elliptic Curve Integrated Encryption Scheme (ECIES), the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA), the ECMQV key agreement scheme, and the ECQV implicit certificate scheme.","Other algorithms and combinations of algorithms for symmetric and/or asymmetric cryptographic primitives are considered as being within the scope of the present disclosure and the above is not intended to be an exhaustive list.","It should be noted that that the term “digital signature” includes any information usable to cryptographically verify authenticity of a message including information generated using an RSA-based digital scheme (such as RSA-PSS), the digital signature algorithm (DSA) and the elliptic curve digital signature algorithm, the ElGamal signature scheme, the Schnorr signature scheme, the Pointcheval-Stern signature algorithm, the Rabin signature algorithm, pairing-based digital signature schemes (such as the Boneh-Lynn-Schacham signature scheme), undeniable digital signature schemes, and others.","Further, message authentication codes (such as hash-based message authentication codes (HMACs), keyed cryptographic hash functions, and other types of information may also be used as digital signatures.","As with the above, other algorithms and combinations of algorithms used to provide digital signatures are also considered as being within the scope of the present disclosure and the above is not intended to be an exhaustive list.","In various embodiments, data objects such as session tokens may be cryptographically verifiable.","In one example, cryptographically verifiable data objects are created to be cryptographically verifiable by the system to which the data object is to be provided or another system that operates in conjunction with the system to which the data object is to be provided.","For example, the data object may be encrypted so as to be decryptable by the system that will cryptographically verify the data object, where the ability to decrypt the data object serves as cryptographic verification of the data object.","As another example, the data object may be digitally signed (thereby producing a digital signature of the data object) such that the digital signature is verifiable by the system that will cryptographically verify the data object.","In other examples, both encryption and digital signatures are used for cryptographic verifiability and/or security.","In such examples, the key used to encrypt and/or digitally sign the data object may vary in accordance with various embodiments and the same key is not necessarily used for both encryption and digital signing, where applicable.","In some embodiments, a key used to encrypt the data object is a public key of a public/private key pair where the private key of the key pair is maintained securely by the system to which the data object is to be provided, thereby enabling the system to decrypt the data object using the private key of the key pair.","Using the public key to encrypt the data object may include generating a symmetric key, using the symmetric key to encrypt the data object, and encrypting the symmetric key using the public key, where the encrypted symmetric key is provided to a system with the encrypted data object to enable the system to use the corresponding private key to decrypt the symmetric key and use the decrypted symmetric key to decrypt the data object.","Further, in some embodiments, the data object is digitally signed using a private key of a public/private key pair corresponding to the computer system that encrypts and/or digitally signs the data object (e.g., a user device).","For example, an application may be provisioned with the private key and the data object may include a certificate for the private key for use by a system for verification of the digital signature of the data object.","Other variations, including variations where a symmetric key shared between the user computer and the system that cryptographically verifies the data object can be used to encrypt and/or digitally sign the data object.","The signed request 204 may be received by a security service 220, which may be the same as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1.The security service 220 may first verify the session token 206 by extracting the session key 210 from the session token 208 that is included in the signed request 204.The security service 220 may extract the session key 210 from the session token 208 by decrypting the session token using the session encryption key.","The session encryption key, which may be the same as the session encryption key 120 described in connection with FIG.","1, may be maintained as a secret by the security service 220 using one or more of the methods described herein.","It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified or made clear from context, “decrypting the session token using the session encryption key” includes decrypting the session token using the same session encryption key that was used to encrypt the session token (i.e., using a symmetric session encryption key), decrypting the session token using a decryption key that corresponds to the session encryption key (i.e., using an asymmetric session encryption key), decrypting the session token using a combination of keys that were used to encrypt the session token (i.e., using multiple session encryption keys), or a combination of these and/or other such cryptographic operations usable to extract the session key from the session token.","The security service 220 may then verify 212 the signature 214 of the signed request 204 by using the extracted session key 216 obtained by extracting the session key 210 from the session token 208 that is included in the signed request 204 by obtaining the session key 210 from the extracted session data.","The security service 220 may validate the signature 222 of the signed request by, for example, using the extracted session key 216 to perform a cryptographic operation to validate the digital signature generated by the session key 218.The security service 220 may also validate the signature 222 by using the session key 218 to perform an encryption operation on a data item and then using the extracted session key 216 to perform a corresponding decryption operation on the encrypted data item.","The security service 220 may also validate the signature 222 by comparing the session key 218 to the extracted session key 216.Finally, if the security service 220 is able to verify the session token 206 and is able to verify 212 the signature 214, the security service may process the request 224 by, for example, providing resources associated with the request and/or forwarding the request to another service of the computing resource service provider.","In an embodiment, the signed request 204 includes a request for resources from a computing resource service provider such as the computing resource service provider 104 described in connection with FIG.","1.The request for resources may include an identifier for the resource and/or an identifier for the customer 202.The request for resources may also include a set of policies or permissions for access to the resources or those policies or permissions may be determined after the request for resource is received by the computing resource service provider.","For example, the request for resources may include a request, by the customer 202, to access a data store provided by a data storage service of the computing resource service provider.","The request for resources may further specify that the customer desires read-write access to the data store provided by the data storage service of the computing resource service provider.","Because having read-write access to a data store can have potentially harmful effects, verifying the request using the short-term credentials provided by the session token can help ensure that the customer 202 is authorized to access such resources.","In another embodiment, the signed request 204 includes a message that is received by the computing resource service provider such as the computing resource service provider 104 described in connection with FIG.","1 and that must be authenticated by the security service 220 before being processed by the computing resource service provider.","The message may include an identifier for the customer 202, may include a destination for the message, and may include the content of the message.","For example, the message may be a message, from the customer 202, to restart one or more virtual machine instances associated with the customer 202.Because restarting virtual machine instances can have harmful effects, authenticating the message using the short-term credentials provided by the session token can help ensure that the customer 202 is authorized to restart the virtual machine instances.","In an embodiment, the operations to verify the session token 206 and to verify 212 the signature 214 before processing the request 224 (or authorizing the message) are performed by the security service 220 prior to sending the request or the message to a different service of the computing resource service provider.","In another embodiment, the operations to verify the session token 206 and to verify 212 the signature 214 are performed by the security service 220 after the different service of the computing resource service provider has received the request or the message.","That is, the different service of the computing resource service provider receives the request or message and forwards the request or message to the security service 220 for verification of the session token and signature.","In another embodiment, the different service may be configured to verify the session token 206 and/or to verify 212 the signature 214 by, for example, obtaining the session encryption key from the security service.","FIG.","3 illustrates an example diagram 300 showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","The first part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.","3 shows how a session key and a session encryption key are used to produce the session token as described above.","The operations illustrated in the first part of the example diagram 300 may be performed by a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1.The session key 302 is added to the unencrypted session data 304.The unencrypted session data (also referred to herein more simply as the “session data”) may contain additional data and/or metadata associated with the session including, but not limited to, identifiers associated with users (or customers), identifiers associated with user (or customer) accounts, identifiers associated with resources, zones of operation (also referred to herein as “regions”) of the computing resource service provider where the session may be used, policies associated with the session, permissions associated with the session, roles associated with the session, keys used to generate the session token, expiration conditions (e.g., dates or times) associated with the session, or other such data and/or metadata associated with the session.","The session data 304 may be encrypted using the session encryption key 306 as described herein to produce the session token 308.Although not illustrated in the first part of the example diagram 300, the session encryption key may also be preserved as a secret within the security service, stored in a session encryption keychain, or otherwise maintained for later use in the verification operations.","It should be noted that the session key 302 and the session encryption key 306 are different keys.","The session key 302 is stored in the session data 304 and is, in some embodiments, provided to the customer.","The session encryption key 306 is used to encrypt the session data 304 to produce the session token 308 and is maintained as a secret (i.e., is not provided to the customer).","The second part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.","3 shows how some parts of the data sent to the customer 310 in response to the request for the session token are accessible to the customer 310, while some parts of the data sent to the customer 310 in response to the request for the session token are not accessible to the customer 310.In the example illustrated in the second part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.","3, the session token 314 is not accessible to the customer 310 as illustrated by the “x-shaped mark” next to the session token 314.The session token 314 may be usable by the customer 310 to generate signed requests as described above, but the customer 310 may not be able to extract the session data 304 to produce extracted session data from the session token because the customer 310 may not have access to the session encryption key 306 (or a corresponding session decryption key).","Conversely, in the example illustrated in the second part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.","3, the session key 312 is accessible to the customer 310 as illustrated by the “check mark” next to the session key 312.The session key 312 may be usable by the customer 310 to digitally sign requests for resources as described above and/or to digitally sign messages also as described above.","As used herein, the terms “digital signature” and “digitally signing” refer to the process of performing one or more mathematical operations (i.e., cryptographic operations) to provide a means for authenticating the request and/or the message.","If the digital signature is valid (i.e., it is verified), a service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 can verify that the request or message was generated by the customer, that the customer cannot later repudiate the message (i.e., cannot later deny that the customer sent the message), and that the message was not tampered with in transit.","A session key can be used to digitally sign a request or message by using a signing algorithm associated with a digital signature scheme combined with the session key.","The digital signature can then be verified using a corresponding signature verification algorithm with the session key (or with a corresponding key).","The third part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.","3 shows how the signed request is generated using the session token and signed with the session key.","In the example illustrated in the third part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.","3, the session token 316 is combined with a request 318, and digitally signed 322 using the session key 320.The process to digitally sign the request using the session key 320 may include encrypting the request 318 using the session key 320 based on the signing algorithm associated with the digital signature scheme.","The process to digitally sign a message using the session key 320 may also include encrypting the message using the session key 320 based on the signing algorithm associated with the digital signature scheme.","In an embodiment, the signing algorithm used to sign messages is different than the signing algorithm used to sign requests such as the request 318.FIG.","4 illustrates an example diagram 400 showing decryption operations associated with using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A signed request 402 may be received and the session token 404 used to generate the request may be extracted from the signed request 402.The session data 408 may then be extracted from the session token by using the session encryption key 406.In an embodiment, the session encryption key 406 is the same key that was used to encrypt the session token as described above.","In another embodiment, the session encryption key 406 is a key corresponding to the key that was used to encrypt the session token but that is different than the key that was used to encrypt the session token.","For example, the session encryption key 406 and the key that was used to encrypt the session token may be two keys of a public key cryptography key pair, where one of the keys is a public key of the public key cryptography key pair and the other key is a private key of the public key cryptography key pair.","In such an example, the public key of the public key cryptography key pair may be generated to match the private key of the public key cryptography key pair by, for example, performing one or more key generation operations on the private key to produce the public key.","After the session data 408 is extracted from the session token by using the session encryption key 406, the session key 412 from the session data 408 extracted from the session token 404 may be used to validate 414 the digital signature 410 as described above.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","4, the session key 412 (also referred to herein as the “extracted session key”) may be used to validate 414 the digital signature 410 by using the session key 412 in conjunction with a digital signature verification algorithm associated with the digital signature scheme used to digitally sign the signed request 402 (e.g., Diffie-Hellman, RSA cryptography, Hash trees, Rabin signatures, GMR signatures, elliptic curve cryptography, or some other digital signature scheme).","As may be contemplated, the digital signature schemes described herein are merely illustrative examples and other such digital signature schemes may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","FIG.","5 illustrates an example process 500 for validating requests using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.","5.The security service may first receive a request for a session 502 (also referred to herein as receiving a request for a “session token”).","In an embodiment, the request for a session token is signed with a digital signature using a credential associated with the requester such as, for example, the customer long-term key described above.","In such an embodiment, the request may first be validated 504 by verifying the credential to ensure that the request for the session was properly generated, that it was generated by the customer, and/or that it was not tampered with during transmission.","A request that is not valid 506 may cause the security service to generate an error 508 in response to the invalid request.","The security service may generate an error 508 and send a report of the error to the customer, or to an administrative account associated with the customer, or to a computing device associated with the customer, or to a message log system or service associated with the customer.","The security service may also communicate the error to the customer using an email, a short message service (“SMS”) message, a console message, an application programming interface (“API”) call (also referred to herein as an application programming interface request), a webservice call, a library call, or some other such communication modality.","Similarly, the security service may generate an error 508 and report the error to a user, account, device, or message log service associated with the security service and/or with the computing resource service provider.","For example, a report of the error may be sent to an access monitoring service that monitors attempted access to resources associated with the computing resource service provider in order to identify potential malicious attacks.","As may be contemplated, the actions taken by the security service in response to a request that is not valid described herein are illustrative examples and other such responses to requests that are not valid may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","If the request for a session token is valid because, for example, the credentials associated with the request are verified, the security service may then obtain 510 a session key for the session.","In an embodiment, the session key is obtained by generating the session key using a key generation algorithm associated with the encryption scheme for the session keys.","In another embodiment, the session key is obtained by selecting the session key from a plurality of pre-generated session keys.","In another embodiment, the session key is received from the requester (e.g., the customer) associated with the request for the session token.","In such an embodiment, the session key may be included with the request for the session token or the session key may be received by the security service in response to a request sent to the customer.","After obtaining the session key, the security service may then store 512 the session key in the session data as described above.","The security service may then obtain 514 a session encryption key usable to encrypt the session data to produce the session token.","In an embodiment, the session encryption key is obtained by generating the session encryption key using a key generation algorithm associated with the encryption scheme for the session encryption keys.","In such an embodiment, the encryption scheme for the session encryption keys may be different from the encryption scheme for the session keys.","In another embodiment, the session encryption key is obtained by selecting the session encryption key from a plurality of pre-generated session encryption keys.","In another embodiment, the session encryption key is generated from a combination of personal and global keys as described below.","In an embodiment, the session encryption key is a designated key of a plurality of keys maintained by the security service in a session encryption keychain.","For example, a plurality of session encryption keys may be maintained by the security service in a session keychain with a corresponding time interval.","Periodically (e.g., each hour) a new session encryption key may be generated and stored in the session encryption keychain and an oldest session encryption key (i.e., the key that was generated the longest time ago) may be deleted, invalidated, or otherwise removed from use.","In such an embodiment, the newest key may be designated for use as the session encryption key (i.e., may be the only key used to encrypt the session data to generate the session token) while the other keys may be used to decrypt the session token to extract the session data.","After obtaining the session encryption key, the security service may then use the session encryption key to encrypt 516 the session data to generate the session token as described above.","The security service may then verify 518 the session token by performing one or more cryptographic operations on the session token (e.g., the security service may use the session encryption key and/or a corresponding key to decrypt the session token and compare the results to the session data).","If the security service is not able to verify 518 the session token, the security service may generate 508 an error as described above.","If the security service is able to verify 518 the session token, the security service may provide 520 the session token and the session key to the requester.","In an embodiment where the requester has provided the session key, the security service may provide 520 only the session token to the requester.","FIG.","6 illustrates an example process 600 for using a session token to generate resource requests using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.","6.The security service may first receive 602 a request for resources or a message as described above.","The request for resources or the message may be digitally signed by a session key and may also be generated using a session token, also as described above.","Next, the security service may extract 604 the session key from the session token used to generate the session token and may validate 606 the digital signature using the extracted session key.","If the signature is valid 608 (i.e., if the request or the message is authenticated), the security service may next process 610 the request or the message by, for example, providing access to the resources, processing the message, or performing some other action.","If the signature is not valid 608 (i.e., if the request or the message is not authenticated) the security service may generate 612 an error as described above.","FIG.","7 illustrates an environment 700 where session credentials are generated with asymmetric keys using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A customer 702 of a computing resource service provider 704 may generate a session request 708 from a security service that may be used as a short-term credential and which may be used to authenticate messages from the customer 702 to the computing resource service provider 704 and which may also be used to generate requests for resources from the computing resource service provider 704.The customer 702, the computing resource service provider 704, and the security service 706 may be the same as the customer 102, the computing resource service provider 104, and the security service 106 described above in connection with FIG.","1.The session request 708 may be digitally signed 734 by the customer so that the security service 706 may validate 710 the session request.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","7, the session request 708 is digitally signed 734 with a customer long-term key 732 associated with the customer 702.As described above, a customer long-term key 732 is a secure credential with a long-term period of validity (e.g., three months, six months, or more) that is uniquely associated with the customer 702.In another embodiment, the session request 708 is digitally signed 734 with a username and password of an account associated with the customer 702.In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 734 with a short-term credential such as those described herein (i.e., a session request 708 may be digitally signed 734 by a session token that may be specific to such requests).","In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 734 by a certificate such as, for example, an X.509 certificate, or some other public or identify certificate.","In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 734 by a combination of such cryptographic methods.","As may be contemplated, the examples of cryptographic methods that may be used to digitally sign the session request described herein are illustrative examples and other such cryptographic methods that may be used to digitally sign the session request may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","When the security service 706 receives the session request 708 that is digitally signed 734 by, for example, the customer long-term key 732, the security service may first validate 710 the session request.","Operations to validate 710 the session request may include, but may not be limited to validating the identity of the customer 702, validating that the customer 702 is authorized to generate the session request 708, validating that the customer account used to generate the request is authorized to generate the session request 708, and/or validating that the request came from a computing device associated with the customer 702 that is authorized to generate the session request 708.In the example illustrated in FIG.","7, the security service 706 validates the request by verifying that the session request 708 is digitally signed 734 by the customer long-term key 732 and that the customer long-term key 736 is being used by the customer 702 associated with the key.","Although not illustrated in FIG.","7, in the event that the session request 708 is not valid (i.e., that one or more of the operations to validate 710 the session request may yield a result indicating the request is not valid), an error may be generated and/or one or more notifications may be sent to the customer, an administrator, or some other such entity.","If the session request 708 is valid 712, the security service 706 may then process 714 the request.","The security service 706 may first process 714 the request by obtaining a session key pair 716 and a session encryption key 720.The session key pair 716 may be any cryptographic key, certificate, or credential with a public entity (e.g., a public key) and a private entity (e.g., a private key).","The session key pair 716 may be generated by the security service 706 or may be provided by another service of the computing resource service provider 704.In embodiment, the public key portion of the session key pair 716 may be provided by the customer 702 while the private key portion of the session key pair 716 may be maintained as a secret by the customer 702.The session encryption key 720 may also be any cryptographic key, certificate, or credential and may be generated by the security service 706 or may be provided by another service by the computing resource service provider 704.In an embodiment, the session key pair 716 and/or the session encryption key 720 are generated by dedicated hardware and/or software within the computing resource service provider 704 environment configured to generate such keys.","The security service 706 may then store 718 the public session key of the session key pair 716 in a set of session data 724 and may encrypt 722 the session data 724 using the session encryption key 720 to generate 722 a session token 726.The security service 706 may then provide 730 the session token 726 to the customer 702.In the example illustrated in FIG.","7, because the session token 726 is encrypted using the session encryption key 720, the customer cannot access the session data 724 and may not otherwise alter the session data 724, including the public session key of the session key pair 716 stored in the session data 724.Additionally, the security service 706 may provide 728 the private session key of the session key pair 716 to the customer 702 so that the customer 702 can use the private session key of the session key pair 716 to digitally sign messages and/or requests that are combined with the session token 726 as described herein.","In an embodiment where the customer provides the public session key to the security service and maintains the private session key as a secret, the security service does not provide 728 the private session key of the session key pair 716 to the customer 702.The examples described below illustrate how the short-term credentials in the session token 726 are combined with the digital signature of the private session key of the session key pair 716 to verify requests and/or authenticate messages.","FIG.","8 illustrates an environment 800 where requests are validated using session credentials with asymmetric keys using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A customer 802 may use the session token described above to generate a signed request 804.The signed request 804, which includes the session token, is signed by the private session key 818.The signed request is illustrated herein with a “lock” symbol in a circle, which represents the session token and the “pen and line” symbol in the square, which represents the digital signature.","The signed request 804 may be received by a security service 820, which may be the same as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1.The security service 820 may first verify the session token 806 by extracting the public session key 810 from the session token 808 that is included in the signed request 804.The security service 820 may extract the public session key 810 from the session token 808 to produce an extracted public key by, for example, decrypting the session token using the session encryption key or a session decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key.","The session encryption key, which may be the same as the session encryption key 120 described in connection with FIG.","1, may be maintained as a secret by the security service 820 using one or more of the methods described herein.","The security service 820 may then verify 812 the signature 814 of the signed request 804 by using the extracted public session key 816 obtained by extracting the public session key 810 from the session token 808 that is included in the signed request 804.The security service 820 may validate the signature 822 of the signed request by, for example, using the extracted public session key 816 to perform a cryptographic operation to validate the digital signature generated by the private session key 818.If the security service 820 is able to verify the session token 806 and is able to verify 812 the signature 814, the security service may process the request 824 by, for example, providing resources associated with the request and/or forwarding the request to another service of the computing resource service provider.","In an embodiment, the operations to verify the session token 806 and to verify 812 the signature 814 before processing the request 824 (or authorizing the message) are performed by the security service 820 prior to sending the request or the message to a different service of the computing resource service provider.","In another embodiment, the operations to verify the session token 806 and to verify 812 the signature 814 are performed by the security service 820 after the different service of the computing resource service provider has received the request or the message.","That is, the different service of the computing resource service provider receives the request or message and forwards the request or message to the security service 820 for verification of the session token and signature.","In another embodiment, the different service may be configured to verify the session token 806 and/or to verify 812 the signature 814 by, for example, obtaining the session encryption key from the security service.","FIG.","9 illustrates a diagram 900 showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials with asymmetric keys using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","The first part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.","9 shows how a public session key and a session encryption key are used to produce the session token as described above.","The operations illustrated in the first part of the diagram 900 may be performed by a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 The public session key 902 is added to the unencrypted session data 904.The session data 904 may be encrypted using the session encryption key 906 as described herein to produce the session token 908.As described above, although not illustrated in the first part of the diagram 900, the session encryption key may also be preserved as a secret within the security service, stored in a session encryption keychain, or otherwise maintained for later use in the verification operations.","It should be noted that the public session key 902 and the session encryption key 906 are different keys.","The public session key 902 is stored in the session data 904 and is accessible by the customer.","The session encryption key 906 is used to encrypt the session data 904 to produce the session token 908 and is maintained as a secret (i.e., is not accessible by the customer).","The second part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.","9 shows how some parts of the data sent to the customer 910 in response to the request for the session token are accessible to the customer 910, while some parts of the data sent to the customer 910 in response to the request for the session token are not accessible to the customer 910.In the example illustrated in the second part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.","9, the session token 914 is not accessible to the customer 910 as illustrated by the “x-shaped mark” next to the session token 914.The session token 914 may be usable by the customer 910 to generate signed requests as described above, but the customer 910 may not be able to extract the session data 904 from the session token because the customer 910 may not have access to the session encryption key 906 (or a corresponding session decryption key).","Conversely, in the example illustrated in the second part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.","9, the private session key 912 is accessible to the customer 910 as illustrated by the “check mark” next to the private session key 912.As described above, the private session key may be provided by the customer in some embodiments.","The private session key 912 may be usable by the customer 910 to digitally sign requests for resources as described above and/or to digitally sign messages also as described above.","The third part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.","9 shows how the signed request is generated using the session token and signed with the private session key.","In the example illustrated in the third part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.","9, the session token 916 is combined with a request 918, and digitally signed 922 using the private session key 920.The process to digitally sign the request using the private session key 920 may include encrypting the request 918 using the private session key 920 based on the signing algorithm associated with the digital signature scheme.","The process to digitally sign a message using the private session key 920 may also include encrypting the message using the private session key 920 based on the signing algorithm associated with the digital signature scheme.","In an embodiment, the signing algorithm used to sign messages is different than the signing algorithm used to sign requests such as the request 918.FIG.","10 illustrates a process 1000 for validating requests using session credentials with asymmetric keys using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.","10.The security service may first receive a request for a session 1002 (also referred to herein as receiving a request for a “session token”).","In an embodiment, the request for a session token is signed with a digital signature using a credential associated with the requester such as, for example, the customer long-term key described above.","In such an embodiment, the request may first be validated 1004 by verifying the credential to ensure that the request for the session was properly generated, that it was generated by the customer, and/or that it was not tampered with during transmission.","A request that is not valid 1006 may cause the security service to generate an error 1008 in response to the invalid request as described above.","If the request for a session token is valid because, for example, the credentials associated with the request are verified, the security service may then obtain 1010 a pair of session keys for the session.","In an embodiment, the pair of session keys is obtained by generating the session keys using a key generation algorithm associated with the encryption scheme for the session keys.","In such an embodiment, the private session key may be generated first and the public session key generated based at least in part on the private session key.","In another embodiment, the session keys are obtained by selecting one or both of the session keys from a plurality of pre-generated session keys.","In another embodiment, the private and/or the public session keys are received from the requester (e.g., the customer) associated with the request for the session token.","In such an embodiment, the session keys may be included with the request for the session token or the session keys may be received by the security service in response to a request sent to the customer.","After obtaining the session keys, the security service may then store 1012 the public session key in the session data as described above.","The security service may then obtain 1014 a session encryption key usable to encrypt the session data to produce the session token.","In an embodiment, the session encryption key is obtained by generating the session encryption key using a key generation algorithm associated with the encryption scheme for the session encryption keys.","In such an embodiment, the encryption scheme for the session encryption keys may be different from the encryption scheme for the session keys.","In another embodiment, the session encryption key is obtained by selecting the session encryption key from a plurality of pre-generated session encryption keys.","In another embodiment, the session encryption key is generated from a combination of personal and global keys as described below.","After obtaining the session encryption key, the security service may then use the session encryption key to encrypt 1016 the session data to generate the session token as described above.","The security service may also verify 1018 the session token by performing one or more cryptographic operations on the session token (e.g., the security service may use the session encryption key and/or a corresponding key to decrypt the session token and compare the results to the session data).","If the security service is not able to verify 1018 the session token, the security service may generate 1008 an error as described above.","If the security service is able to verify 1018 the session token, the security service may provide 1020 the session token and the private session key to the requester.","In an embodiment where the requester has provided the private session key, the security service may provide 1020 only the session token to the requester.","FIG.","11 illustrates an example environment 1100 where a session associated with a region is retrieved using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","As used herein, a “region” is a logical and/or physical partitioning of the resources provided by a computing resource service provider.","As described above, a computing resource service provider may host a variety of services and provide a variety of resources in multiple locations.","Each of these locations may include one or more regions (also referred to herein as “zones”), which are logical and/or physical partitions of the services and/or resources.","For example, a first datacenter in a first location (a physical or geographical location) may encompass a single region, which may be identified by that datacenter and/or that location.","Conversely, a second datacenter in a second location may encompass multiple logical regions.","Additionally, a region may include multiple physical locations such as, for example, a region identified by a collection of datacenters in one or more countries (e.g., “Western Europe”).","Regions provide additional data security for customers by limiting access to resources to users or accounts within that region.","For example, a customer may have multiple customer accounts and may have data and/or resources located in multiple regions.","Such a customer may have a default policy that limits access to the resources in a first region to accounts that are authorized in that first region and that limits access to the resources in a second region to accounts that are authorized in that second region.","Thus, a first region user account would not have access to second region resources and a second region user account would not have access to first region resources.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","11, a customer 1102 uses a customer credential (e.g., a long-term key) to sign a session request 1104 as described above.","The customer 1102 may issue a request from an account authorized in the first region (referred to herein as a “first region account”) to a first region security service 1106 (i.e., a security service in that first region) that has authorization credentials usable to validate the account in the first region.","It should be noted that an account that is not authorized in a particular region (e.g., the first region) may not generally be used to access services and/or resources in that region because there is no method to validate the customer credentials in that first region in order to determine whether the account is authorized to access those services and/or resources.","Services generally have a policy to deny unknown users and, when accounts are regional, those accounts are unknown in regions where they are not authorized.","It should also be noted that an account may be authorized in multiple regions by propagating authorization credentials usable to authorize the account to those multiple regions.","The first region security service 1106 may validate 1108 the session request 1104 by validating the digital signature of the session request as described above.","The first region security service 1106 may also validate 1110 that the customer 1102 is authorized for the first region, also as described above.","In an embodiment, when the security service validates the session request by validating the digital signature of the session request, that serves to validate 1110 that the customer 1102 is authorized for the first region.","In an embodiment, the first region security service 1106 validates the customer before validating the session request.","In another embodiment, the first region security service 1106 validates the session request before validating the customer.","After the request and/or the customer is validated, the first region security service 1106 may provide 1112 a session token 1114 to the customer as described above and may also, in some embodiments, provide the session key used for signing requests and messages.","The session token 1114 may be usable only in the first region or may be usable in multiple regions.","The region or regions where the session token is usable may be included in the session data that is encrypted to produce the session token.","The region or regions where the session token is usable may also be stored in a policy and permission service so that, for example, the service records a session identifier and associates a list of allowable regions where the session token may be used with that session identifier.","The region or regions where the session token is usable may also be determined by where the session encryption key (i.e., the key used to encrypt the session token) or a corresponding session decryption key (i.e., the key corresponding to the key used to encrypt the session token that may be used to decrypt the session token) may be propagated.","That is, if the session encryption key or the session decryption key is propagated only to the first region, then the session token may generally only be usable in that first region.","FIG.","12 illustrates an example environment 1200 where a retrieved session is used across regions using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A customer 1202 may use a session token such as the session token 1114 described in connection with FIG.","11 to generate 1204 a request.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","12, the customer account is authorized in the first region, the customer account is not authorized in the second region, and the session token is generated in first region.","The request illustrated in FIG.","12 is denoted as a first region signed request 1206, meaning that the request is generated in the first region, signed with first region credentials (in this case, the first region session key provided by the security service) and includes a session token usable in the first region.","In the second region 1208, a service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may determine that the signature and/or the session token is not usable in the second region 1208 and that the signature and/or the session token is associated with a first region 1220.The service may then request 1210 that the first region 1220 provide a session usable in the second region.","The customer account associated with the customer 1202 and used to generate 1204 the request may be authorized in the second region 1208.In an embodiment, the service in the second region 1208 will validate the customer prior to generating the request 1210 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region.","In another embodiment, the service in the second region 1208 will validate the customer after receiving a response to the request 1210 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region.","The request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region may be a signed request such as those described herein.","The request 1214 may be digitally signed 1218 by a second region credential and may include the first region signed request 1216 which may be the same as the first region signed request 1206.The request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region and that is signed 1218 by a second region credential is denoted as a second region signed request, meaning that the request is digitally signed in the second region.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","12, the request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region includes a request that is denoted as a first region signed request 1216, meaning that it is digitally signed with first region credentials (in this case, the first region session key provided by the security service) and includes a session token usable in the first region.","It should be noted that the credentials used to sign the request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region must be verifiable in the first region so that, for example, a first region may validate the request 1214.In an embodiment, the request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region is signed by a private key associated with the second region.","In such an embodiment, the service in the second region configured to validate the request 1214 may do so by obtaining a corresponding public key from the second region such as, for example, a key corresponding to the private key used to digitally sign the request 1214.When the request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region is received at the first region 1220, a service (e.g., a security service) of the first region 1220 may validate the request as described above and then may decrypt 1222 the session token to extract the session data.","The service of the first region 1220 may then encrypt 1224 the session data using credentials usable in the second region 1208.In an embodiment, the service of the first region 1220 uses a public key provided by the second region 1208 to encrypt the 1224 the session so that a service in the second region 1208 can use a corresponding private key to decrypt the session and generate a session usable in the second region 1208.After the second region 1208 receives the encrypted second region session token 1226, the second region 1208 may decrypt the encrypted second region session token 1226 and may use the session to process 1230 the request.","In an embodiment, the second region 1208 caches 1228 the decrypted second region session token (also referred to herein as a cached session token) so that the session token may be used to process further requests.","In another embodiment, the second region 1208 discards the decrypted second region second token after processing the request so that the session token may not be used to process further requests.","FIG.","13 illustrates an example environment 1300 where session data is used across regions to generate a cross-region session using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 generates a cross-region resource request.","A cross-region resource request is a request where a second region signed request 1304 that contains a first region signed request 1306 is used to provide a session usable in the second region from the request generated in the first region as described above.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","13, the second region signed request 1304 is a request to the first region 1308 to provide a session usable in the second region 1302 and the first region signed request 1306 is a request for resources or a message to the second region as described above in connection with FIG.","12.A service of the first region 1308 may first decrypt 1312 the session token using the session encryption key 1314 as described herein.","The resulting session data 1316 may then be encrypted 1318 using a session encryption key selected so that the second region 1302 can use the session.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","13, the first region 1308 uses a second region public key 1320 that is obtained from the second region 1302 to encrypt the session data 1316.The resulting session includes the session data 1316, but is a second region session 1322 due to being encrypted by the second region public key 1320.When the second region session 1322 is received at the second region 1302, a service of the second region 1302 may then use the second region private key 1324 that corresponds to the second region public key to extract the session data, validate 1326 the session and use 1328 the session to process requests and/or authenticate messages.","FIG.","14 illustrates an example process 1400 for generating a cross-region session using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","One or more security services such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may perform a part of the process described in FIG.","14.A computing device associated with a customer such as the customer 102 described in connection with FIG.","1 may also perform a part of the process described in FIG.","14.The example process 1400 illustrated in FIG.","14 shows the actions of the customer 1402 (e.g., of a device associated with a user account of the customer), the actions of a service (e.g., a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1) of a first region 1408, and the actions of a service (e.g., a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1) of a second region 1416 to request, generate, and use a cross-region session such as those described above.","The customer 1402 may first request 1404 a session from the first region 1408 using credentials verifiable in the first region 1408 such as, for example, a long-term session key that is verifiable in the first region 1408.It should be noted that, as used herein, the actions of the customer 1402 to send and/or receive requests and responses from the services may be understood to be sent and/or received from a computing device associated with the user account of the customer.","Similarly, the actions ascribed to the first region 1408 and/or the second region 1416 may be understood to be performed by the services associated with the respective regions such as, for example, the security services.","The service in the first region 1408 may receive the request and, after validating the request, may generate 1406 a session token as described above.","The service in the first region 1408 may then send 1410 the session token to the customer 1402 also as described above.","The customer 1402 may then receive 1412 the session token and may use the session token generated to send 1414 a signed request to the second region 1416 using the session token such as the first region signed request 1206 described in connection with FIG.","12.The service in the second region 1416 may first verify 1418 the signed request and may then identify 1420 the origin session (e.g., the first region 1408) based at least in part on, for example, a region identifier included in the signed request.","The service in the second region 1416 may then send 1422 a signed request for a new session usable in the second region 1416 to the identified first region 1408 as described above.","The signed request for a new session usable in the second region 1416 sent from the second region 1416 to the first region 1408 may be a second region signed request such as the second region signed request 1214 described in connection with FIG.","12.The service in the first region 1408 may then verify 1424 the second region signed request and may extract 1426 the session data using the session encryption key used to generate 1406 the session token or a session decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key used to generate 1406 the session token.","Finally, the service in the first region 1408 encrypt 1428 the session data into a session token usable in the second region 1416 using, for example, a public key of the second session as described above and may send 1430 the encrypted session token usable in the second region to the service in the second region 1416.When the service in the second region 1416 receives the encrypted session token usable in the second region, the service in the second region 1416 may decrypt 1432 the encrypted session token usable in the second region using, for example, a private key corresponding to public key that was used by the service of the first region 1408 to encrypt the encrypted session token usable in the second region.","The service of the second region 1416 may then cache 1434 the decrypted session token as a cached session token for later use and may also use the decrypted session token to respond 1436 to the request for resources.","The customer 1402 may receive 1438 the response to the request, which may include access to resources, an indication that a message was authenticated, or some other response.","FIG.","15 illustrates an example process 1500 for extracting session data from a cross-region session using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may perform the process described in FIG.","15.A service of a first region may receive 1502 a signed request for a new session from a second region and may verify 1504 the request as described above.","If the request is not verified 1506, an error may be generated 1508 such as the error 508 described in connection with FIG.","5.If the request is verified 1506, the service of the first region may decrypt 1510 the session token using a session encryption key or a key corresponding to the session encryption key and extract 1512 the session data including, but not limited to, a session key of a symmetric session, a public session key of an asymmetric session, a session identifier, a region identifier, or a combination of data items as described herein.","The service of the first region may then use credentials provided by the second region (also referred to herein as the “other region”) to encrypt 1514 a new session token that is usable in the other region.","Finally, the service of the first region may send 1516 the new session token to the other region so that the new session may be used in the other region to provide access to resources in response to resource requests from the customer and/or to authenticate messages from the customer.","FIG.","16 illustrates an example environment 1600 where a cross-region session is validated using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","The example illustrated in FIG.","16 follows after the example illustrated in FIG.","11 where a session associated with a region is retrieved using session credentials.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","11, a customer uses a customer credential to sign a session request (i.e., a request for a session token).","The first region security service may then validate the session request and also validate that the customer is authorized for the first region.","After the request and/or the customer is validated, the first region security service may provide a session token to the customer and may also, in some embodiments, provide the session key used for signing requests and messages.","The session token described in connection with FIG.","11 may be usable only in the first region or may be usable in multiple regions as described above.","A customer 1602 may use a session token such as the session token 1114 described in connection with FIG.","11 to generate 1604 a request.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","16, the customer account is authorized in the first region, the customer account is not authorized in the third region (which may be different than the second region described in connection with FIG.","11), and the session token is generated in first region.","The customer account may not be authorized in the third region because, for example, the third region may be an untrusted region (i.e., may be a region that the computing resource service provider, the customer, or both the customer and the computing resource service provider do not wish to have data and or credentials stored or accessed therein).","The request illustrated in FIG.","16 is denoted as a first region signed request 1606, meaning that the request is generated in the first region, signed with first region credentials (in this case, the first region session key provided by the security service) and includes a session token usable in the first region.","In the third region 1608, a service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may determine that the signature and/or the session token is not usable in the third region 1608 and that the signature and/or the session token is associated with a first region 1620 as described above.","The service may then request 1610 that the first region 1620 provide a session usable in the third region 1608.The request 1614 may be digitally signed 1618 by a third region credential as described above.","The request 1614 to the first region 1620 to provide a session usable in the third region and that is signed 1618 by a third region credential is denoted as a third region signed request, meaning that the request is digitally signed in the third region.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","16, the request 1614 to the first region 1620 to provide a session usable in the third region includes a request that is denoted as a first region signed request 1616, meaning that it is digitally signed with first region credentials (in this case, the first region session key provided by the security service) and includes a session token usable in the first region.","When the request 1614 to the first region 1620 to provide a session usable in the third region is received at the first region 1620, a service (e.g., a security service) of the first region 1620 may first determine whether the request is allowed 1622 based on an access policy 1630 associated with the first region 1620.For example, if the account associated with the customer 1602 is not authorized to operate in the third region 1608, the request may not be allowed 1622.In another example, if the third region is an untrusted region (i.e., the third region is not trusted by the computing resource service provider or by the customer 1602), the request may not be allowed 1622.In a third example, if the request is a request for resources and the resources are not available in the third region 1608, the request may not be allowed 1622.As may be contemplated, the reasons why a request may not be allowed that are described herein are illustrated examples and other such reasons why a request may not be allowed may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","If the request is not allowed 1622, the service associated with the first region 1620 may generate 1624 an error as described above.","Conversely, if the request is allowed 1622, the service of the first region may process 1626 the request by, for example, validating the request, decrypting the session token to extract the session data, and encrypting the session data using credentials usable in the third region 1608 as described above at least in connection with FIG.","12.After the third region 1608 receives the encrypted third region session token 1628, the third region 1608 may decrypt the encrypted third region session token and may use 1632 the session to process requests and/or to authenticate messages.","FIG.","17 illustrates an example environment 1700 where a service intercepts a session using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A customer 1702 uses a signed first region session 1704 to connect to a first region 1706 and, during transmission of the request, the session is intercepted 1708 and sent 1710 to a third region 1712.In the example illustrated in FIG.","17, a service in the third region 1712 (e.g., a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1), may have the first region session 1714, but may not able to perform any operations associated with that session.","For example, the third region may not be able to perform operations to verify the signature 1716 of the first region session 1714 because the third region 1712 may not have access to the necessary credentials.","As described above, the session key used to sign the first region session 1714 may be, for example, a symmetric key or an asymmetric key.","If the session key used to sign the first region session is a symmetric key, the service in the third region 1712 may not have access to the verifying key (e.g., the session key 1724) because that key is stored in the encrypted session token and the encrypted session token cannot be decrypted without the session encryption key 1722 or a decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key 1722.Unless the service in the third region 1712 can obtain the session encryption key 1722 or a decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key 1722 as described above, the service in the third region 1712 cannot verify the symmetric session key.","It should be noted that, if the session key used to sign the first region session is an asymmetric key, the service in the third region 1712 may be able to obtain access to the verifying key if that verifying key is, for example, a public key 1726 corresponding to the private key used to sign the first region session.","However, the service in the third region 1712 may still not be able to extract the session data 1718 and/or use that session data to generate a new request 1720 without access to the session encryption key 1722 or a decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key 1722.Again, unless the service in the third region 1712 is able to obtain the session encryption key 1722 or a decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key 1722 as described above, the service in the third region 1712 may not extract the session data 1718 from the encrypted session token and also may not generate a new request 1720 to, for example, masquerade as a service in the first region 1706.In the example illustrated in FIG.","17, the session is intercepted 1708 during transmission of the request by, for example, a malicious actor.","However, the operations illustrated in the third region 1712 that cannot be performed because of lack of access to the first region session credentials (e.g., the session encryption key 1722 and/or the session key 1724) may also be not performable if the signed first region session 1704 was deliberately sent to the third region (e.g., in a request for resources), or if the account associated with the customer 1702 is not authorized in the third region 1712, or for some other reason.","FIG.","18 illustrates an example environment 1800 where an account key and a global key are used to generate a session key for use in generating session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","As described above, a session encryption key is used to encrypt the session data 1808 that contains the session key 1806, which may be a symmetric session key or a public key of an asymmetric session key pair.","The resulting session token 1812 and, in some embodiments, the session key 1806 are sent to the customer 1814 so that the customer 1814 can use the session token 1812 and the session key 1806 to generate signed requests for resources and/or to authenticate messages.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","18, the session encryption key 1810 used to encrypt the session data 1808 to produce the session token 1812 is generated from two different keys.","The first key is an account key 1802, which is a credential associated with the customer 1814 or a user account associated with the customer 1814.The account key 1802 may be a key uniquely associated with the customer 1814 and/or the user account associated with the customer so that, for example, each customer and/or each user account has a key only used for that customer or that user account.","In an embodiment, a single account key is assigned to each customer so that each customer has one unique account key (i.e., no two customers have the same account key).","In another embodiment, a single account key is assigned to each user account so that each user account has one unique account key (i.e., no two user accounts have the same account key).","In another embodiment, each customer has multiple account keys that are not shared with any other account key.","For example, a customer may have multiple roles, users, identities, or accounts associated with the customer.","In such an example, the customer may assign account keys according to policies or procedures associated with those roles, users, identities, or accounts.","In yet another embodiment, each user account has multiple account keys that are not shared with other user accounts.","An account key may be generated by a service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1, and may be maintained as secrets by that service so that, for example, they are uniquely associated with a user account but never communicated to a user associated with that account.","The second key used to generate the session encryption key is a global session key 1804 which may be maintained as a secret by the security service as described above.","It should be noted that a global session key should not be construed as meaning a key corresponding to a session key such as the session key 116 described in connection with FIG.","1.A global session key is used to generate, and is only related to, a session encryption key such as the session encryption key 120 described in connection with FIG.","1.The global session key 1804 may be shared by a plurality of regions such as those described above.","For example, in a computing resource service provider environment where there are four regions as described above, the global session key 1804 may be shared with each of the four regions and used by a security service in each of the four regions to generate session encryption keys as described herein.","It should be noted that, although the examples illustrated and described herein show the generation of the session encryption key 1810 from the account key 1802 and the global session key 1804, this is not to imply that a session encryption key 1810 must be generated as a separate operation from the operation of encrypting the session data 1808 to produce the session token 1812.For example, the session data 1808 can, in some embodiments, be encrypted using the account key 1802 and the global session key 1804 to produce the session token 1812 without the intermediary step of generating the session encryption key 1810.FIG.","19 illustrates an example environment 1900 where an account key is distributed to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","19, a global session key 1904 is propagated (i.e., made available to) a first region 1906, a second region 1910, and a third region 1912.The first region 1906, the second region 1910, and the third region 1912 are regions that are trusted by the computing resource service provider.","As used herein, a region that is “trusted” by the computing resource service provider is a region where, for example, proper security protocols have been implemented.","A region may be “untrusted” if, for example, it has become compromised or it has not implemented the proper safety protocols, or it is outside of the computing resource service provider environment (e.g., if it is a third party region).","In the example illustrated in FIG.","19, there is a fourth region 1914 that is untrusted (also referred to herein as “not trusted”) and the global session key has not been propagated to this fourth region 1914 so that the fourth region 1914 may not be able to encrypt session data to produce session tokens as described herein.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","19, the global session key 1904 is shown as a single global session key that is propagated to the first region 1906, the second region 1910, and the third region 1912 and that is not propagated to the fourth region 1914.In an embodiment, each region has a different global session key (also referred to herein as a “regional session key”).","In another embodiment, each region has a regional session key in addition to the global session key 1904.In another embodiment, the global session key 1904 is one of a plurality of global session keys maintained in, for example, a session encryption keychain as described herein.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","19, an account key 1902 is propagated to the first region 1906, the second region 1910, and the fourth region 1914 according to a set of policies and permissions 1908.The first region 1906 and the second region 1910 are regions that are trusted by the customer and thus are regions that, by the policies and permissions 1908, are regions where the customer or a user account associated with the customer may request a session token.","Conversely, the third region 1912 is a region that, while trusted by the computing resource service provider, is not trusted by the customer.","For example, the customer may have resources in the third region that should not be made available to a first region only user account as described herein.","The policies and permissions 1908 associated with the user account may, in this example, be configured to prevent the user account from being able to generate a session token in the third region and, therefore, the third region may be untrusted by the customer for this account (also referred to herein as “restricted”).","In the example illustrated in FIG.","19, the account key 1902 is shown as being propagated to the fourth region 1914 because, even though the fourth region 1914 may be untrusted by the computing resource service provider, the fourth region 1914 may be trusted by the customer.","It should be noted that the account key being present in the fourth region 1914 may still preclude session tokens being generated in the fourth region due to the fact that the global session key 1904 is not present in the fourth region 1914.FIG.","20 illustrates an example process 2000 for distributing an account key to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.","20.The security service may first receive 2002 a request for a session and may verify 2004 that request as described above.","A request that is not valid 2006 may cause the security service to generate an error 2014 in response to the invalid request.","The security service may generate an error 2014 and send a report of the error to the customer and/or to the computing resource service provider as described above in connection with FIG.","5.A request that is valid 2006 may cause the security service verify 2008 the region by determining if the region is an untrusted region 2010 (i.e., a region not trusted by the computing resource service provider) and/or if the region is a restricted region 2012 (i.e., a region not trusted by the customer).","A region may be determined to be an untrusted region 2010 because, for example, there are policies and/or permissions explicitly stating such or because, for example, the global session key is not present in the region.","Similarly, a region may be determined to be a restricted region 2012 because, for example, there are policies and/or permissions explicitly stating such or because, for example, the account key is not present in the region.","If the region is an untrusted region 2010 and/or if the region is a restricted region 2012, the security service may generate an error 2014 and send a report of the error to the customer and/or to the computing resource service provider.","Conversely, if the region is not an untrusted region 2010 and if the region is not a restricted region 2012, the security service may use the global session key and the account key to generate 2016 a session token as described above.","FIG.","21 illustrates an example environment 2100 where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","An account key 2102 may be combined with a first global session key 2104 to produce a first session encryption key 2106, which may be used to encrypt 2108 session data to produce a first session token 2110 as described above.","In an embodiment, the first session encryption key 2106 is generated on demand when the session token is requested.","In another embodiment, the first session encryption key 2106 is generated in response to a request such as, for example, a first request for a session token and is stored by a service such as the security service for later use (e.g., for later decryption of the session token).","In another embodiment, the account key 2102 and the first global session key 2104 are used to encrypt 2108 the session data directly, without producing an intermediary first session encryption key such as the first session encryption key 2106.In another embodiment, the account key 2102 and/or the first global session key 2104 are discarded after a period of time, or a number of uses, or according to some other security policy.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","21, the first global session key 2104 may be valid only for a predetermined amount of time and, after that predetermined amount of time has expired and a timeout 2112 occurs, a second global session key 2114 may be generated, which may be combined with the account key 2102 to produce a second session encryption key 2116.The second session encryption key 2116 may then be used to encrypt 2118 session data to produce a second session token 2120 as described above.","Although not illustrated in FIG.","21, the second global session key 2114 may also be generated as a result of a key generation event that may be generated by the computing resource service provider or a service operating therein.","A key generation event may be a key rotation event, a key timeout event, a key invalidation event, a keychain update event, or some other key generation event.","An example of a key generation event is a key rotation event, where on a periodic basis (e.g., hourly) the oldest key (based on a creation time associated with the key) is removed or invalidated and a new key (with a new creation time) is generated.","Another example of a key generation event is a keychain update event, where one or more keys in a keychain are updated according to one or more update criteria.","A key generation event may be generated by a security service, causing a global session key such as the first global session key 2104 to be replaced with a new global session key when a region is compromised and/or potentially compromised.","Similarly, a key generation event may be generated by a policy service, causing a global session key such as the first global session key 2104 to be replaced with a new global session key when one or more policies regarding access to a region have changed.","In an embodiment, the removal and/or replacement of a global session key causes the session tokens encrypted with that session key to be invalidated.","In another embodiment, a global session key that is removed and/or replaced remains available for some time in order to extract session data from session tokens encrypted with that global session key.","FIG.","22 illustrates an example environment 2200 where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A first account key 2202 may be combined with a global session key 2204 to produce a first session encryption key 2206, which may be used to encrypt 2208 session data to produce a first session token 2210 as described above.","Just as with the first global session key 2104 described in connection with FIG.","21, the first account key 2202 may be valid only for a predetermined amount of time and, after that predetermined amount of time has expired and a timeout 2212 occurs, a second account key 2214 may be generated, which may be combined with the global session key 2204 to produce a second session encryption key 2216.The second session encryption key 2216 may then be used to encrypt 2218 session data to produce a second session token 2220 as described above.","It should be noted that while the timeout 2112 described in connection with FIG.","21 may be on the order of several hours (e.g., twelve, twenty-four, or thirty-six hours), the timeout 2212 may be on the order of several months (e.g., two, three, or six months).","The longer timeout 2212 associated with an account key as compared to the timeout 2112 associated with a global session key may be based at least in part on there being only a few global session keys that are valid at one time (e.g., keys for the last twenty-four or thirty-six hours) while there may be millions of account keys when, for example, each user account of a computing resource service provider has a different unique account key.","Because there may be many more account keys in a computing resource service provider environment, they may be used for longer periods of time than global session keys.","FIG.","23 illustrates an example environment 2300 where global session keys are maintained for use in generating session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","23, a global session keychain 2302 stores a plurality of global session keys, one of which is the oldest 2304 global session key (i.e., the global session key that was generated least recently) and one of which is the newest 2306 global session key (i.e., the global session key that was generated the most recently).","When a key generation event such as a timeout 2308 occurs, the global session keychain 2302 may be updated by, for example, invalidating 2310 the oldest 2304 global session key designating the next oldest global session key 2312 as the new oldest 2314 global session key, generating 2318 a new global session key, designating that new global session key as the newest 2320 global session key, and changing the designation of the former newest global session key 2316.In an embodiment, only the newest global session key is used to encrypt session tokens and the other global session keys in the global session keychain are used to decrypt session tokens.","In such an embodiment, using the example illustrated in FIG.","23, a session token is encrypted using the newest 2306 global session key immediately before the timeout 2308 and is encrypted using the newest 2320 global session immediately after the timeout 2308 (and, until the next key generation event occurs).","FIG.","24 illustrates an example environment 2400 where sessions are expired using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A customer 2402 may first generate a signed request 2404 using a session token as described herein.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","24, the session token used to generate the signed request 2404 was generated using a session encryption key 2414, which may be one of a plurality of session encryption keys 2408.In an embodiment, the session encryption keys 2408 and the session encryption key 2414 are generated using a global session key and an account key as described at least in connection with FIG.","18.The signed request 2404 may be verified 2410 by a service 2406 (e.g., a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1) and the signed request may be processed 2412 because the session encryption key 2414 is still valid and is still one of the plurality of session encryption keys 2408.Conversely, after one or more key generation events such as a timeout 2416, the session encryption key 2414 may become an invalid session encryption key 2430, and may be replaced by one or more new session encryption keys in the plurality of session encryption keys 2428.For example, if a new session encryption key is generated every hour, and each session encryption key is valid for twenty-four hours, then there may be twenty-four session encryption keys in the plurality of session encryption keys 2428.In such an example, after twenty-four hours pass, the first session token used to generate the signed request 2404 may no longer be valid due to the session encryption key 2414 having expired.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","24, if the customer 2418 uses the session token generated using the session encryption key 2414 to generate a signed request 2420 after the session encryption key 2414 has expired and become the invalid session encryption key 2430, the service 2422 may not be able to verify 2424 the signed request 2420 (because, for example, the session token may not be decrypted) and, accordingly, the service 2422 may not process the request 2426.FIG.","25 illustrates an example process 2500 for rotating session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.","25.The security service may first generate 2502 the session encryption key from the global session key and the account key as described at least in connection with FIG.","18.If after a time period has expired and/or after a key generation event has occurred, the security service may generate new session encryption keys.","For example, if a session encryption key expires or becomes invalid because of a global key timeout 2504, the security service may generate 2508 one or more replacement session encryption keys.","Similarly, if a session encryption key expires or becomes invalid because of an account key timeout 2506, the security service may also generate 2508 one or more replacement session encryption keys.","The security service may next receive 2510 one or more signed requests using session tokens encrypted with the one or more session encryption keys as described above.","It should be noted that, although the process illustrated in FIG.","25 shows the security service receiving the signed requests after a time period has expired and/or after a key generation event has occurred, the security service may generate new session encryption keys, the steps in the process to respond to a global key timeout 2504 and/or an account key timeout 2506 as well as to generate 2508 one or more replacement session encryption keys may occur before, during, or after the steps in the process to receive 2510 one or more signed requests using session tokens encrypted with the one or more session encryption keys.","After receiving the one or more signed requests, the security service may verify the session using a session encryption key corresponding to the session encryption key that was used to encrypt the session token associated with the signed request as described herein.","If the session is verified (i.e., if the session token is validated), then the security service may process the request 2516.Conversely, if the session is not verified, the security service may generate an error 2518 as described above.","FIG.","26 illustrates an example environment 2600 where a plurality of session keys can be invalidated using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","26, a global session key 2602 may be combined with account keys 2604 to generate session encryption keys 2606 as described above.","The session encryption keys 2606 may remain valid and the session tokens generated using the session encryption keys 2606 may also remain valid for a time period.","When the time period has expired, the global session key 2602 may be invalidated 2608 and may become an invalid global session key 2610.As a result of the global session key 2602 becoming an invalid global session key 2610, the session encryption keys generated from the invalid global session key 2610 and the account keys 2604 may become invalid session encryption keys 2612 and session tokens generate using the formerly valid, but now invalid, session encryption keys such as the invalid session encryption keys 2612 may also become invalid due to being unverifiable.","FIG.","27 illustrates an example environment 2700 where a plurality of invalidated session keys can be regenerated using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","The example illustrated in FIG.","27 continues from the example illustrated in FIG.","26, where a global session key is an invalid global session key 2704 and, as a result, the session encryption keys generated from the invalid global session key 2704 and the account keys 2702 are invalid session encryption keys 2706.After the global session key has become an invalid global session key 2704, the security service may generate 2708 a new global session key 2710 to replace the invalid global session key 2704 and may use the new global session key 2710 combined with the account keys 2702 to generate 2712 session encryption keys 2714 as needed.","It should be noted that, in the examples illustrated in FIGS.","26 and 27, the account keys were not changed.","As described above, an account may have a much longer period of validity than a global session key.","Additionally, a computing resource service provider may provide thousands or millions of account keys and, accordingly, it may be considerably more efficient to regenerate session encryption keys by invalidating global session keys.","It should also be noted that session encryption keys may be generated as needed within a computing resource service provider environment.","For example, a customer may use a user account to request a session token as described herein and may use that session token for a short period of time (e.g., two hours).","Because of the expiration of global session keys, that session token may expire after, for example, twenty-four hours.","If the customer does not use the session token again in that twenty-four hour period, the session encryption key used to generate the session token and corresponding to the account key for the user account may not be regenerated at the end of that twenty-four hour period (e.g., as a replacement for the expired or invalidated session encryption key).","In an embodiment, the session encryption key used to generate session tokens corresponding to a user account is generated only when the customer generates a signed request using the previous session token.","In such an embodiment, a session token may include an expiration time that may trigger such a regeneration of the session token.","FIG.","28 illustrates an example process 2800 for invalidating and regenerating a plurality of session keys using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.","28.The security service may first generate 2802 session encryption keys using the global session key and the account keys as described above.","The security service may next determine whether to invalidate 2804 one or more global session keys.","If the security service does determine to invalidate 2804 one or more global session keys, the security service may first invalidate 2806 the selected global session key or keys, may generate 2808 one or more new global session keys to replace the invalidated global session keys and may begin the process of generating replacement session encryption keys as needed such as, for example, when a customer generates a request using a session token that was generated with a now invalid session encryption key as described above.","The security service may next receive 2812 a request for resources or a message as described above.","It should be noted that, although the process illustrated in FIG.","28 shows the security service receiving a signed request or message after checking for invalidated global keys, the checking for invalidated global keys may be performed before, during, or after the processing of the requests.","The request for resources or the message may be digitally signed by a session key and may also be generated using a session token, also as described above.","Next, the security service may extract 2814 the session key from the session token used to generate the session token and may validate 2816 the digital signature.","If the signature is valid 2818 (i.e., if the request or the message is authenticated), the security service may next process 2810 the request or the message by, for example, providing access to the resources, processing the message, or performing some other action.","If the signature is not valid 2818 (i.e., if the request or the message is not authenticated) the security service may generate 2822 an error as described above.","FIG.","29 illustrates an example environment 2900 where account keys are invalidated in association with session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","29, a global session key 2904 may be used with one or more account keys 2902 to generate a corresponding one or more session encryption keys 2908 as described above.","A security service may then invalidate 2908 one or more of the account keys 2910 to invalidate one or more session encryption keys 2914 generated with the account keys 2910 and a global session key 2912.In contrast to the example illustrated in FIGS.","26 and 27 where all session encryption keys were invalidated by invalidating the global session key, the example illustrated in FIG.","29 shows the selecting invalidation of session encryption keys and, accordingly, of session tokens generated using those invalidated session encryption keys.","For example, a computing resource service provider may determine that one or more accounts associated with a customer may have been compromised.","Invalidating the account keys associated with those compromised accounts renders the credentials associated with those accounts (e.g., the session tokens) invalid.","Similarly, a customer may determine that one or more user accounts should not have access to short-term credentials and may invalidate the account keys associated with those accounts.","FIG.","30 illustrates an example environment 3000 where cross-region roles are assumed across regions using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A first customer 3002 in a first region 3006 may create 3004 a role.","The role 3008 may have a role identifier 3014 (illustrated herein as a circle with the letters “ID” inside) and a set of permissions 3010 for access to a set of customer resources 3012 in the first region.","The customer resources 3012 are a set of resources associated with the first customer 3002.For example, a customer may have a resource such as a database that is configured to store data associated with a webservice (e.g., a database that records each transaction for each user of the webservice).","The customer may create first role for this database that provides permissions to read, but not write, data from the database.","The customer may additionally create a second role for this database that provides permissions to read and write data to and from the database.","The customer may additionally create a third role for this database that provides permissions to alter the database, including adding and removing records and changing the data schema (e.g., an “administrator” role).","A user of a user account may then assume one or more of these roles to have access to the database.","For example, a user may assume the first role if the user only requires permission to read data from the database.","Using the first role, the user could analyze, but not alter, the data in the database.","Similarly, a user may assume the second role if the user requires permissions to read from and write to the database.","Using the second role, the user could update records in the database.","The third role could be assumed to allow the user to alter the structure of the database to, for example, add a new table to the database schema.","Each of the roles may have a set of permissions associated with access to the resources and may also have a set of access policies associated with the role so that, for example, only designated users and/or user accounts may have access to the role.","These access policies may be enforced using credentials such as those described herein (e.g., keys, sessions, etc.).","The access policies and the permissions associated with the roles are described in more detail below.","The role identifier 3014 may be used to identify the role in other regions.","For example, the role 3008 may be propagated to a second region 3022 (where it is identified as the role 3020) and may also be propagated to a third region 3030 (where it is identified as the role 3024).","In an embodiment, a role can only be assumed in regions where the role has been propagated because regions where the role has not been propagated may not have access to the permissions associated with the role.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","30, the role has access to customer resources 3012 in the first region 3006 and customer resources 3028 in the third region 3030.The role 3024, which is the same as the role 3014, may have a set of permissions 3026 for access to a set of customer resources 3028 in the third region.","The set of customer resources 3028 are a set of resources associated with the first customer 3002, but present in the third region.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","30, no customer resources associated with the first customer 3002 are present in the second region 3022.When a second customer 3016 in the second region 3022 assumes the role 3018 based at least in part on the role identifier 3014, the access policies associated with the role determine whether the second customer 3016 may assume the role.","If the second customer 3016 assumes the role 3018, the second customer 3016 may have all of the permissions associated with the role so that, for example, the second customer 3016 may access the customer resources 3012 in the first region 3006 and may also access the customer resources 3028 in the third region 3030.It should be noted that the second customer 3016 does not have an account in the first region 3006 or in the third region 3030, but still may be authenticated to assume the role and access the resources by assuming the role.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","30, the role identifier 3014 is provided to the second customer 3016 in the second region 3022 so that the second customer 3016 in the second region may assume the role.","In an embodiment, the role identifier is provided to the second customer by storing the role in a database of role identifiers.","In another embodiment, the role identifier is provided to the second customer by sending the role identifier in an email, or a SMS message, or a console message, or using some other such communications methodology.","In such an embodiment, the role identifier may be sent using an encryption method such as those described herein.","In another embodiment, the role identifier is provided to the second customer by publishing the role identifier in documentation associated with the customer resources 3028.For example, the customer resources 3028 may have a webpage documenting the use of the resources that may include the role identifier to use when requesting access to the resources.","As may be contemplated, the methods of providing the role identifier described herein are illustrative examples and other such methods of providing the role identifier may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","FIG.","31 illustrates an example environment 3100 where policies associated with cross-region roles are applied using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","The role 3102 has a role identifier 3104, an allowed users policy 3106, and one or more allowed resources policies 3114.In the example illustrated in FIG.","31, the allowed users policy 3106 indicates that a first user 3108 may assume the role 3102, a second user 3110 may also assume the role 3102, and a third user 3112 may not assume the role 3102.The third user 3112 may be, for example, an untrusted user or may simply be associated with an account that should not have access to the permissions associated with the role.","The allowed users policy 3106 may include a default policy to deny all users not explicitly allowed by the policy so that only users explicitly granted access to the role may assume the role.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","31, the allowed resources policies 3114 specify a set of permissions for access to a set of resources associated with the role.","The permissions may be specific to, and based at least in part on, a region, a user, a resource, a resource type, or a combination of these and/or other such factors.","For example, a set of permissions 3116 for a resource 3118 may specify that users from, for example, a first region may have unrestricted access to the resource 3118 and users from, for example, a second region may have restricted access to the resource 3118.Similarly, a set of permissions 3120 for a resource 3122 may specify that the role 3102 as assumed by the first user 3108 has different access permissions than the role 3102 as assumed by the second user 3110.As may be contemplated, the types of permissions granted by assuming a role described herein are merely illustrative examples and other types of permissions granted by assuming a role may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","FIG.","32 illustrates an example environment 3200 where a cross-region role is assumed using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A second customer 3202, which may be the same as the second customer 3016 described in connection with FIG.","30, may send a signed request 3204 to assume a role 3206 to a security service 3208 of a second region 3220, which may be the same as the second region 3022 described in connection with FIG.","30.The security service 3208 of the second region 3220 may first verify that the role 3214 exists in the second region 3220 before verifying the request 3204, verifying that the second customer 3202 has permission to assume the role 3214, and validating the signature of the signed request 3204.If the signed request 3204 is valid (i.e., if all of the verifications pass), the security service may generate a session associated with the role (designated herein as a role session 3212) using the methods described above.","In an embodiment, the security service 3208 includes the role identifier in the session data prior to encrypting the session data to produce the session token as described above.","In another embodiment, the security service 3208 provides the role identifier separate from the session token.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","32, the role 3214 provides access 3216 to customer resources 3218 in a third region 3222, but the second customer 3202 does not have an account in the third region 3222.Access to the customer resources 3218 are provided to the second customer 3202 using the mechanism of the second customer 3202 assuming the role 3214.FIG.","33 illustrates an example environment 3300 where a cross-region role is used to access resources across regions using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A customer 3302 may use a role session 3304 to generate a signed request 3308 and send 3306 the signed request to a region 3310 where the resources 3324 are located.","A service of the region 3310 may verify 3312 the session using the techniques described herein and may validate 3314 that the customer 3302 may have access to the role 3318 based at least in part on the permissions associated with the role 3318.If the session is verified and the access is validated, access 3320 to the resources 3324 may be provided to the customer 3302 using the access 3322 to the resources 3324 provided by the role 3318.In the example illustrated in FIG.","33, the role session 3304 provides the credentials associated with assuming the role 3318 using the short-term credentials provided by the session token.","In an embodiment, the credentials associated with assuming the role 3318 are provided by a username and password associated with the customer 3302.In another embodiment, the credentials associated with assuming the role 3318 are provided by a certificate associated with the customer 3302.In another embodiment, the credentials associated with assuming the role 3318 are provided by a long-term key associated with the customer 3302.In such an embodiment, the credentials associated with assuming the role 3318 may be a symmetric key or may be an asymmetric key pair.","FIG.","34 illustrates an example process 3400 for using a cross-region role session token to generate resource requests using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.","34.The security service may first receive 3402 a request for resources signed by a session key and using a role session token as described above.","The request for resources may be digitally signed by a session key, may be generated using a session token, and may include a role identifier, also as described above.","Next, the security service may extract 3404 the session key from the session token used to generate the session token and may verify 3406 the digital signature using the extracted session key.","If the request is valid 3408 (i.e., if the request is authenticated), the security service may next determine 3410 whether the permissions associated with the request allow such access.","If the access is allowed 3412, the service may provide 3416 access to the resources using the role.","If the request is not valid 3408 or if the access is not allowed 3412, the security service may generate 3414 an error as described above.","FIG.","35 illustrates aspects of an example environment 3500 for implementing aspects in accordance with various embodiments.","As will be appreciated, although a web-based environment is used for purposes of explanation, different environments may be used, as appropriate, to implement various embodiments.","The environment includes an electronic client device 3502, which can include any appropriate device operable to send and/or receive requests, messages, or information over an appropriate network 3504 and, in some embodiments, convey information back to a user of the device.","Examples of such client devices include personal computers, cell phones, handheld messaging devices, laptop computers, tablet computers, set-top boxes, personal data assistants, embedded computer systems, electronic book readers, and the like.","The network can include any appropriate network, including an intranet, the Internet, a cellular network, a local area network, a satellite network or any other such network and/or combination thereof.","Components used for such a system can depend at least in part upon the type of network and/or environment selected.","Many protocols and components for communicating via such a network are well known and will not be discussed herein in detail.","Communication over the network can be enabled by wired or wireless connections and combinations thereof.","In this example, the network includes the Internet and/or other publicly-addressable communications network, as the environment includes a web server 3506 for receiving requests and serving content in response thereto, although for other networks an alternative device serving a similar purpose could be used as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.","The illustrative environment includes at least one application server 3508 and a data store 3510.It should be understood that there can be several application servers, layers or other elements, processes or components, which may be chained or otherwise configured, which can interact to perform tasks such as obtaining data from an appropriate data store.","Servers, as used herein, may be implemented in various ways, such as hardware devices or virtual computer systems.","In some contexts, servers may refer to a programming module being executed on a computer system.","As used herein, unless otherwise stated or clear from context, the term “data store” refers to any device or combination of devices capable of storing, accessing and retrieving data, which may include any combination and number of data servers, databases, data storage devices and data storage media, in any standard, distributed, virtual or clustered environment.","The application server can include any appropriate hardware, software and firmware for integrating with the data store as needed to execute aspects of one or more applications for the client device, handling some or all of the data access and business logic for an application.","The application server may provide access control services in cooperation with the data store and is able to generate content including, but not limited to, text, graphics, audio, video and/or other content usable to be provided to the user, which may be served to the user by the web server in the form of HyperText Markup Language (“HTML”), Extensible Markup Language (“XML”), JavaScript, Cascading Style Sheets (“C SS”), JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), and/or another appropriate client-side structured language.","Content transferred to a client device may be processed by the client device to provide the content in one or more forms including, but not limited to, forms that are perceptible to the user audibly, visually and/or through other senses.","The handling of all requests and responses, as well as the delivery of content between the client device 3502 and the application server 3508, can be handled by the web server using PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (“PHP”), Python, Ruby, Perl, Java, HTML, XML, JSON, and/or another appropriate server-side structured language in this example.","Further, operations described herein as being performed by a single device may, unless otherwise clear from context, be performed collectively by multiple devices, which may form a distributed and/or virtual system.","The data store 3510 can include several separate data tables, databases, data documents, dynamic data storage schemes and/or other data storage mechanisms and media for storing data relating to a particular aspect of the present disclosure.","For example, the data store illustrated may include mechanisms for storing production data 3512 and user information 3516, which can be used to serve content for the production side.","The data store also is shown to include a mechanism for storing log data 3514, which can be used for reporting, analysis, or other such purposes.","It should be understood that there can be many other aspects that may need to be stored in the data store, such as page image information and access rights information, which can be stored in any of the above listed mechanisms as appropriate or in additional mechanisms in the data store 3510.The data store 3510 is operable, through logic associated therewith, to receive instructions from the application server 3508 and obtain, update or otherwise process data in response thereto.","The application server 3508 may provide static, dynamic, or a combination of static and dynamic data in response to the received instructions.","Dynamic data, such as data used in web logs (blogs), shopping applications, news services, and other such applications may be generated by server-side structured languages as described herein or may be provided by a content management system (“CMS”) operating on, or under the control of, the application server.","In one example, a user, through a device operated by the user, might submit a search request for a certain type of item.","In this case, the data store might access the user information to verify the identity of the user and can access the catalog detail information to obtain information about items of that type.","The information then can be returned to the user, such as in a results listing on a web page that the user is able to view via a browser on the user device 3502.Information for a particular item of interest can be viewed in a dedicated page or window of the browser.","It should be noted, however, that embodiments of the present disclosure are not necessarily limited to the context of web pages, but may be more generally applicable to processing requests in general, where the requests are not necessarily requests for content.","Each server typically will include an operating system that provides executable program instructions for the general administration and operation of that server and typically will include a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a hard disk, random access memory, read only memory, etc.)","storing instructions that, when executed (i.e., as a result of being executed) by a processor of the server, allow the server to perform its intended functions.","The environment, in one embodiment, is a distributed and/or virtual computing environment utilizing several computer systems and components that are interconnected via communication links, using one or more computer networks or direct connections.","However, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that such a system could operate equally well in a system having fewer or a greater number of components than are illustrated in FIG.","35.Thus, the depiction of the system 3500 in FIG.","35 should be taken as being illustrative in nature and not limiting to the scope of the disclosure.","The various embodiments further can be implemented in a wide variety of operating environments, which in some cases can include one or more user computers, computing devices or processing devices which can be used to operate any of a number of applications.","User or client devices can include any of a number of computers, such as desktop, laptop or tablet computers running a standard operating system, as well as cellular, wireless and handheld devices running mobile software and capable of supporting a number of networking and messaging protocols.","Such a system also can include a number of workstations running any of a variety of commercially-available operating systems and other known applications for purposes such as development and database management.","These devices also can include other electronic devices, such as dummy terminals, thin-clients, gaming systems and other devices capable of communicating via a network.","These devices also can include virtual devices such as virtual machines, hypervisors and other virtual devices capable of communicating via a network.","Various embodiments of the present disclosure utilize at least one network that would be familiar to those skilled in the art for supporting communications using any of a variety of commercially-available protocols, such as Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (“TCP/IP”), User Datagram Protocol (“UDP”), protocols operating in various layers of the Open System Interconnection (“OSI”) model, File Transfer Protocol (“FTP”), Universal Plug and Play (“UpnP”), Network File System (“NFS”), Common Internet File System (“CIFS”), and AppleTalk.","The network can be, for example, a local area network, a wide-area network, a virtual private network, the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, a public switched telephone network, an infrared network, a wireless network, a satellite network, and any combination thereof.","In some embodiments, connection-oriented protocols may be used to communicate between network endpoints.","Connection-oriented protocols (sometimes called connection-based protocols) are capable of transmitting data in an ordered stream.","Connection-oriented protocols can be reliable or unreliable.","For example, the TCP protocol is a reliable connection-oriented protocol.","Asynchronous Transfer Mode (“ATM”) and Frame Relay are unreliable connection-oriented protocols.","Connection-oriented protocols are in contrast to packet-oriented protocols such as UDP that transmit packets without a guaranteed ordering.","In embodiments utilizing a web server, the web server can run any of a variety of server or mid-tier applications, including Hypertext Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”) servers, FTP servers, Common Gateway Interface (“CGP”) servers, data servers, Java servers, Apache servers, and business application servers.","The server(s) also may be capable of executing programs or scripts in response to requests from user devices, such as by executing one or more web applications that may be implemented as one or more scripts or programs written in any programming language, such as Java®, C, C#, or C++, or any scripting language, such as Ruby, PHP, Perl, Python or TCL, as well as combinations thereof.","The server(s) may also include database servers, including without limitation those commercially available from Oracle®, Microsoft®, Sybase®, and IBM® as well as open-source servers such as MySQL, Postgres, SQLite, MongoDB, and any other server capable of storing, retrieving, and accessing structured or unstructured data.","Database servers may include table-based servers, document-based servers, unstructured servers, relational servers, non-relational servers, or combinations of these and/or other database servers.","The environment can include a variety of data stores and other memory and storage media as discussed above.","These can reside in a variety of locations, such as on a storage medium local to (and/or resident in) one or more of the computers or remote from any or all of the computers across the network.","In a particular set of embodiments, the information may reside in a storage-area network (“SAN”) familiar to those skilled in the art.","Similarly, any necessary files for performing the functions attributed to the computers, servers or other network devices may be stored locally and/or remotely, as appropriate.","Where a system includes computerized devices, each such device can include hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via a bus, the elements including, for example, at least one central processing unit (“CPU” or “processor”), at least one input device (e.g., a mouse, keyboard, controller, touch screen, or keypad) and at least one output device (e.g., a display device, printer, or speaker).","Such a system may also include one or more storage devices, such as disk drives, optical storage devices, and solid-state storage devices such as random access memory (“RAM”) or read-only memory (“ROM”), as well as removable media devices, memory cards, flash cards, etc.","Such devices also can include a computer-readable storage media reader, a communications device (e.g., a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infrared communication device, etc.","), and working memory as described above.","The computer-readable storage media reader can be connected with, or configured to receive, a computer-readable storage medium, representing remote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices as well as storage media for temporarily and/or more permanently containing, storing, transmitting, and retrieving computer-readable information.","The system and various devices also typically will include a number of software applications, modules, services, or other elements located within at least one working memory device, including an operating system and application programs, such as a client application or web browser.","In addition, customized hardware might also be used and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets) or both.","Further, connection to other computing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.","Storage media and computer readable media for containing code, or portions of code, can include any appropriate media known or used in the art, including storage media and communication media, such as, but not limited to, volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage and/or transmission of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data, including RAM, ROM, Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (“EEPROM”), flash memory or other memory technology, Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (“CD-ROM”), digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the system device.","Based on the disclosure and teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement the various embodiments.","The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.","It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.","Other variations are within the spirit of the present disclosure.","Thus, while the disclosed techniques are susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and have been described above in detail.","It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form or forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.","The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the disclosed embodiments (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context.","The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted.","The term “connected,” when unmodified and referring to physical connections, is to be construed as partly or wholly contained within, attached to, or joined together, even if there is something intervening.","Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein.","The use of the term “set” (e.g., “a set of items”) or “subset” unless otherwise noted or contradicted by context, is to be construed as a nonempty collection comprising one or more members.","Further, unless otherwise noted or contradicted by context, the term “subset” of a corresponding set does not necessarily denote a proper subset of the corresponding set, but the subset and the corresponding set may be equal.","Conjunctive language, such as phrases of the form “at least one of A, B, and C,” or “at least one of A, B and C,” unless specifically stated otherwise or otherwise clearly contradicted by context, is otherwise understood with the context as used in general to present that an item, term, etc., may be either A or B or C, or any nonempty subset of the set of A and B and C. For instance, in the illustrative example of a set having three members, the conjunctive phrases “at least one of A, B, and C” and “at least one of A, B and C” refer to any of the following sets: {A}, {B}, {C}, {A, B}, {A, C}, {B, C}, {A, B, C}.","Thus, such conjunctive language is not generally intended to imply that certain embodiments require at least one of A, at least one of B and at least one of C each to be present.","Operations of processes described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.","Processes described herein (or variations and/or combinations thereof) may be performed under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions and may be implemented as code (e.g., executable instructions, one or more computer programs or one or more applications) executing collectively on one or more processors, by hardware or combinations thereof.","The code may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium, for example, in the form of a computer program comprising a plurality of instructions executable by one or more processors.","The computer-readable storage medium may be non-transitory.","In some embodiments, the code is stored on set of one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed (i.e., as a result of being executed) by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to perform operations described herein.","The set of non-transitory computer-readable storage media may comprise multiple non-transitory computer-readable storage media and one or more of individual non-transitory storage media of the multiple non-transitory computer-readable storage media may lack all of the code while the multiple non-transitory computer-readable storage media collectively store all of the code.","Accordingly, in some examples, computer systems are configured to implement one or more services that singly or collectively perform operations of processes described herein.","Such computer systems may, for instance, be configured with applicable hardware and/or software that enable the performance of the operations.","Further, computer systems that implement various embodiments of the present disclosure may, in some examples, be single devices and, in other examples, be distributed computer systems comprising multiple devices that operate differently such that the distributed computer system performs the operations described herein and such that a single device may not perform all operations.","The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate embodiments of the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed.","No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.","Embodiments of this disclosure are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention.","Variations of those embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description.","The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate and the inventors intend for embodiments of the present disclosure to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.","Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law.","Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the scope of the present disclosure unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.","All references, including publications, patent applications, and patents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"ASYMMETRIC SESSION CREDENTIALS\",\n \"Techniques for using short-term credentials using asymmetric session keys are described herein.\",\n \"A request for a short-term credential is received that is digitally signed with a different credential.\",\n \"In response to the request, short-term credential data is generated and populated with a public session key corresponding to a private session key.\",\n \"The short-term credential data is then encrypted with a session encryption key to produce the short-term credential token, which can then be used by the requester as a short-term credential for subsequent requests.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A computer-implemented method, comprising: generating, based at least on an encryption key and as a result of a request to establish a session, credential data usable to authenticate messages within the session; and providing, in response to the request, the credential data to at least: cause extraction of the encryption key from the credential data; and cause authentication of the messages in the session using the encryption key.\",\n \"2.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the credential data is valid for a predetermined amount of time.\",\n \"3.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: generating additional requests, while the credential data is valid, to authenticate additional messages.\",\n \"4.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: in response to determining that the credential data has been comprised, invalidating the credential data; and sending a request for new credential data.\",\n \"5.A system, comprising: memory to store instructions that, if executed by one or more processors of the system, cause the system to: generate, based at least on an encryption key and as a result of a request to establish a session, credential data usable to authenticate messages within the session; and provide, in response to the request, the credential data to at least: cause extraction of the encryption key from the credential data; and cause authentication of the messages in the session using the encryption key.\",\n \"6.The system of claim 5, wherein the credential data is valid for a predetermined amount of time.\",\n \"7.The system of claim 5, wherein the instructions that, if executed by one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to: generate additional requests, while the credential data is valid, to authenticate additional messages.\",\n \"8.The system of claim 5, wherein the instructions that, if executed by one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to: in response to determining that the credential data has been comprised, invalidating the credential data; and send a request for new credential data.\",\n \"9.The system of claim 5, wherein the request to establish the session is digitally signed using a long-term key associated with an account of a requestor.\",\n \"10.The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions that, if executed by one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to: verify, at a security service, a digital signature associated with the request to establish the session.\",\n \"11.The system of claim 10, wherein in response to the security service verifying the request, the security service generates the credential data.\",\n \"12.The system of claim 11, wherein in response to the security service generating the credential data, the security service encrypts the generated credential data using a session encryption key.\",\n \"13.A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon executable instructions that, as a result of being executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to at least: generate, based at least on an encryption key and as a result of a request to establish a session, credential data usable to authenticate messages within the session; and provide, in response to the request, the credential data to at least: cause extraction of the encryption key from the credential data; and cause authentication of the messages in the session using the encryption key.\",\n \"14.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the credential data is valid for a predetermined amount of time.\",\n \"15.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions further comprise instructions that, as a result of being executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to: generate additional requests, while the credential data is valid, to authenticate additional messages.\",\n \"16.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions further comprise instructions that, as a result of being executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to: in response to determining that the credential data has been comprised, invalidating the credential data; and send a request for new credential data.\",\n \"17.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the request to establish the session is digitally signed using a long-term key associated with an account of a requestor.\",\n \"18.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions that, if executed by one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to: verify, at a security service, a digital signature associated with the request to establish the session.\",\n \"19.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein in response to the security service verifying the request, the security service generates the credential data.\",\n \"20.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein in response to the security service generating the credential data, the security service encrypts the generated credential data using a session encryption key.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Modern computer systems typically have different services and resources that can be accessed by users of the computer system.\",\n \"When users request access to the services and resources, such requests are generally verified before access is granted so that a user does not gain access to services and resources not granted by the set of permissions associated with that user account.\",\n \"One system typically used for providing secure access to services and resources is based on creating short-term session credentials that are associated with a user.\",\n \"Once a session is established, a user can use the session credentials associated with the session to issue multiple requests over the life of that session.\",\n \"Typically, session credentials are encrypted and include a secret key that is used to sign each of the multiple requests over the life of the session.\",\n \"A drawback of such sessions and the associated session credentials is that any service that can decrypt the session credentials can have access to the secret key.\",\n \"Since decrypting the session credentials is typically required to verify a request, when the secret key is a symmetric key, the secret key can be used by services to improperly sign additional requests.\",\n \"For example, a service can receive a request and decrypt the session credentials associated with the request to extract the secret key for the purposes of verifying the request.\",\n \"However, the service may also use the extracted secret key to generate requests to other services, even though such requests may not necessarily originate from the owner of the session.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>Various techniques will be described with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an environment where session credentials are generated; FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an environment where requests are validated using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates a diagram showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates a diagram showing decryption operations associated with using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates a process for validating requests using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates a process for using a session token to generate resource requests using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an environment where session credentials are generated with asymmetric keys; FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates an environment where requests are validated using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.\",\n \"9 illustrates a diagram showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.\",\n \"10 illustrates a process for validating requests using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.\",\n \"11 illustrates an environment where a session associated with a region is retrieved using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"12 illustrates an environment where a retrieved session is used across regions using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"13 illustrates an environment where session data is used across regions to generate a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"14 illustrates a process for generating a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"15 illustrates a process for extracting session data from a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"16 illustrates an environment where a cross-region session is validated using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"17 illustrates an environment where a service intercepts a session using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"18 illustrates an environment where an account key and a global key are used to generate a session key for use in generating session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"19 illustrates an environment where an account key is distributed to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"20 illustrates a process for distributing an account key to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"21 illustrates an environment where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"22 illustrates an environment where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"23 illustrates an environment where global session keys are maintained for use in generating session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"24 illustrates an environment where sessions are expired using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"25 illustrates a process for rotating session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"26 illustrates an environment where a plurality of session keys can be invalidated using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"27 illustrates an environment where a plurality of invalidated session keys can be regenerated using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"28 illustrates a process for invalidating and regenerating a plurality of session keys using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"29 illustrates an environment where account keys are invalidated in association with session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"30 illustrates an environment where cross-region roles are assumed across regions using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"31 illustrates an environment where policies associated with cross-region roles are applied using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"32 illustrates an environment where a cross-region role is assumed using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"33 illustrates an environment where a cross-region role is used to access resources across regions using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"34 illustrates a process for using a cross-region role session token to generate resource requests using session credentials; and FIG.\",\n \"35 illustrates an environment in which various embodiments can be implemented.\",\n \"detailed-description description=\\\"Detailed Description\\\" end=\\\"lead\\\"?\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/958,872, filed Dec. 3, 2015, entitled “ASYMMETRIC SESSION CREDENTIALS,” which incorporates by reference for all purposes the full disclosure of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/958,887, filed Dec. 3, 2015, entitled “CROSS-REGION ROLES,” co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/958,888, filed Dec. 3, 2015, entitled “CROSS-REGION CACHE OF REGIONAL SESSIONS,” and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/958,892, filed Dec. 3, 2015, entitled “PERSONALIZING GLOBAL SESSION IDENTIFIERS.” BACKGROUND Modern computer systems typically have different services and resources that can be accessed by users of the computer system.\",\n \"When users request access to the services and resources, such requests are generally verified before access is granted so that a user does not gain access to services and resources not granted by the set of permissions associated with that user account.\",\n \"One system typically used for providing secure access to services and resources is based on creating short-term session credentials that are associated with a user.\",\n \"Once a session is established, a user can use the session credentials associated with the session to issue multiple requests over the life of that session.\",\n \"Typically, session credentials are encrypted and include a secret key that is used to sign each of the multiple requests over the life of the session.\",\n \"A drawback of such sessions and the associated session credentials is that any service that can decrypt the session credentials can have access to the secret key.\",\n \"Since decrypting the session credentials is typically required to verify a request, when the secret key is a symmetric key, the secret key can be used by services to improperly sign additional requests.\",\n \"For example, a service can receive a request and decrypt the session credentials associated with the request to extract the secret key for the purposes of verifying the request.\",\n \"However, the service may also use the extracted secret key to generate requests to other services, even though such requests may not necessarily originate from the owner of the session.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various techniques will be described with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an environment where session credentials are generated; FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an environment where requests are validated using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates a diagram showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates a diagram showing decryption operations associated with using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates a process for validating requests using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates a process for using a session token to generate resource requests using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an environment where session credentials are generated with asymmetric keys; FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates an environment where requests are validated using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.\",\n \"9 illustrates a diagram showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.\",\n \"10 illustrates a process for validating requests using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.\",\n \"11 illustrates an environment where a session associated with a region is retrieved using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"12 illustrates an environment where a retrieved session is used across regions using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"13 illustrates an environment where session data is used across regions to generate a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"14 illustrates a process for generating a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"15 illustrates a process for extracting session data from a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"16 illustrates an environment where a cross-region session is validated using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"17 illustrates an environment where a service intercepts a session using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"18 illustrates an environment where an account key and a global key are used to generate a session key for use in generating session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"19 illustrates an environment where an account key is distributed to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"20 illustrates a process for distributing an account key to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"21 illustrates an environment where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"22 illustrates an environment where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"23 illustrates an environment where global session keys are maintained for use in generating session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"24 illustrates an environment where sessions are expired using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"25 illustrates a process for rotating session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"26 illustrates an environment where a plurality of session keys can be invalidated using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"27 illustrates an environment where a plurality of invalidated session keys can be regenerated using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"28 illustrates a process for invalidating and regenerating a plurality of session keys using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"29 illustrates an environment where account keys are invalidated in association with session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"30 illustrates an environment where cross-region roles are assumed across regions using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"31 illustrates an environment where policies associated with cross-region roles are applied using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"32 illustrates an environment where a cross-region role is assumed using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"33 illustrates an environment where a cross-region role is used to access resources across regions using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"34 illustrates a process for using a cross-region role session token to generate resource requests using session credentials; and FIG.\",\n \"35 illustrates an environment in which various embodiments can be implemented.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION This disclosure relates to managing message authentication within a computing resource service provider environment using short-term credentials.\",\n \"The short-term credentials are generated based on long-term credentials and can be used within a computer system or across computer system boundaries.\",\n \"The short-term credentials can also be secured so that they may be used in untrusted environments without compromising either the short-term credentials or the underlying long-term credentials.\",\n \"The short-term credentials can also be partially based on other, short-term credentials so that, for example, they can be regularly expired and efficiently invalidated at an individual, account, regional, or global scale.\",\n \"The short term credentials can also be used to assign and validate short-term access to user roles so that a user can have access to resources in a region or location that the user may not generally have access to.\",\n \"A request from a customer of a computing resource service provider for access to computing resources of the computing resource service provider is typically signed or authenticated by a key and that key is used to verify the request prior to executing or fulfilling the request.\",\n \"One method of signing the request is to use a long-term secret key that is maintained as a shared secret between the customer and the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"In this method, the customer signs the request using the long-term secret key and sends the request and the signature to the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"The computing resource service provider then verifies the signature using the same secret key and, if the signature is verified, the computing resource service provider executes or fulfills the request by, for example, providing resources, executing applications, or performing operations associated with the request.\",\n \"One potential drawback of using long-term credentials to provide access is that, if the long-term credentials are compromised, they provide a mechanism for the detection of unauthorized access by an unauthorized agent.\",\n \"Another potential drawback of using such long-term credentials is that, if they are used for multiple transactions by a customer, the likelihood of their being compromised may increase.\",\n \"A third potential drawback of using such long-term credentials is that, in the interest of increasing their security, the cryptographic operations associated with such long-term credentials can become very computationally expensive if, for example, larger keys and/or more complicated key-generation algorithms are used.\",\n \"Using short-term credentials such as those provided by session credentials helps alleviate some of the potential drawbacks of using long-terms credentials as message authenticators.\",\n \"One example of how a customer may obtain short-term session credentials that may be used as message authenticators is the customer may first generate a request for a session, and sign the request with a long-term secret key such as, for example, an account key.\",\n \"The request may then be sent to a security service which verifies the request signature.\",\n \"If the verification is successful, the security service can then generate a set of session data (also referred to herein as “short-term credential data”) that includes a session key and encrypt the short-term credential data to produce a short-term credential such as a session credential (also referred to herein as a “session token”).\",\n \"The session token is encrypted with a session encryption key that is available only to the computing resource service provider and provided to the customer.\",\n \"The encryption of the session token prevents the customer from accessing the session data in the session token.\",\n \"The customer is also provided with a session key which is cryptographically related to the session key in the session data.\",\n \"When the customer sends a message using the session token, the session token is sent with the message and digitally signed with the session key sent to the customer.\",\n \"The computing resource service provider then extracts the session key from the session token using the secret encryption key and verifies the digital signature of the message using the extracted session key.\",\n \"If the digital signature is verified, the message is processed.\",\n \"Using short-term credentials provided by session tokens, the customer can sign messages and have them authenticated without compromising long-term credentials.\",\n \"The long-term credentials (e.g., a password, a private key, or a certificate) are used to generate the request for the session token and the session token is only valid for a determined period of time.\",\n \"One example of how a session can be used by a customer is, a customer can request the session token using the username and password of the customer (i.e., the long-term credential) and can also request that the session be active for a certain time period (e.g., 36 hours).\",\n \"During the 36-hour period, the customer can generate messages and requests for resources using the session token and signed by the session key.\",\n \"Each request can be verified by the computing resource service provider without compromising the long-term key so, for example, the customer could generate thousands or millions of messages during the 36-hour period, and still have his or her username and password used only once.\",\n \"If, due to some circumstances, the short-term credentials in the session become compromised, the session token can be invalidated quickly and the customer can simply request a new session token.\",\n \"In an example of how session tokens can be used as message authenticators, the copy of the session key in the session data that is encrypted in the session token may be the same as the copy of the session key that is returned to the customer.\",\n \"This type of symmetric key session token maintains the security of short-term credentials with the session encryption key.\",\n \"While the customer has access to the session key that is sent from the computing resource service provider, the customer does not have access to the session key in the session token.\",\n \"The session key that the customer has access to can be used to digitally sign messages and requests for resources, but such messages and requests will not be verified if the session key in the session token does not match the digital signature.\",\n \"Thus, the session key cannot be used to digitally sign messages without the session token and the session token cannot be used without the signature of the session key.\",\n \"In another example of how session tokens can be used as message authenticators, the copy of the session key in the session data that is encrypted in the session token may one of a pair of session keys that form a public key encryption pair where the private key is maintained as a secret and the public key is used to verify the private key.\",\n \"In this type of asymmetric key session token, the session key in the session data is a public key and the session key that is provided to the customer is a corresponding private key.\",\n \"The security of the private key is maintained by the customer and the security of the public key is maintained within the session token with a session encryption key.\",\n \"As with a symmetric key session token, the session key that the customer has access to can be used to digitally sign messages and requests for resources, but such messages and requests will not be verified if the session key in the session token does not match the digital signature.\",\n \"In the case of asymmetric key session tokens, the public key in the session token can be used to verify the digital signature generated by the private key.\",\n \"In a first example of an asymmetric session token, the private key and the public key can be generated by the computing resource service provider and sent to the customer.\",\n \"In a second example of an asymmetric session token, the customer can maintain the private key for signing requests and provide the public key to the computing resource service provider for inclusion in the session token.\",\n \"Symmetric key session tokens and asymmetric key session tokens can be used to provide short-term credentials for users and/or customers in several different ways.\",\n \"In a first example, a customer or user in one zone (or region) of a computing resource service provider can obtain short-term credentials in that region, and can then use those region-specific short-term credentials to authenticate message and/or generate resource requests in other regions.\",\n \"Because the other regions may not have access to the session encryption keys of the original region, they may not normally be able to extract the session key from the session token to verify the digital signature.\",\n \"However, by sending a request to the original region to extract the session key from the session token, the message or request can be authenticated by the original region and then the short-term credentials used in the other regions.\",\n \"Similarly, customers can use session tokens across regions to authenticate access to resources in defined roles.\",\n \"For example, a user in a first region may create a set of permissions for access to resources in a second region such as, for example, the ability to access a particular database.\",\n \"This set of permissions defines a role for access to those resources and other users can assume that role to access the resources.\",\n \"Symmetric and asymmetric session tokens can be used across regions to access the role by providing an identifier associated with the role to the other users in other regions (i.e., regions different than where the resources are located).\",\n \"When the other users use the identifier associated with the role to assume the role, a symmetric or asymmetric session token can be generated, providing short-term credentials for the access.\",\n \"Such short-term credentials can also provide access to resources in untrusted regions such as, for example, external regions because the short-term credentials can all be both generated and verified in trusted regions, thereby protecting any sensitive information such as encryption keys from being accessed in the untrusted regions.\",\n \"Other aspects of symmetric and asymmetric session tokens can also be used to control access to customer credentials, to limit those credentials to certain regions, to personalize those credentials to customers, accounts, or roles, and/or to maintain those credentials, are also described in the present disclosure.\",\n \"For example, by encrypting a session token with a combination of encryption keys that are global, regional, and/or account-specific, only a customer associated with that account or in that region may be able to use that session token.\",\n \"Similarly, by encrypting a session token with a combination of encryption keys, the session tokens (and thus, the short-term credentials) may be quickly invalidated by discarding one of the encryption keys while keeping the others that may still be valid and/or usable.\",\n \"In the preceding and following description, various techniques are described.\",\n \"For purposes of explanation, specific configurations and details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of possible ways of implementing the techniques.\",\n \"However, it will also be apparent that the techniques described below may be practiced in different configurations without the specific details.\",\n \"Furthermore, well-known features may be omitted or simplified to avoid obscuring the techniques being described.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an example environment 100 where session credentials are generated in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A customer 102 of a computing resource service provider 104 may generate a session request 108 (also referred to herein as a “request for a session”) from a security service that may be used as a short-term credential (also referred to as a “session token”) and which may be used to authenticate messages from the customer 102 to the computing resource service provider 104 and which may also be used to generate requests for resources from the computing resource service provider 104.In some embodiments, the computing resource service provider 104 may provide a distributed, virtualized, and/or datacenter environment within which one or more applications, processes, services, virtual machines, and/or other such computer system entities may be executed.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the customer 102 may be a person, or may be a process running on one or more remote computer systems, or may be some other computer system entity, user, or process.\",\n \"The commands to connect to the computer system instance may originate from an outside computer system and/or server, or may originate from an entity, user, or process on a remote network location, or may originate from an entity, user, or process within the computing resource service provider 104.The command to connect to the computing resource service provider 104 may be generated by a computer system client device associated with the customer 102, or may originate as a result of an automatic process, or may originate as a result of a combination of these and/or other such origin entities.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the command or commands to initiate the connection to the computing resource service provider 104 may be sent to the one or more services associated with and/or provided by the computing resource service provider 104, without the intervention of the customer 102.The commands to initiate the connection to the services may originate from the same origin as the commands to connect to the computing resource service provider 104, or may originate from another computer system and/or server, or may originate from a different entity, user, or process on the same or a different remote network location, or may originate from a different entity, user, or process within the computing resource service provider 104, or may originate from a different user of a computer system client device, or may originate as a result of a combination of these and/or other such same and/or different entities.\",\n \"The customer 102 may request connection to the computing resource service provider 104 via one or more connections and, in some embodiments, via one or more networks and/or entities associated therewith, such as servers connected to the network, either directly or indirectly.\",\n \"The computer system client device that may request access to the services may include any device that is capable of connecting with a computer system via a network, including at least servers, laptops, mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets, other smart devices such as smart watches, smart televisions, set-top boxes, video game consoles and other such network-enabled smart devices, distributed computer systems and components thereof, abstracted components such as guest computer systems or virtual machines, and/or other types of computing devices and/or components.\",\n \"The network may include, for example, a local network, an internal network, a public network such as the Internet, or other networks such as those listed or described below.\",\n \"The network may also operate in accordance with various protocols such as those listed or described below.\",\n \"The computing resource service provider 104 may provide access to one or more host machines, as well as provide access to one or more virtual machine (VM) instances as may be operating thereon.\",\n \"The services provided by the computing resource service provider 104 may also be implemented as and/or may utilize one or more VM instances as may be operating on the host machines.\",\n \"For example, the computing resource service provider 104 may provide a variety of services to the customer 102 and the customer 102 may communicate with the computing resource service provider 104 via an interface such as a web services interface or any other type of interface.\",\n \"While the example environment illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1 shows a single connection or interface used to generate the session request 108 from the computing resource service provider 104, each of the services provided by the computing resource service provider 104 may have its own interface and, generally, subsets of the services may have corresponding interfaces in addition to or as an alternative to the single interface.\",\n \"The computing resource service provider 104 may provide various services to its users or customers (e.g., the customer 102).\",\n \"The services provided by the computing resource service provider 104 may include, but may not be limited to, virtual computer system services, block-level data storage services, cryptography services, on-demand data storage services, notification services, authentication services, policy management services, security services, or other services.\",\n \"Not all embodiments described may include all of these services, and additional services may be provided in addition to or as an alternative to the services explicitly described.\",\n \"As described above, each of the services may include one or more web service interfaces that enable the customer 102 to submit appropriately configured API requests to the various services through web service requests.\",\n \"In addition, each of the services may include one or more service interfaces that enable the services to access each other (e.g., to enable a virtual machine instance provided by the virtual computer system service to request credentials from a security service such as the security service 106).\",\n \"The security service 106 may be one of a plurality of services provided by the computing resource service provider 104 and may be configured to facilitate secure access to the services and/or other resources associated with the computing resource service provider 104.For example, the security service 106 may be configured to control access to resources of the computing resource service provider 104, may be configured to authenticate messages sent to the computing resource service provider 104, may be configured to verify credentials of customers such as the customer 102, may be configured to provide secure storage for credentials, may be configured to generate credentials, and may be configured to perform other security related operations associated with the computing resource service provider 104.For example, the security service 106 may generate cryptographic keys such as those described herein, may receive cryptographic keys from customers and/or other services, may maintain cryptographic keys as a service, and/or may use such cryptographic keys to validate requests and digital signatures of requests and messages.\",\n \"It should be noted that, as used herein, a “cryptographic key” may refer to a symmetric key, an asymmetric key, or some other authentication credential (e.g., a username and password or a certificate) and may be referred to simply as a “key.” In an embodiment, a security service maintains cryptographic keys as a secret within the security service by, for example, storing the key in a hardware security module (“HSM”).\",\n \"In another embodiment, a security service maintains cryptographic keys as a secret within the security service by being configured to not expose the key (e.g., because the security service is programmed to not provide the keys).\",\n \"In another embodiment, a security service maintains cryptographic keys as a secret within the security service by, for example, deleting the keys in the event of an intrusion.\",\n \"The session request 108 may be digitally signed 134 by the customer so that the security service 106 may validate the session request 110.In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1, the session request 108 is digitally signed 134 with a customer long-term key 132 associated with the customer 102.A customer long-term key 132 is a secure credential with a long-term period of validity (e.g., three months, six months, or more) that is uniquely associated with the customer 102.In another embodiment, the session request 108 is digitally signed 134 with a username and password of an account associated with the customer 102.In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 134 with a short-term credential such as those described herein (i.e., a session request 108 may be digitally signed 134 by a session token that may be specific to such requests).\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed with a public key cryptography key pair that includes a public long-term key and a private long-term key.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 134 by a certificate such as, for example, an X.509 certificate, or some other public or identify certificate.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 134 by a combination of such cryptographic methods.\",\n \"As may be contemplated, the examples of cryptographic methods that may be used to digitally sign the session request described herein are illustrative examples and other such cryptographic methods that may be used to digitally sign the session request may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"When the security service 106 receives the session request 108 that is digitally signed 134 by, for example, the customer long-term key 132, the security service may first validate the request 110.Operations to validate the request 110 may include, but may not be limited to validating the identity of the customer 102, validating that the customer 102 is authorized to generate the session request 108, validating that the customer account used to generate the request is authorized to generate the session request 108, and/or validating that the request came from a computing device associated with the customer 102 that is authorized to generate the session request 108.In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1, the security service 106 validates the request by verifying that the session request 108 is digitally signed 134 by the customer long-term key 132 and that the customer long-term key 136 is being used by the customer 102 associated with the key.\",\n \"Although not illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1, in the event that the session request 108 is not valid (i.e., that one or more of the operations to validate the request 110 yield a result indicating the request is not valid), an error may be generated and/or one or more notifications may be sent to the customer, an administrator, or some other such entity.\",\n \"If the session Request 108 is valid 112, the security service 106 may then process 114 the request.\",\n \"The security service 106 may first process 114 the request by obtaining a session key 116 and a session encryption key 120.The session key 116 may be any cryptographic key, certificate, or credential.\",\n \"The session key 116 may be generated by the security service 106, may be provided by another service of the computing resource service provider 104, or may be provided by the customer 102.The session encryption key 120 may also be any cryptographic key, certificate, or credential and may be generated by the security service 106 or may be provided by another service by the computing resource service provider 104.In an embodiment, the session key 116 and/or the session encryption key 120 are generated by dedicated hardware and/or software within the computing resource service provider 104 environment configured to generate such keys.\",\n \"The security service 106 may then store the session key 116 in a set of session data 124 and may encrypt 118 the session data 124 using the session encryption key 120 to generate 122 a session token 126.Each of these operations is described in more detail below, as is the set of session data 124.The security service 106 may then provide 130 the session token 126 to the customer 102.In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1, because the session token 126 is encrypted using the session encryption key 120, the customer cannot access the session data 124 and may not otherwise alter the session data 124, including the session key 116 stored in the session data 124.Additionally, the security service 106 may provide 128 the session key 116 to the customer 102 so that the customer 102 can use the session key 116 to digitally sign messages and/or requests that are combined with the session token 126 as described herein.\",\n \"The examples described below illustrate how the short-term credentials in the session token 126 are combined with the digital signature of the session key 116 to verify requests and/or authenticate messages.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an example environment 200 where requests are validated using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A customer 202 may use the session token described above to generate a signed request 204.The signed request 204, which includes the session token, is signed by the session key 218.The signed request is illustrated herein with a “lock” symbol in a circle, which represents the session token and the “pen and line” symbol in the square, which represents the digital signature.\",\n \"As discussed herein, numerous variations of the cryptographic operations described herein utilize symmetric and/or asymmetric cryptographic primitives.\",\n \"Symmetric key algorithms may include various schemes for performing cryptographic operations on data including block ciphers, stream ciphers and digital signature schemes.\",\n \"Example symmetric key algorithms include the advanced encryption standard (AES), the data encryption standard (DES), triple DES (3DES), Serpent, Twofish, blowfish, CAST5, RC4, and the international data encryption algorithm (IDEA).\",\n \"Symmetric key algorithms may also include those used to generate output of one way functions and include algorithms that utilize hash-based message authentication codes (HMACs), message authentication codes (MACs) in general, PBKDF2 and Bcrypt.\",\n \"Asymmetric key algorithms may also include various schemes for performing cryptographic operations on data.\",\n \"Example algorithms include those that utilize the Diffie-Hellman key exchange protocol, the digital signature standard (DSS), the digital signature algorithm, the ElGamal algorithm, various elliptic curve algorithms, password-authenticated key agreement techniques, the pallier cryptosystem, the RSA encryption algorithm (PKCS#1), the Cramer-Shoup cryptosystem, the YAK authenticated key agreement protocol, the NTRUEncrypt cryptosystem, the McEliece cryptosystem, and others.\",\n \"Elliptic curve cryptography algorithms include the elliptic curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) key agreement scheme, the Elliptic Curve Integrated Encryption Scheme (ECIES), the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA), the ECMQV key agreement scheme, and the ECQV implicit certificate scheme.\",\n \"Other algorithms and combinations of algorithms for symmetric and/or asymmetric cryptographic primitives are considered as being within the scope of the present disclosure and the above is not intended to be an exhaustive list.\",\n \"It should be noted that that the term “digital signature” includes any information usable to cryptographically verify authenticity of a message including information generated using an RSA-based digital scheme (such as RSA-PSS), the digital signature algorithm (DSA) and the elliptic curve digital signature algorithm, the ElGamal signature scheme, the Schnorr signature scheme, the Pointcheval-Stern signature algorithm, the Rabin signature algorithm, pairing-based digital signature schemes (such as the Boneh-Lynn-Schacham signature scheme), undeniable digital signature schemes, and others.\",\n \"Further, message authentication codes (such as hash-based message authentication codes (HMACs), keyed cryptographic hash functions, and other types of information may also be used as digital signatures.\",\n \"As with the above, other algorithms and combinations of algorithms used to provide digital signatures are also considered as being within the scope of the present disclosure and the above is not intended to be an exhaustive list.\",\n \"In various embodiments, data objects such as session tokens may be cryptographically verifiable.\",\n \"In one example, cryptographically verifiable data objects are created to be cryptographically verifiable by the system to which the data object is to be provided or another system that operates in conjunction with the system to which the data object is to be provided.\",\n \"For example, the data object may be encrypted so as to be decryptable by the system that will cryptographically verify the data object, where the ability to decrypt the data object serves as cryptographic verification of the data object.\",\n \"As another example, the data object may be digitally signed (thereby producing a digital signature of the data object) such that the digital signature is verifiable by the system that will cryptographically verify the data object.\",\n \"In other examples, both encryption and digital signatures are used for cryptographic verifiability and/or security.\",\n \"In such examples, the key used to encrypt and/or digitally sign the data object may vary in accordance with various embodiments and the same key is not necessarily used for both encryption and digital signing, where applicable.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a key used to encrypt the data object is a public key of a public/private key pair where the private key of the key pair is maintained securely by the system to which the data object is to be provided, thereby enabling the system to decrypt the data object using the private key of the key pair.\",\n \"Using the public key to encrypt the data object may include generating a symmetric key, using the symmetric key to encrypt the data object, and encrypting the symmetric key using the public key, where the encrypted symmetric key is provided to a system with the encrypted data object to enable the system to use the corresponding private key to decrypt the symmetric key and use the decrypted symmetric key to decrypt the data object.\",\n \"Further, in some embodiments, the data object is digitally signed using a private key of a public/private key pair corresponding to the computer system that encrypts and/or digitally signs the data object (e.g., a user device).\",\n \"For example, an application may be provisioned with the private key and the data object may include a certificate for the private key for use by a system for verification of the digital signature of the data object.\",\n \"Other variations, including variations where a symmetric key shared between the user computer and the system that cryptographically verifies the data object can be used to encrypt and/or digitally sign the data object.\",\n \"The signed request 204 may be received by a security service 220, which may be the same as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1.The security service 220 may first verify the session token 206 by extracting the session key 210 from the session token 208 that is included in the signed request 204.The security service 220 may extract the session key 210 from the session token 208 by decrypting the session token using the session encryption key.\",\n \"The session encryption key, which may be the same as the session encryption key 120 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1, may be maintained as a secret by the security service 220 using one or more of the methods described herein.\",\n \"It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified or made clear from context, “decrypting the session token using the session encryption key” includes decrypting the session token using the same session encryption key that was used to encrypt the session token (i.e., using a symmetric session encryption key), decrypting the session token using a decryption key that corresponds to the session encryption key (i.e., using an asymmetric session encryption key), decrypting the session token using a combination of keys that were used to encrypt the session token (i.e., using multiple session encryption keys), or a combination of these and/or other such cryptographic operations usable to extract the session key from the session token.\",\n \"The security service 220 may then verify 212 the signature 214 of the signed request 204 by using the extracted session key 216 obtained by extracting the session key 210 from the session token 208 that is included in the signed request 204 by obtaining the session key 210 from the extracted session data.\",\n \"The security service 220 may validate the signature 222 of the signed request by, for example, using the extracted session key 216 to perform a cryptographic operation to validate the digital signature generated by the session key 218.The security service 220 may also validate the signature 222 by using the session key 218 to perform an encryption operation on a data item and then using the extracted session key 216 to perform a corresponding decryption operation on the encrypted data item.\",\n \"The security service 220 may also validate the signature 222 by comparing the session key 218 to the extracted session key 216.Finally, if the security service 220 is able to verify the session token 206 and is able to verify 212 the signature 214, the security service may process the request 224 by, for example, providing resources associated with the request and/or forwarding the request to another service of the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the signed request 204 includes a request for resources from a computing resource service provider such as the computing resource service provider 104 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1.The request for resources may include an identifier for the resource and/or an identifier for the customer 202.The request for resources may also include a set of policies or permissions for access to the resources or those policies or permissions may be determined after the request for resource is received by the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"For example, the request for resources may include a request, by the customer 202, to access a data store provided by a data storage service of the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"The request for resources may further specify that the customer desires read-write access to the data store provided by the data storage service of the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"Because having read-write access to a data store can have potentially harmful effects, verifying the request using the short-term credentials provided by the session token can help ensure that the customer 202 is authorized to access such resources.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the signed request 204 includes a message that is received by the computing resource service provider such as the computing resource service provider 104 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and that must be authenticated by the security service 220 before being processed by the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"The message may include an identifier for the customer 202, may include a destination for the message, and may include the content of the message.\",\n \"For example, the message may be a message, from the customer 202, to restart one or more virtual machine instances associated with the customer 202.Because restarting virtual machine instances can have harmful effects, authenticating the message using the short-term credentials provided by the session token can help ensure that the customer 202 is authorized to restart the virtual machine instances.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the operations to verify the session token 206 and to verify 212 the signature 214 before processing the request 224 (or authorizing the message) are performed by the security service 220 prior to sending the request or the message to a different service of the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the operations to verify the session token 206 and to verify 212 the signature 214 are performed by the security service 220 after the different service of the computing resource service provider has received the request or the message.\",\n \"That is, the different service of the computing resource service provider receives the request or message and forwards the request or message to the security service 220 for verification of the session token and signature.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the different service may be configured to verify the session token 206 and/or to verify 212 the signature 214 by, for example, obtaining the session encryption key from the security service.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an example diagram 300 showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"The first part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 shows how a session key and a session encryption key are used to produce the session token as described above.\",\n \"The operations illustrated in the first part of the example diagram 300 may be performed by a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1.The session key 302 is added to the unencrypted session data 304.The unencrypted session data (also referred to herein more simply as the “session data”) may contain additional data and/or metadata associated with the session including, but not limited to, identifiers associated with users (or customers), identifiers associated with user (or customer) accounts, identifiers associated with resources, zones of operation (also referred to herein as “regions”) of the computing resource service provider where the session may be used, policies associated with the session, permissions associated with the session, roles associated with the session, keys used to generate the session token, expiration conditions (e.g., dates or times) associated with the session, or other such data and/or metadata associated with the session.\",\n \"The session data 304 may be encrypted using the session encryption key 306 as described herein to produce the session token 308.Although not illustrated in the first part of the example diagram 300, the session encryption key may also be preserved as a secret within the security service, stored in a session encryption keychain, or otherwise maintained for later use in the verification operations.\",\n \"It should be noted that the session key 302 and the session encryption key 306 are different keys.\",\n \"The session key 302 is stored in the session data 304 and is, in some embodiments, provided to the customer.\",\n \"The session encryption key 306 is used to encrypt the session data 304 to produce the session token 308 and is maintained as a secret (i.e., is not provided to the customer).\",\n \"The second part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 shows how some parts of the data sent to the customer 310 in response to the request for the session token are accessible to the customer 310, while some parts of the data sent to the customer 310 in response to the request for the session token are not accessible to the customer 310.In the example illustrated in the second part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3, the session token 314 is not accessible to the customer 310 as illustrated by the “x-shaped mark” next to the session token 314.The session token 314 may be usable by the customer 310 to generate signed requests as described above, but the customer 310 may not be able to extract the session data 304 to produce extracted session data from the session token because the customer 310 may not have access to the session encryption key 306 (or a corresponding session decryption key).\",\n \"Conversely, in the example illustrated in the second part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3, the session key 312 is accessible to the customer 310 as illustrated by the “check mark” next to the session key 312.The session key 312 may be usable by the customer 310 to digitally sign requests for resources as described above and/or to digitally sign messages also as described above.\",\n \"As used herein, the terms “digital signature” and “digitally signing” refer to the process of performing one or more mathematical operations (i.e., cryptographic operations) to provide a means for authenticating the request and/or the message.\",\n \"If the digital signature is valid (i.e., it is verified), a service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 can verify that the request or message was generated by the customer, that the customer cannot later repudiate the message (i.e., cannot later deny that the customer sent the message), and that the message was not tampered with in transit.\",\n \"A session key can be used to digitally sign a request or message by using a signing algorithm associated with a digital signature scheme combined with the session key.\",\n \"The digital signature can then be verified using a corresponding signature verification algorithm with the session key (or with a corresponding key).\",\n \"The third part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 shows how the signed request is generated using the session token and signed with the session key.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in the third part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3, the session token 316 is combined with a request 318, and digitally signed 322 using the session key 320.The process to digitally sign the request using the session key 320 may include encrypting the request 318 using the session key 320 based on the signing algorithm associated with the digital signature scheme.\",\n \"The process to digitally sign a message using the session key 320 may also include encrypting the message using the session key 320 based on the signing algorithm associated with the digital signature scheme.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the signing algorithm used to sign messages is different than the signing algorithm used to sign requests such as the request 318.FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an example diagram 400 showing decryption operations associated with using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A signed request 402 may be received and the session token 404 used to generate the request may be extracted from the signed request 402.The session data 408 may then be extracted from the session token by using the session encryption key 406.In an embodiment, the session encryption key 406 is the same key that was used to encrypt the session token as described above.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session encryption key 406 is a key corresponding to the key that was used to encrypt the session token but that is different than the key that was used to encrypt the session token.\",\n \"For example, the session encryption key 406 and the key that was used to encrypt the session token may be two keys of a public key cryptography key pair, where one of the keys is a public key of the public key cryptography key pair and the other key is a private key of the public key cryptography key pair.\",\n \"In such an example, the public key of the public key cryptography key pair may be generated to match the private key of the public key cryptography key pair by, for example, performing one or more key generation operations on the private key to produce the public key.\",\n \"After the session data 408 is extracted from the session token by using the session encryption key 406, the session key 412 from the session data 408 extracted from the session token 404 may be used to validate 414 the digital signature 410 as described above.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4, the session key 412 (also referred to herein as the “extracted session key”) may be used to validate 414 the digital signature 410 by using the session key 412 in conjunction with a digital signature verification algorithm associated with the digital signature scheme used to digitally sign the signed request 402 (e.g., Diffie-Hellman, RSA cryptography, Hash trees, Rabin signatures, GMR signatures, elliptic curve cryptography, or some other digital signature scheme).\",\n \"As may be contemplated, the digital signature schemes described herein are merely illustrative examples and other such digital signature schemes may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an example process 500 for validating requests using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5.The security service may first receive a request for a session 502 (also referred to herein as receiving a request for a “session token”).\",\n \"In an embodiment, the request for a session token is signed with a digital signature using a credential associated with the requester such as, for example, the customer long-term key described above.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the request may first be validated 504 by verifying the credential to ensure that the request for the session was properly generated, that it was generated by the customer, and/or that it was not tampered with during transmission.\",\n \"A request that is not valid 506 may cause the security service to generate an error 508 in response to the invalid request.\",\n \"The security service may generate an error 508 and send a report of the error to the customer, or to an administrative account associated with the customer, or to a computing device associated with the customer, or to a message log system or service associated with the customer.\",\n \"The security service may also communicate the error to the customer using an email, a short message service (“SMS”) message, a console message, an application programming interface (“API”) call (also referred to herein as an application programming interface request), a webservice call, a library call, or some other such communication modality.\",\n \"Similarly, the security service may generate an error 508 and report the error to a user, account, device, or message log service associated with the security service and/or with the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"For example, a report of the error may be sent to an access monitoring service that monitors attempted access to resources associated with the computing resource service provider in order to identify potential malicious attacks.\",\n \"As may be contemplated, the actions taken by the security service in response to a request that is not valid described herein are illustrative examples and other such responses to requests that are not valid may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"If the request for a session token is valid because, for example, the credentials associated with the request are verified, the security service may then obtain 510 a session key for the session.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the session key is obtained by generating the session key using a key generation algorithm associated with the encryption scheme for the session keys.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session key is obtained by selecting the session key from a plurality of pre-generated session keys.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session key is received from the requester (e.g., the customer) associated with the request for the session token.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the session key may be included with the request for the session token or the session key may be received by the security service in response to a request sent to the customer.\",\n \"After obtaining the session key, the security service may then store 512 the session key in the session data as described above.\",\n \"The security service may then obtain 514 a session encryption key usable to encrypt the session data to produce the session token.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the session encryption key is obtained by generating the session encryption key using a key generation algorithm associated with the encryption scheme for the session encryption keys.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the encryption scheme for the session encryption keys may be different from the encryption scheme for the session keys.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session encryption key is obtained by selecting the session encryption key from a plurality of pre-generated session encryption keys.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session encryption key is generated from a combination of personal and global keys as described below.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the session encryption key is a designated key of a plurality of keys maintained by the security service in a session encryption keychain.\",\n \"For example, a plurality of session encryption keys may be maintained by the security service in a session keychain with a corresponding time interval.\",\n \"Periodically (e.g., each hour) a new session encryption key may be generated and stored in the session encryption keychain and an oldest session encryption key (i.e., the key that was generated the longest time ago) may be deleted, invalidated, or otherwise removed from use.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the newest key may be designated for use as the session encryption key (i.e., may be the only key used to encrypt the session data to generate the session token) while the other keys may be used to decrypt the session token to extract the session data.\",\n \"After obtaining the session encryption key, the security service may then use the session encryption key to encrypt 516 the session data to generate the session token as described above.\",\n \"The security service may then verify 518 the session token by performing one or more cryptographic operations on the session token (e.g., the security service may use the session encryption key and/or a corresponding key to decrypt the session token and compare the results to the session data).\",\n \"If the security service is not able to verify 518 the session token, the security service may generate 508 an error as described above.\",\n \"If the security service is able to verify 518 the session token, the security service may provide 520 the session token and the session key to the requester.\",\n \"In an embodiment where the requester has provided the session key, the security service may provide 520 only the session token to the requester.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an example process 600 for using a session token to generate resource requests using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6.The security service may first receive 602 a request for resources or a message as described above.\",\n \"The request for resources or the message may be digitally signed by a session key and may also be generated using a session token, also as described above.\",\n \"Next, the security service may extract 604 the session key from the session token used to generate the session token and may validate 606 the digital signature using the extracted session key.\",\n \"If the signature is valid 608 (i.e., if the request or the message is authenticated), the security service may next process 610 the request or the message by, for example, providing access to the resources, processing the message, or performing some other action.\",\n \"If the signature is not valid 608 (i.e., if the request or the message is not authenticated) the security service may generate 612 an error as described above.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an environment 700 where session credentials are generated with asymmetric keys using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A customer 702 of a computing resource service provider 704 may generate a session request 708 from a security service that may be used as a short-term credential and which may be used to authenticate messages from the customer 702 to the computing resource service provider 704 and which may also be used to generate requests for resources from the computing resource service provider 704.The customer 702, the computing resource service provider 704, and the security service 706 may be the same as the customer 102, the computing resource service provider 104, and the security service 106 described above in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1.The session request 708 may be digitally signed 734 by the customer so that the security service 706 may validate 710 the session request.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7, the session request 708 is digitally signed 734 with a customer long-term key 732 associated with the customer 702.As described above, a customer long-term key 732 is a secure credential with a long-term period of validity (e.g., three months, six months, or more) that is uniquely associated with the customer 702.In another embodiment, the session request 708 is digitally signed 734 with a username and password of an account associated with the customer 702.In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 734 with a short-term credential such as those described herein (i.e., a session request 708 may be digitally signed 734 by a session token that may be specific to such requests).\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 734 by a certificate such as, for example, an X.509 certificate, or some other public or identify certificate.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 734 by a combination of such cryptographic methods.\",\n \"As may be contemplated, the examples of cryptographic methods that may be used to digitally sign the session request described herein are illustrative examples and other such cryptographic methods that may be used to digitally sign the session request may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"When the security service 706 receives the session request 708 that is digitally signed 734 by, for example, the customer long-term key 732, the security service may first validate 710 the session request.\",\n \"Operations to validate 710 the session request may include, but may not be limited to validating the identity of the customer 702, validating that the customer 702 is authorized to generate the session request 708, validating that the customer account used to generate the request is authorized to generate the session request 708, and/or validating that the request came from a computing device associated with the customer 702 that is authorized to generate the session request 708.In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7, the security service 706 validates the request by verifying that the session request 708 is digitally signed 734 by the customer long-term key 732 and that the customer long-term key 736 is being used by the customer 702 associated with the key.\",\n \"Although not illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7, in the event that the session request 708 is not valid (i.e., that one or more of the operations to validate 710 the session request may yield a result indicating the request is not valid), an error may be generated and/or one or more notifications may be sent to the customer, an administrator, or some other such entity.\",\n \"If the session request 708 is valid 712, the security service 706 may then process 714 the request.\",\n \"The security service 706 may first process 714 the request by obtaining a session key pair 716 and a session encryption key 720.The session key pair 716 may be any cryptographic key, certificate, or credential with a public entity (e.g., a public key) and a private entity (e.g., a private key).\",\n \"The session key pair 716 may be generated by the security service 706 or may be provided by another service of the computing resource service provider 704.In embodiment, the public key portion of the session key pair 716 may be provided by the customer 702 while the private key portion of the session key pair 716 may be maintained as a secret by the customer 702.The session encryption key 720 may also be any cryptographic key, certificate, or credential and may be generated by the security service 706 or may be provided by another service by the computing resource service provider 704.In an embodiment, the session key pair 716 and/or the session encryption key 720 are generated by dedicated hardware and/or software within the computing resource service provider 704 environment configured to generate such keys.\",\n \"The security service 706 may then store 718 the public session key of the session key pair 716 in a set of session data 724 and may encrypt 722 the session data 724 using the session encryption key 720 to generate 722 a session token 726.The security service 706 may then provide 730 the session token 726 to the customer 702.In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7, because the session token 726 is encrypted using the session encryption key 720, the customer cannot access the session data 724 and may not otherwise alter the session data 724, including the public session key of the session key pair 716 stored in the session data 724.Additionally, the security service 706 may provide 728 the private session key of the session key pair 716 to the customer 702 so that the customer 702 can use the private session key of the session key pair 716 to digitally sign messages and/or requests that are combined with the session token 726 as described herein.\",\n \"In an embodiment where the customer provides the public session key to the security service and maintains the private session key as a secret, the security service does not provide 728 the private session key of the session key pair 716 to the customer 702.The examples described below illustrate how the short-term credentials in the session token 726 are combined with the digital signature of the private session key of the session key pair 716 to verify requests and/or authenticate messages.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates an environment 800 where requests are validated using session credentials with asymmetric keys using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A customer 802 may use the session token described above to generate a signed request 804.The signed request 804, which includes the session token, is signed by the private session key 818.The signed request is illustrated herein with a “lock” symbol in a circle, which represents the session token and the “pen and line” symbol in the square, which represents the digital signature.\",\n \"The signed request 804 may be received by a security service 820, which may be the same as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1.The security service 820 may first verify the session token 806 by extracting the public session key 810 from the session token 808 that is included in the signed request 804.The security service 820 may extract the public session key 810 from the session token 808 to produce an extracted public key by, for example, decrypting the session token using the session encryption key or a session decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key.\",\n \"The session encryption key, which may be the same as the session encryption key 120 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1, may be maintained as a secret by the security service 820 using one or more of the methods described herein.\",\n \"The security service 820 may then verify 812 the signature 814 of the signed request 804 by using the extracted public session key 816 obtained by extracting the public session key 810 from the session token 808 that is included in the signed request 804.The security service 820 may validate the signature 822 of the signed request by, for example, using the extracted public session key 816 to perform a cryptographic operation to validate the digital signature generated by the private session key 818.If the security service 820 is able to verify the session token 806 and is able to verify 812 the signature 814, the security service may process the request 824 by, for example, providing resources associated with the request and/or forwarding the request to another service of the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the operations to verify the session token 806 and to verify 812 the signature 814 before processing the request 824 (or authorizing the message) are performed by the security service 820 prior to sending the request or the message to a different service of the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the operations to verify the session token 806 and to verify 812 the signature 814 are performed by the security service 820 after the different service of the computing resource service provider has received the request or the message.\",\n \"That is, the different service of the computing resource service provider receives the request or message and forwards the request or message to the security service 820 for verification of the session token and signature.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the different service may be configured to verify the session token 806 and/or to verify 812 the signature 814 by, for example, obtaining the session encryption key from the security service.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 illustrates a diagram 900 showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials with asymmetric keys using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"The first part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9 shows how a public session key and a session encryption key are used to produce the session token as described above.\",\n \"The operations illustrated in the first part of the diagram 900 may be performed by a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 The public session key 902 is added to the unencrypted session data 904.The session data 904 may be encrypted using the session encryption key 906 as described herein to produce the session token 908.As described above, although not illustrated in the first part of the diagram 900, the session encryption key may also be preserved as a secret within the security service, stored in a session encryption keychain, or otherwise maintained for later use in the verification operations.\",\n \"It should be noted that the public session key 902 and the session encryption key 906 are different keys.\",\n \"The public session key 902 is stored in the session data 904 and is accessible by the customer.\",\n \"The session encryption key 906 is used to encrypt the session data 904 to produce the session token 908 and is maintained as a secret (i.e., is not accessible by the customer).\",\n \"The second part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9 shows how some parts of the data sent to the customer 910 in response to the request for the session token are accessible to the customer 910, while some parts of the data sent to the customer 910 in response to the request for the session token are not accessible to the customer 910.In the example illustrated in the second part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9, the session token 914 is not accessible to the customer 910 as illustrated by the “x-shaped mark” next to the session token 914.The session token 914 may be usable by the customer 910 to generate signed requests as described above, but the customer 910 may not be able to extract the session data 904 from the session token because the customer 910 may not have access to the session encryption key 906 (or a corresponding session decryption key).\",\n \"Conversely, in the example illustrated in the second part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9, the private session key 912 is accessible to the customer 910 as illustrated by the “check mark” next to the private session key 912.As described above, the private session key may be provided by the customer in some embodiments.\",\n \"The private session key 912 may be usable by the customer 910 to digitally sign requests for resources as described above and/or to digitally sign messages also as described above.\",\n \"The third part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9 shows how the signed request is generated using the session token and signed with the private session key.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in the third part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9, the session token 916 is combined with a request 918, and digitally signed 922 using the private session key 920.The process to digitally sign the request using the private session key 920 may include encrypting the request 918 using the private session key 920 based on the signing algorithm associated with the digital signature scheme.\",\n \"The process to digitally sign a message using the private session key 920 may also include encrypting the message using the private session key 920 based on the signing algorithm associated with the digital signature scheme.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the signing algorithm used to sign messages is different than the signing algorithm used to sign requests such as the request 918.FIG.\",\n \"10 illustrates a process 1000 for validating requests using session credentials with asymmetric keys using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"10.The security service may first receive a request for a session 1002 (also referred to herein as receiving a request for a “session token”).\",\n \"In an embodiment, the request for a session token is signed with a digital signature using a credential associated with the requester such as, for example, the customer long-term key described above.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the request may first be validated 1004 by verifying the credential to ensure that the request for the session was properly generated, that it was generated by the customer, and/or that it was not tampered with during transmission.\",\n \"A request that is not valid 1006 may cause the security service to generate an error 1008 in response to the invalid request as described above.\",\n \"If the request for a session token is valid because, for example, the credentials associated with the request are verified, the security service may then obtain 1010 a pair of session keys for the session.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the pair of session keys is obtained by generating the session keys using a key generation algorithm associated with the encryption scheme for the session keys.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the private session key may be generated first and the public session key generated based at least in part on the private session key.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session keys are obtained by selecting one or both of the session keys from a plurality of pre-generated session keys.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the private and/or the public session keys are received from the requester (e.g., the customer) associated with the request for the session token.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the session keys may be included with the request for the session token or the session keys may be received by the security service in response to a request sent to the customer.\",\n \"After obtaining the session keys, the security service may then store 1012 the public session key in the session data as described above.\",\n \"The security service may then obtain 1014 a session encryption key usable to encrypt the session data to produce the session token.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the session encryption key is obtained by generating the session encryption key using a key generation algorithm associated with the encryption scheme for the session encryption keys.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the encryption scheme for the session encryption keys may be different from the encryption scheme for the session keys.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session encryption key is obtained by selecting the session encryption key from a plurality of pre-generated session encryption keys.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session encryption key is generated from a combination of personal and global keys as described below.\",\n \"After obtaining the session encryption key, the security service may then use the session encryption key to encrypt 1016 the session data to generate the session token as described above.\",\n \"The security service may also verify 1018 the session token by performing one or more cryptographic operations on the session token (e.g., the security service may use the session encryption key and/or a corresponding key to decrypt the session token and compare the results to the session data).\",\n \"If the security service is not able to verify 1018 the session token, the security service may generate 1008 an error as described above.\",\n \"If the security service is able to verify 1018 the session token, the security service may provide 1020 the session token and the private session key to the requester.\",\n \"In an embodiment where the requester has provided the private session key, the security service may provide 1020 only the session token to the requester.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11 illustrates an example environment 1100 where a session associated with a region is retrieved using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"As used herein, a “region” is a logical and/or physical partitioning of the resources provided by a computing resource service provider.\",\n \"As described above, a computing resource service provider may host a variety of services and provide a variety of resources in multiple locations.\",\n \"Each of these locations may include one or more regions (also referred to herein as “zones”), which are logical and/or physical partitions of the services and/or resources.\",\n \"For example, a first datacenter in a first location (a physical or geographical location) may encompass a single region, which may be identified by that datacenter and/or that location.\",\n \"Conversely, a second datacenter in a second location may encompass multiple logical regions.\",\n \"Additionally, a region may include multiple physical locations such as, for example, a region identified by a collection of datacenters in one or more countries (e.g., “Western Europe”).\",\n \"Regions provide additional data security for customers by limiting access to resources to users or accounts within that region.\",\n \"For example, a customer may have multiple customer accounts and may have data and/or resources located in multiple regions.\",\n \"Such a customer may have a default policy that limits access to the resources in a first region to accounts that are authorized in that first region and that limits access to the resources in a second region to accounts that are authorized in that second region.\",\n \"Thus, a first region user account would not have access to second region resources and a second region user account would not have access to first region resources.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"11, a customer 1102 uses a customer credential (e.g., a long-term key) to sign a session request 1104 as described above.\",\n \"The customer 1102 may issue a request from an account authorized in the first region (referred to herein as a “first region account”) to a first region security service 1106 (i.e., a security service in that first region) that has authorization credentials usable to validate the account in the first region.\",\n \"It should be noted that an account that is not authorized in a particular region (e.g., the first region) may not generally be used to access services and/or resources in that region because there is no method to validate the customer credentials in that first region in order to determine whether the account is authorized to access those services and/or resources.\",\n \"Services generally have a policy to deny unknown users and, when accounts are regional, those accounts are unknown in regions where they are not authorized.\",\n \"It should also be noted that an account may be authorized in multiple regions by propagating authorization credentials usable to authorize the account to those multiple regions.\",\n \"The first region security service 1106 may validate 1108 the session request 1104 by validating the digital signature of the session request as described above.\",\n \"The first region security service 1106 may also validate 1110 that the customer 1102 is authorized for the first region, also as described above.\",\n \"In an embodiment, when the security service validates the session request by validating the digital signature of the session request, that serves to validate 1110 that the customer 1102 is authorized for the first region.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the first region security service 1106 validates the customer before validating the session request.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the first region security service 1106 validates the session request before validating the customer.\",\n \"After the request and/or the customer is validated, the first region security service 1106 may provide 1112 a session token 1114 to the customer as described above and may also, in some embodiments, provide the session key used for signing requests and messages.\",\n \"The session token 1114 may be usable only in the first region or may be usable in multiple regions.\",\n \"The region or regions where the session token is usable may be included in the session data that is encrypted to produce the session token.\",\n \"The region or regions where the session token is usable may also be stored in a policy and permission service so that, for example, the service records a session identifier and associates a list of allowable regions where the session token may be used with that session identifier.\",\n \"The region or regions where the session token is usable may also be determined by where the session encryption key (i.e., the key used to encrypt the session token) or a corresponding session decryption key (i.e., the key corresponding to the key used to encrypt the session token that may be used to decrypt the session token) may be propagated.\",\n \"That is, if the session encryption key or the session decryption key is propagated only to the first region, then the session token may generally only be usable in that first region.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 illustrates an example environment 1200 where a retrieved session is used across regions using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A customer 1202 may use a session token such as the session token 1114 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"11 to generate 1204 a request.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"12, the customer account is authorized in the first region, the customer account is not authorized in the second region, and the session token is generated in first region.\",\n \"The request illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"12 is denoted as a first region signed request 1206, meaning that the request is generated in the first region, signed with first region credentials (in this case, the first region session key provided by the security service) and includes a session token usable in the first region.\",\n \"In the second region 1208, a service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may determine that the signature and/or the session token is not usable in the second region 1208 and that the signature and/or the session token is associated with a first region 1220.The service may then request 1210 that the first region 1220 provide a session usable in the second region.\",\n \"The customer account associated with the customer 1202 and used to generate 1204 the request may be authorized in the second region 1208.In an embodiment, the service in the second region 1208 will validate the customer prior to generating the request 1210 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the service in the second region 1208 will validate the customer after receiving a response to the request 1210 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region.\",\n \"The request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region may be a signed request such as those described herein.\",\n \"The request 1214 may be digitally signed 1218 by a second region credential and may include the first region signed request 1216 which may be the same as the first region signed request 1206.The request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region and that is signed 1218 by a second region credential is denoted as a second region signed request, meaning that the request is digitally signed in the second region.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"12, the request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region includes a request that is denoted as a first region signed request 1216, meaning that it is digitally signed with first region credentials (in this case, the first region session key provided by the security service) and includes a session token usable in the first region.\",\n \"It should be noted that the credentials used to sign the request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region must be verifiable in the first region so that, for example, a first region may validate the request 1214.In an embodiment, the request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region is signed by a private key associated with the second region.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the service in the second region configured to validate the request 1214 may do so by obtaining a corresponding public key from the second region such as, for example, a key corresponding to the private key used to digitally sign the request 1214.When the request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region is received at the first region 1220, a service (e.g., a security service) of the first region 1220 may validate the request as described above and then may decrypt 1222 the session token to extract the session data.\",\n \"The service of the first region 1220 may then encrypt 1224 the session data using credentials usable in the second region 1208.In an embodiment, the service of the first region 1220 uses a public key provided by the second region 1208 to encrypt the 1224 the session so that a service in the second region 1208 can use a corresponding private key to decrypt the session and generate a session usable in the second region 1208.After the second region 1208 receives the encrypted second region session token 1226, the second region 1208 may decrypt the encrypted second region session token 1226 and may use the session to process 1230 the request.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the second region 1208 caches 1228 the decrypted second region session token (also referred to herein as a cached session token) so that the session token may be used to process further requests.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the second region 1208 discards the decrypted second region second token after processing the request so that the session token may not be used to process further requests.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 illustrates an example environment 1300 where session data is used across regions to generate a cross-region session using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 generates a cross-region resource request.\",\n \"A cross-region resource request is a request where a second region signed request 1304 that contains a first region signed request 1306 is used to provide a session usable in the second region from the request generated in the first region as described above.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"13, the second region signed request 1304 is a request to the first region 1308 to provide a session usable in the second region 1302 and the first region signed request 1306 is a request for resources or a message to the second region as described above in connection with FIG.\",\n \"12.A service of the first region 1308 may first decrypt 1312 the session token using the session encryption key 1314 as described herein.\",\n \"The resulting session data 1316 may then be encrypted 1318 using a session encryption key selected so that the second region 1302 can use the session.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"13, the first region 1308 uses a second region public key 1320 that is obtained from the second region 1302 to encrypt the session data 1316.The resulting session includes the session data 1316, but is a second region session 1322 due to being encrypted by the second region public key 1320.When the second region session 1322 is received at the second region 1302, a service of the second region 1302 may then use the second region private key 1324 that corresponds to the second region public key to extract the session data, validate 1326 the session and use 1328 the session to process requests and/or authenticate messages.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14 illustrates an example process 1400 for generating a cross-region session using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"One or more security services such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may perform a part of the process described in FIG.\",\n \"14.A computing device associated with a customer such as the customer 102 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may also perform a part of the process described in FIG.\",\n \"14.The example process 1400 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"14 shows the actions of the customer 1402 (e.g., of a device associated with a user account of the customer), the actions of a service (e.g., a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1) of a first region 1408, and the actions of a service (e.g., a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1) of a second region 1416 to request, generate, and use a cross-region session such as those described above.\",\n \"The customer 1402 may first request 1404 a session from the first region 1408 using credentials verifiable in the first region 1408 such as, for example, a long-term session key that is verifiable in the first region 1408.It should be noted that, as used herein, the actions of the customer 1402 to send and/or receive requests and responses from the services may be understood to be sent and/or received from a computing device associated with the user account of the customer.\",\n \"Similarly, the actions ascribed to the first region 1408 and/or the second region 1416 may be understood to be performed by the services associated with the respective regions such as, for example, the security services.\",\n \"The service in the first region 1408 may receive the request and, after validating the request, may generate 1406 a session token as described above.\",\n \"The service in the first region 1408 may then send 1410 the session token to the customer 1402 also as described above.\",\n \"The customer 1402 may then receive 1412 the session token and may use the session token generated to send 1414 a signed request to the second region 1416 using the session token such as the first region signed request 1206 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"12.The service in the second region 1416 may first verify 1418 the signed request and may then identify 1420 the origin session (e.g., the first region 1408) based at least in part on, for example, a region identifier included in the signed request.\",\n \"The service in the second region 1416 may then send 1422 a signed request for a new session usable in the second region 1416 to the identified first region 1408 as described above.\",\n \"The signed request for a new session usable in the second region 1416 sent from the second region 1416 to the first region 1408 may be a second region signed request such as the second region signed request 1214 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"12.The service in the first region 1408 may then verify 1424 the second region signed request and may extract 1426 the session data using the session encryption key used to generate 1406 the session token or a session decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key used to generate 1406 the session token.\",\n \"Finally, the service in the first region 1408 encrypt 1428 the session data into a session token usable in the second region 1416 using, for example, a public key of the second session as described above and may send 1430 the encrypted session token usable in the second region to the service in the second region 1416.When the service in the second region 1416 receives the encrypted session token usable in the second region, the service in the second region 1416 may decrypt 1432 the encrypted session token usable in the second region using, for example, a private key corresponding to public key that was used by the service of the first region 1408 to encrypt the encrypted session token usable in the second region.\",\n \"The service of the second region 1416 may then cache 1434 the decrypted session token as a cached session token for later use and may also use the decrypted session token to respond 1436 to the request for resources.\",\n \"The customer 1402 may receive 1438 the response to the request, which may include access to resources, an indication that a message was authenticated, or some other response.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"15 illustrates an example process 1500 for extracting session data from a cross-region session using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may perform the process described in FIG.\",\n \"15.A service of a first region may receive 1502 a signed request for a new session from a second region and may verify 1504 the request as described above.\",\n \"If the request is not verified 1506, an error may be generated 1508 such as the error 508 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"5.If the request is verified 1506, the service of the first region may decrypt 1510 the session token using a session encryption key or a key corresponding to the session encryption key and extract 1512 the session data including, but not limited to, a session key of a symmetric session, a public session key of an asymmetric session, a session identifier, a region identifier, or a combination of data items as described herein.\",\n \"The service of the first region may then use credentials provided by the second region (also referred to herein as the “other region”) to encrypt 1514 a new session token that is usable in the other region.\",\n \"Finally, the service of the first region may send 1516 the new session token to the other region so that the new session may be used in the other region to provide access to resources in response to resource requests from the customer and/or to authenticate messages from the customer.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16 illustrates an example environment 1600 where a cross-region session is validated using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"The example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"16 follows after the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"11 where a session associated with a region is retrieved using session credentials.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"11, a customer uses a customer credential to sign a session request (i.e., a request for a session token).\",\n \"The first region security service may then validate the session request and also validate that the customer is authorized for the first region.\",\n \"After the request and/or the customer is validated, the first region security service may provide a session token to the customer and may also, in some embodiments, provide the session key used for signing requests and messages.\",\n \"The session token described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"11 may be usable only in the first region or may be usable in multiple regions as described above.\",\n \"A customer 1602 may use a session token such as the session token 1114 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"11 to generate 1604 a request.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"16, the customer account is authorized in the first region, the customer account is not authorized in the third region (which may be different than the second region described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"11), and the session token is generated in first region.\",\n \"The customer account may not be authorized in the third region because, for example, the third region may be an untrusted region (i.e., may be a region that the computing resource service provider, the customer, or both the customer and the computing resource service provider do not wish to have data and or credentials stored or accessed therein).\",\n \"The request illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"16 is denoted as a first region signed request 1606, meaning that the request is generated in the first region, signed with first region credentials (in this case, the first region session key provided by the security service) and includes a session token usable in the first region.\",\n \"In the third region 1608, a service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may determine that the signature and/or the session token is not usable in the third region 1608 and that the signature and/or the session token is associated with a first region 1620 as described above.\",\n \"The service may then request 1610 that the first region 1620 provide a session usable in the third region 1608.The request 1614 may be digitally signed 1618 by a third region credential as described above.\",\n \"The request 1614 to the first region 1620 to provide a session usable in the third region and that is signed 1618 by a third region credential is denoted as a third region signed request, meaning that the request is digitally signed in the third region.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"16, the request 1614 to the first region 1620 to provide a session usable in the third region includes a request that is denoted as a first region signed request 1616, meaning that it is digitally signed with first region credentials (in this case, the first region session key provided by the security service) and includes a session token usable in the first region.\",\n \"When the request 1614 to the first region 1620 to provide a session usable in the third region is received at the first region 1620, a service (e.g., a security service) of the first region 1620 may first determine whether the request is allowed 1622 based on an access policy 1630 associated with the first region 1620.For example, if the account associated with the customer 1602 is not authorized to operate in the third region 1608, the request may not be allowed 1622.In another example, if the third region is an untrusted region (i.e., the third region is not trusted by the computing resource service provider or by the customer 1602), the request may not be allowed 1622.In a third example, if the request is a request for resources and the resources are not available in the third region 1608, the request may not be allowed 1622.As may be contemplated, the reasons why a request may not be allowed that are described herein are illustrated examples and other such reasons why a request may not be allowed may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"If the request is not allowed 1622, the service associated with the first region 1620 may generate 1624 an error as described above.\",\n \"Conversely, if the request is allowed 1622, the service of the first region may process 1626 the request by, for example, validating the request, decrypting the session token to extract the session data, and encrypting the session data using credentials usable in the third region 1608 as described above at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"12.After the third region 1608 receives the encrypted third region session token 1628, the third region 1608 may decrypt the encrypted third region session token and may use 1632 the session to process requests and/or to authenticate messages.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"17 illustrates an example environment 1700 where a service intercepts a session using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A customer 1702 uses a signed first region session 1704 to connect to a first region 1706 and, during transmission of the request, the session is intercepted 1708 and sent 1710 to a third region 1712.In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"17, a service in the third region 1712 (e.g., a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1), may have the first region session 1714, but may not able to perform any operations associated with that session.\",\n \"For example, the third region may not be able to perform operations to verify the signature 1716 of the first region session 1714 because the third region 1712 may not have access to the necessary credentials.\",\n \"As described above, the session key used to sign the first region session 1714 may be, for example, a symmetric key or an asymmetric key.\",\n \"If the session key used to sign the first region session is a symmetric key, the service in the third region 1712 may not have access to the verifying key (e.g., the session key 1724) because that key is stored in the encrypted session token and the encrypted session token cannot be decrypted without the session encryption key 1722 or a decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key 1722.Unless the service in the third region 1712 can obtain the session encryption key 1722 or a decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key 1722 as described above, the service in the third region 1712 cannot verify the symmetric session key.\",\n \"It should be noted that, if the session key used to sign the first region session is an asymmetric key, the service in the third region 1712 may be able to obtain access to the verifying key if that verifying key is, for example, a public key 1726 corresponding to the private key used to sign the first region session.\",\n \"However, the service in the third region 1712 may still not be able to extract the session data 1718 and/or use that session data to generate a new request 1720 without access to the session encryption key 1722 or a decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key 1722.Again, unless the service in the third region 1712 is able to obtain the session encryption key 1722 or a decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key 1722 as described above, the service in the third region 1712 may not extract the session data 1718 from the encrypted session token and also may not generate a new request 1720 to, for example, masquerade as a service in the first region 1706.In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"17, the session is intercepted 1708 during transmission of the request by, for example, a malicious actor.\",\n \"However, the operations illustrated in the third region 1712 that cannot be performed because of lack of access to the first region session credentials (e.g., the session encryption key 1722 and/or the session key 1724) may also be not performable if the signed first region session 1704 was deliberately sent to the third region (e.g., in a request for resources), or if the account associated with the customer 1702 is not authorized in the third region 1712, or for some other reason.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"18 illustrates an example environment 1800 where an account key and a global key are used to generate a session key for use in generating session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"As described above, a session encryption key is used to encrypt the session data 1808 that contains the session key 1806, which may be a symmetric session key or a public key of an asymmetric session key pair.\",\n \"The resulting session token 1812 and, in some embodiments, the session key 1806 are sent to the customer 1814 so that the customer 1814 can use the session token 1812 and the session key 1806 to generate signed requests for resources and/or to authenticate messages.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"18, the session encryption key 1810 used to encrypt the session data 1808 to produce the session token 1812 is generated from two different keys.\",\n \"The first key is an account key 1802, which is a credential associated with the customer 1814 or a user account associated with the customer 1814.The account key 1802 may be a key uniquely associated with the customer 1814 and/or the user account associated with the customer so that, for example, each customer and/or each user account has a key only used for that customer or that user account.\",\n \"In an embodiment, a single account key is assigned to each customer so that each customer has one unique account key (i.e., no two customers have the same account key).\",\n \"In another embodiment, a single account key is assigned to each user account so that each user account has one unique account key (i.e., no two user accounts have the same account key).\",\n \"In another embodiment, each customer has multiple account keys that are not shared with any other account key.\",\n \"For example, a customer may have multiple roles, users, identities, or accounts associated with the customer.\",\n \"In such an example, the customer may assign account keys according to policies or procedures associated with those roles, users, identities, or accounts.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment, each user account has multiple account keys that are not shared with other user accounts.\",\n \"An account key may be generated by a service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1, and may be maintained as secrets by that service so that, for example, they are uniquely associated with a user account but never communicated to a user associated with that account.\",\n \"The second key used to generate the session encryption key is a global session key 1804 which may be maintained as a secret by the security service as described above.\",\n \"It should be noted that a global session key should not be construed as meaning a key corresponding to a session key such as the session key 116 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1.A global session key is used to generate, and is only related to, a session encryption key such as the session encryption key 120 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1.The global session key 1804 may be shared by a plurality of regions such as those described above.\",\n \"For example, in a computing resource service provider environment where there are four regions as described above, the global session key 1804 may be shared with each of the four regions and used by a security service in each of the four regions to generate session encryption keys as described herein.\",\n \"It should be noted that, although the examples illustrated and described herein show the generation of the session encryption key 1810 from the account key 1802 and the global session key 1804, this is not to imply that a session encryption key 1810 must be generated as a separate operation from the operation of encrypting the session data 1808 to produce the session token 1812.For example, the session data 1808 can, in some embodiments, be encrypted using the account key 1802 and the global session key 1804 to produce the session token 1812 without the intermediary step of generating the session encryption key 1810.FIG.\",\n \"19 illustrates an example environment 1900 where an account key is distributed to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"19, a global session key 1904 is propagated (i.e., made available to) a first region 1906, a second region 1910, and a third region 1912.The first region 1906, the second region 1910, and the third region 1912 are regions that are trusted by the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"As used herein, a region that is “trusted” by the computing resource service provider is a region where, for example, proper security protocols have been implemented.\",\n \"A region may be “untrusted” if, for example, it has become compromised or it has not implemented the proper safety protocols, or it is outside of the computing resource service provider environment (e.g., if it is a third party region).\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"19, there is a fourth region 1914 that is untrusted (also referred to herein as “not trusted”) and the global session key has not been propagated to this fourth region 1914 so that the fourth region 1914 may not be able to encrypt session data to produce session tokens as described herein.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"19, the global session key 1904 is shown as a single global session key that is propagated to the first region 1906, the second region 1910, and the third region 1912 and that is not propagated to the fourth region 1914.In an embodiment, each region has a different global session key (also referred to herein as a “regional session key”).\",\n \"In another embodiment, each region has a regional session key in addition to the global session key 1904.In another embodiment, the global session key 1904 is one of a plurality of global session keys maintained in, for example, a session encryption keychain as described herein.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"19, an account key 1902 is propagated to the first region 1906, the second region 1910, and the fourth region 1914 according to a set of policies and permissions 1908.The first region 1906 and the second region 1910 are regions that are trusted by the customer and thus are regions that, by the policies and permissions 1908, are regions where the customer or a user account associated with the customer may request a session token.\",\n \"Conversely, the third region 1912 is a region that, while trusted by the computing resource service provider, is not trusted by the customer.\",\n \"For example, the customer may have resources in the third region that should not be made available to a first region only user account as described herein.\",\n \"The policies and permissions 1908 associated with the user account may, in this example, be configured to prevent the user account from being able to generate a session token in the third region and, therefore, the third region may be untrusted by the customer for this account (also referred to herein as “restricted”).\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"19, the account key 1902 is shown as being propagated to the fourth region 1914 because, even though the fourth region 1914 may be untrusted by the computing resource service provider, the fourth region 1914 may be trusted by the customer.\",\n \"It should be noted that the account key being present in the fourth region 1914 may still preclude session tokens being generated in the fourth region due to the fact that the global session key 1904 is not present in the fourth region 1914.FIG.\",\n \"20 illustrates an example process 2000 for distributing an account key to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"20.The security service may first receive 2002 a request for a session and may verify 2004 that request as described above.\",\n \"A request that is not valid 2006 may cause the security service to generate an error 2014 in response to the invalid request.\",\n \"The security service may generate an error 2014 and send a report of the error to the customer and/or to the computing resource service provider as described above in connection with FIG.\",\n \"5.A request that is valid 2006 may cause the security service verify 2008 the region by determining if the region is an untrusted region 2010 (i.e., a region not trusted by the computing resource service provider) and/or if the region is a restricted region 2012 (i.e., a region not trusted by the customer).\",\n \"A region may be determined to be an untrusted region 2010 because, for example, there are policies and/or permissions explicitly stating such or because, for example, the global session key is not present in the region.\",\n \"Similarly, a region may be determined to be a restricted region 2012 because, for example, there are policies and/or permissions explicitly stating such or because, for example, the account key is not present in the region.\",\n \"If the region is an untrusted region 2010 and/or if the region is a restricted region 2012, the security service may generate an error 2014 and send a report of the error to the customer and/or to the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"Conversely, if the region is not an untrusted region 2010 and if the region is not a restricted region 2012, the security service may use the global session key and the account key to generate 2016 a session token as described above.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"21 illustrates an example environment 2100 where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"An account key 2102 may be combined with a first global session key 2104 to produce a first session encryption key 2106, which may be used to encrypt 2108 session data to produce a first session token 2110 as described above.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the first session encryption key 2106 is generated on demand when the session token is requested.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the first session encryption key 2106 is generated in response to a request such as, for example, a first request for a session token and is stored by a service such as the security service for later use (e.g., for later decryption of the session token).\",\n \"In another embodiment, the account key 2102 and the first global session key 2104 are used to encrypt 2108 the session data directly, without producing an intermediary first session encryption key such as the first session encryption key 2106.In another embodiment, the account key 2102 and/or the first global session key 2104 are discarded after a period of time, or a number of uses, or according to some other security policy.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"21, the first global session key 2104 may be valid only for a predetermined amount of time and, after that predetermined amount of time has expired and a timeout 2112 occurs, a second global session key 2114 may be generated, which may be combined with the account key 2102 to produce a second session encryption key 2116.The second session encryption key 2116 may then be used to encrypt 2118 session data to produce a second session token 2120 as described above.\",\n \"Although not illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"21, the second global session key 2114 may also be generated as a result of a key generation event that may be generated by the computing resource service provider or a service operating therein.\",\n \"A key generation event may be a key rotation event, a key timeout event, a key invalidation event, a keychain update event, or some other key generation event.\",\n \"An example of a key generation event is a key rotation event, where on a periodic basis (e.g., hourly) the oldest key (based on a creation time associated with the key) is removed or invalidated and a new key (with a new creation time) is generated.\",\n \"Another example of a key generation event is a keychain update event, where one or more keys in a keychain are updated according to one or more update criteria.\",\n \"A key generation event may be generated by a security service, causing a global session key such as the first global session key 2104 to be replaced with a new global session key when a region is compromised and/or potentially compromised.\",\n \"Similarly, a key generation event may be generated by a policy service, causing a global session key such as the first global session key 2104 to be replaced with a new global session key when one or more policies regarding access to a region have changed.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the removal and/or replacement of a global session key causes the session tokens encrypted with that session key to be invalidated.\",\n \"In another embodiment, a global session key that is removed and/or replaced remains available for some time in order to extract session data from session tokens encrypted with that global session key.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"22 illustrates an example environment 2200 where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A first account key 2202 may be combined with a global session key 2204 to produce a first session encryption key 2206, which may be used to encrypt 2208 session data to produce a first session token 2210 as described above.\",\n \"Just as with the first global session key 2104 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"21, the first account key 2202 may be valid only for a predetermined amount of time and, after that predetermined amount of time has expired and a timeout 2212 occurs, a second account key 2214 may be generated, which may be combined with the global session key 2204 to produce a second session encryption key 2216.The second session encryption key 2216 may then be used to encrypt 2218 session data to produce a second session token 2220 as described above.\",\n \"It should be noted that while the timeout 2112 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"21 may be on the order of several hours (e.g., twelve, twenty-four, or thirty-six hours), the timeout 2212 may be on the order of several months (e.g., two, three, or six months).\",\n \"The longer timeout 2212 associated with an account key as compared to the timeout 2112 associated with a global session key may be based at least in part on there being only a few global session keys that are valid at one time (e.g., keys for the last twenty-four or thirty-six hours) while there may be millions of account keys when, for example, each user account of a computing resource service provider has a different unique account key.\",\n \"Because there may be many more account keys in a computing resource service provider environment, they may be used for longer periods of time than global session keys.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"23 illustrates an example environment 2300 where global session keys are maintained for use in generating session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"23, a global session keychain 2302 stores a plurality of global session keys, one of which is the oldest 2304 global session key (i.e., the global session key that was generated least recently) and one of which is the newest 2306 global session key (i.e., the global session key that was generated the most recently).\",\n \"When a key generation event such as a timeout 2308 occurs, the global session keychain 2302 may be updated by, for example, invalidating 2310 the oldest 2304 global session key designating the next oldest global session key 2312 as the new oldest 2314 global session key, generating 2318 a new global session key, designating that new global session key as the newest 2320 global session key, and changing the designation of the former newest global session key 2316.In an embodiment, only the newest global session key is used to encrypt session tokens and the other global session keys in the global session keychain are used to decrypt session tokens.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, using the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"23, a session token is encrypted using the newest 2306 global session key immediately before the timeout 2308 and is encrypted using the newest 2320 global session immediately after the timeout 2308 (and, until the next key generation event occurs).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"24 illustrates an example environment 2400 where sessions are expired using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A customer 2402 may first generate a signed request 2404 using a session token as described herein.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"24, the session token used to generate the signed request 2404 was generated using a session encryption key 2414, which may be one of a plurality of session encryption keys 2408.In an embodiment, the session encryption keys 2408 and the session encryption key 2414 are generated using a global session key and an account key as described at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"18.The signed request 2404 may be verified 2410 by a service 2406 (e.g., a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1) and the signed request may be processed 2412 because the session encryption key 2414 is still valid and is still one of the plurality of session encryption keys 2408.Conversely, after one or more key generation events such as a timeout 2416, the session encryption key 2414 may become an invalid session encryption key 2430, and may be replaced by one or more new session encryption keys in the plurality of session encryption keys 2428.For example, if a new session encryption key is generated every hour, and each session encryption key is valid for twenty-four hours, then there may be twenty-four session encryption keys in the plurality of session encryption keys 2428.In such an example, after twenty-four hours pass, the first session token used to generate the signed request 2404 may no longer be valid due to the session encryption key 2414 having expired.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"24, if the customer 2418 uses the session token generated using the session encryption key 2414 to generate a signed request 2420 after the session encryption key 2414 has expired and become the invalid session encryption key 2430, the service 2422 may not be able to verify 2424 the signed request 2420 (because, for example, the session token may not be decrypted) and, accordingly, the service 2422 may not process the request 2426.FIG.\",\n \"25 illustrates an example process 2500 for rotating session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"25.The security service may first generate 2502 the session encryption key from the global session key and the account key as described at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"18.If after a time period has expired and/or after a key generation event has occurred, the security service may generate new session encryption keys.\",\n \"For example, if a session encryption key expires or becomes invalid because of a global key timeout 2504, the security service may generate 2508 one or more replacement session encryption keys.\",\n \"Similarly, if a session encryption key expires or becomes invalid because of an account key timeout 2506, the security service may also generate 2508 one or more replacement session encryption keys.\",\n \"The security service may next receive 2510 one or more signed requests using session tokens encrypted with the one or more session encryption keys as described above.\",\n \"It should be noted that, although the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"25 shows the security service receiving the signed requests after a time period has expired and/or after a key generation event has occurred, the security service may generate new session encryption keys, the steps in the process to respond to a global key timeout 2504 and/or an account key timeout 2506 as well as to generate 2508 one or more replacement session encryption keys may occur before, during, or after the steps in the process to receive 2510 one or more signed requests using session tokens encrypted with the one or more session encryption keys.\",\n \"After receiving the one or more signed requests, the security service may verify the session using a session encryption key corresponding to the session encryption key that was used to encrypt the session token associated with the signed request as described herein.\",\n \"If the session is verified (i.e., if the session token is validated), then the security service may process the request 2516.Conversely, if the session is not verified, the security service may generate an error 2518 as described above.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"26 illustrates an example environment 2600 where a plurality of session keys can be invalidated using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"26, a global session key 2602 may be combined with account keys 2604 to generate session encryption keys 2606 as described above.\",\n \"The session encryption keys 2606 may remain valid and the session tokens generated using the session encryption keys 2606 may also remain valid for a time period.\",\n \"When the time period has expired, the global session key 2602 may be invalidated 2608 and may become an invalid global session key 2610.As a result of the global session key 2602 becoming an invalid global session key 2610, the session encryption keys generated from the invalid global session key 2610 and the account keys 2604 may become invalid session encryption keys 2612 and session tokens generate using the formerly valid, but now invalid, session encryption keys such as the invalid session encryption keys 2612 may also become invalid due to being unverifiable.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"27 illustrates an example environment 2700 where a plurality of invalidated session keys can be regenerated using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"The example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"27 continues from the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"26, where a global session key is an invalid global session key 2704 and, as a result, the session encryption keys generated from the invalid global session key 2704 and the account keys 2702 are invalid session encryption keys 2706.After the global session key has become an invalid global session key 2704, the security service may generate 2708 a new global session key 2710 to replace the invalid global session key 2704 and may use the new global session key 2710 combined with the account keys 2702 to generate 2712 session encryption keys 2714 as needed.\",\n \"It should be noted that, in the examples illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"26 and 27, the account keys were not changed.\",\n \"As described above, an account may have a much longer period of validity than a global session key.\",\n \"Additionally, a computing resource service provider may provide thousands or millions of account keys and, accordingly, it may be considerably more efficient to regenerate session encryption keys by invalidating global session keys.\",\n \"It should also be noted that session encryption keys may be generated as needed within a computing resource service provider environment.\",\n \"For example, a customer may use a user account to request a session token as described herein and may use that session token for a short period of time (e.g., two hours).\",\n \"Because of the expiration of global session keys, that session token may expire after, for example, twenty-four hours.\",\n \"If the customer does not use the session token again in that twenty-four hour period, the session encryption key used to generate the session token and corresponding to the account key for the user account may not be regenerated at the end of that twenty-four hour period (e.g., as a replacement for the expired or invalidated session encryption key).\",\n \"In an embodiment, the session encryption key used to generate session tokens corresponding to a user account is generated only when the customer generates a signed request using the previous session token.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, a session token may include an expiration time that may trigger such a regeneration of the session token.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"28 illustrates an example process 2800 for invalidating and regenerating a plurality of session keys using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"28.The security service may first generate 2802 session encryption keys using the global session key and the account keys as described above.\",\n \"The security service may next determine whether to invalidate 2804 one or more global session keys.\",\n \"If the security service does determine to invalidate 2804 one or more global session keys, the security service may first invalidate 2806 the selected global session key or keys, may generate 2808 one or more new global session keys to replace the invalidated global session keys and may begin the process of generating replacement session encryption keys as needed such as, for example, when a customer generates a request using a session token that was generated with a now invalid session encryption key as described above.\",\n \"The security service may next receive 2812 a request for resources or a message as described above.\",\n \"It should be noted that, although the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"28 shows the security service receiving a signed request or message after checking for invalidated global keys, the checking for invalidated global keys may be performed before, during, or after the processing of the requests.\",\n \"The request for resources or the message may be digitally signed by a session key and may also be generated using a session token, also as described above.\",\n \"Next, the security service may extract 2814 the session key from the session token used to generate the session token and may validate 2816 the digital signature.\",\n \"If the signature is valid 2818 (i.e., if the request or the message is authenticated), the security service may next process 2810 the request or the message by, for example, providing access to the resources, processing the message, or performing some other action.\",\n \"If the signature is not valid 2818 (i.e., if the request or the message is not authenticated) the security service may generate 2822 an error as described above.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"29 illustrates an example environment 2900 where account keys are invalidated in association with session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"29, a global session key 2904 may be used with one or more account keys 2902 to generate a corresponding one or more session encryption keys 2908 as described above.\",\n \"A security service may then invalidate 2908 one or more of the account keys 2910 to invalidate one or more session encryption keys 2914 generated with the account keys 2910 and a global session key 2912.In contrast to the example illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"26 and 27 where all session encryption keys were invalidated by invalidating the global session key, the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"29 shows the selecting invalidation of session encryption keys and, accordingly, of session tokens generated using those invalidated session encryption keys.\",\n \"For example, a computing resource service provider may determine that one or more accounts associated with a customer may have been compromised.\",\n \"Invalidating the account keys associated with those compromised accounts renders the credentials associated with those accounts (e.g., the session tokens) invalid.\",\n \"Similarly, a customer may determine that one or more user accounts should not have access to short-term credentials and may invalidate the account keys associated with those accounts.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"30 illustrates an example environment 3000 where cross-region roles are assumed across regions using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A first customer 3002 in a first region 3006 may create 3004 a role.\",\n \"The role 3008 may have a role identifier 3014 (illustrated herein as a circle with the letters “ID” inside) and a set of permissions 3010 for access to a set of customer resources 3012 in the first region.\",\n \"The customer resources 3012 are a set of resources associated with the first customer 3002.For example, a customer may have a resource such as a database that is configured to store data associated with a webservice (e.g., a database that records each transaction for each user of the webservice).\",\n \"The customer may create first role for this database that provides permissions to read, but not write, data from the database.\",\n \"The customer may additionally create a second role for this database that provides permissions to read and write data to and from the database.\",\n \"The customer may additionally create a third role for this database that provides permissions to alter the database, including adding and removing records and changing the data schema (e.g., an “administrator” role).\",\n \"A user of a user account may then assume one or more of these roles to have access to the database.\",\n \"For example, a user may assume the first role if the user only requires permission to read data from the database.\",\n \"Using the first role, the user could analyze, but not alter, the data in the database.\",\n \"Similarly, a user may assume the second role if the user requires permissions to read from and write to the database.\",\n \"Using the second role, the user could update records in the database.\",\n \"The third role could be assumed to allow the user to alter the structure of the database to, for example, add a new table to the database schema.\",\n \"Each of the roles may have a set of permissions associated with access to the resources and may also have a set of access policies associated with the role so that, for example, only designated users and/or user accounts may have access to the role.\",\n \"These access policies may be enforced using credentials such as those described herein (e.g., keys, sessions, etc.).\",\n \"The access policies and the permissions associated with the roles are described in more detail below.\",\n \"The role identifier 3014 may be used to identify the role in other regions.\",\n \"For example, the role 3008 may be propagated to a second region 3022 (where it is identified as the role 3020) and may also be propagated to a third region 3030 (where it is identified as the role 3024).\",\n \"In an embodiment, a role can only be assumed in regions where the role has been propagated because regions where the role has not been propagated may not have access to the permissions associated with the role.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"30, the role has access to customer resources 3012 in the first region 3006 and customer resources 3028 in the third region 3030.The role 3024, which is the same as the role 3014, may have a set of permissions 3026 for access to a set of customer resources 3028 in the third region.\",\n \"The set of customer resources 3028 are a set of resources associated with the first customer 3002, but present in the third region.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"30, no customer resources associated with the first customer 3002 are present in the second region 3022.When a second customer 3016 in the second region 3022 assumes the role 3018 based at least in part on the role identifier 3014, the access policies associated with the role determine whether the second customer 3016 may assume the role.\",\n \"If the second customer 3016 assumes the role 3018, the second customer 3016 may have all of the permissions associated with the role so that, for example, the second customer 3016 may access the customer resources 3012 in the first region 3006 and may also access the customer resources 3028 in the third region 3030.It should be noted that the second customer 3016 does not have an account in the first region 3006 or in the third region 3030, but still may be authenticated to assume the role and access the resources by assuming the role.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"30, the role identifier 3014 is provided to the second customer 3016 in the second region 3022 so that the second customer 3016 in the second region may assume the role.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the role identifier is provided to the second customer by storing the role in a database of role identifiers.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the role identifier is provided to the second customer by sending the role identifier in an email, or a SMS message, or a console message, or using some other such communications methodology.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the role identifier may be sent using an encryption method such as those described herein.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the role identifier is provided to the second customer by publishing the role identifier in documentation associated with the customer resources 3028.For example, the customer resources 3028 may have a webpage documenting the use of the resources that may include the role identifier to use when requesting access to the resources.\",\n \"As may be contemplated, the methods of providing the role identifier described herein are illustrative examples and other such methods of providing the role identifier may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"31 illustrates an example environment 3100 where policies associated with cross-region roles are applied using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"The role 3102 has a role identifier 3104, an allowed users policy 3106, and one or more allowed resources policies 3114.In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"31, the allowed users policy 3106 indicates that a first user 3108 may assume the role 3102, a second user 3110 may also assume the role 3102, and a third user 3112 may not assume the role 3102.The third user 3112 may be, for example, an untrusted user or may simply be associated with an account that should not have access to the permissions associated with the role.\",\n \"The allowed users policy 3106 may include a default policy to deny all users not explicitly allowed by the policy so that only users explicitly granted access to the role may assume the role.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"31, the allowed resources policies 3114 specify a set of permissions for access to a set of resources associated with the role.\",\n \"The permissions may be specific to, and based at least in part on, a region, a user, a resource, a resource type, or a combination of these and/or other such factors.\",\n \"For example, a set of permissions 3116 for a resource 3118 may specify that users from, for example, a first region may have unrestricted access to the resource 3118 and users from, for example, a second region may have restricted access to the resource 3118.Similarly, a set of permissions 3120 for a resource 3122 may specify that the role 3102 as assumed by the first user 3108 has different access permissions than the role 3102 as assumed by the second user 3110.As may be contemplated, the types of permissions granted by assuming a role described herein are merely illustrative examples and other types of permissions granted by assuming a role may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"32 illustrates an example environment 3200 where a cross-region role is assumed using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A second customer 3202, which may be the same as the second customer 3016 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"30, may send a signed request 3204 to assume a role 3206 to a security service 3208 of a second region 3220, which may be the same as the second region 3022 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"30.The security service 3208 of the second region 3220 may first verify that the role 3214 exists in the second region 3220 before verifying the request 3204, verifying that the second customer 3202 has permission to assume the role 3214, and validating the signature of the signed request 3204.If the signed request 3204 is valid (i.e., if all of the verifications pass), the security service may generate a session associated with the role (designated herein as a role session 3212) using the methods described above.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the security service 3208 includes the role identifier in the session data prior to encrypting the session data to produce the session token as described above.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the security service 3208 provides the role identifier separate from the session token.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"32, the role 3214 provides access 3216 to customer resources 3218 in a third region 3222, but the second customer 3202 does not have an account in the third region 3222.Access to the customer resources 3218 are provided to the second customer 3202 using the mechanism of the second customer 3202 assuming the role 3214.FIG.\",\n \"33 illustrates an example environment 3300 where a cross-region role is used to access resources across regions using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A customer 3302 may use a role session 3304 to generate a signed request 3308 and send 3306 the signed request to a region 3310 where the resources 3324 are located.\",\n \"A service of the region 3310 may verify 3312 the session using the techniques described herein and may validate 3314 that the customer 3302 may have access to the role 3318 based at least in part on the permissions associated with the role 3318.If the session is verified and the access is validated, access 3320 to the resources 3324 may be provided to the customer 3302 using the access 3322 to the resources 3324 provided by the role 3318.In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"33, the role session 3304 provides the credentials associated with assuming the role 3318 using the short-term credentials provided by the session token.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the credentials associated with assuming the role 3318 are provided by a username and password associated with the customer 3302.In another embodiment, the credentials associated with assuming the role 3318 are provided by a certificate associated with the customer 3302.In another embodiment, the credentials associated with assuming the role 3318 are provided by a long-term key associated with the customer 3302.In such an embodiment, the credentials associated with assuming the role 3318 may be a symmetric key or may be an asymmetric key pair.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"34 illustrates an example process 3400 for using a cross-region role session token to generate resource requests using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"34.The security service may first receive 3402 a request for resources signed by a session key and using a role session token as described above.\",\n \"The request for resources may be digitally signed by a session key, may be generated using a session token, and may include a role identifier, also as described above.\",\n \"Next, the security service may extract 3404 the session key from the session token used to generate the session token and may verify 3406 the digital signature using the extracted session key.\",\n \"If the request is valid 3408 (i.e., if the request is authenticated), the security service may next determine 3410 whether the permissions associated with the request allow such access.\",\n \"If the access is allowed 3412, the service may provide 3416 access to the resources using the role.\",\n \"If the request is not valid 3408 or if the access is not allowed 3412, the security service may generate 3414 an error as described above.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"35 illustrates aspects of an example environment 3500 for implementing aspects in accordance with various embodiments.\",\n \"As will be appreciated, although a web-based environment is used for purposes of explanation, different environments may be used, as appropriate, to implement various embodiments.\",\n \"The environment includes an electronic client device 3502, which can include any appropriate device operable to send and/or receive requests, messages, or information over an appropriate network 3504 and, in some embodiments, convey information back to a user of the device.\",\n \"Examples of such client devices include personal computers, cell phones, handheld messaging devices, laptop computers, tablet computers, set-top boxes, personal data assistants, embedded computer systems, electronic book readers, and the like.\",\n \"The network can include any appropriate network, including an intranet, the Internet, a cellular network, a local area network, a satellite network or any other such network and/or combination thereof.\",\n \"Components used for such a system can depend at least in part upon the type of network and/or environment selected.\",\n \"Many protocols and components for communicating via such a network are well known and will not be discussed herein in detail.\",\n \"Communication over the network can be enabled by wired or wireless connections and combinations thereof.\",\n \"In this example, the network includes the Internet and/or other publicly-addressable communications network, as the environment includes a web server 3506 for receiving requests and serving content in response thereto, although for other networks an alternative device serving a similar purpose could be used as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.\",\n \"The illustrative environment includes at least one application server 3508 and a data store 3510.It should be understood that there can be several application servers, layers or other elements, processes or components, which may be chained or otherwise configured, which can interact to perform tasks such as obtaining data from an appropriate data store.\",\n \"Servers, as used herein, may be implemented in various ways, such as hardware devices or virtual computer systems.\",\n \"In some contexts, servers may refer to a programming module being executed on a computer system.\",\n \"As used herein, unless otherwise stated or clear from context, the term “data store” refers to any device or combination of devices capable of storing, accessing and retrieving data, which may include any combination and number of data servers, databases, data storage devices and data storage media, in any standard, distributed, virtual or clustered environment.\",\n \"The application server can include any appropriate hardware, software and firmware for integrating with the data store as needed to execute aspects of one or more applications for the client device, handling some or all of the data access and business logic for an application.\",\n \"The application server may provide access control services in cooperation with the data store and is able to generate content including, but not limited to, text, graphics, audio, video and/or other content usable to be provided to the user, which may be served to the user by the web server in the form of HyperText Markup Language (“HTML”), Extensible Markup Language (“XML”), JavaScript, Cascading Style Sheets (“C SS”), JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), and/or another appropriate client-side structured language.\",\n \"Content transferred to a client device may be processed by the client device to provide the content in one or more forms including, but not limited to, forms that are perceptible to the user audibly, visually and/or through other senses.\",\n \"The handling of all requests and responses, as well as the delivery of content between the client device 3502 and the application server 3508, can be handled by the web server using PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (“PHP”), Python, Ruby, Perl, Java, HTML, XML, JSON, and/or another appropriate server-side structured language in this example.\",\n \"Further, operations described herein as being performed by a single device may, unless otherwise clear from context, be performed collectively by multiple devices, which may form a distributed and/or virtual system.\",\n \"The data store 3510 can include several separate data tables, databases, data documents, dynamic data storage schemes and/or other data storage mechanisms and media for storing data relating to a particular aspect of the present disclosure.\",\n \"For example, the data store illustrated may include mechanisms for storing production data 3512 and user information 3516, which can be used to serve content for the production side.\",\n \"The data store also is shown to include a mechanism for storing log data 3514, which can be used for reporting, analysis, or other such purposes.\",\n \"It should be understood that there can be many other aspects that may need to be stored in the data store, such as page image information and access rights information, which can be stored in any of the above listed mechanisms as appropriate or in additional mechanisms in the data store 3510.The data store 3510 is operable, through logic associated therewith, to receive instructions from the application server 3508 and obtain, update or otherwise process data in response thereto.\",\n \"The application server 3508 may provide static, dynamic, or a combination of static and dynamic data in response to the received instructions.\",\n \"Dynamic data, such as data used in web logs (blogs), shopping applications, news services, and other such applications may be generated by server-side structured languages as described herein or may be provided by a content management system (“CMS”) operating on, or under the control of, the application server.\",\n \"In one example, a user, through a device operated by the user, might submit a search request for a certain type of item.\",\n \"In this case, the data store might access the user information to verify the identity of the user and can access the catalog detail information to obtain information about items of that type.\",\n \"The information then can be returned to the user, such as in a results listing on a web page that the user is able to view via a browser on the user device 3502.Information for a particular item of interest can be viewed in a dedicated page or window of the browser.\",\n \"It should be noted, however, that embodiments of the present disclosure are not necessarily limited to the context of web pages, but may be more generally applicable to processing requests in general, where the requests are not necessarily requests for content.\",\n \"Each server typically will include an operating system that provides executable program instructions for the general administration and operation of that server and typically will include a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a hard disk, random access memory, read only memory, etc.)\",\n \"storing instructions that, when executed (i.e., as a result of being executed) by a processor of the server, allow the server to perform its intended functions.\",\n \"The environment, in one embodiment, is a distributed and/or virtual computing environment utilizing several computer systems and components that are interconnected via communication links, using one or more computer networks or direct connections.\",\n \"However, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that such a system could operate equally well in a system having fewer or a greater number of components than are illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"35.Thus, the depiction of the system 3500 in FIG.\",\n \"35 should be taken as being illustrative in nature and not limiting to the scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"The various embodiments further can be implemented in a wide variety of operating environments, which in some cases can include one or more user computers, computing devices or processing devices which can be used to operate any of a number of applications.\",\n \"User or client devices can include any of a number of computers, such as desktop, laptop or tablet computers running a standard operating system, as well as cellular, wireless and handheld devices running mobile software and capable of supporting a number of networking and messaging protocols.\",\n \"Such a system also can include a number of workstations running any of a variety of commercially-available operating systems and other known applications for purposes such as development and database management.\",\n \"These devices also can include other electronic devices, such as dummy terminals, thin-clients, gaming systems and other devices capable of communicating via a network.\",\n \"These devices also can include virtual devices such as virtual machines, hypervisors and other virtual devices capable of communicating via a network.\",\n \"Various embodiments of the present disclosure utilize at least one network that would be familiar to those skilled in the art for supporting communications using any of a variety of commercially-available protocols, such as Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (“TCP/IP”), User Datagram Protocol (“UDP”), protocols operating in various layers of the Open System Interconnection (“OSI”) model, File Transfer Protocol (“FTP”), Universal Plug and Play (“UpnP”), Network File System (“NFS”), Common Internet File System (“CIFS”), and AppleTalk.\",\n \"The network can be, for example, a local area network, a wide-area network, a virtual private network, the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, a public switched telephone network, an infrared network, a wireless network, a satellite network, and any combination thereof.\",\n \"In some embodiments, connection-oriented protocols may be used to communicate between network endpoints.\",\n \"Connection-oriented protocols (sometimes called connection-based protocols) are capable of transmitting data in an ordered stream.\",\n \"Connection-oriented protocols can be reliable or unreliable.\",\n \"For example, the TCP protocol is a reliable connection-oriented protocol.\",\n \"Asynchronous Transfer Mode (“ATM”) and Frame Relay are unreliable connection-oriented protocols.\",\n \"Connection-oriented protocols are in contrast to packet-oriented protocols such as UDP that transmit packets without a guaranteed ordering.\",\n \"In embodiments utilizing a web server, the web server can run any of a variety of server or mid-tier applications, including Hypertext Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”) servers, FTP servers, Common Gateway Interface (“CGP”) servers, data servers, Java servers, Apache servers, and business application servers.\",\n \"The server(s) also may be capable of executing programs or scripts in response to requests from user devices, such as by executing one or more web applications that may be implemented as one or more scripts or programs written in any programming language, such as Java®, C, C#, or C++, or any scripting language, such as Ruby, PHP, Perl, Python or TCL, as well as combinations thereof.\",\n \"The server(s) may also include database servers, including without limitation those commercially available from Oracle®, Microsoft®, Sybase®, and IBM® as well as open-source servers such as MySQL, Postgres, SQLite, MongoDB, and any other server capable of storing, retrieving, and accessing structured or unstructured data.\",\n \"Database servers may include table-based servers, document-based servers, unstructured servers, relational servers, non-relational servers, or combinations of these and/or other database servers.\",\n \"The environment can include a variety of data stores and other memory and storage media as discussed above.\",\n \"These can reside in a variety of locations, such as on a storage medium local to (and/or resident in) one or more of the computers or remote from any or all of the computers across the network.\",\n \"In a particular set of embodiments, the information may reside in a storage-area network (“SAN”) familiar to those skilled in the art.\",\n \"Similarly, any necessary files for performing the functions attributed to the computers, servers or other network devices may be stored locally and/or remotely, as appropriate.\",\n \"Where a system includes computerized devices, each such device can include hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via a bus, the elements including, for example, at least one central processing unit (“CPU” or “processor”), at least one input device (e.g., a mouse, keyboard, controller, touch screen, or keypad) and at least one output device (e.g., a display device, printer, or speaker).\",\n \"Such a system may also include one or more storage devices, such as disk drives, optical storage devices, and solid-state storage devices such as random access memory (“RAM”) or read-only memory (“ROM”), as well as removable media devices, memory cards, flash cards, etc.\",\n \"Such devices also can include a computer-readable storage media reader, a communications device (e.g., a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infrared communication device, etc.\",\n \"), and working memory as described above.\",\n \"The computer-readable storage media reader can be connected with, or configured to receive, a computer-readable storage medium, representing remote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices as well as storage media for temporarily and/or more permanently containing, storing, transmitting, and retrieving computer-readable information.\",\n \"The system and various devices also typically will include a number of software applications, modules, services, or other elements located within at least one working memory device, including an operating system and application programs, such as a client application or web browser.\",\n \"In addition, customized hardware might also be used and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets) or both.\",\n \"Further, connection to other computing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.\",\n \"Storage media and computer readable media for containing code, or portions of code, can include any appropriate media known or used in the art, including storage media and communication media, such as, but not limited to, volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage and/or transmission of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data, including RAM, ROM, Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (“EEPROM”), flash memory or other memory technology, Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (“CD-ROM”), digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the system device.\",\n \"Based on the disclosure and teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement the various embodiments.\",\n \"The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.\",\n \"It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.\",\n \"Other variations are within the spirit of the present disclosure.\",\n \"Thus, while the disclosed techniques are susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and have been described above in detail.\",\n \"It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form or forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.\",\n \"The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the disclosed embodiments (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context.\",\n \"The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted.\",\n \"The term “connected,” when unmodified and referring to physical connections, is to be construed as partly or wholly contained within, attached to, or joined together, even if there is something intervening.\",\n \"Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein.\",\n \"The use of the term “set” (e.g., “a set of items”) or “subset” unless otherwise noted or contradicted by context, is to be construed as a nonempty collection comprising one or more members.\",\n \"Further, unless otherwise noted or contradicted by context, the term “subset” of a corresponding set does not necessarily denote a proper subset of the corresponding set, but the subset and the corresponding set may be equal.\",\n \"Conjunctive language, such as phrases of the form “at least one of A, B, and C,” or “at least one of A, B and C,” unless specifically stated otherwise or otherwise clearly contradicted by context, is otherwise understood with the context as used in general to present that an item, term, etc., may be either A or B or C, or any nonempty subset of the set of A and B and C. For instance, in the illustrative example of a set having three members, the conjunctive phrases “at least one of A, B, and C” and “at least one of A, B and C” refer to any of the following sets: {A}, {B}, {C}, {A, B}, {A, C}, {B, C}, {A, B, C}.\",\n \"Thus, such conjunctive language is not generally intended to imply that certain embodiments require at least one of A, at least one of B and at least one of C each to be present.\",\n \"Operations of processes described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.\",\n \"Processes described herein (or variations and/or combinations thereof) may be performed under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions and may be implemented as code (e.g., executable instructions, one or more computer programs or one or more applications) executing collectively on one or more processors, by hardware or combinations thereof.\",\n \"The code may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium, for example, in the form of a computer program comprising a plurality of instructions executable by one or more processors.\",\n \"The computer-readable storage medium may be non-transitory.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the code is stored on set of one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed (i.e., as a result of being executed) by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to perform operations described herein.\",\n \"The set of non-transitory computer-readable storage media may comprise multiple non-transitory computer-readable storage media and one or more of individual non-transitory storage media of the multiple non-transitory computer-readable storage media may lack all of the code while the multiple non-transitory computer-readable storage media collectively store all of the code.\",\n \"Accordingly, in some examples, computer systems are configured to implement one or more services that singly or collectively perform operations of processes described herein.\",\n \"Such computer systems may, for instance, be configured with applicable hardware and/or software that enable the performance of the operations.\",\n \"Further, computer systems that implement various embodiments of the present disclosure may, in some examples, be single devices and, in other examples, be distributed computer systems comprising multiple devices that operate differently such that the distributed computer system performs the operations described herein and such that a single device may not perform all operations.\",\n \"The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate embodiments of the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed.\",\n \"No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.\",\n \"Embodiments of this disclosure are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention.\",\n \"Variations of those embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description.\",\n \"The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate and the inventors intend for embodiments of the present disclosure to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.\",\n \"Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law.\",\n \"Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the scope of the present disclosure unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.\",\n \"All references, including publications, patent applications, and patents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15875995"}}},{"rowIdx":4495044,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["PROVIDING PRE-COMPUTED HOTWORD MODELS","Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for obtaining, for each of multiple words or sub-words, audio data corresponding to multiple users speaking the word or sub-word; training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, a pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word based on the audio data for the word or sub-word; receiving a candidate hotword from a computing device; identifying one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword; and providing the identified, pre-computed hotword models to the computing device."],["1.","(canceled) 2.A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, by a server-based hotword configuration engine, text that a user has typed or entered by touch input into a mobile computing device or digital assistant device for use as a custom hotword, wherein a custom hotword is personalized term that, when spoken in advance of a voice command, initiates a wake up process on the mobile computing device or digital assistant device for processing the voice command; obtaining, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, a hotword detection model that was previously trained to detect the custom hotword being spoken without using any audio samples of the user speaking the custom hotword; and providing, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, the hotword detection model to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device for use in detecting the custom hotword being spoken by the user.","3.The method of claim 2, wherein the text is typed or entered into the mobile computing device or digital assistant device in response to a prompt.","4.The method of claim 2, wherein the text comprises two or more words.","5.The method of claim 2, wherein the hotword detection model is trained based on portions of audio samples of other users speaking other words that are not the custom hotword.","6.The method of claim 2, wherein the hotword detection model comprises a pre-computed model that was already stored in a vocabulary database when the text was typed or entered.","7.The method of claim 2, comprising receiving and processing a voice command that (i) was preceded by the custom hotword in an utterance that was received by the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device, and (ii) was received after the hotword detection model was provided to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device.","8.A system comprising: one or more computers; and a non-transitory computer-readable medium coupled to the one or more computers having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising: receiving, by a server-based hotword configuration engine, text that a user has typed or entered by touch input into a mobile computing device or digital assistant device for use as a custom hotword, wherein a custom hotword is personalized term that, when spoken in advance of a voice command, initiates a wake up process on the mobile computing device or digital assistant device for processing the voice command; obtaining, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, a hotword detection model that was previously trained to detect the custom hotword being spoken without using any audio samples of the user speaking the custom hotword; and providing, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, the hotword detection model to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device for use in detecting the custom hotword being spoken by the user.","9.The system of claim 8, wherein the text is typed or entered into the mobile computing device or digital assistant device in response to a prompt.","10.The system of claim 8, wherein the text comprises two or more words.","11.The system of claim 8, wherein the hotword detection model is trained based on portions of audio samples of other users speaking other words that are not the custom hotword.","12.The system of claim 8, wherein the hotword detection model comprises a pre-computed model that was already stored in a vocabulary database when the text was typed or entered.","13.The system of claim 8, comprising receiving and processing a voice command that (i) was preceded by the custom hotword in an utterance that was received by the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device, and (ii) was received after the hotword detection model was provided to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device.","14.A non-transitory computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising: receiving, by a server-based hotword configuration engine, text that a user has typed or entered by touch input into a mobile computing device or digital assistant device for use as a custom hotword, wherein a custom hotword is personalized term that, when spoken in advance of a voice command, initiates a wake up process on the mobile computing device or digital assistant device for processing the voice command; obtaining, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, a hotword detection model that was previously trained to detect the custom hotword being spoken without using any audio samples of the user speaking the custom hotword; and providing, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, the hotword detection model to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device for use in detecting the custom hotword being spoken by the user.","15.The medium of claim 14, wherein the text is typed or entered into the mobile computing device or digital assistant device in response to a prompt.","16.The medium of claim 14, wherein the text comprises two or more words.","17.The medium of claim 14, wherein the hotword detection model is trained based on portions of audio samples of other users speaking other words that are not the custom hotword.","18.The medium of claim 14, wherein the hotword detection model comprises a pre-computed model that was already stored in a vocabulary database when the text was typed or entered.","19.The medium of claim 14, comprising receiving and processing a voice command that (i) was preceded by the custom hotword in an utterance that was received by the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device, and (ii) was received after the hotword detection model was provided to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>The reality of a speech-enabled home or other environment—that is, one in which a user need only speak a query or command out loud and a computer-based system will field and answer the query and/or cause the command to be performed—is upon us.","A speech-enabled environment (e.g., home, workplace, school, etc.)","can be implemented using a network of connected microphone devices distributed throughout the various rooms or areas of the environment.","Through such a network of microphones, a user has the power to orally query the system from essentially anywhere in the environment without the need to have a computer or other device in front of him/her or even nearby.","For example, while cooking in the kitchen, a user might ask the system “how many milliliters in three cups?” and, in response, receive an answer from the system, e.g., in the form of synthesized voice output.","Alternatively, a user might ask the system questions such as “when does my nearest gas station close,” or, upon preparing to leave the house, “should I wear a coat today?” Further, a user may ask a query of the system, and/or issue a command, that relates to the user's personal information.","For example, a user might ask the system “when is my meeting with John?” or command the system “remind me to call John when I get back home.” In a speech-enabled environment, a user's manner of interacting with the system is designed to be primarily, if not exclusively, by means of voice input.","Consequently, a system which potentially picks up all utterances made in the environment, including those not directed to the system, must have some way of discerning when any given utterance is directed at the system as opposed, e.g., to being directed an individual present in the environment.","One way to accomplish this is to use a “hotword” (also referred to as an “attention word” or “voice action initiation command”), which by agreement is reserved as a predetermined term that is spoken to invoke the attention of the system.","In one example environment, the hotword used to invoke the system's attention is the word “Google.” Consequently, each time the word “Google” is spoken, it is picked up by one of the microphones, and is conveyed to the system, which performs speech recognition techniques to determine whether the hotword was spoken and, if so, awaits an ensuing command or query.","Accordingly, utterances directed at the system take the general form [HOTWORD] [QUERY], where “HOTWORD” in this example is “Google” and “QUERY” can be any question, command, declaration, or other request that can be speech recognized, parsed and acted on by the system, either alone or in conjunction with a server over network."],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>According to some innovative aspects of the subject matter described in this specification, a system can provide pre-computed hotword models to a mobile computing device, such that the mobile computing device can detect a candidate hotword spoken by a user associated with the mobile computing device through an analysis of the acoustic features of a portion of an utterance, without requiring the portion to be transcribed or semantically interpreted.","The hotword models can be generated based on audio data obtained from multiple users speaking multiple words or sub-words, including words or sub-words that make up the candidate hotword.","In some examples, a user desires to make the words “start computer” a hotword to initiate a “wake up” process on a mobile computing device, such as a smartphone.","The user speaks the words “start computer” and, in response, the system can identify pre-computed hotword models associated with the term “start computer,” or of the constituent words “start” and “computer.” The system can provide the pre-computed hotword models to the mobile computing device such that the mobile computing device can detect whether a further utterance corresponds to the hotword “start computer,” and correspondingly wake up the mobile computing device.","Innovative aspects of the subject matter described in this specification may be embodied in methods that include the actions of obtaining, for each of multiple words or sub-words, audio data corresponding to multiple users speaking the word or sub-word; training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, a pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word based on the audio data for the word or sub-word; receiving a candidate hotword from a computing device; identifying one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword; and providing the identified, pre-computed hotword models to the computing device.","Other embodiments of these aspects include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs, configured to perform the actions of the methods, encoded on computer storage devices.","These and other embodiments may each optionally include one or more of the following features.","For instance, identifying the one or more pre-computed hotword models includes obtaining two or more sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword; and obtaining, for each of the two or more sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword, a pre-computed hotword model that corresponds to the sub-word.","Receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device after training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, the pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word.","Receiving the candidate hotword from the mobile computing includes receiving audio data corresponding to the candidate hotword.","Receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device includes receiving the candidate hotword including two or more words from the computing device.","Identifying one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword; and providing the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword to the computing device.","Providing, to the computing device, instructions defining a processing routine of the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.","The instructions include instructions to sequentially process the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.","The instructions include a processing order to sequentially process the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.","The features further include, for instance, dynamically creating one or more hotword models that correspond to one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword; and providing the dynamically created one or more hotword models that correspond to one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword to the computing device.","Dynamically creating the one or more hotword models that correspond to the one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword after receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device.","Training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, the pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word, further includes for each word or sub-word of the multiple words or sub-words, obtaining, for each user of the multiple users, a transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word; associating, for each user of the multiple users, the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word with the transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word; and generating a particular pre-computed hotword model corresponding to the word or sub-word based on i) the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word and ii) the transcription associated with the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word.","The details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below.","Other potential features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims."],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","15/463,786, filed on Mar.","20, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","15/288,241, filed on Oct. 7, 2016 (now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,646,612), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","15/001,894, filed on Jan. 20, 2016 (now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,520,130), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","14/340,833, filed on Jul.","25, 2014 (now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,263,042).","The disclosures of the prior applications are considered part of and are incorporated by reference in the disclosure of this application.","FIELD The present disclosure generally relates to speech recognition.","BACKGROUND The reality of a speech-enabled home or other environment—that is, one in which a user need only speak a query or command out loud and a computer-based system will field and answer the query and/or cause the command to be performed—is upon us.","A speech-enabled environment (e.g., home, workplace, school, etc.)","can be implemented using a network of connected microphone devices distributed throughout the various rooms or areas of the environment.","Through such a network of microphones, a user has the power to orally query the system from essentially anywhere in the environment without the need to have a computer or other device in front of him/her or even nearby.","For example, while cooking in the kitchen, a user might ask the system “how many milliliters in three cups?” and, in response, receive an answer from the system, e.g., in the form of synthesized voice output.","Alternatively, a user might ask the system questions such as “when does my nearest gas station close,” or, upon preparing to leave the house, “should I wear a coat today?” Further, a user may ask a query of the system, and/or issue a command, that relates to the user's personal information.","For example, a user might ask the system “when is my meeting with John?” or command the system “remind me to call John when I get back home.” In a speech-enabled environment, a user's manner of interacting with the system is designed to be primarily, if not exclusively, by means of voice input.","Consequently, a system which potentially picks up all utterances made in the environment, including those not directed to the system, must have some way of discerning when any given utterance is directed at the system as opposed, e.g., to being directed an individual present in the environment.","One way to accomplish this is to use a “hotword” (also referred to as an “attention word” or “voice action initiation command”), which by agreement is reserved as a predetermined term that is spoken to invoke the attention of the system.","In one example environment, the hotword used to invoke the system's attention is the word “Google.” Consequently, each time the word “Google” is spoken, it is picked up by one of the microphones, and is conveyed to the system, which performs speech recognition techniques to determine whether the hotword was spoken and, if so, awaits an ensuing command or query.","Accordingly, utterances directed at the system take the general form [HOTWORD] [QUERY], where “HOTWORD” in this example is “Google” and “QUERY” can be any question, command, declaration, or other request that can be speech recognized, parsed and acted on by the system, either alone or in conjunction with a server over network.","SUMMARY According to some innovative aspects of the subject matter described in this specification, a system can provide pre-computed hotword models to a mobile computing device, such that the mobile computing device can detect a candidate hotword spoken by a user associated with the mobile computing device through an analysis of the acoustic features of a portion of an utterance, without requiring the portion to be transcribed or semantically interpreted.","The hotword models can be generated based on audio data obtained from multiple users speaking multiple words or sub-words, including words or sub-words that make up the candidate hotword.","In some examples, a user desires to make the words “start computer” a hotword to initiate a “wake up” process on a mobile computing device, such as a smartphone.","The user speaks the words “start computer” and, in response, the system can identify pre-computed hotword models associated with the term “start computer,” or of the constituent words “start” and “computer.” The system can provide the pre-computed hotword models to the mobile computing device such that the mobile computing device can detect whether a further utterance corresponds to the hotword “start computer,” and correspondingly wake up the mobile computing device.","Innovative aspects of the subject matter described in this specification may be embodied in methods that include the actions of obtaining, for each of multiple words or sub-words, audio data corresponding to multiple users speaking the word or sub-word; training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, a pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word based on the audio data for the word or sub-word; receiving a candidate hotword from a computing device; identifying one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword; and providing the identified, pre-computed hotword models to the computing device.","Other embodiments of these aspects include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs, configured to perform the actions of the methods, encoded on computer storage devices.","These and other embodiments may each optionally include one or more of the following features.","For instance, identifying the one or more pre-computed hotword models includes obtaining two or more sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword; and obtaining, for each of the two or more sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword, a pre-computed hotword model that corresponds to the sub-word.","Receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device after training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, the pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word.","Receiving the candidate hotword from the mobile computing includes receiving audio data corresponding to the candidate hotword.","Receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device includes receiving the candidate hotword including two or more words from the computing device.","Identifying one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword; and providing the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword to the computing device.","Providing, to the computing device, instructions defining a processing routine of the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.","The instructions include instructions to sequentially process the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.","The instructions include a processing order to sequentially process the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.","The features further include, for instance, dynamically creating one or more hotword models that correspond to one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword; and providing the dynamically created one or more hotword models that correspond to one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword to the computing device.","Dynamically creating the one or more hotword models that correspond to the one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword after receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device.","Training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, the pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word, further includes for each word or sub-word of the multiple words or sub-words, obtaining, for each user of the multiple users, a transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word; associating, for each user of the multiple users, the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word with the transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word; and generating a particular pre-computed hotword model corresponding to the word or sub-word based on i) the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word and ii) the transcription associated with the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word.","The details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below.","Other potential features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims.","DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG.","1 depicts an example system for providing hotword models.","FIG.","2 depicts an example graphical user interface for identifying a user provided hotword.","FIG.","3 depicts an example flowchart for providing hotword models.","FIG.","4 depicts a computer device and a mobile computer device that may be used to implement the techniques described here.","In the drawings, like reference symbols indicate like elements throughout.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG.","1 depicts a system 100 for providing pre-computed hotword models.","In some examples, the system 100 includes mobile computing devices 102, 104, 106, a speech recognition engine 108, a vocabulary database 110, and a hotword configuration engine 112.In some examples, any of the mobile computing devices 102, 104, 106 may be a portable computer, a smartphone, a tablet-computing device, or a wearable computing device.","Each of the mobile computing devices 102, 104, 106 are associated with a respective user 114, 116, 118.The mobile computing devices 102, 104, 106 can include any audio detection means, e.g., a microphone, for detecting utterances from the respective associated user 114, 116, 118.The mobile computing devices 102 and 104 are in communication with the speech recognition engine 108, e.g., over one or more networks, and the mobile computing device 106 is in communication with the hotword configuration engine 112, e.g., over one or more networks.","In some implementations, the speech recognition engine 108 obtains, for each of multiple words or sub-words, audio data that corresponds to multiple users speaking the word or sub-words, during operation (A).","Specifically, the speech recognition engine 108 obtains audio data from the mobile computing devices 102 and 104 that correspond, respectively, to the users 114 and 116 speaking words or sub-words, e.g., over one or more networks.","In some examples, the user 114 and the user 116 each say one or more words that the mobile computing device 102 and mobile computing device 104, respectively detect.","In some examples, the users 114 and 116 speak the words or sub-words during any interaction with the mobile computing devices 102 and 104, respectively, e.g., submitting voice queries for voice commands.","In some examples, in addition to obtain the audio data associated with the users 114 and 116 speaking the words or sub-words, the speech recognition engine 108 obtains a locale of the users 114 and 116 from the mobile computing device 102 and 104.The locale can include the approximate current location of the user when speaking the words or sub-words, or a location associated with a profile of the user.","For example, the user 114 says the utterance 150 of “start my car” and the user 116 says the utterance 152 of “where do I buy a computer?” The mobile computing device 102 detects the utterance 150 of “start my car” to generate waveform data 120 that represents the detected utterance 150; and the mobile computing device 104 detects the utterance 152 of “where do I buy a computer?” to generate waveform data 122 that represents the detected utterance 152.The mobile computing devices 102 and 104 transmit the waveforms 120 and 122, respectively, to the speech recognition engine 108, e.g., over one or more networks.","In some examples, the speech recognition engine 108, for each word or sub-word of the multiple words or sub-words, obtains, for each user of the multiple users, a transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or the sub-word, during operation (B).","Specifically, the speech recognition engine 108 processes the received audio data, including generating a transcription of an utterance of words or sub-words associated with the audio data.","Generating the transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or the sub-word can include transcribing the utterance into text or text-related data.","In other words, the speech recognition engine 108 can provide a representation of natural language in written form of the utterance associated with the audio data.","For example, the speech recognition engine 108 transcribes the waveforms 120 and 122, as received from the mobile computing devices 102 and 104, respectively.","That is, the speech recognition engine 108 transcribes the waveform 120 to generate the transcription 124 of “start my car” and transcribes the waveform 122 to generate the transcription 126 of “where do I buy a computer?” In some examples, the speech recognition engine 108, for each word or sub-word of the multiple words or sub-words, associates, for each user of the multiple users, the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word with the transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word, during operation (C).","For example, the speech recognition engine 108 associates the waveform 160 with the transcription 124 and associates the waveform 162 with the transcription 126.In some examples, the waveform 160 is substantially the same as the waveform 120, and the waveform 162 is substantially the same as the waveform 122.In some examples, the waveform 160 is a processed version (e.g., by the speech recognition engine 108) of the waveform 120, and the waveform 162 is a processed version (e.g., by the speech recognition engine 108) of the waveform 122.In some examples, the speech recognition engine 108 associates a portion of the waveform 160 with a corresponding portion of the transcription 124.That is, for each word, or sub-word, of the waveform 160, the speech recognition engine 108 associates the corresponding portion of the transcription 124 with the word, or sub-word.","For example, the speech recognition engine 108 associates a portion of the waveform 160 for each of the words “start,” “my,” “car” with the corresponding portion of the transcription 124.Similarly, the speech recognition engine 108 associates a portion of the waveform 162 for each of the words “where,” “do,” “I,” “buy,” “a,” “computer” with the corresponding portion of the transcription 126.In some examples, the speech recognition engine 108 associates a portion of the waveform 160 for each of the sub-words, e.g., phoneme or tri-phone level, of each word, e.g., “st-ah-rt” of the word “start,” with the corresponding portion of the transcription.","Similarly, in some examples, the speech recognition engine 108 associates a portion of the waveform 162 for each of the sub-words, e.g., phoneme or tri-phone level, of each word, e.g., “kom-pyu-ter” of the word “computer,” with the corresponding portion of the transcription.” In some examples, associating the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word with the transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word includes storing the association in a database, or a table.","Specifically, the speech recognition engine 108 provides the transcription 124 and the waveform 160 to the vocabulary database 110 such that the vocabulary database 110 stores an association between the waveform 160 and the transcription 124.Similarly, the speech recognition engine 108 provides the transcription 126 and the waveform 162 to the vocabulary database 110 such that the vocabulary database 110 stores an association between the waveform 162 and the transcription 126.In some examples, the speech recognition engine 108 provides the locale associated with the word or sub-words of the transcription 124 (e.g., the locale of the user 114) to the vocabulary database 110 such that the vocabulary database 110 additionally stores an association between the waveform 160, the transcription 124, and the respective locale.","Similarly, the speech recognition engine 108 provides the locale associated with the word or sub-words of the transcription 126 (e.g., the locale of the user 116) to the vocabulary database 110 such that the vocabulary database 110 additionally stores an association between the waveform 162, the transcription 126, and the respective locale In some examples, the vocabulary database 110 indicates an association between a portion of the waveform 160 with a corresponding portion of the transcription 124.That is, for each word, or sub-word, of the waveform 160, the vocabulary database 110 stores an association of the portion of the waveform 160 with a corresponding portion of the transcription 124 with the word, or sub-word.","For example, the vocabulary database 110 stores an association of a portion of the waveform 160 for each of the words “start,” “my,” “car” with the corresponding portion of the transcription 124.Similarly, the vocabulary database 110 stores an association of a portion of the waveform 162 for each of the words “where,” “do,” “I,” “buy,” “a,” “computer” with the corresponding portion of the transcription 126.In some implementations, the hotword configuration engine 112 trains, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, a pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word, during operation (D).","Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 is in communication with the vocabulary database 110, and obtains, for each word or sub-word stored by the vocabulary database 110, the audio data of each user of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word and the associated transcription of the audio data.","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 obtains, from the vocabulary database 110, the waveform 160 and the associated transcription 124, and further obtains the waveform 162 and the associated transcription 126.In some examples, for each word or sub-word stored by the vocabulary database 110, the hotword configuration engine 112 generates a pre-computed hotword model corresponding to the word or sub-word.","Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 generates the pre-computed hotword model for each word or sub-word based on i) the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word and ii) the transcription associated with the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word.","In some examples, the pre-computed hotword model can be a classifier such as a neural network, or a support vector machine (SVM).","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 generates a pre-computed hotword model corresponding to each word or sub-word of the waveforms 160 and 162.In some examples, for the word “start” of the waveform 160, the hotword configuration engine 112 generates a pre-computed hotword model for the word based on i) the audio data corresponding to the user 114 speaking the word “start” (e.g., the portion of the waveform 160 corresponding to the user 114 speaking the word “start”) and ii) the transcription associated with the audio data corresponding to the user 114 speaking the word “start.” Additionally, the hotword configuration engine 112 can generate a pre-computed hotword model for the remaining words “my” and “car” of the waveform 160, as well as each sub-word (of each word) of the waveform 160, e.g., “st-ah-rt” of the word “start.” Additionally, in some examples, for the word “computer” of the waveform 162, the hotword configuration engine 112 generates a pre-computed hotword model for the word based on i) the audio data corresponding to the user 116 speaking the word “computer” (e.g., the portion of the waveform 162 corresponding to the user 116 speaking the word “computer”) and ii) the transcription associated with the audio data corresponding to the user 116 speaking the word “computer.” Additionally, the hotword configuration engine 112 can generate a pre-computed hotword model for the remaining words “where,” “do,” “I,” “buy” and “a” of the waveform 162, as well as each sub-word of the waveform 160, e.g., “kom-pyu-ter” of the word “computer.” The hotword configuration engine 112, after pre-computing the hotword models for one or more words stored by the vocabulary database 110, provides the pre-computed hotword models 128 to the vocabulary database 110 such that the vocabulary database 110 stores or otherwise indicates an association between the words or sub-words and the corresponding pre-computed hotword models 128.That is, for each word or sub-word of the waveforms 160 and 162, the vocabulary database 110 stores an association between each of the words or sub-words (e.g., of the waveforms 160 and 162) and the corresponding pre-computed hotword models 128.In some examples, the vocabulary database 110 stores, for each word or sub-word of the waveforms 160 and 162, an association between i) the portion of the waveform corresponding to the word or sub-word, ii) the corresponding transcription of the portion of the waveform, and iii) the corresponding pre-computed hotword model.","For example, for the word “start” of the waveform 160, the vocabulary database 110 stores i) an association of a portion of the waveform 160 corresponding to the word “start,” ii) a portion of the transcription 124 corresponding to the word “start,” and iii) a pre-computed hotword model 128 for the word “start.” In some implementations, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives a candidate hotword 129 from the mobile computing device 106, during operation (E).","Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives, e.g., over one or more networks, data from the mobile computing device 106 that corresponds to the user 118 providing the candidate hotword 129.In some examples, the mobile computing device 106 provides a graphical user interface 180 to the user 118 that provides for display of text 182 to prompt the user 118 to provide a hotword.","For example, the text 182 includes “Please say your desired Hotword.” In response, the user 118 says the candidate hotword 129 that the mobile computing device 106 detects, and transmits to the hotword configuration engine 112.For example, the user 118 says the utterance 170 of “start computer” that corresponds to the candidate hotword 129.The mobile computing device 106 detects the utterance 170 of “start computer” and generates a waveform 130 that represents the detected utterance 170.The mobile computing device 106 transmits the waveform 130 to the hotword configuration engine 112, e.g., over one or more networks.","In some examples, the user 118 provides text-based input to the mobile computing device 106, e.g., via a graphical user interface of the mobile computing device 106, that corresponds to the candidate hotword 129.For example, the user 118 inputs via a keyboard, virtual or tactile, the text of “start computer.” The mobile computing device 106 transmits the text-based candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” to the hotword configuration engine 112, e.g., over one or more networks.","In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword from the mobile computing device 106 after training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, the pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word.","Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 from the mobile computing device 106 after the hotword configuration engine 112 generates the pre-computed hotword models 128 corresponding to each of the words or sub-words stored by the vocabulary database 110.For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” from the mobile computing device 106 after training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words of the waveforms 160 and 162, the pre-computed hotword models 128 for the word or sub-word.","In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 that includes two or more words from the mobile computing device 106.For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” that includes two words (e.g., “start” and “computer”).","In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 that includes a single word from the mobile computing device 106.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 obtains two or more sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword 129.That is, the hotword configuration engine 112 processes the candidate hotword 129 to identify sub-words of the candidate hotword 129.For example, for the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer,” the hotword configuration engine 112 can obtain the sub-words of “st-ah-rt” for the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 and further obtain the sub-words of “kom-pyu-ter” for the word “computer” of the candidate hotword 129.In some implementations, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword 129, at operation (F).","Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 accesses the vocabulary database 110 to identify one or more of the pre-computed hotword models 128 that are stored by the vocabulary database 110 and that correspond to the candidate hotword 129.The hotword configuration engine 112 retrieves the pre-computed hotword models 128 from the vocabulary database 110, e.g., over one or more networks.","In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models 128 that are associated with the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129.The hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the pre-computed hotword models 128 by matching the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129 with the words, or sub-words, that are stored by the vocabulary database 110.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models 128 that correspond to the utterance 170 of the candidate hotword 129 provided by the user 118.That is, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 based on the waveform 130 that represents the detected utterance 170 of the candidate hotword 129.In the illustrated example, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that correspond to the utterance 170 of “start computer.” In some examples, when the candidate hotword includes two or more words, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words.","That is, each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword 129 corresponds to a pre-computed hotword model 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110.For example, the candidate hotword 129 includes two words, e.g., “start” and “computer.” To that end, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies a first pre-computed hotword model 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “start” and a second pre-computed hotword model 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “computer.” In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies a pre-computed hotword model 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the both words “start computer.” In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 that correspond to the utterance 170 of the candidate hotword 129 by matching at least a portion of the waveform 130 to at least a portion of waveforms stored by the vocabulary database 110.Matching the waveform 130 to waveforms stored by the vocabulary database 110 can include performing an audio-based comparison between the waveform 130 and the waveforms stored by the vocabulary database 110 to identify a matching waveform stored by the vocabulary database 110 to the waveform 130.In some examples, the audio-based comparison between the waveform 130 and the waveforms stored by the vocabulary database 110 can be performed by an audio processing engine that is in communication with the hotword configuration engine 112, e.g., over one or more networks.","To that end, upon the hotword configuration engine 112 identifying a matching waveform stored by the vocabulary database 110 to the waveform 130, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models 128 associated with the matching waveform.","In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 that correspond to the utterance 170 of the candidate hotword 129 by applying one or more of the pre-computed hotword models 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 to the utterance 170 to identify the pre-computed hotword models 128 corresponding with a highest confidence score relative to the remaining pre-computed hotword models 128.The confidence score indicates the likelihood that the identified pre-computed hotword model 128 corresponds to the utterance 170.For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match the waveform 130 to a portion of one or more of the waveforms 160 and 162 that are stored by the vocabulary database 110.Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match a portion of the waveform 130 that corresponds to the word “start” with a portion of the waveform 160 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that corresponds to the word “start.” Based on this matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the corresponding pre-computed hotword model 128 that is associated with the portion of the waveform 160 for the word “start.” Similarly, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match a portion of the waveform 130 that corresponds to the word “computer” with a portion of the waveform 162 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that corresponds to the word “computer.” Based on this matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the corresponding pre-computed hotword model 128 that is associated with the portion of the waveform 162 for the word “computer.” In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 that correspond to the utterance of the candidate hotword 129 by matching at least a portion of a transcription of the waveform 130 to at least a portion of transcriptions stored by the vocabulary database 110.Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 can provide the waveform 130 to a speech recognition engine, e.g., the speech recognition engine 108, such that speech recognition engine 108 transcribes the waveform 130.To that end, matching the transcription of the waveform 130 to transcriptions stored by the vocabulary database 110 can include comparing the transcription of the waveform 130 to the transcriptions stored by the vocabulary database 110 to identify a matching transcription stored by the vocabulary database 110 to the waveform 130.To that end, upon the hotword configuration engine 112 identifying a matching transcription stored by the vocabulary database 110 to the transcription of the waveform 130, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models 128 associated with the matching transcription.","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match the transcription of the waveform 130 to a portion of one or more of the transcriptions 124 and 126 that are stored by the vocabulary database 110.Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match a portion of the transcription of the waveform 130 that corresponds to the word “start” with a portion of the transcription 124 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that corresponds to the word “start.” Based on this matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the corresponding pre-computed hotword model 128 that is associated with the portion of the transcription 124 for the word “start.” Similarly, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match a portion of the transcription of the waveform 130 that corresponds to the word “computer” with a portion of the transcription 126 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that corresponds to the word “computer.” Based on this matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the corresponding pre-computed hotword model 128 that is associated with the portion of the transcription 126 for the word “computer.” In some examples, matching the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129 with words, or sub-words, that are stored by the vocabulary database 110 can include determining a full match between the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129 with words, or sub-words that are stored by the vocabulary database 110.In some examples, matching the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129 with words, or sub-words, that are stored by the vocabulary database 110 can include determining a partial match between the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129 with words, or sub-words that are stored by the vocabulary database 110.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 obtains the pre-computed hotword models 128 for the sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword 129.As mentioned above, for the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer,” the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the sub-words of “st-ah-rt” for the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 and further identifies the sub-words of “kom-pyu-ter” for the word “computer” of the candidate hotword 129.To that end, the hotword configuration engine 112 accesses the vocabulary database 110 to identify the pre-computed hotword models 128 that are stored by the vocabulary database 110 and that correspond to the sub-words of the candidate hotword 129.The hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the pre-computed hotword models 128 by matching the sub-words of the candidate hotword 129 with the sub-words that are stored by the vocabulary database 110 and are associated with the pre-computed hotword models 128.For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that correspond to the each of the sub-words of “st-ah-rt” for the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 and each of the sub-words of “kom-pyu-ter” for the word “computer” of the candidate hotword 129.In some implementations, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the identified, pre-computed hotword models to the mobile computing device 106, at operation (G).","Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the pre-computed hotword models 134, e.g., a subset of the pre-computed hotword models 128, corresponding to the candidate hotword 129 to the mobile computing device 106, e.g., over one or more networks.","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can provide the pre-computed hotword models 134 that correspond to the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” to the mobile computing device 106.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the identified, pre-computed hotword models 134 that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword 129 to the mobile computing device 106.For example, the candidate hotword 129 includes two words, e.g., “start” and “computer,” and the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the pre-computed hotword models 134 that correspond to each word.","That is, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides a first pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “start” and a second pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “computer” to the mobile computing device 106.In some examples, the identified, pre-computed hotword models 134 are provided to the mobile computing device 106 based on a type of the mobile computing device 106.For example, a lower-end, or lower processing power, mobile computing device is more suitable to receive an appropriate version (e.g., smaller neural network) of the pre-computed hotword models 134 such that the mobile computing device is able to appropriately process the pre-computed hotword models 134.In some examples, the mobile computing device 106 can receive two or more pre-computed hotword models 134 in response to a command (or query) from the user 118.That is, the user 118 can provide a command such as “navigate to coffee house” to the mobile computing device 106.In response, the mobile computing device 106 can receive pre-computed hotword models 134 that correspond to two differing locations of coffee houses that are proximate to the user's 118 current location.","For example, the mobile computing device 106 can receive a pre-computed hotword model 135 for “Palo Alto” and a pre-computed hotword model 134 for “Mountain View.” The mobile computing device 106 can provide both location options to the user 118 (e.g., via sound or the graphical user interface of the mobile computing device 106).","The user 118 can provide an utterance of one of the locations that the mobile computing device 106 can detect via the received pre-computed hotword models 134, as described above.","In some examples, by generating the pre-computed hotword models 128 and providing the same to the vocabulary database 110, the pre-computed hotword models are instantaneously available (or nearly instantaneously available) for identifying hotwords from utterances, e.g., by the mobile computing device 106.For example, the mobile computing device 106 is able to instantaneously obtain the hotword models that correspond to the words “start” and “computer” such that the mobile computing device 106 is able to appropriately process the utterance 170 close to detection of utterance 170.In some examples, by generating the pre-computed hotword models 128 trained on utterances of other users (e.g., users 114 and 116) that are not available to the mobile computing device 106, the pre-computed hotword models 128 employed by the mobile computing device 106 to process the utterance 170 can be more robust as compared to hotword models 128 trained on utterances only provided by the user 118.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides, to the mobile computing device 106, instructions 136 that define a processing routine of the pre-computed hotword models 134.That is, the instructions 136 define how the mobile computing device 106 is to appropriately process the pre-computed hotword models 134.In some examples, the pre-computed hotword models 134 detect hotwords (e.g., of utterances) based on an analysis of underlying acoustic features (e.g., mel-frequency cepstrum coefficients) of an input utterance (e.g., utterance 170).","In some examples, the instructions 136 include instructions to sequentially process the hotword models 134, and further include a processing order of the hotword models 134.For example, the instructions 136 can include instructions to initially process the pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “start” and subsequently process the pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “computer.” In some examples, the instructions 136 include instructions to parallel process the hotword models 134.For example, the instructions 136 can include instructions to process the pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “start” and process the pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “computer” in parallel, e.g., at substantially the same time.","In some examples, the instructions 136 include instructions to process the hotword models 134 such that a second hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “computer” is processed only when a first hotword model 134 detects the hotword “start.” In other words, upon detection of the word “computer” by the first hotword model 134, the mobile computing device 106 triggers processing of the second hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “computer.” The mobile computing device 106 receives the pre-computed hotword models 134, and in some examples, the instructions 136, from the hotword configuration engine 112, e.g., over one or more networks.","The mobile computing device 106 stores the pre-computed models 134 in memory of the mobile computing device 106.Thus, upon detection of an utterance by the user 118 at a later time (e.g., after receiving the pre-computed hotword models 134), the mobile computing device 106 can appropriately process the utterance in view of the pre-computed hotword models 134 to determine whether the utterance corresponds to the candidate hotword 129.In some further implementations, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates one or more of the hotword models that correspond to candidate hotword 129.That is, in response to receiving the candidate hotword 129 from the mobile computing device 106, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates a hotword model that corresponds to one or more words of the candidate hotword 129.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates the hotword models for the candidate hotword 129 based on i) the waveform 130 and ii) an obtained transcription of the waveform 130, e.g., from the speech recognition engine 108.For example, for the word “start” of the waveform 130, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates a hotword model for the word based on i) a portion of the waveform 130 corresponding to the user 118 speaking the word “start” and ii) a transcription associated with the waveform 130 corresponding to the user 118 speaking the word “start.” In some examples, as mentioned above, the hotword configuration engine 112 matches at least a portion of the waveform 130 to at least a portion of the waveforms stored by the vocabulary database 110.Upon the matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can further identify a portion of the corresponding transcription associated with the matched waveform that is stored by the vocabulary database 110.To that end, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates the hotword model corresponding to the candidate hotword 129 based on i) the matched waveform and ii) the corresponding transcription associated with the matched waveform.","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify a portion of the waveform 160 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “start” and further identify the corresponding transcription 124 of the portion of the waveform 160 that includes the word “start.” The hotword configuration engine 112 can dynamically create the hotword model for the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 based on i) the portion of the waveform 160 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “start” and ii) the corresponding transcription 124 that includes the word “start.” In some examples, as mentioned above, the hotword configuration engine 112 matches at least a portion of a transcription of the waveform 130 to at least a portion of transcriptions stored by the vocabulary database 110.Upon the matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can further identify the corresponding waveform associated with the matched transcription that is stored by the vocabulary database 110.To that end, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates the hotword model corresponding to the candidate hotword 129 based on i) the matched transcription and ii) the corresponding waveform associated with the matched transcription.","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify a portion of the transcription 124 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “start” and further identify the corresponding portion of the waveform 160 that includes the word “start.” The hotword configuration engine 112 can dynamically create the hotword model for the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 based on i) the portion of the transcription 124 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “start” and ii) the corresponding portion of the waveform 160 that includes the word “start.” In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the dynamically created hotword models to the mobile computing device 106, e.g., over one or more networks.","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can provide dynamically created hotword models 134 that correspond to the word “start” of the candidate hotword “start computer” to the mobile computing device 106.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 can provide i) the dynamically created hotword model that corresponds to the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 “start computer” and provide ii) the pre-computed hotword model 134 that corresponds to the word “computer” of the candidate hotword 129 “start computer” to the mobile computing device 106.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates the hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword 129 after receiving the candidate hotword 129 from the mobile computing device 106.For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates the hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” after receiving the candidate hotword 129 from the mobile computing device 106.FIG.","2 illustrates example graphical user interface (GUI) 202 of a mobile computing device 204 for identifying a user provided hotword.","The mobile computing device 204 can be similar to the mobile computing device 106 of FIG.","1.To that end, the mobile computing device 204 provides a first GUI 202a to a user 206 associated with the mobile computing device 204 that provides for display initiation of the process to identify the user provided hotword to be associated with an action (e.g., a process performed at least partially by the mobile computing device 204).","In some examples, the first GUI 202a includes text 208 indicating to the user 206 to provide a hotword.","For example, the text 208 includes “What would you like your Hotword to be to initiate a web search?” The user 206 provides an utterance 210 that the mobile computing device 204 detects.","For example, the user 206 says the utterance 210 of “go gadget go” that the user 206 desires to be a hotword to initiate a web search.","In response to detecting the utterance 210, the mobile computing device 204 provides a second GUI 202b to the user 206 that provides for display a proposed transcription of the detected utterance 210.In some examples, the second GUI 202b includes text 212 indicating to the user 206 to confirm, or reject, a transcription of the utterance 210.For example, the text 212 includes “We think you said ‘Go gadget go.’ If yes, please hit confirm button.","If no, please hit reject button, and speak Hotword again.” To that end, the second GUI 202b further includes selectable buttons 214 and 216 that the user 206 is able to select to indicate whether to confirm that the transcription is correct, or reject the transcription.","For example, upon selection of the selectable button 214 by the user 206, the mobile computing device 204 receives a confirmation that the transcription of “Go gadget go” corresponds to the utterance 210.Further, for example, upon selection of the selectable button 216 by the user 206, the mobile computing device 204 receives a rejection of the transcription corresponding to the utterance 210, e.g., an incorrect or inaccurate transcription.","In some examples, the proposed transcription of the detected utterance 210 is not provided to the user 206 via the second GUI 202b.","In response to receiving a confirmation that the transcription is correct, the mobile computing device 204 provides a third GUI 202c to the user 206 that provides for display a confirmation of the transcription of the detected utterance 210.In some examples, the third GUI 202c includes text 218 indicating to the user 206 that the user 206 has confirmed that the transcription of the utterance 210 is correct.","For example, the text 218 includes “We have confirmed that your Hotword is ‘Go gadget go.’” Thus, the words “Go gadget go” have been established as associated with a hotword, and further associated with an action of initiating a web search.","After establishing the hotword by the user 206, the user 206 can provide a hotword 220, e.g., via an utterance or text-input, to the mobile computing device 206, e.g., after identifying the user provided hotword.","For example, the hotword 220 can include the words “go gadget go.” Thus, in response to receiving the hotword 220 of “go gadget go,” the mobile computing device 206 causes one or more actions to be performed, including initiating a web search, and provides a fourth GUI 202d to the user 206 that provides for display a description of the action to be taken associated with receiving the hotword 220.In some examples, the fourth GUI 202d includes text 222 of “Starting Search .",".",".",".” FIG.","3 depicts a flowchart of an example process 300 for providing hotword models.","The example process 300 can be executed using one or more computing devices.","For example, the mobile computing device 102, 104, 106, the speech recognition engine 108, and the hotword configuration engine 112 can be used to execute the example process 500.For each of multiple words or sub-words, audio data corresponding to multiple users speaking the word or sub-word is obtained (302).","For example, the speech recognition engine 208 obtains the waveforms 120 and 122 from the mobile computing devices 102 and 104, respectively, that correspond to the user 114 speaking the utterance 150 of “start my car” and the user 116 speaking the utterance 152 of “where do I buy a computer.” For each of the multiple words or sub-words, a pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word is trained based on the audio for the word or sub-word (304).","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 trains a pre-computed hotword model for each word or sub-word based on the waveforms 120 and 122.A candidate hotword is received from a mobile computing device (306).","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” from the mobile computing device 106.One or more pre-computed hotword models are identified that correspond to the candidate hotword (308).","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that correspond to the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer.” The identified, pre-computed hotword models are provided to the mobile computing device (310).","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the pre-computed hotword models 134 to the mobile computing device 106.FIG.","4 shows an example of a generic computer device 400 and a generic mobile computer device 450, which may be used with the techniques described here.","Computing device 400 is intended to represent various forms of digital computers, such as laptops, desktops, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, blade servers, mainframes, and other appropriate computers.","Computing device 450 is intended to represent various forms of mobile devices, such as personal digital assistants, cellular telephones, smartphones, and other similar computing devices.","The components shown here, their connections and relationships, and their functions, are meant to be exemplary only, and are not meant to limit implementations of the inventions described and/or claimed in this document.","Computing device 400 includes a processor 402, memory 404, a storage device 406, a high-speed interface 408 connecting to memory 404 and high-speed expansion ports 410, and a low speed interface 412 connecting to low speed bus 414 and storage device 406.Each of the components 402, 404, 406, 408, 410, and 412, are interconnected using various busses, and may be mounted on a common motherboard or in other manners as appropriate.","The processor 402 may process instructions for execution within the computing device 400, including instructions stored in the memory 404 or on the storage device 406 to display graphical information for a GUI on an external input/output device, such as display 416 coupled to high speed interface 408.In other implementations, multiple processors and/or multiple buses may be used, as appropriate, along with multiple memories and types of memory.","Also, multiple computing devices 400 may be connected, with each device providing portions of the necessary operations (e.g., as a server bank, a group of blade servers, or a multi-processor system).","The memory 404 stores information within the computing device 400.In one implementation, the memory 404 is a volatile memory unit or units.","In another implementation, the memory 404 is a non-volatile memory unit or units.","The memory 404 may also be another form of computer-readable medium, such as a magnetic or optical disk.","The storage device 406 is capable of providing mass storage for the computing device 400.In one implementation, the storage device 406 may be or contain a computer-readable medium, such as a floppy disk device, a hard disk device, an optical disk device, or a tape device, a flash memory or other similar solid state memory device, or an array of devices, including devices in a storage area network or other configurations.","A computer program product may be tangibly embodied in an information carrier.","The computer program product may also contain instructions that, when executed, perform one or more methods, such as those described above.","The information carrier is a computer- or machine-readable medium, such as the memory 404, the storage device 406, or a memory on processor 402.The high speed controller 408 manages bandwidth-intensive operations for the computing device 400, while the low speed controller 412 manages lower bandwidth-intensive operations.","Such allocation of functions is exemplary only.","In one implementation, the high-speed controller 408 is coupled to memory 404, display 416 (e.g., through a graphics processor or accelerator), and to high-speed expansion ports 410, which may accept various expansion cards (not shown).","In the implementation, low-speed controller 412 is coupled to storage device 406 and low-speed expansion port 414.The low-speed expansion port, which may include various communication ports (e.g., USB, Bluetooth, Ethernet, wireless Ethernet) may be coupled to one or more input/output devices, such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a scanner, or a networking device such as a switch or router, e.g., through a network adapter.","The computing device 400 may be implemented in a number of different forms, as shown in the figure.","For example, it may be implemented as a standard server 420, or multiple times in a group of such servers.","It may also be implemented as part of a rack server system 424.In addition, it may be implemented in a personal computer such as a laptop computer 422.Alternatively, components from computing device 400 may be combined with other components in a mobile device (not shown), such as device 450.Each of such devices may contain one or more of computing device 400, 450, and an entire system may be made up of multiple computing devices 400, 450 communicating with each other.","Computing device 450 includes a processor 452, memory 464, an input/output device such as a display 454, a communication interface 466, and a transceiver 468, among other components.","The device 450 may also be provided with a storage device, such as a microdrive or other device, to provide additional storage.","Each of the components 450, 452, 464, 454, 466, and 468, are interconnected using various buses, and several of the components may be mounted on a common motherboard or in other manners as appropriate.","The processor 452 may execute instructions within the computing device 640, including instructions stored in the memory 464.The processor may be implemented as a chipset of chips that include separate and multiple analog and digital processors.","The processor may provide, for example, for coordination of the other components of the device 450, such as control of user interfaces, applications run by device 450, and wireless communication by device 450.Processor 452 may communicate with a user through control interface 648 and display interface 456 coupled to a display 454.The display 454 may be, for example, a TFT LCD (Thin-Film-Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) or an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display, or other appropriate display technology.","The display interface 456 may comprise appropriate circuitry for driving the display 454 to present graphical and other information to a user.","The control interface 458 may receive commands from a user and convert them for submission to the processor 452.In addition, an external interface 462 may be provide in communication with processor 452, so as to enable near area communication of device 450 with other devices.","External interface 462 may provide, for example, for wired communication in some implementations, or for wireless communication in other implementations, and multiple interfaces may also be used.","The memory 464 stores information within the computing device 450.The memory 464 may be implemented as one or more of a computer-readable medium or media, a volatile memory unit or units, or a non-volatile memory unit or units.","Expansion memory 454 may also be provided and connected to device 450 through expansion interface 452, which may include, for example, a SIMM (Single In Line Memory Module) card interface.","Such expansion memory 454 may provide extra storage space for device 450, or may also store applications or other information for device 450.Specifically, expansion memory 454 may include instructions to carry out or supplement the processes described above, and may include secure information also.","Thus, for example, expansion memory 454 may be provide as a security module for device 450, and may be programmed with instructions that permit secure use of device 450.In addition, secure applications may be provided via the SIMM cards, along with additional information, such as placing identifying information on the SIMM card in a non-hackable manner.","The memory may include, for example, flash memory and/or NVRAM memory, as discussed below.","In one implementation, a computer program product is tangibly embodied in an information carrier.","The computer program product contains instructions that, when executed, perform one or more methods, such as those described above.","The information carrier is a computer- or machine-readable medium, such as the memory 464, expansion memory 454, memory on processor 452, or a propagated signal that may be received, for example, over transceiver 468 or external interface 462.Device 450 may communicate wirelessly through communication interface 466, which may include digital signal processing circuitry where necessary.","Communication interface 466 may provide for communications under various modes or protocols, such as GSM voice calls, SMS, EMS, or MMS messaging, CDMA, TDMA, PDC, WCDMA, CDMA2000, or GPRS, among others.","Such communication may occur, for example, through radio-frequency transceiver 468.In addition, short-range communication may occur, such as using a Bluetooth, WiFi, or other such transceiver (not shown).","In addition, GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver module 450 may provide additional navigation- and location-related wireless data to device 450, which may be used as appropriate by applications running on device 450.Device 450 may also communicate audibly using audio codec 460, which may receive spoken information from a user and convert it to usable digital information.","Audio codec 460 may likewise generate audible sound for a user, such as through a speaker, e.g., in a handset of device 450.Such sound may include sound from voice telephone calls, may include recorded sound (e.g., voice messages, music files, etc.)","and may also include sound generated by applications operating on device 450.The computing device 450 may be implemented in a number of different forms, as shown in the figure.","For example, it may be implemented as a cellular telephone 480.It may also be implemented as part of a smartphone 482, personal digital assistant, or other similar mobile device.","Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here may be realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry, specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof.","These various implementations may include implementation in one or more computer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device.","These computer programs (also known as programs, software, software applications or code) include machine instructions for a programmable processor, and may be implemented in a high-level procedural and/or object-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machine language.","As used herein, the terms “machine-readable medium” “computer-readable medium” refers to any computer program product, apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal.","The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.","To provide for interaction with a user, the systems and techniques described here may be implemented on a computer having a display device (e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor) for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device (e.g., a mouse or a trackball) by which the user may provide input to the computer.","Other kinds of devices may be used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to the user may be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback); and input from the user may be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.","The systems and techniques described here may be implemented in a computing system that includes a back end component (e.g., as a data server), or that includes a middleware component (e.g., an application server), or that includes a front end component (e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user may interact with an implementation of the systems and techniques described here), or any combination of such back end, middleware, or front end components.","The components of the system may be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., a communication network).","Examples of communication networks include a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), and the Internet.","The computing system may include clients and servers.","A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network.","The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other.","While this disclosure includes some specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features of example implementations of the disclosure.","Certain features that are described in this disclosure in the context of separate implementations can also be provided in combination in a single implementation.","Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation can also be provided in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination.","Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.","Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results.","In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.","Moreover, the separation of various system components in the implementations described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.","Thus, particular implementations of the present disclosure have been described.","Other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.","For example, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results.","A number of implementations have been described.","Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.","For example, various forms of the flows shown above may be used, with steps re-ordered, added, or removed.","Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"PROVIDING PRE-COMPUTED HOTWORD MODELS\",\n \"Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for obtaining, for each of multiple words or sub-words, audio data corresponding to multiple users speaking the word or sub-word; training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, a pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word based on the audio data for the word or sub-word; receiving a candidate hotword from a computing device; identifying one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword; and providing the identified, pre-computed hotword models to the computing device.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.\",\n \"(canceled) 2.A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, by a server-based hotword configuration engine, text that a user has typed or entered by touch input into a mobile computing device or digital assistant device for use as a custom hotword, wherein a custom hotword is personalized term that, when spoken in advance of a voice command, initiates a wake up process on the mobile computing device or digital assistant device for processing the voice command; obtaining, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, a hotword detection model that was previously trained to detect the custom hotword being spoken without using any audio samples of the user speaking the custom hotword; and providing, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, the hotword detection model to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device for use in detecting the custom hotword being spoken by the user.\",\n \"3.The method of claim 2, wherein the text is typed or entered into the mobile computing device or digital assistant device in response to a prompt.\",\n \"4.The method of claim 2, wherein the text comprises two or more words.\",\n \"5.The method of claim 2, wherein the hotword detection model is trained based on portions of audio samples of other users speaking other words that are not the custom hotword.\",\n \"6.The method of claim 2, wherein the hotword detection model comprises a pre-computed model that was already stored in a vocabulary database when the text was typed or entered.\",\n \"7.The method of claim 2, comprising receiving and processing a voice command that (i) was preceded by the custom hotword in an utterance that was received by the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device, and (ii) was received after the hotword detection model was provided to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device.\",\n \"8.A system comprising: one or more computers; and a non-transitory computer-readable medium coupled to the one or more computers having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising: receiving, by a server-based hotword configuration engine, text that a user has typed or entered by touch input into a mobile computing device or digital assistant device for use as a custom hotword, wherein a custom hotword is personalized term that, when spoken in advance of a voice command, initiates a wake up process on the mobile computing device or digital assistant device for processing the voice command; obtaining, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, a hotword detection model that was previously trained to detect the custom hotword being spoken without using any audio samples of the user speaking the custom hotword; and providing, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, the hotword detection model to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device for use in detecting the custom hotword being spoken by the user.\",\n \"9.The system of claim 8, wherein the text is typed or entered into the mobile computing device or digital assistant device in response to a prompt.\",\n \"10.The system of claim 8, wherein the text comprises two or more words.\",\n \"11.The system of claim 8, wherein the hotword detection model is trained based on portions of audio samples of other users speaking other words that are not the custom hotword.\",\n \"12.The system of claim 8, wherein the hotword detection model comprises a pre-computed model that was already stored in a vocabulary database when the text was typed or entered.\",\n \"13.The system of claim 8, comprising receiving and processing a voice command that (i) was preceded by the custom hotword in an utterance that was received by the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device, and (ii) was received after the hotword detection model was provided to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device.\",\n \"14.A non-transitory computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising: receiving, by a server-based hotword configuration engine, text that a user has typed or entered by touch input into a mobile computing device or digital assistant device for use as a custom hotword, wherein a custom hotword is personalized term that, when spoken in advance of a voice command, initiates a wake up process on the mobile computing device or digital assistant device for processing the voice command; obtaining, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, a hotword detection model that was previously trained to detect the custom hotword being spoken without using any audio samples of the user speaking the custom hotword; and providing, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, the hotword detection model to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device for use in detecting the custom hotword being spoken by the user.\",\n \"15.The medium of claim 14, wherein the text is typed or entered into the mobile computing device or digital assistant device in response to a prompt.\",\n \"16.The medium of claim 14, wherein the text comprises two or more words.\",\n \"17.The medium of claim 14, wherein the hotword detection model is trained based on portions of audio samples of other users speaking other words that are not the custom hotword.\",\n \"18.The medium of claim 14, wherein the hotword detection model comprises a pre-computed model that was already stored in a vocabulary database when the text was typed or entered.\",\n \"19.The medium of claim 14, comprising receiving and processing a voice command that (i) was preceded by the custom hotword in an utterance that was received by the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device, and (ii) was received after the hotword detection model was provided to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>The reality of a speech-enabled home or other environment—that is, one in which a user need only speak a query or command out loud and a computer-based system will field and answer the query and/or cause the command to be performed—is upon us.\",\n \"A speech-enabled environment (e.g., home, workplace, school, etc.)\",\n \"can be implemented using a network of connected microphone devices distributed throughout the various rooms or areas of the environment.\",\n \"Through such a network of microphones, a user has the power to orally query the system from essentially anywhere in the environment without the need to have a computer or other device in front of him/her or even nearby.\",\n \"For example, while cooking in the kitchen, a user might ask the system “how many milliliters in three cups?” and, in response, receive an answer from the system, e.g., in the form of synthesized voice output.\",\n \"Alternatively, a user might ask the system questions such as “when does my nearest gas station close,” or, upon preparing to leave the house, “should I wear a coat today?” Further, a user may ask a query of the system, and/or issue a command, that relates to the user's personal information.\",\n \"For example, a user might ask the system “when is my meeting with John?” or command the system “remind me to call John when I get back home.” In a speech-enabled environment, a user's manner of interacting with the system is designed to be primarily, if not exclusively, by means of voice input.\",\n \"Consequently, a system which potentially picks up all utterances made in the environment, including those not directed to the system, must have some way of discerning when any given utterance is directed at the system as opposed, e.g., to being directed an individual present in the environment.\",\n \"One way to accomplish this is to use a “hotword” (also referred to as an “attention word” or “voice action initiation command”), which by agreement is reserved as a predetermined term that is spoken to invoke the attention of the system.\",\n \"In one example environment, the hotword used to invoke the system's attention is the word “Google.” Consequently, each time the word “Google” is spoken, it is picked up by one of the microphones, and is conveyed to the system, which performs speech recognition techniques to determine whether the hotword was spoken and, if so, awaits an ensuing command or query.\",\n \"Accordingly, utterances directed at the system take the general form [HOTWORD] [QUERY], where “HOTWORD” in this example is “Google” and “QUERY” can be any question, command, declaration, or other request that can be speech recognized, parsed and acted on by the system, either alone or in conjunction with a server over network.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>According to some innovative aspects of the subject matter described in this specification, a system can provide pre-computed hotword models to a mobile computing device, such that the mobile computing device can detect a candidate hotword spoken by a user associated with the mobile computing device through an analysis of the acoustic features of a portion of an utterance, without requiring the portion to be transcribed or semantically interpreted.\",\n \"The hotword models can be generated based on audio data obtained from multiple users speaking multiple words or sub-words, including words or sub-words that make up the candidate hotword.\",\n \"In some examples, a user desires to make the words “start computer” a hotword to initiate a “wake up” process on a mobile computing device, such as a smartphone.\",\n \"The user speaks the words “start computer” and, in response, the system can identify pre-computed hotword models associated with the term “start computer,” or of the constituent words “start” and “computer.” The system can provide the pre-computed hotword models to the mobile computing device such that the mobile computing device can detect whether a further utterance corresponds to the hotword “start computer,” and correspondingly wake up the mobile computing device.\",\n \"Innovative aspects of the subject matter described in this specification may be embodied in methods that include the actions of obtaining, for each of multiple words or sub-words, audio data corresponding to multiple users speaking the word or sub-word; training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, a pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word based on the audio data for the word or sub-word; receiving a candidate hotword from a computing device; identifying one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword; and providing the identified, pre-computed hotword models to the computing device.\",\n \"Other embodiments of these aspects include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs, configured to perform the actions of the methods, encoded on computer storage devices.\",\n \"These and other embodiments may each optionally include one or more of the following features.\",\n \"For instance, identifying the one or more pre-computed hotword models includes obtaining two or more sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword; and obtaining, for each of the two or more sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword, a pre-computed hotword model that corresponds to the sub-word.\",\n \"Receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device after training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, the pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word.\",\n \"Receiving the candidate hotword from the mobile computing includes receiving audio data corresponding to the candidate hotword.\",\n \"Receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device includes receiving the candidate hotword including two or more words from the computing device.\",\n \"Identifying one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword; and providing the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword to the computing device.\",\n \"Providing, to the computing device, instructions defining a processing routine of the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.\",\n \"The instructions include instructions to sequentially process the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.\",\n \"The instructions include a processing order to sequentially process the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.\",\n \"The features further include, for instance, dynamically creating one or more hotword models that correspond to one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword; and providing the dynamically created one or more hotword models that correspond to one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword to the computing device.\",\n \"Dynamically creating the one or more hotword models that correspond to the one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword after receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device.\",\n \"Training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, the pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word, further includes for each word or sub-word of the multiple words or sub-words, obtaining, for each user of the multiple users, a transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word; associating, for each user of the multiple users, the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word with the transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word; and generating a particular pre-computed hotword model corresponding to the word or sub-word based on i) the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word and ii) the transcription associated with the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word.\",\n \"The details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below.\",\n \"Other potential features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/463,786, filed on Mar.\",\n \"20, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/288,241, filed on Oct. 7, 2016 (now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,646,612), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/001,894, filed on Jan. 20, 2016 (now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,520,130), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/340,833, filed on Jul.\",\n \"25, 2014 (now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,263,042).\",\n \"The disclosures of the prior applications are considered part of and are incorporated by reference in the disclosure of this application.\",\n \"FIELD The present disclosure generally relates to speech recognition.\",\n \"BACKGROUND The reality of a speech-enabled home or other environment—that is, one in which a user need only speak a query or command out loud and a computer-based system will field and answer the query and/or cause the command to be performed—is upon us.\",\n \"A speech-enabled environment (e.g., home, workplace, school, etc.)\",\n \"can be implemented using a network of connected microphone devices distributed throughout the various rooms or areas of the environment.\",\n \"Through such a network of microphones, a user has the power to orally query the system from essentially anywhere in the environment without the need to have a computer or other device in front of him/her or even nearby.\",\n \"For example, while cooking in the kitchen, a user might ask the system “how many milliliters in three cups?” and, in response, receive an answer from the system, e.g., in the form of synthesized voice output.\",\n \"Alternatively, a user might ask the system questions such as “when does my nearest gas station close,” or, upon preparing to leave the house, “should I wear a coat today?” Further, a user may ask a query of the system, and/or issue a command, that relates to the user's personal information.\",\n \"For example, a user might ask the system “when is my meeting with John?” or command the system “remind me to call John when I get back home.” In a speech-enabled environment, a user's manner of interacting with the system is designed to be primarily, if not exclusively, by means of voice input.\",\n \"Consequently, a system which potentially picks up all utterances made in the environment, including those not directed to the system, must have some way of discerning when any given utterance is directed at the system as opposed, e.g., to being directed an individual present in the environment.\",\n \"One way to accomplish this is to use a “hotword” (also referred to as an “attention word” or “voice action initiation command”), which by agreement is reserved as a predetermined term that is spoken to invoke the attention of the system.\",\n \"In one example environment, the hotword used to invoke the system's attention is the word “Google.” Consequently, each time the word “Google” is spoken, it is picked up by one of the microphones, and is conveyed to the system, which performs speech recognition techniques to determine whether the hotword was spoken and, if so, awaits an ensuing command or query.\",\n \"Accordingly, utterances directed at the system take the general form [HOTWORD] [QUERY], where “HOTWORD” in this example is “Google” and “QUERY” can be any question, command, declaration, or other request that can be speech recognized, parsed and acted on by the system, either alone or in conjunction with a server over network.\",\n \"SUMMARY According to some innovative aspects of the subject matter described in this specification, a system can provide pre-computed hotword models to a mobile computing device, such that the mobile computing device can detect a candidate hotword spoken by a user associated with the mobile computing device through an analysis of the acoustic features of a portion of an utterance, without requiring the portion to be transcribed or semantically interpreted.\",\n \"The hotword models can be generated based on audio data obtained from multiple users speaking multiple words or sub-words, including words or sub-words that make up the candidate hotword.\",\n \"In some examples, a user desires to make the words “start computer” a hotword to initiate a “wake up” process on a mobile computing device, such as a smartphone.\",\n \"The user speaks the words “start computer” and, in response, the system can identify pre-computed hotword models associated with the term “start computer,” or of the constituent words “start” and “computer.” The system can provide the pre-computed hotword models to the mobile computing device such that the mobile computing device can detect whether a further utterance corresponds to the hotword “start computer,” and correspondingly wake up the mobile computing device.\",\n \"Innovative aspects of the subject matter described in this specification may be embodied in methods that include the actions of obtaining, for each of multiple words or sub-words, audio data corresponding to multiple users speaking the word or sub-word; training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, a pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word based on the audio data for the word or sub-word; receiving a candidate hotword from a computing device; identifying one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword; and providing the identified, pre-computed hotword models to the computing device.\",\n \"Other embodiments of these aspects include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs, configured to perform the actions of the methods, encoded on computer storage devices.\",\n \"These and other embodiments may each optionally include one or more of the following features.\",\n \"For instance, identifying the one or more pre-computed hotword models includes obtaining two or more sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword; and obtaining, for each of the two or more sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword, a pre-computed hotword model that corresponds to the sub-word.\",\n \"Receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device after training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, the pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word.\",\n \"Receiving the candidate hotword from the mobile computing includes receiving audio data corresponding to the candidate hotword.\",\n \"Receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device includes receiving the candidate hotword including two or more words from the computing device.\",\n \"Identifying one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword; and providing the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword to the computing device.\",\n \"Providing, to the computing device, instructions defining a processing routine of the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.\",\n \"The instructions include instructions to sequentially process the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.\",\n \"The instructions include a processing order to sequentially process the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.\",\n \"The features further include, for instance, dynamically creating one or more hotword models that correspond to one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword; and providing the dynamically created one or more hotword models that correspond to one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword to the computing device.\",\n \"Dynamically creating the one or more hotword models that correspond to the one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword after receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device.\",\n \"Training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, the pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word, further includes for each word or sub-word of the multiple words or sub-words, obtaining, for each user of the multiple users, a transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word; associating, for each user of the multiple users, the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word with the transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word; and generating a particular pre-computed hotword model corresponding to the word or sub-word based on i) the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word and ii) the transcription associated with the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word.\",\n \"The details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below.\",\n \"Other potential features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims.\",\n \"DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 depicts an example system for providing hotword models.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 depicts an example graphical user interface for identifying a user provided hotword.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 depicts an example flowchart for providing hotword models.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 depicts a computer device and a mobile computer device that may be used to implement the techniques described here.\",\n \"In the drawings, like reference symbols indicate like elements throughout.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG.\",\n \"1 depicts a system 100 for providing pre-computed hotword models.\",\n \"In some examples, the system 100 includes mobile computing devices 102, 104, 106, a speech recognition engine 108, a vocabulary database 110, and a hotword configuration engine 112.In some examples, any of the mobile computing devices 102, 104, 106 may be a portable computer, a smartphone, a tablet-computing device, or a wearable computing device.\",\n \"Each of the mobile computing devices 102, 104, 106 are associated with a respective user 114, 116, 118.The mobile computing devices 102, 104, 106 can include any audio detection means, e.g., a microphone, for detecting utterances from the respective associated user 114, 116, 118.The mobile computing devices 102 and 104 are in communication with the speech recognition engine 108, e.g., over one or more networks, and the mobile computing device 106 is in communication with the hotword configuration engine 112, e.g., over one or more networks.\",\n \"In some implementations, the speech recognition engine 108 obtains, for each of multiple words or sub-words, audio data that corresponds to multiple users speaking the word or sub-words, during operation (A).\",\n \"Specifically, the speech recognition engine 108 obtains audio data from the mobile computing devices 102 and 104 that correspond, respectively, to the users 114 and 116 speaking words or sub-words, e.g., over one or more networks.\",\n \"In some examples, the user 114 and the user 116 each say one or more words that the mobile computing device 102 and mobile computing device 104, respectively detect.\",\n \"In some examples, the users 114 and 116 speak the words or sub-words during any interaction with the mobile computing devices 102 and 104, respectively, e.g., submitting voice queries for voice commands.\",\n \"In some examples, in addition to obtain the audio data associated with the users 114 and 116 speaking the words or sub-words, the speech recognition engine 108 obtains a locale of the users 114 and 116 from the mobile computing device 102 and 104.The locale can include the approximate current location of the user when speaking the words or sub-words, or a location associated with a profile of the user.\",\n \"For example, the user 114 says the utterance 150 of “start my car” and the user 116 says the utterance 152 of “where do I buy a computer?” The mobile computing device 102 detects the utterance 150 of “start my car” to generate waveform data 120 that represents the detected utterance 150; and the mobile computing device 104 detects the utterance 152 of “where do I buy a computer?” to generate waveform data 122 that represents the detected utterance 152.The mobile computing devices 102 and 104 transmit the waveforms 120 and 122, respectively, to the speech recognition engine 108, e.g., over one or more networks.\",\n \"In some examples, the speech recognition engine 108, for each word or sub-word of the multiple words or sub-words, obtains, for each user of the multiple users, a transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or the sub-word, during operation (B).\",\n \"Specifically, the speech recognition engine 108 processes the received audio data, including generating a transcription of an utterance of words or sub-words associated with the audio data.\",\n \"Generating the transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or the sub-word can include transcribing the utterance into text or text-related data.\",\n \"In other words, the speech recognition engine 108 can provide a representation of natural language in written form of the utterance associated with the audio data.\",\n \"For example, the speech recognition engine 108 transcribes the waveforms 120 and 122, as received from the mobile computing devices 102 and 104, respectively.\",\n \"That is, the speech recognition engine 108 transcribes the waveform 120 to generate the transcription 124 of “start my car” and transcribes the waveform 122 to generate the transcription 126 of “where do I buy a computer?” In some examples, the speech recognition engine 108, for each word or sub-word of the multiple words or sub-words, associates, for each user of the multiple users, the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word with the transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word, during operation (C).\",\n \"For example, the speech recognition engine 108 associates the waveform 160 with the transcription 124 and associates the waveform 162 with the transcription 126.In some examples, the waveform 160 is substantially the same as the waveform 120, and the waveform 162 is substantially the same as the waveform 122.In some examples, the waveform 160 is a processed version (e.g., by the speech recognition engine 108) of the waveform 120, and the waveform 162 is a processed version (e.g., by the speech recognition engine 108) of the waveform 122.In some examples, the speech recognition engine 108 associates a portion of the waveform 160 with a corresponding portion of the transcription 124.That is, for each word, or sub-word, of the waveform 160, the speech recognition engine 108 associates the corresponding portion of the transcription 124 with the word, or sub-word.\",\n \"For example, the speech recognition engine 108 associates a portion of the waveform 160 for each of the words “start,” “my,” “car” with the corresponding portion of the transcription 124.Similarly, the speech recognition engine 108 associates a portion of the waveform 162 for each of the words “where,” “do,” “I,” “buy,” “a,” “computer” with the corresponding portion of the transcription 126.In some examples, the speech recognition engine 108 associates a portion of the waveform 160 for each of the sub-words, e.g., phoneme or tri-phone level, of each word, e.g., “st-ah-rt” of the word “start,” with the corresponding portion of the transcription.\",\n \"Similarly, in some examples, the speech recognition engine 108 associates a portion of the waveform 162 for each of the sub-words, e.g., phoneme or tri-phone level, of each word, e.g., “kom-pyu-ter” of the word “computer,” with the corresponding portion of the transcription.” In some examples, associating the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word with the transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word includes storing the association in a database, or a table.\",\n \"Specifically, the speech recognition engine 108 provides the transcription 124 and the waveform 160 to the vocabulary database 110 such that the vocabulary database 110 stores an association between the waveform 160 and the transcription 124.Similarly, the speech recognition engine 108 provides the transcription 126 and the waveform 162 to the vocabulary database 110 such that the vocabulary database 110 stores an association between the waveform 162 and the transcription 126.In some examples, the speech recognition engine 108 provides the locale associated with the word or sub-words of the transcription 124 (e.g., the locale of the user 114) to the vocabulary database 110 such that the vocabulary database 110 additionally stores an association between the waveform 160, the transcription 124, and the respective locale.\",\n \"Similarly, the speech recognition engine 108 provides the locale associated with the word or sub-words of the transcription 126 (e.g., the locale of the user 116) to the vocabulary database 110 such that the vocabulary database 110 additionally stores an association between the waveform 162, the transcription 126, and the respective locale In some examples, the vocabulary database 110 indicates an association between a portion of the waveform 160 with a corresponding portion of the transcription 124.That is, for each word, or sub-word, of the waveform 160, the vocabulary database 110 stores an association of the portion of the waveform 160 with a corresponding portion of the transcription 124 with the word, or sub-word.\",\n \"For example, the vocabulary database 110 stores an association of a portion of the waveform 160 for each of the words “start,” “my,” “car” with the corresponding portion of the transcription 124.Similarly, the vocabulary database 110 stores an association of a portion of the waveform 162 for each of the words “where,” “do,” “I,” “buy,” “a,” “computer” with the corresponding portion of the transcription 126.In some implementations, the hotword configuration engine 112 trains, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, a pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word, during operation (D).\",\n \"Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 is in communication with the vocabulary database 110, and obtains, for each word or sub-word stored by the vocabulary database 110, the audio data of each user of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word and the associated transcription of the audio data.\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 obtains, from the vocabulary database 110, the waveform 160 and the associated transcription 124, and further obtains the waveform 162 and the associated transcription 126.In some examples, for each word or sub-word stored by the vocabulary database 110, the hotword configuration engine 112 generates a pre-computed hotword model corresponding to the word or sub-word.\",\n \"Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 generates the pre-computed hotword model for each word or sub-word based on i) the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word and ii) the transcription associated with the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word.\",\n \"In some examples, the pre-computed hotword model can be a classifier such as a neural network, or a support vector machine (SVM).\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 generates a pre-computed hotword model corresponding to each word or sub-word of the waveforms 160 and 162.In some examples, for the word “start” of the waveform 160, the hotword configuration engine 112 generates a pre-computed hotword model for the word based on i) the audio data corresponding to the user 114 speaking the word “start” (e.g., the portion of the waveform 160 corresponding to the user 114 speaking the word “start”) and ii) the transcription associated with the audio data corresponding to the user 114 speaking the word “start.” Additionally, the hotword configuration engine 112 can generate a pre-computed hotword model for the remaining words “my” and “car” of the waveform 160, as well as each sub-word (of each word) of the waveform 160, e.g., “st-ah-rt” of the word “start.” Additionally, in some examples, for the word “computer” of the waveform 162, the hotword configuration engine 112 generates a pre-computed hotword model for the word based on i) the audio data corresponding to the user 116 speaking the word “computer” (e.g., the portion of the waveform 162 corresponding to the user 116 speaking the word “computer”) and ii) the transcription associated with the audio data corresponding to the user 116 speaking the word “computer.” Additionally, the hotword configuration engine 112 can generate a pre-computed hotword model for the remaining words “where,” “do,” “I,” “buy” and “a” of the waveform 162, as well as each sub-word of the waveform 160, e.g., “kom-pyu-ter” of the word “computer.” The hotword configuration engine 112, after pre-computing the hotword models for one or more words stored by the vocabulary database 110, provides the pre-computed hotword models 128 to the vocabulary database 110 such that the vocabulary database 110 stores or otherwise indicates an association between the words or sub-words and the corresponding pre-computed hotword models 128.That is, for each word or sub-word of the waveforms 160 and 162, the vocabulary database 110 stores an association between each of the words or sub-words (e.g., of the waveforms 160 and 162) and the corresponding pre-computed hotword models 128.In some examples, the vocabulary database 110 stores, for each word or sub-word of the waveforms 160 and 162, an association between i) the portion of the waveform corresponding to the word or sub-word, ii) the corresponding transcription of the portion of the waveform, and iii) the corresponding pre-computed hotword model.\",\n \"For example, for the word “start” of the waveform 160, the vocabulary database 110 stores i) an association of a portion of the waveform 160 corresponding to the word “start,” ii) a portion of the transcription 124 corresponding to the word “start,” and iii) a pre-computed hotword model 128 for the word “start.” In some implementations, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives a candidate hotword 129 from the mobile computing device 106, during operation (E).\",\n \"Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives, e.g., over one or more networks, data from the mobile computing device 106 that corresponds to the user 118 providing the candidate hotword 129.In some examples, the mobile computing device 106 provides a graphical user interface 180 to the user 118 that provides for display of text 182 to prompt the user 118 to provide a hotword.\",\n \"For example, the text 182 includes “Please say your desired Hotword.” In response, the user 118 says the candidate hotword 129 that the mobile computing device 106 detects, and transmits to the hotword configuration engine 112.For example, the user 118 says the utterance 170 of “start computer” that corresponds to the candidate hotword 129.The mobile computing device 106 detects the utterance 170 of “start computer” and generates a waveform 130 that represents the detected utterance 170.The mobile computing device 106 transmits the waveform 130 to the hotword configuration engine 112, e.g., over one or more networks.\",\n \"In some examples, the user 118 provides text-based input to the mobile computing device 106, e.g., via a graphical user interface of the mobile computing device 106, that corresponds to the candidate hotword 129.For example, the user 118 inputs via a keyboard, virtual or tactile, the text of “start computer.” The mobile computing device 106 transmits the text-based candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” to the hotword configuration engine 112, e.g., over one or more networks.\",\n \"In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword from the mobile computing device 106 after training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, the pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word.\",\n \"Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 from the mobile computing device 106 after the hotword configuration engine 112 generates the pre-computed hotword models 128 corresponding to each of the words or sub-words stored by the vocabulary database 110.For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” from the mobile computing device 106 after training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words of the waveforms 160 and 162, the pre-computed hotword models 128 for the word or sub-word.\",\n \"In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 that includes two or more words from the mobile computing device 106.For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” that includes two words (e.g., “start” and “computer”).\",\n \"In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 that includes a single word from the mobile computing device 106.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 obtains two or more sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword 129.That is, the hotword configuration engine 112 processes the candidate hotword 129 to identify sub-words of the candidate hotword 129.For example, for the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer,” the hotword configuration engine 112 can obtain the sub-words of “st-ah-rt” for the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 and further obtain the sub-words of “kom-pyu-ter” for the word “computer” of the candidate hotword 129.In some implementations, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword 129, at operation (F).\",\n \"Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 accesses the vocabulary database 110 to identify one or more of the pre-computed hotword models 128 that are stored by the vocabulary database 110 and that correspond to the candidate hotword 129.The hotword configuration engine 112 retrieves the pre-computed hotword models 128 from the vocabulary database 110, e.g., over one or more networks.\",\n \"In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models 128 that are associated with the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129.The hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the pre-computed hotword models 128 by matching the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129 with the words, or sub-words, that are stored by the vocabulary database 110.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models 128 that correspond to the utterance 170 of the candidate hotword 129 provided by the user 118.That is, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 based on the waveform 130 that represents the detected utterance 170 of the candidate hotword 129.In the illustrated example, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that correspond to the utterance 170 of “start computer.” In some examples, when the candidate hotword includes two or more words, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words.\",\n \"That is, each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword 129 corresponds to a pre-computed hotword model 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110.For example, the candidate hotword 129 includes two words, e.g., “start” and “computer.” To that end, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies a first pre-computed hotword model 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “start” and a second pre-computed hotword model 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “computer.” In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies a pre-computed hotword model 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the both words “start computer.” In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 that correspond to the utterance 170 of the candidate hotword 129 by matching at least a portion of the waveform 130 to at least a portion of waveforms stored by the vocabulary database 110.Matching the waveform 130 to waveforms stored by the vocabulary database 110 can include performing an audio-based comparison between the waveform 130 and the waveforms stored by the vocabulary database 110 to identify a matching waveform stored by the vocabulary database 110 to the waveform 130.In some examples, the audio-based comparison between the waveform 130 and the waveforms stored by the vocabulary database 110 can be performed by an audio processing engine that is in communication with the hotword configuration engine 112, e.g., over one or more networks.\",\n \"To that end, upon the hotword configuration engine 112 identifying a matching waveform stored by the vocabulary database 110 to the waveform 130, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models 128 associated with the matching waveform.\",\n \"In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 that correspond to the utterance 170 of the candidate hotword 129 by applying one or more of the pre-computed hotword models 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 to the utterance 170 to identify the pre-computed hotword models 128 corresponding with a highest confidence score relative to the remaining pre-computed hotword models 128.The confidence score indicates the likelihood that the identified pre-computed hotword model 128 corresponds to the utterance 170.For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match the waveform 130 to a portion of one or more of the waveforms 160 and 162 that are stored by the vocabulary database 110.Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match a portion of the waveform 130 that corresponds to the word “start” with a portion of the waveform 160 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that corresponds to the word “start.” Based on this matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the corresponding pre-computed hotword model 128 that is associated with the portion of the waveform 160 for the word “start.” Similarly, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match a portion of the waveform 130 that corresponds to the word “computer” with a portion of the waveform 162 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that corresponds to the word “computer.” Based on this matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the corresponding pre-computed hotword model 128 that is associated with the portion of the waveform 162 for the word “computer.” In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 that correspond to the utterance of the candidate hotword 129 by matching at least a portion of a transcription of the waveform 130 to at least a portion of transcriptions stored by the vocabulary database 110.Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 can provide the waveform 130 to a speech recognition engine, e.g., the speech recognition engine 108, such that speech recognition engine 108 transcribes the waveform 130.To that end, matching the transcription of the waveform 130 to transcriptions stored by the vocabulary database 110 can include comparing the transcription of the waveform 130 to the transcriptions stored by the vocabulary database 110 to identify a matching transcription stored by the vocabulary database 110 to the waveform 130.To that end, upon the hotword configuration engine 112 identifying a matching transcription stored by the vocabulary database 110 to the transcription of the waveform 130, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models 128 associated with the matching transcription.\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match the transcription of the waveform 130 to a portion of one or more of the transcriptions 124 and 126 that are stored by the vocabulary database 110.Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match a portion of the transcription of the waveform 130 that corresponds to the word “start” with a portion of the transcription 124 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that corresponds to the word “start.” Based on this matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the corresponding pre-computed hotword model 128 that is associated with the portion of the transcription 124 for the word “start.” Similarly, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match a portion of the transcription of the waveform 130 that corresponds to the word “computer” with a portion of the transcription 126 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that corresponds to the word “computer.” Based on this matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the corresponding pre-computed hotword model 128 that is associated with the portion of the transcription 126 for the word “computer.” In some examples, matching the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129 with words, or sub-words, that are stored by the vocabulary database 110 can include determining a full match between the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129 with words, or sub-words that are stored by the vocabulary database 110.In some examples, matching the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129 with words, or sub-words, that are stored by the vocabulary database 110 can include determining a partial match between the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129 with words, or sub-words that are stored by the vocabulary database 110.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 obtains the pre-computed hotword models 128 for the sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword 129.As mentioned above, for the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer,” the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the sub-words of “st-ah-rt” for the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 and further identifies the sub-words of “kom-pyu-ter” for the word “computer” of the candidate hotword 129.To that end, the hotword configuration engine 112 accesses the vocabulary database 110 to identify the pre-computed hotword models 128 that are stored by the vocabulary database 110 and that correspond to the sub-words of the candidate hotword 129.The hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the pre-computed hotword models 128 by matching the sub-words of the candidate hotword 129 with the sub-words that are stored by the vocabulary database 110 and are associated with the pre-computed hotword models 128.For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that correspond to the each of the sub-words of “st-ah-rt” for the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 and each of the sub-words of “kom-pyu-ter” for the word “computer” of the candidate hotword 129.In some implementations, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the identified, pre-computed hotword models to the mobile computing device 106, at operation (G).\",\n \"Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the pre-computed hotword models 134, e.g., a subset of the pre-computed hotword models 128, corresponding to the candidate hotword 129 to the mobile computing device 106, e.g., over one or more networks.\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can provide the pre-computed hotword models 134 that correspond to the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” to the mobile computing device 106.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the identified, pre-computed hotword models 134 that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword 129 to the mobile computing device 106.For example, the candidate hotword 129 includes two words, e.g., “start” and “computer,” and the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the pre-computed hotword models 134 that correspond to each word.\",\n \"That is, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides a first pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “start” and a second pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “computer” to the mobile computing device 106.In some examples, the identified, pre-computed hotword models 134 are provided to the mobile computing device 106 based on a type of the mobile computing device 106.For example, a lower-end, or lower processing power, mobile computing device is more suitable to receive an appropriate version (e.g., smaller neural network) of the pre-computed hotword models 134 such that the mobile computing device is able to appropriately process the pre-computed hotword models 134.In some examples, the mobile computing device 106 can receive two or more pre-computed hotword models 134 in response to a command (or query) from the user 118.That is, the user 118 can provide a command such as “navigate to coffee house” to the mobile computing device 106.In response, the mobile computing device 106 can receive pre-computed hotword models 134 that correspond to two differing locations of coffee houses that are proximate to the user's 118 current location.\",\n \"For example, the mobile computing device 106 can receive a pre-computed hotword model 135 for “Palo Alto” and a pre-computed hotword model 134 for “Mountain View.” The mobile computing device 106 can provide both location options to the user 118 (e.g., via sound or the graphical user interface of the mobile computing device 106).\",\n \"The user 118 can provide an utterance of one of the locations that the mobile computing device 106 can detect via the received pre-computed hotword models 134, as described above.\",\n \"In some examples, by generating the pre-computed hotword models 128 and providing the same to the vocabulary database 110, the pre-computed hotword models are instantaneously available (or nearly instantaneously available) for identifying hotwords from utterances, e.g., by the mobile computing device 106.For example, the mobile computing device 106 is able to instantaneously obtain the hotword models that correspond to the words “start” and “computer” such that the mobile computing device 106 is able to appropriately process the utterance 170 close to detection of utterance 170.In some examples, by generating the pre-computed hotword models 128 trained on utterances of other users (e.g., users 114 and 116) that are not available to the mobile computing device 106, the pre-computed hotword models 128 employed by the mobile computing device 106 to process the utterance 170 can be more robust as compared to hotword models 128 trained on utterances only provided by the user 118.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides, to the mobile computing device 106, instructions 136 that define a processing routine of the pre-computed hotword models 134.That is, the instructions 136 define how the mobile computing device 106 is to appropriately process the pre-computed hotword models 134.In some examples, the pre-computed hotword models 134 detect hotwords (e.g., of utterances) based on an analysis of underlying acoustic features (e.g., mel-frequency cepstrum coefficients) of an input utterance (e.g., utterance 170).\",\n \"In some examples, the instructions 136 include instructions to sequentially process the hotword models 134, and further include a processing order of the hotword models 134.For example, the instructions 136 can include instructions to initially process the pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “start” and subsequently process the pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “computer.” In some examples, the instructions 136 include instructions to parallel process the hotword models 134.For example, the instructions 136 can include instructions to process the pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “start” and process the pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “computer” in parallel, e.g., at substantially the same time.\",\n \"In some examples, the instructions 136 include instructions to process the hotword models 134 such that a second hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “computer” is processed only when a first hotword model 134 detects the hotword “start.” In other words, upon detection of the word “computer” by the first hotword model 134, the mobile computing device 106 triggers processing of the second hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “computer.” The mobile computing device 106 receives the pre-computed hotword models 134, and in some examples, the instructions 136, from the hotword configuration engine 112, e.g., over one or more networks.\",\n \"The mobile computing device 106 stores the pre-computed models 134 in memory of the mobile computing device 106.Thus, upon detection of an utterance by the user 118 at a later time (e.g., after receiving the pre-computed hotword models 134), the mobile computing device 106 can appropriately process the utterance in view of the pre-computed hotword models 134 to determine whether the utterance corresponds to the candidate hotword 129.In some further implementations, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates one or more of the hotword models that correspond to candidate hotword 129.That is, in response to receiving the candidate hotword 129 from the mobile computing device 106, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates a hotword model that corresponds to one or more words of the candidate hotword 129.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates the hotword models for the candidate hotword 129 based on i) the waveform 130 and ii) an obtained transcription of the waveform 130, e.g., from the speech recognition engine 108.For example, for the word “start” of the waveform 130, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates a hotword model for the word based on i) a portion of the waveform 130 corresponding to the user 118 speaking the word “start” and ii) a transcription associated with the waveform 130 corresponding to the user 118 speaking the word “start.” In some examples, as mentioned above, the hotword configuration engine 112 matches at least a portion of the waveform 130 to at least a portion of the waveforms stored by the vocabulary database 110.Upon the matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can further identify a portion of the corresponding transcription associated with the matched waveform that is stored by the vocabulary database 110.To that end, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates the hotword model corresponding to the candidate hotword 129 based on i) the matched waveform and ii) the corresponding transcription associated with the matched waveform.\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify a portion of the waveform 160 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “start” and further identify the corresponding transcription 124 of the portion of the waveform 160 that includes the word “start.” The hotword configuration engine 112 can dynamically create the hotword model for the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 based on i) the portion of the waveform 160 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “start” and ii) the corresponding transcription 124 that includes the word “start.” In some examples, as mentioned above, the hotword configuration engine 112 matches at least a portion of a transcription of the waveform 130 to at least a portion of transcriptions stored by the vocabulary database 110.Upon the matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can further identify the corresponding waveform associated with the matched transcription that is stored by the vocabulary database 110.To that end, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates the hotword model corresponding to the candidate hotword 129 based on i) the matched transcription and ii) the corresponding waveform associated with the matched transcription.\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify a portion of the transcription 124 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “start” and further identify the corresponding portion of the waveform 160 that includes the word “start.” The hotword configuration engine 112 can dynamically create the hotword model for the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 based on i) the portion of the transcription 124 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “start” and ii) the corresponding portion of the waveform 160 that includes the word “start.” In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the dynamically created hotword models to the mobile computing device 106, e.g., over one or more networks.\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can provide dynamically created hotword models 134 that correspond to the word “start” of the candidate hotword “start computer” to the mobile computing device 106.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 can provide i) the dynamically created hotword model that corresponds to the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 “start computer” and provide ii) the pre-computed hotword model 134 that corresponds to the word “computer” of the candidate hotword 129 “start computer” to the mobile computing device 106.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates the hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword 129 after receiving the candidate hotword 129 from the mobile computing device 106.For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates the hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” after receiving the candidate hotword 129 from the mobile computing device 106.FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates example graphical user interface (GUI) 202 of a mobile computing device 204 for identifying a user provided hotword.\",\n \"The mobile computing device 204 can be similar to the mobile computing device 106 of FIG.\",\n \"1.To that end, the mobile computing device 204 provides a first GUI 202a to a user 206 associated with the mobile computing device 204 that provides for display initiation of the process to identify the user provided hotword to be associated with an action (e.g., a process performed at least partially by the mobile computing device 204).\",\n \"In some examples, the first GUI 202a includes text 208 indicating to the user 206 to provide a hotword.\",\n \"For example, the text 208 includes “What would you like your Hotword to be to initiate a web search?” The user 206 provides an utterance 210 that the mobile computing device 204 detects.\",\n \"For example, the user 206 says the utterance 210 of “go gadget go” that the user 206 desires to be a hotword to initiate a web search.\",\n \"In response to detecting the utterance 210, the mobile computing device 204 provides a second GUI 202b to the user 206 that provides for display a proposed transcription of the detected utterance 210.In some examples, the second GUI 202b includes text 212 indicating to the user 206 to confirm, or reject, a transcription of the utterance 210.For example, the text 212 includes “We think you said ‘Go gadget go.’ If yes, please hit confirm button.\",\n \"If no, please hit reject button, and speak Hotword again.” To that end, the second GUI 202b further includes selectable buttons 214 and 216 that the user 206 is able to select to indicate whether to confirm that the transcription is correct, or reject the transcription.\",\n \"For example, upon selection of the selectable button 214 by the user 206, the mobile computing device 204 receives a confirmation that the transcription of “Go gadget go” corresponds to the utterance 210.Further, for example, upon selection of the selectable button 216 by the user 206, the mobile computing device 204 receives a rejection of the transcription corresponding to the utterance 210, e.g., an incorrect or inaccurate transcription.\",\n \"In some examples, the proposed transcription of the detected utterance 210 is not provided to the user 206 via the second GUI 202b.\",\n \"In response to receiving a confirmation that the transcription is correct, the mobile computing device 204 provides a third GUI 202c to the user 206 that provides for display a confirmation of the transcription of the detected utterance 210.In some examples, the third GUI 202c includes text 218 indicating to the user 206 that the user 206 has confirmed that the transcription of the utterance 210 is correct.\",\n \"For example, the text 218 includes “We have confirmed that your Hotword is ‘Go gadget go.’” Thus, the words “Go gadget go” have been established as associated with a hotword, and further associated with an action of initiating a web search.\",\n \"After establishing the hotword by the user 206, the user 206 can provide a hotword 220, e.g., via an utterance or text-input, to the mobile computing device 206, e.g., after identifying the user provided hotword.\",\n \"For example, the hotword 220 can include the words “go gadget go.” Thus, in response to receiving the hotword 220 of “go gadget go,” the mobile computing device 206 causes one or more actions to be performed, including initiating a web search, and provides a fourth GUI 202d to the user 206 that provides for display a description of the action to be taken associated with receiving the hotword 220.In some examples, the fourth GUI 202d includes text 222 of “Starting Search .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \".” FIG.\",\n \"3 depicts a flowchart of an example process 300 for providing hotword models.\",\n \"The example process 300 can be executed using one or more computing devices.\",\n \"For example, the mobile computing device 102, 104, 106, the speech recognition engine 108, and the hotword configuration engine 112 can be used to execute the example process 500.For each of multiple words or sub-words, audio data corresponding to multiple users speaking the word or sub-word is obtained (302).\",\n \"For example, the speech recognition engine 208 obtains the waveforms 120 and 122 from the mobile computing devices 102 and 104, respectively, that correspond to the user 114 speaking the utterance 150 of “start my car” and the user 116 speaking the utterance 152 of “where do I buy a computer.” For each of the multiple words or sub-words, a pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word is trained based on the audio for the word or sub-word (304).\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 trains a pre-computed hotword model for each word or sub-word based on the waveforms 120 and 122.A candidate hotword is received from a mobile computing device (306).\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” from the mobile computing device 106.One or more pre-computed hotword models are identified that correspond to the candidate hotword (308).\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that correspond to the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer.” The identified, pre-computed hotword models are provided to the mobile computing device (310).\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the pre-computed hotword models 134 to the mobile computing device 106.FIG.\",\n \"4 shows an example of a generic computer device 400 and a generic mobile computer device 450, which may be used with the techniques described here.\",\n \"Computing device 400 is intended to represent various forms of digital computers, such as laptops, desktops, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, blade servers, mainframes, and other appropriate computers.\",\n \"Computing device 450 is intended to represent various forms of mobile devices, such as personal digital assistants, cellular telephones, smartphones, and other similar computing devices.\",\n \"The components shown here, their connections and relationships, and their functions, are meant to be exemplary only, and are not meant to limit implementations of the inventions described and/or claimed in this document.\",\n \"Computing device 400 includes a processor 402, memory 404, a storage device 406, a high-speed interface 408 connecting to memory 404 and high-speed expansion ports 410, and a low speed interface 412 connecting to low speed bus 414 and storage device 406.Each of the components 402, 404, 406, 408, 410, and 412, are interconnected using various busses, and may be mounted on a common motherboard or in other manners as appropriate.\",\n \"The processor 402 may process instructions for execution within the computing device 400, including instructions stored in the memory 404 or on the storage device 406 to display graphical information for a GUI on an external input/output device, such as display 416 coupled to high speed interface 408.In other implementations, multiple processors and/or multiple buses may be used, as appropriate, along with multiple memories and types of memory.\",\n \"Also, multiple computing devices 400 may be connected, with each device providing portions of the necessary operations (e.g., as a server bank, a group of blade servers, or a multi-processor system).\",\n \"The memory 404 stores information within the computing device 400.In one implementation, the memory 404 is a volatile memory unit or units.\",\n \"In another implementation, the memory 404 is a non-volatile memory unit or units.\",\n \"The memory 404 may also be another form of computer-readable medium, such as a magnetic or optical disk.\",\n \"The storage device 406 is capable of providing mass storage for the computing device 400.In one implementation, the storage device 406 may be or contain a computer-readable medium, such as a floppy disk device, a hard disk device, an optical disk device, or a tape device, a flash memory or other similar solid state memory device, or an array of devices, including devices in a storage area network or other configurations.\",\n \"A computer program product may be tangibly embodied in an information carrier.\",\n \"The computer program product may also contain instructions that, when executed, perform one or more methods, such as those described above.\",\n \"The information carrier is a computer- or machine-readable medium, such as the memory 404, the storage device 406, or a memory on processor 402.The high speed controller 408 manages bandwidth-intensive operations for the computing device 400, while the low speed controller 412 manages lower bandwidth-intensive operations.\",\n \"Such allocation of functions is exemplary only.\",\n \"In one implementation, the high-speed controller 408 is coupled to memory 404, display 416 (e.g., through a graphics processor or accelerator), and to high-speed expansion ports 410, which may accept various expansion cards (not shown).\",\n \"In the implementation, low-speed controller 412 is coupled to storage device 406 and low-speed expansion port 414.The low-speed expansion port, which may include various communication ports (e.g., USB, Bluetooth, Ethernet, wireless Ethernet) may be coupled to one or more input/output devices, such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a scanner, or a networking device such as a switch or router, e.g., through a network adapter.\",\n \"The computing device 400 may be implemented in a number of different forms, as shown in the figure.\",\n \"For example, it may be implemented as a standard server 420, or multiple times in a group of such servers.\",\n \"It may also be implemented as part of a rack server system 424.In addition, it may be implemented in a personal computer such as a laptop computer 422.Alternatively, components from computing device 400 may be combined with other components in a mobile device (not shown), such as device 450.Each of such devices may contain one or more of computing device 400, 450, and an entire system may be made up of multiple computing devices 400, 450 communicating with each other.\",\n \"Computing device 450 includes a processor 452, memory 464, an input/output device such as a display 454, a communication interface 466, and a transceiver 468, among other components.\",\n \"The device 450 may also be provided with a storage device, such as a microdrive or other device, to provide additional storage.\",\n \"Each of the components 450, 452, 464, 454, 466, and 468, are interconnected using various buses, and several of the components may be mounted on a common motherboard or in other manners as appropriate.\",\n \"The processor 452 may execute instructions within the computing device 640, including instructions stored in the memory 464.The processor may be implemented as a chipset of chips that include separate and multiple analog and digital processors.\",\n \"The processor may provide, for example, for coordination of the other components of the device 450, such as control of user interfaces, applications run by device 450, and wireless communication by device 450.Processor 452 may communicate with a user through control interface 648 and display interface 456 coupled to a display 454.The display 454 may be, for example, a TFT LCD (Thin-Film-Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) or an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display, or other appropriate display technology.\",\n \"The display interface 456 may comprise appropriate circuitry for driving the display 454 to present graphical and other information to a user.\",\n \"The control interface 458 may receive commands from a user and convert them for submission to the processor 452.In addition, an external interface 462 may be provide in communication with processor 452, so as to enable near area communication of device 450 with other devices.\",\n \"External interface 462 may provide, for example, for wired communication in some implementations, or for wireless communication in other implementations, and multiple interfaces may also be used.\",\n \"The memory 464 stores information within the computing device 450.The memory 464 may be implemented as one or more of a computer-readable medium or media, a volatile memory unit or units, or a non-volatile memory unit or units.\",\n \"Expansion memory 454 may also be provided and connected to device 450 through expansion interface 452, which may include, for example, a SIMM (Single In Line Memory Module) card interface.\",\n \"Such expansion memory 454 may provide extra storage space for device 450, or may also store applications or other information for device 450.Specifically, expansion memory 454 may include instructions to carry out or supplement the processes described above, and may include secure information also.\",\n \"Thus, for example, expansion memory 454 may be provide as a security module for device 450, and may be programmed with instructions that permit secure use of device 450.In addition, secure applications may be provided via the SIMM cards, along with additional information, such as placing identifying information on the SIMM card in a non-hackable manner.\",\n \"The memory may include, for example, flash memory and/or NVRAM memory, as discussed below.\",\n \"In one implementation, a computer program product is tangibly embodied in an information carrier.\",\n \"The computer program product contains instructions that, when executed, perform one or more methods, such as those described above.\",\n \"The information carrier is a computer- or machine-readable medium, such as the memory 464, expansion memory 454, memory on processor 452, or a propagated signal that may be received, for example, over transceiver 468 or external interface 462.Device 450 may communicate wirelessly through communication interface 466, which may include digital signal processing circuitry where necessary.\",\n \"Communication interface 466 may provide for communications under various modes or protocols, such as GSM voice calls, SMS, EMS, or MMS messaging, CDMA, TDMA, PDC, WCDMA, CDMA2000, or GPRS, among others.\",\n \"Such communication may occur, for example, through radio-frequency transceiver 468.In addition, short-range communication may occur, such as using a Bluetooth, WiFi, or other such transceiver (not shown).\",\n \"In addition, GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver module 450 may provide additional navigation- and location-related wireless data to device 450, which may be used as appropriate by applications running on device 450.Device 450 may also communicate audibly using audio codec 460, which may receive spoken information from a user and convert it to usable digital information.\",\n \"Audio codec 460 may likewise generate audible sound for a user, such as through a speaker, e.g., in a handset of device 450.Such sound may include sound from voice telephone calls, may include recorded sound (e.g., voice messages, music files, etc.)\",\n \"and may also include sound generated by applications operating on device 450.The computing device 450 may be implemented in a number of different forms, as shown in the figure.\",\n \"For example, it may be implemented as a cellular telephone 480.It may also be implemented as part of a smartphone 482, personal digital assistant, or other similar mobile device.\",\n \"Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here may be realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry, specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof.\",\n \"These various implementations may include implementation in one or more computer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device.\",\n \"These computer programs (also known as programs, software, software applications or code) include machine instructions for a programmable processor, and may be implemented in a high-level procedural and/or object-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machine language.\",\n \"As used herein, the terms “machine-readable medium” “computer-readable medium” refers to any computer program product, apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal.\",\n \"The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.\",\n \"To provide for interaction with a user, the systems and techniques described here may be implemented on a computer having a display device (e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor) for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device (e.g., a mouse or a trackball) by which the user may provide input to the computer.\",\n \"Other kinds of devices may be used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to the user may be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback); and input from the user may be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.\",\n \"The systems and techniques described here may be implemented in a computing system that includes a back end component (e.g., as a data server), or that includes a middleware component (e.g., an application server), or that includes a front end component (e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user may interact with an implementation of the systems and techniques described here), or any combination of such back end, middleware, or front end components.\",\n \"The components of the system may be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., a communication network).\",\n \"Examples of communication networks include a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), and the Internet.\",\n \"The computing system may include clients and servers.\",\n \"A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network.\",\n \"The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other.\",\n \"While this disclosure includes some specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features of example implementations of the disclosure.\",\n \"Certain features that are described in this disclosure in the context of separate implementations can also be provided in combination in a single implementation.\",\n \"Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation can also be provided in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination.\",\n \"Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.\",\n \"Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results.\",\n \"In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.\",\n \"Moreover, the separation of various system components in the implementations described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.\",\n \"Thus, particular implementations of the present disclosure have been described.\",\n \"Other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.\",\n \"For example, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results.\",\n \"A number of implementations have been described.\",\n \"Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"For example, various forms of the flows shown above may be used, with steps re-ordered, added, or removed.\",\n \"Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15875996"}}},{"rowIdx":4495045,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME, AND STORAGE MEDIUM","An information processing apparatus having a touch panel display includes a first detection unit configured to detect that an object touches the touch panel display, and a second detection unit configured to detect that the object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display and then detect that the object moves outside the area of the display item while touching the touch panel display.","When the display item is in a flick or drag operation detectable area, the information processing apparatus performs control not to carry out processing associated with the display item in response to the detection by the second detection unit."],["1.An information processing apparatus, comprising: a touch panel display which is able to display a first area and a second area; a detection unit configured to detect that an instruction object touches the touch panel display, and configured to detect that the instruction object having been held in contact with the touch panel display is detached therefrom; and a control unit configured to, in a case where the detection unit detects that an instruction object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display, select the display item which exists in the touched area, wherein the control unit performs control to carry out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, the detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without a moving distance of the instruction object reaching a predetermined threshold value, and performs control to carry out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting, by the detecting unit, that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display, and wherein the control unit performs control to carry out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without the moving distance of the instruction object reaching the predetermined threshold value, and does not perform control to carry out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting, by the detection unit, that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display.","2.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting, by the detecting unit, that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display, the control unit scrolls the selected display item.","3.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting, by the detecting unit, that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display, the control unit changes the currently displayed page to another page.","4.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a display control unit configured to, in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the detection unit detects that the instruction object touches the area of the selected display item, indicate in an identifiable manner that the display item is selected, wherein, in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value, the display control unit indicates in an identifiable manner that the selection of the display item is canceled.","5.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first area is an area which can detect a flick operation, and the second area is an area which cannot detect the flick operation.","6.A control method for controlling an information processing apparatus which has a touch panel display which is able to display a first area and a second area, comprising: detecting that an instruction object touches the touch panel display; detecting that the instruction object having been held in contact with the touch panel display is detached therefrom; selecting, in a case where it is detected that an instruction object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display, the display item which exists in the touched area; carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, it is detected that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without a moving distance of the instruction object reaching a predetermined threshold value, and carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display; and carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, it is detected that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without the moving distance of the instruction object reaching the predetermined threshold value, wherein processing associated with the selected display item is not carried out in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display.","7.A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a method for controlling an information processing apparatus which has a touch panel display which is able to display a first area and a second area, comprising: detecting that an instruction object touches the touch panel display; detecting that the instruction object having been held in contact with the touch panel display is detached therefrom; selecting, in a case where it is detected that an instruction object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display, the display item which exists in the touched area; carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, it is detected that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without a moving distance of the instruction object reaching a predetermined threshold value, and carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display; and carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, it is detected that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without the moving distance of the instruction object reaching the predetermined threshold value, wherein processing associated with the selected display item is not carried out in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>"],["<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present disclosure is directed to preventing selection of a display item from being canceled despite the user's intention and to preventing processing associated with a display item from being performed despite the user's intention when a flick or drag operation is performed on the display item.","According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an information processing apparatus having a touch panel display includes a first detection unit configured to detect that an instruction object touches the touch panel display, a second detection unit configured to detect that the instruction object is moving while touching the touch panel display, and a third detection unit configured to detect that the instruction object having been held in contact with the display is detached therefrom.","The information processing apparatus further includes a control unit configured to, in a case where the first detection unit detects that an instruction object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display and then the second detection unit detects that the instruction object is moving while touching the touch panel display, perform control to carry out processing associated with the display item when the third detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display before a moving distance of the instruction object reaches a predetermined threshold value, and not to perform control to carry out processing associated with the display item when the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value before the third detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display.","Further features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings."],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","14/793,442, filed Jul.","7, 2015, which claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No.","2014-142729 filed Jul.","10, 2014, which are each hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.","BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present disclosure generally relates to information processing and, more particularly, to an information processing apparatus having a touch panel display, a method for controlling the information processing apparatus, and a storage medium.","Description of the Related Art In recent years, image forming apparatuses having a touch panel display have been commonly used.","Such an image forming apparatus is provided with various applications such as copy, print, scan, and FAX transmission.","A user is able to make setting for each application and instruct the apparatus to start processing of each application by performing touch operations on software buttons on the touch panel display.","Button control on a touch panel display will be described below with reference to FIGS.","7A to 7D.","FIG.","7A illustrates an appearance of the touch panel display.","The touch panel display includes a touch panel area 701 which is comprised of a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a touch panel stuck thereon.","The touch panel display further includes software buttons 702 and 703.FIGS.","7B and 7C are sectional views illustrating the touch panel taken along a line 704 illustrated in FIG.","7A, and touch operations by the user.","A section 706 is equivalent to a line 707, and a width 705 of the button 702 in the X direction is equivalent to a button 708.Since the software buttons 702 and 703 on the touch panel display are 2-dimensionally formed, to make determinations in the X and the Y directions, it is necessary to detect a touch position.","However, since these determinations are similarly handled, one-dimensional representations are used to simplify descriptions in FIGS.","7B and 7C.","Generally, there are the following two different cases in button determination: A.","When the apparatus detects that a button area is pressed by the finger of a user, the apparatus performs processing associated with the pressed button.","B.","When the apparatus detects that a button area is pressed by the finger of a user and then the finger is detached from the relevant button area, the apparatus performs processing associated with the pressed button.","In a case of A, since the button operation by the user is input as soon as the user touches the button, the user can feel a light touch input.","For example, when a calculator having large buttons is displayed, the feeling of operation can be improved.","However, in a case of A, even if the user touches a button by mistake, the button operation by the user is input as soon as the button is touched.","To address this problem, the method in a case of B is used to provide accuracy in button depression.","Case B is a case which is a subject of exemplary embodiments of the present invention and will be described in detail below.","FIG.","7B illustrates a case where the user touches a button area (709) with the finger and then detaches the finger from the button area (710).","In this case, when the apparatus detects that the finger touches the button area, the relevant button is put in the selection state.","Then, when the apparatus detects that the finger is detached from the button area, the apparatus performs processing associated with the selected button.","For example, when a copy button on a menu screen is selected, the screen changes to a copy application setting screen.","When a color setting button on the copy application setting screen is selected, the screen changes to a color setting screen.","FIGS.","7C and 7D illustrate a case where the user touches a button area (711) with the finger, moves the finger outside the button area while keeping it in contact with the button area, and then detaches the finger (712).","In this case, when the apparatus detects that the finger has been moved outside the button area as illustrated in FIG.","7C, the button selection is canceled.","Therefore, if the user presses a button by mistake, the user is able to cancel execution of processing associated with the button by moving the finger out of the button area while keeping it in contact with the button area, and then detaching the finger.","However, in a case of a small-sized button such as the button 703, the user's finger may be moved out of the button area by slight motion of the finger although the user thinks the finger is detached from the button area after touching the button inside the button area.","As a result, the execution of processing associated with the button will be canceled despite the user's intention.","To solve such a problem, an image forming apparatus performs control in the following way.","When the apparatus detects that the finger of a user touches a button area and then the finger is moved out of the button area, the apparatus performs processing associated with the button as illustrated in FIG.","7D.","By performing such control, even if the user operates a small-sized button, the execution of processing associated with the button can be prevented from being canceled despite the user's intention.","Lately, some image forming apparatuses have a touch panel display supporting flick operations.","A flick operation refers to an operation in which the user quickly flips the surface of the touch panel display with the finger.","Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.","2011-210009 discusses an image forming apparatus which is provided with a plurality of applications such as copy and print, and displays a menu screen arranging icons for selecting applications to be used.","Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.","2011-210009 discusses a technique for smoothly scrolling the screen with a flick operation to change pages when icons do not fit into one page of the menu screen, so that the user can select an arbitrary application out of the plurality of applications provided by the image forming apparatus.","However, when it is enabled to perform flick operations in an image forming apparatus which performs button control as illustrated in FIG.","7D, the following problems will arise.","More specifically, in a case where the user performs the flick operation in a button area, processing associated with the button will be performed when the user moves the finger out of the relevant button area.","As a result, although the user performs a flick operation to change a page, processing associated with the button will be performed despite the user's intention.","Such a problem is not limited to a button, and may commonly arise with any display item which is scrollable by a flick or drag operation and is associated with processing to be performed when pressed by the user.","SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure is directed to preventing selection of a display item from being canceled despite the user's intention and to preventing processing associated with a display item from being performed despite the user's intention when a flick or drag operation is performed on the display item.","According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an information processing apparatus having a touch panel display includes a first detection unit configured to detect that an instruction object touches the touch panel display, a second detection unit configured to detect that the instruction object is moving while touching the touch panel display, and a third detection unit configured to detect that the instruction object having been held in contact with the display is detached therefrom.","The information processing apparatus further includes a control unit configured to, in a case where the first detection unit detects that an instruction object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display and then the second detection unit detects that the instruction object is moving while touching the touch panel display, perform control to carry out processing associated with the display item when the third detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display before a moving distance of the instruction object reaches a predetermined threshold value, and not to perform control to carry out processing associated with the display item when the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value before the third detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display.","Further features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 illustrates a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.","FIGS.","2A, 2B, and 2C illustrate examples of a custom menu screen displayed on a display of the image forming apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.","FIG.","3 illustrates an example of a copy application setting screen displayed on the display of the image forming apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.","FIGS.","4A and 4B illustrate problems of the present invention.","FIG.","5 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an image forming apparatus according to a first exemplary embodiment.","FIG.","6 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an image forming apparatus according to a second exemplary embodiment.","FIGS.","7A, 7B, 7C, and 7D illustrate button control on a touch panel display.","DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Various exemplary embodiments, features, and aspects of the disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.","A first exemplary embodiment will be described below.","FIG.","1 illustrates a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus 101 to which each exemplary embodiment of the present invention is applicable.","A central processing unit (CPU) 111, a random access memory (RAM) 112, a read only memory (ROM) 113, an input unit 114, a display control unit 115, an external memory interface (I/F) 116, a printer I/F 117, a scanner I/F 118, and a communication I/F controller 119 are connected to a system bus 110.Further, a touch panel 120, a display 121, an external memory 122, a printer 123, and a scanner 124 are connected to the system bus 110.Each unit connected to the system bus 110 is configured to enable transmitting and receiving data to/from other units via the system bus 110.As used herein, the term “unit” generally refers to any combination of software, firmware, hardware, or other component, such as circuitry, that is used to effectuate a purpose.","The ROM 113, a nonvolatile memory, stores in respective predetermined areas image data, non-image data, and various programs for operation to be executed by the CPU 111.The RAM 112, a volatile memory, is used as a main memory for the CPU 111 and a temporary storage area such as a work area.","The CPU 111 controls each unit of the image forming apparatus 101, for example, according to a program stored in the ROM 113 by using the RAM 112 as a work memory.","Programs for operation to be executed by the CPU 111 are not necessarily stored in the ROM 113 and may be prestored in the external memory 122, such as a hard disk.","The input unit 114 receives a user operation, generates a control signal according to the operation, and supplies the control signal to the CPU 111.For example, the input unit 114 includes the touch panel 120 as an input device for receiving the user operation.","The touch panel 120 is an input device for outputting coordinates information, for example, according to a touched position on the planarly configured input unit 114.Based on the control signal generated and supplied in response to the user operation performed on the input device, the CPU 111 controls each unit of the image forming apparatus 101 according to programs.","Thus, the CPU 111 is able to instruct the image forming apparatus 101 to perform an operation in response to the user operation.","The display control unit 115 outputs a display signal for displaying an image to the display 121.For example, a display control signal generated by the CPU 111 according to a program is supplied to the display control unit 115.The display control unit 115 generates a display signal based on the display control signal, and outputs the display signal to the display 121.For example, based on the display control signal generated by the CPU 111, the display control unit 115 displays a graphical user interface (GUI) screen on the display 121.The touch panel 120 is configured integrally with the display 121 to function as a touch panel display.","For example, the touch panel 120 is configured so that transmissivity of light does not disturb display of the display 121, and is arranged on the upper layer of the display surface of the display 121.The input coordinates on the touch panel 120 are associated with the display coordinates on the display 121.Thus, a GUI can be configured to allow an operation as if the user directly operates the screen displayed on the display 121.The touch panel 120 may be any type, such as resistance film type, capacitance type, surface acoustic wave type, infrared-ray type, electromagnetic induction type, image recognition type, and optical sensor type.","The external memory 122, such as a hard disk, a compact disc (CD), a digital versatile disc (DVD), and a memory card, can be attached to the external memory I/F 116.Under the control of the CPU 111, the external memory I/F 116 writes and reads data to/from the attached external memory 122.The printer 123 is connected to the printer I/F 117.Under the control of the CPU 111, image data to be printed by the printer 123 is transmitted to the printer 123 via the printer I/F 117 and then printed on a recording medium by the printer 123.The scanner 124 is connected to the scanner I/F 118.Under the control of the CPU 111, the scanner 124 reads an image on a document to generate image data.","The generated image data is stored in the RAM 112 and the ROM 113 via the scanner I/F 118.When the printer 123 performs printing based on the image data generated by the scanner 124, the copy function is achieved.","Under the control of the CPU 111, the communication I/F controller 119 performs communication with a network 102, such as a local area network (LAN), the Internet, and other wired and wireless networks.","For example, image data generated by the scanner 124 can be transmitted to the outside via the network 102, and image data received from the outside via the network 102 can be printed by the printer 123.The CPU 111 is able to detect, for example, the following operations and states of the touch panel 120: having touched the touch panel with the finger or pen (object) (hereinafter referred to as a “touch-down”), moving the finger or pen while keeping it in contact with the touch panel (hereinafter referred to as a “move”), a state where the finger or pen is held in contact with the touch panel (hereinafter referred to as a “touch-on”), and detaching the finger or pen from the touch panel (hereinafter referred to as a “touch-up”).","The CPU 111 is further able to detect a touch-down in a software button area displayed on the display 121 and then detect that the finger or pen is moved out of the software button area while being held in contact with the touch panel (herein after referred to as an “exit”).","The touch panel 120 is a multi-touch detectable touch panel.","More specifically, even when a touch-down, a touch-on, a move, and a touch-up are performed by a plurality of fingers and pens at the same time, the touch panel 120 is able to detect respective operations and states.","These operations and coordinates of a position touched by the finger or pen on the touch panel 120 are transferred to the CPU 111 via the system bus 110.The CPU 111 determines operation performed on the touch panel 120 based on the transferred information.","For a move, the CPU 111 determines the moving direction of the finger or pen on the touch panel 120 based on changes of the position coordinates for each of the vertical and the horizontal components on the touch panel 120.FIGS.","2A, 2B, 2C, and 3 illustrate screens displayed on the display 121 of the image forming apparatus 101.The image forming apparatus 101 is provided with a copy function of optically reading an image of a document of a paper medium, converting the image into electronic data, performing image processing on the data, and printing the data on another paper medium.","The image forming apparatus 101 is further provided with a “scan and send” function (send function) of transmitting the read electronic data to other apparatuses via the network 102.The image forming apparatus 101 is further provided with a “scan and store” function (box function) of storing the read electronic data in the external memory 122.The image forming apparatus 101 is further provided with a web browser function of arranging and displaying a Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) contents acquired from an external server via the network 102.The image forming apparatus 101 independently stores the above-described functions as different applications in the ROM 113.The CPU 111 executes a required application according to a user's operation.","FIGS.","2A to 2C illustrate custom menu screens displayed on the display 121.The custom menu refers to a function of storing setting values of applications, displaying application buttons on a screen, and, when an application button is pressed, reproducing stored setting values and displaying a relevant application screen.","Referring to FIG.","2A, a button display area 201 displays application buttons for invoking different applications.","Each of the application buttons displayed in the button display area 201 is associated with each application provided by the image forming apparatus 101 and relevant setting values.","When the user presses an application button displayed in the button display area 201, the application screen associated with the relevant button is displayed and setting values associated with the button are reflected therein.","Further, the application buttons displayed in the button display area 201 can also be associated with user information authenticated through user authentication.","A title and a comment can be set to each application button displayed in the button display area 201.The user who registers the button is able to arbitrarily set the title and the comment.","For example, a title “Copy” and a comment “Two-sided, 2 Copies” are displayed on a button 202.More specifically, each button displays an application name and an icon associated with the button, and a title and a comment regarding the setting values.","The button 202 is associated with a copy application and associated with setting values for two-sided printing and 2 copies.","When the user selects the button 202, the screen illustrated in FIG.","3 (described below) is displayed.","A my button 203 is used to display only application buttons associated with the currently authenticated user in the button display area 201.A shared button 204 is used to display only application buttons associated with all users, i.e., application buttons usable by all users in the button display area 201.A page position display mark 205 schematically represents each page with a circle mark, indicating that a plurality of pages is virtually arranged in the horizontal direction.","In this case, the page position display marks 205 indicate that the custom menu includes 3 pages and that the currently displayed screen is the first page (the page virtually arranged at the leftmost position).","The button display area 201 includes page change buttons 206 and 207.The page change button 206 is used to indicate change to the page virtually arranged to the right of the currently displayed page.","The page change button 207 is used to indicate change to the page virtually arranged to the left of the currently displayed page.","If there exists no page to the right or left of the currently displayed page, the page change button 206 or 207 is displayed in grayout (disabled).","For example, referring to FIG.","2A, the button 207 is displayed in grayout because there exists no page to the left of the currently displayed page.","When the user presses the page change button 206 on the screen illustrated in FIG.","2A, the application button list in the button display area 201 scrolls to the left (see FIG.","2B) and the screen illustrated in FIG.","2C is displayed.","On the screen illustrated in FIG.","2C, the page position display mark 205 indicating the currently displayed page has been moved to the middle, which indicates that the second page is currently displayed.","The custom menu screens illustrated in FIGS.","2A to 2C further include a flick operation detectable area 208 in which a flick or drag operation by the user can be detected.","A flick operation is an operation in which the user quickly moves the finger while keeping it in contact with the touch panel over a predetermined distance and then detaches the finger.","In other words, the user flips the surface of the touch panel with a quick movement of the finger.","When the CPU 111 detects a touch-down in the flick operation detectable area 208, a move at a predetermined speed or faster over a predetermined distance or longer, and then a touch-up, the application button list scrolls following the finger motion and then the page changes.","A drag operation is an operation to move the finger over a predetermined distance or longer keeping it in contact with the touch panel.","When the CPU 111 detects a touch-down in the flick operation detectable area 208, a move over a predetermined distance or longer, and then a touch-on, the application button list scrolls following the finger motion and then the page changes.","For example, when the user performs a flick operation from right to left in the flick operation detectable area 208 on the screen illustrated in FIG.","2A, the application button list scrolls to the left (see FIG.","2B) and the screen illustrated in FIG.","2C is displayed.","When the user performs a flick operation from left to right in the flick operation detectable area 208 on the screen illustrated in FIG.","2C, the application button list scrolls to the right and the screen illustrated in FIG.","2A is displayed.","FIG.","3 illustrates a copy application setting screen displayed when the button 202 illustrated in FIG.","2A is selected.","An icon 301 indicates setting of two-sided printing.","An icon 302 indicates that the number of copies is set to 2.The copy application setting screen illustrated in FIG.","3 is a screen in which a flick or drag operation by the user is not detectable.","Therefore, even if the user performs a flick or drag operation on the screen illustrated in FIG.","3, buttons are not scrolled and the screen is not changed.","Thus, screens displayed on the image forming apparatus 101 include screens having an area in which a flick operation is detectable (hereinafter simply referred to as a flickable area) and screens having only an area in which a flick operation is not detectable.","Button control on the touch panel display on the image forming apparatus 101 will be described in detail below.","On the copy application setting screen illustrated in FIG.","3, when a touch-down is detected in a button area, the relevant button is put into a selection state (for example, the button is highlighted), as illustrated in FIG.","7B.","When a touch-up is detected inside the button area, processing associated with the selected button is performed.","Further, on the copy application setting screen illustrated in FIG.","3, button control as illustrated in FIG.","7C is not performed but button control as illustrated in FIG.","7D is performed.","More specifically, when a touch-down is detected in a button area, the relevant button is put into the selection state.","Then, when a move is detected and an exit is subsequently detected, processing associated with the selected button is performed.","Also in each application screen (“scan and send”, “scan and store”, “web browser”, etc.","), similar button control to the one illustrated in FIG.","3 is performed.","Meanwhile, when similar button control is performed on the custom menu screen illustrated in FIGS.","2A to 2C, a problem may arise when a flick or drag operation is performed.","FIGS.","4A and 4B illustrate the relevant problem.","Referring to FIG.","4A, the user performs a flick operation to change pages.","In this case, if the starting position of the flick operation (a touch-down detection position 401) is outside a button area, the application button list is scrolled according to the user's intention and the page is changed.","On the other hand, if the starting position of the flick operation is in a button area, the button is put into the selection state (an application button 402 is highlighted in FIG.","4A) when a touch-down is detected.","Then, when the user's finger is moved by a flick operation 403 outside the button area, an exit is detected and processing associated with the application button 402 will be performed.","As a result, the screen will be changed to the copy application setting screen illustrated in FIG.","4B despite the user's intention to change pages in the custom menu screen.","A similar problem occurs not only in a flick operation but also in a drag operation.","The image forming apparatus 101 according to the present exemplary embodiment performs control not to execute processing associated with the selected button even when a touch-down is detected in a button area in the flickable area, and an exit is subsequently detected.","This enables preventing processing associated with the selected button from being performed despite the user's intention when the user performs a flick operation to change pages.","When an exit is detected, processing associated with the relevant button is not performed and the button selection is not canceled.","The button selection is canceled when a move is detected, i.e., when the CPU 111 detects that the finger moves over a predetermined distance in the horizontal direction (X direction) from the touch-down detection position.","The purpose of performing such control will be described below.","For example, when operating a button having a comparatively small size such as the page change buttons 206 and 207, the finger may be moved outside the button area by slight motion of the finger although the user thinks the finger is placed inside the button area and then is detached from the relevant button area.","In this case, if the button selection is canceled when an exit is detected, the execution of processing is canceled despite the user's intention and the page will not be changed.","Therefore, with the above-described control, even if the finger is placed inside the button area and then moved outside the button area, processing associated with the selected button is performed as long as the operation is a move within a distance shorter than the predetermined distance.","This enables achieving button control reflecting the user's intention.","FIG.","5 is a flowchart performed by the image forming apparatus 101 when a touch operation is performed on the touch panel 120 by the user.","Each step of the flowchart illustrated in FIG.","5 is implemented when the CPU 111 executes a program stored in the ROM 113 or the external memory 122.In step S501, the CPU 111 determines whether a touch-down is detected in a button area.","When a touch-down is detected outside the button area (NO in step S501), the processing proceeds to the step S515.In step S515, the CPU 111 performs processing for the case where the finger is placed outside the button area.","For example, when the CPU 111 detects a touch-down a move at a predetermined speed or faster over a predetermined distance or longer, and then a touch-up in the flickable area (see FIG.","2A), the application button list scrolls following the finger motion and then the page changes.","On the other hand, when the CPU 111 detects a touch-down outside the flickable area, the CPU 111 performs no specific processing.","When a touch-down is detected in a button area (YES in step S501), then in step S502, the CPU 111 sets the relevant button in the selection state.","The display control unit 115 highlights the button in the selection state to enable the user to recognize that the button is selected.","In step S503, the CPU 111 determines whether the button exists in the flickable area.","When it is determined that the button does not exist in the flickable area (for example, a button in the copy application setting screen illustrated in FIG.","3) (NO in step S503), the processing proceeds to step S504.On the other hand, when it is determined that the button exists in the flickable area (for example, a button on the custom menu screen illustrated in FIGS.","2A to 2C) (YES in step S503), the processing proceeds to step S508.When the CPU 111 detects a touch-up (YES in step S504), then in step S505, the CPU 111 performs processing associated with the selected button.","Then, the processing exits the flowchart.","When the CPU 111 does not detect a touch-up (NO in step S504) and detects a move (YES in step S506), then in step S507, the CPU 111 determines whether an exit is detected.","When the CPU 111 detects an exit (YES in step S507), the processing proceeds to step S505.In step S505, the CPU 111 performs processing associated with the selected button.","When the CPU 111 detects a move (YES in step S506), does not detect an exit (NO in step S507), and detects a touch-up (YES in step S504), the processing proceeds to step S505.More specifically, even in the case where the user touches the button area with the finger and then the finger is slightly moved, processing associated with the relevant button is performed when the finger is detached from the touch panel 120 as long as the finger is moved within the relevant button area.","When the CPU 111 detects a touch-up (YES in step S508), then in step S505, the CPU 111 performs processing associated with the selected button.","When the CPU 111 does not detect a touch-up (NO in step S508) and detects a move (YES in step S509), the processing proceeds to step S510.When the CPU 111 detects an exit (YES in step S510), the processing returns to step S508.More specifically, in the case where a button is in the flickable area, even when the finger is moved outside the button area, processing associated with the selected button is not performed.","When the CPU 111 does not detect an exit (NO in step S510) and detects that the distance of a move from the touch-down position has reached a predetermined threshold value (YES in step S511), then in step S512, the CPU 111 cancels the button selection.","The display control unit 115 restores the button in the selection state to the normal display state to enable the user to recognize that the button selection is canceled.","When the user performs a flick or drag operation to change page, the CPU 111 determines that the distance of a move has reached the predetermined threshold value (YES in step S511).","In step S513, the CPU 111 determines whether the currently displayed page is to be changed.","When the CPU 111 determines that the currently displayed page is to be changed (YES in step S513), then in step S514, the CPU 111 performs screen transition as illustrated in FIGS.","2A to 2C.","As described above, when a touch-down is detected in a button area on the touch panel display, the image forming apparatus 101 according to the present exemplary embodiment switches button control methods according to whether the button exists in the flickable area.","More specifically, in the case where a button is in a flick operation undetectable area, the image forming apparatus 101 performs processing associated with the button when the user moves the finger outside the relevant button area.","On the other hand, in the case where a button is in the flickable area, the image forming apparatus 101 performs control not to perform processing associated with the button when the finger is moved outside the relevant button area.","Further, in the case where a button is in the flickable area, the image forming apparatus 101 cancels the button selection when the finger moves over a predetermined distance.","According to the present exemplary embodiment, it is possible to prevent selection of a button from being canceled despite the user's intention and to prevent processing associated with a button from being performed despite the user's intention when the user performs a flick or drag operation on the relevant button.","In the first exemplary embodiment described above, in a case where a touch-down is detected in a button area in the flickable area, processing associated with the button is not performed when the finger is moved outside the relevant button area.","In the present exemplary embodiment, in the case where a button is in the flickable area but is not scrollable by a flick or drag operation, processing associated with the button is performed when the finger is moved out of the relevant button area, similar to a button in a flick operation undetectable area.","Buttons not scrollable by a flick or drag operation are buttons other than the application buttons illustrated in FIGS.","2A to 2C, i.e., not scrollable buttons are the my button 203, the shared button 204, and the page change buttons 206 and 207.A second exemplary embodiment will be described below mainly with respect to differences from the first exemplary embodiment.","FIG.","6 is a flowchart illustrating operations of the image forming apparatus 101 according to the second exemplary embodiment.","Steps identical to those of the flowchart illustrated in FIG.","5 are assigned the same step number.","The flowchart illustrated in FIG.","6 differs from the flowchart illustrated in FIG.","5 in that processing in step S601 is added.","The following descriptions will be made mainly with respect to the difference.","Similar to the flowchart illustrated in FIG.","5, each step of the flowchart illustrated in FIG.","6 is implemented when the CPU 111 executes a program stored in the ROM 113 of the image forming apparatus 101 or the external memory 120.When the button exists in the flickable area (YES in step S503), then in step S601, the CPU 111 determines whether the button is scrollable by a flick or drag operation.","When the button is scrollable by a flick or drag operation (YES in step S601), the processing proceeds to step S508 and subsequent steps.","When the button is not scrollable by a flick or drag operation (NO in step S601), the processing proceeds to step S504 and subsequent steps.","Thus, in the present exemplary embodiment, in the case of a button which is in the flickable area but is not scrollable by a flick or drag operation, processing associated with the button is performed when an exit is detected similar to the case of buttons in a flick operation undetectable area.","Specifically, when a touch-down is detected in the button area, the image forming apparatus 101 according to the present exemplary embodiment switches button control methods according to whether the relevant button is scrollable by a flick or drag operation.","More specifically, in the case of a button not scrollable by a flick or drag operation, the image forming apparatus 101 performs control to carry out processing associated with the button when the user subsequently moves the finger outside the button area.","On the other hand, in the case of a button scrollable by a flick or drag operation, the image forming apparatus 101 performs control not to perform processing associated with the button when the finger is subsequently moved outside the button area.","Then, the image forming apparatus 101 performs control to cancels the button selection when the finger is moved over a predetermined distance.","It is considered that, when the user performs a flick operation, the user generally performs a direct operation on a scrollable button by touching it, and seldom performs a flick operation on a button not scrollable by a flick operation.","Therefore, even in the case of a button which is in the flick operation detectable area 208 but is not scrollable, the user's operability can be improved by performing button control similar to button control in a flick operation undetectable area.","While the present disclosure has specifically been described based on exemplary embodiments, the present disclosure is not limited thereto but can be modified in diverse ways without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.","Further, parts of the above-described exemplary embodiments may be suitably combined.","For example, display items which are in a scrollable manner displayed on the touch panel display are not limited to application buttons in the custom menu screen.","The present disclosure may be applied to buttons which are in a scrollable manner displayed by a flick or drag operation on screens other than the custom menu screen.","In addition to buttons, the present disclosure is also applicable to images, icons, and any other items, as long as it is in a scrollable manner displayed on a screen, and processing associated with the item is performed when a display item is pressed by the user.","The present disclosure is applicable not only to display items which scroll in the horizontal direction but also to display items which scroll in the vertical and oblique directions and display items which scroll in all direction.","Although the above-described exemplary embodiments are described based on the image forming apparatus 101 having a plurality of functions such as a copy function and a scanner function, the present invention is also applicable to an image processing apparatus having only some of these functions.","The present disclosure may be applied to other information processing apparatuses such as personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) mobile phones, facsimiles, cameras, video cameras, and other image viewers.","As described above, according to the present exemplary embodiment, it is possible to prevent selection of a display item from being canceled despite the user's intention and, when a flick or drag operation is performed on a displayed item, to prevent processing associated with the display item from being performed despite the user's intention.","Other Embodiments Embodiment(s) of the present disclosure can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on a storage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a ‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or that includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computer executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s).","The computer may comprise one or more processors (e.g., central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU)) and may include a network of separate computers or separate processors to read out and execute the computer executable instructions.","The computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storage medium.","The storage medium may include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™), a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.","While the present disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments.","The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME, AND STORAGE MEDIUM\",\n \"An information processing apparatus having a touch panel display includes a first detection unit configured to detect that an object touches the touch panel display, and a second detection unit configured to detect that the object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display and then detect that the object moves outside the area of the display item while touching the touch panel display.\",\n \"When the display item is in a flick or drag operation detectable area, the information processing apparatus performs control not to carry out processing associated with the display item in response to the detection by the second detection unit.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.An information processing apparatus, comprising: a touch panel display which is able to display a first area and a second area; a detection unit configured to detect that an instruction object touches the touch panel display, and configured to detect that the instruction object having been held in contact with the touch panel display is detached therefrom; and a control unit configured to, in a case where the detection unit detects that an instruction object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display, select the display item which exists in the touched area, wherein the control unit performs control to carry out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, the detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without a moving distance of the instruction object reaching a predetermined threshold value, and performs control to carry out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting, by the detecting unit, that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display, and wherein the control unit performs control to carry out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without the moving distance of the instruction object reaching the predetermined threshold value, and does not perform control to carry out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting, by the detection unit, that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display.\",\n \"2.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting, by the detecting unit, that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display, the control unit scrolls the selected display item.\",\n \"3.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting, by the detecting unit, that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display, the control unit changes the currently displayed page to another page.\",\n \"4.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a display control unit configured to, in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the detection unit detects that the instruction object touches the area of the selected display item, indicate in an identifiable manner that the display item is selected, wherein, in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value, the display control unit indicates in an identifiable manner that the selection of the display item is canceled.\",\n \"5.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first area is an area which can detect a flick operation, and the second area is an area which cannot detect the flick operation.\",\n \"6.A control method for controlling an information processing apparatus which has a touch panel display which is able to display a first area and a second area, comprising: detecting that an instruction object touches the touch panel display; detecting that the instruction object having been held in contact with the touch panel display is detached therefrom; selecting, in a case where it is detected that an instruction object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display, the display item which exists in the touched area; carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, it is detected that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without a moving distance of the instruction object reaching a predetermined threshold value, and carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display; and carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, it is detected that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without the moving distance of the instruction object reaching the predetermined threshold value, wherein processing associated with the selected display item is not carried out in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display.\",\n \"7.A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a method for controlling an information processing apparatus which has a touch panel display which is able to display a first area and a second area, comprising: detecting that an instruction object touches the touch panel display; detecting that the instruction object having been held in contact with the touch panel display is detached therefrom; selecting, in a case where it is detected that an instruction object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display, the display item which exists in the touched area; carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, it is detected that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without a moving distance of the instruction object reaching a predetermined threshold value, and carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display; and carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, it is detected that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without the moving distance of the instruction object reaching the predetermined threshold value, wherein processing associated with the selected display item is not carried out in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present disclosure is directed to preventing selection of a display item from being canceled despite the user's intention and to preventing processing associated with a display item from being performed despite the user's intention when a flick or drag operation is performed on the display item.\",\n \"According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an information processing apparatus having a touch panel display includes a first detection unit configured to detect that an instruction object touches the touch panel display, a second detection unit configured to detect that the instruction object is moving while touching the touch panel display, and a third detection unit configured to detect that the instruction object having been held in contact with the display is detached therefrom.\",\n \"The information processing apparatus further includes a control unit configured to, in a case where the first detection unit detects that an instruction object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display and then the second detection unit detects that the instruction object is moving while touching the touch panel display, perform control to carry out processing associated with the display item when the third detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display before a moving distance of the instruction object reaches a predetermined threshold value, and not to perform control to carry out processing associated with the display item when the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value before the third detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display.\",\n \"Further features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/793,442, filed Jul.\",\n \"7, 2015, which claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No.\",\n \"2014-142729 filed Jul.\",\n \"10, 2014, which are each hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.\",\n \"BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present disclosure generally relates to information processing and, more particularly, to an information processing apparatus having a touch panel display, a method for controlling the information processing apparatus, and a storage medium.\",\n \"Description of the Related Art In recent years, image forming apparatuses having a touch panel display have been commonly used.\",\n \"Such an image forming apparatus is provided with various applications such as copy, print, scan, and FAX transmission.\",\n \"A user is able to make setting for each application and instruct the apparatus to start processing of each application by performing touch operations on software buttons on the touch panel display.\",\n \"Button control on a touch panel display will be described below with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"7A to 7D.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7A illustrates an appearance of the touch panel display.\",\n \"The touch panel display includes a touch panel area 701 which is comprised of a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a touch panel stuck thereon.\",\n \"The touch panel display further includes software buttons 702 and 703.FIGS.\",\n \"7B and 7C are sectional views illustrating the touch panel taken along a line 704 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7A, and touch operations by the user.\",\n \"A section 706 is equivalent to a line 707, and a width 705 of the button 702 in the X direction is equivalent to a button 708.Since the software buttons 702 and 703 on the touch panel display are 2-dimensionally formed, to make determinations in the X and the Y directions, it is necessary to detect a touch position.\",\n \"However, since these determinations are similarly handled, one-dimensional representations are used to simplify descriptions in FIGS.\",\n \"7B and 7C.\",\n \"Generally, there are the following two different cases in button determination: A.\",\n \"When the apparatus detects that a button area is pressed by the finger of a user, the apparatus performs processing associated with the pressed button.\",\n \"B.\",\n \"When the apparatus detects that a button area is pressed by the finger of a user and then the finger is detached from the relevant button area, the apparatus performs processing associated with the pressed button.\",\n \"In a case of A, since the button operation by the user is input as soon as the user touches the button, the user can feel a light touch input.\",\n \"For example, when a calculator having large buttons is displayed, the feeling of operation can be improved.\",\n \"However, in a case of A, even if the user touches a button by mistake, the button operation by the user is input as soon as the button is touched.\",\n \"To address this problem, the method in a case of B is used to provide accuracy in button depression.\",\n \"Case B is a case which is a subject of exemplary embodiments of the present invention and will be described in detail below.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7B illustrates a case where the user touches a button area (709) with the finger and then detaches the finger from the button area (710).\",\n \"In this case, when the apparatus detects that the finger touches the button area, the relevant button is put in the selection state.\",\n \"Then, when the apparatus detects that the finger is detached from the button area, the apparatus performs processing associated with the selected button.\",\n \"For example, when a copy button on a menu screen is selected, the screen changes to a copy application setting screen.\",\n \"When a color setting button on the copy application setting screen is selected, the screen changes to a color setting screen.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"7C and 7D illustrate a case where the user touches a button area (711) with the finger, moves the finger outside the button area while keeping it in contact with the button area, and then detaches the finger (712).\",\n \"In this case, when the apparatus detects that the finger has been moved outside the button area as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7C, the button selection is canceled.\",\n \"Therefore, if the user presses a button by mistake, the user is able to cancel execution of processing associated with the button by moving the finger out of the button area while keeping it in contact with the button area, and then detaching the finger.\",\n \"However, in a case of a small-sized button such as the button 703, the user's finger may be moved out of the button area by slight motion of the finger although the user thinks the finger is detached from the button area after touching the button inside the button area.\",\n \"As a result, the execution of processing associated with the button will be canceled despite the user's intention.\",\n \"To solve such a problem, an image forming apparatus performs control in the following way.\",\n \"When the apparatus detects that the finger of a user touches a button area and then the finger is moved out of the button area, the apparatus performs processing associated with the button as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7D.\",\n \"By performing such control, even if the user operates a small-sized button, the execution of processing associated with the button can be prevented from being canceled despite the user's intention.\",\n \"Lately, some image forming apparatuses have a touch panel display supporting flick operations.\",\n \"A flick operation refers to an operation in which the user quickly flips the surface of the touch panel display with the finger.\",\n \"Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.\",\n \"2011-210009 discusses an image forming apparatus which is provided with a plurality of applications such as copy and print, and displays a menu screen arranging icons for selecting applications to be used.\",\n \"Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.\",\n \"2011-210009 discusses a technique for smoothly scrolling the screen with a flick operation to change pages when icons do not fit into one page of the menu screen, so that the user can select an arbitrary application out of the plurality of applications provided by the image forming apparatus.\",\n \"However, when it is enabled to perform flick operations in an image forming apparatus which performs button control as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7D, the following problems will arise.\",\n \"More specifically, in a case where the user performs the flick operation in a button area, processing associated with the button will be performed when the user moves the finger out of the relevant button area.\",\n \"As a result, although the user performs a flick operation to change a page, processing associated with the button will be performed despite the user's intention.\",\n \"Such a problem is not limited to a button, and may commonly arise with any display item which is scrollable by a flick or drag operation and is associated with processing to be performed when pressed by the user.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure is directed to preventing selection of a display item from being canceled despite the user's intention and to preventing processing associated with a display item from being performed despite the user's intention when a flick or drag operation is performed on the display item.\",\n \"According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an information processing apparatus having a touch panel display includes a first detection unit configured to detect that an instruction object touches the touch panel display, a second detection unit configured to detect that the instruction object is moving while touching the touch panel display, and a third detection unit configured to detect that the instruction object having been held in contact with the display is detached therefrom.\",\n \"The information processing apparatus further includes a control unit configured to, in a case where the first detection unit detects that an instruction object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display and then the second detection unit detects that the instruction object is moving while touching the touch panel display, perform control to carry out processing associated with the display item when the third detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display before a moving distance of the instruction object reaches a predetermined threshold value, and not to perform control to carry out processing associated with the display item when the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value before the third detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display.\",\n \"Further features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"2A, 2B, and 2C illustrate examples of a custom menu screen displayed on a display of the image forming apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an example of a copy application setting screen displayed on the display of the image forming apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B illustrate problems of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an image forming apparatus according to a first exemplary embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an image forming apparatus according to a second exemplary embodiment.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"7A, 7B, 7C, and 7D illustrate button control on a touch panel display.\",\n \"DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Various exemplary embodiments, features, and aspects of the disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.\",\n \"A first exemplary embodiment will be described below.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus 101 to which each exemplary embodiment of the present invention is applicable.\",\n \"A central processing unit (CPU) 111, a random access memory (RAM) 112, a read only memory (ROM) 113, an input unit 114, a display control unit 115, an external memory interface (I/F) 116, a printer I/F 117, a scanner I/F 118, and a communication I/F controller 119 are connected to a system bus 110.Further, a touch panel 120, a display 121, an external memory 122, a printer 123, and a scanner 124 are connected to the system bus 110.Each unit connected to the system bus 110 is configured to enable transmitting and receiving data to/from other units via the system bus 110.As used herein, the term “unit” generally refers to any combination of software, firmware, hardware, or other component, such as circuitry, that is used to effectuate a purpose.\",\n \"The ROM 113, a nonvolatile memory, stores in respective predetermined areas image data, non-image data, and various programs for operation to be executed by the CPU 111.The RAM 112, a volatile memory, is used as a main memory for the CPU 111 and a temporary storage area such as a work area.\",\n \"The CPU 111 controls each unit of the image forming apparatus 101, for example, according to a program stored in the ROM 113 by using the RAM 112 as a work memory.\",\n \"Programs for operation to be executed by the CPU 111 are not necessarily stored in the ROM 113 and may be prestored in the external memory 122, such as a hard disk.\",\n \"The input unit 114 receives a user operation, generates a control signal according to the operation, and supplies the control signal to the CPU 111.For example, the input unit 114 includes the touch panel 120 as an input device for receiving the user operation.\",\n \"The touch panel 120 is an input device for outputting coordinates information, for example, according to a touched position on the planarly configured input unit 114.Based on the control signal generated and supplied in response to the user operation performed on the input device, the CPU 111 controls each unit of the image forming apparatus 101 according to programs.\",\n \"Thus, the CPU 111 is able to instruct the image forming apparatus 101 to perform an operation in response to the user operation.\",\n \"The display control unit 115 outputs a display signal for displaying an image to the display 121.For example, a display control signal generated by the CPU 111 according to a program is supplied to the display control unit 115.The display control unit 115 generates a display signal based on the display control signal, and outputs the display signal to the display 121.For example, based on the display control signal generated by the CPU 111, the display control unit 115 displays a graphical user interface (GUI) screen on the display 121.The touch panel 120 is configured integrally with the display 121 to function as a touch panel display.\",\n \"For example, the touch panel 120 is configured so that transmissivity of light does not disturb display of the display 121, and is arranged on the upper layer of the display surface of the display 121.The input coordinates on the touch panel 120 are associated with the display coordinates on the display 121.Thus, a GUI can be configured to allow an operation as if the user directly operates the screen displayed on the display 121.The touch panel 120 may be any type, such as resistance film type, capacitance type, surface acoustic wave type, infrared-ray type, electromagnetic induction type, image recognition type, and optical sensor type.\",\n \"The external memory 122, such as a hard disk, a compact disc (CD), a digital versatile disc (DVD), and a memory card, can be attached to the external memory I/F 116.Under the control of the CPU 111, the external memory I/F 116 writes and reads data to/from the attached external memory 122.The printer 123 is connected to the printer I/F 117.Under the control of the CPU 111, image data to be printed by the printer 123 is transmitted to the printer 123 via the printer I/F 117 and then printed on a recording medium by the printer 123.The scanner 124 is connected to the scanner I/F 118.Under the control of the CPU 111, the scanner 124 reads an image on a document to generate image data.\",\n \"The generated image data is stored in the RAM 112 and the ROM 113 via the scanner I/F 118.When the printer 123 performs printing based on the image data generated by the scanner 124, the copy function is achieved.\",\n \"Under the control of the CPU 111, the communication I/F controller 119 performs communication with a network 102, such as a local area network (LAN), the Internet, and other wired and wireless networks.\",\n \"For example, image data generated by the scanner 124 can be transmitted to the outside via the network 102, and image data received from the outside via the network 102 can be printed by the printer 123.The CPU 111 is able to detect, for example, the following operations and states of the touch panel 120: having touched the touch panel with the finger or pen (object) (hereinafter referred to as a “touch-down”), moving the finger or pen while keeping it in contact with the touch panel (hereinafter referred to as a “move”), a state where the finger or pen is held in contact with the touch panel (hereinafter referred to as a “touch-on”), and detaching the finger or pen from the touch panel (hereinafter referred to as a “touch-up”).\",\n \"The CPU 111 is further able to detect a touch-down in a software button area displayed on the display 121 and then detect that the finger or pen is moved out of the software button area while being held in contact with the touch panel (herein after referred to as an “exit”).\",\n \"The touch panel 120 is a multi-touch detectable touch panel.\",\n \"More specifically, even when a touch-down, a touch-on, a move, and a touch-up are performed by a plurality of fingers and pens at the same time, the touch panel 120 is able to detect respective operations and states.\",\n \"These operations and coordinates of a position touched by the finger or pen on the touch panel 120 are transferred to the CPU 111 via the system bus 110.The CPU 111 determines operation performed on the touch panel 120 based on the transferred information.\",\n \"For a move, the CPU 111 determines the moving direction of the finger or pen on the touch panel 120 based on changes of the position coordinates for each of the vertical and the horizontal components on the touch panel 120.FIGS.\",\n \"2A, 2B, 2C, and 3 illustrate screens displayed on the display 121 of the image forming apparatus 101.The image forming apparatus 101 is provided with a copy function of optically reading an image of a document of a paper medium, converting the image into electronic data, performing image processing on the data, and printing the data on another paper medium.\",\n \"The image forming apparatus 101 is further provided with a “scan and send” function (send function) of transmitting the read electronic data to other apparatuses via the network 102.The image forming apparatus 101 is further provided with a “scan and store” function (box function) of storing the read electronic data in the external memory 122.The image forming apparatus 101 is further provided with a web browser function of arranging and displaying a Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) contents acquired from an external server via the network 102.The image forming apparatus 101 independently stores the above-described functions as different applications in the ROM 113.The CPU 111 executes a required application according to a user's operation.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"2A to 2C illustrate custom menu screens displayed on the display 121.The custom menu refers to a function of storing setting values of applications, displaying application buttons on a screen, and, when an application button is pressed, reproducing stored setting values and displaying a relevant application screen.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"2A, a button display area 201 displays application buttons for invoking different applications.\",\n \"Each of the application buttons displayed in the button display area 201 is associated with each application provided by the image forming apparatus 101 and relevant setting values.\",\n \"When the user presses an application button displayed in the button display area 201, the application screen associated with the relevant button is displayed and setting values associated with the button are reflected therein.\",\n \"Further, the application buttons displayed in the button display area 201 can also be associated with user information authenticated through user authentication.\",\n \"A title and a comment can be set to each application button displayed in the button display area 201.The user who registers the button is able to arbitrarily set the title and the comment.\",\n \"For example, a title “Copy” and a comment “Two-sided, 2 Copies” are displayed on a button 202.More specifically, each button displays an application name and an icon associated with the button, and a title and a comment regarding the setting values.\",\n \"The button 202 is associated with a copy application and associated with setting values for two-sided printing and 2 copies.\",\n \"When the user selects the button 202, the screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 (described below) is displayed.\",\n \"A my button 203 is used to display only application buttons associated with the currently authenticated user in the button display area 201.A shared button 204 is used to display only application buttons associated with all users, i.e., application buttons usable by all users in the button display area 201.A page position display mark 205 schematically represents each page with a circle mark, indicating that a plurality of pages is virtually arranged in the horizontal direction.\",\n \"In this case, the page position display marks 205 indicate that the custom menu includes 3 pages and that the currently displayed screen is the first page (the page virtually arranged at the leftmost position).\",\n \"The button display area 201 includes page change buttons 206 and 207.The page change button 206 is used to indicate change to the page virtually arranged to the right of the currently displayed page.\",\n \"The page change button 207 is used to indicate change to the page virtually arranged to the left of the currently displayed page.\",\n \"If there exists no page to the right or left of the currently displayed page, the page change button 206 or 207 is displayed in grayout (disabled).\",\n \"For example, referring to FIG.\",\n \"2A, the button 207 is displayed in grayout because there exists no page to the left of the currently displayed page.\",\n \"When the user presses the page change button 206 on the screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2A, the application button list in the button display area 201 scrolls to the left (see FIG.\",\n \"2B) and the screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2C is displayed.\",\n \"On the screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2C, the page position display mark 205 indicating the currently displayed page has been moved to the middle, which indicates that the second page is currently displayed.\",\n \"The custom menu screens illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"2A to 2C further include a flick operation detectable area 208 in which a flick or drag operation by the user can be detected.\",\n \"A flick operation is an operation in which the user quickly moves the finger while keeping it in contact with the touch panel over a predetermined distance and then detaches the finger.\",\n \"In other words, the user flips the surface of the touch panel with a quick movement of the finger.\",\n \"When the CPU 111 detects a touch-down in the flick operation detectable area 208, a move at a predetermined speed or faster over a predetermined distance or longer, and then a touch-up, the application button list scrolls following the finger motion and then the page changes.\",\n \"A drag operation is an operation to move the finger over a predetermined distance or longer keeping it in contact with the touch panel.\",\n \"When the CPU 111 detects a touch-down in the flick operation detectable area 208, a move over a predetermined distance or longer, and then a touch-on, the application button list scrolls following the finger motion and then the page changes.\",\n \"For example, when the user performs a flick operation from right to left in the flick operation detectable area 208 on the screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2A, the application button list scrolls to the left (see FIG.\",\n \"2B) and the screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2C is displayed.\",\n \"When the user performs a flick operation from left to right in the flick operation detectable area 208 on the screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2C, the application button list scrolls to the right and the screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2A is displayed.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates a copy application setting screen displayed when the button 202 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2A is selected.\",\n \"An icon 301 indicates setting of two-sided printing.\",\n \"An icon 302 indicates that the number of copies is set to 2.The copy application setting screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 is a screen in which a flick or drag operation by the user is not detectable.\",\n \"Therefore, even if the user performs a flick or drag operation on the screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3, buttons are not scrolled and the screen is not changed.\",\n \"Thus, screens displayed on the image forming apparatus 101 include screens having an area in which a flick operation is detectable (hereinafter simply referred to as a flickable area) and screens having only an area in which a flick operation is not detectable.\",\n \"Button control on the touch panel display on the image forming apparatus 101 will be described in detail below.\",\n \"On the copy application setting screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3, when a touch-down is detected in a button area, the relevant button is put into a selection state (for example, the button is highlighted), as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7B.\",\n \"When a touch-up is detected inside the button area, processing associated with the selected button is performed.\",\n \"Further, on the copy application setting screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3, button control as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7C is not performed but button control as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7D is performed.\",\n \"More specifically, when a touch-down is detected in a button area, the relevant button is put into the selection state.\",\n \"Then, when a move is detected and an exit is subsequently detected, processing associated with the selected button is performed.\",\n \"Also in each application screen (“scan and send”, “scan and store”, “web browser”, etc.\",\n \"), similar button control to the one illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 is performed.\",\n \"Meanwhile, when similar button control is performed on the custom menu screen illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"2A to 2C, a problem may arise when a flick or drag operation is performed.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B illustrate the relevant problem.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"4A, the user performs a flick operation to change pages.\",\n \"In this case, if the starting position of the flick operation (a touch-down detection position 401) is outside a button area, the application button list is scrolled according to the user's intention and the page is changed.\",\n \"On the other hand, if the starting position of the flick operation is in a button area, the button is put into the selection state (an application button 402 is highlighted in FIG.\",\n \"4A) when a touch-down is detected.\",\n \"Then, when the user's finger is moved by a flick operation 403 outside the button area, an exit is detected and processing associated with the application button 402 will be performed.\",\n \"As a result, the screen will be changed to the copy application setting screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4B despite the user's intention to change pages in the custom menu screen.\",\n \"A similar problem occurs not only in a flick operation but also in a drag operation.\",\n \"The image forming apparatus 101 according to the present exemplary embodiment performs control not to execute processing associated with the selected button even when a touch-down is detected in a button area in the flickable area, and an exit is subsequently detected.\",\n \"This enables preventing processing associated with the selected button from being performed despite the user's intention when the user performs a flick operation to change pages.\",\n \"When an exit is detected, processing associated with the relevant button is not performed and the button selection is not canceled.\",\n \"The button selection is canceled when a move is detected, i.e., when the CPU 111 detects that the finger moves over a predetermined distance in the horizontal direction (X direction) from the touch-down detection position.\",\n \"The purpose of performing such control will be described below.\",\n \"For example, when operating a button having a comparatively small size such as the page change buttons 206 and 207, the finger may be moved outside the button area by slight motion of the finger although the user thinks the finger is placed inside the button area and then is detached from the relevant button area.\",\n \"In this case, if the button selection is canceled when an exit is detected, the execution of processing is canceled despite the user's intention and the page will not be changed.\",\n \"Therefore, with the above-described control, even if the finger is placed inside the button area and then moved outside the button area, processing associated with the selected button is performed as long as the operation is a move within a distance shorter than the predetermined distance.\",\n \"This enables achieving button control reflecting the user's intention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a flowchart performed by the image forming apparatus 101 when a touch operation is performed on the touch panel 120 by the user.\",\n \"Each step of the flowchart illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5 is implemented when the CPU 111 executes a program stored in the ROM 113 or the external memory 122.In step S501, the CPU 111 determines whether a touch-down is detected in a button area.\",\n \"When a touch-down is detected outside the button area (NO in step S501), the processing proceeds to the step S515.In step S515, the CPU 111 performs processing for the case where the finger is placed outside the button area.\",\n \"For example, when the CPU 111 detects a touch-down a move at a predetermined speed or faster over a predetermined distance or longer, and then a touch-up in the flickable area (see FIG.\",\n \"2A), the application button list scrolls following the finger motion and then the page changes.\",\n \"On the other hand, when the CPU 111 detects a touch-down outside the flickable area, the CPU 111 performs no specific processing.\",\n \"When a touch-down is detected in a button area (YES in step S501), then in step S502, the CPU 111 sets the relevant button in the selection state.\",\n \"The display control unit 115 highlights the button in the selection state to enable the user to recognize that the button is selected.\",\n \"In step S503, the CPU 111 determines whether the button exists in the flickable area.\",\n \"When it is determined that the button does not exist in the flickable area (for example, a button in the copy application setting screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3) (NO in step S503), the processing proceeds to step S504.On the other hand, when it is determined that the button exists in the flickable area (for example, a button on the custom menu screen illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"2A to 2C) (YES in step S503), the processing proceeds to step S508.When the CPU 111 detects a touch-up (YES in step S504), then in step S505, the CPU 111 performs processing associated with the selected button.\",\n \"Then, the processing exits the flowchart.\",\n \"When the CPU 111 does not detect a touch-up (NO in step S504) and detects a move (YES in step S506), then in step S507, the CPU 111 determines whether an exit is detected.\",\n \"When the CPU 111 detects an exit (YES in step S507), the processing proceeds to step S505.In step S505, the CPU 111 performs processing associated with the selected button.\",\n \"When the CPU 111 detects a move (YES in step S506), does not detect an exit (NO in step S507), and detects a touch-up (YES in step S504), the processing proceeds to step S505.More specifically, even in the case where the user touches the button area with the finger and then the finger is slightly moved, processing associated with the relevant button is performed when the finger is detached from the touch panel 120 as long as the finger is moved within the relevant button area.\",\n \"When the CPU 111 detects a touch-up (YES in step S508), then in step S505, the CPU 111 performs processing associated with the selected button.\",\n \"When the CPU 111 does not detect a touch-up (NO in step S508) and detects a move (YES in step S509), the processing proceeds to step S510.When the CPU 111 detects an exit (YES in step S510), the processing returns to step S508.More specifically, in the case where a button is in the flickable area, even when the finger is moved outside the button area, processing associated with the selected button is not performed.\",\n \"When the CPU 111 does not detect an exit (NO in step S510) and detects that the distance of a move from the touch-down position has reached a predetermined threshold value (YES in step S511), then in step S512, the CPU 111 cancels the button selection.\",\n \"The display control unit 115 restores the button in the selection state to the normal display state to enable the user to recognize that the button selection is canceled.\",\n \"When the user performs a flick or drag operation to change page, the CPU 111 determines that the distance of a move has reached the predetermined threshold value (YES in step S511).\",\n \"In step S513, the CPU 111 determines whether the currently displayed page is to be changed.\",\n \"When the CPU 111 determines that the currently displayed page is to be changed (YES in step S513), then in step S514, the CPU 111 performs screen transition as illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"2A to 2C.\",\n \"As described above, when a touch-down is detected in a button area on the touch panel display, the image forming apparatus 101 according to the present exemplary embodiment switches button control methods according to whether the button exists in the flickable area.\",\n \"More specifically, in the case where a button is in a flick operation undetectable area, the image forming apparatus 101 performs processing associated with the button when the user moves the finger outside the relevant button area.\",\n \"On the other hand, in the case where a button is in the flickable area, the image forming apparatus 101 performs control not to perform processing associated with the button when the finger is moved outside the relevant button area.\",\n \"Further, in the case where a button is in the flickable area, the image forming apparatus 101 cancels the button selection when the finger moves over a predetermined distance.\",\n \"According to the present exemplary embodiment, it is possible to prevent selection of a button from being canceled despite the user's intention and to prevent processing associated with a button from being performed despite the user's intention when the user performs a flick or drag operation on the relevant button.\",\n \"In the first exemplary embodiment described above, in a case where a touch-down is detected in a button area in the flickable area, processing associated with the button is not performed when the finger is moved outside the relevant button area.\",\n \"In the present exemplary embodiment, in the case where a button is in the flickable area but is not scrollable by a flick or drag operation, processing associated with the button is performed when the finger is moved out of the relevant button area, similar to a button in a flick operation undetectable area.\",\n \"Buttons not scrollable by a flick or drag operation are buttons other than the application buttons illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"2A to 2C, i.e., not scrollable buttons are the my button 203, the shared button 204, and the page change buttons 206 and 207.A second exemplary embodiment will be described below mainly with respect to differences from the first exemplary embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 is a flowchart illustrating operations of the image forming apparatus 101 according to the second exemplary embodiment.\",\n \"Steps identical to those of the flowchart illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5 are assigned the same step number.\",\n \"The flowchart illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6 differs from the flowchart illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5 in that processing in step S601 is added.\",\n \"The following descriptions will be made mainly with respect to the difference.\",\n \"Similar to the flowchart illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5, each step of the flowchart illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6 is implemented when the CPU 111 executes a program stored in the ROM 113 of the image forming apparatus 101 or the external memory 120.When the button exists in the flickable area (YES in step S503), then in step S601, the CPU 111 determines whether the button is scrollable by a flick or drag operation.\",\n \"When the button is scrollable by a flick or drag operation (YES in step S601), the processing proceeds to step S508 and subsequent steps.\",\n \"When the button is not scrollable by a flick or drag operation (NO in step S601), the processing proceeds to step S504 and subsequent steps.\",\n \"Thus, in the present exemplary embodiment, in the case of a button which is in the flickable area but is not scrollable by a flick or drag operation, processing associated with the button is performed when an exit is detected similar to the case of buttons in a flick operation undetectable area.\",\n \"Specifically, when a touch-down is detected in the button area, the image forming apparatus 101 according to the present exemplary embodiment switches button control methods according to whether the relevant button is scrollable by a flick or drag operation.\",\n \"More specifically, in the case of a button not scrollable by a flick or drag operation, the image forming apparatus 101 performs control to carry out processing associated with the button when the user subsequently moves the finger outside the button area.\",\n \"On the other hand, in the case of a button scrollable by a flick or drag operation, the image forming apparatus 101 performs control not to perform processing associated with the button when the finger is subsequently moved outside the button area.\",\n \"Then, the image forming apparatus 101 performs control to cancels the button selection when the finger is moved over a predetermined distance.\",\n \"It is considered that, when the user performs a flick operation, the user generally performs a direct operation on a scrollable button by touching it, and seldom performs a flick operation on a button not scrollable by a flick operation.\",\n \"Therefore, even in the case of a button which is in the flick operation detectable area 208 but is not scrollable, the user's operability can be improved by performing button control similar to button control in a flick operation undetectable area.\",\n \"While the present disclosure has specifically been described based on exemplary embodiments, the present disclosure is not limited thereto but can be modified in diverse ways without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.\",\n \"Further, parts of the above-described exemplary embodiments may be suitably combined.\",\n \"For example, display items which are in a scrollable manner displayed on the touch panel display are not limited to application buttons in the custom menu screen.\",\n \"The present disclosure may be applied to buttons which are in a scrollable manner displayed by a flick or drag operation on screens other than the custom menu screen.\",\n \"In addition to buttons, the present disclosure is also applicable to images, icons, and any other items, as long as it is in a scrollable manner displayed on a screen, and processing associated with the item is performed when a display item is pressed by the user.\",\n \"The present disclosure is applicable not only to display items which scroll in the horizontal direction but also to display items which scroll in the vertical and oblique directions and display items which scroll in all direction.\",\n \"Although the above-described exemplary embodiments are described based on the image forming apparatus 101 having a plurality of functions such as a copy function and a scanner function, the present invention is also applicable to an image processing apparatus having only some of these functions.\",\n \"The present disclosure may be applied to other information processing apparatuses such as personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) mobile phones, facsimiles, cameras, video cameras, and other image viewers.\",\n \"As described above, according to the present exemplary embodiment, it is possible to prevent selection of a display item from being canceled despite the user's intention and, when a flick or drag operation is performed on a displayed item, to prevent processing associated with the display item from being performed despite the user's intention.\",\n \"Other Embodiments Embodiment(s) of the present disclosure can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on a storage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a ‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or that includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computer executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s).\",\n \"The computer may comprise one or more processors (e.g., central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU)) and may include a network of separate computers or separate processors to read out and execute the computer executable instructions.\",\n \"The computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storage medium.\",\n \"The storage medium may include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™), a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.\",\n \"While the present disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments.\",\n \"The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15875998"}}},{"rowIdx":4495046,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["OFF-AXIS EPITAXIAL LIFT OFF PROCESS","Embodiments described herein provide processes for forming and removing epitaxial films and materials from growth wafers by epitaxial lift off (ELO) processes.","In some embodiments, the growth wafer has edge surfaces with an off-axis orientation which is utilized during the ELO process.","The off-axis orientation of the edge surface provides an additional variable for controlling the etch rate during the ELO process and therefore the etch front may be modulated to prevent the formation of high stress points which reduces or prevents stressing and cracking the epitaxial film stack.","In one embodiment, the growth wafer is rectangular and has an edge surface with an off-axis orientation rotated by an angle greater than 0° and up to 90° relative to an edge orientation of <110> at 0°."],["1.A method for forming an epitaxial film stack during an epitaxial lift off process, the method comprising: providing a growth wafer diced from a piece of semiconductor material, the growth wafer having a plurality of edge surfaces, wherein none of the plurality of edge surfaces has an orientation that is perpendicular to the crystallographic orientation of the piece of semiconductor material, and wherein none of the plurality of edge surfaces has an orientation that is parallel to the crystallographic orientation of the piece of semiconductor material; growing a sacrificial layer over the growth wafer; forming the epitaxial film stack over the sacrificial layer; and removing the sacrificial layer by an etching process, the etching process including a first etch rate of the sacrificial layer near corners of the plurality of edge surfaces that is different than a second etch rate of the sacrificial layer near sides of the plurality of edge surfaces.","2.The method of claim 1, wherein the orientation of each of the edge surfaces includes an off-axis orientation that is at an angle greater than 0° and less than 90° with respect to the crystallographic orientation of the piece of semiconductor material, the crystallographic orientation being a <110> crystal lattice orientation.","3.The method of claim 1, wherein the etching process is a lateral etching process that produces an etch front of a wet etch solution that encompasses the sacrificial layer at an interface of the wet etch solution and the sacrificial layer.","4.The method of claim 3, wherein the etch front forms substantially octagonal geometry comprising alternating sides of a plurality of side edge fronts and corner edge fronts.","5.The method of claim 4, wherein the corner edge fronts advance at the first etch rate of the sacrificial layer near the corners of the plurality of edge surfaces and the side edge fronts advance at the second etch rate of the sacrificial layer near the sides of the plurality of edge surfaces.","6.The method of claim 4, wherein the plurality of side edge fronts and corner edge fronts converge at a center of the sacrificial layer at a same time to complete the removal of the sacrificial layer.","7.The method of claim 3, further comprising: separating the epitaxial film stack from the growth wafer after removal of the sacrificial layer, wherein the geometry of the etch front of the sacrificial layer transitions during the epitaxial lift off process from a substantially rectangular geometry, to a substantially octagonal geometry, and then to a substantially rounded geometry.","8.The method of claim 3, wherein the sacrificial layer has a rectangular geometry and comprises side edges and corners prior to being exposed to the wet etch solution.","9.The method of claim 1, wherein the growth wafer is diced from the piece of semiconductor material at an angle that is 45° and corresponds to an off-axis orientation of the growth wafer relative to the wafer.","10.The method of claim 1, wherein the first etch rate is 1.4 times the second etch rate.","11.The method of claim 1, wherein the first etch rate is faster than the second etch rate.","12.The method of claim 1, wherein each edge surface of the growth wafer is oriented in a direction other than that of a cleavage plane of the piece of semiconductor material that is indicative of the crystallographic orientation of the piece of semiconductor material.","13.The method of claim 1, wherein providing the growth wafer includes dicing the growth wafer from the piece of semiconductor material.","14.The method of claim 1, wherein the piece of semiconductor material is a gallium arsenide (GaAs) wafer.","15.A growth wafer comprising: a single-crystal substrate; a crystalline lattice structure; a front face, a bottom face, and side edges extending between the front and bottom faces and the front and bottom faces; a facial surface with an orientation of <001>, off by up to 12°.","16.The growth wafer of claim 15, wherein the off-axis orientation is rotated by an angle from 0° to 90°.","17.The growth wafer of claim 15, wherein the off-axis orientation is rotated by an angle from about 30° to 60°.","18.In an epitaxial lift off process, a sacrificial layer having edges and corners, wherein the corner edge fronts are etched faster than the side edges.","19.The sacrificial layer of claim 18, wherein the edges are off-axis.","20.The sacrificial layer of claim 18, wherein the edges are approximately 30-60 degrees from a natural cleave plane."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>One phase in device fabrication involves handling and packaging of thin films used in photovoltaic, semiconductor, or other devices.","Such thin film devices may be manufactured by utilizing a variety of processes for depositing and removing materials onto a wafer or other substrate.","FIG.","1 shows a typical wafer 101 that is used as a growth substrate.","Wafer 101 has a flat cut 103 which indicates its crystallographic orientation.","This wafer is typically diced into a rectangular or square configuration 105 .","An edge of the rectangle or square 105 aligns with that of a flat cut 103 .","The edges of the rectangle or square 105 are either parallel or perpendicular to flat cut 103 .","This is referred to as an “on-axis” orientation.","One common technique for manufacturing thin film devices is known as the epitaxial lift off (ELO) process.","In an ELO process, an epitaxial material or film, often containing multiple layers, is formed on a sacrificial layer which is deposited on the growth wafer.","The sacrificial layer is etched away and the epitaxial film is separate from the growth wafer.","The isolated thin epitaxial film may then be further processed and incorporated into a final product, such as in photovoltaic, semiconductor, or other devices.","The sacrificial layer is typically very thin and is usually etched away via a wet chemical process.","The speed of the overall process may be limited by the lack of delivery or exposure of reactant to the etch front, which leads to less removal of by products from the etch front.","The etching process is partially a diffusion limited process, and if the films were maintained in their deposited geometries, a very narrow and long opening would form to severely limit the overall speed of the process.","To lessen the transport constraint of the diffusion processes, it may be beneficial to open up the resulting gap created by the etched or removed sacrificial layer and bending the epitaxial film away from the growth wafer.","A crevice is formed between the epitaxial film and growth wafer, providing greater transport of species both towards and away the etch front.","Reactants move towards the etch front while by-products generally move away from the etch front.","Furthermore, the epitaxial films grown on nearly rectangular or square growth wafers, or other wafers having sharp angles, are especially susceptible to developing corner cracks during the ELO processes.","Basically, the diagonal corner regions experience similar or a slightly slower etch rate compared to the straight edges.","This results in the corners of the sacrificial layer 201 becoming narrower, more pointed and pronounced, as depicted in FIG.","2 .","These narrower corners holding down the epitaxial film endure correspondingly increased stresses when the epitaxial film is being separated.","Therefore, there is a need for a method to remove epitaxial films from the growth wafers without tearing the films during an ELO process, as well as to maintain or increase the throughput of the process."],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>An off-axis epitaxial lift off process is disclosed.","The growth wafer has edges oriented in a direction other than that of the natural cleavage plane.","The corners of the growth wafer are etched at a faster rate relative to the edges.","This results in less stress induced on the corners and thereby reduced corner cracking.","This increases the yield."],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","13/210,138, filed on Aug. 15, 2011, which is incorporated herein its entirety by this reference.","TECHNICAL FIELD Embodiments of the invention generally relate to epitaxial lift off (ELO) processes.","BACKGROUND One phase in device fabrication involves handling and packaging of thin films used in photovoltaic, semiconductor, or other devices.","Such thin film devices may be manufactured by utilizing a variety of processes for depositing and removing materials onto a wafer or other substrate.","FIG.","1 shows a typical wafer 101 that is used as a growth substrate.","Wafer 101 has a flat cut 103 which indicates its crystallographic orientation.","This wafer is typically diced into a rectangular or square configuration 105.An edge of the rectangle or square 105 aligns with that of a flat cut 103.The edges of the rectangle or square 105 are either parallel or perpendicular to flat cut 103.This is referred to as an “on-axis” orientation.","One common technique for manufacturing thin film devices is known as the epitaxial lift off (ELO) process.","In an ELO process, an epitaxial material or film, often containing multiple layers, is formed on a sacrificial layer which is deposited on the growth wafer.","The sacrificial layer is etched away and the epitaxial film is separate from the growth wafer.","The isolated thin epitaxial film may then be further processed and incorporated into a final product, such as in photovoltaic, semiconductor, or other devices.","The sacrificial layer is typically very thin and is usually etched away via a wet chemical process.","The speed of the overall process may be limited by the lack of delivery or exposure of reactant to the etch front, which leads to less removal of by products from the etch front.","The etching process is partially a diffusion limited process, and if the films were maintained in their deposited geometries, a very narrow and long opening would form to severely limit the overall speed of the process.","To lessen the transport constraint of the diffusion processes, it may be beneficial to open up the resulting gap created by the etched or removed sacrificial layer and bending the epitaxial film away from the growth wafer.","A crevice is formed between the epitaxial film and growth wafer, providing greater transport of species both towards and away the etch front.","Reactants move towards the etch front while by-products generally move away from the etch front.","Furthermore, the epitaxial films grown on nearly rectangular or square growth wafers, or other wafers having sharp angles, are especially susceptible to developing corner cracks during the ELO processes.","Basically, the diagonal corner regions experience similar or a slightly slower etch rate compared to the straight edges.","This results in the corners of the sacrificial layer 201 becoming narrower, more pointed and pronounced, as depicted in FIG.","2.These narrower corners holding down the epitaxial film endure correspondingly increased stresses when the epitaxial film is being separated.","Therefore, there is a need for a method to remove epitaxial films from the growth wafers without tearing the films during an ELO process, as well as to maintain or increase the throughput of the process.","SUMMARY An off-axis epitaxial lift off process is disclosed.","The growth wafer has edges oriented in a direction other than that of the natural cleavage plane.","The corners of the growth wafer are etched at a faster rate relative to the edges.","This results in less stress induced on the corners and thereby reduced corner cracking.","This increases the yield.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings are incorporated in and form a part of this specification.","The drawings illustrate embodiments.","Together with the description, the drawings serve to explain the principles of the embodiments.","FIG.","1 shows a prior art on-axis oriented wafer.","FIG.","2 shows a prior art on-axis orientation of a wafer as it is being etched.","FIG.","3 shows an off-axis oriented wafer.","FIG.","4 shows an off-axis orientation of a wafer as it is being etched.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments described herein provide processes for forming and removing epitaxial films and materials from growth wafers by epitaxial lift off (ELO) processes.","In some embodiments, the growth wafer has edge surfaces with an off-axis orientation which is utilized during the ELO process.","Off-axis pertains to the rotation of an edge of the wafer from the nearest <110> orientation.","The off-axis orientation of the edge surface provides an additional variable for controlling the etch rate during the ELO process—and therefore the etch front may be modulated to prevent the formation of high stress points between the epitaxial film stack and the growth wafer which reduces or prevents stressing and cracking the epitaxial film stack.","FIG.","3 shows an off-axis orientation of a wafer 301.The circular wafer 301 has a flat cut 302 that indicates its crystallographic orientation.","Sometimes a notch will be used to indicate the crystallographic orientation of the circular wafer 301.This circular wafer is diced or cut into a rectangle or square 303, upon which the ELO process is performed.","Alternatively, a rectangular or square crystal growth wafer 303 is diced out of the crystal boule.","In other words, the edges of the rectangular or square growth wafer 303 are non-parallel and non-perpendicular to the cleavage plane as identified by the primary flat cut 302 or notch.","The growth wafer has an edge that is oriented in a direction other than the natural cleavage plane.","In the currently preferred embodiment, the rectangle or square growth wafer has edges at a 45 degree angle relative to the inherent crystallographic orientation as indicated by the flat cut 302.By dicing the growth wafer at an angle different from that of its natural, inherent crystallographic orientation, the orientation of the growth wafer can be controlled to take advantage of the different etch rates.","In particular, the area(s) more susceptible to stresses and cracking can be oriented towards the faster etch rates.","For rectangles and squares, the corners can be oriented to point towards the faster etch fronts.","FIG.","4 shows a growth wafer having corners that experience relatively faster etch rates and edges that experience relatively slower etch rates.","The square growth wafer 401 is off-axis by approximately 45 degrees.","By virtue of this off-axis configuration, the corners are etched at a faster rate relative to its edges.","In the currently preferred embodiment, the goal is to have corner etch rate of at least 1.4 times that of the edge etch rate.","Because the corners are etched away faster, they become more rounded.","The rounded corners of the sacrificial layer 402 are far more desirable than the narrower, more pointed corners of the prior art because the rounded corners induce less stress during the lift-off process and the epitaxial layer is less susceptible to cracking.","This improves the yield.","In embodiment herein, the method includes growing a sacrificial layer over a growth wafer, forming an epitaxial film stack over the sacrificial layer, and exposing the sacrificial layer to a wet etch solution during the ELO process.","The ELO process includes etching the sacrificial layer, forming a crevice between the growth wafer and the epitaxial film stack, and separating the growth wafer from the epitaxial film stack.","The ELO etch process is a lateral etch process and the geometry or shape of the etch front may be modulated as a function of multiple variables including the crystalline lattice orientation, etch chemistry (e.g.","solution composition), etch conditions (e.g., temperature and pressure), and curvature of the crevice (e.g., dynamic clamping).","The growth wafers described herein have been specifically designed and created in order to have control of the lattice orientation at specified locations on the substrate.","An off-axis orientation having a predetermined angle may be used to change the etch rate at the corners and sides of the sacrificial layer during the ELO process.","For example, the off-axis orientation of the growth substrate provides faster etching planes at the corners of the sacrificial layer.","Therefore, the corners may be etched at a faster rate than the sides of the sacrificial layer in order to provide that the etch front, coming from the corners and sides having corner and side fronts, to converge near the center of the substrate around the same time while forming a singularity between the epitaxial film stack and the growth wafer.","The growth wafers described herein which have edge surfaces with an off-axis orientation rotated by a predetermined angle may be manufactured or otherwise formed from a variety of different growth wafers.","A crystalline wafer may contain various elements, including from Groups III, IV, and V, and initially may have a variety of different crystalline orientations.","In one example, a rectangular growth wafer is cut off-axis from a circular, crystalline, gallium arsenide wafer having a facial orientation of <001>.","The predetermined angle for the rotated off-axis orientation is measured from the <110> flat.","The round wafer may be cut with a saw, such as a dice saw, or other cutting or slicing device used to cut crystalline wafers.","The growth wafer is cut from the round wafer at the predetermined angle relative to the edge flat, such that the previously axis orientation is now rotated by the predetermined angle.","The predetermined angle is greater than 0° and less than 90°.","In embodiments herein, the method includes exposing the sacrificial layer to a wet etch solution during the ELO process.","The ELO process includes etching the sacrificial layer, forming a crevice between the growth wafer and the epitaxial film stack, and separating the growth wafer from the epitaxial film stack.","In another embodiment, the method further includes forming an etch front by exposing the sacrificial layer to the wet etch solution, wherein the etch front encompasses the sacrificial layer at the interface of the wet etch solution and the sacrificial layer.","Prior to being exposed to the wet etch solution, the sacrificial layer has side edges and corners which form a rectangular geometry (e.g., rectangle or square).","Once the sacrificial layer is exposed to the wet etch solution, the etch front advances towards the center of the growth wafer within the crevice while etching the sacrificial layer during the ELO process.","The etch geometry of the sacrificial layer may be controlled to transitions to have substantially octagonal geometry and then to have substantially rounded geometry.","The etch front may have a rectangular geometry, conformal to the sacrificial layer when initially exposed.","However, as the etching process progressed, the etch front generally forms an octagonal geometry containing alternating sides of side edge fronts and corner edge fronts.","The growth wafer, as described herein having an edge surface with an off-axis orientation rotated by an angle greater than 0° and up to 90°, is utilized to etch the sacrificial layer at the corner edge fronts at a faster etch rate than at the side edge fronts.","Therefore, the side edge fronts may be longer than the corner edge fronts during an initial duration of the ELO process, but subsequently, the side edge fronts and the corner edge fronts have the same length or substantially the same length during a later duration of the ELO process.","The geometry of the etch front or the sacrificial layer are controlled and modulated between transitions during the ELO process.","The geometry of the etch front or the sacrificial layer may transition from a substantially rectangular geometry, to a substantially octagonal geometry, and then to a substantially rounded geometry, such as a rounded singularity.","In some examples, the substantially octagonal geometry of the etch front or the sacrificial layer transitions from a non-equilateral octagonal geometry to an equilateral or substantially equilateral octagonal geometry.","From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, but that various modifications may be made without deviating from the scope of the invention.","Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"OFF-AXIS EPITAXIAL LIFT OFF PROCESS\",\n \"Embodiments described herein provide processes for forming and removing epitaxial films and materials from growth wafers by epitaxial lift off (ELO) processes.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the growth wafer has edge surfaces with an off-axis orientation which is utilized during the ELO process.\",\n \"The off-axis orientation of the edge surface provides an additional variable for controlling the etch rate during the ELO process and therefore the etch front may be modulated to prevent the formation of high stress points which reduces or prevents stressing and cracking the epitaxial film stack.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the growth wafer is rectangular and has an edge surface with an off-axis orientation rotated by an angle greater than 0° and up to 90° relative to an edge orientation of <110> at 0°.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A method for forming an epitaxial film stack during an epitaxial lift off process, the method comprising: providing a growth wafer diced from a piece of semiconductor material, the growth wafer having a plurality of edge surfaces, wherein none of the plurality of edge surfaces has an orientation that is perpendicular to the crystallographic orientation of the piece of semiconductor material, and wherein none of the plurality of edge surfaces has an orientation that is parallel to the crystallographic orientation of the piece of semiconductor material; growing a sacrificial layer over the growth wafer; forming the epitaxial film stack over the sacrificial layer; and removing the sacrificial layer by an etching process, the etching process including a first etch rate of the sacrificial layer near corners of the plurality of edge surfaces that is different than a second etch rate of the sacrificial layer near sides of the plurality of edge surfaces.\",\n \"2.The method of claim 1, wherein the orientation of each of the edge surfaces includes an off-axis orientation that is at an angle greater than 0° and less than 90° with respect to the crystallographic orientation of the piece of semiconductor material, the crystallographic orientation being a <110> crystal lattice orientation.\",\n \"3.The method of claim 1, wherein the etching process is a lateral etching process that produces an etch front of a wet etch solution that encompasses the sacrificial layer at an interface of the wet etch solution and the sacrificial layer.\",\n \"4.The method of claim 3, wherein the etch front forms substantially octagonal geometry comprising alternating sides of a plurality of side edge fronts and corner edge fronts.\",\n \"5.The method of claim 4, wherein the corner edge fronts advance at the first etch rate of the sacrificial layer near the corners of the plurality of edge surfaces and the side edge fronts advance at the second etch rate of the sacrificial layer near the sides of the plurality of edge surfaces.\",\n \"6.The method of claim 4, wherein the plurality of side edge fronts and corner edge fronts converge at a center of the sacrificial layer at a same time to complete the removal of the sacrificial layer.\",\n \"7.The method of claim 3, further comprising: separating the epitaxial film stack from the growth wafer after removal of the sacrificial layer, wherein the geometry of the etch front of the sacrificial layer transitions during the epitaxial lift off process from a substantially rectangular geometry, to a substantially octagonal geometry, and then to a substantially rounded geometry.\",\n \"8.The method of claim 3, wherein the sacrificial layer has a rectangular geometry and comprises side edges and corners prior to being exposed to the wet etch solution.\",\n \"9.The method of claim 1, wherein the growth wafer is diced from the piece of semiconductor material at an angle that is 45° and corresponds to an off-axis orientation of the growth wafer relative to the wafer.\",\n \"10.The method of claim 1, wherein the first etch rate is 1.4 times the second etch rate.\",\n \"11.The method of claim 1, wherein the first etch rate is faster than the second etch rate.\",\n \"12.The method of claim 1, wherein each edge surface of the growth wafer is oriented in a direction other than that of a cleavage plane of the piece of semiconductor material that is indicative of the crystallographic orientation of the piece of semiconductor material.\",\n \"13.The method of claim 1, wherein providing the growth wafer includes dicing the growth wafer from the piece of semiconductor material.\",\n \"14.The method of claim 1, wherein the piece of semiconductor material is a gallium arsenide (GaAs) wafer.\",\n \"15.A growth wafer comprising: a single-crystal substrate; a crystalline lattice structure; a front face, a bottom face, and side edges extending between the front and bottom faces and the front and bottom faces; a facial surface with an orientation of <001>, off by up to 12°.\",\n \"16.The growth wafer of claim 15, wherein the off-axis orientation is rotated by an angle from 0° to 90°.\",\n \"17.The growth wafer of claim 15, wherein the off-axis orientation is rotated by an angle from about 30° to 60°.\",\n \"18.In an epitaxial lift off process, a sacrificial layer having edges and corners, wherein the corner edge fronts are etched faster than the side edges.\",\n \"19.The sacrificial layer of claim 18, wherein the edges are off-axis.\",\n \"20.The sacrificial layer of claim 18, wherein the edges are approximately 30-60 degrees from a natural cleave plane.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>One phase in device fabrication involves handling and packaging of thin films used in photovoltaic, semiconductor, or other devices.\",\n \"Such thin film devices may be manufactured by utilizing a variety of processes for depositing and removing materials onto a wafer or other substrate.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 shows a typical wafer 101 that is used as a growth substrate.\",\n \"Wafer 101 has a flat cut 103 which indicates its crystallographic orientation.\",\n \"This wafer is typically diced into a rectangular or square configuration 105 .\",\n \"An edge of the rectangle or square 105 aligns with that of a flat cut 103 .\",\n \"The edges of the rectangle or square 105 are either parallel or perpendicular to flat cut 103 .\",\n \"This is referred to as an “on-axis” orientation.\",\n \"One common technique for manufacturing thin film devices is known as the epitaxial lift off (ELO) process.\",\n \"In an ELO process, an epitaxial material or film, often containing multiple layers, is formed on a sacrificial layer which is deposited on the growth wafer.\",\n \"The sacrificial layer is etched away and the epitaxial film is separate from the growth wafer.\",\n \"The isolated thin epitaxial film may then be further processed and incorporated into a final product, such as in photovoltaic, semiconductor, or other devices.\",\n \"The sacrificial layer is typically very thin and is usually etched away via a wet chemical process.\",\n \"The speed of the overall process may be limited by the lack of delivery or exposure of reactant to the etch front, which leads to less removal of by products from the etch front.\",\n \"The etching process is partially a diffusion limited process, and if the films were maintained in their deposited geometries, a very narrow and long opening would form to severely limit the overall speed of the process.\",\n \"To lessen the transport constraint of the diffusion processes, it may be beneficial to open up the resulting gap created by the etched or removed sacrificial layer and bending the epitaxial film away from the growth wafer.\",\n \"A crevice is formed between the epitaxial film and growth wafer, providing greater transport of species both towards and away the etch front.\",\n \"Reactants move towards the etch front while by-products generally move away from the etch front.\",\n \"Furthermore, the epitaxial films grown on nearly rectangular or square growth wafers, or other wafers having sharp angles, are especially susceptible to developing corner cracks during the ELO processes.\",\n \"Basically, the diagonal corner regions experience similar or a slightly slower etch rate compared to the straight edges.\",\n \"This results in the corners of the sacrificial layer 201 becoming narrower, more pointed and pronounced, as depicted in FIG.\",\n \"2 .\",\n \"These narrower corners holding down the epitaxial film endure correspondingly increased stresses when the epitaxial film is being separated.\",\n \"Therefore, there is a need for a method to remove epitaxial films from the growth wafers without tearing the films during an ELO process, as well as to maintain or increase the throughput of the process.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>An off-axis epitaxial lift off process is disclosed.\",\n \"The growth wafer has edges oriented in a direction other than that of the natural cleavage plane.\",\n \"The corners of the growth wafer are etched at a faster rate relative to the edges.\",\n \"This results in less stress induced on the corners and thereby reduced corner cracking.\",\n \"This increases the yield.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/210,138, filed on Aug. 15, 2011, which is incorporated herein its entirety by this reference.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD Embodiments of the invention generally relate to epitaxial lift off (ELO) processes.\",\n \"BACKGROUND One phase in device fabrication involves handling and packaging of thin films used in photovoltaic, semiconductor, or other devices.\",\n \"Such thin film devices may be manufactured by utilizing a variety of processes for depositing and removing materials onto a wafer or other substrate.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 shows a typical wafer 101 that is used as a growth substrate.\",\n \"Wafer 101 has a flat cut 103 which indicates its crystallographic orientation.\",\n \"This wafer is typically diced into a rectangular or square configuration 105.An edge of the rectangle or square 105 aligns with that of a flat cut 103.The edges of the rectangle or square 105 are either parallel or perpendicular to flat cut 103.This is referred to as an “on-axis” orientation.\",\n \"One common technique for manufacturing thin film devices is known as the epitaxial lift off (ELO) process.\",\n \"In an ELO process, an epitaxial material or film, often containing multiple layers, is formed on a sacrificial layer which is deposited on the growth wafer.\",\n \"The sacrificial layer is etched away and the epitaxial film is separate from the growth wafer.\",\n \"The isolated thin epitaxial film may then be further processed and incorporated into a final product, such as in photovoltaic, semiconductor, or other devices.\",\n \"The sacrificial layer is typically very thin and is usually etched away via a wet chemical process.\",\n \"The speed of the overall process may be limited by the lack of delivery or exposure of reactant to the etch front, which leads to less removal of by products from the etch front.\",\n \"The etching process is partially a diffusion limited process, and if the films were maintained in their deposited geometries, a very narrow and long opening would form to severely limit the overall speed of the process.\",\n \"To lessen the transport constraint of the diffusion processes, it may be beneficial to open up the resulting gap created by the etched or removed sacrificial layer and bending the epitaxial film away from the growth wafer.\",\n \"A crevice is formed between the epitaxial film and growth wafer, providing greater transport of species both towards and away the etch front.\",\n \"Reactants move towards the etch front while by-products generally move away from the etch front.\",\n \"Furthermore, the epitaxial films grown on nearly rectangular or square growth wafers, or other wafers having sharp angles, are especially susceptible to developing corner cracks during the ELO processes.\",\n \"Basically, the diagonal corner regions experience similar or a slightly slower etch rate compared to the straight edges.\",\n \"This results in the corners of the sacrificial layer 201 becoming narrower, more pointed and pronounced, as depicted in FIG.\",\n \"2.These narrower corners holding down the epitaxial film endure correspondingly increased stresses when the epitaxial film is being separated.\",\n \"Therefore, there is a need for a method to remove epitaxial films from the growth wafers without tearing the films during an ELO process, as well as to maintain or increase the throughput of the process.\",\n \"SUMMARY An off-axis epitaxial lift off process is disclosed.\",\n \"The growth wafer has edges oriented in a direction other than that of the natural cleavage plane.\",\n \"The corners of the growth wafer are etched at a faster rate relative to the edges.\",\n \"This results in less stress induced on the corners and thereby reduced corner cracking.\",\n \"This increases the yield.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings are incorporated in and form a part of this specification.\",\n \"The drawings illustrate embodiments.\",\n \"Together with the description, the drawings serve to explain the principles of the embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 shows a prior art on-axis oriented wafer.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 shows a prior art on-axis orientation of a wafer as it is being etched.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 shows an off-axis oriented wafer.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 shows an off-axis orientation of a wafer as it is being etched.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments described herein provide processes for forming and removing epitaxial films and materials from growth wafers by epitaxial lift off (ELO) processes.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the growth wafer has edge surfaces with an off-axis orientation which is utilized during the ELO process.\",\n \"Off-axis pertains to the rotation of an edge of the wafer from the nearest <110> orientation.\",\n \"The off-axis orientation of the edge surface provides an additional variable for controlling the etch rate during the ELO process—and therefore the etch front may be modulated to prevent the formation of high stress points between the epitaxial film stack and the growth wafer which reduces or prevents stressing and cracking the epitaxial film stack.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 shows an off-axis orientation of a wafer 301.The circular wafer 301 has a flat cut 302 that indicates its crystallographic orientation.\",\n \"Sometimes a notch will be used to indicate the crystallographic orientation of the circular wafer 301.This circular wafer is diced or cut into a rectangle or square 303, upon which the ELO process is performed.\",\n \"Alternatively, a rectangular or square crystal growth wafer 303 is diced out of the crystal boule.\",\n \"In other words, the edges of the rectangular or square growth wafer 303 are non-parallel and non-perpendicular to the cleavage plane as identified by the primary flat cut 302 or notch.\",\n \"The growth wafer has an edge that is oriented in a direction other than the natural cleavage plane.\",\n \"In the currently preferred embodiment, the rectangle or square growth wafer has edges at a 45 degree angle relative to the inherent crystallographic orientation as indicated by the flat cut 302.By dicing the growth wafer at an angle different from that of its natural, inherent crystallographic orientation, the orientation of the growth wafer can be controlled to take advantage of the different etch rates.\",\n \"In particular, the area(s) more susceptible to stresses and cracking can be oriented towards the faster etch rates.\",\n \"For rectangles and squares, the corners can be oriented to point towards the faster etch fronts.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 shows a growth wafer having corners that experience relatively faster etch rates and edges that experience relatively slower etch rates.\",\n \"The square growth wafer 401 is off-axis by approximately 45 degrees.\",\n \"By virtue of this off-axis configuration, the corners are etched at a faster rate relative to its edges.\",\n \"In the currently preferred embodiment, the goal is to have corner etch rate of at least 1.4 times that of the edge etch rate.\",\n \"Because the corners are etched away faster, they become more rounded.\",\n \"The rounded corners of the sacrificial layer 402 are far more desirable than the narrower, more pointed corners of the prior art because the rounded corners induce less stress during the lift-off process and the epitaxial layer is less susceptible to cracking.\",\n \"This improves the yield.\",\n \"In embodiment herein, the method includes growing a sacrificial layer over a growth wafer, forming an epitaxial film stack over the sacrificial layer, and exposing the sacrificial layer to a wet etch solution during the ELO process.\",\n \"The ELO process includes etching the sacrificial layer, forming a crevice between the growth wafer and the epitaxial film stack, and separating the growth wafer from the epitaxial film stack.\",\n \"The ELO etch process is a lateral etch process and the geometry or shape of the etch front may be modulated as a function of multiple variables including the crystalline lattice orientation, etch chemistry (e.g.\",\n \"solution composition), etch conditions (e.g., temperature and pressure), and curvature of the crevice (e.g., dynamic clamping).\",\n \"The growth wafers described herein have been specifically designed and created in order to have control of the lattice orientation at specified locations on the substrate.\",\n \"An off-axis orientation having a predetermined angle may be used to change the etch rate at the corners and sides of the sacrificial layer during the ELO process.\",\n \"For example, the off-axis orientation of the growth substrate provides faster etching planes at the corners of the sacrificial layer.\",\n \"Therefore, the corners may be etched at a faster rate than the sides of the sacrificial layer in order to provide that the etch front, coming from the corners and sides having corner and side fronts, to converge near the center of the substrate around the same time while forming a singularity between the epitaxial film stack and the growth wafer.\",\n \"The growth wafers described herein which have edge surfaces with an off-axis orientation rotated by a predetermined angle may be manufactured or otherwise formed from a variety of different growth wafers.\",\n \"A crystalline wafer may contain various elements, including from Groups III, IV, and V, and initially may have a variety of different crystalline orientations.\",\n \"In one example, a rectangular growth wafer is cut off-axis from a circular, crystalline, gallium arsenide wafer having a facial orientation of <001>.\",\n \"The predetermined angle for the rotated off-axis orientation is measured from the <110> flat.\",\n \"The round wafer may be cut with a saw, such as a dice saw, or other cutting or slicing device used to cut crystalline wafers.\",\n \"The growth wafer is cut from the round wafer at the predetermined angle relative to the edge flat, such that the previously axis orientation is now rotated by the predetermined angle.\",\n \"The predetermined angle is greater than 0° and less than 90°.\",\n \"In embodiments herein, the method includes exposing the sacrificial layer to a wet etch solution during the ELO process.\",\n \"The ELO process includes etching the sacrificial layer, forming a crevice between the growth wafer and the epitaxial film stack, and separating the growth wafer from the epitaxial film stack.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the method further includes forming an etch front by exposing the sacrificial layer to the wet etch solution, wherein the etch front encompasses the sacrificial layer at the interface of the wet etch solution and the sacrificial layer.\",\n \"Prior to being exposed to the wet etch solution, the sacrificial layer has side edges and corners which form a rectangular geometry (e.g., rectangle or square).\",\n \"Once the sacrificial layer is exposed to the wet etch solution, the etch front advances towards the center of the growth wafer within the crevice while etching the sacrificial layer during the ELO process.\",\n \"The etch geometry of the sacrificial layer may be controlled to transitions to have substantially octagonal geometry and then to have substantially rounded geometry.\",\n \"The etch front may have a rectangular geometry, conformal to the sacrificial layer when initially exposed.\",\n \"However, as the etching process progressed, the etch front generally forms an octagonal geometry containing alternating sides of side edge fronts and corner edge fronts.\",\n \"The growth wafer, as described herein having an edge surface with an off-axis orientation rotated by an angle greater than 0° and up to 90°, is utilized to etch the sacrificial layer at the corner edge fronts at a faster etch rate than at the side edge fronts.\",\n \"Therefore, the side edge fronts may be longer than the corner edge fronts during an initial duration of the ELO process, but subsequently, the side edge fronts and the corner edge fronts have the same length or substantially the same length during a later duration of the ELO process.\",\n \"The geometry of the etch front or the sacrificial layer are controlled and modulated between transitions during the ELO process.\",\n \"The geometry of the etch front or the sacrificial layer may transition from a substantially rectangular geometry, to a substantially octagonal geometry, and then to a substantially rounded geometry, such as a rounded singularity.\",\n \"In some examples, the substantially octagonal geometry of the etch front or the sacrificial layer transitions from a non-equilateral octagonal geometry to an equilateral or substantially equilateral octagonal geometry.\",\n \"From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, but that various modifications may be made without deviating from the scope of the invention.\",\n \"Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876001"}}},{"rowIdx":4495047,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["BLOOD PRESSURE METER","A blood pressure meter includes a pump and a first fluid path provided inside a main body.","The first fluid path feeds a fluid from the pump to a fluid bladder or discharges the fluid from the fluid bladder.","A pressure sensor is mounted on a first substrate disposed inside the main body.","A second fluid path that introduces the fluid from the fluid bladder to the pressure sensor is provided.","The second fluid path includes an inlet pipe that is integrally formed with a sensor package that incorporates the pressure sensor, and extends straight between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor.","A second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction."],["1.A blood pressure meter that is worn wrapped around a measurement area, the blood pressure meter comprising: a strip-shaped belt that includes a fluid bladder to which a fluid is supplied, and is wrapped around the measurement area; a main body that is provided on an outer surface side of the belt; a pump that is provided inside the main body, and is capable of supplying the fluid to the fluid bladder; a first fluid path that feeds the fluid from the pump to the fluid bladder or discharges the fluid from the fluid bladder; a pressure sensor that is incorporated in a sensor package and mounted on a first substrate disposed inside the main body, and is capable of detecting the pressure in the fluid bladder; and a second fluid path that introduces the fluid from the fluid bladder to the pressure sensor, wherein the second fluid path includes an inlet pipe that is integrally formed with the sensor package as a circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and extends straight between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor, and wherein a second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction perpendicular to the thickness direction.","2.The blood pressure meter according to claim 1, wherein the second substrate includes an escaping portion for allowing the second fluid path to pass therethrough in a plane surface extending along the planar direction.","3.The blood pressure meter according to claim 1, wherein the pump is disposed at a position adjacent to the first substrate in the planar direction, wherein the first fluid path includes an outlet pipe of the pump as a circumferential wall of the first fluid path, and extends straight between the pump and the fluid bladder in parallel to the second fluid path, and wherein the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.","4.The blood pressure meter according to claim 3, wherein the second substrate includes another escaping portion for allowing the first fluid path to pass therethrough in the plane surface extending along the planar direction.","5.The blood pressure meter according to claim 3, wherein a pump driving circuit for driving the pump is mounted on the second substrate, wherein a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump, and wherein a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.","6.The blood pressure meter according to claim 1, wherein a control unit that receives an output of the pressure sensor and performs blood pressure calculation processing is mounted on the first substrate, and wherein a region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted is provided adjacent to a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted.","7.The blood pressure meter according to claim 6, wherein at least the region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and the region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted are shielded, in the thickness direction, by a display device including a metal plate that is disposed extending outward of the first substrate and the second substrate that is disposed extending inward of the first substrate.","so as to realize hermetic sealing.","8.The blood pressure meter according to claim 1, wherein the main body includes a bottom wall between the second substrate and the fluid bladder, the bottom wall including a through cylindrical portion extending in the thickness direction so as to constitute a portion of the circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and wherein the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and a nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.","9.The blood pressure meter according to claim 1, wherein a battery for supplying power to each constituent element of the blood pressure meter is mounted inside the main body, and wherein the battery continuously occupies a range in which at least the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the thickness direction.","10.The blood pressure meter according to claim 9, wherein the first substrate, the pump, the second substrate, and the battery form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.","11.The blood pressure meter according to claim 2, wherein the pump is disposed at a position adjacent to the first substrate in the planar direction, wherein the first fluid path includes an outlet pipe of the pump as a circumferential wall of the first fluid path, and extends straight between the pump and the fluid bladder in parallel to the second fluid path, and wherein the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.","12.The blood pressure meter according to claim 11, wherein a pump driving circuit for driving the pump is mounted on the second substrate, wherein a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump, and wherein a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND ART <EOH>As this type of blood pressure meter, for example, a blood pressure meter as disclosed in Patent Document 1 (JP H09-101220A) is known that includes a pressure sensor module including a tubular inlet pipe integrally formed on a bottom surface of a package incorporating a pressure sensor so as to protrude from the bottom surface.","The pressure sensor module package is attached onto an upper surface of a circuit substrate, with the inlet pipe extending down to the circuit substrate through a through hole formed in advance in the circuit substrate.","The inlet pipe is connected to a cuff via an elongated tube (connecting pipe).","Also, for recent blood pressure meters, in particular, wrist-worn blood pressure meters, there is a growing need to produce miniaturized products.","For example, Patent Document 2 (JP 2013-220187A) discloses a wrist-worn blood pressure meter in which a fluid bladder enclosed in a blood pressure measurement cuff and a pressure sensor are disposed in a stacked manner in a thickness direction, with a fluid path (corresponding to the inlet pipe described above) being provided in a straight manner between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor.","With this configuration, a miniaturized and thinner product is achieved."],["<SOH> SUMMARY OF INVENTION <EOH>However, with the blood pressure meters disclosed in Patent Document 1 (JP H09-101220A) and Patent Document 2 (JP 2013-220187A), there is a relatively large space around the inlet pipe (or the fluid path) in which a component is not disposed.","Accordingly, there is a possibility that miniaturization of a product, in particular, miniaturization in a planar direction can be further promoted by effectively using the space.","Thus, one or more embodiments of the present invention provide a blood pressure meter that can promote miniaturization of a product, in particular, miniaturization in a planar direction.","A blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is a blood pressure meter that is worn wrapped around a measurement area, the blood pressure meter including: a strip-shaped belt that includes a fluid bladder to which a fluid is supplied, and is wrapped around the measurement area; a main body that is provided on an outer surface side of the belt; a pump that is provided inside the main body, and is capable of supplying the fluid to the fluid bladder; a first fluid path that feeds the fluid from the pump to the fluid bladder or discharges the fluid from the fluid bladder; a pressure sensor that is incorporated in a sensor package and mounted on a first substrate disposed inside the main body, and is capable of detecting the pressure in the fluid bladder; and a second fluid path that introduces the fluid from the fluid bladder to the pressure sensor, wherein the second fluid path includes an inlet pipe that is integrally formed with the sensor package as a circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and extends straight between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor, and a second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction perpendicular to the thickness direction.","In this specification, the term “outer surface” of the strip-shaped belt refers to a surface that is distant from the measurement area.","Also, the expression “the second fluid path .",".",".","extends straight” means that the second fluid path extends straight so as to include a fluid inlet port of the sensor package and a fluid inlet/outlet port of the fluid bladder in a state in which the sensor package and the fluid bladder are disposed to oppose each other in the thickness direction.","Also, the term “thickness direction” refers to a direction vertical to an outer circumferential surface of the measurement area, or in other words, a direction through the strip-shaped belt.","The term “planar direction” refers to a direction in which a surface perpendicular to the thickness direction extends.","Also, the expression “space that is adjacent to the second fluid path in the planar direction” refers to, for example, the entire area around the second fluid path, or may refer to a space that is on one side of the second fluid path.","Also, the term “blood pressure measurement element” encompasses, for example, a pump driving circuit for driving the pump, and the like.","In the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the fluid is fed from the pump provided inside the main body to the fluid bladder through the first fluid path or discharged from the fluid bladder.","With this configuration, the pressure in the fluid bladder is increased or decreased.","Also, the pressure of the fluid supplied to the fluid bladder is detected by the pressure sensor (mounted on the first substrate) through the second fluid path.","Based on the detected pressure, blood pressure values are obtained by using, for example, a known oscillometric method.","Here, in the blood pressure meter, a second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction perpendicular to the thickness direction.","Accordingly, the space that is adjacent to the second fluid path can be effectively used by the second substrate.","As a result, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product, in particular, miniaturization in the planar direction.","To be specific, if a configuration is applied in which the blood pressure measurement element that needs to be mounted on the second substrate is mounted on the first substrate in the absence of the second substrate, there is no option but to increase the dimension of the first substrate in the planar direction accordingly (by an amount corresponding to the increased region where the blood pressure measurement element is disposed).","However, with the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the space where a component is not disposed in a conventional blood pressure meter can be effectively used by the second substrate.","As a result, the dimension of the first substrate in the planar direction can be reduced, and miniaturization in the planar direction can be promoted.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes an escaping portion for allowing the second fluid path to pass therethrough in a plane surface extending along the planar direction.","The “escaping portion” formed in the second substrate may be a through hole extending through the substrate in the thickness direction, or may be a cut-out portion formed in a peripheral edge of the plane surface.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes an escaping portion for allowing the second fluid path to pass therethrough in a plane surface extending along the planar direction.","Accordingly, the second substrate does not interfere with the second fluid path.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the pump is disposed at a position adjacent to the first substrate in the planar direction, the first fluid path includes an outlet pipe of the pump as a circumferential wall of the first fluid path, and extends straight between the pump and the fluid bladder in parallel to the second fluid path, and the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.","In this specification, the expression “the first fluid path .",".",".","extends straight” means that the first fluid path extends straight so as to include a fluid outlet port of the pump and a fluid inlet/outlet port of the fluid bladder in a state in which the pump and the fluid bladder are disposed opposing each other in the thickness direction.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.","Accordingly, the space that is adjacent to the first fluid path can be effectively used by the second substrate.","As a result, miniaturization of the product can be further promoted.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes another escaping portion for allowing the first fluid path to pass therethrough in the plane surface extending along the planar direction.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes another escaping portion for allowing the first fluid path to pass therethrough in the plane surface extending along the planar direction.","Accordingly, the second substrate does not interfere with the first fluid path.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a pump driving circuit for driving the pump is mounted on the second substrate, a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump, and a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump.","Also, a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.","Accordingly, heat generated in the pump driving circuit and the lead wire during driving of the pump is unlikely to be transferred to the pressure sensor.","As a result, the output of the pressure sensor is unlikely to be affected by the generated heat, and the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is enhanced.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a control unit that receives an output of the pressure sensor and performs blood pressure calculation processing is mounted on the first substrate, and a region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted is provided adjacent to a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, in the first substrate, a region in which the control unit is mounted is provided adjacent to the region in which the pressure sensor is mounted.","Accordingly, the interconnect between the pressure sensor and the control unit is relatively short, which makes it unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor.","As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, at least the region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and the region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted are shielded, in the thickness direction, by a display device including a metal plate that is disposed extending outward of the first substrate and the second substrate that is disposed extending inward of the first substrate.","The expression “outward of the first substrate” refers to a side that is distant from the measurement area.","Likewise, the expression “inward of the first substrate” refers to a side close to the measurement area.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, at least the region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and the region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted are shielded, in the thickness direction, by a display device including a metal plate that is disposed extending outward of the first substrate and the second substrate that is disposed extending inward of the first substrate.","Accordingly, this makes it unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor.","As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the main body includes a bottom wall between the second substrate and the fluid bladder, the bottom wall including a through cylindrical portion extending in the thickness direction so as to constitute a portion of the circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and a nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and a nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.","The second fluid path is thereby constituted.","Here, if a configuration is applied in which the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder can be directly fitted and attached, stress may be applied to the pressure sensor from the nipple via the inlet pipe and the sensor package during assembly, which may compromise the characteristics of the pressure sensor.","However, with the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.","Accordingly, it is possible to independently perform an operation to attach the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall and an operation to attach the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.","Thus, there is no possibility that the characteristics of the pressure sensor will be compromised due to the application of stress from the nipple during assembly.","As a result, the reliability of assembly is enhanced.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a battery for supplying power to each constituent element of the blood pressure meter is mounted inside the main body, and the battery continuously occupies a range in which at least the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the thickness direction.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the battery continuously occupies a range in which at least the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the thickness direction.","Accordingly, the dimension in the thickness direction of the battery can be configured to be relatively large.","As a result, it is possible to increase the battery capacity.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the first substrate, the pump, the second substrate, and the battery form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the first substrate, the pump, the second substrate, and the battery form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.","That is, these elements are assembled in a compact design.","As a result, miniaturization of the product is further promoted.","As is evident from the above description, with the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product, in particular, miniaturization in the planar direction."],["TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a blood pressure meter.","More specifically, the invention relates to an electronic blood pressure meter that detects the pressure of a fluid supplied to a blood pressure measurement cuff by using a pressure sensor through an inlet pipe that is in communication with the cuff and obtains a blood pressure value based on the detected pressure.","BACKGROUND ART As this type of blood pressure meter, for example, a blood pressure meter as disclosed in Patent Document 1 (JP H09-101220A) is known that includes a pressure sensor module including a tubular inlet pipe integrally formed on a bottom surface of a package incorporating a pressure sensor so as to protrude from the bottom surface.","The pressure sensor module package is attached onto an upper surface of a circuit substrate, with the inlet pipe extending down to the circuit substrate through a through hole formed in advance in the circuit substrate.","The inlet pipe is connected to a cuff via an elongated tube (connecting pipe).","Also, for recent blood pressure meters, in particular, wrist-worn blood pressure meters, there is a growing need to produce miniaturized products.","For example, Patent Document 2 (JP 2013-220187A) discloses a wrist-worn blood pressure meter in which a fluid bladder enclosed in a blood pressure measurement cuff and a pressure sensor are disposed in a stacked manner in a thickness direction, with a fluid path (corresponding to the inlet pipe described above) being provided in a straight manner between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor.","With this configuration, a miniaturized and thinner product is achieved.","CITATION LIST Patent Literature Patent Document 1: JP H09-101220A Patent Document 2: JP 2013-220187A SUMMARY OF INVENTION However, with the blood pressure meters disclosed in Patent Document 1 (JP H09-101220A) and Patent Document 2 (JP 2013-220187A), there is a relatively large space around the inlet pipe (or the fluid path) in which a component is not disposed.","Accordingly, there is a possibility that miniaturization of a product, in particular, miniaturization in a planar direction can be further promoted by effectively using the space.","Thus, one or more embodiments of the present invention provide a blood pressure meter that can promote miniaturization of a product, in particular, miniaturization in a planar direction.","A blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is a blood pressure meter that is worn wrapped around a measurement area, the blood pressure meter including: a strip-shaped belt that includes a fluid bladder to which a fluid is supplied, and is wrapped around the measurement area; a main body that is provided on an outer surface side of the belt; a pump that is provided inside the main body, and is capable of supplying the fluid to the fluid bladder; a first fluid path that feeds the fluid from the pump to the fluid bladder or discharges the fluid from the fluid bladder; a pressure sensor that is incorporated in a sensor package and mounted on a first substrate disposed inside the main body, and is capable of detecting the pressure in the fluid bladder; and a second fluid path that introduces the fluid from the fluid bladder to the pressure sensor, wherein the second fluid path includes an inlet pipe that is integrally formed with the sensor package as a circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and extends straight between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor, and a second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction perpendicular to the thickness direction.","In this specification, the term “outer surface” of the strip-shaped belt refers to a surface that is distant from the measurement area.","Also, the expression “the second fluid path .",".",".","extends straight” means that the second fluid path extends straight so as to include a fluid inlet port of the sensor package and a fluid inlet/outlet port of the fluid bladder in a state in which the sensor package and the fluid bladder are disposed to oppose each other in the thickness direction.","Also, the term “thickness direction” refers to a direction vertical to an outer circumferential surface of the measurement area, or in other words, a direction through the strip-shaped belt.","The term “planar direction” refers to a direction in which a surface perpendicular to the thickness direction extends.","Also, the expression “space that is adjacent to the second fluid path in the planar direction” refers to, for example, the entire area around the second fluid path, or may refer to a space that is on one side of the second fluid path.","Also, the term “blood pressure measurement element” encompasses, for example, a pump driving circuit for driving the pump, and the like.","In the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the fluid is fed from the pump provided inside the main body to the fluid bladder through the first fluid path or discharged from the fluid bladder.","With this configuration, the pressure in the fluid bladder is increased or decreased.","Also, the pressure of the fluid supplied to the fluid bladder is detected by the pressure sensor (mounted on the first substrate) through the second fluid path.","Based on the detected pressure, blood pressure values are obtained by using, for example, a known oscillometric method.","Here, in the blood pressure meter, a second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction perpendicular to the thickness direction.","Accordingly, the space that is adjacent to the second fluid path can be effectively used by the second substrate.","As a result, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product, in particular, miniaturization in the planar direction.","To be specific, if a configuration is applied in which the blood pressure measurement element that needs to be mounted on the second substrate is mounted on the first substrate in the absence of the second substrate, there is no option but to increase the dimension of the first substrate in the planar direction accordingly (by an amount corresponding to the increased region where the blood pressure measurement element is disposed).","However, with the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the space where a component is not disposed in a conventional blood pressure meter can be effectively used by the second substrate.","As a result, the dimension of the first substrate in the planar direction can be reduced, and miniaturization in the planar direction can be promoted.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes an escaping portion for allowing the second fluid path to pass therethrough in a plane surface extending along the planar direction.","The “escaping portion” formed in the second substrate may be a through hole extending through the substrate in the thickness direction, or may be a cut-out portion formed in a peripheral edge of the plane surface.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes an escaping portion for allowing the second fluid path to pass therethrough in a plane surface extending along the planar direction.","Accordingly, the second substrate does not interfere with the second fluid path.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the pump is disposed at a position adjacent to the first substrate in the planar direction, the first fluid path includes an outlet pipe of the pump as a circumferential wall of the first fluid path, and extends straight between the pump and the fluid bladder in parallel to the second fluid path, and the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.","In this specification, the expression “the first fluid path .",".",".","extends straight” means that the first fluid path extends straight so as to include a fluid outlet port of the pump and a fluid inlet/outlet port of the fluid bladder in a state in which the pump and the fluid bladder are disposed opposing each other in the thickness direction.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.","Accordingly, the space that is adjacent to the first fluid path can be effectively used by the second substrate.","As a result, miniaturization of the product can be further promoted.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes another escaping portion for allowing the first fluid path to pass therethrough in the plane surface extending along the planar direction.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes another escaping portion for allowing the first fluid path to pass therethrough in the plane surface extending along the planar direction.","Accordingly, the second substrate does not interfere with the first fluid path.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a pump driving circuit for driving the pump is mounted on the second substrate, a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump, and a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump.","Also, a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.","Accordingly, heat generated in the pump driving circuit and the lead wire during driving of the pump is unlikely to be transferred to the pressure sensor.","As a result, the output of the pressure sensor is unlikely to be affected by the generated heat, and the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is enhanced.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a control unit that receives an output of the pressure sensor and performs blood pressure calculation processing is mounted on the first substrate, and a region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted is provided adjacent to a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, in the first substrate, a region in which the control unit is mounted is provided adjacent to the region in which the pressure sensor is mounted.","Accordingly, the interconnect between the pressure sensor and the control unit is relatively short, which makes it unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor.","As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, at least the region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and the region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted are shielded, in the thickness direction, by a display device including a metal plate that is disposed extending outward of the first substrate and the second substrate that is disposed extending inward of the first substrate.","The expression “outward of the first substrate” refers to a side that is distant from the measurement area.","Likewise, the expression “inward of the first substrate” refers to a side close to the measurement area.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, at least the region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and the region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted are shielded, in the thickness direction, by a display device including a metal plate that is disposed extending outward of the first substrate and the second substrate that is disposed extending inward of the first substrate.","Accordingly, this makes it unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor.","As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the main body includes a bottom wall between the second substrate and the fluid bladder, the bottom wall including a through cylindrical portion extending in the thickness direction so as to constitute a portion of the circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and a nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and a nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.","The second fluid path is thereby constituted.","Here, if a configuration is applied in which the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder can be directly fitted and attached, stress may be applied to the pressure sensor from the nipple via the inlet pipe and the sensor package during assembly, which may compromise the characteristics of the pressure sensor.","However, with the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.","Accordingly, it is possible to independently perform an operation to attach the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall and an operation to attach the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.","Thus, there is no possibility that the characteristics of the pressure sensor will be compromised due to the application of stress from the nipple during assembly.","As a result, the reliability of assembly is enhanced.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a battery for supplying power to each constituent element of the blood pressure meter is mounted inside the main body, and the battery continuously occupies a range in which at least the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the thickness direction.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the battery continuously occupies a range in which at least the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the thickness direction.","Accordingly, the dimension in the thickness direction of the battery can be configured to be relatively large.","As a result, it is possible to increase the battery capacity.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the first substrate, the pump, the second substrate, and the battery form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the first substrate, the pump, the second substrate, and the battery form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.","That is, these elements are assembled in a compact design.","As a result, miniaturization of the product is further promoted.","As is evident from the above description, with the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product, in particular, miniaturization in the planar direction.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG.","1A is a top view showing an external appearance of a blood pressure meter 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","1B is a vertical cross-sectional view of the blood pressure meter 1 taken along the line B-B shown in FIG.","1A.","FIG.","1C is a vertical cross-sectional view of the blood pressure meter 1 taken along the line A-A shown in FIG.","1A.","FIG.","2 is a bottom view of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1.FIG.","3 is a perspective view of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1 when it is formed into a loop.","FIG.","4 is a diagram illustrating the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","3 as viewed from a direction vertical to the loop of the belt.","FIG.","5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a structure of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1A.","FIG.","6A is a schematic perspective view illustrating a first state during operation of a buckle 30 shown in FIG.","5.FIG.","6B is a schematic perspective view illustrating a second state during operation of the buckle 30 shown in FIG.","5.FIG.","7A is a schematic diagram illustrating a first procedure of wearing the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1 on a wrist and performing measurement.","FIG.","7B is a schematic diagram illustrating a second procedure of wearing the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1 on the wrist and performing measurement.","FIG.","7C is a schematic diagram illustrating a third procedure of wearing the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1 on the wrist and performing measurement.","FIG.","8 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a control system provided inside the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1.FIG.","9 is a flowchart illustrating blood pressure measurement processing executed by the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1.FIG.","10A is an enlarged view of a main body assembly 12 shown in FIG.","5.FIG.","10B is a bottom view of the main body assembly 12 as viewed from the bottom in FIG.","10A.","FIG.","11 is an exploded view of the main body assembly 12 shown in FIG.","10A.","FIG.","12 is a perspective view showing a positional relationship between a sub-assembly 12′ and a fluid bladder 22 in the assembled blood pressure meter 1.FIG.","13 is a diagram showing a state in which the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22 shown in FIG.","12 are spaced apart in a thickness direction (Z direction).","FIG.","14 is a ZX cross-sectional view through a pressure sensor 16, showing, in detail, a configuration of a first fluid path 41 and a second fluid path 42 in the blood pressure meter 1, together with a lower housing 13 provided between the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22.FIG.","15 is a YZ cross-sectional view through the pressure sensor 16, showing, in detail, a configuration of the second fluid path 42 in the blood pressure meter 1, together with the lower housing 13 provided between the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22, so as to realize hermetic sealing.","FIG.","16(A) is a diagram showing, in a laid-out state, an upper substrate 61 and a lower substrate 62 that are connected to each other by an FPC cable 63 before the blood pressure meter 1 is assembled, and shows an upper surface 61a of the upper substrate 61 and a lower surface 62b of the lower substrate 62, so as to realize hermetic sealing.","FIG.","16(B) is a diagram showing, in a laid-out state, the upper substrate 61 and the lower substrate 62 that are connected to each other by the FPC cable 63 before the blood pressure meter 1 is assembled, and corresponds to the back side of FIG.","16(A).","FIG.","17 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration near the pressure sensor 16 mounted on the upper surface 61a of the upper substrate 61.FIG.","18 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration near a pressure sensor 16′ mounted on a lower surface 61b of the upper substrate 61.DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.","In the embodiment given below, the same constituent elements are given the same reference numerals and a description thereof is omitted.","FIG.","1A is a top view showing an external appearance of a blood pressure meter 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","1B is a vertical cross-sectional view of the blood pressure meter 1 taken along the line B-B shown in FIG.","1A.","FIG.","1C is a vertical cross-sectional view of the blood pressure meter 1 taken along the line A-A shown in FIG.","1A.","FIG.","2 is a bottom view of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1.FIG.","3 is a perspective view of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1 when the blood pressure meter 1 is worn wrapped around a measurement area.","FIG.","4 is a diagram illustrating the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","3 as viewed from a direction vertical to the loop of the belt.","FIG.","5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a structure of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1A.","As can be seen from FIG.","3, the blood pressure meter 1 is worn wrapped around a rod-shaped measurement area such as, for example, a user's wrist 90 (see FIGS.","7A to 7C).","The blood pressure meter 1 includes a strip-shaped belt 20 that is wrapped around the measurement area, a main body 10 that is disposed in a base end portion a in a lengthwise direction of the belt 20 on an outer surface side of the belt 20 and includes a blood pressure measurement element, and a buckle 30 for joining the base end portion a and a lead end portion b that is provided on the opposite side of the base end portion a in the lengthwise direction of the belt 20 such that the belt 20 forms a loop.","Here, the belt 20 functions as a blood pressure measurement cuff.","Hereinafter, a structure of the belt 20 will be described.","As can be seen from FIG.","1B, the belt 20 includes a fluid bladder 22 for compressing the measurement area when measuring blood pressure, a reinforcing layer 23 that is provided along an outer surface of the fluid bladder 22 and is for suppressing outward inflation of the fluid bladder 22, and an outer circumferential layer 24 that is provided along an outer surface of the reinforcing layer 23 so as to cover the reinforcing layer 23.Accordingly, because outward inflation of the fluid bladder 22 can be suppressed, it is possible to improve the efficiency of compressing the measurement area and further enhance the accuracy of blood pressure measurement.","On the other hand, a surface of the fluid bladder 22 (the surface serving as an inner surface when worn) has a plurality of irregularities along the lengthwise direction so as to facilitate inflation toward the measurement area.","The reinforcing layer 23 is the hardest, followed by the outer circumferential layer 24 and then the fluid bladder 22.Accordingly, the reinforcing layer 23 suppresses outward inflation of the fluid bladder 22 when the fluid bladder 22 is inflated, and thus the efficiency of compressing the measurement area can be improved.","Accordingly, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement can be further enhanced.","Furthermore, the outer circumferential layer 24 that is not as hard as the reinforcing layer 23 covers an outer circumference of the reinforcing layer 23, and thus feels soft when the user touches the outer circumferential layer 24 of the belt 20 with his/her hand.","As can be clearly seen from FIGS.","1A, 1B, and 3, an operation unit including a blood pressure measurement switch 52B for inputting an instruction to perform a biometric information measurement is disposed in an area (a substantially center portion in this example) that is different from a specific portion (the base end portion a in this example) in which the main body 10 is disposed in the lengthwise direction on the outer surface side of the belt 20.Also, as shown in FIG.","5, the main body 10 includes a frame-shaped upper housing 11, a lower housing 13 that is combined with the upper housing 11, and a main body assembly 12 that is housed between the upper housing 11 and the lower housing 13.The main body assembly 12 includes a display device 50 that is fitted into the frame of the upper housing 11.A FPC (flexible printed circuit) cable 54 for electrically connecting the main body 10 and the operation unit 5 is provided between the fluid bladder 22 and the reinforcing layer 23.Because the main body 10 and the operation unit 52 are electrically connected by the FPC cable 54 as described above, the belt 20 can be configured to be thin.","In the present embodiment, only the operation unit is disposed, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and it is also possible to dispose a communication unit and a display unit.","so as to realize hermetic sealing As can be seen from FIG.","2, magnets 33 are provided on an inner surface side of the base end portion a of the belt 20, and metal projection portions 31 that are attracted to the magnets 33 are provided on a second plate frame member 30b, thereby constituting an attraction mechanism.","With this attraction mechanism, the inner surface side of the base end portion a of the belt 20 or one end portion d of a first plate frame member 30a and another end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b are attracted to each other.","Accordingly, when the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 are folded, an inner surface of the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 are guided to overlap each other.","In addition to or instead of the attraction mechanism, it is desirable to provide a lock mechanism that engages the inner surface side of the base end portion a of the belt 20 or the one end portion d of the first plate frame member 30a with the other end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b.","It is also desirable that the attraction mechanism and/or the lock mechanism include/includes an unlock mechanism for releasing the attraction and/or the engagement.","In this example, a release button 19 (see FIGS.","1A, 2, and 5) for canceling attraction is provided in the main body 10 as the unlock mechanism.","As shown in FIG.","5, the release button 19 is integrally formed with a slide plate 19a.","In response to the release button 19 being pressed toward the inside of the main body 10, the slide plate 19a is inserted between the one end portion d of the first plate frame member 30a and the other end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b shown in FIG.","6B like a wedge so as to cancel the attraction between the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b.","As shown in FIGS.","6A and 6B, a first fixing element including engaging portions 32 having a projection shape is provided on an inner surface of the other end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b, and also as shown in FIGS.","1A, 1B, and 5, a second fixing element including engaged portions 25 having a recessed shape that can be engaged with the engaging portions 32 is provided on an outer surface of the lead end portion b of the belt 20.With this configuration, as shown in FIGS.","3 and 4, the belt 20 can be formed into a loop by engaging the second plate frame member 30b with the lead end portion b of the belt 20.Accordingly, the blood pressure meter 1 can be fixed to the measurement area.","Furthermore, the second fixing element (the engaged portions 25) that has a non-through recessed shape and is configured to be capable of engaging with the first fixing element (the engaging portions 32) having a projection shape is provided on the outer surface of the lead end portion b of the belt 20, and thus these fixing elements do not interfere with the fluid bladder 22.Accordingly, the wrist 90 that serves as the measurement area can be reliably compressed by the fluid bladder 22 while the blood pressure is being measured.","The present embodiment is configured such that the first fixing element having a projection shape and the second fixing element having a recessed shape are used, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration.","It is possible to, for example, use a first fixing element having a recessed shape and a second fixing element having a projection shape.","In this case as well, the same effects of the present embodiment can be obtained.","As can be clearly seen from FIGS.","1A, 1B, and 5, a plurality of engaged portions 25 are formed side by side along the lengthwise direction of the belt 20 such that the attachment position of the other end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b can be adjusted in the lengthwise direction of the belt 20.Accordingly, it is possible to adjust the attachment position of the other end portion h (see FIG.","6B) of the second plate frame member 30b in the lengthwise direction of the belt 20.With this configuration, the length of the loop of the belt 20 can be variably set so as to fit snug to the circumferential length of the wrist 90 that serves as the measurement area.","The engaged portions 25 are also arranged in a plurality of (two in this example) rows along a width direction of the belt 20.Accordingly, even if the belt 20 is slightly twisted, the engagement between the engaging portions 32 and the engaged portions 25 is unlikely to be canceled.","Also, at least the outer surface of the lead end portion b of the belt 20 is made of a flexible material.","Accordingly, the engagement of the engaging portions 32 and the engaged portions 25 can be easily disengaged.","It is also possible to provide a detachment mechanism (not shown) that allows the user to cancel the engagement between the engaging portions 32 and the engaged portions 25.In this case, with the detachment mechanism, the user can cancel the engagement between the engaging portions 32 and the engaged portions 25 while the belt 20 is wrapped around the wrist 90.Accordingly, the belt 20 can be more easily detached.","FIG.","6A is a schematic perspective view illustrating a first state during operation of the buckle 30 shown in FIG.","5, and FIG.","6B is a schematic perspective view illustrating a second state during operation of the buckle 30 shown in FIG.","5.The buckle 30 includes, on the inner surface side of the base end portion a of the belt 20, the first plate frame member 30a that is attached to the one end portion d so as to be capable of pivoting about an axis c that intersects the lengthwise direction of the belt 20.The first plate frame member 30a extends, in a curved form, from the one end portion d to another end portion e that is on the opposite side.","The buckle 30 also includes, on the other end portion e of the first plate frame member 30a, the second plate frame member 30b that is attached to one end portion g so as to be capable of pivoting about an axis f that is parallel to the axis c. The second plate frame member 30b extends, in a curved form, from the one end portion g to the other end portion h that is on the opposite side.","Furthermore, the other end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b is configured to be capable of being attached to the lead end portion b of the belt 20, and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b respectively have a first opening portion OP1 and a second opening portion OP2 that extend through their plane surfaces.","Here, the first opening portion OP1 of the first plate frame member 30a and the second opening portion OP2 of the second plate frame member 30b are configured to be continuous in the thickness direction of the main body 10 when the inner surface of the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 are folded so as to overlap each other.","Accordingly, it is possible to implement a configuration in which the fluid bladder 22 is disposed on the inner side of the main body 10 so as to compress the measurement area.","The first opening portion OP1 is open toward the other end portion e of the first plate frame member 30a, and the second opening portion OP2 is open toward the one end portion g of the second plate frame member 30b.","Accordingly, the first opening portion OP1 and the second opening portion OP2 are in communication with each other.","That is, the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b are formed to have a substantially angular U shape and are joined to each other on the side on which their opening portions are open.","Also, as can be clearly seen from FIG.","2, the fluid bladder 22 for compressing the measurement area during blood pressure measurement is provided along the lengthwise direction of the belt 20 in the belt 20, and the fluid bladder 22 is in communication with the inside of the main body 10 through a region corresponding to the first opening portion OP1 and the second opening portion OP2 in a folded state.","With this configuration, the fluid bladder 22 can compress a spatially continuous region of the wrist 90 that serves as the measurement area in a circumferential direction thereof, the spatially continuous region extending from a portion corresponding to the inside of the main body 10 toward the lead end portion b of the belt 20.Accordingly, the contact area between the fluid bladder 22 and the measurement area can be increased, and it is therefore possible to improve the efficiency of compressing the arteries.","Accordingly, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement can be further enhanced.","Also, the fluid bladder 22 extends to the lead end portion b of the belt 20 along the lengthwise direction.","When the inner surface of the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 are folded so as to overlap each other, a portion of the main body 10 that is in communication with the fluid bladder 22 overlaps a portion to which the fluid bladder 22 of the belt 20 extends.","With this configuration, the overlapping region of the belt 20 in the lengthwise direction has a thickness thicker than that of the other region of the main body 10 and thus is inflated by an amount corresponding to the thickness.","Accordingly, an excessive amount of pressure applied to compress the arteries is reduced as a result of reducing the distance by which the arteries running through the wrist 90 escape due to being pressed by a region other than the overlapping region.","As a result, the blood pressure values measured through the application of pressure by the fluid bladder can be brought closer to true values, and thus the accuracy of measurement can be enhanced.","The effect of reducing the excessive amount of pressure applied to compress the arteries is also obtained even when the first opening portion OP1 of the first plate frame member 30a and the second opening portion OP2 of the second plate frame member 30b in the buckle 30 are omitted.","FIGS.","7A to 7C are schematic diagrams illustrating a procedure of wearing the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1 on the wrist and performing measurement.","When actually wearing the blood pressure meter 1 on the wrist 90, as shown in FIG.","7A, the user first places the belt 20 around the wrist 90, with the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 being open.","Then, the user inserts the lead end portion b of the belt 20 through the second opening portion OP2 (see FIGS.","6A and 6B) of the second plate frame member 30b and engages the engaging portions 32 of the second plate frame member 30b with the engaged portions 25 that are provided on the lead end portion b of the belt 20.By doing so, the belt 20 is formed into a loop and the wrist 90 passes through the loop of the belt 20.In this way, the length of the loop of the belt 20 can be set so as to fit snug to the circumferential length of the wrist 90.Next, as shown in FIG.","7B, the main body 10 is moved closer toward the wrist 90 such that the inner surface of the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 are folded so as to overlap each other.","Then, the projection portions 31 of the second plate frame member 30b are attracted by the magnets 33.The blood pressure meter 1 is thereby worn on the wrist 90.Next, blood pressure measurement starts in response to the user pressing the blood pressure measurement switch 52B as shown in FIG.","7C.","FIG.","8 is a block diagram schematically showing an internal configuration of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1.The main body 10 includes, in addition to the display device 50 and the operation unit 52 described above, a CPU (central processing unit) 100, a memory 51, a battery 53, a piezoresistive pressure sensor 16, a piezoelectric pump 17 that supplies air to the fluid bladder 22 as a fluid, a valve 18 for adjusting a discharge pressure (back pressure) of the piezoelectric pump 17, an oscillation circuit 160 that converts an output from the pressure sensor 16 to a frequency, a pump driving circuit 170 that drives the piezoelectric pump 17, and a valve driving circuit 180 that drives the valve 18.The piezoelectric pump 17 and the valve 18 are connected to the fluid bladder 22 enclosed in the belt 20 via a first fluid path 41, and the pressure sensor 16 is connected to the fluid bladder 22 enclosed in the belt 20 via a second fluid path 42.With this configuration, air flows between the piezoelectric pump 17 and the fluid bladder 22 and between the valve 18 and the fluid bladder 22 via the first fluid path 41.Also, air flows between the pressure sensor 16 and the fluid bladder 22 via the second fluid path 42.The display device 50 includes a display, an indicator and the like, and displays predetermined information in accordance with a control signal from the CPU 100.In the operation unit 52, a power supply switch 52A receives an instruction to turn on or off power supply from the battery 53.The blood pressure measurement switch 52B receives an instruction to start blood pressure measurement and an instruction to display data obtained through measuring blood pressure values, stored in the memory 51 on the display device 50.The switches 52A and 52B input an operation signal corresponding to a user's instruction to the CPU 100.The memory 51 stores therein a program for controlling the blood pressure meter 1, settings data for setting various functions of the blood pressure meter 1, and data obtained as a result of measurement of blood pressure values.","Also, the memory 51 is used a work memory during execution of a program.","In this example, the battery 53 is a secondary battery (lithium ion battery), and supplies power to the CPU 100, the pressure sensor 16, the piezoelectric pump 17, the valve 18, the display device 50, the memory 51, the oscillation circuit 160, the pump driving circuit 170, and the valve driving circuit 180.The battery 53 is configured to be rechargeable via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) terminal 55 (see, for example, FIG.","10B).","The CPU 100 functions as a control unit in accordance with the program for controlling the blood pressure meter 1 stored in the memory 51, and performs control for driving the piezoelectric pump 17 via the pump driving circuit 170 and driving the valve 18 via the valve driving circuit 180 in accordance with an operation signal from the operation unit 52.The valve 18 is opened or closed so as to control the pressure (cuff pressure) in the fluid bladder 22 by discharging or trapping air in the fluid bladder 22.Also, the CPU 100 calculates blood pressure values based on signals from the pressure sensor 16 and controls the display device 50 and the memory 51.The piezoelectric pump 17 supplies air to the fluid bladder 22 via the first fluid path 41 so as to increase the pressure (cuff pressure) in the fluid bladder 22 enclosed in the belt 20.The valve 18 is opened or closed so as to control the cuff pressure by discharging the air in the fluid bladder 22 via the first fluid path 41 or trapping air in the fluid bladder 22.The pump driving circuit 170 drives the piezoelectric pump 17 based on a control signal provided from the CPU 100.The valve driving circuit 180 opens or closes the valve 18 based on a control signal provided from the CPU 100.The pressure sensor 16 and the oscillation circuit 160 operate as a pressure detection unit that detects the cuff pressure.","The pressure sensor 16 is, for example, a piezoresistive pressure sensor, and introduces air from the fluid bladder 22 via the second fluid path 42 and detects the pressure of the introduced air as the cuff pressure.","In this example, the oscillation circuit 160 oscillates based on an electric signal value that is based on a change in electric resistance due to piezoresistance effect from the pressure sensor 16, and outputs a frequency signal having a frequency corresponding to the electric signal value of the pressure sensor 16 to the CPU 100.In this example, it is assumed that the oscillation circuit 160 is included in the CPU 100, and the function of the oscillation circuit 160 is implemented by a program executed by the CPU 100.Hereinafter, a description will be given of operations performed by the blood pressure meter 1 configured as described above.","FIG.","9 is a flowchart of blood pressure measurement processing executed by the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1.In general, the following operations are performed when blood pressure measurement is performed according to an ordinary oscillometric method.","To be specific, the cuff is wrapped around the measurement area (wrist or the like) of the user in advance, and during measurement, the pump and the valve are controlled to increase the cuff pressure to be higher than the highest blood pressure and thereafter gradually decrease the cuff pressure.","In the pressure decrease process, the cuff pressure is detected by the pressure sensor, and a variation in arterial volume that occurs in the arteries running through the measurement area is taken as a pulse wave signal.","The highest blood pressure (systolic blood pressure) and the lowest blood pressure (diastolic blood pressure) are calculated based on changes (mainly a leading edge and a trailing edge) in amplitude of the pulse wave signal due to changes in the cuff pressure at that time.","In the blood pressure meter 1, the blood pressure values of the user are measured according to an oscillometric method by the CPU 100 in accordance with the flowchart shown in FIG.","9.To be specific, in response to the blood pressure measurement switch 52B being pressed while the power supply switch 52A is on, as shown in FIG.","9, the blood pressure meter 1 starts blood pressure measurement.","Upon starting a blood pressure measurement, the CPU 100 initializes a processing memory area and outputs a control signal to the valve driving circuit 180.The valve driving circuit 180 opens the valve 18 based on the control signal so as to discharge the air in the fluid bladder 22 of the belt 20.Next, control for adjusting the pressure sensor 16 to 0 mmHg is performed.","In FIG.","9, when blood pressure measurement starts, first, the CPU 100 closes the valve 18 via the valve driving circuit 180, and after that, drives the piezoelectric pump 17 via the pump driving circuit 170 so as to perform processing to increase pressure to send air to the fluid bladder 22.Accordingly, the fluid bladder 22 is inflated and the cuff pressure is gradually increased (step ST101).","When the cuff pressure has increased and reaches a predetermined pressure (YES in step ST102), the CPU 100 performs control for stopping the piezoelectric pump 17 via the pump driving circuit 170 and thereafter gradually opening the valve 18 via the valve driving circuit 180.Accordingly, the fluid bladder 22 contracts and the cuff pressure gradually decreases (step ST103).","As used herein, the predetermined pressure refers to a pressure value that is sufficiently higher than the systolic blood pressure (for example, a systolic blood pressure of +30 mmHg) of the user, and the predetermined pressure is stored in the memory 51 in advance or the CPU 100 determines the predetermined pressure by estimating the systolic blood pressure using a predetermined calculation method while the cuff pressure is increased (see, for example, JP 2001-70263A).","Also, for the pressure decrease speed, a target pressure decrease speed that is a target is set while the cuff pressure is increased, and the CPU 100 controls the opening degree of the valve 18 so as to reach the target pressure decrease speed (see JP 2001-70263A).","In the pressure decrease process, the pressure sensor 16 detects a cuff pressure signal (indicated by a reference sign Pc) representing the pressure of the belt 20 via the belt 20.Based on the cuff pressure signal Pc, the CPU 100 calculates the blood pressure values (systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure) by applying an algorithm, which will be described later, using an oscillometric method (step ST104).","Note that the calculation of the blood pressure values is not limited to being performed in the pressure decrease process, and may be performed in the pressure increase process.","Upon determining the blood pressure values through calculation (YES in step ST105), the CPU 100 performs control for displaying the calculated blood pressure values on the display device 50 (step ST106) and also performs control for storing the calculated blood pressure values in the memory 51 (step ST107).","Next, the CPU 100 performs control for opening the valve 18 via the valve driving circuit 180 so as to discharge the air in the fluid bladder 22 of the belt 20 (step ST108).","After that, in response to the power supply switch 52A being pressed, the blood pressure measurement ends.","When detaching the blood pressure meter 1 from the wrist 90, the user opens the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30, and releases the wrist 90 from the belt with the loop of the belt 20 being widened.","When wearing the blood pressure meter 1 on the wrist 90 for the second time or more, the user can insert the wrist 90 through the loop of the belt 20, with the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 being open, and close the buckle 30.Accordingly, the user can easily wear the blood pressure meter 1 on the wrist 90.FIG.","10A is an enlarged view of the main body assembly 12 shown in FIG.","5.FIG.","10B is a bottom view of the main body assembly 12 as viewed from the bottom in FIG.","10A.","FIG.","11 is an exploded view of the main body assembly 12 shown in FIG.","10A.","In FIG.","11, an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is also shown where a direction (the thickness direction of the main body assembly 12) that is vertical to the outer circumferential surface of the wrist 90 that serves as the measurement area is defined as a Z direction, a direction corresponding to the width direction of the belt 20 is defined as an X direction, and a direction corresponding to the lengthwise direction of the belt 20 is defined as a Y direction (the same applies to FIGS.","12 to 15, 16(B), 17, and 18, which will be described later).","As can be clearly seen from FIG.","11, the main body assembly 12 includes a sub-assembly 12′ that includes, at a substantially center position, an upper substrate 61 that serves as a first substrate and a lower substrate 62 that serves as a second substrate that opposes the upper substrate 61 and is combined with the upper substrate 61 in the Z direction.","The upper substrate 61 is attached to the lower substrate 62 with a screw 65 or the like via a spacer (not shown in the diagram) so as to provide a fixed spacing with respect to the lower substrate 62 in the Z direction.","As used herein, the terms “upper substrate” and “lower substrate” (as well as the terms “upper surface” and “lower surface” which will be described later) are used for the sake of the description, and thus are not intended to limit the orientation of the blood pressure meter 1 when in use.","On the upper substrate 61, the pressure sensor 16, the CPU 100 (including the oscillation circuit 160) and the memory 51 that were described above and an interconnect are mounted (for the sake of simplification, only the pressure sensor 16 is shown in FIG.","11).","On the lower substrate 62, the piezoelectric pump 17, the pump driving circuit 170, the valve 18 and the valve driving circuit 180 that were described above and an interconnect are mounted (for the sake of simplification, only the piezoelectric pump 17 and the pump driving circuit 170 are shown in FIG.","11).","The interconnect of the upper substrate 61 and the interconnect of the lower substrate 62 are connected to each other by the FPC cable 63.The upper substrate 61 has a dimension in the X direction that is substantially half of the dimension in the X direction of the lower substrate 62.With this configuration, the upper substrate 61 opposes only substantially half of the region of the lower substrate 62 that is on the +X side in the X direction.","The piezoelectric pump 17 includes a main portion 17p having a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour, and is mounted on substantially half of the region of the lower substrate 62 that is on the −X side in the X direction.","The piezoelectric pump 17 is higher than the upper substrate 61, as a result of which, the piezoelectric pump 17 is located at a position adjacent to the upper substrate 61 on the −X side in a planar direction (XY direction).","Substantially half of the region of the sub-assembly 12′ that is on the −Y side in the Y direction is occupied by a frame-shaped battery holder 53F.","The battery 53 having a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour is fitted and attached to the battery holder 53F from the −Z direction.","As a result, the upper substrate 61, the piezoelectric pump 17, the lower substrate 62, and the attached battery 53 form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.","As a result of these elements being assembled in a compact design, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product.","The main body assembly 12 further includes a USB substrate 55P attached to an edge portion of the upper substrate 61 that is on the −Y side.","The USB substrate 55P incorporates a USB terminal 55 and an interconnect (not shown).","The interconnect of the USB substrate 55P is connected to the interconnect of the upper substrate 61 via an FPC cable 55F.","Also, the main body assembly 12 includes a plate-like joint member 52G that is attached to an edge portion of the lower substrate 62 that is on the +Y side, and is inclined in the −Z direction.","The joint member 52G includes two branched tip ends 52G1 and 52G2.A switch substrate 52P incorporating the power supply switch 52A and an interconnect (not shown) is attached so as to straddle the tip ends 52G1 and 52G2.The interconnect of the switch substrate 52P is connected to the interconnect of the lower substrate 62 via an FPC cable 52F.","Also, the main body assembly 12 includes the substantially flat plate-like display device 50 (an organic EL (electro luminescent) display in this example) that is attached to the outside (on +Z side).","The display device 50 includes a rectangular frame-shaped glass frame 50e extending along a peripheral edge of the display device 50, and also includes a metal plate 50c on a back surface of the display device 50.Also, an FPC cable 50F is attached to an edge portion of the display device 50 that is on the +Y side.","The FPC cable 50F passes through a gap 52Gw (see FIG.","10A) formed between the joint member 52G and the switch substrate 52P, and is connected to the interconnect of the lower substrate 62.As described above, the main body assembly 12 shown in FIGS.","10A and 10B is configured in a compact and substantially rectangular parallelepipedal shape.","FIG.","12 shows a positional relationship between the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22 in the assembled blood pressure meter 1, as viewed obliquely.","FIG.","13 shows a state (state before assembly) in which the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22 shown in FIG.","12 are spaced apart in the Z direction.","For the sake of ease of understanding, in FIGS.","12 and 13, the illustration of the lower housing 13 is omitted.","The fluid bladder 22 includes cylindrical nipples 381 and 382 for allowing air to be supplied into the fluid bladder 22 as a fluid and allowing air to be discharged from the fluid bladder 22.As can be clearly seen from FIG.","13, the pressure sensor 16 is incorporated in a substantially rectangular parallelepipedal shape sensor package 16p and mounted on the upper surface 61a of the upper substrate 61.In this example, the pressure sensor 16 includes a substantially cylindrical inlet pipe 16d that is integrally molded with the sensor package 16p and lead terminals 16e and 16f that protrude from side surfaces of the sensor package 16p.","The lead terminals 16e and 16f are connected to the interconnect (not shown) that is provided on the upper substrate 61.The inlet pipe 16d extends straight in the −Z direction from a bottom surface (a surface that is closer to the upper substrate 61) 16b of the sensor package 16p toward the fluid bladder 22 through a through hole 61x that is formed in the upper substrate 61 and a through hole 62x that is formed in the lower substrate 62 and serves as an escaping portion.","The inlet pipe 16d constitutes a portion of a circumferential wall of the second fluid path 42 described above.","An O ring 394 for hermetic sealing is press fitted around the inlet pipe 16d.","The sensor package 16p and the inlet pipe 16d may be formed separately, and integrally jointed with an adhesive or the like.","The piezoelectric pump 17 is mounted on the lower substrate 62, and, as already described above, is located at a position adjacent to the upper substrate 61 on the −X side in the planar direction (the XY direction).","The piezoelectric pump 17 includes the main portion 17p having a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour and a substantially cylindrical outlet pipe 17d integrally molded with the main portion 17p.","The outlet pipe 17d extends straight in the −Z direction from a bottom surface of the main portion 17p toward the fluid bladder 22 through a through hole 62w that is formed in the lower substrate 62 and that serves as another escaping portion.","The outlet pipe 17d constitutes a portion of a circumferential wall of the first fluid path 41 described above.","An O ring 393 for hermetic sealing is press fitted around the outlet pipe 17d.","As can be clearly seen from FIG.","12, in the assembled blood pressure meter 1, the nipples 381 and 382 of the fluid bladder 22 are provided around the outlet pipe 17d of the piezoelectric pump 17 and the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 so as to overlap them in the Z direction through the through holes 62w and 62x formed in the lower substrate 62, thereby constituting the first fluid path 41 and the second fluid path 42, respectively.","The through holes 62w and 62x that are formed in the lower substrate 62 and serve as escaping portions are configured to have an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of outer circumferential cylindrical portions 391a and 392a of the lower housing 13, which will be described later.","FIG.","14 shows, in detail, a configuration of the first fluid path 41 and the second fluid path 42, together with the lower housing 13 provided between the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22, by using a ZX cross-sectional view through the pressure sensor 16.Also, FIG.","15 shows, in detail, a configuration of the second fluid path 42, together with the lower housing 13 provided between the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22, by using a YZ cross-sectional view through the pressure sensor 16.As can be clearly seen from FIG.","14, the lower housing 13 includes double cylindrical portions 391 and 392 at positions corresponding to the outlet pipe 17d of the piezoelectric pump 17 and the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16, respectively, on a bottom wall 13b of the lower housing 13.The double cylindrical portion 391 includes an outer circumferential cylindrical portion 391a that stands upright from the bottom wall 13b in the +Z direction, an inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c that is concentric with the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 391a, and extends in the Z direction through the bottom wall 13b, and an annular joint plate portion 391b that is flat and joins an upper edge of the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 391a and an upper edge of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c to each other.","On the inner circumferential side of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c, an annular engaging plate portion 391f is provided in a protruding manner at a substantially center position in the Z direction so as to reduce the diameter (inner diameter).","The engaging plate portion 391f has an inner circumferential edge 391e configured to have a diameter (inner diameter) slightly larger than the outer diameter of the outlet pipe 17d of the piezoelectric pump 17.Also, the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c is configured to have an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the O ring 393.The inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c is configured to have an outer diameter slightly larger than the inner diameter of the nipple 381.A radial spacing between the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c and the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 391a is configured to be sufficiently larger than the thickness of the nipple 381 of the fluid bladder 22 so as to allow insertion of the nipple 381 of the fluid bladder 22 into the spacing.","Likewise, the double cylindrical portion 392 includes an outer circumferential cylindrical portion 392a that stands upright from the bottom wall 13b in the +Z direction, an inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c that is concentric with the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 392a, and extends in the Z direction through the bottom wall 13b, and an annular joint plate portion 392b that is flat and joins an upper edge of the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 392a and an upper edge of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c to each other.","On the inner circumferential side of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c, an annular engaging plate portion 392f is provided in a protruding manner at a substantially center position in the Z direction so as to reduce the diameter (inner diameter).","The engaging plate portion 392f has an inner circumferential edge 392e configured to have a diameter (inner diameter) slightly larger than the outer diameter of the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16.Also, the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c is configured to have an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the O ring 394.The inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c is configured to have an outer diameter slightly larger than the inner diameter of the nipple 382.A radial spacing between the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c and the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 392a is configured to be sufficiently larger than the thickness of the nipple 382 of the fluid bladder 22 so as to allow insertion of the nipple 382 of the fluid bladder 22 into the spacing.","With this configuration, in a state in which the blood pressure meter 1 is assembled and the sub-assembly 12′ (the main body assembly 12) is attached to the lower housing 13, the outlet pipe 17d of the piezoelectric pump 17 extends in the −Z direction beyond the inner circumferential edge 391e of the engaging plate portion 391f of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c.","At the same time, the O ring 393 is press fitted into the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c so as to realize hermetic sealing between the outlet pipe 17d and the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c.","Likewise, the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 extends in the −Z direction beyond the inner circumferential edge 392e of the engaging plate portion 392f of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c.","At the same time, the O ring 394 is press fitted into the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c so as to realize hermetic sealing between the inlet pipe 16d and the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c Furthermore, in a state in which the fluid bladder 22 is attached to the lower housing 13, the nipple 381 of the fluid bladder 22 is press fitted to an outer circumference of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c so as to realize hermetic sealing between the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c and the nipple 381.Likewise, the nipple 382 of the fluid bladder 22 is press fitted to an outer circumference of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c so as to realize hermetic sealing between the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c and the nipple 382.With this configuration, in the assembled blood pressure meter 1, the outlet pipe 17d of the piezoelectric pump 17 and the nipple 381 of the fluid bladder 22 are hermetically attached to the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c of the bottom wall 13b of the lower housing 13, as a result of which, the first fluid path 41 extending straight in the Z direction is formed between the piezoelectric pump 17 and the fluid bladder 22.Likewise, the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 and the nipple 382 of the fluid bladder 22 are hermetically attached to the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c, as a result of which, the second fluid path 42 extending straight in the Z direction is formed between the pressure sensor 16 and the fluid bladder 22.Here, if a configuration is applied in which the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 and the nipple 382 of the fluid bladder 22 can be directly fitted and attached, stress may be applied to the pressure sensor 16 from the nipple 382 via the inlet pipe 16d and the sensor package 16p during assembly, which may compromise the characteristics of the pressure sensor 16.However, with the blood pressure meter 1, the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 and the nipple 382 that is in communication with the fluid bladder 22 are hermetically attached to the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c of the bottom wall 13b.","Accordingly, it is possible to independently perform an operation to attach the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 to the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c of the bottom wall 13b and an operation to attach the nipple 382 that is in communication with the fluid bladder 22 to the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c of the bottom wall 13b.","Thus, there is no possibility that the characteristics of the pressure sensor 16 will be compromised due to the application of stress from the nipple 382 during assembly.","As a result, the reliability of assembly is enhanced.","Also, as described above, the through holes 62w and 62x that are formed in the lower substrate 62 and serve as escaping portions are configured to have an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the outer circumferential cylindrical portions 391a and 392a, which will be described later.","Accordingly, the lower substrate 62 does not interfere with the first fluid path 41 and the second fluid path 42.Also, in this example, the lower substrate 62 on which the blood pressure measurement elements 170, 18, 180, .",".",".","are mounted in addition to the piezoelectric pump 17 is disposed in spaces SP1 and SP2 (see FIG.","12) that are located between the upper substrate 61 and the fluid bladder 22 in the Z direction and around the first fluid path 41 and the second fluid path 42 in the XY direction.","Accordingly, the spaces SP1 and SP2 can be effectively used by the lower substrate 62.As a result, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product, in particular, miniaturization in the planar direction (the XY direction).","To be specific, if a configuration is applied in which the blood pressure measurement elements 17, 170, 18, 180, .",".",".","that need to be mounted on the lower substrate 62 are mounted on the upper substrate 61 in the absence of the lower substrate 62, there is no option but to increase the dimension in the XY direction of the upper substrate 61 accordingly (by an amount corresponding to the increased region where the blood pressure measurement elements are disposed).","However, with the blood pressure meter 1, the spaces SP1 and SP2 where a component is not disposed in a conventional blood pressure meter can be effectively used by the lower substrate 62.As a result, the dimension in the XY direction of the upper substrate 61 can be reduced, and miniaturization in the XY direction can be promoted.","Also, as can be clearly seen from FIG.","15, in this example, the battery 53 continuously occupies a range ΔZ in which at least the upper substrate 61 and the lower substrate 62 are disposed in the Z direction.","As a result, the capacity of the battery 53 can be increased.","FIGS.","16(A) and 16(B) show, in a laid-out state, the upper substrate 61 and the lower substrate 62 that are connected to each other by the FPC cable 63 before the sub-assembly 12′ is assembled.","FIG.","16(A) shows the upper surface 61a of the upper substrate 61 and the lower surface 62b of the lower substrate 62.FIG.","16(B) shows the lower surface 61b of the upper substrate 61 and the upper surface 62a of the lower substrate 62, which corresponds to the back side of FIG.","16(A).","In the sub-assembly 12′ (the main body assembly 12), the upper substrate 61 is disposed above the lower substrate 62 so as to oppose the lower substrate 62 as a result of the FPC cable 63 being bent as indicated by the arrow F in FIG.","16(B).","In FIGS.","16(A) and 16(B), the USB substrate 55P connected to the upper substrate 61 by the FPC cable 55F and the switch substrate 52P connected to the lower substrate 62 by the FPC cable 52F are also shown.","As can be clearly seen from FIG.","16(A), in the upper substrate 61, a region 61u in which the pressure sensor 16 is mounted is provided adjacent to a region 61v in which the CPU 100 (including the oscillation circuit 160) is mounted.","Accordingly, the interconnect between the pressure sensor 16 and the CPU 100 is relatively short, which makes it unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor 16.As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is enhanced.","The upper substrate 61 includes a substantially rectangular island shaped portion 61s that protrudes in an upper right diagonal direction in FIG.","16(A).","The island shaped portion 61s includes a contact electrode 53s that is connected to the battery 53.Also, as can be clearly seen from FIG.","16(B), a region 62u of the substantially rectangular lower substrate 62 in which the pump driving circuit 170 is mounted is provided to be spaced apart from the region 61u of the upper substrate 61 in which the pressure sensor 16 is mounted in the planar direction (the XY direction) (rather, the region 61u opposes the piezoelectric pump 17 shown in FIG.","12).","Furthermore, in order to transmit a drive current from the pump driving circuit 170 to the piezoelectric pump 17, a lead wire 170e (see FIG.","12) that electrically connects the lower substrate 62 and the piezoelectric pump 17 is connected to an end portion of the piezoelectric pump 17 that is on the opposite side of the pressure sensor 16 in the planar direction (the XY direction).","Accordingly, the distance from the pressure sensor 16 to the pump driving circuit 170 and the lead wire 170e is increased, and thus heat generated in the pump driving circuit 170 and the lead wire 170e due to the electric current that drives the piezoelectric pump 17 is unlikely to be transferred to the pressure sensor 16.As a result, the output of the pressure sensor 16 is unlikely to be affected by the generated heat, and the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.","Also, as can be seen from FIGS.","11 and 10A, in the assembled main body assembly 12, at least the region 61u of the upper substrate 61 in which the pressure sensor 16 is mounted and the region 61v of the upper substrate 61 in which the CPU 100 is mounted shown in FIG.","16(A) are shielded, in the thickness direction (Z direction), by the display device 50 including the metal plate 50c that is disposed extending outward of the upper substrate 61 and the lower substrate 62 that is disposed extending inward of the upper substrate 61.Accordingly, this makes it more unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor 16.As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.","The embodiment described above is configured such that, as schematically shown in FIG.","17, the pressure sensor 16 is incorporated in the substantially rectangular parallelepipedal shape sensor package 16p and mounted on the upper surface 61a of the upper substrate 61.However, the configuration is not limited thereto.","For example, as shown in FIG.","18, a pressure sensor 16′ may be incorporated in a substantially rectangular parallelepipedal sensor package 16p′ and mounted on the lower surface 61b of the upper substrate 61.In this case, lead terminals 16e′ and 16f′ of the pressure sensor 16′ are connected to an interconnect (not shown) provided on the lower surface 61b of the upper substrate 61.An inlet pipe 16d′ extends straight in the −Z direction from a surface 16a′of the sensor package 16p′ that is distant from the upper substrate 61 toward the fluid bladder 22 through the through hole 62x that is formed in the lower substrate 62 and serves as an escaping portion.","In the example shown in FIG.","18 as well, a space SP2 around the second fluid path 42 (and a space SP1 around the first fluid path 41) where a component is not disposed in a conventional blood pressure meter can be effectively used by the lower substrate 62.As a result, the dimension in the XY direction of the upper substrate 61 can be reduced, and miniaturization in the XY direction can be promoted.","Also, the embodiment described above is configured such that, as shown in, for example, FIGS.","12 and 13, the through holes 62w and 62x that are formed in the plane surface of the lower substrate 62, or in other words, that are formed internally in the planar direction (the XY direction) are used as the escaping portions formed in the lower substrate 62.However, the configuration is not limited thereto.","The escaping portions formed in the lower substrate 62 may be cut-out portions formed in the peripheral edge of the lower substrate 62.Also, the embodiment described above is configured such that the main body 10 of the blood pressure meter 1 is disposed in the base end portion a in the lengthwise direction of the belt 20, but the configuration is not limited thereto.","The main body 10 may be disposed in, for example, a center portion in the lengthwise direction of the belt 20.The above-described embodiment is merely an example, and various modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention.","Also, multiple embodiments described above can be achieved independently or in combination with each other.","Also, various characteristics of different embodiments can be achieved independently or in combination with each other.","REFERENCE NUMERALS LIST 1 Blood pressure meter 10 Main body 16 Pressure sensor 17 Piezoelectric pump 18 Valve 20 Belt 22 Fluid bladder 23 Reinforcing layer 24 Outer circumferential layer 25 Engaged portion 29 Sheet 30 Buckle 30a First plate frame member 30b Second plate frame member 31 Projection portion 32 Engaging portion 33 Magnet 41 First fluid path 42 Second fluid path 50 Display device 51 Memory 52 Operation unit 52A Power supply switch 52B Blood pressure measurement switch 53 Battery 61 Upper substrate 62 Lower substrate 61x, 62w, 62x Through hole 160 Oscillation circuit 170 Pump driving circuit 180 Valve driving circuit 100 CPU"]],"string":"[\n [\n \"BLOOD PRESSURE METER\",\n \"A blood pressure meter includes a pump and a first fluid path provided inside a main body.\",\n \"The first fluid path feeds a fluid from the pump to a fluid bladder or discharges the fluid from the fluid bladder.\",\n \"A pressure sensor is mounted on a first substrate disposed inside the main body.\",\n \"A second fluid path that introduces the fluid from the fluid bladder to the pressure sensor is provided.\",\n \"The second fluid path includes an inlet pipe that is integrally formed with a sensor package that incorporates the pressure sensor, and extends straight between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor.\",\n \"A second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A blood pressure meter that is worn wrapped around a measurement area, the blood pressure meter comprising: a strip-shaped belt that includes a fluid bladder to which a fluid is supplied, and is wrapped around the measurement area; a main body that is provided on an outer surface side of the belt; a pump that is provided inside the main body, and is capable of supplying the fluid to the fluid bladder; a first fluid path that feeds the fluid from the pump to the fluid bladder or discharges the fluid from the fluid bladder; a pressure sensor that is incorporated in a sensor package and mounted on a first substrate disposed inside the main body, and is capable of detecting the pressure in the fluid bladder; and a second fluid path that introduces the fluid from the fluid bladder to the pressure sensor, wherein the second fluid path includes an inlet pipe that is integrally formed with the sensor package as a circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and extends straight between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor, and wherein a second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction perpendicular to the thickness direction.\",\n \"2.The blood pressure meter according to claim 1, wherein the second substrate includes an escaping portion for allowing the second fluid path to pass therethrough in a plane surface extending along the planar direction.\",\n \"3.The blood pressure meter according to claim 1, wherein the pump is disposed at a position adjacent to the first substrate in the planar direction, wherein the first fluid path includes an outlet pipe of the pump as a circumferential wall of the first fluid path, and extends straight between the pump and the fluid bladder in parallel to the second fluid path, and wherein the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.\",\n \"4.The blood pressure meter according to claim 3, wherein the second substrate includes another escaping portion for allowing the first fluid path to pass therethrough in the plane surface extending along the planar direction.\",\n \"5.The blood pressure meter according to claim 3, wherein a pump driving circuit for driving the pump is mounted on the second substrate, wherein a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump, and wherein a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.\",\n \"6.The blood pressure meter according to claim 1, wherein a control unit that receives an output of the pressure sensor and performs blood pressure calculation processing is mounted on the first substrate, and wherein a region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted is provided adjacent to a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted.\",\n \"7.The blood pressure meter according to claim 6, wherein at least the region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and the region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted are shielded, in the thickness direction, by a display device including a metal plate that is disposed extending outward of the first substrate and the second substrate that is disposed extending inward of the first substrate.\",\n \"so as to realize hermetic sealing.\",\n \"8.The blood pressure meter according to claim 1, wherein the main body includes a bottom wall between the second substrate and the fluid bladder, the bottom wall including a through cylindrical portion extending in the thickness direction so as to constitute a portion of the circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and wherein the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and a nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.\",\n \"9.The blood pressure meter according to claim 1, wherein a battery for supplying power to each constituent element of the blood pressure meter is mounted inside the main body, and wherein the battery continuously occupies a range in which at least the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the thickness direction.\",\n \"10.The blood pressure meter according to claim 9, wherein the first substrate, the pump, the second substrate, and the battery form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.\",\n \"11.The blood pressure meter according to claim 2, wherein the pump is disposed at a position adjacent to the first substrate in the planar direction, wherein the first fluid path includes an outlet pipe of the pump as a circumferential wall of the first fluid path, and extends straight between the pump and the fluid bladder in parallel to the second fluid path, and wherein the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.\",\n \"12.The blood pressure meter according to claim 11, wherein a pump driving circuit for driving the pump is mounted on the second substrate, wherein a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump, and wherein a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND ART <EOH>As this type of blood pressure meter, for example, a blood pressure meter as disclosed in Patent Document 1 (JP H09-101220A) is known that includes a pressure sensor module including a tubular inlet pipe integrally formed on a bottom surface of a package incorporating a pressure sensor so as to protrude from the bottom surface.\",\n \"The pressure sensor module package is attached onto an upper surface of a circuit substrate, with the inlet pipe extending down to the circuit substrate through a through hole formed in advance in the circuit substrate.\",\n \"The inlet pipe is connected to a cuff via an elongated tube (connecting pipe).\",\n \"Also, for recent blood pressure meters, in particular, wrist-worn blood pressure meters, there is a growing need to produce miniaturized products.\",\n \"For example, Patent Document 2 (JP 2013-220187A) discloses a wrist-worn blood pressure meter in which a fluid bladder enclosed in a blood pressure measurement cuff and a pressure sensor are disposed in a stacked manner in a thickness direction, with a fluid path (corresponding to the inlet pipe described above) being provided in a straight manner between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor.\",\n \"With this configuration, a miniaturized and thinner product is achieved.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY OF INVENTION <EOH>However, with the blood pressure meters disclosed in Patent Document 1 (JP H09-101220A) and Patent Document 2 (JP 2013-220187A), there is a relatively large space around the inlet pipe (or the fluid path) in which a component is not disposed.\",\n \"Accordingly, there is a possibility that miniaturization of a product, in particular, miniaturization in a planar direction can be further promoted by effectively using the space.\",\n \"Thus, one or more embodiments of the present invention provide a blood pressure meter that can promote miniaturization of a product, in particular, miniaturization in a planar direction.\",\n \"A blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is a blood pressure meter that is worn wrapped around a measurement area, the blood pressure meter including: a strip-shaped belt that includes a fluid bladder to which a fluid is supplied, and is wrapped around the measurement area; a main body that is provided on an outer surface side of the belt; a pump that is provided inside the main body, and is capable of supplying the fluid to the fluid bladder; a first fluid path that feeds the fluid from the pump to the fluid bladder or discharges the fluid from the fluid bladder; a pressure sensor that is incorporated in a sensor package and mounted on a first substrate disposed inside the main body, and is capable of detecting the pressure in the fluid bladder; and a second fluid path that introduces the fluid from the fluid bladder to the pressure sensor, wherein the second fluid path includes an inlet pipe that is integrally formed with the sensor package as a circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and extends straight between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor, and a second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction perpendicular to the thickness direction.\",\n \"In this specification, the term “outer surface” of the strip-shaped belt refers to a surface that is distant from the measurement area.\",\n \"Also, the expression “the second fluid path .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"extends straight” means that the second fluid path extends straight so as to include a fluid inlet port of the sensor package and a fluid inlet/outlet port of the fluid bladder in a state in which the sensor package and the fluid bladder are disposed to oppose each other in the thickness direction.\",\n \"Also, the term “thickness direction” refers to a direction vertical to an outer circumferential surface of the measurement area, or in other words, a direction through the strip-shaped belt.\",\n \"The term “planar direction” refers to a direction in which a surface perpendicular to the thickness direction extends.\",\n \"Also, the expression “space that is adjacent to the second fluid path in the planar direction” refers to, for example, the entire area around the second fluid path, or may refer to a space that is on one side of the second fluid path.\",\n \"Also, the term “blood pressure measurement element” encompasses, for example, a pump driving circuit for driving the pump, and the like.\",\n \"In the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the fluid is fed from the pump provided inside the main body to the fluid bladder through the first fluid path or discharged from the fluid bladder.\",\n \"With this configuration, the pressure in the fluid bladder is increased or decreased.\",\n \"Also, the pressure of the fluid supplied to the fluid bladder is detected by the pressure sensor (mounted on the first substrate) through the second fluid path.\",\n \"Based on the detected pressure, blood pressure values are obtained by using, for example, a known oscillometric method.\",\n \"Here, in the blood pressure meter, a second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction perpendicular to the thickness direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the space that is adjacent to the second fluid path can be effectively used by the second substrate.\",\n \"As a result, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product, in particular, miniaturization in the planar direction.\",\n \"To be specific, if a configuration is applied in which the blood pressure measurement element that needs to be mounted on the second substrate is mounted on the first substrate in the absence of the second substrate, there is no option but to increase the dimension of the first substrate in the planar direction accordingly (by an amount corresponding to the increased region where the blood pressure measurement element is disposed).\",\n \"However, with the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the space where a component is not disposed in a conventional blood pressure meter can be effectively used by the second substrate.\",\n \"As a result, the dimension of the first substrate in the planar direction can be reduced, and miniaturization in the planar direction can be promoted.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes an escaping portion for allowing the second fluid path to pass therethrough in a plane surface extending along the planar direction.\",\n \"The “escaping portion” formed in the second substrate may be a through hole extending through the substrate in the thickness direction, or may be a cut-out portion formed in a peripheral edge of the plane surface.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes an escaping portion for allowing the second fluid path to pass therethrough in a plane surface extending along the planar direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the second substrate does not interfere with the second fluid path.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the pump is disposed at a position adjacent to the first substrate in the planar direction, the first fluid path includes an outlet pipe of the pump as a circumferential wall of the first fluid path, and extends straight between the pump and the fluid bladder in parallel to the second fluid path, and the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.\",\n \"In this specification, the expression “the first fluid path .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"extends straight” means that the first fluid path extends straight so as to include a fluid outlet port of the pump and a fluid inlet/outlet port of the fluid bladder in a state in which the pump and the fluid bladder are disposed opposing each other in the thickness direction.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the space that is adjacent to the first fluid path can be effectively used by the second substrate.\",\n \"As a result, miniaturization of the product can be further promoted.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes another escaping portion for allowing the first fluid path to pass therethrough in the plane surface extending along the planar direction.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes another escaping portion for allowing the first fluid path to pass therethrough in the plane surface extending along the planar direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the second substrate does not interfere with the first fluid path.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a pump driving circuit for driving the pump is mounted on the second substrate, a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump, and a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump.\",\n \"Also, a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, heat generated in the pump driving circuit and the lead wire during driving of the pump is unlikely to be transferred to the pressure sensor.\",\n \"As a result, the output of the pressure sensor is unlikely to be affected by the generated heat, and the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is enhanced.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a control unit that receives an output of the pressure sensor and performs blood pressure calculation processing is mounted on the first substrate, and a region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted is provided adjacent to a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, in the first substrate, a region in which the control unit is mounted is provided adjacent to the region in which the pressure sensor is mounted.\",\n \"Accordingly, the interconnect between the pressure sensor and the control unit is relatively short, which makes it unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor.\",\n \"As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, at least the region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and the region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted are shielded, in the thickness direction, by a display device including a metal plate that is disposed extending outward of the first substrate and the second substrate that is disposed extending inward of the first substrate.\",\n \"The expression “outward of the first substrate” refers to a side that is distant from the measurement area.\",\n \"Likewise, the expression “inward of the first substrate” refers to a side close to the measurement area.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, at least the region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and the region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted are shielded, in the thickness direction, by a display device including a metal plate that is disposed extending outward of the first substrate and the second substrate that is disposed extending inward of the first substrate.\",\n \"Accordingly, this makes it unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor.\",\n \"As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the main body includes a bottom wall between the second substrate and the fluid bladder, the bottom wall including a through cylindrical portion extending in the thickness direction so as to constitute a portion of the circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and a nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and a nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.\",\n \"The second fluid path is thereby constituted.\",\n \"Here, if a configuration is applied in which the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder can be directly fitted and attached, stress may be applied to the pressure sensor from the nipple via the inlet pipe and the sensor package during assembly, which may compromise the characteristics of the pressure sensor.\",\n \"However, with the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.\",\n \"Accordingly, it is possible to independently perform an operation to attach the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall and an operation to attach the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.\",\n \"Thus, there is no possibility that the characteristics of the pressure sensor will be compromised due to the application of stress from the nipple during assembly.\",\n \"As a result, the reliability of assembly is enhanced.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a battery for supplying power to each constituent element of the blood pressure meter is mounted inside the main body, and the battery continuously occupies a range in which at least the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the thickness direction.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the battery continuously occupies a range in which at least the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the thickness direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the dimension in the thickness direction of the battery can be configured to be relatively large.\",\n \"As a result, it is possible to increase the battery capacity.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the first substrate, the pump, the second substrate, and the battery form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the first substrate, the pump, the second substrate, and the battery form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.\",\n \"That is, these elements are assembled in a compact design.\",\n \"As a result, miniaturization of the product is further promoted.\",\n \"As is evident from the above description, with the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product, in particular, miniaturization in the planar direction.\"\n ],\n [\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a blood pressure meter.\",\n \"More specifically, the invention relates to an electronic blood pressure meter that detects the pressure of a fluid supplied to a blood pressure measurement cuff by using a pressure sensor through an inlet pipe that is in communication with the cuff and obtains a blood pressure value based on the detected pressure.\",\n \"BACKGROUND ART As this type of blood pressure meter, for example, a blood pressure meter as disclosed in Patent Document 1 (JP H09-101220A) is known that includes a pressure sensor module including a tubular inlet pipe integrally formed on a bottom surface of a package incorporating a pressure sensor so as to protrude from the bottom surface.\",\n \"The pressure sensor module package is attached onto an upper surface of a circuit substrate, with the inlet pipe extending down to the circuit substrate through a through hole formed in advance in the circuit substrate.\",\n \"The inlet pipe is connected to a cuff via an elongated tube (connecting pipe).\",\n \"Also, for recent blood pressure meters, in particular, wrist-worn blood pressure meters, there is a growing need to produce miniaturized products.\",\n \"For example, Patent Document 2 (JP 2013-220187A) discloses a wrist-worn blood pressure meter in which a fluid bladder enclosed in a blood pressure measurement cuff and a pressure sensor are disposed in a stacked manner in a thickness direction, with a fluid path (corresponding to the inlet pipe described above) being provided in a straight manner between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor.\",\n \"With this configuration, a miniaturized and thinner product is achieved.\",\n \"CITATION LIST Patent Literature Patent Document 1: JP H09-101220A Patent Document 2: JP 2013-220187A SUMMARY OF INVENTION However, with the blood pressure meters disclosed in Patent Document 1 (JP H09-101220A) and Patent Document 2 (JP 2013-220187A), there is a relatively large space around the inlet pipe (or the fluid path) in which a component is not disposed.\",\n \"Accordingly, there is a possibility that miniaturization of a product, in particular, miniaturization in a planar direction can be further promoted by effectively using the space.\",\n \"Thus, one or more embodiments of the present invention provide a blood pressure meter that can promote miniaturization of a product, in particular, miniaturization in a planar direction.\",\n \"A blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is a blood pressure meter that is worn wrapped around a measurement area, the blood pressure meter including: a strip-shaped belt that includes a fluid bladder to which a fluid is supplied, and is wrapped around the measurement area; a main body that is provided on an outer surface side of the belt; a pump that is provided inside the main body, and is capable of supplying the fluid to the fluid bladder; a first fluid path that feeds the fluid from the pump to the fluid bladder or discharges the fluid from the fluid bladder; a pressure sensor that is incorporated in a sensor package and mounted on a first substrate disposed inside the main body, and is capable of detecting the pressure in the fluid bladder; and a second fluid path that introduces the fluid from the fluid bladder to the pressure sensor, wherein the second fluid path includes an inlet pipe that is integrally formed with the sensor package as a circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and extends straight between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor, and a second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction perpendicular to the thickness direction.\",\n \"In this specification, the term “outer surface” of the strip-shaped belt refers to a surface that is distant from the measurement area.\",\n \"Also, the expression “the second fluid path .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"extends straight” means that the second fluid path extends straight so as to include a fluid inlet port of the sensor package and a fluid inlet/outlet port of the fluid bladder in a state in which the sensor package and the fluid bladder are disposed to oppose each other in the thickness direction.\",\n \"Also, the term “thickness direction” refers to a direction vertical to an outer circumferential surface of the measurement area, or in other words, a direction through the strip-shaped belt.\",\n \"The term “planar direction” refers to a direction in which a surface perpendicular to the thickness direction extends.\",\n \"Also, the expression “space that is adjacent to the second fluid path in the planar direction” refers to, for example, the entire area around the second fluid path, or may refer to a space that is on one side of the second fluid path.\",\n \"Also, the term “blood pressure measurement element” encompasses, for example, a pump driving circuit for driving the pump, and the like.\",\n \"In the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the fluid is fed from the pump provided inside the main body to the fluid bladder through the first fluid path or discharged from the fluid bladder.\",\n \"With this configuration, the pressure in the fluid bladder is increased or decreased.\",\n \"Also, the pressure of the fluid supplied to the fluid bladder is detected by the pressure sensor (mounted on the first substrate) through the second fluid path.\",\n \"Based on the detected pressure, blood pressure values are obtained by using, for example, a known oscillometric method.\",\n \"Here, in the blood pressure meter, a second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction perpendicular to the thickness direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the space that is adjacent to the second fluid path can be effectively used by the second substrate.\",\n \"As a result, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product, in particular, miniaturization in the planar direction.\",\n \"To be specific, if a configuration is applied in which the blood pressure measurement element that needs to be mounted on the second substrate is mounted on the first substrate in the absence of the second substrate, there is no option but to increase the dimension of the first substrate in the planar direction accordingly (by an amount corresponding to the increased region where the blood pressure measurement element is disposed).\",\n \"However, with the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the space where a component is not disposed in a conventional blood pressure meter can be effectively used by the second substrate.\",\n \"As a result, the dimension of the first substrate in the planar direction can be reduced, and miniaturization in the planar direction can be promoted.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes an escaping portion for allowing the second fluid path to pass therethrough in a plane surface extending along the planar direction.\",\n \"The “escaping portion” formed in the second substrate may be a through hole extending through the substrate in the thickness direction, or may be a cut-out portion formed in a peripheral edge of the plane surface.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes an escaping portion for allowing the second fluid path to pass therethrough in a plane surface extending along the planar direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the second substrate does not interfere with the second fluid path.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the pump is disposed at a position adjacent to the first substrate in the planar direction, the first fluid path includes an outlet pipe of the pump as a circumferential wall of the first fluid path, and extends straight between the pump and the fluid bladder in parallel to the second fluid path, and the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.\",\n \"In this specification, the expression “the first fluid path .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"extends straight” means that the first fluid path extends straight so as to include a fluid outlet port of the pump and a fluid inlet/outlet port of the fluid bladder in a state in which the pump and the fluid bladder are disposed opposing each other in the thickness direction.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the space that is adjacent to the first fluid path can be effectively used by the second substrate.\",\n \"As a result, miniaturization of the product can be further promoted.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes another escaping portion for allowing the first fluid path to pass therethrough in the plane surface extending along the planar direction.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes another escaping portion for allowing the first fluid path to pass therethrough in the plane surface extending along the planar direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the second substrate does not interfere with the first fluid path.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a pump driving circuit for driving the pump is mounted on the second substrate, a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump, and a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump.\",\n \"Also, a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, heat generated in the pump driving circuit and the lead wire during driving of the pump is unlikely to be transferred to the pressure sensor.\",\n \"As a result, the output of the pressure sensor is unlikely to be affected by the generated heat, and the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is enhanced.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a control unit that receives an output of the pressure sensor and performs blood pressure calculation processing is mounted on the first substrate, and a region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted is provided adjacent to a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, in the first substrate, a region in which the control unit is mounted is provided adjacent to the region in which the pressure sensor is mounted.\",\n \"Accordingly, the interconnect between the pressure sensor and the control unit is relatively short, which makes it unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor.\",\n \"As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, at least the region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and the region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted are shielded, in the thickness direction, by a display device including a metal plate that is disposed extending outward of the first substrate and the second substrate that is disposed extending inward of the first substrate.\",\n \"The expression “outward of the first substrate” refers to a side that is distant from the measurement area.\",\n \"Likewise, the expression “inward of the first substrate” refers to a side close to the measurement area.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, at least the region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and the region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted are shielded, in the thickness direction, by a display device including a metal plate that is disposed extending outward of the first substrate and the second substrate that is disposed extending inward of the first substrate.\",\n \"Accordingly, this makes it unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor.\",\n \"As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the main body includes a bottom wall between the second substrate and the fluid bladder, the bottom wall including a through cylindrical portion extending in the thickness direction so as to constitute a portion of the circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and a nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and a nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.\",\n \"The second fluid path is thereby constituted.\",\n \"Here, if a configuration is applied in which the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder can be directly fitted and attached, stress may be applied to the pressure sensor from the nipple via the inlet pipe and the sensor package during assembly, which may compromise the characteristics of the pressure sensor.\",\n \"However, with the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.\",\n \"Accordingly, it is possible to independently perform an operation to attach the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall and an operation to attach the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.\",\n \"Thus, there is no possibility that the characteristics of the pressure sensor will be compromised due to the application of stress from the nipple during assembly.\",\n \"As a result, the reliability of assembly is enhanced.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a battery for supplying power to each constituent element of the blood pressure meter is mounted inside the main body, and the battery continuously occupies a range in which at least the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the thickness direction.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the battery continuously occupies a range in which at least the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the thickness direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the dimension in the thickness direction of the battery can be configured to be relatively large.\",\n \"As a result, it is possible to increase the battery capacity.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the first substrate, the pump, the second substrate, and the battery form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the first substrate, the pump, the second substrate, and the battery form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.\",\n \"That is, these elements are assembled in a compact design.\",\n \"As a result, miniaturization of the product is further promoted.\",\n \"As is evident from the above description, with the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product, in particular, miniaturization in the planar direction.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1A is a top view showing an external appearance of a blood pressure meter 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1B is a vertical cross-sectional view of the blood pressure meter 1 taken along the line B-B shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1C is a vertical cross-sectional view of the blood pressure meter 1 taken along the line A-A shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 is a bottom view of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"3 is a perspective view of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1 when it is formed into a loop.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 is a diagram illustrating the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"3 as viewed from a direction vertical to the loop of the belt.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a structure of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6A is a schematic perspective view illustrating a first state during operation of a buckle 30 shown in FIG.\",\n \"5.FIG.\",\n \"6B is a schematic perspective view illustrating a second state during operation of the buckle 30 shown in FIG.\",\n \"5.FIG.\",\n \"7A is a schematic diagram illustrating a first procedure of wearing the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1 on a wrist and performing measurement.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7B is a schematic diagram illustrating a second procedure of wearing the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1 on the wrist and performing measurement.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7C is a schematic diagram illustrating a third procedure of wearing the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1 on the wrist and performing measurement.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a control system provided inside the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"9 is a flowchart illustrating blood pressure measurement processing executed by the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"10A is an enlarged view of a main body assembly 12 shown in FIG.\",\n \"5.FIG.\",\n \"10B is a bottom view of the main body assembly 12 as viewed from the bottom in FIG.\",\n \"10A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11 is an exploded view of the main body assembly 12 shown in FIG.\",\n \"10A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 is a perspective view showing a positional relationship between a sub-assembly 12′ and a fluid bladder 22 in the assembled blood pressure meter 1.FIG.\",\n \"13 is a diagram showing a state in which the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22 shown in FIG.\",\n \"12 are spaced apart in a thickness direction (Z direction).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14 is a ZX cross-sectional view through a pressure sensor 16, showing, in detail, a configuration of a first fluid path 41 and a second fluid path 42 in the blood pressure meter 1, together with a lower housing 13 provided between the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22.FIG.\",\n \"15 is a YZ cross-sectional view through the pressure sensor 16, showing, in detail, a configuration of the second fluid path 42 in the blood pressure meter 1, together with the lower housing 13 provided between the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22, so as to realize hermetic sealing.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16(A) is a diagram showing, in a laid-out state, an upper substrate 61 and a lower substrate 62 that are connected to each other by an FPC cable 63 before the blood pressure meter 1 is assembled, and shows an upper surface 61a of the upper substrate 61 and a lower surface 62b of the lower substrate 62, so as to realize hermetic sealing.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16(B) is a diagram showing, in a laid-out state, the upper substrate 61 and the lower substrate 62 that are connected to each other by the FPC cable 63 before the blood pressure meter 1 is assembled, and corresponds to the back side of FIG.\",\n \"16(A).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"17 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration near the pressure sensor 16 mounted on the upper surface 61a of the upper substrate 61.FIG.\",\n \"18 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration near a pressure sensor 16′ mounted on a lower surface 61b of the upper substrate 61.DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.\",\n \"In the embodiment given below, the same constituent elements are given the same reference numerals and a description thereof is omitted.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1A is a top view showing an external appearance of a blood pressure meter 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1B is a vertical cross-sectional view of the blood pressure meter 1 taken along the line B-B shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1C is a vertical cross-sectional view of the blood pressure meter 1 taken along the line A-A shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 is a bottom view of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"3 is a perspective view of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1 when the blood pressure meter 1 is worn wrapped around a measurement area.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 is a diagram illustrating the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"3 as viewed from a direction vertical to the loop of the belt.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a structure of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"As can be seen from FIG.\",\n \"3, the blood pressure meter 1 is worn wrapped around a rod-shaped measurement area such as, for example, a user's wrist 90 (see FIGS.\",\n \"7A to 7C).\",\n \"The blood pressure meter 1 includes a strip-shaped belt 20 that is wrapped around the measurement area, a main body 10 that is disposed in a base end portion a in a lengthwise direction of the belt 20 on an outer surface side of the belt 20 and includes a blood pressure measurement element, and a buckle 30 for joining the base end portion a and a lead end portion b that is provided on the opposite side of the base end portion a in the lengthwise direction of the belt 20 such that the belt 20 forms a loop.\",\n \"Here, the belt 20 functions as a blood pressure measurement cuff.\",\n \"Hereinafter, a structure of the belt 20 will be described.\",\n \"As can be seen from FIG.\",\n \"1B, the belt 20 includes a fluid bladder 22 for compressing the measurement area when measuring blood pressure, a reinforcing layer 23 that is provided along an outer surface of the fluid bladder 22 and is for suppressing outward inflation of the fluid bladder 22, and an outer circumferential layer 24 that is provided along an outer surface of the reinforcing layer 23 so as to cover the reinforcing layer 23.Accordingly, because outward inflation of the fluid bladder 22 can be suppressed, it is possible to improve the efficiency of compressing the measurement area and further enhance the accuracy of blood pressure measurement.\",\n \"On the other hand, a surface of the fluid bladder 22 (the surface serving as an inner surface when worn) has a plurality of irregularities along the lengthwise direction so as to facilitate inflation toward the measurement area.\",\n \"The reinforcing layer 23 is the hardest, followed by the outer circumferential layer 24 and then the fluid bladder 22.Accordingly, the reinforcing layer 23 suppresses outward inflation of the fluid bladder 22 when the fluid bladder 22 is inflated, and thus the efficiency of compressing the measurement area can be improved.\",\n \"Accordingly, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement can be further enhanced.\",\n \"Furthermore, the outer circumferential layer 24 that is not as hard as the reinforcing layer 23 covers an outer circumference of the reinforcing layer 23, and thus feels soft when the user touches the outer circumferential layer 24 of the belt 20 with his/her hand.\",\n \"As can be clearly seen from FIGS.\",\n \"1A, 1B, and 3, an operation unit including a blood pressure measurement switch 52B for inputting an instruction to perform a biometric information measurement is disposed in an area (a substantially center portion in this example) that is different from a specific portion (the base end portion a in this example) in which the main body 10 is disposed in the lengthwise direction on the outer surface side of the belt 20.Also, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"5, the main body 10 includes a frame-shaped upper housing 11, a lower housing 13 that is combined with the upper housing 11, and a main body assembly 12 that is housed between the upper housing 11 and the lower housing 13.The main body assembly 12 includes a display device 50 that is fitted into the frame of the upper housing 11.A FPC (flexible printed circuit) cable 54 for electrically connecting the main body 10 and the operation unit 5 is provided between the fluid bladder 22 and the reinforcing layer 23.Because the main body 10 and the operation unit 52 are electrically connected by the FPC cable 54 as described above, the belt 20 can be configured to be thin.\",\n \"In the present embodiment, only the operation unit is disposed, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and it is also possible to dispose a communication unit and a display unit.\",\n \"so as to realize hermetic sealing As can be seen from FIG.\",\n \"2, magnets 33 are provided on an inner surface side of the base end portion a of the belt 20, and metal projection portions 31 that are attracted to the magnets 33 are provided on a second plate frame member 30b, thereby constituting an attraction mechanism.\",\n \"With this attraction mechanism, the inner surface side of the base end portion a of the belt 20 or one end portion d of a first plate frame member 30a and another end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b are attracted to each other.\",\n \"Accordingly, when the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 are folded, an inner surface of the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 are guided to overlap each other.\",\n \"In addition to or instead of the attraction mechanism, it is desirable to provide a lock mechanism that engages the inner surface side of the base end portion a of the belt 20 or the one end portion d of the first plate frame member 30a with the other end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b.\",\n \"It is also desirable that the attraction mechanism and/or the lock mechanism include/includes an unlock mechanism for releasing the attraction and/or the engagement.\",\n \"In this example, a release button 19 (see FIGS.\",\n \"1A, 2, and 5) for canceling attraction is provided in the main body 10 as the unlock mechanism.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"5, the release button 19 is integrally formed with a slide plate 19a.\",\n \"In response to the release button 19 being pressed toward the inside of the main body 10, the slide plate 19a is inserted between the one end portion d of the first plate frame member 30a and the other end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b shown in FIG.\",\n \"6B like a wedge so as to cancel the attraction between the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b.\",\n \"As shown in FIGS.\",\n \"6A and 6B, a first fixing element including engaging portions 32 having a projection shape is provided on an inner surface of the other end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b, and also as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"1A, 1B, and 5, a second fixing element including engaged portions 25 having a recessed shape that can be engaged with the engaging portions 32 is provided on an outer surface of the lead end portion b of the belt 20.With this configuration, as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"3 and 4, the belt 20 can be formed into a loop by engaging the second plate frame member 30b with the lead end portion b of the belt 20.Accordingly, the blood pressure meter 1 can be fixed to the measurement area.\",\n \"Furthermore, the second fixing element (the engaged portions 25) that has a non-through recessed shape and is configured to be capable of engaging with the first fixing element (the engaging portions 32) having a projection shape is provided on the outer surface of the lead end portion b of the belt 20, and thus these fixing elements do not interfere with the fluid bladder 22.Accordingly, the wrist 90 that serves as the measurement area can be reliably compressed by the fluid bladder 22 while the blood pressure is being measured.\",\n \"The present embodiment is configured such that the first fixing element having a projection shape and the second fixing element having a recessed shape are used, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration.\",\n \"It is possible to, for example, use a first fixing element having a recessed shape and a second fixing element having a projection shape.\",\n \"In this case as well, the same effects of the present embodiment can be obtained.\",\n \"As can be clearly seen from FIGS.\",\n \"1A, 1B, and 5, a plurality of engaged portions 25 are formed side by side along the lengthwise direction of the belt 20 such that the attachment position of the other end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b can be adjusted in the lengthwise direction of the belt 20.Accordingly, it is possible to adjust the attachment position of the other end portion h (see FIG.\",\n \"6B) of the second plate frame member 30b in the lengthwise direction of the belt 20.With this configuration, the length of the loop of the belt 20 can be variably set so as to fit snug to the circumferential length of the wrist 90 that serves as the measurement area.\",\n \"The engaged portions 25 are also arranged in a plurality of (two in this example) rows along a width direction of the belt 20.Accordingly, even if the belt 20 is slightly twisted, the engagement between the engaging portions 32 and the engaged portions 25 is unlikely to be canceled.\",\n \"Also, at least the outer surface of the lead end portion b of the belt 20 is made of a flexible material.\",\n \"Accordingly, the engagement of the engaging portions 32 and the engaged portions 25 can be easily disengaged.\",\n \"It is also possible to provide a detachment mechanism (not shown) that allows the user to cancel the engagement between the engaging portions 32 and the engaged portions 25.In this case, with the detachment mechanism, the user can cancel the engagement between the engaging portions 32 and the engaged portions 25 while the belt 20 is wrapped around the wrist 90.Accordingly, the belt 20 can be more easily detached.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6A is a schematic perspective view illustrating a first state during operation of the buckle 30 shown in FIG.\",\n \"5, and FIG.\",\n \"6B is a schematic perspective view illustrating a second state during operation of the buckle 30 shown in FIG.\",\n \"5.The buckle 30 includes, on the inner surface side of the base end portion a of the belt 20, the first plate frame member 30a that is attached to the one end portion d so as to be capable of pivoting about an axis c that intersects the lengthwise direction of the belt 20.The first plate frame member 30a extends, in a curved form, from the one end portion d to another end portion e that is on the opposite side.\",\n \"The buckle 30 also includes, on the other end portion e of the first plate frame member 30a, the second plate frame member 30b that is attached to one end portion g so as to be capable of pivoting about an axis f that is parallel to the axis c. The second plate frame member 30b extends, in a curved form, from the one end portion g to the other end portion h that is on the opposite side.\",\n \"Furthermore, the other end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b is configured to be capable of being attached to the lead end portion b of the belt 20, and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b respectively have a first opening portion OP1 and a second opening portion OP2 that extend through their plane surfaces.\",\n \"Here, the first opening portion OP1 of the first plate frame member 30a and the second opening portion OP2 of the second plate frame member 30b are configured to be continuous in the thickness direction of the main body 10 when the inner surface of the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 are folded so as to overlap each other.\",\n \"Accordingly, it is possible to implement a configuration in which the fluid bladder 22 is disposed on the inner side of the main body 10 so as to compress the measurement area.\",\n \"The first opening portion OP1 is open toward the other end portion e of the first plate frame member 30a, and the second opening portion OP2 is open toward the one end portion g of the second plate frame member 30b.\",\n \"Accordingly, the first opening portion OP1 and the second opening portion OP2 are in communication with each other.\",\n \"That is, the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b are formed to have a substantially angular U shape and are joined to each other on the side on which their opening portions are open.\",\n \"Also, as can be clearly seen from FIG.\",\n \"2, the fluid bladder 22 for compressing the measurement area during blood pressure measurement is provided along the lengthwise direction of the belt 20 in the belt 20, and the fluid bladder 22 is in communication with the inside of the main body 10 through a region corresponding to the first opening portion OP1 and the second opening portion OP2 in a folded state.\",\n \"With this configuration, the fluid bladder 22 can compress a spatially continuous region of the wrist 90 that serves as the measurement area in a circumferential direction thereof, the spatially continuous region extending from a portion corresponding to the inside of the main body 10 toward the lead end portion b of the belt 20.Accordingly, the contact area between the fluid bladder 22 and the measurement area can be increased, and it is therefore possible to improve the efficiency of compressing the arteries.\",\n \"Accordingly, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement can be further enhanced.\",\n \"Also, the fluid bladder 22 extends to the lead end portion b of the belt 20 along the lengthwise direction.\",\n \"When the inner surface of the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 are folded so as to overlap each other, a portion of the main body 10 that is in communication with the fluid bladder 22 overlaps a portion to which the fluid bladder 22 of the belt 20 extends.\",\n \"With this configuration, the overlapping region of the belt 20 in the lengthwise direction has a thickness thicker than that of the other region of the main body 10 and thus is inflated by an amount corresponding to the thickness.\",\n \"Accordingly, an excessive amount of pressure applied to compress the arteries is reduced as a result of reducing the distance by which the arteries running through the wrist 90 escape due to being pressed by a region other than the overlapping region.\",\n \"As a result, the blood pressure values measured through the application of pressure by the fluid bladder can be brought closer to true values, and thus the accuracy of measurement can be enhanced.\",\n \"The effect of reducing the excessive amount of pressure applied to compress the arteries is also obtained even when the first opening portion OP1 of the first plate frame member 30a and the second opening portion OP2 of the second plate frame member 30b in the buckle 30 are omitted.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"7A to 7C are schematic diagrams illustrating a procedure of wearing the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1 on the wrist and performing measurement.\",\n \"When actually wearing the blood pressure meter 1 on the wrist 90, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"7A, the user first places the belt 20 around the wrist 90, with the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 being open.\",\n \"Then, the user inserts the lead end portion b of the belt 20 through the second opening portion OP2 (see FIGS.\",\n \"6A and 6B) of the second plate frame member 30b and engages the engaging portions 32 of the second plate frame member 30b with the engaged portions 25 that are provided on the lead end portion b of the belt 20.By doing so, the belt 20 is formed into a loop and the wrist 90 passes through the loop of the belt 20.In this way, the length of the loop of the belt 20 can be set so as to fit snug to the circumferential length of the wrist 90.Next, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"7B, the main body 10 is moved closer toward the wrist 90 such that the inner surface of the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 are folded so as to overlap each other.\",\n \"Then, the projection portions 31 of the second plate frame member 30b are attracted by the magnets 33.The blood pressure meter 1 is thereby worn on the wrist 90.Next, blood pressure measurement starts in response to the user pressing the blood pressure measurement switch 52B as shown in FIG.\",\n \"7C.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is a block diagram schematically showing an internal configuration of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1.The main body 10 includes, in addition to the display device 50 and the operation unit 52 described above, a CPU (central processing unit) 100, a memory 51, a battery 53, a piezoresistive pressure sensor 16, a piezoelectric pump 17 that supplies air to the fluid bladder 22 as a fluid, a valve 18 for adjusting a discharge pressure (back pressure) of the piezoelectric pump 17, an oscillation circuit 160 that converts an output from the pressure sensor 16 to a frequency, a pump driving circuit 170 that drives the piezoelectric pump 17, and a valve driving circuit 180 that drives the valve 18.The piezoelectric pump 17 and the valve 18 are connected to the fluid bladder 22 enclosed in the belt 20 via a first fluid path 41, and the pressure sensor 16 is connected to the fluid bladder 22 enclosed in the belt 20 via a second fluid path 42.With this configuration, air flows between the piezoelectric pump 17 and the fluid bladder 22 and between the valve 18 and the fluid bladder 22 via the first fluid path 41.Also, air flows between the pressure sensor 16 and the fluid bladder 22 via the second fluid path 42.The display device 50 includes a display, an indicator and the like, and displays predetermined information in accordance with a control signal from the CPU 100.In the operation unit 52, a power supply switch 52A receives an instruction to turn on or off power supply from the battery 53.The blood pressure measurement switch 52B receives an instruction to start blood pressure measurement and an instruction to display data obtained through measuring blood pressure values, stored in the memory 51 on the display device 50.The switches 52A and 52B input an operation signal corresponding to a user's instruction to the CPU 100.The memory 51 stores therein a program for controlling the blood pressure meter 1, settings data for setting various functions of the blood pressure meter 1, and data obtained as a result of measurement of blood pressure values.\",\n \"Also, the memory 51 is used a work memory during execution of a program.\",\n \"In this example, the battery 53 is a secondary battery (lithium ion battery), and supplies power to the CPU 100, the pressure sensor 16, the piezoelectric pump 17, the valve 18, the display device 50, the memory 51, the oscillation circuit 160, the pump driving circuit 170, and the valve driving circuit 180.The battery 53 is configured to be rechargeable via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) terminal 55 (see, for example, FIG.\",\n \"10B).\",\n \"The CPU 100 functions as a control unit in accordance with the program for controlling the blood pressure meter 1 stored in the memory 51, and performs control for driving the piezoelectric pump 17 via the pump driving circuit 170 and driving the valve 18 via the valve driving circuit 180 in accordance with an operation signal from the operation unit 52.The valve 18 is opened or closed so as to control the pressure (cuff pressure) in the fluid bladder 22 by discharging or trapping air in the fluid bladder 22.Also, the CPU 100 calculates blood pressure values based on signals from the pressure sensor 16 and controls the display device 50 and the memory 51.The piezoelectric pump 17 supplies air to the fluid bladder 22 via the first fluid path 41 so as to increase the pressure (cuff pressure) in the fluid bladder 22 enclosed in the belt 20.The valve 18 is opened or closed so as to control the cuff pressure by discharging the air in the fluid bladder 22 via the first fluid path 41 or trapping air in the fluid bladder 22.The pump driving circuit 170 drives the piezoelectric pump 17 based on a control signal provided from the CPU 100.The valve driving circuit 180 opens or closes the valve 18 based on a control signal provided from the CPU 100.The pressure sensor 16 and the oscillation circuit 160 operate as a pressure detection unit that detects the cuff pressure.\",\n \"The pressure sensor 16 is, for example, a piezoresistive pressure sensor, and introduces air from the fluid bladder 22 via the second fluid path 42 and detects the pressure of the introduced air as the cuff pressure.\",\n \"In this example, the oscillation circuit 160 oscillates based on an electric signal value that is based on a change in electric resistance due to piezoresistance effect from the pressure sensor 16, and outputs a frequency signal having a frequency corresponding to the electric signal value of the pressure sensor 16 to the CPU 100.In this example, it is assumed that the oscillation circuit 160 is included in the CPU 100, and the function of the oscillation circuit 160 is implemented by a program executed by the CPU 100.Hereinafter, a description will be given of operations performed by the blood pressure meter 1 configured as described above.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 is a flowchart of blood pressure measurement processing executed by the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1.In general, the following operations are performed when blood pressure measurement is performed according to an ordinary oscillometric method.\",\n \"To be specific, the cuff is wrapped around the measurement area (wrist or the like) of the user in advance, and during measurement, the pump and the valve are controlled to increase the cuff pressure to be higher than the highest blood pressure and thereafter gradually decrease the cuff pressure.\",\n \"In the pressure decrease process, the cuff pressure is detected by the pressure sensor, and a variation in arterial volume that occurs in the arteries running through the measurement area is taken as a pulse wave signal.\",\n \"The highest blood pressure (systolic blood pressure) and the lowest blood pressure (diastolic blood pressure) are calculated based on changes (mainly a leading edge and a trailing edge) in amplitude of the pulse wave signal due to changes in the cuff pressure at that time.\",\n \"In the blood pressure meter 1, the blood pressure values of the user are measured according to an oscillometric method by the CPU 100 in accordance with the flowchart shown in FIG.\",\n \"9.To be specific, in response to the blood pressure measurement switch 52B being pressed while the power supply switch 52A is on, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"9, the blood pressure meter 1 starts blood pressure measurement.\",\n \"Upon starting a blood pressure measurement, the CPU 100 initializes a processing memory area and outputs a control signal to the valve driving circuit 180.The valve driving circuit 180 opens the valve 18 based on the control signal so as to discharge the air in the fluid bladder 22 of the belt 20.Next, control for adjusting the pressure sensor 16 to 0 mmHg is performed.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"9, when blood pressure measurement starts, first, the CPU 100 closes the valve 18 via the valve driving circuit 180, and after that, drives the piezoelectric pump 17 via the pump driving circuit 170 so as to perform processing to increase pressure to send air to the fluid bladder 22.Accordingly, the fluid bladder 22 is inflated and the cuff pressure is gradually increased (step ST101).\",\n \"When the cuff pressure has increased and reaches a predetermined pressure (YES in step ST102), the CPU 100 performs control for stopping the piezoelectric pump 17 via the pump driving circuit 170 and thereafter gradually opening the valve 18 via the valve driving circuit 180.Accordingly, the fluid bladder 22 contracts and the cuff pressure gradually decreases (step ST103).\",\n \"As used herein, the predetermined pressure refers to a pressure value that is sufficiently higher than the systolic blood pressure (for example, a systolic blood pressure of +30 mmHg) of the user, and the predetermined pressure is stored in the memory 51 in advance or the CPU 100 determines the predetermined pressure by estimating the systolic blood pressure using a predetermined calculation method while the cuff pressure is increased (see, for example, JP 2001-70263A).\",\n \"Also, for the pressure decrease speed, a target pressure decrease speed that is a target is set while the cuff pressure is increased, and the CPU 100 controls the opening degree of the valve 18 so as to reach the target pressure decrease speed (see JP 2001-70263A).\",\n \"In the pressure decrease process, the pressure sensor 16 detects a cuff pressure signal (indicated by a reference sign Pc) representing the pressure of the belt 20 via the belt 20.Based on the cuff pressure signal Pc, the CPU 100 calculates the blood pressure values (systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure) by applying an algorithm, which will be described later, using an oscillometric method (step ST104).\",\n \"Note that the calculation of the blood pressure values is not limited to being performed in the pressure decrease process, and may be performed in the pressure increase process.\",\n \"Upon determining the blood pressure values through calculation (YES in step ST105), the CPU 100 performs control for displaying the calculated blood pressure values on the display device 50 (step ST106) and also performs control for storing the calculated blood pressure values in the memory 51 (step ST107).\",\n \"Next, the CPU 100 performs control for opening the valve 18 via the valve driving circuit 180 so as to discharge the air in the fluid bladder 22 of the belt 20 (step ST108).\",\n \"After that, in response to the power supply switch 52A being pressed, the blood pressure measurement ends.\",\n \"When detaching the blood pressure meter 1 from the wrist 90, the user opens the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30, and releases the wrist 90 from the belt with the loop of the belt 20 being widened.\",\n \"When wearing the blood pressure meter 1 on the wrist 90 for the second time or more, the user can insert the wrist 90 through the loop of the belt 20, with the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 being open, and close the buckle 30.Accordingly, the user can easily wear the blood pressure meter 1 on the wrist 90.FIG.\",\n \"10A is an enlarged view of the main body assembly 12 shown in FIG.\",\n \"5.FIG.\",\n \"10B is a bottom view of the main body assembly 12 as viewed from the bottom in FIG.\",\n \"10A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11 is an exploded view of the main body assembly 12 shown in FIG.\",\n \"10A.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"11, an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is also shown where a direction (the thickness direction of the main body assembly 12) that is vertical to the outer circumferential surface of the wrist 90 that serves as the measurement area is defined as a Z direction, a direction corresponding to the width direction of the belt 20 is defined as an X direction, and a direction corresponding to the lengthwise direction of the belt 20 is defined as a Y direction (the same applies to FIGS.\",\n \"12 to 15, 16(B), 17, and 18, which will be described later).\",\n \"As can be clearly seen from FIG.\",\n \"11, the main body assembly 12 includes a sub-assembly 12′ that includes, at a substantially center position, an upper substrate 61 that serves as a first substrate and a lower substrate 62 that serves as a second substrate that opposes the upper substrate 61 and is combined with the upper substrate 61 in the Z direction.\",\n \"The upper substrate 61 is attached to the lower substrate 62 with a screw 65 or the like via a spacer (not shown in the diagram) so as to provide a fixed spacing with respect to the lower substrate 62 in the Z direction.\",\n \"As used herein, the terms “upper substrate” and “lower substrate” (as well as the terms “upper surface” and “lower surface” which will be described later) are used for the sake of the description, and thus are not intended to limit the orientation of the blood pressure meter 1 when in use.\",\n \"On the upper substrate 61, the pressure sensor 16, the CPU 100 (including the oscillation circuit 160) and the memory 51 that were described above and an interconnect are mounted (for the sake of simplification, only the pressure sensor 16 is shown in FIG.\",\n \"11).\",\n \"On the lower substrate 62, the piezoelectric pump 17, the pump driving circuit 170, the valve 18 and the valve driving circuit 180 that were described above and an interconnect are mounted (for the sake of simplification, only the piezoelectric pump 17 and the pump driving circuit 170 are shown in FIG.\",\n \"11).\",\n \"The interconnect of the upper substrate 61 and the interconnect of the lower substrate 62 are connected to each other by the FPC cable 63.The upper substrate 61 has a dimension in the X direction that is substantially half of the dimension in the X direction of the lower substrate 62.With this configuration, the upper substrate 61 opposes only substantially half of the region of the lower substrate 62 that is on the +X side in the X direction.\",\n \"The piezoelectric pump 17 includes a main portion 17p having a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour, and is mounted on substantially half of the region of the lower substrate 62 that is on the −X side in the X direction.\",\n \"The piezoelectric pump 17 is higher than the upper substrate 61, as a result of which, the piezoelectric pump 17 is located at a position adjacent to the upper substrate 61 on the −X side in a planar direction (XY direction).\",\n \"Substantially half of the region of the sub-assembly 12′ that is on the −Y side in the Y direction is occupied by a frame-shaped battery holder 53F.\",\n \"The battery 53 having a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour is fitted and attached to the battery holder 53F from the −Z direction.\",\n \"As a result, the upper substrate 61, the piezoelectric pump 17, the lower substrate 62, and the attached battery 53 form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.\",\n \"As a result of these elements being assembled in a compact design, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product.\",\n \"The main body assembly 12 further includes a USB substrate 55P attached to an edge portion of the upper substrate 61 that is on the −Y side.\",\n \"The USB substrate 55P incorporates a USB terminal 55 and an interconnect (not shown).\",\n \"The interconnect of the USB substrate 55P is connected to the interconnect of the upper substrate 61 via an FPC cable 55F.\",\n \"Also, the main body assembly 12 includes a plate-like joint member 52G that is attached to an edge portion of the lower substrate 62 that is on the +Y side, and is inclined in the −Z direction.\",\n \"The joint member 52G includes two branched tip ends 52G1 and 52G2.A switch substrate 52P incorporating the power supply switch 52A and an interconnect (not shown) is attached so as to straddle the tip ends 52G1 and 52G2.The interconnect of the switch substrate 52P is connected to the interconnect of the lower substrate 62 via an FPC cable 52F.\",\n \"Also, the main body assembly 12 includes the substantially flat plate-like display device 50 (an organic EL (electro luminescent) display in this example) that is attached to the outside (on +Z side).\",\n \"The display device 50 includes a rectangular frame-shaped glass frame 50e extending along a peripheral edge of the display device 50, and also includes a metal plate 50c on a back surface of the display device 50.Also, an FPC cable 50F is attached to an edge portion of the display device 50 that is on the +Y side.\",\n \"The FPC cable 50F passes through a gap 52Gw (see FIG.\",\n \"10A) formed between the joint member 52G and the switch substrate 52P, and is connected to the interconnect of the lower substrate 62.As described above, the main body assembly 12 shown in FIGS.\",\n \"10A and 10B is configured in a compact and substantially rectangular parallelepipedal shape.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 shows a positional relationship between the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22 in the assembled blood pressure meter 1, as viewed obliquely.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 shows a state (state before assembly) in which the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22 shown in FIG.\",\n \"12 are spaced apart in the Z direction.\",\n \"For the sake of ease of understanding, in FIGS.\",\n \"12 and 13, the illustration of the lower housing 13 is omitted.\",\n \"The fluid bladder 22 includes cylindrical nipples 381 and 382 for allowing air to be supplied into the fluid bladder 22 as a fluid and allowing air to be discharged from the fluid bladder 22.As can be clearly seen from FIG.\",\n \"13, the pressure sensor 16 is incorporated in a substantially rectangular parallelepipedal shape sensor package 16p and mounted on the upper surface 61a of the upper substrate 61.In this example, the pressure sensor 16 includes a substantially cylindrical inlet pipe 16d that is integrally molded with the sensor package 16p and lead terminals 16e and 16f that protrude from side surfaces of the sensor package 16p.\",\n \"The lead terminals 16e and 16f are connected to the interconnect (not shown) that is provided on the upper substrate 61.The inlet pipe 16d extends straight in the −Z direction from a bottom surface (a surface that is closer to the upper substrate 61) 16b of the sensor package 16p toward the fluid bladder 22 through a through hole 61x that is formed in the upper substrate 61 and a through hole 62x that is formed in the lower substrate 62 and serves as an escaping portion.\",\n \"The inlet pipe 16d constitutes a portion of a circumferential wall of the second fluid path 42 described above.\",\n \"An O ring 394 for hermetic sealing is press fitted around the inlet pipe 16d.\",\n \"The sensor package 16p and the inlet pipe 16d may be formed separately, and integrally jointed with an adhesive or the like.\",\n \"The piezoelectric pump 17 is mounted on the lower substrate 62, and, as already described above, is located at a position adjacent to the upper substrate 61 on the −X side in the planar direction (the XY direction).\",\n \"The piezoelectric pump 17 includes the main portion 17p having a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour and a substantially cylindrical outlet pipe 17d integrally molded with the main portion 17p.\",\n \"The outlet pipe 17d extends straight in the −Z direction from a bottom surface of the main portion 17p toward the fluid bladder 22 through a through hole 62w that is formed in the lower substrate 62 and that serves as another escaping portion.\",\n \"The outlet pipe 17d constitutes a portion of a circumferential wall of the first fluid path 41 described above.\",\n \"An O ring 393 for hermetic sealing is press fitted around the outlet pipe 17d.\",\n \"As can be clearly seen from FIG.\",\n \"12, in the assembled blood pressure meter 1, the nipples 381 and 382 of the fluid bladder 22 are provided around the outlet pipe 17d of the piezoelectric pump 17 and the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 so as to overlap them in the Z direction through the through holes 62w and 62x formed in the lower substrate 62, thereby constituting the first fluid path 41 and the second fluid path 42, respectively.\",\n \"The through holes 62w and 62x that are formed in the lower substrate 62 and serve as escaping portions are configured to have an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of outer circumferential cylindrical portions 391a and 392a of the lower housing 13, which will be described later.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14 shows, in detail, a configuration of the first fluid path 41 and the second fluid path 42, together with the lower housing 13 provided between the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22, by using a ZX cross-sectional view through the pressure sensor 16.Also, FIG.\",\n \"15 shows, in detail, a configuration of the second fluid path 42, together with the lower housing 13 provided between the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22, by using a YZ cross-sectional view through the pressure sensor 16.As can be clearly seen from FIG.\",\n \"14, the lower housing 13 includes double cylindrical portions 391 and 392 at positions corresponding to the outlet pipe 17d of the piezoelectric pump 17 and the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16, respectively, on a bottom wall 13b of the lower housing 13.The double cylindrical portion 391 includes an outer circumferential cylindrical portion 391a that stands upright from the bottom wall 13b in the +Z direction, an inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c that is concentric with the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 391a, and extends in the Z direction through the bottom wall 13b, and an annular joint plate portion 391b that is flat and joins an upper edge of the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 391a and an upper edge of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c to each other.\",\n \"On the inner circumferential side of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c, an annular engaging plate portion 391f is provided in a protruding manner at a substantially center position in the Z direction so as to reduce the diameter (inner diameter).\",\n \"The engaging plate portion 391f has an inner circumferential edge 391e configured to have a diameter (inner diameter) slightly larger than the outer diameter of the outlet pipe 17d of the piezoelectric pump 17.Also, the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c is configured to have an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the O ring 393.The inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c is configured to have an outer diameter slightly larger than the inner diameter of the nipple 381.A radial spacing between the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c and the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 391a is configured to be sufficiently larger than the thickness of the nipple 381 of the fluid bladder 22 so as to allow insertion of the nipple 381 of the fluid bladder 22 into the spacing.\",\n \"Likewise, the double cylindrical portion 392 includes an outer circumferential cylindrical portion 392a that stands upright from the bottom wall 13b in the +Z direction, an inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c that is concentric with the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 392a, and extends in the Z direction through the bottom wall 13b, and an annular joint plate portion 392b that is flat and joins an upper edge of the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 392a and an upper edge of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c to each other.\",\n \"On the inner circumferential side of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c, an annular engaging plate portion 392f is provided in a protruding manner at a substantially center position in the Z direction so as to reduce the diameter (inner diameter).\",\n \"The engaging plate portion 392f has an inner circumferential edge 392e configured to have a diameter (inner diameter) slightly larger than the outer diameter of the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16.Also, the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c is configured to have an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the O ring 394.The inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c is configured to have an outer diameter slightly larger than the inner diameter of the nipple 382.A radial spacing between the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c and the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 392a is configured to be sufficiently larger than the thickness of the nipple 382 of the fluid bladder 22 so as to allow insertion of the nipple 382 of the fluid bladder 22 into the spacing.\",\n \"With this configuration, in a state in which the blood pressure meter 1 is assembled and the sub-assembly 12′ (the main body assembly 12) is attached to the lower housing 13, the outlet pipe 17d of the piezoelectric pump 17 extends in the −Z direction beyond the inner circumferential edge 391e of the engaging plate portion 391f of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c.\",\n \"At the same time, the O ring 393 is press fitted into the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c so as to realize hermetic sealing between the outlet pipe 17d and the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c.\",\n \"Likewise, the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 extends in the −Z direction beyond the inner circumferential edge 392e of the engaging plate portion 392f of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c.\",\n \"At the same time, the O ring 394 is press fitted into the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c so as to realize hermetic sealing between the inlet pipe 16d and the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c Furthermore, in a state in which the fluid bladder 22 is attached to the lower housing 13, the nipple 381 of the fluid bladder 22 is press fitted to an outer circumference of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c so as to realize hermetic sealing between the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c and the nipple 381.Likewise, the nipple 382 of the fluid bladder 22 is press fitted to an outer circumference of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c so as to realize hermetic sealing between the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c and the nipple 382.With this configuration, in the assembled blood pressure meter 1, the outlet pipe 17d of the piezoelectric pump 17 and the nipple 381 of the fluid bladder 22 are hermetically attached to the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c of the bottom wall 13b of the lower housing 13, as a result of which, the first fluid path 41 extending straight in the Z direction is formed between the piezoelectric pump 17 and the fluid bladder 22.Likewise, the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 and the nipple 382 of the fluid bladder 22 are hermetically attached to the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c, as a result of which, the second fluid path 42 extending straight in the Z direction is formed between the pressure sensor 16 and the fluid bladder 22.Here, if a configuration is applied in which the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 and the nipple 382 of the fluid bladder 22 can be directly fitted and attached, stress may be applied to the pressure sensor 16 from the nipple 382 via the inlet pipe 16d and the sensor package 16p during assembly, which may compromise the characteristics of the pressure sensor 16.However, with the blood pressure meter 1, the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 and the nipple 382 that is in communication with the fluid bladder 22 are hermetically attached to the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c of the bottom wall 13b.\",\n \"Accordingly, it is possible to independently perform an operation to attach the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 to the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c of the bottom wall 13b and an operation to attach the nipple 382 that is in communication with the fluid bladder 22 to the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c of the bottom wall 13b.\",\n \"Thus, there is no possibility that the characteristics of the pressure sensor 16 will be compromised due to the application of stress from the nipple 382 during assembly.\",\n \"As a result, the reliability of assembly is enhanced.\",\n \"Also, as described above, the through holes 62w and 62x that are formed in the lower substrate 62 and serve as escaping portions are configured to have an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the outer circumferential cylindrical portions 391a and 392a, which will be described later.\",\n \"Accordingly, the lower substrate 62 does not interfere with the first fluid path 41 and the second fluid path 42.Also, in this example, the lower substrate 62 on which the blood pressure measurement elements 170, 18, 180, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"are mounted in addition to the piezoelectric pump 17 is disposed in spaces SP1 and SP2 (see FIG.\",\n \"12) that are located between the upper substrate 61 and the fluid bladder 22 in the Z direction and around the first fluid path 41 and the second fluid path 42 in the XY direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the spaces SP1 and SP2 can be effectively used by the lower substrate 62.As a result, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product, in particular, miniaturization in the planar direction (the XY direction).\",\n \"To be specific, if a configuration is applied in which the blood pressure measurement elements 17, 170, 18, 180, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"that need to be mounted on the lower substrate 62 are mounted on the upper substrate 61 in the absence of the lower substrate 62, there is no option but to increase the dimension in the XY direction of the upper substrate 61 accordingly (by an amount corresponding to the increased region where the blood pressure measurement elements are disposed).\",\n \"However, with the blood pressure meter 1, the spaces SP1 and SP2 where a component is not disposed in a conventional blood pressure meter can be effectively used by the lower substrate 62.As a result, the dimension in the XY direction of the upper substrate 61 can be reduced, and miniaturization in the XY direction can be promoted.\",\n \"Also, as can be clearly seen from FIG.\",\n \"15, in this example, the battery 53 continuously occupies a range ΔZ in which at least the upper substrate 61 and the lower substrate 62 are disposed in the Z direction.\",\n \"As a result, the capacity of the battery 53 can be increased.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"16(A) and 16(B) show, in a laid-out state, the upper substrate 61 and the lower substrate 62 that are connected to each other by the FPC cable 63 before the sub-assembly 12′ is assembled.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16(A) shows the upper surface 61a of the upper substrate 61 and the lower surface 62b of the lower substrate 62.FIG.\",\n \"16(B) shows the lower surface 61b of the upper substrate 61 and the upper surface 62a of the lower substrate 62, which corresponds to the back side of FIG.\",\n \"16(A).\",\n \"In the sub-assembly 12′ (the main body assembly 12), the upper substrate 61 is disposed above the lower substrate 62 so as to oppose the lower substrate 62 as a result of the FPC cable 63 being bent as indicated by the arrow F in FIG.\",\n \"16(B).\",\n \"In FIGS.\",\n \"16(A) and 16(B), the USB substrate 55P connected to the upper substrate 61 by the FPC cable 55F and the switch substrate 52P connected to the lower substrate 62 by the FPC cable 52F are also shown.\",\n \"As can be clearly seen from FIG.\",\n \"16(A), in the upper substrate 61, a region 61u in which the pressure sensor 16 is mounted is provided adjacent to a region 61v in which the CPU 100 (including the oscillation circuit 160) is mounted.\",\n \"Accordingly, the interconnect between the pressure sensor 16 and the CPU 100 is relatively short, which makes it unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor 16.As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is enhanced.\",\n \"The upper substrate 61 includes a substantially rectangular island shaped portion 61s that protrudes in an upper right diagonal direction in FIG.\",\n \"16(A).\",\n \"The island shaped portion 61s includes a contact electrode 53s that is connected to the battery 53.Also, as can be clearly seen from FIG.\",\n \"16(B), a region 62u of the substantially rectangular lower substrate 62 in which the pump driving circuit 170 is mounted is provided to be spaced apart from the region 61u of the upper substrate 61 in which the pressure sensor 16 is mounted in the planar direction (the XY direction) (rather, the region 61u opposes the piezoelectric pump 17 shown in FIG.\",\n \"12).\",\n \"Furthermore, in order to transmit a drive current from the pump driving circuit 170 to the piezoelectric pump 17, a lead wire 170e (see FIG.\",\n \"12) that electrically connects the lower substrate 62 and the piezoelectric pump 17 is connected to an end portion of the piezoelectric pump 17 that is on the opposite side of the pressure sensor 16 in the planar direction (the XY direction).\",\n \"Accordingly, the distance from the pressure sensor 16 to the pump driving circuit 170 and the lead wire 170e is increased, and thus heat generated in the pump driving circuit 170 and the lead wire 170e due to the electric current that drives the piezoelectric pump 17 is unlikely to be transferred to the pressure sensor 16.As a result, the output of the pressure sensor 16 is unlikely to be affected by the generated heat, and the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.\",\n \"Also, as can be seen from FIGS.\",\n \"11 and 10A, in the assembled main body assembly 12, at least the region 61u of the upper substrate 61 in which the pressure sensor 16 is mounted and the region 61v of the upper substrate 61 in which the CPU 100 is mounted shown in FIG.\",\n \"16(A) are shielded, in the thickness direction (Z direction), by the display device 50 including the metal plate 50c that is disposed extending outward of the upper substrate 61 and the lower substrate 62 that is disposed extending inward of the upper substrate 61.Accordingly, this makes it more unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor 16.As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.\",\n \"The embodiment described above is configured such that, as schematically shown in FIG.\",\n \"17, the pressure sensor 16 is incorporated in the substantially rectangular parallelepipedal shape sensor package 16p and mounted on the upper surface 61a of the upper substrate 61.However, the configuration is not limited thereto.\",\n \"For example, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"18, a pressure sensor 16′ may be incorporated in a substantially rectangular parallelepipedal sensor package 16p′ and mounted on the lower surface 61b of the upper substrate 61.In this case, lead terminals 16e′ and 16f′ of the pressure sensor 16′ are connected to an interconnect (not shown) provided on the lower surface 61b of the upper substrate 61.An inlet pipe 16d′ extends straight in the −Z direction from a surface 16a′of the sensor package 16p′ that is distant from the upper substrate 61 toward the fluid bladder 22 through the through hole 62x that is formed in the lower substrate 62 and serves as an escaping portion.\",\n \"In the example shown in FIG.\",\n \"18 as well, a space SP2 around the second fluid path 42 (and a space SP1 around the first fluid path 41) where a component is not disposed in a conventional blood pressure meter can be effectively used by the lower substrate 62.As a result, the dimension in the XY direction of the upper substrate 61 can be reduced, and miniaturization in the XY direction can be promoted.\",\n \"Also, the embodiment described above is configured such that, as shown in, for example, FIGS.\",\n \"12 and 13, the through holes 62w and 62x that are formed in the plane surface of the lower substrate 62, or in other words, that are formed internally in the planar direction (the XY direction) are used as the escaping portions formed in the lower substrate 62.However, the configuration is not limited thereto.\",\n \"The escaping portions formed in the lower substrate 62 may be cut-out portions formed in the peripheral edge of the lower substrate 62.Also, the embodiment described above is configured such that the main body 10 of the blood pressure meter 1 is disposed in the base end portion a in the lengthwise direction of the belt 20, but the configuration is not limited thereto.\",\n \"The main body 10 may be disposed in, for example, a center portion in the lengthwise direction of the belt 20.The above-described embodiment is merely an example, and various modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention.\",\n \"Also, multiple embodiments described above can be achieved independently or in combination with each other.\",\n \"Also, various characteristics of different embodiments can be achieved independently or in combination with each other.\",\n \"REFERENCE NUMERALS LIST 1 Blood pressure meter 10 Main body 16 Pressure sensor 17 Piezoelectric pump 18 Valve 20 Belt 22 Fluid bladder 23 Reinforcing layer 24 Outer circumferential layer 25 Engaged portion 29 Sheet 30 Buckle 30a First plate frame member 30b Second plate frame member 31 Projection portion 32 Engaging portion 33 Magnet 41 First fluid path 42 Second fluid path 50 Display device 51 Memory 52 Operation unit 52A Power supply switch 52B Blood pressure measurement switch 53 Battery 61 Upper substrate 62 Lower substrate 61x, 62w, 62x Through hole 160 Oscillation circuit 170 Pump driving circuit 180 Valve driving circuit 100 CPU\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876002"}}},{"rowIdx":4495048,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["UPRIGHT AND INVERTED MICROSCOPE","A dual-configuration microscope is provided that may be converted into an upright or inverted microscope.","The microscope includes a body having a plurality of planar surfaces, each planar surface configured to support the body on a working surface as the body is tilted between the upright and inverted configurations.","The microscope further includes an objective, a condenser, a stage positioned between the objective and the condenser, and a portable display device to display a specimem."],["1.A microscope comprising: a body configured to be converted from an upright to inverted configuration; wherein the body comprises a plurality of planar surfaces, each planar surface configured to support the body on a working surface as the body is tilted between the upright and inverted configurations; an objective disposed on the body for viewing a specimen; a condenser disposed on the body for illuminating the specimen; a stage disposed between the objective and the condenser for supporting the specimen; and an internal camera disposed within the body, the internal camera configured to capture an image of the specimen; wherein when the body is in the upright configuration, the objective is disposed vertically above the condenser; and wherein when the body is in the inverted configuration, the condenser is disposed vertically above the objective.","2.The microscope of claim 1, wherein the stage comprises a first specimen supporting surface and a second specimen supporting surface, wherein the second specimen supporting surface is positioned opposite the first specimen supporting surface.","3.The microscope of claim 1, wherein the plurality of planar surfaces comprise a first, second, and third planar surface.","4.The microscope of claim 1, wherein the plurality of planar surfaces comprise a first, second, third, and fourth planar surface.","5.The microscope of claim 1, wherein the plurality of planar surfaces comprise a first, second, third, fourth, and fifth planar surface.","6.The microscope of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of focus knob receptacles disposed on the body, wherein each focus knob receptacle is configured to receive a removable focus knob.","7.The microscope of claim 6, wherein the removable focus knob is further configured to receive user input for controlling an operation of the microscope.","8.The microscope of claim 7, wherein the operation comprises a focusing operation using the objective.","9.The microscope of claim 1, further comprising a portable display device configured to display the image of the specimen captured by the internal camera.","10.The microscope of claim 9, further comprising a first supporting slot disposed on a first planar surface of the plurality of planar surfaces, the first supporting slot configured to support the portable display device on the body.","11.The microscope of claim 10, further comprising a second supporting slot disposed on a second planar surface of the plurality of planar surfaces, the second supporting slot disposed opposite the first supporting slot and configured to support the portable display device on the body.","12.The microscope of claim 11, further comprising a first rotating stand disposed on the first planar surface of the plurality of planar surfaces, the first rotating stand configured to support the portable display device on the body.","13.The microscope of claim 12, further comprising a second rotating stand disposed on the second planar surface of the plurality of planar surfaces, the second rotating stand disposed opposite the first rotating stand and configured to support the portable display device on the body.","14.The microscope of claim 1, further comprising a communications module configured to transmit data representing the image of the specimen captured by the internal camera to the portable display device.","15.A method for converting a microscope from an upright to inverted configuration, the method comprising: tilting a body from an upright configuration to a first intermediate position on a working surface, the body comprising a plurality of planar surfaces, each planar surface configured to support the body on a working surface as the body is tilted between the upright configuration and an inverted configuration, the body further comprising: an objective disposed on the body for viewing a specimen; a condenser disposed on the body for illuminating the specimen; and a stage disposed between the objective and the condenser for supporting the specimen; wherein when the body is in the upright configuration, the objective is disposed vertically above the condenser; and wherein when the body is in the inverted configuration, the condenser is disposed vertically above the objective; tilting the body from the first intermediate position to a second intermediate position on the working surface; tilting the body from the second intermediate position to a third intermediate position on the working surface; and tilting the body from the third intermediate position to the inverted configuration.","16.The method of claim 15, wherein the body further comprises a portable display device disposed on the body and configured to display the specimen.","17.The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of planar surfaces comprise a first, second, third, fourth, and fifth planar surface.","18.The method of claim 15, further comprising mounting a portable display device onto a slot, wherein the slot is disposed on one planar surface of the plurality of planar surfaces.","19.The method of claim 15, further comprising inserting a removable focus knob into one of a plurality of focus knob receptacles, the plurality of focus knob receptacles disposed on the body and each configured to receive the removable focus knob.","20.The method of claim 15, further comprising rotating a first stand disposed on the body to a deployed position, the first stand configured to rotate between the deployed position and a stowed position; wherein when in the deployed position, the first stand supports a portable display device on the body; and wherein when in the stowed position, the an outer surface of the first stand is flush with the body."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Conventionally, there are two types of microscope configurations, upright and inverted.","Generally, upright and inverted microscopes differ in the manner by which a specimen, an objective, and a light source are arranged with respect to each other.","For example, in an upright microscope, the objective is arranged so that it is disposed vertically above the specimen and the light source is disposed vertically below the specimen.","In an inverted microscope, the objective is arranged so that it is disposed vertically below the specimen and the objective is disposed vertically above the specimen.","Accordingly, an optic train, that is the arrangement of lenses generally housed within a housing and used to reflect light from the light source and specimen to a user, is arranged either above or below the specimen along with the objective.","In both upright and inverted microscopes, focusing of the specimen is accomplished by way of a corresponding positioning of the specimen relative to the objective, specifically in such a way that a region of the specimen to be observed is arranged in a focal plane of the objective.","In one example, the position of the specimen relative to the objective may be adjusted by moving the objective along an optical axis relative to the specimen.","In this case, the specimen may be mounted on a conventional specimen slide or dish that is secured to a corresponding specimen holder on a microscope stage.","In this example, the microscope stage may be fixed such that it does not move in the direction of the optical axis of the objective.","In another example, the position of the specimen relative to the objective may be adjusted by mechanically moving the stage along the optical axis in order to focus on the desired specimen region.","In this example, the position of the objective would be fixed along the direction of its optical axis.","In both examples, the stage may also be configured so that it may horizontally move relative to a microscope body along a single plane in at least two directions, such as in an X and a Y direction.","In both examples, focusing of the specimen region is usually performed by the user by operating an interface element arranged on the microscope body, as a result of which either the objective or the microscope stage is positioned along the optical axis.","The interface element may comprise a rotary knob.","Rotation of the rotary knob by the user causes linear motion of the objective or the stage along the optical axis.","Typically, the rotary knob is arranged proximal to a working surface on which the microscope rests."],["<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide further understanding of the subject technology and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate aspects of the subject technology and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the subject technology.","FIG.","1 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an upright configuration.","FIG.","2 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an example of an intermediate configuration.","FIG.","3A illustrates a cross section view of an embodiment of a rotational coupling of a rotating microscope.","FIG.","3B illustrates a cross section view of an embodiment of a stage.","FIG.","4A illustrates an embodiment of a height compensator in a first position.","FIG.","4B illustrates an embodiment of the height compensator of FIG.","4A in a second position.","FIG.","5 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","6 illustrates an embodiment of a flipping microscope in an upright configuration.","FIG.","7 illustrates an embodiment of a flipping microscope in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","8 illustrates an embodiment of a reconfigurable microscope in an upright configuration.","FIG.","9 illustrates an embodiment of the reconfigurable microscope of FIG.","8 in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","10A illustrates an embodiment of a mounting feature.","FIG.","10B illustrates an embodiment of an interchangeable component.","FIGS.","11A-11C illustrate an embodiment of a modular microscope in an upright configuration.","FIGS.","12A-12C illustrate an embodiment of the modular microscope of FIGS.","11A-11C in an inverted configuration.","FIGS.","13A-13B illustrate an embodiment of a base of a modular microscope.","FIG.","14A-14B illustrate a condenser module of a modular microscope.","FIG.","14C-14D illustrate an objective module of a modular microscope.","FIG.","15 illustrates an embodiment of a swing arm microscope.","FIG.","16A illustrates an embodiment of an upper swing arm.","FIG.","16B illustrates an embodiment of a lower swing arm.","FIGS.","17A-17B illustrate an embodiment of a laterally rotating microscope.","FIG.","18 illustrates a high-level schematic block diagram of an embodiment of an electronic system for use with a reconfigurable microscope as described herein.","FIG.","19 illustrates and example of a user interface provided on a mobile computing device configured to cooperate with a dual-configuration microscope.","FIGS.","20A-20B illustrate an embodiment of a stage for use with a dual-configuration microscope.","FIGS.","21A-21B illustrate an embodiment of a rotating microscope in an upright configuration.","FIG.","21C illustrates an embodiment of the rotating microscope of FIGS.","21A-21B in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","21D illustrates an embodiment of a Dove prism housing.","FIG.","22 illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope.","FIG.","23A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.","FIG.","23B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.","FIG.","24A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","24B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","25A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.","FIG.","25B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.","FIG.","25C illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.","FIG.","25D illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.","FIG.","25E illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.","detailed-description description=\"Detailed Description\" end=\"lead\"?"],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of non-provisional application Ser.","No.","15/682,423, filed Aug. 21, 2017, which is a continuation of non-provisional application Ser.","No.","15/238,593, filed Aug. 16, 2016, now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,746,657, which is a continuation of non-provisional application Ser.","No.","15/003,694, filed Jan. 21, 2016, now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,435,990, which is a continuation of non-provisional application Ser.","No.","14/832,694, filed Aug. 21, 2015, now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,348,129, which is a continuation of non-provisional application Ser.","No.","14/494,519, filed Sep. 23, 2014, now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,140,885, which is a continuation of International Patent Application No.","PCT/US2014/044707, filed Jun.","27, 2014, which claims priority to U.S.","Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","61/841,229, filed Jun.","28, 2013, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.","TECHNICAL FIELD The systems and methods disclosed herein generally relate to microscopes, and more particularly to a microscope configured to be used in both an upright configuration and an inverted configuration.","BACKGROUND Conventionally, there are two types of microscope configurations, upright and inverted.","Generally, upright and inverted microscopes differ in the manner by which a specimen, an objective, and a light source are arranged with respect to each other.","For example, in an upright microscope, the objective is arranged so that it is disposed vertically above the specimen and the light source is disposed vertically below the specimen.","In an inverted microscope, the objective is arranged so that it is disposed vertically below the specimen and the objective is disposed vertically above the specimen.","Accordingly, an optic train, that is the arrangement of lenses generally housed within a housing and used to reflect light from the light source and specimen to a user, is arranged either above or below the specimen along with the objective.","In both upright and inverted microscopes, focusing of the specimen is accomplished by way of a corresponding positioning of the specimen relative to the objective, specifically in such a way that a region of the specimen to be observed is arranged in a focal plane of the objective.","In one example, the position of the specimen relative to the objective may be adjusted by moving the objective along an optical axis relative to the specimen.","In this case, the specimen may be mounted on a conventional specimen slide or dish that is secured to a corresponding specimen holder on a microscope stage.","In this example, the microscope stage may be fixed such that it does not move in the direction of the optical axis of the objective.","In another example, the position of the specimen relative to the objective may be adjusted by mechanically moving the stage along the optical axis in order to focus on the desired specimen region.","In this example, the position of the objective would be fixed along the direction of its optical axis.","In both examples, the stage may also be configured so that it may horizontally move relative to a microscope body along a single plane in at least two directions, such as in an X and a Y direction.","In both examples, focusing of the specimen region is usually performed by the user by operating an interface element arranged on the microscope body, as a result of which either the objective or the microscope stage is positioned along the optical axis.","The interface element may comprise a rotary knob.","Rotation of the rotary knob by the user causes linear motion of the objective or the stage along the optical axis.","Typically, the rotary knob is arranged proximal to a working surface on which the microscope rests.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide further understanding of the subject technology and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate aspects of the subject technology and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the subject technology.","FIG.","1 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an upright configuration.","FIG.","2 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an example of an intermediate configuration.","FIG.","3A illustrates a cross section view of an embodiment of a rotational coupling of a rotating microscope.","FIG.","3B illustrates a cross section view of an embodiment of a stage.","FIG.","4A illustrates an embodiment of a height compensator in a first position.","FIG.","4B illustrates an embodiment of the height compensator of FIG.","4A in a second position.","FIG.","5 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","6 illustrates an embodiment of a flipping microscope in an upright configuration.","FIG.","7 illustrates an embodiment of a flipping microscope in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","8 illustrates an embodiment of a reconfigurable microscope in an upright configuration.","FIG.","9 illustrates an embodiment of the reconfigurable microscope of FIG.","8 in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","10A illustrates an embodiment of a mounting feature.","FIG.","10B illustrates an embodiment of an interchangeable component.","FIGS.","11A-11C illustrate an embodiment of a modular microscope in an upright configuration.","FIGS.","12A-12C illustrate an embodiment of the modular microscope of FIGS.","11A-11C in an inverted configuration.","FIGS.","13A-13B illustrate an embodiment of a base of a modular microscope.","FIG.","14A-14B illustrate a condenser module of a modular microscope.","FIG.","14C-14D illustrate an objective module of a modular microscope.","FIG.","15 illustrates an embodiment of a swing arm microscope.","FIG.","16A illustrates an embodiment of an upper swing arm.","FIG.","16B illustrates an embodiment of a lower swing arm.","FIGS.","17A-17B illustrate an embodiment of a laterally rotating microscope.","FIG.","18 illustrates a high-level schematic block diagram of an embodiment of an electronic system for use with a reconfigurable microscope as described herein.","FIG.","19 illustrates and example of a user interface provided on a mobile computing device configured to cooperate with a dual-configuration microscope.","FIGS.","20A-20B illustrate an embodiment of a stage for use with a dual-configuration microscope.","FIGS.","21A-21B illustrate an embodiment of a rotating microscope in an upright configuration.","FIG.","21C illustrates an embodiment of the rotating microscope of FIGS.","21A-21B in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","21D illustrates an embodiment of a Dove prism housing.","FIG.","22 illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope.","FIG.","23A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.","FIG.","23B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.","FIG.","24A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","24B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","25A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.","FIG.","25B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.","FIG.","25C illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.","FIG.","25D illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.","FIG.","25E illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION As discussed above, there conventionally are two types of microscope configurations, upright and inverted.","These two types of microscopes are separate from one another and if a user desires to utilize an upright and inverted microscope, the user must have two separate microscopes at their disposal.","Having two separate microscopes thereby increases the equipment and maintenance costs to the user and further, requires additional physical space to store and use the separate microscopes.","The dual-configuration microscopes of the subject technology address the foregoing problems, among others, by allowing the user to convert a single microscope from an upright configuration into an inverted configuration, and vice versa.","Rotating Embodiment FIGS.","1-5 illustrate an example of a rotating microscope 100.Referring to FIG.","1, the microscope 100 is depicted in an upright configuration.","The microscope 100 comprises a unitary base 102 and a body 104.The base 102 comprises a lower portion 102A and an upper portion 102B.","The lower portion 102A extends in a substantially horizontal plane and the upper portion 102B extends in a substantially vertical plane.","The upper portion 102B may be disposed at about a 90 degree angle from the lower portion 102A and may further, be manufactured as a single component.","Alternatively, the lower portion 102A and upper portion 102B may be formed of two or more separate components and attached, fastened, or otherwise coupled together to form the base 102.The lower portion 102A is configured to support the microscope 100 on a working surface 10.The base 102 may be formed of a metal alloy, composite, polymer, or other sufficiently rigid material that is capable of supporting the weight and proper use of the microscope 100, as known by those having ordinary skill in the art.","The body 104 comprises a first portion 104A, a second portion 104B, and an intermediate portion 104C extending between the first and second portions, 104A and 104B respectively.","The intermediate portion 104C may be rotatably coupled to the upper portion 102B of the base 102 at a rotational coupling (shown in FIG.","3A).","The rotational coupling 130 allows the body 104 to rotate with respect to the base 102 along a rotating axis 120 that extends in a longitudinal direction with respect to the microscope 100, as shown in FIG.","2.To facilitate rotation of the body 104 with respect to the base 102, in some embodiments an outer surface 152A (see, for example, FIG.","1) of the first portion 104A and an outer surface 152B (see, for example, FIGS.","2 and 5) of the second portion 104B may each have a convex profile that corresponds to a concave profile of an outer surface 153 of the lower portion 102A.","The convex and concave outer surfaces thereby prevent interference between the body 104 and the base 102 during rotation.","FIG.","3A illustrates a cross section view of one embodiment of the rotational coupling 130 of the microscope 100.The rotational coupling 130 may comprise a shaft 132 extending longitudinally from the upper portion 102B of the base 102 and a corresponding bore 134 disposed within the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.The shaft 132 and bore 134 are arranged to permit the body 104 to rotate about the rotating axis 120, as shown in FIG.","2.The rotational coupling 130 is provided as one example of a suitable coupling between the base 102 and the body 104.In other embodiments, variations of rotational couplings from the illustrated coupling in FIG.","3A can be used to facilitate rotation of the body 104 around the rotating axis 120.For example, a ball bearing coupling, a rigid coupling between a first rotating shaft of the body 104 and a second rotating shaft of the base 102, a wheel and axle, or other suitable couplings allowing rotation may be used to permit rotation of the body 104 relative to the base 102.In some embodiments, the rotational coupling may be coated or treated to reduce friction.","In some embodiments, the rotational coupling may be configured to stop or lock when the body 104 is in the inverted and upright positions.","Referring to FIG.","1, the body 104 is configured to support, directly or indirectly, at least one objective 113, a stage 114, a condenser 116, and/or a light source (not shown).","The body 104 may be formed of a metal alloy, composite, polymer, or other sufficiently rigid material capable of supporting the objective 113, stage 114, condenser 116, and/or light source.","The body 104 may be manufactured as a single component or may comprise a multitude of components that are attached, fastened, or otherwise assembled together, as known by those having ordinary skill in the art.","The objective 113 may be mounted to a nosepiece 112 and is disposed proximal to the first portion 104A of the body 104.The objective 113 comprises a cylinder containing one or more lenses configured to collect light from a specimen being observed.","The objective 113 further defines an optical axis 124 that, when in a working position, runs perpendicular to the stage 114.The stage 114 supports the specimen being observed on a specimen supporting surface 119A, as discussed further below.","The condenser 116 and light source may be disposed proximal to the second portion 104B of the body 104.Particularly, the condenser 116 may be mounted on the second portion 104B and the light source may be mounted within the body 104.The condenser 116 includes a lens that serves to concentrate light from the light source into a cone of light that illuminates the specimen.","The stage 114 is a platform configured to support the specimen being observed.","The stage 114 may include an opening aligned with the condenser 116, to allow light to pass through the stage 114 and illuminate the specimen.","In one example, the stage 114 may be configured to be removably attached to the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.For example, the stage 114 may include a substantially horizontal rail that is configured to slide within a substantially horizontal channel disposed within the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.The stage 114 may thus, be attached to the body 104 by sliding the stage 114 horizontally toward the body 104.To remove the stage 114, the stage 114 may be slid horizontally away from the body 104, thereby disengaging the channel and rail assembly.","In this example, the channel of the body 104 is configured to receive the rail of the stage 114 when the microscope 100 is in either the upright or inverted configuration.","Accordingly, the channel of the body 104 and the rail of the stage 114 may have horizontally symmetrical profiles, such as a round, oval, rectangular, square or any combination thereof.","In another example, the rail of the stage 114 may be configured to be inserted into a first or second substantially horizontal channel disposed within the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.In this example, the rail of the stage 114 may be inserted into the first channel of the body 104 when the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration and into the second channel of the body 104 when the microscope 100 is in the inverted configuration.","In some embodiments, the first and second channels of the body 104 and the rail of the stage 114 may not have horizontally symmetrical profiles in order to aid the user in knowing into which of the first or second channels to insert the rail of the stage 114.In some embodiments, the first and second channels of the body 104 can be arranged to maintain a distance between a specimen supporting surface 119A of the stage 114 and an outer surface of a lens of the objective 113, regardless of whether the microscope 100 is in the upright or inverted configuration.","In particular, when the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration, the stage 114 can be inserted into the first channel.","When in the first channel, the specimen supporting surface 119A is at a first distance away from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 113.When the microscope 100 is in the inverted configuration, the stage 114 can be inserted into the second channel.","When in the second channel, the specimen supporting surface 119A is at a second distance away from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 113.The first and second channels are arranged on the body 104 so that the first and second distances are the same.","Alternatively, the stage 114 may be mounted to a height compensator 115 that is disposed proximal to the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.As shown in FIG.","1, the stage 114 may be disposed between the objective 113 and the condenser 116.Other embodiments of stage configurations are discussed in more detail below.","FIGS.","4A and 4B illustrate a detail view of the height compensator 115 and the stage 114 in the first and second positions, respectively.","The height compensator 115 may comprise at least one rail 117A that is configured to engage a corresponding channel 117B disposed within the stage 114.The rail 117A and the channel 117B are configured to permit the stage 114 to slide between a first position (shown in FIG.","4A) and a second position (shown in FIG.","4B) along the optical axis 124.Although a rail and channel arrangement are shown in FIGS.","4A and 4B, it is known by those having ordinary skill in the art that other mechanisms may be used to permit sliding of the stage between the first and second positions.","When the stage is in the first position (shown in FIG.","4A), the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration (as shown in FIG.","1).","When the stage is in the second position (shown in FIG.","4B), the microscope is in the inverted configuration (as shown in FIG.","5).","In one embodiment, the stage 114 slides between the first and second positions based on gravity.","Accordingly, the stage 114 may move between the first and second positions automatically when the body 104 is rotated from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration.","Similarly, the stage 114 may move between the second and first positions automatically when the body 104 is rotated from the inverted configuration to the upright configuration.","Movement of the stage between the first and second position can maintain a focal distance between the objective and the specimen-supporting (e.g., upward-facing) surface of the stage when the body 104 is rotated between the inverted configuration and the upright configuration.","Similarly, movement of the stage between the first and second position can maintain a working distance between the condenser and the specimen-supporting (e.g., upward-facing) surface of the stage when the body 104 is rotated between the inverted configuration and the upright configuration.","In some aspects, the stage 114 comprises, on an outer surface, a first specimen supporting surface 119A and at an opposite surface, a second specimen supporting surface 119B.","When the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration and thus, the stage 114 is in the first position, the first specimen supporting surface 119A is facing upward and therefore configured to support the specimen.","When the microscope 100 is in the inverted configuration and thus, the stage 114 is in the second position, the second specimen supporting surface 119B is facing upward and therefore configured to support the specimen.","In some aspects, each of the first and second specimen supporting surfaces, 119A and 119B respectively, may comprise a specimen securing element 143 that is configured to secure a specimen.","The specimen securing element 143 may secure the specimen through mechanical, magnetic, or electromechanical means.","For example, the specimen securing element 143 may comprise stage clips to mechanically secure the specimen to the stage.","Alternatively, each of the first and second specimen supporting surfaces, 119A and 119B respectively, may comprise a recessed pocket 144 that is configured to accept an interchangeable insert 145.The interchangeable insert 145 may be selected based on the type of specimen to be observed, such as a specimen slide or specimen petri dish.","In this example, the interchangeable insert 145 itself, supports the specimen.","In some aspects, when the stage 114 is in the first position, the first specimen supporting surface 119A is positioned at a distance “D1” from an outer surface of a lens of the objective 113 and a distance “D3” from an outer surface of the condenser 116.Likewise, when the stage 114 is in the second position, the second specimen supporting surface 119B is positioned at a distance “D2” from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 113 and a distance “D4” from an outer surface of the condenser 116.To maintain the appropriate distance between the specimen supporting surface and the lens of the objective 113 and/or condenser 116, the height compensator 115 allows the stage 114 to move between the first and second positions, as discussed above.","By doing so, the height compensator 115 allows D2 to be the same value as D1 when the microscope 100 is converted from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration.","Likewise, the height compensator 115 allows D1 to be the same value as D2 when the microscope 100 is converted from the inverted configuration to the upright configuration.","Similarly, the height compensator 115 allows D3 to be the same value as D4 when the microscope 100 is converted from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration.","Likewise, the height compensator 115 allows D4 to be the same value as D3 when the microscope 100 is converted from the inverted configuration to the upright configuration.","In other words, the height compensator 115 maintains the distance (D1 or D2) between the appropriate specimen supporting surface (119A or 119B) and the lens of the objective 113, and/or the distance (D3 or D4) between the appropriate specimen supporting surface (119A or 119B) and the lens of the condenser 116, regardless of whether the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration or the inverted configuration.","Accordingly, the position of a focal plane of the objective 113, with respect to the appropriate specimen supporting surface (119A or 119B), remains unchanged.","Likewise, the position of the condenser 116, with respect to the appropriate specimen supporting surface (119A or 119B)—the distance of which is generally referred to as the working distance—remains unchanged.","FIG.","3B illustrates a cross section view of the stage 114.In some aspects, the stage 114 comprises a removable and repositionable stage displacement handle 126.Rotation of the handle causes the displacement of the stage 114 in the X and Y directions, both of which are generally horizontal and parallel to the working surface 10 that supports the microscope 100.The handle 126 comprises a shaft 127 having a first gear 128A and a second gear 128B disposed at a distal portion of the shaft 127, and a first knob 129A and a second knob 129B disposed at a proximal portion of the shaft 127.Rotation of the first knob 129A causes rotation of the first gear 128A.","Rotation of the first gear 128A causes displacement of the stage 114 in the X direction.","Rotation of the second knob 129B causes rotation of the second gear 128B.","Rotation of the second gear 128B causes displacement of the stage 114 in the Y direction.","The stage 114 further comprises at least one receptacle 140A configured to receive the distal portion of the shaft 127 and the first and second gears, 128A and 128B, respectively.","In one aspect, the receptacle 140A is configured to receive the distal portion of the shaft 127 from either the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 119A, 119B.","In other words, the distal portion of shaft 127 may be inserted into the receptacle 140A from either the first specimen supporting surface 119A side, or the second specimen supporting surface 119B side.","In this way, when the microscope 100 is rotated from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration, the handle 126 may be removed from the receptacle 140A, such as from the second specimen supporting surface 119B side, and reinserted into the receptacle 140A from the first specimen supporting surface 119A side, thereby repositioning the handle 126 so that it remains proximal to the working surface 10 that supports the microscope 100.Similarly, when the microscope 100 is rotated from the inverted configuration to upright configuration, the handle 126 may be removed from the receptacle 140A, such as from the first specimen supporting surface 119A side, and reinserted into the receptacle 140A from the second specimen supporting surface 119B side, thereby repositioning the handle 126 so that it remains proximal to the working surface 10 that supports the microscope 100.In some aspects, the stage 114 may include a second receptacle 140B that is disposed laterally away from the first receptacle 140A.","Upon conversion of the microscope 100 from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration, the handle 126 may, for example, be removed from the first receptacle 140A and inserted into the second receptacle 140B, thereby allowing the handle 126 to remain on the right side of the microscope 100.Accordingly, the first and second receptacles, 140A and 140B respectively, provide for the handle 126 to remain on a common side of the microscope 100, regardless of whether the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration or in the inverted configuration.","Referring to FIG.","3B, upon insertion of the handle 126 into the receptacle 140A, 140B the first gear 128A engages a corresponding third gear 128C disposed within the stage 114 and the second gear 128B engages a corresponding fourth gear 128D disposed within the stage 114.Although the use of gears are discussed herein with reference to displacing the stage 114 in the X and Y directions, it is understood that other mechanical methods may be used to control the displacement of the stage in the X and Y directions, such as the use of hexagonal shaped shafts, square shaped shafts, use of friction or snap fits, or any other mechanical methods as known by those having ordinary skill in the art.","The handle 126 may further comprise a stop 141 that is configured to engage the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 119A, 119B.","When engaged, the physical contact between the stop 141 and the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 119A, 119B prevents further insertion of the handle 126 into the receptacle 140A, 140B by mechanically preventing further movement of the handle 126 in a direction toward the stage 114.In some aspects, to prevent the handle 126 from inadvertently disengaging the receptacle 140A, 140B the handle 126 may comprise a magnetic element 142A that is configured to engage one or more corresponding magnetic elements 142B disposed within the stage 114.In particular, the magnetic elements 142B may be disposed proximate to the first and second specimen supporting surfaces, 119A and 119B respectively.","The magnetic elements 142A, 142B maintain engagement of the shaft 127 within the receptacle 140A, 140B through a magnetic force acting between the magnetic elements 142A and 142B.","Although the use of a magnetic force is discussed herein with reference to maintaining the shaft 127 within the receptacle 140A, 140B, it is understood that other methods may be used to maintain the shaft 127 within the receptacle 140A, 140B, such as the use of interference, friction or snap fits, or any other mechanical or electromechanical methods as known by those having ordinary skill in the art.","Referring to FIG.","1, the microscope 100 may further comprise an optical arm 106 disposed proximal to the first portion 104A of the body 104.The optical arm 106 may comprise an elongated housing forming an optical pathway therein, the optical pathway having an optical input at one end of the optical arm 106 and an optical output at an opposite end of the optical arm 106.The optical input of the of the optical arm 106 is configured to receive light that has entered the objective 113 and has been reflected toward the optical input of the optical arm 106 via one or more mirrors disposed within the first portion 104A of the body 104.Light entering the optical input of the optical arm 106 is then reflected to the optical output of the optical arm 106 via one or more mirrors disposed within the optical arm 106 and/or body 104.The optical arm 106, therefore, forms a portion of the optical path of the microscope 100.In another example, the optical arm 106 may be disposed proximal to the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.In this example, the optical arm 106 may be disposed adjacent to the stage 114 and configured to direct light entering the objective to the optical output of the optical arm 106 via one or more mirrors disposed within the optical arm 106 and/or body 104.In yet another example, the optical arm 106 may be disposed proximal to the second portion 104B of the body 104.In this example, the optical arm 106 may be disposed adjacent to the working surface 10 and configured to direct light entering the objective to the optical output of the optical arm 106 via one or more mirrors disposed within the optical arm 106 and/or body 104.In some aspects, the optical arm 106 may be pivotably coupled to the first portion 104A of the body 104, thereby allowing the optical arm 106 to rotate about a pivoting axis 122.The pivoting axis 122 may extend in a lateral direction with respect to the microscope 100.The optical arm 106 may be configured to be positioned at varying angles, or at one or more predetermined angles.","In one aspect, the optical arm 106 may be mechanically connected to a brake that prevents the body 104 from rotating.","Accordingly, in order to rotate the body 104 and thereby convert the microscope 100 from an upright configuration to an inverted configuration, or from an inverted configuration to an upright configuration, the optical arm 106 must first be rotated towards the rotating axis 120 or toward the stage 114 in order to disengage the brake.","In this way, the possibility of damaging the optical arm 106 or other related component through inadvertent collision with the lower portion 102A during rotation of the body 104, is reduced because the optical arm 106 is moved toward the rotating axis 120 and away from the lower base 102A, as shown in FIG.","2.Referring to FIG.","1, in some aspects the microscope 100 may further comprise a cradle 108 disposed at a distal portion of the optical arm 106 and proximal to the optical output of the optical arm 106.The cradle 108 is configured to receive and secure an electronic device 110 that is capable of acquiring images.","Particularly, the cradle 108 aligns an optical input of the electronic device 110, such as a lens of a camera, with the optical output of the optical arm 106.The electronic device may comprise a mobile device, camera, tablet computer, laptop computer, PDA, portable computer, or other device that is capable of receiving light or other optical data, or acquiring an image.","The electronic device 110 may further comprise a touch-sensitive screen display or other input mechanisms, such as buttons or keys, that are capable of receiving user input.","In some aspects, a user may control operations of the microscope, such as focusing of a specimen, positioning of a specimen with respect to the objective 113, operation of the light source, control of the condenser 116, acquisition of an image, processing of an image, sending of an image to another device, altering light pathways and illumination settings, automated X-Y stage movement, controlling external hardware devices (e.g., camera), controlling other computer devices (e.g., onboard mini-computer, onboard controllers), communicating with other devices (such as through local area networks, wide area networks, broadband, Bluetooth, WiFi, or other wireless or wired communication methods), and other microscope related operations, by using the input mechanisms of the electronic device 110.The microscope 100 may further comprise a first and second focus knob 118A, 118B disposed laterally on the body 104.The first focus knob 118A may be disposed proximal to the first portion 104A of the body 104 and the second focus knob 118B may be disposed proximal to the second portion 104B of the body 104.The first and second focus knobs 118A, 118B may be configured to adjust a position of the objective 113 along the optical axis 124 to thereby position the specimen in a focal plane of the objective 113.Alternatively, the first and second focus knobs 118A, 118B may be configured to adjust a position of the height compensator 115 and stage 114, together, along the optical axis 124 to thereby position the specimen in a focal plane of the objective 113.A method for converting the microscope 100 from an upright configuration into an inverted configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.","1-5.To convert the microscope 100 from the upright configuration into the inverted configuration, the user may first rotate the optical arm 106 toward the stage 114.Rotation of the optical arm 106 towards the stage 114 may cause the brake to disengage, thereby allowing the body 104 to rotate about the rotating axis 120.Alternatively, the optical arm 106 may be configured to rotate towards the stage 114 upon rotation of the body 104.Rotating the optical arm 106 towards the stage 114 during rotation of the body 104 minimizes the likelihood that the optical arm 106 will be damaged during conversion of the microscope 100.The optical arm 106 may be configured to automatically rotate towards the stage 114 by, for example, mechanically coupling the optical arm 106 to the rotational coupling 130 via a cable and pulley system.","In this example, upon rotation of the body 104, the cable is placed in tension thereby causing the optical arm 106 to rotate towards the stage 114.In another example, a stepper motor or solenoid may be coupled to the optical arm 106 and configured to actuate the optical arm 106 towards the stage 114 upon sensing rotation of the body 104.The user may then rotate the body 104 with respect to the base 102 in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction along the rotating axis 120, as shown in FIG.","2.The body 104 is rotated until the first portion 104A is adjacent to the lower portion 102A, as shown in FIG.","5.As illustrated by FIG.","2 and FIG.","5, the body of the microscope occupies substantially the same three-dimensional area in the inverted configuration and in the upright configuration, and faces substantially the same direction in the inverted configuration and in the upright configuration.","In the inverted configuration, the objective occupies substantially the same space as the condenser occupies in the upright configuration.","Similarly, in the inverted configuration, the condenser occupies substantially the same space as the objective occupies in the upright configuration.","This can provide a seamless user experience when converting the microscope between the upright and inverted configurations, as the microscope occupies substantially the same space above the workspace upon which the microscope is placed in both configurations, and also faces the same direction in both configurations.","As the body 104 is rotated from the upright configuration into the inverted configuration, the stage 114 may automatically slide from the first position (as shown in FIG.","4A), to the second position (as shown in FIG.","4B), in a direction along the optical axis 124.As a result, referring to FIGS.","4A and 4B, the distance between the specimen supporting surface (119A and 119B) and the outer surface of the lens of the objective 113 is maintained.","In other words, the distance D2 is the same as the distance D1.The user may then rotate the optical arm 106 along the pivoting axis 122 to attain a desirable viewing angle.","In some aspects, to prevent the body 104 from inadvertently moving or otherwise rotating with respect to the base 102, the body 104 may be fixed, secured, or otherwise prevented from moving by either mechanically, electromechanically, or electrically locking the body 104 in the second, inverted configuration.","For example, as discussed above, the body 104 may be fixed in the inverted configuration by activating the brake.","The brake may be activated manually by the user or automatically through the use of a controller which is configured to detect the position of the upper or lower portions 104A, 104B of the body 104.When the upper or lower portions 104A, 104B of the body 104 are adjacent to the lower portion 102B of the base 102, the controller activates the brake thereby fixing the body 104 in the inverted configuration.","The brake may comprise a solenoid, magnetic, electrical, or mechanical brake.","Alternatively, a pin may be engaged to lock the body 104 to the base 102 in the inverted configuration.","The user may further remove the handle 126 from either the first or second receptacle 140A, 140B and reinsert the handle 126 in the other receptacle 140A, 140B, as desired.","The handle 126 may also be inserted into the desired receptacle 140A, 140B from either side of the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 119A, 119B.","Accordingly, the handle may be arranged so that its position with respect to the user, remains the same (e.g., lower right side of the microscope 100, lower left side of the microscope 100, upper right side of the microscope 100, or upper left side of the microscope 100).","Once in the inverted configuration, the user may wish to rotate the nose piece 112 in order to utilize a different objective 113.In one aspect, in order to allow the nose piece 112 to freely rotate with sufficient clearance from the stage 114, the stage 114 may be moved from the second position (shown in FIG.","4B) to the first position (shown in FIG.","4A).","In one example, the stage 114 may be moved into the first position by the user.","In this example, the stage may be mechanically linked to a lever disposed on a sidewall of the body.","By manipulating the lever, the stage 114 may be moved into the first position.","In another example, the nosepiece 112 may be mechanically coupled to the stage 114 such that rotation of the nose piece 112 causes the stage 114 to move toward the first position.","In this example, the nosepiece 112 may be coupled to a rack and pinion mechanism that converts the rotational movement of the nosepiece into a linear displacement of the stage 114.In yet another example, the stage may be coupled to a solenoid that is actuated when rotation of the nosepiece 112 is detected.","In this example, a controller senses rotation of the nosepiece 112 which in turn causes a signal to be sent to an actuator, such as the solenoid, to thereby actuate the stage 114 away from the objective and into the first position.","A method for converting the microscope 100 from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.","1-5.To convert the microscope 100 from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration, the user may first disengage the brake thereby allowing the body 104 to rotate about the rotating axis 120.The user may then rotate the body 104 with respect to the base 102 in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction along the rotating axis 120, as shown in FIG.","2.The body 104 is rotated until the second portion 104B is adjacent to the lower portion 102A, as shown in FIG.","1.As the body 104 is rotated from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration, the stage 114 may automatically slide from the second position (as shown in FIG.","4B), to the first position (as shown in FIG.","4A), in a direction along the optical axis 124.As a result, referring to FIGS.","4A and 4B, the distance between the specimen supporting surface (119A and 119B) and the outer surface of the lens of the objective 113 is maintained.","In other words, the distance D1 is the same as the distance D2.The user may then rotate the optical arm 106 along the pivoting axis 122 to attain a desirable viewing angle.","In some aspects, to prevent the body 104 from inadvertently moving or otherwise rotating with respect to the base 102, the body 104 may be locked in the first inverted configuration, as discussed above.","The user may further remove the handle 126 from either the first or second receptacle 140A, 140B and reinsert the handle 126 in the other receptacle 140A, 140B, as desired.","The handle 126 may also be inserted into the desired receptacle 140A, 140B from either side of the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 119A, 119B.","Accordingly, the handle may be arranged so that its position with respect to the user, remains the same (e.g., lower right side of the microscope 100, lower left side of the microscope 100, upper right side of the microscope 100, or upper left side of the microscope 100).","Flipping Embodiment FIGS.","6 and 7 illustrate an example of a flipping microscope 200.Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIG.","6, the microscope 200 is depicted in an upright configuration.","The microscope 200 comprises a body 204.The body 204 is configured to support, directly or indirectly, at least one objective 213, a condenser 216, and a light source (not shown).","The body 204 may further be configured to support a stage 214.The body 204 is configured to be picked up and flipped in order to convert the microscope 200 from an upright configuration (shown in FIG.","6) to an inverted configuration (shown in FIG.","7), and vice versa.","Accordingly, the body 204 comprises flattened upper and lower surfaces, 252A and 252B respectively, that are configured to support the microscope 200 on a working surface 20.The stage 214, if mounted to the body 204, may be mounted to one or more horizontal channels, a mounting block, or a height compensator as described above with reference to the microscope 100.If the stage 214 is mounted to the height compensator 215, the height compensator 215 may be disposed between the objective 213 and the condenser 216.As also described above with reference to the microscope 100, the stage 214 includes an opening aligned with the condenser 216, to allow light to pass through the stage 214 and illuminate the specimen.","The height compensator 215 permits the stage 214 to slide between a first position and a second position along an optical axis 224, defined by the objective 213.The stage 214 comprises, on an outer surface, a first specimen supporting surface 219A and at an opposite surface, a second specimen supporting surface 219B.","When the microscope 200 is in the upright configuration the stage 214 is in the first position and the first specimen supporting surface 219A is configured to support the specimen.","When the microscope 200 is in the inverted configuration the stage 214 is in the second position and the second specimen supporting surface 219B is configured to support the specimen.","As described above with reference to the microscope 100, when the stage 214 is in the first position, the first specimen supporting surface 219A is positioned at a distance “D1” from an outer surface of a lens of the objective 213.Likewise, when the stage 214 is in the second position, the second specimen supporting surface 219B is positioned at a distance “D2” from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 213.To maintain the appropriate distance between the specimen supporting surface and the objective 213, the height compensator 215 allows the stage 214 to move between the first and second positions.","By doing so, the height compensator 215 allows D2 to be the same value as D1 when the microscope 200 is flipped from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration.","Likewise, the height compensator 215 allows D1 to be the same value as D2 when the microscope 200 is flipped from the inverted configuration to the upright configuration.","In other words, the height compensator 215 maintains the distance (D1 or D2) between the appropriate specimen supporting surface (219A or 219B) and the objective 213, regardless of whether the microscope 200 is in the upright configuration or the inverted configuration.","Accordingly, the position of a focal plane of the objective 213, with respect to the appropriate specimen supporting surface (219A or 219B), remains unchanged.","The microscope 200 may further comprise an optical arm 206.The optical arm 206 may be pivotably coupled to the body 204, thereby allowing the optical arm 206 to rotate about a pivoting axis 222.The microscope 200 may further comprise a cradle 208 disposed at a distal portion of the optical arm 206.The cradle 208 is configured to receive and secure an electronic device 210 that is capable of acquiring images.","A method for flipping the microscope 200 to thereby convert the microscope 200 from an upright configuration into an inverted configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.","6 and 7.To convert the microscope 200 from the upright configuration (as shown in FIG.","6) into the inverted configuration (as shown in FIG.","7), the user picks up and flips the body 204 so that the upper surface 252A makes contact with the working surface 20.The stage 214 automatically slides from the first position to the second position, in a direction along the optical axis 224, as the body 204 is flipped from the upright configuration into the inverted configuration.","As a result, the distance between the specimen supporting surface (219A and 219B) and the outer surface of the lens of the objective 213 is maintained.","In other words, the distance D2 is the same as the distance D1.As discussed above with reference to the microscope 100, the user may remove and reposition the handle 226 from either the first or second receptacle 240A, 240B and reinsert the handle 226 in the other receptacle 240A, 240B, as desired.","The handle 226 may further be inserted into the desired receptacle 240A, 240B from either side of the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 219A, 219B.","Accordingly, the handle may be arranged so that its position with respect to the user, remains the same (e.g., lower right side of the microscope 200, lower left side of the microscope 200, upper right side of the microscope 200, or upper left side of the microscope 200).","A method for flipping the microscope 200 to thereby convert the microscope 200 from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.","6 and 7.To convert the microscope 200 from the inverted configuration (as shown in FIG.","7) into the upright configuration (as shown in FIG.","6), the user picks up and flips the body 204 so that the lower surface 252B makes contact with the working surface 20.The stage 214 automatically slides from the second position to the first position, in a direction along the optical axis 224, as the body 204 is flipped from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration.","As a result, the distance between the specimen supporting surface (219A and 219B) and the outer surface of the lens of the objective 213 is maintained.","In other words, the distance D1 is the same as the distance D2.The user may remove and reposition the handle 226 from either the first or second receptacle 240A, 240B and reinsert the handle 226 in the other receptacle 240A, 240B, as desired.","The handle 226 may further be inserted into the desired receptacle 240A, 240B from either side of the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 219A, 219B.","Accordingly, the handle may be arranged so that its position with respect to the user, remains the same (e.g., lower right side of the microscope 200, lower left side of the microscope 200, upper right side of the microscope 200, or upper left side of the microscope 200).","Reconfigurable Embodiment FIGS.","8-10B illustrate an example of a reconfigurable microscope 300.Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIG.","8, the microscope 300 comprises a frame or body 304 having a first portion 304A, a second portion 304B and an intermediate portion 304C.","The intermediate portion 304C is disposed between the first and second portions, 304A and 304B respectively.","The intermediate portion 304C may be configured to mount a stage 314.The first portion 304A includes a first mounting feature 360A and the second portion 304B includes a second mounting feature 360B.","Referring to FIG.","10A, the first and second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively, each comprise a channel 361 configured to receive interchangeable components.","The interchangeable components may comprise a nose piece 312 having at least one objective 313, an objective 313, or a light source and condenser assembly 316.Referring to FIG.","10B, each of the interchangeable components comprises a rail 362 configured to engage the channel 361 of the first and second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively.","Accordingly, any of the interchangeable components may engage the first and second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively.","Although a channel and rail arrangement is used to mount the interchangeable components to the body 304, it is understood that other methods may be used to mount the interchangeable components to the body 304, such as the use of interference, friction or snap fits, or any other mechanical or electromechanical methods as known by those having ordinary skill in the art.","Referring to FIGS.","10A and 10B, in some aspects, each of the first and second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively, may include a lock 363 configured to mechanically engage the interchangeable components.","The lock 363 may comprise a tab configured to engage a corresponding indent 364 disposed on each of the interchangeable components.","The lock 363 may be further configured to automatically engage the indent 364 upon insertion of the interchangeable component into the mounting features 360A and 360B.","To disengage the lock 363, the tab may be moved to clear the indent 364 while simultaneously moving the interchangeable component away from the body 304.In one aspect, each of the first and second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively, may include an electrode 366A configured to provide electrical power to those interchangeable components that require power, such as the condenser assembly 316.For example, upon insertion of the condenser assembly 316 into the first or second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively, a corresponding electrode 366B disposed within the condenser assembly 316 engages the electrode 366A, thereby energizing the light source of the condenser assembly 316.Referring to FIG.","8, to configure the microscope 300 into an upright configuration, the nose piece 312 may be mounted in the first mounting feature 360A and the condenser assembly 316 may be mounted in the second mounting feature 360B.","Referring to FIG.","9, to configure the microscope 300 into an inverted configuration, the nose piece 312 may be mounted in the second mounting feature 360B and the condenser assembly 316 may be mounted in the first mounting feature 360A.","In some aspects, the nose piece assembly 312 may further comprises an optical arm 306 pivotably coupled to the nose piece 312.The optical arm 306 may therefore, rotate about a pivoting axis 322.The optical arm 306 may further comprise a cradle 308 disposed at a distal portion of the optical arm 306.The cradle 308 is configured to receive and secure an electronic device 310 that is capable of acquiring images.","Modular Embodiment FIG.","11A illustrates an isometric view of a modular microscope 400 in the upright configuration.","FIG.","11B illustrates an isometric view of the modular microscope 400 in the upright configuration, where dashed lines illustrate interior components.","FIG.","11C illustrates a cross-sectional view of the modular microscope 400 in the upright configuration.","FIG.","12A illustrates an isometric view of the modular microscope 400 in the inverted configuration FIG.","12B illustrates an isometric view of the modular microscope 400 in the inverted configuration, where dashed lines illustrate interior components.","FIG.","12C illustrates a cross-sectional view of the modular microscope 400 in the inverted configuration.","Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIGS.","11A-11C, the microscope 400 comprises a body 404 having a first portion 404A, a second portion 404B and an intermediate portion 404C.","The intermediate portion 404C is disposed between the first and second portions, 404A and 404B respectively.","The intermediate portion 404C may be configured to mount a stage 414.The first portion 404A includes a first mounting feature 460A and the second portion 404B includes a second mounting feature 460B.","Each of the first and second mounting features, 460A and 460B respectively, are configured to receive an objective module 413 and a condenser module 416.The objective module 413 houses the nose piece 412 and the condenser module 416 houses the condenser 415.The nose piece 412 may be coupled to one or more objectives 412A-C.","Referring to FIGS.","13A-13B and 14A-14D, each of the first and second mounting features, 460A and 460B respectively, may comprise slots 461 that are configured to receive corresponding posts 462 disposed in each of the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively.","In some aspects, each of the posts 462 include a latch pin hole 464 that is configured to receive a corresponding latch pin 463 disposed on the body 404.The latch pins 463 provide proper optical alignment of the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively, along an optical axis 424 defined by the objective 413.Referring to FIGS.","13A-13B, the body 404 includes an upper optical port 472A disposed proximate to the first portion 404A and a lower optical port 472B disposed proximate to the second portion 404B.","Referring to FIGS.","11A-11C, 12A-12C, and 14C-14D, the upper and lower optical ports, 472A and 472B respectively, are arranged to be aligned with a corresponding optical port 472C of the objective module 413 (shown in FIGS.","14C-14D) when the microscope 400 is in either the upright configuration (as shown in FIGS.","11A-11C) or the inverted configuration (as shown in FIGS.","12A-12C).","Accordingly, light entering the objective module 413 through nose piece 412 is reflected off of a fixed mirror 480 towards the optical port 472C of the objective module 413 and into the upper or lower optical ports, 472A and 472B respectively.","Referring to FIGS.","13A-13B, the body 404 includes an internal optical path 474 that is in communication with the upper and lower optical ports, 472A and 472B respectively.","The optical path 474 includes a retractable mirror 476A and a fixed mirror 476B.","The retractable mirror 476A is disposed proximal to the upper optical port 472A and when the retractable mirror 472A is in a first, engaged position, the retractable mirror 472A reflects light entering the upper optical port 472A toward an output port 472D.","When the retractable mirror 472A is in a second, retracted position, the retractable mirror 472A is moved away from the optical path 474 and does not reflect light in the optical path 474.The fixed mirror 476B is disposed proximal to the lower optical port 472B and is arranged to reflect light entering the lower optical port 472B toward the output port 472D.","The output port 472D may include supporting optics, such as an ocular lens.","In other aspects, the output port 472D may comprise a cradle configured to receive an electronic device.","The electronic device can comprise one of a mobile communications device (e.g., smartphone), tablet computer, laptop computer, PDA, digital camera, portable gaming console, or other portable computing device.","In one aspect, the retractable mirror 476A may be actuated mechanically or electrically.","For example, a lever may be manipulated by the user to move the retractable mirror 476A to the first, engaged position or the second, retracted position.","Alternatively, the retractable mirror 476A may be automatically actuated through detection of the arrangement of the objective module 413 and/or the condenser module 416.For example, each of the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively, may have a unique electrical signal that enables a controller to detect whether the objective module 413 or the condenser module 416 is disposed within the first or second mounting features, 460A and 460B respectively.","Should the controller detect that the objective module 413 is disposed within the first mounting feature 460A, then the retractable mirror 476A is positioned in the first, engaged position.","Shall the controller detect that the objective module 413 is disposed within the second mounting feature 460B, then the retractable mirror 476A is positioned in the second, retracted position.","In another example, the retractable mirror 476A may be actuated automatically through an electrical connection made between a particular slot 461 and post 462.For instance, one of the posts 462 may be configured to provide electrical power to a predefined slot 461 that is electrically coupled to a motor or actuator.","Energizing the motor or actuator thereby causes the retractable mirror 476A to be actuated to the first, engaged position or to the second, retracted position, depending on the arrangement of the objective and condenser modules.","In another example, the retractable mirror 476A may be actuated through activation of one or more buttons or keys that are disposed on the body 404.In this example, the user may depressed the button or key to cause the retractable mirror 476A to be positioned in the first, engaged position or the second, retracted position via actuation of a motor or actuator coupled to the retractable mirror 476A.","It is understood that other mechanical or electrical methods, as known by those having ordinary skill in the art, may be used to position the retractable mirror 476A in the first, engaged position or the second, retracted position.","Referring to FIGS.","11A-11C, when the microscope 400 is in the upright configuration, the retractable mirror 476A is positioned in the engaged position and reflects light directed from the objective module 413 to the fixed mirror 480 toward the output port 472D.","Referring to FIGS.","12A-12C, when the microscope 400 is in the inverted configuration, the retractable mirror 476A is positioned in the retracted position and does not reflect light in the optical path 474.Rather, in the inverted configuration, another fixed mirror 476B reflects light entering the objective module 413 toward the output port 472D.","Retractable mirror 476A can be coupled to a hinge or pivot 485 to pivot the mirror between the engaged position and the retracted position.","Referring to FIG.","14A-14B, the condenser module 416 comprises a structure housing a condenser 415 and light source.","Referring to FIG.","14C-14D, the objective module 413 comprises a nose piece 412 onto which at least one objective 412A-C is mounted.","As discussed above, the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively, each comprise posts 462 that are held within corresponding slots 461 in the base 404 by latch pins 463 that are engaged into corresponding latch pin holes 464.In some aspects, the condenser module 416 may be electrically coupled to the base 404 to provide power to the light source.","In other aspects, the objective module 413 may be electrically coupled to the base 404 to power a focusing mechanism.","Alternatively, the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively, may be self-powered by a battery housed within each of the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively.","Swing Arm Embodiment FIGS.","15-16B illustrate an example of a swing arm microscope 500.Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIG.","15, the microscope 500 comprises a base 502 having an upper portion 502A, a lower portion 502B and an intermediate portion 502C.","The intermediate portion 502C is disposed between the upper and lower portions, 502A and 502B respectively.","The intermediate portion 502C may be configured to mount a stage 514.The upper portion 502A includes a first slot 584A and the lower portion 502B includes a second slot 584B.","The first slot 584A is configured to receive an upper swing arm 504A and the second slot 584B is configured to receive a lower swing arm 504B.","Each of the upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B respectively, are configured to swing within their corresponding slots, 584A and 584B respectively, along a pivoting axis 588 defined by a spindle 582.In one aspect, the pivoting axis is disposed along a plane of symmetry of the upper and lower swing arms 504A, 504B.","Referring to FIG.","15, the spindle 582 is disposed within the base 502.The upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B respectively, are pivotably coupled to the spindle 582 via rotational mounts 583 (as shown in FIGS.","16A and 16B).","In one aspect, the upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B respectively, swing together because each is coupled to the same spindle 582.Accordingly, the upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B respectively, move together about the pivoting axis 588.Referring to FIGS.","16A and 16B, each of the upper and lower swing arms 504A, 504B include an objective 513 and a condenser 516.The upper and lower swing arms 504A, 504B may have similar profiles such as, for example, an “L” shaped, square shaped, or round shaped profile.","Although the objective 513 and the condenser 516 of each swing arm 504A, 504B are depicted as being 90 degrees apart, it is understood that other angles may be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.","For example, the objective 513 and the condenser 516 of each swing arm 504A, 504B may be disposed at any angle ranging from 10-180 degrees.","In some aspects, the pivoting axis 588 may be disposed between the objective 513 and the condenser 516 of the upper and lower swing arms 504A, 504B.","Referring to FIG.","16A, the upper swing arm 504A includes a first optical port 577A and a second optical port 577C.","The first optical port 577A includes a mirror 576A that is configured to reflect light entering the objective 513 of the upper swing arm 504A toward an optical path 574 disposed within the base 504 (shown in FIG.","15).","The second optical port 577C comprises a through hole that allows light entering the objective 513 of the lower swing arm 504B to exit an output port 572.Referring to FIG.","15, the output port 572 may include supporting optics, such as an ocular lens and may comprise a cradle configured to receive an electronic device.","Referring to FIG.","16B, the lower swing arm 504B includes an optical port 577B.","The optical port 577B includes a pair of mirrors 576A, 576B that is configured to reflect light entering the objective 513 of the lower swing arm 504B toward the optical path 574 of the base 504 (shown in FIG.","15).","In one aspect, because each swing arm 504A, 504B includes an objective 513 and condenser 516, conversion of the microscope 500 from an upright configuration to an inverted configuration, or vice versa, simply requires that the swing arms 504A, 504B be arranged so that the objective 513 and condenser 516 are positioned according to the desired configuration.","For example, shall the user desire to use the microscope 500 in an upright configuration, the user would position the swing arms 504A, 504B so that the objective 513 of the upper swing arm 504A is disposed above the specimen to be observed and the condenser 516 of the lower swing arm 504B is disposed below the specimen to be observed.","As discussed above, because the upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B, are coupled to the same spindle 582, rotation of one of the swing arms 504A, 504B causes rotation of the other swing arm 504A, 504B.","In this example, after light enters the objective 513 of the upper swing arm 504A, light is reflected and directed toward the first optical port 577A via the mirror 576A.","Light exiting the first optical port 577A enters the optical path 574 of the base 504 and exits from the output port 572.In another example, should the user desire to use the microscope 500 in an inverted configuration, the user would position the swing arms 504A, 504B so that the objective 513 of the lower swing arm 504B is disposed below the specimen to be observed and the condenser 516 of the upper swing arm 504A is disposed above the specimen to be observed.","Again, because the upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B, are coupled to the same spindle 582, rotation of one of the swing arms 504A, 504B causes rotation of the other swing arm 504A, 504B.","In this example, after light enters the objective 513 of the lower swing arm 504B, light is reflected and directed toward the optical port 577B via the mirror 576B.","Light exiting the optical port 577B enters the optical path 574 of the base 504, passes through the second optical port 577C of the upper swing arm 504A, and ultimately exits from the output port 572.The cradle 608 configured to receive and secure an electronic device 610 that is capable of acquiring images, and to align an optical element of the electronic device 610 with the output port 572.The electronic device 610 can be a portable personal computing device including an optical element (e.g., a camera), for example a mobile communications device (e.g., smartphone), tablet computing device, laptop, PDA, portable gaming device, camera, or other portable computing device with imaging capabilities.","Accordingly, the objective 513 of the upper swing arm 504A is used when the microscope 500 is in the upright configuration and the condenser 516 of the upper swing arm 504A is used when the microscope 500 is in the inverted configuration.","Similarly, the objective 513 of the lower swing arm 504B is used when the microscope 500 is in the inverted configuration and the condenser 516 of the lower swing arm 504B is used when the microscope 500 is in the upright configuration.","Laterally Rotating Embodiment FIG.","17A illustrates an example of a laterally rotating microscope 600 in an upright configuration, and FIG.","17B illustrates an example of the laterally rotating microscope 600 in an inverted configuration.","Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIGS.","17A-17B, the microscope 600 comprises a base 602 and a rotating assembly 604.The rotating assembly 604 may include an objective 613, an optical arm 606, a cradle 608, a stage 614, and a condenser 616, that are all configured to rotate together as a single assembly, along a rotating axis 620 that extends along a lateral direction with respect to the microscope 600.The rotating axis 620 is defined by rotational couplings disposed at opposite ends of the stage 614.In one aspect, the optical arm 606 may be coupled to the objective 613 and configured to reflect light entering the objective 613 toward an optical input of an electronic device 610.The electronic device 610 may be removably attached to the optical arm 606 via the cradle 608.The objective 613 and the condenser 616 are connected by a structural arm 692.The structure arm 692 supports and arranges the objective 613 and the condenser 616 with respect to the stage 614.As shown in FIGS.","17A-17B, the objective 613 and condenser 616 may be arranged at opposing ends of the structure arm 692.To convert the microscope 600 into an inverted configuration, a handle 694 of the rotating assembly 604 is rotated along the rotating axis 620 until the handle 694 engages a slot 696 disposed within the base 602.As a result of such rotation, the rotating assembly 604 is rotated about 180 degrees, thereby positioning the objective 613 below the stage 614 and the condenser 616 above the stage 614.As discussed above with reference to the stage 114, the stage 614 may be configured to support a specimen on both a first and second specimen supporting surface.","Overview of Example Controller and User Interface Components FIG.","18 is a block diagram illustrating components of controller 1000 that can be used to manage a dual-use microscope.","The controller 1000 can be integral to the microscope in some embodiments.","In other embodiments, the controller 1000 can be separate from the microscope, for example the controller 1000 can be included in a user portable computing device (e.g., smartphone, tablet, laptop, personal digital assistant, or the like) configured to communicate and/or cooperate with the microscope.","In further embodiments, aspects of the controller 1000 can be integral to the microscope and aspects of the controller 1000 can be separate from the microscope.","Controller 1000 comprises user interface module 1020, processor module 1004, storage module 1010, input/output (I/O) module 1008, memory module 1006, and bus 1002.Bus 1002 may be any suitable communication mechanism for communicating information.","Processor module 1004, storage module 1010, I/O module 1008, and memory module 1006 are coupled with bus 1002 for communicating information between any of the modules of controller 1000 and/or information between any module of controller 1000 and a device external to controller 1000.For example, information communicated between any of the modules of controller 1000 may include instructions and/or data.","In some aspects, bus 1002 may be a universal serial bus.","In some aspects, bus 302 may provide Ethernet connectivity.","User interface module 1020 can generate a graphical user interface for enabling user interaction with the dual-configuration microscope and/or image data gathered from the dual-configuration microscope, and includes image parameters adjustment module 1022 and file management module 1024.User interface module 1020 can be available as a set of software instructions, for example an application that can be downloaded or otherwise provided to an electronic device configured to be received by the cradle of the optical arm of the dual-configuration microscope to acquire images.","The image parameters adjustment module 1022 can provide functionality for a user to adjust the brightness, contrast, and color settings of acquired images.","The file management module 1024 can provide functionality for naming and archiving of acquired images.","For example, for archiving the file management module 1024 can provide controls for naming a file, naming an album, and choosing which file type to use for saving an acquired image (e.g., .jpeg, .tiff, .png).","For example, for file sharing the file management module 1024 can provide functionality to send an acquired image by email or other electronic communication, to interface with and upload to a local network server, or to share using global network filesharing services.","In some aspects, processor module 1004 may comprise one or more processors, where each processor may perform different functions or execute different instructions and/or processes.","For example, one or more processors may execute instructions for focusing on a specimen, positioning a specimen with respect to an objective, operating of a light source, controlling of a condenser, acquiring an image, processing an image, sending an image to another device, altering light pathways and illumination settings, automated X-Y stage movement, controlling external hardware devices (e.g., camera), controlling other computer devices (e.g., onboard mini-computer, onboard controllers), communicating with another device, and one or more processors may execute instructions for input/output functions.","Memory module 1006 may be random access memory (“RAM”) or other dynamic storage devices for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor module 1004.Memory module 1006 may also be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions by processor 1004.In some aspects, memory module 1006 may comprise battery-powered static RAM, which stores information without requiring power to maintain the stored information.","Storage module 1010 may be a magnetic disk or optical disk and may also store information and instructions.","In some aspects, storage module 1010 may comprise hard disk storage or electronic memory storage (e.g., flash memory).","In some aspects, memory module 1006 and storage module 1010 are both a machine-readable medium.","Controller 1000 is coupled via I/O module 1008 to a user interface for providing information to and receiving information from a user controlling functions of a microscope, operations of a microscope, or for causing actuation of certain components of a microscope (e.g., movement of a retractable mirror, stage, or objective).","For example, the user interface may be a cathode ray tube (“CRT”), LCD monitor, or touch-screen display for displaying information to an operator.","The user interface may also include, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, or a touch-screen device coupled to controller 1000 via I/O module 1008 for communicating information and command selections to processor module 1004.According to various aspects of the subject disclosure, methods described herein are executed by controller 1000.Specifically, processor module 1004 executes one or more sequences of instructions contained in memory module 1006 and/or storage module 1010.In one example, instructions may be read into memory module 1006 from another machine-readable medium, such as storage module 1010.In another example, instructions may be read directly into memory module 1006 from I/O module 1008, for example from a user controlling functions of a microscope, operations of a microscope, or for causing actuation of certain components of a microscope (e.g., movement of a retractable mirror, stage, or objective) via the user interface.","Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in memory module 1006 and/or storage module 1010 causes processor module 1004 to control functions of the microscope, operations of the microscope, or actuation of certain components of the microscope (e.g., movement of a retractable mirror, stage, or objective).","For example, focusing operations, image processing and acquisition, and component actuation instructions may be stored in memory module 1006 and/or storage module 1010 as one or more sequences of instructions.","Information such as the distance between a specimen supporting surface and a condenser, or position of an objective or condenser with respect to a specimen may be communicated from processor module 1004 to memory module 1006 and/or storage module 1010 via bus 1002 for storage.","In some aspects, the information may be communicated from processor module 1004, memory module 1006, and/or storage module 1010 to I/O module 1008 via bus 1002.The information may then be communicated from I/O module 1008 to a user operating the microscope.","One or more processors in a multi-processing arrangement may also be employed to execute the sequences of instructions contained in memory module 1006 and/or storage module 1010.In some aspects, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement various aspects of the subject disclosure.","Thus, aspects of the subject disclosure are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.","The term “machine-readable medium,” or “computer-readable medium,” as used herein, refers to any medium that participates in providing instructions to processor module 1004 for execution.","Such a medium may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.","Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as storage module 1010.Volatile media include dynamic memory, such as memory module 1006.Common forms of machine-readable media or computer-readable media include, for example, floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical mediums with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a processor can read.","FIG.","19 illustrates and example of a user interface 1900 provided on a computing device configured to cooperate, at least optically and in some examples electronically, with a dual-configuration microscope.","The user interface 1900 can be generated in some embodiments by the user interface module 1020 of the controller 1000.As illustrated, the user interface includes a specimen display area 1930, an image parameter control panel 1910, and file naming controls 1920, 1925.The specimen display area 1930 displays to a user a visual representation of the specimen positioned in the optical path of the microscope.","In some embodiments, the visual representation can be adjusted by the user, for example by zooming, rotating, or using other adjustment controls presented in the image parameter control panel 1910.In other aspects, the visual representation of the specimen can be received by a camera of the device used to present the interface 1900.For example, an electronic device positioned in the cradle of a microscope, as described above, may convert the visual representation of the specimen into a digital representation, and present that digital representation in the specimen display area 1930 via a touch sensitive display panel.","Image parameter control panel 1910 can provide functionality for a user to change the visual appearance of one or more image parameters of the specimen image including, for example, brightness controls 1912, contrast controls 1914, and color option selections 1916, among others.","The image parameter control panel 1910 can also provide a file type selection functionality 1918 for a user to change a file type to be used for storage of a snapshot of the visual representation of the specimen.","The user may capture a snapshot of the visual representation of the specimen by activating a shutter button.","For example, the interface 1900 can be presented on a touch-sensitive display panel in some embodiments, and a user may capture a snapshot of the visual representation of the specimen by touching a digital shutter button.","For archiving, the interface 1900 may provide controls for naming the file 1925, naming the album 1930, and choosing which file type to save as (.jpeg, .tiff, .png) as described above.","Such functionality can beneficially enable a user of the microscope to organize snapshots using a personalized system to enable easier retrieval of a desired specimen snapshot stored in an electronic database after storage, for example by naming the album based on session date, specimen type, or others, and by naming the files based on sample characteristics, image parameters, or the like, to name just a few examples.","Although not illustrated, the interface 1900 can provide for file sharing capabilities, for example enabling a user to send specimen snapshot images by email, directly upload to and interface with a local network server, or share using a networked file-sharing service.","The interface 1900 can, in some embodiments, provide post processing tools for editing specimen snapshots after image capture, for example by cropping and making image parameter adjustments.","The interface 1900 can also include analysis tools, for example for counting, labeling, rotating, and/or making measurements on captured specimen snapshots.","Overview of Additional Components of Rotating Embodiments FIG.","20A illustrates a top, left, and front perspective view of a stage 2000 and FIG.","20B illustrates a bottom, right, and front perspective view of the stage 2000.As illustrated in FIGS.","20A-20B, an embodiment of an X-Y stage 2000 for use with a dual-configuration microscope such as is described herein may include a mounting block 2005 configured to be inserted into a corresponding pocket 2010 disposed within the intermediate portion 104C of the body of a dual-configuration microscope.","In some embodiments, the X-Y stage 2000 can be used with any of the dual-configuration microscopes described herein, for example the rotatable microscope embodiments, modular microscope embodiments, and reconfigurable microscope embodiments discussed herein.","In the illustrated example, the mounting block 2005 of the stage 2000 can be inserted into the pocket 2010 and held into position by a quick release mechanism 2015.The quick release mechanism 2015 may comprise, in the illustrated embodiment, a chamfered rotating member 2020 and handle 2025, wherein the chamfered rotating member 2020 is configured to securely engage a corresponding chamfer 2030 on the mounting block 2005.As the quick release mechanism 2015 is rotated, a contact force between the chamfers 2020 and 2030 increases to thereby securely engage and maintain the mounting block 2005 in position.","Other suitable releasable securing mechanisms can be used in other embodiments.","As illustrated in FIGS.","21B and 21C, the specimen supporting surface 2035 of the stage 2000 is mounted at or below a horizontal central axis 2040 of the mounting block 2005.The central axis 2040 of the mounting block 2005 passes through the vertical center of the mounting block 2005.In some aspects, the spatial relationship between the horizontal central axis 2040 of the mounting block 2005 and the specimen supporting surface 2035 enables a spacing between the specimen supporting surface 2035 of the stage 2000 and an outer surface of a lens of the objective and/or an outer surface of the condenser to be maintained, regardless of whether the microscope is in the upright or inverted configuration, as discussed above with reference to FIGS.","4A and 4B.","To illustrate, when the microscope is in the upright configuration and after the stage 2000 is inserted into the pocket 2010 and secured, the specimen supporting surface 2035 is positioned a distance away from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 2125 and/or the outer surface of the condenser 2130 (represented by D5).","When the microscope is in the inverted configuration and the stage 2000 is inserted into the pocket 2010 and secured, the specimen supporting surface 2035 is positioned substantially the same distance away from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 2125 and/or the outer surface of the condenser 2130 (represented by D6).","Distances D5 and D6 may be equal or substantially equal.","Thereby, the focal distance between the specimen supporting surface 2035 and outer surface of the lens of the objective can be maintained in some embodiments regardless of whether the microscope is in the upright or inverted configuration.","In some embodiments, the spatial relationship between the horizontal central axis 2040 of the mounting block 2005 and the specimen supporting surface 2035 enables a spacing or working distance between the specimen supporting surface 2035 of the stage 2000 and an outer surface of a lens of the condenser 2130 of the microscope to be maintained regardless of whether the microscope is in the upright or inverted configuration.","As illustrated by FIG.","21B and FIG.","21C, the body of the microscope occupies substantially the same three-dimensional area in the inverted configuration and in the upright configuration, and faces substantially the same direction in the inverted configuration and in the upright configuration.","In the inverted configuration, the objective occupies substantially the same space as the condenser occupies in the upright configuration.","Similarly, in the inverted configuration, the condenser occupies substantially the same space as the objective occupies in the upright configuration.","This can provide a seamless user experience when converting the microscope between the upright and inverted configurations, as the microscope occupies substantially the same space above the workspace upon which the microscope is placed in both configurations, and also faces the same direction in both configurations As in the illustrated embodiment, the stage 1900 can be configured to be removed during transition of the microscope between the inverted and upright configurations.","In other embodiments, the stage 2000 and pocket 2010 can be coupled to the base of the microscope such that the body of the microscope can rotate between the inverted and upright configurations without removal of the stage 2000.The illustrated specimen supporting surface 2035 of the stage 2000 includes an insert 2045 for holding two standard sized slides for an inverted microscope.","In other embodiments, different slide inserts can be used instead of the illustrated insert 2045.The insert can be removable, and can be replaced with an insert for holding a specimen dish or container when the microscope is in the upright configuration.","The stage 2000 can be controlled in some embodiments by rotation of a Y-axis knob 2050 and an X-axis knob 2055 for driving belt 2060 for laterally positioning at least an upper structure 2065 of the stage 2000 in the Y and X directions, respectively, enabling acquisition of images of different portions of the samples supported by the insert 2045.Upper structure 2065 may comprise belts, gears, or other comparable mechanisms that enable at least the specimen supporting surface 2035 to move in the Y and X directions.","In other embodiments, the stage 2000 can be additionally or alternatively controlled through use of a digital controller, for example through controller 1000 communicating with X and Y drive motors (not illustrated) of the stage 2000.FIGS.","21A through 21C illustrate another embodiment of rotating microscope 2100 comprising a body rotatably coupled with a unitary base.","The body 2105 includes at least one contoured surface.","For example, the upper and lower surfaces of the body 2105 may each have a convex profile that corresponds to a concave profile of an outer surface of the lower portion of the base, facilitating smooth rotation of the body.","FIG.","21A illustrates an isometric view of the microscope 2100 with the body in an upright configuration.","The body 2100 includes the stage 2000 described above, and an optical arm 2110 with a rotatable collar 2199, a first geared focus module 2115 for the objective 2125, and a second geared focus module 2120 for the condenser 2130.FIG.","21B illustrates a front view of the rotatable microscope 2100 in the upright configuration with the first geared focus module 2115 and a lower casing of the optical arm 2110 removed to reveal the components of the optical path 2190 inside of the optical arm 2110.The optical arm 2110 includes a rotatable collar 2199 and a Dove prism 2135 (shown in FIG.","21D) positioned to receive light representing acquired images and pass the light to the reflective surface 2140, which then redirects the light through the eyepiece 2155 of the optical arm 2110.The optical arm 2110 can be rotatably coupled to the body 2105 in some embodiments.","Due to rotation of the optical arm 2110 around the optical path 2190 passing through the optical arm 2110, the acquired specimen image can be rotated when viewed by an imaging device in optical communication with the eyepiece 2155 of the optical arm 2110.Advantageously, the Dove prism 2135 is located in the optical path 2190 and can be longitudinal rotated, automatically and/or manually, in order to correct for rotation of the acquired image.","For example, the Dove prism 2135 can be manually rotated in some embodiments by rotation of the collar 2199.FIG.","21C illustrates an embodiment of the rotatable microscope 2100 with the body positioned in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","21D illustrates a close up view of the Dove prism 2135 within a housing 2175.The housing 2175 may rotate at a different rate than the optical arm 2110 in some embodiments.","The Dove prism 2135 is a type of reflective prism which can be used to invert an image.","The Dove prism 2135 is shaped from a truncated right-angle prism.","A beam of light entering a first face 2160 of the sloped faces of the prism undergoes total internal reflection from the inside of the longest face 2165 and emerges from the opposite sloped face 2170.Images passing through the prism 2135 are flipped, and because only one reflection takes place, the image is inverted but not laterally transposed.","Properties of the Dove prism 2135 make it useful as a beam rotator, as when the prism 2135 is rotated along its longitudinal axis 2195, the transmitted image rotates at twice the rate of the prism 2135.Accordingly, longitudinal rotations of the prism 2135 can cause double the rotation of the acquired image to correct for rotation of visual representations of specimens due to rotation of the microscope and/or optical arm.","The longitudinal axis 2195 of the Dove prism 2135 can be aligned with the optical path 2190 in some embodiments.","In some embodiments, the Dove prism 2135 is disposed within the housing 2175 comprising an inner tube, the inner tube 2175 is disposed within an outer tube 2185.The inner tube 2175 and outer tube 2185 are coaxially arranged.","Rotation of the inner tube 2175 can be accomplished by rotation of a collar 2199 that may be disposed at substantially one end of the inner tube 2175.In some aspects, the collar 2199 may be coupled to the inner tube 2175 via a threaded engagement, press fit, or other comparable mechanical coupling methods know to a person of ordinary skill.","Rotation of the collar 2199 thereby causes rotation of the inner tube 2175, which in turn causes rotation of the Dove prism 2135.Additionally or alternatively, the Dove prism 2135 may be rotated automatically with the use of gears that are arranged to rotate the inner tube 2175 as the optical arm 2110 is rotated.","As one example, the gears may be arranged to provide a gearing ratio of 2:1, where one full rotation of the optical arm 2110 causes one-half rotation of the Dove prism 2135.Other gearing ratios may be acceptable, depending on the intended design.","In other aspects, a user may further manually rotate the inner tube 2175 to attain a desired rotation of the acquired image.","In other aspects, rotation of the Dove prism 2135 may be accomplished via a stepper, rotational, or linear motor, for example, driven by controller 1000.In yet another example, a stepper, rotational, or linear motor may be actuated based on an accelerometer reading of the electronic device coupled to the optical arm 2110.In some embodiments, the Dove prism 2135 as described above can be used with any of the dual-configuration microscopes described herein, for example the rotatable microscope embodiments, modular microscope embodiments, and reconfigurable microscope embodiments discussed herein.","Tilting Embodiment FIGS.","22-25E illustrate an example of a tilting microscope 2200 having a plurality of planar surfaces 2204A-E.","Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIG.","22, the microscope 2200 comprises a body 2202.The body 2202 is configured to support, directly or indirectly, a nosepiece 2212, at least one objective 2213, a condenser 2216, and a light source (not shown).","The body 2202 may further be configured to support a stage 2214.In some aspects, the condenser 2216 of the microscope 2200 may be selected based on the configuration of the microscope 2200.The condenser 2216 may be one of a high-resolution or upright condenser having a focal length of 1-4 mm, a long working distance condenser having a focal length of 35-2 mm, or an ultra-long working distance condenser having a focal length of 70-73 mm, depending on the configuration of the microscope 2200.For example, if the microscope 2200 is in an upright configuration, the condenser 2216 may be a high-resolution condenser.","If the microscope 2200 is in an inverted configuration, the condenser 2216 may be replaced with a long working distance condenser.","The stage 2214 comprises, on an outer surface, a first specimen supporting surface 2219A and at an opposite outer surface, a second specimen supporting surface 2219B.","When the microscope 2200 is in the upright configuration (as shown in FIGS.","23A-B) the first specimen supporting surface 2219A is configured to support a specimen.","When the microscope 2200 is in the inverted configuration (as shown in FIGS.","24A-B) the second specimen supporting surface 2219B is configured to support the specimen.","In one aspect, the stage 2214 may be configured to removably receive an X-Y adaptor that allows the specimen to move in a controlled fashion along the X and Y axes.","The removable X-Y adaptor may be configured to attach to the stage 2214 to allow use of the first specimen supporting surface 2219A or the second specimen supporting surface 2219B, depending on the configuration of the microscope 2200 and the surface of the stage 2214 upon which the removable X-Y adaptor is mounted or attached.","The microscope 2200 may further comprise a first and second mounting slot 2206A, B, with the first mounting slot 2206A disposed on a first planar surface 2204A and the second mounting slot 2206B disposed opposite of the first mounting slot 2206A, on a planar surface, such as planar surface 2204E.","Each of the mounting slots 2206A, B are configured to receive and support a portable display device, such as portable display device 2210 as shown in FIGS.","23A and 24A.","For example, each mounting slot 2206A, B may be configured to receive a side or end of the portable display device and support the portable display device to enable a user to view and use the portable display device, as desired.","In one aspect, the microscope 2200 may further comprise a first and second rotating stand 2208A, B, as shown in FIGS.","22, 23B and 24B.","The first rotating stand 2208A may be disposed on the first planar surface 2204A and the second rotating stand 2208B may be disposed opposite of the first mounting rotating stand 2208A, on a planar surface, such as planar surface 2204E.","Each of the rotating stands 2208A, B are configured to support a portable display device, such as portable display device 2210 as shown in FIGS.","23A-24B, when positioned in a deployed configuration.","Each rotating stand 2208A, B may be pivotably coupled to the body 2202 and configured to rotate between the deployed configuration and a stowed configuration.","When in the deployed configuration, each rotating stand 2208A, B mechanically supports the portable display device.","When in the stowed configuration, each rotating stand 2208A, B lays substantially flush with its respective surrounding surface, 2204A, E. In one aspect, each rotating stand 2208A, B may be biased to the stowed position via a spring or other mechanism as would be known by a person of ordinary skill, to ensure that each rotating stand 2208A, B is maintained in the stowed configuration when the microscope 2200 is titled between an upright to inverted configuration, and vice versa.","Referring to FIGS.","23A-24B, in some aspects, the portable display device 2210 may comprise a mobile device, camera, tablet computer, laptop computer, PDA, portable computer, or other device that is capable of displaying images.","The portable display device 2210 may further comprise a touch-sensitive screen display or other input mechanisms, such as buttons or keys, that are capable of receiving user input.","In some aspects, a user may control operations of the microscope 2200, such as focusing of a specimen, positioning of a specimen with respect to the objective 2213, operation of the light source, control of the condenser 2216, acquisition of an image, processing of an image, storing of an image, sending of an image to another device, altering light pathways and illumination settings, automated X-Y stage movement, automated nosepiece movement, controlling external hardware devices (e.g., camera), controlling other computer devices (e.g., onboard mini-computer, onboard controllers), communicating with other devices (such as through local area networks, wide area networks, broadband, Bluetooth, WiFi, or other wireless or wired communication methods), and other microscope related operations, by using the input mechanisms of the electronic device 110.In one aspect, the microscope 2200 may comprise an internal camera or light sensor (not shown) that is configured to receive light that has entered the objective 2213.The internal camera or light sensor may be configured to detect and convey information that constitutes an image by converting variable attenuation of light waves as they pass through or reflect off of the specimen into digital signals.","The internal camera or light sensor may comprise a semiconductor charge-coupled device (CCD), active pixel sensor in complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS), or an N-type metal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS, Live MOS).","In one aspect, the internal camera or image sensor may be coupled to a communications module that is configured to receive data representing the light received by the camera or sensor and transmit the data to the portable display device 2210.The data may be transmitted to the portable display device via a wired or wireless connection.","The data received by the portable display device 2210 may then be displayed to the user as one or more images.","The microscope 2200 further comprises a plurality of planar surfaces 2204A-E that are each configured to support the microscope 2200 on a working surface as the microscope 2200 is converted from an upright configuration to an inverted configuration, and vice versa.","For example, the plurality of planar surfaces 2204A-E may be configured to facilitate tilting of the microscope 2200 as the microscope is converted from an upright configuration (as shown in FIGS.","23A-B) to an inverted configuration (as shown in FIGS.","24A-B), and vice versa, as illustrated in FIGS.","25A-E.","The plurality of planar surfaces 2204A-E may be disposed on the body 2202 and configured to support the microscope 2200 and allow tilting of the microscope 2200 as the microscope 2200 is tilted from one planar surface, to an adjacent planar surface.","For example, the microscope 2200 may comprise five planar surfaces, with a first planar surface 2204A disposed parallel to the stage 2214, a second planar surface 2204B disposed at an angle less than 90 degrees from the first planar surface 2204A, a third planar surface 2204C disposed perpendicularly from the first planar surface 2204A, a fourth planar surface 2204D disposed at an angle less than 90 degrees from the third planar surface 2204C, and a fifth planar surface 2204E disposed parallel to the stage 2214.In one example, the angle between the first planar surface 2204A and the second planar surface 2204B may be 30 degrees, 45 degrees, 60 degrees, or any angle there between.","In another example, the angle between the fourth planar surface 2204D and the third planar surface 2204C may be 30 degrees, 45 degrees, 60 degrees, or any angle there between.","In yet another example, the angle between the first planar surface 2204A and the second planar surface 2204B may be substantially the same angle as an angle between the fifth planar surface 2204E and the fourth planar surface 2204D.","The microscope 2200 may further comprise a plurality of focus knob receptacles 2217-D that are each configured to receive a removable focus knob 2218 (shown in FIGS.","22 and 23A-24B).","The focus knob receptacles 2217A-D may be disposed laterally on both outward sides of the body 2202.For example, referring to FIGS.","22 and 23A, B, a first focus knob receptacle 2217A may be disposed proximal to the nosepiece 2212 and right side of the body 2202, and a second focus knob receptacle 2217B may be disposed proximal to the condenser 2216 and right side of the body 2202.Referring to FIGS.","24A, B, a third focus knob receptacle 2217C may be disposed proximal to the condenser 2216 and opposite side of the body 2202, and a fourth focus knob receptacle 2217D may be disposed proximal to the nosepiece 2212 and opposite side of the body 2202.In one aspect, depending on the configuration of the microscope 2200 and preference of the user, the focus knob 2218 may be inserted in any of the focus knob receptacles 2217A-D to adjust a position of the objective 2213, adjust a position of the stage 2214, adjust the position of the condenser 2216, or control operations of the microscope 2200.The focus knob 2218 may further comprise one or more buttons or user input mechanisms to receive user input or commands for controlling or operating the microscope.","In some aspects, a user may use the focus knob 2218 to focus a specimen, position a specimen with respect to the objective 2213, operate a light source, control the condenser 2216, acquire an image, process an image, send an image to another device, alter light pathways and illumination settings, control external hardware devices (e.g., camera), control other computer devices (e.g., onboard mini-computer, onboard controllers), communicate with other devices (such as through local area networks, wide area networks, broadband, Bluetooth, WiFi, or other wireless or wired communication methods), and other microscope related operations, by using the input mechanisms of the focus knob 2218.The focus knob 2218 may further comprise an internal rechargeable battery and wireless communication module that enables the focus knob 2218 to communicate with the microscope 2200 and/or portable display device 2210.FIGS.","23A and 23B illustrate the microscope 2200 positioned in the upright configuration.","In the upright configuration, the body is positioned such that the nosepiece assembly 2212 is positioned vertically above the stage 2214 and the condenser is positioned vertically below the stage 2214.The first specimen supporting surface 2219A is positioned to support the specimen.","While any focus knob receptacle 2217A-D may be used to mount the focus knob 2218, for ergonomic purposes and depending on whether the user prefers to use their right or left hand, the second focus knob receptacle 2217B or third focus knob receptacle 2217C may be used to mount the focus knob 2218.First mounting slot 2206A and first rotating stand 2208A may be used to mount and support the portable display device 2210.FIGS.","24A and 24B illustrate the microscope 2200 positioned in the inverted configuration.","In the inverted configuration, the body is positioned such that the nosepiece assembly 2212 is positioned vertically below the stage 2214 and the condenser is positioned vertically above the stage 2214.The second specimen supporting surface 2219B is positioned to support the specimen.","While any focus knob receptacle 2217A-D may be used to mount the focus knob 2218, for ergonomic purposes and depending on whether the user prefers to use their right or left hand, the first focus knob receptacle 2217A and fourth focus knob receptacle 2217D may be used to mount the focus knob 2218.Second mounting slot 2206B and second rotating stand 2208B may be used to mount and support the portable display device 2210.A method for converting the microscope 2200 from the upright configuration into the inverted configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.","25A-E. To convert the microscope 2200, the portable display device 2210 is dismounted, thereby allowing the rotating stand 2208A to move to the stowed position.","Referring to FIG.","25A, while in the upright configuration the microscope 2200 is supported by the fifth planar surface 2204E.","To convert the microscope 2200 from the upright configuration into the inverted configuration, the user first tilts the microscope 2200 toward the fourth planar surface 2204D.","Referring to FIG.","25B, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the fourth planar surface 2204D.","The user then continues the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the third planar surface 2204C.","Referring to FIG.","25C, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the third planar surface 2204C.","The user then continues the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the second planar surface 2204B.","Referring to FIG.","25D, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the second planar surface 2204B.","The user then finishes the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the first planar surface 2204A.","Referring to FIG.","25E, the microscope 2200 is shown in the inverted position as the microscope 2200 rests on the first planar surface 2204A.","The user may then mount the portable display device 2210 to the microscope 2200 by using the second mounting slot 2206B and positioning the second rotating stand 2208B to the deployed configuration.","The user may further reposition the focus knob 2218 to whichever focus knob receptacle 2217A-D is desired.","While this example conversion of the microscope may involve tilting the microscope 2200 up to four instances and using five planar surfaces 2204A-E, it is understood that fewer or more tilting instances and planar surfaces may be used to convert the microscope from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration without departing from the scope of the invention.","A method for converting the microscope 2200 from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.","25A-E. To convert the microscope 2200, the portable display device 2210 is dismounted, thereby allowing the rotating stand 2208B to move to the stowed position.","Referring to FIG.","25E, while in the inverted configuration the microscope 2200 is supported by the first planar surface 2204A.","To convert the microscope 2200 from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration, the user first tilts the microscope 2200 toward the second planar surface 2204B.","Referring to FIG.","25D, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the second planar surface 2204B.","The user then continues the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the third planar surface 2204C.","Referring to FIG.","25C, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the third planar surface 2204C.","The user then continues the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the fourth planar surface 2204D.","Referring to FIG.","25B, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the fourth planar surface 2204D.","The user then finishes the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the fifth planar surface 2204E.","Referring to FIG.","25A, the microscope 2200 is shown in the upright position as the microscope 2200 rests on the fifth planar surface 2204E.","The user may then mount the portable display device 2210 to the microscope 2200 by using the first mounting slot 2206A and positioning the first rotating stand 2208A in the deployed configuration.","The user may further reposition the focus knob 2218 to whichever focus knob receptacle 2217A-D is desired.","While in this example conversion of the microscope may involve tilting the microscope 2200 up to four instances and using five planar surfaces 2204A-E, it is understood that fewer or more tilting instances and planar surfaces may be used to convert the microscope from the inverted configuration to the upright configuration without departing from the scope of the invention.","Terminology The foregoing description is provided to enable a person skilled in the art to practice the various configurations described herein.","While the subject technology has been particularly described with reference to the various figures and configurations, it should be understood that these are for illustration purposes only and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the subject technology.","There may be many other ways to implement the subject technology.","Various functions and elements described herein may be partitioned differently from those shown without departing from the scope of the subject technology.","Various modifications to these configurations will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and generic principles defined herein may be applied to other configurations.","Thus, many changes and modifications may be made to the subject technology, by one having ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the scope of the subject technology.","It is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the processes disclosed is an illustration of exemplary approaches.","Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the processes may be rearranged.","Some of the steps may be performed simultaneously.","The accompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.","A phrase such as an “aspect” does not imply that such aspect is essential to the subject technology or that such aspect applies to all configurations of the subject technology.","A disclosure relating to an aspect may apply to all configurations, or one or more configurations.","A phrase such as an aspect may refer to one or more aspects and vice versa.","A phrase such as an “embodiment” does not imply that such embodiment is essential to the subject technology or that such embodiment applies to all configurations of the subject technology.","A disclosure relating to an embodiment may apply to all embodiments, or one or more embodiments.","A phrase such an embodiment may refer to one or more embodiments and vice versa.","Furthermore, to the extent that the term “include,” “have,” or the like is used in the description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprise” as “comprise” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.","The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.","A reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically stated, but rather “one or more.” The term “some” refers to one or more.","All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various configurations described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and intended to be encompassed by the subject technology.","Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the above description."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"UPRIGHT AND INVERTED MICROSCOPE\",\n \"A dual-configuration microscope is provided that may be converted into an upright or inverted microscope.\",\n \"The microscope includes a body having a plurality of planar surfaces, each planar surface configured to support the body on a working surface as the body is tilted between the upright and inverted configurations.\",\n \"The microscope further includes an objective, a condenser, a stage positioned between the objective and the condenser, and a portable display device to display a specimem.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A microscope comprising: a body configured to be converted from an upright to inverted configuration; wherein the body comprises a plurality of planar surfaces, each planar surface configured to support the body on a working surface as the body is tilted between the upright and inverted configurations; an objective disposed on the body for viewing a specimen; a condenser disposed on the body for illuminating the specimen; a stage disposed between the objective and the condenser for supporting the specimen; and an internal camera disposed within the body, the internal camera configured to capture an image of the specimen; wherein when the body is in the upright configuration, the objective is disposed vertically above the condenser; and wherein when the body is in the inverted configuration, the condenser is disposed vertically above the objective.\",\n \"2.The microscope of claim 1, wherein the stage comprises a first specimen supporting surface and a second specimen supporting surface, wherein the second specimen supporting surface is positioned opposite the first specimen supporting surface.\",\n \"3.The microscope of claim 1, wherein the plurality of planar surfaces comprise a first, second, and third planar surface.\",\n \"4.The microscope of claim 1, wherein the plurality of planar surfaces comprise a first, second, third, and fourth planar surface.\",\n \"5.The microscope of claim 1, wherein the plurality of planar surfaces comprise a first, second, third, fourth, and fifth planar surface.\",\n \"6.The microscope of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of focus knob receptacles disposed on the body, wherein each focus knob receptacle is configured to receive a removable focus knob.\",\n \"7.The microscope of claim 6, wherein the removable focus knob is further configured to receive user input for controlling an operation of the microscope.\",\n \"8.The microscope of claim 7, wherein the operation comprises a focusing operation using the objective.\",\n \"9.The microscope of claim 1, further comprising a portable display device configured to display the image of the specimen captured by the internal camera.\",\n \"10.The microscope of claim 9, further comprising a first supporting slot disposed on a first planar surface of the plurality of planar surfaces, the first supporting slot configured to support the portable display device on the body.\",\n \"11.The microscope of claim 10, further comprising a second supporting slot disposed on a second planar surface of the plurality of planar surfaces, the second supporting slot disposed opposite the first supporting slot and configured to support the portable display device on the body.\",\n \"12.The microscope of claim 11, further comprising a first rotating stand disposed on the first planar surface of the plurality of planar surfaces, the first rotating stand configured to support the portable display device on the body.\",\n \"13.The microscope of claim 12, further comprising a second rotating stand disposed on the second planar surface of the plurality of planar surfaces, the second rotating stand disposed opposite the first rotating stand and configured to support the portable display device on the body.\",\n \"14.The microscope of claim 1, further comprising a communications module configured to transmit data representing the image of the specimen captured by the internal camera to the portable display device.\",\n \"15.A method for converting a microscope from an upright to inverted configuration, the method comprising: tilting a body from an upright configuration to a first intermediate position on a working surface, the body comprising a plurality of planar surfaces, each planar surface configured to support the body on a working surface as the body is tilted between the upright configuration and an inverted configuration, the body further comprising: an objective disposed on the body for viewing a specimen; a condenser disposed on the body for illuminating the specimen; and a stage disposed between the objective and the condenser for supporting the specimen; wherein when the body is in the upright configuration, the objective is disposed vertically above the condenser; and wherein when the body is in the inverted configuration, the condenser is disposed vertically above the objective; tilting the body from the first intermediate position to a second intermediate position on the working surface; tilting the body from the second intermediate position to a third intermediate position on the working surface; and tilting the body from the third intermediate position to the inverted configuration.\",\n \"16.The method of claim 15, wherein the body further comprises a portable display device disposed on the body and configured to display the specimen.\",\n \"17.The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of planar surfaces comprise a first, second, third, fourth, and fifth planar surface.\",\n \"18.The method of claim 15, further comprising mounting a portable display device onto a slot, wherein the slot is disposed on one planar surface of the plurality of planar surfaces.\",\n \"19.The method of claim 15, further comprising inserting a removable focus knob into one of a plurality of focus knob receptacles, the plurality of focus knob receptacles disposed on the body and each configured to receive the removable focus knob.\",\n \"20.The method of claim 15, further comprising rotating a first stand disposed on the body to a deployed position, the first stand configured to rotate between the deployed position and a stowed position; wherein when in the deployed position, the first stand supports a portable display device on the body; and wherein when in the stowed position, the an outer surface of the first stand is flush with the body.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Conventionally, there are two types of microscope configurations, upright and inverted.\",\n \"Generally, upright and inverted microscopes differ in the manner by which a specimen, an objective, and a light source are arranged with respect to each other.\",\n \"For example, in an upright microscope, the objective is arranged so that it is disposed vertically above the specimen and the light source is disposed vertically below the specimen.\",\n \"In an inverted microscope, the objective is arranged so that it is disposed vertically below the specimen and the objective is disposed vertically above the specimen.\",\n \"Accordingly, an optic train, that is the arrangement of lenses generally housed within a housing and used to reflect light from the light source and specimen to a user, is arranged either above or below the specimen along with the objective.\",\n \"In both upright and inverted microscopes, focusing of the specimen is accomplished by way of a corresponding positioning of the specimen relative to the objective, specifically in such a way that a region of the specimen to be observed is arranged in a focal plane of the objective.\",\n \"In one example, the position of the specimen relative to the objective may be adjusted by moving the objective along an optical axis relative to the specimen.\",\n \"In this case, the specimen may be mounted on a conventional specimen slide or dish that is secured to a corresponding specimen holder on a microscope stage.\",\n \"In this example, the microscope stage may be fixed such that it does not move in the direction of the optical axis of the objective.\",\n \"In another example, the position of the specimen relative to the objective may be adjusted by mechanically moving the stage along the optical axis in order to focus on the desired specimen region.\",\n \"In this example, the position of the objective would be fixed along the direction of its optical axis.\",\n \"In both examples, the stage may also be configured so that it may horizontally move relative to a microscope body along a single plane in at least two directions, such as in an X and a Y direction.\",\n \"In both examples, focusing of the specimen region is usually performed by the user by operating an interface element arranged on the microscope body, as a result of which either the objective or the microscope stage is positioned along the optical axis.\",\n \"The interface element may comprise a rotary knob.\",\n \"Rotation of the rotary knob by the user causes linear motion of the objective or the stage along the optical axis.\",\n \"Typically, the rotary knob is arranged proximal to a working surface on which the microscope rests.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide further understanding of the subject technology and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate aspects of the subject technology and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the subject technology.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an example of an intermediate configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3A illustrates a cross section view of an embodiment of a rotational coupling of a rotating microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3B illustrates a cross section view of an embodiment of a stage.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4A illustrates an embodiment of a height compensator in a first position.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4B illustrates an embodiment of the height compensator of FIG.\",\n \"4A in a second position.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an embodiment of a flipping microscope in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an embodiment of a flipping microscope in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates an embodiment of a reconfigurable microscope in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 illustrates an embodiment of the reconfigurable microscope of FIG.\",\n \"8 in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10A illustrates an embodiment of a mounting feature.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10B illustrates an embodiment of an interchangeable component.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C illustrate an embodiment of a modular microscope in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"12A-12C illustrate an embodiment of the modular microscope of FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"13A-13B illustrate an embodiment of a base of a modular microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14A-14B illustrate a condenser module of a modular microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14C-14D illustrate an objective module of a modular microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"15 illustrates an embodiment of a swing arm microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16A illustrates an embodiment of an upper swing arm.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16B illustrates an embodiment of a lower swing arm.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"17A-17B illustrate an embodiment of a laterally rotating microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"18 illustrates a high-level schematic block diagram of an embodiment of an electronic system for use with a reconfigurable microscope as described herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"19 illustrates and example of a user interface provided on a mobile computing device configured to cooperate with a dual-configuration microscope.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"20A-20B illustrate an embodiment of a stage for use with a dual-configuration microscope.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"21A-21B illustrate an embodiment of a rotating microscope in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"21C illustrates an embodiment of the rotating microscope of FIGS.\",\n \"21A-21B in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"21D illustrates an embodiment of a Dove prism housing.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"22 illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"23A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"23B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"24A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"24B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25C illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25D illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25E illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"detailed-description description=\\\"Detailed Description\\\" end=\\\"lead\\\"?\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of non-provisional application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/682,423, filed Aug. 21, 2017, which is a continuation of non-provisional application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/238,593, filed Aug. 16, 2016, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,746,657, which is a continuation of non-provisional application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/003,694, filed Jan. 21, 2016, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,435,990, which is a continuation of non-provisional application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/832,694, filed Aug. 21, 2015, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,348,129, which is a continuation of non-provisional application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/494,519, filed Sep. 23, 2014, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,140,885, which is a continuation of International Patent Application No.\",\n \"PCT/US2014/044707, filed Jun.\",\n \"27, 2014, which claims priority to U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"61/841,229, filed Jun.\",\n \"28, 2013, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD The systems and methods disclosed herein generally relate to microscopes, and more particularly to a microscope configured to be used in both an upright configuration and an inverted configuration.\",\n \"BACKGROUND Conventionally, there are two types of microscope configurations, upright and inverted.\",\n \"Generally, upright and inverted microscopes differ in the manner by which a specimen, an objective, and a light source are arranged with respect to each other.\",\n \"For example, in an upright microscope, the objective is arranged so that it is disposed vertically above the specimen and the light source is disposed vertically below the specimen.\",\n \"In an inverted microscope, the objective is arranged so that it is disposed vertically below the specimen and the objective is disposed vertically above the specimen.\",\n \"Accordingly, an optic train, that is the arrangement of lenses generally housed within a housing and used to reflect light from the light source and specimen to a user, is arranged either above or below the specimen along with the objective.\",\n \"In both upright and inverted microscopes, focusing of the specimen is accomplished by way of a corresponding positioning of the specimen relative to the objective, specifically in such a way that a region of the specimen to be observed is arranged in a focal plane of the objective.\",\n \"In one example, the position of the specimen relative to the objective may be adjusted by moving the objective along an optical axis relative to the specimen.\",\n \"In this case, the specimen may be mounted on a conventional specimen slide or dish that is secured to a corresponding specimen holder on a microscope stage.\",\n \"In this example, the microscope stage may be fixed such that it does not move in the direction of the optical axis of the objective.\",\n \"In another example, the position of the specimen relative to the objective may be adjusted by mechanically moving the stage along the optical axis in order to focus on the desired specimen region.\",\n \"In this example, the position of the objective would be fixed along the direction of its optical axis.\",\n \"In both examples, the stage may also be configured so that it may horizontally move relative to a microscope body along a single plane in at least two directions, such as in an X and a Y direction.\",\n \"In both examples, focusing of the specimen region is usually performed by the user by operating an interface element arranged on the microscope body, as a result of which either the objective or the microscope stage is positioned along the optical axis.\",\n \"The interface element may comprise a rotary knob.\",\n \"Rotation of the rotary knob by the user causes linear motion of the objective or the stage along the optical axis.\",\n \"Typically, the rotary knob is arranged proximal to a working surface on which the microscope rests.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide further understanding of the subject technology and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate aspects of the subject technology and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the subject technology.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an example of an intermediate configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3A illustrates a cross section view of an embodiment of a rotational coupling of a rotating microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3B illustrates a cross section view of an embodiment of a stage.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4A illustrates an embodiment of a height compensator in a first position.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4B illustrates an embodiment of the height compensator of FIG.\",\n \"4A in a second position.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an embodiment of a flipping microscope in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an embodiment of a flipping microscope in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates an embodiment of a reconfigurable microscope in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 illustrates an embodiment of the reconfigurable microscope of FIG.\",\n \"8 in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10A illustrates an embodiment of a mounting feature.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10B illustrates an embodiment of an interchangeable component.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C illustrate an embodiment of a modular microscope in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"12A-12C illustrate an embodiment of the modular microscope of FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"13A-13B illustrate an embodiment of a base of a modular microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14A-14B illustrate a condenser module of a modular microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14C-14D illustrate an objective module of a modular microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"15 illustrates an embodiment of a swing arm microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16A illustrates an embodiment of an upper swing arm.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16B illustrates an embodiment of a lower swing arm.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"17A-17B illustrate an embodiment of a laterally rotating microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"18 illustrates a high-level schematic block diagram of an embodiment of an electronic system for use with a reconfigurable microscope as described herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"19 illustrates and example of a user interface provided on a mobile computing device configured to cooperate with a dual-configuration microscope.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"20A-20B illustrate an embodiment of a stage for use with a dual-configuration microscope.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"21A-21B illustrate an embodiment of a rotating microscope in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"21C illustrates an embodiment of the rotating microscope of FIGS.\",\n \"21A-21B in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"21D illustrates an embodiment of a Dove prism housing.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"22 illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"23A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"23B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"24A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"24B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25C illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25D illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25E illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION As discussed above, there conventionally are two types of microscope configurations, upright and inverted.\",\n \"These two types of microscopes are separate from one another and if a user desires to utilize an upright and inverted microscope, the user must have two separate microscopes at their disposal.\",\n \"Having two separate microscopes thereby increases the equipment and maintenance costs to the user and further, requires additional physical space to store and use the separate microscopes.\",\n \"The dual-configuration microscopes of the subject technology address the foregoing problems, among others, by allowing the user to convert a single microscope from an upright configuration into an inverted configuration, and vice versa.\",\n \"Rotating Embodiment FIGS.\",\n \"1-5 illustrate an example of a rotating microscope 100.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"1, the microscope 100 is depicted in an upright configuration.\",\n \"The microscope 100 comprises a unitary base 102 and a body 104.The base 102 comprises a lower portion 102A and an upper portion 102B.\",\n \"The lower portion 102A extends in a substantially horizontal plane and the upper portion 102B extends in a substantially vertical plane.\",\n \"The upper portion 102B may be disposed at about a 90 degree angle from the lower portion 102A and may further, be manufactured as a single component.\",\n \"Alternatively, the lower portion 102A and upper portion 102B may be formed of two or more separate components and attached, fastened, or otherwise coupled together to form the base 102.The lower portion 102A is configured to support the microscope 100 on a working surface 10.The base 102 may be formed of a metal alloy, composite, polymer, or other sufficiently rigid material that is capable of supporting the weight and proper use of the microscope 100, as known by those having ordinary skill in the art.\",\n \"The body 104 comprises a first portion 104A, a second portion 104B, and an intermediate portion 104C extending between the first and second portions, 104A and 104B respectively.\",\n \"The intermediate portion 104C may be rotatably coupled to the upper portion 102B of the base 102 at a rotational coupling (shown in FIG.\",\n \"3A).\",\n \"The rotational coupling 130 allows the body 104 to rotate with respect to the base 102 along a rotating axis 120 that extends in a longitudinal direction with respect to the microscope 100, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.To facilitate rotation of the body 104 with respect to the base 102, in some embodiments an outer surface 152A (see, for example, FIG.\",\n \"1) of the first portion 104A and an outer surface 152B (see, for example, FIGS.\",\n \"2 and 5) of the second portion 104B may each have a convex profile that corresponds to a concave profile of an outer surface 153 of the lower portion 102A.\",\n \"The convex and concave outer surfaces thereby prevent interference between the body 104 and the base 102 during rotation.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3A illustrates a cross section view of one embodiment of the rotational coupling 130 of the microscope 100.The rotational coupling 130 may comprise a shaft 132 extending longitudinally from the upper portion 102B of the base 102 and a corresponding bore 134 disposed within the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.The shaft 132 and bore 134 are arranged to permit the body 104 to rotate about the rotating axis 120, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.The rotational coupling 130 is provided as one example of a suitable coupling between the base 102 and the body 104.In other embodiments, variations of rotational couplings from the illustrated coupling in FIG.\",\n \"3A can be used to facilitate rotation of the body 104 around the rotating axis 120.For example, a ball bearing coupling, a rigid coupling between a first rotating shaft of the body 104 and a second rotating shaft of the base 102, a wheel and axle, or other suitable couplings allowing rotation may be used to permit rotation of the body 104 relative to the base 102.In some embodiments, the rotational coupling may be coated or treated to reduce friction.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the rotational coupling may be configured to stop or lock when the body 104 is in the inverted and upright positions.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"1, the body 104 is configured to support, directly or indirectly, at least one objective 113, a stage 114, a condenser 116, and/or a light source (not shown).\",\n \"The body 104 may be formed of a metal alloy, composite, polymer, or other sufficiently rigid material capable of supporting the objective 113, stage 114, condenser 116, and/or light source.\",\n \"The body 104 may be manufactured as a single component or may comprise a multitude of components that are attached, fastened, or otherwise assembled together, as known by those having ordinary skill in the art.\",\n \"The objective 113 may be mounted to a nosepiece 112 and is disposed proximal to the first portion 104A of the body 104.The objective 113 comprises a cylinder containing one or more lenses configured to collect light from a specimen being observed.\",\n \"The objective 113 further defines an optical axis 124 that, when in a working position, runs perpendicular to the stage 114.The stage 114 supports the specimen being observed on a specimen supporting surface 119A, as discussed further below.\",\n \"The condenser 116 and light source may be disposed proximal to the second portion 104B of the body 104.Particularly, the condenser 116 may be mounted on the second portion 104B and the light source may be mounted within the body 104.The condenser 116 includes a lens that serves to concentrate light from the light source into a cone of light that illuminates the specimen.\",\n \"The stage 114 is a platform configured to support the specimen being observed.\",\n \"The stage 114 may include an opening aligned with the condenser 116, to allow light to pass through the stage 114 and illuminate the specimen.\",\n \"In one example, the stage 114 may be configured to be removably attached to the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.For example, the stage 114 may include a substantially horizontal rail that is configured to slide within a substantially horizontal channel disposed within the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.The stage 114 may thus, be attached to the body 104 by sliding the stage 114 horizontally toward the body 104.To remove the stage 114, the stage 114 may be slid horizontally away from the body 104, thereby disengaging the channel and rail assembly.\",\n \"In this example, the channel of the body 104 is configured to receive the rail of the stage 114 when the microscope 100 is in either the upright or inverted configuration.\",\n \"Accordingly, the channel of the body 104 and the rail of the stage 114 may have horizontally symmetrical profiles, such as a round, oval, rectangular, square or any combination thereof.\",\n \"In another example, the rail of the stage 114 may be configured to be inserted into a first or second substantially horizontal channel disposed within the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.In this example, the rail of the stage 114 may be inserted into the first channel of the body 104 when the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration and into the second channel of the body 104 when the microscope 100 is in the inverted configuration.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the first and second channels of the body 104 and the rail of the stage 114 may not have horizontally symmetrical profiles in order to aid the user in knowing into which of the first or second channels to insert the rail of the stage 114.In some embodiments, the first and second channels of the body 104 can be arranged to maintain a distance between a specimen supporting surface 119A of the stage 114 and an outer surface of a lens of the objective 113, regardless of whether the microscope 100 is in the upright or inverted configuration.\",\n \"In particular, when the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration, the stage 114 can be inserted into the first channel.\",\n \"When in the first channel, the specimen supporting surface 119A is at a first distance away from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 113.When the microscope 100 is in the inverted configuration, the stage 114 can be inserted into the second channel.\",\n \"When in the second channel, the specimen supporting surface 119A is at a second distance away from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 113.The first and second channels are arranged on the body 104 so that the first and second distances are the same.\",\n \"Alternatively, the stage 114 may be mounted to a height compensator 115 that is disposed proximal to the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.As shown in FIG.\",\n \"1, the stage 114 may be disposed between the objective 113 and the condenser 116.Other embodiments of stage configurations are discussed in more detail below.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B illustrate a detail view of the height compensator 115 and the stage 114 in the first and second positions, respectively.\",\n \"The height compensator 115 may comprise at least one rail 117A that is configured to engage a corresponding channel 117B disposed within the stage 114.The rail 117A and the channel 117B are configured to permit the stage 114 to slide between a first position (shown in FIG.\",\n \"4A) and a second position (shown in FIG.\",\n \"4B) along the optical axis 124.Although a rail and channel arrangement are shown in FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B, it is known by those having ordinary skill in the art that other mechanisms may be used to permit sliding of the stage between the first and second positions.\",\n \"When the stage is in the first position (shown in FIG.\",\n \"4A), the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"1).\",\n \"When the stage is in the second position (shown in FIG.\",\n \"4B), the microscope is in the inverted configuration (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"5).\",\n \"In one embodiment, the stage 114 slides between the first and second positions based on gravity.\",\n \"Accordingly, the stage 114 may move between the first and second positions automatically when the body 104 is rotated from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration.\",\n \"Similarly, the stage 114 may move between the second and first positions automatically when the body 104 is rotated from the inverted configuration to the upright configuration.\",\n \"Movement of the stage between the first and second position can maintain a focal distance between the objective and the specimen-supporting (e.g., upward-facing) surface of the stage when the body 104 is rotated between the inverted configuration and the upright configuration.\",\n \"Similarly, movement of the stage between the first and second position can maintain a working distance between the condenser and the specimen-supporting (e.g., upward-facing) surface of the stage when the body 104 is rotated between the inverted configuration and the upright configuration.\",\n \"In some aspects, the stage 114 comprises, on an outer surface, a first specimen supporting surface 119A and at an opposite surface, a second specimen supporting surface 119B.\",\n \"When the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration and thus, the stage 114 is in the first position, the first specimen supporting surface 119A is facing upward and therefore configured to support the specimen.\",\n \"When the microscope 100 is in the inverted configuration and thus, the stage 114 is in the second position, the second specimen supporting surface 119B is facing upward and therefore configured to support the specimen.\",\n \"In some aspects, each of the first and second specimen supporting surfaces, 119A and 119B respectively, may comprise a specimen securing element 143 that is configured to secure a specimen.\",\n \"The specimen securing element 143 may secure the specimen through mechanical, magnetic, or electromechanical means.\",\n \"For example, the specimen securing element 143 may comprise stage clips to mechanically secure the specimen to the stage.\",\n \"Alternatively, each of the first and second specimen supporting surfaces, 119A and 119B respectively, may comprise a recessed pocket 144 that is configured to accept an interchangeable insert 145.The interchangeable insert 145 may be selected based on the type of specimen to be observed, such as a specimen slide or specimen petri dish.\",\n \"In this example, the interchangeable insert 145 itself, supports the specimen.\",\n \"In some aspects, when the stage 114 is in the first position, the first specimen supporting surface 119A is positioned at a distance “D1” from an outer surface of a lens of the objective 113 and a distance “D3” from an outer surface of the condenser 116.Likewise, when the stage 114 is in the second position, the second specimen supporting surface 119B is positioned at a distance “D2” from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 113 and a distance “D4” from an outer surface of the condenser 116.To maintain the appropriate distance between the specimen supporting surface and the lens of the objective 113 and/or condenser 116, the height compensator 115 allows the stage 114 to move between the first and second positions, as discussed above.\",\n \"By doing so, the height compensator 115 allows D2 to be the same value as D1 when the microscope 100 is converted from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration.\",\n \"Likewise, the height compensator 115 allows D1 to be the same value as D2 when the microscope 100 is converted from the inverted configuration to the upright configuration.\",\n \"Similarly, the height compensator 115 allows D3 to be the same value as D4 when the microscope 100 is converted from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration.\",\n \"Likewise, the height compensator 115 allows D4 to be the same value as D3 when the microscope 100 is converted from the inverted configuration to the upright configuration.\",\n \"In other words, the height compensator 115 maintains the distance (D1 or D2) between the appropriate specimen supporting surface (119A or 119B) and the lens of the objective 113, and/or the distance (D3 or D4) between the appropriate specimen supporting surface (119A or 119B) and the lens of the condenser 116, regardless of whether the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration or the inverted configuration.\",\n \"Accordingly, the position of a focal plane of the objective 113, with respect to the appropriate specimen supporting surface (119A or 119B), remains unchanged.\",\n \"Likewise, the position of the condenser 116, with respect to the appropriate specimen supporting surface (119A or 119B)—the distance of which is generally referred to as the working distance—remains unchanged.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3B illustrates a cross section view of the stage 114.In some aspects, the stage 114 comprises a removable and repositionable stage displacement handle 126.Rotation of the handle causes the displacement of the stage 114 in the X and Y directions, both of which are generally horizontal and parallel to the working surface 10 that supports the microscope 100.The handle 126 comprises a shaft 127 having a first gear 128A and a second gear 128B disposed at a distal portion of the shaft 127, and a first knob 129A and a second knob 129B disposed at a proximal portion of the shaft 127.Rotation of the first knob 129A causes rotation of the first gear 128A.\",\n \"Rotation of the first gear 128A causes displacement of the stage 114 in the X direction.\",\n \"Rotation of the second knob 129B causes rotation of the second gear 128B.\",\n \"Rotation of the second gear 128B causes displacement of the stage 114 in the Y direction.\",\n \"The stage 114 further comprises at least one receptacle 140A configured to receive the distal portion of the shaft 127 and the first and second gears, 128A and 128B, respectively.\",\n \"In one aspect, the receptacle 140A is configured to receive the distal portion of the shaft 127 from either the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 119A, 119B.\",\n \"In other words, the distal portion of shaft 127 may be inserted into the receptacle 140A from either the first specimen supporting surface 119A side, or the second specimen supporting surface 119B side.\",\n \"In this way, when the microscope 100 is rotated from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration, the handle 126 may be removed from the receptacle 140A, such as from the second specimen supporting surface 119B side, and reinserted into the receptacle 140A from the first specimen supporting surface 119A side, thereby repositioning the handle 126 so that it remains proximal to the working surface 10 that supports the microscope 100.Similarly, when the microscope 100 is rotated from the inverted configuration to upright configuration, the handle 126 may be removed from the receptacle 140A, such as from the first specimen supporting surface 119A side, and reinserted into the receptacle 140A from the second specimen supporting surface 119B side, thereby repositioning the handle 126 so that it remains proximal to the working surface 10 that supports the microscope 100.In some aspects, the stage 114 may include a second receptacle 140B that is disposed laterally away from the first receptacle 140A.\",\n \"Upon conversion of the microscope 100 from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration, the handle 126 may, for example, be removed from the first receptacle 140A and inserted into the second receptacle 140B, thereby allowing the handle 126 to remain on the right side of the microscope 100.Accordingly, the first and second receptacles, 140A and 140B respectively, provide for the handle 126 to remain on a common side of the microscope 100, regardless of whether the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration or in the inverted configuration.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"3B, upon insertion of the handle 126 into the receptacle 140A, 140B the first gear 128A engages a corresponding third gear 128C disposed within the stage 114 and the second gear 128B engages a corresponding fourth gear 128D disposed within the stage 114.Although the use of gears are discussed herein with reference to displacing the stage 114 in the X and Y directions, it is understood that other mechanical methods may be used to control the displacement of the stage in the X and Y directions, such as the use of hexagonal shaped shafts, square shaped shafts, use of friction or snap fits, or any other mechanical methods as known by those having ordinary skill in the art.\",\n \"The handle 126 may further comprise a stop 141 that is configured to engage the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 119A, 119B.\",\n \"When engaged, the physical contact between the stop 141 and the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 119A, 119B prevents further insertion of the handle 126 into the receptacle 140A, 140B by mechanically preventing further movement of the handle 126 in a direction toward the stage 114.In some aspects, to prevent the handle 126 from inadvertently disengaging the receptacle 140A, 140B the handle 126 may comprise a magnetic element 142A that is configured to engage one or more corresponding magnetic elements 142B disposed within the stage 114.In particular, the magnetic elements 142B may be disposed proximate to the first and second specimen supporting surfaces, 119A and 119B respectively.\",\n \"The magnetic elements 142A, 142B maintain engagement of the shaft 127 within the receptacle 140A, 140B through a magnetic force acting between the magnetic elements 142A and 142B.\",\n \"Although the use of a magnetic force is discussed herein with reference to maintaining the shaft 127 within the receptacle 140A, 140B, it is understood that other methods may be used to maintain the shaft 127 within the receptacle 140A, 140B, such as the use of interference, friction or snap fits, or any other mechanical or electromechanical methods as known by those having ordinary skill in the art.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"1, the microscope 100 may further comprise an optical arm 106 disposed proximal to the first portion 104A of the body 104.The optical arm 106 may comprise an elongated housing forming an optical pathway therein, the optical pathway having an optical input at one end of the optical arm 106 and an optical output at an opposite end of the optical arm 106.The optical input of the of the optical arm 106 is configured to receive light that has entered the objective 113 and has been reflected toward the optical input of the optical arm 106 via one or more mirrors disposed within the first portion 104A of the body 104.Light entering the optical input of the optical arm 106 is then reflected to the optical output of the optical arm 106 via one or more mirrors disposed within the optical arm 106 and/or body 104.The optical arm 106, therefore, forms a portion of the optical path of the microscope 100.In another example, the optical arm 106 may be disposed proximal to the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.In this example, the optical arm 106 may be disposed adjacent to the stage 114 and configured to direct light entering the objective to the optical output of the optical arm 106 via one or more mirrors disposed within the optical arm 106 and/or body 104.In yet another example, the optical arm 106 may be disposed proximal to the second portion 104B of the body 104.In this example, the optical arm 106 may be disposed adjacent to the working surface 10 and configured to direct light entering the objective to the optical output of the optical arm 106 via one or more mirrors disposed within the optical arm 106 and/or body 104.In some aspects, the optical arm 106 may be pivotably coupled to the first portion 104A of the body 104, thereby allowing the optical arm 106 to rotate about a pivoting axis 122.The pivoting axis 122 may extend in a lateral direction with respect to the microscope 100.The optical arm 106 may be configured to be positioned at varying angles, or at one or more predetermined angles.\",\n \"In one aspect, the optical arm 106 may be mechanically connected to a brake that prevents the body 104 from rotating.\",\n \"Accordingly, in order to rotate the body 104 and thereby convert the microscope 100 from an upright configuration to an inverted configuration, or from an inverted configuration to an upright configuration, the optical arm 106 must first be rotated towards the rotating axis 120 or toward the stage 114 in order to disengage the brake.\",\n \"In this way, the possibility of damaging the optical arm 106 or other related component through inadvertent collision with the lower portion 102A during rotation of the body 104, is reduced because the optical arm 106 is moved toward the rotating axis 120 and away from the lower base 102A, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"1, in some aspects the microscope 100 may further comprise a cradle 108 disposed at a distal portion of the optical arm 106 and proximal to the optical output of the optical arm 106.The cradle 108 is configured to receive and secure an electronic device 110 that is capable of acquiring images.\",\n \"Particularly, the cradle 108 aligns an optical input of the electronic device 110, such as a lens of a camera, with the optical output of the optical arm 106.The electronic device may comprise a mobile device, camera, tablet computer, laptop computer, PDA, portable computer, or other device that is capable of receiving light or other optical data, or acquiring an image.\",\n \"The electronic device 110 may further comprise a touch-sensitive screen display or other input mechanisms, such as buttons or keys, that are capable of receiving user input.\",\n \"In some aspects, a user may control operations of the microscope, such as focusing of a specimen, positioning of a specimen with respect to the objective 113, operation of the light source, control of the condenser 116, acquisition of an image, processing of an image, sending of an image to another device, altering light pathways and illumination settings, automated X-Y stage movement, controlling external hardware devices (e.g., camera), controlling other computer devices (e.g., onboard mini-computer, onboard controllers), communicating with other devices (such as through local area networks, wide area networks, broadband, Bluetooth, WiFi, or other wireless or wired communication methods), and other microscope related operations, by using the input mechanisms of the electronic device 110.The microscope 100 may further comprise a first and second focus knob 118A, 118B disposed laterally on the body 104.The first focus knob 118A may be disposed proximal to the first portion 104A of the body 104 and the second focus knob 118B may be disposed proximal to the second portion 104B of the body 104.The first and second focus knobs 118A, 118B may be configured to adjust a position of the objective 113 along the optical axis 124 to thereby position the specimen in a focal plane of the objective 113.Alternatively, the first and second focus knobs 118A, 118B may be configured to adjust a position of the height compensator 115 and stage 114, together, along the optical axis 124 to thereby position the specimen in a focal plane of the objective 113.A method for converting the microscope 100 from an upright configuration into an inverted configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"1-5.To convert the microscope 100 from the upright configuration into the inverted configuration, the user may first rotate the optical arm 106 toward the stage 114.Rotation of the optical arm 106 towards the stage 114 may cause the brake to disengage, thereby allowing the body 104 to rotate about the rotating axis 120.Alternatively, the optical arm 106 may be configured to rotate towards the stage 114 upon rotation of the body 104.Rotating the optical arm 106 towards the stage 114 during rotation of the body 104 minimizes the likelihood that the optical arm 106 will be damaged during conversion of the microscope 100.The optical arm 106 may be configured to automatically rotate towards the stage 114 by, for example, mechanically coupling the optical arm 106 to the rotational coupling 130 via a cable and pulley system.\",\n \"In this example, upon rotation of the body 104, the cable is placed in tension thereby causing the optical arm 106 to rotate towards the stage 114.In another example, a stepper motor or solenoid may be coupled to the optical arm 106 and configured to actuate the optical arm 106 towards the stage 114 upon sensing rotation of the body 104.The user may then rotate the body 104 with respect to the base 102 in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction along the rotating axis 120, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.The body 104 is rotated until the first portion 104A is adjacent to the lower portion 102A, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"5.As illustrated by FIG.\",\n \"2 and FIG.\",\n \"5, the body of the microscope occupies substantially the same three-dimensional area in the inverted configuration and in the upright configuration, and faces substantially the same direction in the inverted configuration and in the upright configuration.\",\n \"In the inverted configuration, the objective occupies substantially the same space as the condenser occupies in the upright configuration.\",\n \"Similarly, in the inverted configuration, the condenser occupies substantially the same space as the objective occupies in the upright configuration.\",\n \"This can provide a seamless user experience when converting the microscope between the upright and inverted configurations, as the microscope occupies substantially the same space above the workspace upon which the microscope is placed in both configurations, and also faces the same direction in both configurations.\",\n \"As the body 104 is rotated from the upright configuration into the inverted configuration, the stage 114 may automatically slide from the first position (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"4A), to the second position (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"4B), in a direction along the optical axis 124.As a result, referring to FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B, the distance between the specimen supporting surface (119A and 119B) and the outer surface of the lens of the objective 113 is maintained.\",\n \"In other words, the distance D2 is the same as the distance D1.The user may then rotate the optical arm 106 along the pivoting axis 122 to attain a desirable viewing angle.\",\n \"In some aspects, to prevent the body 104 from inadvertently moving or otherwise rotating with respect to the base 102, the body 104 may be fixed, secured, or otherwise prevented from moving by either mechanically, electromechanically, or electrically locking the body 104 in the second, inverted configuration.\",\n \"For example, as discussed above, the body 104 may be fixed in the inverted configuration by activating the brake.\",\n \"The brake may be activated manually by the user or automatically through the use of a controller which is configured to detect the position of the upper or lower portions 104A, 104B of the body 104.When the upper or lower portions 104A, 104B of the body 104 are adjacent to the lower portion 102B of the base 102, the controller activates the brake thereby fixing the body 104 in the inverted configuration.\",\n \"The brake may comprise a solenoid, magnetic, electrical, or mechanical brake.\",\n \"Alternatively, a pin may be engaged to lock the body 104 to the base 102 in the inverted configuration.\",\n \"The user may further remove the handle 126 from either the first or second receptacle 140A, 140B and reinsert the handle 126 in the other receptacle 140A, 140B, as desired.\",\n \"The handle 126 may also be inserted into the desired receptacle 140A, 140B from either side of the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 119A, 119B.\",\n \"Accordingly, the handle may be arranged so that its position with respect to the user, remains the same (e.g., lower right side of the microscope 100, lower left side of the microscope 100, upper right side of the microscope 100, or upper left side of the microscope 100).\",\n \"Once in the inverted configuration, the user may wish to rotate the nose piece 112 in order to utilize a different objective 113.In one aspect, in order to allow the nose piece 112 to freely rotate with sufficient clearance from the stage 114, the stage 114 may be moved from the second position (shown in FIG.\",\n \"4B) to the first position (shown in FIG.\",\n \"4A).\",\n \"In one example, the stage 114 may be moved into the first position by the user.\",\n \"In this example, the stage may be mechanically linked to a lever disposed on a sidewall of the body.\",\n \"By manipulating the lever, the stage 114 may be moved into the first position.\",\n \"In another example, the nosepiece 112 may be mechanically coupled to the stage 114 such that rotation of the nose piece 112 causes the stage 114 to move toward the first position.\",\n \"In this example, the nosepiece 112 may be coupled to a rack and pinion mechanism that converts the rotational movement of the nosepiece into a linear displacement of the stage 114.In yet another example, the stage may be coupled to a solenoid that is actuated when rotation of the nosepiece 112 is detected.\",\n \"In this example, a controller senses rotation of the nosepiece 112 which in turn causes a signal to be sent to an actuator, such as the solenoid, to thereby actuate the stage 114 away from the objective and into the first position.\",\n \"A method for converting the microscope 100 from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"1-5.To convert the microscope 100 from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration, the user may first disengage the brake thereby allowing the body 104 to rotate about the rotating axis 120.The user may then rotate the body 104 with respect to the base 102 in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction along the rotating axis 120, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.The body 104 is rotated until the second portion 104B is adjacent to the lower portion 102A, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"1.As the body 104 is rotated from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration, the stage 114 may automatically slide from the second position (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"4B), to the first position (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"4A), in a direction along the optical axis 124.As a result, referring to FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B, the distance between the specimen supporting surface (119A and 119B) and the outer surface of the lens of the objective 113 is maintained.\",\n \"In other words, the distance D1 is the same as the distance D2.The user may then rotate the optical arm 106 along the pivoting axis 122 to attain a desirable viewing angle.\",\n \"In some aspects, to prevent the body 104 from inadvertently moving or otherwise rotating with respect to the base 102, the body 104 may be locked in the first inverted configuration, as discussed above.\",\n \"The user may further remove the handle 126 from either the first or second receptacle 140A, 140B and reinsert the handle 126 in the other receptacle 140A, 140B, as desired.\",\n \"The handle 126 may also be inserted into the desired receptacle 140A, 140B from either side of the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 119A, 119B.\",\n \"Accordingly, the handle may be arranged so that its position with respect to the user, remains the same (e.g., lower right side of the microscope 100, lower left side of the microscope 100, upper right side of the microscope 100, or upper left side of the microscope 100).\",\n \"Flipping Embodiment FIGS.\",\n \"6 and 7 illustrate an example of a flipping microscope 200.Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"6, the microscope 200 is depicted in an upright configuration.\",\n \"The microscope 200 comprises a body 204.The body 204 is configured to support, directly or indirectly, at least one objective 213, a condenser 216, and a light source (not shown).\",\n \"The body 204 may further be configured to support a stage 214.The body 204 is configured to be picked up and flipped in order to convert the microscope 200 from an upright configuration (shown in FIG.\",\n \"6) to an inverted configuration (shown in FIG.\",\n \"7), and vice versa.\",\n \"Accordingly, the body 204 comprises flattened upper and lower surfaces, 252A and 252B respectively, that are configured to support the microscope 200 on a working surface 20.The stage 214, if mounted to the body 204, may be mounted to one or more horizontal channels, a mounting block, or a height compensator as described above with reference to the microscope 100.If the stage 214 is mounted to the height compensator 215, the height compensator 215 may be disposed between the objective 213 and the condenser 216.As also described above with reference to the microscope 100, the stage 214 includes an opening aligned with the condenser 216, to allow light to pass through the stage 214 and illuminate the specimen.\",\n \"The height compensator 215 permits the stage 214 to slide between a first position and a second position along an optical axis 224, defined by the objective 213.The stage 214 comprises, on an outer surface, a first specimen supporting surface 219A and at an opposite surface, a second specimen supporting surface 219B.\",\n \"When the microscope 200 is in the upright configuration the stage 214 is in the first position and the first specimen supporting surface 219A is configured to support the specimen.\",\n \"When the microscope 200 is in the inverted configuration the stage 214 is in the second position and the second specimen supporting surface 219B is configured to support the specimen.\",\n \"As described above with reference to the microscope 100, when the stage 214 is in the first position, the first specimen supporting surface 219A is positioned at a distance “D1” from an outer surface of a lens of the objective 213.Likewise, when the stage 214 is in the second position, the second specimen supporting surface 219B is positioned at a distance “D2” from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 213.To maintain the appropriate distance between the specimen supporting surface and the objective 213, the height compensator 215 allows the stage 214 to move between the first and second positions.\",\n \"By doing so, the height compensator 215 allows D2 to be the same value as D1 when the microscope 200 is flipped from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration.\",\n \"Likewise, the height compensator 215 allows D1 to be the same value as D2 when the microscope 200 is flipped from the inverted configuration to the upright configuration.\",\n \"In other words, the height compensator 215 maintains the distance (D1 or D2) between the appropriate specimen supporting surface (219A or 219B) and the objective 213, regardless of whether the microscope 200 is in the upright configuration or the inverted configuration.\",\n \"Accordingly, the position of a focal plane of the objective 213, with respect to the appropriate specimen supporting surface (219A or 219B), remains unchanged.\",\n \"The microscope 200 may further comprise an optical arm 206.The optical arm 206 may be pivotably coupled to the body 204, thereby allowing the optical arm 206 to rotate about a pivoting axis 222.The microscope 200 may further comprise a cradle 208 disposed at a distal portion of the optical arm 206.The cradle 208 is configured to receive and secure an electronic device 210 that is capable of acquiring images.\",\n \"A method for flipping the microscope 200 to thereby convert the microscope 200 from an upright configuration into an inverted configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"6 and 7.To convert the microscope 200 from the upright configuration (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"6) into the inverted configuration (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"7), the user picks up and flips the body 204 so that the upper surface 252A makes contact with the working surface 20.The stage 214 automatically slides from the first position to the second position, in a direction along the optical axis 224, as the body 204 is flipped from the upright configuration into the inverted configuration.\",\n \"As a result, the distance between the specimen supporting surface (219A and 219B) and the outer surface of the lens of the objective 213 is maintained.\",\n \"In other words, the distance D2 is the same as the distance D1.As discussed above with reference to the microscope 100, the user may remove and reposition the handle 226 from either the first or second receptacle 240A, 240B and reinsert the handle 226 in the other receptacle 240A, 240B, as desired.\",\n \"The handle 226 may further be inserted into the desired receptacle 240A, 240B from either side of the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 219A, 219B.\",\n \"Accordingly, the handle may be arranged so that its position with respect to the user, remains the same (e.g., lower right side of the microscope 200, lower left side of the microscope 200, upper right side of the microscope 200, or upper left side of the microscope 200).\",\n \"A method for flipping the microscope 200 to thereby convert the microscope 200 from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"6 and 7.To convert the microscope 200 from the inverted configuration (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"7) into the upright configuration (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"6), the user picks up and flips the body 204 so that the lower surface 252B makes contact with the working surface 20.The stage 214 automatically slides from the second position to the first position, in a direction along the optical axis 224, as the body 204 is flipped from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration.\",\n \"As a result, the distance between the specimen supporting surface (219A and 219B) and the outer surface of the lens of the objective 213 is maintained.\",\n \"In other words, the distance D1 is the same as the distance D2.The user may remove and reposition the handle 226 from either the first or second receptacle 240A, 240B and reinsert the handle 226 in the other receptacle 240A, 240B, as desired.\",\n \"The handle 226 may further be inserted into the desired receptacle 240A, 240B from either side of the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 219A, 219B.\",\n \"Accordingly, the handle may be arranged so that its position with respect to the user, remains the same (e.g., lower right side of the microscope 200, lower left side of the microscope 200, upper right side of the microscope 200, or upper left side of the microscope 200).\",\n \"Reconfigurable Embodiment FIGS.\",\n \"8-10B illustrate an example of a reconfigurable microscope 300.Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"8, the microscope 300 comprises a frame or body 304 having a first portion 304A, a second portion 304B and an intermediate portion 304C.\",\n \"The intermediate portion 304C is disposed between the first and second portions, 304A and 304B respectively.\",\n \"The intermediate portion 304C may be configured to mount a stage 314.The first portion 304A includes a first mounting feature 360A and the second portion 304B includes a second mounting feature 360B.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"10A, the first and second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively, each comprise a channel 361 configured to receive interchangeable components.\",\n \"The interchangeable components may comprise a nose piece 312 having at least one objective 313, an objective 313, or a light source and condenser assembly 316.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"10B, each of the interchangeable components comprises a rail 362 configured to engage the channel 361 of the first and second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively.\",\n \"Accordingly, any of the interchangeable components may engage the first and second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively.\",\n \"Although a channel and rail arrangement is used to mount the interchangeable components to the body 304, it is understood that other methods may be used to mount the interchangeable components to the body 304, such as the use of interference, friction or snap fits, or any other mechanical or electromechanical methods as known by those having ordinary skill in the art.\",\n \"Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"10A and 10B, in some aspects, each of the first and second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively, may include a lock 363 configured to mechanically engage the interchangeable components.\",\n \"The lock 363 may comprise a tab configured to engage a corresponding indent 364 disposed on each of the interchangeable components.\",\n \"The lock 363 may be further configured to automatically engage the indent 364 upon insertion of the interchangeable component into the mounting features 360A and 360B.\",\n \"To disengage the lock 363, the tab may be moved to clear the indent 364 while simultaneously moving the interchangeable component away from the body 304.In one aspect, each of the first and second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively, may include an electrode 366A configured to provide electrical power to those interchangeable components that require power, such as the condenser assembly 316.For example, upon insertion of the condenser assembly 316 into the first or second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively, a corresponding electrode 366B disposed within the condenser assembly 316 engages the electrode 366A, thereby energizing the light source of the condenser assembly 316.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"8, to configure the microscope 300 into an upright configuration, the nose piece 312 may be mounted in the first mounting feature 360A and the condenser assembly 316 may be mounted in the second mounting feature 360B.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"9, to configure the microscope 300 into an inverted configuration, the nose piece 312 may be mounted in the second mounting feature 360B and the condenser assembly 316 may be mounted in the first mounting feature 360A.\",\n \"In some aspects, the nose piece assembly 312 may further comprises an optical arm 306 pivotably coupled to the nose piece 312.The optical arm 306 may therefore, rotate about a pivoting axis 322.The optical arm 306 may further comprise a cradle 308 disposed at a distal portion of the optical arm 306.The cradle 308 is configured to receive and secure an electronic device 310 that is capable of acquiring images.\",\n \"Modular Embodiment FIG.\",\n \"11A illustrates an isometric view of a modular microscope 400 in the upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11B illustrates an isometric view of the modular microscope 400 in the upright configuration, where dashed lines illustrate interior components.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11C illustrates a cross-sectional view of the modular microscope 400 in the upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12A illustrates an isometric view of the modular microscope 400 in the inverted configuration FIG.\",\n \"12B illustrates an isometric view of the modular microscope 400 in the inverted configuration, where dashed lines illustrate interior components.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12C illustrates a cross-sectional view of the modular microscope 400 in the inverted configuration.\",\n \"Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C, the microscope 400 comprises a body 404 having a first portion 404A, a second portion 404B and an intermediate portion 404C.\",\n \"The intermediate portion 404C is disposed between the first and second portions, 404A and 404B respectively.\",\n \"The intermediate portion 404C may be configured to mount a stage 414.The first portion 404A includes a first mounting feature 460A and the second portion 404B includes a second mounting feature 460B.\",\n \"Each of the first and second mounting features, 460A and 460B respectively, are configured to receive an objective module 413 and a condenser module 416.The objective module 413 houses the nose piece 412 and the condenser module 416 houses the condenser 415.The nose piece 412 may be coupled to one or more objectives 412A-C.\",\n \"Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"13A-13B and 14A-14D, each of the first and second mounting features, 460A and 460B respectively, may comprise slots 461 that are configured to receive corresponding posts 462 disposed in each of the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively.\",\n \"In some aspects, each of the posts 462 include a latch pin hole 464 that is configured to receive a corresponding latch pin 463 disposed on the body 404.The latch pins 463 provide proper optical alignment of the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively, along an optical axis 424 defined by the objective 413.Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"13A-13B, the body 404 includes an upper optical port 472A disposed proximate to the first portion 404A and a lower optical port 472B disposed proximate to the second portion 404B.\",\n \"Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C, 12A-12C, and 14C-14D, the upper and lower optical ports, 472A and 472B respectively, are arranged to be aligned with a corresponding optical port 472C of the objective module 413 (shown in FIGS.\",\n \"14C-14D) when the microscope 400 is in either the upright configuration (as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C) or the inverted configuration (as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"12A-12C).\",\n \"Accordingly, light entering the objective module 413 through nose piece 412 is reflected off of a fixed mirror 480 towards the optical port 472C of the objective module 413 and into the upper or lower optical ports, 472A and 472B respectively.\",\n \"Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"13A-13B, the body 404 includes an internal optical path 474 that is in communication with the upper and lower optical ports, 472A and 472B respectively.\",\n \"The optical path 474 includes a retractable mirror 476A and a fixed mirror 476B.\",\n \"The retractable mirror 476A is disposed proximal to the upper optical port 472A and when the retractable mirror 472A is in a first, engaged position, the retractable mirror 472A reflects light entering the upper optical port 472A toward an output port 472D.\",\n \"When the retractable mirror 472A is in a second, retracted position, the retractable mirror 472A is moved away from the optical path 474 and does not reflect light in the optical path 474.The fixed mirror 476B is disposed proximal to the lower optical port 472B and is arranged to reflect light entering the lower optical port 472B toward the output port 472D.\",\n \"The output port 472D may include supporting optics, such as an ocular lens.\",\n \"In other aspects, the output port 472D may comprise a cradle configured to receive an electronic device.\",\n \"The electronic device can comprise one of a mobile communications device (e.g., smartphone), tablet computer, laptop computer, PDA, digital camera, portable gaming console, or other portable computing device.\",\n \"In one aspect, the retractable mirror 476A may be actuated mechanically or electrically.\",\n \"For example, a lever may be manipulated by the user to move the retractable mirror 476A to the first, engaged position or the second, retracted position.\",\n \"Alternatively, the retractable mirror 476A may be automatically actuated through detection of the arrangement of the objective module 413 and/or the condenser module 416.For example, each of the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively, may have a unique electrical signal that enables a controller to detect whether the objective module 413 or the condenser module 416 is disposed within the first or second mounting features, 460A and 460B respectively.\",\n \"Should the controller detect that the objective module 413 is disposed within the first mounting feature 460A, then the retractable mirror 476A is positioned in the first, engaged position.\",\n \"Shall the controller detect that the objective module 413 is disposed within the second mounting feature 460B, then the retractable mirror 476A is positioned in the second, retracted position.\",\n \"In another example, the retractable mirror 476A may be actuated automatically through an electrical connection made between a particular slot 461 and post 462.For instance, one of the posts 462 may be configured to provide electrical power to a predefined slot 461 that is electrically coupled to a motor or actuator.\",\n \"Energizing the motor or actuator thereby causes the retractable mirror 476A to be actuated to the first, engaged position or to the second, retracted position, depending on the arrangement of the objective and condenser modules.\",\n \"In another example, the retractable mirror 476A may be actuated through activation of one or more buttons or keys that are disposed on the body 404.In this example, the user may depressed the button or key to cause the retractable mirror 476A to be positioned in the first, engaged position or the second, retracted position via actuation of a motor or actuator coupled to the retractable mirror 476A.\",\n \"It is understood that other mechanical or electrical methods, as known by those having ordinary skill in the art, may be used to position the retractable mirror 476A in the first, engaged position or the second, retracted position.\",\n \"Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C, when the microscope 400 is in the upright configuration, the retractable mirror 476A is positioned in the engaged position and reflects light directed from the objective module 413 to the fixed mirror 480 toward the output port 472D.\",\n \"Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"12A-12C, when the microscope 400 is in the inverted configuration, the retractable mirror 476A is positioned in the retracted position and does not reflect light in the optical path 474.Rather, in the inverted configuration, another fixed mirror 476B reflects light entering the objective module 413 toward the output port 472D.\",\n \"Retractable mirror 476A can be coupled to a hinge or pivot 485 to pivot the mirror between the engaged position and the retracted position.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"14A-14B, the condenser module 416 comprises a structure housing a condenser 415 and light source.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"14C-14D, the objective module 413 comprises a nose piece 412 onto which at least one objective 412A-C is mounted.\",\n \"As discussed above, the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively, each comprise posts 462 that are held within corresponding slots 461 in the base 404 by latch pins 463 that are engaged into corresponding latch pin holes 464.In some aspects, the condenser module 416 may be electrically coupled to the base 404 to provide power to the light source.\",\n \"In other aspects, the objective module 413 may be electrically coupled to the base 404 to power a focusing mechanism.\",\n \"Alternatively, the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively, may be self-powered by a battery housed within each of the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively.\",\n \"Swing Arm Embodiment FIGS.\",\n \"15-16B illustrate an example of a swing arm microscope 500.Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"15, the microscope 500 comprises a base 502 having an upper portion 502A, a lower portion 502B and an intermediate portion 502C.\",\n \"The intermediate portion 502C is disposed between the upper and lower portions, 502A and 502B respectively.\",\n \"The intermediate portion 502C may be configured to mount a stage 514.The upper portion 502A includes a first slot 584A and the lower portion 502B includes a second slot 584B.\",\n \"The first slot 584A is configured to receive an upper swing arm 504A and the second slot 584B is configured to receive a lower swing arm 504B.\",\n \"Each of the upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B respectively, are configured to swing within their corresponding slots, 584A and 584B respectively, along a pivoting axis 588 defined by a spindle 582.In one aspect, the pivoting axis is disposed along a plane of symmetry of the upper and lower swing arms 504A, 504B.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"15, the spindle 582 is disposed within the base 502.The upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B respectively, are pivotably coupled to the spindle 582 via rotational mounts 583 (as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"16A and 16B).\",\n \"In one aspect, the upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B respectively, swing together because each is coupled to the same spindle 582.Accordingly, the upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B respectively, move together about the pivoting axis 588.Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"16A and 16B, each of the upper and lower swing arms 504A, 504B include an objective 513 and a condenser 516.The upper and lower swing arms 504A, 504B may have similar profiles such as, for example, an “L” shaped, square shaped, or round shaped profile.\",\n \"Although the objective 513 and the condenser 516 of each swing arm 504A, 504B are depicted as being 90 degrees apart, it is understood that other angles may be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.\",\n \"For example, the objective 513 and the condenser 516 of each swing arm 504A, 504B may be disposed at any angle ranging from 10-180 degrees.\",\n \"In some aspects, the pivoting axis 588 may be disposed between the objective 513 and the condenser 516 of the upper and lower swing arms 504A, 504B.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"16A, the upper swing arm 504A includes a first optical port 577A and a second optical port 577C.\",\n \"The first optical port 577A includes a mirror 576A that is configured to reflect light entering the objective 513 of the upper swing arm 504A toward an optical path 574 disposed within the base 504 (shown in FIG.\",\n \"15).\",\n \"The second optical port 577C comprises a through hole that allows light entering the objective 513 of the lower swing arm 504B to exit an output port 572.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"15, the output port 572 may include supporting optics, such as an ocular lens and may comprise a cradle configured to receive an electronic device.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"16B, the lower swing arm 504B includes an optical port 577B.\",\n \"The optical port 577B includes a pair of mirrors 576A, 576B that is configured to reflect light entering the objective 513 of the lower swing arm 504B toward the optical path 574 of the base 504 (shown in FIG.\",\n \"15).\",\n \"In one aspect, because each swing arm 504A, 504B includes an objective 513 and condenser 516, conversion of the microscope 500 from an upright configuration to an inverted configuration, or vice versa, simply requires that the swing arms 504A, 504B be arranged so that the objective 513 and condenser 516 are positioned according to the desired configuration.\",\n \"For example, shall the user desire to use the microscope 500 in an upright configuration, the user would position the swing arms 504A, 504B so that the objective 513 of the upper swing arm 504A is disposed above the specimen to be observed and the condenser 516 of the lower swing arm 504B is disposed below the specimen to be observed.\",\n \"As discussed above, because the upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B, are coupled to the same spindle 582, rotation of one of the swing arms 504A, 504B causes rotation of the other swing arm 504A, 504B.\",\n \"In this example, after light enters the objective 513 of the upper swing arm 504A, light is reflected and directed toward the first optical port 577A via the mirror 576A.\",\n \"Light exiting the first optical port 577A enters the optical path 574 of the base 504 and exits from the output port 572.In another example, should the user desire to use the microscope 500 in an inverted configuration, the user would position the swing arms 504A, 504B so that the objective 513 of the lower swing arm 504B is disposed below the specimen to be observed and the condenser 516 of the upper swing arm 504A is disposed above the specimen to be observed.\",\n \"Again, because the upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B, are coupled to the same spindle 582, rotation of one of the swing arms 504A, 504B causes rotation of the other swing arm 504A, 504B.\",\n \"In this example, after light enters the objective 513 of the lower swing arm 504B, light is reflected and directed toward the optical port 577B via the mirror 576B.\",\n \"Light exiting the optical port 577B enters the optical path 574 of the base 504, passes through the second optical port 577C of the upper swing arm 504A, and ultimately exits from the output port 572.The cradle 608 configured to receive and secure an electronic device 610 that is capable of acquiring images, and to align an optical element of the electronic device 610 with the output port 572.The electronic device 610 can be a portable personal computing device including an optical element (e.g., a camera), for example a mobile communications device (e.g., smartphone), tablet computing device, laptop, PDA, portable gaming device, camera, or other portable computing device with imaging capabilities.\",\n \"Accordingly, the objective 513 of the upper swing arm 504A is used when the microscope 500 is in the upright configuration and the condenser 516 of the upper swing arm 504A is used when the microscope 500 is in the inverted configuration.\",\n \"Similarly, the objective 513 of the lower swing arm 504B is used when the microscope 500 is in the inverted configuration and the condenser 516 of the lower swing arm 504B is used when the microscope 500 is in the upright configuration.\",\n \"Laterally Rotating Embodiment FIG.\",\n \"17A illustrates an example of a laterally rotating microscope 600 in an upright configuration, and FIG.\",\n \"17B illustrates an example of the laterally rotating microscope 600 in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"17A-17B, the microscope 600 comprises a base 602 and a rotating assembly 604.The rotating assembly 604 may include an objective 613, an optical arm 606, a cradle 608, a stage 614, and a condenser 616, that are all configured to rotate together as a single assembly, along a rotating axis 620 that extends along a lateral direction with respect to the microscope 600.The rotating axis 620 is defined by rotational couplings disposed at opposite ends of the stage 614.In one aspect, the optical arm 606 may be coupled to the objective 613 and configured to reflect light entering the objective 613 toward an optical input of an electronic device 610.The electronic device 610 may be removably attached to the optical arm 606 via the cradle 608.The objective 613 and the condenser 616 are connected by a structural arm 692.The structure arm 692 supports and arranges the objective 613 and the condenser 616 with respect to the stage 614.As shown in FIGS.\",\n \"17A-17B, the objective 613 and condenser 616 may be arranged at opposing ends of the structure arm 692.To convert the microscope 600 into an inverted configuration, a handle 694 of the rotating assembly 604 is rotated along the rotating axis 620 until the handle 694 engages a slot 696 disposed within the base 602.As a result of such rotation, the rotating assembly 604 is rotated about 180 degrees, thereby positioning the objective 613 below the stage 614 and the condenser 616 above the stage 614.As discussed above with reference to the stage 114, the stage 614 may be configured to support a specimen on both a first and second specimen supporting surface.\",\n \"Overview of Example Controller and User Interface Components FIG.\",\n \"18 is a block diagram illustrating components of controller 1000 that can be used to manage a dual-use microscope.\",\n \"The controller 1000 can be integral to the microscope in some embodiments.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the controller 1000 can be separate from the microscope, for example the controller 1000 can be included in a user portable computing device (e.g., smartphone, tablet, laptop, personal digital assistant, or the like) configured to communicate and/or cooperate with the microscope.\",\n \"In further embodiments, aspects of the controller 1000 can be integral to the microscope and aspects of the controller 1000 can be separate from the microscope.\",\n \"Controller 1000 comprises user interface module 1020, processor module 1004, storage module 1010, input/output (I/O) module 1008, memory module 1006, and bus 1002.Bus 1002 may be any suitable communication mechanism for communicating information.\",\n \"Processor module 1004, storage module 1010, I/O module 1008, and memory module 1006 are coupled with bus 1002 for communicating information between any of the modules of controller 1000 and/or information between any module of controller 1000 and a device external to controller 1000.For example, information communicated between any of the modules of controller 1000 may include instructions and/or data.\",\n \"In some aspects, bus 1002 may be a universal serial bus.\",\n \"In some aspects, bus 302 may provide Ethernet connectivity.\",\n \"User interface module 1020 can generate a graphical user interface for enabling user interaction with the dual-configuration microscope and/or image data gathered from the dual-configuration microscope, and includes image parameters adjustment module 1022 and file management module 1024.User interface module 1020 can be available as a set of software instructions, for example an application that can be downloaded or otherwise provided to an electronic device configured to be received by the cradle of the optical arm of the dual-configuration microscope to acquire images.\",\n \"The image parameters adjustment module 1022 can provide functionality for a user to adjust the brightness, contrast, and color settings of acquired images.\",\n \"The file management module 1024 can provide functionality for naming and archiving of acquired images.\",\n \"For example, for archiving the file management module 1024 can provide controls for naming a file, naming an album, and choosing which file type to use for saving an acquired image (e.g., .jpeg, .tiff, .png).\",\n \"For example, for file sharing the file management module 1024 can provide functionality to send an acquired image by email or other electronic communication, to interface with and upload to a local network server, or to share using global network filesharing services.\",\n \"In some aspects, processor module 1004 may comprise one or more processors, where each processor may perform different functions or execute different instructions and/or processes.\",\n \"For example, one or more processors may execute instructions for focusing on a specimen, positioning a specimen with respect to an objective, operating of a light source, controlling of a condenser, acquiring an image, processing an image, sending an image to another device, altering light pathways and illumination settings, automated X-Y stage movement, controlling external hardware devices (e.g., camera), controlling other computer devices (e.g., onboard mini-computer, onboard controllers), communicating with another device, and one or more processors may execute instructions for input/output functions.\",\n \"Memory module 1006 may be random access memory (“RAM”) or other dynamic storage devices for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor module 1004.Memory module 1006 may also be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions by processor 1004.In some aspects, memory module 1006 may comprise battery-powered static RAM, which stores information without requiring power to maintain the stored information.\",\n \"Storage module 1010 may be a magnetic disk or optical disk and may also store information and instructions.\",\n \"In some aspects, storage module 1010 may comprise hard disk storage or electronic memory storage (e.g., flash memory).\",\n \"In some aspects, memory module 1006 and storage module 1010 are both a machine-readable medium.\",\n \"Controller 1000 is coupled via I/O module 1008 to a user interface for providing information to and receiving information from a user controlling functions of a microscope, operations of a microscope, or for causing actuation of certain components of a microscope (e.g., movement of a retractable mirror, stage, or objective).\",\n \"For example, the user interface may be a cathode ray tube (“CRT”), LCD monitor, or touch-screen display for displaying information to an operator.\",\n \"The user interface may also include, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, or a touch-screen device coupled to controller 1000 via I/O module 1008 for communicating information and command selections to processor module 1004.According to various aspects of the subject disclosure, methods described herein are executed by controller 1000.Specifically, processor module 1004 executes one or more sequences of instructions contained in memory module 1006 and/or storage module 1010.In one example, instructions may be read into memory module 1006 from another machine-readable medium, such as storage module 1010.In another example, instructions may be read directly into memory module 1006 from I/O module 1008, for example from a user controlling functions of a microscope, operations of a microscope, or for causing actuation of certain components of a microscope (e.g., movement of a retractable mirror, stage, or objective) via the user interface.\",\n \"Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in memory module 1006 and/or storage module 1010 causes processor module 1004 to control functions of the microscope, operations of the microscope, or actuation of certain components of the microscope (e.g., movement of a retractable mirror, stage, or objective).\",\n \"For example, focusing operations, image processing and acquisition, and component actuation instructions may be stored in memory module 1006 and/or storage module 1010 as one or more sequences of instructions.\",\n \"Information such as the distance between a specimen supporting surface and a condenser, or position of an objective or condenser with respect to a specimen may be communicated from processor module 1004 to memory module 1006 and/or storage module 1010 via bus 1002 for storage.\",\n \"In some aspects, the information may be communicated from processor module 1004, memory module 1006, and/or storage module 1010 to I/O module 1008 via bus 1002.The information may then be communicated from I/O module 1008 to a user operating the microscope.\",\n \"One or more processors in a multi-processing arrangement may also be employed to execute the sequences of instructions contained in memory module 1006 and/or storage module 1010.In some aspects, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement various aspects of the subject disclosure.\",\n \"Thus, aspects of the subject disclosure are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.\",\n \"The term “machine-readable medium,” or “computer-readable medium,” as used herein, refers to any medium that participates in providing instructions to processor module 1004 for execution.\",\n \"Such a medium may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.\",\n \"Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as storage module 1010.Volatile media include dynamic memory, such as memory module 1006.Common forms of machine-readable media or computer-readable media include, for example, floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical mediums with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a processor can read.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"19 illustrates and example of a user interface 1900 provided on a computing device configured to cooperate, at least optically and in some examples electronically, with a dual-configuration microscope.\",\n \"The user interface 1900 can be generated in some embodiments by the user interface module 1020 of the controller 1000.As illustrated, the user interface includes a specimen display area 1930, an image parameter control panel 1910, and file naming controls 1920, 1925.The specimen display area 1930 displays to a user a visual representation of the specimen positioned in the optical path of the microscope.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the visual representation can be adjusted by the user, for example by zooming, rotating, or using other adjustment controls presented in the image parameter control panel 1910.In other aspects, the visual representation of the specimen can be received by a camera of the device used to present the interface 1900.For example, an electronic device positioned in the cradle of a microscope, as described above, may convert the visual representation of the specimen into a digital representation, and present that digital representation in the specimen display area 1930 via a touch sensitive display panel.\",\n \"Image parameter control panel 1910 can provide functionality for a user to change the visual appearance of one or more image parameters of the specimen image including, for example, brightness controls 1912, contrast controls 1914, and color option selections 1916, among others.\",\n \"The image parameter control panel 1910 can also provide a file type selection functionality 1918 for a user to change a file type to be used for storage of a snapshot of the visual representation of the specimen.\",\n \"The user may capture a snapshot of the visual representation of the specimen by activating a shutter button.\",\n \"For example, the interface 1900 can be presented on a touch-sensitive display panel in some embodiments, and a user may capture a snapshot of the visual representation of the specimen by touching a digital shutter button.\",\n \"For archiving, the interface 1900 may provide controls for naming the file 1925, naming the album 1930, and choosing which file type to save as (.jpeg, .tiff, .png) as described above.\",\n \"Such functionality can beneficially enable a user of the microscope to organize snapshots using a personalized system to enable easier retrieval of a desired specimen snapshot stored in an electronic database after storage, for example by naming the album based on session date, specimen type, or others, and by naming the files based on sample characteristics, image parameters, or the like, to name just a few examples.\",\n \"Although not illustrated, the interface 1900 can provide for file sharing capabilities, for example enabling a user to send specimen snapshot images by email, directly upload to and interface with a local network server, or share using a networked file-sharing service.\",\n \"The interface 1900 can, in some embodiments, provide post processing tools for editing specimen snapshots after image capture, for example by cropping and making image parameter adjustments.\",\n \"The interface 1900 can also include analysis tools, for example for counting, labeling, rotating, and/or making measurements on captured specimen snapshots.\",\n \"Overview of Additional Components of Rotating Embodiments FIG.\",\n \"20A illustrates a top, left, and front perspective view of a stage 2000 and FIG.\",\n \"20B illustrates a bottom, right, and front perspective view of the stage 2000.As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"20A-20B, an embodiment of an X-Y stage 2000 for use with a dual-configuration microscope such as is described herein may include a mounting block 2005 configured to be inserted into a corresponding pocket 2010 disposed within the intermediate portion 104C of the body of a dual-configuration microscope.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the X-Y stage 2000 can be used with any of the dual-configuration microscopes described herein, for example the rotatable microscope embodiments, modular microscope embodiments, and reconfigurable microscope embodiments discussed herein.\",\n \"In the illustrated example, the mounting block 2005 of the stage 2000 can be inserted into the pocket 2010 and held into position by a quick release mechanism 2015.The quick release mechanism 2015 may comprise, in the illustrated embodiment, a chamfered rotating member 2020 and handle 2025, wherein the chamfered rotating member 2020 is configured to securely engage a corresponding chamfer 2030 on the mounting block 2005.As the quick release mechanism 2015 is rotated, a contact force between the chamfers 2020 and 2030 increases to thereby securely engage and maintain the mounting block 2005 in position.\",\n \"Other suitable releasable securing mechanisms can be used in other embodiments.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"21B and 21C, the specimen supporting surface 2035 of the stage 2000 is mounted at or below a horizontal central axis 2040 of the mounting block 2005.The central axis 2040 of the mounting block 2005 passes through the vertical center of the mounting block 2005.In some aspects, the spatial relationship between the horizontal central axis 2040 of the mounting block 2005 and the specimen supporting surface 2035 enables a spacing between the specimen supporting surface 2035 of the stage 2000 and an outer surface of a lens of the objective and/or an outer surface of the condenser to be maintained, regardless of whether the microscope is in the upright or inverted configuration, as discussed above with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B.\",\n \"To illustrate, when the microscope is in the upright configuration and after the stage 2000 is inserted into the pocket 2010 and secured, the specimen supporting surface 2035 is positioned a distance away from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 2125 and/or the outer surface of the condenser 2130 (represented by D5).\",\n \"When the microscope is in the inverted configuration and the stage 2000 is inserted into the pocket 2010 and secured, the specimen supporting surface 2035 is positioned substantially the same distance away from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 2125 and/or the outer surface of the condenser 2130 (represented by D6).\",\n \"Distances D5 and D6 may be equal or substantially equal.\",\n \"Thereby, the focal distance between the specimen supporting surface 2035 and outer surface of the lens of the objective can be maintained in some embodiments regardless of whether the microscope is in the upright or inverted configuration.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the spatial relationship between the horizontal central axis 2040 of the mounting block 2005 and the specimen supporting surface 2035 enables a spacing or working distance between the specimen supporting surface 2035 of the stage 2000 and an outer surface of a lens of the condenser 2130 of the microscope to be maintained regardless of whether the microscope is in the upright or inverted configuration.\",\n \"As illustrated by FIG.\",\n \"21B and FIG.\",\n \"21C, the body of the microscope occupies substantially the same three-dimensional area in the inverted configuration and in the upright configuration, and faces substantially the same direction in the inverted configuration and in the upright configuration.\",\n \"In the inverted configuration, the objective occupies substantially the same space as the condenser occupies in the upright configuration.\",\n \"Similarly, in the inverted configuration, the condenser occupies substantially the same space as the objective occupies in the upright configuration.\",\n \"This can provide a seamless user experience when converting the microscope between the upright and inverted configurations, as the microscope occupies substantially the same space above the workspace upon which the microscope is placed in both configurations, and also faces the same direction in both configurations As in the illustrated embodiment, the stage 1900 can be configured to be removed during transition of the microscope between the inverted and upright configurations.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the stage 2000 and pocket 2010 can be coupled to the base of the microscope such that the body of the microscope can rotate between the inverted and upright configurations without removal of the stage 2000.The illustrated specimen supporting surface 2035 of the stage 2000 includes an insert 2045 for holding two standard sized slides for an inverted microscope.\",\n \"In other embodiments, different slide inserts can be used instead of the illustrated insert 2045.The insert can be removable, and can be replaced with an insert for holding a specimen dish or container when the microscope is in the upright configuration.\",\n \"The stage 2000 can be controlled in some embodiments by rotation of a Y-axis knob 2050 and an X-axis knob 2055 for driving belt 2060 for laterally positioning at least an upper structure 2065 of the stage 2000 in the Y and X directions, respectively, enabling acquisition of images of different portions of the samples supported by the insert 2045.Upper structure 2065 may comprise belts, gears, or other comparable mechanisms that enable at least the specimen supporting surface 2035 to move in the Y and X directions.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the stage 2000 can be additionally or alternatively controlled through use of a digital controller, for example through controller 1000 communicating with X and Y drive motors (not illustrated) of the stage 2000.FIGS.\",\n \"21A through 21C illustrate another embodiment of rotating microscope 2100 comprising a body rotatably coupled with a unitary base.\",\n \"The body 2105 includes at least one contoured surface.\",\n \"For example, the upper and lower surfaces of the body 2105 may each have a convex profile that corresponds to a concave profile of an outer surface of the lower portion of the base, facilitating smooth rotation of the body.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"21A illustrates an isometric view of the microscope 2100 with the body in an upright configuration.\",\n \"The body 2100 includes the stage 2000 described above, and an optical arm 2110 with a rotatable collar 2199, a first geared focus module 2115 for the objective 2125, and a second geared focus module 2120 for the condenser 2130.FIG.\",\n \"21B illustrates a front view of the rotatable microscope 2100 in the upright configuration with the first geared focus module 2115 and a lower casing of the optical arm 2110 removed to reveal the components of the optical path 2190 inside of the optical arm 2110.The optical arm 2110 includes a rotatable collar 2199 and a Dove prism 2135 (shown in FIG.\",\n \"21D) positioned to receive light representing acquired images and pass the light to the reflective surface 2140, which then redirects the light through the eyepiece 2155 of the optical arm 2110.The optical arm 2110 can be rotatably coupled to the body 2105 in some embodiments.\",\n \"Due to rotation of the optical arm 2110 around the optical path 2190 passing through the optical arm 2110, the acquired specimen image can be rotated when viewed by an imaging device in optical communication with the eyepiece 2155 of the optical arm 2110.Advantageously, the Dove prism 2135 is located in the optical path 2190 and can be longitudinal rotated, automatically and/or manually, in order to correct for rotation of the acquired image.\",\n \"For example, the Dove prism 2135 can be manually rotated in some embodiments by rotation of the collar 2199.FIG.\",\n \"21C illustrates an embodiment of the rotatable microscope 2100 with the body positioned in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"21D illustrates a close up view of the Dove prism 2135 within a housing 2175.The housing 2175 may rotate at a different rate than the optical arm 2110 in some embodiments.\",\n \"The Dove prism 2135 is a type of reflective prism which can be used to invert an image.\",\n \"The Dove prism 2135 is shaped from a truncated right-angle prism.\",\n \"A beam of light entering a first face 2160 of the sloped faces of the prism undergoes total internal reflection from the inside of the longest face 2165 and emerges from the opposite sloped face 2170.Images passing through the prism 2135 are flipped, and because only one reflection takes place, the image is inverted but not laterally transposed.\",\n \"Properties of the Dove prism 2135 make it useful as a beam rotator, as when the prism 2135 is rotated along its longitudinal axis 2195, the transmitted image rotates at twice the rate of the prism 2135.Accordingly, longitudinal rotations of the prism 2135 can cause double the rotation of the acquired image to correct for rotation of visual representations of specimens due to rotation of the microscope and/or optical arm.\",\n \"The longitudinal axis 2195 of the Dove prism 2135 can be aligned with the optical path 2190 in some embodiments.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the Dove prism 2135 is disposed within the housing 2175 comprising an inner tube, the inner tube 2175 is disposed within an outer tube 2185.The inner tube 2175 and outer tube 2185 are coaxially arranged.\",\n \"Rotation of the inner tube 2175 can be accomplished by rotation of a collar 2199 that may be disposed at substantially one end of the inner tube 2175.In some aspects, the collar 2199 may be coupled to the inner tube 2175 via a threaded engagement, press fit, or other comparable mechanical coupling methods know to a person of ordinary skill.\",\n \"Rotation of the collar 2199 thereby causes rotation of the inner tube 2175, which in turn causes rotation of the Dove prism 2135.Additionally or alternatively, the Dove prism 2135 may be rotated automatically with the use of gears that are arranged to rotate the inner tube 2175 as the optical arm 2110 is rotated.\",\n \"As one example, the gears may be arranged to provide a gearing ratio of 2:1, where one full rotation of the optical arm 2110 causes one-half rotation of the Dove prism 2135.Other gearing ratios may be acceptable, depending on the intended design.\",\n \"In other aspects, a user may further manually rotate the inner tube 2175 to attain a desired rotation of the acquired image.\",\n \"In other aspects, rotation of the Dove prism 2135 may be accomplished via a stepper, rotational, or linear motor, for example, driven by controller 1000.In yet another example, a stepper, rotational, or linear motor may be actuated based on an accelerometer reading of the electronic device coupled to the optical arm 2110.In some embodiments, the Dove prism 2135 as described above can be used with any of the dual-configuration microscopes described herein, for example the rotatable microscope embodiments, modular microscope embodiments, and reconfigurable microscope embodiments discussed herein.\",\n \"Tilting Embodiment FIGS.\",\n \"22-25E illustrate an example of a tilting microscope 2200 having a plurality of planar surfaces 2204A-E.\",\n \"Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"22, the microscope 2200 comprises a body 2202.The body 2202 is configured to support, directly or indirectly, a nosepiece 2212, at least one objective 2213, a condenser 2216, and a light source (not shown).\",\n \"The body 2202 may further be configured to support a stage 2214.In some aspects, the condenser 2216 of the microscope 2200 may be selected based on the configuration of the microscope 2200.The condenser 2216 may be one of a high-resolution or upright condenser having a focal length of 1-4 mm, a long working distance condenser having a focal length of 35-2 mm, or an ultra-long working distance condenser having a focal length of 70-73 mm, depending on the configuration of the microscope 2200.For example, if the microscope 2200 is in an upright configuration, the condenser 2216 may be a high-resolution condenser.\",\n \"If the microscope 2200 is in an inverted configuration, the condenser 2216 may be replaced with a long working distance condenser.\",\n \"The stage 2214 comprises, on an outer surface, a first specimen supporting surface 2219A and at an opposite outer surface, a second specimen supporting surface 2219B.\",\n \"When the microscope 2200 is in the upright configuration (as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"23A-B) the first specimen supporting surface 2219A is configured to support a specimen.\",\n \"When the microscope 2200 is in the inverted configuration (as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"24A-B) the second specimen supporting surface 2219B is configured to support the specimen.\",\n \"In one aspect, the stage 2214 may be configured to removably receive an X-Y adaptor that allows the specimen to move in a controlled fashion along the X and Y axes.\",\n \"The removable X-Y adaptor may be configured to attach to the stage 2214 to allow use of the first specimen supporting surface 2219A or the second specimen supporting surface 2219B, depending on the configuration of the microscope 2200 and the surface of the stage 2214 upon which the removable X-Y adaptor is mounted or attached.\",\n \"The microscope 2200 may further comprise a first and second mounting slot 2206A, B, with the first mounting slot 2206A disposed on a first planar surface 2204A and the second mounting slot 2206B disposed opposite of the first mounting slot 2206A, on a planar surface, such as planar surface 2204E.\",\n \"Each of the mounting slots 2206A, B are configured to receive and support a portable display device, such as portable display device 2210 as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"23A and 24A.\",\n \"For example, each mounting slot 2206A, B may be configured to receive a side or end of the portable display device and support the portable display device to enable a user to view and use the portable display device, as desired.\",\n \"In one aspect, the microscope 2200 may further comprise a first and second rotating stand 2208A, B, as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"22, 23B and 24B.\",\n \"The first rotating stand 2208A may be disposed on the first planar surface 2204A and the second rotating stand 2208B may be disposed opposite of the first mounting rotating stand 2208A, on a planar surface, such as planar surface 2204E.\",\n \"Each of the rotating stands 2208A, B are configured to support a portable display device, such as portable display device 2210 as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"23A-24B, when positioned in a deployed configuration.\",\n \"Each rotating stand 2208A, B may be pivotably coupled to the body 2202 and configured to rotate between the deployed configuration and a stowed configuration.\",\n \"When in the deployed configuration, each rotating stand 2208A, B mechanically supports the portable display device.\",\n \"When in the stowed configuration, each rotating stand 2208A, B lays substantially flush with its respective surrounding surface, 2204A, E. In one aspect, each rotating stand 2208A, B may be biased to the stowed position via a spring or other mechanism as would be known by a person of ordinary skill, to ensure that each rotating stand 2208A, B is maintained in the stowed configuration when the microscope 2200 is titled between an upright to inverted configuration, and vice versa.\",\n \"Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"23A-24B, in some aspects, the portable display device 2210 may comprise a mobile device, camera, tablet computer, laptop computer, PDA, portable computer, or other device that is capable of displaying images.\",\n \"The portable display device 2210 may further comprise a touch-sensitive screen display or other input mechanisms, such as buttons or keys, that are capable of receiving user input.\",\n \"In some aspects, a user may control operations of the microscope 2200, such as focusing of a specimen, positioning of a specimen with respect to the objective 2213, operation of the light source, control of the condenser 2216, acquisition of an image, processing of an image, storing of an image, sending of an image to another device, altering light pathways and illumination settings, automated X-Y stage movement, automated nosepiece movement, controlling external hardware devices (e.g., camera), controlling other computer devices (e.g., onboard mini-computer, onboard controllers), communicating with other devices (such as through local area networks, wide area networks, broadband, Bluetooth, WiFi, or other wireless or wired communication methods), and other microscope related operations, by using the input mechanisms of the electronic device 110.In one aspect, the microscope 2200 may comprise an internal camera or light sensor (not shown) that is configured to receive light that has entered the objective 2213.The internal camera or light sensor may be configured to detect and convey information that constitutes an image by converting variable attenuation of light waves as they pass through or reflect off of the specimen into digital signals.\",\n \"The internal camera or light sensor may comprise a semiconductor charge-coupled device (CCD), active pixel sensor in complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS), or an N-type metal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS, Live MOS).\",\n \"In one aspect, the internal camera or image sensor may be coupled to a communications module that is configured to receive data representing the light received by the camera or sensor and transmit the data to the portable display device 2210.The data may be transmitted to the portable display device via a wired or wireless connection.\",\n \"The data received by the portable display device 2210 may then be displayed to the user as one or more images.\",\n \"The microscope 2200 further comprises a plurality of planar surfaces 2204A-E that are each configured to support the microscope 2200 on a working surface as the microscope 2200 is converted from an upright configuration to an inverted configuration, and vice versa.\",\n \"For example, the plurality of planar surfaces 2204A-E may be configured to facilitate tilting of the microscope 2200 as the microscope is converted from an upright configuration (as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"23A-B) to an inverted configuration (as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"24A-B), and vice versa, as illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"25A-E.\",\n \"The plurality of planar surfaces 2204A-E may be disposed on the body 2202 and configured to support the microscope 2200 and allow tilting of the microscope 2200 as the microscope 2200 is tilted from one planar surface, to an adjacent planar surface.\",\n \"For example, the microscope 2200 may comprise five planar surfaces, with a first planar surface 2204A disposed parallel to the stage 2214, a second planar surface 2204B disposed at an angle less than 90 degrees from the first planar surface 2204A, a third planar surface 2204C disposed perpendicularly from the first planar surface 2204A, a fourth planar surface 2204D disposed at an angle less than 90 degrees from the third planar surface 2204C, and a fifth planar surface 2204E disposed parallel to the stage 2214.In one example, the angle between the first planar surface 2204A and the second planar surface 2204B may be 30 degrees, 45 degrees, 60 degrees, or any angle there between.\",\n \"In another example, the angle between the fourth planar surface 2204D and the third planar surface 2204C may be 30 degrees, 45 degrees, 60 degrees, or any angle there between.\",\n \"In yet another example, the angle between the first planar surface 2204A and the second planar surface 2204B may be substantially the same angle as an angle between the fifth planar surface 2204E and the fourth planar surface 2204D.\",\n \"The microscope 2200 may further comprise a plurality of focus knob receptacles 2217-D that are each configured to receive a removable focus knob 2218 (shown in FIGS.\",\n \"22 and 23A-24B).\",\n \"The focus knob receptacles 2217A-D may be disposed laterally on both outward sides of the body 2202.For example, referring to FIGS.\",\n \"22 and 23A, B, a first focus knob receptacle 2217A may be disposed proximal to the nosepiece 2212 and right side of the body 2202, and a second focus knob receptacle 2217B may be disposed proximal to the condenser 2216 and right side of the body 2202.Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"24A, B, a third focus knob receptacle 2217C may be disposed proximal to the condenser 2216 and opposite side of the body 2202, and a fourth focus knob receptacle 2217D may be disposed proximal to the nosepiece 2212 and opposite side of the body 2202.In one aspect, depending on the configuration of the microscope 2200 and preference of the user, the focus knob 2218 may be inserted in any of the focus knob receptacles 2217A-D to adjust a position of the objective 2213, adjust a position of the stage 2214, adjust the position of the condenser 2216, or control operations of the microscope 2200.The focus knob 2218 may further comprise one or more buttons or user input mechanisms to receive user input or commands for controlling or operating the microscope.\",\n \"In some aspects, a user may use the focus knob 2218 to focus a specimen, position a specimen with respect to the objective 2213, operate a light source, control the condenser 2216, acquire an image, process an image, send an image to another device, alter light pathways and illumination settings, control external hardware devices (e.g., camera), control other computer devices (e.g., onboard mini-computer, onboard controllers), communicate with other devices (such as through local area networks, wide area networks, broadband, Bluetooth, WiFi, or other wireless or wired communication methods), and other microscope related operations, by using the input mechanisms of the focus knob 2218.The focus knob 2218 may further comprise an internal rechargeable battery and wireless communication module that enables the focus knob 2218 to communicate with the microscope 2200 and/or portable display device 2210.FIGS.\",\n \"23A and 23B illustrate the microscope 2200 positioned in the upright configuration.\",\n \"In the upright configuration, the body is positioned such that the nosepiece assembly 2212 is positioned vertically above the stage 2214 and the condenser is positioned vertically below the stage 2214.The first specimen supporting surface 2219A is positioned to support the specimen.\",\n \"While any focus knob receptacle 2217A-D may be used to mount the focus knob 2218, for ergonomic purposes and depending on whether the user prefers to use their right or left hand, the second focus knob receptacle 2217B or third focus knob receptacle 2217C may be used to mount the focus knob 2218.First mounting slot 2206A and first rotating stand 2208A may be used to mount and support the portable display device 2210.FIGS.\",\n \"24A and 24B illustrate the microscope 2200 positioned in the inverted configuration.\",\n \"In the inverted configuration, the body is positioned such that the nosepiece assembly 2212 is positioned vertically below the stage 2214 and the condenser is positioned vertically above the stage 2214.The second specimen supporting surface 2219B is positioned to support the specimen.\",\n \"While any focus knob receptacle 2217A-D may be used to mount the focus knob 2218, for ergonomic purposes and depending on whether the user prefers to use their right or left hand, the first focus knob receptacle 2217A and fourth focus knob receptacle 2217D may be used to mount the focus knob 2218.Second mounting slot 2206B and second rotating stand 2208B may be used to mount and support the portable display device 2210.A method for converting the microscope 2200 from the upright configuration into the inverted configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"25A-E. To convert the microscope 2200, the portable display device 2210 is dismounted, thereby allowing the rotating stand 2208A to move to the stowed position.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"25A, while in the upright configuration the microscope 2200 is supported by the fifth planar surface 2204E.\",\n \"To convert the microscope 2200 from the upright configuration into the inverted configuration, the user first tilts the microscope 2200 toward the fourth planar surface 2204D.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"25B, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the fourth planar surface 2204D.\",\n \"The user then continues the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the third planar surface 2204C.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"25C, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the third planar surface 2204C.\",\n \"The user then continues the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the second planar surface 2204B.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"25D, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the second planar surface 2204B.\",\n \"The user then finishes the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the first planar surface 2204A.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"25E, the microscope 2200 is shown in the inverted position as the microscope 2200 rests on the first planar surface 2204A.\",\n \"The user may then mount the portable display device 2210 to the microscope 2200 by using the second mounting slot 2206B and positioning the second rotating stand 2208B to the deployed configuration.\",\n \"The user may further reposition the focus knob 2218 to whichever focus knob receptacle 2217A-D is desired.\",\n \"While this example conversion of the microscope may involve tilting the microscope 2200 up to four instances and using five planar surfaces 2204A-E, it is understood that fewer or more tilting instances and planar surfaces may be used to convert the microscope from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration without departing from the scope of the invention.\",\n \"A method for converting the microscope 2200 from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"25A-E. To convert the microscope 2200, the portable display device 2210 is dismounted, thereby allowing the rotating stand 2208B to move to the stowed position.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"25E, while in the inverted configuration the microscope 2200 is supported by the first planar surface 2204A.\",\n \"To convert the microscope 2200 from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration, the user first tilts the microscope 2200 toward the second planar surface 2204B.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"25D, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the second planar surface 2204B.\",\n \"The user then continues the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the third planar surface 2204C.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"25C, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the third planar surface 2204C.\",\n \"The user then continues the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the fourth planar surface 2204D.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"25B, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the fourth planar surface 2204D.\",\n \"The user then finishes the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the fifth planar surface 2204E.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"25A, the microscope 2200 is shown in the upright position as the microscope 2200 rests on the fifth planar surface 2204E.\",\n \"The user may then mount the portable display device 2210 to the microscope 2200 by using the first mounting slot 2206A and positioning the first rotating stand 2208A in the deployed configuration.\",\n \"The user may further reposition the focus knob 2218 to whichever focus knob receptacle 2217A-D is desired.\",\n \"While in this example conversion of the microscope may involve tilting the microscope 2200 up to four instances and using five planar surfaces 2204A-E, it is understood that fewer or more tilting instances and planar surfaces may be used to convert the microscope from the inverted configuration to the upright configuration without departing from the scope of the invention.\",\n \"Terminology The foregoing description is provided to enable a person skilled in the art to practice the various configurations described herein.\",\n \"While the subject technology has been particularly described with reference to the various figures and configurations, it should be understood that these are for illustration purposes only and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the subject technology.\",\n \"There may be many other ways to implement the subject technology.\",\n \"Various functions and elements described herein may be partitioned differently from those shown without departing from the scope of the subject technology.\",\n \"Various modifications to these configurations will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and generic principles defined herein may be applied to other configurations.\",\n \"Thus, many changes and modifications may be made to the subject technology, by one having ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the scope of the subject technology.\",\n \"It is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the processes disclosed is an illustration of exemplary approaches.\",\n \"Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the processes may be rearranged.\",\n \"Some of the steps may be performed simultaneously.\",\n \"The accompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.\",\n \"A phrase such as an “aspect” does not imply that such aspect is essential to the subject technology or that such aspect applies to all configurations of the subject technology.\",\n \"A disclosure relating to an aspect may apply to all configurations, or one or more configurations.\",\n \"A phrase such as an aspect may refer to one or more aspects and vice versa.\",\n \"A phrase such as an “embodiment” does not imply that such embodiment is essential to the subject technology or that such embodiment applies to all configurations of the subject technology.\",\n \"A disclosure relating to an embodiment may apply to all embodiments, or one or more embodiments.\",\n \"A phrase such an embodiment may refer to one or more embodiments and vice versa.\",\n \"Furthermore, to the extent that the term “include,” “have,” or the like is used in the description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprise” as “comprise” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.\",\n \"The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.\",\n \"A reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically stated, but rather “one or more.” The term “some” refers to one or more.\",\n \"All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various configurations described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and intended to be encompassed by the subject technology.\",\n \"Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the above description.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876004"}}},{"rowIdx":4495049,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS, IMAGE CAPTURING SYSTEM, CONTROL METHOD OF IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS, AND COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM","An image capturing apparatus includes: an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image; a communication unit configured to receive designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; an obtaining unit configured to obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination unit configured to determine whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus, if the determination unit determines that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit."],["1.An image capturing apparatus comprising: a computer executing instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to function as: a receiving control unit configured to control a receiving unit which receives, from an external apparatus, a command designating a parameter value related to image data; and a transmitting control unit configured to control a transmitting unit which transmits a response to the external apparatus in response to the command received by the receiving unit, wherein a video source mode is settable to the image capturing apparatus, wherein the video source mode defines at least a maximum value for a parameter of a first kind and a maximum value for a parameter of a second kind, wherein, an error response is not transmitted to the external apparatus from the transmitting unit in a state where a first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind, and wherein the transmitting control unit is configured to cause the transmitting unit to transmit an error response to the external apparatus in response to the command received by the receiving unit in the state, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind.","2.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the video source mode is related to a video source configuration and a video encoder configuration.","3.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the video source mode includes information defining a plurality of parameters including resolution.","4.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the transmitting control unit is configured not to cause the transmitting unit to transmit the error response to the external apparatus, if the receiving unit receives a command related to a predetermined parameter among the plurality of parameters from the external apparatus.","5.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of parameters further include at least one of a frame rate and an encoding method.","6.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit configured to change a setting of the image capturing apparatus from the first video source mode to a second video source mode in which the parameter value designated by the command is settable, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind.","7.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a setting of the image capturing apparatus is not changed from the first video source mode to the second video source mode, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind.","8.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter of the first kind is a parameter of resolution.","9.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the resolution is a number of pixels.","10.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the resolution is indicated by a number of pixels in width and a number of pixels in height.","11.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter of the first kind is a parameter of a frame rate.","12.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter of the second kind is a parameter of a frame rate.","13.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter of the second kind is a parameter of an encoding method.","14.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a determination unit configured to determine, based on the video source mode being set to the image capturing apparatus, whether the parameter value designated by the command is settable to the image capturing apparatus.","15.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter value designated by the command is a parameter value of a video encoder configuration.","16.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, the instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to further function as an image data generating unit configured to generate image data in accordance with a parameter value based on the command received by the receiving unit, and wherein the transmitting control unit is configured to cause the transmitting unit to transmit the image data generated by the image data generating unit.","17.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the transmitting control unit is configured to cause the transmitting unit to transmit the image data to the external apparatus via a network.","18.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the image data generating unit includes a generation unit configured to generate image data based on a video source configuration.","19.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the image data generating unit includes an encoding unit configured to encode image data based on a video encoder configuration, and wherein the transmitting control unit is configured to cause the transmitting unit to transmit encoded image data.","20.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data by using H.264, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.","21.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data by using Motion JPEG, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.","22.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which resolution is greater than or equal to 960×540 pixels, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.","23.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which resolution is greater than or equal to 176×144 pixels, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.","24.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which a frame rate is 20 fps, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.","25.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which a frame rate is 30 fps, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.","26.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which resolution is greater than or equal to 960×540 pixels by using H.264, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.","27.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which resolution is greater than or equal to 960×540 pixels and a frame rate is 20 fps by using H.264, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.","28.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which resolution is greater than or equal to 960×540 pixels and a frame rate is 30 fps by using H.264, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.","29.A method for an image capturing apparatus which comprises a computer executing instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the method, the method comprising: a receiving step of receiving, from an external apparatus, a command designating a parameter value related to image data; and a transmitting step of transmitting a response to the external apparatus in response to the command received in the receiving step, wherein a video source mode is settable to the image capturing apparatus, wherein the video source mode defines at least a maximum value for a parameter of a first kind and a maximum value for a parameter of a second kind, wherein, an error response is not transmitted to the external apparatus in the transmitting step in a state where a first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter value of the first kind, and wherein, in the transmitting step, an error response is transmitted to the external apparatus in response to the command received in the receiving step in the state, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter for the second kind.","30.An image capturing system comprising: an image capturing apparatus configured to transmit image data to an image receiving apparatus, wherein the image receiving apparatus is configured to receive the image data from the image capturing apparatus, wherein the image capturing apparatus comprises a computer executing instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to function as: a receiving control unit configured to control a receiving unit which receives a command designating a parameter value related to the image data; an image data generating unit configured to generate the image data in accordance with a parameter value based on the command received by the receiving unit; and a transmitting control unit configured to control a transmitting unit which transmits the image data generated by the image data generating unit, wherein, a video source mode is settable to the image capturing apparatus, wherein, the video source mode defines at least a maximum value for a parameter of a first kind and a maximum value for a parameter of a second kind, wherein, an error response is not transmitted from the transmitting unit in a state where a first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind, wherein, the transmitting control unit is configured to cause the transmitting unit to transmit an error response in response to the command received by the receiving unit in the state, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind, wherein the image receiving apparatus comprises: a display control unit configured to display a setting screen to a display unit, the setting screen being for designating the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind and the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind; and a transmitting control unit configured to control a transmitting which transmits a command designating a parameter value designated on the setting screen to the image capturing apparatus.","31.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the receiving control unit to cause the receiving unit of the image capturing apparatus to receive the command designating the parameter value from the image receiving apparatus, and wherein, the transmitting control unit to cause the transmitting unit of the image capturing apparatus to transmit the error response to the image receiving apparatus in response to the command received by the receiving unit.","32.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein a parameter value for a parameter of at least one kind is capable of being designated from a drop down list displayed on the setting screen.","33.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind and the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind are capable of being designated on the same setting screen displayed by display control unit.","34.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the parameter of the first kind is a parameter of resolution.","35.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the parameter of the second kind is at least one of a parameter of an encoding method and a parameter of a frame rate.","36.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the parameter of the first kind is a parameter of a frame rate.","37.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the parameter value designated by the command is a parameter value of a video encoder configuration.","38.A method for an image capturing system, wherein the image capturing system comprises an image capturing apparatus configured to transmit image data to an image receiving apparatus, wherein the image receiving apparatus is configured to receive the image data from the image capturing apparatus, wherein the method for the image capturing system comprises: a method for the image capturing apparatus which comprises a computer executing instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the method for the image capturing apparatus, the method for the image capturing apparatus comprising: a receiving step of receiving a command designating a parameter value related to the image data; an image data generating step of generating the image data in accordance with a parameter value based on the command received in the receiving step; and a transmitting step of transmitting the image data generated in the image data generating step, wherein, a video source mode is settable to the image capturing apparatus, wherein, the video source mode defines at least a maximum value for a parameter of a first kind and a maximum value for a parameter of a second kind, wherein, an error response is not transmitted in the transmitting step in a state where a first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind, wherein, in the transmitting step, an error response is transmitted in response to the command received in the receiving step in the state, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind, and a method for the image receiving apparatus which comprises a computer executing instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the method for the image receiving apparatus, the method for the image receiving apparatus comprising: a display control step of displaying a setting screen to a display unit, the setting screen being for designating the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind and the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind; and a transmitting step of transmitting a command designating a parameter value designated on the setting screen to the image capturing apparatus."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>"],["<SOH> SUMMARY OF INVENTION <EOH>The present invention provides an image capturing technique that prevents the occurrence of mismatching in a combination of the resolution of image data to be generated by an image capturing unit and the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by a compression encoding unit, even when only one resolution is changed.","According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image capturing apparatus comprising: an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image; a communication unit configured to receive designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; an obtaining unit configured to obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination unit configured to determine whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus via the communication unit, if the determination unit determines that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit.","According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control method of an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, comprising: a first communication step of receiving designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; an obtaining step of obtaining a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination step of determining whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained in the obtaining step and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission step of transmitting an error response to the information processing apparatus, if it is determined in the determination step that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained in the obtaining step and settable for the encoding unit.","According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer readable storage medium containing computer-executable instructions that control an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, the medium comprising: computer-executable instructions that receive designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; computer-executable instructions that obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; computer-executable instructions that determine whether the designated resolution is the obtained resolution settable for the encoding unit; and computer-executable instructions that transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus, if it is determined that the designated resolution is not the obtained resolution settable for the encoding unit.","According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image capturing system comprising an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to encode an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, and an information processing apparatus connected to the image capturing apparatus across a network, wherein the information processing apparatus comprises a generation unit configured to generate designation of a resolution of the encoding unit, and the image capturing apparatus comprises: a communication unit configured to receive the designation of the resolution of the encoding unit from the information processing apparatus; an obtaining unit configured to obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination unit configured to determine whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus via the communication unit, if the determination unit determines that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit.","Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to the attached drawings)."],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","15/432,759, filed Feb. 14, 2017, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","14/646,330, filed May.","20, 2015, now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,609,198 B2, which is a National Stage filing of International Application No.","PCT/JP2013/081331 filed Nov. 14, 2013, which claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No.","2012-256772 filed Nov. 22, 2012, the disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.","BACKGROUND Technical Field The present invention relates to an image capturing apparatus, an image capturing system, a control method of the image capturing apparatus, and a computer readable storage medium.","Background Art Conventionally, an image capturing apparatus for transmitting a captured image to a receiving apparatus includes commands for allowing an external apparatus to change the settings of the image capturing apparatus and designate the start of image distribution.","Known examples of these commands are those defined by standards formulated by the ONVIF (Open Network Video Interface Forum).","In the ONVIF specifications (http://www.onvif.org/specs/DocMap.html), commands formulated by the ONVIF are described.","The above-described commands include, for example, a command for changing, from an external apparatus, the resolution of image data to be generated by an image capturing unit of the image capturing apparatus.","The above-described commands also include a command for changing the resolution of a distribution image to be distributed to an external apparatus when the distribution image is generated by encoding image data generated by the image capturing unit.","For example, in the ONVIF standards, a SetVideoSourceMode command is defined as the former command, and a SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command is defined as the latter command.","Furthermore, in addition to the ONVIF standards, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.","2005-323007 has disclosed an image capturing apparatus including a control unit for controlling the expansion and compression of a captured image.","Unfortunately, there is a problem that if only one of the resolution of image data to be generated by the image capturing unit and the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by a compression encoding unit is changed, mismatching occurs in a combination of the two resolutions and this makes the generation of the distribution image impossible in some cases.","Also, in a case like this, it is necessary to transmit a command for correctly changing the other resolution from an external apparatus to the image capturing apparatus, in order to cancel the mismatching and correctly generate the distribution image.","This complicates the user's operation.","Assume that the output resolution of the image capturing unit is 1,600×1,200 pixels (UXGA), and the output resolution of the compression encoding unit is 1,280×1,024 pixels (SXGA).","In this case, if the output resolution of the image capturing unit is changed to 1,024×768 (XGA), the compression encoding unit in which a higher output resolution is set may become unable to generate any distribution image.","Assume also that the output resolution of the image capturing unit is 1,600×1,200 pixels (resolution aspect ratio=4:3), and the output resolution of the compression encoding unit is 1,280×1,024 pixels (resolution aspect ratio=4:3).","In this case, if the output resolution of the image capturing unit is changed to 1,920×1,080 (full HD, resolution aspect ratio=16:9), the compression encoding unit in which a different resolution aspect ratio is set may become unable to generate any distribution image.","If this is the case, before obtaining a video stream from the image capturing unit, the user must change the output resolution of the compression encoding unit to a resolution, such as 1,024×768 (XGA) or 1,920×1,080 (resolution aspect ratio=16:9) , which matches the output resolution of the image capturing unit, and this complicates the operation.","SUMMARY OF INVENTION The present invention provides an image capturing technique that prevents the occurrence of mismatching in a combination of the resolution of image data to be generated by an image capturing unit and the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by a compression encoding unit, even when only one resolution is changed.","According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image capturing apparatus comprising: an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image; a communication unit configured to receive designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; an obtaining unit configured to obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination unit configured to determine whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus via the communication unit, if the determination unit determines that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit.","According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control method of an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, comprising: a first communication step of receiving designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; an obtaining step of obtaining a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination step of determining whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained in the obtaining step and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission step of transmitting an error response to the information processing apparatus, if it is determined in the determination step that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained in the obtaining step and settable for the encoding unit.","According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer readable storage medium containing computer-executable instructions that control an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, the medium comprising: computer-executable instructions that receive designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; computer-executable instructions that obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; computer-executable instructions that determine whether the designated resolution is the obtained resolution settable for the encoding unit; and computer-executable instructions that transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus, if it is determined that the designated resolution is not the obtained resolution settable for the encoding unit.","According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image capturing system comprising an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to encode an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, and an information processing apparatus connected to the image capturing apparatus across a network, wherein the information processing apparatus comprises a generation unit configured to generate designation of a resolution of the encoding unit, and the image capturing apparatus comprises: a communication unit configured to receive the designation of the resolution of the encoding unit from the information processing apparatus; an obtaining unit configured to obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination unit configured to determine whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus via the communication unit, if the determination unit determines that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit.","Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to the attached drawings).","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIGS.","1A and 1B are views showing examples of the arrangements of an image capturing apparatus and image capturing system; FIG.","2 is a view showing an example of the internal arrangement of the image capturing apparatus; FIG.","3 is a view showing an example of the structure of parameters held by the image capturing apparatus; FIG.","4 is a view showing an example of a table storing information for matching the settings of an image capturing unit of the image capturing apparatus with the settings of a compression encoding unit; FIG.","5A is a view showing an example of a command sequence from the start of setting of the image capturing apparatus to video distribution; FIG.","5B is a view showing an example of a command sequence when changing the output resolution of the image capturing unit of the image capturing apparatus; FIG.","5C is a view showing an example of a command sequence when changing the output resolution of the compression encoding unit of the image capturing apparatus; FIG.","6A is a view for explaining a procedure when the image capturing apparatus changes the settings of the image capturing unit; FIG.","6B is a view for explaining a procedure when the image capturing apparatus transmits a selectable set value to an information processing apparatus; FIG.","6C is a view for explaining a procedure when the image capturing apparatus changes the settings of the compression encoding unit; FIG.","6D is a view for explaining a procedure when the image capturing apparatus transmits a selectable set value to the information processing apparatus; FIG.","6E is a view for explaining a procedure when the image capturing apparatus changes the settings of the compression encoding unit; FIG.","7A is a view showing an example of a setting screen of a client apparatus; and FIG.","7B is a view showing another example of the setting screen of the client apparatus.","DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.","However, constituent elements described in these embodiments are merely examples, and the technical scope of the present invention is determined by the scope of the appended claims, and is not limited by the following individual embodiments.","First Embodiment FIG.","1A is a view showing an example of a monitoring camera 1000 as an image capturing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.","A mechanism 1101 is a mechanism for changing the direction of a lens in a panning direction, a mechanism 1102 is a mechanism for changing the lens direction in a tilting direction, and a mechanism 1103 is a mechanism for changing zooming.","FIG.","1B is a view showing an example of the configuration of an image capturing system including the monitoring camera 1000.A client apparatus 2000 (an information processing apparatus) as an external apparatus is connected to the monitoring camera 1000 across a network 1500 so as to be able to communicate with the monitoring camera 1000.The client apparatus 2000 transmits various commands such as a command for changing image capturing parameters (to be described later), a command for driving a platform, and a command for starting video streaming to the monitoring camera 1000.The monitoring camera 1000 transmits responses to these commands and video streaming to the client apparatus 2000.FIG.","2 is a view showing an example of the internal arrangement of the monitoring camera 1000 (the image capturing apparatus).","Referring to FIG.","2, a control unit 1001 is a CPU or the like, and controls the whole monitoring camera 1000.A storage unit 1002 is used as various data storage areas such as a storage area for programs to be mainly executed by the control unit 1001, a work area to be used while the programs are executed, and a storage area for image data generated by an image capturing unit 1003 (to be described below).","The image capturing unit 1003 converts an analog signal obtained by capturing an object image into digital data, and outputs the data as a captured image (image data) to the storage unit 1002.The resolution and frame rate of the image data output from the image capturing unit 1003 can be changed by a SetVideoSourceMode command (to be described later).","A compression encoding unit 1004 generates image data by performing compression encoding processing on the captured image output from the image capturing 1003 based on a format such as Motion JPEG or H.264, and outputs the generated image data to the storage unit 1002.The types of the resolution (distribution resolution) of the image data output from the compression encoding unit 1004 have a dependency relationship as shown in FIG.","4 (to be described later) with each mode of the image capturing unit 1003.A communication unit 1005 receives each control command from the external apparatus (client apparatus 2000).","Also, the communication unit 1005 transmits a response to each control command to the external apparatus (client apparatus 2000).","Furthermore, the communication unit 1005 receives first designation for setting the resolution of the image capturing unit 1003, or second designation for setting the resolution of the compression encoding unit 1004.When the setting of one resolution is to be changed to a different resolution setting by the first or second designation, the control unit 1001 changes the setting of the other resolution to a resolution matching the setting of one resolution.","This resolution changing process will be explained in detail later with reference to FIGS.","6A, 6C, and 6E.","An image capturing control unit 1006 controls the tilting mechanism 1101, panning mechanism 1102, and zooming mechanism 1103 in response to the values of a panning angle, tilting angle, and zooming magnification input from the control unit 1001.Also, the image capturing control unit 1006 provides the current panning angle value, tilting angle value, and zooming magnification value of the monitoring camera 1000, in accordance with an inquiry from the control unit 1001.The internal arrangement of the monitoring camera 1000 has been explained above with reference to FIG.","2.However, the processing blocks shown in FIG.","2 are exemplary blocks, so the arrangement of the image capturing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the processing blocks shown in FIG.","2.For example, it is also possible to use a voice input unit in addition to the processing blocks shown in FIG.","2, or exclude the image capturing control unit therefrom, that is, various modifications and changes can be made.","Next, the names and contents of commands, parameters, and the like used in this embodiment will be explained.","FIG.","3 shows the structure of parameters held by the monitoring camera 1000 (the image capturing apparatus) in this embodiment.","A MediaProfile 6100 is a parameter set for storing various setting items of the monitoring camera by associating them with each other.","The MediaProfile 6100 holds links to various setting items including a ProfileToken as the ID (identification information) of the MediaProfile 6100, a VideoSourceConfiguration 6102, a VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103, a PTZConfiguration 6104, and a voice encoder.","A VideoSource 6101 is a set of parameters indicating the performance of the image capturing unit 1003 of the monitoring camera.","The VideoSource 6101 includes a VideoSourceToken as the ID of the VideoSource 6101, and Resolution indicating the resolution of image data which the image capturing unit 1003 can output.","The VideoSource 6101 can switch to a plurality of other VideoSourceModes (operation modes) that support different Resolutions, in accordance with a SetVideoSourceMode command (to be described later).","The VideoSourceConfiguration 6102 is a set of parameters for associating the VideoSource 6101 of the monitoring camera 1000 with the MediaProfile 6100.The VideoSourceConfiguration 6102 includes Bounds that designate a portion to be cut out, as a distribution image, from image data output from the VideoSource 6101.The VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 is a set of parameters for associating the settings of an encoder (the compression encoding unit 1004) pertaining to image data compression encoding with the MediaProfile 6100.The compression encoding unit 1004 of the monitoring camera 1000 compression-encodes image data output based on the contents of the VideoSource 6101 and VideoSourceConfiguration 6102.The compression encoding unit 1004 of the monitoring camera 1000 compression-encodes image data output from the image capturing unit 1003, in accordance with a parameter such as the compression encoding scheme (for example, JPEG or H.264) set in VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103, the frame rate, or resolution.","The monitoring camera 1000 distributes the compression-encoded image data to the client apparatus 2000 via the communication unit 1005.The VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 includes a VideoEncoderConfigurationToken as the ID (identification information) of the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103.The VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 also includes Encoding for designating a compression encoding scheme, a Resolution for designating the resolution of an output image, and a Quality for designating the compression encoding quality.","Furthermore, the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 includes FramerateLimit for designating the maximum frame rate of an output image, and BitrateLimit for designating the maximum bit rate.","The PTZConfiguration 6104 is a set of parameters for associating the settings of the panning mechanism 1101, tilting mechanism 1102, and zooming mechanism 1103 of the monitoring camera 1000 with the MediaProfile 6100.The PTZConfiguration 6104 contains information pertaining to a coordinate system for expressing actual panning/tilting angle values and an actual zooming magnification value in the panning mechanism, tilting mechanism, and zooming mechanism.","A table shown in FIG.","4 contains information of a plurality of choices for matching the settings of the image capturing unit 1003 with those of the compression encoding unit 1004.This table shown in FIG.","4 indicates the setting contents of VideoSourceModes supported by the monitoring camera 1000, and the setting contents of the VideoEncoderConfigurations 6103 matching the VideoSourceModes.","The table shown in FIG.","4 is prestored in the storage unit 1002 of the monitoring camera 1000, and referred to by the control unit 1001 any time.","The table shown in FIG.","4 need not always be prestored in the storage unit 1002, and may also obtain necessary data by referring to a database of the external apparatus via the communication unit 1005.A VideoSourceMode 4000 indicates the management number of a VideoSourceMode to be used in internal processing by the monitoring camera 1000.In this embodiment, the monitoring camera 1000 supports three VideoSourceModes S1, S2, and S3.A Resolution 4001 is the parameter value of the Resolution of each VideoSourceMode (S1, S2, or S3), and indicates the resolution of image data generated by the image capturing unit 1003.A Framerate 4002 is the parameter value of the frame rate of each VideoSourceMode, and indicates the frame rate of image data to be generated by the image capturing unit 1003.Items from Encoding 4003 to FramerateLimit 4006 are choices of the parameters of the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 which match when the VideoSource 6101 is each VideoSourceMode.","The Encoding 4003 indicates a choice of a compression encoding scheme in the VideoEncoderConfiguration, which matches the VideoSourceMode.","The Resolution Choice 4004 indicates the management number of the resolution of the compression-encoded output image in the VideoEncoderConfiguration, which is to be used in the internal processing of the monitoring camera 1000.In this embodiment, the monitoring camera 1000 supports four resolutions E1 to E4.The Resolution 4005 is the parameter value of the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration, which matches each VideoSourceMode.","This set value determines the resolution of a distribution image to be output from the compression encoding unit 1004.The FramerateLimit 4006 (the frame rate limit) indicates the maximum value of the frame rate in the VideoEncoderConfiguration, which matches each VideoSourceMode.","FIG.","5A shows a command sequence from setting start to video distribution between the monitoring camera 1000 and client apparatus 2000.Transaction means a pair of a command to be transmitted from the client apparatus 2000 to the monitoring camera 1000, and a response to be returned from the monitoring camera 1000 to the client apparatus 2000.A transaction 7100 is the transaction of a GetVideoSourceConfigurations command.","By this command, the client apparatus 2000 obtains a list of the VideoSourceConfigurations 6102 held by the monitoring camera 1000.A transaction 7101 is the transaction of a GetVideoEncoderConfigurations command.","By this command, the client apparatus 2000 obtains a list of the VideoEncoderConfigurations 6103 held by the monitoring camera 1000.A transaction 7102 is the transaction of a GetConfigurations command.","By this command, the client apparatus 2000 obtains a list of the PTZConfigurations 6104 held by the monitoring camera 1000.A transaction 7103 is the transaction of a CreateProfile command.","By this command, the client apparatus 2000 causes the monitoring camera 1000 to form a new MediaProfile 6100, and obtains its Profiletoken.","A transaction 7104 is the transaction of an AddVideoSourceConfiguration command, and a transaction 7105 is the transaction of an AddVideoEncoderConfiguration command.","A transaction 7108 is each transaction of an AddPTZConfiguration command.","By designating the ID in these commands, the client apparatus 2000 can associate a desired VideoSourceConfiguration, desired VideoEncoderConfiguration, and desired PTZConfiguration with the designated MediaProfile.","A transaction 7106 is the transaction of a GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command.","By this command, the client apparatus 2000 obtains the choices or set value range of each parameter acceptable by the monitoring camera 1000, in the VideoEncoderConfiguration designated by the ID.","A transaction 7107 is the transaction of a SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command.","By this command, the client apparatus 2000 sets each parameter of the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103.A transaction 7109 is the transaction of a GetStreamUri command.","By this command, the client apparatus 2000 obtains an address (URI) with which the monitoring camera 1000 obtains a distribution stream based on the settings of the designated MediaProfile.","A transaction 7110 is the transaction of a Describe command.","By executing this command by using the URI obtained in the transaction 7109, the client apparatus 2000 requests and obtains information of contents to be distributed by a stream by the monitoring camera 1000.A transaction 7111 is the transaction of a Setup command.","By executing this command by using the URI obtained in the transaction 7109, the client apparatus 2000 and monitoring camera 1000 share a stream transmission method including the session number.","A transaction 7112 is the transaction of a Play command.","By executing this command by using the session number obtained in the transaction 7111, the client apparatus 2000 requests the monitoring camera 1000 to start streaming.","In a distribution stream 7113, the monitoring camera 1000 distributes a stream requested to be started in the transaction 7112 by the transmission method shared in the transaction 7111.A transaction 7114 is the transaction of a Teardown command.","By executing this command by using the session number obtained in the transaction 7111, the client apparatus 2000 requests the monitoring camera 1000 to stop the stream.","FIG.","5B shows a command sequence when the setting change of the image capturing unit 1003, which includes changing of the output resolution, is performed between the monitoring camera 1000 and client apparatus 2000.A transaction 7200 is the transaction of a GetVideoSourceMode command.","The GetVideoSourceMode command is a command for returning a list of VideoSourceModes supported by the VideoSource 6101 having the ID designated by the client apparatus 2000.When receiving the GetVideoSourceMode command, the control unit 1001 of the monitoring camera 1000 obtains the parameters of the VideoSourceModes S1 to S3 saved in the storage unit 1002 and shown in FIG.","4, and returns the parameters to the client apparatus 2000 via the communication unit 1005.A transaction 7201 is the transaction of a SetVideoSourceMode command.","The SetVideoSourceMode command is a command for designating changing of the VideoSourceMode of the VideoSource 6101 designated by the client apparatus 2000.Transactions 7109 to 7112 and a distribution stream 7113 are the same as those shown in FIG.","5A.","FIG.","5C shows a typical command sequence when changing the output resolution of the compression encoding unit 1004 between the monitoring camera 1000 and client apparatus 2000.Transactions 7101, 7106, 7107, and 7109 to 7113 are the same as those of the command sequence shown in FIG.","5A.","FIG.","6A is a view showing processing when the monitoring camera 1000 has received the above-described SetVideoSourceMode command (transaction 7201) from the client apparatus 2000.In step S1000, the control unit 1001 stops a video stream currently being distributed via the communication unit 1005.In step S1001, the control unit 1001 determines whether the input VideoSourceMode is S1, S2, or S3, obtains the set value of the corresponding VideoSourceMode, and sets the set value in the image capturing unit 1003.In step S1002, the control unit 1001 determines whether the set value of the resolution (Resolution) of each VideoEncoderConfiguration stored in the storage unit 1002 is E1, E2, E3, or E4.The control unit 1001 sets, in the VideoEncoderConfiguration, the resolution matching the VideoSourceMode determined in step S1001 and having the same management number.","That is, if the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration is 1,920×1,080=E2 before command reception when the VideoSourceMode of the VideoSource 6101 is changed from S1 to S2, the resolution is changed to 2,048×1,536 as the resolution of E2 matching S2 by the reception of this command.","In step S1003, the control unit 1001 sets an Enable flag corresponding to the VideoSourceMode determined in step S1001 to “True”, and sets enable flags corresponding to other VideoSourceModes to “False”.","In step S1004, the control unit 1001 transmits a normal response to the client apparatus 2000.FIG.","6B shows processing when the monitoring camera 1000 has received a GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOption command (the transaction 7106) from the client apparatus 2000.In step S1100, the control unit 1001 obtains the set value of the VideoSourceMode currently set in the VideoSource 6101, and determines whether the set value is S1, S2, or S3.In steps S1101, S1102, and S1103, the control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.","4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and obtains a selectable set value (choice) matching the current VideoSourceMode.","The control unit 1001 obtains the choices E1 to E4 of the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration, the choices of the Encoding, and the FramerateLimit as the maximum frame rate.","For example, when the set value of the current VideoSourceMode is S3, the control unit 1001 obtains 800×600 (E1) , 640×480 (E2) , 320×240 (E3), and 176×144 (E4) as the choices of the Resolution.","Also, the control unit 1001 obtains H.264 and MotionJPEG as the choices of the Encoding, and 30 fps as the FramerateLimit.","In step S1104, the control unit 1001 obtains the choices and setting range of the VideoEncoderConfiguration independent of the current VideoSourceMode from the storage unit 1002.For example, the control unit 1001 obtains 1 to 5 as the settable range of the Quality, and 60 Mbps as the set value of the BitrateLimit.","In step S1105, the control unit 1001 transmits a normal response containing the choices and setting ranges obtained in steps S1101 to S1104 to the client apparatus 2000 via the communication unit 1005.FIG.","6C shows processing when the monitoring camera 1000 has received the above-described SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command (transaction 7107) from the client apparatus 2000.Insteps S1200, S1201, and S1202, the control unit 1001 determines whether the set value input to the received SetVideoEncoderConfiguration matches the current VideoSourceMode.","The control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.","4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and determines whether the Resolution, Encoding, and FramerateLimit input to the received SetVideoEncoderConfiguration match the current VideoSourceMode.","If even one parameter does not match, the control unit 1001 advances the process to step S1210.In step S1210, the control unit 1001 transmits an error response to the client apparatus 2000 via the communication unit 1005.On the other hand, in step S1203, the control unit 1001 stores the set values of the VideoEncoderConfiguration including the Quality, BitrateLimit, Encoding, FramerateLimit, and Resolution in the storage unit 1002, and sets them in the compression encoding unit 1004.In step S1204, the control unit 1001 transmits a normal response to the client apparatus 2000.FIG.","7A is a view showing an example of a setting screen of the client apparatus 2000, in which the VideoSourceMode and VideoEncoderConfiguration of the monitoring camera 1000 according to this embodiment are set.","When the setting screen shown in FIG.","7A is opened, the client apparatus 2000 executes the sequence shown in FIG.","5A, and displays a video stream obtained in the transaction 7113 in a LiveView area 9000 (a display area).","An area 9001 is a VideoSourceMode selection area.","The client apparatus 2000 displays, in this area, a list of VideoSourceModes obtained by the transaction 7200 of the GetVideoSourceMode command executed when this setting screen is opened, so that the user can select a mode as indicated by reference numeral 9002.If a VideoSourceMode different from the current setting is selected in this area, the client apparatus 2000 executes the SetVideoSourceMode command, and changes the VideoSourceMode of the monitoring camera 1000.In this state, the client apparatus 2000 executes the transactions shown in FIG.","5B, and displays a video stream having the new settings in the LiveView area 9000 (the display area).","In addition, the client apparatus 2000 executes the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command, and updates the choices and setting ranges of the individual parameters of the VideoEncoder in this screen by using the obtained results.","Accordingly, the client apparatus 2000 can always provide the user with the choices and setting ranges of the set values of the VideoEncoderConfiguration matching the VideoSourceMode.","Setting screen switching sections 9003 and 9004 are tabs for switching VideoEncoder setting screens for allowing the user to change the set values of the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 of the monitoring camera 1000.The number of tabs is two (the setting screen switching sections 9003 and 9004) in this embodiment, but it is also possible to display tabs equal in number to the VideoEncoderConfigurations 6103 obtained by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurations command and supported by the monitoring camera 1000.An area 9005 is an area for allowing the user to select the compression encoding scheme of each VideoEncoderConfiguration.","The GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command is executed when the setting screen is opened, or when a new VideoSourceMode is selected in the VideoSourceMode selection area.","The area 9005 displays the choices of encoding obtained by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command.","A choice 9006 indicates currently selectable Encoding, and a choice 9007 indicates currently unselectable Encoding.","An area 9008 is a Detail area for allowing the user to select the FramerateLimit, BitrateLimit, and Quality included in the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103.The GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command is executed when the setting screen shown in FIG.","7A is opened, or when a new VideoSourceMode is selected in the VideoSourceMode selection area.","The contents of the setting ranges obtained by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command are reflected in setting ranges 9009, 9010, and 9011.An area 9012 is an area for selecting the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103.The GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command is executed when the setting screen shown in FIG.","7A is opened, or when a new VideoSourceMode is selected in the VideoSourceMode selection area.","The contents of the choices of the Resolution parameter obtained by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command are displayed in a dropdown list 9013.When the user presses an apply button 9014, the client apparatus 2000 transmits the SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command to the monitoring camera 1000.The parameters selected in the areas 9005, 9008, and 9012 are reflected in the compression encoding unit 1004 of the monitoring camera 1000.When the VideoSourceMode is changed by the client apparatus 2000, the monitoring camera 1000 can maintain the contents of choices provided by the setting contents of the VideoEncoderConfiguration and by the VideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command, as contents matching the VideoSourceMode.","Accordingly, when obtaining a distribution image after changing the VideoSourceMode, the client apparatus 2000 need not change the setting contents of the VideoEncoderConfiguration to contents matching the VideoSourceMode.","That is, even when the resolution of image data to be generated by the image capturing unit 1003 of the monitoring camera 1000 is changed, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of mismatching in various settings including the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by the compression encoding unit 1004.It is also possible to easily generate a distribution image after the resolution is changed.","Second Embodiment In the first embodiment, the arrangement in which the contents of choices provided by the setting contents of the VideoEncoderConfiguration and by the VideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command are changed to contents matching the VideoSourceMode has been explained.","In this arrangement of the first embodiment, the types of the choices of the resolution of the compression encoding unit provided by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command are not limited to those matching the VideoSourceMode.","It is also possible to always provide all choices of the resolution to the client apparatus 2000 by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command.","In accordance with a new set value set in the compression encoding unit 1004 by the client apparatus 2000 by using the SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command, the monitoring camera 1000 may also internally switch the VideoSourceMode to a mode matching the new set value.","The second embodiment of the present invention taking this point into consideration will be explained below.","Note that an explanation of the same portions as those of the first embodiment will be omitted.","FIG.","6D is a view showing processing when a monitoring camera 1000 has received the GetVideoSourceConfigurationOptions command from a client apparatus 2000.In step S1300, a control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.","4 which is stored in a storage unit 1002, and obtains all possible choices of the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration.","That is, the control unit 1001 obtains E1 to E4 in S1, E1 to E4 in S2, and E1 to E4 in S3 as choices.","In step S1301, the control unit 1001 refers to the table shown FIG.","4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and obtains all possible choices of the compression encoding scheme of the VideoEncoderConfiguration.","That is, the control unit 1001 obtains MotionJPEG and H.264 as choices.","In step S1302, the control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.","4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and obtains the maximum one of possible values of the FramerateLimit of the VideoEncoderConfiguration.","That is, the control unit 1001 obtains 30 fps as the maximum value of the FramerateLimit.","In step S1303, the control unit 1001 obtains the choices and setting range of the VideoEncoderConfiguration independent of the current VideoSourceMode from the storage unit 1002.For example, the control unit 1001 obtains 1 to 5 as the settable range of the Quality, and 60 Mbps as the set value of the BitrateLimit.","In step S1304, the control unit 1001 transmits a normal response containing the choices and setting range obtained in steps S1300 to S1303 to the client apparatus 2000 via a communication unit 1005.FIG.","6E is a view showing processing when the monitoring camera 1000 has received the above-described SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command from the client apparatus 2000.In step S1400, the control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.","4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and determines whether the resolution set in the received SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command matches the current VideoSourceMode.","If the resolution matches the mode (Yes in step S1400), the control unit 1001 advances the process to step S1201.If the resolution does not match the mode (No in step S1400), the control unit 1001 advances the process to step S1410.In step S1410, the control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.","4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and switches the current VideoSourceMode to a VideoSourceMode having a matched input resolution.","For example, when 640×480 is input as a Resolution to this command while the VideoSourceMode is S1, the VideoSourceMode is switched to S3 matching this resolution.","When the resolution is changed to a resolution different from the setting of an image capturing unit (the resolution of the VideoSourceMode) by the command for setting the resolution of the encoding unit (the resolution of a distribution image), the control unit 1001 changes the setting of the resolution of the image capturing unit to a resolution matching the resolution of the encoding unit.","Processes in steps S1201 to S1204 and S1210 are the same as those shown in FIG.","6C.","FIG.","7B is a view showing an example of a setting screen of the client apparatus 2000 in which the VideoSourceMode and VideoEncoderConfiguration of the monitoring camera 1000 according to this embodiment are set.","An area 9012 is an area for selecting the resolution of a VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103.The GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command is executed when the setting screen shown in FIG.","7B is opened.","A dropdown list 9100 displays the contents of the choices of a Resolution parameter obtained by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command.","As shown in FIG.","6D, the monitoring camera 1000 according to this embodiment provides all resolutions obtained from the table shown in FIG.","4 as choices.","Therefore, the dropdown list 9100 displays all the resolutions.","The monitoring camera 1000 provides the client apparatus 2000 with all possible setting contents of the VideoEncoderConfiguration as choices, regardless of the VideoSourceMode.","If a parameter of the VideoEncoderConfiguration not matching the current VideoSourceMode, which includes the resolution of a compression encoding unit 1004, is designated, it is possible to internally switch to a matching VideoSourceMode.","Accordingly, when obtaining a distribution image after the parameter of the VideoEncoderConfiguration is changed, the client apparatus 2000 need not change the setting contents of the VideoSourceMode to contents matching the VideoEncoderConfiguration.","That is, even when various settings including the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by the compression encoding unit 1004 are changed, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of mismatching in the resolution of image data to be generated by an image capturing unit 1003.It is also possible to facilitate generating a distribution image after the resolution is changed.","The operations of the monitoring camera, application program, and client apparatus according to the present invention have been disclosed in the first and second embodiments.","However, the spirit and scope of the invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and partially changeable.","For example, in step S1002 of FIG.","6A, the set values of the Resolutions of the VideoEncoderConfigurations are uniformly changed to a resolution having the same management number matching the VideoSourceMode.","However, the spirit and scope of the present invention are not limited to this.","For example, of the Resolutions of the VideoEncoderConfigurations, a Resolution that keeps matching before and after the VideoSourceMode is changed can also be kept used after the VideoSourceMode is changed.","Also, all possible choices of the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration are provided in step S1300 of FIG.","6D, but the spirit and scope of the present invention are not limited to this.","For example, it is also possible to provide only a resolution matching the current VideoSourceMode as a choice, only when a video stream having a given resolution has already been distributed from the monitoring camera 1000.Furthermore, all possible compression encoding schemes of the VideoEncoderConfiguration are obtained as choices in step S1301 of FIG.","6D, but the present invention is not limited to this.","It is also possible to obtain only choices of compression encoding schemes matching all VideoSourceModes.","This makes it possible to reduce the choice providing range, and prevent the SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command from designating compression encoding that does not match the VideoSourceMode selected at that point of time in step S1201.In addition, the maximum one of all possible values of the FramerateLimit of the VideoEncoderConfiguration is obtained in step S1302 of FIG.","6D, but the present invention is not limited to this.","For example, it is also possible to obtain the maximum FramerateLimit matching all VideoSourceModes.","This makes it possible to reduce the choice providing range, and prevent the SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command from designating a FramerateLimit that does not match the VideoSourceMode selected at that point of time in step S1201.Also, in step S1410 of FIG.","6E, VideoSourceModes are selectively switched based on the setting of the resolution of the SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command.","However, the spirit and scope of the present invention are not limited to this.","That is, a plurality of matching VideoSourceModes may exist.","Accordingly, it is also possible to select the most matching VideoSourceMode based not only on the resolution but also on a plurality of other settings of the compression encoding unit, such as the compression encoding scheme and FramerateLimit.","In the present invention as described above, even when only one of the resolution of image data to be generated by the image capturing unit and the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by the compression encoding unit is changed, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of mismatching in a combination of these resolutions.","Other Embodiments Embodiments of the present invention can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executable instructions recorded on a storage medium (for example, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment (s) of the present invention, and by a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computer executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment (s).","The computer may comprise one or more of a central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU), or other circuitry, and may include a network of separate computers or separate computer processors.","The computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storage medium.","The storage medium may include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM) , a read only memory (ROM), a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD) , digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™), a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.","While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments.","The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS, IMAGE CAPTURING SYSTEM, CONTROL METHOD OF IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS, AND COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM\",\n \"An image capturing apparatus includes: an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image; a communication unit configured to receive designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; an obtaining unit configured to obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination unit configured to determine whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus, if the determination unit determines that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.An image capturing apparatus comprising: a computer executing instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to function as: a receiving control unit configured to control a receiving unit which receives, from an external apparatus, a command designating a parameter value related to image data; and a transmitting control unit configured to control a transmitting unit which transmits a response to the external apparatus in response to the command received by the receiving unit, wherein a video source mode is settable to the image capturing apparatus, wherein the video source mode defines at least a maximum value for a parameter of a first kind and a maximum value for a parameter of a second kind, wherein, an error response is not transmitted to the external apparatus from the transmitting unit in a state where a first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind, and wherein the transmitting control unit is configured to cause the transmitting unit to transmit an error response to the external apparatus in response to the command received by the receiving unit in the state, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind.\",\n \"2.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the video source mode is related to a video source configuration and a video encoder configuration.\",\n \"3.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the video source mode includes information defining a plurality of parameters including resolution.\",\n \"4.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the transmitting control unit is configured not to cause the transmitting unit to transmit the error response to the external apparatus, if the receiving unit receives a command related to a predetermined parameter among the plurality of parameters from the external apparatus.\",\n \"5.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of parameters further include at least one of a frame rate and an encoding method.\",\n \"6.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit configured to change a setting of the image capturing apparatus from the first video source mode to a second video source mode in which the parameter value designated by the command is settable, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind.\",\n \"7.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a setting of the image capturing apparatus is not changed from the first video source mode to the second video source mode, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind.\",\n \"8.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter of the first kind is a parameter of resolution.\",\n \"9.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the resolution is a number of pixels.\",\n \"10.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the resolution is indicated by a number of pixels in width and a number of pixels in height.\",\n \"11.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter of the first kind is a parameter of a frame rate.\",\n \"12.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter of the second kind is a parameter of a frame rate.\",\n \"13.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter of the second kind is a parameter of an encoding method.\",\n \"14.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a determination unit configured to determine, based on the video source mode being set to the image capturing apparatus, whether the parameter value designated by the command is settable to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"15.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter value designated by the command is a parameter value of a video encoder configuration.\",\n \"16.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, the instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to further function as an image data generating unit configured to generate image data in accordance with a parameter value based on the command received by the receiving unit, and wherein the transmitting control unit is configured to cause the transmitting unit to transmit the image data generated by the image data generating unit.\",\n \"17.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the transmitting control unit is configured to cause the transmitting unit to transmit the image data to the external apparatus via a network.\",\n \"18.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the image data generating unit includes a generation unit configured to generate image data based on a video source configuration.\",\n \"19.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the image data generating unit includes an encoding unit configured to encode image data based on a video encoder configuration, and wherein the transmitting control unit is configured to cause the transmitting unit to transmit encoded image data.\",\n \"20.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data by using H.264, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"21.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data by using Motion JPEG, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"22.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which resolution is greater than or equal to 960×540 pixels, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"23.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which resolution is greater than or equal to 176×144 pixels, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"24.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which a frame rate is 20 fps, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"25.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which a frame rate is 30 fps, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"26.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which resolution is greater than or equal to 960×540 pixels by using H.264, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"27.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which resolution is greater than or equal to 960×540 pixels and a frame rate is 20 fps by using H.264, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"28.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which resolution is greater than or equal to 960×540 pixels and a frame rate is 30 fps by using H.264, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"29.A method for an image capturing apparatus which comprises a computer executing instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the method, the method comprising: a receiving step of receiving, from an external apparatus, a command designating a parameter value related to image data; and a transmitting step of transmitting a response to the external apparatus in response to the command received in the receiving step, wherein a video source mode is settable to the image capturing apparatus, wherein the video source mode defines at least a maximum value for a parameter of a first kind and a maximum value for a parameter of a second kind, wherein, an error response is not transmitted to the external apparatus in the transmitting step in a state where a first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter value of the first kind, and wherein, in the transmitting step, an error response is transmitted to the external apparatus in response to the command received in the receiving step in the state, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter for the second kind.\",\n \"30.An image capturing system comprising: an image capturing apparatus configured to transmit image data to an image receiving apparatus, wherein the image receiving apparatus is configured to receive the image data from the image capturing apparatus, wherein the image capturing apparatus comprises a computer executing instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to function as: a receiving control unit configured to control a receiving unit which receives a command designating a parameter value related to the image data; an image data generating unit configured to generate the image data in accordance with a parameter value based on the command received by the receiving unit; and a transmitting control unit configured to control a transmitting unit which transmits the image data generated by the image data generating unit, wherein, a video source mode is settable to the image capturing apparatus, wherein, the video source mode defines at least a maximum value for a parameter of a first kind and a maximum value for a parameter of a second kind, wherein, an error response is not transmitted from the transmitting unit in a state where a first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind, wherein, the transmitting control unit is configured to cause the transmitting unit to transmit an error response in response to the command received by the receiving unit in the state, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind, wherein the image receiving apparatus comprises: a display control unit configured to display a setting screen to a display unit, the setting screen being for designating the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind and the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind; and a transmitting control unit configured to control a transmitting which transmits a command designating a parameter value designated on the setting screen to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"31.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the receiving control unit to cause the receiving unit of the image capturing apparatus to receive the command designating the parameter value from the image receiving apparatus, and wherein, the transmitting control unit to cause the transmitting unit of the image capturing apparatus to transmit the error response to the image receiving apparatus in response to the command received by the receiving unit.\",\n \"32.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein a parameter value for a parameter of at least one kind is capable of being designated from a drop down list displayed on the setting screen.\",\n \"33.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind and the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind are capable of being designated on the same setting screen displayed by display control unit.\",\n \"34.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the parameter of the first kind is a parameter of resolution.\",\n \"35.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the parameter of the second kind is at least one of a parameter of an encoding method and a parameter of a frame rate.\",\n \"36.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the parameter of the first kind is a parameter of a frame rate.\",\n \"37.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the parameter value designated by the command is a parameter value of a video encoder configuration.\",\n \"38.A method for an image capturing system, wherein the image capturing system comprises an image capturing apparatus configured to transmit image data to an image receiving apparatus, wherein the image receiving apparatus is configured to receive the image data from the image capturing apparatus, wherein the method for the image capturing system comprises: a method for the image capturing apparatus which comprises a computer executing instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the method for the image capturing apparatus, the method for the image capturing apparatus comprising: a receiving step of receiving a command designating a parameter value related to the image data; an image data generating step of generating the image data in accordance with a parameter value based on the command received in the receiving step; and a transmitting step of transmitting the image data generated in the image data generating step, wherein, a video source mode is settable to the image capturing apparatus, wherein, the video source mode defines at least a maximum value for a parameter of a first kind and a maximum value for a parameter of a second kind, wherein, an error response is not transmitted in the transmitting step in a state where a first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind, wherein, in the transmitting step, an error response is transmitted in response to the command received in the receiving step in the state, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind, and a method for the image receiving apparatus which comprises a computer executing instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the method for the image receiving apparatus, the method for the image receiving apparatus comprising: a display control step of displaying a setting screen to a display unit, the setting screen being for designating the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind and the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind; and a transmitting step of transmitting a command designating a parameter value designated on the setting screen to the image capturing apparatus.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY OF INVENTION <EOH>The present invention provides an image capturing technique that prevents the occurrence of mismatching in a combination of the resolution of image data to be generated by an image capturing unit and the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by a compression encoding unit, even when only one resolution is changed.\",\n \"According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image capturing apparatus comprising: an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image; a communication unit configured to receive designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; an obtaining unit configured to obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination unit configured to determine whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus via the communication unit, if the determination unit determines that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit.\",\n \"According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control method of an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, comprising: a first communication step of receiving designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; an obtaining step of obtaining a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination step of determining whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained in the obtaining step and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission step of transmitting an error response to the information processing apparatus, if it is determined in the determination step that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained in the obtaining step and settable for the encoding unit.\",\n \"According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer readable storage medium containing computer-executable instructions that control an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, the medium comprising: computer-executable instructions that receive designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; computer-executable instructions that obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; computer-executable instructions that determine whether the designated resolution is the obtained resolution settable for the encoding unit; and computer-executable instructions that transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus, if it is determined that the designated resolution is not the obtained resolution settable for the encoding unit.\",\n \"According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image capturing system comprising an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to encode an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, and an information processing apparatus connected to the image capturing apparatus across a network, wherein the information processing apparatus comprises a generation unit configured to generate designation of a resolution of the encoding unit, and the image capturing apparatus comprises: a communication unit configured to receive the designation of the resolution of the encoding unit from the information processing apparatus; an obtaining unit configured to obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination unit configured to determine whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus via the communication unit, if the determination unit determines that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit.\",\n \"Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to the attached drawings).\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/432,759, filed Feb. 14, 2017, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/646,330, filed May.\",\n \"20, 2015, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,609,198 B2, which is a National Stage filing of International Application No.\",\n \"PCT/JP2013/081331 filed Nov. 14, 2013, which claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No.\",\n \"2012-256772 filed Nov. 22, 2012, the disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.\",\n \"BACKGROUND Technical Field The present invention relates to an image capturing apparatus, an image capturing system, a control method of the image capturing apparatus, and a computer readable storage medium.\",\n \"Background Art Conventionally, an image capturing apparatus for transmitting a captured image to a receiving apparatus includes commands for allowing an external apparatus to change the settings of the image capturing apparatus and designate the start of image distribution.\",\n \"Known examples of these commands are those defined by standards formulated by the ONVIF (Open Network Video Interface Forum).\",\n \"In the ONVIF specifications (http://www.onvif.org/specs/DocMap.html), commands formulated by the ONVIF are described.\",\n \"The above-described commands include, for example, a command for changing, from an external apparatus, the resolution of image data to be generated by an image capturing unit of the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"The above-described commands also include a command for changing the resolution of a distribution image to be distributed to an external apparatus when the distribution image is generated by encoding image data generated by the image capturing unit.\",\n \"For example, in the ONVIF standards, a SetVideoSourceMode command is defined as the former command, and a SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command is defined as the latter command.\",\n \"Furthermore, in addition to the ONVIF standards, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.\",\n \"2005-323007 has disclosed an image capturing apparatus including a control unit for controlling the expansion and compression of a captured image.\",\n \"Unfortunately, there is a problem that if only one of the resolution of image data to be generated by the image capturing unit and the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by a compression encoding unit is changed, mismatching occurs in a combination of the two resolutions and this makes the generation of the distribution image impossible in some cases.\",\n \"Also, in a case like this, it is necessary to transmit a command for correctly changing the other resolution from an external apparatus to the image capturing apparatus, in order to cancel the mismatching and correctly generate the distribution image.\",\n \"This complicates the user's operation.\",\n \"Assume that the output resolution of the image capturing unit is 1,600×1,200 pixels (UXGA), and the output resolution of the compression encoding unit is 1,280×1,024 pixels (SXGA).\",\n \"In this case, if the output resolution of the image capturing unit is changed to 1,024×768 (XGA), the compression encoding unit in which a higher output resolution is set may become unable to generate any distribution image.\",\n \"Assume also that the output resolution of the image capturing unit is 1,600×1,200 pixels (resolution aspect ratio=4:3), and the output resolution of the compression encoding unit is 1,280×1,024 pixels (resolution aspect ratio=4:3).\",\n \"In this case, if the output resolution of the image capturing unit is changed to 1,920×1,080 (full HD, resolution aspect ratio=16:9), the compression encoding unit in which a different resolution aspect ratio is set may become unable to generate any distribution image.\",\n \"If this is the case, before obtaining a video stream from the image capturing unit, the user must change the output resolution of the compression encoding unit to a resolution, such as 1,024×768 (XGA) or 1,920×1,080 (resolution aspect ratio=16:9) , which matches the output resolution of the image capturing unit, and this complicates the operation.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF INVENTION The present invention provides an image capturing technique that prevents the occurrence of mismatching in a combination of the resolution of image data to be generated by an image capturing unit and the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by a compression encoding unit, even when only one resolution is changed.\",\n \"According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image capturing apparatus comprising: an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image; a communication unit configured to receive designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; an obtaining unit configured to obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination unit configured to determine whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus via the communication unit, if the determination unit determines that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit.\",\n \"According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control method of an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, comprising: a first communication step of receiving designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; an obtaining step of obtaining a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination step of determining whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained in the obtaining step and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission step of transmitting an error response to the information processing apparatus, if it is determined in the determination step that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained in the obtaining step and settable for the encoding unit.\",\n \"According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer readable storage medium containing computer-executable instructions that control an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, the medium comprising: computer-executable instructions that receive designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; computer-executable instructions that obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; computer-executable instructions that determine whether the designated resolution is the obtained resolution settable for the encoding unit; and computer-executable instructions that transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus, if it is determined that the designated resolution is not the obtained resolution settable for the encoding unit.\",\n \"According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image capturing system comprising an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to encode an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, and an information processing apparatus connected to the image capturing apparatus across a network, wherein the information processing apparatus comprises a generation unit configured to generate designation of a resolution of the encoding unit, and the image capturing apparatus comprises: a communication unit configured to receive the designation of the resolution of the encoding unit from the information processing apparatus; an obtaining unit configured to obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination unit configured to determine whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus via the communication unit, if the determination unit determines that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit.\",\n \"Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to the attached drawings).\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIGS.\",\n \"1A and 1B are views showing examples of the arrangements of an image capturing apparatus and image capturing system; FIG.\",\n \"2 is a view showing an example of the internal arrangement of the image capturing apparatus; FIG.\",\n \"3 is a view showing an example of the structure of parameters held by the image capturing apparatus; FIG.\",\n \"4 is a view showing an example of a table storing information for matching the settings of an image capturing unit of the image capturing apparatus with the settings of a compression encoding unit; FIG.\",\n \"5A is a view showing an example of a command sequence from the start of setting of the image capturing apparatus to video distribution; FIG.\",\n \"5B is a view showing an example of a command sequence when changing the output resolution of the image capturing unit of the image capturing apparatus; FIG.\",\n \"5C is a view showing an example of a command sequence when changing the output resolution of the compression encoding unit of the image capturing apparatus; FIG.\",\n \"6A is a view for explaining a procedure when the image capturing apparatus changes the settings of the image capturing unit; FIG.\",\n \"6B is a view for explaining a procedure when the image capturing apparatus transmits a selectable set value to an information processing apparatus; FIG.\",\n \"6C is a view for explaining a procedure when the image capturing apparatus changes the settings of the compression encoding unit; FIG.\",\n \"6D is a view for explaining a procedure when the image capturing apparatus transmits a selectable set value to the information processing apparatus; FIG.\",\n \"6E is a view for explaining a procedure when the image capturing apparatus changes the settings of the compression encoding unit; FIG.\",\n \"7A is a view showing an example of a setting screen of a client apparatus; and FIG.\",\n \"7B is a view showing another example of the setting screen of the client apparatus.\",\n \"DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.\",\n \"However, constituent elements described in these embodiments are merely examples, and the technical scope of the present invention is determined by the scope of the appended claims, and is not limited by the following individual embodiments.\",\n \"First Embodiment FIG.\",\n \"1A is a view showing an example of a monitoring camera 1000 as an image capturing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"A mechanism 1101 is a mechanism for changing the direction of a lens in a panning direction, a mechanism 1102 is a mechanism for changing the lens direction in a tilting direction, and a mechanism 1103 is a mechanism for changing zooming.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1B is a view showing an example of the configuration of an image capturing system including the monitoring camera 1000.A client apparatus 2000 (an information processing apparatus) as an external apparatus is connected to the monitoring camera 1000 across a network 1500 so as to be able to communicate with the monitoring camera 1000.The client apparatus 2000 transmits various commands such as a command for changing image capturing parameters (to be described later), a command for driving a platform, and a command for starting video streaming to the monitoring camera 1000.The monitoring camera 1000 transmits responses to these commands and video streaming to the client apparatus 2000.FIG.\",\n \"2 is a view showing an example of the internal arrangement of the monitoring camera 1000 (the image capturing apparatus).\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"2, a control unit 1001 is a CPU or the like, and controls the whole monitoring camera 1000.A storage unit 1002 is used as various data storage areas such as a storage area for programs to be mainly executed by the control unit 1001, a work area to be used while the programs are executed, and a storage area for image data generated by an image capturing unit 1003 (to be described below).\",\n \"The image capturing unit 1003 converts an analog signal obtained by capturing an object image into digital data, and outputs the data as a captured image (image data) to the storage unit 1002.The resolution and frame rate of the image data output from the image capturing unit 1003 can be changed by a SetVideoSourceMode command (to be described later).\",\n \"A compression encoding unit 1004 generates image data by performing compression encoding processing on the captured image output from the image capturing 1003 based on a format such as Motion JPEG or H.264, and outputs the generated image data to the storage unit 1002.The types of the resolution (distribution resolution) of the image data output from the compression encoding unit 1004 have a dependency relationship as shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 (to be described later) with each mode of the image capturing unit 1003.A communication unit 1005 receives each control command from the external apparatus (client apparatus 2000).\",\n \"Also, the communication unit 1005 transmits a response to each control command to the external apparatus (client apparatus 2000).\",\n \"Furthermore, the communication unit 1005 receives first designation for setting the resolution of the image capturing unit 1003, or second designation for setting the resolution of the compression encoding unit 1004.When the setting of one resolution is to be changed to a different resolution setting by the first or second designation, the control unit 1001 changes the setting of the other resolution to a resolution matching the setting of one resolution.\",\n \"This resolution changing process will be explained in detail later with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"6A, 6C, and 6E.\",\n \"An image capturing control unit 1006 controls the tilting mechanism 1101, panning mechanism 1102, and zooming mechanism 1103 in response to the values of a panning angle, tilting angle, and zooming magnification input from the control unit 1001.Also, the image capturing control unit 1006 provides the current panning angle value, tilting angle value, and zooming magnification value of the monitoring camera 1000, in accordance with an inquiry from the control unit 1001.The internal arrangement of the monitoring camera 1000 has been explained above with reference to FIG.\",\n \"2.However, the processing blocks shown in FIG.\",\n \"2 are exemplary blocks, so the arrangement of the image capturing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the processing blocks shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.For example, it is also possible to use a voice input unit in addition to the processing blocks shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, or exclude the image capturing control unit therefrom, that is, various modifications and changes can be made.\",\n \"Next, the names and contents of commands, parameters, and the like used in this embodiment will be explained.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 shows the structure of parameters held by the monitoring camera 1000 (the image capturing apparatus) in this embodiment.\",\n \"A MediaProfile 6100 is a parameter set for storing various setting items of the monitoring camera by associating them with each other.\",\n \"The MediaProfile 6100 holds links to various setting items including a ProfileToken as the ID (identification information) of the MediaProfile 6100, a VideoSourceConfiguration 6102, a VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103, a PTZConfiguration 6104, and a voice encoder.\",\n \"A VideoSource 6101 is a set of parameters indicating the performance of the image capturing unit 1003 of the monitoring camera.\",\n \"The VideoSource 6101 includes a VideoSourceToken as the ID of the VideoSource 6101, and Resolution indicating the resolution of image data which the image capturing unit 1003 can output.\",\n \"The VideoSource 6101 can switch to a plurality of other VideoSourceModes (operation modes) that support different Resolutions, in accordance with a SetVideoSourceMode command (to be described later).\",\n \"The VideoSourceConfiguration 6102 is a set of parameters for associating the VideoSource 6101 of the monitoring camera 1000 with the MediaProfile 6100.The VideoSourceConfiguration 6102 includes Bounds that designate a portion to be cut out, as a distribution image, from image data output from the VideoSource 6101.The VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 is a set of parameters for associating the settings of an encoder (the compression encoding unit 1004) pertaining to image data compression encoding with the MediaProfile 6100.The compression encoding unit 1004 of the monitoring camera 1000 compression-encodes image data output based on the contents of the VideoSource 6101 and VideoSourceConfiguration 6102.The compression encoding unit 1004 of the monitoring camera 1000 compression-encodes image data output from the image capturing unit 1003, in accordance with a parameter such as the compression encoding scheme (for example, JPEG or H.264) set in VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103, the frame rate, or resolution.\",\n \"The monitoring camera 1000 distributes the compression-encoded image data to the client apparatus 2000 via the communication unit 1005.The VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 includes a VideoEncoderConfigurationToken as the ID (identification information) of the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103.The VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 also includes Encoding for designating a compression encoding scheme, a Resolution for designating the resolution of an output image, and a Quality for designating the compression encoding quality.\",\n \"Furthermore, the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 includes FramerateLimit for designating the maximum frame rate of an output image, and BitrateLimit for designating the maximum bit rate.\",\n \"The PTZConfiguration 6104 is a set of parameters for associating the settings of the panning mechanism 1101, tilting mechanism 1102, and zooming mechanism 1103 of the monitoring camera 1000 with the MediaProfile 6100.The PTZConfiguration 6104 contains information pertaining to a coordinate system for expressing actual panning/tilting angle values and an actual zooming magnification value in the panning mechanism, tilting mechanism, and zooming mechanism.\",\n \"A table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 contains information of a plurality of choices for matching the settings of the image capturing unit 1003 with those of the compression encoding unit 1004.This table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 indicates the setting contents of VideoSourceModes supported by the monitoring camera 1000, and the setting contents of the VideoEncoderConfigurations 6103 matching the VideoSourceModes.\",\n \"The table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 is prestored in the storage unit 1002 of the monitoring camera 1000, and referred to by the control unit 1001 any time.\",\n \"The table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 need not always be prestored in the storage unit 1002, and may also obtain necessary data by referring to a database of the external apparatus via the communication unit 1005.A VideoSourceMode 4000 indicates the management number of a VideoSourceMode to be used in internal processing by the monitoring camera 1000.In this embodiment, the monitoring camera 1000 supports three VideoSourceModes S1, S2, and S3.A Resolution 4001 is the parameter value of the Resolution of each VideoSourceMode (S1, S2, or S3), and indicates the resolution of image data generated by the image capturing unit 1003.A Framerate 4002 is the parameter value of the frame rate of each VideoSourceMode, and indicates the frame rate of image data to be generated by the image capturing unit 1003.Items from Encoding 4003 to FramerateLimit 4006 are choices of the parameters of the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 which match when the VideoSource 6101 is each VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"The Encoding 4003 indicates a choice of a compression encoding scheme in the VideoEncoderConfiguration, which matches the VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"The Resolution Choice 4004 indicates the management number of the resolution of the compression-encoded output image in the VideoEncoderConfiguration, which is to be used in the internal processing of the monitoring camera 1000.In this embodiment, the monitoring camera 1000 supports four resolutions E1 to E4.The Resolution 4005 is the parameter value of the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration, which matches each VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"This set value determines the resolution of a distribution image to be output from the compression encoding unit 1004.The FramerateLimit 4006 (the frame rate limit) indicates the maximum value of the frame rate in the VideoEncoderConfiguration, which matches each VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5A shows a command sequence from setting start to video distribution between the monitoring camera 1000 and client apparatus 2000.Transaction means a pair of a command to be transmitted from the client apparatus 2000 to the monitoring camera 1000, and a response to be returned from the monitoring camera 1000 to the client apparatus 2000.A transaction 7100 is the transaction of a GetVideoSourceConfigurations command.\",\n \"By this command, the client apparatus 2000 obtains a list of the VideoSourceConfigurations 6102 held by the monitoring camera 1000.A transaction 7101 is the transaction of a GetVideoEncoderConfigurations command.\",\n \"By this command, the client apparatus 2000 obtains a list of the VideoEncoderConfigurations 6103 held by the monitoring camera 1000.A transaction 7102 is the transaction of a GetConfigurations command.\",\n \"By this command, the client apparatus 2000 obtains a list of the PTZConfigurations 6104 held by the monitoring camera 1000.A transaction 7103 is the transaction of a CreateProfile command.\",\n \"By this command, the client apparatus 2000 causes the monitoring camera 1000 to form a new MediaProfile 6100, and obtains its Profiletoken.\",\n \"A transaction 7104 is the transaction of an AddVideoSourceConfiguration command, and a transaction 7105 is the transaction of an AddVideoEncoderConfiguration command.\",\n \"A transaction 7108 is each transaction of an AddPTZConfiguration command.\",\n \"By designating the ID in these commands, the client apparatus 2000 can associate a desired VideoSourceConfiguration, desired VideoEncoderConfiguration, and desired PTZConfiguration with the designated MediaProfile.\",\n \"A transaction 7106 is the transaction of a GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command.\",\n \"By this command, the client apparatus 2000 obtains the choices or set value range of each parameter acceptable by the monitoring camera 1000, in the VideoEncoderConfiguration designated by the ID.\",\n \"A transaction 7107 is the transaction of a SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command.\",\n \"By this command, the client apparatus 2000 sets each parameter of the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103.A transaction 7109 is the transaction of a GetStreamUri command.\",\n \"By this command, the client apparatus 2000 obtains an address (URI) with which the monitoring camera 1000 obtains a distribution stream based on the settings of the designated MediaProfile.\",\n \"A transaction 7110 is the transaction of a Describe command.\",\n \"By executing this command by using the URI obtained in the transaction 7109, the client apparatus 2000 requests and obtains information of contents to be distributed by a stream by the monitoring camera 1000.A transaction 7111 is the transaction of a Setup command.\",\n \"By executing this command by using the URI obtained in the transaction 7109, the client apparatus 2000 and monitoring camera 1000 share a stream transmission method including the session number.\",\n \"A transaction 7112 is the transaction of a Play command.\",\n \"By executing this command by using the session number obtained in the transaction 7111, the client apparatus 2000 requests the monitoring camera 1000 to start streaming.\",\n \"In a distribution stream 7113, the monitoring camera 1000 distributes a stream requested to be started in the transaction 7112 by the transmission method shared in the transaction 7111.A transaction 7114 is the transaction of a Teardown command.\",\n \"By executing this command by using the session number obtained in the transaction 7111, the client apparatus 2000 requests the monitoring camera 1000 to stop the stream.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5B shows a command sequence when the setting change of the image capturing unit 1003, which includes changing of the output resolution, is performed between the monitoring camera 1000 and client apparatus 2000.A transaction 7200 is the transaction of a GetVideoSourceMode command.\",\n \"The GetVideoSourceMode command is a command for returning a list of VideoSourceModes supported by the VideoSource 6101 having the ID designated by the client apparatus 2000.When receiving the GetVideoSourceMode command, the control unit 1001 of the monitoring camera 1000 obtains the parameters of the VideoSourceModes S1 to S3 saved in the storage unit 1002 and shown in FIG.\",\n \"4, and returns the parameters to the client apparatus 2000 via the communication unit 1005.A transaction 7201 is the transaction of a SetVideoSourceMode command.\",\n \"The SetVideoSourceMode command is a command for designating changing of the VideoSourceMode of the VideoSource 6101 designated by the client apparatus 2000.Transactions 7109 to 7112 and a distribution stream 7113 are the same as those shown in FIG.\",\n \"5A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5C shows a typical command sequence when changing the output resolution of the compression encoding unit 1004 between the monitoring camera 1000 and client apparatus 2000.Transactions 7101, 7106, 7107, and 7109 to 7113 are the same as those of the command sequence shown in FIG.\",\n \"5A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6A is a view showing processing when the monitoring camera 1000 has received the above-described SetVideoSourceMode command (transaction 7201) from the client apparatus 2000.In step S1000, the control unit 1001 stops a video stream currently being distributed via the communication unit 1005.In step S1001, the control unit 1001 determines whether the input VideoSourceMode is S1, S2, or S3, obtains the set value of the corresponding VideoSourceMode, and sets the set value in the image capturing unit 1003.In step S1002, the control unit 1001 determines whether the set value of the resolution (Resolution) of each VideoEncoderConfiguration stored in the storage unit 1002 is E1, E2, E3, or E4.The control unit 1001 sets, in the VideoEncoderConfiguration, the resolution matching the VideoSourceMode determined in step S1001 and having the same management number.\",\n \"That is, if the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration is 1,920×1,080=E2 before command reception when the VideoSourceMode of the VideoSource 6101 is changed from S1 to S2, the resolution is changed to 2,048×1,536 as the resolution of E2 matching S2 by the reception of this command.\",\n \"In step S1003, the control unit 1001 sets an Enable flag corresponding to the VideoSourceMode determined in step S1001 to “True”, and sets enable flags corresponding to other VideoSourceModes to “False”.\",\n \"In step S1004, the control unit 1001 transmits a normal response to the client apparatus 2000.FIG.\",\n \"6B shows processing when the monitoring camera 1000 has received a GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOption command (the transaction 7106) from the client apparatus 2000.In step S1100, the control unit 1001 obtains the set value of the VideoSourceMode currently set in the VideoSource 6101, and determines whether the set value is S1, S2, or S3.In steps S1101, S1102, and S1103, the control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and obtains a selectable set value (choice) matching the current VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"The control unit 1001 obtains the choices E1 to E4 of the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration, the choices of the Encoding, and the FramerateLimit as the maximum frame rate.\",\n \"For example, when the set value of the current VideoSourceMode is S3, the control unit 1001 obtains 800×600 (E1) , 640×480 (E2) , 320×240 (E3), and 176×144 (E4) as the choices of the Resolution.\",\n \"Also, the control unit 1001 obtains H.264 and MotionJPEG as the choices of the Encoding, and 30 fps as the FramerateLimit.\",\n \"In step S1104, the control unit 1001 obtains the choices and setting range of the VideoEncoderConfiguration independent of the current VideoSourceMode from the storage unit 1002.For example, the control unit 1001 obtains 1 to 5 as the settable range of the Quality, and 60 Mbps as the set value of the BitrateLimit.\",\n \"In step S1105, the control unit 1001 transmits a normal response containing the choices and setting ranges obtained in steps S1101 to S1104 to the client apparatus 2000 via the communication unit 1005.FIG.\",\n \"6C shows processing when the monitoring camera 1000 has received the above-described SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command (transaction 7107) from the client apparatus 2000.Insteps S1200, S1201, and S1202, the control unit 1001 determines whether the set value input to the received SetVideoEncoderConfiguration matches the current VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"The control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and determines whether the Resolution, Encoding, and FramerateLimit input to the received SetVideoEncoderConfiguration match the current VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"If even one parameter does not match, the control unit 1001 advances the process to step S1210.In step S1210, the control unit 1001 transmits an error response to the client apparatus 2000 via the communication unit 1005.On the other hand, in step S1203, the control unit 1001 stores the set values of the VideoEncoderConfiguration including the Quality, BitrateLimit, Encoding, FramerateLimit, and Resolution in the storage unit 1002, and sets them in the compression encoding unit 1004.In step S1204, the control unit 1001 transmits a normal response to the client apparatus 2000.FIG.\",\n \"7A is a view showing an example of a setting screen of the client apparatus 2000, in which the VideoSourceMode and VideoEncoderConfiguration of the monitoring camera 1000 according to this embodiment are set.\",\n \"When the setting screen shown in FIG.\",\n \"7A is opened, the client apparatus 2000 executes the sequence shown in FIG.\",\n \"5A, and displays a video stream obtained in the transaction 7113 in a LiveView area 9000 (a display area).\",\n \"An area 9001 is a VideoSourceMode selection area.\",\n \"The client apparatus 2000 displays, in this area, a list of VideoSourceModes obtained by the transaction 7200 of the GetVideoSourceMode command executed when this setting screen is opened, so that the user can select a mode as indicated by reference numeral 9002.If a VideoSourceMode different from the current setting is selected in this area, the client apparatus 2000 executes the SetVideoSourceMode command, and changes the VideoSourceMode of the monitoring camera 1000.In this state, the client apparatus 2000 executes the transactions shown in FIG.\",\n \"5B, and displays a video stream having the new settings in the LiveView area 9000 (the display area).\",\n \"In addition, the client apparatus 2000 executes the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command, and updates the choices and setting ranges of the individual parameters of the VideoEncoder in this screen by using the obtained results.\",\n \"Accordingly, the client apparatus 2000 can always provide the user with the choices and setting ranges of the set values of the VideoEncoderConfiguration matching the VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"Setting screen switching sections 9003 and 9004 are tabs for switching VideoEncoder setting screens for allowing the user to change the set values of the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 of the monitoring camera 1000.The number of tabs is two (the setting screen switching sections 9003 and 9004) in this embodiment, but it is also possible to display tabs equal in number to the VideoEncoderConfigurations 6103 obtained by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurations command and supported by the monitoring camera 1000.An area 9005 is an area for allowing the user to select the compression encoding scheme of each VideoEncoderConfiguration.\",\n \"The GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command is executed when the setting screen is opened, or when a new VideoSourceMode is selected in the VideoSourceMode selection area.\",\n \"The area 9005 displays the choices of encoding obtained by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command.\",\n \"A choice 9006 indicates currently selectable Encoding, and a choice 9007 indicates currently unselectable Encoding.\",\n \"An area 9008 is a Detail area for allowing the user to select the FramerateLimit, BitrateLimit, and Quality included in the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103.The GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command is executed when the setting screen shown in FIG.\",\n \"7A is opened, or when a new VideoSourceMode is selected in the VideoSourceMode selection area.\",\n \"The contents of the setting ranges obtained by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command are reflected in setting ranges 9009, 9010, and 9011.An area 9012 is an area for selecting the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103.The GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command is executed when the setting screen shown in FIG.\",\n \"7A is opened, or when a new VideoSourceMode is selected in the VideoSourceMode selection area.\",\n \"The contents of the choices of the Resolution parameter obtained by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command are displayed in a dropdown list 9013.When the user presses an apply button 9014, the client apparatus 2000 transmits the SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command to the monitoring camera 1000.The parameters selected in the areas 9005, 9008, and 9012 are reflected in the compression encoding unit 1004 of the monitoring camera 1000.When the VideoSourceMode is changed by the client apparatus 2000, the monitoring camera 1000 can maintain the contents of choices provided by the setting contents of the VideoEncoderConfiguration and by the VideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command, as contents matching the VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"Accordingly, when obtaining a distribution image after changing the VideoSourceMode, the client apparatus 2000 need not change the setting contents of the VideoEncoderConfiguration to contents matching the VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"That is, even when the resolution of image data to be generated by the image capturing unit 1003 of the monitoring camera 1000 is changed, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of mismatching in various settings including the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by the compression encoding unit 1004.It is also possible to easily generate a distribution image after the resolution is changed.\",\n \"Second Embodiment In the first embodiment, the arrangement in which the contents of choices provided by the setting contents of the VideoEncoderConfiguration and by the VideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command are changed to contents matching the VideoSourceMode has been explained.\",\n \"In this arrangement of the first embodiment, the types of the choices of the resolution of the compression encoding unit provided by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command are not limited to those matching the VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"It is also possible to always provide all choices of the resolution to the client apparatus 2000 by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command.\",\n \"In accordance with a new set value set in the compression encoding unit 1004 by the client apparatus 2000 by using the SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command, the monitoring camera 1000 may also internally switch the VideoSourceMode to a mode matching the new set value.\",\n \"The second embodiment of the present invention taking this point into consideration will be explained below.\",\n \"Note that an explanation of the same portions as those of the first embodiment will be omitted.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6D is a view showing processing when a monitoring camera 1000 has received the GetVideoSourceConfigurationOptions command from a client apparatus 2000.In step S1300, a control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 which is stored in a storage unit 1002, and obtains all possible choices of the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration.\",\n \"That is, the control unit 1001 obtains E1 to E4 in S1, E1 to E4 in S2, and E1 to E4 in S3 as choices.\",\n \"In step S1301, the control unit 1001 refers to the table shown FIG.\",\n \"4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and obtains all possible choices of the compression encoding scheme of the VideoEncoderConfiguration.\",\n \"That is, the control unit 1001 obtains MotionJPEG and H.264 as choices.\",\n \"In step S1302, the control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and obtains the maximum one of possible values of the FramerateLimit of the VideoEncoderConfiguration.\",\n \"That is, the control unit 1001 obtains 30 fps as the maximum value of the FramerateLimit.\",\n \"In step S1303, the control unit 1001 obtains the choices and setting range of the VideoEncoderConfiguration independent of the current VideoSourceMode from the storage unit 1002.For example, the control unit 1001 obtains 1 to 5 as the settable range of the Quality, and 60 Mbps as the set value of the BitrateLimit.\",\n \"In step S1304, the control unit 1001 transmits a normal response containing the choices and setting range obtained in steps S1300 to S1303 to the client apparatus 2000 via a communication unit 1005.FIG.\",\n \"6E is a view showing processing when the monitoring camera 1000 has received the above-described SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command from the client apparatus 2000.In step S1400, the control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and determines whether the resolution set in the received SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command matches the current VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"If the resolution matches the mode (Yes in step S1400), the control unit 1001 advances the process to step S1201.If the resolution does not match the mode (No in step S1400), the control unit 1001 advances the process to step S1410.In step S1410, the control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and switches the current VideoSourceMode to a VideoSourceMode having a matched input resolution.\",\n \"For example, when 640×480 is input as a Resolution to this command while the VideoSourceMode is S1, the VideoSourceMode is switched to S3 matching this resolution.\",\n \"When the resolution is changed to a resolution different from the setting of an image capturing unit (the resolution of the VideoSourceMode) by the command for setting the resolution of the encoding unit (the resolution of a distribution image), the control unit 1001 changes the setting of the resolution of the image capturing unit to a resolution matching the resolution of the encoding unit.\",\n \"Processes in steps S1201 to S1204 and S1210 are the same as those shown in FIG.\",\n \"6C.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7B is a view showing an example of a setting screen of the client apparatus 2000 in which the VideoSourceMode and VideoEncoderConfiguration of the monitoring camera 1000 according to this embodiment are set.\",\n \"An area 9012 is an area for selecting the resolution of a VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103.The GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command is executed when the setting screen shown in FIG.\",\n \"7B is opened.\",\n \"A dropdown list 9100 displays the contents of the choices of a Resolution parameter obtained by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"6D, the monitoring camera 1000 according to this embodiment provides all resolutions obtained from the table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 as choices.\",\n \"Therefore, the dropdown list 9100 displays all the resolutions.\",\n \"The monitoring camera 1000 provides the client apparatus 2000 with all possible setting contents of the VideoEncoderConfiguration as choices, regardless of the VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"If a parameter of the VideoEncoderConfiguration not matching the current VideoSourceMode, which includes the resolution of a compression encoding unit 1004, is designated, it is possible to internally switch to a matching VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"Accordingly, when obtaining a distribution image after the parameter of the VideoEncoderConfiguration is changed, the client apparatus 2000 need not change the setting contents of the VideoSourceMode to contents matching the VideoEncoderConfiguration.\",\n \"That is, even when various settings including the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by the compression encoding unit 1004 are changed, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of mismatching in the resolution of image data to be generated by an image capturing unit 1003.It is also possible to facilitate generating a distribution image after the resolution is changed.\",\n \"The operations of the monitoring camera, application program, and client apparatus according to the present invention have been disclosed in the first and second embodiments.\",\n \"However, the spirit and scope of the invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and partially changeable.\",\n \"For example, in step S1002 of FIG.\",\n \"6A, the set values of the Resolutions of the VideoEncoderConfigurations are uniformly changed to a resolution having the same management number matching the VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"However, the spirit and scope of the present invention are not limited to this.\",\n \"For example, of the Resolutions of the VideoEncoderConfigurations, a Resolution that keeps matching before and after the VideoSourceMode is changed can also be kept used after the VideoSourceMode is changed.\",\n \"Also, all possible choices of the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration are provided in step S1300 of FIG.\",\n \"6D, but the spirit and scope of the present invention are not limited to this.\",\n \"For example, it is also possible to provide only a resolution matching the current VideoSourceMode as a choice, only when a video stream having a given resolution has already been distributed from the monitoring camera 1000.Furthermore, all possible compression encoding schemes of the VideoEncoderConfiguration are obtained as choices in step S1301 of FIG.\",\n \"6D, but the present invention is not limited to this.\",\n \"It is also possible to obtain only choices of compression encoding schemes matching all VideoSourceModes.\",\n \"This makes it possible to reduce the choice providing range, and prevent the SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command from designating compression encoding that does not match the VideoSourceMode selected at that point of time in step S1201.In addition, the maximum one of all possible values of the FramerateLimit of the VideoEncoderConfiguration is obtained in step S1302 of FIG.\",\n \"6D, but the present invention is not limited to this.\",\n \"For example, it is also possible to obtain the maximum FramerateLimit matching all VideoSourceModes.\",\n \"This makes it possible to reduce the choice providing range, and prevent the SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command from designating a FramerateLimit that does not match the VideoSourceMode selected at that point of time in step S1201.Also, in step S1410 of FIG.\",\n \"6E, VideoSourceModes are selectively switched based on the setting of the resolution of the SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command.\",\n \"However, the spirit and scope of the present invention are not limited to this.\",\n \"That is, a plurality of matching VideoSourceModes may exist.\",\n \"Accordingly, it is also possible to select the most matching VideoSourceMode based not only on the resolution but also on a plurality of other settings of the compression encoding unit, such as the compression encoding scheme and FramerateLimit.\",\n \"In the present invention as described above, even when only one of the resolution of image data to be generated by the image capturing unit and the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by the compression encoding unit is changed, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of mismatching in a combination of these resolutions.\",\n \"Other Embodiments Embodiments of the present invention can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executable instructions recorded on a storage medium (for example, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment (s) of the present invention, and by a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computer executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment (s).\",\n \"The computer may comprise one or more of a central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU), or other circuitry, and may include a network of separate computers or separate computer processors.\",\n \"The computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storage medium.\",\n \"The storage medium may include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM) , a read only memory (ROM), a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD) , digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™), a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.\",\n \"While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments.\",\n \"The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876005"}}},{"rowIdx":4495050,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["VENTED RESERVOIR FOR MEDICAL PUMP","The present invention concerns a medical pump comprising: a.","A hard housing comprising a top (24) and bottom (1) hard shells, within which a rigid wall (3) and a movable membrane (2) create three distinct chambers; wherein i. said movable membrane tightly separates said second (29) and third (22) chambers ii.","said first and third chambers have a watertight interface iii.","said second chamber (29) is designed to contain a fluid iv.","said first chamber (23) comprises a first venting mean (20) which is arranged to provide a fluidic communication between said first chamber (23) and the external environment; v. said third chamber (22) comprises a second venting mean which is arranged to provide a fluidic communication between said third chamber (22) and the external environment b.","A pumping element (4) located in the first chamber (23) c. A least one pressure sensor which measure the pressure gradient between the first chamber (23) and the second chamber (29) d. A fluid pathway which permits: i. a first fluid connection (27) between said second chamber (29) and said pumping element ii.","a second fluid connection (28) between said pumping element and a patient line (30)."],["1.-25.","(canceled) 26.A delivery medical device comprising a movable membrane and a rigid wall arranged into a hard housing having a bottom hard shell and a top hard shell; wherein at least one of the movable membrane and the rigid wall define into the housing a first chamber, a second chamber intended to store a fluid to be delivered to a patient and a third chamber; wherein the second chamber and the third chamber are tightly separated by the movable membrane and the first chamber and the third chamber are watertightly separated by at least one of the rigid wall and the movable membrane; wherein the delivery medical device further comprises: a fluid pathway configured to provide a fluid communication between the second chamber and the patient; a pumping device configured to convey the fluid through the fluid pathway to the patient; a vent device configured to vent at least one of the first chamber and the third chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device; and a pressure transducer having a reference port in the first chamber.","27.The device according to claim 26, wherein the vent device comprises a first vent configured to vent the first chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device.","28.The device according to claim 27, wherein the first vent is a hydrophobic vent.","29.The device according to claim 26, wherein the pumping device is arranged into the first chamber.","30.The device according to claim 26, wherein the vent device comprises a second vent configured to vent the third chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device.","31.The device according to claim 30, wherein the second vent provides an air communication and a liquid communication between the external environment and the third chamber.","32.The device according to claim 30, wherein the second vent comprises a passage which extends toward the third chamber up to a baffle.","33.The device according to claim 32, wherein the baffle has two opposite holes.","34.The device according to claim 32, wherein the baffle provides a mechanical protection against a tip object from the external environment.","35.The device according to claim 26, wherein the pressure transducer is a gauge pressure sensor.","36.The device according to claim 26, wherein the pressure transducer measures the pressure gradient between said first chamber and said second chamber.","37.The device according to claim 26, further comprising a processing device configured to detect an under or over pressure in said first chamber and/or said third chamber.","38.The device according to claim 26 further comprising a battery arranged into the first chamber.","39.A delivery medical device comprising a movable membrane and a rigid wall arranged into a hard housing having a bottom hard shell and a top hard shell; wherein at least one of the movable membrane and the rigid wall define into the housing a first chamber, a second chamber intended to store a fluid to be delivered to a patient and a third chamber; wherein the second chamber and the third chamber are tightly separated by the movable membrane and the first chamber and the third chamber are watertightly separated by at least one of the rigid wall and the movable membrane; wherein the delivery medical device further comprises: a fluid pathway configured to provide a fluid communication between the second chamber and the patient; a pumping device configured to convey the fluid through the fluid pathway to the patient and arranged into the first chamber; a vent device configured to vent at least one of the first chamber and the third chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device; and a pressure transducer configured to measure the fluid pressure in the fluid pathway.","40.The device according to claim 39, wherein the vent device comprises a first vent configured to vent the first chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device.","41.The device according to claim 40, wherein the first vent is a hydrophobic vent.","42.The device according to claim 39, wherein the vent device comprises a second vent configured to vent the third chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device.","43.The device according to claim 42, wherein the second vent provides an air communication and a liquid communication between the external environment and the third chamber.","44.The device according to claim 42, wherein the second vent comprises a passage which extends toward the third chamber up to a baffle.","45.The device according to claim 44, wherein the baffle provides a mechanical protection against a tip object from the external environment.","46.The device according to claim 39, wherein the pressure transducer measures the pressure gradient between said first chamber and said second chamber.","47.The device according to claim 39, further comprising a processing device configured to detect an under or over pressure in said first chamber and/or said third chamber.","48.A delivery medical device comprising a movable membrane and a rigid wall arranged into a hard housing having a bottom hard shell and a top hard shell; wherein at least one of the movable membrane and the rigid wall define into the housing a first chamber, a second chamber intended to store a fluid to be delivered to a patient and a third chamber; wherein the second chamber and the third chamber are tightly separated by the movable membrane and the first chamber is watertightly separated from the third chamber by a watertight interface; wherein the delivery medical device further comprises: a fluid pathway intended to provide a fluid communication between the second chamber and the patient; a pumping device configured to convey the fluid through the fluid pathway to the patient; a vent device having a passage which extends toward the third chamber up to a baffle configured to vent the third chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device; and a pressure transducer in pressure communication with the fluid pathway.","49.The device according to claim 48, wherein the pumping device is arranged into the first chamber.","50.The device according to claim 48, wherein the vent device provides an air communication and a liquid communication between the external environment and the third chamber.","51.The device according to claim 48, wherein the baffle provides a mechanical protection against a tip object from the external environment.","52.The device according to claim 48, wherein the pressure transducer measures the pressure gradient between said first chamber and said second chamber.","53.The device according to claim 48, further comprising a processing device configured to detect an under or over pressure in said first chamber and/or said third chamber."],["<SOH> FIELD OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention is related to medical pumps, more specifically to reservoirs used with insulin pumps and means to prevent and detect any over or under pressure in the reservoir."],["FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is related to medical pumps, more specifically to reservoirs used with insulin pumps and means to prevent and detect any over or under pressure in the reservoir.","STATE OF THE ART Some insulin pumps, such as the one illustrated on FIG.","1, have a rigid chamber defined between a rigid wall (3) and bottom (1) hard shell.","A pumping element (4) is fixed to the rigid wall (3).","The chamber contains a reservoir which is made of a movable membrane (2) (e.g.","soft pouch or flexible film), such as thermoformed and heat-soldered onto the rigid wall (3) (see for instance international patent application WO 2007/113708).","The bottom hard shell (1) protects the membrane (2) against external mechanical forces and ensures a water tightness of the system.","The pump is vented using a hydrophobic filter in order to prevent a pressurization of the reservoir due to pressure or temperature changes.","The risk of clogging with this filter is high and therefore a potential overdose becomes possible.","Moreover such clogging cannot be detected with the gauge pressure detector of the pump because the reference port of the detector is vented by the same filter than the reservoir itself.","Therefore, said device described by WO 2007/113708 can't detect a possible clogging of this vent which cause an over or under delivery of the insulin to the patient.","The implementation of an additional anti-free-flow valve is a possible way to overcome this problem.","See WO 2008/029051.However, this may be expensive for a disposable product and may not be totally fail safe.","GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides another advantageous solutions to prevent an over or under delivery of fluid to the patient (for example: insulin) which is induced when the pressure gradient between the reservoir and the external environment changes.","Furthermore, the present invention may advantageously use with a method described in the application EP 11172494.4.To this effect, it relates to a medical pump comprising three distinct chambers.","Said medical device is designed to form a hard housing comprising a top and bottom hard shells.","Said housing further comprises a hard wall and a movable membrane which create said three distinct chambers.","Said movable membrane tightly separates the second and the third chambers.","The first and third chambers have a watertight interface.","Said second chamber is designed to contain a fluid.","Said movable membrane may be moved between said rigid wall and the bottom hard shell, in such a way that the fluid tight reservoir is formed by the second chamber.","Said first chamber comprises a first venting mean which is arranged to provide a fluidic communication between said first chamber and the external environment.","Said third chamber comprises a second venting mean which is arranged to provide a fluidic communication between said third chamber and the external environment.","The device further comprises a pumping element located in the first chamber, at least one pressure sensor which measures the pressure gradient between the first chamber and the third chamber.","Said medical device comprises a fluid pathway which permits a first fluid connection between said second chamber and said pumping element and a second fluid connection between said pumping element and a patient line.","With the present invention, the third chamber is completely vented by said second venting mean while maintaining the protection against mechanical forces or ingress of solid foreign objects such as sharp tips.","In one of embodiment, said second venting mean is formed by several passages.","The protection against water ingress is not insured for the third chamber, which is not necessary if said movable member is a tight membrane.","While, the first chamber is vented by a vent which may be hydrophobic and or oleophobic to protect the electronic part.","In one of embodiment, said movable membrane may transmit the pressure of the third chamber to said first fluid connection via the second chamber and the movable membrane.","If, one or the both venting means get clogged, the pressure in the device and the pressure of the external environment may be different.","The pressure gradient between inside device, in particular in the third chamber, and the external environment may induce an over or under delivery of the fluid to the patient.","For this reason, the second venting mean comprises several passages (which reduce the clogging risk) and the device uses a method partially described in the application EP 11172494.4 for detecting if at least one venting means is clogged.","The sensors may be localised in said chambers, in said fluid connections and/or outside.","The sensor may be a gauge pressure sensor localised between: the third chamber and the first chamber, and/or said first fluid connection and the first chamber, and/or said second fluid connection and the first chamber, and/or said third chamber and external environment, and/or said first chamber and external environment.","The reference port of said gauge pressure sensors may be the external environment, the first chamber or the third chamber.","In one of embodiment, the device comprises processing means for the sensor signal which may measure the pressure gradient between the third chamber and the first chamber or the external environment.","And said processing means detect a under or over pressure in said first chamber and/or said third chamber.","Said processing means can detect the clogging of said first venting mean and/or said second venting mean.","The medical pump comprises alarm means which alert the patient in case of said first venting mean and/or said second venting mean are clogged.","LIST OF FIGURES FIG.","1 shows the prior art of the medical device without the holes.","FIG.","2 illustrates an embodiment of the invention with several holes on one of hard shells FIG.","3 represents the same embodiment as the one illustrated on FIG.","2 but viewed from the other side.","FIG.","4 shows an exploded view of the complete system.","FIG.","5 shows the embodiment of the medical device with both venting means are directly connected to the external environment.","FIG.","6 shows another embodiment of the medical device with the first venting mean located between the first and the third chambers.","LIST OF ELEMENTS 1 Bottom hard shell 2 Movable membrane 3 Rigid wall 4 Pumping element 5 Holes 6 Baffles 7 Second venting mean 8 Upper face of the second chamber and/or third chamber 9 Lower face of the third chamber 10 Lateral face of the third chamber 11 Marks on the bottom shell 12 Filling port of the second chamber 13 Lateral slides 14 Grips 16 Battery 17 PCB (Printed Circuit Board) 18 Spring contacts 19 Battery contact 20 First venting mean 21 Lock 22 Third chamber 23 First chamber 24 Top hard shell 25 Upper face of the first chamber 26 Lower face of the first chamber 27 First fluid connection 28 Second fluid connection 29 Second chamber 30 Patient line DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The medical pump of the present invention comprises three distinct chambers (23, 29, 22).","The second chamber (29) and the third chamber (22) is separated by a movable membrane (2) which may be moved between a bottom hard shell (1) and the rigid wall (3) and comprises an upper face (8), a lower face (9) and a lateral face (10).","Said bottom shell (1) contains several holes (5) which are forming the internal ends of passages (7) communicating between the third chamber and the external environment.","The first chamber (23) is defined between the top hard shell (24) and the rigid wall (3).","Said first chamber (23) comprises an upper face (25), a lower face (26), a pumping element (4) and a first venting mean (20).","The third chamber and the first chamber are tightly separated by at least said rigid wall (3) which is designed to form a watertight interface.","In one of said embodiments, a hydrophobic surface treatment or coating can also be used on and/or around the holes (5) to limit the water ingress.","In one of said embodiments, said first chamber (23) comprises the electronic elements.","In one of said embodiments, the lateral faces of said chambers are formed by the junction between part of the top and the bottom hard shell of the medical device.","The medical device comprises a first fluid connection (27) between said second chamber (29) and said pumping element, and a second fluid connection (28) between said pumping element and the patient line.","A sensor may measure a pressure gradient between the fluid and said first chamber (23) and/or said third chamber (22) or between said both chambers.","Said sensor can be located upstream and/or downstream of the pumping element (4).","In a preferred embodiment, the sensor is a gauge pressure sensor.","The reference port of said gauge pressure sensor is connected to said first chamber (23), allowing the detection of under or over pressure between: said third and first chambers, and/or the fluid and said first chamber, and/or the fluid and said third chamber, and/or the fluid and the patient line.","In case of one or both of said venting means are clogged, a positive or negative pressure may be trapped in the third chamber (22) and/or in the first chamber (23).","Therefore, the device further comprises alarm means which can alert the patient if the first venting mean (20) of the first chamber or/and the second venting mean (7) of said third chamber (22) are clogged.","Vent clogging case studies: In a preferred embodiment, the change of pressure due to clogging can be monitored using two gauge sensors located in the pumping element.","A first gauge pressure sensor is located in the first fluid connection (27) which may measure the pressure of the third chamber which is transmitted to the second chamber (29) (and the first fluid connection (27)) via the movable membrane (2).","A second gauge pressure sensor is located in the second fluid connection (28) which may measure the pressure of the patient line.","For both sensors, the reference port is the first chamber (23).","1.Clogging of the second venting mean (7) only→potential over or under pressure in the third chamber (22) is transmitted to the fluid in the second chamber (29) via the membrane (2) and is detected via the first sensor since the reference port (the first chamber (23)) of said sensor is not pressurized.","The first sensor detects a pressure gradient between the third chamber (22) and the first chamber (23) while the second sensor doesn't detect any pressure gradient between the patient line and the first chamber (23).","2.Clogging of the first venting mean (20) only→the first chamber (23) and therefore the reference ports of both sensors shall potentially exhibit over or under pressure with respect to external environment.","Said over or under pressure will be detected by both sensors.","Positive (respectively negative) pressure in said first chamber (23) leads to a pressure signal equivalent to a negative (resp.","positive) pressure in the pumping chamber in normal conditions.","Therefore, a clogging of said first venting mean (20) is detected when the pressure in the first chamber (23) becomes different from external environment pressure.","Said difference of pressure inducing the same offset on both gauge pressure sensors with respect to a reference value obtained either by measuring the pressure sensor signal before the priming of the pump or by using calibration data.","3.Clogging of all venting ports→the first and third chambers (23, 22) are potentially in over or under pressure with respect to the external environment.","Therefore, the first sensor can't detect any pressure gradient between the first and the second or third chambers.","But, the patient line pressure may be different.","Therefore, the second sensor can detect a pressure gradient between the first chamber (23) and the patient line.","FIG.","2 illustrates an embodiment of the invention where the bottom shell (1) is provided with passages (7) on its lateral face (10) of the third chamber.","Each passage (7) is provided with a baffle (6) which defines two opposite holes (5) oriented towards said lateral face (10), in a direction which is parallel with respect to the bottom face.","In another embodiment, the holes are located within said lateral face (10) or said lower face (9) of the third chamber.","In a preferred embodiment, said holes (5) are oriented in a direction which is forming an angle above 30° with the main direction of their respective passages (7).","FIG.","4 shows an exploded view of the complete system, including the same embodiment as to the one illustrated on FIG.","2 and the top hard shell (24), the battery (16), a lock (21), the first venting mean (20), a PCB (17) and its spring contacts (18) to connect the pumping element (4) (not showed here) and finally the battery contact (19).","In the present invention the design of the bottom shell and more particularly the second venting mean (7) are driven by: The capability to vent the membrane (2) for any foreseeable use or probable misuse of the pump, including the presence of dirt onto the pump, the wearing of the pump under clothes .",".",".","The protection against solid foreign objects When second venting means (7), which is several passages like holes (5), are provided in the bottom shell (1) it is not possible to accidentally close all openings because of their specific locations.","The compression of the pump against a soft material on the top shell cannot typically obstruct these passages because of their lateral orientated location.","The closure of the passages by lateral compression is also prevented by baffles (6) that limit the access typically to fingers.","The passages (7) may have the shape of a slit or any other shape having one dimension preferably lower than 1 mm.","The passages (7) may also be made into a recess and oriented perpendicularly to the normal of the lateral face (10) of the third chamber (22) in order to prevent the insertion of a straight and rigid tip, the minimum dimension of the opening being preferably no longer limited to 1 mm in this configuration according to this recess.","The bottom shell (1) is preferably transparent; the patient should be able to see any large obstruction due to foods or any sticky stuff and eventually to change the disposable.","The bottom shell (1) and/or the rigid wall (3) and/or the membrane (2) are preferably is made in plastic, and more generally in any material having specific grades compatible with insulin.","The use of the same material is desirable for thermowelding.","The contact surfaces for gluing or thermowelding between the top and bottom shell should be large enough to withstand reservoir overpressure up to 1 bar and drop test from a height of 1 meter or more.","The membrane material has ideally a low elasticity and a low permeability.","The membrane thickness is typically smaller than 100 microns.","The surface of the membrane (2) is ideally larger than the surface of the lower face (9) of the third chamber (22) of the bottom shell to prevent any in-plane stress in the membrane and therefore any effect due to the membrane elasticity.","The bottom shell (1) can advantageously include Moiré pattern.","In case of overfilling of the reservoir, when the membrane is directly in contact with the bottom shell, the reservoir pressure would bend the bottom shell and induce changes in the Moiré pattern, giving a visual feedback of overfilling to the patient.","The Moiré pattern covers partly the bottom shell (1) surface in order to make possible the observation of bubbles into the reservoir.","The bottom shell may include any means to detect deformation due to static load or a pressurized reservoir (e.g.","strain gauges, pressure sensors .",".",".",").","The passages (7) may be partly or completely covered by a removable and permeable tape that ensures the venting of the reservoir.","In case of projection of sticky stuff on the passages (7) the patient can advantageously remove the tape instead of trying to clean up the device or simply changing it.","The tape may be made of several sheets that can be removed iteratively.","Such air permeable tape may also cover the first venting mean (20) of the first chamber (23).","The bottom shell (1) may include marks (11) that help the patient to find the filling port (12) containing a septum.","The bottom shell (1) is ideally flat and has lateral slides (13) for patch insertion (clipping) and grips (14) for patch removal (unclipping).","Fluid, e.g.","water, can flow through the passages (7) and then in the space between the bottom shell (1) and the membrane (2), the fluid tightness being only provided to the first chamber (23) of the pump which, among other elements, includes the battery (16).","The electronic and pump controller are in the first chamber which is water tight but has to be vented in case a zinc-air battery needing oxygen and when a gauge pressure sensors are used.","The first chamber (23) is tightly assembled using lock (21) or clips or any other means onto the upper face of the rigid wall (3), contacting electrically the pads of the pump via the spring contacts (18) of the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) (17).","The first chamber (23) uses the first venting mean (20) which is therefore preferably hydrophobic and/or oleophobic.","In another embodiment (FIG.","6), the first venting mean (20), which is hydrophobic, is located between the first and the third chambers.","In another embodiment, the device further comprises three distinct venting means.","The first venting mean connects directly the first chamber to the external environment, the second venting mean connects directly the third chamber to the external environment and the third venting mean is located between the third and the first chamber.","This embodiment insure a good venting in third and first chambers even if one venting mean is clogged.","Said third venting mean is preferably hydrophobic and/or oleophobic."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"VENTED RESERVOIR FOR MEDICAL PUMP\",\n \"The present invention concerns a medical pump comprising: a.\",\n \"A hard housing comprising a top (24) and bottom (1) hard shells, within which a rigid wall (3) and a movable membrane (2) create three distinct chambers; wherein i. said movable membrane tightly separates said second (29) and third (22) chambers ii.\",\n \"said first and third chambers have a watertight interface iii.\",\n \"said second chamber (29) is designed to contain a fluid iv.\",\n \"said first chamber (23) comprises a first venting mean (20) which is arranged to provide a fluidic communication between said first chamber (23) and the external environment; v. said third chamber (22) comprises a second venting mean which is arranged to provide a fluidic communication between said third chamber (22) and the external environment b.\",\n \"A pumping element (4) located in the first chamber (23) c. A least one pressure sensor which measure the pressure gradient between the first chamber (23) and the second chamber (29) d. A fluid pathway which permits: i. a first fluid connection (27) between said second chamber (29) and said pumping element ii.\",\n \"a second fluid connection (28) between said pumping element and a patient line (30).\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.-25.\",\n \"(canceled) 26.A delivery medical device comprising a movable membrane and a rigid wall arranged into a hard housing having a bottom hard shell and a top hard shell; wherein at least one of the movable membrane and the rigid wall define into the housing a first chamber, a second chamber intended to store a fluid to be delivered to a patient and a third chamber; wherein the second chamber and the third chamber are tightly separated by the movable membrane and the first chamber and the third chamber are watertightly separated by at least one of the rigid wall and the movable membrane; wherein the delivery medical device further comprises: a fluid pathway configured to provide a fluid communication between the second chamber and the patient; a pumping device configured to convey the fluid through the fluid pathway to the patient; a vent device configured to vent at least one of the first chamber and the third chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device; and a pressure transducer having a reference port in the first chamber.\",\n \"27.The device according to claim 26, wherein the vent device comprises a first vent configured to vent the first chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device.\",\n \"28.The device according to claim 27, wherein the first vent is a hydrophobic vent.\",\n \"29.The device according to claim 26, wherein the pumping device is arranged into the first chamber.\",\n \"30.The device according to claim 26, wherein the vent device comprises a second vent configured to vent the third chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device.\",\n \"31.The device according to claim 30, wherein the second vent provides an air communication and a liquid communication between the external environment and the third chamber.\",\n \"32.The device according to claim 30, wherein the second vent comprises a passage which extends toward the third chamber up to a baffle.\",\n \"33.The device according to claim 32, wherein the baffle has two opposite holes.\",\n \"34.The device according to claim 32, wherein the baffle provides a mechanical protection against a tip object from the external environment.\",\n \"35.The device according to claim 26, wherein the pressure transducer is a gauge pressure sensor.\",\n \"36.The device according to claim 26, wherein the pressure transducer measures the pressure gradient between said first chamber and said second chamber.\",\n \"37.The device according to claim 26, further comprising a processing device configured to detect an under or over pressure in said first chamber and/or said third chamber.\",\n \"38.The device according to claim 26 further comprising a battery arranged into the first chamber.\",\n \"39.A delivery medical device comprising a movable membrane and a rigid wall arranged into a hard housing having a bottom hard shell and a top hard shell; wherein at least one of the movable membrane and the rigid wall define into the housing a first chamber, a second chamber intended to store a fluid to be delivered to a patient and a third chamber; wherein the second chamber and the third chamber are tightly separated by the movable membrane and the first chamber and the third chamber are watertightly separated by at least one of the rigid wall and the movable membrane; wherein the delivery medical device further comprises: a fluid pathway configured to provide a fluid communication between the second chamber and the patient; a pumping device configured to convey the fluid through the fluid pathway to the patient and arranged into the first chamber; a vent device configured to vent at least one of the first chamber and the third chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device; and a pressure transducer configured to measure the fluid pressure in the fluid pathway.\",\n \"40.The device according to claim 39, wherein the vent device comprises a first vent configured to vent the first chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device.\",\n \"41.The device according to claim 40, wherein the first vent is a hydrophobic vent.\",\n \"42.The device according to claim 39, wherein the vent device comprises a second vent configured to vent the third chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device.\",\n \"43.The device according to claim 42, wherein the second vent provides an air communication and a liquid communication between the external environment and the third chamber.\",\n \"44.The device according to claim 42, wherein the second vent comprises a passage which extends toward the third chamber up to a baffle.\",\n \"45.The device according to claim 44, wherein the baffle provides a mechanical protection against a tip object from the external environment.\",\n \"46.The device according to claim 39, wherein the pressure transducer measures the pressure gradient between said first chamber and said second chamber.\",\n \"47.The device according to claim 39, further comprising a processing device configured to detect an under or over pressure in said first chamber and/or said third chamber.\",\n \"48.A delivery medical device comprising a movable membrane and a rigid wall arranged into a hard housing having a bottom hard shell and a top hard shell; wherein at least one of the movable membrane and the rigid wall define into the housing a first chamber, a second chamber intended to store a fluid to be delivered to a patient and a third chamber; wherein the second chamber and the third chamber are tightly separated by the movable membrane and the first chamber is watertightly separated from the third chamber by a watertight interface; wherein the delivery medical device further comprises: a fluid pathway intended to provide a fluid communication between the second chamber and the patient; a pumping device configured to convey the fluid through the fluid pathway to the patient; a vent device having a passage which extends toward the third chamber up to a baffle configured to vent the third chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device; and a pressure transducer in pressure communication with the fluid pathway.\",\n \"49.The device according to claim 48, wherein the pumping device is arranged into the first chamber.\",\n \"50.The device according to claim 48, wherein the vent device provides an air communication and a liquid communication between the external environment and the third chamber.\",\n \"51.The device according to claim 48, wherein the baffle provides a mechanical protection against a tip object from the external environment.\",\n \"52.The device according to claim 48, wherein the pressure transducer measures the pressure gradient between said first chamber and said second chamber.\",\n \"53.The device according to claim 48, further comprising a processing device configured to detect an under or over pressure in said first chamber and/or said third chamber.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> FIELD OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention is related to medical pumps, more specifically to reservoirs used with insulin pumps and means to prevent and detect any over or under pressure in the reservoir.\"\n ],\n [\n \"FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is related to medical pumps, more specifically to reservoirs used with insulin pumps and means to prevent and detect any over or under pressure in the reservoir.\",\n \"STATE OF THE ART Some insulin pumps, such as the one illustrated on FIG.\",\n \"1, have a rigid chamber defined between a rigid wall (3) and bottom (1) hard shell.\",\n \"A pumping element (4) is fixed to the rigid wall (3).\",\n \"The chamber contains a reservoir which is made of a movable membrane (2) (e.g.\",\n \"soft pouch or flexible film), such as thermoformed and heat-soldered onto the rigid wall (3) (see for instance international patent application WO 2007/113708).\",\n \"The bottom hard shell (1) protects the membrane (2) against external mechanical forces and ensures a water tightness of the system.\",\n \"The pump is vented using a hydrophobic filter in order to prevent a pressurization of the reservoir due to pressure or temperature changes.\",\n \"The risk of clogging with this filter is high and therefore a potential overdose becomes possible.\",\n \"Moreover such clogging cannot be detected with the gauge pressure detector of the pump because the reference port of the detector is vented by the same filter than the reservoir itself.\",\n \"Therefore, said device described by WO 2007/113708 can't detect a possible clogging of this vent which cause an over or under delivery of the insulin to the patient.\",\n \"The implementation of an additional anti-free-flow valve is a possible way to overcome this problem.\",\n \"See WO 2008/029051.However, this may be expensive for a disposable product and may not be totally fail safe.\",\n \"GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides another advantageous solutions to prevent an over or under delivery of fluid to the patient (for example: insulin) which is induced when the pressure gradient between the reservoir and the external environment changes.\",\n \"Furthermore, the present invention may advantageously use with a method described in the application EP 11172494.4.To this effect, it relates to a medical pump comprising three distinct chambers.\",\n \"Said medical device is designed to form a hard housing comprising a top and bottom hard shells.\",\n \"Said housing further comprises a hard wall and a movable membrane which create said three distinct chambers.\",\n \"Said movable membrane tightly separates the second and the third chambers.\",\n \"The first and third chambers have a watertight interface.\",\n \"Said second chamber is designed to contain a fluid.\",\n \"Said movable membrane may be moved between said rigid wall and the bottom hard shell, in such a way that the fluid tight reservoir is formed by the second chamber.\",\n \"Said first chamber comprises a first venting mean which is arranged to provide a fluidic communication between said first chamber and the external environment.\",\n \"Said third chamber comprises a second venting mean which is arranged to provide a fluidic communication between said third chamber and the external environment.\",\n \"The device further comprises a pumping element located in the first chamber, at least one pressure sensor which measures the pressure gradient between the first chamber and the third chamber.\",\n \"Said medical device comprises a fluid pathway which permits a first fluid connection between said second chamber and said pumping element and a second fluid connection between said pumping element and a patient line.\",\n \"With the present invention, the third chamber is completely vented by said second venting mean while maintaining the protection against mechanical forces or ingress of solid foreign objects such as sharp tips.\",\n \"In one of embodiment, said second venting mean is formed by several passages.\",\n \"The protection against water ingress is not insured for the third chamber, which is not necessary if said movable member is a tight membrane.\",\n \"While, the first chamber is vented by a vent which may be hydrophobic and or oleophobic to protect the electronic part.\",\n \"In one of embodiment, said movable membrane may transmit the pressure of the third chamber to said first fluid connection via the second chamber and the movable membrane.\",\n \"If, one or the both venting means get clogged, the pressure in the device and the pressure of the external environment may be different.\",\n \"The pressure gradient between inside device, in particular in the third chamber, and the external environment may induce an over or under delivery of the fluid to the patient.\",\n \"For this reason, the second venting mean comprises several passages (which reduce the clogging risk) and the device uses a method partially described in the application EP 11172494.4 for detecting if at least one venting means is clogged.\",\n \"The sensors may be localised in said chambers, in said fluid connections and/or outside.\",\n \"The sensor may be a gauge pressure sensor localised between: the third chamber and the first chamber, and/or said first fluid connection and the first chamber, and/or said second fluid connection and the first chamber, and/or said third chamber and external environment, and/or said first chamber and external environment.\",\n \"The reference port of said gauge pressure sensors may be the external environment, the first chamber or the third chamber.\",\n \"In one of embodiment, the device comprises processing means for the sensor signal which may measure the pressure gradient between the third chamber and the first chamber or the external environment.\",\n \"And said processing means detect a under or over pressure in said first chamber and/or said third chamber.\",\n \"Said processing means can detect the clogging of said first venting mean and/or said second venting mean.\",\n \"The medical pump comprises alarm means which alert the patient in case of said first venting mean and/or said second venting mean are clogged.\",\n \"LIST OF FIGURES FIG.\",\n \"1 shows the prior art of the medical device without the holes.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an embodiment of the invention with several holes on one of hard shells FIG.\",\n \"3 represents the same embodiment as the one illustrated on FIG.\",\n \"2 but viewed from the other side.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 shows an exploded view of the complete system.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 shows the embodiment of the medical device with both venting means are directly connected to the external environment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 shows another embodiment of the medical device with the first venting mean located between the first and the third chambers.\",\n \"LIST OF ELEMENTS 1 Bottom hard shell 2 Movable membrane 3 Rigid wall 4 Pumping element 5 Holes 6 Baffles 7 Second venting mean 8 Upper face of the second chamber and/or third chamber 9 Lower face of the third chamber 10 Lateral face of the third chamber 11 Marks on the bottom shell 12 Filling port of the second chamber 13 Lateral slides 14 Grips 16 Battery 17 PCB (Printed Circuit Board) 18 Spring contacts 19 Battery contact 20 First venting mean 21 Lock 22 Third chamber 23 First chamber 24 Top hard shell 25 Upper face of the first chamber 26 Lower face of the first chamber 27 First fluid connection 28 Second fluid connection 29 Second chamber 30 Patient line DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The medical pump of the present invention comprises three distinct chambers (23, 29, 22).\",\n \"The second chamber (29) and the third chamber (22) is separated by a movable membrane (2) which may be moved between a bottom hard shell (1) and the rigid wall (3) and comprises an upper face (8), a lower face (9) and a lateral face (10).\",\n \"Said bottom shell (1) contains several holes (5) which are forming the internal ends of passages (7) communicating between the third chamber and the external environment.\",\n \"The first chamber (23) is defined between the top hard shell (24) and the rigid wall (3).\",\n \"Said first chamber (23) comprises an upper face (25), a lower face (26), a pumping element (4) and a first venting mean (20).\",\n \"The third chamber and the first chamber are tightly separated by at least said rigid wall (3) which is designed to form a watertight interface.\",\n \"In one of said embodiments, a hydrophobic surface treatment or coating can also be used on and/or around the holes (5) to limit the water ingress.\",\n \"In one of said embodiments, said first chamber (23) comprises the electronic elements.\",\n \"In one of said embodiments, the lateral faces of said chambers are formed by the junction between part of the top and the bottom hard shell of the medical device.\",\n \"The medical device comprises a first fluid connection (27) between said second chamber (29) and said pumping element, and a second fluid connection (28) between said pumping element and the patient line.\",\n \"A sensor may measure a pressure gradient between the fluid and said first chamber (23) and/or said third chamber (22) or between said both chambers.\",\n \"Said sensor can be located upstream and/or downstream of the pumping element (4).\",\n \"In a preferred embodiment, the sensor is a gauge pressure sensor.\",\n \"The reference port of said gauge pressure sensor is connected to said first chamber (23), allowing the detection of under or over pressure between: said third and first chambers, and/or the fluid and said first chamber, and/or the fluid and said third chamber, and/or the fluid and the patient line.\",\n \"In case of one or both of said venting means are clogged, a positive or negative pressure may be trapped in the third chamber (22) and/or in the first chamber (23).\",\n \"Therefore, the device further comprises alarm means which can alert the patient if the first venting mean (20) of the first chamber or/and the second venting mean (7) of said third chamber (22) are clogged.\",\n \"Vent clogging case studies: In a preferred embodiment, the change of pressure due to clogging can be monitored using two gauge sensors located in the pumping element.\",\n \"A first gauge pressure sensor is located in the first fluid connection (27) which may measure the pressure of the third chamber which is transmitted to the second chamber (29) (and the first fluid connection (27)) via the movable membrane (2).\",\n \"A second gauge pressure sensor is located in the second fluid connection (28) which may measure the pressure of the patient line.\",\n \"For both sensors, the reference port is the first chamber (23).\",\n \"1.Clogging of the second venting mean (7) only→potential over or under pressure in the third chamber (22) is transmitted to the fluid in the second chamber (29) via the membrane (2) and is detected via the first sensor since the reference port (the first chamber (23)) of said sensor is not pressurized.\",\n \"The first sensor detects a pressure gradient between the third chamber (22) and the first chamber (23) while the second sensor doesn't detect any pressure gradient between the patient line and the first chamber (23).\",\n \"2.Clogging of the first venting mean (20) only→the first chamber (23) and therefore the reference ports of both sensors shall potentially exhibit over or under pressure with respect to external environment.\",\n \"Said over or under pressure will be detected by both sensors.\",\n \"Positive (respectively negative) pressure in said first chamber (23) leads to a pressure signal equivalent to a negative (resp.\",\n \"positive) pressure in the pumping chamber in normal conditions.\",\n \"Therefore, a clogging of said first venting mean (20) is detected when the pressure in the first chamber (23) becomes different from external environment pressure.\",\n \"Said difference of pressure inducing the same offset on both gauge pressure sensors with respect to a reference value obtained either by measuring the pressure sensor signal before the priming of the pump or by using calibration data.\",\n \"3.Clogging of all venting ports→the first and third chambers (23, 22) are potentially in over or under pressure with respect to the external environment.\",\n \"Therefore, the first sensor can't detect any pressure gradient between the first and the second or third chambers.\",\n \"But, the patient line pressure may be different.\",\n \"Therefore, the second sensor can detect a pressure gradient between the first chamber (23) and the patient line.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an embodiment of the invention where the bottom shell (1) is provided with passages (7) on its lateral face (10) of the third chamber.\",\n \"Each passage (7) is provided with a baffle (6) which defines two opposite holes (5) oriented towards said lateral face (10), in a direction which is parallel with respect to the bottom face.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the holes are located within said lateral face (10) or said lower face (9) of the third chamber.\",\n \"In a preferred embodiment, said holes (5) are oriented in a direction which is forming an angle above 30° with the main direction of their respective passages (7).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 shows an exploded view of the complete system, including the same embodiment as to the one illustrated on FIG.\",\n \"2 and the top hard shell (24), the battery (16), a lock (21), the first venting mean (20), a PCB (17) and its spring contacts (18) to connect the pumping element (4) (not showed here) and finally the battery contact (19).\",\n \"In the present invention the design of the bottom shell and more particularly the second venting mean (7) are driven by: The capability to vent the membrane (2) for any foreseeable use or probable misuse of the pump, including the presence of dirt onto the pump, the wearing of the pump under clothes .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"The protection against solid foreign objects When second venting means (7), which is several passages like holes (5), are provided in the bottom shell (1) it is not possible to accidentally close all openings because of their specific locations.\",\n \"The compression of the pump against a soft material on the top shell cannot typically obstruct these passages because of their lateral orientated location.\",\n \"The closure of the passages by lateral compression is also prevented by baffles (6) that limit the access typically to fingers.\",\n \"The passages (7) may have the shape of a slit or any other shape having one dimension preferably lower than 1 mm.\",\n \"The passages (7) may also be made into a recess and oriented perpendicularly to the normal of the lateral face (10) of the third chamber (22) in order to prevent the insertion of a straight and rigid tip, the minimum dimension of the opening being preferably no longer limited to 1 mm in this configuration according to this recess.\",\n \"The bottom shell (1) is preferably transparent; the patient should be able to see any large obstruction due to foods or any sticky stuff and eventually to change the disposable.\",\n \"The bottom shell (1) and/or the rigid wall (3) and/or the membrane (2) are preferably is made in plastic, and more generally in any material having specific grades compatible with insulin.\",\n \"The use of the same material is desirable for thermowelding.\",\n \"The contact surfaces for gluing or thermowelding between the top and bottom shell should be large enough to withstand reservoir overpressure up to 1 bar and drop test from a height of 1 meter or more.\",\n \"The membrane material has ideally a low elasticity and a low permeability.\",\n \"The membrane thickness is typically smaller than 100 microns.\",\n \"The surface of the membrane (2) is ideally larger than the surface of the lower face (9) of the third chamber (22) of the bottom shell to prevent any in-plane stress in the membrane and therefore any effect due to the membrane elasticity.\",\n \"The bottom shell (1) can advantageously include Moiré pattern.\",\n \"In case of overfilling of the reservoir, when the membrane is directly in contact with the bottom shell, the reservoir pressure would bend the bottom shell and induce changes in the Moiré pattern, giving a visual feedback of overfilling to the patient.\",\n \"The Moiré pattern covers partly the bottom shell (1) surface in order to make possible the observation of bubbles into the reservoir.\",\n \"The bottom shell may include any means to detect deformation due to static load or a pressurized reservoir (e.g.\",\n \"strain gauges, pressure sensors .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \").\",\n \"The passages (7) may be partly or completely covered by a removable and permeable tape that ensures the venting of the reservoir.\",\n \"In case of projection of sticky stuff on the passages (7) the patient can advantageously remove the tape instead of trying to clean up the device or simply changing it.\",\n \"The tape may be made of several sheets that can be removed iteratively.\",\n \"Such air permeable tape may also cover the first venting mean (20) of the first chamber (23).\",\n \"The bottom shell (1) may include marks (11) that help the patient to find the filling port (12) containing a septum.\",\n \"The bottom shell (1) is ideally flat and has lateral slides (13) for patch insertion (clipping) and grips (14) for patch removal (unclipping).\",\n \"Fluid, e.g.\",\n \"water, can flow through the passages (7) and then in the space between the bottom shell (1) and the membrane (2), the fluid tightness being only provided to the first chamber (23) of the pump which, among other elements, includes the battery (16).\",\n \"The electronic and pump controller are in the first chamber which is water tight but has to be vented in case a zinc-air battery needing oxygen and when a gauge pressure sensors are used.\",\n \"The first chamber (23) is tightly assembled using lock (21) or clips or any other means onto the upper face of the rigid wall (3), contacting electrically the pads of the pump via the spring contacts (18) of the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) (17).\",\n \"The first chamber (23) uses the first venting mean (20) which is therefore preferably hydrophobic and/or oleophobic.\",\n \"In another embodiment (FIG.\",\n \"6), the first venting mean (20), which is hydrophobic, is located between the first and the third chambers.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the device further comprises three distinct venting means.\",\n \"The first venting mean connects directly the first chamber to the external environment, the second venting mean connects directly the third chamber to the external environment and the third venting mean is located between the third and the first chamber.\",\n \"This embodiment insure a good venting in third and first chambers even if one venting mean is clogged.\",\n \"Said third venting mean is preferably hydrophobic and/or oleophobic.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876006"}}},{"rowIdx":4495051,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["FOOD POUCH CONTAINER","A rigid food pouch container developed to accommodate prepared food packaged in soft containers is designed to prevent a child from squeezing the container and causing its contents to spurt from the container.","The food pouch container includes a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; and a surface dividing the back portion into an upper cavity and a lower cavity.","In some embodiments, the lower cavity is inside the back portion, while in other embodiments, the lower cavity is an exterior cavity.","Also disclosed are food pouch containers that include a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; means for contouring the food pouch from the bottom or side of the pouch.","Some embodiments include a hinged clam shell configuration for easy insertion and removal of the food pouch.","Other embodiments include a storage facility for the pouch cap."],["1.A container for a food pouch having a flat shape for holding soft food, the pouch further having a mouthpiece portion and a removable cap for the mouthpiece, the container comprising: a rigid body configured to surround the pouch and sized for nesting of the pouch inside the body; the body having an opening for the mouthpiece to protrude outside the body; said opening being sized and shaped to fit closely about a hollow neck of a food pouch without constricting said hollow neck; the body being contoured to change the pouch to a bulbous shape; and thereby enabling the soft food to be more easily emptied out of the pouch.","2.The container of claim 1, wherein the container comprises at least one handle.","3.The container of claim 1, wherein the body contours the sides of the pouch.","4.The container of claim 1, wherein the container comprises at least one side pinch.","5.The container of claim 1, further comprising a front portion and a back portion.","6.The container of claim 5, further comprising at least one latch configured to releasably lock the front portion and the back portion together when the container is in a closed configuration.","7.The container of claim 5, wherein the front portion is attached to the back portion via a hinge.","8.The container of claim 5, wherein the back portion comprises a first perimeter groove and the front portion comprises a second perimeter groove.","9.A container for a food pouch having a flat shape for holding soft food, the pouch further having a mouthpiece portion and a removable cap for the mouthpiece, the container comprising: a body having an interior cavity, wherein the body has a base, sidewalls extending upwardly from the base and a top panel; the interior cavity being sized and shaped to surround the pouch and sized for nesting of the pouch inside the interior cavity; a hole, said hole being sized and shaped to fit closely about a hollow neck of a food pouch without constricting said hollow neck; 10.The container of claim 9, wherein the container comprises at least one handle.","11.The container of claim 9, wherein the body contours the sides of the pouch.","12.The container of claim 9, wherein the container comprises at least one side pinch.","13.The container of claim 9, wherein the top panel is attached to a sidewall via a hinge.","14.The container of claim 13, further comprising at least one latch configured to releasably lock the top panel to a sidewall when the container is in a closed configuration.","15.The container of claim 9, further comprising a front portion and a back portion.","16.The container of claim 15, further comprising at least one latch configured to releasably lock the front portion and the back portion together when the container is in a closed configuration.","17.The container of claim 15, wherein the front portion is attached to the back portion via a hinge.","18.The container of claim 15, wherein the back portion comprises a first perimeter groove and the front portion comprises a second perimeter groove.","19.A container for a food pouch having a flat shape for holding soft food, the pouch further having a mouthpiece portion and a removable cap for the mouthpiece, the container comprising: a rigid body configured to surround the pouch and sized for nesting of the pouch inside the body; the body having an opening for the mouthpiece to protrude outside the body; said opening being sized and shaped to fit closely about a hollow neck of a food pouch without constricting said hollow neck; a door; the body being contoured to change the pouch to a bulbous shape; and thereby enabling the soft food to be more easily emptied out of the pouch.","20.The container of claim 19, further comprising at least one side pinch.","21.The container of claim 19, further comprising a surface for contouring the bottom of a food pouch.","22.The container of claim 21, wherein the surface divides the body into an upper cavity and a lower cavity.","23.The container of claim 21, where in the surface is curved downward."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE <EOH>Recently, there has been an increased growth in the use and marketing of food pouches, also referred to as stand-up pouches, especially for use with baby food.","The food pouches are easy to use for the parents and the children can suck the food out of the pouch.","The use of the food pouch eliminates the need for a glass baby food jar, and the need to spoon feed the food to the infant or toddler, thereby reducing the mess that is often accompanied when one is feeding a child.","However, the food pouches themselves can create mess.","Invariably, the flow of food through the opening of the pouch is not controlled.","Therefore, when the child squeezes the food pouch, the food squirts from the top opening and can soil the child's clothing or chair.","Thus, there is a need in the art to retain the convenience of the food pouch but reduce or prevent the accompanying mess that the use of the pouch produces."],["<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Disclosed herein are food pouch containers comprising a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; and a surface dividing the back portion into an upper cavity, inside the back portion, and a lower cavity.","In some embodiments, the lower cavity is inside the back portion, while in other embodiments, the lower cavity is an exterior cavity.","Also disclosed are food pouch containers comprising a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; means for contouring the food pouch from a bottom thereof; and means for contouring the food pouch from at least a side thereof."],["RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application claims priority to U.S. application Ser.","No.","14/340,547 filed Jul.","24, 2014, currently pending and to U.S.","Provisional Application Ser.","No.","61/929,206, filed on Jan. 20, 2014, both by Timothy Fellin et al., and entitled “FOOD POUCH CONTAINER,” the entire disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein, including the drawings.","FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is in the field of food containers, and in particular in the field of containers for food pouches.","BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Recently, there has been an increased growth in the use and marketing of food pouches, also referred to as stand-up pouches, especially for use with baby food.","The food pouches are easy to use for the parents and the children can suck the food out of the pouch.","The use of the food pouch eliminates the need for a glass baby food jar, and the need to spoon feed the food to the infant or toddler, thereby reducing the mess that is often accompanied when one is feeding a child.","However, the food pouches themselves can create mess.","Invariably, the flow of food through the opening of the pouch is not controlled.","Therefore, when the child squeezes the food pouch, the food squirts from the top opening and can soil the child's clothing or chair.","Thus, there is a need in the art to retain the convenience of the food pouch but reduce or prevent the accompanying mess that the use of the pouch produces.","SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Disclosed herein are food pouch containers comprising a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; and a surface dividing the back portion into an upper cavity, inside the back portion, and a lower cavity.","In some embodiments, the lower cavity is inside the back portion, while in other embodiments, the lower cavity is an exterior cavity.","Also disclosed are food pouch containers comprising a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; means for contouring the food pouch from a bottom thereof; and means for contouring the food pouch from at least a side thereof.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 illustrates an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.","FIG.","2 illustrates an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.","FIG.","3A illustrates the view of the interior of an embodiment of the back portion of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.","FIG.","3B illustrates the view of the interior of an embodiment of the front portion of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.","FIG.","3C illustrates the bottom view of an embodiment of the back portion of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.","FIG.","4 illustrates the view of the interior of an embodiment of the back portion of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.","FIG.","5A illustrates the top view of an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.","FIG.","5B illustrates the top view of another embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.","FIG.","6 illustrates an embodiment of a surface-adjusting mechanism disclosed herein.","FIG.","7 illustrates the cross section of an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein.","FIG.","8 illustrates the cross section of another embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein.","FIG.","9A illustrates the side view of an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.","FIG.","9B illustrates the side view of another embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.","FIG.","10A illustrates the perspective view of an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein, having handles, in its open configuration.","FIG.","10B illustrates the front view of an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein, having handles, in its closed configuration.","FIGS.","11A-11C illustrate an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.","FIG.","11D illustrates the interior of the same embodiment of the food pouch container.","FIG.","12A illustrates an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.","FIG.","12B illustrates the front portion and FIG.","12C illustrates the back portion thereof.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Disclosed herein are containers for holding a food pouch.","The interior of the containers disclosed herein comprise elements on the sides and the bottom that are designed to contort the shape of the food pouch in such a way as to allow the food to easily be accessible to the user, e.g., a child, regardless of the amount of food left in the pouch.","Some embodiments of the presently disclosed containers prevent the area around the neck of the pouch to collapse and create a vacuum.","The various embodiments of the presently disclosed containers are now described in view of the drawings.","FIG.","1 shows an embodiment of the presently disclosed container 100 in its closed formation.","The container 100 comprises a body, having a front portion 102 and a back portion 104.The container 100 also comprises a top opening 106, from which the nozzle or mouthpiece of a food pouch protrudes once the food pouch is placed inside the container 100.In some embodiments, tabs 108 are placed on either side of the container 100, which are configured to ease the opening of the container 100 so that a new pouch can be placed therein or a used pouch be removed therefrom.","The body is constructed of a rigid, childsafe material, such as plastic, wood, shatterproof glass, metal, or other rigid material, which holds the food pouch or food bag and preferably prevents a consumer from expelling the contents of the food pouch or food bag by squeezing.","FIG.","2 shows an embodiment of the presently disclosed container 100 in its open formation.","In some embodiments, for example that shown in FIG.","2, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 are attached together at the bottom of the container 100, i.e., the side opposite of the top opening 106, by a hinge 202, which is described more fully below.","In other embodiments, when the container 100 is opened, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 become separated.","In some embodiments, for example that shown in FIG.","2, the top opening 106 comprises of two semicircle sections.","One semicircle portion 204 is cut into the front portion 102, whereas another semicircle 206 is cut into the back portion 104.In some embodiments, the semicircles 204 and 206 are of the same size, i.e., they each define an arc of 180°.","In other embodiments, and primarily depending on the thickness of the top edges of the front portion 102 and the back portion 104, the semicircles 204 and 206 may be of a different size.","For example, one of the semicircles 204,206 defines an arc >180°, while the other of the semicircles 204,206 defines an arc <180°.","In some embodiments (not shown), the top opening 106 is in the shape of a square, a rectangle, a rhombus, a parallelogram, a triangle, a trapezoid, or another geometric shape.","In these embodiments, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 comprise the two halves of the top opening 106, which when the container 100 is closed, the two halves form the square or the rectangle.","Thus, in these embodiments, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 do not comprise semicircles, but comprise the halves of the top opening 106.In some embodiments, once the container 100 is closed, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 are held together by at least one latch.","The latch may be placed anywhere along the perimeter of the container 100.In some embodiments, the latch is along the internal perimeter of the container 100, whereas in other embodiments, the latch is along the external perimeter of the container 100.In some embodiments, the latch is towards the top of the container 100.In these embodiments, the bottom of the container 100 comprises a hinge or other mechanism, such as a tab and slot, or a friction lock mechanism.","In other embodiments, the latch is towards the bottom of the container 100.In these embodiments, the top of the container 100 comprises a hinge or other mechanism, such as a tab and slot, or a friction lock mechanism.","In some embodiments, the latch is on one of the sides of the container 100.In some embodiments, for example that shown in FIG.","2, the back portion 104 comprises two latches 208, located at either side of the top of the back portion 104.In some embodiments, each latch 208 comprises a lip 210 (also referred to as a raised member), which points outward.","The front portion 102 comprises corresponding indents 212.When the container 100 is closed, the lip 210 of the latch 208 catches inside the indent 212 and causes the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 to remain connected.","In other embodiments, the latch 208 engages a corresponding portion in the front portion 102 to create a friction lock.","In the embodiment shown in FIG.","2, the lip 210 and the indent 212 are shown as lines.","In other embodiments, the lip 210 and the indent 212 may have another geometrical shape, for example a circle, a semicircle, or a hemisphere.","In certain embodiments, tabs 108 are placed on the outside of the back portion 104, in a place corresponding to the latches 208.When the tabs 108 are pressed, the latches 208, and consequently the lips 210, are pushed to the interior cavity of the back portion 104.If the latches 208 are engaged with the indents 212, then pressing on the tabs 108 releases the lips 210 from the indents 212.The front portion 102 and the back portion 104 can then be easily separated.","Tab 222 is provided on the front portion 102 to provide additional friction for when a user chooses to open the container 100.Thus, in these embodiments, to open the container 100, a user can hold the back portion 104 by the tabs 108 and the front portion 102 by the tabs 222.The user then exerts pressure on the tabs 108 to release the latches 208 from the indents 212.Then the user pulls the tabs 108 away from the tabs 222.In the embodiments, where the latches 208 form a friction lock with the front portion 102, the tabs 108 solely provide a friction hold for the user, similar to the tabs 222.While the latch mechanisms here have been described with the reference to their placement on either the front portion 102 or the back portion 104, the skilled artisan recognizes that the arrangement can easily be reversed.","The reversed arrangement is specifically contemplated.","In some embodiments, a surface 214 divides the interior cavity of the back portion 104 into an upper cavity 216 and a lower cavity 218.In some embodiments, for example that shown in FIG.","2, the surface 214 is a cantilever, whereas in other embodiments, the surface 214 is a shelf.","In certain embodiments, the surface 214 is arced, whereas in other embodiments, the surface 214 is flat.","In some embodiments, the surface 214 is fixed in place.","In other embodiments, the position of the surface 214 is changed upward or downward, as described more fully below.","In some embodiments, the upper cavity 216 is configured to receive a food pouch (not shown).","In certain embodiments, the lower cavity 218 is configured to optionally hold the cap 220 of the food pouch.","This embodiment is illustrated in FIG.","2.Throughout the present disclosure and the claims, the direction “up,” “top,” or “upper” refers towards the location where the mouthpiece of a food pouch fits into the container.","The direction “down,” “lower,” or “bottom” refers towards the location where the bottom of the food pouch fits into the container.","Thus, for example, the top hole 106 is at the top and the surface 214 is at the bottom with respect to the top hole.","In other words, the surface 214 is “lower” than the top hole 106.Throughout the present disclosure, the “front” and “back” refer to the location of the surface 214.Thus, whichever portion that comprises the surface 214 is considered the “back” portion, regardless of how the container is held by the user.","FIG.","3A provides a clearer view of the back portion 104, without the presence of the front portion 102 or the cap 220.The back portion of the hinge 202 is also illustrated.","FIG.","3B provides a clearer view of the front portion 102 back, without the presence of the portion 104.In the illustrated embodiment, the back of the hinge 202 on the back portion 104 (FIG.","3A) comprises a bar 302.Ridges 304,306,308,310 divide the hinge 202 portion into three areas 312, 314, and 316.The front edge of each of the areas 312,314,316 is open.","The front of the hinge 202 on the front portion 102 (FIG.","3B) comprises three curved members.","The outer members 318 and 322 are arced downward whereas the central member 320 is arced upward.","When the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 are joined together, the outer members 318 and 322 catch the bar 302 in front of areas 316 and 312, respectively, such that the bar 302 is placed under the curved members 318 and 322.Simultaneously, the central member 320 catches the bar 302 in front of area 314 such that the bar 302 is placed above the curved member 320.Thus, a hinge is formed.","FIG.","3C is a bottom view of the back portion 104 showing the position of the bar 302, the ridges 306,308 and the openings 324, 326, and 328 in front of the areas 312, 314, and 316, respectively.","Other methods of forming a hinge are known in the art and are contemplated herein.","For example, in some embodiments, the front portion 102 comprises a plurality of semicircular members that catch the bar 302, thus forming a hinge.","In other embodiments, more or fewer curved members are placed on the front portion 102.In other embodiments, the curved members 318,320,322 are placed on the back portion 104, whereas the bar 302 is placed on the front portion 102.Any other configuration that allows for a hinge to be formed is contemplated.","In some embodiments, the front view of the container 100 comprises a generally rectangular shape.","In other embodiments, the front view shape of the container 100 is square.","In other embodiments, the front view shape of the container 100 comprises another geometrical shape, for example a circle, a triangle, and the like.","FIG.","4 shows the front view of the back portion 104.The illustrated embodiment comprises a generally rectangular shape, with the addition of side pinches 402 at either side of the back portion 104.As can be seen from the illustrated embodiments of FIGS.","1-3, corresponding side pinches appear on the front portion 102 as well.","The upper cavity 216, then is defined at the top by the top of the container 100, and the top opening 206; at the bottom by the surface 214; and at the sides by the sides of the container 100 having the side pinches 402.A food pouch is placed in the upper cavity 216 such that the bottom of the food pouch rests on the surface 214, and attains the generally curved shape of the surface 214.The nozzle of the food pouch protrudes from the top opening 206.The sides of the food pouch are also curved due to the curvature caused by the side pinches 402.In some embodiments, the user can choose to store the cap of the food pouch in the lower cavity 208 while the child is consuming the food in the food pouch, thereby reducing the chances of the cap getting lost or dirty.","The inventors have discovered that when a food pouch is partially used, vacuum is generated at the top of the food pouch and the body of the pouch collapses.","While there is still plenty of food within the pouch, a child cannot access it easily because of the collapsed body of the pouch near the nozzle.","The child will then need to suck forcefully, which results in the tiring of, and aches in, the jaw.","However, in some embodiments, when the food pouch is placed in the container 100 as described herein, where the food pouch attains the curvatures discussed above, there is created a “pinch” by the side pinches 402 and a “push” by the surface 214.Consequently, in these embodiments, the body of the pouch does not collapse and the child can easily access the entirety of the food in the pouch, without having to suck forcefully.","FIG.","5 illustrates two embodiments of the top opening 106 of the container 100.In FIG.","5A, the top opening 106 is circular and is configured to accommodate a food pouch having any shape nozzle.","However, the standard nozzle for the pouches currently on the market has a square cross section.","The embodiment of FIG.","5B is a square top opening 106.The advantage of this embodiment is that when the food pouch is placed in the container 100, the cap of food pouch can be twisted open or closed without the need to hold the nozzle.","In these embodiments, when the cap is twisted open or closed, the pouch itself does not twist.","When the pouch twists, it can make it hard or impossible to suck contents out of nozzle.","In some embodiments, the surface 214 is not fixed to the back portion 104.In these embodiments, there exists a mechanism by way of which the surface 214 is moved up or down.","In some embodiments, for example the one shown in FIG.","6, an adjusting mechanism 600 is incorporated into the container 100.The mechanism 600 comprises a knob 602, optionally a bottom plate 604, a threaded spindle 606, optionally a top shelf 608, and a cap 610.The mechanism 600 is incorporated such that the knob 602 is outside of the container 100, and located at the bottom thereof.","The bottom plate 604, if present rests abutting the bottom of the container 100.The cap 610 serves the same function as the surface 214.In some embodiments, the shape of the top of the cap 610 is flat, whereas in other embodiments, the top of the cap 610 is curved, having the same design as the surface 214 shown in FIG.","2.The top shelf 608 is optionally present to provide additional stability to the cap 610.The user can rotate the knob 602, thereby moving the cap 610 up or down, providing more or less pressure on the food pouch, as the need may be.","In other embodiments, there is provided a boss at the bottom of the container 100, which boss is in contact with a cap.","When the user pushes the boss in, towards the top of the container 100, the cap also moves upward providing additional pressure for the food pouch.","Once the food pouch is used and prior to the insertion of a new food pouch, the user moves the cap back down to its original location.","In other embodiments, there is provided a roller inside the container 100, the roller having a slot therein.","The roller is connected with at least one knob, which is placed along a track, at the side of the container 100 on the outside.","When the knob is turned, the roller turns as well.","The user inserts the bottom of the food pouch in the roller's slot.","As the knob is turned, the roller turns, thereby rolling the food pouch from the bottom, and squeezing the food out of the food pouch.","This action is similar to rolling a toothpaste tube from the bottom.","In yet another embodiment, shown in FIG.","7, there is provided a container 100 having phantom walls.","When viewed from the outside, i.e., when the container 100 is closed, the container has a generally rectangular shape.","However, on the inside, there are solid curved side walls creating spaces 702,704 and a solid curved bottom creating space 706.The walls creating spaces 702,704 operate similarly as the side pinches 402, described above, while the bottom creating space 706 operates similarly as the surface 214, described above.","In some embodiments, the space 702,704 and/or bottom 706 are each independently hollow (see, for example, FIG.","11C, below), while in other embodiments, the spaces are each independently filled.","In still another embodiment, shown in FIG.","8, there is provided a container 100 having screwable pinches.","One or more knobs 802 are placed at the side of the container 100.Each knob is connected to a pinch 804 via a threaded spindle 806.In some embodiments, the inward surface of the pinch 804 is flat, whereas in other embodiments, for example the one shown in FIG.","8, the inner surface of the pinch 804 is curved.","When the knob 802 is turned, the pinch moves inward, providing side pressure to the food pouch.","Similarly, there is provided a bottom knob 808, which is connected to a bottom pinch 810 via a threaded spindle 812.The turning of the knob 808 causes the bottom pinch 810 to move upward, providing bottom pressure to the food pouch.","Prior to inserting a new food pouch, the user turns the pinches to their original, fully open position, giving the maximum cavity space.","Some embodiments comprise only side pinches 804, while other embodiments, comprise only the bottom pinch 810.Still other embodiments comprise one side pinch 804, while other embodiments comprise more than two side pinches 804 and/or two or more bottom pinches 810.In some embodiments, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 have the same proportions.","In these embodiments, for example as shown in FIG.","9A, the centerline 902 is even.","However, in some embodiments, the back portion 104 is slightly larger than the front portion 102, to provide a deeper cavity for the food pouch at the time of insertion, which makes the placement of the food pouch easier.","An example of this embodiment is shown in FIG.","9B, where the centerline 904 is offset, as emphasized by the arrows 906 and 908.The offset centerline also provides for an easier means to close the container 100 when a food pouch is installed.","In some embodiments, the container 100 disclosed herein comprises handles.","An example of this embodiment is shown in FIG.","10.FIG.","10A shows a perspective view of the container 100, showing the front portion 102 partially separated from the back portion 104, while FIG.","10B shows a front view of this embodiment of the container 100.Handles 1002 allow the child to hold the container 100 while consuming the contents of the food pouch, without dropping the container.","FIG.","10A also illustrates another embodiment of a latch, which can be used with any of the embodiments of the container 100 disclosed herein.","This embodiment comprises one or more latch mechanisms, each of which is an extension 1004 pointing towards the opposite portion of the container 100.For instance, if the extension 1004 is located on the front portion 102 of the container 100, as shown in FIG.","10A, then the extension 1004 points towards the back portion 104, and vice versa.","The extension 1004 comprises at least one raised member (also referred to as a lip) (not shown).","The portion opposite to the one having the extension 1004, for example the back portion 104 if the extension is on the front portion 102, comprises one or more indents 1006.When the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 are brought together in the closed configuration, the raised member of the extension 1004 forms a friction lock with the indent 1006.In some embodiments, for example the one shown in FIG.","10A, the raised member and the indent 1006 are circular.","In other embodiments, they comprise a different cross section, for example a line, a rectangle, a square, a triangle, or another regular or irregular geometric shape.","In some embodiments, the indent is on the extension 1004 and the raised member is on the opposite portion.","The embodiment shown in FIG.","10A does not have a surface 214.Instead only the side pinches 402 alone provide the necessary contour change to the food pouch.","Thus, in some embodiments, the container 100 has a surface 214 without the side pinches 402, while in other embodiments, the container 100 has the side pinches 402 without a surface 214, and in still other embodiments, the container 100 has both the side pinches 402 and a surface 214.While the embodiment of FIG.","10A shows a container 100 that has the handles 1002, the latch mechanism having extensions 1004 and indents 1006, and no surface 214, the skilled artisan recognizes that any of these features can be incorporated to any of the various embodiments of the container 100 disclosed herein.","Thus, for example, the container 100 of FIGS.","1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, or 12 can be made to have handles 1002, the latch mechanism having extensions 1004 and indents 1006, or no surface 214.And likewise, the embodiment of FIG.","10 can be made with no handles 1002, a latch mechanism other than one having extensions 1004 and indents 1006, or a surface 214.FIGS.","11A-D show another embodiment of the container 100 disclosed herein.","In some embodiments, for example the one shown in FIG.","11A, the front portion 102 is a cover, without having depth, and the back portion 104 comprises the entire depth of the container 100.In these embodiments, the food pouch is placed within the cavity of the back portion 104 and the front portion 102 closes shut to hold the food pouch within the container 100.The embodiment of FIG.","11B shows latches 1104 that are external to the body of the container 100.In these embodiments, the downward distal end of the latch 1104 snaps on the reverse side of the back portion 104, resulting in securing the front portion 102 to the back portion 104.While this embodiment of a latch mechanism is disclosed in connection with the embodiment of FIG.","11, it is understood that this latch mechanism can be used with any of the presently disclosed containers 100.The embodiment of FIG.","11C is directed to a container 100 having a cap space 1106 at the bottom of the container 100.The cap space 1106 is a hollowed space into which the cap of the food pouch can be stored while the food pouch is opened for use.","In some embodiments, for example that shown in FIG.","11C, a nubbin 1108 is present at the center of the cap space 1106, onto which the cap is threaded or snapped for a more secure hold.","As shown in FIG.","11D, the cap space 1106 also causes a curved or raised surface 1110 to exist within the interior cavity of the container 100, for example similar to the curved top surface of the space 706, shown in FIG.","7.In this embodiment, the interior of the back portion comprises only one interior cavity, the upper cavity 1112, similar to the upper cavity 216, above.","The lower cavity is an exterior cavity and is the cap space 1106.Thus, in some embodiments, the surface divides the back portion into an upper cavity and a lower cavity, where the lower cavity is on the exterior.","In some embodiments, for example the one shown in FIG.","11A, the hinge 1102 around which the front portion 102 separates from the back portion 104 is located at a point away from an edge of the container 100.For example, in FIG.","11A, the hinge 1102 is located approximately ⅕ of the way up from the bottom of the container 100.In certain embodiments, the hinge 1102 is located around the mid-section of the container 100.In certain embodiments, the hinge 202,1102 is on the side of the container 100.In these embodiments, the front portion 102 opens from the opposite side of the hinge 202,1102.In other embodiments, the hinge 202,1102 is on the back side.","In some of these embodiments, when the front portion 102 separates from the back portion 104, the bottom of the container 100 will also rotate away.","FIGS.","12A-12C illustrate another embodiment of the container 100.In this embodiment, the front portion 102, shown in FIG.","12B, has no depth.","The entire depth of the container 100 is comprised in the back portion 104, shown in FIG.","12C.","The hinge 1202 comprises two components: the front component 1204 located at the bottom of the front portion 102, and the back component 1206 located at the bottom front of the back portion 104.Thus, unlike the hinge 202 of the embodiment of FIG.","2, which is located in the middle area of the bottom of the container 100, when the container 100 is in its closed configuration, the hinge 1202 is located in the front of the bottom of the container 100, when the container 100 is in its closed configuration.","A similar configuration can be applied to any of the containers 100 disclosed herein.","The surface 1208 curves downward and traverses the entire width of the back portion 104.The surface 1208 divides the interior cavity of the back portion 104 into the upper cavity 1210 and the lower cavity 1212.Thus, while the surface 1208 acts similarly to the cantilever surface 214 of the embodiment of FIG.","2, it is different in that the surface 1208 is connected to the sides of the back portion 104.In some embodiments, the lower cavity 1212 is filled and the interior cavity only comprises the upper cavity 1210.In other embodiments, the lower cavity 1212 is external.","A similar configuration can be applied to any of the containers 100 disclosed herein.","In the embodiment shown in FIG.","12C, the top hole 206 is a semicircle defining an arc >180°.","However, when the front portion 102 connects with the back portion 104 to close the container 100, the top hole 206 does not form a complete circle.","Instead, the top hole 206 will comprise a straight edge formed by the front portion 102.This configuration makes it easier for a user to install the nozzle of the food pouch since the edge of the front portion 102 guides the nozzle into the semicircular part of the top hole 206.This configuration provides some of the advantages discussed above with respect to the embodiment shown in FIG.","5B.","A similar configuration can be applied to any of the containers 100 disclosed herein.","The latch mechanism of the embodiment of FIG.","12 comprises at least one extension 1214, having at least one raised member (or lip) 1216.In the embodiment shown in FIG.","12, the extension 1214 is on the front portion 102, facing the back portion 104.Other configurations, as discussed above, for example, with the extension being on the side or on the back portion, are also contemplated.","A corresponding indent (not shown) on the opposite portion, for example the back portion 104, creates a friction lock between the back portion 104 and the front portion 102.In some embodiments, the body of the container 100 comprises an outer shell and an inner shell, with a lining space therebetween.","In some embodiments, the lining space is filled with air.","Air is a known insulator.","In these embodiments, the contents of food pouch retain their temperature for a longer period of time than if a single shell container is used.","In other embodiments, the lining space is filled with a heatable and/or coolable fluid, for example a liquid or a gel.","The user can heat the container, for example by placing the container in a microwave oven or warm water, thereby heating the fluid.","In some embodiments, the fluid has a high specific heat, and therefore, loses its heat slowly.","The heated fluid can then either heat the contents of the food pouch, or help in keeping the contents of a pre-heated food pouch warm.","Similarly, if the fluid is coolable, or also coolable, the user can place the food pouch in a refrigerator, freezer, or cold water, thereby cooling the fluid.","In some embodiments, the fluid has a high specific heat, and therefore, warms up slowly.","The cooled fluid can then either cool the contents of the food pouch, or help in keeping the contents of a pre-cooled food pouch cool.","In some embodiments, the fluid is freezable.","While in some embodiments the food pouch is first inserted into the back portion 104 first and then the front portion 102 is latched to close the container 100, in other embodiments, the food pouch is first inserted into the front portion 102 first and then the back portion 104 is latched to close the container 100."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"FOOD POUCH CONTAINER\",\n \"A rigid food pouch container developed to accommodate prepared food packaged in soft containers is designed to prevent a child from squeezing the container and causing its contents to spurt from the container.\",\n \"The food pouch container includes a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; and a surface dividing the back portion into an upper cavity and a lower cavity.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the lower cavity is inside the back portion, while in other embodiments, the lower cavity is an exterior cavity.\",\n \"Also disclosed are food pouch containers that include a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; means for contouring the food pouch from the bottom or side of the pouch.\",\n \"Some embodiments include a hinged clam shell configuration for easy insertion and removal of the food pouch.\",\n \"Other embodiments include a storage facility for the pouch cap.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A container for a food pouch having a flat shape for holding soft food, the pouch further having a mouthpiece portion and a removable cap for the mouthpiece, the container comprising: a rigid body configured to surround the pouch and sized for nesting of the pouch inside the body; the body having an opening for the mouthpiece to protrude outside the body; said opening being sized and shaped to fit closely about a hollow neck of a food pouch without constricting said hollow neck; the body being contoured to change the pouch to a bulbous shape; and thereby enabling the soft food to be more easily emptied out of the pouch.\",\n \"2.The container of claim 1, wherein the container comprises at least one handle.\",\n \"3.The container of claim 1, wherein the body contours the sides of the pouch.\",\n \"4.The container of claim 1, wherein the container comprises at least one side pinch.\",\n \"5.The container of claim 1, further comprising a front portion and a back portion.\",\n \"6.The container of claim 5, further comprising at least one latch configured to releasably lock the front portion and the back portion together when the container is in a closed configuration.\",\n \"7.The container of claim 5, wherein the front portion is attached to the back portion via a hinge.\",\n \"8.The container of claim 5, wherein the back portion comprises a first perimeter groove and the front portion comprises a second perimeter groove.\",\n \"9.A container for a food pouch having a flat shape for holding soft food, the pouch further having a mouthpiece portion and a removable cap for the mouthpiece, the container comprising: a body having an interior cavity, wherein the body has a base, sidewalls extending upwardly from the base and a top panel; the interior cavity being sized and shaped to surround the pouch and sized for nesting of the pouch inside the interior cavity; a hole, said hole being sized and shaped to fit closely about a hollow neck of a food pouch without constricting said hollow neck; 10.The container of claim 9, wherein the container comprises at least one handle.\",\n \"11.The container of claim 9, wherein the body contours the sides of the pouch.\",\n \"12.The container of claim 9, wherein the container comprises at least one side pinch.\",\n \"13.The container of claim 9, wherein the top panel is attached to a sidewall via a hinge.\",\n \"14.The container of claim 13, further comprising at least one latch configured to releasably lock the top panel to a sidewall when the container is in a closed configuration.\",\n \"15.The container of claim 9, further comprising a front portion and a back portion.\",\n \"16.The container of claim 15, further comprising at least one latch configured to releasably lock the front portion and the back portion together when the container is in a closed configuration.\",\n \"17.The container of claim 15, wherein the front portion is attached to the back portion via a hinge.\",\n \"18.The container of claim 15, wherein the back portion comprises a first perimeter groove and the front portion comprises a second perimeter groove.\",\n \"19.A container for a food pouch having a flat shape for holding soft food, the pouch further having a mouthpiece portion and a removable cap for the mouthpiece, the container comprising: a rigid body configured to surround the pouch and sized for nesting of the pouch inside the body; the body having an opening for the mouthpiece to protrude outside the body; said opening being sized and shaped to fit closely about a hollow neck of a food pouch without constricting said hollow neck; a door; the body being contoured to change the pouch to a bulbous shape; and thereby enabling the soft food to be more easily emptied out of the pouch.\",\n \"20.The container of claim 19, further comprising at least one side pinch.\",\n \"21.The container of claim 19, further comprising a surface for contouring the bottom of a food pouch.\",\n \"22.The container of claim 21, wherein the surface divides the body into an upper cavity and a lower cavity.\",\n \"23.The container of claim 21, where in the surface is curved downward.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE <EOH>Recently, there has been an increased growth in the use and marketing of food pouches, also referred to as stand-up pouches, especially for use with baby food.\",\n \"The food pouches are easy to use for the parents and the children can suck the food out of the pouch.\",\n \"The use of the food pouch eliminates the need for a glass baby food jar, and the need to spoon feed the food to the infant or toddler, thereby reducing the mess that is often accompanied when one is feeding a child.\",\n \"However, the food pouches themselves can create mess.\",\n \"Invariably, the flow of food through the opening of the pouch is not controlled.\",\n \"Therefore, when the child squeezes the food pouch, the food squirts from the top opening and can soil the child's clothing or chair.\",\n \"Thus, there is a need in the art to retain the convenience of the food pouch but reduce or prevent the accompanying mess that the use of the pouch produces.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Disclosed herein are food pouch containers comprising a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; and a surface dividing the back portion into an upper cavity, inside the back portion, and a lower cavity.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the lower cavity is inside the back portion, while in other embodiments, the lower cavity is an exterior cavity.\",\n \"Also disclosed are food pouch containers comprising a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; means for contouring the food pouch from a bottom thereof; and means for contouring the food pouch from at least a side thereof.\"\n ],\n [\n \"RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application claims priority to U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/340,547 filed Jul.\",\n \"24, 2014, currently pending and to U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"61/929,206, filed on Jan. 20, 2014, both by Timothy Fellin et al., and entitled “FOOD POUCH CONTAINER,” the entire disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein, including the drawings.\",\n \"FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is in the field of food containers, and in particular in the field of containers for food pouches.\",\n \"BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Recently, there has been an increased growth in the use and marketing of food pouches, also referred to as stand-up pouches, especially for use with baby food.\",\n \"The food pouches are easy to use for the parents and the children can suck the food out of the pouch.\",\n \"The use of the food pouch eliminates the need for a glass baby food jar, and the need to spoon feed the food to the infant or toddler, thereby reducing the mess that is often accompanied when one is feeding a child.\",\n \"However, the food pouches themselves can create mess.\",\n \"Invariably, the flow of food through the opening of the pouch is not controlled.\",\n \"Therefore, when the child squeezes the food pouch, the food squirts from the top opening and can soil the child's clothing or chair.\",\n \"Thus, there is a need in the art to retain the convenience of the food pouch but reduce or prevent the accompanying mess that the use of the pouch produces.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Disclosed herein are food pouch containers comprising a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; and a surface dividing the back portion into an upper cavity, inside the back portion, and a lower cavity.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the lower cavity is inside the back portion, while in other embodiments, the lower cavity is an exterior cavity.\",\n \"Also disclosed are food pouch containers comprising a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; means for contouring the food pouch from a bottom thereof; and means for contouring the food pouch from at least a side thereof.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3A illustrates the view of the interior of an embodiment of the back portion of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3B illustrates the view of the interior of an embodiment of the front portion of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3C illustrates the bottom view of an embodiment of the back portion of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates the view of the interior of an embodiment of the back portion of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5A illustrates the top view of an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5B illustrates the top view of another embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an embodiment of a surface-adjusting mechanism disclosed herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates the cross section of an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates the cross section of another embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9A illustrates the side view of an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9B illustrates the side view of another embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10A illustrates the perspective view of an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein, having handles, in its open configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10B illustrates the front view of an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein, having handles, in its closed configuration.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C illustrate an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11D illustrates the interior of the same embodiment of the food pouch container.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12A illustrates an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12B illustrates the front portion and FIG.\",\n \"12C illustrates the back portion thereof.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Disclosed herein are containers for holding a food pouch.\",\n \"The interior of the containers disclosed herein comprise elements on the sides and the bottom that are designed to contort the shape of the food pouch in such a way as to allow the food to easily be accessible to the user, e.g., a child, regardless of the amount of food left in the pouch.\",\n \"Some embodiments of the presently disclosed containers prevent the area around the neck of the pouch to collapse and create a vacuum.\",\n \"The various embodiments of the presently disclosed containers are now described in view of the drawings.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 shows an embodiment of the presently disclosed container 100 in its closed formation.\",\n \"The container 100 comprises a body, having a front portion 102 and a back portion 104.The container 100 also comprises a top opening 106, from which the nozzle or mouthpiece of a food pouch protrudes once the food pouch is placed inside the container 100.In some embodiments, tabs 108 are placed on either side of the container 100, which are configured to ease the opening of the container 100 so that a new pouch can be placed therein or a used pouch be removed therefrom.\",\n \"The body is constructed of a rigid, childsafe material, such as plastic, wood, shatterproof glass, metal, or other rigid material, which holds the food pouch or food bag and preferably prevents a consumer from expelling the contents of the food pouch or food bag by squeezing.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 shows an embodiment of the presently disclosed container 100 in its open formation.\",\n \"In some embodiments, for example that shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 are attached together at the bottom of the container 100, i.e., the side opposite of the top opening 106, by a hinge 202, which is described more fully below.\",\n \"In other embodiments, when the container 100 is opened, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 become separated.\",\n \"In some embodiments, for example that shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, the top opening 106 comprises of two semicircle sections.\",\n \"One semicircle portion 204 is cut into the front portion 102, whereas another semicircle 206 is cut into the back portion 104.In some embodiments, the semicircles 204 and 206 are of the same size, i.e., they each define an arc of 180°.\",\n \"In other embodiments, and primarily depending on the thickness of the top edges of the front portion 102 and the back portion 104, the semicircles 204 and 206 may be of a different size.\",\n \"For example, one of the semicircles 204,206 defines an arc >180°, while the other of the semicircles 204,206 defines an arc <180°.\",\n \"In some embodiments (not shown), the top opening 106 is in the shape of a square, a rectangle, a rhombus, a parallelogram, a triangle, a trapezoid, or another geometric shape.\",\n \"In these embodiments, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 comprise the two halves of the top opening 106, which when the container 100 is closed, the two halves form the square or the rectangle.\",\n \"Thus, in these embodiments, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 do not comprise semicircles, but comprise the halves of the top opening 106.In some embodiments, once the container 100 is closed, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 are held together by at least one latch.\",\n \"The latch may be placed anywhere along the perimeter of the container 100.In some embodiments, the latch is along the internal perimeter of the container 100, whereas in other embodiments, the latch is along the external perimeter of the container 100.In some embodiments, the latch is towards the top of the container 100.In these embodiments, the bottom of the container 100 comprises a hinge or other mechanism, such as a tab and slot, or a friction lock mechanism.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the latch is towards the bottom of the container 100.In these embodiments, the top of the container 100 comprises a hinge or other mechanism, such as a tab and slot, or a friction lock mechanism.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the latch is on one of the sides of the container 100.In some embodiments, for example that shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, the back portion 104 comprises two latches 208, located at either side of the top of the back portion 104.In some embodiments, each latch 208 comprises a lip 210 (also referred to as a raised member), which points outward.\",\n \"The front portion 102 comprises corresponding indents 212.When the container 100 is closed, the lip 210 of the latch 208 catches inside the indent 212 and causes the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 to remain connected.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the latch 208 engages a corresponding portion in the front portion 102 to create a friction lock.\",\n \"In the embodiment shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, the lip 210 and the indent 212 are shown as lines.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the lip 210 and the indent 212 may have another geometrical shape, for example a circle, a semicircle, or a hemisphere.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, tabs 108 are placed on the outside of the back portion 104, in a place corresponding to the latches 208.When the tabs 108 are pressed, the latches 208, and consequently the lips 210, are pushed to the interior cavity of the back portion 104.If the latches 208 are engaged with the indents 212, then pressing on the tabs 108 releases the lips 210 from the indents 212.The front portion 102 and the back portion 104 can then be easily separated.\",\n \"Tab 222 is provided on the front portion 102 to provide additional friction for when a user chooses to open the container 100.Thus, in these embodiments, to open the container 100, a user can hold the back portion 104 by the tabs 108 and the front portion 102 by the tabs 222.The user then exerts pressure on the tabs 108 to release the latches 208 from the indents 212.Then the user pulls the tabs 108 away from the tabs 222.In the embodiments, where the latches 208 form a friction lock with the front portion 102, the tabs 108 solely provide a friction hold for the user, similar to the tabs 222.While the latch mechanisms here have been described with the reference to their placement on either the front portion 102 or the back portion 104, the skilled artisan recognizes that the arrangement can easily be reversed.\",\n \"The reversed arrangement is specifically contemplated.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a surface 214 divides the interior cavity of the back portion 104 into an upper cavity 216 and a lower cavity 218.In some embodiments, for example that shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, the surface 214 is a cantilever, whereas in other embodiments, the surface 214 is a shelf.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, the surface 214 is arced, whereas in other embodiments, the surface 214 is flat.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the surface 214 is fixed in place.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the position of the surface 214 is changed upward or downward, as described more fully below.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the upper cavity 216 is configured to receive a food pouch (not shown).\",\n \"In certain embodiments, the lower cavity 218 is configured to optionally hold the cap 220 of the food pouch.\",\n \"This embodiment is illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2.Throughout the present disclosure and the claims, the direction “up,” “top,” or “upper” refers towards the location where the mouthpiece of a food pouch fits into the container.\",\n \"The direction “down,” “lower,” or “bottom” refers towards the location where the bottom of the food pouch fits into the container.\",\n \"Thus, for example, the top hole 106 is at the top and the surface 214 is at the bottom with respect to the top hole.\",\n \"In other words, the surface 214 is “lower” than the top hole 106.Throughout the present disclosure, the “front” and “back” refer to the location of the surface 214.Thus, whichever portion that comprises the surface 214 is considered the “back” portion, regardless of how the container is held by the user.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3A provides a clearer view of the back portion 104, without the presence of the front portion 102 or the cap 220.The back portion of the hinge 202 is also illustrated.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3B provides a clearer view of the front portion 102 back, without the presence of the portion 104.In the illustrated embodiment, the back of the hinge 202 on the back portion 104 (FIG.\",\n \"3A) comprises a bar 302.Ridges 304,306,308,310 divide the hinge 202 portion into three areas 312, 314, and 316.The front edge of each of the areas 312,314,316 is open.\",\n \"The front of the hinge 202 on the front portion 102 (FIG.\",\n \"3B) comprises three curved members.\",\n \"The outer members 318 and 322 are arced downward whereas the central member 320 is arced upward.\",\n \"When the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 are joined together, the outer members 318 and 322 catch the bar 302 in front of areas 316 and 312, respectively, such that the bar 302 is placed under the curved members 318 and 322.Simultaneously, the central member 320 catches the bar 302 in front of area 314 such that the bar 302 is placed above the curved member 320.Thus, a hinge is formed.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3C is a bottom view of the back portion 104 showing the position of the bar 302, the ridges 306,308 and the openings 324, 326, and 328 in front of the areas 312, 314, and 316, respectively.\",\n \"Other methods of forming a hinge are known in the art and are contemplated herein.\",\n \"For example, in some embodiments, the front portion 102 comprises a plurality of semicircular members that catch the bar 302, thus forming a hinge.\",\n \"In other embodiments, more or fewer curved members are placed on the front portion 102.In other embodiments, the curved members 318,320,322 are placed on the back portion 104, whereas the bar 302 is placed on the front portion 102.Any other configuration that allows for a hinge to be formed is contemplated.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the front view of the container 100 comprises a generally rectangular shape.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the front view shape of the container 100 is square.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the front view shape of the container 100 comprises another geometrical shape, for example a circle, a triangle, and the like.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 shows the front view of the back portion 104.The illustrated embodiment comprises a generally rectangular shape, with the addition of side pinches 402 at either side of the back portion 104.As can be seen from the illustrated embodiments of FIGS.\",\n \"1-3, corresponding side pinches appear on the front portion 102 as well.\",\n \"The upper cavity 216, then is defined at the top by the top of the container 100, and the top opening 206; at the bottom by the surface 214; and at the sides by the sides of the container 100 having the side pinches 402.A food pouch is placed in the upper cavity 216 such that the bottom of the food pouch rests on the surface 214, and attains the generally curved shape of the surface 214.The nozzle of the food pouch protrudes from the top opening 206.The sides of the food pouch are also curved due to the curvature caused by the side pinches 402.In some embodiments, the user can choose to store the cap of the food pouch in the lower cavity 208 while the child is consuming the food in the food pouch, thereby reducing the chances of the cap getting lost or dirty.\",\n \"The inventors have discovered that when a food pouch is partially used, vacuum is generated at the top of the food pouch and the body of the pouch collapses.\",\n \"While there is still plenty of food within the pouch, a child cannot access it easily because of the collapsed body of the pouch near the nozzle.\",\n \"The child will then need to suck forcefully, which results in the tiring of, and aches in, the jaw.\",\n \"However, in some embodiments, when the food pouch is placed in the container 100 as described herein, where the food pouch attains the curvatures discussed above, there is created a “pinch” by the side pinches 402 and a “push” by the surface 214.Consequently, in these embodiments, the body of the pouch does not collapse and the child can easily access the entirety of the food in the pouch, without having to suck forcefully.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates two embodiments of the top opening 106 of the container 100.In FIG.\",\n \"5A, the top opening 106 is circular and is configured to accommodate a food pouch having any shape nozzle.\",\n \"However, the standard nozzle for the pouches currently on the market has a square cross section.\",\n \"The embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"5B is a square top opening 106.The advantage of this embodiment is that when the food pouch is placed in the container 100, the cap of food pouch can be twisted open or closed without the need to hold the nozzle.\",\n \"In these embodiments, when the cap is twisted open or closed, the pouch itself does not twist.\",\n \"When the pouch twists, it can make it hard or impossible to suck contents out of nozzle.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the surface 214 is not fixed to the back portion 104.In these embodiments, there exists a mechanism by way of which the surface 214 is moved up or down.\",\n \"In some embodiments, for example the one shown in FIG.\",\n \"6, an adjusting mechanism 600 is incorporated into the container 100.The mechanism 600 comprises a knob 602, optionally a bottom plate 604, a threaded spindle 606, optionally a top shelf 608, and a cap 610.The mechanism 600 is incorporated such that the knob 602 is outside of the container 100, and located at the bottom thereof.\",\n \"The bottom plate 604, if present rests abutting the bottom of the container 100.The cap 610 serves the same function as the surface 214.In some embodiments, the shape of the top of the cap 610 is flat, whereas in other embodiments, the top of the cap 610 is curved, having the same design as the surface 214 shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.The top shelf 608 is optionally present to provide additional stability to the cap 610.The user can rotate the knob 602, thereby moving the cap 610 up or down, providing more or less pressure on the food pouch, as the need may be.\",\n \"In other embodiments, there is provided a boss at the bottom of the container 100, which boss is in contact with a cap.\",\n \"When the user pushes the boss in, towards the top of the container 100, the cap also moves upward providing additional pressure for the food pouch.\",\n \"Once the food pouch is used and prior to the insertion of a new food pouch, the user moves the cap back down to its original location.\",\n \"In other embodiments, there is provided a roller inside the container 100, the roller having a slot therein.\",\n \"The roller is connected with at least one knob, which is placed along a track, at the side of the container 100 on the outside.\",\n \"When the knob is turned, the roller turns as well.\",\n \"The user inserts the bottom of the food pouch in the roller's slot.\",\n \"As the knob is turned, the roller turns, thereby rolling the food pouch from the bottom, and squeezing the food out of the food pouch.\",\n \"This action is similar to rolling a toothpaste tube from the bottom.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment, shown in FIG.\",\n \"7, there is provided a container 100 having phantom walls.\",\n \"When viewed from the outside, i.e., when the container 100 is closed, the container has a generally rectangular shape.\",\n \"However, on the inside, there are solid curved side walls creating spaces 702,704 and a solid curved bottom creating space 706.The walls creating spaces 702,704 operate similarly as the side pinches 402, described above, while the bottom creating space 706 operates similarly as the surface 214, described above.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the space 702,704 and/or bottom 706 are each independently hollow (see, for example, FIG.\",\n \"11C, below), while in other embodiments, the spaces are each independently filled.\",\n \"In still another embodiment, shown in FIG.\",\n \"8, there is provided a container 100 having screwable pinches.\",\n \"One or more knobs 802 are placed at the side of the container 100.Each knob is connected to a pinch 804 via a threaded spindle 806.In some embodiments, the inward surface of the pinch 804 is flat, whereas in other embodiments, for example the one shown in FIG.\",\n \"8, the inner surface of the pinch 804 is curved.\",\n \"When the knob 802 is turned, the pinch moves inward, providing side pressure to the food pouch.\",\n \"Similarly, there is provided a bottom knob 808, which is connected to a bottom pinch 810 via a threaded spindle 812.The turning of the knob 808 causes the bottom pinch 810 to move upward, providing bottom pressure to the food pouch.\",\n \"Prior to inserting a new food pouch, the user turns the pinches to their original, fully open position, giving the maximum cavity space.\",\n \"Some embodiments comprise only side pinches 804, while other embodiments, comprise only the bottom pinch 810.Still other embodiments comprise one side pinch 804, while other embodiments comprise more than two side pinches 804 and/or two or more bottom pinches 810.In some embodiments, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 have the same proportions.\",\n \"In these embodiments, for example as shown in FIG.\",\n \"9A, the centerline 902 is even.\",\n \"However, in some embodiments, the back portion 104 is slightly larger than the front portion 102, to provide a deeper cavity for the food pouch at the time of insertion, which makes the placement of the food pouch easier.\",\n \"An example of this embodiment is shown in FIG.\",\n \"9B, where the centerline 904 is offset, as emphasized by the arrows 906 and 908.The offset centerline also provides for an easier means to close the container 100 when a food pouch is installed.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the container 100 disclosed herein comprises handles.\",\n \"An example of this embodiment is shown in FIG.\",\n \"10.FIG.\",\n \"10A shows a perspective view of the container 100, showing the front portion 102 partially separated from the back portion 104, while FIG.\",\n \"10B shows a front view of this embodiment of the container 100.Handles 1002 allow the child to hold the container 100 while consuming the contents of the food pouch, without dropping the container.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10A also illustrates another embodiment of a latch, which can be used with any of the embodiments of the container 100 disclosed herein.\",\n \"This embodiment comprises one or more latch mechanisms, each of which is an extension 1004 pointing towards the opposite portion of the container 100.For instance, if the extension 1004 is located on the front portion 102 of the container 100, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"10A, then the extension 1004 points towards the back portion 104, and vice versa.\",\n \"The extension 1004 comprises at least one raised member (also referred to as a lip) (not shown).\",\n \"The portion opposite to the one having the extension 1004, for example the back portion 104 if the extension is on the front portion 102, comprises one or more indents 1006.When the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 are brought together in the closed configuration, the raised member of the extension 1004 forms a friction lock with the indent 1006.In some embodiments, for example the one shown in FIG.\",\n \"10A, the raised member and the indent 1006 are circular.\",\n \"In other embodiments, they comprise a different cross section, for example a line, a rectangle, a square, a triangle, or another regular or irregular geometric shape.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the indent is on the extension 1004 and the raised member is on the opposite portion.\",\n \"The embodiment shown in FIG.\",\n \"10A does not have a surface 214.Instead only the side pinches 402 alone provide the necessary contour change to the food pouch.\",\n \"Thus, in some embodiments, the container 100 has a surface 214 without the side pinches 402, while in other embodiments, the container 100 has the side pinches 402 without a surface 214, and in still other embodiments, the container 100 has both the side pinches 402 and a surface 214.While the embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"10A shows a container 100 that has the handles 1002, the latch mechanism having extensions 1004 and indents 1006, and no surface 214, the skilled artisan recognizes that any of these features can be incorporated to any of the various embodiments of the container 100 disclosed herein.\",\n \"Thus, for example, the container 100 of FIGS.\",\n \"1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, or 12 can be made to have handles 1002, the latch mechanism having extensions 1004 and indents 1006, or no surface 214.And likewise, the embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"10 can be made with no handles 1002, a latch mechanism other than one having extensions 1004 and indents 1006, or a surface 214.FIGS.\",\n \"11A-D show another embodiment of the container 100 disclosed herein.\",\n \"In some embodiments, for example the one shown in FIG.\",\n \"11A, the front portion 102 is a cover, without having depth, and the back portion 104 comprises the entire depth of the container 100.In these embodiments, the food pouch is placed within the cavity of the back portion 104 and the front portion 102 closes shut to hold the food pouch within the container 100.The embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"11B shows latches 1104 that are external to the body of the container 100.In these embodiments, the downward distal end of the latch 1104 snaps on the reverse side of the back portion 104, resulting in securing the front portion 102 to the back portion 104.While this embodiment of a latch mechanism is disclosed in connection with the embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"11, it is understood that this latch mechanism can be used with any of the presently disclosed containers 100.The embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"11C is directed to a container 100 having a cap space 1106 at the bottom of the container 100.The cap space 1106 is a hollowed space into which the cap of the food pouch can be stored while the food pouch is opened for use.\",\n \"In some embodiments, for example that shown in FIG.\",\n \"11C, a nubbin 1108 is present at the center of the cap space 1106, onto which the cap is threaded or snapped for a more secure hold.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"11D, the cap space 1106 also causes a curved or raised surface 1110 to exist within the interior cavity of the container 100, for example similar to the curved top surface of the space 706, shown in FIG.\",\n \"7.In this embodiment, the interior of the back portion comprises only one interior cavity, the upper cavity 1112, similar to the upper cavity 216, above.\",\n \"The lower cavity is an exterior cavity and is the cap space 1106.Thus, in some embodiments, the surface divides the back portion into an upper cavity and a lower cavity, where the lower cavity is on the exterior.\",\n \"In some embodiments, for example the one shown in FIG.\",\n \"11A, the hinge 1102 around which the front portion 102 separates from the back portion 104 is located at a point away from an edge of the container 100.For example, in FIG.\",\n \"11A, the hinge 1102 is located approximately ⅕ of the way up from the bottom of the container 100.In certain embodiments, the hinge 1102 is located around the mid-section of the container 100.In certain embodiments, the hinge 202,1102 is on the side of the container 100.In these embodiments, the front portion 102 opens from the opposite side of the hinge 202,1102.In other embodiments, the hinge 202,1102 is on the back side.\",\n \"In some of these embodiments, when the front portion 102 separates from the back portion 104, the bottom of the container 100 will also rotate away.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"12A-12C illustrate another embodiment of the container 100.In this embodiment, the front portion 102, shown in FIG.\",\n \"12B, has no depth.\",\n \"The entire depth of the container 100 is comprised in the back portion 104, shown in FIG.\",\n \"12C.\",\n \"The hinge 1202 comprises two components: the front component 1204 located at the bottom of the front portion 102, and the back component 1206 located at the bottom front of the back portion 104.Thus, unlike the hinge 202 of the embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"2, which is located in the middle area of the bottom of the container 100, when the container 100 is in its closed configuration, the hinge 1202 is located in the front of the bottom of the container 100, when the container 100 is in its closed configuration.\",\n \"A similar configuration can be applied to any of the containers 100 disclosed herein.\",\n \"The surface 1208 curves downward and traverses the entire width of the back portion 104.The surface 1208 divides the interior cavity of the back portion 104 into the upper cavity 1210 and the lower cavity 1212.Thus, while the surface 1208 acts similarly to the cantilever surface 214 of the embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"2, it is different in that the surface 1208 is connected to the sides of the back portion 104.In some embodiments, the lower cavity 1212 is filled and the interior cavity only comprises the upper cavity 1210.In other embodiments, the lower cavity 1212 is external.\",\n \"A similar configuration can be applied to any of the containers 100 disclosed herein.\",\n \"In the embodiment shown in FIG.\",\n \"12C, the top hole 206 is a semicircle defining an arc >180°.\",\n \"However, when the front portion 102 connects with the back portion 104 to close the container 100, the top hole 206 does not form a complete circle.\",\n \"Instead, the top hole 206 will comprise a straight edge formed by the front portion 102.This configuration makes it easier for a user to install the nozzle of the food pouch since the edge of the front portion 102 guides the nozzle into the semicircular part of the top hole 206.This configuration provides some of the advantages discussed above with respect to the embodiment shown in FIG.\",\n \"5B.\",\n \"A similar configuration can be applied to any of the containers 100 disclosed herein.\",\n \"The latch mechanism of the embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"12 comprises at least one extension 1214, having at least one raised member (or lip) 1216.In the embodiment shown in FIG.\",\n \"12, the extension 1214 is on the front portion 102, facing the back portion 104.Other configurations, as discussed above, for example, with the extension being on the side or on the back portion, are also contemplated.\",\n \"A corresponding indent (not shown) on the opposite portion, for example the back portion 104, creates a friction lock between the back portion 104 and the front portion 102.In some embodiments, the body of the container 100 comprises an outer shell and an inner shell, with a lining space therebetween.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the lining space is filled with air.\",\n \"Air is a known insulator.\",\n \"In these embodiments, the contents of food pouch retain their temperature for a longer period of time than if a single shell container is used.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the lining space is filled with a heatable and/or coolable fluid, for example a liquid or a gel.\",\n \"The user can heat the container, for example by placing the container in a microwave oven or warm water, thereby heating the fluid.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the fluid has a high specific heat, and therefore, loses its heat slowly.\",\n \"The heated fluid can then either heat the contents of the food pouch, or help in keeping the contents of a pre-heated food pouch warm.\",\n \"Similarly, if the fluid is coolable, or also coolable, the user can place the food pouch in a refrigerator, freezer, or cold water, thereby cooling the fluid.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the fluid has a high specific heat, and therefore, warms up slowly.\",\n \"The cooled fluid can then either cool the contents of the food pouch, or help in keeping the contents of a pre-cooled food pouch cool.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the fluid is freezable.\",\n \"While in some embodiments the food pouch is first inserted into the back portion 104 first and then the front portion 102 is latched to close the container 100, in other embodiments, the food pouch is first inserted into the front portion 102 first and then the back portion 104 is latched to close the container 100.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876010"}}},{"rowIdx":4495052,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["Systems and Methods for Providing Convolutional Neural Network Based Image Synthesis Using Stable and Controllable Parametric Models, a Multiscale Synthesis Framework and Novel Network Architectures","Systems and methods for providing convolutional neural network based image synthesis using localized loss functions is disclosed.","A first image including desired content and a second image including a desired style are received.","The images are analyzed to determine a local loss function.","The first and second images are merged using the local loss function to generate an image that includes the desired content presented in the desired style.","Similar processes can also be utilized to generate image hybrids and to perform on-model texture synthesis.","In a number of embodiments, Condensed Feature Extraction Networks are also generated using a convolutional neural network previously trained to perform image classification, where the Condensed Feature Extraction Networks approximates intermediate neural activations of the convolutional neural network utilized during training."],["1.A system for generating a synthesized image including desired content presented in a desired style comprising: one or more processors; memory readable by the one or more processors; and instructions stored in the memory that when read by the one or more processors direct the one or more processors to: receive a source content image that includes desired content for a synthesized image, receive a source style image that includes a desired texture for the synthesized image, determine a localized loss function for a pixel in at least one of the source content image and the source style image, and generate the synthesized image by: optimizing a value of a pixel in the synthesized image to a content loss function of a corresponding pixel in the content source image and a style loss function of a corresponding pixel in the source style image wherein at least one of the corresponding pixels is the pixel that has a determined localized loss function and one of the content loss function and the source loss function is the determined localized loss function."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>With the growth and development of creative projects in a variety of digital spaces (including, but not limited to, virtual reality, digital art, as well as various industrial applications), the ability to create and design new works based on the combination of various existing sources has become an area of interest.","However, the actual synthesis of such sources is a hard problem that raises a variety of difficulties."],["<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Systems and methods for providing convolutional neural network based image synthesis are disclosed.","In many embodiments, processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis may be performed by a server system.","In accordance with several embodiments, the processes may be performed by a “cloud” server system.","In still further embodiments, the processes may be performed on a user device.","One embodiment is a system for generating a synthesized image including desired content presented in a desired style includes one or more processors, memory readable by the one or more processors.","The system in accordance with some embodiments of the invention includes instructions stored in the memory that when read by the one or more processors direct the one or more processors to receive a source content image that includes desired content for a synthesized image, receive a source style image that includes a desired texture for the synthesized image, determine a localized loss function for a pixel in at least one of the source content image and the source style image, and generate the synthesized image by optimizing a value of a pixel in the synthesized image to a content loss function of a corresponding pixel in the content source image and a style loss function of a corresponding pixel in the source style image wherein at least one of the corresponding pixels is the pixel that has a determined localized loss function and one of the content loss function and the source loss function is the determined localized loss function.","In another embodiment, the localized loss function is represented by a Gram matrix.","In a further embodiment, the localized loss function is represented by a covariance matrix.","In still another embodiment, the localized loss function is determined using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN).","In a still further embodiment, the optimizing is performed by back propagation through the CNN.","In yet another embodiment, the localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source style image.","In a yet further embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to receive a mask that identifies regions of the style source image, determine a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions, and associate the localized loss function with the pixel.","In another additional embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to group the pixels of the source style image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel, and associate the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel.","In a further additional embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to determine a group of neighbor pixels for a pixel in the source content image, determine a group of corresponding pixels in the source style image associated with the group of neighbor pixels in the source content image wherein each of the group of corresponding pixels corresponds to one of the group of neighbor pixels and includes the pixel, and determine a local loss function for the group of corresponding pixels.","In another embodiment again, the localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source content image.","In a further embodiment again, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source content image direct the one or more processors to receive a mask that identifies regions of the source content image, determine a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions, and associate the localized loss function with the pixel.","In still yet another embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to group the pixels of the source content image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel, and associate the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel.","In a still yet further embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to determine a global content loss function for the source content image from the pixels of the source content image, determine a weight for the pixel indicating a contribution to a structure in the source content image, and apply the weight to the global content loss function to determine the localized loss function for the pixel.","In still another additional embodiment, the weight is determined based upon a Laplacian pyramid of black and white versions of the source content image.","In a still further additional embodiment, a localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source content image and a corresponding pixel in the source style image.","In still another embodiment again, the optimization uses the localized loss function for the pixel in the source content image as the content loss function and the localized loss function of the pixel in the source style image as the style loss function.","In a still further embodiment again, pixels in the synthesized image begin as white noise.","In yet another additional embodiment, each pixel in the synthesized image begins with a value equal to a pixel value of a corresponding pixel in the source content image.","In a yet further additional embodiment, the optimizing is performed to minimize to a loss function that includes the content loss function, a style loss function, and a histogram loss function.","In yet another embodiment again, a method for performing style transfer in an image synthesis system where a synthesized image is generated with content from a source content image and texture from a source style image includes receiving a source content image that includes desired content for a synthesized image in the image synthesis system, receiving a source style image that includes a desired texture for the synthesized image in the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function a pixel in at least one of the source content image and the source style image using the image synthesis system, and generating the synthesized image using the image synthesis system by optimizing a value of a pixel in the synthesized image to a content loss function of a corresponding pixel in the content source image and a style loss function of a corresponding pixel in the source style image wherein at least one of the corresponding pixels is the pixel that has a determined localized loss function and one of the content loss function and the source loss function is the determined localized loss function.","In a yet further embodiment again, the localized loss function is represented by a Gram matrix.","In another additional embodiment again, the determining of a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image includes receiving a mask that identifies regions of the style source image in the image synthesis system, determining a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask using the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions using the image synthesis system, and associating the localized loss function with the pixel using the image synthesis system.","In a further additional embodiment again, the determining a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image comprises grouping the pixels of the source style image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image using the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel using the image synthesis system, and associating the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel using the image synthesis system.","In still yet another additional embodiment, determining of a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image includes determining a group of neighbor pixels for a pixel in the source content image using the image synthesis system, determining a group of corresponding pixels in the source style image associated with the group of neighbor pixels in the source content image wherein each of the group of corresponding pixels corresponds to one of the group of neighbor pixels and includes the pixel using the image synthesis system, and determining a local loss function for the group of corresponding pixels using the image synthesis system.","Additional embodiments and features are set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the specification or may be learned by the practice of the invention.","A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings, which forms a part of this disclosure."],["CROSS REFERENCED APPLICATION This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","15/694,677, filed Sep. 1, 2017 and claims priority to U.S.","Provisional Application Ser.","No.","62/383,283, filed Sep. 2, 2016, U.S.","Provisional Application Ser.","No.","62/451,580, filed Jan. 27, 2017, and U.S.","Provisional Application Ser.","No.","62/531,778, filed Jul.","12, 2017.The contents of each of these applications are hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth herewith.","FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention generally relates to image synthesis and more specifically relates to image synthesis using convolutional neural networks based upon exemplar images.","BACKGROUND With the growth and development of creative projects in a variety of digital spaces (including, but not limited to, virtual reality, digital art, as well as various industrial applications), the ability to create and design new works based on the combination of various existing sources has become an area of interest.","However, the actual synthesis of such sources is a hard problem that raises a variety of difficulties.","SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Systems and methods for providing convolutional neural network based image synthesis are disclosed.","In many embodiments, processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis may be performed by a server system.","In accordance with several embodiments, the processes may be performed by a “cloud” server system.","In still further embodiments, the processes may be performed on a user device.","One embodiment is a system for generating a synthesized image including desired content presented in a desired style includes one or more processors, memory readable by the one or more processors.","The system in accordance with some embodiments of the invention includes instructions stored in the memory that when read by the one or more processors direct the one or more processors to receive a source content image that includes desired content for a synthesized image, receive a source style image that includes a desired texture for the synthesized image, determine a localized loss function for a pixel in at least one of the source content image and the source style image, and generate the synthesized image by optimizing a value of a pixel in the synthesized image to a content loss function of a corresponding pixel in the content source image and a style loss function of a corresponding pixel in the source style image wherein at least one of the corresponding pixels is the pixel that has a determined localized loss function and one of the content loss function and the source loss function is the determined localized loss function.","In another embodiment, the localized loss function is represented by a Gram matrix.","In a further embodiment, the localized loss function is represented by a covariance matrix.","In still another embodiment, the localized loss function is determined using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN).","In a still further embodiment, the optimizing is performed by back propagation through the CNN.","In yet another embodiment, the localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source style image.","In a yet further embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to receive a mask that identifies regions of the style source image, determine a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions, and associate the localized loss function with the pixel.","In another additional embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to group the pixels of the source style image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel, and associate the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel.","In a further additional embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to determine a group of neighbor pixels for a pixel in the source content image, determine a group of corresponding pixels in the source style image associated with the group of neighbor pixels in the source content image wherein each of the group of corresponding pixels corresponds to one of the group of neighbor pixels and includes the pixel, and determine a local loss function for the group of corresponding pixels.","In another embodiment again, the localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source content image.","In a further embodiment again, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source content image direct the one or more processors to receive a mask that identifies regions of the source content image, determine a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions, and associate the localized loss function with the pixel.","In still yet another embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to group the pixels of the source content image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel, and associate the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel.","In a still yet further embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to determine a global content loss function for the source content image from the pixels of the source content image, determine a weight for the pixel indicating a contribution to a structure in the source content image, and apply the weight to the global content loss function to determine the localized loss function for the pixel.","In still another additional embodiment, the weight is determined based upon a Laplacian pyramid of black and white versions of the source content image.","In a still further additional embodiment, a localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source content image and a corresponding pixel in the source style image.","In still another embodiment again, the optimization uses the localized loss function for the pixel in the source content image as the content loss function and the localized loss function of the pixel in the source style image as the style loss function.","In a still further embodiment again, pixels in the synthesized image begin as white noise.","In yet another additional embodiment, each pixel in the synthesized image begins with a value equal to a pixel value of a corresponding pixel in the source content image.","In a yet further additional embodiment, the optimizing is performed to minimize to a loss function that includes the content loss function, a style loss function, and a histogram loss function.","In yet another embodiment again, a method for performing style transfer in an image synthesis system where a synthesized image is generated with content from a source content image and texture from a source style image includes receiving a source content image that includes desired content for a synthesized image in the image synthesis system, receiving a source style image that includes a desired texture for the synthesized image in the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function a pixel in at least one of the source content image and the source style image using the image synthesis system, and generating the synthesized image using the image synthesis system by optimizing a value of a pixel in the synthesized image to a content loss function of a corresponding pixel in the content source image and a style loss function of a corresponding pixel in the source style image wherein at least one of the corresponding pixels is the pixel that has a determined localized loss function and one of the content loss function and the source loss function is the determined localized loss function.","In a yet further embodiment again, the localized loss function is represented by a Gram matrix.","In another additional embodiment again, the determining of a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image includes receiving a mask that identifies regions of the style source image in the image synthesis system, determining a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask using the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions using the image synthesis system, and associating the localized loss function with the pixel using the image synthesis system.","In a further additional embodiment again, the determining a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image comprises grouping the pixels of the source style image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image using the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel using the image synthesis system, and associating the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel using the image synthesis system.","In still yet another additional embodiment, determining of a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image includes determining a group of neighbor pixels for a pixel in the source content image using the image synthesis system, determining a group of corresponding pixels in the source style image associated with the group of neighbor pixels in the source content image wherein each of the group of corresponding pixels corresponds to one of the group of neighbor pixels and includes the pixel using the image synthesis system, and determining a local loss function for the group of corresponding pixels using the image synthesis system.","Additional embodiments and features are set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the specification or may be learned by the practice of the invention.","A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings, which forms a part of this disclosure.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color.","Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.","The description and claims will be more fully understood with reference to the following figures and data graphs, which are presented as exemplary embodiments of the invention and should not be construed as a complete recitation of the scope of the invention.","FIG.","1 is an illustration of various devices that may perform one or more processes to provide Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based image synthesis in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","2 is an illustration of components of a processing system in a device that executes one or more processes to provide CNN-based image synthesis using localized loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","3 is an illustration of images showing the instability in a Gram matrix.","FIG.","4 is an illustration of images showing a comparison of results of texture synthesis performed in accordance with various embodiments of the invention with and without the use of pyramids.","FIG.","5 is an illustration of a flow diagram of a process for providing CNN-based image synthesis that performs style transfer using localized loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","6 is an illustration of two input images and a resulting image from a style transfer process of the two input images using localized style loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","7 is an illustration of a flow diagram of a process for generating region-based loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","8 is an illustration of conceptual images showing masks of regions for two input images used in a style transfer process using region-based loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","9 is an illustration of conceptual images of cells in two input images in a style transfer process using uniform regions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","10 is an illustration of a flow diagram of a process for generating localized loss functions in a style transfer process using uniform regions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","11 is an illustration of a comparison of similar cells in two input images in a style transfer process using uniform regions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","12 is an illustration of a comparison of similar pixels in two input images in a style transfer process using a per pixel loss transfer in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","13 is an illustration of a process for generating localized style loss functions for a style transfer process using per pixel loss transfer in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","14 is an illustration of two input images that provide an example of the operation of a style transfer process using a global content loss function in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","15 is an illustration of a resulting image from the style transfer from the two input images of FIG.","14 performed by a style transfer process using global content loss in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","16 is an illustration of a Laplacian Pyramid of images derived from a content source image from FIG.","14 used in a style transfer process using local content loss in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIGS.","17 and 18 are illustrations of images produced by style transfer processes using global loss functions in accordance with certain embodiments of this invention.","FIG.","19 is an illustration of images generated by a style transfer process using localized content loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","20 is an illustration of a flow diagram of a process for determining localized loss using masks in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","21 is an illustration of images synthesized in accordance with some embodiments of the invention and images generated using other processes.","FIG.","22 is an illustration of images of masks used in an aging process in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","23 is an illustration of a synthesis order in a multiscale pyramid framework in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","24 is an illustration of a textured mapped model and components used to form the textured mapped model using a filter process in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","25 is an illustration of a texture and the texture applied to a surface of a mesh by a filter process in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","DETAILED DISCUSSION Turning now to the drawings, systems and methods for providing Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based image synthesis in accordance with some embodiments of the invention are described.","In many embodiments, processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis may be performed by a server system.","In accordance with several embodiments, the processes may be performed by a “cloud” server system.","In still further embodiments, the processes may be performed on a user device.","In accordance with many embodiments, the loss functions may be modeled using Gram matrices.","In a number of embodiments, the loss functions may be modeled using covariance matrices.","In accordance with several embodiments, the total loss may further include mean activation or histogram loss.","In accordance with sundry embodiments, a source content image, including desired structures for a synthesized image and a source style image, including a desired texture for the synthesized image, are received.","A CNN may be used to determine localized loss functions for groups of pixels in the source content and/or source style images.","The localized content and/or localized style loss functions may be used to generate a synthesized image that includes the content from the source content image and the texture from the source style image.","In accordance with many embodiments, an optimization process may be performed to optimize pixels in a synthesized image using the localized content loss function of a corresponding pixel from the source content image and/or the localized style loss function of a corresponding pixel from the source style image.","In accordance with a number of embodiments, the optimization may be an iterative optimization that is performed by back propagation through a CNN, or through a purely feed-forward process.","In a number of embodiments, a specific pyramid-stack hybrid CNN architecture based on some combination of pooling, strided convolution and dilated convolution is used for image synthesis.","As can readily be appreciated, the specific CNN architecture utilized in image synthesis is largely dependent upon the requirements of a given application.","In accordance with certain embodiments, the CNN-based image synthesis processes may perform aging of an image.","In accordance with many embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may be used to perform continuous weathering by continually modifying the parametric model.","In accordance with a number of embodiments, the CNN-based image synthesis processes may be used to perform weathering by controlling the weathering through a “painting by numbers” process.","In accordance with several embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may be used to perform continuous multiscale aging.","In accordance with many embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may be used to perform aging by transferring weathering patterns from external exemplars.","In accordance with sundry embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may combine optimization and feedforward parametric texture synthesis for fast high-resolution synthesis.","In accordance with many embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may be used to perform super image super resolution (SISR) for rending.","In accordance with a number of embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may combine parametric and non-parametric-non-CNN synthesis within a pyramid framework.","In several embodiments, dilated convolution neural networks can be utilized to synthesize image hybrids.","Image hybridization involves starting from a set of several source images within a category and mixing them together in a way that produces a new member of that category.","In a number of embodiments, image hybridization is performed using either an optimization or feedforward based synthesis strategy.","In either case, a key aspect of the image hybridization is to generate new activations at different levels of the network which combine the activation features extracted from the input images into new hybrid configurations.","Processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention integrate an on-model synthesis approach into the CNN approach.","The goal of processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is to provide an on-model texture synthesis scheme that allows the user to supply a fully textured model as the input exemplar instead of just a texture, and apply that texture from the model onto a different untextured model.","In many embodiments, the processes produce textures that conform to geometric shapes and the feature contents of that texture are guided by the underlying shape itself.","This results in image synthesis that can be applied on top of already textured meshes, and can also produce appearance transfer from one textured mesh onto another.","In a number of embodiments, a specific class of artificial neural networks that can be referred to as Condensed Feature Extraction Networks are generated from CNNs trained to perform image classification.","Systems and methods in accordance with many embodiments of the invention generate Condensed Feature Extraction Networks by utilizing an artificial neural network with a specific number of neurons to learn a network that approximates the intermediate neural activations of a different network with a larger number (or the same number) of artificial neurons.","In several embodiments, the artificial neural network that is utilized to train a Condensed Feature Extraction Network is a CNN.","In certain embodiments, the computation required to generate outputs from the Condensed Feature Extraction Network for a set of input images is reduced relative to the CNN used to train the Condensed Feature Extraction Networks.","Systems and methods for providing CNN-based image synthesis are described in more detail below.","Systems for Providing Convolutional Neural Network Based Image Synthesis A system that provides CNN-based image synthesis in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is shown in FIG.","1.Network 100 includes a communications network 160.The communications network 160 is a network such as the Internet that allows devices connected to the network 160 to communicate with other connected devices.","Server systems 110, 140, and 170 are connected to the network 160.Each of the server systems 110, 140, and 170 may be a group of one or more server computer systems communicatively connected to one another via internal networks that execute processes that provide cloud services to users over the network 160.For purposes of this discussion, cloud services are one or more applications that are executed by one or more server systems to provide data and/or executable applications to devices over a network.","The server systems 110, 140, and 170 are shown each having three servers in the internal network.","However, the server systems 110, 140 and 170 may include any number of servers and any additional number of server systems may be connected to the network 160 to provide cloud services including (but not limited to) virtualized server systems.","In accordance with various embodiments of this invention, processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis processes and/or systems may be provided by one or more software applications executing on a single server system and/or a group of server systems communicating over network 160.Users may use personal devices 180 and 120 that connect to the network 160 to perform processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.","In the illustrated embodiment, the personal devices 180 are shown as desktop computers that are connected via a conventional “wired” connection to the network 160.However, the personal device 180 may be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a smart television, an entertainment gaming console, or any other device that connects to the network 160 via a “wired” or “wireless” network connection.","The mobile device 120 connects to network 160 using a wireless connection.","A wireless connection is a connection that may use Radio Frequency (RF) signals, Infrared (IR) signals, or any other form of wireless signaling to connect to the network 160.In FIG.","1, the mobile device 120 is a mobile telephone.","However, mobile device 120 may be a mobile phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a tablet, a smartphone, or any other type of device that connects to network 160 via wireless connection in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention.","In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis may be performed by the user device.","In several other embodiments, an application being executed by the user device may capture or obtain the two or more input images and transmit the captured image(s) to a server system that performs the processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis.","In accordance with a number of embodiments where one or more of the images is captured by the user device, the user device may include a camera or some other image capture system that captures the image.","The specific computing system(s) used to capture images and/or processing images to perform CNN-based image synthesis often is largely dependent upon the requirements of a given application and should not be considered as limited to any specific computing system(s) implementation(s).","Computing systems and processes for performing CNN based image synthesis are discussed further below.","Example of Processing Systems An example of a processing system in a device that executes instructions to perform processes that provide CNN-based image synthesis in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.","2.One may recognize that a particular processing system may include other components that are omitted for brevity without departing from various embodiments of the invention.","The processing device 200 includes a processor 205, a non-volatile memory 210, and a volatile memory 215.The processor 205 may be a processor, microprocessor, controller or a combination of processors, microprocessors and/or controllers that perform instructions stored in the volatile memory 215 and/or the non-volatile memory 210 to manipulate data stored in the memory.","The non-volatile memory 210 can store the processor instructions utilized to configure the processing system 200 to perform processes including processes in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention and/or data for the processes being utilized.","In accordance with some embodiments, the processing system software and/or firmware can be stored in any of a variety of non-transient computer readable media appropriate to a specific application.","A network interface is a device that allows processing system 200 to transmit and receive data over a network based upon the instructions performed by processor 205.Although an example of processing system 200 is illustrated in FIG.","2, any of a variety of processing systems in the various devices may be configured to provide the methods and systems in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.","Convolutional Neural Network Based Image Synthesis CNNs can be powerful tools for synthesizing similar but different version of an image or transferring the style of one image onto the content of another image.","Recently, compelling results have been achieved through parametric modeling of the image statistics using a deep CNN.","An example CNN used for image style transfer is described by Leon Gatys in a paper entitled, “Image Style Transfer Using Convolutional Neural Networks” that may be obtained at www.cv-foundation.org/openacess/content_cvpr_2016/papers/Gatys_Image_Style_Transfer_CV PR_2016_paper.pdf.","In particular, CNN-based image synthesis processes are particularly suited for performing texture synthesis and style transfer.","In particular, CNN-based image synthesis systems may perform texture synthesis in the following manner: A CNN image synthesis system receives an input source texture, S, and synthesizes an output texture, O.","S and O are passed through a CNN such as VGG that generates feature maps for the activations of the first L convolutional layers of the CNN.","For purposes of this discussion, the activations of the first L convolutional layers are denoted as S1 .",".",".","SL and O1 .",".",".","OL.","A loss gram over the layers, which preserves some properties of the input texture by means of a Gram matrix can be expressed as: ℒ gram = ∑ l = 1 L α l S l 2 G ( S l ) - G ( O l ) ) F 2 ( 1 ) where Al are user parameters that weight terms in the loss, |⋅| is the number of elements in a tensor, F is the Frobenius norm, and the Gram matrix G(F) is defined over any feature map F as an Nl×Nl matrix of inner products between pairs of features: G ij ( F ) = ∑ k F ik F jk ( 2 ) Fi,j refers to feature i's pixel j within the feature map.","The synthesized output image O is initialized with white noise and is then optimized by applying gradient descent to equation (1).","Specifically, the gradient of equation (1) with respect to the output image O is computed via backpropagation.","CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform style transfer synthesis operate in a similar manner to the texture synthesis process described above.","However, a CNN-based image synthesis system receives a content image, C, and a style image, S, that are used to generate a styled image, O.","All three images are passed through a CNN, such as a VGG, that gives activations for the first L convolutional layers denoted as C1 .",".",".","CL, S1 .",".",".","SL, O1 .",".",".","Ol.","The total style transfer loss combines the losses for the style image (ζgram) and the content image (ζcontent): transfer=gram+content (3) The content loss is a feature distance between content and output that attempts to make output and content look similar: ℒ content = ∑ l = 1 L β l C l C l - O l F 2 ( 4 ) Where βl are user weight parameters, the output image O is initialized with white noise and optimized using a gradient descent.","As such, CNN-based image synthesis processes performing style transfer may use an iterative optimization process to cause the white noise image of the synthesized image to incrementally begin to resemble some user-specified combination of the source content and style images.","In accordance with many embodiments of the invention, a CNN backpropagation training procedure may be used as the iterative optimization process to turn the white noise or content image into an image that combines features of the content and style images.","During backpropagation training procedures performed in accordance with a number of embodiments, the iterative optimization process can be directed by a loss function (equation 4) that the backpropagation training procedure is trying to minimize.","In accordance with several embodiments, the loss function is calculated as the difference between parametric models encoding the style of a style image and the image being synthesized.","In addition, in some embodiments of this invention, a content loss can be included as well, where the content loss is some distance metric between raw neural activations calculated for the content image and the image being synthesized.","If a style loss is used without a content loss and the image being synthesized starts from noise, then the resulting operation is texture synthesis.","If a style loss is used without content loss and the image being synthesized starts from the content image, then the resulting operation is style transfer.","If both style and content loss are used then the operation will always be style transfer.","In accordance with various other embodiments of the invention, other image processing applications including, but not limited to, image hybridization, super-resolution upscaling and time-varying weathering, could be achieved using the same CNN framework but using different loss functions.","CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention may use loss functions to direct the optimization process in various synthesis processes that may be performed.","However, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with particular embodiments of this invention use a collection of stable loss functions for the CNN-based image synthesis to achieve various results.","In accordance with some embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes use multiple stable loss functions for texture synthesis and style transfer.","Thus, multiple stable loss functions for the style transfer including loss functions for the style and content are addressed separately below.","Problems with the Use of Gram Matrices A problem that can be experienced when using Gram matrices as loss functions in style transfer is that the results are often unstable.","The cause of the instability is illustrated in FIG.","3.In FIG.","3, an input image 301 has a uniform distribution of intensities with a mean of μ1=½ ≈0.707 and a standard deviation of σ1=0.An output image 302 has a non-uniform distribution with a mean of μ2=½ and a standard deviation of σ2=½.","If interpreted as the activation of a feature map with one feature, these two distributions have equivalent non-central second moments of ½, and equal Gram matrices.","The problem is that there are many distributions that result in an equivalent Gram matrix.","However, the Gram matrices do not match image intensities.","Instead, Gram matrices match feature activations, i.e.","feature maps, after applying the activation functions but the same argument applies: activation maps with quite different means and variances can still have the same Gram matrix.","The problem arises because a Gram matrix is statistically related to neither the mean nor covariance matrices.","Instead, a Gram matrix is related to a matrix of non-central second moments.","To show this, a feature activation map, F, with m features, is used as an example.","For brevity, “feature map activations” are simply referred to as “features,” such that a “feature” refers to the result of applying an activation function.","The statistics of the features in the feature map F can be summarized by using an m dimensional random variable X to model the probability distribution of a given m-tuple of features.","The random vector of features X can be related to the feature map F. For example, the Gram matrix, G(F), may be normalized by the number of samples n to obtain a sample estimator for the second non-central mixed moments E[XXT].","As such, the terms (normalized) “Gram matrix” and E[XXT] may be used interchangeably in the following discussion even though one is actually a sampled estimator of the other.","In the following argument, 1 n G ( F ) = E [ XX T ] and the mean feature is defined as μ=E[X].","By a general property of covariance matrices, Σ(X)=E[XXT]−μμT, Σ indicates a covariance matrix.","After rearranging, the following equation results: E[XXT]=Σ(X)+μμT (5) In the case where there is only one feature, m=1, equation (5) becomes: 1 n G ( F ) = E [ X 2 ] = σ 2 + μ 2 = ( σ , μ ) 2 ( 6 ) Where σ is the standard deviation of feature X.","For a feature map, F1 for the input source image, and a feature map, F2, for the synthesized output image that have respective feature distributions X1, X2, means μ1, μ2, and standard deviations σ1, σ2, the features maps will have the same Gram matrix if the following condition for equation (6) holds: ∥(σ1,μ1)∥=∥(σ2,μ2)∥ (7) As such, an infinite number of 1D feature maps with different variances but equal Gram matrices may be created.","This is not optimal for image synthesis.","Specifically, this means that even if a Gram matrix is held constant, the variance ρ22 of the synthesized texture map can freely change (with corresponding changes to the mean, μ2, based on equation (7)).","Conversely, the mean, μ2, of the synthesized texture map can freely change (with corresponding changes to the variance, σ22).","This property often leads to the instabilities.","For simplicity, it can be assumed that a CNN may be flexible enough to generate any distribution of output image features.","To generate an output texture with a different variance (e.g.","σ2»σ1) but equal Gram matrix, equation (6) can be solved for μ2 to obtain μ1=√{square root over (σ12+μ12−σ22)}.","This is shown in FIG.","3 where the distribution X1 of the image 301 has μ 1 = 1 2 and σ1=0 and the image 302 has larger standard deviation of σ2=½.","In the multidimensional case where m>1, if there is no correlation between features, the m separate cases of the previous 1D scenario.","Thus, while maintaining the same Gram matrix, all of the variances can be changed, as long as a corresponding change to the mean is made.","This can lead to instabilities in variance or mean.","However, in the multidimensional scenario, typically there are correlations between features.","The following example illustrates this point.","In this example, an input feature map F1, has an input feature random vector X1, a mean μ, and covariance matrix Σ(X1).","To generate a set of output feature random vectors X2 with an equal Gram matrix but different variance, an affine transformation is applied to the input random feature vector X1 to obtain a transformed random vector of output features activation X2=AX1+b, where A is an m×m matrix, and b is an m vector.","The Gram matrices X1 and X2 are set equal to one another using equation (5) above to obtain: E[X2X2T]=AΣ(X1)AT+(Aμ+b)(Aμ+b)T=E[X1X1T]=Σ(X1)+μμT.","(8) The variances of the output random feature activation vector X2 may be constrained along the main diagonal of its covariance matrix so that the variances are equal to a set of “target” output image feature activation variances.","The remains may be an unknown variable in the transformation matrix A, and vector b may be determined using closed form solutions of the resulting quadratic equations.","However, these equations are often long and computationally intensive to solve.","Yet, it does show that there are more unknowns than equations.","Thus, it is possible to generate an output distribution X2 with different variances that the input feature distribution X1, but with the same Gram matrix.","Specifically, there are m(m+3)/2 constraints due to equation (8) (there are m(m+1)/2 constraints due to the upper half of the symmetric matrix, plus m constraints for the known output feature variances).","Covariance and Mean Loss In accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention, due to the Gram matrix stability issues identified above, CNN-based image synthesis processes use a covariance matrix instead of a Gram matrix to guide the synthesis process.","Covariance matrices are similar to Gram matrices but do not share the same limitation.","By subtracting off the mean activation before computing inner products, covariance matrices explicitly preserve statistical moments of various orders in the parametric model.","By this we explicitly refer to the mean of all feature vectors as the first order moment and to the co-activations of feature vectors centered around their mean as second order moments.","Replacing Gram matrices with Covariance matrices can stabilize the synthesis process for some textures, however, subtracting the mean can affect the desired features to be reproduced during the synthesis process in undesirable ways.","To counteract this effect, we introduce an additional loss term for mean activations.","This new parametric model allows the covariance loss and means loss to drive the synthesis.","This can make the combined loss for texture synthesis: Ltexture=Lcovariance+Lmean+Ltv (12) The replacement of the Gram matrix with a Covariance matrix may improve but does not decisively solve the stability issues inherent in texture synthesis and/or style transfer.","However, the covariance matrix may be a powerful method for describing image style in a stable form when the texture being parameterized is highly stochastic and can be represented as a single cluster in feature space.","It may still be a problem that many textures and most natural images contain multiple clusters.","In other words, these textures or natural images contain a combination of multiple distinct textures.","When an input texture exhibits multiple feature space clusters and the cluster centers are far apart from each other, a covariance matrix may exhibit the same unstable behavior as a Gram matrix.","The reason for the unstable behavior is that the center between multiple clusters ensures that every cluster will be un-centered and, thus, will not exhibit stable mathematical properties.","Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that use covariance loss and/or mean loss in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that use covariance loss and mean loss in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Histogram Losses Due to the multiple cluster problem, processes in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention may use Histogram loss as described above to achieve consistently high-quality results.","In accordance with several embodiments, the multiple cluster problem may be dealt with by using an automatic clustering process on the feature vectors to identify different textures in an image.","The clustering process could transform the image so that each cluster is centered around its mean.","However, the use of an automatic clustering process may introduce a number of additional problems.","For example, if different linear transforms are applied to different regions of the image in a discrete way, seam lines may appear along the borders between different texture clusters.","To deal with these seams, processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention interpolate the transform between clusters.","The interpolation may be more difficult than simply adding a histogram loss that has been shown to solve the same problem as discussed above.","In accordance with particular embodiments of the invention, the instability of Gram or Covariance matrices is addressed by explicitly preserving statistical moments of various orders in the activations of a texture.","In accordance with many embodiments, an entire histogram of feature activations is preserved.","More specifically, systems and processes in accordance with a number of embodiments augment synthesis loss with m additional histogram losses, one for each feature in each feature map.","Additionally, systems and processes in accordance with several embodiments incorporate a total variation loss that may improve smoothness in the synthesized image.","As such, the combined loss for texture synthesis in CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is: texture(ours)=gram+histogram+tv (9) where Lgram can be interchanged with Lcovariance arbitrarily.","However, it can be slightly subtle to develop a suitable histogram loss.","For example, a naive approach of directly placing L2 loss between histograms of the input source texture image S and output synthesized image O has zero gradient almost everywhere and does not contribute to the optimization process.","As such, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention use loss based on histogram matching.","To do so, the synthesized layer-wise feature activations are transformed so that their histograms match the corresponding histograms of the input source texture image S. The transformation can be performed once for each histogram loss encountered during backpropagation.","To do so, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention use an ordinary histogram matching technique to remap the synthesized output activation to match the input source image activations.","In such a technique, Oij represents the output activations for a convolutional layer i and feature j, and O′ij represents the remapped activations.","The technique may compute a normalized histogram for the output activations Oij and match it to the normalized histogram for the activations of input source image S to obtain the remapped activations O′ij.","This technique is then repeated from each feature in the feature map to determine a Frobenius norm distance between Oij and O′ij.","The loss of the histograms may be expressed as: ℒ histogram = ∑ l = 1 L γ l O i - R ( O i ) F 2 ( 10 ) Where Oi is the activation map for feature map I and R(Oi) is the histogram remapped activation map, and γl is a user weight parameter that controls the strength of the loss.","As R(Oi) has zero gradient almost everywhere, it can be treated as a constant for the gradient operator.","Thus, the gradient of equation (10) can be computed by realizing R(Oi) into a temporary array O′l and computing the Frobenius norm loss between Oi and O′i.","Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that use histogram loss in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide histogram loss in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Application of Histogram Loss to Style Transfers Style transfer is a broadening of texture synthesis.","In texture synthesis, an input texture is statistically resynthesized.","Style transfer is similar with the additional constraint that the synthesized image O should not deviate too much from a content image C. To do so, CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform style transfer in accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention include both a per-pixel content loss and a histogram loss in the parametric synthesis equation such that the overall loss becomes: transfer(ours)=gram+histogram+content+tv (11) where Lgram is interchangeable with Lcovariance for the purposes of our algorithm.","Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that use histogram loss to perform style transfer in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that use histogram loss to perform style transfer in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Automatic Tuning of Parameters CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with some embodiment automatically determine parameters for the processes performed.","The parameters may include, but are not limited to, the coefficients α1 in the Gram/Covariance loss equation (1), β1 in the content loss of equation (4), γl in the histogram/mean loss equation (1) and ω that is multiplied against the total variation loss.","Automatic tuning processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention are inspired by batch normalization that tunes hyper-parameters during a training process to reduce extreme values of gradients.","The parameters may also be dynamically adjusted during the optimization process.","In accordance with a number of embodiments, the dynamic tuning can be performed with the aid of gradient information.","During backpropagation, different loss terms Li, may be encountered.","Each loss term Li has an associated parameter ci that needs to be determined (ci is one of the parameters αl, βl, γl, and ω).","A backpropagated gradient gi may first be calculated from the current loss term as if ci were 1.However, if the magnitude of gi exceeds a constant magnitude threshold Ti, then the gradient gi may be normalized so that its length is equal to Ti.","Magnitude thresholds of 1 can be used for all parameters except for the coefficient αl of the Gram/Covariance loss, which may have a magnitude threshold of 100 in accordance with several embodiments.","As can readily be appreciated, magnitude thresholds and/or other constraints can be specified as appropriate to the requirements of a given application.","Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform automatic tuning in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide automatic tuning in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Multiscale Pyramid Based Synthesis CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with certain embodiments include manual and automatic control maps that were previously used in non-parametric approaches.","To achieve this, processes in accordance with many embodiments perform a coarse-to-fine synthesis using image pyramids.","In accordance with a number of embodiments, a ratio of two is used between successive image widths in the pyramid.","A comparison of results of texture synthesis performed in accordance with various embodiments of the invention with and without the use of pyramids are shown in FIG.","4.In FIG.","4, images 401 and 402 are the style images and images 410-411 and 420-421 are the content images.","Images 410 and 411 were generated without the use of pyramids and images 420 and 421 were generated with the use of pyramids.","Images 410 and 420 show that pyramids blend coarse scale style features with content features better.","Images 411 and 421 may show that pyramids transfer coarse scale features better and reduce CNN noise artifacts.","Images 412 and 422 are magnified from images 411 and 421, respectively, and may show noise artifacts (in image 412) and better transfer of coarse-scale features (in image 422).","Processes for Providing Convolutional Neural Network Based Image Synthesis Using Localized Loss Functions A process for providing CNN-based image synthesis that performs style transfer using localized loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.","5.In process 500, a source content image and a source style image are received (505, 510).","The source content image includes the structures that are to be included in a synthesized image and the source style image includes a texture that is to be applied to the synthesized image.","The process 500 determines localized content loss functions for groups of pixels in the source content image (515) and/or localized style loss functions for groups of pixels in the source style image (520).","In accordance with some embodiments, the localized content loss functions and/or localized style loss functions may be generated using a CNN.","The determinations of the localized content and/or style loss functions based upon various groupings of the pixels in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described below.","Process 500 performs an optimization process using the localized content loss functions and/or localized style loss functions to cause the pixels in the synthesized image to form an image with a desired amount of content from the content source image and a desired amount of texture from the source style image (525).","In accordance with certain embodiments, the optimization process may be an iterative optimization process that is performed until a desired result is achieved.","In accordance with many embodiments, the iterative optimization process may be performed by a backpropagation through a CNN iterative optimization processes in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described in more detail below.","Although processes for providing convolutional neural network based image synthesis by performing style transfer using localized loss functions in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are discussed above, other processes may be modified by adding, removing, and/or combining steps of the described processes as necessitated by system and/or process requirements in accordance with various embodiments of the inventions.","Localizing Style Losses Style loss functions reproduce the textural component of the style image.","Thus, a global style loss function may be transformed into a stationary representation (i.e.","the representation is a culmination of the local patches of texture independent of the location of each local patch in the image).","A global style loss function approach may generate the global style loss function by applying the source style image to a CNN, gathering all activations for a layer in a CNN and building a parametric model from the gathered activations of the layer.","An optimization process may then be used to cause the loss function of one image to appear statistically similar to the loss function of another image by minimizing the error distance between the parametric model of the loss functions of the two images (which act as a statistical fingerprint that is being matched).","A style transfer approach using a global style loss function may lead to unimpressive results as shown by the images illustrated in FIG.","6.In FIG.","6, Brad Pitt's image 601 is matched to an image of Picasso's self-portrait 602.In the resulting image 603, the overall style of the painting in the image 602 is transferred including the individual brush strokes, the general color palette and the overall look.","This makes the image 603 look similar to the image 602.However, the individual features that compose the face are not transferred.","Thus, Brad Pitt's eyes, nose and mouth do not look like Picasso's corresponding features.","In accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention, a collection of strategies designed to transform the style of an image locally rather than globally may be performed.","However, the various strategies used in the various embodiments involve a similar core idea of using a collection of parametric models representing local loss functions in either one or both of the source content image and the source style image, as opposed to using a single parametric model for each image.","Each of the parametric models of an image summarize specific features in the image and are distinct and/or unique from the other parametric models in the collection of matrices for the image.","The application of local loss functions may vary greatly between the various embodiments, depending on a desired degree of locality.","Thus, each of the models may represent very large regions of the image in accordance with some embodiments when it is desired to have very little locality.","Alternatively, the models may each represent smaller groups down to an individual pixel in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention where a very high degree of locality is desired.","Region-Based Style Transfers Region-based style transfer may be used in accordance with some embodiments of the invention.","A process for generating a region-based loss function in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.","7.A process 700 may generate a mask with one or more regions for both of the source content and source style images (710).","In accordance with various embodiments, the regions may be determined by a user and received as a manual input of the user into the system.","In accordance with many embodiments, processes may generate the regions of the mask through a neighbor matching process and/or other similar process for structure identification.","The process 700 applies the masks to each image and determines a region of the mask associated with each pixel in each of the images (715).","The process 700 assigns each pixel to the region determined to be associated with the pixel (720).","The process 700 then generates parametric models for each of the identified regions of the masks from the pixels associated with the regions (725) and may add the generated parametric model for each region to an array of matrices stored in memory.","In accordance with many embodiments, the mask value of each pixel may be used to index the pixel into the proper parametric model in the array for use in the style transfer process described above.","Images that illustrate a region-based style transfer process performed on the images of Brad Pitt and Picasso's self-portrait 601 and 602 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention are shown in FIG.","8.In region-based style transfer, distinct features of an image can be clustered together.","As shown by image 802, Picasso's portrait from image 602 is segmented into a few distinct regions.","For example, the eyes may be one region with the lips, nose, hair, skin shirt and background each being in their own regions.","A mask 802 may be applied over image 602 to identify the region that contains each pixel in the image 602.Likewise, a mask shown in image 801 may be applied to the image 601 of Brad Pitt to identify the pixels that belong to each of the identified regions of the image 601.Although processes that provide region-based loss functions in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide region-based loss functions in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Uniform Segments Style Transfer In accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention, a uniform segment style transfer process may be performed.","In uniform segment style transfer, the images are divided into uniform segments.","The images of Brad Pitt and Picasso's self-portrait divided into uniform segments in accordance with an embodiment of the invention that uses uniform segments are shown in FIG.","9.A process for performing uniform style transfer in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.","10.As shown in images 901 and 902 of FIG.","9, a process 1000 of FIG.","10 divides each image into a grid of regions or cells (1005).","In particular, images 901 and 902 are divided into grids of 8×8 cells in the shown embodiment.","However, any number of cells may be used in grids, for example 16×16 and 20×20 grids, in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention.","Each cell is associated with an individual parametric model of a localized loss function (1010).","In many embodiments, the generated parametric models can be added (1015) to an array of models for each image.","In accordance with some embodiments, an individual parametric model may be associated (1020) with groups of cells that are determined by similarity of the cells or by some other manner.","After the parametric models are generated, the parametric models may be used as a descriptor for nearest neighbor matching of the pixels in associated cell(s).","The nearest neighbor matching binds cells together so that each cell in the content image is optimized more closely resemble a cell in the style image that is determined to most closely approximate the cell as shown in FIG.","11.In FIG.","11, a cell 1101 in the image 901 is optimized to a cell 1102 in the image 902.In accordance with some embodiments, one or more cells in the style image that most closely approximate a cell in the content image may be identified by determining the cell(s) in the style image that has a minimum L2 distance between its parametric model and the parametric model of the cell in the content image.","In accordance with certain embodiments, the optimizing processes for all of the cells in the content image are performed in parallel.","Although processes that provide uniform segment style transfer in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide segment-based style transfer in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Per Pixel Style Transfer In accordance with particular embodiments of the invention, each pixel is a local region.","Images that show the association between pixels in a source content image and a source style image in accordance with a certain embodiment of this invention are shown in FIG.","12.In accordance with many embodiments, a parametric model of a localized style loss function is generated for each pixel in the content image cell 1201 and the style image cell 1202.A process for generating localized style loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.","13.The process 1300 includes gathering a neighborhood of pixels surrounding each particular pixel in the source content image (1305).","A group of pixels in the source style image that are associated with the neighbor pixels of each particular pixel is determined (1310).","In accordance with sundry embodiments, a pre-computed nearest neighbor set may be used to associate each pixel in the content image with a pixel in the source style image.","The group of pixels in the source style image associated with the neighborhood of each particular pixel is used to generate the parametric model of the localized style loss function that the particular pixel is optimized toward (1315).","Although processes that provide per pixel-based style transfer in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide per pixel-based style transfer in accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","From the above descriptions of the various transfer strategies, one may see that regional segment style transfer is simple and fast compared to the other transfer strategies.","However, the regional segment style transfer can be imprecise, whether a human or a CNN is used to determine how the parametric models are generated.","The cell transfer can differ from the regional transfer in that many more parametric models are generated and the matrices themselves are used to determine the correspondence of features.","The per pixel approach is typically the most precise and the slowest possible transfer strategy because the amount of computations needed is increased by generation of a parametric model for each particular pixel from patches of pixels around the particular pixel.","The increase in computations stems from the fact that in the other approaches each of the pixels in an image contribute to one parametric model and in the per pixel approach each pixel contributes to the parametric model of each of the neighboring pixels.","Furthermore, it is noted that various other embodiments may select certain other manners in determining local regions to refine the trade-off between speed and/or memory versus accuracy.","Localizing for Content Loss In accordance with particular embodiments, content loss can be used for the transfer process instead of style loss.","The difference is that style loss attempts to be stationary and content loss does not.","For purposes of this discussion, stationary means that the location of a pixel is the main factor influencing what the pixel should look like.","The content loss function can be simple in accordance with some embodiments in that the L2 (or Euclidian) distance is summed for each pixel in the synthesized image to each pixel at the same location in the content image.","The goal of content loss, on the other hand, is to reproduce the “structure” of the content image (image 1401 of FIG.","14 showing the Golden Gate Bridge) while allowing the nonstructural aspects of the image to mutate towards resembling the style image (image 1402 of FIG.","14 showing Starry Night).","In accordance with other known transfer processes, one may assume that the deeper layers of the network represent the higher order image features, so by maintaining a low error between content and synthesis deeper in the network but allowing the style to be optimized at the shallow layers, a balance is reached between the style and content.","However, these processes often do not regularly provide compelling results.","A problem with using a global content loss in a style transfer process may be that all of the regions of the content image may not be equally as important in terms of key shapes and structures in the image.","For instance, in FIG.","15, image 1501 of the Golden Gate Bridge, the low-importance content features including the low frequency sky and ocean are given a high enough content loss to overpower the style contribution and stop large, swirly clouds and stars from forming.","In parallel, the high-importance content features including the bridge are largely being distorted by the style image.","This makes the high-importance content features lose fine scale qualities such as the cable stretching from tower to tower.","Furthermore, the tower in the background is more distorted than the larger tower in the foreground because the tower in the background is smaller in terms of image size.","However, the tower in the background is not less important than the tower in the foreground in terms of content as the tower is a key structure in the image.","Style transfer processes that use localized content loss functions in accordance with some embodiments of the invention may provide weights to each pixel based on the amount that the pixel contributes to a key shape or structure in the image.","However, “content” can be a poorly defined concept with respect to art as “content is subjective and can be subject to personal interpretation.","As such, the process for localizing content loss in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is based on the following observations about “content.” For the purposes of determining the contribution of a pixel to content, one may observe that flat, low frequency regions of an image generally do not contribute to the content of the image (for purposes of human perception) while high frequency regions generally are important contributors to the content.","Therefore, style transfer processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention may use a Laplacian Pyramid of black and white versions of the content image (Images 1601-1604 in FIG.","16) to determine content loss weights for each pixel in the image being synthesized where the high frequency pixels (whiter pixels) have a higher influence on content than low frequency pixels (darker pixels).","Alternatively, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) trained on image classification tend to learn kernels at the deeper levels of the network that recognize shapes which are structurally meaningful to humans.","Therefore, the magnitude of feature vectors produced from the content image deep in the network can also be used as a scaling factor for the content loss itself.","The difference between the use of global style loss and global content loss is shown by the images shown in FIG.","17.An image 1701 shows an image generated using global style loss and an image 1702 shows an image generated using global content loss starting from noise and use the respective global loss functions to generate the final image.","The image 1701 illustrates global style loss with no content loss producing a “texturized” version of the style image (Starry Night).","Image 1702, on the other hand, introduces global content loss to the texturized version and the texturized version of Starry Night is reshaped into the form of the Golden State Bridge but with the flaws identified above.","The difference between the use of a global content loss functions and the use of localized content loss functions determined using a Laplacian Pyramid in accordance with a certain embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.","18.An image 1801 is the same as the image 1702 and introduces global content loss to the texturized version of the image, and an image 1802 introduces local content loss based upon a Laplacian Pyramid to the texturized version instead of the global content loss.","The features in the image 1802 emerge (i.e.","the bridge and the land) while the rest of the image reproduces the texture of Starry Night more accurately.","Although previous processes may start from noise, noise does not have to be the starting point in some embodiments of this invention.","The logic of starting from noise may be that noise often produces a slightly different version of the transfer each time.","In accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention, CNN backpropagation may be used to provide a style transfer process using global and/or local content loss.","The use of CNN backpropagation can allow the image to be thought of as a point in a super-high dimensional space (a dimension for each color channel in each pixel of the image).","The optimization process is a gradient descent optimization that pulls an image at that point through the image's high dimensional space toward a new point that is within a small region of the high dimensional space that is considered “good output.” The force that pulls the image may be the combined loss function for style and content as well as optimizing towards a local minimum of the function, depending on where the noise commences in this space.","Alternatively, the optimization process may be started from the content image instead of noise in accordance with a number of embodiments.","Using the standard approach, the use of the content image to start may not offer an advantage because the content loss may begin from an optimal position and play a more aggressive “tug of war” against the style loss resulting in an image that has more content and less style.","In summary, when starting from noise, both loss functions (content and style) are often very bad and move together toward a mutually optimal choice for most of the processes whereas, when starting from the content image, the two loss functions are often fighting against each other during the entire process, and that may return a less than pleasing result.","The use of content loss in style transfer processes in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention has certain advantages that known style transfer processes typically have previously overlooked.","If the content loss is removed from the function leaving only style loss, a texturized version of the image (as shown in FIG.","19, image 1901) is generated with the subtle difference that the content image (i.e.","the starting point in high dimensional space) exists in a local minimum within the space of all possible versions of the texturized version of the style image.","As such, starting at the content image and removing the content loss causes the process to start at a point in space that is the content image and move away from this point in the high dimension space to a point that is pure style, but the process arrives at a local minimum that represents both style and content in a much better localized ratio than is typically produced by known processes as shown in an image 1901 of FIG.","19.The image 1901 was generated by starting at the content image of the Golden Gate Bridge and then optimizing using only style loss so that the image mutated to better resemble “Starry Night” until the process reached a local minimum.","This produces better results than previously known style transfer processes.","However, the results may be improved by re-introducing localized content loss instead of global content loss that results in image 1902.This approach addresses the problem of removing content loss completely by trying to reach a local minimum in the optimization process that does not cause key structures (e.g.","the cables on the bridge and the tower in the background) to be mutated too much by the style loss and lose the distinguishing characteristics of these structures.","By re-introducing local content loss in accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the mutation of structurally important aspects of the content too far in the style direction may be reduced leading to an optimization process that reaches a more desirable local minimum.","Localized style and content loss are also applicable within a feedforward texture synthesis and style transfer algorithm and are not limited to an optimization framework using backpropagation.","Although processes that provide style transfer using global and/local content loss in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide style transfer using global and/or local content loss in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Localized Style Loss for Artistic Controls In accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention, CNN-based image synthesis processes separate multiple textures in an image into multiple models to determine localized loss.","To do so, processes in accordance with many embodiments receive an index mask for the source texture or style image and an index mask for the synthesized image.","In accordance with a number of embodiments, each mask is input by a user.","Each mask may include M indices.","This may sometimes be referred to as a “painting by numbers” process.","A process for determining localized loss using masks in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.","20.A process 2000 applies the mask for the source image to the source image to determine the pixels that belong to each of the M indices (2005) and the mask to the synthesized image to determine the pixels that belong to each of the M indices of the synthesized mask.","A parametric model is generated for each of the M indices of the source style mask from the pixels that belong to each of the M matrices (2010).","The indices of the synthesized output may be tracked though an image pyramid for coarse-to-fine synthesis (2015).","During synthesis, the previous losses are modified to be spatially varying (2020).","In accordance with many embodiments, spatially varying Gram/Covariance matrix and histogram losses may be imposed where the style Gram/Covariance matrices and histograms vary spatially based on the output index for the current pixel.","Histogram matching is then performed (2025).","In accordance with several embodiments, the histogram matching may be performed separately in each of the M regions defined by the indexed masks.","Blending of adjacent regions may then be performed (2030).","In accordance with a number of embodiments, the bending of adjacent regions can be automatically performed during backpropagation.","In accordance with certain embodiments of CNN-based image synthesis, it is important to note that often the style and content source images contain sets of textures that are semantically similar and should be transferred to each other.","An example of this is shown in FIG.","21.FIG.","21 also shows images synthesized in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention and images generated using other processes.","In FIG.","21, images 2101 an example of controllable parametric neural texture synthesis.","Original images are on the left, synthesis results on the right; corresponding masks are above each image.","Rows of images 2105, 2110 and 2115 are examples of portrait style transfer using painting by numbers.","Rows of images 2110 and 2115 show style transfer results for an embodiment of the invention on the far right as compared to images generated by another process in middle.","The images can show that processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention may preserve fine-scale artistic texture better.","However, processes in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention may also transfer a bit more of the person's “identity,” primarily due to hair and eye color changes.","Implementation Details of CNN Based Image Synthesis Systems that Use Histograms In accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention, the CNN used may be a VGG-19 network pre-trained on the ImageNet dataset.","In accordance with many embodiments, layer Rectified Linear Unit (relu) 1_1, relu 2_1, relu 3_1 and relu 4_1 may be used for Gram losses.","The histogram losses may be computed only at layers relu 1_1 and relu 4_1 in a number of embodiments.","Content loss is computed only at relu 4_1 In accordance with several embodiments.","Furthermore, the total may only be performed on the first convolutional layer to smooth out noise that results from the optimization process.","In accordance with particular embodiments, the images are synthesized in a multi-resolution process using an image pyramid.","During synthesis, the process begins at the bottom of the pyramid that can be initialized to white noise, and after each level is finished synthesizing, a bi-linear interpolation is used to upsample to the next level of the pyramid.","Although CNN-based image synthesis systems in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other configurations of the CNN-based systems that add, modify and/or remove portions of the CNN in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are possible.","Controlling Age Appearance within Parametric Models The apparent realism and/or quality of a synthesized image can be improved by applying synthetic weathering.","Textures that display the characteristics of some weathering processes may incorporate a collection of multiple textures consolidated into one weathered texture.","As such, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention may provide a new approach for controlling the synthesis of these complex textures without having to separate the textures into different parametric models.","This may be achieved by directly controlling the synthesis process by strategically waxing and waning specific parameters in the model to create new outputs that express different ratios of desired features to control the appearance of age for certain textures.","Identifying Age Features within Exemplar Images A separate but entangled problem to controlling age appearance during synthesis is first identifying which features in the input exemplar image display characteristics of age and to what degree.","In accordance with sundry embodiments, user-created masks that delineate feature age may be received and used to identify the features.","Processes in accordance with many embodiments may use an automatic clustering approach to segregate different textures.","Still other processes in accordance with a number of embodiments may use a patch-based method that uses the average feature distance between a patch and its K nearest neighbors as a metric for “rarity” that may be interpreted as age.","This method is based on the assumption that features created by the weathering process are highly random and have a low chance of finding a perfect match caused by the same process.","However, there may be a limitation in the patch-based approach when a texture has rare features that are not a product of age, such as knots in wood.","In accordance with several embodiments, a CNN may be trained to learn and identify weathered features for a multitude of weathering types.","Processes for Controlling Aging Once weathered regions in an image have been identified, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention can extract a parametric model for each region.","The desired age can be produced as a linear combination of the separate models.","In the simplest case, weathering may just be an interpolation between a Young and Old parametric model as follows: Page=Y*(1−age)+O*(age) (13) This naive approach cannot generate fully young or fully old textures due to the large receptive fields common in CNN architectures mixing the two parametric models.","To circumvent this problem, processes in accordance with many embodiments may introduce a “transition” parametric model built from the bordering pixels between young and old regions.","To do so, processes in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention may dynamically generate masks for each layer of the network corresponding to the receptive field.","Examples of a mask are shown in FIG.","22 where black is used to delineate the young model, white for the old model and grey for the transition model.","With specific regard to FIG.","22, (a) indicates an input texture image, (b) indicates a mask delineating young and old textures, (c)-(f) indicate different receptive fields measured in terms of layers of rectified linear units for the Gram losses in texture synthesis and style transfer.","The aging process in accordance with some embodiments then may become a two-step process where, first, Young to Transition is synthesized and then Transition to Old is synthesized.","This strategy works for textures that completely change from one material to a completely different material as the textures age.","However, weathering often damages or deforms a young material rather than transforming it into a completely different material (e.g.","scratching, cracking, peeling).","Therefore, it is typical that a young model should not contain old features, but the old model should contain young features.","In this scenario, the old and transition regions may be combined into a single combined parametric model.","Aging processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention may use a simple strategy for determining whether the transition and old models should be combined or not.","The strategy is based upon the observations that when generating the transition masks as shown in FIG.","22, the transition region becomes larger for deeper layers of the network.","Therefore, if at some layer in the network the transition region completely replaces either a young or an old region, the processes assign that region into transition model at all layers of the network.","Thus, the transition region can effectively “annex” other features if the features are too small to justify having their own parametric model.","Given the introduction of a third “transition” model, the equation (12) above no longer suffices.","In addition to the three-model system, processes in accordance with a number of embodiments may extend the algorithm to account for an arbitrary number of parametric models for complex aging scenarios.","When more than two age models are present, there are two equally appropriate synthesis strategies.","First, each parametric model can have an age assigned to it between 0 and 1.In the first strategy used by processes in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention, a list of N parametric models is sorted by age value from smallest to largest giving N−1 pairs of models to linearly interpolate between.","These interpolations are sequentially chained such that the youngest model is the Y model and the next youngest is the O model.","Once the old texture is fully synthesized, set the Y model to the O model and replace the O model with the next youngest model.","The process may then iterate until all of the parametric models have been processed.","In the second strategy used by a few embodiments, all N parametric models may be combined in parallel.","This results in a single parametric model that is a combination of an arbitrary number of models in any proportion.","Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform aging in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that perform aging in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Continuous Weathering Once a new texture is synthesized at a starting age, it can be a simple process to continue the optimization while iteratively replacing the combined parametric model to reflect a new age.","CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention may use this approach to synthesize smoothly varying animations from one age to another.","Since a new parametric model for texture or “style” is introduced, and the optimization process starts from a prior model that represents the desired content, this process can be considered a special type of style transfer process where the style transfer process is a useful way to frame the problem.","One complication to note is that changing the parametric model can cause a subtle mutation of features that should otherwise be static.","While the ultimate goal is to replace young features with old ones, it is also possible for the young features to mutate into new but equally young-looking features due to the parametric model being in flux.","In addition, old features may continue to optimize once they are synthesized, breaking the illusion of an aging process.","In order to stabilize non-transitional features, processes in accordance with many embodiments introduce a new component, a multi-target localized content loss.","In the most basic case, there are only young and old regions in a texture.","In order to avoid the continuous mutation effect, these processes may introduce a new content loss strategy that applies different targets to local regions.","These processes may begin by first synthesizing a full image for each of the two parametric models to be used as multiple content images.","For each local point in the synthesis image, the processes may dynamically choose which content loss to apply based on a “parametric heat map.” To generate the parametric heat map, the mean of a parametric model is subtracted from each pixel of the model and the co-activations to form a covariance matrix for that individual feature.","In accordance with a number of embodiments, this may be performed in the rectified linear units for the Gram losses in texture synthesis and style transfer for layer 4 (relu_4) of the VGG-19 network.","Next, the L2 distance between this covariance matrix and the covariance matrix component of the young and old parametric models is found for each pixel.","The parametric model that has the lowest error can be used to compute the content loss for the pixel using the corresponding content image.","Alternatively, processes in accordance with a few embodiments implement this approach by generating a new single content image by choosing pixels from the different content images using the lowest error mask.","As can readily be appreciated, the specific approach that is pursued is typically dependent upon the requirements of a given application.","Controlling Weathering Through “Painting by Numbers” Continuously updating a single parametric model can lead to natural weathering patterns.","However, it is difficult to manually control this process.","As an alternative weathering approach, processes in accordance with sundry embodiments extend the painting by numbers strategy presented above where masks are directly drawn or procedurally generated which direct young, old and transition textures to different regions of the synthesis image over time.","The ability to procedurally control a weathering process may be important for many textures where different regions can be affected by different environmental conditions in a 3D scene.","Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that control weathering through “painting by numbers” in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that control weathering through “painting by numbers” in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Continuous Multiscale Aging In accordance with sundry embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes re-purpose style transfer to generate a continuous and progressive aging/de-aging process in a multiscale pyramid framework.","Style transfer may be considered an extension to texture synthesis in which a second content image is introduced to guide the optimization process.","Processes in accordance with many embodiments use the same concept to synthesize time sequences in a multiscale pyramid framework.","These processes may bootstrap the animation by synthesizing the first frame in the sequence using the strategy described above.","After the first frame is generated, subsequent frames can be created by using the frame before as a prior frame.","As such, at any given point in time, two image pyramids are stored in memory, the pyramid for the previous frame and the pyramid for the current frame being synthesized.","The synthesis order is illustrated in FIG.","23.As the multiple image sizes may be synthesized in parallel, processes in accordance with a number of embodiments may store an optimizer state for each pyramid level.","When synthesizing the first frame in the sequence, the base of the pyramid may use white noise as a prior frame to start the synthesis and then each subsequent pyramid level starts from the final result of the previous level that is bi-linearly re-sized to the correct resolution.","For all subsequent frames synthesized, a new image pyramid may be synthesized.","In accordance with a number of embodiments, the first level of the new pyramid uses the first level of the previous frame as a prior image.","For higher layers in the pyramid, the same layer from the previous frame is used as a prior image and a content loss is introduced by re-sizing the previous layer in the same frame, this content image can be seen as a blurry version of the desired result.","This process is conceptually illustrated in FIG.","23 where image 5 is synthesized using image 2 as a prior and image 4 is re-sized and used as a content image to guide the process.","By synthesizing a sequence of images in this manner CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with some embodiments achieve the same benefits as synthesizing a single image using the pyramid strategy.","However, the fidelity of larger structures may be improved, noise artifacts may be reduced and synthesis speed may be improved.","Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform continuous multiscale aging in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that perform continuous multiscale aging in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Transferring Weathered Patterns from External Exemplars Arguably, it is more useful sometimes to transfer the weathering effects of one material “W” onto another material “C.” This is a more difficult problem as the parameters within W that represent aged features must be completely extracted and isolated from the parameters that encode the underlying texture.","The only way to do this accurately is to give every pixel a high fidelity age scoring.","While, other systems may be able to accomplish this through a nearest neighbor search, this approach is too coarse and approximate to accurately transfer weathering.","Also, some of these other processes may rank pixels based on how unique the pixels are within the image.","To perform transferring of weathering patterns in accordance with several embodiments of the invention, pixels may also need to be ranked based on which distinct features they contribute to and by how much.","CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with particular embodiments can accomplish this using the heat-map approach presented in the previous section on continuous weathering.","However, rather than finding the best match among all parametric models, Processes performing weather transfer keep a separate L1 distance score between each parametric model.","Thus, these processes may discriminate on a pixel-by-pixel basis to determine the pixels in a weathered region that contribute to the actual age artifacts and to what degree.","Given a region of image W with age features as well as transition features and the resulting parametric model, the goal is to remove any features that are not the desired “aged” features and replace these features in the correct proportion with the target parametric model of C. To do so, processes in accordance with many embodiments normalize an L1 distance to each parametric model between 0 and 1 and invert the result so that a region in the synthesized image that strongly matches with a parametric model will receive a score close to 1 and regions that do not match receive a score closer to 0.For a parametric model that should be removed from the mixture, processes in accordance with a number of embodiments compute a mean activation of the model (note, co-activations are not used for this process as the features become very difficult to de-tangle).","For each pixel, the processes may multiply the mean activation by the local L1 distance to that parametric model and subtract it from the activations at this target pixel to remove those features in their correct proportion from neural activations of the pixels.","The processes may take the mean activations from the new parametric model from image C and multiply it by the same L1 distance to determine an activation value.","The activation value is then added to the target pixel in W to replace the young features in the original image with young features from a new image where the weathered features are being introduced.","After the texture has been updated, the processes can now perform weathering on image W using the processes described above.","Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that transfer weathered patterns from external exemplars in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that transfer weathered patterns in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Combining Optimization and Feedforward Parametric Texture Synthesis for Fast, High Resolution Syntheses Neural network-based texture synthesis processes can be grouped into two categories based on their underlying algorithmic strategy.","These include optimization-based and feedforward-based approaches.","Optimization-based approaches often produce superior quality but may be computationally expensive.","This often makes these processes impractical for real world applications.","Feedforward-based approaches were developed as a fast alternative to optimization.","This is achieved by moving the computational burden to the training phase rather than at run time.","While being fast, feedforward approaches are typically poor in quality and inflexible.","The first feedforward approach baked the transformation for a single texture into each network.","Later, several methods introduced the idea that multiple texture transformations could be baked into a single network.","One such method introduced the idea of interpolating between these styles by matching the statistics of deep neural activations from some content image to those of a style image.","In addition to baking style transformations into a network, another strategy has been to train an auto-encoder that uses the standard fixed pre-trained VGG network as an encoder with a decoder that is trained to invert VGG.","Style transfer can be achieved by directly modifying the activation values produced by the encoder so that they better match the style image.","One approach is to replace each feature vector from the content with its nearest neighbor in the style.","Impressive results can be achieved by transforming the content activations to better mimic the style activations through a whitening color transform (WCT), which is a linear transformation that is capable of matching covariance statistics.","While these methods have greatly improved the flexibility and quality of feedforward methods, they can still be inferior to optimization.","CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention use a coarse-to-fine multiscale synthesis strategy for neural texture synthesis.","These processes can achieve significant speedup over previous optimization methods by performing a majority of iterations on small images early in the process and the further the processes move up the pyramid, the less iterations are used to maintain the already established structure.","The use of multiscale pyramid based synthesis is not only computationally cheaper as the processes move up the pyramid, but the problem formulation actually changes.","Rather than performing texture synthesis or style transfer, the problem changes to Single Image Super Resolution (SISR) that takes an additional parametric texture model to help guide the up-resolution process.","As such, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention may utilize the optimization-based approach described above up until an arbitrary threshold (for example, around the 512×512 pixel size image, varies depending upon the requirements of a given application) and then switch to an arbitrary feedforward approach utilizing VGG encoding/decoding with activation transforms along the way.","Switching synthesis algorithms as the processes move up the pyramid can have additional benefits beyond speed.","Some CNN-based texture synthesis processes are only capable of generating RGB color textures, a standard that has been obsolete in the video game and movie industries for nearly 20 years.","Color textures have been replaced by “Materials” which consist of several maps encoding the fine scale geometry of the surface as well as parameters that direct how light interacts with each pixel.","By utilizing a nearest neighbor search from the previous pyramid level to the most similar feature in the style exemplar, the encoder/decoder process in accordance with a number of embodiments can both up-resolution the previous synthesis level while also decoding the entire material.","While it may be possible to train a new auto-encoder to process color images along with normal maps, roughness maps, etc.","this process would have to be done for every possible combination of maps.","This may be costly and awkward.","This approach may provide a more flexible and elegant solution.","Extending this concept to the arbitrary case, a method in accordance with several embodiments of the invention generates arbitrary material formats applied to any synthesis operation including, but not limited to, texture synthesis, time-varying weathering, style transfer, hybridization and super resolution.","This synthesis strategy involves using some color texture generated using another process as input.","In addition, an exemplar material is given as input, where this material contains at least one map that is similar in appearance and purpose as the input color map.","The input color map is then used as a guide to direct the synthesis of the full material.","This is done through a nearest neighbor search where a pixel/patch is found in one of the maps in the material that is similar to a pixel/patch in the input color image.","The pointer map resulting from the nearest neighbor search directs how to re-arrange all maps within the material and then each can be synthesized using this same new guiding structure.","These processes may be additionally attractive for style transfer because they are fully feedforward and the full resolution image can easily be broken up into deterministic windows that can be synthesized separately and stitched back together.","This allows processes in accordance with particular embodiments to synthesize arbitrarily sized images with minimal engineering.","Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that combine optimization and feed forward processes in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that combine optimization and feed forward processes in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","SISR for Renderings In accordance with certain embodiments, a style transfer process used to perform SISR may have applications for rendering.","SISR is an ill-posed problem where many high-resolution images can be downsampled to the same low-resolution result.","This one-to-many inversion is especially bad at reproducing texture because it targets inverting to an average of all the possible higher resolution images.","The latest trend in SISR is to train very deep (i.e.","many layered) artificial neural networks on a large dataset using adversarial training.","The high capacity of the deep network in conjunction with the adversarial training is meant to help reduce the loss of texture features.","Recent advances in rendering algorithms as well as advances in high-resolution displays has resulted in an associated rise in rendering costs.","The problem is that that there are more pixels and each pixel is more expensive to render.","In particular, the recent jump from 1080p to 4 k rendering has left many animation houses incapable of meeting market needs.","For small studios, the costs may be restrictive.","For large and famous studios, rendering at 4 k may also be challenging.","However, when rendering a movie or other video content, frames typically do not change significantly from one frame to the next.","Therefore, it can be assumed that the parametric model or high-resolution texture statistics extracted from one frame are probably also appropriate for guiding similar but slightly different frames.","Processes in accordance with some embodiments perform a video up-resolution strategy where the video content is rendered at a low resolution (LR).","From the LR source, the processes cluster frames together based on their feature statistics.","The mean frame from each cluster is determined and rendered at high resolution (HR).","The processes then perform the same guided LR to HR synthesis as proposed for video streaming, with the one important difference that in video streaming the HR statistics for each frame are known whereas for rendering similar HR statistics are shared across multiple frames.","Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform SISR for rendering in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that perform SISR for rendering in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Combining Parametric and Non-Parametric-Non-CNN Synthesis within Pyramid Frameworks Based on the processes described above, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention can use a nearest neighbor search between patches in the synthesized result to determine the most similar patches in the input exemplar in order to create a bridge between parametric CNN-based texture synthesis frameworks and many established non-parametric texture synthesis methods that do not require a neural network to operate.","The ability to tether a neural network approach on low-resolution images with non-neural network based methods higher in the synthesis pyramid can represent a “best of both worlds” solution between the two strategies.","CNN-based approaches, especially parametric methods may be better at producing creative new features at the cost of speed, memory and image quality (these methods may contain many noise artifacts).","Non-parametric models that do not rely on neural networks tend to shuffle around patches directly from the input exemplar.","As such, these approaches exhibit the inverse of these behaviors.","They are fast, low memory approaches that largely match the fine details of the input.","However, they are not as powerful at creating new shapes and features.","Although processes that combine parametric and non-parametric-non-CNN synthesis within a pyramid framework in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that combine parametric and non-parametric-non-CNN synthesis within a pyramid framework in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Although the present invention has been described in certain specific aspects, many additional modifications and variations would be apparent to those skilled in the art.","It is, therefore, to be understood that the present invention may be practiced otherwise than specifically described, including various changes in the implementation without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.","Thus, embodiments of the present invention should be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.","Dilated Network Architecture The examples disclosed above have largely been agnostic to network architecture and are transversal to many Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) architectures.","However, in addition to the examples above, the system in accordance with several embodiments of the invention implements a new network architecture for image synthesis that is particularly well suited to the problem.","In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, a combination of Pooling Layers, Strided Convolution Layers and Dilated Convolution Layers are used to arrange neurons into a hierarchical multiscale relationship.","Typically, image synthesis algorithms utilize pooling layers and sometimes strided convolution layers in order to form an image pyramid structure within the neural network architecture.","Typically, only one such strategy is used throughout the network architecture.","Recent work in image segmentation has achieved performance improvements utilizing a dilated convolutional network (https://arxiv.org/pdf/1511.07122.pdf—the disclosure of which related to dilated convolutional networks is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety), with a follow-up work showing that dilated convolution can also be used to learn image filters (http://vladlen.info/papers/fast-image-processing-with-supplement.pdf—the disclosure of which related to dilated convolutional networks is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety).","Dilated convolution is a similar concept to image stacks, first introduced for the purposes of image processing using signal and statistics based methods and later adapted for texture synthesis (Sylvain Lefebvre and Hugues Hoppe.","2005.Parallel controllable texture synthesis.","ACM Trans.","Graph.","24, 3 (July 2005), 777-786—the disclosure of which related to dilated convolutional networks is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety).","The image stack is a collection of image pyramids sampled from a single image at regular translation intervals.","Image stacks were developed to address the problem that the image pyramid data structure leads to discretization errors, e.g.","the same input image when translated could lead to very different downsampled results.","The image stack is effectively a translation invariant alternative to image pyramids.","It also follows that other types of symmetry transformations could also lead to similar discretization artifacts, e.g.","two otherwise identical images would produce very different averages at coarser levels of an image pyramid.","Other solutions to this problem include, but are not limited to, using a collection of image pyramids at different translations of an input image.","An image stack can extend this concept to the most extreme conclusion where every possible image pyramid configuration is extracted from the original image, and then packed together efficiently so that all redundant data is removed.","The efficient packing can be achieved using a “quadtree pyramid,” which was originally developed to accelerate an Approximate Nearest Neighbor (ANN) search utilizing KD-Trees.","However, an image stack re-orders the data into a tightly packed image where features remain coherent across scale levels.","The same data structure was actually first introduced a few years earlier by Masaki Kawase during a Game Developers Conference lecture for the purpose of blurring an image (slides published online by GDC, https://www.gamedev.net/forums/topic/615132-dof-basic-steps/Slides 15-18—the disclosure of which related to dilated convolutional networks is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety).","In an image pyramid structure, each level of the pyramid is typically half the resolution in each dimension as the previous level.","In an image stack structure, each level is the same resolution as the previous level.","In an image pyramid, samples are typically averaged together or combined in some way using a convolution kernel with a stride of 1, used uniformly at every pyramid level.","In an image stack, samples are typically averaged together or combined in some way using a convolution kernel with a stride of 2level where level is the number of scale factors relative to the original image.","This can be thought of as analogous to a downscaling transition in an image pyramid.","In summary, image pyramids both downsample and subsample an image.","While downsampling is a desirable operation, subsampling rarely is.","Image stacks get around this problem by downsampling without subsampling.","The same data structures and hierarchical relationships used for an image pyramid and an image stack can also be used for convolutional network architectures that utilize pooling layers or strided convolution as well as dilated convolution.","As such, the advantages/disadvantages of using a stack versus a pyramid in an image processing framework are transversal and carry over to a convolutional neural network architecture.","Replacing pooling or strided convolution with a dilated convolution will often yield superior image synthesis results.","Previous image synthesis methods using a Convolutional Neural Network have used some kind of pooling or dilated convolution strategy, thus they typically go through some form of subsampling operation followed by a supersampling operation.","In the optimization based framework, the feedforward pass is a subsampling pyramid operation as higher order features are extracted deeper in the network, then the generation of the new image is a supersampling process through backpropagation as gradients traverse upwards through the network to the higher resolution shallow layers.","In a feedforward architecture, many approaches are typically some form of auto-encoder or cascading image pyramid, both of which utilize some form of subsampled data and attempt to supersample it during the synthesis process.","In many embodiments of the invention, network architectures designed for image synthesis, which may rely on pooling or strided convolution to do downsampling, can be improved by using a dilated convolution architecture instead.","Therefore, the system in accordance with several embodiments of the invention makes use of dilated alternatives to such network architectures, as dilation is often a superior form of downsampling for image synthesis operations.","In addition, where a synthesis strategy also relies on the use of image pyramids (typically Gaussian pyramids) of the input data for additional multiscale synthesis, the system in accordance with some embodiments of the invention uses an image stack to replace the image pyramid (typically a Gaussian stack).","The dilated network strategy is particularly well suited for auto-encoders where the decoder network is a layer-wise inverter of the encoder network (i.e.","each layer in the encoder has a “mirror” layer in the decoder which inverts that layer as accurately as possible).","This particular network architecture is desirable for fast image synthesis because the encoder side of the network can distill an image into its most meaningful features, which can be modified in some way by another algorithm (e.g.","including, but not limited to, a whitening transform, histogram match, or nearest neighbor search).","The newly updated values can then be inverted by the decoder in order to produce a new image.","This synthesis strategy is attractive because it's much faster and more memory efficient than an optimization based approach.","It is however very difficult to implement because inverting a network that includes pooling is very difficult (historically literature has always used a pre-trained VGG network as the encoder).","Inverting pooling layers typically leads to blurring or other such supersampling artifacts.","Systems in accordance with many embodiments of the invention implement a dilated architecture as an alternative, which is easy and more accurate to invert on a layer-by-layer basis.","In many embodiments, a whitening transform, multiscale NNS search or histogram matching algorithm can continue to be applied to features at each network layer as they progress through the decoder.","Note that dilation shares the same drawback as the image stacks, it is a memory inefficient way to encode data, especially deeper in the network.","Previous texture synthesis approaches utilizing image stacks were generally limited to 256×256 pixels in resolution due to the high memory demands.","However, conventional images may have much higher pixel resolutions (e.g., up to or exceeding a 8192×8192 pixel resolution).","The size of these images can make the image stack representation too memory demanding.","Instead, processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention combine pooling or strided convolution layers at the shallow end of a convolutional neural network architecture with dilated convolution layers deeper in the network.","This “hybrid” network architecture exhibits the properties of a pyramid network up to a specific depth in the network and then switches to the properties of a dilated stack.","From a memory viewpoint, this is attractive because large images quickly get condensed into much smaller images for the majority of the network.","This is also a good compromise from an image processing viewpoint because the deeper layers of the network encode the complex shapes and patterns and thus need the highest resolution.","Shallow layers of the network only encode simple shapes and textures and don't require the same degree of network capacity.","This new network architecture can be visualized as an image stack with a pyramid sitting on top of it.","Although a specific pyramid-stack hybrid convolutional neural network architecture based on some combination of pooling, strided convolution and dilated convolution is used for image synthesis in a number of examples discussed above, in several embodiments of the invention, the pyramid-stack hybrid may be modified in a variety of ways, including (but not limited to) adding, removing, and/or combining components of the stack.","Image Hybridization Starting from a set of several source images within the same category, systems and methods in accordance with many embodiments of the invention can hybridize, or mix them together in a way that produces a new member from that category.","This is a follow-up work to Risser, Eric, et al.","“Synthesizing structured image hybrids.” ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG).","Vol.","29.No.","4.ACM, 2010.the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.","While this work is based on the same theories as the original approach, this version of image hybridization is re-designed from the ground up in order to utilize convolutional neural networks both for image description and as the machinery for performing synthesis.","The three key observations for image hybridization are: (1) instead of taking a small sample from an infinite plane of texture and synthesizing more of that infinite plane, grab a small sample across an infinite set within a “category” and synthesize more instances of that category, (2) structure exists across scales and should be observed across scales, and (3) manifesting structure from noise is difficult, so don't break structure in the first place.","CNN based image synthesis is an ideal approach for hybridizing images due to the CNN's ability to learn and identify complex shapes and structures across multiple scales.","Unlike other image synthesis methods which can be improved by dilated convolution, but do not require it, hybridization is likely to produce poor results and artifacts if deeper layers of the CNN are subsampled.","Therefore, the input images can be passed in a feedforward manner through a dilated convolutional neural network to produce deep neural activations that have a 1-to-1 mapping with input image pixels.","The logic behind using a stack as opposed to a pyramid is that when performing coarse to fine synthesis, the texture built at a coarse level largely influences whether a local or global minimum will be found.","When a sub-optimal choice is made at the coarse level of the synthesis pyramid, synthesis will get stuck in a local min, so it is important to be very careful when synthesizing at the coarse level, in order to achieve a good result.","When doing stochastic texture synthesis, there are many local mins that are all very similar to the global min, so this is less of a concern.","When doing image hybridization though, most local minima are significantly worse than the global minimum and a small set of local minima surrounding the global minimum.","This can be tied to breaking versus preserving the global structure of the image.","The reason why stacks typically preserve global structure as opposed to pyramids is very simple.","Imagine the same picture of a face in image A and image B.","The only difference is that image B is transposed along the x axis.","When turning A and B into pyramids, the right eye is subsampled into a single pixel at a coarse level.","The same eye in image B, however, is spread across two pixels which also have features surrounding the eye, thanks to the transposed position drastically changing the quantization in the pyramid.","When synthesizing the texture at a coarse level, there are no good nearest neighbor matches between image A and B, the center of the eye is represented by a pixel in image A but image B only has the right and left sides of the eye as candidates to be linked to.","While it's theoretically possible to recover the eye feature at finer levels, this is a much harder problem and in practice rarely happens.","By using a stack, the system in accordance with many embodiments of the invention avoids quantization and maintains the maximum number of features to compare, drastically increasing the chance of finding good matches.","To bootstrap the synthesis process, choose one of the input images at random and pass it feedforward through a network.","Unlike the first step that extracts feature vectors for each exemplar, synthesis itself does not strictly require a dilated architecture.","Dilated versus strided convolution have their own benefits and weaknesses and are compared below.","The important thing to note is that the same convolution kernels used for extracting exemplar features typically must also be used during synthesis.","Luckily, a dilated architecture can be thought of as a collection of pyramid architectures, so the same set of kernels can be used in either strategy.","Many of the examples described herein refer to VGG-19 feature kernels pre-trained on the ImageNet dataset, however one skilled in the art will recognize that convolutional kernels from any network architecture trained on any dataset may be applied in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.","Hybridization, unlike other image synthesis operations, is a non-parametric process that relies on finding similar matching features between input and output images and building new images by re-combining sets of exemplar features into new configurations while tracking the global feature error between these new features being mixed and the original input features that they were derived from.","Note that hybridization can be performed in either an optimization or feedforward based synthesis strategy.","In either case, the key aspect of image hybridization is to algorithmically generate new activations at different levels of the network which combine the activation features extracted from the input images into new hybrid configurations.","Before we describe how these new hybrid configurations are generated, we'll identify how they are used to synthesize new images.","When performing optimization based synthesis, an input image (typically noise, but it could be anything) is iteratively updated to minimize some loss function.","The “hybrid loss” function is the summed L2 distance between each pixel in the current image being synthesized and the hybrid activation maps at a given layer.","This is the same strategy as the “content loss” described above, however, whereas the content loss was taken directly from an input image, the “hybrid loss” is a new activation map that is generated by recombining activation features taken from different input images.","In the original image synthesis work, content loss is only used at RELU4_1, so that it does not overpower style loss at shallow layers of the network.","Hybridization in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention incorporates a style loss in order to perform style transfer combined with hybridization all in one operation.","Alternatively, in several embodiments, the basic hybridization algorithm assumes that there is no style loss.","Therefore, hybrid loss can be used at multiple layers in the network.","Feedforward networks on the other hand do not perform an optimization process turning one image into another, instead they transform an image into a new image.","Therefore, using the dilated auto-encoder network described above, the encoder portion is run on all input images, their features are hybridized in the middle of the network using another process, and then this hybridized set of activation values are inverted by the decoder.","Note that in both optimization and feedforward synthesis, the results of hybridizing deep features in the network can be passed up to shallow layers and then become further hybridized through another hybridization step.","In order to describe the process in which activation maps are reconfigured to produce hybrid activation maps, it is helpful to first introduce the concept of feature space.","The idea behind feature space is that similar visual features in the image will map to points in feature space that are close to each other in terms of Euclidean distance, while very different looking features will be very far away from each other.","The neural network in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is a feature descriptor and converts a neighborhood of raw pixel values into a single point in a high dimensional feature space.","Given this background, the creation of hybrid activations for a layer can be explained.","Given the layer activations for one of the random input images, the goal is to traverse every pixel location in the layer and replace the current feature vector at that location with a new feature vector taken from some other pixel location in that layer or from some pixel location taken from another input image's neural activations at that layer.","This can be done through a two-step process where the process introduces randomness or “jitter” and then “corrects” any artifacts or broken structures caused by the jitter.","In certain embodiments, the process optionally pre-computes k-nearest neighbors between each input image and every other input image as a part of an acceleration strategy.","In the next phase, for each pixel in the image being synthesized, the process in accordance with many embodiments of the invention gathers k nearest neighbors from the input exemplars.","In certain embodiments, the process divides up the k samples equally across all the exemplars.","In a number of embodiments, the distance metric used for these KNNs is the L2 distance between feature vectors at the neural network layer of interest.","This is equivalent to transforming all of the image data into points in high dimensional feature space.","Around each synthesis feature point, the process in accordance with some embodiments of the invention gathers the cluster of exemplar feature points surrounding it, such that the process samples the same number of points from each exemplar.","The next step is to sort these K nearest neighbors from smallest to largest distance.","In certain embodiments, the one parameter exposed to the user is a “jitter slider” that goes from 0-1 (or an equivalent linear or non-linear range), where 0 should produce one of the original inputs and 1 should be the maximum hybridization and mutation.","Therefore, the 0-1 range is mapped to the min distance and max distance of the closest to farthest neighbors.","Depending on the jitter setting, the process in accordance with many embodiments of the invention gathers the K nearest neighbors with distances less than the jitter value and randomly selects one of them to update the synthesis patch with.","This is akin to constraining noise.","Instead of starting from noise and trying to recover structure from it (which is very difficult), instead the process in accordance with a number of embodiments starts from pure structure (i.e.","the input) and adds noise strategically and intelligently in order to not break the structure to a degree from which it cannot be recovered.","To this end, the process in accordance with several embodiments of the invention adds noise or randomness in “feature space” rather than color space or image space as is typical for these types of algorithms.","This strategy adds noise in feature space, which essentially allows the process to randomize the image in a way that preserves the important structures of the image.","This operation can be performed at one or more convolution layers within the CNN.","After jitter is used to modify the details of the new image being synthesized, the second step “correction” then “fixes” the image so that it maintains statistical similarity to the exemplar input.","For each n×n neighborhood of synthesized neural activation vectors (where n×n could be any size, including 1×1 e.g.","a single element vector), correction seeks out the neighborhood of neural activation vectors in any exemplar that has the lowest L2 distance.","The current synthesis neural activation vector is then replaced with that closest exemplar neural activation vector.","The correction scheme is based on coherence (Ashikhmin, Michael.","“Synthesizing natural textures.” Proceedings of the 2001 symposium on Interactive 3D graphics.","ACM, 2001—the relevant disclosure from which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety), which states that nearest neighbor selection is not always the best method for finding perceptual similarity.","Rather coherence, or the relationship between neighboring pixels, plays a large role in structure and perceptual similarity.","Therefore, the process in accordance with many embodiments of the invention introduces a bias so that exemplar activation vectors that form a coherent patch with the surrounding synthesis activation vectors are given a reduction in L2 distance.","This incentivizes the formation of coherent patches from the exemplar.","For both jitter and correction, the process in accordance with various embodiments of the invention can either perform a nearest neighbor search from the synthesis layer to the exemplar layers during runtime of the algorithm, or could pre-compute a candidate list of k-nearest neighbors from every exemplar feature to every other k exemplar feature.","Then, during synthesis, each activation vector also maintains a pointer to the exemplar activation vector that it is mimicking.","Whether pre-computing nearest neighbors, or finding them at runtime, a nearest neighbor searching algorithm that is designed with neural networks in mind is needed.","To this end, several embodiments in accordance with the invention use a nearest neighbor algorithm as described in U.S.","Provisional Application 62/528,372, entitled “Systems and Methods for Providing convolutional Neural Network Based Non-Parametric Texture Synthesis in Graphic Objects, filed on Jul.","3, 2017, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.","The synthesis process for an optimization based algorithm in accordance with some embodiments of the invention runs E input images through a dilated version of a CNN, resulting in a set of activation vectors for specific layers of interest (for the sake of VGG-19, these are RELU1_1, RELU2_1, RELU3_1 AND RELU4_1).","The synthesis process runs a randomly selected input image through either a dilated or un-dilated version of the CNN to produce the starting point for the hybrid activations.","The process runs a jitter pass and runs the standard neural optimization based synthesis method starting from some prior (typically noise) for several iterations of backpropagation until the prior has turned into a manifestation of the jittered activations at the deep layer.","The process then runs a correction pass on the activations at the coarsest layer in the network (for VGG-19, this is RELU4_1), thus producing the hybrid activations for that layer.","The process runs the standard neural optimization based synthesis method again for several iterations of backpropagation until the prior has turned into a manifestation of the hybrid activations at the deep layer.","Once the current level has converged, the process moves to the next most shallow layer of interest in the network (e.g.","RELU3_1 for VGG-19) and repeats the process, jitter and correct in order to find new hybrid activations for that layer to use as the target for hybrid loss and reruns the optimization process now only going to that layer and no farther down the network.","Repeat this process until the shallowest layer of interest is optimized.","The synthesis process for feedforward networks in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention runs all inputs through the encoder, producing the deep neural activations.","Before running the decoder, the process runs the jitter pass on one of the exemplars in order to randomize the features.","In order to correct, the process samples a neighborhood of activation vectors (at least 3×3) around each activation vector and performs the correction phase of the algorithm.","The jitter and correction phase can either use pre-computed nearest neighbor sets or run a full nearest neighbor search during the algorithm.","Once correction is finished, the process continues through the decoder, inverting the new hybrid layer.","This process can be repeated for each layer moving through the decoder or only run at target layers.","This is a tradeoff between algorithm speed and the scale at which features are hybridized.","Optimization based synthesis is slower than feedforward, however it achieves superior quality.","On Model Image Synthesis Using Convolutional Neural Networks In computer graphics, a 3D model is typically “texture mapped”.","For purposes of this discussion, “texture mapped,” means an image is wrapped over the surface of the 3D shape as shown in FIG.","24.3D models typically contain UV coordinates at each vertex which define the 2D parameterization of the 3D surface.","In FIG.","24, the left image displays the underlying geometry of the mesh 2401, the middle image shows the geometry with a texture mapped over the mesh 2402 and the image on the right shows what that texture 2403 looks like as a 2D mapping of a 3D surface.","We refer to synthesizing texture maps as “on-model synthesis.” Processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention integrate an on-model synthesis approach into the CNN approach.","To do so, these processes have to spread out atlas maps and build a gutter space of pointers re-directing to neighboring charts.","The CNN based synthesis approach in accordance with many embodiments of the invention relies on the process of convolution in which each pixel of the synthesis kernel is filtered based on a neighborhood of its surrounding pixels.","On-model synthesis introduces two complications on top of the standard synthesis approach in image space: (1) Flow field over a 3D model is generated using its curvature properties along with user guidance.","That flow field can then be projected as a 2D vector field in the parameterized texture space.","This flow field typically contains both directional components as well as scale components along each axis.","Rather than convolving the neural network along the image x and y axis unit vectors globally, each pixel now has its own local coordinate frame and scale.","(2) Because an arbitrary 3D surface cannot be mapped to a single plane, UV texture space is typically broken up into a set of “charts” where each chart covers a relatively flat portion of the model.","This adds another level of complication because texture colors that are coherent along the surface of the model are not coherent in texture space where we perform our convolutions.","To accommodate this, the process in accordance with many embodiments of the invention adds a gutter space of a few pixels in radius around each chart.","These gutter pixels store pointers to other charts in texture space that encode coherent pixels along the model's surface.","This additional pointer buffer is referred to as a “jump map”.","When performing convolution, rather than sampling directly from the image, the process in accordance with a number of embodiments first samples from the jump map which points to the image pixel that should be sampled.","Because texture space might have tightly packed charts, as a pre-process, the process in accordance with some embodiments spreads out the charts so that there is a gutter space of at least two pixels around each chart at the coarsest synthesis pyramid level plus however many pooling layers are passed through in the CNN.","Note that when using dilated convolution, the gutter space typically must be two to the power of the number of dilated convolutions.","Processes in accordance with some of these embodiments introduce an underlying vector field that frames the local orientation around each pixel.","As CNNs work by performing convolution across an image, the vector field directs the local orientation of the convolution.","Thus, these processes can bi-linearly interpolate sampling of neural activations from the previous layer.","Where the convolution kernel extends beyond the scope of an atlas chart, the gutter space of pointers redirects to another atlas chart.","During the back-propagation phase of the process, inverse mapping can be used in a manner similar to what is described above with respect to convolution.","This allows these processes to perform CNN image synthesis directly in UV space for on-model synthesis.","Thus far the algorithm described is designed to use a rectangular texture and a single model (with no relationship between the two) as input and synthesize a new image which maps into the model's unwrapped texture space, as shown in the FIG.","25, where texture 2501 is wrapped around mesh 2502.In this regard the input is still a rectangular image and the output uses the mesh as a canvas on which to paint over.","In many instances, a pre-textured mesh is given as input and the textures already parameterized into some UV space are used as the source data to feed an image synthesis process.","Processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention follow a similar approach.","These processes take this concept a step further and produce textures that conform to geometric shapes and the feature contents of that texture are guided by the underlying shape itself.","This results in image synthesis that can be applied on top of already textured meshes, and can also produce appearance transfer from one textured mesh onto another.","The goal of processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is to go one step further and provide an on-model texture synthesis scheme that allows the user to supply a fully textured model as the input exemplar (for example texture mapped mesh (2402)) instead of just a texture (2403), and apply that texture from the model onto a different untextured model.","The advantage to this approach is that a lot of useful information is represented by a textured mesh, including (but not limited to) the relationship between varying texture features and the underlying geometric shape on which they would typically exist.","Texture and shape are often not independent.","Instead, texture and shape are related.","Thus, by learning or associating the relationships between a texture and a shape to which the texture is applied, processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention can provide artists with more powerful and convenient tools.","There are two key ideas behind this approach in accordance with some embodiments of the invention.","The first is that deep neural activation features and their resulting parametric models for UV mapped textures should be calculated using the same vector field and jump map approach proposed above for the purposes of synthesis.","The second is to find a shape descriptor that is both effective as well as compatible with an image descriptor maintained by the system and the image based GPU accelerated framework upon which the system is built.","A key insight is that geometric shape information can be projected onto an image (i.e.","a regular grid) and the shape descriptor is able to work by sampling patches from this grid in order to maintain compatibility with the GPU framework.","Because it is desirable that geometric neighborhoods correspond to texture neighborhoods, it makes sense that the geometric projection into image space should match the texture unwrapping.","The only issue is that texture information can map to multiple portions of a single mesh.","As such, processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention utilize a texture parameterization that provides a 1-to-1 mapping between points on a model and pixels in a texture image.","This amounts to simply making copies of charts or chart regions that are pointed to from multiple polygons so that each polygon maps to its own region in texture space.","Once each point on the 3D surface of a mesh points to a unique pixel in image space, any arbitrary shape description, ranging from point location in 3D space to more sophisticated descriptors, can be fed into a CNN framework in order to learn local shape features using a CNN training process.","One such training approach could be mesh categorization, however, other training approaches such as mesh compression, feature clustering or upres could also be viable training strategies for learning meaningful shape features.","Condensed Feature Extraction Networks In several embodiments, a learning strategy for condensing networks that have been trained for purposes other than image synthesis allows for the production of new networks that are more efficient at extracting image features used for image synthesis.","Typically, VGG-19 pre-trained for image classification is used as a high quality, learned image descriptor for extracting out meaningful image features for the purposes of image synthesis.","Many networks designed for classification have been designed for a different and more difficult problem than texture feature extraction and often require more capacity than is needed for feature extraction.","VGG, for example, is computationally expensive to run, which can result in small images, long wait times and a reliance on expensive hardware.","One of the benefits of systems in accordance with various embodiments of the invention is to improve memory/speed performance, without sacrificing synthesis quality.","Again, for the purposes of image synthesis, VGG or some other network architecture trained on classification can be of interest on the basis that the kernels that were produced as a byproduct of the learning process for image classification can be useful in image synthesis.","For image synthesis, not all activation maps produced by a network are needed, only a small subset of those feature maps.","As such, there are layers in the network that are not used directly for image synthesis, rather blocks of layers are run between layers of interest.","In many embodiments, the number of hidden layers in a previously trained CNN can be reduced and/or the capacity of those hidden layers can be reduced.","The simplest strategy is to train a new network on image classification.","Unfortunately, if a new set of kernels for classification on a lower capacity network is learned, there's a good chance that there won't be enough capacity to perform classification as well as VGG and if the classification isn't as good then the resulting kernels might not do as good a job at feature extraction.","Rather than learning a leaner feature extraction network by reproducing the classification learning process, the learning strategy in accordance with many embodiments of the invention uses the activation maps produced by VGG (or some other artificial neural network) as the ground truth (since they will produce good synthesis results) and a network is trained to try and reproduce the input/output pairings using fewer neurons then VGG.","The assumption behind this condensed network learning strategy is that a reduction in network capacity has a larger effect on the quality of classification performance than it does on feature extraction for the purposes of image synthesis.","For example, if a small network approximates a VGG convolutional block at 95% accuracy at 25% VGG's neurons, that would introduce so much error that the classification results would be dramatically affected.","However, for the purposes of image synthesis, 95% accuracy would still find very good image features and synthesis quality would not be noticeably effected.","Stated another way, systems and methods in accordance with many embodiments of the invention utilize an artificial neural network with a specific number of neurons to learn a network that approximates the intermediate neural activations of a different network with a larger number (or the same number) of artificial neurons for the purposes of efficient image synthesis.","Although various processes for generating a geometric description map for convolutional neural network based texture synthesis are discussed above, many different systems and methods can be implemented in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.","It is therefore to be understood that the present invention may be practiced in ways other than specifically described, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.","Thus, embodiments of the present invention should be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.","Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiments illustrated, but by the appended claims and their equivalents."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"Systems and Methods for Providing Convolutional Neural Network Based Image Synthesis Using Stable and Controllable Parametric Models, a Multiscale Synthesis Framework and Novel Network Architectures\",\n \"Systems and methods for providing convolutional neural network based image synthesis using localized loss functions is disclosed.\",\n \"A first image including desired content and a second image including a desired style are received.\",\n \"The images are analyzed to determine a local loss function.\",\n \"The first and second images are merged using the local loss function to generate an image that includes the desired content presented in the desired style.\",\n \"Similar processes can also be utilized to generate image hybrids and to perform on-model texture synthesis.\",\n \"In a number of embodiments, Condensed Feature Extraction Networks are also generated using a convolutional neural network previously trained to perform image classification, where the Condensed Feature Extraction Networks approximates intermediate neural activations of the convolutional neural network utilized during training.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A system for generating a synthesized image including desired content presented in a desired style comprising: one or more processors; memory readable by the one or more processors; and instructions stored in the memory that when read by the one or more processors direct the one or more processors to: receive a source content image that includes desired content for a synthesized image, receive a source style image that includes a desired texture for the synthesized image, determine a localized loss function for a pixel in at least one of the source content image and the source style image, and generate the synthesized image by: optimizing a value of a pixel in the synthesized image to a content loss function of a corresponding pixel in the content source image and a style loss function of a corresponding pixel in the source style image wherein at least one of the corresponding pixels is the pixel that has a determined localized loss function and one of the content loss function and the source loss function is the determined localized loss function.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>With the growth and development of creative projects in a variety of digital spaces (including, but not limited to, virtual reality, digital art, as well as various industrial applications), the ability to create and design new works based on the combination of various existing sources has become an area of interest.\",\n \"However, the actual synthesis of such sources is a hard problem that raises a variety of difficulties.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Systems and methods for providing convolutional neural network based image synthesis are disclosed.\",\n \"In many embodiments, processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis may be performed by a server system.\",\n \"In accordance with several embodiments, the processes may be performed by a “cloud” server system.\",\n \"In still further embodiments, the processes may be performed on a user device.\",\n \"One embodiment is a system for generating a synthesized image including desired content presented in a desired style includes one or more processors, memory readable by the one or more processors.\",\n \"The system in accordance with some embodiments of the invention includes instructions stored in the memory that when read by the one or more processors direct the one or more processors to receive a source content image that includes desired content for a synthesized image, receive a source style image that includes a desired texture for the synthesized image, determine a localized loss function for a pixel in at least one of the source content image and the source style image, and generate the synthesized image by optimizing a value of a pixel in the synthesized image to a content loss function of a corresponding pixel in the content source image and a style loss function of a corresponding pixel in the source style image wherein at least one of the corresponding pixels is the pixel that has a determined localized loss function and one of the content loss function and the source loss function is the determined localized loss function.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the localized loss function is represented by a Gram matrix.\",\n \"In a further embodiment, the localized loss function is represented by a covariance matrix.\",\n \"In still another embodiment, the localized loss function is determined using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN).\",\n \"In a still further embodiment, the optimizing is performed by back propagation through the CNN.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment, the localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source style image.\",\n \"In a yet further embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to receive a mask that identifies regions of the style source image, determine a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions, and associate the localized loss function with the pixel.\",\n \"In another additional embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to group the pixels of the source style image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel, and associate the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel.\",\n \"In a further additional embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to determine a group of neighbor pixels for a pixel in the source content image, determine a group of corresponding pixels in the source style image associated with the group of neighbor pixels in the source content image wherein each of the group of corresponding pixels corresponds to one of the group of neighbor pixels and includes the pixel, and determine a local loss function for the group of corresponding pixels.\",\n \"In another embodiment again, the localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source content image.\",\n \"In a further embodiment again, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source content image direct the one or more processors to receive a mask that identifies regions of the source content image, determine a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions, and associate the localized loss function with the pixel.\",\n \"In still yet another embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to group the pixels of the source content image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel, and associate the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel.\",\n \"In a still yet further embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to determine a global content loss function for the source content image from the pixels of the source content image, determine a weight for the pixel indicating a contribution to a structure in the source content image, and apply the weight to the global content loss function to determine the localized loss function for the pixel.\",\n \"In still another additional embodiment, the weight is determined based upon a Laplacian pyramid of black and white versions of the source content image.\",\n \"In a still further additional embodiment, a localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source content image and a corresponding pixel in the source style image.\",\n \"In still another embodiment again, the optimization uses the localized loss function for the pixel in the source content image as the content loss function and the localized loss function of the pixel in the source style image as the style loss function.\",\n \"In a still further embodiment again, pixels in the synthesized image begin as white noise.\",\n \"In yet another additional embodiment, each pixel in the synthesized image begins with a value equal to a pixel value of a corresponding pixel in the source content image.\",\n \"In a yet further additional embodiment, the optimizing is performed to minimize to a loss function that includes the content loss function, a style loss function, and a histogram loss function.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment again, a method for performing style transfer in an image synthesis system where a synthesized image is generated with content from a source content image and texture from a source style image includes receiving a source content image that includes desired content for a synthesized image in the image synthesis system, receiving a source style image that includes a desired texture for the synthesized image in the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function a pixel in at least one of the source content image and the source style image using the image synthesis system, and generating the synthesized image using the image synthesis system by optimizing a value of a pixel in the synthesized image to a content loss function of a corresponding pixel in the content source image and a style loss function of a corresponding pixel in the source style image wherein at least one of the corresponding pixels is the pixel that has a determined localized loss function and one of the content loss function and the source loss function is the determined localized loss function.\",\n \"In a yet further embodiment again, the localized loss function is represented by a Gram matrix.\",\n \"In another additional embodiment again, the determining of a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image includes receiving a mask that identifies regions of the style source image in the image synthesis system, determining a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask using the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions using the image synthesis system, and associating the localized loss function with the pixel using the image synthesis system.\",\n \"In a further additional embodiment again, the determining a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image comprises grouping the pixels of the source style image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image using the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel using the image synthesis system, and associating the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel using the image synthesis system.\",\n \"In still yet another additional embodiment, determining of a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image includes determining a group of neighbor pixels for a pixel in the source content image using the image synthesis system, determining a group of corresponding pixels in the source style image associated with the group of neighbor pixels in the source content image wherein each of the group of corresponding pixels corresponds to one of the group of neighbor pixels and includes the pixel using the image synthesis system, and determining a local loss function for the group of corresponding pixels using the image synthesis system.\",\n \"Additional embodiments and features are set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the specification or may be learned by the practice of the invention.\",\n \"A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings, which forms a part of this disclosure.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS REFERENCED APPLICATION This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/694,677, filed Sep. 1, 2017 and claims priority to U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/383,283, filed Sep. 2, 2016, U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/451,580, filed Jan. 27, 2017, and U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/531,778, filed Jul.\",\n \"12, 2017.The contents of each of these applications are hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth herewith.\",\n \"FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention generally relates to image synthesis and more specifically relates to image synthesis using convolutional neural networks based upon exemplar images.\",\n \"BACKGROUND With the growth and development of creative projects in a variety of digital spaces (including, but not limited to, virtual reality, digital art, as well as various industrial applications), the ability to create and design new works based on the combination of various existing sources has become an area of interest.\",\n \"However, the actual synthesis of such sources is a hard problem that raises a variety of difficulties.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Systems and methods for providing convolutional neural network based image synthesis are disclosed.\",\n \"In many embodiments, processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis may be performed by a server system.\",\n \"In accordance with several embodiments, the processes may be performed by a “cloud” server system.\",\n \"In still further embodiments, the processes may be performed on a user device.\",\n \"One embodiment is a system for generating a synthesized image including desired content presented in a desired style includes one or more processors, memory readable by the one or more processors.\",\n \"The system in accordance with some embodiments of the invention includes instructions stored in the memory that when read by the one or more processors direct the one or more processors to receive a source content image that includes desired content for a synthesized image, receive a source style image that includes a desired texture for the synthesized image, determine a localized loss function for a pixel in at least one of the source content image and the source style image, and generate the synthesized image by optimizing a value of a pixel in the synthesized image to a content loss function of a corresponding pixel in the content source image and a style loss function of a corresponding pixel in the source style image wherein at least one of the corresponding pixels is the pixel that has a determined localized loss function and one of the content loss function and the source loss function is the determined localized loss function.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the localized loss function is represented by a Gram matrix.\",\n \"In a further embodiment, the localized loss function is represented by a covariance matrix.\",\n \"In still another embodiment, the localized loss function is determined using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN).\",\n \"In a still further embodiment, the optimizing is performed by back propagation through the CNN.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment, the localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source style image.\",\n \"In a yet further embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to receive a mask that identifies regions of the style source image, determine a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions, and associate the localized loss function with the pixel.\",\n \"In another additional embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to group the pixels of the source style image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel, and associate the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel.\",\n \"In a further additional embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to determine a group of neighbor pixels for a pixel in the source content image, determine a group of corresponding pixels in the source style image associated with the group of neighbor pixels in the source content image wherein each of the group of corresponding pixels corresponds to one of the group of neighbor pixels and includes the pixel, and determine a local loss function for the group of corresponding pixels.\",\n \"In another embodiment again, the localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source content image.\",\n \"In a further embodiment again, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source content image direct the one or more processors to receive a mask that identifies regions of the source content image, determine a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions, and associate the localized loss function with the pixel.\",\n \"In still yet another embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to group the pixels of the source content image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel, and associate the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel.\",\n \"In a still yet further embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to determine a global content loss function for the source content image from the pixels of the source content image, determine a weight for the pixel indicating a contribution to a structure in the source content image, and apply the weight to the global content loss function to determine the localized loss function for the pixel.\",\n \"In still another additional embodiment, the weight is determined based upon a Laplacian pyramid of black and white versions of the source content image.\",\n \"In a still further additional embodiment, a localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source content image and a corresponding pixel in the source style image.\",\n \"In still another embodiment again, the optimization uses the localized loss function for the pixel in the source content image as the content loss function and the localized loss function of the pixel in the source style image as the style loss function.\",\n \"In a still further embodiment again, pixels in the synthesized image begin as white noise.\",\n \"In yet another additional embodiment, each pixel in the synthesized image begins with a value equal to a pixel value of a corresponding pixel in the source content image.\",\n \"In a yet further additional embodiment, the optimizing is performed to minimize to a loss function that includes the content loss function, a style loss function, and a histogram loss function.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment again, a method for performing style transfer in an image synthesis system where a synthesized image is generated with content from a source content image and texture from a source style image includes receiving a source content image that includes desired content for a synthesized image in the image synthesis system, receiving a source style image that includes a desired texture for the synthesized image in the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function a pixel in at least one of the source content image and the source style image using the image synthesis system, and generating the synthesized image using the image synthesis system by optimizing a value of a pixel in the synthesized image to a content loss function of a corresponding pixel in the content source image and a style loss function of a corresponding pixel in the source style image wherein at least one of the corresponding pixels is the pixel that has a determined localized loss function and one of the content loss function and the source loss function is the determined localized loss function.\",\n \"In a yet further embodiment again, the localized loss function is represented by a Gram matrix.\",\n \"In another additional embodiment again, the determining of a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image includes receiving a mask that identifies regions of the style source image in the image synthesis system, determining a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask using the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions using the image synthesis system, and associating the localized loss function with the pixel using the image synthesis system.\",\n \"In a further additional embodiment again, the determining a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image comprises grouping the pixels of the source style image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image using the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel using the image synthesis system, and associating the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel using the image synthesis system.\",\n \"In still yet another additional embodiment, determining of a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image includes determining a group of neighbor pixels for a pixel in the source content image using the image synthesis system, determining a group of corresponding pixels in the source style image associated with the group of neighbor pixels in the source content image wherein each of the group of corresponding pixels corresponds to one of the group of neighbor pixels and includes the pixel using the image synthesis system, and determining a local loss function for the group of corresponding pixels using the image synthesis system.\",\n \"Additional embodiments and features are set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the specification or may be learned by the practice of the invention.\",\n \"A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings, which forms a part of this disclosure.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color.\",\n \"Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.\",\n \"The description and claims will be more fully understood with reference to the following figures and data graphs, which are presented as exemplary embodiments of the invention and should not be construed as a complete recitation of the scope of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 is an illustration of various devices that may perform one or more processes to provide Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based image synthesis in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 is an illustration of components of a processing system in a device that executes one or more processes to provide CNN-based image synthesis using localized loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 is an illustration of images showing the instability in a Gram matrix.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 is an illustration of images showing a comparison of results of texture synthesis performed in accordance with various embodiments of the invention with and without the use of pyramids.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is an illustration of a flow diagram of a process for providing CNN-based image synthesis that performs style transfer using localized loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 is an illustration of two input images and a resulting image from a style transfer process of the two input images using localized style loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 is an illustration of a flow diagram of a process for generating region-based loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is an illustration of conceptual images showing masks of regions for two input images used in a style transfer process using region-based loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 is an illustration of conceptual images of cells in two input images in a style transfer process using uniform regions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 is an illustration of a flow diagram of a process for generating localized loss functions in a style transfer process using uniform regions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11 is an illustration of a comparison of similar cells in two input images in a style transfer process using uniform regions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 is an illustration of a comparison of similar pixels in two input images in a style transfer process using a per pixel loss transfer in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 is an illustration of a process for generating localized style loss functions for a style transfer process using per pixel loss transfer in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14 is an illustration of two input images that provide an example of the operation of a style transfer process using a global content loss function in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"15 is an illustration of a resulting image from the style transfer from the two input images of FIG.\",\n \"14 performed by a style transfer process using global content loss in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16 is an illustration of a Laplacian Pyramid of images derived from a content source image from FIG.\",\n \"14 used in a style transfer process using local content loss in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"17 and 18 are illustrations of images produced by style transfer processes using global loss functions in accordance with certain embodiments of this invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"19 is an illustration of images generated by a style transfer process using localized content loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"20 is an illustration of a flow diagram of a process for determining localized loss using masks in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"21 is an illustration of images synthesized in accordance with some embodiments of the invention and images generated using other processes.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"22 is an illustration of images of masks used in an aging process in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"23 is an illustration of a synthesis order in a multiscale pyramid framework in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"24 is an illustration of a textured mapped model and components used to form the textured mapped model using a filter process in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25 is an illustration of a texture and the texture applied to a surface of a mesh by a filter process in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"DETAILED DISCUSSION Turning now to the drawings, systems and methods for providing Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based image synthesis in accordance with some embodiments of the invention are described.\",\n \"In many embodiments, processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis may be performed by a server system.\",\n \"In accordance with several embodiments, the processes may be performed by a “cloud” server system.\",\n \"In still further embodiments, the processes may be performed on a user device.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, the loss functions may be modeled using Gram matrices.\",\n \"In a number of embodiments, the loss functions may be modeled using covariance matrices.\",\n \"In accordance with several embodiments, the total loss may further include mean activation or histogram loss.\",\n \"In accordance with sundry embodiments, a source content image, including desired structures for a synthesized image and a source style image, including a desired texture for the synthesized image, are received.\",\n \"A CNN may be used to determine localized loss functions for groups of pixels in the source content and/or source style images.\",\n \"The localized content and/or localized style loss functions may be used to generate a synthesized image that includes the content from the source content image and the texture from the source style image.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, an optimization process may be performed to optimize pixels in a synthesized image using the localized content loss function of a corresponding pixel from the source content image and/or the localized style loss function of a corresponding pixel from the source style image.\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments, the optimization may be an iterative optimization that is performed by back propagation through a CNN, or through a purely feed-forward process.\",\n \"In a number of embodiments, a specific pyramid-stack hybrid CNN architecture based on some combination of pooling, strided convolution and dilated convolution is used for image synthesis.\",\n \"As can readily be appreciated, the specific CNN architecture utilized in image synthesis is largely dependent upon the requirements of a given application.\",\n \"In accordance with certain embodiments, the CNN-based image synthesis processes may perform aging of an image.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may be used to perform continuous weathering by continually modifying the parametric model.\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments, the CNN-based image synthesis processes may be used to perform weathering by controlling the weathering through a “painting by numbers” process.\",\n \"In accordance with several embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may be used to perform continuous multiscale aging.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may be used to perform aging by transferring weathering patterns from external exemplars.\",\n \"In accordance with sundry embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may combine optimization and feedforward parametric texture synthesis for fast high-resolution synthesis.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may be used to perform super image super resolution (SISR) for rending.\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may combine parametric and non-parametric-non-CNN synthesis within a pyramid framework.\",\n \"In several embodiments, dilated convolution neural networks can be utilized to synthesize image hybrids.\",\n \"Image hybridization involves starting from a set of several source images within a category and mixing them together in a way that produces a new member of that category.\",\n \"In a number of embodiments, image hybridization is performed using either an optimization or feedforward based synthesis strategy.\",\n \"In either case, a key aspect of the image hybridization is to generate new activations at different levels of the network which combine the activation features extracted from the input images into new hybrid configurations.\",\n \"Processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention integrate an on-model synthesis approach into the CNN approach.\",\n \"The goal of processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is to provide an on-model texture synthesis scheme that allows the user to supply a fully textured model as the input exemplar instead of just a texture, and apply that texture from the model onto a different untextured model.\",\n \"In many embodiments, the processes produce textures that conform to geometric shapes and the feature contents of that texture are guided by the underlying shape itself.\",\n \"This results in image synthesis that can be applied on top of already textured meshes, and can also produce appearance transfer from one textured mesh onto another.\",\n \"In a number of embodiments, a specific class of artificial neural networks that can be referred to as Condensed Feature Extraction Networks are generated from CNNs trained to perform image classification.\",\n \"Systems and methods in accordance with many embodiments of the invention generate Condensed Feature Extraction Networks by utilizing an artificial neural network with a specific number of neurons to learn a network that approximates the intermediate neural activations of a different network with a larger number (or the same number) of artificial neurons.\",\n \"In several embodiments, the artificial neural network that is utilized to train a Condensed Feature Extraction Network is a CNN.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, the computation required to generate outputs from the Condensed Feature Extraction Network for a set of input images is reduced relative to the CNN used to train the Condensed Feature Extraction Networks.\",\n \"Systems and methods for providing CNN-based image synthesis are described in more detail below.\",\n \"Systems for Providing Convolutional Neural Network Based Image Synthesis A system that provides CNN-based image synthesis in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is shown in FIG.\",\n \"1.Network 100 includes a communications network 160.The communications network 160 is a network such as the Internet that allows devices connected to the network 160 to communicate with other connected devices.\",\n \"Server systems 110, 140, and 170 are connected to the network 160.Each of the server systems 110, 140, and 170 may be a group of one or more server computer systems communicatively connected to one another via internal networks that execute processes that provide cloud services to users over the network 160.For purposes of this discussion, cloud services are one or more applications that are executed by one or more server systems to provide data and/or executable applications to devices over a network.\",\n \"The server systems 110, 140, and 170 are shown each having three servers in the internal network.\",\n \"However, the server systems 110, 140 and 170 may include any number of servers and any additional number of server systems may be connected to the network 160 to provide cloud services including (but not limited to) virtualized server systems.\",\n \"In accordance with various embodiments of this invention, processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis processes and/or systems may be provided by one or more software applications executing on a single server system and/or a group of server systems communicating over network 160.Users may use personal devices 180 and 120 that connect to the network 160 to perform processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"In the illustrated embodiment, the personal devices 180 are shown as desktop computers that are connected via a conventional “wired” connection to the network 160.However, the personal device 180 may be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a smart television, an entertainment gaming console, or any other device that connects to the network 160 via a “wired” or “wireless” network connection.\",\n \"The mobile device 120 connects to network 160 using a wireless connection.\",\n \"A wireless connection is a connection that may use Radio Frequency (RF) signals, Infrared (IR) signals, or any other form of wireless signaling to connect to the network 160.In FIG.\",\n \"1, the mobile device 120 is a mobile telephone.\",\n \"However, mobile device 120 may be a mobile phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a tablet, a smartphone, or any other type of device that connects to network 160 via wireless connection in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis may be performed by the user device.\",\n \"In several other embodiments, an application being executed by the user device may capture or obtain the two or more input images and transmit the captured image(s) to a server system that performs the processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis.\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments where one or more of the images is captured by the user device, the user device may include a camera or some other image capture system that captures the image.\",\n \"The specific computing system(s) used to capture images and/or processing images to perform CNN-based image synthesis often is largely dependent upon the requirements of a given application and should not be considered as limited to any specific computing system(s) implementation(s).\",\n \"Computing systems and processes for performing CNN based image synthesis are discussed further below.\",\n \"Example of Processing Systems An example of a processing system in a device that executes instructions to perform processes that provide CNN-based image synthesis in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.One may recognize that a particular processing system may include other components that are omitted for brevity without departing from various embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"The processing device 200 includes a processor 205, a non-volatile memory 210, and a volatile memory 215.The processor 205 may be a processor, microprocessor, controller or a combination of processors, microprocessors and/or controllers that perform instructions stored in the volatile memory 215 and/or the non-volatile memory 210 to manipulate data stored in the memory.\",\n \"The non-volatile memory 210 can store the processor instructions utilized to configure the processing system 200 to perform processes including processes in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention and/or data for the processes being utilized.\",\n \"In accordance with some embodiments, the processing system software and/or firmware can be stored in any of a variety of non-transient computer readable media appropriate to a specific application.\",\n \"A network interface is a device that allows processing system 200 to transmit and receive data over a network based upon the instructions performed by processor 205.Although an example of processing system 200 is illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2, any of a variety of processing systems in the various devices may be configured to provide the methods and systems in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"Convolutional Neural Network Based Image Synthesis CNNs can be powerful tools for synthesizing similar but different version of an image or transferring the style of one image onto the content of another image.\",\n \"Recently, compelling results have been achieved through parametric modeling of the image statistics using a deep CNN.\",\n \"An example CNN used for image style transfer is described by Leon Gatys in a paper entitled, “Image Style Transfer Using Convolutional Neural Networks” that may be obtained at www.cv-foundation.org/openacess/content_cvpr_2016/papers/Gatys_Image_Style_Transfer_CV PR_2016_paper.pdf.\",\n \"In particular, CNN-based image synthesis processes are particularly suited for performing texture synthesis and style transfer.\",\n \"In particular, CNN-based image synthesis systems may perform texture synthesis in the following manner: A CNN image synthesis system receives an input source texture, S, and synthesizes an output texture, O.\",\n \"S and O are passed through a CNN such as VGG that generates feature maps for the activations of the first L convolutional layers of the CNN.\",\n \"For purposes of this discussion, the activations of the first L convolutional layers are denoted as S1 .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"SL and O1 .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"OL.\",\n \"A loss gram over the layers, which preserves some properties of the input texture by means of a Gram matrix can be expressed as: ℒ gram = ∑ l = 1 L α l S l 2 G ( S l ) - G ( O l ) ) F 2 ( 1 ) where Al are user parameters that weight terms in the loss, |⋅| is the number of elements in a tensor, F is the Frobenius norm, and the Gram matrix G(F) is defined over any feature map F as an Nl×Nl matrix of inner products between pairs of features: G ij ( F ) = ∑ k F ik F jk ( 2 ) Fi,j refers to feature i's pixel j within the feature map.\",\n \"The synthesized output image O is initialized with white noise and is then optimized by applying gradient descent to equation (1).\",\n \"Specifically, the gradient of equation (1) with respect to the output image O is computed via backpropagation.\",\n \"CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform style transfer synthesis operate in a similar manner to the texture synthesis process described above.\",\n \"However, a CNN-based image synthesis system receives a content image, C, and a style image, S, that are used to generate a styled image, O.\",\n \"All three images are passed through a CNN, such as a VGG, that gives activations for the first L convolutional layers denoted as C1 .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"CL, S1 .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"SL, O1 .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"Ol.\",\n \"The total style transfer loss combines the losses for the style image (ζgram) and the content image (ζcontent): transfer=gram+content (3) The content loss is a feature distance between content and output that attempts to make output and content look similar: ℒ content = ∑ l = 1 L β l C l C l - O l F 2 ( 4 ) Where βl are user weight parameters, the output image O is initialized with white noise and optimized using a gradient descent.\",\n \"As such, CNN-based image synthesis processes performing style transfer may use an iterative optimization process to cause the white noise image of the synthesized image to incrementally begin to resemble some user-specified combination of the source content and style images.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments of the invention, a CNN backpropagation training procedure may be used as the iterative optimization process to turn the white noise or content image into an image that combines features of the content and style images.\",\n \"During backpropagation training procedures performed in accordance with a number of embodiments, the iterative optimization process can be directed by a loss function (equation 4) that the backpropagation training procedure is trying to minimize.\",\n \"In accordance with several embodiments, the loss function is calculated as the difference between parametric models encoding the style of a style image and the image being synthesized.\",\n \"In addition, in some embodiments of this invention, a content loss can be included as well, where the content loss is some distance metric between raw neural activations calculated for the content image and the image being synthesized.\",\n \"If a style loss is used without a content loss and the image being synthesized starts from noise, then the resulting operation is texture synthesis.\",\n \"If a style loss is used without content loss and the image being synthesized starts from the content image, then the resulting operation is style transfer.\",\n \"If both style and content loss are used then the operation will always be style transfer.\",\n \"In accordance with various other embodiments of the invention, other image processing applications including, but not limited to, image hybridization, super-resolution upscaling and time-varying weathering, could be achieved using the same CNN framework but using different loss functions.\",\n \"CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention may use loss functions to direct the optimization process in various synthesis processes that may be performed.\",\n \"However, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with particular embodiments of this invention use a collection of stable loss functions for the CNN-based image synthesis to achieve various results.\",\n \"In accordance with some embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes use multiple stable loss functions for texture synthesis and style transfer.\",\n \"Thus, multiple stable loss functions for the style transfer including loss functions for the style and content are addressed separately below.\",\n \"Problems with the Use of Gram Matrices A problem that can be experienced when using Gram matrices as loss functions in style transfer is that the results are often unstable.\",\n \"The cause of the instability is illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3.In FIG.\",\n \"3, an input image 301 has a uniform distribution of intensities with a mean of μ1=½ ≈0.707 and a standard deviation of σ1=0.An output image 302 has a non-uniform distribution with a mean of μ2=½ and a standard deviation of σ2=½.\",\n \"If interpreted as the activation of a feature map with one feature, these two distributions have equivalent non-central second moments of ½, and equal Gram matrices.\",\n \"The problem is that there are many distributions that result in an equivalent Gram matrix.\",\n \"However, the Gram matrices do not match image intensities.\",\n \"Instead, Gram matrices match feature activations, i.e.\",\n \"feature maps, after applying the activation functions but the same argument applies: activation maps with quite different means and variances can still have the same Gram matrix.\",\n \"The problem arises because a Gram matrix is statistically related to neither the mean nor covariance matrices.\",\n \"Instead, a Gram matrix is related to a matrix of non-central second moments.\",\n \"To show this, a feature activation map, F, with m features, is used as an example.\",\n \"For brevity, “feature map activations” are simply referred to as “features,” such that a “feature” refers to the result of applying an activation function.\",\n \"The statistics of the features in the feature map F can be summarized by using an m dimensional random variable X to model the probability distribution of a given m-tuple of features.\",\n \"The random vector of features X can be related to the feature map F. For example, the Gram matrix, G(F), may be normalized by the number of samples n to obtain a sample estimator for the second non-central mixed moments E[XXT].\",\n \"As such, the terms (normalized) “Gram matrix” and E[XXT] may be used interchangeably in the following discussion even though one is actually a sampled estimator of the other.\",\n \"In the following argument, 1 n G ( F ) = E [ XX T ] and the mean feature is defined as μ=E[X].\",\n \"By a general property of covariance matrices, Σ(X)=E[XXT]−μμT, Σ indicates a covariance matrix.\",\n \"After rearranging, the following equation results: E[XXT]=Σ(X)+μμT (5) In the case where there is only one feature, m=1, equation (5) becomes: 1 n G ( F ) = E [ X 2 ] = σ 2 + μ 2 = ( σ , μ ) 2 ( 6 ) Where σ is the standard deviation of feature X.\",\n \"For a feature map, F1 for the input source image, and a feature map, F2, for the synthesized output image that have respective feature distributions X1, X2, means μ1, μ2, and standard deviations σ1, σ2, the features maps will have the same Gram matrix if the following condition for equation (6) holds: ∥(σ1,μ1)∥=∥(σ2,μ2)∥ (7) As such, an infinite number of 1D feature maps with different variances but equal Gram matrices may be created.\",\n \"This is not optimal for image synthesis.\",\n \"Specifically, this means that even if a Gram matrix is held constant, the variance ρ22 of the synthesized texture map can freely change (with corresponding changes to the mean, μ2, based on equation (7)).\",\n \"Conversely, the mean, μ2, of the synthesized texture map can freely change (with corresponding changes to the variance, σ22).\",\n \"This property often leads to the instabilities.\",\n \"For simplicity, it can be assumed that a CNN may be flexible enough to generate any distribution of output image features.\",\n \"To generate an output texture with a different variance (e.g.\",\n \"σ2»σ1) but equal Gram matrix, equation (6) can be solved for μ2 to obtain μ1=√{square root over (σ12+μ12−σ22)}.\",\n \"This is shown in FIG.\",\n \"3 where the distribution X1 of the image 301 has μ 1 = 1 2 and σ1=0 and the image 302 has larger standard deviation of σ2=½.\",\n \"In the multidimensional case where m>1, if there is no correlation between features, the m separate cases of the previous 1D scenario.\",\n \"Thus, while maintaining the same Gram matrix, all of the variances can be changed, as long as a corresponding change to the mean is made.\",\n \"This can lead to instabilities in variance or mean.\",\n \"However, in the multidimensional scenario, typically there are correlations between features.\",\n \"The following example illustrates this point.\",\n \"In this example, an input feature map F1, has an input feature random vector X1, a mean μ, and covariance matrix Σ(X1).\",\n \"To generate a set of output feature random vectors X2 with an equal Gram matrix but different variance, an affine transformation is applied to the input random feature vector X1 to obtain a transformed random vector of output features activation X2=AX1+b, where A is an m×m matrix, and b is an m vector.\",\n \"The Gram matrices X1 and X2 are set equal to one another using equation (5) above to obtain: E[X2X2T]=AΣ(X1)AT+(Aμ+b)(Aμ+b)T=E[X1X1T]=Σ(X1)+μμT.\",\n \"(8) The variances of the output random feature activation vector X2 may be constrained along the main diagonal of its covariance matrix so that the variances are equal to a set of “target” output image feature activation variances.\",\n \"The remains may be an unknown variable in the transformation matrix A, and vector b may be determined using closed form solutions of the resulting quadratic equations.\",\n \"However, these equations are often long and computationally intensive to solve.\",\n \"Yet, it does show that there are more unknowns than equations.\",\n \"Thus, it is possible to generate an output distribution X2 with different variances that the input feature distribution X1, but with the same Gram matrix.\",\n \"Specifically, there are m(m+3)/2 constraints due to equation (8) (there are m(m+1)/2 constraints due to the upper half of the symmetric matrix, plus m constraints for the known output feature variances).\",\n \"Covariance and Mean Loss In accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention, due to the Gram matrix stability issues identified above, CNN-based image synthesis processes use a covariance matrix instead of a Gram matrix to guide the synthesis process.\",\n \"Covariance matrices are similar to Gram matrices but do not share the same limitation.\",\n \"By subtracting off the mean activation before computing inner products, covariance matrices explicitly preserve statistical moments of various orders in the parametric model.\",\n \"By this we explicitly refer to the mean of all feature vectors as the first order moment and to the co-activations of feature vectors centered around their mean as second order moments.\",\n \"Replacing Gram matrices with Covariance matrices can stabilize the synthesis process for some textures, however, subtracting the mean can affect the desired features to be reproduced during the synthesis process in undesirable ways.\",\n \"To counteract this effect, we introduce an additional loss term for mean activations.\",\n \"This new parametric model allows the covariance loss and means loss to drive the synthesis.\",\n \"This can make the combined loss for texture synthesis: Ltexture=Lcovariance+Lmean+Ltv (12) The replacement of the Gram matrix with a Covariance matrix may improve but does not decisively solve the stability issues inherent in texture synthesis and/or style transfer.\",\n \"However, the covariance matrix may be a powerful method for describing image style in a stable form when the texture being parameterized is highly stochastic and can be represented as a single cluster in feature space.\",\n \"It may still be a problem that many textures and most natural images contain multiple clusters.\",\n \"In other words, these textures or natural images contain a combination of multiple distinct textures.\",\n \"When an input texture exhibits multiple feature space clusters and the cluster centers are far apart from each other, a covariance matrix may exhibit the same unstable behavior as a Gram matrix.\",\n \"The reason for the unstable behavior is that the center between multiple clusters ensures that every cluster will be un-centered and, thus, will not exhibit stable mathematical properties.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that use covariance loss and/or mean loss in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that use covariance loss and mean loss in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Histogram Losses Due to the multiple cluster problem, processes in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention may use Histogram loss as described above to achieve consistently high-quality results.\",\n \"In accordance with several embodiments, the multiple cluster problem may be dealt with by using an automatic clustering process on the feature vectors to identify different textures in an image.\",\n \"The clustering process could transform the image so that each cluster is centered around its mean.\",\n \"However, the use of an automatic clustering process may introduce a number of additional problems.\",\n \"For example, if different linear transforms are applied to different regions of the image in a discrete way, seam lines may appear along the borders between different texture clusters.\",\n \"To deal with these seams, processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention interpolate the transform between clusters.\",\n \"The interpolation may be more difficult than simply adding a histogram loss that has been shown to solve the same problem as discussed above.\",\n \"In accordance with particular embodiments of the invention, the instability of Gram or Covariance matrices is addressed by explicitly preserving statistical moments of various orders in the activations of a texture.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, an entire histogram of feature activations is preserved.\",\n \"More specifically, systems and processes in accordance with a number of embodiments augment synthesis loss with m additional histogram losses, one for each feature in each feature map.\",\n \"Additionally, systems and processes in accordance with several embodiments incorporate a total variation loss that may improve smoothness in the synthesized image.\",\n \"As such, the combined loss for texture synthesis in CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is: texture(ours)=gram+histogram+tv (9) where Lgram can be interchanged with Lcovariance arbitrarily.\",\n \"However, it can be slightly subtle to develop a suitable histogram loss.\",\n \"For example, a naive approach of directly placing L2 loss between histograms of the input source texture image S and output synthesized image O has zero gradient almost everywhere and does not contribute to the optimization process.\",\n \"As such, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention use loss based on histogram matching.\",\n \"To do so, the synthesized layer-wise feature activations are transformed so that their histograms match the corresponding histograms of the input source texture image S. The transformation can be performed once for each histogram loss encountered during backpropagation.\",\n \"To do so, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention use an ordinary histogram matching technique to remap the synthesized output activation to match the input source image activations.\",\n \"In such a technique, Oij represents the output activations for a convolutional layer i and feature j, and O′ij represents the remapped activations.\",\n \"The technique may compute a normalized histogram for the output activations Oij and match it to the normalized histogram for the activations of input source image S to obtain the remapped activations O′ij.\",\n \"This technique is then repeated from each feature in the feature map to determine a Frobenius norm distance between Oij and O′ij.\",\n \"The loss of the histograms may be expressed as: ℒ histogram = ∑ l = 1 L γ l O i - R ( O i ) F 2 ( 10 ) Where Oi is the activation map for feature map I and R(Oi) is the histogram remapped activation map, and γl is a user weight parameter that controls the strength of the loss.\",\n \"As R(Oi) has zero gradient almost everywhere, it can be treated as a constant for the gradient operator.\",\n \"Thus, the gradient of equation (10) can be computed by realizing R(Oi) into a temporary array O′l and computing the Frobenius norm loss between Oi and O′i.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that use histogram loss in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide histogram loss in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Application of Histogram Loss to Style Transfers Style transfer is a broadening of texture synthesis.\",\n \"In texture synthesis, an input texture is statistically resynthesized.\",\n \"Style transfer is similar with the additional constraint that the synthesized image O should not deviate too much from a content image C. To do so, CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform style transfer in accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention include both a per-pixel content loss and a histogram loss in the parametric synthesis equation such that the overall loss becomes: transfer(ours)=gram+histogram+content+tv (11) where Lgram is interchangeable with Lcovariance for the purposes of our algorithm.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that use histogram loss to perform style transfer in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that use histogram loss to perform style transfer in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Automatic Tuning of Parameters CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with some embodiment automatically determine parameters for the processes performed.\",\n \"The parameters may include, but are not limited to, the coefficients α1 in the Gram/Covariance loss equation (1), β1 in the content loss of equation (4), γl in the histogram/mean loss equation (1) and ω that is multiplied against the total variation loss.\",\n \"Automatic tuning processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention are inspired by batch normalization that tunes hyper-parameters during a training process to reduce extreme values of gradients.\",\n \"The parameters may also be dynamically adjusted during the optimization process.\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments, the dynamic tuning can be performed with the aid of gradient information.\",\n \"During backpropagation, different loss terms Li, may be encountered.\",\n \"Each loss term Li has an associated parameter ci that needs to be determined (ci is one of the parameters αl, βl, γl, and ω).\",\n \"A backpropagated gradient gi may first be calculated from the current loss term as if ci were 1.However, if the magnitude of gi exceeds a constant magnitude threshold Ti, then the gradient gi may be normalized so that its length is equal to Ti.\",\n \"Magnitude thresholds of 1 can be used for all parameters except for the coefficient αl of the Gram/Covariance loss, which may have a magnitude threshold of 100 in accordance with several embodiments.\",\n \"As can readily be appreciated, magnitude thresholds and/or other constraints can be specified as appropriate to the requirements of a given application.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform automatic tuning in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide automatic tuning in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Multiscale Pyramid Based Synthesis CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with certain embodiments include manual and automatic control maps that were previously used in non-parametric approaches.\",\n \"To achieve this, processes in accordance with many embodiments perform a coarse-to-fine synthesis using image pyramids.\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments, a ratio of two is used between successive image widths in the pyramid.\",\n \"A comparison of results of texture synthesis performed in accordance with various embodiments of the invention with and without the use of pyramids are shown in FIG.\",\n \"4.In FIG.\",\n \"4, images 401 and 402 are the style images and images 410-411 and 420-421 are the content images.\",\n \"Images 410 and 411 were generated without the use of pyramids and images 420 and 421 were generated with the use of pyramids.\",\n \"Images 410 and 420 show that pyramids blend coarse scale style features with content features better.\",\n \"Images 411 and 421 may show that pyramids transfer coarse scale features better and reduce CNN noise artifacts.\",\n \"Images 412 and 422 are magnified from images 411 and 421, respectively, and may show noise artifacts (in image 412) and better transfer of coarse-scale features (in image 422).\",\n \"Processes for Providing Convolutional Neural Network Based Image Synthesis Using Localized Loss Functions A process for providing CNN-based image synthesis that performs style transfer using localized loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.\",\n \"5.In process 500, a source content image and a source style image are received (505, 510).\",\n \"The source content image includes the structures that are to be included in a synthesized image and the source style image includes a texture that is to be applied to the synthesized image.\",\n \"The process 500 determines localized content loss functions for groups of pixels in the source content image (515) and/or localized style loss functions for groups of pixels in the source style image (520).\",\n \"In accordance with some embodiments, the localized content loss functions and/or localized style loss functions may be generated using a CNN.\",\n \"The determinations of the localized content and/or style loss functions based upon various groupings of the pixels in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described below.\",\n \"Process 500 performs an optimization process using the localized content loss functions and/or localized style loss functions to cause the pixels in the synthesized image to form an image with a desired amount of content from the content source image and a desired amount of texture from the source style image (525).\",\n \"In accordance with certain embodiments, the optimization process may be an iterative optimization process that is performed until a desired result is achieved.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, the iterative optimization process may be performed by a backpropagation through a CNN iterative optimization processes in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described in more detail below.\",\n \"Although processes for providing convolutional neural network based image synthesis by performing style transfer using localized loss functions in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are discussed above, other processes may be modified by adding, removing, and/or combining steps of the described processes as necessitated by system and/or process requirements in accordance with various embodiments of the inventions.\",\n \"Localizing Style Losses Style loss functions reproduce the textural component of the style image.\",\n \"Thus, a global style loss function may be transformed into a stationary representation (i.e.\",\n \"the representation is a culmination of the local patches of texture independent of the location of each local patch in the image).\",\n \"A global style loss function approach may generate the global style loss function by applying the source style image to a CNN, gathering all activations for a layer in a CNN and building a parametric model from the gathered activations of the layer.\",\n \"An optimization process may then be used to cause the loss function of one image to appear statistically similar to the loss function of another image by minimizing the error distance between the parametric model of the loss functions of the two images (which act as a statistical fingerprint that is being matched).\",\n \"A style transfer approach using a global style loss function may lead to unimpressive results as shown by the images illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6.In FIG.\",\n \"6, Brad Pitt's image 601 is matched to an image of Picasso's self-portrait 602.In the resulting image 603, the overall style of the painting in the image 602 is transferred including the individual brush strokes, the general color palette and the overall look.\",\n \"This makes the image 603 look similar to the image 602.However, the individual features that compose the face are not transferred.\",\n \"Thus, Brad Pitt's eyes, nose and mouth do not look like Picasso's corresponding features.\",\n \"In accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention, a collection of strategies designed to transform the style of an image locally rather than globally may be performed.\",\n \"However, the various strategies used in the various embodiments involve a similar core idea of using a collection of parametric models representing local loss functions in either one or both of the source content image and the source style image, as opposed to using a single parametric model for each image.\",\n \"Each of the parametric models of an image summarize specific features in the image and are distinct and/or unique from the other parametric models in the collection of matrices for the image.\",\n \"The application of local loss functions may vary greatly between the various embodiments, depending on a desired degree of locality.\",\n \"Thus, each of the models may represent very large regions of the image in accordance with some embodiments when it is desired to have very little locality.\",\n \"Alternatively, the models may each represent smaller groups down to an individual pixel in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention where a very high degree of locality is desired.\",\n \"Region-Based Style Transfers Region-based style transfer may be used in accordance with some embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"A process for generating a region-based loss function in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.\",\n \"7.A process 700 may generate a mask with one or more regions for both of the source content and source style images (710).\",\n \"In accordance with various embodiments, the regions may be determined by a user and received as a manual input of the user into the system.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, processes may generate the regions of the mask through a neighbor matching process and/or other similar process for structure identification.\",\n \"The process 700 applies the masks to each image and determines a region of the mask associated with each pixel in each of the images (715).\",\n \"The process 700 assigns each pixel to the region determined to be associated with the pixel (720).\",\n \"The process 700 then generates parametric models for each of the identified regions of the masks from the pixels associated with the regions (725) and may add the generated parametric model for each region to an array of matrices stored in memory.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, the mask value of each pixel may be used to index the pixel into the proper parametric model in the array for use in the style transfer process described above.\",\n \"Images that illustrate a region-based style transfer process performed on the images of Brad Pitt and Picasso's self-portrait 601 and 602 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention are shown in FIG.\",\n \"8.In region-based style transfer, distinct features of an image can be clustered together.\",\n \"As shown by image 802, Picasso's portrait from image 602 is segmented into a few distinct regions.\",\n \"For example, the eyes may be one region with the lips, nose, hair, skin shirt and background each being in their own regions.\",\n \"A mask 802 may be applied over image 602 to identify the region that contains each pixel in the image 602.Likewise, a mask shown in image 801 may be applied to the image 601 of Brad Pitt to identify the pixels that belong to each of the identified regions of the image 601.Although processes that provide region-based loss functions in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide region-based loss functions in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Uniform Segments Style Transfer In accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention, a uniform segment style transfer process may be performed.\",\n \"In uniform segment style transfer, the images are divided into uniform segments.\",\n \"The images of Brad Pitt and Picasso's self-portrait divided into uniform segments in accordance with an embodiment of the invention that uses uniform segments are shown in FIG.\",\n \"9.A process for performing uniform style transfer in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.\",\n \"10.As shown in images 901 and 902 of FIG.\",\n \"9, a process 1000 of FIG.\",\n \"10 divides each image into a grid of regions or cells (1005).\",\n \"In particular, images 901 and 902 are divided into grids of 8×8 cells in the shown embodiment.\",\n \"However, any number of cells may be used in grids, for example 16×16 and 20×20 grids, in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"Each cell is associated with an individual parametric model of a localized loss function (1010).\",\n \"In many embodiments, the generated parametric models can be added (1015) to an array of models for each image.\",\n \"In accordance with some embodiments, an individual parametric model may be associated (1020) with groups of cells that are determined by similarity of the cells or by some other manner.\",\n \"After the parametric models are generated, the parametric models may be used as a descriptor for nearest neighbor matching of the pixels in associated cell(s).\",\n \"The nearest neighbor matching binds cells together so that each cell in the content image is optimized more closely resemble a cell in the style image that is determined to most closely approximate the cell as shown in FIG.\",\n \"11.In FIG.\",\n \"11, a cell 1101 in the image 901 is optimized to a cell 1102 in the image 902.In accordance with some embodiments, one or more cells in the style image that most closely approximate a cell in the content image may be identified by determining the cell(s) in the style image that has a minimum L2 distance between its parametric model and the parametric model of the cell in the content image.\",\n \"In accordance with certain embodiments, the optimizing processes for all of the cells in the content image are performed in parallel.\",\n \"Although processes that provide uniform segment style transfer in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide segment-based style transfer in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Per Pixel Style Transfer In accordance with particular embodiments of the invention, each pixel is a local region.\",\n \"Images that show the association between pixels in a source content image and a source style image in accordance with a certain embodiment of this invention are shown in FIG.\",\n \"12.In accordance with many embodiments, a parametric model of a localized style loss function is generated for each pixel in the content image cell 1201 and the style image cell 1202.A process for generating localized style loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.\",\n \"13.The process 1300 includes gathering a neighborhood of pixels surrounding each particular pixel in the source content image (1305).\",\n \"A group of pixels in the source style image that are associated with the neighbor pixels of each particular pixel is determined (1310).\",\n \"In accordance with sundry embodiments, a pre-computed nearest neighbor set may be used to associate each pixel in the content image with a pixel in the source style image.\",\n \"The group of pixels in the source style image associated with the neighborhood of each particular pixel is used to generate the parametric model of the localized style loss function that the particular pixel is optimized toward (1315).\",\n \"Although processes that provide per pixel-based style transfer in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide per pixel-based style transfer in accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"From the above descriptions of the various transfer strategies, one may see that regional segment style transfer is simple and fast compared to the other transfer strategies.\",\n \"However, the regional segment style transfer can be imprecise, whether a human or a CNN is used to determine how the parametric models are generated.\",\n \"The cell transfer can differ from the regional transfer in that many more parametric models are generated and the matrices themselves are used to determine the correspondence of features.\",\n \"The per pixel approach is typically the most precise and the slowest possible transfer strategy because the amount of computations needed is increased by generation of a parametric model for each particular pixel from patches of pixels around the particular pixel.\",\n \"The increase in computations stems from the fact that in the other approaches each of the pixels in an image contribute to one parametric model and in the per pixel approach each pixel contributes to the parametric model of each of the neighboring pixels.\",\n \"Furthermore, it is noted that various other embodiments may select certain other manners in determining local regions to refine the trade-off between speed and/or memory versus accuracy.\",\n \"Localizing for Content Loss In accordance with particular embodiments, content loss can be used for the transfer process instead of style loss.\",\n \"The difference is that style loss attempts to be stationary and content loss does not.\",\n \"For purposes of this discussion, stationary means that the location of a pixel is the main factor influencing what the pixel should look like.\",\n \"The content loss function can be simple in accordance with some embodiments in that the L2 (or Euclidian) distance is summed for each pixel in the synthesized image to each pixel at the same location in the content image.\",\n \"The goal of content loss, on the other hand, is to reproduce the “structure” of the content image (image 1401 of FIG.\",\n \"14 showing the Golden Gate Bridge) while allowing the nonstructural aspects of the image to mutate towards resembling the style image (image 1402 of FIG.\",\n \"14 showing Starry Night).\",\n \"In accordance with other known transfer processes, one may assume that the deeper layers of the network represent the higher order image features, so by maintaining a low error between content and synthesis deeper in the network but allowing the style to be optimized at the shallow layers, a balance is reached between the style and content.\",\n \"However, these processes often do not regularly provide compelling results.\",\n \"A problem with using a global content loss in a style transfer process may be that all of the regions of the content image may not be equally as important in terms of key shapes and structures in the image.\",\n \"For instance, in FIG.\",\n \"15, image 1501 of the Golden Gate Bridge, the low-importance content features including the low frequency sky and ocean are given a high enough content loss to overpower the style contribution and stop large, swirly clouds and stars from forming.\",\n \"In parallel, the high-importance content features including the bridge are largely being distorted by the style image.\",\n \"This makes the high-importance content features lose fine scale qualities such as the cable stretching from tower to tower.\",\n \"Furthermore, the tower in the background is more distorted than the larger tower in the foreground because the tower in the background is smaller in terms of image size.\",\n \"However, the tower in the background is not less important than the tower in the foreground in terms of content as the tower is a key structure in the image.\",\n \"Style transfer processes that use localized content loss functions in accordance with some embodiments of the invention may provide weights to each pixel based on the amount that the pixel contributes to a key shape or structure in the image.\",\n \"However, “content” can be a poorly defined concept with respect to art as “content is subjective and can be subject to personal interpretation.\",\n \"As such, the process for localizing content loss in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is based on the following observations about “content.” For the purposes of determining the contribution of a pixel to content, one may observe that flat, low frequency regions of an image generally do not contribute to the content of the image (for purposes of human perception) while high frequency regions generally are important contributors to the content.\",\n \"Therefore, style transfer processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention may use a Laplacian Pyramid of black and white versions of the content image (Images 1601-1604 in FIG.\",\n \"16) to determine content loss weights for each pixel in the image being synthesized where the high frequency pixels (whiter pixels) have a higher influence on content than low frequency pixels (darker pixels).\",\n \"Alternatively, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) trained on image classification tend to learn kernels at the deeper levels of the network that recognize shapes which are structurally meaningful to humans.\",\n \"Therefore, the magnitude of feature vectors produced from the content image deep in the network can also be used as a scaling factor for the content loss itself.\",\n \"The difference between the use of global style loss and global content loss is shown by the images shown in FIG.\",\n \"17.An image 1701 shows an image generated using global style loss and an image 1702 shows an image generated using global content loss starting from noise and use the respective global loss functions to generate the final image.\",\n \"The image 1701 illustrates global style loss with no content loss producing a “texturized” version of the style image (Starry Night).\",\n \"Image 1702, on the other hand, introduces global content loss to the texturized version and the texturized version of Starry Night is reshaped into the form of the Golden State Bridge but with the flaws identified above.\",\n \"The difference between the use of a global content loss functions and the use of localized content loss functions determined using a Laplacian Pyramid in accordance with a certain embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.\",\n \"18.An image 1801 is the same as the image 1702 and introduces global content loss to the texturized version of the image, and an image 1802 introduces local content loss based upon a Laplacian Pyramid to the texturized version instead of the global content loss.\",\n \"The features in the image 1802 emerge (i.e.\",\n \"the bridge and the land) while the rest of the image reproduces the texture of Starry Night more accurately.\",\n \"Although previous processes may start from noise, noise does not have to be the starting point in some embodiments of this invention.\",\n \"The logic of starting from noise may be that noise often produces a slightly different version of the transfer each time.\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention, CNN backpropagation may be used to provide a style transfer process using global and/or local content loss.\",\n \"The use of CNN backpropagation can allow the image to be thought of as a point in a super-high dimensional space (a dimension for each color channel in each pixel of the image).\",\n \"The optimization process is a gradient descent optimization that pulls an image at that point through the image's high dimensional space toward a new point that is within a small region of the high dimensional space that is considered “good output.” The force that pulls the image may be the combined loss function for style and content as well as optimizing towards a local minimum of the function, depending on where the noise commences in this space.\",\n \"Alternatively, the optimization process may be started from the content image instead of noise in accordance with a number of embodiments.\",\n \"Using the standard approach, the use of the content image to start may not offer an advantage because the content loss may begin from an optimal position and play a more aggressive “tug of war” against the style loss resulting in an image that has more content and less style.\",\n \"In summary, when starting from noise, both loss functions (content and style) are often very bad and move together toward a mutually optimal choice for most of the processes whereas, when starting from the content image, the two loss functions are often fighting against each other during the entire process, and that may return a less than pleasing result.\",\n \"The use of content loss in style transfer processes in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention has certain advantages that known style transfer processes typically have previously overlooked.\",\n \"If the content loss is removed from the function leaving only style loss, a texturized version of the image (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"19, image 1901) is generated with the subtle difference that the content image (i.e.\",\n \"the starting point in high dimensional space) exists in a local minimum within the space of all possible versions of the texturized version of the style image.\",\n \"As such, starting at the content image and removing the content loss causes the process to start at a point in space that is the content image and move away from this point in the high dimension space to a point that is pure style, but the process arrives at a local minimum that represents both style and content in a much better localized ratio than is typically produced by known processes as shown in an image 1901 of FIG.\",\n \"19.The image 1901 was generated by starting at the content image of the Golden Gate Bridge and then optimizing using only style loss so that the image mutated to better resemble “Starry Night” until the process reached a local minimum.\",\n \"This produces better results than previously known style transfer processes.\",\n \"However, the results may be improved by re-introducing localized content loss instead of global content loss that results in image 1902.This approach addresses the problem of removing content loss completely by trying to reach a local minimum in the optimization process that does not cause key structures (e.g.\",\n \"the cables on the bridge and the tower in the background) to be mutated too much by the style loss and lose the distinguishing characteristics of these structures.\",\n \"By re-introducing local content loss in accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the mutation of structurally important aspects of the content too far in the style direction may be reduced leading to an optimization process that reaches a more desirable local minimum.\",\n \"Localized style and content loss are also applicable within a feedforward texture synthesis and style transfer algorithm and are not limited to an optimization framework using backpropagation.\",\n \"Although processes that provide style transfer using global and/local content loss in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide style transfer using global and/or local content loss in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Localized Style Loss for Artistic Controls In accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention, CNN-based image synthesis processes separate multiple textures in an image into multiple models to determine localized loss.\",\n \"To do so, processes in accordance with many embodiments receive an index mask for the source texture or style image and an index mask for the synthesized image.\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments, each mask is input by a user.\",\n \"Each mask may include M indices.\",\n \"This may sometimes be referred to as a “painting by numbers” process.\",\n \"A process for determining localized loss using masks in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.\",\n \"20.A process 2000 applies the mask for the source image to the source image to determine the pixels that belong to each of the M indices (2005) and the mask to the synthesized image to determine the pixels that belong to each of the M indices of the synthesized mask.\",\n \"A parametric model is generated for each of the M indices of the source style mask from the pixels that belong to each of the M matrices (2010).\",\n \"The indices of the synthesized output may be tracked though an image pyramid for coarse-to-fine synthesis (2015).\",\n \"During synthesis, the previous losses are modified to be spatially varying (2020).\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, spatially varying Gram/Covariance matrix and histogram losses may be imposed where the style Gram/Covariance matrices and histograms vary spatially based on the output index for the current pixel.\",\n \"Histogram matching is then performed (2025).\",\n \"In accordance with several embodiments, the histogram matching may be performed separately in each of the M regions defined by the indexed masks.\",\n \"Blending of adjacent regions may then be performed (2030).\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments, the bending of adjacent regions can be automatically performed during backpropagation.\",\n \"In accordance with certain embodiments of CNN-based image synthesis, it is important to note that often the style and content source images contain sets of textures that are semantically similar and should be transferred to each other.\",\n \"An example of this is shown in FIG.\",\n \"21.FIG.\",\n \"21 also shows images synthesized in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention and images generated using other processes.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"21, images 2101 an example of controllable parametric neural texture synthesis.\",\n \"Original images are on the left, synthesis results on the right; corresponding masks are above each image.\",\n \"Rows of images 2105, 2110 and 2115 are examples of portrait style transfer using painting by numbers.\",\n \"Rows of images 2110 and 2115 show style transfer results for an embodiment of the invention on the far right as compared to images generated by another process in middle.\",\n \"The images can show that processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention may preserve fine-scale artistic texture better.\",\n \"However, processes in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention may also transfer a bit more of the person's “identity,” primarily due to hair and eye color changes.\",\n \"Implementation Details of CNN Based Image Synthesis Systems that Use Histograms In accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention, the CNN used may be a VGG-19 network pre-trained on the ImageNet dataset.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, layer Rectified Linear Unit (relu) 1_1, relu 2_1, relu 3_1 and relu 4_1 may be used for Gram losses.\",\n \"The histogram losses may be computed only at layers relu 1_1 and relu 4_1 in a number of embodiments.\",\n \"Content loss is computed only at relu 4_1 In accordance with several embodiments.\",\n \"Furthermore, the total may only be performed on the first convolutional layer to smooth out noise that results from the optimization process.\",\n \"In accordance with particular embodiments, the images are synthesized in a multi-resolution process using an image pyramid.\",\n \"During synthesis, the process begins at the bottom of the pyramid that can be initialized to white noise, and after each level is finished synthesizing, a bi-linear interpolation is used to upsample to the next level of the pyramid.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis systems in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other configurations of the CNN-based systems that add, modify and/or remove portions of the CNN in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are possible.\",\n \"Controlling Age Appearance within Parametric Models The apparent realism and/or quality of a synthesized image can be improved by applying synthetic weathering.\",\n \"Textures that display the characteristics of some weathering processes may incorporate a collection of multiple textures consolidated into one weathered texture.\",\n \"As such, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention may provide a new approach for controlling the synthesis of these complex textures without having to separate the textures into different parametric models.\",\n \"This may be achieved by directly controlling the synthesis process by strategically waxing and waning specific parameters in the model to create new outputs that express different ratios of desired features to control the appearance of age for certain textures.\",\n \"Identifying Age Features within Exemplar Images A separate but entangled problem to controlling age appearance during synthesis is first identifying which features in the input exemplar image display characteristics of age and to what degree.\",\n \"In accordance with sundry embodiments, user-created masks that delineate feature age may be received and used to identify the features.\",\n \"Processes in accordance with many embodiments may use an automatic clustering approach to segregate different textures.\",\n \"Still other processes in accordance with a number of embodiments may use a patch-based method that uses the average feature distance between a patch and its K nearest neighbors as a metric for “rarity” that may be interpreted as age.\",\n \"This method is based on the assumption that features created by the weathering process are highly random and have a low chance of finding a perfect match caused by the same process.\",\n \"However, there may be a limitation in the patch-based approach when a texture has rare features that are not a product of age, such as knots in wood.\",\n \"In accordance with several embodiments, a CNN may be trained to learn and identify weathered features for a multitude of weathering types.\",\n \"Processes for Controlling Aging Once weathered regions in an image have been identified, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention can extract a parametric model for each region.\",\n \"The desired age can be produced as a linear combination of the separate models.\",\n \"In the simplest case, weathering may just be an interpolation between a Young and Old parametric model as follows: Page=Y*(1−age)+O*(age) (13) This naive approach cannot generate fully young or fully old textures due to the large receptive fields common in CNN architectures mixing the two parametric models.\",\n \"To circumvent this problem, processes in accordance with many embodiments may introduce a “transition” parametric model built from the bordering pixels between young and old regions.\",\n \"To do so, processes in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention may dynamically generate masks for each layer of the network corresponding to the receptive field.\",\n \"Examples of a mask are shown in FIG.\",\n \"22 where black is used to delineate the young model, white for the old model and grey for the transition model.\",\n \"With specific regard to FIG.\",\n \"22, (a) indicates an input texture image, (b) indicates a mask delineating young and old textures, (c)-(f) indicate different receptive fields measured in terms of layers of rectified linear units for the Gram losses in texture synthesis and style transfer.\",\n \"The aging process in accordance with some embodiments then may become a two-step process where, first, Young to Transition is synthesized and then Transition to Old is synthesized.\",\n \"This strategy works for textures that completely change from one material to a completely different material as the textures age.\",\n \"However, weathering often damages or deforms a young material rather than transforming it into a completely different material (e.g.\",\n \"scratching, cracking, peeling).\",\n \"Therefore, it is typical that a young model should not contain old features, but the old model should contain young features.\",\n \"In this scenario, the old and transition regions may be combined into a single combined parametric model.\",\n \"Aging processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention may use a simple strategy for determining whether the transition and old models should be combined or not.\",\n \"The strategy is based upon the observations that when generating the transition masks as shown in FIG.\",\n \"22, the transition region becomes larger for deeper layers of the network.\",\n \"Therefore, if at some layer in the network the transition region completely replaces either a young or an old region, the processes assign that region into transition model at all layers of the network.\",\n \"Thus, the transition region can effectively “annex” other features if the features are too small to justify having their own parametric model.\",\n \"Given the introduction of a third “transition” model, the equation (12) above no longer suffices.\",\n \"In addition to the three-model system, processes in accordance with a number of embodiments may extend the algorithm to account for an arbitrary number of parametric models for complex aging scenarios.\",\n \"When more than two age models are present, there are two equally appropriate synthesis strategies.\",\n \"First, each parametric model can have an age assigned to it between 0 and 1.In the first strategy used by processes in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention, a list of N parametric models is sorted by age value from smallest to largest giving N−1 pairs of models to linearly interpolate between.\",\n \"These interpolations are sequentially chained such that the youngest model is the Y model and the next youngest is the O model.\",\n \"Once the old texture is fully synthesized, set the Y model to the O model and replace the O model with the next youngest model.\",\n \"The process may then iterate until all of the parametric models have been processed.\",\n \"In the second strategy used by a few embodiments, all N parametric models may be combined in parallel.\",\n \"This results in a single parametric model that is a combination of an arbitrary number of models in any proportion.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform aging in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that perform aging in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Continuous Weathering Once a new texture is synthesized at a starting age, it can be a simple process to continue the optimization while iteratively replacing the combined parametric model to reflect a new age.\",\n \"CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention may use this approach to synthesize smoothly varying animations from one age to another.\",\n \"Since a new parametric model for texture or “style” is introduced, and the optimization process starts from a prior model that represents the desired content, this process can be considered a special type of style transfer process where the style transfer process is a useful way to frame the problem.\",\n \"One complication to note is that changing the parametric model can cause a subtle mutation of features that should otherwise be static.\",\n \"While the ultimate goal is to replace young features with old ones, it is also possible for the young features to mutate into new but equally young-looking features due to the parametric model being in flux.\",\n \"In addition, old features may continue to optimize once they are synthesized, breaking the illusion of an aging process.\",\n \"In order to stabilize non-transitional features, processes in accordance with many embodiments introduce a new component, a multi-target localized content loss.\",\n \"In the most basic case, there are only young and old regions in a texture.\",\n \"In order to avoid the continuous mutation effect, these processes may introduce a new content loss strategy that applies different targets to local regions.\",\n \"These processes may begin by first synthesizing a full image for each of the two parametric models to be used as multiple content images.\",\n \"For each local point in the synthesis image, the processes may dynamically choose which content loss to apply based on a “parametric heat map.” To generate the parametric heat map, the mean of a parametric model is subtracted from each pixel of the model and the co-activations to form a covariance matrix for that individual feature.\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments, this may be performed in the rectified linear units for the Gram losses in texture synthesis and style transfer for layer 4 (relu_4) of the VGG-19 network.\",\n \"Next, the L2 distance between this covariance matrix and the covariance matrix component of the young and old parametric models is found for each pixel.\",\n \"The parametric model that has the lowest error can be used to compute the content loss for the pixel using the corresponding content image.\",\n \"Alternatively, processes in accordance with a few embodiments implement this approach by generating a new single content image by choosing pixels from the different content images using the lowest error mask.\",\n \"As can readily be appreciated, the specific approach that is pursued is typically dependent upon the requirements of a given application.\",\n \"Controlling Weathering Through “Painting by Numbers” Continuously updating a single parametric model can lead to natural weathering patterns.\",\n \"However, it is difficult to manually control this process.\",\n \"As an alternative weathering approach, processes in accordance with sundry embodiments extend the painting by numbers strategy presented above where masks are directly drawn or procedurally generated which direct young, old and transition textures to different regions of the synthesis image over time.\",\n \"The ability to procedurally control a weathering process may be important for many textures where different regions can be affected by different environmental conditions in a 3D scene.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that control weathering through “painting by numbers” in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that control weathering through “painting by numbers” in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Continuous Multiscale Aging In accordance with sundry embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes re-purpose style transfer to generate a continuous and progressive aging/de-aging process in a multiscale pyramid framework.\",\n \"Style transfer may be considered an extension to texture synthesis in which a second content image is introduced to guide the optimization process.\",\n \"Processes in accordance with many embodiments use the same concept to synthesize time sequences in a multiscale pyramid framework.\",\n \"These processes may bootstrap the animation by synthesizing the first frame in the sequence using the strategy described above.\",\n \"After the first frame is generated, subsequent frames can be created by using the frame before as a prior frame.\",\n \"As such, at any given point in time, two image pyramids are stored in memory, the pyramid for the previous frame and the pyramid for the current frame being synthesized.\",\n \"The synthesis order is illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"23.As the multiple image sizes may be synthesized in parallel, processes in accordance with a number of embodiments may store an optimizer state for each pyramid level.\",\n \"When synthesizing the first frame in the sequence, the base of the pyramid may use white noise as a prior frame to start the synthesis and then each subsequent pyramid level starts from the final result of the previous level that is bi-linearly re-sized to the correct resolution.\",\n \"For all subsequent frames synthesized, a new image pyramid may be synthesized.\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments, the first level of the new pyramid uses the first level of the previous frame as a prior image.\",\n \"For higher layers in the pyramid, the same layer from the previous frame is used as a prior image and a content loss is introduced by re-sizing the previous layer in the same frame, this content image can be seen as a blurry version of the desired result.\",\n \"This process is conceptually illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"23 where image 5 is synthesized using image 2 as a prior and image 4 is re-sized and used as a content image to guide the process.\",\n \"By synthesizing a sequence of images in this manner CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with some embodiments achieve the same benefits as synthesizing a single image using the pyramid strategy.\",\n \"However, the fidelity of larger structures may be improved, noise artifacts may be reduced and synthesis speed may be improved.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform continuous multiscale aging in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that perform continuous multiscale aging in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Transferring Weathered Patterns from External Exemplars Arguably, it is more useful sometimes to transfer the weathering effects of one material “W” onto another material “C.” This is a more difficult problem as the parameters within W that represent aged features must be completely extracted and isolated from the parameters that encode the underlying texture.\",\n \"The only way to do this accurately is to give every pixel a high fidelity age scoring.\",\n \"While, other systems may be able to accomplish this through a nearest neighbor search, this approach is too coarse and approximate to accurately transfer weathering.\",\n \"Also, some of these other processes may rank pixels based on how unique the pixels are within the image.\",\n \"To perform transferring of weathering patterns in accordance with several embodiments of the invention, pixels may also need to be ranked based on which distinct features they contribute to and by how much.\",\n \"CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with particular embodiments can accomplish this using the heat-map approach presented in the previous section on continuous weathering.\",\n \"However, rather than finding the best match among all parametric models, Processes performing weather transfer keep a separate L1 distance score between each parametric model.\",\n \"Thus, these processes may discriminate on a pixel-by-pixel basis to determine the pixels in a weathered region that contribute to the actual age artifacts and to what degree.\",\n \"Given a region of image W with age features as well as transition features and the resulting parametric model, the goal is to remove any features that are not the desired “aged” features and replace these features in the correct proportion with the target parametric model of C. To do so, processes in accordance with many embodiments normalize an L1 distance to each parametric model between 0 and 1 and invert the result so that a region in the synthesized image that strongly matches with a parametric model will receive a score close to 1 and regions that do not match receive a score closer to 0.For a parametric model that should be removed from the mixture, processes in accordance with a number of embodiments compute a mean activation of the model (note, co-activations are not used for this process as the features become very difficult to de-tangle).\",\n \"For each pixel, the processes may multiply the mean activation by the local L1 distance to that parametric model and subtract it from the activations at this target pixel to remove those features in their correct proportion from neural activations of the pixels.\",\n \"The processes may take the mean activations from the new parametric model from image C and multiply it by the same L1 distance to determine an activation value.\",\n \"The activation value is then added to the target pixel in W to replace the young features in the original image with young features from a new image where the weathered features are being introduced.\",\n \"After the texture has been updated, the processes can now perform weathering on image W using the processes described above.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that transfer weathered patterns from external exemplars in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that transfer weathered patterns in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Combining Optimization and Feedforward Parametric Texture Synthesis for Fast, High Resolution Syntheses Neural network-based texture synthesis processes can be grouped into two categories based on their underlying algorithmic strategy.\",\n \"These include optimization-based and feedforward-based approaches.\",\n \"Optimization-based approaches often produce superior quality but may be computationally expensive.\",\n \"This often makes these processes impractical for real world applications.\",\n \"Feedforward-based approaches were developed as a fast alternative to optimization.\",\n \"This is achieved by moving the computational burden to the training phase rather than at run time.\",\n \"While being fast, feedforward approaches are typically poor in quality and inflexible.\",\n \"The first feedforward approach baked the transformation for a single texture into each network.\",\n \"Later, several methods introduced the idea that multiple texture transformations could be baked into a single network.\",\n \"One such method introduced the idea of interpolating between these styles by matching the statistics of deep neural activations from some content image to those of a style image.\",\n \"In addition to baking style transformations into a network, another strategy has been to train an auto-encoder that uses the standard fixed pre-trained VGG network as an encoder with a decoder that is trained to invert VGG.\",\n \"Style transfer can be achieved by directly modifying the activation values produced by the encoder so that they better match the style image.\",\n \"One approach is to replace each feature vector from the content with its nearest neighbor in the style.\",\n \"Impressive results can be achieved by transforming the content activations to better mimic the style activations through a whitening color transform (WCT), which is a linear transformation that is capable of matching covariance statistics.\",\n \"While these methods have greatly improved the flexibility and quality of feedforward methods, they can still be inferior to optimization.\",\n \"CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention use a coarse-to-fine multiscale synthesis strategy for neural texture synthesis.\",\n \"These processes can achieve significant speedup over previous optimization methods by performing a majority of iterations on small images early in the process and the further the processes move up the pyramid, the less iterations are used to maintain the already established structure.\",\n \"The use of multiscale pyramid based synthesis is not only computationally cheaper as the processes move up the pyramid, but the problem formulation actually changes.\",\n \"Rather than performing texture synthesis or style transfer, the problem changes to Single Image Super Resolution (SISR) that takes an additional parametric texture model to help guide the up-resolution process.\",\n \"As such, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention may utilize the optimization-based approach described above up until an arbitrary threshold (for example, around the 512×512 pixel size image, varies depending upon the requirements of a given application) and then switch to an arbitrary feedforward approach utilizing VGG encoding/decoding with activation transforms along the way.\",\n \"Switching synthesis algorithms as the processes move up the pyramid can have additional benefits beyond speed.\",\n \"Some CNN-based texture synthesis processes are only capable of generating RGB color textures, a standard that has been obsolete in the video game and movie industries for nearly 20 years.\",\n \"Color textures have been replaced by “Materials” which consist of several maps encoding the fine scale geometry of the surface as well as parameters that direct how light interacts with each pixel.\",\n \"By utilizing a nearest neighbor search from the previous pyramid level to the most similar feature in the style exemplar, the encoder/decoder process in accordance with a number of embodiments can both up-resolution the previous synthesis level while also decoding the entire material.\",\n \"While it may be possible to train a new auto-encoder to process color images along with normal maps, roughness maps, etc.\",\n \"this process would have to be done for every possible combination of maps.\",\n \"This may be costly and awkward.\",\n \"This approach may provide a more flexible and elegant solution.\",\n \"Extending this concept to the arbitrary case, a method in accordance with several embodiments of the invention generates arbitrary material formats applied to any synthesis operation including, but not limited to, texture synthesis, time-varying weathering, style transfer, hybridization and super resolution.\",\n \"This synthesis strategy involves using some color texture generated using another process as input.\",\n \"In addition, an exemplar material is given as input, where this material contains at least one map that is similar in appearance and purpose as the input color map.\",\n \"The input color map is then used as a guide to direct the synthesis of the full material.\",\n \"This is done through a nearest neighbor search where a pixel/patch is found in one of the maps in the material that is similar to a pixel/patch in the input color image.\",\n \"The pointer map resulting from the nearest neighbor search directs how to re-arrange all maps within the material and then each can be synthesized using this same new guiding structure.\",\n \"These processes may be additionally attractive for style transfer because they are fully feedforward and the full resolution image can easily be broken up into deterministic windows that can be synthesized separately and stitched back together.\",\n \"This allows processes in accordance with particular embodiments to synthesize arbitrarily sized images with minimal engineering.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that combine optimization and feed forward processes in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that combine optimization and feed forward processes in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"SISR for Renderings In accordance with certain embodiments, a style transfer process used to perform SISR may have applications for rendering.\",\n \"SISR is an ill-posed problem where many high-resolution images can be downsampled to the same low-resolution result.\",\n \"This one-to-many inversion is especially bad at reproducing texture because it targets inverting to an average of all the possible higher resolution images.\",\n \"The latest trend in SISR is to train very deep (i.e.\",\n \"many layered) artificial neural networks on a large dataset using adversarial training.\",\n \"The high capacity of the deep network in conjunction with the adversarial training is meant to help reduce the loss of texture features.\",\n \"Recent advances in rendering algorithms as well as advances in high-resolution displays has resulted in an associated rise in rendering costs.\",\n \"The problem is that that there are more pixels and each pixel is more expensive to render.\",\n \"In particular, the recent jump from 1080p to 4 k rendering has left many animation houses incapable of meeting market needs.\",\n \"For small studios, the costs may be restrictive.\",\n \"For large and famous studios, rendering at 4 k may also be challenging.\",\n \"However, when rendering a movie or other video content, frames typically do not change significantly from one frame to the next.\",\n \"Therefore, it can be assumed that the parametric model or high-resolution texture statistics extracted from one frame are probably also appropriate for guiding similar but slightly different frames.\",\n \"Processes in accordance with some embodiments perform a video up-resolution strategy where the video content is rendered at a low resolution (LR).\",\n \"From the LR source, the processes cluster frames together based on their feature statistics.\",\n \"The mean frame from each cluster is determined and rendered at high resolution (HR).\",\n \"The processes then perform the same guided LR to HR synthesis as proposed for video streaming, with the one important difference that in video streaming the HR statistics for each frame are known whereas for rendering similar HR statistics are shared across multiple frames.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform SISR for rendering in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that perform SISR for rendering in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Combining Parametric and Non-Parametric-Non-CNN Synthesis within Pyramid Frameworks Based on the processes described above, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention can use a nearest neighbor search between patches in the synthesized result to determine the most similar patches in the input exemplar in order to create a bridge between parametric CNN-based texture synthesis frameworks and many established non-parametric texture synthesis methods that do not require a neural network to operate.\",\n \"The ability to tether a neural network approach on low-resolution images with non-neural network based methods higher in the synthesis pyramid can represent a “best of both worlds” solution between the two strategies.\",\n \"CNN-based approaches, especially parametric methods may be better at producing creative new features at the cost of speed, memory and image quality (these methods may contain many noise artifacts).\",\n \"Non-parametric models that do not rely on neural networks tend to shuffle around patches directly from the input exemplar.\",\n \"As such, these approaches exhibit the inverse of these behaviors.\",\n \"They are fast, low memory approaches that largely match the fine details of the input.\",\n \"However, they are not as powerful at creating new shapes and features.\",\n \"Although processes that combine parametric and non-parametric-non-CNN synthesis within a pyramid framework in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that combine parametric and non-parametric-non-CNN synthesis within a pyramid framework in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Although the present invention has been described in certain specific aspects, many additional modifications and variations would be apparent to those skilled in the art.\",\n \"It is, therefore, to be understood that the present invention may be practiced otherwise than specifically described, including various changes in the implementation without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.\",\n \"Thus, embodiments of the present invention should be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.\",\n \"Dilated Network Architecture The examples disclosed above have largely been agnostic to network architecture and are transversal to many Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) architectures.\",\n \"However, in addition to the examples above, the system in accordance with several embodiments of the invention implements a new network architecture for image synthesis that is particularly well suited to the problem.\",\n \"In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, a combination of Pooling Layers, Strided Convolution Layers and Dilated Convolution Layers are used to arrange neurons into a hierarchical multiscale relationship.\",\n \"Typically, image synthesis algorithms utilize pooling layers and sometimes strided convolution layers in order to form an image pyramid structure within the neural network architecture.\",\n \"Typically, only one such strategy is used throughout the network architecture.\",\n \"Recent work in image segmentation has achieved performance improvements utilizing a dilated convolutional network (https://arxiv.org/pdf/1511.07122.pdf—the disclosure of which related to dilated convolutional networks is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety), with a follow-up work showing that dilated convolution can also be used to learn image filters (http://vladlen.info/papers/fast-image-processing-with-supplement.pdf—the disclosure of which related to dilated convolutional networks is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety).\",\n \"Dilated convolution is a similar concept to image stacks, first introduced for the purposes of image processing using signal and statistics based methods and later adapted for texture synthesis (Sylvain Lefebvre and Hugues Hoppe.\",\n \"2005.Parallel controllable texture synthesis.\",\n \"ACM Trans.\",\n \"Graph.\",\n \"24, 3 (July 2005), 777-786—the disclosure of which related to dilated convolutional networks is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety).\",\n \"The image stack is a collection of image pyramids sampled from a single image at regular translation intervals.\",\n \"Image stacks were developed to address the problem that the image pyramid data structure leads to discretization errors, e.g.\",\n \"the same input image when translated could lead to very different downsampled results.\",\n \"The image stack is effectively a translation invariant alternative to image pyramids.\",\n \"It also follows that other types of symmetry transformations could also lead to similar discretization artifacts, e.g.\",\n \"two otherwise identical images would produce very different averages at coarser levels of an image pyramid.\",\n \"Other solutions to this problem include, but are not limited to, using a collection of image pyramids at different translations of an input image.\",\n \"An image stack can extend this concept to the most extreme conclusion where every possible image pyramid configuration is extracted from the original image, and then packed together efficiently so that all redundant data is removed.\",\n \"The efficient packing can be achieved using a “quadtree pyramid,” which was originally developed to accelerate an Approximate Nearest Neighbor (ANN) search utilizing KD-Trees.\",\n \"However, an image stack re-orders the data into a tightly packed image where features remain coherent across scale levels.\",\n \"The same data structure was actually first introduced a few years earlier by Masaki Kawase during a Game Developers Conference lecture for the purpose of blurring an image (slides published online by GDC, https://www.gamedev.net/forums/topic/615132-dof-basic-steps/Slides 15-18—the disclosure of which related to dilated convolutional networks is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety).\",\n \"In an image pyramid structure, each level of the pyramid is typically half the resolution in each dimension as the previous level.\",\n \"In an image stack structure, each level is the same resolution as the previous level.\",\n \"In an image pyramid, samples are typically averaged together or combined in some way using a convolution kernel with a stride of 1, used uniformly at every pyramid level.\",\n \"In an image stack, samples are typically averaged together or combined in some way using a convolution kernel with a stride of 2level where level is the number of scale factors relative to the original image.\",\n \"This can be thought of as analogous to a downscaling transition in an image pyramid.\",\n \"In summary, image pyramids both downsample and subsample an image.\",\n \"While downsampling is a desirable operation, subsampling rarely is.\",\n \"Image stacks get around this problem by downsampling without subsampling.\",\n \"The same data structures and hierarchical relationships used for an image pyramid and an image stack can also be used for convolutional network architectures that utilize pooling layers or strided convolution as well as dilated convolution.\",\n \"As such, the advantages/disadvantages of using a stack versus a pyramid in an image processing framework are transversal and carry over to a convolutional neural network architecture.\",\n \"Replacing pooling or strided convolution with a dilated convolution will often yield superior image synthesis results.\",\n \"Previous image synthesis methods using a Convolutional Neural Network have used some kind of pooling or dilated convolution strategy, thus they typically go through some form of subsampling operation followed by a supersampling operation.\",\n \"In the optimization based framework, the feedforward pass is a subsampling pyramid operation as higher order features are extracted deeper in the network, then the generation of the new image is a supersampling process through backpropagation as gradients traverse upwards through the network to the higher resolution shallow layers.\",\n \"In a feedforward architecture, many approaches are typically some form of auto-encoder or cascading image pyramid, both of which utilize some form of subsampled data and attempt to supersample it during the synthesis process.\",\n \"In many embodiments of the invention, network architectures designed for image synthesis, which may rely on pooling or strided convolution to do downsampling, can be improved by using a dilated convolution architecture instead.\",\n \"Therefore, the system in accordance with several embodiments of the invention makes use of dilated alternatives to such network architectures, as dilation is often a superior form of downsampling for image synthesis operations.\",\n \"In addition, where a synthesis strategy also relies on the use of image pyramids (typically Gaussian pyramids) of the input data for additional multiscale synthesis, the system in accordance with some embodiments of the invention uses an image stack to replace the image pyramid (typically a Gaussian stack).\",\n \"The dilated network strategy is particularly well suited for auto-encoders where the decoder network is a layer-wise inverter of the encoder network (i.e.\",\n \"each layer in the encoder has a “mirror” layer in the decoder which inverts that layer as accurately as possible).\",\n \"This particular network architecture is desirable for fast image synthesis because the encoder side of the network can distill an image into its most meaningful features, which can be modified in some way by another algorithm (e.g.\",\n \"including, but not limited to, a whitening transform, histogram match, or nearest neighbor search).\",\n \"The newly updated values can then be inverted by the decoder in order to produce a new image.\",\n \"This synthesis strategy is attractive because it's much faster and more memory efficient than an optimization based approach.\",\n \"It is however very difficult to implement because inverting a network that includes pooling is very difficult (historically literature has always used a pre-trained VGG network as the encoder).\",\n \"Inverting pooling layers typically leads to blurring or other such supersampling artifacts.\",\n \"Systems in accordance with many embodiments of the invention implement a dilated architecture as an alternative, which is easy and more accurate to invert on a layer-by-layer basis.\",\n \"In many embodiments, a whitening transform, multiscale NNS search or histogram matching algorithm can continue to be applied to features at each network layer as they progress through the decoder.\",\n \"Note that dilation shares the same drawback as the image stacks, it is a memory inefficient way to encode data, especially deeper in the network.\",\n \"Previous texture synthesis approaches utilizing image stacks were generally limited to 256×256 pixels in resolution due to the high memory demands.\",\n \"However, conventional images may have much higher pixel resolutions (e.g., up to or exceeding a 8192×8192 pixel resolution).\",\n \"The size of these images can make the image stack representation too memory demanding.\",\n \"Instead, processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention combine pooling or strided convolution layers at the shallow end of a convolutional neural network architecture with dilated convolution layers deeper in the network.\",\n \"This “hybrid” network architecture exhibits the properties of a pyramid network up to a specific depth in the network and then switches to the properties of a dilated stack.\",\n \"From a memory viewpoint, this is attractive because large images quickly get condensed into much smaller images for the majority of the network.\",\n \"This is also a good compromise from an image processing viewpoint because the deeper layers of the network encode the complex shapes and patterns and thus need the highest resolution.\",\n \"Shallow layers of the network only encode simple shapes and textures and don't require the same degree of network capacity.\",\n \"This new network architecture can be visualized as an image stack with a pyramid sitting on top of it.\",\n \"Although a specific pyramid-stack hybrid convolutional neural network architecture based on some combination of pooling, strided convolution and dilated convolution is used for image synthesis in a number of examples discussed above, in several embodiments of the invention, the pyramid-stack hybrid may be modified in a variety of ways, including (but not limited to) adding, removing, and/or combining components of the stack.\",\n \"Image Hybridization Starting from a set of several source images within the same category, systems and methods in accordance with many embodiments of the invention can hybridize, or mix them together in a way that produces a new member from that category.\",\n \"This is a follow-up work to Risser, Eric, et al.\",\n \"“Synthesizing structured image hybrids.” ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG).\",\n \"Vol.\",\n \"29.No.\",\n \"4.ACM, 2010.the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.\",\n \"While this work is based on the same theories as the original approach, this version of image hybridization is re-designed from the ground up in order to utilize convolutional neural networks both for image description and as the machinery for performing synthesis.\",\n \"The three key observations for image hybridization are: (1) instead of taking a small sample from an infinite plane of texture and synthesizing more of that infinite plane, grab a small sample across an infinite set within a “category” and synthesize more instances of that category, (2) structure exists across scales and should be observed across scales, and (3) manifesting structure from noise is difficult, so don't break structure in the first place.\",\n \"CNN based image synthesis is an ideal approach for hybridizing images due to the CNN's ability to learn and identify complex shapes and structures across multiple scales.\",\n \"Unlike other image synthesis methods which can be improved by dilated convolution, but do not require it, hybridization is likely to produce poor results and artifacts if deeper layers of the CNN are subsampled.\",\n \"Therefore, the input images can be passed in a feedforward manner through a dilated convolutional neural network to produce deep neural activations that have a 1-to-1 mapping with input image pixels.\",\n \"The logic behind using a stack as opposed to a pyramid is that when performing coarse to fine synthesis, the texture built at a coarse level largely influences whether a local or global minimum will be found.\",\n \"When a sub-optimal choice is made at the coarse level of the synthesis pyramid, synthesis will get stuck in a local min, so it is important to be very careful when synthesizing at the coarse level, in order to achieve a good result.\",\n \"When doing stochastic texture synthesis, there are many local mins that are all very similar to the global min, so this is less of a concern.\",\n \"When doing image hybridization though, most local minima are significantly worse than the global minimum and a small set of local minima surrounding the global minimum.\",\n \"This can be tied to breaking versus preserving the global structure of the image.\",\n \"The reason why stacks typically preserve global structure as opposed to pyramids is very simple.\",\n \"Imagine the same picture of a face in image A and image B.\",\n \"The only difference is that image B is transposed along the x axis.\",\n \"When turning A and B into pyramids, the right eye is subsampled into a single pixel at a coarse level.\",\n \"The same eye in image B, however, is spread across two pixels which also have features surrounding the eye, thanks to the transposed position drastically changing the quantization in the pyramid.\",\n \"When synthesizing the texture at a coarse level, there are no good nearest neighbor matches between image A and B, the center of the eye is represented by a pixel in image A but image B only has the right and left sides of the eye as candidates to be linked to.\",\n \"While it's theoretically possible to recover the eye feature at finer levels, this is a much harder problem and in practice rarely happens.\",\n \"By using a stack, the system in accordance with many embodiments of the invention avoids quantization and maintains the maximum number of features to compare, drastically increasing the chance of finding good matches.\",\n \"To bootstrap the synthesis process, choose one of the input images at random and pass it feedforward through a network.\",\n \"Unlike the first step that extracts feature vectors for each exemplar, synthesis itself does not strictly require a dilated architecture.\",\n \"Dilated versus strided convolution have their own benefits and weaknesses and are compared below.\",\n \"The important thing to note is that the same convolution kernels used for extracting exemplar features typically must also be used during synthesis.\",\n \"Luckily, a dilated architecture can be thought of as a collection of pyramid architectures, so the same set of kernels can be used in either strategy.\",\n \"Many of the examples described herein refer to VGG-19 feature kernels pre-trained on the ImageNet dataset, however one skilled in the art will recognize that convolutional kernels from any network architecture trained on any dataset may be applied in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"Hybridization, unlike other image synthesis operations, is a non-parametric process that relies on finding similar matching features between input and output images and building new images by re-combining sets of exemplar features into new configurations while tracking the global feature error between these new features being mixed and the original input features that they were derived from.\",\n \"Note that hybridization can be performed in either an optimization or feedforward based synthesis strategy.\",\n \"In either case, the key aspect of image hybridization is to algorithmically generate new activations at different levels of the network which combine the activation features extracted from the input images into new hybrid configurations.\",\n \"Before we describe how these new hybrid configurations are generated, we'll identify how they are used to synthesize new images.\",\n \"When performing optimization based synthesis, an input image (typically noise, but it could be anything) is iteratively updated to minimize some loss function.\",\n \"The “hybrid loss” function is the summed L2 distance between each pixel in the current image being synthesized and the hybrid activation maps at a given layer.\",\n \"This is the same strategy as the “content loss” described above, however, whereas the content loss was taken directly from an input image, the “hybrid loss” is a new activation map that is generated by recombining activation features taken from different input images.\",\n \"In the original image synthesis work, content loss is only used at RELU4_1, so that it does not overpower style loss at shallow layers of the network.\",\n \"Hybridization in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention incorporates a style loss in order to perform style transfer combined with hybridization all in one operation.\",\n \"Alternatively, in several embodiments, the basic hybridization algorithm assumes that there is no style loss.\",\n \"Therefore, hybrid loss can be used at multiple layers in the network.\",\n \"Feedforward networks on the other hand do not perform an optimization process turning one image into another, instead they transform an image into a new image.\",\n \"Therefore, using the dilated auto-encoder network described above, the encoder portion is run on all input images, their features are hybridized in the middle of the network using another process, and then this hybridized set of activation values are inverted by the decoder.\",\n \"Note that in both optimization and feedforward synthesis, the results of hybridizing deep features in the network can be passed up to shallow layers and then become further hybridized through another hybridization step.\",\n \"In order to describe the process in which activation maps are reconfigured to produce hybrid activation maps, it is helpful to first introduce the concept of feature space.\",\n \"The idea behind feature space is that similar visual features in the image will map to points in feature space that are close to each other in terms of Euclidean distance, while very different looking features will be very far away from each other.\",\n \"The neural network in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is a feature descriptor and converts a neighborhood of raw pixel values into a single point in a high dimensional feature space.\",\n \"Given this background, the creation of hybrid activations for a layer can be explained.\",\n \"Given the layer activations for one of the random input images, the goal is to traverse every pixel location in the layer and replace the current feature vector at that location with a new feature vector taken from some other pixel location in that layer or from some pixel location taken from another input image's neural activations at that layer.\",\n \"This can be done through a two-step process where the process introduces randomness or “jitter” and then “corrects” any artifacts or broken structures caused by the jitter.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, the process optionally pre-computes k-nearest neighbors between each input image and every other input image as a part of an acceleration strategy.\",\n \"In the next phase, for each pixel in the image being synthesized, the process in accordance with many embodiments of the invention gathers k nearest neighbors from the input exemplars.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, the process divides up the k samples equally across all the exemplars.\",\n \"In a number of embodiments, the distance metric used for these KNNs is the L2 distance between feature vectors at the neural network layer of interest.\",\n \"This is equivalent to transforming all of the image data into points in high dimensional feature space.\",\n \"Around each synthesis feature point, the process in accordance with some embodiments of the invention gathers the cluster of exemplar feature points surrounding it, such that the process samples the same number of points from each exemplar.\",\n \"The next step is to sort these K nearest neighbors from smallest to largest distance.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, the one parameter exposed to the user is a “jitter slider” that goes from 0-1 (or an equivalent linear or non-linear range), where 0 should produce one of the original inputs and 1 should be the maximum hybridization and mutation.\",\n \"Therefore, the 0-1 range is mapped to the min distance and max distance of the closest to farthest neighbors.\",\n \"Depending on the jitter setting, the process in accordance with many embodiments of the invention gathers the K nearest neighbors with distances less than the jitter value and randomly selects one of them to update the synthesis patch with.\",\n \"This is akin to constraining noise.\",\n \"Instead of starting from noise and trying to recover structure from it (which is very difficult), instead the process in accordance with a number of embodiments starts from pure structure (i.e.\",\n \"the input) and adds noise strategically and intelligently in order to not break the structure to a degree from which it cannot be recovered.\",\n \"To this end, the process in accordance with several embodiments of the invention adds noise or randomness in “feature space” rather than color space or image space as is typical for these types of algorithms.\",\n \"This strategy adds noise in feature space, which essentially allows the process to randomize the image in a way that preserves the important structures of the image.\",\n \"This operation can be performed at one or more convolution layers within the CNN.\",\n \"After jitter is used to modify the details of the new image being synthesized, the second step “correction” then “fixes” the image so that it maintains statistical similarity to the exemplar input.\",\n \"For each n×n neighborhood of synthesized neural activation vectors (where n×n could be any size, including 1×1 e.g.\",\n \"a single element vector), correction seeks out the neighborhood of neural activation vectors in any exemplar that has the lowest L2 distance.\",\n \"The current synthesis neural activation vector is then replaced with that closest exemplar neural activation vector.\",\n \"The correction scheme is based on coherence (Ashikhmin, Michael.\",\n \"“Synthesizing natural textures.” Proceedings of the 2001 symposium on Interactive 3D graphics.\",\n \"ACM, 2001—the relevant disclosure from which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety), which states that nearest neighbor selection is not always the best method for finding perceptual similarity.\",\n \"Rather coherence, or the relationship between neighboring pixels, plays a large role in structure and perceptual similarity.\",\n \"Therefore, the process in accordance with many embodiments of the invention introduces a bias so that exemplar activation vectors that form a coherent patch with the surrounding synthesis activation vectors are given a reduction in L2 distance.\",\n \"This incentivizes the formation of coherent patches from the exemplar.\",\n \"For both jitter and correction, the process in accordance with various embodiments of the invention can either perform a nearest neighbor search from the synthesis layer to the exemplar layers during runtime of the algorithm, or could pre-compute a candidate list of k-nearest neighbors from every exemplar feature to every other k exemplar feature.\",\n \"Then, during synthesis, each activation vector also maintains a pointer to the exemplar activation vector that it is mimicking.\",\n \"Whether pre-computing nearest neighbors, or finding them at runtime, a nearest neighbor searching algorithm that is designed with neural networks in mind is needed.\",\n \"To this end, several embodiments in accordance with the invention use a nearest neighbor algorithm as described in U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application 62/528,372, entitled “Systems and Methods for Providing convolutional Neural Network Based Non-Parametric Texture Synthesis in Graphic Objects, filed on Jul.\",\n \"3, 2017, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.\",\n \"The synthesis process for an optimization based algorithm in accordance with some embodiments of the invention runs E input images through a dilated version of a CNN, resulting in a set of activation vectors for specific layers of interest (for the sake of VGG-19, these are RELU1_1, RELU2_1, RELU3_1 AND RELU4_1).\",\n \"The synthesis process runs a randomly selected input image through either a dilated or un-dilated version of the CNN to produce the starting point for the hybrid activations.\",\n \"The process runs a jitter pass and runs the standard neural optimization based synthesis method starting from some prior (typically noise) for several iterations of backpropagation until the prior has turned into a manifestation of the jittered activations at the deep layer.\",\n \"The process then runs a correction pass on the activations at the coarsest layer in the network (for VGG-19, this is RELU4_1), thus producing the hybrid activations for that layer.\",\n \"The process runs the standard neural optimization based synthesis method again for several iterations of backpropagation until the prior has turned into a manifestation of the hybrid activations at the deep layer.\",\n \"Once the current level has converged, the process moves to the next most shallow layer of interest in the network (e.g.\",\n \"RELU3_1 for VGG-19) and repeats the process, jitter and correct in order to find new hybrid activations for that layer to use as the target for hybrid loss and reruns the optimization process now only going to that layer and no farther down the network.\",\n \"Repeat this process until the shallowest layer of interest is optimized.\",\n \"The synthesis process for feedforward networks in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention runs all inputs through the encoder, producing the deep neural activations.\",\n \"Before running the decoder, the process runs the jitter pass on one of the exemplars in order to randomize the features.\",\n \"In order to correct, the process samples a neighborhood of activation vectors (at least 3×3) around each activation vector and performs the correction phase of the algorithm.\",\n \"The jitter and correction phase can either use pre-computed nearest neighbor sets or run a full nearest neighbor search during the algorithm.\",\n \"Once correction is finished, the process continues through the decoder, inverting the new hybrid layer.\",\n \"This process can be repeated for each layer moving through the decoder or only run at target layers.\",\n \"This is a tradeoff between algorithm speed and the scale at which features are hybridized.\",\n \"Optimization based synthesis is slower than feedforward, however it achieves superior quality.\",\n \"On Model Image Synthesis Using Convolutional Neural Networks In computer graphics, a 3D model is typically “texture mapped”.\",\n \"For purposes of this discussion, “texture mapped,” means an image is wrapped over the surface of the 3D shape as shown in FIG.\",\n \"24.3D models typically contain UV coordinates at each vertex which define the 2D parameterization of the 3D surface.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"24, the left image displays the underlying geometry of the mesh 2401, the middle image shows the geometry with a texture mapped over the mesh 2402 and the image on the right shows what that texture 2403 looks like as a 2D mapping of a 3D surface.\",\n \"We refer to synthesizing texture maps as “on-model synthesis.” Processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention integrate an on-model synthesis approach into the CNN approach.\",\n \"To do so, these processes have to spread out atlas maps and build a gutter space of pointers re-directing to neighboring charts.\",\n \"The CNN based synthesis approach in accordance with many embodiments of the invention relies on the process of convolution in which each pixel of the synthesis kernel is filtered based on a neighborhood of its surrounding pixels.\",\n \"On-model synthesis introduces two complications on top of the standard synthesis approach in image space: (1) Flow field over a 3D model is generated using its curvature properties along with user guidance.\",\n \"That flow field can then be projected as a 2D vector field in the parameterized texture space.\",\n \"This flow field typically contains both directional components as well as scale components along each axis.\",\n \"Rather than convolving the neural network along the image x and y axis unit vectors globally, each pixel now has its own local coordinate frame and scale.\",\n \"(2) Because an arbitrary 3D surface cannot be mapped to a single plane, UV texture space is typically broken up into a set of “charts” where each chart covers a relatively flat portion of the model.\",\n \"This adds another level of complication because texture colors that are coherent along the surface of the model are not coherent in texture space where we perform our convolutions.\",\n \"To accommodate this, the process in accordance with many embodiments of the invention adds a gutter space of a few pixels in radius around each chart.\",\n \"These gutter pixels store pointers to other charts in texture space that encode coherent pixels along the model's surface.\",\n \"This additional pointer buffer is referred to as a “jump map”.\",\n \"When performing convolution, rather than sampling directly from the image, the process in accordance with a number of embodiments first samples from the jump map which points to the image pixel that should be sampled.\",\n \"Because texture space might have tightly packed charts, as a pre-process, the process in accordance with some embodiments spreads out the charts so that there is a gutter space of at least two pixels around each chart at the coarsest synthesis pyramid level plus however many pooling layers are passed through in the CNN.\",\n \"Note that when using dilated convolution, the gutter space typically must be two to the power of the number of dilated convolutions.\",\n \"Processes in accordance with some of these embodiments introduce an underlying vector field that frames the local orientation around each pixel.\",\n \"As CNNs work by performing convolution across an image, the vector field directs the local orientation of the convolution.\",\n \"Thus, these processes can bi-linearly interpolate sampling of neural activations from the previous layer.\",\n \"Where the convolution kernel extends beyond the scope of an atlas chart, the gutter space of pointers redirects to another atlas chart.\",\n \"During the back-propagation phase of the process, inverse mapping can be used in a manner similar to what is described above with respect to convolution.\",\n \"This allows these processes to perform CNN image synthesis directly in UV space for on-model synthesis.\",\n \"Thus far the algorithm described is designed to use a rectangular texture and a single model (with no relationship between the two) as input and synthesize a new image which maps into the model's unwrapped texture space, as shown in the FIG.\",\n \"25, where texture 2501 is wrapped around mesh 2502.In this regard the input is still a rectangular image and the output uses the mesh as a canvas on which to paint over.\",\n \"In many instances, a pre-textured mesh is given as input and the textures already parameterized into some UV space are used as the source data to feed an image synthesis process.\",\n \"Processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention follow a similar approach.\",\n \"These processes take this concept a step further and produce textures that conform to geometric shapes and the feature contents of that texture are guided by the underlying shape itself.\",\n \"This results in image synthesis that can be applied on top of already textured meshes, and can also produce appearance transfer from one textured mesh onto another.\",\n \"The goal of processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is to go one step further and provide an on-model texture synthesis scheme that allows the user to supply a fully textured model as the input exemplar (for example texture mapped mesh (2402)) instead of just a texture (2403), and apply that texture from the model onto a different untextured model.\",\n \"The advantage to this approach is that a lot of useful information is represented by a textured mesh, including (but not limited to) the relationship between varying texture features and the underlying geometric shape on which they would typically exist.\",\n \"Texture and shape are often not independent.\",\n \"Instead, texture and shape are related.\",\n \"Thus, by learning or associating the relationships between a texture and a shape to which the texture is applied, processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention can provide artists with more powerful and convenient tools.\",\n \"There are two key ideas behind this approach in accordance with some embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"The first is that deep neural activation features and their resulting parametric models for UV mapped textures should be calculated using the same vector field and jump map approach proposed above for the purposes of synthesis.\",\n \"The second is to find a shape descriptor that is both effective as well as compatible with an image descriptor maintained by the system and the image based GPU accelerated framework upon which the system is built.\",\n \"A key insight is that geometric shape information can be projected onto an image (i.e.\",\n \"a regular grid) and the shape descriptor is able to work by sampling patches from this grid in order to maintain compatibility with the GPU framework.\",\n \"Because it is desirable that geometric neighborhoods correspond to texture neighborhoods, it makes sense that the geometric projection into image space should match the texture unwrapping.\",\n \"The only issue is that texture information can map to multiple portions of a single mesh.\",\n \"As such, processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention utilize a texture parameterization that provides a 1-to-1 mapping between points on a model and pixels in a texture image.\",\n \"This amounts to simply making copies of charts or chart regions that are pointed to from multiple polygons so that each polygon maps to its own region in texture space.\",\n \"Once each point on the 3D surface of a mesh points to a unique pixel in image space, any arbitrary shape description, ranging from point location in 3D space to more sophisticated descriptors, can be fed into a CNN framework in order to learn local shape features using a CNN training process.\",\n \"One such training approach could be mesh categorization, however, other training approaches such as mesh compression, feature clustering or upres could also be viable training strategies for learning meaningful shape features.\",\n \"Condensed Feature Extraction Networks In several embodiments, a learning strategy for condensing networks that have been trained for purposes other than image synthesis allows for the production of new networks that are more efficient at extracting image features used for image synthesis.\",\n \"Typically, VGG-19 pre-trained for image classification is used as a high quality, learned image descriptor for extracting out meaningful image features for the purposes of image synthesis.\",\n \"Many networks designed for classification have been designed for a different and more difficult problem than texture feature extraction and often require more capacity than is needed for feature extraction.\",\n \"VGG, for example, is computationally expensive to run, which can result in small images, long wait times and a reliance on expensive hardware.\",\n \"One of the benefits of systems in accordance with various embodiments of the invention is to improve memory/speed performance, without sacrificing synthesis quality.\",\n \"Again, for the purposes of image synthesis, VGG or some other network architecture trained on classification can be of interest on the basis that the kernels that were produced as a byproduct of the learning process for image classification can be useful in image synthesis.\",\n \"For image synthesis, not all activation maps produced by a network are needed, only a small subset of those feature maps.\",\n \"As such, there are layers in the network that are not used directly for image synthesis, rather blocks of layers are run between layers of interest.\",\n \"In many embodiments, the number of hidden layers in a previously trained CNN can be reduced and/or the capacity of those hidden layers can be reduced.\",\n \"The simplest strategy is to train a new network on image classification.\",\n \"Unfortunately, if a new set of kernels for classification on a lower capacity network is learned, there's a good chance that there won't be enough capacity to perform classification as well as VGG and if the classification isn't as good then the resulting kernels might not do as good a job at feature extraction.\",\n \"Rather than learning a leaner feature extraction network by reproducing the classification learning process, the learning strategy in accordance with many embodiments of the invention uses the activation maps produced by VGG (or some other artificial neural network) as the ground truth (since they will produce good synthesis results) and a network is trained to try and reproduce the input/output pairings using fewer neurons then VGG.\",\n \"The assumption behind this condensed network learning strategy is that a reduction in network capacity has a larger effect on the quality of classification performance than it does on feature extraction for the purposes of image synthesis.\",\n \"For example, if a small network approximates a VGG convolutional block at 95% accuracy at 25% VGG's neurons, that would introduce so much error that the classification results would be dramatically affected.\",\n \"However, for the purposes of image synthesis, 95% accuracy would still find very good image features and synthesis quality would not be noticeably effected.\",\n \"Stated another way, systems and methods in accordance with many embodiments of the invention utilize an artificial neural network with a specific number of neurons to learn a network that approximates the intermediate neural activations of a different network with a larger number (or the same number) of artificial neurons for the purposes of efficient image synthesis.\",\n \"Although various processes for generating a geometric description map for convolutional neural network based texture synthesis are discussed above, many different systems and methods can be implemented in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"It is therefore to be understood that the present invention may be practiced in ways other than specifically described, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.\",\n \"Thus, embodiments of the present invention should be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.\",\n \"Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiments illustrated, but by the appended claims and their equivalents.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876011"}}},{"rowIdx":4495053,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["PIPELINED VIDEO DECODER SYSTEM","Efficient decoding of video content that may involve intra block copy operations, such as copying pixel data from one region of a frame to another region of the same frame is described.","For example, a method to decode the video content may involve identifying the video frame in which intra block copy operation is to be performed, prior to the intra block copy operation being initiated.","A video decoder may prefetch the pixel data from the source region to a local buffer with low memory latency such that the source pixel data to be copied into the destination blocks in the video frame is readily available.","Thus, costly, and time consuming memory access may be avoided, and in turn a video decoding pipeline may operate smoothly without any stalling."],["1.A device comprising: at least one circuit configured to: decode a current block within a frame of video data, the frame comprised of a plurality of blocks; identify an intra-block copy request (IBC request) for the current block, wherein the IBC request comprises copying content from a source block to the current block of the frame, wherein the source block is within the frame and has been decoded; and copy the content of the source block to the current block.","from the internal memory 2.The device of claim 7, wherein memory latency of the internal memory is lower than memory latency of the external memory.","3.The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one circuit is further configured to: pre-fetch the content of the source block prior to completion of decoding of the current block.","4.The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one circuit is further configured to filter decoded blocks of the video data.","5.The device of claim 4, wherein, an internal memory is configured to store a predetermined number of decoded blocks within the frame of the video data, the frame being currently decoded by the device.","6.The device of claim 5, wherein the predetermined number of decoded blocks stored within the internal memory are stored prior to a block copy operation of the device.","7.The device of claim 6, wherein the decoded blocks, prior to the block copy operation, are further stored in an external memory.","8.A method comprising: receiving, using at least one circuit, a frame, the frame divided into a plurality of blocks; decoding, using the at least one circuit, a block from among the blocks of the frame; and decoding, using the at least one circuit, another block from among the blocks of the frame, the decoding the another block comprising copying contents of the decoded block of the frame as decoded contents of the another block, wherein the block is different than the another block.","9.The method of claim 10, further comprising: storing, using the at least one circuit, at least a part of the decoded block of the frame, prior to filtering, in a local buffer.","10.The method of claim 8, further comprising: filtering, using circuitry, the decoded block of the frame; and storing, using circuitry, the filtered block of the frame in a memory storage device, for display.","11.The method of claim 9, wherein, copying the contents of the decoded block comprises copying at least part of the contents of the decoded block from a memory storage device.","12.The method of claim 11, wherein, copying the contents of the decoded block further comprises copying at least part of the contents of the decoded block from the local buffer.","13.The method of claim 8, wherein the received frame is received from a source device for screen casting.","14.A computer program product comprising code stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the code comprising: code to receive video data, the video data comprising a plurality of video frames, each video frame of the video frames further comprising blocks of pixels; code to decode a first block of pixels; code to identify an intra block copy instruction associated with decoding a the second block of pixels; and code to, in response to the intra block copy instruction, copy part of the decoded first block of pixels to the second block of pixels.","15.The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the intra block copy instruction identifies the first block of pixels as a source of contents for the second block of pixels.","16.The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the code further comprises: code to filter the decoded first block of pixels; and code to store the filtered first block of pixels for display.","17.The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the code further comprises: code to, in response to the intra block copy instruction, copy part of a decoded third block of pixels to the second block of pixels, wherein the intra block copy instruction further identifies the third block of pixels as another source of contents for the second block of pixels.","18.The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the code further comprises: code to parse the intra block copy instruction to determine one or more source blocks for the intra block copy instruction for the second block of pixels, wherein contents of the one or more source blocks are copied into the second block of pixels; code to identify one or more locations of the one or more source blocks for the intra block copy instruction; and code to copy contents from the one or more source blocks from the identified one or more locations into the second block of pixels.","19.The computer program product of claim 18, wherein: the first block of pixels is identified as a source block for the intra block copy instruction and a location of the first block of pixels is identified as a first memory device; and a third block of pixels is identified as another source block for the intra block copy instruction and a location of the third block of pixels is identified as a second memory device that has a higher latency than the first memory device.","20.The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the code further comprises: code to identify the one or more locations of the one or more source blocks for the intra block copy instruction based on a predetermined number of blocks of pixel stored in the first memory device."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Rapid advances in electronics and communication technologies, driven by immense customer demand, have resulted in the worldwide adoption of devices that display a wide variety of video content.","Examples of such devices include smartphones, flat screen televisions, and tablet computers.","Improvements in video processing techniques will continue to enhance the capabilities of these devices.","Accordingly, coding of screen content video is becoming important because of applications such as wireless displays, remote desktop, remote gaming, automotive infotainment, cloud computing, distance education and many others."],["<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>FIG.","1 illustrates a block diagram of an example video decoder.","FIG.","2 illustrates an example intra block copy operation.","FIG.","3 illustrates an exemplary video decoder.","FIG.","4 illustrates example memory access cases during video decoding.","FIG.","5 illustrates an example video decoder.","FIG.","6 illustrates an example video decoder.","FIG.","7 illustrates exemplary steps performed when processing an example frame FIG.","8 illustrates a flowchart of example steps performed by an example video decoder.","detailed-description description=\"Detailed Description\" end=\"lead\"?"],["PRIORITY CLAIM This application claims priority to provisional application Ser.","No.","61/979,255 filed Apr.","14, 2014, which is entirely incorporated by reference.","TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure relates to video decoding and particularly to pipelined video decoding techniques.","BACKGROUND Rapid advances in electronics and communication technologies, driven by immense customer demand, have resulted in the worldwide adoption of devices that display a wide variety of video content.","Examples of such devices include smartphones, flat screen televisions, and tablet computers.","Improvements in video processing techniques will continue to enhance the capabilities of these devices.","Accordingly, coding of screen content video is becoming important because of applications such as wireless displays, remote desktop, remote gaming, automotive infotainment, cloud computing, distance education and many others.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 illustrates a block diagram of an example video decoder.","FIG.","2 illustrates an example intra block copy operation.","FIG.","3 illustrates an exemplary video decoder.","FIG.","4 illustrates example memory access cases during video decoding.","FIG.","5 illustrates an example video decoder.","FIG.","6 illustrates an example video decoder.","FIG.","7 illustrates exemplary steps performed when processing an example frame FIG.","8 illustrates a flowchart of example steps performed by an example video decoder.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION Video content is encoded using various encoding techniques and standards such as MPEG-1, MPEG-2, H.264, H.265, and many others.","The H.265 standard is also referred to as High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC).","The encoding techniques may be used to compress video content for efficient transmission over wired or wireless networks.","The compression may involve predicting pixel values based on video content that may be used as reference video content.","For example, spatial prediction may be performed to predict pixel values based on immediate neighboring pixels in a video frame.","In addition, or alternatively, temporal prediction may be performed in which pixel values are predicted based on corresponding pixel values in previous or subsequent frames.","Additional operations may be performed when the video content being transmitted is screen content.","Screen content sharing may involve sharing, or transmitting content being displayed on one display device, or screen, to another display device or screen.","Alternatively, content may be transmitted from a source device without display capability to a display device.","For example, wireless screen sharing from mobile devices to large screens may enable displaying video content being displayed on a mobile device, such as a phone, tablet, or a computer to a large screen, such as a television (TV) or projector.","For example, technologies such as Miracast, Apple AirPlay, or Chromecast may be used.","Additionally, or alternatively video content may be shared between a set-top box and a TV.","Further yet, the content may be communicated and shared via a wired transmission.","The video content being shared may have mixed content consisting of video, text and graphics in the same picture.","Further, the shared video content may include camera captured content and computer generated content such as text and graphics.","For example, during a video conference, camera captured content, such as an image of a presenter may be shared along with contents being displayed on a device being used by the presenter, such as a computer with a presentation slides or other such content.","In one exemplary scenario the source device may decode the content before transmitting to the display device.","Alternatively, the shared video content may be decoded at a receiver to display the contents.","The video content may be decoded on a macroblock-by-macroblock basis.","FIG.","1 illustrates a block diagram of an example video decoder 100.A video decoder may also be referred to as a stream parser, or simply a decoder.","The video decoder 100 may include circuitry to perform various functions.","For example, the video decoder 100 may include circuitry for a symbol decoder 110, a spatial mode generator 120, coefficient generator 130, vector generator 140, inverse transformer 150, temporal predictor 160, spatial predictor 170, loop filter 180, and a memory storage unit 190.Other examples of video decoders may include circuitry that performs operations of a combination of more than one of the above listed components of video decoder 100.Alternatively, or in addition the components of the video decoder 100 may use additional circuitry, such as one or more processors.","The memory storage unit 190 may be a computer readable storage medium, such as random access storage memory (RAM) for example dynamic random access memory (DRAM).","The memory storage unit 190 may contain data that is used by the components of the video decoder 100 to decode video content.","The video content to be decoded may be received by the video decoder 100 and may be stored in the memory storage unit 190, for example in the coded data buffer 192.The data stored in the coded data buffer 192 may involve a raw video stream that is generated after completion of steps such as finding start code, byte destuffing, and other preliminary analysis of the received video content.","The received video content, which may be received as a video stream, may comprise video data encoded according to one or more of a plurality of encoding standards, such as H.261, H.263, H.263+(Annex J), H.264, VC-1, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and/or H.265, for example.","The video decoder may be adapted to detect one or more start codes and start code suffixes, to determine the encoding type and generate the raw video content in the video stream.","The memory storage unit 190 may also contain reference data that may be used during the decoding, such as in the reference picture buffers 196.The data in the reference picture buffers may be stored by the components of the video decoder 100, before, after or during the decoding process.","The symbol decoder 110 may also be referred to as a symbol interpreter.","The symbol decoder 110 may receive or access the video content stored in the memory storage unit 190.Alternatively, or in addition, the symbol decoder 110 may receive the video content to be decoded via a communication interface, such as a communication port.","The symbol decoder 110 may decode/interpret received content, such as, for example, single syntax elements from the video content that were encoded utilizing fixed length coding (FLC), variable length coding (VLC) or Context-Adaptive Binary Arithmetic Coding (CABAC) coding techniques.","The video content may be divided into frames with each frame further composed of blocks (macroblocks) of pixels.","The spatial mode generator 120 may determine prediction mode to be used by the temporal predictor 160 and/or the spatial predictor 170.The prediction mode, for example, and among other factors may indicate size of the macroblock partition used during prediction by the predictors.","The coefficient generator 130 may generate one or more quantized frequency coefficients from the video content.","Quantized frequency coefficients generated by the coefficient generator 130 may be subsequently utilized within the video decoder 100 to generate prediction error information utilized during reconstruction of one or more macroblocks, or blocks of the video content.","The generated quantized frequency coefficients may be communicated to the inverse transformer 150 for further processing.","The vector generator 140 may be adapted to generate one or more motion vectors from the video content.","The motion vectors generated by the vector generator 140 may be utilized within the video decoder 100 to generate prediction pixels utilized during reconstruction of one or more macroblocks.","The generated motion vector information may be communicated to components responsible for other functions, such as motion compensation, for further processing.","The inverse transformer, or inverse quantization transformer (IQT) 150 includes suitable circuitry, logic and/or code to transform quantized frequency coefficients received from the symbol interpreter 110 into one or more prediction errors.","The IQT 150 may transform the quantized frequency coefficients back to spatial domain, thus generating prediction error information.","The prediction error information generated by the IQT 150 may then be communicated to the other components of the video decoder 100 for further processing during reconstruction of a macroblock.","The temporal predictor 160 may involve suitable circuitry, logic and/or code to generate prediction pixels utilizing motion vector information received from motion vector generator 140.For example, the temporal predictor 160 may generate prediction pixels for temporally predicted macroblocks, which may be associated with pixels in frames/fields neighboring a current frame/field.","The temporal predictor 160 may acquire previous and/or subsequent frames/fields from the reference picture buffers 196 and utilize the acquired previous and/or subsequent frames/fields for predicting temporally encoded pixels within a current macroblock.","The reference picture buffers 196 may also be referred to as frame buffers.","The temporal predictor 160 may be further adapted to interpolate one or more prediction pixels within a current frame utilizing motion vector information, as well as one or more reference frames that are temporally adjacent to the current frame.","Further, prediction pixels may be interpolated utilizing only one reference frame or more than one prediction reference frame, during the temporal prediction of a current frame.","The temporal predictor 160 may include separate circuitry to handle the bi-directional prediction that may be utilized to generate the prediction pixels from more than one reference frame.","The spatial predictor 170 may involve suitable circuitry, logic and/or code to generate prediction pixels.","The prediction pixels may be generated from neighboring pixels in the same frame.","The spatial predictor 170 may also contain a reconstruction block (not shown) to add the prediction and the prediction error to generate a decoded macroblock.","The spatial predictor 170 acquires macroblock type information, slice type information and/or prediction mode information, for example, from the symbol interpreter 110 and the spatial mode generator 120.The spatial predictor 170 may then utilize the acquired macroblock type information, slice type information and/or prediction mode information to generate prediction pixels for spatially predicted macroblocks.","The loop filter 180 may include suitable circuitry, logic and/or code to further filter a decoded/reconstructed macroblock.","Depending on the encoding method of the video content, the loop filter may use a deblocking filter.","The deblocking filter may be utilized by the loop filter 180 to reduce edge artifacts and transform blockiness effects along one or more edges of a reconstructed macroblock.","The video decoding performed by the video decoder 100 can thus be performed in a deterministic pipelined structure.","The memory fetches performed during the decoding are pre-determined.","For example, prior to processing video frame data received by the video decoder 100, components of the video decoder 100 may initiate memory access to retrieve data that may be used for the processing.","For example, the vector generator 140, may identify and determine reference blocks to be used for the temporal prediction that needs to be performed for the received video frame.","Accordingly, before the temporal predictor 160 begins the actual process of temporal prediction, the temporal predictor 160 may fetch the reference frames to be used for processing the video frame.","Further, while the temporal predictor is performing the temporal prediction, the spatial predictor 170 may identify the data that may be used for spatial prediction and overlap a memory access required to retrieve the data with the temporal prediction operation.","As such, memory latency may be hidden by overlapping the memory fetch operations with operations of the decoding process.","In addition, or alternatively, video content sharing, such as screen content sharing may use Intra block copy (IBC) when encoding and decoding the shared video content.","IBC may involve a block matching technique in which a Coding Unit (CU) may be predicted as a displacement from already reconstructed block of samples from neighboring regions in the same frame, or picture.","FIG.","2 illustrates an example intra block copy.","The intra block copy is being performed on a frame 200.The frame 200 is an image.","The image may be a stand-alone image or a part of a video content stream.","The frame 200 may be divided into various blocks, including blocks that are already decoded 210 and blocks that are yet to be decoded 240.Block 220 is currently being decoded.","The encoded video content stream indicates that the contents of the block 220 may be copied from content of the blocks that are already decoded 210.FIG.","2 illustrates that block 220 may be decoded, by copying contents of the block 230, that is block 230 is a source block and block 220 is a destination block.","It will be understood that various other combinations of source and destination blocks are possible, including source blocks 230 which do not align with blocks already decoded 210; some possible exemplary situations are detailed throughout this disclosure.","FIG.","3 illustrates an exemplary video decoder 300 with circuitry capable to perform the intra block copy operation.","The video decoder 300 may use the spatial predictor 170 for block copy operations and at least parts of the memory 190, such as IBC buffer 320, for the intra block copy.","The IBC buffer 320 may be part of the memory storage unit 190 which may be off-chip, or external to the circuitry.","The decoder 300 may further include an internal, or on-chip storage unit represented by a local buffer 330.In other examples, memory storage 190 and local buffer 330 may be on-chip, off-chip and/or some combination of on-chip and off-chip such that the local buffer 330 provides temporary local storage that is accessible more quickly than the relatively long term storage in the memory storage 190.Although, FIG.","3 does not illustrate a spatial predictor block 170, other example video decoders may include the spatial predictor block 170.The spatial predictor 170 may include suitable circuitry, which may be operable with logic and/or code, to perform the intra block copy.","The blocks 210 of the frame that have been already decoded and filtered may be written into the memory storage unit 190.In addition, a copy of the blocks 210, prior to the operations by the loop filter 180, may be stored in the IBC buffer 320.Thus, two copies of the blocks 210 may exist—one pre-filtered stored the IBC buffer 320 and one post-filtered, stored in the reference picture frames 196.The pre-filtered content in the IBC buffer 320 may be used as data source for the intra block copy.","Alternatively, or in addition, at least a part of the pre-filtered decoded blocks 210 may be stored in a faster storage location, such as a local storage location, which may be an internal or on-chip storage, such as a local buffer 330.In another exemplary scenario, the local storage location may be used to store part of the post-filtered decoded blocks 210.The local storage unit 330 may have lower memory latency than the memory storage unit 190.The local buffer 330 may have lesser capacity than the memory storage unit 190 and therefore, all of the pre-filtered decoded blocks 210 may not be stored in the local buffer 330.FIG.","4 illustrates three example memory access cases.","There may be other memory access scenarios possible, and these are just example cases for purpose of explanation.","The decoded blocks 210 may be distributed across the slower and faster memory locations, such as the local buffer 330 and the IBC buffer 320 in the memory 190.The local buffer 330 may be on-chip storage and the IBC buffer 320 may be off-chip storage.","Thus, the spatial predictor 170 may access the decoded blocks 210 from the memory storage unit 190 and/or the local buffer 330 to copy contents of the decoded blocks 210 to the block 220 that is currently being decoded.","In case 1 shown in FIG.","4, the source data to be copied into block 220 is part of decoded blocks 210 that are all stored in the local buffer 330.In case 2, the source data blocks 210 are all stored in the IBC buffer 320.Case 3 illustrates an example where part of the source data blocks 210 to be copied into block 220 are stored in the faster, local buffer 330 and the rest of the data blocks are in the relatively slower memory 190, particularly in the IBC buffer 320.In all cases, the intra block copy operation may be performed in response to the video content stream including an indicator to perform the intra block copy operation.","The intra block copy performed may have to access slower memory, such as the memory storage unit 190, which may slow down the video decoding process, for example due to the memory latency.","The memory access fetching time may stall the pipeline.","Further yet, since the intra block copy operates on blocks of the same frame data, the data that is to be copied into block 220 may have been decoded recently, and may not have yet been written into the IBC buffer 320.Thus, the decoder pipeline may have to first wait for the write operation for the decoded blocks 210 to complete and then incur the memory latency to read the written decoded blocks 210.Although a cache may be partial solution, cache misses may still lead to memory latency, which in a real time operation such as video decoding are not affordable.","FIG.","5 illustrates an example video decoder 500 that provides a technical solution involving a combination of the local buffer 330 combined with the temporal prediction unit 160, an intra block control unit 510, and a prefetch buffer 520 to manage the memory requests.","This solution presents an implementation of the intra block copy with minimal incremental area addition to the existing video decoder chip/circuitry architecture, and no loss of pipeline performance.","The control unit 510 may include suitable circuitry and logic and/or code to perform the control and perform the intra block copy operations.","The control unit 510 may identify the IBC operation to be performed based on the output of the symbol decoder 110.The symbol decoder 110 may decode the symbols of the input video content stream, which may contain a series of communication packets with encoded video data as payload.","Alternatively, or in addition, the symbol decoder 110 may identify the intra block copy operation in response to symbols, such as instructions, or intra block copy information in the decoded video content.","The symbols may be in the header or payload portion of the incoming video stream.","The incoming video stream may include information indicating that the intra block copy is to be performed for one or more blocks.","The information may further indicate the source blocks from which video data is to be copied.","The information may further include identification of the destination blocks to which the data is to be copied.","Alternatively, or in addition, if the data is to be copied from a sequence of blocks to another sequence, the information may indicate an identity of the starting blocks of each sequence and the number of blocks to be copied.","Thus, the control unit 510 may parse the intra block copy ‘command’ in the bit stream of the incoming video content.","Upon identification of the intra block copy operations to be performed, the control unit 510 may identify source data which can be prefetched so as to hide latency.","That is, the control unit 510, upon interpreting the decoded intra block copy related symbols, may operate ahead of pixel processing components of the video decoder 500.The control unit 510 may schedule fetches of the source data into the prefetch buffer 520, which is a buffer for prefetched data.","Accordingly, when the current block 220 is being processed by the other components of the video decoder, the data would be readily available in the prefetch buffer 520, instead of the IBC buffer 320.Since the prefetch buffer 520 provides memory access at lower memory latency than the IBC buffer 320, the video decoder pipeline may operate faster to provide decoded video content output at the desired real-time frame rate for continuous playback.","The data stored in the prefetch buffer 520 may be associated with the intra block copy operation to be performed, so that when a component of the decoder 100 performs or initiates performance of the intra block copy, the component may fetch the data from the prefetch buffer 520, instead of the IBC buffer 320.The control unit 510 may control the prefetches so as to handle the possible distribution of the source decoded blocks 210 across the local buffer 330 and the IBC buffer 320.The control unit 510 may know the predetermined size of the local buffer 330.Further, the control unit 510 may know the present block being decoded, and thus which pixels will be in the local buffer 330 at the time the intra block copy is to be performed.","Based on the predetermined size, and the current block being decoded, the control unit 510 may be able to calculate and thus predict, which pixels will be in the local buffer 330.The pixels that may not fit in the local buffer 330 may be stored in the IBC buffer 320 and may need a slower memory fetch request.","The control unit 510 may further compute details to fetch the content from the IBC buffer 320, such as an address of the source data, based on the intra block copy request and current block being decoded.","The prefetch buffer may be sized to accommodate the largest possible block copy size, thereby guaranteeing that block copy fetches will hit valid data.","Thus, the fixed local buffer 330 size may be large enough to guarantee memory fetches will hit valid data.","The control unit 510 may handle the example cases illustrated in FIG.","4 as described further.","As in case 1, if the source data may be stored in the local buffer 330, no pipeline-stalling memory request, such as a DRAM request, may be performed.","In cases 2 and/or 3, when the source data is partially or wholly in the off-chip storage 320, the control unit 510 may perform a memory request to prefetch the source data stored in the IBC buffer 320 into the local buffer 330.The control unit 510 may either perform the prefetch or schedule the prefetches so that the source data is copied into the local buffer 330 at a later time, but before the data is requested for the block copy by the spatial predictor 170 of the video decoder 500.Thus, the source data to be copied into the block 220 may be available in the local buffer 330 at the time block 220 is being decoded.","Additionally, or alternatively, the source data will be available in the local buffer 330 at the time the intra block copy function associated with the block 220 is being performed by the video decoder, for example in the spatial predictor 170.Further, the control unit 510 may communicate to the spatial predictor 170, the availability of the source data in the local buffer 330.For example, the control unit 510 may set a value of a flag that is accessible by the spatial predictor 170 such that the flag indicates the availability of the source data in the local buffer 330.For example, the flag may be set to value 1 in case the source data is available in the local buffer and 0 otherwise.","Alternatively, or in addition, the control unit 510 may pass a message to the spatial predictor 170 indicating such availability.","Other techniques to communicate the availability may also be used.","The spatial predictor 170, in response to the communication, may access the source data from the local buffer 330 or the IBC buffer 320.Alternatively, or in addition, in an example video decoder, the spatial predictor 170 may first attempt to fetch the source data from the local buffer 330.In case the source data is not available via the local buffer 330, the spatial predictor 170 may proceed to access the source data from the IBC buffer 320.The control unit 510 may use the memory access functionality of the temporal predictor 160 and spatial predictor 170 to perform or schedule the prefetches from the memory 190.For example, in the exemplary video decoder of FIG.","6, the temporal predictor 160 may be adapted to fetch data from the memory 190, as part of the temporal prediction operations that may involve older frames.","The spatial predictor 170 may be adapted to fetch data from the memory 190 as part of the spatial prediction operations that may involve decoded blocks from the same frame, as described elsewhere in this document.","Further yet, the control unit 510 may use the spatial predictor 170 to copy the data into the local buffer 330.The spatial decoder 170 may be adapted to store data in the local buffer 330 after completion of reconstruction operations.","In one example video decoder, the local buffer 330 may be a part of the spatial predictor 170.Thus, the control unit 510 may send prefetch instructions to the temporal predictor 160 to prefetch the source data from decoded blocks 210 stored in the memory 190, and further send copy, or write instructions to the spatial predictor 170 to store the prefetched data in the local buffer 330.The prefetched data may be stored in the local buffer 330 at a location allocated to the current block 220.The temporal predictor 160 may not otherwise be active during intra block copy operations and hence is available to perform the prefetches.","Thus, video decoder 600 may hide the memory latency of the prefetches performed by the temporal predictor 160 in response to the intra block copy requests, and eliminate memory-latency performance bottleneck.","At least some of the steps performed during a method to decode video content related bit stream with intra block copy operations are illustrated in the example flowchart of FIG.","8.The steps illustrated in FIG.","8 may hide memory latency performance bottlenecks by using prefetches of the source data to be used for the intra block copy operations, thus allowing a continuous real time video playback.","The method may be performed by example video decoders such as those described throughout this disclosure.","The method may involve parsing an incoming bitstream (802).","The bitstream may be an encoded bitstream containing video content.","For example, the bitstream may be encoded using a HEVC standard, or any other video encoding standard.","The incoming bitstream may be transmitted by another device and/or may be read from the memory storage unit 190.The control unit 510 may parse the bitstream to identify the intra block command in the bitstream (806).","The parsing may be performed after the bitstream is decoded by the symbol decoder 110.The intra block copy command may involve a block that the decoder may handle at a later time, after completion of the current block that the video decoder is working on.","The control unit 510 may identify the source data from the decoded blocks 210 that may be copied into the block that will be processed at a later time (810).","The control unit 510 may identify the earlier decoded blocks 210 from which the source data may be copied.","The control unit 510 may determine whether the source data is stored in the local buffer 330 or in memory 190 (816, 820).","The control unit 510 may make this determination based on a predetermined size of the local buffer 330, the current block being processed by the decoder, and how many blocks in the video stream have been processed since the blocks containing the source data.","In addition, or alternatively, a predetermined number of decoded blocks may be stored in the local buffer 330.The local buffer 330 may store a predetermined number of previously decoded blocks.","The spatial predictor 170 may overwrite the local buffer 330 with the most recently decoded blocks.","For example, assume the predetermined number of blocks stored in the local buffer 330 is three.","In this exemplary case, blocks k, k+1,and k+2 may be stored in the local buffer 330 after the blocks k, k+1, and k+2 are decoded, but prior to filtering of those blocks.","However, a block k+3, after decoding would be stored in the local buffer 330 overwriting block k. It will be understood that the predetermined number of blocks may have a different value than 3, as used in this example.","Therefore, based on the predetermined number of blocks in the local buffer 330, the control unit 510 may determine whether the source data blocks 210 are stored in the local buffer 330 or the memory 190, or a combination of the two.","In case the source data blocks are stored in the local buffer 330, the control unit 510 may not have to perform any further steps to fetch the data blocks, rather copy contents from location of the source data blocks on the local buffer 330 to the location allocated to the current block 220 in the local buffer 330 (824).","In case the source data is partially or wholly stored in the memory 190, the control unit 510 may request prefetching the source data form the memory 190 and storing the prefetched data into prefetch buffer 520, if required, and use the on-chip prefetched data.","(826, 828).","The data stored in the memory 190 may be directly stored in the location allocated to the current block 220 in the prefetch buffer 520.The control unit 510 may request the temporal predictor 160 to perform the operations for prefetching the source data from the memory 190.The control unit 510 may request the spatial predictor 170 to perform the operations to store the prefetched source data into the local buffer 330.The control unit 510 may schedule the prefetch and copy operations so that the video decoder has the pixel data to be copied into the block associated with the intra block copy, when the block is processed by the video processor (830).","Further, the control unit 510 may communicate to the decoder, for example to the spatial predictor 170, that the source data is available in the local buffer 330.In addition, the control unit 510 may prefetch the data from the IBC buffer 320, in the memory 190, to the location in the local buffer 330 allocated to the block for which the intra block copy is to be performed.","Accessing the content from the local buffer 330 or the prefetch buffer may have negligible memory latency as compared to the IBC buffer 320 in the memory 190.In case, the content is not copied into the local buffer in this prefetch manner, a memory access will result at a later time, which may stall the decoder pipeline.","FIG.","7 illustrates exemplary steps performed when processing an example frame.","FIG.","7 represents the circuitry of example video decoder except the symbol decode 110, control unit 510, and loop filter 180 as one block titled pixel processing.","Further, when processing blocks 1 through n of the frame, the processing is initiated at 710ab, decoded at 720ab by the pixel processing circuitry, and further stored in the local buffer 330 and memory 190 at 730ab before forwarding for the loop filter operation at 740ab.","Block n+1 may involve an intra block copy instruction.","Accordingly, at 750, the intra block copy instruction may be parsed and the control unit 510 notified of the instruction.","The control unit 510 may identify the location of the source blocks.","In case the source block involves a recently decoded block that may be stored in the local buffer 330, such as n−1, the contents of such a recent source block may be copied from the local buffer 330 itself at 770.In case, the source block involves a decoded block such that it is no longer in the local buffer 330, for example block 1, a prefetch operation may be initiated to copy the contents of that block from the memory 190 at 780.Once all contents of the block n+1 have been copied, from decoded source blocks, the block n+1 may be forwarded for the loop filtering, as indicated by 790.While FIG.","7 illustrates an exemplary sequence, it should be noted that the order of the events may be modified according to the decoder pipeline timing requirements.","For example, the IBC control unit 510 may identify an intra block copy in block n substantially simultaneously while a prefetch operation is in progress for block n−1.Further, a block copy operation may be in progress for block n−2 at substantially the same time.","The methods, devices, processing, and logic described above may be implemented in many different ways and in many different combinations of hardware and software.","For example, all or parts of the implementations may be circuitry that includes an instruction processor, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), microcontroller, or a microprocessor; an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), Programmable Logic Device (PLD), or Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA); or circuitry that includes discrete logic or other circuit components, including analog circuit components, digital circuit components or both; or any combination thereof.","The circuitry may include discrete interconnected hardware components and/or may be combined on a single integrated circuit die, distributed among multiple integrated circuit dies, or implemented in a Multiple Chip Module (MCM) of multiple integrated circuit dies in a common package, as examples.","The circuitry may further include or access instructions for execution by the circuitry.","The instructions may be stored in a tangible storage medium that is other than a transitory signal, such as a flash memory, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Read Only Memory (ROM), an Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM); or on a magnetic or optical disc, such as a Compact Disc Read Only Memory (CDROM), Hard Disk Drive (HDD), or other magnetic or optical disk; or in or on another machine-readable medium.","A product, such as a computer program product, may include a storage medium and instructions stored in or on the medium, and the instructions when executed by the circuitry in a device may cause the device to implement any of the processing described above or illustrated in the drawings.","The implementations may be distributed as circuitry among multiple system components, such as among multiple processors and memories, optionally including multiple distributed processing systems.","Parameters, databases, and other data structures may be separately stored and managed, may be incorporated into a single memory or database, may be logically and physically organized in many different ways, and may be implemented in many different ways, including as data structures such as linked lists, hash tables, arrays, records, objects, or implicit storage mechanisms.","Programs may be parts (e.g., subroutines) of a single program, separate programs, distributed across several memories and processors, or implemented in many different ways, such as in a library, such as a shared library (e.g., a Dynamic Link Library (DLL)).","The DLL, for example, may store instructions that perform any of the processing described above or illustrated in the drawings, when executed by the circuitry.","Various implementations have been specifically described.","However, many other implementations are also possible."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"PIPELINED VIDEO DECODER SYSTEM\",\n \"Efficient decoding of video content that may involve intra block copy operations, such as copying pixel data from one region of a frame to another region of the same frame is described.\",\n \"For example, a method to decode the video content may involve identifying the video frame in which intra block copy operation is to be performed, prior to the intra block copy operation being initiated.\",\n \"A video decoder may prefetch the pixel data from the source region to a local buffer with low memory latency such that the source pixel data to be copied into the destination blocks in the video frame is readily available.\",\n \"Thus, costly, and time consuming memory access may be avoided, and in turn a video decoding pipeline may operate smoothly without any stalling.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A device comprising: at least one circuit configured to: decode a current block within a frame of video data, the frame comprised of a plurality of blocks; identify an intra-block copy request (IBC request) for the current block, wherein the IBC request comprises copying content from a source block to the current block of the frame, wherein the source block is within the frame and has been decoded; and copy the content of the source block to the current block.\",\n \"from the internal memory 2.The device of claim 7, wherein memory latency of the internal memory is lower than memory latency of the external memory.\",\n \"3.The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one circuit is further configured to: pre-fetch the content of the source block prior to completion of decoding of the current block.\",\n \"4.The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one circuit is further configured to filter decoded blocks of the video data.\",\n \"5.The device of claim 4, wherein, an internal memory is configured to store a predetermined number of decoded blocks within the frame of the video data, the frame being currently decoded by the device.\",\n \"6.The device of claim 5, wherein the predetermined number of decoded blocks stored within the internal memory are stored prior to a block copy operation of the device.\",\n \"7.The device of claim 6, wherein the decoded blocks, prior to the block copy operation, are further stored in an external memory.\",\n \"8.A method comprising: receiving, using at least one circuit, a frame, the frame divided into a plurality of blocks; decoding, using the at least one circuit, a block from among the blocks of the frame; and decoding, using the at least one circuit, another block from among the blocks of the frame, the decoding the another block comprising copying contents of the decoded block of the frame as decoded contents of the another block, wherein the block is different than the another block.\",\n \"9.The method of claim 10, further comprising: storing, using the at least one circuit, at least a part of the decoded block of the frame, prior to filtering, in a local buffer.\",\n \"10.The method of claim 8, further comprising: filtering, using circuitry, the decoded block of the frame; and storing, using circuitry, the filtered block of the frame in a memory storage device, for display.\",\n \"11.The method of claim 9, wherein, copying the contents of the decoded block comprises copying at least part of the contents of the decoded block from a memory storage device.\",\n \"12.The method of claim 11, wherein, copying the contents of the decoded block further comprises copying at least part of the contents of the decoded block from the local buffer.\",\n \"13.The method of claim 8, wherein the received frame is received from a source device for screen casting.\",\n \"14.A computer program product comprising code stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the code comprising: code to receive video data, the video data comprising a plurality of video frames, each video frame of the video frames further comprising blocks of pixels; code to decode a first block of pixels; code to identify an intra block copy instruction associated with decoding a the second block of pixels; and code to, in response to the intra block copy instruction, copy part of the decoded first block of pixels to the second block of pixels.\",\n \"15.The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the intra block copy instruction identifies the first block of pixels as a source of contents for the second block of pixels.\",\n \"16.The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the code further comprises: code to filter the decoded first block of pixels; and code to store the filtered first block of pixels for display.\",\n \"17.The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the code further comprises: code to, in response to the intra block copy instruction, copy part of a decoded third block of pixels to the second block of pixels, wherein the intra block copy instruction further identifies the third block of pixels as another source of contents for the second block of pixels.\",\n \"18.The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the code further comprises: code to parse the intra block copy instruction to determine one or more source blocks for the intra block copy instruction for the second block of pixels, wherein contents of the one or more source blocks are copied into the second block of pixels; code to identify one or more locations of the one or more source blocks for the intra block copy instruction; and code to copy contents from the one or more source blocks from the identified one or more locations into the second block of pixels.\",\n \"19.The computer program product of claim 18, wherein: the first block of pixels is identified as a source block for the intra block copy instruction and a location of the first block of pixels is identified as a first memory device; and a third block of pixels is identified as another source block for the intra block copy instruction and a location of the third block of pixels is identified as a second memory device that has a higher latency than the first memory device.\",\n \"20.The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the code further comprises: code to identify the one or more locations of the one or more source blocks for the intra block copy instruction based on a predetermined number of blocks of pixel stored in the first memory device.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Rapid advances in electronics and communication technologies, driven by immense customer demand, have resulted in the worldwide adoption of devices that display a wide variety of video content.\",\n \"Examples of such devices include smartphones, flat screen televisions, and tablet computers.\",\n \"Improvements in video processing techniques will continue to enhance the capabilities of these devices.\",\n \"Accordingly, coding of screen content video is becoming important because of applications such as wireless displays, remote desktop, remote gaming, automotive infotainment, cloud computing, distance education and many others.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates a block diagram of an example video decoder.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an example intra block copy operation.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an exemplary video decoder.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates example memory access cases during video decoding.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an example video decoder.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an example video decoder.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates exemplary steps performed when processing an example frame FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates a flowchart of example steps performed by an example video decoder.\",\n \"detailed-description description=\\\"Detailed Description\\\" end=\\\"lead\\\"?\"\n ],\n [\n \"PRIORITY CLAIM This application claims priority to provisional application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"61/979,255 filed Apr.\",\n \"14, 2014, which is entirely incorporated by reference.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure relates to video decoding and particularly to pipelined video decoding techniques.\",\n \"BACKGROUND Rapid advances in electronics and communication technologies, driven by immense customer demand, have resulted in the worldwide adoption of devices that display a wide variety of video content.\",\n \"Examples of such devices include smartphones, flat screen televisions, and tablet computers.\",\n \"Improvements in video processing techniques will continue to enhance the capabilities of these devices.\",\n \"Accordingly, coding of screen content video is becoming important because of applications such as wireless displays, remote desktop, remote gaming, automotive infotainment, cloud computing, distance education and many others.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates a block diagram of an example video decoder.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an example intra block copy operation.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an exemplary video decoder.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates example memory access cases during video decoding.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an example video decoder.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an example video decoder.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates exemplary steps performed when processing an example frame FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates a flowchart of example steps performed by an example video decoder.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION Video content is encoded using various encoding techniques and standards such as MPEG-1, MPEG-2, H.264, H.265, and many others.\",\n \"The H.265 standard is also referred to as High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC).\",\n \"The encoding techniques may be used to compress video content for efficient transmission over wired or wireless networks.\",\n \"The compression may involve predicting pixel values based on video content that may be used as reference video content.\",\n \"For example, spatial prediction may be performed to predict pixel values based on immediate neighboring pixels in a video frame.\",\n \"In addition, or alternatively, temporal prediction may be performed in which pixel values are predicted based on corresponding pixel values in previous or subsequent frames.\",\n \"Additional operations may be performed when the video content being transmitted is screen content.\",\n \"Screen content sharing may involve sharing, or transmitting content being displayed on one display device, or screen, to another display device or screen.\",\n \"Alternatively, content may be transmitted from a source device without display capability to a display device.\",\n \"For example, wireless screen sharing from mobile devices to large screens may enable displaying video content being displayed on a mobile device, such as a phone, tablet, or a computer to a large screen, such as a television (TV) or projector.\",\n \"For example, technologies such as Miracast, Apple AirPlay, or Chromecast may be used.\",\n \"Additionally, or alternatively video content may be shared between a set-top box and a TV.\",\n \"Further yet, the content may be communicated and shared via a wired transmission.\",\n \"The video content being shared may have mixed content consisting of video, text and graphics in the same picture.\",\n \"Further, the shared video content may include camera captured content and computer generated content such as text and graphics.\",\n \"For example, during a video conference, camera captured content, such as an image of a presenter may be shared along with contents being displayed on a device being used by the presenter, such as a computer with a presentation slides or other such content.\",\n \"In one exemplary scenario the source device may decode the content before transmitting to the display device.\",\n \"Alternatively, the shared video content may be decoded at a receiver to display the contents.\",\n \"The video content may be decoded on a macroblock-by-macroblock basis.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates a block diagram of an example video decoder 100.A video decoder may also be referred to as a stream parser, or simply a decoder.\",\n \"The video decoder 100 may include circuitry to perform various functions.\",\n \"For example, the video decoder 100 may include circuitry for a symbol decoder 110, a spatial mode generator 120, coefficient generator 130, vector generator 140, inverse transformer 150, temporal predictor 160, spatial predictor 170, loop filter 180, and a memory storage unit 190.Other examples of video decoders may include circuitry that performs operations of a combination of more than one of the above listed components of video decoder 100.Alternatively, or in addition the components of the video decoder 100 may use additional circuitry, such as one or more processors.\",\n \"The memory storage unit 190 may be a computer readable storage medium, such as random access storage memory (RAM) for example dynamic random access memory (DRAM).\",\n \"The memory storage unit 190 may contain data that is used by the components of the video decoder 100 to decode video content.\",\n \"The video content to be decoded may be received by the video decoder 100 and may be stored in the memory storage unit 190, for example in the coded data buffer 192.The data stored in the coded data buffer 192 may involve a raw video stream that is generated after completion of steps such as finding start code, byte destuffing, and other preliminary analysis of the received video content.\",\n \"The received video content, which may be received as a video stream, may comprise video data encoded according to one or more of a plurality of encoding standards, such as H.261, H.263, H.263+(Annex J), H.264, VC-1, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and/or H.265, for example.\",\n \"The video decoder may be adapted to detect one or more start codes and start code suffixes, to determine the encoding type and generate the raw video content in the video stream.\",\n \"The memory storage unit 190 may also contain reference data that may be used during the decoding, such as in the reference picture buffers 196.The data in the reference picture buffers may be stored by the components of the video decoder 100, before, after or during the decoding process.\",\n \"The symbol decoder 110 may also be referred to as a symbol interpreter.\",\n \"The symbol decoder 110 may receive or access the video content stored in the memory storage unit 190.Alternatively, or in addition, the symbol decoder 110 may receive the video content to be decoded via a communication interface, such as a communication port.\",\n \"The symbol decoder 110 may decode/interpret received content, such as, for example, single syntax elements from the video content that were encoded utilizing fixed length coding (FLC), variable length coding (VLC) or Context-Adaptive Binary Arithmetic Coding (CABAC) coding techniques.\",\n \"The video content may be divided into frames with each frame further composed of blocks (macroblocks) of pixels.\",\n \"The spatial mode generator 120 may determine prediction mode to be used by the temporal predictor 160 and/or the spatial predictor 170.The prediction mode, for example, and among other factors may indicate size of the macroblock partition used during prediction by the predictors.\",\n \"The coefficient generator 130 may generate one or more quantized frequency coefficients from the video content.\",\n \"Quantized frequency coefficients generated by the coefficient generator 130 may be subsequently utilized within the video decoder 100 to generate prediction error information utilized during reconstruction of one or more macroblocks, or blocks of the video content.\",\n \"The generated quantized frequency coefficients may be communicated to the inverse transformer 150 for further processing.\",\n \"The vector generator 140 may be adapted to generate one or more motion vectors from the video content.\",\n \"The motion vectors generated by the vector generator 140 may be utilized within the video decoder 100 to generate prediction pixels utilized during reconstruction of one or more macroblocks.\",\n \"The generated motion vector information may be communicated to components responsible for other functions, such as motion compensation, for further processing.\",\n \"The inverse transformer, or inverse quantization transformer (IQT) 150 includes suitable circuitry, logic and/or code to transform quantized frequency coefficients received from the symbol interpreter 110 into one or more prediction errors.\",\n \"The IQT 150 may transform the quantized frequency coefficients back to spatial domain, thus generating prediction error information.\",\n \"The prediction error information generated by the IQT 150 may then be communicated to the other components of the video decoder 100 for further processing during reconstruction of a macroblock.\",\n \"The temporal predictor 160 may involve suitable circuitry, logic and/or code to generate prediction pixels utilizing motion vector information received from motion vector generator 140.For example, the temporal predictor 160 may generate prediction pixels for temporally predicted macroblocks, which may be associated with pixels in frames/fields neighboring a current frame/field.\",\n \"The temporal predictor 160 may acquire previous and/or subsequent frames/fields from the reference picture buffers 196 and utilize the acquired previous and/or subsequent frames/fields for predicting temporally encoded pixels within a current macroblock.\",\n \"The reference picture buffers 196 may also be referred to as frame buffers.\",\n \"The temporal predictor 160 may be further adapted to interpolate one or more prediction pixels within a current frame utilizing motion vector information, as well as one or more reference frames that are temporally adjacent to the current frame.\",\n \"Further, prediction pixels may be interpolated utilizing only one reference frame or more than one prediction reference frame, during the temporal prediction of a current frame.\",\n \"The temporal predictor 160 may include separate circuitry to handle the bi-directional prediction that may be utilized to generate the prediction pixels from more than one reference frame.\",\n \"The spatial predictor 170 may involve suitable circuitry, logic and/or code to generate prediction pixels.\",\n \"The prediction pixels may be generated from neighboring pixels in the same frame.\",\n \"The spatial predictor 170 may also contain a reconstruction block (not shown) to add the prediction and the prediction error to generate a decoded macroblock.\",\n \"The spatial predictor 170 acquires macroblock type information, slice type information and/or prediction mode information, for example, from the symbol interpreter 110 and the spatial mode generator 120.The spatial predictor 170 may then utilize the acquired macroblock type information, slice type information and/or prediction mode information to generate prediction pixels for spatially predicted macroblocks.\",\n \"The loop filter 180 may include suitable circuitry, logic and/or code to further filter a decoded/reconstructed macroblock.\",\n \"Depending on the encoding method of the video content, the loop filter may use a deblocking filter.\",\n \"The deblocking filter may be utilized by the loop filter 180 to reduce edge artifacts and transform blockiness effects along one or more edges of a reconstructed macroblock.\",\n \"The video decoding performed by the video decoder 100 can thus be performed in a deterministic pipelined structure.\",\n \"The memory fetches performed during the decoding are pre-determined.\",\n \"For example, prior to processing video frame data received by the video decoder 100, components of the video decoder 100 may initiate memory access to retrieve data that may be used for the processing.\",\n \"For example, the vector generator 140, may identify and determine reference blocks to be used for the temporal prediction that needs to be performed for the received video frame.\",\n \"Accordingly, before the temporal predictor 160 begins the actual process of temporal prediction, the temporal predictor 160 may fetch the reference frames to be used for processing the video frame.\",\n \"Further, while the temporal predictor is performing the temporal prediction, the spatial predictor 170 may identify the data that may be used for spatial prediction and overlap a memory access required to retrieve the data with the temporal prediction operation.\",\n \"As such, memory latency may be hidden by overlapping the memory fetch operations with operations of the decoding process.\",\n \"In addition, or alternatively, video content sharing, such as screen content sharing may use Intra block copy (IBC) when encoding and decoding the shared video content.\",\n \"IBC may involve a block matching technique in which a Coding Unit (CU) may be predicted as a displacement from already reconstructed block of samples from neighboring regions in the same frame, or picture.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an example intra block copy.\",\n \"The intra block copy is being performed on a frame 200.The frame 200 is an image.\",\n \"The image may be a stand-alone image or a part of a video content stream.\",\n \"The frame 200 may be divided into various blocks, including blocks that are already decoded 210 and blocks that are yet to be decoded 240.Block 220 is currently being decoded.\",\n \"The encoded video content stream indicates that the contents of the block 220 may be copied from content of the blocks that are already decoded 210.FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates that block 220 may be decoded, by copying contents of the block 230, that is block 230 is a source block and block 220 is a destination block.\",\n \"It will be understood that various other combinations of source and destination blocks are possible, including source blocks 230 which do not align with blocks already decoded 210; some possible exemplary situations are detailed throughout this disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an exemplary video decoder 300 with circuitry capable to perform the intra block copy operation.\",\n \"The video decoder 300 may use the spatial predictor 170 for block copy operations and at least parts of the memory 190, such as IBC buffer 320, for the intra block copy.\",\n \"The IBC buffer 320 may be part of the memory storage unit 190 which may be off-chip, or external to the circuitry.\",\n \"The decoder 300 may further include an internal, or on-chip storage unit represented by a local buffer 330.In other examples, memory storage 190 and local buffer 330 may be on-chip, off-chip and/or some combination of on-chip and off-chip such that the local buffer 330 provides temporary local storage that is accessible more quickly than the relatively long term storage in the memory storage 190.Although, FIG.\",\n \"3 does not illustrate a spatial predictor block 170, other example video decoders may include the spatial predictor block 170.The spatial predictor 170 may include suitable circuitry, which may be operable with logic and/or code, to perform the intra block copy.\",\n \"The blocks 210 of the frame that have been already decoded and filtered may be written into the memory storage unit 190.In addition, a copy of the blocks 210, prior to the operations by the loop filter 180, may be stored in the IBC buffer 320.Thus, two copies of the blocks 210 may exist—one pre-filtered stored the IBC buffer 320 and one post-filtered, stored in the reference picture frames 196.The pre-filtered content in the IBC buffer 320 may be used as data source for the intra block copy.\",\n \"Alternatively, or in addition, at least a part of the pre-filtered decoded blocks 210 may be stored in a faster storage location, such as a local storage location, which may be an internal or on-chip storage, such as a local buffer 330.In another exemplary scenario, the local storage location may be used to store part of the post-filtered decoded blocks 210.The local storage unit 330 may have lower memory latency than the memory storage unit 190.The local buffer 330 may have lesser capacity than the memory storage unit 190 and therefore, all of the pre-filtered decoded blocks 210 may not be stored in the local buffer 330.FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates three example memory access cases.\",\n \"There may be other memory access scenarios possible, and these are just example cases for purpose of explanation.\",\n \"The decoded blocks 210 may be distributed across the slower and faster memory locations, such as the local buffer 330 and the IBC buffer 320 in the memory 190.The local buffer 330 may be on-chip storage and the IBC buffer 320 may be off-chip storage.\",\n \"Thus, the spatial predictor 170 may access the decoded blocks 210 from the memory storage unit 190 and/or the local buffer 330 to copy contents of the decoded blocks 210 to the block 220 that is currently being decoded.\",\n \"In case 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"4, the source data to be copied into block 220 is part of decoded blocks 210 that are all stored in the local buffer 330.In case 2, the source data blocks 210 are all stored in the IBC buffer 320.Case 3 illustrates an example where part of the source data blocks 210 to be copied into block 220 are stored in the faster, local buffer 330 and the rest of the data blocks are in the relatively slower memory 190, particularly in the IBC buffer 320.In all cases, the intra block copy operation may be performed in response to the video content stream including an indicator to perform the intra block copy operation.\",\n \"The intra block copy performed may have to access slower memory, such as the memory storage unit 190, which may slow down the video decoding process, for example due to the memory latency.\",\n \"The memory access fetching time may stall the pipeline.\",\n \"Further yet, since the intra block copy operates on blocks of the same frame data, the data that is to be copied into block 220 may have been decoded recently, and may not have yet been written into the IBC buffer 320.Thus, the decoder pipeline may have to first wait for the write operation for the decoded blocks 210 to complete and then incur the memory latency to read the written decoded blocks 210.Although a cache may be partial solution, cache misses may still lead to memory latency, which in a real time operation such as video decoding are not affordable.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an example video decoder 500 that provides a technical solution involving a combination of the local buffer 330 combined with the temporal prediction unit 160, an intra block control unit 510, and a prefetch buffer 520 to manage the memory requests.\",\n \"This solution presents an implementation of the intra block copy with minimal incremental area addition to the existing video decoder chip/circuitry architecture, and no loss of pipeline performance.\",\n \"The control unit 510 may include suitable circuitry and logic and/or code to perform the control and perform the intra block copy operations.\",\n \"The control unit 510 may identify the IBC operation to be performed based on the output of the symbol decoder 110.The symbol decoder 110 may decode the symbols of the input video content stream, which may contain a series of communication packets with encoded video data as payload.\",\n \"Alternatively, or in addition, the symbol decoder 110 may identify the intra block copy operation in response to symbols, such as instructions, or intra block copy information in the decoded video content.\",\n \"The symbols may be in the header or payload portion of the incoming video stream.\",\n \"The incoming video stream may include information indicating that the intra block copy is to be performed for one or more blocks.\",\n \"The information may further indicate the source blocks from which video data is to be copied.\",\n \"The information may further include identification of the destination blocks to which the data is to be copied.\",\n \"Alternatively, or in addition, if the data is to be copied from a sequence of blocks to another sequence, the information may indicate an identity of the starting blocks of each sequence and the number of blocks to be copied.\",\n \"Thus, the control unit 510 may parse the intra block copy ‘command’ in the bit stream of the incoming video content.\",\n \"Upon identification of the intra block copy operations to be performed, the control unit 510 may identify source data which can be prefetched so as to hide latency.\",\n \"That is, the control unit 510, upon interpreting the decoded intra block copy related symbols, may operate ahead of pixel processing components of the video decoder 500.The control unit 510 may schedule fetches of the source data into the prefetch buffer 520, which is a buffer for prefetched data.\",\n \"Accordingly, when the current block 220 is being processed by the other components of the video decoder, the data would be readily available in the prefetch buffer 520, instead of the IBC buffer 320.Since the prefetch buffer 520 provides memory access at lower memory latency than the IBC buffer 320, the video decoder pipeline may operate faster to provide decoded video content output at the desired real-time frame rate for continuous playback.\",\n \"The data stored in the prefetch buffer 520 may be associated with the intra block copy operation to be performed, so that when a component of the decoder 100 performs or initiates performance of the intra block copy, the component may fetch the data from the prefetch buffer 520, instead of the IBC buffer 320.The control unit 510 may control the prefetches so as to handle the possible distribution of the source decoded blocks 210 across the local buffer 330 and the IBC buffer 320.The control unit 510 may know the predetermined size of the local buffer 330.Further, the control unit 510 may know the present block being decoded, and thus which pixels will be in the local buffer 330 at the time the intra block copy is to be performed.\",\n \"Based on the predetermined size, and the current block being decoded, the control unit 510 may be able to calculate and thus predict, which pixels will be in the local buffer 330.The pixels that may not fit in the local buffer 330 may be stored in the IBC buffer 320 and may need a slower memory fetch request.\",\n \"The control unit 510 may further compute details to fetch the content from the IBC buffer 320, such as an address of the source data, based on the intra block copy request and current block being decoded.\",\n \"The prefetch buffer may be sized to accommodate the largest possible block copy size, thereby guaranteeing that block copy fetches will hit valid data.\",\n \"Thus, the fixed local buffer 330 size may be large enough to guarantee memory fetches will hit valid data.\",\n \"The control unit 510 may handle the example cases illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4 as described further.\",\n \"As in case 1, if the source data may be stored in the local buffer 330, no pipeline-stalling memory request, such as a DRAM request, may be performed.\",\n \"In cases 2 and/or 3, when the source data is partially or wholly in the off-chip storage 320, the control unit 510 may perform a memory request to prefetch the source data stored in the IBC buffer 320 into the local buffer 330.The control unit 510 may either perform the prefetch or schedule the prefetches so that the source data is copied into the local buffer 330 at a later time, but before the data is requested for the block copy by the spatial predictor 170 of the video decoder 500.Thus, the source data to be copied into the block 220 may be available in the local buffer 330 at the time block 220 is being decoded.\",\n \"Additionally, or alternatively, the source data will be available in the local buffer 330 at the time the intra block copy function associated with the block 220 is being performed by the video decoder, for example in the spatial predictor 170.Further, the control unit 510 may communicate to the spatial predictor 170, the availability of the source data in the local buffer 330.For example, the control unit 510 may set a value of a flag that is accessible by the spatial predictor 170 such that the flag indicates the availability of the source data in the local buffer 330.For example, the flag may be set to value 1 in case the source data is available in the local buffer and 0 otherwise.\",\n \"Alternatively, or in addition, the control unit 510 may pass a message to the spatial predictor 170 indicating such availability.\",\n \"Other techniques to communicate the availability may also be used.\",\n \"The spatial predictor 170, in response to the communication, may access the source data from the local buffer 330 or the IBC buffer 320.Alternatively, or in addition, in an example video decoder, the spatial predictor 170 may first attempt to fetch the source data from the local buffer 330.In case the source data is not available via the local buffer 330, the spatial predictor 170 may proceed to access the source data from the IBC buffer 320.The control unit 510 may use the memory access functionality of the temporal predictor 160 and spatial predictor 170 to perform or schedule the prefetches from the memory 190.For example, in the exemplary video decoder of FIG.\",\n \"6, the temporal predictor 160 may be adapted to fetch data from the memory 190, as part of the temporal prediction operations that may involve older frames.\",\n \"The spatial predictor 170 may be adapted to fetch data from the memory 190 as part of the spatial prediction operations that may involve decoded blocks from the same frame, as described elsewhere in this document.\",\n \"Further yet, the control unit 510 may use the spatial predictor 170 to copy the data into the local buffer 330.The spatial decoder 170 may be adapted to store data in the local buffer 330 after completion of reconstruction operations.\",\n \"In one example video decoder, the local buffer 330 may be a part of the spatial predictor 170.Thus, the control unit 510 may send prefetch instructions to the temporal predictor 160 to prefetch the source data from decoded blocks 210 stored in the memory 190, and further send copy, or write instructions to the spatial predictor 170 to store the prefetched data in the local buffer 330.The prefetched data may be stored in the local buffer 330 at a location allocated to the current block 220.The temporal predictor 160 may not otherwise be active during intra block copy operations and hence is available to perform the prefetches.\",\n \"Thus, video decoder 600 may hide the memory latency of the prefetches performed by the temporal predictor 160 in response to the intra block copy requests, and eliminate memory-latency performance bottleneck.\",\n \"At least some of the steps performed during a method to decode video content related bit stream with intra block copy operations are illustrated in the example flowchart of FIG.\",\n \"8.The steps illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"8 may hide memory latency performance bottlenecks by using prefetches of the source data to be used for the intra block copy operations, thus allowing a continuous real time video playback.\",\n \"The method may be performed by example video decoders such as those described throughout this disclosure.\",\n \"The method may involve parsing an incoming bitstream (802).\",\n \"The bitstream may be an encoded bitstream containing video content.\",\n \"For example, the bitstream may be encoded using a HEVC standard, or any other video encoding standard.\",\n \"The incoming bitstream may be transmitted by another device and/or may be read from the memory storage unit 190.The control unit 510 may parse the bitstream to identify the intra block command in the bitstream (806).\",\n \"The parsing may be performed after the bitstream is decoded by the symbol decoder 110.The intra block copy command may involve a block that the decoder may handle at a later time, after completion of the current block that the video decoder is working on.\",\n \"The control unit 510 may identify the source data from the decoded blocks 210 that may be copied into the block that will be processed at a later time (810).\",\n \"The control unit 510 may identify the earlier decoded blocks 210 from which the source data may be copied.\",\n \"The control unit 510 may determine whether the source data is stored in the local buffer 330 or in memory 190 (816, 820).\",\n \"The control unit 510 may make this determination based on a predetermined size of the local buffer 330, the current block being processed by the decoder, and how many blocks in the video stream have been processed since the blocks containing the source data.\",\n \"In addition, or alternatively, a predetermined number of decoded blocks may be stored in the local buffer 330.The local buffer 330 may store a predetermined number of previously decoded blocks.\",\n \"The spatial predictor 170 may overwrite the local buffer 330 with the most recently decoded blocks.\",\n \"For example, assume the predetermined number of blocks stored in the local buffer 330 is three.\",\n \"In this exemplary case, blocks k, k+1,and k+2 may be stored in the local buffer 330 after the blocks k, k+1, and k+2 are decoded, but prior to filtering of those blocks.\",\n \"However, a block k+3, after decoding would be stored in the local buffer 330 overwriting block k. It will be understood that the predetermined number of blocks may have a different value than 3, as used in this example.\",\n \"Therefore, based on the predetermined number of blocks in the local buffer 330, the control unit 510 may determine whether the source data blocks 210 are stored in the local buffer 330 or the memory 190, or a combination of the two.\",\n \"In case the source data blocks are stored in the local buffer 330, the control unit 510 may not have to perform any further steps to fetch the data blocks, rather copy contents from location of the source data blocks on the local buffer 330 to the location allocated to the current block 220 in the local buffer 330 (824).\",\n \"In case the source data is partially or wholly stored in the memory 190, the control unit 510 may request prefetching the source data form the memory 190 and storing the prefetched data into prefetch buffer 520, if required, and use the on-chip prefetched data.\",\n \"(826, 828).\",\n \"The data stored in the memory 190 may be directly stored in the location allocated to the current block 220 in the prefetch buffer 520.The control unit 510 may request the temporal predictor 160 to perform the operations for prefetching the source data from the memory 190.The control unit 510 may request the spatial predictor 170 to perform the operations to store the prefetched source data into the local buffer 330.The control unit 510 may schedule the prefetch and copy operations so that the video decoder has the pixel data to be copied into the block associated with the intra block copy, when the block is processed by the video processor (830).\",\n \"Further, the control unit 510 may communicate to the decoder, for example to the spatial predictor 170, that the source data is available in the local buffer 330.In addition, the control unit 510 may prefetch the data from the IBC buffer 320, in the memory 190, to the location in the local buffer 330 allocated to the block for which the intra block copy is to be performed.\",\n \"Accessing the content from the local buffer 330 or the prefetch buffer may have negligible memory latency as compared to the IBC buffer 320 in the memory 190.In case, the content is not copied into the local buffer in this prefetch manner, a memory access will result at a later time, which may stall the decoder pipeline.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates exemplary steps performed when processing an example frame.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 represents the circuitry of example video decoder except the symbol decode 110, control unit 510, and loop filter 180 as one block titled pixel processing.\",\n \"Further, when processing blocks 1 through n of the frame, the processing is initiated at 710ab, decoded at 720ab by the pixel processing circuitry, and further stored in the local buffer 330 and memory 190 at 730ab before forwarding for the loop filter operation at 740ab.\",\n \"Block n+1 may involve an intra block copy instruction.\",\n \"Accordingly, at 750, the intra block copy instruction may be parsed and the control unit 510 notified of the instruction.\",\n \"The control unit 510 may identify the location of the source blocks.\",\n \"In case the source block involves a recently decoded block that may be stored in the local buffer 330, such as n−1, the contents of such a recent source block may be copied from the local buffer 330 itself at 770.In case, the source block involves a decoded block such that it is no longer in the local buffer 330, for example block 1, a prefetch operation may be initiated to copy the contents of that block from the memory 190 at 780.Once all contents of the block n+1 have been copied, from decoded source blocks, the block n+1 may be forwarded for the loop filtering, as indicated by 790.While FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an exemplary sequence, it should be noted that the order of the events may be modified according to the decoder pipeline timing requirements.\",\n \"For example, the IBC control unit 510 may identify an intra block copy in block n substantially simultaneously while a prefetch operation is in progress for block n−1.Further, a block copy operation may be in progress for block n−2 at substantially the same time.\",\n \"The methods, devices, processing, and logic described above may be implemented in many different ways and in many different combinations of hardware and software.\",\n \"For example, all or parts of the implementations may be circuitry that includes an instruction processor, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), microcontroller, or a microprocessor; an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), Programmable Logic Device (PLD), or Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA); or circuitry that includes discrete logic or other circuit components, including analog circuit components, digital circuit components or both; or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The circuitry may include discrete interconnected hardware components and/or may be combined on a single integrated circuit die, distributed among multiple integrated circuit dies, or implemented in a Multiple Chip Module (MCM) of multiple integrated circuit dies in a common package, as examples.\",\n \"The circuitry may further include or access instructions for execution by the circuitry.\",\n \"The instructions may be stored in a tangible storage medium that is other than a transitory signal, such as a flash memory, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Read Only Memory (ROM), an Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM); or on a magnetic or optical disc, such as a Compact Disc Read Only Memory (CDROM), Hard Disk Drive (HDD), or other magnetic or optical disk; or in or on another machine-readable medium.\",\n \"A product, such as a computer program product, may include a storage medium and instructions stored in or on the medium, and the instructions when executed by the circuitry in a device may cause the device to implement any of the processing described above or illustrated in the drawings.\",\n \"The implementations may be distributed as circuitry among multiple system components, such as among multiple processors and memories, optionally including multiple distributed processing systems.\",\n \"Parameters, databases, and other data structures may be separately stored and managed, may be incorporated into a single memory or database, may be logically and physically organized in many different ways, and may be implemented in many different ways, including as data structures such as linked lists, hash tables, arrays, records, objects, or implicit storage mechanisms.\",\n \"Programs may be parts (e.g., subroutines) of a single program, separate programs, distributed across several memories and processors, or implemented in many different ways, such as in a library, such as a shared library (e.g., a Dynamic Link Library (DLL)).\",\n \"The DLL, for example, may store instructions that perform any of the processing described above or illustrated in the drawings, when executed by the circuitry.\",\n \"Various implementations have been specifically described.\",\n \"However, many other implementations are also possible.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876015"}}},{"rowIdx":4495054,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["HYPERVISOR ENFORCEMENT OF CRYPTOGRAPHIC POLICY","Techniques for restricting the execution of algorithms contained in applications executing on virtual machines executing within a computer system are described herein.","A first sampled set of computer executable instructions is gathered from a virtual machine by a controlling domain and compared against a reference set of computer executable instructions.","If the first set is similar to the reference set, and if the execution of the algorithm corresponding to the reference set is restricted by one or more computer system polices, one or more operations limiting the execution of the restricted algorithm are performed, thus ensuring conformance with the computer system policies."],["1.A computer-implemented method, comprising: identifying, based at least in part on computer executable instructions executing on a computer system, a plurality of execution traces, each of the plurality of execution traces including information corresponding to an algorithm that is restricted by one or more system policies; determining whether the plurality of identified execution traces satisfies a set of conditions; and causing the computer system to perform one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.","2.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the set of conditions further comprise determining whether a number of the plurality of identified execution traces exceeds a threshold value.","3.The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising computing a statistical measure for each of the plurality of identified execution traces based at least in part on determining that the number of the plurality of identified execution traces exceeds the threshold value.","4.The computer-implemented method of claim 3, further comprising: determining that the statistical measure satisfies a second set of conditions; and causing the computer system to perform the one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.","5.A system, comprising: memory to store instructions that, if executed by one or more processors of the system, cause the system to: identify, based at least in part on computer executable instructions executing on a computer system, a plurality of execution traces, each of the plurality of execution traces including information corresponding to an algorithm that is restricted by one or more system policies; and as a result of the plurality of identified execution traces satisfying a set of conditions, cause the computer system to perform one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.","6.The system of claim 5, wherein the set of conditions comprises instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to determine whether a number of the plurality of identified execution traces exceeds a threshold value.","7.The system of claim 6, wherein the instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to compute a statistical measure for each of the plurality of identified execution traces based at least in part on the determination that the number of the plurality of identified execution traces exceeds the threshold value.","8.The system of claim 7, wherein the statistical measure is at least one of: an average; an arithmetic mean; a median; a time-weighted average; or a histogram.","9.The system of claim 7, wherein the instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to: determine whether the statistical measure satisfies a second set of conditions; and cause the computer system to perform the one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.","10.The system of claim 9, wherein perform the one or more actions further comprises instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to restrict the computer executable instructions based at least in part on the determination that the statistical measure satisfies the second set of conditions.","11.The system of claim 9, wherein perform the one or more actions further comprise instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to identify additional execution traces that include information corresponding to the algorithm that is restricted by the one or more system policies based at least in part on the determination that the statistical measure does not satisfy the second set of conditions.","12.The system of claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of execution traces including information corresponding to an algorithm that is restricted by one or more system policies are identified by sampling an application executing computer executable instructions on the computer system.","13.A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon executable instructions that, if executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to at least: determine, based at least in part on computer executable instructions executing on a computer system, whether a plurality of execution traces satisfies a set of conditions, wherein the plurality of execution traces are obtained by identifying execution traces that include information corresponding to an algorithm restricted by one or more system policies; and cause the computer system to perform one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.","14.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the set of conditions comprises instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to determine whether a number of the plurality of execution traces exceeds a threshold value.","15.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to compute a statistical measure for each of the plurality of execution traces based at least in part on the determination that the number of the plurality of execution traces exceeds the threshold value.","16.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the statistical measure is at least one of: an average; an arithmetic mean; a median; a time-weighted average; or a histogram.","17.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to: determine whether the statistical measure satisfies a second set of conditions; and cause the computer system to perform the one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.","18.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein perform the one or more actions further comprises instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to restrict the computer executable instructions based at least in part on the determination that the statistical measure satisfies the second set of conditions.","19.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein perform the one or more instructions further comprise instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to identify additional execution traces that include information corresponding to the algorithm that is restricted by the one or more system policies based at least in part on the determination that the statistical measure does not satisfy the second set of conditions.","20.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of execution traces including information corresponding to an algorithm that is restricted by one or more system policies are identified by sampling an application executing computer executable instructions on the computer system."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Modern computing systems place high importance on system security, and also place high importance on conformance with system policies.","In many computer systems, particularly distributed computer systems, and especially those involving virtualized computing environments where a plurality of guest virtual machines may be hosted on shared physical host machines, both system security and policy conformance may become a concern.","The distributed systems in which the guest virtual machines are implemented are often highly complex, comprising large numbers of networked host machines and a correspondingly large number of guest virtual machines.","Such computer systems often operate with a large variety of operating systems and applications, and these operating systems and applications are often required to conform to a variety of system security policies.","Frequently, implementations of cryptographic algorithms do not integrate well with policy systems, particularly without direct hardware or operating system integration.","Such hardware or operating system integration is not easily achievable on distributed systems with a plurality of guest virtual computing systems because of lack of access to system hardware and/or operating system resources.","Additionally, identifying and remediating restricted cryptographic algorithms implemented on distributed computing systems with the accompanying varied computing system environments is often problematic due to the nature of the computer system environments, making enforcement of consistent cryptographic policies on such systems difficult."],["<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>Various embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG.","1 illustrates an example environment where applications may be analyzed for cryptographic policy violations in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","2 illustrates an example environment where applications may be verified for conformance with cryptographic policies in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","3 illustrates an example environment where computer executable instructions may be collected and analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","4 illustrates an example process for collecting and analyzing computer executable instructions to determine the presence of cryptographic algorithms in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","5 illustrates an example environment where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be represented by a graph in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","6 illustrates an example environment where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be weighted by a multiple-edge and a weighted graph in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","7 illustrates an example environment where a trace graph may be analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","8 illustrates an example environment where a trace graph with patterns may be analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","9 illustrates an example process for computing the likelihood that a group of computer executable instructions comprise at least a portion of a cryptographic algorithm in accordance with at least one embodiment; and FIG.","10 illustrates an environment in which various embodiments can be implemented.","detailed-description description=\"Detailed Description\" end=\"lead\"?"],["CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/852,361, filed Sep. 11, 2015, entitled “HYPERVISOR ENFORCEMENT OF CRYPTOGRAPHIC POLICY,” which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/223,868, filed on Mar.","24, 2014, now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,135,437, entitled “HYPERVISOR ENFORCEMENT OF CRYPTOGRAPHIC POLICY,” the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.","BACKGROUND Modern computing systems place high importance on system security, and also place high importance on conformance with system policies.","In many computer systems, particularly distributed computer systems, and especially those involving virtualized computing environments where a plurality of guest virtual machines may be hosted on shared physical host machines, both system security and policy conformance may become a concern.","The distributed systems in which the guest virtual machines are implemented are often highly complex, comprising large numbers of networked host machines and a correspondingly large number of guest virtual machines.","Such computer systems often operate with a large variety of operating systems and applications, and these operating systems and applications are often required to conform to a variety of system security policies.","Frequently, implementations of cryptographic algorithms do not integrate well with policy systems, particularly without direct hardware or operating system integration.","Such hardware or operating system integration is not easily achievable on distributed systems with a plurality of guest virtual computing systems because of lack of access to system hardware and/or operating system resources.","Additionally, identifying and remediating restricted cryptographic algorithms implemented on distributed computing systems with the accompanying varied computing system environments is often problematic due to the nature of the computer system environments, making enforcement of consistent cryptographic policies on such systems difficult.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG.","1 illustrates an example environment where applications may be analyzed for cryptographic policy violations in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","2 illustrates an example environment where applications may be verified for conformance with cryptographic policies in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","3 illustrates an example environment where computer executable instructions may be collected and analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","4 illustrates an example process for collecting and analyzing computer executable instructions to determine the presence of cryptographic algorithms in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","5 illustrates an example environment where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be represented by a graph in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","6 illustrates an example environment where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be weighted by a multiple-edge and a weighted graph in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","7 illustrates an example environment where a trace graph may be analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","8 illustrates an example environment where a trace graph with patterns may be analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","9 illustrates an example process for computing the likelihood that a group of computer executable instructions comprise at least a portion of a cryptographic algorithm in accordance with at least one embodiment; and FIG.","10 illustrates an environment in which various embodiments can be implemented.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the following description, various embodiments will be described.","For purposes of explanation, specific configurations and details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments.","However, it will also be apparent to one skilled in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without the specific details.","Furthermore, well-known features may be omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the embodiment being described.","Techniques described and suggested herein include systems and methods for enforcing cryptographic policies in applications running on distributed systems under the control of a controlling domain such as a hypervisor.","An application running on a virtual machine (VM) instance may be subject to a variety of system policies such as policies regarding access to cryptographic resources, access by users to such resources, allowed and/or disallowed cryptographic algorithms, minimal cryptographic security requirements and/or other such policies.","An extensive and varied number of standards exist for computer-implemented cryptographic methods and an organization and/or system may wish to enforce policies associated with several of these standards.","Some implementations of cryptographic algorithms may be integrated with systems to enforce policy.","For example, many applications integrate well with the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) Publication 140-2 (FIPS PUB 140-2, also referred to herein simply as “FIPS”) security standard and a system compliant with the standard may be referred to as “FIPS compliant.” Deploying a system that is FIPS compliant generally involves deploying a FIPS compliant version of an operating system and then selecting only FIPS compliant applications on that system.","Such a deployment, while conforming to the standard of FIPS PUB 140-2, is limited in that it may require alteration of the operating system, may require integration with system hardware, may restrict the use of many applications (including custom applications) and may not fully support a full subset of policy capabilities that may be contemplated by an organization.","Some other implementations of cryptographic algorithms may not integrate well with systems to enforce policy, lacking support within operating systems or support for integration with policy systems.","Additionally, both systems that integrate well and those that do not integrate well generally do not perform well at identifying unapproved and/or insufficiently secure use of cryptography algorithms that may be introduced into a system by users, services, procedures and/or other such computer system entities, making identifying and/or remediating unauthorized use of cryptography difficult.","Techniques described and suggested herein include techniques for enforcing cryptographic policies in applications running on distributed systems with a plurality of virtual machines operating under the control of a controlling domain such as a hypervisor.","As used herein, unless otherwise stated or made clear from context, the term “hypervisor” may be understood to refer to the hypervisor and/or to one or more processes, applications, services and/or combinations thereof, running under the control of and/or in conjunction with the hypervisor.","The hypervisor may first collect traces of computer executable instructions executed inside of a virtual machine running under the control of the hypervisor.","A hypervisor may examine the computer executable instructions executed inside of a virtual machine running under its control by recording at least a subset of the computer executable instructions that are forwarded to the host computer hardware for execution as they are executed.","In some embodiments, the hypervisor may organize the examining and recording of the computer executable instructions according to the CPU, the virtual CPU, the virtual machine, the application, the application thread, the application hyperthread and/or by other such groupings.","In some embodiments, the hypervisor may collect and/or record samples of computer executable instructions (also referred to herein simply as “sampling”) by intermittently examining the contents of memory locations within the virtual machine to determine information such as which instruction is currently executing, the location of the instruction within memory, data being used by the instruction, parameters being used by the instruction, the time of execution and/or other such information.","Sampling may be performed by the hypervisor, or by a process such as a trace collector running within, or under the control of, the hypervisor.","In some embodiments, sampling may be started and stopped according to one or more system conditions.","For example, sampling may be a resource intensive operation and, consequently, may be turned off when system resources are unavailable.","Sampling may also be “turned down” (executed less frequently) when, for example, system resources are scarce, when well-known and/or verified applications are running, according to system policies or according to other such system conditions.","Sampling may similarly be turned on or “turned up” (executed more frequently) as a result of one or more system polices or conditions.","For example, a system configured for high-security use may always keep sampling turned on and fully turned up in order to ensure system security compliance while a system configured for lower-security use may sample less frequently.","Sampling frequency may also be adjusted in response to one or more events that occur in a system.","In some embodiments, sampling may be turned on and/or turned up when a new user accesses the system, or when a new and/or unrecognized application starts, or when suspicious activity is detected by one or more processes and/or services running on the computer system or when other such similar events occur.","Sampling may also be turned off and/or turned down after such new processes, users, or applications have be examined and found to be acceptable.","In some embodiments, sampling may always be turned off for certain users, modules and applications including, but not limited to, the guest operating system, administrative users, verified modules running under the control of the hypervisor and/or the guest operating system and other such trusted entities.","In some embodiments, one or more of the policies relating to whether sampling occurs and the frequency at which sampling occurs may exist as part of cryptographic policies, as part of system policies, as part of hypervisor policies or in a combination of these and/or other such polices.","As may be contemplated, the factors for adjusting sampling and/or sampling rates described herein are illustrative examples, and other such factors for adjusting sampling and/or sampling rates may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","After a plurality of samples has been gathered by the hypervisor, sample analysis may begin.","In some embodiments, the hypervisor may continue to gather samples while performing the analysis of the previous set of samples.","The hypervisor may also suspend and/or turn down the sampling during analysis in, for example, scarce resource situations and, may also turn up the sampling during analysis if, for example, system security demands are high.","The hypervisor may begin analysis by first creating a graph representation of the sampled computer executable instructions (the graph may also be referred to herein as a “walk-through” or as a “walk-through graph”), grouping the sampled computer executable instructions (also referred to herein as the “instructions”) temporally, where the term graph is used in the mathematical sense, comprising a collection of vertices and edges connecting the vertices.","So, for example, if at time “A”, an application executes instruction “X”, at time “B”, an application executes instruction “Y” and at time “C”, an application executes instruction “Z”, and if times “A”, “B”, and “C” are close together, then the hypervisor may create a walk-through graph with vertices representing the instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z”, with edges representing the temporal connection between “X” and “Y” and between “Y” and “Z.” Structures of interest within the walk-through may include sets of instructions that are executed in a consistent pattern, with a consistent starting and stopping point, wherein the instructions executed are both temporally located (all occurring within a short period of time) and spatially located (all located near one another and generally executed in a consistent order).","The hypervisor may look for certain structures that are executed multiple times, with consistent entry and exit points.","In the above example, if instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z” may be frequently executed and in that same order, with consistent entry and exit points, the hypervisor may flag and/or otherwise denote that repeated executed instruction set.","The hypervisor may also flag and/or otherwise denote looping structures within the walk-through.","If, for example, in the above mentioned instruction set, the application, after executing instruction “Z”, repeatedly returned to execute instruction “X”, followed by instruction “Y”, followed by instruction “Z” again, this is a looping structure.","After repeating the loop a number of times, the application may exit the loop and execute a different instruction (call it “W”).","A hypervisor may flag and/or otherwise denote the repeated execution of “X-Y-Z” followed by a single execution of “W” as a recognizable execution pattern in the walk-through graph.","Loops may be identified by the hypervisor by identifying back edges in the walk through.","A back edge is an edge of a graph which, in a depth-first traversal of the graph, points to a first vertex of a set of vertices that has already been traversed.","A back edge is an indicator of a loop in a graph.","Back edges may be indicated by an instruction order that is different than an expected instruction order.","In the above example, with the “X”−“Y”−“Z” instruction set, the expected order of execution of the instructions is “X”, followed by “Y”, followed by “Z” (instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z” are in that order, in the computer system memory of the virtual machine).","When instruction “X” follows instruction “Z” in the loop, that edge of the walk-through graph may be contrary to the expected order and may indicate the possibility of a back-edge in the walk-through graph.","Loops in the graph may correspond to loops in the executed code and may also be indicators of certain algorithms.","Strong loops, where the same set of instructions may be executed in order, and a large number of times, may be indicated by graphs with multiple edges and/or by applying weights to temporal connection edges (edges between vertices that occur sequentially).","For example, if the set of instructions “X”−“Y”−“Z” is executed one-hundred times in a row in a loop, there may be one-hundred edges between each of the instruction vertices.","In some embodiments, the weight of repeated walk-through edges may be computed as a function of the number of repetitions of the associated pair of instructions such as, for example, a quadratic function, an exponential function, an inverse quadratic function, a logarithmic function and/or other such functional relationships.","After identifying loops, the hypervisor may next group computer executable instructions together into one or more functional groups based at least in part on the identified loop structures.","In each of the groups, each of the sets of executable instructions may comprise instructions that share temporal and/or spatial locality.","In the example described herein, the instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z” may form a functional group based at least in part on their temporal and spatial locality as well as based, at least in part, on the identified loop structure.","In some embodiments, instruction “W” may be included in the same functional group based at least in part on spatial locality and/or on temporal locality as being a common exit point of the “X”-“Y”−“Z” loop.","The hypervisor and/or the trace analyzer may determine whether to include instruction “W” in the functional group based on policy, user preferences, administrator preferences, resource availability, computational complexity and/or other such disparate factors.","In some embodiments, the hypervisor may select a subset of the groups for further analysis based at least in part on a variety of factors for the selection.","The factors for selection of groups for further analysis include, but may not be limited to, a plurality of instructions sharing common data based on examining data transfer through one or more registers and/or memory locations specified in the computer executable instructions, a plurality of instructions sharing common parameters based on examining data transfer through one or more other registers and/or memory locations specified in the computer executable instructions, meta-sequences of instructions where group “A” of instructions temporally and/or spatially follows group “B” of instructions, one or more threshold values on intervening instructions that may be executed between the instructions in the group of instructions and/or between the meta-sequences of instructions and/or other such factors for selection for further analysis.","As may be contemplated, the factors for selection of groups for further analysis described herein are merely illustrative examples, and other such factors for selection may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","Next, the hypervisor may determine whether the instructions in the groups selected for further analysis may comprise at least a portion of the implementation of one or more cryptographic algorithms.","The hypervisor may determine whether the instructions comprise at least a portion of one or more cryptographic algorithms by comparing the detected loop structures and the computer executable instructions in the groups selected for further analysis against one or more reference implementations of cryptographic algorithms that may be stored in a repository of reference implementations of cryptographic algorithms (also referred to herein as a cryptographic database).","For example, if it is known that a cryptographic algorithm uses one or more different loop structures, a cryptographic database may store one or more reference implementations of those one or more different loop structures.","For example, if the looped instruction set “X”-“Y”-“Z” mentioned above was selected for further analysis, the hypervisor may compare the looped instruction set against a repository of reference implementations of known cryptographic algorithms.","The repository may contain reference implementations that say, for example, that the instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z”, executed in a loop and in that order, comprise at least a portion of a known implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.","The repository may contain reference implementations for “X”-“Z”-“Y”, or “X”-“Y”-“Q”-“Z” and/or other such ordered groupings of instructions and may also store indications as to whether such implementations do, do not and/or might indicate implementations of cryptographic algorithms.","It should be noted that the examples of the “X”−“Y”−“Z” and other such computer executed instruction patterns mentioned herein are merely illustrative examples and are not meant to convey the scope or size of a group of related instructions.","The number of instructions in a group of instructions may vary by implementation, by system, by type and scope of analysis and/or by other such factors.","The hypervisor may determine whether the instructions in the groups of instructions selected for further analysis may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of one or more cryptographic algorithms by, for example, lists of instructions against reference lists of instructions, comparing sequences of instructions against reference sequences of instructions, comparing loops of instructions against reference loops of instructions, comparing sequences of loops and/or sequences of instructions against reference sequences of loops and/or sequences of instructions and/or other such comparisons.","The reference implementation may include a number of markers (also referred to herein as “patterns” or “fingerprints”) for the hypervisor to compare groups of instructions against.","For example, a reference implementation may indicate that any algorithm that executes instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z”, in that order, more than a threshold number of times, is probably a cryptographic algorithm.","Another reference implementation may look at patterns in using a certain type of data in the algorithm.","For example, a set of instructions which use a certain lookup table with known values to transform values may be an indicator of a cryptographic algorithm.","The hypervisor may use the patterns or fingerprints to determine the likelihood that a group of related instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.","A group of instructions that strongly matches a reference implementation in the instructions used, the sequence of instructions, the lack of unfamiliar and/or out-of-sequence instructions, the looping structure, the sequence of loops and/or sequences, the data used and/or other such markers may indicate a strong likelihood that the group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.","By contrast, a group of instructions that, for example, only partially matches the above factors or that has a large number of unfamiliar and/or out of sequence instructions may indicate a less-strong likelihood that the group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.","In some embodiments, the hypervisor may assign one or more scores indicating a confidence level that the group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of one or more reference cryptographic algorithms.","A group of instructions may, for example, be a 25% match for one reference cryptographic algorithm, a 5% match for another, a 90% match for a third and a 99% match for a fourth.","In some embodiments, the hypervisor may use a variety of analysis tools to determine the likelihood that a group of instructions is at least similar to a reference implementation.","For example, a graph of the group of instructions may be compared against a graph of the instructions in the reference implementation.","Sequences of instructions may also be compared against sequences of instructions in the reference implementation.","Where there are differences, the likelihood of a match may be computed by using similarity quantification techniques such as a distance metric, an edit distance (comparing the number of steps required to make two dissimilar objects the same), measurement of alignment (measuring deviation from a standard) and/or other such quantification techniques.","As mentioned herein, there are several factors that the hypervisor may use to determine the likelihood that a group of instructions is similar to a reference implementation.","For example, back edges may identify loop structures which, in turn, may be compared against reference loop structures.","A loop structure that does not exactly conform to a reference loop structure, but that may be altered to exactly conform to a reference loop structure with a small number of changes (and a small distance metric or edit distance) may indicate a strong likelihood that the given loop structure may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of the cryptographic algorithm corresponding to the reference implementation.","Similarly, close conformity of common entry and exit points from an algorithm, strongly correlated physical locality, strongly correlated temporal locality, presence and/or absence of intervening instructions and/or other such factors may be used by the hypervisor to assign one or more scores for the likelihood that a group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.","In some embodiments, the hypervisor may select one or more data parameters from gathered sample data and compare the one or more data parameters to a data model associated with a reference implementation.","The presence or absence of data that is similar to data in a reference implementation may be used to increase or decrease the likelihood that a group of instructions and a group of associated data parameters comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.","For example, a reference implementation of a cryptographic algorithm may require the presence of a lookup table to transform data values.","A group of instructions that is similar to the reference implementation, but that does not include any such lookup table, may have a decreased likelihood of comprising an implementation of the reference cryptographic algorithm.","Similarly, a group of instructions that is not very similar to the reference implementation, but that has a lookup table that is very similar to the reference lookup table, may have an increased likelihood of comprising an implementation of the reference cryptographic algorithm.","In some embodiments selecting and/or comparing data parameters may be omitted if the reference implementation has no reference parameters or if the reference implementation indicates a match for all choices of data parameters.","Using the one or more likelihood scores based on the reference implementation and/or the comparison with the reference implementation data parameters, the hypervisor may next determine whether the likelihood that a group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm is sufficient to consider whether that implementation may be prohibited by one or more cryptographic policies.","In one embodiment, the hypervisor may evaluate the likelihood that a group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm by first looking at the percentage of the samples whose likelihood score exceeds a certain threshold value.","The threshold value may be used to prevent skewing of the average by samples that were taken when the virtual machine was performing some other action.","Such samples are not likely to conform to any particular implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm and thus, would skew the average with a 0% likelihood score.","As an illustrative example, consider ten samples of an application that comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm.","Five of the samples may show that there is a 95% likelihood that the samples may comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm and five of the samples may show that there is a 5% likelihood that the samples may comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm.","The 5% samples may be because at the time that the samples were taken, the virtual machine may have been performing a different function.","The average may indicate that there is a 50% likelihood that the samples comprise at least a portion of the implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm, but a much stronger indicator may be that 50% of the samples indicate that there is a 95% likelihood that the samples comprise at least a portion of the implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm.","If it is determined that a group of instructions being executed by an application is likely to comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm, the hypervisor may determine whether the cryptographic algorithm implementation is prohibited by a cryptographic policy based on the reference implementation and/or the data parameters.","In the event that an implementation is prohibited by system policy, the likelihood score described above herein may be used to determine whether an application should be prevented from continuing to execute the cryptographic algorithm.","One or more likelihood score conditions may be evaluated.","A likelihood score condition is a condition based at least in part on computed likelihood scores and also based at least in part on one or more system policies.","For example, a computer system may have a likelihood score condition indicating that if a percentage of the likelihood scores exceed a threshold value, one or more policy operations should be performed.","In another example, a computer system may have a likelihood score condition indicating that if the maximum likelihood score is within one range of values, a first set of one or more policy operations should be performed and if the maximum likelihood score is within a different range of values, a second set of one or more policy operations should be performed.","As may be contemplated, the examples of likelihood score conditions described herein are merely illustrative examples and other such likelihood score conditions may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","In some embodiments, where the likelihood is low, the hypervisor may elect to continue sampling the application to see if the likelihood increases or decreases.","An application may be put on a watch list where it is allowed to continue to execute, but sampling and analysis may continue.","Policy determinations for how to react to various algorithms may vary.","For example, some algorithms may always be disallowed if there is even a slight likelihood that the algorithm in question comprises at least a portion of the implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm.","Some algorithms may only be disallowed if the likelihood exceeds a certain threshold value.","Some algorithms may be allowed for some data parameters and disallowed for other data parameters.","For example, a system may have a cryptographic policy that a certain type of encryption may be used, but only if, for example, a cryptographic key associated with the cryptographic algorithm exceeds a certain minimum complexity.","An application that uses a key that exceeds that minimum complexity may be allowed, while an application that uses a key that does not exceed that minimum complexity may not be allowed.","In some embodiments, if the hypervisor determines that an application is executing a disallowed cryptographic algorithm, the hypervisor may perform one or more operations to address the execution of the disallowed algorithm.","The hypervisor may, for example, block execution of a portion of computer executable instructions by the virtual machine based at least in part on the determination that the implementation of the cryptographic algorithm is disallowed.","The hypervisor may also shut down the virtual machine, suspend the application, notify an administrator, notify the user, notify the virtual machine, notify the application, notify an administrator of the machine or some other such action.","In some embodiments the hypervisor may allow a grace period for the application and/or the guest computer system to remediate the violation and in others, the disallowed application may be quarantined immediately.","As mentioned previously, the hypervisor may elect to turn on and/or turn up sampling for an application as needed.","The hypervisor may also elect to turn on and/or turn up sampling for a user that was previously found to be executing a disallowed algorithm and/or for the virtual machine where a disallowed algorithm was previously executed.","Similarly, the hypervisor may turn down or turn off analysis for an application that was analyzed and not found to contain any disallowed algorithms and/or data.","FIG.","1 illustrates an example environment 100 where one or more applications running on one or more computer systems within a computer system environment as well as the associated code running thereon may be verified by cryptographic policy enforcement implementations in accordance with at least one embodiment.","A user 102 may connect 106 to a computer system through a computer system client device 104 and may initiate connection with or interaction with one or more applications 114 running on a host 112 operating within a computing resource service provider 110.In some embodiments, the computing resource service provider may provide a distributed, virtualized and/or datacenter environment within which one or more applications, processes, services, virtual machines and/or other such computer system entities may be executed.","In some embodiments, the user 102 may be a person, or may be a process running on one or more remote computer systems, or may be some other computer system entity, user or process.","The command or commands to connect to the computer system and/or to connect the applications running thereon may originate from an outside computer system and/or server, or may originate from an entity, user or process on a remote network location, or may originate from an entity, user or process within the computer system, or may originate from a user of the computer system client device 104, or may originate as a result of an automatic process or may originate as a result of a combination of these and/or other such originating entities.","In some embodiments, the command or commands to initiate the connection 106 to the computing resource service provider 110 and/or an application 114 running thereon may be initiated by the computer system, without the intervention of a user 102.The command or commands to initiate the connection 106 to the host 112 and/or an application 114 running thereon may originate from the same origin as the command or commands to connect to the computing resource service provider 110 or may originate from another computer system and/or server, or may originate from a different entity, user or process on the same or a different remote network location, or may originate from a different entity, user or process within the computer system, or may originate from a different user of a computer system client device 104, or may originate as a result of a combination of these and/or other such same and/or different entities.","The user 102 may request connection to the computing resource service provider via one or more connections 106 and, in some embodiments, via one or more networks 108 and/or entities associated therewith, such as servers connected to the network, either directly or indirectly.","The computer system client device 104 that may request access to the host computer system may include any device that is capable of connecting with a computer system via a network, including at least servers, laptops, mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets, other smart devices such as smart watches, smart televisions, set-top boxes, video game consoles and other such network enabled smart devices, distributed computing systems and components thereof, abstracted components such as guest computer systems or virtual machines and/or other types of computing devices and/or components.","The network may include, for example, a local network, an internal network, a public network such as the Internet, a wide-area network, a wireless network, a mobile network, a satellite network, a distributed computing system with a plurality of network nodes and/or the like.","The network may also operate in accordance with various protocols, such as those listed below, Bluetooth, WiFi, cellular network protocols, satellite network protocols and/or others.","The computing resource service provider 110 may provide access to one or more host machines as well as provide access to computer services such as virtual machine (VM) instances, automatic scaling groups, file-based database storage systems, block storage services, redundant data storage services, data archive services, data warehousing services, user access management services, content management services and/or other such computer system services as may be running thereon.","The computing resource service provider 110 may also provide access to computer system resources such as user resources, policy resources, network resources and/or storage resources.","In some distributed and/or virtualized computer system environments, the resources associated with the computer services may be physical devices, virtual devices, combinations of physical and/or virtual devices or other such device embodiments.","In some embodiments, the host machines may be physical machines located within the computer system environment.","In some embodiments, the host machines may be guest virtual machines operating on physical machines located within the computer system environment.","The application 114 may be running within a virtual machine 120 (also referred to herein as a “VM”, a “guest virtual machine”, “a guest machine”) running on the host 112.A virtual machine is a computer system implemented in software which may be configured to execute one or more programs, services, applications, processes, modules and/or other such computer system entities.","A virtual machine runs on a host computer system and may obtain access to host computer system hardware and resources in order to execute the one or more programs, services, applications, processes, modules and/or other such computer system entities.","A virtual machine typically runs under the control of a controlling domain which also provides the access to host computer system hardware and resources.","A virtual machine may be a general implementation of a computer system, with an operating system, user access, virtual memory, virtual hardware devices and/or other such computer system elements.","A virtual machine may also be a specifically configured implementation of a computer system with only a minimal subset of the resources and capabilities that may be necessary to perform a specific task.","The application 114 may use one or more services, processes and/or applications also running on the virtual machine 120 and/or on the host 112 to connect 118 to a system on the host machine configured to at least enforce one or more cryptographic policies on the system.","The system that is configured to at least enforce one or more cryptographic policies (also referred to herein as the “cryptographic policy system”) may be comprised of one or more subsystems.","The subsystems may include, but not be limited to, one or more controlling domains such as a hypervisor, one or more repositories containing computer system policies, one or more repositories containing data used in enforcing policies, one or more processes, services or applications configured to perform one or more operations relating to enforcement of computer system cryptographic policies and/or other such computer system entities.","The cryptographic policy system may selectively sample operation of the virtual machine 120 for computer executable instructions executed by the application 114 in order to determine whether the application 114 employs cryptographic algorithms.","If the cryptographic policy system determines that an application does employ cryptographic algorithms, the cryptographic system may then determine if those cryptographic algorithms may be allowed or disallowed by policy and if disallowed, the cryptographic policy system may take one or more remediating actions in response to the determination and policy evaluation.","FIG.","2 illustrates an example environment 200 where applications running within a computer system may be verified for conformance with computer system cryptographic policies as described herein at least in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","An application 212 running on a virtual machine 208 may be one of one or more applications, including one or more other applications 210 running on the virtual machine 208.The application 212 maybe running on the virtual machine 208, which may be running on a host 204 within computing resource service provider 202 as described herein at least in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","The virtual machine 208 may be running on the control of a controlling domain such a hypervisor 206.In an embodiment, a hypervisor is a controlling domain running on a host computer system that may provide access to computer system resources for guest virtual machine instances and their applications also running on the host computer system.","A hypervisor typically has direct access to the host computer system resources and provides scheduled access by guests to those resources.","For example, it is the hypervisor that provides system memory to guest computer systems and also manages that memory by reclaiming memory from the guest computer systems in the event that system memory becomes scarce.","A hypervisor may also be called a controlling domain or domain-zero (DOM0) and typically runs as a privileged domain.","The hypervisor 206 may monitor the computer executable instructions executed on the virtual machine 208 including, but not limited to, the computer executable instructions executed by application 212.The hypervisor 206 may monitor the computer executable instructions to at least determine whether the application 212 may be executing one or more instructions that may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.","The hypervisor 206 may make this determination by connecting to one or more policy analysis systems that may be configured to identify violations of cryptographic policy and may also be configured to enforce such policies.","In some embodiments, the hypervisor may connect 220 to a policy analysis subsystem 216 running on the host computer system 204.The policy analysis subsystem may in turn connect to a policy repository 214, which may be one of one or more policy repositories on the host computer system 204.The policy analysis subsystem may include one or more systems configured to record and analyze executable instructions, one or more subsystems to detect cryptographic policy violations, one or more subsystems configured to respond to cryptographic policy violations and/or one or more other cryptographic policy subsystems.","The policy repository 214 may include one or more repositories of reference cryptographic algorithm implementations, one or more repositories of system policy rules, one or more repositories of reference cryptographic data and/or one or more other cryptographic policy repositories.","In some embodiments, the hypervisor may connect 222 to one or more cryptographic policy services 218 running within the computing resource service provider 202 on one or more other computer systems.","The cryptographic policy services may also include a policy analysis subsystem 226 and one or more policy repositories 224.In some embodiments, the hypervisor may use a combination of on-host and off-host policy analysis subsystems and policy repositories.","FIG.","3 illustrates an example environment 300 where computer executable instructions may be collected and analyzed to determine whether an application may be executing instructions that may comprise at least a portion of the implementation of a cryptographic algorithm as described herein at least in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","A hypervisor 302 may contain a trace collector 304 which may be a module, service, process, application, device or combination of these and/or other such operational computer system entities as described herein below.","A trace collector 304 may configured to sample and record computer executable instructions and/or data referenced by the computer executable instructions, from applications running on a VM 306 which may be one of one or more VMs running on a host computer system 308.In some embodiments, the trace collector 304 may be running on the host computer system 308, within and/or under control of the hypervisor 302.The trace collector 304 may forward 310 sampled and recorded computer executable instructions to a trace analyzer 312 which may be a module, service, process, application, device or combination of these and/or other such operational computer system entities as described herein below.","A trace analyzer 312 may be configured to receive the sampled and recorded computer executable instructions and may also be configured to begin the analysis of the sampled and recorded computer executable instructions.","In some embodiments, the trace analyzer 312 may be running on the host computer system 308, within and/or under the control of the hypervisor 302.In some embodiments, the trace analyzer 312 may be running on a different computer system entity as described herein above.","The trace analyzer 312 may receive the sampled and recorded computer executable instructions and may first process and then analyze the instructions by, for example, arranging them into groups and/or representing them as subgraphs and analyzing the resulting representations.","The trace analyzer 312 may be connected 316 to and/or otherwise have access to a cryptography repository 314 which may contain data relating to one or more cryptographic algorithms that may be used to process and/or analyze the groups of instructions.","Data in the cryptography repository may include, but not be limited to, descriptions of cryptographic algorithms, reference implementations cryptographic algorithms, example data used in cryptographic algorithms, example parameters used in cryptographic algorithms and/or other such cryptography related data.","In some embodiments, the cryptography repository 314 may include one or more databases configured to provide organization of and/or access to the data in the cryptographic repository.","The trace analyzer 312 may select at least a portion of the processed and analyzed instructions received from the trace collector 304 and may send these selected instruction groups 318 to a policy analyzer 322 which may be a module, service, process, application, device or combination of these and/or other such operational computer system entities as described herein below.","A policy analyzer 322 may be configured to analyze the selected groups 318 to determine whether the selected groups comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.","In some embodiments the trace analyzer 312 may also select at least a portion of the data and parameters received from the trace collector 304 and send the selected data and parameters 320 to the policy analyzer 322.The policy analyzer may be connected to 326 and/or otherwise have access to a policy repository 326 which may contain data relating to one or more system cryptographic policies.","Data in the policy repository may include, but not be limited to, policy rules, policy mitigation strategies, policy related data, allowed lists of applications, disallowed lists of applications, allowed lists of users, disallowed lists of users and/or other such policy data.","In some embodiments, the policy repository 324 may include one or more databases configured to provide organization of and/or access to the data in the cryptographic repository.","The policy analyzer 322 may be connected to 330 and/or otherwise have access to the cryptography repository 314 described herein above.","In some embodiments, the cryptography repository 314 and the policy repository 324 may be the same entity.","As a result of analyzing the selected groups 318 and, in some embodiments, the data and parameters 320, the policy analyzer 322 may determine that an application running on the VM 306 may be executing one or more disallowed cryptographic applications.","The policy analyzer may perform one or more operations to halt and/or otherwise mitigate the execution of the one or more disallowed cryptographic applications by sending one or more messages and/or commands 328 to the hypervisor 302.The messages and/or commands 328 may include, but not be limited to, commands to halt the application, commands to halt the virtual machine, messages to a user and/or process on the virtual machine, administrative messages to a privileged user and/or process on the virtual machine or other such messages and/or commands.","The hypervisor 302 may be configured to at least receive and process such mitigating messages and/or command.","As mentioned previously in this disclosure, the components described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3 such as the trace collector 304, the trace analyzer 312 and the policy analyzer 322 may be a computer system modules, services, processes, applications, devices or combinations of these and/or other such operational computer system entities.","In some embodiments, these components may be operational computer system entities running within and/or under the control of a controlling domain such as a hypervisor, or running within and/or under the control of a guest operating system, or running as, within and/or under the control of a separate operational computer system entity or running as, within and/or under the control of some other such computer system entity.","Additionally, it should be understood that while this disclosure may describe the components such as the trace collector 304, the trace analyzer 312 and the policy analyzer 322 performing one or more operations, functions, processes and/or other such actions, a computer system configured in accordance with the component may be performing the described actions.","FIG.","4 illustrates an example process 400 for collecting and analyzing computer executable instructions to determine whether an application may be executing cryptographic algorithms as described at least in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","A controlling domain such as the hypervisor 302 as described at least in connection with FIG.","3 may perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.","4.A service such as the trace collector 304 as described at least in connection with FIG.","3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.","4.A service such as trace analyzer 312 illustrated at least in connection with FIG.","3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.","4.A service such as policy analyzer 332 illustrated at least in connection with FIG.","3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.","4.Other services and/or processes running on a computer system may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.","4 including, but not limited to, applications, processes and/or services running on host and/or virtual machines within the computer system, operating system elements of host and/or virtual machines within the computer system, dedicated network hardware on the computer system, controlling domains such as a hypervisor and/or combinations of these and/or other such operational entities within the computer system.","A trace collector may collect traces from a virtual machine 402, including traces of computer executable instructions, parameters, data and/or other such trace data.","The trace collector may collect instructions, parameters, data and/or other such trace data by intermittent sampling, or by constant sampling or by some other such collection method.","A trace analyzer may then create a graph representation 404 of the traces from the virtual machine and may identify loop structures 406 using the information in the graph representation.","If candidate loop structures are found 408, the trace analyzer may then group the computer executable instructions based on the loop structures 410.The trace analyzer may then select one or more of the groups based at least in part on shared or common data 412.The group selection may be based on data received from the trace collector, or may be based on data stored in a cryptography repository such as the cryptography repository 314 described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3 or may be based on a combination of data from these and/or other such data sources.","The trace analyzer may then compare the selected groups to one or more reference cryptographic algorithm implementations 414 to determine whether the selected groups comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm implementation.","The reference cryptographic algorithm implementation may be stored in a cryptography repository such as the cryptography repository 314 described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3.In some embodiments, the trace analyzer may also use data and/or parameters received from the trace collector to determine whether the selected groups comprise at least a portion of the reference cryptographic algorithm implementation.","If it is determined that one or more of the selected groups comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm implementation 416, a policy may determine whether the one or more parameters associated with the selected groups should be examined 418.In some embodiments, a reference cryptographic algorithm implementation may be disallowed for all parameters, or may be disallowed for some parameters and allowed for others or may be allowed for all parameters.","If the parameters should be examined 418, the policy analyzer may compare the parameters to allowed parameters 420.If as a result of determining that a group of instructions and optionally, the associated parameters, comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm implementation, the policy analyzer may determine whether one or more policies of the system prohibit 422 the execution of such an algorithm.","If the algorithm is prohibited, the policy analyzer may direct a controlling domain such as a hypervisor to restrict 424 or mitigate the execution of the application by, for example, halting the execution of the application, halting the virtual machine or other such restricting and/or mitigating actions.","At a number of steps in the process described herein, the process may determine whether sampling should continue 426 including, but not limited to, after no candidate loop structures are found 408, after it is determined that none of the selected groups comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm implementation 416, after it is determined that none of the policies of the system prohibit 422 the execution of a found cryptographic algorithm or after steps are taken to restrict 424 or mitigate the execution of the algorithm.","FIG.","5 illustrates an example environment 500 where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be represented by a graph as described herein at least in connection with FIG.","4 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","A trace list 502 may include a sequential list of sampled information about one or more computer executable instructions.","Each element in the sequential list (referred to herein simply as an “execution trace”) may contain information about a computer executable instruction that may have been executed in one or more virtual machines.","The information about the computer executable instruction may have been collected by a computer system entity such as the trace collector 304 described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3.Each execution trace may have been collected by the trace collector by sampling one or more memory locations as described herein above.","The trace list 502 may be converted 506 to a trace graph 504 representation by a computer system entity such as the trace analyzer 312 described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3.The trace graph 504 illustrated in FIG.","5 has vertices (also referred to herein as “nodes”) corresponding to the instructions in the trace list 502 and edges corresponding to the sequential execution of the pairs of instructions.","The directed edge between the vertex labeled “0x01” in trace graph 504 and the vertex labeled “0x02” in trace graph 504 indicates that instruction 0x02 was executed immediately after instruction 0x01 in the trace list 502 (instructions 1 and 2 in the trace list).","Similarly, the directed edge between the vertex labeled “0x02” in trace graph 504 and the vertex labeled “0x03” in trace graph 504 indicates that instruction 0x03 was executed immediately after instruction 0x02 in the trace list 502 (instructions 2 and 3 in the trace list).","The directed edge between the vertex labeled “0x03” in trace graph 504 and the vertex labeled “0x01” in trace graph 504 is a back edge as described herein above, representing a sequential order that may be contrary to the expected temporal order and one that, in this example, indicates a loop in the sequence of instruction execution.","The dashed directed edge entering into the vertex labeled “0x01” in trace graph 504 indicates that instruction 0x01 is an entry point of the trace.","The dashed directed edge exiting out of the vertex labeled “0x05” in trace graph 504 indicates that instruction 0x05 is an exit point of the trace.","FIG.","6 illustrates an example environment 600 where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be represented by a graph with multiple edges and may also be represented by a graph with weighted edges as described herein at least in connection with FIGS.","4 and 5, and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","The trace list 602 may be represented by the trace graph 604, with the plurality of edges (in this example, five edges) between vertex “0x01” and vertex “0x02”, between vertex “0x02” and vertex “0x03” and between vertex “0x03” and vertex “0x01”.","There are five edges between each of these pairs of vertices in trace graph 504 because the trace list 502 contains five instances of the instruction sequence 0x01, 0x02, 0x03 and back to 0x01.The trace graph 604, with multiple edges may also be represented by the weighted trace graph 606 with weighted edges, where the five edges between, for example, vertex “0x01” and vertex “0x02” may be replaced by a single weighted edge with weight five.","FIG.","7 illustrates an example environment 700 where a trace graph may be analyzed by comparing it to one or more reference patterns as described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","A trace graph 702 such as the trace graph 604 or the weighted trace graph 606 described herein in connection with FIG.","6 may be analyzed by a trace analyzer 704 such as the trace analyzer 312 described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3.The trace analyzer 704 may be connected to and/or otherwise have access to a cryptography repository 706 such as the cryptography repository 314 described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3.In some embodiments, the cryptography repository may contain one or more patterns 708 which the trace analyzer 704 may compare the trace graph 702 against.","The comparisons of the trace graph 702 against the patterns 708 in the cryptography repository 706 may be used to determine whether the sequence of execution traces represented by the trace graph 702 corresponds to one or more of the patterns 708 and thus, whether an application running on a virtual machine that the sampled sequence of execution traces came from may be running a restricted algorithm as described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","In some embodiments, the trace analyzer may use one or more comparison and/or measurement techniques to determine whether the sequence of execution traces represented by the trace graph 702 corresponds to one or more of the patterns 708, how similar the sequence of execution traces represented by the trace graph 702 is to one or more of the patterns 708 and thus, how likely is it that an application running on a virtual machine that the sampled sequence of execution traces came from may be running a restricted algorithm.","One measurement technique, an edit distance, may be used to measure the similarity between two graphs by determining, for example, the number of additions and/or deletions of vertices and/or edges that may be required to convert one graph to another.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","7, the edit distance between trace graph 702 and pattern 710 may be eight, the edit distance between trace graph 702 and pattern 712 may be six, the edit distance between trace graph 702 and pattern 714 may be eight and the edit distance between trace graph 702 and pattern 716 may be zero.","The trace analyzer may use these edit distances to determine that it very likely that the application running on the virtual machine is running a restricted algorithm corresponding to pattern 716 and it is much less likely that the application running on the virtual machine is running restricted algorithms corresponding to pattern 710, pattern 712 or pattern 714.As may be contemplated, the comparison technique described herein is merely an illustrative example, and other such comparison and/or measurement techniques for determining the similarity between two graphs may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","FIG.","8 illustrates an example environment 800 where a trace graph with parameters may be analyzed by a policy analyzer as described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","The trace list 802 containing instructions 804 and parameters 806 may have been analyzed by a trace analyzer as described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3 and that analysis may have found a strong likelihood that an application running on a virtual machine where the computer executable instructions contained in trace list 802 were sampled from is running a restricted algorithm corresponding to pattern 812.A policy analyzer 808 such as the policy analyzer 322 described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3 may have one or more policies associated with pattern 812 including, for example, the policy 810 which may contain the pattern 812 and one or more rules regarding acceptable use of the pattern 812.For example, the rule R1 814 says that, for computer executable instructions 0x01, 0x02 and 0x03, the instructions must use a certain value for parameter P1 and must use a certain value for parameter P2 and the rule R2 826 says that, for computer executable instructions 0x04 and 0x05, the instructions must use a certain value for parameter P2.In the example illustrated in FIG.","8, five out of six of the execution traces violate the rules.","In some embodiments, one or more violations of these rules may indicate one or more remediation actions as described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","As may be contemplated, the rules described herein are merely illustrative examples, and other such rules may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","FIG.","9 illustrates an example process 900 for computing the likelihood that a group of computer executable instructions may comprise at least a portion of the implementation of a cryptographic algorithm as described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","A controlling domain such as the hypervisor 302 as described at least in connection with FIG.","3 may perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.","9.A service such as the trace collector 304 as described at least in connection with FIG.","3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.","9.A service such as trace analyzer 312 illustrated at least in connection with FIG.","3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.","9.A service such as policy analyzer 332 illustrated at least in connection with FIG.","3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.","9.Other services and/or processes running on a computer system may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.","9 including, but not limited to, applications, processes and/or services running on host and/or virtual machines within the computer system, operating system elements of host and/or virtual machines within the computer system, dedicated network hardware on the computer system, controlling domains such as a hypervisor and/or combinations of these and/or other such operational entities within the computer system.","A trace collector may collect one or more samples 902.A trace analyzer may, for each sample collected, determine whether the sample should be flagged 904 based on, for example, there being a certain likelihood that the sample may include one or more instructions that comprise at least a part of an algorithm such as a cryptographic algorithm and that may be restricted by one or more policies such as cryptographic policies.","The trace analyzer may then compare the number of flagged samples to a first threshold value 906 to determine whether that number of flagged samples exceeds the first threshold value 908.If the number of flagged samples exceeds the threshold value, the trace analyzer may compute a statistical measure of whether a flagged sample was flagged 912 as described herein above.","If that statistical measure exceeds a second threshold value 914, one or more operations may be executed by the hypervisor to restrict the algorithm.","The statistical measure may include an average, an arithmetic mean, a median, a time-weighted average, a histogram or a combination of these and/or some other such statistical measures.","If thresholds are not exceeded, and if it is determined that sampling should be continued 910, the trace collector may once again collect one or more samples 902.If it is determine that sampling should not continue, then sampling will stopped and/or suspended 918.FIG.","10 illustrates aspects of an example environment 1000 for implementing aspects in accordance with various embodiments.","As will be appreciated, although a web-based environment is used for purposes of explanation, different environments may be used, as appropriate, to implement various embodiments.","The environment includes an electronic client device 1002, which can include any appropriate device operable to send and/or receive requests, messages or information over an appropriate network 1004 and, in some embodiments, convey information back to a user of the device.","Examples of such client devices include personal computers, cell phones, handheld messaging devices, laptop computers, tablet computers, set-top boxes, personal data assistants, embedded computer systems, electronic book readers and the like.","The network can include any appropriate network, including an intranet, the Internet, a cellular network, a local area network, a satellite network or any other such network and/or combination thereof.","Components used for such a system can depend at least in part upon the type of network and/or environment selected.","Protocols and components for communicating via such a network are well known and will not be discussed herein in detail.","Communication over the network can be enabled by wired or wireless connections and combinations thereof.","In this example, the network includes the Internet, as the environment includes a web server 1006 for receiving requests and serving content in response thereto, although for other networks an alternative device serving a similar purpose could be used as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.","The illustrative environment includes at least one application server 1008 and a data store 1010.It should be understood that there can be several application servers, layers or other elements, processes or components, which may be chained or otherwise configured, which can interact to perform tasks such as obtaining data from an appropriate data store.","Servers, as used herein, may be implemented in various ways, such as hardware devices or virtual computer systems.","In some contexts, servers may refer to a programming module being executed on a computer system.","As used herein, unless otherwise stated or clear from context, the term “data store” refers to any device or combination of devices capable of storing, accessing and retrieving data, which may include any combination and number of data servers, databases, data storage devices and data storage media, in any standard, distributed, virtual or clustered environment.","The application server can include any appropriate hardware, software and firmware for integrating with the data store as needed to execute aspects of one or more applications for the client device, handling some or all of the data access and business logic for an application.","The application server may provide access control services in cooperation with the data store and is able to generate content including, but not limited to, text, graphics, audio, video and/or other content usable to be provided to the user, which may be served to the user by the web server in the form of HyperText Markup Language (“HTML”), Extensible Markup Language (“XML”), JavaScript, Cascading Style Sheets (“CSS”) or another appropriate client-side structured language.","Content transferred to a client device may be processed by the client device to provide the content in one or more forms including, but not limited to, forms that are perceptible to the user audibly, visually and/or through other senses including touch, taste, and/or smell.","The handling of all requests and responses, as well as the delivery of content between the client device 1002 and the application server 1008, can be handled by the web server using PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (“PHP”), Python, Ruby, Perl, Java, HTML, XML or another appropriate server-side structured language in this example.","It should be understood that the web and application servers are not required and are merely example components, as structured code discussed herein can be executed on any appropriate device or host machine as discussed elsewhere herein.","Further, operations described herein as being performed by a single device may, unless otherwise clear from context, be performed collectively by multiple devices, which may form a distributed and/or virtual system.","The data store 1010 can include several separate data tables, databases, data documents, dynamic data storage schemes and/or other data storage mechanisms and media for storing data relating to a particular aspect of the present disclosure.","For example, the data store illustrated may include mechanisms for storing production data 1012 and user information 1016, which can be used to serve content for the production side.","The data store also is shown to include a mechanism for storing log data 1014, which can be used for reporting, analysis or other such purposes.","It should be understood that there can be many other aspects that may need to be stored in the data store, such as page image information and access rights information, which can be stored in any of the above listed mechanisms as appropriate or in additional mechanisms in the data store 1010.The data store 1010 is operable, through logic associated therewith, to receive instructions from the application server 1008 and obtain, update or otherwise process data in response thereto.","The application server 1008 may provide static, dynamic or a combination of static and dynamic data in response to the received instructions.","Dynamic data, such as data used in web logs (blogs), shopping applications, news services and other such applications may be generated by server-side structured languages as described herein or may be provided by a content management system (“CMS”) operating on, or under the control of, the application server.","In one example, a user, through a device operated by the user, might submit a search request for a certain type of item.","In this case, the data store might access the user information to verify the identity of the user and can access the catalog detail information to obtain information about items of that type.","The information then can be returned to the user, such as in a results listing on a web page that the user is able to view via a browser on the user device 1002.Information for a particular item of interest can be viewed in a dedicated page or window of the browser.","It should be noted, however, that embodiments of the present disclosure are not necessarily limited to the context of web pages, but may be more generally applicable to processing requests in general, where the requests are not necessarily requests for content.","Each server typically will include an operating system that provides executable program instructions for the general administration and operation of that server and typically will include a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a hard disk, random access memory, read only memory, etc.)","storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of the server, allow the server to perform its intended functions.","Suitable implementations for the operating system and general functionality of the servers are known or commercially available and are readily implemented by persons having ordinary skill in the art, particularly in light of the disclosure herein.","The environment, in one embodiment, is a distributed and/or virtual computing environment utilizing several computer systems and components that are interconnected via communication links, using one or more computer networks or direct connections.","However, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that such a system could operate equally well in a system having fewer or a greater number of components than are illustrated in FIG.","10.Thus, the depiction of the system 1000 in FIG.","10 should be taken as being illustrative in nature and not limiting to the scope of the disclosure.","The various embodiments further can be implemented in a wide variety of operating environments, which in some cases can include one or more user computers, computing devices or processing devices which can be used to operate any of a number of applications.","User or client devices can include any of a number of general purpose personal computers, such as desktop, laptop or tablet computers running a standard operating system, as well as cellular, wireless and handheld devices running mobile software and capable of supporting a number of networking and messaging protocols.","Such a system also can include a number of workstations running any of a variety of commercially-available operating systems and other known applications for purposes such as development and database management.","These devices also can include other electronic devices, such as dummy terminals, thin-clients, gaming systems and other devices capable of communicating via a network.","These devices also can include virtual devices such as virtual machines, hypervisors and other virtual devices capable of communicating via a network.","Various embodiments of the present disclosure utilize at least one network that would be familiar to those skilled in the art for supporting communications using any of a variety of commercially-available protocols, such as Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (“TCP/IP”), User Datagram Protocol (“UDP”), protocols operating in various layers of the Open System Interconnection (“OSI”) model, File Transfer Protocol (“FTP”), Universal Plug and Play (“UpnP”), Network File System (“NFS”), Common Internet File System (“CIFS”) and AppleTalk.","The network can be, for example, a local area network, a wide-area network, a virtual private network, the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, a public switched telephone network, an infrared network, a wireless network, a satellite network and any combination thereof.","In embodiments utilizing a web server, the web server can run any of a variety of server or mid-tier applications, including Hypertext Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”) servers, FTP servers, Common Gateway Interface (“CGI”) servers, data servers, Java servers, Apache servers and business application servers.","The server(s) also may be capable of executing programs or scripts in response to requests from user devices, such as by executing one or more web applications that may be implemented as one or more scripts or programs written in any programming language, such as Java®, C, C# or C++, or any scripting language, such as Ruby, PHP, Perl, Python or TCL, as well as combinations thereof.","The server(s) may also include database servers, including without limitation those commercially available from Oracle °, Microsoft®, Sybase® and IBM® as well as open-source servers such as MySQL, Postgres, SQLite, MongoDB, and any other server capable of storing, retrieving and accessing structured or unstructured data.","Database servers may include table-based servers, document-based servers, unstructured servers, relational servers, non-relational servers or combinations of these and/or other database servers.","The environment can include a variety of data stores and other memory and storage media as discussed above.","These can reside in a variety of locations, such as on a storage medium local to (and/or resident in) one or more of the computers or remote from any or all of the computers across the network.","In a particular set of embodiments, the information may reside in a storage-area network (“SAN”) familiar to those skilled in the art.","Similarly, any necessary files for performing the functions attributed to the computers, servers or other network devices may be stored locally and/or remotely, as appropriate.","Where a system includes computerized devices, each such device can include hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via a bus, the elements including, for example, at least one central processing unit (“CPU” or “processor”), at least one input device (e.g., a mouse, keyboard, controller, touch screen or keypad) and at least one output device (e.g., a display device, printer or speaker).","Such a system may also include one or more storage devices, such as disk drives, optical storage devices and solid-state storage devices such as random access memory (“RAM”) or read-only memory (“ROM”), as well as removable media devices, memory cards, flash cards, etc.","Such devices also can include a computer-readable storage media reader, a communications device (e.g., a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infrared communication device, etc.)","and working memory as described above.","The computer-readable storage media reader can be connected with, or configured to receive, a computer-readable storage medium, representing remote, local, fixed and/or removable storage devices as well as storage media for temporarily and/or more permanently containing, storing, transmitting and retrieving computer-readable information.","The system and various devices also typically will include a number of software applications, modules, services or other elements located within at least one working memory device, including an operating system and application programs, such as a client application or web browser.","It should be appreciated that alternate embodiments may have numerous variations from that described above.","For example, customized hardware might also be used and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets) or both.","Further, connection to other computing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.","Storage media and computer readable media for containing code, or portions of code, can include any appropriate media known or used in the art, including storage media and communication media, such as, but not limited to, volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage and/or transmission of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data, including RAM, ROM, Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (“EEPROM”), flash memory or other memory technology, Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (“CD-ROM”), digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the system device.","Based on the disclosure and teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement the various embodiments.","The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.","It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.","Other variations are within the spirit of the present disclosure.","Thus, while the disclosed techniques are susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and have been described above in detail.","It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form or forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.","The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the disclosed embodiments (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context.","The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted.","The term “connected,” when unmodified and referring to physical connections, is to be construed as partly or wholly contained within, attached to or joined together, even if there is something intervening.","Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein.","The use of the term “set” (e.g., “a set of items”) or “subset” unless otherwise noted or contradicted by context, is to be construed as a nonempty collection comprising one or more members.","Further, unless otherwise noted or contradicted by context, the term “subset” of a corresponding set does not necessarily denote a proper subset of the corresponding set, but the subset and the corresponding set may be equal.","Conjunctive language, such as phrases of the form “at least one of A, B, and C,” or “at least one of A, B and C,” unless specifically stated otherwise or otherwise clearly contradicted by context, is otherwise understood with the context as used in general to present that an item, term, etc., may be either A or B or C, or any nonempty subset of the set of A and B and C. For instance, in the illustrative example of a set having three members, the conjunctive phrases “at least one of A, B, and C” and “at least one of A, B and C” refer to any of the following sets: {A}, {B}, {C}, {A, B}, {A, C}, {B, C}, {A, B, C}.","Thus, such conjunctive language is not generally intended to imply that certain embodiments require at least one of A, at least one of B and at least one of C each to be present.","Operations of processes described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.","Processes described herein (or variations and/or combinations thereof) may be performed under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions and may be implemented as code (e.g., executable instructions, one or more computer programs or one or more applications) executing collectively on one or more processors, by hardware or combinations thereof.","The code may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium, for example, in the form of a computer program comprising a plurality of instructions executable by one or more processors.","The computer-readable storage medium may be non-transitory.","The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate embodiments of the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed.","No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.","Preferred embodiments of this disclosure are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention.","Variations of those preferred embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description.","The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate and the inventors intend for embodiments of the present disclosure to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.","Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law.","Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the scope of the present disclosure unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.","All references, including publications, patent applications and patents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"HYPERVISOR ENFORCEMENT OF CRYPTOGRAPHIC POLICY\",\n \"Techniques for restricting the execution of algorithms contained in applications executing on virtual machines executing within a computer system are described herein.\",\n \"A first sampled set of computer executable instructions is gathered from a virtual machine by a controlling domain and compared against a reference set of computer executable instructions.\",\n \"If the first set is similar to the reference set, and if the execution of the algorithm corresponding to the reference set is restricted by one or more computer system polices, one or more operations limiting the execution of the restricted algorithm are performed, thus ensuring conformance with the computer system policies.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A computer-implemented method, comprising: identifying, based at least in part on computer executable instructions executing on a computer system, a plurality of execution traces, each of the plurality of execution traces including information corresponding to an algorithm that is restricted by one or more system policies; determining whether the plurality of identified execution traces satisfies a set of conditions; and causing the computer system to perform one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.\",\n \"2.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the set of conditions further comprise determining whether a number of the plurality of identified execution traces exceeds a threshold value.\",\n \"3.The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising computing a statistical measure for each of the plurality of identified execution traces based at least in part on determining that the number of the plurality of identified execution traces exceeds the threshold value.\",\n \"4.The computer-implemented method of claim 3, further comprising: determining that the statistical measure satisfies a second set of conditions; and causing the computer system to perform the one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.\",\n \"5.A system, comprising: memory to store instructions that, if executed by one or more processors of the system, cause the system to: identify, based at least in part on computer executable instructions executing on a computer system, a plurality of execution traces, each of the plurality of execution traces including information corresponding to an algorithm that is restricted by one or more system policies; and as a result of the plurality of identified execution traces satisfying a set of conditions, cause the computer system to perform one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.\",\n \"6.The system of claim 5, wherein the set of conditions comprises instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to determine whether a number of the plurality of identified execution traces exceeds a threshold value.\",\n \"7.The system of claim 6, wherein the instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to compute a statistical measure for each of the plurality of identified execution traces based at least in part on the determination that the number of the plurality of identified execution traces exceeds the threshold value.\",\n \"8.The system of claim 7, wherein the statistical measure is at least one of: an average; an arithmetic mean; a median; a time-weighted average; or a histogram.\",\n \"9.The system of claim 7, wherein the instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to: determine whether the statistical measure satisfies a second set of conditions; and cause the computer system to perform the one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.\",\n \"10.The system of claim 9, wherein perform the one or more actions further comprises instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to restrict the computer executable instructions based at least in part on the determination that the statistical measure satisfies the second set of conditions.\",\n \"11.The system of claim 9, wherein perform the one or more actions further comprise instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to identify additional execution traces that include information corresponding to the algorithm that is restricted by the one or more system policies based at least in part on the determination that the statistical measure does not satisfy the second set of conditions.\",\n \"12.The system of claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of execution traces including information corresponding to an algorithm that is restricted by one or more system policies are identified by sampling an application executing computer executable instructions on the computer system.\",\n \"13.A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon executable instructions that, if executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to at least: determine, based at least in part on computer executable instructions executing on a computer system, whether a plurality of execution traces satisfies a set of conditions, wherein the plurality of execution traces are obtained by identifying execution traces that include information corresponding to an algorithm restricted by one or more system policies; and cause the computer system to perform one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.\",\n \"14.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the set of conditions comprises instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to determine whether a number of the plurality of execution traces exceeds a threshold value.\",\n \"15.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to compute a statistical measure for each of the plurality of execution traces based at least in part on the determination that the number of the plurality of execution traces exceeds the threshold value.\",\n \"16.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the statistical measure is at least one of: an average; an arithmetic mean; a median; a time-weighted average; or a histogram.\",\n \"17.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to: determine whether the statistical measure satisfies a second set of conditions; and cause the computer system to perform the one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.\",\n \"18.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein perform the one or more actions further comprises instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to restrict the computer executable instructions based at least in part on the determination that the statistical measure satisfies the second set of conditions.\",\n \"19.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein perform the one or more instructions further comprise instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to identify additional execution traces that include information corresponding to the algorithm that is restricted by the one or more system policies based at least in part on the determination that the statistical measure does not satisfy the second set of conditions.\",\n \"20.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of execution traces including information corresponding to an algorithm that is restricted by one or more system policies are identified by sampling an application executing computer executable instructions on the computer system.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Modern computing systems place high importance on system security, and also place high importance on conformance with system policies.\",\n \"In many computer systems, particularly distributed computer systems, and especially those involving virtualized computing environments where a plurality of guest virtual machines may be hosted on shared physical host machines, both system security and policy conformance may become a concern.\",\n \"The distributed systems in which the guest virtual machines are implemented are often highly complex, comprising large numbers of networked host machines and a correspondingly large number of guest virtual machines.\",\n \"Such computer systems often operate with a large variety of operating systems and applications, and these operating systems and applications are often required to conform to a variety of system security policies.\",\n \"Frequently, implementations of cryptographic algorithms do not integrate well with policy systems, particularly without direct hardware or operating system integration.\",\n \"Such hardware or operating system integration is not easily achievable on distributed systems with a plurality of guest virtual computing systems because of lack of access to system hardware and/or operating system resources.\",\n \"Additionally, identifying and remediating restricted cryptographic algorithms implemented on distributed computing systems with the accompanying varied computing system environments is often problematic due to the nature of the computer system environments, making enforcement of consistent cryptographic policies on such systems difficult.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>Various embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an example environment where applications may be analyzed for cryptographic policy violations in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an example environment where applications may be verified for conformance with cryptographic policies in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an example environment where computer executable instructions may be collected and analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an example process for collecting and analyzing computer executable instructions to determine the presence of cryptographic algorithms in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an example environment where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be represented by a graph in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an example environment where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be weighted by a multiple-edge and a weighted graph in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an example environment where a trace graph may be analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates an example environment where a trace graph with patterns may be analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"9 illustrates an example process for computing the likelihood that a group of computer executable instructions comprise at least a portion of a cryptographic algorithm in accordance with at least one embodiment; and FIG.\",\n \"10 illustrates an environment in which various embodiments can be implemented.\",\n \"detailed-description description=\\\"Detailed Description\\\" end=\\\"lead\\\"?\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/852,361, filed Sep. 11, 2015, entitled “HYPERVISOR ENFORCEMENT OF CRYPTOGRAPHIC POLICY,” which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/223,868, filed on Mar.\",\n \"24, 2014, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,135,437, entitled “HYPERVISOR ENFORCEMENT OF CRYPTOGRAPHIC POLICY,” the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.\",\n \"BACKGROUND Modern computing systems place high importance on system security, and also place high importance on conformance with system policies.\",\n \"In many computer systems, particularly distributed computer systems, and especially those involving virtualized computing environments where a plurality of guest virtual machines may be hosted on shared physical host machines, both system security and policy conformance may become a concern.\",\n \"The distributed systems in which the guest virtual machines are implemented are often highly complex, comprising large numbers of networked host machines and a correspondingly large number of guest virtual machines.\",\n \"Such computer systems often operate with a large variety of operating systems and applications, and these operating systems and applications are often required to conform to a variety of system security policies.\",\n \"Frequently, implementations of cryptographic algorithms do not integrate well with policy systems, particularly without direct hardware or operating system integration.\",\n \"Such hardware or operating system integration is not easily achievable on distributed systems with a plurality of guest virtual computing systems because of lack of access to system hardware and/or operating system resources.\",\n \"Additionally, identifying and remediating restricted cryptographic algorithms implemented on distributed computing systems with the accompanying varied computing system environments is often problematic due to the nature of the computer system environments, making enforcement of consistent cryptographic policies on such systems difficult.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an example environment where applications may be analyzed for cryptographic policy violations in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an example environment where applications may be verified for conformance with cryptographic policies in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an example environment where computer executable instructions may be collected and analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an example process for collecting and analyzing computer executable instructions to determine the presence of cryptographic algorithms in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an example environment where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be represented by a graph in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an example environment where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be weighted by a multiple-edge and a weighted graph in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an example environment where a trace graph may be analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates an example environment where a trace graph with patterns may be analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"9 illustrates an example process for computing the likelihood that a group of computer executable instructions comprise at least a portion of a cryptographic algorithm in accordance with at least one embodiment; and FIG.\",\n \"10 illustrates an environment in which various embodiments can be implemented.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the following description, various embodiments will be described.\",\n \"For purposes of explanation, specific configurations and details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments.\",\n \"However, it will also be apparent to one skilled in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without the specific details.\",\n \"Furthermore, well-known features may be omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the embodiment being described.\",\n \"Techniques described and suggested herein include systems and methods for enforcing cryptographic policies in applications running on distributed systems under the control of a controlling domain such as a hypervisor.\",\n \"An application running on a virtual machine (VM) instance may be subject to a variety of system policies such as policies regarding access to cryptographic resources, access by users to such resources, allowed and/or disallowed cryptographic algorithms, minimal cryptographic security requirements and/or other such policies.\",\n \"An extensive and varied number of standards exist for computer-implemented cryptographic methods and an organization and/or system may wish to enforce policies associated with several of these standards.\",\n \"Some implementations of cryptographic algorithms may be integrated with systems to enforce policy.\",\n \"For example, many applications integrate well with the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) Publication 140-2 (FIPS PUB 140-2, also referred to herein simply as “FIPS”) security standard and a system compliant with the standard may be referred to as “FIPS compliant.” Deploying a system that is FIPS compliant generally involves deploying a FIPS compliant version of an operating system and then selecting only FIPS compliant applications on that system.\",\n \"Such a deployment, while conforming to the standard of FIPS PUB 140-2, is limited in that it may require alteration of the operating system, may require integration with system hardware, may restrict the use of many applications (including custom applications) and may not fully support a full subset of policy capabilities that may be contemplated by an organization.\",\n \"Some other implementations of cryptographic algorithms may not integrate well with systems to enforce policy, lacking support within operating systems or support for integration with policy systems.\",\n \"Additionally, both systems that integrate well and those that do not integrate well generally do not perform well at identifying unapproved and/or insufficiently secure use of cryptography algorithms that may be introduced into a system by users, services, procedures and/or other such computer system entities, making identifying and/or remediating unauthorized use of cryptography difficult.\",\n \"Techniques described and suggested herein include techniques for enforcing cryptographic policies in applications running on distributed systems with a plurality of virtual machines operating under the control of a controlling domain such as a hypervisor.\",\n \"As used herein, unless otherwise stated or made clear from context, the term “hypervisor” may be understood to refer to the hypervisor and/or to one or more processes, applications, services and/or combinations thereof, running under the control of and/or in conjunction with the hypervisor.\",\n \"The hypervisor may first collect traces of computer executable instructions executed inside of a virtual machine running under the control of the hypervisor.\",\n \"A hypervisor may examine the computer executable instructions executed inside of a virtual machine running under its control by recording at least a subset of the computer executable instructions that are forwarded to the host computer hardware for execution as they are executed.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the hypervisor may organize the examining and recording of the computer executable instructions according to the CPU, the virtual CPU, the virtual machine, the application, the application thread, the application hyperthread and/or by other such groupings.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the hypervisor may collect and/or record samples of computer executable instructions (also referred to herein simply as “sampling”) by intermittently examining the contents of memory locations within the virtual machine to determine information such as which instruction is currently executing, the location of the instruction within memory, data being used by the instruction, parameters being used by the instruction, the time of execution and/or other such information.\",\n \"Sampling may be performed by the hypervisor, or by a process such as a trace collector running within, or under the control of, the hypervisor.\",\n \"In some embodiments, sampling may be started and stopped according to one or more system conditions.\",\n \"For example, sampling may be a resource intensive operation and, consequently, may be turned off when system resources are unavailable.\",\n \"Sampling may also be “turned down” (executed less frequently) when, for example, system resources are scarce, when well-known and/or verified applications are running, according to system policies or according to other such system conditions.\",\n \"Sampling may similarly be turned on or “turned up” (executed more frequently) as a result of one or more system polices or conditions.\",\n \"For example, a system configured for high-security use may always keep sampling turned on and fully turned up in order to ensure system security compliance while a system configured for lower-security use may sample less frequently.\",\n \"Sampling frequency may also be adjusted in response to one or more events that occur in a system.\",\n \"In some embodiments, sampling may be turned on and/or turned up when a new user accesses the system, or when a new and/or unrecognized application starts, or when suspicious activity is detected by one or more processes and/or services running on the computer system or when other such similar events occur.\",\n \"Sampling may also be turned off and/or turned down after such new processes, users, or applications have be examined and found to be acceptable.\",\n \"In some embodiments, sampling may always be turned off for certain users, modules and applications including, but not limited to, the guest operating system, administrative users, verified modules running under the control of the hypervisor and/or the guest operating system and other such trusted entities.\",\n \"In some embodiments, one or more of the policies relating to whether sampling occurs and the frequency at which sampling occurs may exist as part of cryptographic policies, as part of system policies, as part of hypervisor policies or in a combination of these and/or other such polices.\",\n \"As may be contemplated, the factors for adjusting sampling and/or sampling rates described herein are illustrative examples, and other such factors for adjusting sampling and/or sampling rates may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"After a plurality of samples has been gathered by the hypervisor, sample analysis may begin.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the hypervisor may continue to gather samples while performing the analysis of the previous set of samples.\",\n \"The hypervisor may also suspend and/or turn down the sampling during analysis in, for example, scarce resource situations and, may also turn up the sampling during analysis if, for example, system security demands are high.\",\n \"The hypervisor may begin analysis by first creating a graph representation of the sampled computer executable instructions (the graph may also be referred to herein as a “walk-through” or as a “walk-through graph”), grouping the sampled computer executable instructions (also referred to herein as the “instructions”) temporally, where the term graph is used in the mathematical sense, comprising a collection of vertices and edges connecting the vertices.\",\n \"So, for example, if at time “A”, an application executes instruction “X”, at time “B”, an application executes instruction “Y” and at time “C”, an application executes instruction “Z”, and if times “A”, “B”, and “C” are close together, then the hypervisor may create a walk-through graph with vertices representing the instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z”, with edges representing the temporal connection between “X” and “Y” and between “Y” and “Z.” Structures of interest within the walk-through may include sets of instructions that are executed in a consistent pattern, with a consistent starting and stopping point, wherein the instructions executed are both temporally located (all occurring within a short period of time) and spatially located (all located near one another and generally executed in a consistent order).\",\n \"The hypervisor may look for certain structures that are executed multiple times, with consistent entry and exit points.\",\n \"In the above example, if instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z” may be frequently executed and in that same order, with consistent entry and exit points, the hypervisor may flag and/or otherwise denote that repeated executed instruction set.\",\n \"The hypervisor may also flag and/or otherwise denote looping structures within the walk-through.\",\n \"If, for example, in the above mentioned instruction set, the application, after executing instruction “Z”, repeatedly returned to execute instruction “X”, followed by instruction “Y”, followed by instruction “Z” again, this is a looping structure.\",\n \"After repeating the loop a number of times, the application may exit the loop and execute a different instruction (call it “W”).\",\n \"A hypervisor may flag and/or otherwise denote the repeated execution of “X-Y-Z” followed by a single execution of “W” as a recognizable execution pattern in the walk-through graph.\",\n \"Loops may be identified by the hypervisor by identifying back edges in the walk through.\",\n \"A back edge is an edge of a graph which, in a depth-first traversal of the graph, points to a first vertex of a set of vertices that has already been traversed.\",\n \"A back edge is an indicator of a loop in a graph.\",\n \"Back edges may be indicated by an instruction order that is different than an expected instruction order.\",\n \"In the above example, with the “X”−“Y”−“Z” instruction set, the expected order of execution of the instructions is “X”, followed by “Y”, followed by “Z” (instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z” are in that order, in the computer system memory of the virtual machine).\",\n \"When instruction “X” follows instruction “Z” in the loop, that edge of the walk-through graph may be contrary to the expected order and may indicate the possibility of a back-edge in the walk-through graph.\",\n \"Loops in the graph may correspond to loops in the executed code and may also be indicators of certain algorithms.\",\n \"Strong loops, where the same set of instructions may be executed in order, and a large number of times, may be indicated by graphs with multiple edges and/or by applying weights to temporal connection edges (edges between vertices that occur sequentially).\",\n \"For example, if the set of instructions “X”−“Y”−“Z” is executed one-hundred times in a row in a loop, there may be one-hundred edges between each of the instruction vertices.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the weight of repeated walk-through edges may be computed as a function of the number of repetitions of the associated pair of instructions such as, for example, a quadratic function, an exponential function, an inverse quadratic function, a logarithmic function and/or other such functional relationships.\",\n \"After identifying loops, the hypervisor may next group computer executable instructions together into one or more functional groups based at least in part on the identified loop structures.\",\n \"In each of the groups, each of the sets of executable instructions may comprise instructions that share temporal and/or spatial locality.\",\n \"In the example described herein, the instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z” may form a functional group based at least in part on their temporal and spatial locality as well as based, at least in part, on the identified loop structure.\",\n \"In some embodiments, instruction “W” may be included in the same functional group based at least in part on spatial locality and/or on temporal locality as being a common exit point of the “X”-“Y”−“Z” loop.\",\n \"The hypervisor and/or the trace analyzer may determine whether to include instruction “W” in the functional group based on policy, user preferences, administrator preferences, resource availability, computational complexity and/or other such disparate factors.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the hypervisor may select a subset of the groups for further analysis based at least in part on a variety of factors for the selection.\",\n \"The factors for selection of groups for further analysis include, but may not be limited to, a plurality of instructions sharing common data based on examining data transfer through one or more registers and/or memory locations specified in the computer executable instructions, a plurality of instructions sharing common parameters based on examining data transfer through one or more other registers and/or memory locations specified in the computer executable instructions, meta-sequences of instructions where group “A” of instructions temporally and/or spatially follows group “B” of instructions, one or more threshold values on intervening instructions that may be executed between the instructions in the group of instructions and/or between the meta-sequences of instructions and/or other such factors for selection for further analysis.\",\n \"As may be contemplated, the factors for selection of groups for further analysis described herein are merely illustrative examples, and other such factors for selection may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"Next, the hypervisor may determine whether the instructions in the groups selected for further analysis may comprise at least a portion of the implementation of one or more cryptographic algorithms.\",\n \"The hypervisor may determine whether the instructions comprise at least a portion of one or more cryptographic algorithms by comparing the detected loop structures and the computer executable instructions in the groups selected for further analysis against one or more reference implementations of cryptographic algorithms that may be stored in a repository of reference implementations of cryptographic algorithms (also referred to herein as a cryptographic database).\",\n \"For example, if it is known that a cryptographic algorithm uses one or more different loop structures, a cryptographic database may store one or more reference implementations of those one or more different loop structures.\",\n \"For example, if the looped instruction set “X”-“Y”-“Z” mentioned above was selected for further analysis, the hypervisor may compare the looped instruction set against a repository of reference implementations of known cryptographic algorithms.\",\n \"The repository may contain reference implementations that say, for example, that the instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z”, executed in a loop and in that order, comprise at least a portion of a known implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"The repository may contain reference implementations for “X”-“Z”-“Y”, or “X”-“Y”-“Q”-“Z” and/or other such ordered groupings of instructions and may also store indications as to whether such implementations do, do not and/or might indicate implementations of cryptographic algorithms.\",\n \"It should be noted that the examples of the “X”−“Y”−“Z” and other such computer executed instruction patterns mentioned herein are merely illustrative examples and are not meant to convey the scope or size of a group of related instructions.\",\n \"The number of instructions in a group of instructions may vary by implementation, by system, by type and scope of analysis and/or by other such factors.\",\n \"The hypervisor may determine whether the instructions in the groups of instructions selected for further analysis may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of one or more cryptographic algorithms by, for example, lists of instructions against reference lists of instructions, comparing sequences of instructions against reference sequences of instructions, comparing loops of instructions against reference loops of instructions, comparing sequences of loops and/or sequences of instructions against reference sequences of loops and/or sequences of instructions and/or other such comparisons.\",\n \"The reference implementation may include a number of markers (also referred to herein as “patterns” or “fingerprints”) for the hypervisor to compare groups of instructions against.\",\n \"For example, a reference implementation may indicate that any algorithm that executes instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z”, in that order, more than a threshold number of times, is probably a cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"Another reference implementation may look at patterns in using a certain type of data in the algorithm.\",\n \"For example, a set of instructions which use a certain lookup table with known values to transform values may be an indicator of a cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"The hypervisor may use the patterns or fingerprints to determine the likelihood that a group of related instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"A group of instructions that strongly matches a reference implementation in the instructions used, the sequence of instructions, the lack of unfamiliar and/or out-of-sequence instructions, the looping structure, the sequence of loops and/or sequences, the data used and/or other such markers may indicate a strong likelihood that the group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"By contrast, a group of instructions that, for example, only partially matches the above factors or that has a large number of unfamiliar and/or out of sequence instructions may indicate a less-strong likelihood that the group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the hypervisor may assign one or more scores indicating a confidence level that the group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of one or more reference cryptographic algorithms.\",\n \"A group of instructions may, for example, be a 25% match for one reference cryptographic algorithm, a 5% match for another, a 90% match for a third and a 99% match for a fourth.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the hypervisor may use a variety of analysis tools to determine the likelihood that a group of instructions is at least similar to a reference implementation.\",\n \"For example, a graph of the group of instructions may be compared against a graph of the instructions in the reference implementation.\",\n \"Sequences of instructions may also be compared against sequences of instructions in the reference implementation.\",\n \"Where there are differences, the likelihood of a match may be computed by using similarity quantification techniques such as a distance metric, an edit distance (comparing the number of steps required to make two dissimilar objects the same), measurement of alignment (measuring deviation from a standard) and/or other such quantification techniques.\",\n \"As mentioned herein, there are several factors that the hypervisor may use to determine the likelihood that a group of instructions is similar to a reference implementation.\",\n \"For example, back edges may identify loop structures which, in turn, may be compared against reference loop structures.\",\n \"A loop structure that does not exactly conform to a reference loop structure, but that may be altered to exactly conform to a reference loop structure with a small number of changes (and a small distance metric or edit distance) may indicate a strong likelihood that the given loop structure may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of the cryptographic algorithm corresponding to the reference implementation.\",\n \"Similarly, close conformity of common entry and exit points from an algorithm, strongly correlated physical locality, strongly correlated temporal locality, presence and/or absence of intervening instructions and/or other such factors may be used by the hypervisor to assign one or more scores for the likelihood that a group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the hypervisor may select one or more data parameters from gathered sample data and compare the one or more data parameters to a data model associated with a reference implementation.\",\n \"The presence or absence of data that is similar to data in a reference implementation may be used to increase or decrease the likelihood that a group of instructions and a group of associated data parameters comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"For example, a reference implementation of a cryptographic algorithm may require the presence of a lookup table to transform data values.\",\n \"A group of instructions that is similar to the reference implementation, but that does not include any such lookup table, may have a decreased likelihood of comprising an implementation of the reference cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"Similarly, a group of instructions that is not very similar to the reference implementation, but that has a lookup table that is very similar to the reference lookup table, may have an increased likelihood of comprising an implementation of the reference cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"In some embodiments selecting and/or comparing data parameters may be omitted if the reference implementation has no reference parameters or if the reference implementation indicates a match for all choices of data parameters.\",\n \"Using the one or more likelihood scores based on the reference implementation and/or the comparison with the reference implementation data parameters, the hypervisor may next determine whether the likelihood that a group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm is sufficient to consider whether that implementation may be prohibited by one or more cryptographic policies.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the hypervisor may evaluate the likelihood that a group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm by first looking at the percentage of the samples whose likelihood score exceeds a certain threshold value.\",\n \"The threshold value may be used to prevent skewing of the average by samples that were taken when the virtual machine was performing some other action.\",\n \"Such samples are not likely to conform to any particular implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm and thus, would skew the average with a 0% likelihood score.\",\n \"As an illustrative example, consider ten samples of an application that comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"Five of the samples may show that there is a 95% likelihood that the samples may comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm and five of the samples may show that there is a 5% likelihood that the samples may comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"The 5% samples may be because at the time that the samples were taken, the virtual machine may have been performing a different function.\",\n \"The average may indicate that there is a 50% likelihood that the samples comprise at least a portion of the implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm, but a much stronger indicator may be that 50% of the samples indicate that there is a 95% likelihood that the samples comprise at least a portion of the implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"If it is determined that a group of instructions being executed by an application is likely to comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm, the hypervisor may determine whether the cryptographic algorithm implementation is prohibited by a cryptographic policy based on the reference implementation and/or the data parameters.\",\n \"In the event that an implementation is prohibited by system policy, the likelihood score described above herein may be used to determine whether an application should be prevented from continuing to execute the cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"One or more likelihood score conditions may be evaluated.\",\n \"A likelihood score condition is a condition based at least in part on computed likelihood scores and also based at least in part on one or more system policies.\",\n \"For example, a computer system may have a likelihood score condition indicating that if a percentage of the likelihood scores exceed a threshold value, one or more policy operations should be performed.\",\n \"In another example, a computer system may have a likelihood score condition indicating that if the maximum likelihood score is within one range of values, a first set of one or more policy operations should be performed and if the maximum likelihood score is within a different range of values, a second set of one or more policy operations should be performed.\",\n \"As may be contemplated, the examples of likelihood score conditions described herein are merely illustrative examples and other such likelihood score conditions may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"In some embodiments, where the likelihood is low, the hypervisor may elect to continue sampling the application to see if the likelihood increases or decreases.\",\n \"An application may be put on a watch list where it is allowed to continue to execute, but sampling and analysis may continue.\",\n \"Policy determinations for how to react to various algorithms may vary.\",\n \"For example, some algorithms may always be disallowed if there is even a slight likelihood that the algorithm in question comprises at least a portion of the implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"Some algorithms may only be disallowed if the likelihood exceeds a certain threshold value.\",\n \"Some algorithms may be allowed for some data parameters and disallowed for other data parameters.\",\n \"For example, a system may have a cryptographic policy that a certain type of encryption may be used, but only if, for example, a cryptographic key associated with the cryptographic algorithm exceeds a certain minimum complexity.\",\n \"An application that uses a key that exceeds that minimum complexity may be allowed, while an application that uses a key that does not exceed that minimum complexity may not be allowed.\",\n \"In some embodiments, if the hypervisor determines that an application is executing a disallowed cryptographic algorithm, the hypervisor may perform one or more operations to address the execution of the disallowed algorithm.\",\n \"The hypervisor may, for example, block execution of a portion of computer executable instructions by the virtual machine based at least in part on the determination that the implementation of the cryptographic algorithm is disallowed.\",\n \"The hypervisor may also shut down the virtual machine, suspend the application, notify an administrator, notify the user, notify the virtual machine, notify the application, notify an administrator of the machine or some other such action.\",\n \"In some embodiments the hypervisor may allow a grace period for the application and/or the guest computer system to remediate the violation and in others, the disallowed application may be quarantined immediately.\",\n \"As mentioned previously, the hypervisor may elect to turn on and/or turn up sampling for an application as needed.\",\n \"The hypervisor may also elect to turn on and/or turn up sampling for a user that was previously found to be executing a disallowed algorithm and/or for the virtual machine where a disallowed algorithm was previously executed.\",\n \"Similarly, the hypervisor may turn down or turn off analysis for an application that was analyzed and not found to contain any disallowed algorithms and/or data.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an example environment 100 where one or more applications running on one or more computer systems within a computer system environment as well as the associated code running thereon may be verified by cryptographic policy enforcement implementations in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"A user 102 may connect 106 to a computer system through a computer system client device 104 and may initiate connection with or interaction with one or more applications 114 running on a host 112 operating within a computing resource service provider 110.In some embodiments, the computing resource service provider may provide a distributed, virtualized and/or datacenter environment within which one or more applications, processes, services, virtual machines and/or other such computer system entities may be executed.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the user 102 may be a person, or may be a process running on one or more remote computer systems, or may be some other computer system entity, user or process.\",\n \"The command or commands to connect to the computer system and/or to connect the applications running thereon may originate from an outside computer system and/or server, or may originate from an entity, user or process on a remote network location, or may originate from an entity, user or process within the computer system, or may originate from a user of the computer system client device 104, or may originate as a result of an automatic process or may originate as a result of a combination of these and/or other such originating entities.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the command or commands to initiate the connection 106 to the computing resource service provider 110 and/or an application 114 running thereon may be initiated by the computer system, without the intervention of a user 102.The command or commands to initiate the connection 106 to the host 112 and/or an application 114 running thereon may originate from the same origin as the command or commands to connect to the computing resource service provider 110 or may originate from another computer system and/or server, or may originate from a different entity, user or process on the same or a different remote network location, or may originate from a different entity, user or process within the computer system, or may originate from a different user of a computer system client device 104, or may originate as a result of a combination of these and/or other such same and/or different entities.\",\n \"The user 102 may request connection to the computing resource service provider via one or more connections 106 and, in some embodiments, via one or more networks 108 and/or entities associated therewith, such as servers connected to the network, either directly or indirectly.\",\n \"The computer system client device 104 that may request access to the host computer system may include any device that is capable of connecting with a computer system via a network, including at least servers, laptops, mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets, other smart devices such as smart watches, smart televisions, set-top boxes, video game consoles and other such network enabled smart devices, distributed computing systems and components thereof, abstracted components such as guest computer systems or virtual machines and/or other types of computing devices and/or components.\",\n \"The network may include, for example, a local network, an internal network, a public network such as the Internet, a wide-area network, a wireless network, a mobile network, a satellite network, a distributed computing system with a plurality of network nodes and/or the like.\",\n \"The network may also operate in accordance with various protocols, such as those listed below, Bluetooth, WiFi, cellular network protocols, satellite network protocols and/or others.\",\n \"The computing resource service provider 110 may provide access to one or more host machines as well as provide access to computer services such as virtual machine (VM) instances, automatic scaling groups, file-based database storage systems, block storage services, redundant data storage services, data archive services, data warehousing services, user access management services, content management services and/or other such computer system services as may be running thereon.\",\n \"The computing resource service provider 110 may also provide access to computer system resources such as user resources, policy resources, network resources and/or storage resources.\",\n \"In some distributed and/or virtualized computer system environments, the resources associated with the computer services may be physical devices, virtual devices, combinations of physical and/or virtual devices or other such device embodiments.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the host machines may be physical machines located within the computer system environment.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the host machines may be guest virtual machines operating on physical machines located within the computer system environment.\",\n \"The application 114 may be running within a virtual machine 120 (also referred to herein as a “VM”, a “guest virtual machine”, “a guest machine”) running on the host 112.A virtual machine is a computer system implemented in software which may be configured to execute one or more programs, services, applications, processes, modules and/or other such computer system entities.\",\n \"A virtual machine runs on a host computer system and may obtain access to host computer system hardware and resources in order to execute the one or more programs, services, applications, processes, modules and/or other such computer system entities.\",\n \"A virtual machine typically runs under the control of a controlling domain which also provides the access to host computer system hardware and resources.\",\n \"A virtual machine may be a general implementation of a computer system, with an operating system, user access, virtual memory, virtual hardware devices and/or other such computer system elements.\",\n \"A virtual machine may also be a specifically configured implementation of a computer system with only a minimal subset of the resources and capabilities that may be necessary to perform a specific task.\",\n \"The application 114 may use one or more services, processes and/or applications also running on the virtual machine 120 and/or on the host 112 to connect 118 to a system on the host machine configured to at least enforce one or more cryptographic policies on the system.\",\n \"The system that is configured to at least enforce one or more cryptographic policies (also referred to herein as the “cryptographic policy system”) may be comprised of one or more subsystems.\",\n \"The subsystems may include, but not be limited to, one or more controlling domains such as a hypervisor, one or more repositories containing computer system policies, one or more repositories containing data used in enforcing policies, one or more processes, services or applications configured to perform one or more operations relating to enforcement of computer system cryptographic policies and/or other such computer system entities.\",\n \"The cryptographic policy system may selectively sample operation of the virtual machine 120 for computer executable instructions executed by the application 114 in order to determine whether the application 114 employs cryptographic algorithms.\",\n \"If the cryptographic policy system determines that an application does employ cryptographic algorithms, the cryptographic system may then determine if those cryptographic algorithms may be allowed or disallowed by policy and if disallowed, the cryptographic policy system may take one or more remediating actions in response to the determination and policy evaluation.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an example environment 200 where applications running within a computer system may be verified for conformance with computer system cryptographic policies as described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"An application 212 running on a virtual machine 208 may be one of one or more applications, including one or more other applications 210 running on the virtual machine 208.The application 212 maybe running on the virtual machine 208, which may be running on a host 204 within computing resource service provider 202 as described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"The virtual machine 208 may be running on the control of a controlling domain such a hypervisor 206.In an embodiment, a hypervisor is a controlling domain running on a host computer system that may provide access to computer system resources for guest virtual machine instances and their applications also running on the host computer system.\",\n \"A hypervisor typically has direct access to the host computer system resources and provides scheduled access by guests to those resources.\",\n \"For example, it is the hypervisor that provides system memory to guest computer systems and also manages that memory by reclaiming memory from the guest computer systems in the event that system memory becomes scarce.\",\n \"A hypervisor may also be called a controlling domain or domain-zero (DOM0) and typically runs as a privileged domain.\",\n \"The hypervisor 206 may monitor the computer executable instructions executed on the virtual machine 208 including, but not limited to, the computer executable instructions executed by application 212.The hypervisor 206 may monitor the computer executable instructions to at least determine whether the application 212 may be executing one or more instructions that may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"The hypervisor 206 may make this determination by connecting to one or more policy analysis systems that may be configured to identify violations of cryptographic policy and may also be configured to enforce such policies.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the hypervisor may connect 220 to a policy analysis subsystem 216 running on the host computer system 204.The policy analysis subsystem may in turn connect to a policy repository 214, which may be one of one or more policy repositories on the host computer system 204.The policy analysis subsystem may include one or more systems configured to record and analyze executable instructions, one or more subsystems to detect cryptographic policy violations, one or more subsystems configured to respond to cryptographic policy violations and/or one or more other cryptographic policy subsystems.\",\n \"The policy repository 214 may include one or more repositories of reference cryptographic algorithm implementations, one or more repositories of system policy rules, one or more repositories of reference cryptographic data and/or one or more other cryptographic policy repositories.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the hypervisor may connect 222 to one or more cryptographic policy services 218 running within the computing resource service provider 202 on one or more other computer systems.\",\n \"The cryptographic policy services may also include a policy analysis subsystem 226 and one or more policy repositories 224.In some embodiments, the hypervisor may use a combination of on-host and off-host policy analysis subsystems and policy repositories.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an example environment 300 where computer executable instructions may be collected and analyzed to determine whether an application may be executing instructions that may comprise at least a portion of the implementation of a cryptographic algorithm as described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"A hypervisor 302 may contain a trace collector 304 which may be a module, service, process, application, device or combination of these and/or other such operational computer system entities as described herein below.\",\n \"A trace collector 304 may configured to sample and record computer executable instructions and/or data referenced by the computer executable instructions, from applications running on a VM 306 which may be one of one or more VMs running on a host computer system 308.In some embodiments, the trace collector 304 may be running on the host computer system 308, within and/or under control of the hypervisor 302.The trace collector 304 may forward 310 sampled and recorded computer executable instructions to a trace analyzer 312 which may be a module, service, process, application, device or combination of these and/or other such operational computer system entities as described herein below.\",\n \"A trace analyzer 312 may be configured to receive the sampled and recorded computer executable instructions and may also be configured to begin the analysis of the sampled and recorded computer executable instructions.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the trace analyzer 312 may be running on the host computer system 308, within and/or under the control of the hypervisor 302.In some embodiments, the trace analyzer 312 may be running on a different computer system entity as described herein above.\",\n \"The trace analyzer 312 may receive the sampled and recorded computer executable instructions and may first process and then analyze the instructions by, for example, arranging them into groups and/or representing them as subgraphs and analyzing the resulting representations.\",\n \"The trace analyzer 312 may be connected 316 to and/or otherwise have access to a cryptography repository 314 which may contain data relating to one or more cryptographic algorithms that may be used to process and/or analyze the groups of instructions.\",\n \"Data in the cryptography repository may include, but not be limited to, descriptions of cryptographic algorithms, reference implementations cryptographic algorithms, example data used in cryptographic algorithms, example parameters used in cryptographic algorithms and/or other such cryptography related data.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the cryptography repository 314 may include one or more databases configured to provide organization of and/or access to the data in the cryptographic repository.\",\n \"The trace analyzer 312 may select at least a portion of the processed and analyzed instructions received from the trace collector 304 and may send these selected instruction groups 318 to a policy analyzer 322 which may be a module, service, process, application, device or combination of these and/or other such operational computer system entities as described herein below.\",\n \"A policy analyzer 322 may be configured to analyze the selected groups 318 to determine whether the selected groups comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"In some embodiments the trace analyzer 312 may also select at least a portion of the data and parameters received from the trace collector 304 and send the selected data and parameters 320 to the policy analyzer 322.The policy analyzer may be connected to 326 and/or otherwise have access to a policy repository 326 which may contain data relating to one or more system cryptographic policies.\",\n \"Data in the policy repository may include, but not be limited to, policy rules, policy mitigation strategies, policy related data, allowed lists of applications, disallowed lists of applications, allowed lists of users, disallowed lists of users and/or other such policy data.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the policy repository 324 may include one or more databases configured to provide organization of and/or access to the data in the cryptographic repository.\",\n \"The policy analyzer 322 may be connected to 330 and/or otherwise have access to the cryptography repository 314 described herein above.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the cryptography repository 314 and the policy repository 324 may be the same entity.\",\n \"As a result of analyzing the selected groups 318 and, in some embodiments, the data and parameters 320, the policy analyzer 322 may determine that an application running on the VM 306 may be executing one or more disallowed cryptographic applications.\",\n \"The policy analyzer may perform one or more operations to halt and/or otherwise mitigate the execution of the one or more disallowed cryptographic applications by sending one or more messages and/or commands 328 to the hypervisor 302.The messages and/or commands 328 may include, but not be limited to, commands to halt the application, commands to halt the virtual machine, messages to a user and/or process on the virtual machine, administrative messages to a privileged user and/or process on the virtual machine or other such messages and/or commands.\",\n \"The hypervisor 302 may be configured to at least receive and process such mitigating messages and/or command.\",\n \"As mentioned previously in this disclosure, the components described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 such as the trace collector 304, the trace analyzer 312 and the policy analyzer 322 may be a computer system modules, services, processes, applications, devices or combinations of these and/or other such operational computer system entities.\",\n \"In some embodiments, these components may be operational computer system entities running within and/or under the control of a controlling domain such as a hypervisor, or running within and/or under the control of a guest operating system, or running as, within and/or under the control of a separate operational computer system entity or running as, within and/or under the control of some other such computer system entity.\",\n \"Additionally, it should be understood that while this disclosure may describe the components such as the trace collector 304, the trace analyzer 312 and the policy analyzer 322 performing one or more operations, functions, processes and/or other such actions, a computer system configured in accordance with the component may be performing the described actions.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an example process 400 for collecting and analyzing computer executable instructions to determine whether an application may be executing cryptographic algorithms as described at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"A controlling domain such as the hypervisor 302 as described at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 may perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4.A service such as the trace collector 304 as described at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4.A service such as trace analyzer 312 illustrated at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4.A service such as policy analyzer 332 illustrated at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4.Other services and/or processes running on a computer system may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4 including, but not limited to, applications, processes and/or services running on host and/or virtual machines within the computer system, operating system elements of host and/or virtual machines within the computer system, dedicated network hardware on the computer system, controlling domains such as a hypervisor and/or combinations of these and/or other such operational entities within the computer system.\",\n \"A trace collector may collect traces from a virtual machine 402, including traces of computer executable instructions, parameters, data and/or other such trace data.\",\n \"The trace collector may collect instructions, parameters, data and/or other such trace data by intermittent sampling, or by constant sampling or by some other such collection method.\",\n \"A trace analyzer may then create a graph representation 404 of the traces from the virtual machine and may identify loop structures 406 using the information in the graph representation.\",\n \"If candidate loop structures are found 408, the trace analyzer may then group the computer executable instructions based on the loop structures 410.The trace analyzer may then select one or more of the groups based at least in part on shared or common data 412.The group selection may be based on data received from the trace collector, or may be based on data stored in a cryptography repository such as the cryptography repository 314 described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 or may be based on a combination of data from these and/or other such data sources.\",\n \"The trace analyzer may then compare the selected groups to one or more reference cryptographic algorithm implementations 414 to determine whether the selected groups comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm implementation.\",\n \"The reference cryptographic algorithm implementation may be stored in a cryptography repository such as the cryptography repository 314 described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3.In some embodiments, the trace analyzer may also use data and/or parameters received from the trace collector to determine whether the selected groups comprise at least a portion of the reference cryptographic algorithm implementation.\",\n \"If it is determined that one or more of the selected groups comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm implementation 416, a policy may determine whether the one or more parameters associated with the selected groups should be examined 418.In some embodiments, a reference cryptographic algorithm implementation may be disallowed for all parameters, or may be disallowed for some parameters and allowed for others or may be allowed for all parameters.\",\n \"If the parameters should be examined 418, the policy analyzer may compare the parameters to allowed parameters 420.If as a result of determining that a group of instructions and optionally, the associated parameters, comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm implementation, the policy analyzer may determine whether one or more policies of the system prohibit 422 the execution of such an algorithm.\",\n \"If the algorithm is prohibited, the policy analyzer may direct a controlling domain such as a hypervisor to restrict 424 or mitigate the execution of the application by, for example, halting the execution of the application, halting the virtual machine or other such restricting and/or mitigating actions.\",\n \"At a number of steps in the process described herein, the process may determine whether sampling should continue 426 including, but not limited to, after no candidate loop structures are found 408, after it is determined that none of the selected groups comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm implementation 416, after it is determined that none of the policies of the system prohibit 422 the execution of a found cryptographic algorithm or after steps are taken to restrict 424 or mitigate the execution of the algorithm.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an example environment 500 where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be represented by a graph as described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"4 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"A trace list 502 may include a sequential list of sampled information about one or more computer executable instructions.\",\n \"Each element in the sequential list (referred to herein simply as an “execution trace”) may contain information about a computer executable instruction that may have been executed in one or more virtual machines.\",\n \"The information about the computer executable instruction may have been collected by a computer system entity such as the trace collector 304 described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3.Each execution trace may have been collected by the trace collector by sampling one or more memory locations as described herein above.\",\n \"The trace list 502 may be converted 506 to a trace graph 504 representation by a computer system entity such as the trace analyzer 312 described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3.The trace graph 504 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5 has vertices (also referred to herein as “nodes”) corresponding to the instructions in the trace list 502 and edges corresponding to the sequential execution of the pairs of instructions.\",\n \"The directed edge between the vertex labeled “0x01” in trace graph 504 and the vertex labeled “0x02” in trace graph 504 indicates that instruction 0x02 was executed immediately after instruction 0x01 in the trace list 502 (instructions 1 and 2 in the trace list).\",\n \"Similarly, the directed edge between the vertex labeled “0x02” in trace graph 504 and the vertex labeled “0x03” in trace graph 504 indicates that instruction 0x03 was executed immediately after instruction 0x02 in the trace list 502 (instructions 2 and 3 in the trace list).\",\n \"The directed edge between the vertex labeled “0x03” in trace graph 504 and the vertex labeled “0x01” in trace graph 504 is a back edge as described herein above, representing a sequential order that may be contrary to the expected temporal order and one that, in this example, indicates a loop in the sequence of instruction execution.\",\n \"The dashed directed edge entering into the vertex labeled “0x01” in trace graph 504 indicates that instruction 0x01 is an entry point of the trace.\",\n \"The dashed directed edge exiting out of the vertex labeled “0x05” in trace graph 504 indicates that instruction 0x05 is an exit point of the trace.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an example environment 600 where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be represented by a graph with multiple edges and may also be represented by a graph with weighted edges as described herein at least in connection with FIGS.\",\n \"4 and 5, and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"The trace list 602 may be represented by the trace graph 604, with the plurality of edges (in this example, five edges) between vertex “0x01” and vertex “0x02”, between vertex “0x02” and vertex “0x03” and between vertex “0x03” and vertex “0x01”.\",\n \"There are five edges between each of these pairs of vertices in trace graph 504 because the trace list 502 contains five instances of the instruction sequence 0x01, 0x02, 0x03 and back to 0x01.The trace graph 604, with multiple edges may also be represented by the weighted trace graph 606 with weighted edges, where the five edges between, for example, vertex “0x01” and vertex “0x02” may be replaced by a single weighted edge with weight five.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an example environment 700 where a trace graph may be analyzed by comparing it to one or more reference patterns as described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"A trace graph 702 such as the trace graph 604 or the weighted trace graph 606 described herein in connection with FIG.\",\n \"6 may be analyzed by a trace analyzer 704 such as the trace analyzer 312 described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3.The trace analyzer 704 may be connected to and/or otherwise have access to a cryptography repository 706 such as the cryptography repository 314 described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3.In some embodiments, the cryptography repository may contain one or more patterns 708 which the trace analyzer 704 may compare the trace graph 702 against.\",\n \"The comparisons of the trace graph 702 against the patterns 708 in the cryptography repository 706 may be used to determine whether the sequence of execution traces represented by the trace graph 702 corresponds to one or more of the patterns 708 and thus, whether an application running on a virtual machine that the sampled sequence of execution traces came from may be running a restricted algorithm as described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the trace analyzer may use one or more comparison and/or measurement techniques to determine whether the sequence of execution traces represented by the trace graph 702 corresponds to one or more of the patterns 708, how similar the sequence of execution traces represented by the trace graph 702 is to one or more of the patterns 708 and thus, how likely is it that an application running on a virtual machine that the sampled sequence of execution traces came from may be running a restricted algorithm.\",\n \"One measurement technique, an edit distance, may be used to measure the similarity between two graphs by determining, for example, the number of additions and/or deletions of vertices and/or edges that may be required to convert one graph to another.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7, the edit distance between trace graph 702 and pattern 710 may be eight, the edit distance between trace graph 702 and pattern 712 may be six, the edit distance between trace graph 702 and pattern 714 may be eight and the edit distance between trace graph 702 and pattern 716 may be zero.\",\n \"The trace analyzer may use these edit distances to determine that it very likely that the application running on the virtual machine is running a restricted algorithm corresponding to pattern 716 and it is much less likely that the application running on the virtual machine is running restricted algorithms corresponding to pattern 710, pattern 712 or pattern 714.As may be contemplated, the comparison technique described herein is merely an illustrative example, and other such comparison and/or measurement techniques for determining the similarity between two graphs may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates an example environment 800 where a trace graph with parameters may be analyzed by a policy analyzer as described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"The trace list 802 containing instructions 804 and parameters 806 may have been analyzed by a trace analyzer as described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 and that analysis may have found a strong likelihood that an application running on a virtual machine where the computer executable instructions contained in trace list 802 were sampled from is running a restricted algorithm corresponding to pattern 812.A policy analyzer 808 such as the policy analyzer 322 described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 may have one or more policies associated with pattern 812 including, for example, the policy 810 which may contain the pattern 812 and one or more rules regarding acceptable use of the pattern 812.For example, the rule R1 814 says that, for computer executable instructions 0x01, 0x02 and 0x03, the instructions must use a certain value for parameter P1 and must use a certain value for parameter P2 and the rule R2 826 says that, for computer executable instructions 0x04 and 0x05, the instructions must use a certain value for parameter P2.In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"8, five out of six of the execution traces violate the rules.\",\n \"In some embodiments, one or more violations of these rules may indicate one or more remediation actions as described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"As may be contemplated, the rules described herein are merely illustrative examples, and other such rules may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 illustrates an example process 900 for computing the likelihood that a group of computer executable instructions may comprise at least a portion of the implementation of a cryptographic algorithm as described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"A controlling domain such as the hypervisor 302 as described at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 may perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9.A service such as the trace collector 304 as described at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9.A service such as trace analyzer 312 illustrated at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9.A service such as policy analyzer 332 illustrated at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9.Other services and/or processes running on a computer system may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9 including, but not limited to, applications, processes and/or services running on host and/or virtual machines within the computer system, operating system elements of host and/or virtual machines within the computer system, dedicated network hardware on the computer system, controlling domains such as a hypervisor and/or combinations of these and/or other such operational entities within the computer system.\",\n \"A trace collector may collect one or more samples 902.A trace analyzer may, for each sample collected, determine whether the sample should be flagged 904 based on, for example, there being a certain likelihood that the sample may include one or more instructions that comprise at least a part of an algorithm such as a cryptographic algorithm and that may be restricted by one or more policies such as cryptographic policies.\",\n \"The trace analyzer may then compare the number of flagged samples to a first threshold value 906 to determine whether that number of flagged samples exceeds the first threshold value 908.If the number of flagged samples exceeds the threshold value, the trace analyzer may compute a statistical measure of whether a flagged sample was flagged 912 as described herein above.\",\n \"If that statistical measure exceeds a second threshold value 914, one or more operations may be executed by the hypervisor to restrict the algorithm.\",\n \"The statistical measure may include an average, an arithmetic mean, a median, a time-weighted average, a histogram or a combination of these and/or some other such statistical measures.\",\n \"If thresholds are not exceeded, and if it is determined that sampling should be continued 910, the trace collector may once again collect one or more samples 902.If it is determine that sampling should not continue, then sampling will stopped and/or suspended 918.FIG.\",\n \"10 illustrates aspects of an example environment 1000 for implementing aspects in accordance with various embodiments.\",\n \"As will be appreciated, although a web-based environment is used for purposes of explanation, different environments may be used, as appropriate, to implement various embodiments.\",\n \"The environment includes an electronic client device 1002, which can include any appropriate device operable to send and/or receive requests, messages or information over an appropriate network 1004 and, in some embodiments, convey information back to a user of the device.\",\n \"Examples of such client devices include personal computers, cell phones, handheld messaging devices, laptop computers, tablet computers, set-top boxes, personal data assistants, embedded computer systems, electronic book readers and the like.\",\n \"The network can include any appropriate network, including an intranet, the Internet, a cellular network, a local area network, a satellite network or any other such network and/or combination thereof.\",\n \"Components used for such a system can depend at least in part upon the type of network and/or environment selected.\",\n \"Protocols and components for communicating via such a network are well known and will not be discussed herein in detail.\",\n \"Communication over the network can be enabled by wired or wireless connections and combinations thereof.\",\n \"In this example, the network includes the Internet, as the environment includes a web server 1006 for receiving requests and serving content in response thereto, although for other networks an alternative device serving a similar purpose could be used as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.\",\n \"The illustrative environment includes at least one application server 1008 and a data store 1010.It should be understood that there can be several application servers, layers or other elements, processes or components, which may be chained or otherwise configured, which can interact to perform tasks such as obtaining data from an appropriate data store.\",\n \"Servers, as used herein, may be implemented in various ways, such as hardware devices or virtual computer systems.\",\n \"In some contexts, servers may refer to a programming module being executed on a computer system.\",\n \"As used herein, unless otherwise stated or clear from context, the term “data store” refers to any device or combination of devices capable of storing, accessing and retrieving data, which may include any combination and number of data servers, databases, data storage devices and data storage media, in any standard, distributed, virtual or clustered environment.\",\n \"The application server can include any appropriate hardware, software and firmware for integrating with the data store as needed to execute aspects of one or more applications for the client device, handling some or all of the data access and business logic for an application.\",\n \"The application server may provide access control services in cooperation with the data store and is able to generate content including, but not limited to, text, graphics, audio, video and/or other content usable to be provided to the user, which may be served to the user by the web server in the form of HyperText Markup Language (“HTML”), Extensible Markup Language (“XML”), JavaScript, Cascading Style Sheets (“CSS”) or another appropriate client-side structured language.\",\n \"Content transferred to a client device may be processed by the client device to provide the content in one or more forms including, but not limited to, forms that are perceptible to the user audibly, visually and/or through other senses including touch, taste, and/or smell.\",\n \"The handling of all requests and responses, as well as the delivery of content between the client device 1002 and the application server 1008, can be handled by the web server using PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (“PHP”), Python, Ruby, Perl, Java, HTML, XML or another appropriate server-side structured language in this example.\",\n \"It should be understood that the web and application servers are not required and are merely example components, as structured code discussed herein can be executed on any appropriate device or host machine as discussed elsewhere herein.\",\n \"Further, operations described herein as being performed by a single device may, unless otherwise clear from context, be performed collectively by multiple devices, which may form a distributed and/or virtual system.\",\n \"The data store 1010 can include several separate data tables, databases, data documents, dynamic data storage schemes and/or other data storage mechanisms and media for storing data relating to a particular aspect of the present disclosure.\",\n \"For example, the data store illustrated may include mechanisms for storing production data 1012 and user information 1016, which can be used to serve content for the production side.\",\n \"The data store also is shown to include a mechanism for storing log data 1014, which can be used for reporting, analysis or other such purposes.\",\n \"It should be understood that there can be many other aspects that may need to be stored in the data store, such as page image information and access rights information, which can be stored in any of the above listed mechanisms as appropriate or in additional mechanisms in the data store 1010.The data store 1010 is operable, through logic associated therewith, to receive instructions from the application server 1008 and obtain, update or otherwise process data in response thereto.\",\n \"The application server 1008 may provide static, dynamic or a combination of static and dynamic data in response to the received instructions.\",\n \"Dynamic data, such as data used in web logs (blogs), shopping applications, news services and other such applications may be generated by server-side structured languages as described herein or may be provided by a content management system (“CMS”) operating on, or under the control of, the application server.\",\n \"In one example, a user, through a device operated by the user, might submit a search request for a certain type of item.\",\n \"In this case, the data store might access the user information to verify the identity of the user and can access the catalog detail information to obtain information about items of that type.\",\n \"The information then can be returned to the user, such as in a results listing on a web page that the user is able to view via a browser on the user device 1002.Information for a particular item of interest can be viewed in a dedicated page or window of the browser.\",\n \"It should be noted, however, that embodiments of the present disclosure are not necessarily limited to the context of web pages, but may be more generally applicable to processing requests in general, where the requests are not necessarily requests for content.\",\n \"Each server typically will include an operating system that provides executable program instructions for the general administration and operation of that server and typically will include a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a hard disk, random access memory, read only memory, etc.)\",\n \"storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of the server, allow the server to perform its intended functions.\",\n \"Suitable implementations for the operating system and general functionality of the servers are known or commercially available and are readily implemented by persons having ordinary skill in the art, particularly in light of the disclosure herein.\",\n \"The environment, in one embodiment, is a distributed and/or virtual computing environment utilizing several computer systems and components that are interconnected via communication links, using one or more computer networks or direct connections.\",\n \"However, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that such a system could operate equally well in a system having fewer or a greater number of components than are illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"10.Thus, the depiction of the system 1000 in FIG.\",\n \"10 should be taken as being illustrative in nature and not limiting to the scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"The various embodiments further can be implemented in a wide variety of operating environments, which in some cases can include one or more user computers, computing devices or processing devices which can be used to operate any of a number of applications.\",\n \"User or client devices can include any of a number of general purpose personal computers, such as desktop, laptop or tablet computers running a standard operating system, as well as cellular, wireless and handheld devices running mobile software and capable of supporting a number of networking and messaging protocols.\",\n \"Such a system also can include a number of workstations running any of a variety of commercially-available operating systems and other known applications for purposes such as development and database management.\",\n \"These devices also can include other electronic devices, such as dummy terminals, thin-clients, gaming systems and other devices capable of communicating via a network.\",\n \"These devices also can include virtual devices such as virtual machines, hypervisors and other virtual devices capable of communicating via a network.\",\n \"Various embodiments of the present disclosure utilize at least one network that would be familiar to those skilled in the art for supporting communications using any of a variety of commercially-available protocols, such as Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (“TCP/IP”), User Datagram Protocol (“UDP”), protocols operating in various layers of the Open System Interconnection (“OSI”) model, File Transfer Protocol (“FTP”), Universal Plug and Play (“UpnP”), Network File System (“NFS”), Common Internet File System (“CIFS”) and AppleTalk.\",\n \"The network can be, for example, a local area network, a wide-area network, a virtual private network, the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, a public switched telephone network, an infrared network, a wireless network, a satellite network and any combination thereof.\",\n \"In embodiments utilizing a web server, the web server can run any of a variety of server or mid-tier applications, including Hypertext Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”) servers, FTP servers, Common Gateway Interface (“CGI”) servers, data servers, Java servers, Apache servers and business application servers.\",\n \"The server(s) also may be capable of executing programs or scripts in response to requests from user devices, such as by executing one or more web applications that may be implemented as one or more scripts or programs written in any programming language, such as Java®, C, C# or C++, or any scripting language, such as Ruby, PHP, Perl, Python or TCL, as well as combinations thereof.\",\n \"The server(s) may also include database servers, including without limitation those commercially available from Oracle °, Microsoft®, Sybase® and IBM® as well as open-source servers such as MySQL, Postgres, SQLite, MongoDB, and any other server capable of storing, retrieving and accessing structured or unstructured data.\",\n \"Database servers may include table-based servers, document-based servers, unstructured servers, relational servers, non-relational servers or combinations of these and/or other database servers.\",\n \"The environment can include a variety of data stores and other memory and storage media as discussed above.\",\n \"These can reside in a variety of locations, such as on a storage medium local to (and/or resident in) one or more of the computers or remote from any or all of the computers across the network.\",\n \"In a particular set of embodiments, the information may reside in a storage-area network (“SAN”) familiar to those skilled in the art.\",\n \"Similarly, any necessary files for performing the functions attributed to the computers, servers or other network devices may be stored locally and/or remotely, as appropriate.\",\n \"Where a system includes computerized devices, each such device can include hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via a bus, the elements including, for example, at least one central processing unit (“CPU” or “processor”), at least one input device (e.g., a mouse, keyboard, controller, touch screen or keypad) and at least one output device (e.g., a display device, printer or speaker).\",\n \"Such a system may also include one or more storage devices, such as disk drives, optical storage devices and solid-state storage devices such as random access memory (“RAM”) or read-only memory (“ROM”), as well as removable media devices, memory cards, flash cards, etc.\",\n \"Such devices also can include a computer-readable storage media reader, a communications device (e.g., a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infrared communication device, etc.)\",\n \"and working memory as described above.\",\n \"The computer-readable storage media reader can be connected with, or configured to receive, a computer-readable storage medium, representing remote, local, fixed and/or removable storage devices as well as storage media for temporarily and/or more permanently containing, storing, transmitting and retrieving computer-readable information.\",\n \"The system and various devices also typically will include a number of software applications, modules, services or other elements located within at least one working memory device, including an operating system and application programs, such as a client application or web browser.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that alternate embodiments may have numerous variations from that described above.\",\n \"For example, customized hardware might also be used and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets) or both.\",\n \"Further, connection to other computing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.\",\n \"Storage media and computer readable media for containing code, or portions of code, can include any appropriate media known or used in the art, including storage media and communication media, such as, but not limited to, volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage and/or transmission of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data, including RAM, ROM, Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (“EEPROM”), flash memory or other memory technology, Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (“CD-ROM”), digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the system device.\",\n \"Based on the disclosure and teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement the various embodiments.\",\n \"The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.\",\n \"It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.\",\n \"Other variations are within the spirit of the present disclosure.\",\n \"Thus, while the disclosed techniques are susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and have been described above in detail.\",\n \"It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form or forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.\",\n \"The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the disclosed embodiments (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context.\",\n \"The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted.\",\n \"The term “connected,” when unmodified and referring to physical connections, is to be construed as partly or wholly contained within, attached to or joined together, even if there is something intervening.\",\n \"Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein.\",\n \"The use of the term “set” (e.g., “a set of items”) or “subset” unless otherwise noted or contradicted by context, is to be construed as a nonempty collection comprising one or more members.\",\n \"Further, unless otherwise noted or contradicted by context, the term “subset” of a corresponding set does not necessarily denote a proper subset of the corresponding set, but the subset and the corresponding set may be equal.\",\n \"Conjunctive language, such as phrases of the form “at least one of A, B, and C,” or “at least one of A, B and C,” unless specifically stated otherwise or otherwise clearly contradicted by context, is otherwise understood with the context as used in general to present that an item, term, etc., may be either A or B or C, or any nonempty subset of the set of A and B and C. For instance, in the illustrative example of a set having three members, the conjunctive phrases “at least one of A, B, and C” and “at least one of A, B and C” refer to any of the following sets: {A}, {B}, {C}, {A, B}, {A, C}, {B, C}, {A, B, C}.\",\n \"Thus, such conjunctive language is not generally intended to imply that certain embodiments require at least one of A, at least one of B and at least one of C each to be present.\",\n \"Operations of processes described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.\",\n \"Processes described herein (or variations and/or combinations thereof) may be performed under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions and may be implemented as code (e.g., executable instructions, one or more computer programs or one or more applications) executing collectively on one or more processors, by hardware or combinations thereof.\",\n \"The code may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium, for example, in the form of a computer program comprising a plurality of instructions executable by one or more processors.\",\n \"The computer-readable storage medium may be non-transitory.\",\n \"The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate embodiments of the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed.\",\n \"No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.\",\n \"Preferred embodiments of this disclosure are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention.\",\n \"Variations of those preferred embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description.\",\n \"The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate and the inventors intend for embodiments of the present disclosure to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.\",\n \"Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law.\",\n \"Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the scope of the present disclosure unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.\",\n \"All references, including publications, patent applications and patents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876020"}}},{"rowIdx":4495055,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REAL-TIME MEASUREMENT OF GAS CONTENT IN DRILLING FLUIDS","Measuring the amount of individual gases in drilling fluids in real-time may be performed with optical computing devices that are calibrated in real-time or periodically with gas analysis devices to provide more accurate gas content measurements.","In some instances, one or more drilling or completion parameters may be altered in response thereto the concentration or change in concentration of individual gases in drilling fluids."],["1.A system comprising: a flow path configured to circulate a drilling fluid, the flow path comprising a degasser that includes a gas outlet fluidly coupled to a first measurement device, the first measurement device configured to produce a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas, respectively; a second measurement device and a third measurement device arranged along the flow path and configured to generate a fourth output signal and a fifth output signal, respectively, corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid and a concentration of the second gas present in the drilling fluid, respectively; and a signal processor communicably coupled to the first, second, and third measurement devices, the signal processor configured to receive the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, the fourth output signal, and the fifth output signal; calculate a calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal and the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal; and apply the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.","2.The system of claim 1, wherein the degasser further comprises at least one of a drilling fluid inlet or a drilling fluid outlet, the flow path is further configured to circulate the drilling fluid into and out of a borehole penetrating a subterranean formation during a drilling operation, and the second and third measurement devices are arranged along the flow path prior to the drilling fluid inlet of the degasser.","3.The system of claim 2, further comprising: one or more peripheral devices communicably coupled to the signal processor and configured to receive the calibrated output signal from the signal processor and report the calibrated concentration of the third gas to a well operator.","4.The system of claim 3, wherein the one or more peripheral devices are further configured to adjust one or more parameters of the drilling operation in response to the calibrated concentration of the third gas.","5.The system of claim 1, wherein the first measurement device comprises a first type of measurement device and the second and third measurement devices comprise a second type of measurement device that differs from the first type of measurement device.","6.The system of claim 5, wherein the first type of measurement device comprises a gas analysis device and the second type of measurement device comprises an optical measurement device.","7.The system of claim 1, wherein the first gas or the second gas is methane.","8.The system of claim 1, wherein the first gas or the second gas is carbon dioxide.","9.A method, comprising: generating a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas, respectively, with a first measurement device fluidly coupled to a gas outlet of a degasser of a flow path comprising drilling fluid; generating a fourth output signal corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid with a second measurement device and a fifth output signal corresponding to a concentration of the second gas present in the drilling fluid with a third measurement device; calculating, with a signal processor, a calibration factor based on an analysis of at least one of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal or the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal; and applying the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.","10.The method of claim 9 further comprising: conveying the calibrated output signal to one or more peripheral devices; and adjusting one or more drilling or completion parameters in response to the calibrated concentration of the third gas.","11.The method of claim 10, wherein adjusting the one or more drilling or completion parameters comprises altering geosteering of a drill bit.","12.The method of claim 10, wherein adjusting the one or more drilling or completion parameters comprises at least one of changing a cementing program, changing a casing program, changing a casing design, optimizing placement of downhole perforations, sliding sleeves, and slotted liners, and optimizing isolation of zones from which production is not required.","13.The method of claim 9, wherein the signal processor is communicably coupled to at least one of the first measurement device, the second measurement device, or the third measurement device.","14.The method of claim 9, wherein the first measurement device is a first type of measurement device and the second and third measurement devices are a second type of measurement device that differs from the first type of measurement device.","15.The method of claim 9, wherein the flow path extends into and out of a borehole penetrating a subterranean formation, the flow path includes the degasser having a drilling fluid inlet, a drilling fluid outlet, and the gas outlet, and the method further comprises: circulating the drilling fluid within the flow path during drilling operations.","16.The method of claim 15, wherein the first gas and the second gas are from the subterranean formation.","17.The method of claim 9, wherein the first gas or the second gas is methane.","18.The method of claim 9, wherein the first gas or the second gas is carbon dioxide.","19.A device comprising: at least one processor configured to: receive, from a first measurement device fluidly coupled to a gas outlet of a degasser of a flow path comprising drilling fluid, a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas, respectively; receive, from a second measurement device, a fourth output signal corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid and; receive, from a third measurement device, a fifth output signal corresponding to a concentration of the second gas present in the drilling fluid; calculate a calibration factor based on an analysis of at least one of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal or the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal; and facilitate applying the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.","20.The device of claim 19, wherein the second and third measurement devices are arranged along the flow path prior to a drilling fluid inlet of the degasser, the first measurement device is a first type of measurement device and the second and third measurement devices are a second type of measurement device that differs from the first type of measurement device."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for measuring the gas content in drilling fluids.","During the drilling of a hydrocarbon-producing well, a drilling fluid or “mud” is continuously circulated from the surface down to the bottom of the wellbore being drilled and back to the surface again.","The drilling fluid serves several functions, one of them being to transport wellbore cuttings up to the surface where they are separated from the drilling fluid.","Another function of the drilling fluid is to cool the drill bit and provide hydrostatic pressure on the walls of the drilled borehole to prevent wellbore collapse and the resulting influx of gas or liquid from the formations being drilled.","Analyzing the drilling fluid as it returns to the surface is recognized in the oil and gas industry as an important first appraisal of a potential hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir zone, thereby providing important data to guide subsequent evaluation and testing.","Such analysis and testing is commonly referred to as “mud logging” analysis.","Through mud logging, reservoir zones can be evaluated while they are being initially penetrated by measuring the formation gases present in the drilling fluid as it returns to the surface.","The presence and concentration of hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gases in drilling fluids relative to the depth can be used in designing stimulation operations and production operations, as well as in the assessment.","Mud logging analysis of drilling fluids is typically conducted off-line using laboratory analyses which require the extraction of a sample of the drilling fluid and a subsequent controlled testing procedure usually conducted at a separate location.","Because the characteristics of the extracted sample of the drilling fluid often changes during the lag time between collection and analysis, off-line, retrospective analyses can be unsatisfactory for determining true characteristics of a drilling fluid.","Additionally, some mud logging analyses take hours to days to complete.","Therefore, the drilling operation is often finished prior to completion of the analysis.","As a result, proactive control of drilling operations cannot take place, at least without significant process disruption occurring while awaiting the results of the mud logging analyses."],["<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>The following figures are included to illustrate certain aspects of the present disclosure, and should not be viewed as exclusive embodiments.","The subject matter disclosed is capable of considerable modifications, alterations, combinations, and equivalents in form and function, as will occur to those skilled in the art and having the benefit of this disclosure.","FIG.","1 illustrates an exemplary integrated computation element, according to one or more embodiments.","FIG.","2 illustrates an exemplary optical computing device for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","FIG.","3 illustrates another exemplary optical computing device for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","FIG.","4 illustrates an exemplary wellbore drilling assembly that may employ one or more optical computing devices for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","FIG.","5 provides an illustrative representation of a portion of a system suitable for deriving a dual point correction factor for the gas composition of a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","FIG.","6 illustrates an exemplary wellbore drilling assembly that with optical computing devices in order to monitor a drilling fluid or a completion fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","detailed-description description=\"Detailed Description\" end=\"lead\"?"],["BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for measuring the gas content in drilling fluids.","During the drilling of a hydrocarbon-producing well, a drilling fluid or “mud” is continuously circulated from the surface down to the bottom of the wellbore being drilled and back to the surface again.","The drilling fluid serves several functions, one of them being to transport wellbore cuttings up to the surface where they are separated from the drilling fluid.","Another function of the drilling fluid is to cool the drill bit and provide hydrostatic pressure on the walls of the drilled borehole to prevent wellbore collapse and the resulting influx of gas or liquid from the formations being drilled.","Analyzing the drilling fluid as it returns to the surface is recognized in the oil and gas industry as an important first appraisal of a potential hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir zone, thereby providing important data to guide subsequent evaluation and testing.","Such analysis and testing is commonly referred to as “mud logging” analysis.","Through mud logging, reservoir zones can be evaluated while they are being initially penetrated by measuring the formation gases present in the drilling fluid as it returns to the surface.","The presence and concentration of hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gases in drilling fluids relative to the depth can be used in designing stimulation operations and production operations, as well as in the assessment.","Mud logging analysis of drilling fluids is typically conducted off-line using laboratory analyses which require the extraction of a sample of the drilling fluid and a subsequent controlled testing procedure usually conducted at a separate location.","Because the characteristics of the extracted sample of the drilling fluid often changes during the lag time between collection and analysis, off-line, retrospective analyses can be unsatisfactory for determining true characteristics of a drilling fluid.","Additionally, some mud logging analyses take hours to days to complete.","Therefore, the drilling operation is often finished prior to completion of the analysis.","As a result, proactive control of drilling operations cannot take place, at least without significant process disruption occurring while awaiting the results of the mud logging analyses.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The following figures are included to illustrate certain aspects of the present disclosure, and should not be viewed as exclusive embodiments.","The subject matter disclosed is capable of considerable modifications, alterations, combinations, and equivalents in form and function, as will occur to those skilled in the art and having the benefit of this disclosure.","FIG.","1 illustrates an exemplary integrated computation element, according to one or more embodiments.","FIG.","2 illustrates an exemplary optical computing device for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","FIG.","3 illustrates another exemplary optical computing device for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","FIG.","4 illustrates an exemplary wellbore drilling assembly that may employ one or more optical computing devices for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","FIG.","5 provides an illustrative representation of a portion of a system suitable for deriving a dual point correction factor for the gas composition of a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","FIG.","6 illustrates an exemplary wellbore drilling assembly that with optical computing devices in order to monitor a drilling fluid or a completion fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for measuring the gas content in drilling fluids in real-time using optical computing devices that can be calibrated in real-time, which may provide for more accurate gas content measurements.","The gas content measurements may be used for adjusting one or more drilling parameters in response thereto.","The exemplary systems and methods described herein employ various configurations and arrangements of optical computing devices, also commonly referred to as “opticoanalytical devices,” for the real-time or near real-time analysis of a material of interest.","In operation, the exemplary systems and methods may be useful and otherwise advantageous in determining one or more properties or characteristics of the fluid, such as the type and concentration of one or more gases present within the fluid.","This may allow for qualitative and/or quantitative analyses of the fluid to occur without having to extract a sample and undertake time-consuming analyses of the sample at an off-site laboratory, which may be particularly advantageous in real-time mud logging.","The systems and methods disclosed herein may be suitable for use in the oil and gas industry since the described optical computing devices provide a cost-effective, rugged, and accurate means for monitoring oil/gas-related fluids, such as drilling fluids.","In particular, the systems and methods may prove advantageous for use in mud logging gas analysis, thereby providing a stream of continuous data on the hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gas species that may be encountered while drilling into subterranean formations.","When the drilling fluid returns to the surface, for example, it may contain hydrocarbons (and other compounds) contained within the rock that has been drilled as well as additional hydrocarbons that have leaked into the wellbore from the surrounding rock formation.","The real-time measurement of the abundance of these gas compounds will yield information on the hydrocarbon content of the rock.","However, in some instances, it may be difficult to measure some gas species present in the drilling fluid, for example, because of a low concentration of the gas of interest, because of a high concentration of another gas (e.g., methane) that interferes with detection (e.g., having an overlapping spectrum), or a combination thereof.","Accordingly, in some instances, optical computing devices optionally in combination with other analytical devices may be used for analyzing of reference gases in the drilling fluid and each gas of interest in the gas extracted from the drilling fluid.","Then, the concentration of the reference gases in the drilling fluid and in the extracted gas can be compared and related with a correction factor or correction function.","Then, the correction factor/function may be used to extrapolate the concentration of each gas of interest in the drilling fluid from the concentration of each gas of interest in the extracted gas.","Such methods or similar methods may provide more accurate mud logging in real-time at the well site.","In some embodiments, analysis of the gas extracted from the drilling fluid may be performed on the surface, outside of the stringent downhole environmental conditions (high pressure, high temperature, and strong vibrations).","Accordingly, specialized and sophisticated measurement techniques may be available to analyze the extracted gas, such as optical measurement techniques, gas chromatography, and the like.","Moreover, a plurality of measurement techniques may be used at the surface on the extracted gas sample when the signals from two different compounds interfere with one another using a single measurement technique.","For example, when the optical signature of two compounds interferes with one another, a gas chromatographer may be able to distinctly separate each of the two compounds and provide a precise measurement value for the two.","In this regard, systems and methods consistent with the present disclosure enable obtaining a measurement of a gas concentration in the drilling fluid at the downhole location, based on the measurement of the gas concentration in the extracted gas at the surface.","Information regarding the hydrocarbon content of the rock may be provided to a well operator for interpretation and consideration and, if required, the well operator may alter various drilling or completion parameters in response thereto.","For instance, depending on what types and concentrations of gases are detected within the rock being drilled, a well operator may adjust production valves and/or choke settings in order to regulate the progress of the drilling operation and also minimize wellbore kick through early kick detection.","In other cases, the well operator may alter mud properties in an effort to optimize drilling efficiency or formation evaluation efficiency.","Other drilling and completion parameters that may be altered by a well operator upon consideration of the data include changing a planned cementing and/or casing program and optimizing a well completion design.","In some cases, the data may reveal excessive amounts of hazardous or otherwise toxic gases being returned to the surface.","Such gases may pose a potential health hazard to rig workers and the surrounding environment.","In such cases, the well operator may proactively reduce the amount of hazardous/toxic gases by introducing one or more remedial additives or components to the drilling fluid.","In other cases, the data may indicate an increased amount of viable hydrocarbons in the drilled borehole, such as in a particular lateral trajectory of the wellbore.","In such cases, the well operator may manipulate the well plan and/or geosteering so that the resulting wellbore is formed substantially in and through the observed hydrocarbon-rich strata or region.","In other words, the planned trajectory of the well path may be manipulated or otherwise altered by geosteering the drilling equipment such that the borehole penetrates a larger portion of the hydrocarbon-rich strata than would have otherwise been penetrated.","As used herein, the term “fluid” refers to any substance that is capable of flowing, including particulate solids, liquids, gases, slurries, emulsions, powders, muds, mixtures, combinations thereof, and the like.","In some embodiments, the fluid is a drilling fluid or drilling “mud,” including water-based drilling fluids, oil-based drilling fluids, synthetic drilling fluids, and the like.","In other embodiments, the fluid may be a completion fluid or a clean-up fluid such as, but not limited to, fresh water, saltwater (e.g., water containing one or more salts dissolved therein), brine (e.g., saturated salt water, chloride salts, bromide salts, combinations thereof, etc.","), seawater, a spacer fluid, base fluids, or other treatment fluids known in the art.","As used herein, the term “characteristic” refers to a chemical, mechanical, or physical property of the fluid.","A characteristic of the fluid may include a quantitative value or concentration of one or more chemical constituents or compounds present within the fluid.","Such chemical constituents may be referred to herein as “analytes.” Illustrative characteristics of a substance that can be monitored with the optical computing devices disclosed herein can include, for example, chemical composition (e.g., identity and concentration in total or of individual components or compounds), phase presence (e.g., gas, oil, water, etc.","), impurity content, pH, alkalinity, viscosity, density, ionic strength, total dissolved solids, salt content (e.g., salinity), porosity, opacity, bacterial content, total hardness, combinations thereof, state of matter (solid, liquid, gas, emulsion, mixtures, etc.","), and the like.","Moreover, the phrase “characteristic of interest of/in a fluid” may be used herein to refer to the concentration or characteristic of a gas contained in or otherwise entrained within the fluid.","Exemplary gases that may be monitored or otherwise measured with the optical computing devices as contained within a drilling fluid, for example, include, but are not limited to, methane, ethane, propane, n-butane, n-pentane, iso-butane, iso-pentane, neo-pentane, benzene, toluene, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, acetic acid, argon, helium, oxygen, nitrogen, water, hydrogen, carbonyl sulfide, carbon disulfide, and any combination thereof.","As used herein, the term “flow path” refers to a route through which a fluid is capable of being transported between at least two points.","In some cases, the flow path need not be continuous or otherwise contiguous between the two points.","Exemplary flow paths include, but are not limited to, a flow line, a pipeline, production tubing, drill string, work string, casing, a wellbore, an annulus defined between a wellbore and any tubular arranged within the wellbore, a mud pit, a subterranean formation, etc., combinations thereof, or the like.","It should be noted that the term “flow path” does not necessarily imply that a fluid is flowing therein, rather that a fluid is capable of being transported or otherwise flowable therethrough.","As used herein, the term “electromagnetic radiation” refers to radio waves, microwave radiation, infrared and near-infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet light, X-ray radiation and gamma ray radiation.","As used herein, the term “optical computing device” refers to an optical device that is configured to receive an input of electromagnetic radiation associated with a fluid and produce an output of electromagnetic radiation from a processing element arranged within the optical computing device.","The processing element may be, for example, an integrated computational element (ICE), also known as a multivariate optical element (MOE), used in the optical computing device.","The electromagnetic radiation that optically interacts with the processing element is changed so as to be readable by a detector, such that an output of the detector can be correlated to a characteristic of the fluid, such as the type and concentration of a gas in the fluid.","The output of electromagnetic radiation from the processing element can be reflected electromagnetic radiation, transmitted electromagnetic radiation, and/or dispersed electromagnetic radiation.","Whether the detector analyzes reflected, transmitted, or dispersed electromagnetic radiation may be dictated by the structural parameters of the optical computing device as well as other considerations known to those skilled in the art.","In addition, emission and/or scattering of the fluid, for example via fluorescence, luminescence, Raman, Mie, and/or Raleigh scattering, can also be monitored by the optical computing devices.","As used herein, the term “optically interact” or variations thereof refers to the reflection, transmission, scattering, diffraction, or absorption of electromagnetic radiation either on, through, or from one or more processing elements (i.e., integrated computational elements or multivariate optical elements), a fluid, or a gas present within the fluid.","Accordingly, optically interacted light refers to electromagnetic radiation that has been reflected, transmitted, scattered, diffracted, or absorbed by, emitted, or re-radiated, for example, using a processing element, but may also apply to interaction with a fluid or a gas entrained within the fluid.","The exemplary systems and methods described herein will include at least one optical computing device arranged along or in a flow path in order to monitor a fluid contained therein.","Each optical computing device may include an electromagnetic radiation source, at least one processing element (e.g., an integrated computational element), and at least one detector arranged to receive optically interacted light from the at least one processing element or the fluid.","In some embodiments, the exemplary optical computing devices may be specifically configured for detecting, analyzing, and quantitatively measuring a particular characteristic of the fluid, such as the type and concentration of a gas present within the fluid.","In other embodiments, the optical computing devices may be general purpose optical devices, with post-acquisition processing (e.g., through computer means) being used to specifically detect the characteristic of the fluid.","The presently described optical computing devices can perform calculations (analyses) in real-time or near real-time without the need for time-consuming sample processing.","Moreover, the optical computing devices can be specifically configured to detect and analyze particular characteristics of a fluid or a gas present within the fluid.","As a result, interfering signals are discriminated from those of interest in the fluid by appropriate configuration of the optical computing devices, such that the optical computing devices provide a rapid response regarding the characteristics of the fluid as based on the detected output.","In some embodiments, the detected output can be converted into a voltage that is distinctive of the magnitude of the characteristic of the fluid.","The optical computing devices can be configured to detect not only the composition and concentrations of a gas within a fluid, but they also can be configured to determine physical properties and other characteristics of the fluid and/or the gas based on an analysis of the electromagnetic radiation received from the fluid and/or the gas.","For example, the optical computing devices can be configured to determine the concentration of an analyte and correlate the determined concentration to a characteristic of the fluid.","As will be appreciated, the optical computing devices may be configured to detect as many characteristics (e.g., gas compounds and their respective concentrations) of the fluid as desired.","All that is required to accomplish the monitoring of multiple characteristics is the incorporation of suitable processing and detection means within the optical computing device for each characteristic.","In some embodiments, the properties of the fluid can be a combination of the properties of the analytes therein (e.g., a linear, non-linear, logarithmic, and/or exponential combination).","Accordingly, the more characteristics and analytes that are detected and analyzed using the optical computing devices, the more accurately the properties of the given fluid and/or gas will be determined.","The optical computing devices described herein utilize electromagnetic radiation to perform calculations, as opposed to the hardwired circuits of conventional electronic processors.","When electromagnetic radiation interacts with a fluid, unique physical and chemical information about the fluid is encoded in the electromagnetic radiation that is reflected from, transmitted through, or radiated from the fluid.","This information is often referred to as the spectral “fingerprint” of the fluid.","The optical computing devices described herein are capable of extracting the information of the spectral fingerprint of multiple characteristics or analytes within a fluid, and converting that information into a detectable output relating to one or more characteristics of the fluid or a gas present within the fluid.","That is, through suitable configurations of the optical computing devices, electromagnetic radiation associated with a characteristic or analyte of interest of a fluid can be separated from electromagnetic radiation associated with all other components of the fluid in order to estimate the properties of the fluid in real-time or near real-time.","The processing elements used in the exemplary optical computing devices described herein may be characterized as integrated computational elements (ICE).","Each ICE is capable of distinguishing electromagnetic radiation related to the characteristic of interest from electromagnetic radiation related to other components of a fluid.","Referring to FIG.","1, illustrated is an exemplary ICE 100 suitable for use in the optical computing devices used in the systems and methods described herein.","As illustrated, the ICE 100 may include a plurality of alternating layers 102 and 104, such as silicon (Si) and SiO2 (quartz), respectively.","In general, these layers 102, 104 consist of materials whose index of refraction is high and low, respectively.","Other examples might include niobia and niobium, germanium and germania, MgF, SiO, and other high and low index materials known in the art.","The layers 102, 104 may be strategically deposited on an optical substrate 106.In some embodiments, the optical substrate 106 is BK-7 optical glass.","In other embodiments, the optical substrate 106 may be another type of optical substrate, such as quartz, sapphire, silicon, germanium, zinc selenide, zinc sulfide, or various plastics such as polycarbonate, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), polyvinylchloride (PVC), diamond, ceramics, combinations thereof, and the like.","At the opposite end (e.g., opposite the optical substrate 106 in FIG.","1), the ICE 100 may include a layer 108 that is generally exposed to the environment of the device or installation.","The number of layers 102, 104 and the thickness of each layer 102, 104 are determined from the spectral attributes acquired from a spectroscopic analysis of a characteristic of the fluid using a conventional spectroscopic instrument.","The spectrum of interest of a given characteristic typically includes any number of different wavelengths.","It should be understood that the exemplary ICE 100 in FIG.","1 does not in fact represent any particular characteristic of a given fluid, but is provided for purposes of illustration only.","Consequently, the number of layers 102, 104 and their relative thicknesses, as shown in FIG.","1, bear no correlation to any particular characteristic.","Nor are the layers 102, 104 and their relative thicknesses necessarily drawn to scale, and therefore should not be considered limiting of the present disclosure.","Moreover, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the materials that make up each layer 102, 104 (i.e., Si and SiO2) may vary, depending on the application, cost of materials, and/or applicability of the material to the given fluid.","In some embodiments, the material of each layer 102, 104 can be doped or two or more materials can be combined in a manner to achieve the desired optical characteristic.","In addition to solids, the exemplary ICE 100 may also contain liquids and/or gases, optionally in combination with solids, in order to produce a desired optical characteristic.","In the case of gases and liquids, the ICE 100 can contain a corresponding vessel (not shown), which houses the gases or liquids.","Exemplary variations of the ICE 100 may also include holographic optical elements, gratings, piezoelectric, light pipe, digital light pipe (DLP), and/or acousto-optic elements, for example that can create transmission, reflection, and/or absorptive properties of interest.","The multiple layers 102, 104 exhibit different refractive indices.","By properly selecting the materials of the layers 102, 104 and their relative thickness and spacing, the ICE 100 may be configured to selectively pass/reflect/refract predetermined fractions of electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths.","Each wavelength is given a predetermined weighting or loading factor.","The thickness and spacing of the layers 102, 104 may be determined using a variety of approximation methods from the spectrograph of the characteristic or analyte of interest.","These methods may include inverse Fourier transform (IFT) of the optical transmission spectrum and structuring the ICE 100 as the physical representation of the IFT.","The approximations convert the IFT into a structure based on known materials with constant refractive indices.","The weightings that the layers 102, 104 of the ICE 100 apply at each wavelength are set to the regression weightings described with respect to a known equation, or data, or spectral signature.","Briefly, the ICE 100 may be configured to perform the dot product of the input light beam into the ICE 100 and a desired loaded regression vector represented by each layer 102, 104 for each wavelength.","As a result, the output light intensity of the ICE 100 is related to the characteristic or analyte of interest.","Referring now to FIG.","2, illustrated is an exemplary optical computing device 200 for monitoring a fluid 202, according to one or more embodiments.","In the illustrated embodiment, the fluid 202 may be contained or otherwise flowing within an exemplary flow path 204.The flow path 204 may be a flow line, a pipeline, a wellbore, an annulus defined within a wellbore, or any flow lines or pipelines extending to/from a wellbore.","The fluid 202 present within the flow path 204 may be flowing in the general direction indicated by the arrows A (i.e., from upstream to downstream).","Portions of the flow path 204 may be arranged substantially vertical, substantially horizontal, or any directional configuration therebetween, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.","The optical computing device 200 may be configured to determine a characteristic of interest in the fluid 202, such as the type and/or concentration of a gas present within the fluid 202.In some embodiments, the device 200 may include an electromagnetic radiation source 208 configured to emit or otherwise generate electromagnetic radiation 210.The electromagnetic radiation source 208 may be any device capable of emitting or generating electromagnetic radiation, as defined herein.","For example, the electromagnetic radiation source 208 may be a light bulb, a light emitting diode (LED), a laser, a blackbody, a photonic crystal, an X-Ray source, combinations thereof, or the like.","In some embodiments, a lens 212 may be configured to collect or otherwise receive the electromagnetic radiation 210 and direct a beam 214 of electromagnetic radiation 210 toward the fluid 202.The lens 212 may be any type of optical device configured to transmit or otherwise convey the electromagnetic radiation 210 as desired, such as a normal lens, a Fresnel lens, a diffractive optical element, a holographic graphical element, a mirror (e.g., a focusing mirror), or a type of collimator.","In other embodiments, the lens 212 may be omitted from the device 200 and the electromagnetic radiation 210 may instead be directed toward the fluid 202 directly from the electromagnetic radiation source 208.In one or more embodiments, the device 200 may also include a sampling window 216 arranged adjacent to or otherwise in contact with the fluid 202 for detection purposes.","The sampling window 216 may be made from a variety of transparent, rigid or semi-rigid materials that are configured to allow transmission of the electromagnetic radiation 210 therethrough.","For example, the sampling window 216 may be made of, but is not limited to, glasses, plastics, semi-conductors, crystalline materials, polycrystalline materials, hot or cold-pressed powders, combinations thereof, or the like.","After passing through the sampling window 216, the electromagnetic radiation 210 impinges upon and optically interacts with the fluid 202.As a result, optically interacted radiation 218 is generated by and reflected from the fluid 202.Those skilled in the art, however, will readily recognize that alternative variations of the device 200 may allow the optically interacted radiation 218 to be generated by being transmitted, scattered, diffracted, absorbed, emitted, or re-radiated by and/or from the fluid 202, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.","The optically interacted radiation 218 generated by the interaction with the fluid 202 may be directed to or otherwise be received by an ICE 220 arranged within the device 200.The ICE 220 may be a spectral component substantially similar to the ICE 100 described above with reference to FIG.","1.Accordingly, in operation the ICE 220 may be configured to receive the optically interacted radiation 218 and produce modified electromagnetic radiation 222 corresponding to a particular characteristic of the fluid 202.In particular, the modified electromagnetic radiation 222 is electromagnetic radiation that has optically interacted with the ICE 220, whereby an approximation of the regression vector corresponding to the characteristic of the fluid 202 is obtained.","While FIG.","2 depicts the ICE 220 as receiving reflected electromagnetic radiation from the fluid 202, the ICE 220 may be arranged at any point along the optical train of the device 200, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.","For example, in one or more embodiments, the ICE 220 (as shown in dashed lines) may be arranged within the optical train prior to the sampling window 216 and equally obtain substantially the same results.","In other embodiments, the ICE 220 may generate the modified electromagnetic radiation 222 through reflection, instead of transmission therethrough.","Moreover, while only one ICE 220 is shown in the device 200, embodiments are contemplated herein which include the use of at least two ICE components in the device 200 configured to cooperatively determine the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.For example, two or more ICE may be arranged in series or parallel within the device 200 and configured to receive the optically interacted radiation 218 and thereby enhance sensitivities and detector limits of the device 200.In other embodiments, two or more ICE may be arranged on a movable assembly, such as a rotating disc or an oscillating linear array, which moves such that individual ICE components are able to be exposed to or otherwise optically interact with electromagnetic radiation for a distinct brief period of time.","The two or more ICE components in any of these embodiments may be configured to be either associated or disassociated with the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.In other embodiments, the two or more ICE may be configured to be positively or negatively correlated with the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.In some embodiments, it may be desirable to monitor more than one characteristic of interest at a time using the device 200, such as detecting multiple types or compounds of gases within the fluid 202.In such embodiments, various configurations for multiple ICE components can be used, where each ICE component is configured to detect a particular and/or distinct characteristic of interest.","In some embodiments, the characteristic can be analyzed sequentially using multiple ICE components that are provided a single beam of electromagnetic radiation being reflected from or transmitted through the fluid 202.In some embodiments, multiple ICE components can be arranged on a rotating disc, where the individual ICE components are only exposed to the beam of electromagnetic radiation for a short time.","Advantages of this approach can include the ability to analyze multiple characteristics of the fluid 202 using a single optical computing device 200 and the opportunity to assay additional characteristics (e.g., types or compounds of gases within the fluid 202) simply by adding additional ICE components to the rotating disc.","In other embodiments, multiple optical computing devices can be placed at a single location along the flow path 204, where each optical computing device contains a unique ICE that is configured to detect a particular characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.In such embodiments, a beam splitter can divert a portion of the electromagnetic radiation being reflected by, emitted from, or transmitted through the fluid 202 and into each optical computing device.","Each optical computing device, in turn, can be coupled to a corresponding detector or detector array that is configured to detect and analyze an output of electromagnetic radiation from the respective optical computing device.","Parallel configurations of optical computing devices can be particularly beneficial for applications that require low power inputs and/or no moving parts.","Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of the foregoing configurations can further be used in combination with a series configuration in any of the present embodiments.","For example, two optical computing devices having a rotating disc with a plurality of ICE components arranged thereon can be placed in series for performing an analysis at a single location along the length of the flow path 204.Likewise, multiple detection stations, each containing optical computing devices in parallel, can be placed in series for performing a similar analysis.","The modified electromagnetic radiation 222 generated by the ICE 220 may subsequently be conveyed to a detector 224 for quantification of the signal.","The detector 224 may be any device capable of detecting electromagnetic radiation, and may be generally characterized as an optical transducer.","In some embodiments, the detector 224 may be, but is not limited to, a thermal detector such as a thermopile or photoacoustic detector, a semiconductor detector, a piezo-electric detector, a charge coupled device (CCD) detector, a video or array detector, a split detector, a photon detector (such as a photomultiplier tube), photodiodes, combinations thereof, or the like, or other detectors known to those skilled in the art.","In some embodiments, the detector 224 may be configured to produce an output signal 226 in real-time or near real-time in the form of a voltage (or current) that corresponds to the particular characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.The voltage returned by the detector 224 is essentially the dot product of the optical interaction of the optically interacted radiation 218 with the respective ICE 220 as a function of the concentration of the characteristic of interest of the fluid 202.As such, the output signal 226 produced by the detector 224 and the concentration of the characteristic may be related, for example, directly proportional.","In other embodiments, however, the relationship may correspond to a polynomial function, an exponential function, a logarithmic function, and/or a combination thereof.","In some embodiments, the device 200 may include a second detector 228, which may be similar to the first detector 224 in that it may be any device capable of detecting electromagnetic radiation.","The second detector 228 may be used to detect radiating deviations stemming from the electromagnetic radiation source 208.Undesirable radiating deviations can occur in the intensity of the electromagnetic radiation 210 due to a wide variety of reasons and potentially causing various negative effects on the device 200.These negative effects can be particularly detrimental for measurements taken over a period of time.","In some embodiments, radiating deviations can occur as a result of a build-up of film or material on the sampling window 216 which has the effect of reducing the amount and quality of light ultimately reaching the first detector 224.Without proper compensation, such radiating deviations could result in false readings and the output signal 226 would no longer be primarily or accurately related to the characteristic of interest.","To compensate for these types of undesirable effects, the second detector 228 may be configured to generate a compensating signal 230 generally indicative of the radiating deviations of the electromagnetic radiation source 208, and thereby normalize the output signal 226 generated by the first detector 224.As illustrated, the second detector 228 may be configured to receive a portion of the optically interacted radiation 218 via a beamsplitter 232 in order to detect the radiating deviations.","In other embodiments, however, the second detector 228 may be arranged to receive electromagnetic radiation from any portion of the optical train in the device 200 in order to detect the radiating deviations, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.","In some applications, the output signal 226 and the compensating signal 230 may be conveyed to or otherwise received by a signal processor 234 communicably coupled to both the detectors 224, 228.The signal processor 234 may be a computer including a processor and a machine-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by the processor 234, cause the optical computing device 200 to perform a number of operations, such as determining a characteristic of interest of the fluid 202.For instance, the concentration of each characteristic detected with the optical computing device 200 can be fed into an algorithm operated by the signal processor 234.The algorithm can be part of an artificial neural network configured to use the concentration of each detected characteristic in order to evaluate the overall characteristic(s) or quality of the fluid 202.The signal processor 234 may also be configured to computationally combine the compensating signal 230 with the output signal 226 in order to normalize the output signal 226 in view of any radiating deviations detected by the second detector 228.Computationally combining the output and compensating signals 226, 230 may entail computing a ratio of the two signals 226, 230.For example, the concentration or magnitude of each characteristic determined using the optical computing device 200 can be fed into an algorithm run by the signal processor 234.The algorithm may be configured to make predictions on how the characteristics of the fluid 202 change if the concentrations of one or more components or additives are changed relative to one another.","In real-time or near real-time, the signal processor 234 may be configured to provide a resulting output signal 236 corresponding to the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202, such as the concentration of a gas present in the fluid 202.The resulting output signal 236 may be readable by an operator who can consider the results and make proper adjustments or take appropriate action, if needed.","In some embodiments, the resulting signal output 236 may be conveyed, either wired or wirelessly, to an operator for consideration.","In other embodiments, the resulting output signal 236 may be recognized by the signal processor 234 as being within or without a predetermined or preprogrammed range of suitable operation and may alert the operator of an out of range reading so appropriate corrective action may be taken, or otherwise autonomously undertake the appropriate corrective action such that the resulting output signal 236 returns to a value within the predetermined or preprogrammed range of suitable operation.","Referring now to FIG.","3, illustrated is another exemplary optical computing device 300 for monitoring the fluid 202, according to one or more embodiments.","The optical computing device 300 may be similar in some respects to the optical computing device 200 of FIG.","2, and therefore may be best understood with reference thereto where like numerals indicate like elements that will not be described again.","Again, the optical computing device 300 may be configured to determine the concentration of a characteristic of interest in the fluid 202, such as the concentration of a gas within the fluid 202, as contained within the flow path 204.Unlike the device 200 of FIG.","2, however, the optical computing device 300 in FIG.","3 may be configured to transmit the electromagnetic radiation 210 through the fluid 202 via a first sampling window 302a and a second sampling window 302b arranged radially-opposite the first sampling window 302a on the flow path 204.The first and second sampling windows 302a,b may be similar to the sampling window 216 described above in FIG.","2 and therefore will not be described again.","As the electromagnetic radiation 210 passes through the fluid 202 via the first and second sampling windows 302a,b, it optically interacts with the fluid 202 and optically interacted radiation 218 is subsequently directed to or otherwise received by the ICE 220 as arranged within the device 300.It is again noted that, while FIG.","3 depicts the ICE 220 as receiving the optically interacted radiation 218 as transmitted through the sampling windows 302a,b, the ICE 220 may equally be arranged at any point along the optical train of the device 300, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.","For example, in one or more embodiments, the ICE 220 may be arranged within the optical train prior to the first sampling window 302a and equally obtain substantially the same results.","In yet other embodiments, the ICE 220 may generate the modified electromagnetic radiation 222 through reflection, instead of transmission therethrough.","Moreover, as with the device 200 of FIG.","2, embodiments are contemplated herein which include the use of at least two ICE components in the device 300 configured to cooperatively determine the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.The modified electromagnetic radiation 222 generated by the ICE 220 is subsequently conveyed to the detector 224 for quantification of the signal and generation of the output signal 226 which corresponds to the particular characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.The device 300 may also include the second detector 228 for detecting radiating deviations stemming from the electromagnetic radiation source 208.As illustrated, the second detector 228 may be configured to receive a portion of the optically interacted radiation 218 via the beamsplitter 232 in order to detect the radiating deviations.","The output signal 226 and the compensating signal 230 may then be conveyed to or otherwise received by the signal processor 234 which may computationally combine the two signals 230, 226 and provide in real-time or near real-time the resulting output signal 236 corresponding to the concentration of the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate the various and numerous applications that the optical computing devices 200, 300, and various alternative configurations thereof, may be suitably used with.","The systems and methods described herein utilize at least one optical computing device in combination with at least one gas analysis device to more accurately measure the gas composition in the drilling fluid at various points in a drilling fluid circulation system.","The gas analysis devices measure the concentrations of all the gases of interest in the gas extracted from the drilling fluid, and the optical computing devices measure the concentration of only some of the gases of interest.","A correction factor can be derived from a comparison of the measurements of the two types of devices.","Depending on the configuration of the system, the correction factor can be a single point correction factor, a dual point correction factor, or a point-to-point correction factor.","FIG.","4 provides an illustrative representation of a portion of a system 400 suitable for deriving a single point correction factor for the gas composition of a fluid.","The fluid flows into a degasser 410 through feed line 412.The degasser 410 extracts at least a portion of the gas entrained in the fluid.","At least a portion of the extracted gas may then be transferred to at least one gas analysis device 414 via feed line 416.The gas analysis devices 414 may analyze the composition of the extracted gas for the concentration of gases of interest and the amount of total gas.","At least one optical computing device 418 may be arranged in the system 400 before the degasser 410 and be configured to measure the concentration of a reference compound and a gas from the formation (e.g., methane or ethane).","The reference compound may be a volatile compound that is introduced into the fluid (e.g., fluorinated hydrocarbons), indigenous to the fluid (e.g., CO2), or a spectral overlapping gas (e.g., ethane that overlaps with methane or ethane that overlaps ethane).","Each of the gas analysis devices 414 and optical computing devices 418 may produce output signals 420,422, respectively, corresponding to the measurements taken.","The output signals 420,422 are received by a signal processor 424 communicably coupled to the gas analysis devices 414 and optical computing devices 418.The signal processor 424 may be similar to the signal processor 234 of FIGS.","2 and 3 and may be configured to receive and process the output signals 420,422.In particular, the signal processor 424 may employ an algorithm configured to calculate or otherwise determine the concentration of the gases detected by the gas analysis devices 414, calculate a correction factor, apply the correction factor to the output signals 422 of the optical computing devices 418 to calculate the concentration of the gas detected by the optical computing devices 418, and extrapolate the concentration of all the gases of interest in the drilling fluid.","For example, the optical computing devices 418 may be configured to measure the concentration of methane in the drilling fluid (“[CH4]DF”) and the concentration of the reference compound in the drilling fluid (“[ref]DF”).","The gas analysis devices 414 may be configured to measure the concentration of methane in the extracted gas (“[CH4]EG”), the concentration of the reference compound in the extracted gas (“[ref]EG”), and the concentration of one or more other gases of interest in the extracted gas (“[gas]EG”).","A single point correction factor can be determined by comparing [CH4]DF/[CH4]EG and [ref]DF/[ref]EG or variations in [CH4]DF/[CH4]EG and [ref]DF/[ref]EG.","The comparison of the concentrations in the drilling fluid and extracted gas may include sums or other methods to account for interaction factors from other compounds.","When the spectral response of the reference gas has peaks within a spectral response of an overlapping gas, peak fittings can be used to determine overlap at the point of measurement.","The intensity of overlap then be removed before determining the correction factor.","After the correction factor has been determined, curve fitting can be used to apply the correction factor to each of the [gas]EG and extrapolate the concentration of all the gases of interest in the drilling fluid.","FIG.","5 provides an illustrative representation of a portion of a system 500 suitable for deriving a dual point correction factor for the gas composition of a fluid.","The fluid flows into a degasser 510 through feed line 512.The degasser 510 extracts at least a portion of the gas entrained in the fluid.","At least a portion of the extracted gas may then be transferred to at least one gas analysis device 514 via feed line 516.The gas analysis devices 514 may analyze the composition of the extracted gas for the concentration of gases of interest and the amount of total gas.","At least one optical computing device 518 may be arranged in the system 500 before the degasser 510 and be configured to measure the concentration of a reference compound and a gas from the formation.","At least one optical computing device 520 may be arranged in the system 500 between the degasser 510 and the gas analysis devices 514 and be configured to measure the concentration of the reference compound and the gas from the formation.","Each of the gas analysis devices 514 and optical computing devices 518,520 may produce output signals 522,524,526, respectively, corresponding to the measurements taken.","The output signals 522,524,526 are received by a signal processor 528 communicably coupled to the gas analysis devices 514 and optical computing devices 518,520.A dual point calibration may advantageously be able to correct for a non-linear background in measurements, which may be contributed to by a compound with an overlapping spectrum.","In some instances, the foregoing calibration methods may utilize more than one reference compound.","In some instances, no reference gas may be used by developing a direct relationship between and calibration curve for the measurements of the optical computing devices and the gas analysis devices, which may be referred to herein as a point-to-point calibration.","In any of the foregoing calibration arrangements and methods, the calibration may be performed continuously in some embodiments.","Alternatively, in some instance, the calibration may be performed periodically (e.g., once every 15 minutes, once every hour, etc.).","Additionally, the calibration may, in some instance, be performed on-demand (e.g., as triggered by an operator).","This further contributes to the accuracy of the systems and methods described herein for measuring gas content and gas composition in a drilling fluid in real-time.","In the illustrated examples of the calibrations, the optical computing devices are deployed proximal to the degasser.","However, additional optical computing devices can be deployed at various points within a drilling fluid circulation system to monitor the drilling fluid and its associated gas content using the calibrations for each type of optical computing device being determined with one of the above or similar systems/methods.","Depending on the location of the particular optical computing device, different types of information about the fluid can be obtained.","In some cases, for example, the optical computing devices can be used to monitor the type and concentration of gases therein before and after the drilling fluid circulates into and out of a wellbore.","In other cases, the optical computing devices may be used to analyze an extracted gas sample in real-time following its extraction from the drilling fluid via a traditional drilling fluid sampling process.","In other cases, the optical computing devices may be used to monitor the drilling fluid at or near a wellbore choking device so as to register real-time gas concentrations of the drilling fluid while the drilling fluid circulates at wellbore conditions.","For example, referring now to FIG.","6, illustrated is an exemplary wellbore drilling assembly 600 that may employ one or more optical computing devices as described herein in order to monitor a drilling fluid or a completion fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","The drilling assembly 600 may include a drilling platform 602 that supports a derrick 604 having a traveling block 606 for raising and lowering a drill string 608.A kelly 610 supports the drill string 608 as it is lowered through a rotary table 612.A drill bit 614 is attached to the distal end of the drill string 608 and is driven either by a downhole motor and/or via rotation of the drill string 608 from the well surface.","As the bit 614 rotates, it creates a borehole 616 that penetrates various subterranean formations 618.A pump 620 (e.g., a mud pump) circulates drilling fluid 622 through a feed pipe 624 and to the kelly 610, which conveys the drilling fluid 622 downhole through an interior conduit defined in the drill string 608 and through one or more orifices in the drill bit 614.The drilling fluid 622 is then circulated back to the surface via an annulus 626 defined between the drill string 608 and the walls of the borehole 616.The drilling fluid 622 provides hydrostatic pressure to prevent formation fluids from entering into the borehole 616 and keeps the drill bit 614 cool and clean during drilling.","The drilling fluid 622 also serves to carry drill cuttings and solids out of the borehole 616 and suspend the drill cuttings and solids while drilling is paused and/or when the drill bit 614 is brought in and out of the borehole 616.As the spent drilling fluid 622 returns to the surface, it may exit the annulus 626 at the wellhead 627 and subsequently pass through one or more chokes or choke valves 628 (one shown) via an interconnecting flow line 630.The choke valve 628 may be used to maintain or otherwise regulate the pressure on the annulus 626 at surface, for example in the range of about 100 psi to about 1500 psi.","As a result, this will enable drilling to continue underbalanced and is useful in reducing formation damage, but also to facilitate increases in drilling speed.","It will be appreciated, however, that the choke valve(s) 628 may be omitted in other embodiments and the spent drilling fluid 622 may instead return to the surface at atmospheric pressures, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.","Following the choke valve 628, the spent drilling fluid 622 may be conveyed to one or more drilling fluid rehabilitation devices via the interconnecting flow line 630.Such drilling fluid rehabilitation devices may include, but are not limited to, one or more degassing units 632 and solids control equipment 634 (e.g., shakers).","The degassing unit 632 may be any device or machine configured to separate from the drilling fluid 622 gases (i.e., hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gas species) that may have been entrained in the drilling fluid 622 while circulating in and out of the borehole 616.The solids control equipment 634 may be configured to substantially remove the drill cuttings and solids from the drilling fluid 622 and deposit a “cleaned” drilling fluid 622 into a nearby retention pit 636 (i.e., a mud pit).","Several additives or components may be added to the drilling fluid 622 in order to maintain the drilling fluid 622 in proper working order and otherwise enhance drilling capabilities.","In some embodiments, the additives and components may be added to the drilling fluid 622 via a mixing hopper 638 fluidly coupled to the retention pit 636.Exemplary components that may be added to the drilling fluid 622 include, but are not limited to, emulsions, weighting materials, viscosifiers, thickeners, rheology modifiers, thinners, deflocculants, anionic polyelectrolytes (e.g., acrylates, polyphosphates, lignosulfonates, tannic acid derivates, etc.","), high-heat polymers, clay stabilizers, clay inhibitors, tar treatments, water and other base fluids, combinations thereof, and the like.","The rehabilitated drilling fluid 622 may then be recirculated and pumped back into the borehole 616 with the pump 620 via the feed pipe 624.According to the present disclosure, mud logging gas analysis of the drilling fluid 622 may be undertaken using optical computing devices 640 and gas analysis devices 650 with calibrations of the optical computing devices 640 according to the methods and configurations described relative to FIGS.","4-5 or similar thereto.","The gas analysis device 650 received gas from the degassing unit 632 through flow line 652.Depending on the analysis method, optical computing devices may be arranged in various locations throughout the circulation system of the drilling assembly 600.For example, as shown in FIG.","6, optical computing devices 640a, 640b, 640c, 640d, and 640e may be arranged along flow pipe 624, along flow line 630 between the choke valve 628 and the degassing unit 632, along flow line 630 before choke valve 628, along the flow line 652 between the degassing unit 632 and the gas analysis devices 650, and along flow line 630 between the degassing unit 632 and the solids control equipment 634, respectively.","The optical computing devices 640a-e may be substantially similar to at least one of the optical computing devices 200, 300 of FIGS.","2 and 3, respectively, and therefore will not be described again in detail.","In exemplary operation, the optical computing devices 640a-e may be configured to measure and report real-time characteristics of the drilling fluid 622, such as the type and/or concentration of one or more gases present therein at their respective monitoring locations.","In one or more embodiments, the optical computing devices 640a-e may be communicably coupled to a signal processor 642 and configured to convey corresponding output signals 644a-e, respectively, to the signal processor 642.The signal processor 642 may be similar to the signal processor 234 of FIGS.","2 and 3 and may be configured to receive and process the output signals 644a-e.","In particular, the signal processor 642 may employ an algorithm configured to calculate or otherwise determine the concentration or type of a gas detected at each monitoring location.","The signal processor 642 may further be configured to determine the differences between any two or more of the output signals 640a-e.","In other words, the signal processor 642 may be configured to determine how the concentration of the gas and/or the magnitude of the characteristic of interest in the fluid 622 changed between each monitoring location.","Further, the signal processor 642 may be configured receive output signals 654 from the gas analysis devices 650, so as to perform a comparative analysis between the gas concentrations measured by the gas analysis devices 650 and individual optical computing devices 640a-e (described further herein).","In real-time or near real-time, the signal processor 642 may be configured to provide a resulting output signal 646 corresponding to the concentration of individual gases or the total gas, each of which may be measured or derived as described further herein.","In some embodiments, the resulting output signal 646 may be conveyed, either wired or wirelessly, to one or more peripheral devices 648 communicably coupled to the signal processor 642.The peripheral devices 648 may include, but are not limited to, a mobile device, computer monitor, or a printer coupled to a computer.","In some embodiments, the peripheral devices 648 may be configured to provide one or more graphical outputs such as a Pixler plot, a Haworth Plot, or a gas-ratio plot, depicting various properties, parameters, and characteristic(s) detected in the fluid 622 (e.g., the concentration of individual gases or the total gas in the drilling fluid).","A well operator may then be able to consult and interpret the graphical output and thereby make intelligent decisions on how best to manage the well in response thereto.","In other embodiments, the peripheral devices 648 may include an audible or visual alarm mechanism or device that may be triggered.","For example, the one or more of the output signals 644a-e, 654 or an analysis thereof may be recognized by the signal processor 642 as being within or without a predetermined or preprogrammed range of suitable operation for the drilling fluid 622.If the output signals 644a-e, 654 or an analysis thereof exceed the predetermined or preprogrammed range of operation, the resulting output signal 646 may trigger an alarm forming part of the peripheral device 648 and the alarm may be configured to alert the operator so appropriate corrective action may be taken on the drilling fluid 622.In some embodiments, the signal processor 642 may be configured to autonomously undertake the appropriate corrective action such that the resulting output signal 646 returns to a value within the predetermined or preprogrammed range of suitable operation.","For example, the signal processor 642 may be communicably coupled to an automated control system (not shown) that may be configured to undertake the required corrective action.","As illustrated, optical computing device 640b and gas analysis device 650 may be configured and operate similar to that of optical computing device 418 and gas analysis device 415 of FIG.","4 to provide a single-point calibration that may be applied to other optical computing devices arranged in the system 600.Further, optical computing devices 640b,640d and gas analysis device 650 may be configured and operate similar to that of optical computing devices 518,520 and gas analysis device 514 of FIG.","5 to provide a dual-point calibration that may be applied to other optical computing devices arranged in the system 600.In some embodiments, gas concentration measured from the optical computing device 640e arranged along the flow line 630 after the degasser 632 may be compared to the gas concentration from the optical computing device 640b arranged before the degasser to provide a degassing efficiency.","In some embodiments, a first optical computing device 640a may be arranged to monitor the drilling fluid 622 as it is being introduced into the borehole 616 and a second optical computing device 640b may be arranged to monitor the drilling fluid 622 after it has returned to the surface and is otherwise de-pressurized via the choke valve 628.More particularly, the first optical computing device 640a may be arranged in the feed pipe 624 leading to the derrick 604 from the pump 620 (or otherwise at any fluidly communicable location following the pump 620 and before the borehole 616), and the second optical computing device 640b may be arranged on or otherwise coupled to the flow line 630 before the degassing unit 632 (e.g., adjacent an inlet to the degassing unit 632).","As will be appreciated, more than one optical computing device may be arranged at each of these monitoring locations, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.","The first output signal 644a may be indicative of the type/concentration of a gas in the drilling fluid 622 or another characteristic of the fluid 622 as the drilling fluid 622 enters the borehole 616.Likewise, the second output signal 644b may be indicative of the type/concentration of the gas or another characteristic of the fluid 622 as the drilling fluid 622 exits the borehole 616 de-pressurized.","The signal processor 642 may receive the output signals 644a,b in real-time and provide the resulting output signal 646 that may be considered by an operator via the one or more peripheral devices 648, as described above.","In some embodiments, the resulting output signal 646 may inform the operator of the type/concentration of gas in the drilling fluid 622 as the drilling fluid 622 enters the borehole 616, as per the first output signal 644a.","In other embodiments, the resulting output signal 646 may inform the operator of the type/concentration of the gas in the drilling fluid 622 as the drilling fluid 622 exits the borehole 616, as per the second output signal 644b.","As a result, the operator may be able to conduct mud logging gas analyses of the drilling fluid 622 without having to extract a gas sample from the returning drilling fluid 622.In yet other embodiments, the signal processor 642 may be configured to make a comparison between the first and second output signals 644a,b, and thereby provide the operator with a resulting output signal 646 via the peripheral devices 648 that details the differences between the two output signals 644a,b.","As such, the operator may be apprised as to the quantity and concentration of one or more gases that may have entered or otherwise become entrained in the drilling fluid 622 while circulating through the borehole 616.Such data may be useful in providing information as to the hydrocarbon content of the rock being drilled through and, as a result, the operator may decide to adjust one or more drilling or completion parameters in response thereto.","For example, in some embodiments, the resulting output signal 646 may inform the operator that a particular type or quantity of favorable gas is found in a particular strata or region of the subterranean formation 618 while drilling.","As a result, at least one drilling parameter may be adjusted in response thereto, such as altering the geosteering of the drill bit 614 so that the borehole 616 may be drilled or formed substantially in that strata or zone.","In some embodiments, the favorable gas may be one or more hydrocarbons that may be produced for processing.","In other embodiments, however, the favorable gas may be helium.","Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that an increased amount of helium returning to the surface as entrained in the drilling fluid 622 may be an indication of high porosity in the formation 618, and high porosity can signify a zone capable of increased production rates.","When such gases and hydrocarbons are detected, the operator may alter the geosteering well path such that the borehole remains substantially in that stratum, thereby maximizing potential hydrocarbon production and efficiencies.","As will be appreciated, this may prove especially advantageous in deviated or horizontal wells where altering the geosteering may have the effect of maintaining the well path substantially parallel and otherwise within a hydrocarbon-bearing stratum or region.","This may also prove advantageous, however, in vertical wells where the well operator may be able to log the area of the vertical borehole 616 where a high gas content is detected.","At a later time, the operator may choose to return to that location and complete the borehole 616 at that location such that the hydrocarbons residing in the formation 618 at that location may be effectively produced with greater efficiency.","Accordingly, the well completion design may be optimized in response to resulting output signal 646 and what is provided via the peripheral devices 648.Some well completion designs that may be altered include, but are not limited to, changing a cementing program, changing a casing program or design, or optimizing placement of downhole perforations, sliding sleeves, and slotted liners.","Optimizations resulting from such well completion alterations may include containment of unwanted fluids downhole, such as water or unwanted gas, and may also include optimizing isolation of zones from which production is not required.","Further, nearby wells having similar (correlated) output signals 644a-c or output signal 646 may implement similar optimizations.","In some embodiments, the resulting output signal 646 may also be configured to inform an operator via the peripheral devices 648 of hazardous, corrosive, or otherwise toxic gases that may be entrained in the drilling fluid 622.Hazardous, corrosive, and/or toxic gases, such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and the like, may pose a danger to rig operators and the surrounding environment.","In at least one embodiment, for example, the second output signal 644b of the second optical computing device 640b may provide the real-time concentration of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) entrained in the drilling fluid 622 as it returns to the surface.","If the registered level of H2S surpasses a predetermined “safe” limit, the signal processor 642 may be configured to trigger an alarm by sending the resulting output signal 646 to the peripheral devices 648 indicating the same.","In response to the alarm, the operator may act by shutting down the well or adding H2S scavengers or other additives to the drilling fluid 622 via the hopper 638 to remedy the situation.","In some embodiments, the hazardous, corrosive, or otherwise toxic gas may be methane as entrained in the drilling fluid 622.Since methane is highly explosive, increased amounts of the gas in the returning drilling fluid 622 may pose a substantial risk to rig operators and the surrounding environment.","Accordingly, if there is an excessive amount of methane being detected by, for example, the second optical computing device 640b, such that it surpasses a predetermined “safe” limit, the signal processor 642 may be configured to trigger an alarm via the resulting output signal 646 and the peripheral devices 648.In response to the alarm, the operator may act to remedy the situation.","For example, the operator may “shut in” the well using blow-out preventers or the like and then extract the methane in a controlled manner using choke and kill lines associated with the blow-out preventers.","In some embodiments, the drilling fluid 622 returned to the surface may be monitored using the third optical computing device 640c prior to full de-pressurization.","As illustrated, the third optical computing device 640c may be arranged in fluid communication with the interconnecting flow line 630 following the wellhead 627 and otherwise arranged prior to the choke valve 628.Similar to the second optical computing device 640b, the third optical computing device 640c may be configured to monitor the drilling fluid 622 after its return to the surface for gases (both hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gas species) that may have become entrained therein after having circulated through the borehole 616.When the drilling fluid 622 exits the choke valve 628, any gases entrained therein will immediately break out or otherwise precipitate out of the drilling fluid 622.Accordingly, the third optical computing device 640c may be advantageous in providing a real or near real-time concentration of one or more gases in the drilling fluid 622 as it circulates at or near actual downhole drilling environment conditions.","The output signal 644c from the third optical computing device 640c, therefore, may be useful in mud logging gas analysis of the drilling fluid 622 at downhole operating conditions.","Similar to the second optical computing device 640b, the third optical computing device 640c may be configured to detect and report increased amounts of a favorable gas in the borehole 616.The resulting output signal 646 may then inform the operator where a particular type or quantity of favorable gas is found in the borehole 616 and, as a result, at least one drilling parameter may be adjusted in response thereto.","For example, the operator may alter the geosteering of the drill bit 614 so that the borehole 616 may be drilled or formed substantially in that stratum or zone.","In vertical boreholes 616, the well operator may be able to log the area of the borehole 616 where a high gas content is detected and, at a later time, return to that location and complete the borehole 616 at that location such that the hydrocarbons residing in the formation 618 at that location may be effectively produced with greater efficiency.","The third optical computing device 640c may also be configured to detect hazardous, corrosive, or otherwise toxic gases (i.e., H2S, methane, etc.)","that may be entrained in the drilling fluid 622.The resulting output signal 646 in such cases may inform an operator via the peripheral devices 648 of the presence of such gases, and the operator may then act to remedy the situation.","In other embodiments, the signal processor 642 may autonomously act to remedy the situation, such as by shutting down the well or adding H2S scavengers or other additives to the drilling fluid 622 via the hopper 638 to remedy the situation.","For example, as briefly mentioned above, the signal processor 642 may be communicably coupled to an automated control system (not shown) that may be configured to undertake the required corrective action.","It is recognized that the various embodiments herein directed to computer control and artificial neural networks, including various blocks, modules, elements, components, methods, and algorithms, can be implemented using computer hardware, software, combinations thereof, and the like.","To illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative blocks, modules, elements, components, methods and algorithms have been described generally in terms of their functionality.","Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software will depend upon the particular application and any imposed design constraints.","For at least this reason, it is to be recognized that one of ordinary skill in the art can implement the described functionality in a variety of ways for a particular application.","Further, various components and blocks can be arranged in a different order or partitioned differently, for example, without departing from the scope of the embodiments expressly described.","Computer hardware used to implement the various illustrative blocks, modules, elements, components, methods, and algorithms described herein can include a processor configured to execute one or more sequences of instructions, programming stances, or code stored on a non-transitory, computer-readable medium.","The processor can be, for example, a general purpose microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, a programmable logic device, a controller, a state machine, a gated logic, discrete hardware components, an artificial neural network, or any like suitable entity that can perform calculations or other manipulations of data.","In some embodiments, computer hardware can further include elements such as, for example, a memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read only memory (ROM), programmable read only memory (PROM), erasable read only memory (EPROM)), registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMS, DVDs, or any other like suitable storage device or medium.","Executable sequences described herein can be implemented with one or more sequences of code contained in a memory.","In some embodiments, such code can be read into the memory from another machine-readable medium.","Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in the memory can cause a processor to perform the process steps described herein.","One or more processors in a multi-processing arrangement can also be employed to execute instruction sequences in the memory.","In addition, hard-wired circuitry can be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement various embodiments described herein.","Thus, the present embodiments are not limited to any specific combination of hardware and/or software.","As used herein, a machine-readable medium will refer to any medium that directly or indirectly provides instructions to a processor for execution.","A machine-readable medium can take on many forms including, for example, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.","Non-volatile media can include, for example, optical and magnetic disks.","Volatile media can include, for example, dynamic memory.","Transmission media can include, for example, coaxial cables, wire, fiber optics, and wires that form a bus.","Common forms of machine-readable media can include, for example, floppy disks, flexible disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes, other like magnetic media, CD-ROMs, DVDs, other like optical media, punch cards, paper tapes and like physical media with patterned holes, RAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM and flash EPROM.","It should also be noted that the various drawings provided herein are not necessarily drawn to scale nor are they, strictly speaking, depicted as optically correct as understood by those skilled in optics.","Instead, the drawings are merely illustrative in nature and used generally herein in order to supplement understanding of the systems and methods provided herein.","Indeed, while the drawings may not be optically accurate, the conceptual interpretations depicted therein accurately reflect the exemplary nature of the various embodiments disclosed.","Embodiments disclosed herein include Embodiment A, Embodiment B, and Embodiment C. Embodiment A A system that includes: a flow path circulating a drilling fluid into and out of a borehole penetrating a subterranean formation during a drilling operation, wherein the flow path includes a degasser that includes a drilling fluid inlet, a drilling fluid outlet, and a gas outlet, and wherein the gas outlet is fluidly coupled to a gas analysis device configured to produce a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas, respectively; a first integrated computational element and a second integrated computational element arranged along the flow path prior to the drilling fluid inlet of the degasser and configured to optically interact with the drilling fluid and generate a fourth output signal and a fifth output signal, respectively, corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid and a concentration of the second gas present in the drilling fluid, respectively; a signal processor communicably coupled to the first integrated computational element, the second integrated computational element, and the gas analysis device, wherein the signal processor is configured to (1) receive the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, the fourth output signal, and the fifth output signal, (2) calculate a calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal and the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal, and (3) apply the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.","Embodiment A may have one or more of the following additional elements in any combination: Element A1: the system further including a third integrated computational element and a fourth integrated computational element arranged between the gas outlet of the degasser and the gas analysis device and configured to (1) optically interact with a gas composition extracted from the drilling fluid by the degasser and (2) generate a sixth output signal and a seventh output signal, respectively, corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the gas composition and a concentration of the second gas present in the gas composition, respectively; and wherein the signal processor is configured to (1) receive the sixth output signal and the seventh output signal and (2) further calculate the calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth and sixth output signals and the second output signal relative to the fifth and seventh output signals; Element A2: the system further including one or more peripheral devices communicably coupled to the signal processor and configured to receive the calibrated output signal from the signal processor and report the calibrated concentration of the third gas to a well operator; Element A3: Element A2 wherein the one or more peripheral devices are further configured to adjust one or more parameters of the drilling operation in response to the calibrated concentration of the third gas; Element A4: wherein at least one of the first gas and the second gas is not from the subterranean formation; Element A5: wherein the first gas and the second gas are from the subterranean formation; Element A6: wherein the first gas or the second gas is methane; and Element A7: wherein the first gas or the second gas is carbon dioxide.","By way of non-limiting example, exemplary combinations applicable to Embodiment A include: Element A5 in combination with Element A6 and optionally Element A7, Element A5 in combination with Element A7, Element A4 in combination with Element A7, at least one of Elements A1-A3 in combination with any of the foregoing, and Element A1 in combination with Element A2 and optionally Element A3.Embodiment B A method that includes: circulating a drilling fluid within a flow path that extends into and out of a borehole penetrating a subterranean formation during drilling operations and includes a degasser having a drilling fluid inlet, a drilling fluid outlet, and a gas outlet; generating a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas with a gas analysis device fluidly coupled to the gas outlet of the degasser; generating a fourth output signal with a first integrated computational element and a fifth output signal with a second integrated computational element arranged along the flow path prior to the drilling fluid inlet of the degasser corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid and a concentration of the second gas present in the drilling fluid, respectively; receiving the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, the fourth output signal, and the fifth output signal with a signal processor communicably coupled to the gas analysis device, the first optical computing device, and the second optical computing device; calculating a calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal and the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal; and applying the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.","Embodiment B may have one or more of the following additional elements in any combination: Element B1: the method further including generating a sixth output signal with a third integrated computational element and a seventh output signal with a fourth integrated computational element arranged between the gas outlet of the degasser and the gas analysis device corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in a gas composition extracted from the drilling fluid by the degasser and a concentration of the second gas present in the gas composition, respectively; receiving the sixth output signal and the seventh output signal with the signal processor communicably coupled to the third optical computing device and the fourth optical computing device; and further calculating the calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth and sixth output signals and the second output signal relative to the fifth and seventh output signals; Element B2: the method including Element B1 and further including conveying the calibrated output signal to one or more peripheral devices; and adjusting one or more drilling or completion parameters in response to the calibrated concentration of the third gas; Element B3: wherein at least one of the first gas and the second gas is not from the subterranean formation; Element B4: wherein the first gas and the second gas are from the subterranean formation; Element B5: wherein the first gas or the second gas is methane; Element B6: wherein the first gas or the second gas is carbon dioxide; Element B7: the method further including conveying the calibrated output signal to one or more peripheral devices; and adjusting one or more drilling or completion parameters in response to the calibrated concentration of the third gas; Element B8: Element B7 wherein adjusting the one or more drilling or completion parameters comprises altering the geosteering of a drill bit; and Element B9: Element B7 wherein adjusting the one or more drilling or completion parameters comprises at least one of changing a cementing program, changing a casing program, changing a casing design, optimizing placement of downhole perforations, sliding sleeves, and slotted liners, and optimizing isolation of zones from which production is not required.","By way of non-limiting example, exemplary combinations applicable to Embodiment B include: Element B4 in combination with Element B5 and optionally Element B6, Element B4 in combination with Element B6, Element B3 in combination with Element B6, at least one of Elements B3-B6 in combination with at least one of Elements B7-B9, at least one of Elements B3-B6 in combination with at least one of Elements B1-B2, Element B1 in combination with Element B2; and Element B1 in combination with Element B7 and optionally at least one of Elements B8-B9.Embodiment C A method that includes: circulating a drilling fluid within a flow path that extends into and out of a borehole penetrating a subterranean formation during a drilling operation and includes a degasser having a drilling fluid inlet, a drilling fluid outlet, and a gas outlet; generating a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas with a gas analysis device fluidly coupled to the gas outlet of the degasser; generating a fourth output signal with a first integrated computational element and a fifth output signal with a second integrated computational element arranged along the flow path prior to the drilling fluid inlet of the degasser corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid and a concentration of a fourth gas present in the drilling fluid, respectively; receiving the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, the fourth output signal, and the fifth output signal with a signal processor communicably coupled to the gas analysis device, the first optical computing device, and the second optical computing device; calculating a calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal and the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal; and applying the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.","Embodiment C may have one or more of the following additional elements in any combination: Element C1: wherein at least one of the first gas and the second gas is not from the subterranean formation; Element C2: wherein the first gas and the second gas are from the subterranean formation; Element C3: wherein the first gas or the second gas is methane; Element C4: wherein the first gas or the second gas is carbon dioxide; and Element C5: the method further including conveying the calibrated output signal to one or more peripheral devices.","By way of non-limiting example, exemplary combinations applicable to Embodiment C include: Element C2 in combination with Element C3 and optionally Element C4, Element C2 in combination with Element C4, Element C2 in combination with Element C4, and at least one of Elements C1-C4 in combination with Element C5.Therefore, the present disclosure is well adapted to attain the ends and advantages mentioned as well as those that are inherent therein.","The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, as the present disclosure may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein.","Furthermore, no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown, other than as described in the claims below.","It is therefore evident that the particular illustrative embodiments disclosed above may be altered, combined, or modified and all such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.","The disclosure illustratively described herein suitably may be practiced in the absence of any element that is not specifically disclosed herein and/or any optional element disclosed herein.","While compositions and methods are described in terms of “comprising,” “containing,” or “including” various components or steps, the compositions and methods can also “consist essentially of” or “consist of” the various components and steps.","All numbers and ranges disclosed above may vary by some amount.","Whenever a numerical range with a lower limit and an upper limit is disclosed, any number and any included range falling within the range is specifically disclosed.","In particular, every range of values (of the form, “from about a to about b,” or, equivalently, “from approximately a to b,” or, equivalently, “from approximately a-b”) disclosed herein is to be understood to set forth every number and range encompassed within the broader range of values.","Also, the terms in the claims have their plain, ordinary meaning unless otherwise explicitly and clearly defined by the patentee.","Moreover, the indefinite articles “a” or “an,” as used in the claims, are defined herein to mean one or more than one of the element that it introduces."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REAL-TIME MEASUREMENT OF GAS CONTENT IN DRILLING FLUIDS\",\n \"Measuring the amount of individual gases in drilling fluids in real-time may be performed with optical computing devices that are calibrated in real-time or periodically with gas analysis devices to provide more accurate gas content measurements.\",\n \"In some instances, one or more drilling or completion parameters may be altered in response thereto the concentration or change in concentration of individual gases in drilling fluids.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A system comprising: a flow path configured to circulate a drilling fluid, the flow path comprising a degasser that includes a gas outlet fluidly coupled to a first measurement device, the first measurement device configured to produce a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas, respectively; a second measurement device and a third measurement device arranged along the flow path and configured to generate a fourth output signal and a fifth output signal, respectively, corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid and a concentration of the second gas present in the drilling fluid, respectively; and a signal processor communicably coupled to the first, second, and third measurement devices, the signal processor configured to receive the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, the fourth output signal, and the fifth output signal; calculate a calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal and the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal; and apply the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.\",\n \"2.The system of claim 1, wherein the degasser further comprises at least one of a drilling fluid inlet or a drilling fluid outlet, the flow path is further configured to circulate the drilling fluid into and out of a borehole penetrating a subterranean formation during a drilling operation, and the second and third measurement devices are arranged along the flow path prior to the drilling fluid inlet of the degasser.\",\n \"3.The system of claim 2, further comprising: one or more peripheral devices communicably coupled to the signal processor and configured to receive the calibrated output signal from the signal processor and report the calibrated concentration of the third gas to a well operator.\",\n \"4.The system of claim 3, wherein the one or more peripheral devices are further configured to adjust one or more parameters of the drilling operation in response to the calibrated concentration of the third gas.\",\n \"5.The system of claim 1, wherein the first measurement device comprises a first type of measurement device and the second and third measurement devices comprise a second type of measurement device that differs from the first type of measurement device.\",\n \"6.The system of claim 5, wherein the first type of measurement device comprises a gas analysis device and the second type of measurement device comprises an optical measurement device.\",\n \"7.The system of claim 1, wherein the first gas or the second gas is methane.\",\n \"8.The system of claim 1, wherein the first gas or the second gas is carbon dioxide.\",\n \"9.A method, comprising: generating a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas, respectively, with a first measurement device fluidly coupled to a gas outlet of a degasser of a flow path comprising drilling fluid; generating a fourth output signal corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid with a second measurement device and a fifth output signal corresponding to a concentration of the second gas present in the drilling fluid with a third measurement device; calculating, with a signal processor, a calibration factor based on an analysis of at least one of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal or the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal; and applying the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.\",\n \"10.The method of claim 9 further comprising: conveying the calibrated output signal to one or more peripheral devices; and adjusting one or more drilling or completion parameters in response to the calibrated concentration of the third gas.\",\n \"11.The method of claim 10, wherein adjusting the one or more drilling or completion parameters comprises altering geosteering of a drill bit.\",\n \"12.The method of claim 10, wherein adjusting the one or more drilling or completion parameters comprises at least one of changing a cementing program, changing a casing program, changing a casing design, optimizing placement of downhole perforations, sliding sleeves, and slotted liners, and optimizing isolation of zones from which production is not required.\",\n \"13.The method of claim 9, wherein the signal processor is communicably coupled to at least one of the first measurement device, the second measurement device, or the third measurement device.\",\n \"14.The method of claim 9, wherein the first measurement device is a first type of measurement device and the second and third measurement devices are a second type of measurement device that differs from the first type of measurement device.\",\n \"15.The method of claim 9, wherein the flow path extends into and out of a borehole penetrating a subterranean formation, the flow path includes the degasser having a drilling fluid inlet, a drilling fluid outlet, and the gas outlet, and the method further comprises: circulating the drilling fluid within the flow path during drilling operations.\",\n \"16.The method of claim 15, wherein the first gas and the second gas are from the subterranean formation.\",\n \"17.The method of claim 9, wherein the first gas or the second gas is methane.\",\n \"18.The method of claim 9, wherein the first gas or the second gas is carbon dioxide.\",\n \"19.A device comprising: at least one processor configured to: receive, from a first measurement device fluidly coupled to a gas outlet of a degasser of a flow path comprising drilling fluid, a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas, respectively; receive, from a second measurement device, a fourth output signal corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid and; receive, from a third measurement device, a fifth output signal corresponding to a concentration of the second gas present in the drilling fluid; calculate a calibration factor based on an analysis of at least one of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal or the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal; and facilitate applying the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.\",\n \"20.The device of claim 19, wherein the second and third measurement devices are arranged along the flow path prior to a drilling fluid inlet of the degasser, the first measurement device is a first type of measurement device and the second and third measurement devices are a second type of measurement device that differs from the first type of measurement device.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for measuring the gas content in drilling fluids.\",\n \"During the drilling of a hydrocarbon-producing well, a drilling fluid or “mud” is continuously circulated from the surface down to the bottom of the wellbore being drilled and back to the surface again.\",\n \"The drilling fluid serves several functions, one of them being to transport wellbore cuttings up to the surface where they are separated from the drilling fluid.\",\n \"Another function of the drilling fluid is to cool the drill bit and provide hydrostatic pressure on the walls of the drilled borehole to prevent wellbore collapse and the resulting influx of gas or liquid from the formations being drilled.\",\n \"Analyzing the drilling fluid as it returns to the surface is recognized in the oil and gas industry as an important first appraisal of a potential hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir zone, thereby providing important data to guide subsequent evaluation and testing.\",\n \"Such analysis and testing is commonly referred to as “mud logging” analysis.\",\n \"Through mud logging, reservoir zones can be evaluated while they are being initially penetrated by measuring the formation gases present in the drilling fluid as it returns to the surface.\",\n \"The presence and concentration of hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gases in drilling fluids relative to the depth can be used in designing stimulation operations and production operations, as well as in the assessment.\",\n \"Mud logging analysis of drilling fluids is typically conducted off-line using laboratory analyses which require the extraction of a sample of the drilling fluid and a subsequent controlled testing procedure usually conducted at a separate location.\",\n \"Because the characteristics of the extracted sample of the drilling fluid often changes during the lag time between collection and analysis, off-line, retrospective analyses can be unsatisfactory for determining true characteristics of a drilling fluid.\",\n \"Additionally, some mud logging analyses take hours to days to complete.\",\n \"Therefore, the drilling operation is often finished prior to completion of the analysis.\",\n \"As a result, proactive control of drilling operations cannot take place, at least without significant process disruption occurring while awaiting the results of the mud logging analyses.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>The following figures are included to illustrate certain aspects of the present disclosure, and should not be viewed as exclusive embodiments.\",\n \"The subject matter disclosed is capable of considerable modifications, alterations, combinations, and equivalents in form and function, as will occur to those skilled in the art and having the benefit of this disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an exemplary integrated computation element, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an exemplary optical computing device for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates another exemplary optical computing device for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an exemplary wellbore drilling assembly that may employ one or more optical computing devices for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 provides an illustrative representation of a portion of a system suitable for deriving a dual point correction factor for the gas composition of a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an exemplary wellbore drilling assembly that with optical computing devices in order to monitor a drilling fluid or a completion fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"detailed-description description=\\\"Detailed Description\\\" end=\\\"lead\\\"?\"\n ],\n [\n \"BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for measuring the gas content in drilling fluids.\",\n \"During the drilling of a hydrocarbon-producing well, a drilling fluid or “mud” is continuously circulated from the surface down to the bottom of the wellbore being drilled and back to the surface again.\",\n \"The drilling fluid serves several functions, one of them being to transport wellbore cuttings up to the surface where they are separated from the drilling fluid.\",\n \"Another function of the drilling fluid is to cool the drill bit and provide hydrostatic pressure on the walls of the drilled borehole to prevent wellbore collapse and the resulting influx of gas or liquid from the formations being drilled.\",\n \"Analyzing the drilling fluid as it returns to the surface is recognized in the oil and gas industry as an important first appraisal of a potential hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir zone, thereby providing important data to guide subsequent evaluation and testing.\",\n \"Such analysis and testing is commonly referred to as “mud logging” analysis.\",\n \"Through mud logging, reservoir zones can be evaluated while they are being initially penetrated by measuring the formation gases present in the drilling fluid as it returns to the surface.\",\n \"The presence and concentration of hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gases in drilling fluids relative to the depth can be used in designing stimulation operations and production operations, as well as in the assessment.\",\n \"Mud logging analysis of drilling fluids is typically conducted off-line using laboratory analyses which require the extraction of a sample of the drilling fluid and a subsequent controlled testing procedure usually conducted at a separate location.\",\n \"Because the characteristics of the extracted sample of the drilling fluid often changes during the lag time between collection and analysis, off-line, retrospective analyses can be unsatisfactory for determining true characteristics of a drilling fluid.\",\n \"Additionally, some mud logging analyses take hours to days to complete.\",\n \"Therefore, the drilling operation is often finished prior to completion of the analysis.\",\n \"As a result, proactive control of drilling operations cannot take place, at least without significant process disruption occurring while awaiting the results of the mud logging analyses.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The following figures are included to illustrate certain aspects of the present disclosure, and should not be viewed as exclusive embodiments.\",\n \"The subject matter disclosed is capable of considerable modifications, alterations, combinations, and equivalents in form and function, as will occur to those skilled in the art and having the benefit of this disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an exemplary integrated computation element, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an exemplary optical computing device for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates another exemplary optical computing device for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an exemplary wellbore drilling assembly that may employ one or more optical computing devices for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 provides an illustrative representation of a portion of a system suitable for deriving a dual point correction factor for the gas composition of a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an exemplary wellbore drilling assembly that with optical computing devices in order to monitor a drilling fluid or a completion fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for measuring the gas content in drilling fluids in real-time using optical computing devices that can be calibrated in real-time, which may provide for more accurate gas content measurements.\",\n \"The gas content measurements may be used for adjusting one or more drilling parameters in response thereto.\",\n \"The exemplary systems and methods described herein employ various configurations and arrangements of optical computing devices, also commonly referred to as “opticoanalytical devices,” for the real-time or near real-time analysis of a material of interest.\",\n \"In operation, the exemplary systems and methods may be useful and otherwise advantageous in determining one or more properties or characteristics of the fluid, such as the type and concentration of one or more gases present within the fluid.\",\n \"This may allow for qualitative and/or quantitative analyses of the fluid to occur without having to extract a sample and undertake time-consuming analyses of the sample at an off-site laboratory, which may be particularly advantageous in real-time mud logging.\",\n \"The systems and methods disclosed herein may be suitable for use in the oil and gas industry since the described optical computing devices provide a cost-effective, rugged, and accurate means for monitoring oil/gas-related fluids, such as drilling fluids.\",\n \"In particular, the systems and methods may prove advantageous for use in mud logging gas analysis, thereby providing a stream of continuous data on the hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gas species that may be encountered while drilling into subterranean formations.\",\n \"When the drilling fluid returns to the surface, for example, it may contain hydrocarbons (and other compounds) contained within the rock that has been drilled as well as additional hydrocarbons that have leaked into the wellbore from the surrounding rock formation.\",\n \"The real-time measurement of the abundance of these gas compounds will yield information on the hydrocarbon content of the rock.\",\n \"However, in some instances, it may be difficult to measure some gas species present in the drilling fluid, for example, because of a low concentration of the gas of interest, because of a high concentration of another gas (e.g., methane) that interferes with detection (e.g., having an overlapping spectrum), or a combination thereof.\",\n \"Accordingly, in some instances, optical computing devices optionally in combination with other analytical devices may be used for analyzing of reference gases in the drilling fluid and each gas of interest in the gas extracted from the drilling fluid.\",\n \"Then, the concentration of the reference gases in the drilling fluid and in the extracted gas can be compared and related with a correction factor or correction function.\",\n \"Then, the correction factor/function may be used to extrapolate the concentration of each gas of interest in the drilling fluid from the concentration of each gas of interest in the extracted gas.\",\n \"Such methods or similar methods may provide more accurate mud logging in real-time at the well site.\",\n \"In some embodiments, analysis of the gas extracted from the drilling fluid may be performed on the surface, outside of the stringent downhole environmental conditions (high pressure, high temperature, and strong vibrations).\",\n \"Accordingly, specialized and sophisticated measurement techniques may be available to analyze the extracted gas, such as optical measurement techniques, gas chromatography, and the like.\",\n \"Moreover, a plurality of measurement techniques may be used at the surface on the extracted gas sample when the signals from two different compounds interfere with one another using a single measurement technique.\",\n \"For example, when the optical signature of two compounds interferes with one another, a gas chromatographer may be able to distinctly separate each of the two compounds and provide a precise measurement value for the two.\",\n \"In this regard, systems and methods consistent with the present disclosure enable obtaining a measurement of a gas concentration in the drilling fluid at the downhole location, based on the measurement of the gas concentration in the extracted gas at the surface.\",\n \"Information regarding the hydrocarbon content of the rock may be provided to a well operator for interpretation and consideration and, if required, the well operator may alter various drilling or completion parameters in response thereto.\",\n \"For instance, depending on what types and concentrations of gases are detected within the rock being drilled, a well operator may adjust production valves and/or choke settings in order to regulate the progress of the drilling operation and also minimize wellbore kick through early kick detection.\",\n \"In other cases, the well operator may alter mud properties in an effort to optimize drilling efficiency or formation evaluation efficiency.\",\n \"Other drilling and completion parameters that may be altered by a well operator upon consideration of the data include changing a planned cementing and/or casing program and optimizing a well completion design.\",\n \"In some cases, the data may reveal excessive amounts of hazardous or otherwise toxic gases being returned to the surface.\",\n \"Such gases may pose a potential health hazard to rig workers and the surrounding environment.\",\n \"In such cases, the well operator may proactively reduce the amount of hazardous/toxic gases by introducing one or more remedial additives or components to the drilling fluid.\",\n \"In other cases, the data may indicate an increased amount of viable hydrocarbons in the drilled borehole, such as in a particular lateral trajectory of the wellbore.\",\n \"In such cases, the well operator may manipulate the well plan and/or geosteering so that the resulting wellbore is formed substantially in and through the observed hydrocarbon-rich strata or region.\",\n \"In other words, the planned trajectory of the well path may be manipulated or otherwise altered by geosteering the drilling equipment such that the borehole penetrates a larger portion of the hydrocarbon-rich strata than would have otherwise been penetrated.\",\n \"As used herein, the term “fluid” refers to any substance that is capable of flowing, including particulate solids, liquids, gases, slurries, emulsions, powders, muds, mixtures, combinations thereof, and the like.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the fluid is a drilling fluid or drilling “mud,” including water-based drilling fluids, oil-based drilling fluids, synthetic drilling fluids, and the like.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the fluid may be a completion fluid or a clean-up fluid such as, but not limited to, fresh water, saltwater (e.g., water containing one or more salts dissolved therein), brine (e.g., saturated salt water, chloride salts, bromide salts, combinations thereof, etc.\",\n \"), seawater, a spacer fluid, base fluids, or other treatment fluids known in the art.\",\n \"As used herein, the term “characteristic” refers to a chemical, mechanical, or physical property of the fluid.\",\n \"A characteristic of the fluid may include a quantitative value or concentration of one or more chemical constituents or compounds present within the fluid.\",\n \"Such chemical constituents may be referred to herein as “analytes.” Illustrative characteristics of a substance that can be monitored with the optical computing devices disclosed herein can include, for example, chemical composition (e.g., identity and concentration in total or of individual components or compounds), phase presence (e.g., gas, oil, water, etc.\",\n \"), impurity content, pH, alkalinity, viscosity, density, ionic strength, total dissolved solids, salt content (e.g., salinity), porosity, opacity, bacterial content, total hardness, combinations thereof, state of matter (solid, liquid, gas, emulsion, mixtures, etc.\",\n \"), and the like.\",\n \"Moreover, the phrase “characteristic of interest of/in a fluid” may be used herein to refer to the concentration or characteristic of a gas contained in or otherwise entrained within the fluid.\",\n \"Exemplary gases that may be monitored or otherwise measured with the optical computing devices as contained within a drilling fluid, for example, include, but are not limited to, methane, ethane, propane, n-butane, n-pentane, iso-butane, iso-pentane, neo-pentane, benzene, toluene, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, acetic acid, argon, helium, oxygen, nitrogen, water, hydrogen, carbonyl sulfide, carbon disulfide, and any combination thereof.\",\n \"As used herein, the term “flow path” refers to a route through which a fluid is capable of being transported between at least two points.\",\n \"In some cases, the flow path need not be continuous or otherwise contiguous between the two points.\",\n \"Exemplary flow paths include, but are not limited to, a flow line, a pipeline, production tubing, drill string, work string, casing, a wellbore, an annulus defined between a wellbore and any tubular arranged within the wellbore, a mud pit, a subterranean formation, etc., combinations thereof, or the like.\",\n \"It should be noted that the term “flow path” does not necessarily imply that a fluid is flowing therein, rather that a fluid is capable of being transported or otherwise flowable therethrough.\",\n \"As used herein, the term “electromagnetic radiation” refers to radio waves, microwave radiation, infrared and near-infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet light, X-ray radiation and gamma ray radiation.\",\n \"As used herein, the term “optical computing device” refers to an optical device that is configured to receive an input of electromagnetic radiation associated with a fluid and produce an output of electromagnetic radiation from a processing element arranged within the optical computing device.\",\n \"The processing element may be, for example, an integrated computational element (ICE), also known as a multivariate optical element (MOE), used in the optical computing device.\",\n \"The electromagnetic radiation that optically interacts with the processing element is changed so as to be readable by a detector, such that an output of the detector can be correlated to a characteristic of the fluid, such as the type and concentration of a gas in the fluid.\",\n \"The output of electromagnetic radiation from the processing element can be reflected electromagnetic radiation, transmitted electromagnetic radiation, and/or dispersed electromagnetic radiation.\",\n \"Whether the detector analyzes reflected, transmitted, or dispersed electromagnetic radiation may be dictated by the structural parameters of the optical computing device as well as other considerations known to those skilled in the art.\",\n \"In addition, emission and/or scattering of the fluid, for example via fluorescence, luminescence, Raman, Mie, and/or Raleigh scattering, can also be monitored by the optical computing devices.\",\n \"As used herein, the term “optically interact” or variations thereof refers to the reflection, transmission, scattering, diffraction, or absorption of electromagnetic radiation either on, through, or from one or more processing elements (i.e., integrated computational elements or multivariate optical elements), a fluid, or a gas present within the fluid.\",\n \"Accordingly, optically interacted light refers to electromagnetic radiation that has been reflected, transmitted, scattered, diffracted, or absorbed by, emitted, or re-radiated, for example, using a processing element, but may also apply to interaction with a fluid or a gas entrained within the fluid.\",\n \"The exemplary systems and methods described herein will include at least one optical computing device arranged along or in a flow path in order to monitor a fluid contained therein.\",\n \"Each optical computing device may include an electromagnetic radiation source, at least one processing element (e.g., an integrated computational element), and at least one detector arranged to receive optically interacted light from the at least one processing element or the fluid.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the exemplary optical computing devices may be specifically configured for detecting, analyzing, and quantitatively measuring a particular characteristic of the fluid, such as the type and concentration of a gas present within the fluid.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the optical computing devices may be general purpose optical devices, with post-acquisition processing (e.g., through computer means) being used to specifically detect the characteristic of the fluid.\",\n \"The presently described optical computing devices can perform calculations (analyses) in real-time or near real-time without the need for time-consuming sample processing.\",\n \"Moreover, the optical computing devices can be specifically configured to detect and analyze particular characteristics of a fluid or a gas present within the fluid.\",\n \"As a result, interfering signals are discriminated from those of interest in the fluid by appropriate configuration of the optical computing devices, such that the optical computing devices provide a rapid response regarding the characteristics of the fluid as based on the detected output.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the detected output can be converted into a voltage that is distinctive of the magnitude of the characteristic of the fluid.\",\n \"The optical computing devices can be configured to detect not only the composition and concentrations of a gas within a fluid, but they also can be configured to determine physical properties and other characteristics of the fluid and/or the gas based on an analysis of the electromagnetic radiation received from the fluid and/or the gas.\",\n \"For example, the optical computing devices can be configured to determine the concentration of an analyte and correlate the determined concentration to a characteristic of the fluid.\",\n \"As will be appreciated, the optical computing devices may be configured to detect as many characteristics (e.g., gas compounds and their respective concentrations) of the fluid as desired.\",\n \"All that is required to accomplish the monitoring of multiple characteristics is the incorporation of suitable processing and detection means within the optical computing device for each characteristic.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the properties of the fluid can be a combination of the properties of the analytes therein (e.g., a linear, non-linear, logarithmic, and/or exponential combination).\",\n \"Accordingly, the more characteristics and analytes that are detected and analyzed using the optical computing devices, the more accurately the properties of the given fluid and/or gas will be determined.\",\n \"The optical computing devices described herein utilize electromagnetic radiation to perform calculations, as opposed to the hardwired circuits of conventional electronic processors.\",\n \"When electromagnetic radiation interacts with a fluid, unique physical and chemical information about the fluid is encoded in the electromagnetic radiation that is reflected from, transmitted through, or radiated from the fluid.\",\n \"This information is often referred to as the spectral “fingerprint” of the fluid.\",\n \"The optical computing devices described herein are capable of extracting the information of the spectral fingerprint of multiple characteristics or analytes within a fluid, and converting that information into a detectable output relating to one or more characteristics of the fluid or a gas present within the fluid.\",\n \"That is, through suitable configurations of the optical computing devices, electromagnetic radiation associated with a characteristic or analyte of interest of a fluid can be separated from electromagnetic radiation associated with all other components of the fluid in order to estimate the properties of the fluid in real-time or near real-time.\",\n \"The processing elements used in the exemplary optical computing devices described herein may be characterized as integrated computational elements (ICE).\",\n \"Each ICE is capable of distinguishing electromagnetic radiation related to the characteristic of interest from electromagnetic radiation related to other components of a fluid.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"1, illustrated is an exemplary ICE 100 suitable for use in the optical computing devices used in the systems and methods described herein.\",\n \"As illustrated, the ICE 100 may include a plurality of alternating layers 102 and 104, such as silicon (Si) and SiO2 (quartz), respectively.\",\n \"In general, these layers 102, 104 consist of materials whose index of refraction is high and low, respectively.\",\n \"Other examples might include niobia and niobium, germanium and germania, MgF, SiO, and other high and low index materials known in the art.\",\n \"The layers 102, 104 may be strategically deposited on an optical substrate 106.In some embodiments, the optical substrate 106 is BK-7 optical glass.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the optical substrate 106 may be another type of optical substrate, such as quartz, sapphire, silicon, germanium, zinc selenide, zinc sulfide, or various plastics such as polycarbonate, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), polyvinylchloride (PVC), diamond, ceramics, combinations thereof, and the like.\",\n \"At the opposite end (e.g., opposite the optical substrate 106 in FIG.\",\n \"1), the ICE 100 may include a layer 108 that is generally exposed to the environment of the device or installation.\",\n \"The number of layers 102, 104 and the thickness of each layer 102, 104 are determined from the spectral attributes acquired from a spectroscopic analysis of a characteristic of the fluid using a conventional spectroscopic instrument.\",\n \"The spectrum of interest of a given characteristic typically includes any number of different wavelengths.\",\n \"It should be understood that the exemplary ICE 100 in FIG.\",\n \"1 does not in fact represent any particular characteristic of a given fluid, but is provided for purposes of illustration only.\",\n \"Consequently, the number of layers 102, 104 and their relative thicknesses, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"1, bear no correlation to any particular characteristic.\",\n \"Nor are the layers 102, 104 and their relative thicknesses necessarily drawn to scale, and therefore should not be considered limiting of the present disclosure.\",\n \"Moreover, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the materials that make up each layer 102, 104 (i.e., Si and SiO2) may vary, depending on the application, cost of materials, and/or applicability of the material to the given fluid.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the material of each layer 102, 104 can be doped or two or more materials can be combined in a manner to achieve the desired optical characteristic.\",\n \"In addition to solids, the exemplary ICE 100 may also contain liquids and/or gases, optionally in combination with solids, in order to produce a desired optical characteristic.\",\n \"In the case of gases and liquids, the ICE 100 can contain a corresponding vessel (not shown), which houses the gases or liquids.\",\n \"Exemplary variations of the ICE 100 may also include holographic optical elements, gratings, piezoelectric, light pipe, digital light pipe (DLP), and/or acousto-optic elements, for example that can create transmission, reflection, and/or absorptive properties of interest.\",\n \"The multiple layers 102, 104 exhibit different refractive indices.\",\n \"By properly selecting the materials of the layers 102, 104 and their relative thickness and spacing, the ICE 100 may be configured to selectively pass/reflect/refract predetermined fractions of electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths.\",\n \"Each wavelength is given a predetermined weighting or loading factor.\",\n \"The thickness and spacing of the layers 102, 104 may be determined using a variety of approximation methods from the spectrograph of the characteristic or analyte of interest.\",\n \"These methods may include inverse Fourier transform (IFT) of the optical transmission spectrum and structuring the ICE 100 as the physical representation of the IFT.\",\n \"The approximations convert the IFT into a structure based on known materials with constant refractive indices.\",\n \"The weightings that the layers 102, 104 of the ICE 100 apply at each wavelength are set to the regression weightings described with respect to a known equation, or data, or spectral signature.\",\n \"Briefly, the ICE 100 may be configured to perform the dot product of the input light beam into the ICE 100 and a desired loaded regression vector represented by each layer 102, 104 for each wavelength.\",\n \"As a result, the output light intensity of the ICE 100 is related to the characteristic or analyte of interest.\",\n \"Referring now to FIG.\",\n \"2, illustrated is an exemplary optical computing device 200 for monitoring a fluid 202, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"In the illustrated embodiment, the fluid 202 may be contained or otherwise flowing within an exemplary flow path 204.The flow path 204 may be a flow line, a pipeline, a wellbore, an annulus defined within a wellbore, or any flow lines or pipelines extending to/from a wellbore.\",\n \"The fluid 202 present within the flow path 204 may be flowing in the general direction indicated by the arrows A (i.e., from upstream to downstream).\",\n \"Portions of the flow path 204 may be arranged substantially vertical, substantially horizontal, or any directional configuration therebetween, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"The optical computing device 200 may be configured to determine a characteristic of interest in the fluid 202, such as the type and/or concentration of a gas present within the fluid 202.In some embodiments, the device 200 may include an electromagnetic radiation source 208 configured to emit or otherwise generate electromagnetic radiation 210.The electromagnetic radiation source 208 may be any device capable of emitting or generating electromagnetic radiation, as defined herein.\",\n \"For example, the electromagnetic radiation source 208 may be a light bulb, a light emitting diode (LED), a laser, a blackbody, a photonic crystal, an X-Ray source, combinations thereof, or the like.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a lens 212 may be configured to collect or otherwise receive the electromagnetic radiation 210 and direct a beam 214 of electromagnetic radiation 210 toward the fluid 202.The lens 212 may be any type of optical device configured to transmit or otherwise convey the electromagnetic radiation 210 as desired, such as a normal lens, a Fresnel lens, a diffractive optical element, a holographic graphical element, a mirror (e.g., a focusing mirror), or a type of collimator.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the lens 212 may be omitted from the device 200 and the electromagnetic radiation 210 may instead be directed toward the fluid 202 directly from the electromagnetic radiation source 208.In one or more embodiments, the device 200 may also include a sampling window 216 arranged adjacent to or otherwise in contact with the fluid 202 for detection purposes.\",\n \"The sampling window 216 may be made from a variety of transparent, rigid or semi-rigid materials that are configured to allow transmission of the electromagnetic radiation 210 therethrough.\",\n \"For example, the sampling window 216 may be made of, but is not limited to, glasses, plastics, semi-conductors, crystalline materials, polycrystalline materials, hot or cold-pressed powders, combinations thereof, or the like.\",\n \"After passing through the sampling window 216, the electromagnetic radiation 210 impinges upon and optically interacts with the fluid 202.As a result, optically interacted radiation 218 is generated by and reflected from the fluid 202.Those skilled in the art, however, will readily recognize that alternative variations of the device 200 may allow the optically interacted radiation 218 to be generated by being transmitted, scattered, diffracted, absorbed, emitted, or re-radiated by and/or from the fluid 202, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"The optically interacted radiation 218 generated by the interaction with the fluid 202 may be directed to or otherwise be received by an ICE 220 arranged within the device 200.The ICE 220 may be a spectral component substantially similar to the ICE 100 described above with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1.Accordingly, in operation the ICE 220 may be configured to receive the optically interacted radiation 218 and produce modified electromagnetic radiation 222 corresponding to a particular characteristic of the fluid 202.In particular, the modified electromagnetic radiation 222 is electromagnetic radiation that has optically interacted with the ICE 220, whereby an approximation of the regression vector corresponding to the characteristic of the fluid 202 is obtained.\",\n \"While FIG.\",\n \"2 depicts the ICE 220 as receiving reflected electromagnetic radiation from the fluid 202, the ICE 220 may be arranged at any point along the optical train of the device 200, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"For example, in one or more embodiments, the ICE 220 (as shown in dashed lines) may be arranged within the optical train prior to the sampling window 216 and equally obtain substantially the same results.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the ICE 220 may generate the modified electromagnetic radiation 222 through reflection, instead of transmission therethrough.\",\n \"Moreover, while only one ICE 220 is shown in the device 200, embodiments are contemplated herein which include the use of at least two ICE components in the device 200 configured to cooperatively determine the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.For example, two or more ICE may be arranged in series or parallel within the device 200 and configured to receive the optically interacted radiation 218 and thereby enhance sensitivities and detector limits of the device 200.In other embodiments, two or more ICE may be arranged on a movable assembly, such as a rotating disc or an oscillating linear array, which moves such that individual ICE components are able to be exposed to or otherwise optically interact with electromagnetic radiation for a distinct brief period of time.\",\n \"The two or more ICE components in any of these embodiments may be configured to be either associated or disassociated with the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.In other embodiments, the two or more ICE may be configured to be positively or negatively correlated with the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.In some embodiments, it may be desirable to monitor more than one characteristic of interest at a time using the device 200, such as detecting multiple types or compounds of gases within the fluid 202.In such embodiments, various configurations for multiple ICE components can be used, where each ICE component is configured to detect a particular and/or distinct characteristic of interest.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the characteristic can be analyzed sequentially using multiple ICE components that are provided a single beam of electromagnetic radiation being reflected from or transmitted through the fluid 202.In some embodiments, multiple ICE components can be arranged on a rotating disc, where the individual ICE components are only exposed to the beam of electromagnetic radiation for a short time.\",\n \"Advantages of this approach can include the ability to analyze multiple characteristics of the fluid 202 using a single optical computing device 200 and the opportunity to assay additional characteristics (e.g., types or compounds of gases within the fluid 202) simply by adding additional ICE components to the rotating disc.\",\n \"In other embodiments, multiple optical computing devices can be placed at a single location along the flow path 204, where each optical computing device contains a unique ICE that is configured to detect a particular characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.In such embodiments, a beam splitter can divert a portion of the electromagnetic radiation being reflected by, emitted from, or transmitted through the fluid 202 and into each optical computing device.\",\n \"Each optical computing device, in turn, can be coupled to a corresponding detector or detector array that is configured to detect and analyze an output of electromagnetic radiation from the respective optical computing device.\",\n \"Parallel configurations of optical computing devices can be particularly beneficial for applications that require low power inputs and/or no moving parts.\",\n \"Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of the foregoing configurations can further be used in combination with a series configuration in any of the present embodiments.\",\n \"For example, two optical computing devices having a rotating disc with a plurality of ICE components arranged thereon can be placed in series for performing an analysis at a single location along the length of the flow path 204.Likewise, multiple detection stations, each containing optical computing devices in parallel, can be placed in series for performing a similar analysis.\",\n \"The modified electromagnetic radiation 222 generated by the ICE 220 may subsequently be conveyed to a detector 224 for quantification of the signal.\",\n \"The detector 224 may be any device capable of detecting electromagnetic radiation, and may be generally characterized as an optical transducer.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the detector 224 may be, but is not limited to, a thermal detector such as a thermopile or photoacoustic detector, a semiconductor detector, a piezo-electric detector, a charge coupled device (CCD) detector, a video or array detector, a split detector, a photon detector (such as a photomultiplier tube), photodiodes, combinations thereof, or the like, or other detectors known to those skilled in the art.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the detector 224 may be configured to produce an output signal 226 in real-time or near real-time in the form of a voltage (or current) that corresponds to the particular characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.The voltage returned by the detector 224 is essentially the dot product of the optical interaction of the optically interacted radiation 218 with the respective ICE 220 as a function of the concentration of the characteristic of interest of the fluid 202.As such, the output signal 226 produced by the detector 224 and the concentration of the characteristic may be related, for example, directly proportional.\",\n \"In other embodiments, however, the relationship may correspond to a polynomial function, an exponential function, a logarithmic function, and/or a combination thereof.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the device 200 may include a second detector 228, which may be similar to the first detector 224 in that it may be any device capable of detecting electromagnetic radiation.\",\n \"The second detector 228 may be used to detect radiating deviations stemming from the electromagnetic radiation source 208.Undesirable radiating deviations can occur in the intensity of the electromagnetic radiation 210 due to a wide variety of reasons and potentially causing various negative effects on the device 200.These negative effects can be particularly detrimental for measurements taken over a period of time.\",\n \"In some embodiments, radiating deviations can occur as a result of a build-up of film or material on the sampling window 216 which has the effect of reducing the amount and quality of light ultimately reaching the first detector 224.Without proper compensation, such radiating deviations could result in false readings and the output signal 226 would no longer be primarily or accurately related to the characteristic of interest.\",\n \"To compensate for these types of undesirable effects, the second detector 228 may be configured to generate a compensating signal 230 generally indicative of the radiating deviations of the electromagnetic radiation source 208, and thereby normalize the output signal 226 generated by the first detector 224.As illustrated, the second detector 228 may be configured to receive a portion of the optically interacted radiation 218 via a beamsplitter 232 in order to detect the radiating deviations.\",\n \"In other embodiments, however, the second detector 228 may be arranged to receive electromagnetic radiation from any portion of the optical train in the device 200 in order to detect the radiating deviations, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"In some applications, the output signal 226 and the compensating signal 230 may be conveyed to or otherwise received by a signal processor 234 communicably coupled to both the detectors 224, 228.The signal processor 234 may be a computer including a processor and a machine-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by the processor 234, cause the optical computing device 200 to perform a number of operations, such as determining a characteristic of interest of the fluid 202.For instance, the concentration of each characteristic detected with the optical computing device 200 can be fed into an algorithm operated by the signal processor 234.The algorithm can be part of an artificial neural network configured to use the concentration of each detected characteristic in order to evaluate the overall characteristic(s) or quality of the fluid 202.The signal processor 234 may also be configured to computationally combine the compensating signal 230 with the output signal 226 in order to normalize the output signal 226 in view of any radiating deviations detected by the second detector 228.Computationally combining the output and compensating signals 226, 230 may entail computing a ratio of the two signals 226, 230.For example, the concentration or magnitude of each characteristic determined using the optical computing device 200 can be fed into an algorithm run by the signal processor 234.The algorithm may be configured to make predictions on how the characteristics of the fluid 202 change if the concentrations of one or more components or additives are changed relative to one another.\",\n \"In real-time or near real-time, the signal processor 234 may be configured to provide a resulting output signal 236 corresponding to the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202, such as the concentration of a gas present in the fluid 202.The resulting output signal 236 may be readable by an operator who can consider the results and make proper adjustments or take appropriate action, if needed.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the resulting signal output 236 may be conveyed, either wired or wirelessly, to an operator for consideration.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the resulting output signal 236 may be recognized by the signal processor 234 as being within or without a predetermined or preprogrammed range of suitable operation and may alert the operator of an out of range reading so appropriate corrective action may be taken, or otherwise autonomously undertake the appropriate corrective action such that the resulting output signal 236 returns to a value within the predetermined or preprogrammed range of suitable operation.\",\n \"Referring now to FIG.\",\n \"3, illustrated is another exemplary optical computing device 300 for monitoring the fluid 202, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"The optical computing device 300 may be similar in some respects to the optical computing device 200 of FIG.\",\n \"2, and therefore may be best understood with reference thereto where like numerals indicate like elements that will not be described again.\",\n \"Again, the optical computing device 300 may be configured to determine the concentration of a characteristic of interest in the fluid 202, such as the concentration of a gas within the fluid 202, as contained within the flow path 204.Unlike the device 200 of FIG.\",\n \"2, however, the optical computing device 300 in FIG.\",\n \"3 may be configured to transmit the electromagnetic radiation 210 through the fluid 202 via a first sampling window 302a and a second sampling window 302b arranged radially-opposite the first sampling window 302a on the flow path 204.The first and second sampling windows 302a,b may be similar to the sampling window 216 described above in FIG.\",\n \"2 and therefore will not be described again.\",\n \"As the electromagnetic radiation 210 passes through the fluid 202 via the first and second sampling windows 302a,b, it optically interacts with the fluid 202 and optically interacted radiation 218 is subsequently directed to or otherwise received by the ICE 220 as arranged within the device 300.It is again noted that, while FIG.\",\n \"3 depicts the ICE 220 as receiving the optically interacted radiation 218 as transmitted through the sampling windows 302a,b, the ICE 220 may equally be arranged at any point along the optical train of the device 300, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"For example, in one or more embodiments, the ICE 220 may be arranged within the optical train prior to the first sampling window 302a and equally obtain substantially the same results.\",\n \"In yet other embodiments, the ICE 220 may generate the modified electromagnetic radiation 222 through reflection, instead of transmission therethrough.\",\n \"Moreover, as with the device 200 of FIG.\",\n \"2, embodiments are contemplated herein which include the use of at least two ICE components in the device 300 configured to cooperatively determine the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.The modified electromagnetic radiation 222 generated by the ICE 220 is subsequently conveyed to the detector 224 for quantification of the signal and generation of the output signal 226 which corresponds to the particular characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.The device 300 may also include the second detector 228 for detecting radiating deviations stemming from the electromagnetic radiation source 208.As illustrated, the second detector 228 may be configured to receive a portion of the optically interacted radiation 218 via the beamsplitter 232 in order to detect the radiating deviations.\",\n \"The output signal 226 and the compensating signal 230 may then be conveyed to or otherwise received by the signal processor 234 which may computationally combine the two signals 230, 226 and provide in real-time or near real-time the resulting output signal 236 corresponding to the concentration of the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate the various and numerous applications that the optical computing devices 200, 300, and various alternative configurations thereof, may be suitably used with.\",\n \"The systems and methods described herein utilize at least one optical computing device in combination with at least one gas analysis device to more accurately measure the gas composition in the drilling fluid at various points in a drilling fluid circulation system.\",\n \"The gas analysis devices measure the concentrations of all the gases of interest in the gas extracted from the drilling fluid, and the optical computing devices measure the concentration of only some of the gases of interest.\",\n \"A correction factor can be derived from a comparison of the measurements of the two types of devices.\",\n \"Depending on the configuration of the system, the correction factor can be a single point correction factor, a dual point correction factor, or a point-to-point correction factor.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 provides an illustrative representation of a portion of a system 400 suitable for deriving a single point correction factor for the gas composition of a fluid.\",\n \"The fluid flows into a degasser 410 through feed line 412.The degasser 410 extracts at least a portion of the gas entrained in the fluid.\",\n \"At least a portion of the extracted gas may then be transferred to at least one gas analysis device 414 via feed line 416.The gas analysis devices 414 may analyze the composition of the extracted gas for the concentration of gases of interest and the amount of total gas.\",\n \"At least one optical computing device 418 may be arranged in the system 400 before the degasser 410 and be configured to measure the concentration of a reference compound and a gas from the formation (e.g., methane or ethane).\",\n \"The reference compound may be a volatile compound that is introduced into the fluid (e.g., fluorinated hydrocarbons), indigenous to the fluid (e.g., CO2), or a spectral overlapping gas (e.g., ethane that overlaps with methane or ethane that overlaps ethane).\",\n \"Each of the gas analysis devices 414 and optical computing devices 418 may produce output signals 420,422, respectively, corresponding to the measurements taken.\",\n \"The output signals 420,422 are received by a signal processor 424 communicably coupled to the gas analysis devices 414 and optical computing devices 418.The signal processor 424 may be similar to the signal processor 234 of FIGS.\",\n \"2 and 3 and may be configured to receive and process the output signals 420,422.In particular, the signal processor 424 may employ an algorithm configured to calculate or otherwise determine the concentration of the gases detected by the gas analysis devices 414, calculate a correction factor, apply the correction factor to the output signals 422 of the optical computing devices 418 to calculate the concentration of the gas detected by the optical computing devices 418, and extrapolate the concentration of all the gases of interest in the drilling fluid.\",\n \"For example, the optical computing devices 418 may be configured to measure the concentration of methane in the drilling fluid (“[CH4]DF”) and the concentration of the reference compound in the drilling fluid (“[ref]DF”).\",\n \"The gas analysis devices 414 may be configured to measure the concentration of methane in the extracted gas (“[CH4]EG”), the concentration of the reference compound in the extracted gas (“[ref]EG”), and the concentration of one or more other gases of interest in the extracted gas (“[gas]EG”).\",\n \"A single point correction factor can be determined by comparing [CH4]DF/[CH4]EG and [ref]DF/[ref]EG or variations in [CH4]DF/[CH4]EG and [ref]DF/[ref]EG.\",\n \"The comparison of the concentrations in the drilling fluid and extracted gas may include sums or other methods to account for interaction factors from other compounds.\",\n \"When the spectral response of the reference gas has peaks within a spectral response of an overlapping gas, peak fittings can be used to determine overlap at the point of measurement.\",\n \"The intensity of overlap then be removed before determining the correction factor.\",\n \"After the correction factor has been determined, curve fitting can be used to apply the correction factor to each of the [gas]EG and extrapolate the concentration of all the gases of interest in the drilling fluid.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 provides an illustrative representation of a portion of a system 500 suitable for deriving a dual point correction factor for the gas composition of a fluid.\",\n \"The fluid flows into a degasser 510 through feed line 512.The degasser 510 extracts at least a portion of the gas entrained in the fluid.\",\n \"At least a portion of the extracted gas may then be transferred to at least one gas analysis device 514 via feed line 516.The gas analysis devices 514 may analyze the composition of the extracted gas for the concentration of gases of interest and the amount of total gas.\",\n \"At least one optical computing device 518 may be arranged in the system 500 before the degasser 510 and be configured to measure the concentration of a reference compound and a gas from the formation.\",\n \"At least one optical computing device 520 may be arranged in the system 500 between the degasser 510 and the gas analysis devices 514 and be configured to measure the concentration of the reference compound and the gas from the formation.\",\n \"Each of the gas analysis devices 514 and optical computing devices 518,520 may produce output signals 522,524,526, respectively, corresponding to the measurements taken.\",\n \"The output signals 522,524,526 are received by a signal processor 528 communicably coupled to the gas analysis devices 514 and optical computing devices 518,520.A dual point calibration may advantageously be able to correct for a non-linear background in measurements, which may be contributed to by a compound with an overlapping spectrum.\",\n \"In some instances, the foregoing calibration methods may utilize more than one reference compound.\",\n \"In some instances, no reference gas may be used by developing a direct relationship between and calibration curve for the measurements of the optical computing devices and the gas analysis devices, which may be referred to herein as a point-to-point calibration.\",\n \"In any of the foregoing calibration arrangements and methods, the calibration may be performed continuously in some embodiments.\",\n \"Alternatively, in some instance, the calibration may be performed periodically (e.g., once every 15 minutes, once every hour, etc.).\",\n \"Additionally, the calibration may, in some instance, be performed on-demand (e.g., as triggered by an operator).\",\n \"This further contributes to the accuracy of the systems and methods described herein for measuring gas content and gas composition in a drilling fluid in real-time.\",\n \"In the illustrated examples of the calibrations, the optical computing devices are deployed proximal to the degasser.\",\n \"However, additional optical computing devices can be deployed at various points within a drilling fluid circulation system to monitor the drilling fluid and its associated gas content using the calibrations for each type of optical computing device being determined with one of the above or similar systems/methods.\",\n \"Depending on the location of the particular optical computing device, different types of information about the fluid can be obtained.\",\n \"In some cases, for example, the optical computing devices can be used to monitor the type and concentration of gases therein before and after the drilling fluid circulates into and out of a wellbore.\",\n \"In other cases, the optical computing devices may be used to analyze an extracted gas sample in real-time following its extraction from the drilling fluid via a traditional drilling fluid sampling process.\",\n \"In other cases, the optical computing devices may be used to monitor the drilling fluid at or near a wellbore choking device so as to register real-time gas concentrations of the drilling fluid while the drilling fluid circulates at wellbore conditions.\",\n \"For example, referring now to FIG.\",\n \"6, illustrated is an exemplary wellbore drilling assembly 600 that may employ one or more optical computing devices as described herein in order to monitor a drilling fluid or a completion fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"The drilling assembly 600 may include a drilling platform 602 that supports a derrick 604 having a traveling block 606 for raising and lowering a drill string 608.A kelly 610 supports the drill string 608 as it is lowered through a rotary table 612.A drill bit 614 is attached to the distal end of the drill string 608 and is driven either by a downhole motor and/or via rotation of the drill string 608 from the well surface.\",\n \"As the bit 614 rotates, it creates a borehole 616 that penetrates various subterranean formations 618.A pump 620 (e.g., a mud pump) circulates drilling fluid 622 through a feed pipe 624 and to the kelly 610, which conveys the drilling fluid 622 downhole through an interior conduit defined in the drill string 608 and through one or more orifices in the drill bit 614.The drilling fluid 622 is then circulated back to the surface via an annulus 626 defined between the drill string 608 and the walls of the borehole 616.The drilling fluid 622 provides hydrostatic pressure to prevent formation fluids from entering into the borehole 616 and keeps the drill bit 614 cool and clean during drilling.\",\n \"The drilling fluid 622 also serves to carry drill cuttings and solids out of the borehole 616 and suspend the drill cuttings and solids while drilling is paused and/or when the drill bit 614 is brought in and out of the borehole 616.As the spent drilling fluid 622 returns to the surface, it may exit the annulus 626 at the wellhead 627 and subsequently pass through one or more chokes or choke valves 628 (one shown) via an interconnecting flow line 630.The choke valve 628 may be used to maintain or otherwise regulate the pressure on the annulus 626 at surface, for example in the range of about 100 psi to about 1500 psi.\",\n \"As a result, this will enable drilling to continue underbalanced and is useful in reducing formation damage, but also to facilitate increases in drilling speed.\",\n \"It will be appreciated, however, that the choke valve(s) 628 may be omitted in other embodiments and the spent drilling fluid 622 may instead return to the surface at atmospheric pressures, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"Following the choke valve 628, the spent drilling fluid 622 may be conveyed to one or more drilling fluid rehabilitation devices via the interconnecting flow line 630.Such drilling fluid rehabilitation devices may include, but are not limited to, one or more degassing units 632 and solids control equipment 634 (e.g., shakers).\",\n \"The degassing unit 632 may be any device or machine configured to separate from the drilling fluid 622 gases (i.e., hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gas species) that may have been entrained in the drilling fluid 622 while circulating in and out of the borehole 616.The solids control equipment 634 may be configured to substantially remove the drill cuttings and solids from the drilling fluid 622 and deposit a “cleaned” drilling fluid 622 into a nearby retention pit 636 (i.e., a mud pit).\",\n \"Several additives or components may be added to the drilling fluid 622 in order to maintain the drilling fluid 622 in proper working order and otherwise enhance drilling capabilities.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the additives and components may be added to the drilling fluid 622 via a mixing hopper 638 fluidly coupled to the retention pit 636.Exemplary components that may be added to the drilling fluid 622 include, but are not limited to, emulsions, weighting materials, viscosifiers, thickeners, rheology modifiers, thinners, deflocculants, anionic polyelectrolytes (e.g., acrylates, polyphosphates, lignosulfonates, tannic acid derivates, etc.\",\n \"), high-heat polymers, clay stabilizers, clay inhibitors, tar treatments, water and other base fluids, combinations thereof, and the like.\",\n \"The rehabilitated drilling fluid 622 may then be recirculated and pumped back into the borehole 616 with the pump 620 via the feed pipe 624.According to the present disclosure, mud logging gas analysis of the drilling fluid 622 may be undertaken using optical computing devices 640 and gas analysis devices 650 with calibrations of the optical computing devices 640 according to the methods and configurations described relative to FIGS.\",\n \"4-5 or similar thereto.\",\n \"The gas analysis device 650 received gas from the degassing unit 632 through flow line 652.Depending on the analysis method, optical computing devices may be arranged in various locations throughout the circulation system of the drilling assembly 600.For example, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"6, optical computing devices 640a, 640b, 640c, 640d, and 640e may be arranged along flow pipe 624, along flow line 630 between the choke valve 628 and the degassing unit 632, along flow line 630 before choke valve 628, along the flow line 652 between the degassing unit 632 and the gas analysis devices 650, and along flow line 630 between the degassing unit 632 and the solids control equipment 634, respectively.\",\n \"The optical computing devices 640a-e may be substantially similar to at least one of the optical computing devices 200, 300 of FIGS.\",\n \"2 and 3, respectively, and therefore will not be described again in detail.\",\n \"In exemplary operation, the optical computing devices 640a-e may be configured to measure and report real-time characteristics of the drilling fluid 622, such as the type and/or concentration of one or more gases present therein at their respective monitoring locations.\",\n \"In one or more embodiments, the optical computing devices 640a-e may be communicably coupled to a signal processor 642 and configured to convey corresponding output signals 644a-e, respectively, to the signal processor 642.The signal processor 642 may be similar to the signal processor 234 of FIGS.\",\n \"2 and 3 and may be configured to receive and process the output signals 644a-e.\",\n \"In particular, the signal processor 642 may employ an algorithm configured to calculate or otherwise determine the concentration or type of a gas detected at each monitoring location.\",\n \"The signal processor 642 may further be configured to determine the differences between any two or more of the output signals 640a-e.\",\n \"In other words, the signal processor 642 may be configured to determine how the concentration of the gas and/or the magnitude of the characteristic of interest in the fluid 622 changed between each monitoring location.\",\n \"Further, the signal processor 642 may be configured receive output signals 654 from the gas analysis devices 650, so as to perform a comparative analysis between the gas concentrations measured by the gas analysis devices 650 and individual optical computing devices 640a-e (described further herein).\",\n \"In real-time or near real-time, the signal processor 642 may be configured to provide a resulting output signal 646 corresponding to the concentration of individual gases or the total gas, each of which may be measured or derived as described further herein.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the resulting output signal 646 may be conveyed, either wired or wirelessly, to one or more peripheral devices 648 communicably coupled to the signal processor 642.The peripheral devices 648 may include, but are not limited to, a mobile device, computer monitor, or a printer coupled to a computer.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the peripheral devices 648 may be configured to provide one or more graphical outputs such as a Pixler plot, a Haworth Plot, or a gas-ratio plot, depicting various properties, parameters, and characteristic(s) detected in the fluid 622 (e.g., the concentration of individual gases or the total gas in the drilling fluid).\",\n \"A well operator may then be able to consult and interpret the graphical output and thereby make intelligent decisions on how best to manage the well in response thereto.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the peripheral devices 648 may include an audible or visual alarm mechanism or device that may be triggered.\",\n \"For example, the one or more of the output signals 644a-e, 654 or an analysis thereof may be recognized by the signal processor 642 as being within or without a predetermined or preprogrammed range of suitable operation for the drilling fluid 622.If the output signals 644a-e, 654 or an analysis thereof exceed the predetermined or preprogrammed range of operation, the resulting output signal 646 may trigger an alarm forming part of the peripheral device 648 and the alarm may be configured to alert the operator so appropriate corrective action may be taken on the drilling fluid 622.In some embodiments, the signal processor 642 may be configured to autonomously undertake the appropriate corrective action such that the resulting output signal 646 returns to a value within the predetermined or preprogrammed range of suitable operation.\",\n \"For example, the signal processor 642 may be communicably coupled to an automated control system (not shown) that may be configured to undertake the required corrective action.\",\n \"As illustrated, optical computing device 640b and gas analysis device 650 may be configured and operate similar to that of optical computing device 418 and gas analysis device 415 of FIG.\",\n \"4 to provide a single-point calibration that may be applied to other optical computing devices arranged in the system 600.Further, optical computing devices 640b,640d and gas analysis device 650 may be configured and operate similar to that of optical computing devices 518,520 and gas analysis device 514 of FIG.\",\n \"5 to provide a dual-point calibration that may be applied to other optical computing devices arranged in the system 600.In some embodiments, gas concentration measured from the optical computing device 640e arranged along the flow line 630 after the degasser 632 may be compared to the gas concentration from the optical computing device 640b arranged before the degasser to provide a degassing efficiency.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a first optical computing device 640a may be arranged to monitor the drilling fluid 622 as it is being introduced into the borehole 616 and a second optical computing device 640b may be arranged to monitor the drilling fluid 622 after it has returned to the surface and is otherwise de-pressurized via the choke valve 628.More particularly, the first optical computing device 640a may be arranged in the feed pipe 624 leading to the derrick 604 from the pump 620 (or otherwise at any fluidly communicable location following the pump 620 and before the borehole 616), and the second optical computing device 640b may be arranged on or otherwise coupled to the flow line 630 before the degassing unit 632 (e.g., adjacent an inlet to the degassing unit 632).\",\n \"As will be appreciated, more than one optical computing device may be arranged at each of these monitoring locations, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"The first output signal 644a may be indicative of the type/concentration of a gas in the drilling fluid 622 or another characteristic of the fluid 622 as the drilling fluid 622 enters the borehole 616.Likewise, the second output signal 644b may be indicative of the type/concentration of the gas or another characteristic of the fluid 622 as the drilling fluid 622 exits the borehole 616 de-pressurized.\",\n \"The signal processor 642 may receive the output signals 644a,b in real-time and provide the resulting output signal 646 that may be considered by an operator via the one or more peripheral devices 648, as described above.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the resulting output signal 646 may inform the operator of the type/concentration of gas in the drilling fluid 622 as the drilling fluid 622 enters the borehole 616, as per the first output signal 644a.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the resulting output signal 646 may inform the operator of the type/concentration of the gas in the drilling fluid 622 as the drilling fluid 622 exits the borehole 616, as per the second output signal 644b.\",\n \"As a result, the operator may be able to conduct mud logging gas analyses of the drilling fluid 622 without having to extract a gas sample from the returning drilling fluid 622.In yet other embodiments, the signal processor 642 may be configured to make a comparison between the first and second output signals 644a,b, and thereby provide the operator with a resulting output signal 646 via the peripheral devices 648 that details the differences between the two output signals 644a,b.\",\n \"As such, the operator may be apprised as to the quantity and concentration of one or more gases that may have entered or otherwise become entrained in the drilling fluid 622 while circulating through the borehole 616.Such data may be useful in providing information as to the hydrocarbon content of the rock being drilled through and, as a result, the operator may decide to adjust one or more drilling or completion parameters in response thereto.\",\n \"For example, in some embodiments, the resulting output signal 646 may inform the operator that a particular type or quantity of favorable gas is found in a particular strata or region of the subterranean formation 618 while drilling.\",\n \"As a result, at least one drilling parameter may be adjusted in response thereto, such as altering the geosteering of the drill bit 614 so that the borehole 616 may be drilled or formed substantially in that strata or zone.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the favorable gas may be one or more hydrocarbons that may be produced for processing.\",\n \"In other embodiments, however, the favorable gas may be helium.\",\n \"Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that an increased amount of helium returning to the surface as entrained in the drilling fluid 622 may be an indication of high porosity in the formation 618, and high porosity can signify a zone capable of increased production rates.\",\n \"When such gases and hydrocarbons are detected, the operator may alter the geosteering well path such that the borehole remains substantially in that stratum, thereby maximizing potential hydrocarbon production and efficiencies.\",\n \"As will be appreciated, this may prove especially advantageous in deviated or horizontal wells where altering the geosteering may have the effect of maintaining the well path substantially parallel and otherwise within a hydrocarbon-bearing stratum or region.\",\n \"This may also prove advantageous, however, in vertical wells where the well operator may be able to log the area of the vertical borehole 616 where a high gas content is detected.\",\n \"At a later time, the operator may choose to return to that location and complete the borehole 616 at that location such that the hydrocarbons residing in the formation 618 at that location may be effectively produced with greater efficiency.\",\n \"Accordingly, the well completion design may be optimized in response to resulting output signal 646 and what is provided via the peripheral devices 648.Some well completion designs that may be altered include, but are not limited to, changing a cementing program, changing a casing program or design, or optimizing placement of downhole perforations, sliding sleeves, and slotted liners.\",\n \"Optimizations resulting from such well completion alterations may include containment of unwanted fluids downhole, such as water or unwanted gas, and may also include optimizing isolation of zones from which production is not required.\",\n \"Further, nearby wells having similar (correlated) output signals 644a-c or output signal 646 may implement similar optimizations.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the resulting output signal 646 may also be configured to inform an operator via the peripheral devices 648 of hazardous, corrosive, or otherwise toxic gases that may be entrained in the drilling fluid 622.Hazardous, corrosive, and/or toxic gases, such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and the like, may pose a danger to rig operators and the surrounding environment.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, for example, the second output signal 644b of the second optical computing device 640b may provide the real-time concentration of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) entrained in the drilling fluid 622 as it returns to the surface.\",\n \"If the registered level of H2S surpasses a predetermined “safe” limit, the signal processor 642 may be configured to trigger an alarm by sending the resulting output signal 646 to the peripheral devices 648 indicating the same.\",\n \"In response to the alarm, the operator may act by shutting down the well or adding H2S scavengers or other additives to the drilling fluid 622 via the hopper 638 to remedy the situation.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the hazardous, corrosive, or otherwise toxic gas may be methane as entrained in the drilling fluid 622.Since methane is highly explosive, increased amounts of the gas in the returning drilling fluid 622 may pose a substantial risk to rig operators and the surrounding environment.\",\n \"Accordingly, if there is an excessive amount of methane being detected by, for example, the second optical computing device 640b, such that it surpasses a predetermined “safe” limit, the signal processor 642 may be configured to trigger an alarm via the resulting output signal 646 and the peripheral devices 648.In response to the alarm, the operator may act to remedy the situation.\",\n \"For example, the operator may “shut in” the well using blow-out preventers or the like and then extract the methane in a controlled manner using choke and kill lines associated with the blow-out preventers.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the drilling fluid 622 returned to the surface may be monitored using the third optical computing device 640c prior to full de-pressurization.\",\n \"As illustrated, the third optical computing device 640c may be arranged in fluid communication with the interconnecting flow line 630 following the wellhead 627 and otherwise arranged prior to the choke valve 628.Similar to the second optical computing device 640b, the third optical computing device 640c may be configured to monitor the drilling fluid 622 after its return to the surface for gases (both hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gas species) that may have become entrained therein after having circulated through the borehole 616.When the drilling fluid 622 exits the choke valve 628, any gases entrained therein will immediately break out or otherwise precipitate out of the drilling fluid 622.Accordingly, the third optical computing device 640c may be advantageous in providing a real or near real-time concentration of one or more gases in the drilling fluid 622 as it circulates at or near actual downhole drilling environment conditions.\",\n \"The output signal 644c from the third optical computing device 640c, therefore, may be useful in mud logging gas analysis of the drilling fluid 622 at downhole operating conditions.\",\n \"Similar to the second optical computing device 640b, the third optical computing device 640c may be configured to detect and report increased amounts of a favorable gas in the borehole 616.The resulting output signal 646 may then inform the operator where a particular type or quantity of favorable gas is found in the borehole 616 and, as a result, at least one drilling parameter may be adjusted in response thereto.\",\n \"For example, the operator may alter the geosteering of the drill bit 614 so that the borehole 616 may be drilled or formed substantially in that stratum or zone.\",\n \"In vertical boreholes 616, the well operator may be able to log the area of the borehole 616 where a high gas content is detected and, at a later time, return to that location and complete the borehole 616 at that location such that the hydrocarbons residing in the formation 618 at that location may be effectively produced with greater efficiency.\",\n \"The third optical computing device 640c may also be configured to detect hazardous, corrosive, or otherwise toxic gases (i.e., H2S, methane, etc.)\",\n \"that may be entrained in the drilling fluid 622.The resulting output signal 646 in such cases may inform an operator via the peripheral devices 648 of the presence of such gases, and the operator may then act to remedy the situation.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the signal processor 642 may autonomously act to remedy the situation, such as by shutting down the well or adding H2S scavengers or other additives to the drilling fluid 622 via the hopper 638 to remedy the situation.\",\n \"For example, as briefly mentioned above, the signal processor 642 may be communicably coupled to an automated control system (not shown) that may be configured to undertake the required corrective action.\",\n \"It is recognized that the various embodiments herein directed to computer control and artificial neural networks, including various blocks, modules, elements, components, methods, and algorithms, can be implemented using computer hardware, software, combinations thereof, and the like.\",\n \"To illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative blocks, modules, elements, components, methods and algorithms have been described generally in terms of their functionality.\",\n \"Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software will depend upon the particular application and any imposed design constraints.\",\n \"For at least this reason, it is to be recognized that one of ordinary skill in the art can implement the described functionality in a variety of ways for a particular application.\",\n \"Further, various components and blocks can be arranged in a different order or partitioned differently, for example, without departing from the scope of the embodiments expressly described.\",\n \"Computer hardware used to implement the various illustrative blocks, modules, elements, components, methods, and algorithms described herein can include a processor configured to execute one or more sequences of instructions, programming stances, or code stored on a non-transitory, computer-readable medium.\",\n \"The processor can be, for example, a general purpose microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, a programmable logic device, a controller, a state machine, a gated logic, discrete hardware components, an artificial neural network, or any like suitable entity that can perform calculations or other manipulations of data.\",\n \"In some embodiments, computer hardware can further include elements such as, for example, a memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read only memory (ROM), programmable read only memory (PROM), erasable read only memory (EPROM)), registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMS, DVDs, or any other like suitable storage device or medium.\",\n \"Executable sequences described herein can be implemented with one or more sequences of code contained in a memory.\",\n \"In some embodiments, such code can be read into the memory from another machine-readable medium.\",\n \"Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in the memory can cause a processor to perform the process steps described herein.\",\n \"One or more processors in a multi-processing arrangement can also be employed to execute instruction sequences in the memory.\",\n \"In addition, hard-wired circuitry can be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement various embodiments described herein.\",\n \"Thus, the present embodiments are not limited to any specific combination of hardware and/or software.\",\n \"As used herein, a machine-readable medium will refer to any medium that directly or indirectly provides instructions to a processor for execution.\",\n \"A machine-readable medium can take on many forms including, for example, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.\",\n \"Non-volatile media can include, for example, optical and magnetic disks.\",\n \"Volatile media can include, for example, dynamic memory.\",\n \"Transmission media can include, for example, coaxial cables, wire, fiber optics, and wires that form a bus.\",\n \"Common forms of machine-readable media can include, for example, floppy disks, flexible disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes, other like magnetic media, CD-ROMs, DVDs, other like optical media, punch cards, paper tapes and like physical media with patterned holes, RAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM and flash EPROM.\",\n \"It should also be noted that the various drawings provided herein are not necessarily drawn to scale nor are they, strictly speaking, depicted as optically correct as understood by those skilled in optics.\",\n \"Instead, the drawings are merely illustrative in nature and used generally herein in order to supplement understanding of the systems and methods provided herein.\",\n \"Indeed, while the drawings may not be optically accurate, the conceptual interpretations depicted therein accurately reflect the exemplary nature of the various embodiments disclosed.\",\n \"Embodiments disclosed herein include Embodiment A, Embodiment B, and Embodiment C. Embodiment A A system that includes: a flow path circulating a drilling fluid into and out of a borehole penetrating a subterranean formation during a drilling operation, wherein the flow path includes a degasser that includes a drilling fluid inlet, a drilling fluid outlet, and a gas outlet, and wherein the gas outlet is fluidly coupled to a gas analysis device configured to produce a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas, respectively; a first integrated computational element and a second integrated computational element arranged along the flow path prior to the drilling fluid inlet of the degasser and configured to optically interact with the drilling fluid and generate a fourth output signal and a fifth output signal, respectively, corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid and a concentration of the second gas present in the drilling fluid, respectively; a signal processor communicably coupled to the first integrated computational element, the second integrated computational element, and the gas analysis device, wherein the signal processor is configured to (1) receive the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, the fourth output signal, and the fifth output signal, (2) calculate a calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal and the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal, and (3) apply the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.\",\n \"Embodiment A may have one or more of the following additional elements in any combination: Element A1: the system further including a third integrated computational element and a fourth integrated computational element arranged between the gas outlet of the degasser and the gas analysis device and configured to (1) optically interact with a gas composition extracted from the drilling fluid by the degasser and (2) generate a sixth output signal and a seventh output signal, respectively, corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the gas composition and a concentration of the second gas present in the gas composition, respectively; and wherein the signal processor is configured to (1) receive the sixth output signal and the seventh output signal and (2) further calculate the calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth and sixth output signals and the second output signal relative to the fifth and seventh output signals; Element A2: the system further including one or more peripheral devices communicably coupled to the signal processor and configured to receive the calibrated output signal from the signal processor and report the calibrated concentration of the third gas to a well operator; Element A3: Element A2 wherein the one or more peripheral devices are further configured to adjust one or more parameters of the drilling operation in response to the calibrated concentration of the third gas; Element A4: wherein at least one of the first gas and the second gas is not from the subterranean formation; Element A5: wherein the first gas and the second gas are from the subterranean formation; Element A6: wherein the first gas or the second gas is methane; and Element A7: wherein the first gas or the second gas is carbon dioxide.\",\n \"By way of non-limiting example, exemplary combinations applicable to Embodiment A include: Element A5 in combination with Element A6 and optionally Element A7, Element A5 in combination with Element A7, Element A4 in combination with Element A7, at least one of Elements A1-A3 in combination with any of the foregoing, and Element A1 in combination with Element A2 and optionally Element A3.Embodiment B A method that includes: circulating a drilling fluid within a flow path that extends into and out of a borehole penetrating a subterranean formation during drilling operations and includes a degasser having a drilling fluid inlet, a drilling fluid outlet, and a gas outlet; generating a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas with a gas analysis device fluidly coupled to the gas outlet of the degasser; generating a fourth output signal with a first integrated computational element and a fifth output signal with a second integrated computational element arranged along the flow path prior to the drilling fluid inlet of the degasser corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid and a concentration of the second gas present in the drilling fluid, respectively; receiving the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, the fourth output signal, and the fifth output signal with a signal processor communicably coupled to the gas analysis device, the first optical computing device, and the second optical computing device; calculating a calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal and the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal; and applying the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.\",\n \"Embodiment B may have one or more of the following additional elements in any combination: Element B1: the method further including generating a sixth output signal with a third integrated computational element and a seventh output signal with a fourth integrated computational element arranged between the gas outlet of the degasser and the gas analysis device corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in a gas composition extracted from the drilling fluid by the degasser and a concentration of the second gas present in the gas composition, respectively; receiving the sixth output signal and the seventh output signal with the signal processor communicably coupled to the third optical computing device and the fourth optical computing device; and further calculating the calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth and sixth output signals and the second output signal relative to the fifth and seventh output signals; Element B2: the method including Element B1 and further including conveying the calibrated output signal to one or more peripheral devices; and adjusting one or more drilling or completion parameters in response to the calibrated concentration of the third gas; Element B3: wherein at least one of the first gas and the second gas is not from the subterranean formation; Element B4: wherein the first gas and the second gas are from the subterranean formation; Element B5: wherein the first gas or the second gas is methane; Element B6: wherein the first gas or the second gas is carbon dioxide; Element B7: the method further including conveying the calibrated output signal to one or more peripheral devices; and adjusting one or more drilling or completion parameters in response to the calibrated concentration of the third gas; Element B8: Element B7 wherein adjusting the one or more drilling or completion parameters comprises altering the geosteering of a drill bit; and Element B9: Element B7 wherein adjusting the one or more drilling or completion parameters comprises at least one of changing a cementing program, changing a casing program, changing a casing design, optimizing placement of downhole perforations, sliding sleeves, and slotted liners, and optimizing isolation of zones from which production is not required.\",\n \"By way of non-limiting example, exemplary combinations applicable to Embodiment B include: Element B4 in combination with Element B5 and optionally Element B6, Element B4 in combination with Element B6, Element B3 in combination with Element B6, at least one of Elements B3-B6 in combination with at least one of Elements B7-B9, at least one of Elements B3-B6 in combination with at least one of Elements B1-B2, Element B1 in combination with Element B2; and Element B1 in combination with Element B7 and optionally at least one of Elements B8-B9.Embodiment C A method that includes: circulating a drilling fluid within a flow path that extends into and out of a borehole penetrating a subterranean formation during a drilling operation and includes a degasser having a drilling fluid inlet, a drilling fluid outlet, and a gas outlet; generating a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas with a gas analysis device fluidly coupled to the gas outlet of the degasser; generating a fourth output signal with a first integrated computational element and a fifth output signal with a second integrated computational element arranged along the flow path prior to the drilling fluid inlet of the degasser corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid and a concentration of a fourth gas present in the drilling fluid, respectively; receiving the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, the fourth output signal, and the fifth output signal with a signal processor communicably coupled to the gas analysis device, the first optical computing device, and the second optical computing device; calculating a calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal and the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal; and applying the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.\",\n \"Embodiment C may have one or more of the following additional elements in any combination: Element C1: wherein at least one of the first gas and the second gas is not from the subterranean formation; Element C2: wherein the first gas and the second gas are from the subterranean formation; Element C3: wherein the first gas or the second gas is methane; Element C4: wherein the first gas or the second gas is carbon dioxide; and Element C5: the method further including conveying the calibrated output signal to one or more peripheral devices.\",\n \"By way of non-limiting example, exemplary combinations applicable to Embodiment C include: Element C2 in combination with Element C3 and optionally Element C4, Element C2 in combination with Element C4, Element C2 in combination with Element C4, and at least one of Elements C1-C4 in combination with Element C5.Therefore, the present disclosure is well adapted to attain the ends and advantages mentioned as well as those that are inherent therein.\",\n \"The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, as the present disclosure may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein.\",\n \"Furthermore, no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown, other than as described in the claims below.\",\n \"It is therefore evident that the particular illustrative embodiments disclosed above may be altered, combined, or modified and all such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.\",\n \"The disclosure illustratively described herein suitably may be practiced in the absence of any element that is not specifically disclosed herein and/or any optional element disclosed herein.\",\n \"While compositions and methods are described in terms of “comprising,” “containing,” or “including” various components or steps, the compositions and methods can also “consist essentially of” or “consist of” the various components and steps.\",\n \"All numbers and ranges disclosed above may vary by some amount.\",\n \"Whenever a numerical range with a lower limit and an upper limit is disclosed, any number and any included range falling within the range is specifically disclosed.\",\n \"In particular, every range of values (of the form, “from about a to about b,” or, equivalently, “from approximately a to b,” or, equivalently, “from approximately a-b”) disclosed herein is to be understood to set forth every number and range encompassed within the broader range of values.\",\n \"Also, the terms in the claims have their plain, ordinary meaning unless otherwise explicitly and clearly defined by the patentee.\",\n \"Moreover, the indefinite articles “a” or “an,” as used in the claims, are defined herein to mean one or more than one of the element that it introduces.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876022"}}},{"rowIdx":4495056,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["SELECTIVE ADHERENCE OF STENT-GRAFT COVERINGS","An endoluminal prosthesis including a radially expandable support member having interior and exterior surfaces and a wall with openings, a first covering member including a biocompatible polymer material at least partially positioned against the interior surface, and a second covering member including a biocompatible polymer material at least partially positioned against the exterior surface.","The first covering member attaches to the second covering member at predetermined bonding locations within less than all of the openings thereby leaving unbonded regions."],["1.A prosthesis comprising: an expandable support comprising plural openings; a first covering inside of the support; and a second covering outside of the support, wherein the first and second coverings have multiple connections that extend through openings in the support and the connections form a pattern of loose space around the support.","2.The prosthesis of claim 1 wherein the pattern of loose space includes a pocket around the support.","3.The prosthesis of claim 2 wherein the prosthesis further comprises a therapeutic agent.","4.The prosthesis of claim 3 wherein the pocket holds the therapeutic agent.","5.The prosthesis of claim 4 wherein the connections additionally form a predominantly circumferential pattern.","6.The prosthesis of claim 5 wherein the first covering is biocompatible.","7.The prosthesis of claim 6 wherein the second covering is biocompatible.","8.The prosthesis of claim 7 wherein the support and the first covering are unconnected.","9.The prosthesis of claim 4 wherein the connections additionally form a predominantly longitudinal pattern.","10.The prosthesis of claim 9 wherein the prosthesis length is greater than the first covering length and the second covering length.","11.The prosthesis of claim 10 wherein the first covering and the second covering are fully bonded at their ends.","12.The prosthesis of claim 11 wherein the second covering is biocompatible.","13.The prosthesis of claim 12 wherein the first covering is biocompatible.","14.The prosthesis of claim 13 wherein the support and the second covering are unconnected.","15.The prosthesis of claim 14 wherein the support is radially expandable.","16.The prosthesis of claim 15 wherein the support is cylindrical.","17.The prosthesis of claim 16 wherein the support is a stent.","18.A prosthesis comprising: a radially expandable stent comprising a plurality of openings; a first biocompatible covering inside of the stent; and a second biocompatible outside of the stent, wherein the first and second coverings are fully bonded at their ends, are unconnected to the stent, and have multiple connections that extend through openings in the stent, and the connections form a pattern of loose space defining a pocket around the stent, the pocket contains a therapeutic agent, and the stent length is greater than the first covering length and the second covering length."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The use of implantable vascular grafts comprised of PTFE is well known in the art.","These grafts are typically used to replace or repair damaged or occluded blood vessels within the body.","However, if such grafts are radially expanded within a blood vessel, they will exhibit some subsequent retraction.","Further, such grafts usually require additional means for anchoring the graft within the blood vessel, such as sutures, clamps, or similarly functioning elements.","To minimize the retraction and eliminate the requirement for additional attachment means, those skilled in the art have used stents, such as those presented by Palmaz in U.S. Pat.","No.","4,733,665 and Gianturco in U.S. Pat.","No.","4,580,568, which are incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein, either alone or in combination with PTFE grafts.","For example, the stent described by Palmaz in U.S. Pat.","No.","4,733,665 can be used to repair an occluded blood vessel.","The stent is introduced into the blood vessel via a balloon catheter, which is then positioned at the occluded site of the blood vessel.","The balloon is then expanded, thereby expanding the overlying stent to a diameter comparable to the diameter of an unoccluded blood vessel.","The balloon catheter is then deflated and removed with the stent remaining seated within the blood vessel because the stent shows little or no radial retraction.","Use of radially expandable stents in combination with a PTFE graft is disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,078,726 to Kreamer, which teaches placing a pair of expandable stents within the interior ends of a prosthetic graft, having a length that is sufficient to span the damaged section of a blood vessel.","The stents are then expanded to secure the graft to the blood vessel wall via a friction fit.","Although stents and stent/graft combinations have been used to provide endovascular prostheses that are capable of maintaining their fit against blood vessel walls, other desirable features are lacking.","For instance, features such as increased strength and durability of the prosthesis, as well as an inert, smooth, biocompatible blood flow surface on the luminal surface of the prosthesis and an inert, smooth biocompatible surface on the abluminal surface of the prosthesis, are advantageous characteristics of an implantable vascular graft.","Some skilled in the art have recently addressed these desirable characteristics by producing strengthened and reinforced prostheses composed entirely of biocompatible grafts and graft layers.","For example, U.S. Pat.","No.","5,048,065, issued to Weldon, et al.","discloses a reinforced graft assembly comprising a biologic or biosynthetic graft component having a porous surface and a biologic or biosynthetic reinforcing sleeve which is concentrically fitted over the graft component.","The reinforcing sleeve includes an internal layer, an intermediate layer, and an external layer, all of which comprise biocompatible fibers.","The sleeve component functions to provide compliant reinforcement to the graft component.","Further, U.S. Pat.","No.","5,163,951, issued to Pinchuk, et al.","describes a composite vascular graft having an inner component, an intermediate component, and an outer component.","The inner and outer components are preferably formed of expanded PTFE while the intermediate component is formed of strands of biocompatible synthetic material having a melting point lower than the material which comprises the inner and outer components.","Another reinforced vascular prosthesis having enhanced compatibility and compliance is disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,354,329, issued to Whalen.","This patent discloses a non-pyrogenic vascular prosthesis comprising a multilaminar tubular member having an interior stratum, a unitary medial stratum, and an exterior stratum.","The medial stratum forms an exclusionary boundary between the interior and exterior strata.","One embodiment of this prosthesis is formed entirely of silicone rubber that comprises different characteristics for the different strata contained within the graft.","The prior art also includes grafts having increased strength and durability, which have been reinforced with stent-like members.","For example, U.S. Pat.","No.","4,731,073, issued to Robinson, discloses an arterial graft prosthesis comprising a multi-layer graft having a helical reinforcement embedded within the wall of the graft.","U.S. Pat.","No.","4,969,896, issued to Shors describes an inner elastomeric biocompatible tube having a plurality of rib members spaced about the exterior surface of the inner tube, and a perforate flexible biocompatible wrap circumferentially disposed about, and attached to, the rib members.","Another example of a graft having reinforcing stent-like members is disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,123,917, issued to Lee, which describes an expandable intraluminal vascular graft having an inner flexible cylindrical tube, an outer flexible cylindrical tube concentrically enclosing the inner tube, and a plurality of separate scaffold members positioned between the inner and outer tubes.","Further, U.S. Pat.","No.","5,282,860, issued to Matsuno et al.","discloses a multi-layer stent comprising an outer resin tube having at least one flap to provide an anchoring means, an inner fluorine-based resin tube and a mechanical reinforcing layer positioned between the inner and outer tubes.","Still another stent-containing graft is described in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,389,106 issued to Tower, which discloses an impermeable expandable intravascular stent including a dispensable frame and an impermeable deformable membrane interconnecting portions of the frame to form an impermeable exterior wall.","The membrane comprises a synthetic non-latex, non-vinyl polymer while the frame is comprised of a fine platinum wire.","The membrane is attached to the frame by placing the frame on a mandrel, dipping the frame and the mandrel into a polymer and organic solvent solution, withdrawing the frame and mandrel from the solution, drying the frame and mandrel, and removing the mandrel from the polymer-coated frame.","Microporous expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (“ePTFE”) tubes may be made by any of a number of well-known methods.","Expanded PTFE is frequently produced by admixing particulate dry polytetrafluoroethylene resin with a liquid lubricant to form a viscous slurry.","The mixture is poured into a mold, typically a cylindrical mold, and compressed to form a cylindrical billet.","The billet is then rammed extruded through an extrusion die into either tubular or sheet structures, termed extrudates in the art.","The extrudates consist of extruded PTFE-lubricant mixture called “wet PTFE.” Wet PTFE has a microstructure of coalesced, coherent PTFE resin particles in a highly crystalline state.","Following extrusion, the wet PTFE is heated to a temperature below the flash point of the lubricant to volatilize a major fraction of the lubricant from the PTFE extrudate.","The resulting PTFE extrudate without a major fraction of lubricant is known in the art as dried PTFE.","The dried PTFE is then either uniaxially, biaxially or radially expanded using appropriate mechanical apparatus known in the art.","Expansion is typically carried out at an elevated temperature, e.g., above room temperature but below 327° C., the crystalline melt point of PTFE.","Uniaxial, biaxial or radial expansion of the dried PTFE causes the coalesced, coherent PTFE resin to form fibrils emanating from nodes (regions of coalesced PTFE), with the fibrils oriented parallel to the axis of expansion.","Once expanded, the dried PTFE is referred to as expanded PTFE (“ePTFE”) or microporous PTFE.","The ePTFE is then transferred to an oven where it is sintered by being heated to a temperature above 327° C., the crystalline melt point of PTFE.","During the sintering process the ePTFE is restrained against uniaxial, biaxial or radial contraction.","Sintering causes at least a portion of the crystalline PTFE to change from a crystalline state to an amorphous state.","The conversion from a highly crystalline structure to one having an increased amorphous content locks the node and fibril microstructure, as well as its orientation relative to the axis of expansion, and provides a dimensionally stable tubular or sheet material upon cooling.","Prior to the sintering step, the lubricant must be removed because the sintering temperature of PTFE is greater than the flash point of commercially available lubricants.","Sintered ePTFE articles exhibit significant resistance to further uniaxial, or radial expansion.","This property has led many in the art to devise techniques which entail endoluminal delivery and placement of an ePTFE graft having a desired fixed diameter, followed by endoluminal delivery and placement of an endoluminal prosthesis, such as a stent or other fixation device, to frictionally engage the endoluminal prosthesis within the lumen of the anatomical passageway.","The Kreamer patent, U.S. Pat.","No.","5,078,726, discussed above, exemplifies such use of an ePTFE prosthetic graft.","Similarly, International Publication Nos.","WO95/05132 and WO95/05555, filed by W.L.","Gore Associates, Inc., disclose balloon expandable prosthetic stents which have been covered on inner and outer surfaces by wrapping ePTFE sheet material about the balloon expandable prosthetic stent in its enlarged diameter, sintering the wrapped ePTFE sheet material to secure it about the stent, and crimping the assembly to a reduced diameter for endoluminal delivery.","Once positioned endoluminally, the stent-graft combination is dilated to re-expand the stent to its enlarged diameter returning the ePTFE wrapping to its original diameter.","Thus, it is well known in the prior art to provide an ePTFE covering which is fabricated at the final desired endovascular diameter and is endoluminally delivered in a folded or crimped condition to reduce its delivery profile, then unfolded in vivo using either the spring tension of a self-expanding, thermally induced expanding structural support member or a balloon catheter.","However, the known ePTFE covered endoluminal stents are often covered on only one surface of the stent, i.e., either the luminal or abluminal wall surface of the stent.","Where the stent is fully covered on both the luminal and abluminal wall surfaces of the stent, the covering completely surrounds the stent elements and fills the stent interstices, thereby encapsulating the stent.","Examples of patents teaching encapsulated stents and encapsulation techniques include commonly assigned patents: U.S. Pat.","No.","5,749,880, U.S. Pat.","No.","6,039,755, U.S. Pat.","No.","6,124,523, and U.S. Pat.","No.","6,451,047, each of which is incorporated into this application as if fully set forth herein.","When the encapsulated stent is comprised of shape memory alloy, characteristics of the stent make it necessary to encapsulate in the “large” state and then compress the encapsulated stent for delivery.","In this case, encapsulation either increases the device's resistance to compression, or increases the delivery profile of the device as compression causes the polymeric material to fold or buckle around the stent.","Perhaps the most serious problem is that the folding during compression actually encompasses folding of the stent itself, which unduly stresses the stent material and may result in structural failure.","In contrast to the prior art, the present invention provides a method to encapsulate a stent in ePTFE whereby the structure contains pockets or regions where the ePTFE layers are not adhered to one another allowing the stent to contract or expand without being encumbered by ePTFE and without folding or stressing the stent itself.","As used herein, the following terms have the following meanings: “Fibril” refers to a strand of PTFE material that originates from one or more nodes and terminates at one or more nodes.","“Node” refers to the solid region within an ePTFE material at which fibrils originate and converge.","“Internodal Distance” or “IND” refers to a distance between two adjacent nodes measured along the longitudinal axis of fibrils between the facing surfaces of the adjacent nodes.","IND is usually expressed in micrometers (μm).","“Node Length” as used herein refers to a distance measured along a straight line between the furthermost end points of a single node which line is perpendicular to the fibrils emanating from the node.","“Nodal Elongation” as used herein refers to expansion of PTFE nodes in the ePTFE microstructure along the Node Length.","“Longitudinal Surface” of a node as used herein refers to a nodal surface from which fibrils emanate.","“Node Width” as used herein refers to a distance measured along a straight line, drawn parallel to the fibrils, between opposing longitudinal surfaces of a node.","“Plastic Deformation” as used herein refers to the deformation of the ePTFE microstructure under the influence of an expansive force which deforms and increases the Node Length and results in elastic recoil of the ePTFE material less than about 25%.","“Radially Expandable” as used herein to describe the present invention refers to a property of the ePTFE tubular member to undergo radially oriented Plastic Deformation mediated by Nodal Elongation.","“Structural Integrity” as used herein to describe the present invention in terms of the ePTFE refers to a condition of the ePTFE microstructure both pre- and post-radial deformation in which the fibrils are substantially free of fractures or breaks and the ePTFE material is free of gross failures; when used to describe the entire device “Structural Integrity” may also include delamination of the ePTFE layers.","Endoluminal stent devices are typically categorized into two primary types: balloon expandable and self-expanding.","Of the self-expanding types of endoluminal stent devices, there are two principle sub-categories: elastically self-expanding and thermally self-expanding.","The balloon expandable stents are typically made of a ductile material, such as stainless steel tube, which has been machined to form a pattern of openings separated by stent elements.","Radial expansion is achieved by applying a radially outwardly directed force to the lumen of a balloon expandable stent and deforming the stent beyond its elastic limit from a smaller initial diameter to an enlarged final diameter.","In this process the slots deform into “diamond shapes.” Balloon expandable stents are typically radially and longitudinally rigid and have limited recoil after expansion.","These stents have superior hoop strength against compressive forces but should this strength be overcome, the devices will deform and not recover.","Self-expanding stents, on the other hand, are fabricated from either spring metal or shape memory alloy wire which has been woven, wound or formed into a stent having interstices separated with wire stent elements.","When compared to balloon-expandable stents, these devices have less hoop strength but their inherent resiliency allows them to recover once a compressive force that results in deformation is removed.","Covered endoluminal stents are known in the art.","Heretofore, however, the stent covering has been made of a polymeric material which has completely subtended the stent interstices, that is, the stent was completely embedded in the polymeric material.","This has posed difficulty particularly with the self-expanding stents.","To preserve their self-expanding property, all covered self-expanding stents have been covered with a polymeric covering while the stent is in its unstrained dimensional condition (i.e., its native enlarged diameter).","Yet in order to deliver a covered stent, it must be constricted to a smaller delivery diameter.","Radial compression of a stent necessarily causes the individual stent elements to traverse the stent interstices and pass into proximity to a laterally adjacent individual stent element, thereby occupying the previously open interstitial space.","Any polymeric material which subtends or resides within the previously open interstitial space will necessarily be displaced, either through shearing, fracturing or otherwise responding to the narrowing of the interstitial space as the stent is compressed from its enlarged unstrained diameter to its strained reduced diameter.","Because the struts of the stent are completely encapsulated, resistance of the polymer may cause folding or stressing of the struts during compression.","It was recognized, therefore, that a need has developed to provide an encapsulating covering for a stent which is permanently retained on the stent, substantially isolates the stent material from the body tissue forming the anatomical passageway or from matter within the anatomical passageway, and which permits the stent to deform without substantial interference from the covering material.","It is, therefore, a primary objective of the present invention to provide a method for encapsulating an endoluminal stent such that the encapsulating covering forms non-adhered regions which act as slip planes or pockets to permit the individual stent elements to traverse a substantial surface area of interstitial space between adjacent stent elements without resistance or interference from the encapsulating covering, thereby avoiding damage or stress to the stent elements.","It is a further object of the present invention to use the pockets between the bonded regions to contain and deliver therapeutic substances.","It is another objective of the present invention to provide an apparatus for applying to and selectively adhering sections of the encapsulating covering about the stent, and to provide a selectively adhered encapsulated covered stent-graft device."],["<SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Accordingly, the present invention relates generally to endoluminal stent-graft devices suitable for percutaneous delivery into a body through anatomical passageways to treat injured or diseased areas of the body.","More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of bonding microporous polytetrafluoroethylene (“PTFE”) coverings over a stent scaffold in a manner which maintains unbonded regions to act as slip planes or pockets to accommodate planar movement of stent elements.","In one embodiment of the present invention bonded and unbonded regions are formed by means of a mandrel which has a pattern of either raised projections or recesses in its surface which are either synchronous or asynchronous, respectively, with stent elements.","In one embodiment, an encapsulated stent-graft device is provided in which an endoluminal stent having a plurality of individual stent elements separated by interstitial spaces is circumferentially covered along at least a portion of its longitudinal axis by at least one luminal and at least one abluminal covering of a polymeric material, the luminal and abluminal coverings being selectively adhered to one another at discrete portions thereof in a manner which forms a plurality of open pockets surrounding a plurality of stent elements.","In another embodiment, a radially expandable reinforced vascular graft includes a first layer of biocompatible flexible material, a second layer of biocompatible flexible material, and a support layer sandwiched between the first and second layers of biocompatible flexible material.","In one embodiment, a selective bonding system can be advantageously used to produce inflatable pockets by bonding the first layer to the second layer in defined patterns.","The resulting structure can then be inflated and stiffened by injection of a fluid resulting in a supporting structure without inclusion of a stent.","A crude analogy might be the construction of an air mattress that is composed of flexible polymeric layers bonded to each other in a predetermined pattern.","The at least one luminal and at least one abluminal covering of a polymeric material are preferably comprised of expanded PTFE, unexpanded porous PTFE, woven polyester or expanded PTFE yarns, polyimides, silicones, polyurethane, fluoroethylpolypropylene (PEP), polypropylfluorinated amines (PFA), or other related fluorinated polymers.","The stent may be made of any strong material which can undergo radial expansion but which is also resistant to non-elastic collapse such as silver, titanium, nickel-titanium alloys, stainless steel, gold, or any suitable plastic material capable of maintaining its shape and material properties at sintering temperatures and having the necessary strength and elasticity to enable radial expansion without collapse due to the presence of the polymer coverings.","A preferred embodiment of the radially expandable reinforced vascular device includes a tubular stent, having a plurality of stent elements and stent interstices, concentrically covered along at least a portion of its longitudinal length by a luminal polymeric covering and an abluminal polymeric covering.","The luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings are discontinuously joined to one another through some of the stent interstices.","The luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings may be shorter in length than the stent member to permit opposing stent ends to flare outwardly upon radial expansion of the stent member.","Alternatively, the ends of the stent member may be completely encased by the luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings.","The stent member is preferably a self-expanding stent, which may be either an elastic spring material stent, such as a stainless steel stent as disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,266,073 to Wall, a non-woven stainless steel self-expanding stent as disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,282,824 to Gianturco, or a thermoelastic stent made of a shape memory alloy, e.g., a nickel-titanium alloy commonly known as NITINOL, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,147,370 to McNamara et al., each of which is incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein.","As used herein, a tubular shaped support member preferably comprises a stent made of silver, titanium, stainless steel, gold, or any suitable plastic material capable of maintaining its shape and material properties at sintering temperatures and having the strength and elasticity to permit radial expansion and resist radial collapse.","In accordance with the present invention, selective bonding of expanded PTFE luminal and abluminal layers encapsulates the endoluminal stent and isolates the stent from both the tissue forming the anatomical passageway as well as any fluid, such as blood, bile, urine, etc.","which may pass through the anatomical passageway.","The presence of slip planes or pockets formed by the selectively adhered regions of ePTFE: i) permits freedom of movement of stent elements within the encapsulating covering during both expansion and contraction of the stent along either its radial or longitudinal axes; ii) permits uniform folding of the ePTFE stent covering material which is complementary to the structure of the stent element lattice; iii) permits movement of the stent relative to the ePTFE encapsulating layers; iv) reduces forces required to compress or dilate the stent in the case of elastically or thermally self-expanding stents; v) reduces radial expansion pressures required to balloon expand an ePTFE encapsulated stent; and vi) provides void regions which may be used in conjunction with the microporous microstructure of the ePTFE covering material to retain and release bioactive substances, such as anticoagulant drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, or the like.","Alternative arrangements of the stent member or other suitable structural support sufficient to maintain the luminal patency of the luminal and abluminal polymer coverings may be employed.","For example, a radially expandable, articulated reinforced vascular graft may be formed by concentrically interdisposing a structural support assembly comprising multiple stent members spaced apart from one another between two tubular polymer covering members, then partially joining the two tubular polymer covering members by circumferentially compressing selected regions of the two tubular polymer covering members and thermally bonding the selectively compressed regions to one another.","The present invention also encompasses selective bonding of multiple polymeric layers to create an inflatable structure.","Such a structure can be inflated by fluids delivered through lumens within the delivery catheter.","The selective bonding method allows creation of devices with multiple adjacent channels or pockets.","Some of these pockets can be pre-filled with a therapeutic drug to prevent restenosis or local thrombosis.","Alternate pockets can be arranged for fluid inflation after the device is inserted.","One method of making the foregoing encapsulated stent-graft is to join concentrically a luminal polymeric tube, an endoluminal stent, and an abluminal polymeric tube and to place the assembly onto a mandrel having a plurality of raised projections separated by land areas, or by a plurality of land areas separated by a plurality of recesses.","Either the raised projections or the land areas are patterned to match a pattern of either the stent elements of the stent interstices, both the stent elements and stent interstices or portions of each.","In this way the projections or the landed areas exert pressure, respectively on select regions of the PTFE resulting in limited regions of adherence or fusion when the device is heated to sintering temperatures.","Using a mandrel, luminal pressure is selectively applied to produce selectively placed bonds.","As will become clear, bonding pressure can be applied from the luminal or the abluminal or both surfaces of the device.","The present invention is also directed to a process for making a radially expandable reinforced stent-graft device by: a) positioning a radially expandable stent member including a plurality of interconnected stent elements and a plurality of interstices between adjacent interconnected stent elements, concentrically over a first polymeric cover member; b) positioning a second polymer cover member concentrically over the radially expandable stent member and the first polymeric cover member; c) selectively joining portions of the first polymeric cover member and the second polymeric cover member through a plurality of the interstices of the stent member, while leaving portions of the first and second polymeric cover members unjoined and forming slip planes or pockets to accommodate movement of at least a portion of the interconnected stent elements therethrough; and d) fully joining opposing end regions of the first and second polymer cover members through the interstices of the stent member proximate to opposing ends of the stent member.","Fixing the support layer to the biocompatible graft layers includes selectively applying pressure to the portions of the luminal and abluminal polymer covers after they are loaded onto a mandrel and then heating the resulting assembly at sintering temperatures to form a mechanical bond at the selected areas of applied pressure.","Alternatively, a pattern of at least one of an adhesive, an aqueous dispersion of polytetrafluoroethylene, a polytetrafluoroethylene tape, fluoroethylpolypropylene (PEP), or tetrafluoroethylene (collectively the “adhesive”) may be introduced between the luminal and abluminal polymer covers at selected positions, followed by heating the assembly to the melt temperature of the adhesive to bond the luminal and abluminal polymer covers while leaving unbonded slip plane regions to accommodate movement of the stent elements.","If ultraviolet curable adhesives are used, a UV laser or a photolithography system can be used to create the bond pattern.","Many thermoplastic polymers such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyurethane and polyethylene terephthalate can also be used.","If pieces of one of these or similar polymers are placed or attached to one of the polymer covers in the region to be bonded, heat and pressure will melt the thermoplastic causing it to flow into the pores of the ePTFE, thereby bonding the ePTFE layers together.","These and other embodiments, features and advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art when taken with reference to the following more detailed description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings that are first briefly described."],["PRIORITY This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","15/348,180, filed Nov. 10, 2016, which is a division of U.S. application Ser.","No.","14/310,527, filed Jun.","20, 2014, now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,492,269, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","13/225,028, filed Sep. 2, 2011, now U.S. Pat.","No.","8,790,241, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","11/363,689, filed Feb. 27, 2006, now U.S. Pat.","No.","8,012,194, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","10/410,589, filed Apr.","9, 2003, now U.S. Pat.","No.","7,004,966, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","09/1764,811, filed Jan. 16, 2001, now U.S. Pat.","No.","6,547,814, which is a division of U.S. application Ser.","No.","09/409,209, filed Sep. 30, 1999, now U.S. Pat.","No.","6,245,099, which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C.","§ 119(e) to U.S.","Provisional Application No.","60/1102,518, filed Sep. 30, 1998, each of which is incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein.","BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The use of implantable vascular grafts comprised of PTFE is well known in the art.","These grafts are typically used to replace or repair damaged or occluded blood vessels within the body.","However, if such grafts are radially expanded within a blood vessel, they will exhibit some subsequent retraction.","Further, such grafts usually require additional means for anchoring the graft within the blood vessel, such as sutures, clamps, or similarly functioning elements.","To minimize the retraction and eliminate the requirement for additional attachment means, those skilled in the art have used stents, such as those presented by Palmaz in U.S. Pat.","No.","4,733,665 and Gianturco in U.S. Pat.","No.","4,580,568, which are incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein, either alone or in combination with PTFE grafts.","For example, the stent described by Palmaz in U.S. Pat.","No.","4,733,665 can be used to repair an occluded blood vessel.","The stent is introduced into the blood vessel via a balloon catheter, which is then positioned at the occluded site of the blood vessel.","The balloon is then expanded, thereby expanding the overlying stent to a diameter comparable to the diameter of an unoccluded blood vessel.","The balloon catheter is then deflated and removed with the stent remaining seated within the blood vessel because the stent shows little or no radial retraction.","Use of radially expandable stents in combination with a PTFE graft is disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,078,726 to Kreamer, which teaches placing a pair of expandable stents within the interior ends of a prosthetic graft, having a length that is sufficient to span the damaged section of a blood vessel.","The stents are then expanded to secure the graft to the blood vessel wall via a friction fit.","Although stents and stent/graft combinations have been used to provide endovascular prostheses that are capable of maintaining their fit against blood vessel walls, other desirable features are lacking.","For instance, features such as increased strength and durability of the prosthesis, as well as an inert, smooth, biocompatible blood flow surface on the luminal surface of the prosthesis and an inert, smooth biocompatible surface on the abluminal surface of the prosthesis, are advantageous characteristics of an implantable vascular graft.","Some skilled in the art have recently addressed these desirable characteristics by producing strengthened and reinforced prostheses composed entirely of biocompatible grafts and graft layers.","For example, U.S. Pat.","No.","5,048,065, issued to Weldon, et al.","discloses a reinforced graft assembly comprising a biologic or biosynthetic graft component having a porous surface and a biologic or biosynthetic reinforcing sleeve which is concentrically fitted over the graft component.","The reinforcing sleeve includes an internal layer, an intermediate layer, and an external layer, all of which comprise biocompatible fibers.","The sleeve component functions to provide compliant reinforcement to the graft component.","Further, U.S. Pat.","No.","5,163,951, issued to Pinchuk, et al.","describes a composite vascular graft having an inner component, an intermediate component, and an outer component.","The inner and outer components are preferably formed of expanded PTFE while the intermediate component is formed of strands of biocompatible synthetic material having a melting point lower than the material which comprises the inner and outer components.","Another reinforced vascular prosthesis having enhanced compatibility and compliance is disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,354,329, issued to Whalen.","This patent discloses a non-pyrogenic vascular prosthesis comprising a multilaminar tubular member having an interior stratum, a unitary medial stratum, and an exterior stratum.","The medial stratum forms an exclusionary boundary between the interior and exterior strata.","One embodiment of this prosthesis is formed entirely of silicone rubber that comprises different characteristics for the different strata contained within the graft.","The prior art also includes grafts having increased strength and durability, which have been reinforced with stent-like members.","For example, U.S. Pat.","No.","4,731,073, issued to Robinson, discloses an arterial graft prosthesis comprising a multi-layer graft having a helical reinforcement embedded within the wall of the graft.","U.S. Pat.","No.","4,969,896, issued to Shors describes an inner elastomeric biocompatible tube having a plurality of rib members spaced about the exterior surface of the inner tube, and a perforate flexible biocompatible wrap circumferentially disposed about, and attached to, the rib members.","Another example of a graft having reinforcing stent-like members is disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,123,917, issued to Lee, which describes an expandable intraluminal vascular graft having an inner flexible cylindrical tube, an outer flexible cylindrical tube concentrically enclosing the inner tube, and a plurality of separate scaffold members positioned between the inner and outer tubes.","Further, U.S. Pat.","No.","5,282,860, issued to Matsuno et al.","discloses a multi-layer stent comprising an outer resin tube having at least one flap to provide an anchoring means, an inner fluorine-based resin tube and a mechanical reinforcing layer positioned between the inner and outer tubes.","Still another stent-containing graft is described in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,389,106 issued to Tower, which discloses an impermeable expandable intravascular stent including a dispensable frame and an impermeable deformable membrane interconnecting portions of the frame to form an impermeable exterior wall.","The membrane comprises a synthetic non-latex, non-vinyl polymer while the frame is comprised of a fine platinum wire.","The membrane is attached to the frame by placing the frame on a mandrel, dipping the frame and the mandrel into a polymer and organic solvent solution, withdrawing the frame and mandrel from the solution, drying the frame and mandrel, and removing the mandrel from the polymer-coated frame.","Microporous expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (“ePTFE”) tubes may be made by any of a number of well-known methods.","Expanded PTFE is frequently produced by admixing particulate dry polytetrafluoroethylene resin with a liquid lubricant to form a viscous slurry.","The mixture is poured into a mold, typically a cylindrical mold, and compressed to form a cylindrical billet.","The billet is then rammed extruded through an extrusion die into either tubular or sheet structures, termed extrudates in the art.","The extrudates consist of extruded PTFE-lubricant mixture called “wet PTFE.” Wet PTFE has a microstructure of coalesced, coherent PTFE resin particles in a highly crystalline state.","Following extrusion, the wet PTFE is heated to a temperature below the flash point of the lubricant to volatilize a major fraction of the lubricant from the PTFE extrudate.","The resulting PTFE extrudate without a major fraction of lubricant is known in the art as dried PTFE.","The dried PTFE is then either uniaxially, biaxially or radially expanded using appropriate mechanical apparatus known in the art.","Expansion is typically carried out at an elevated temperature, e.g., above room temperature but below 327° C., the crystalline melt point of PTFE.","Uniaxial, biaxial or radial expansion of the dried PTFE causes the coalesced, coherent PTFE resin to form fibrils emanating from nodes (regions of coalesced PTFE), with the fibrils oriented parallel to the axis of expansion.","Once expanded, the dried PTFE is referred to as expanded PTFE (“ePTFE”) or microporous PTFE.","The ePTFE is then transferred to an oven where it is sintered by being heated to a temperature above 327° C., the crystalline melt point of PTFE.","During the sintering process the ePTFE is restrained against uniaxial, biaxial or radial contraction.","Sintering causes at least a portion of the crystalline PTFE to change from a crystalline state to an amorphous state.","The conversion from a highly crystalline structure to one having an increased amorphous content locks the node and fibril microstructure, as well as its orientation relative to the axis of expansion, and provides a dimensionally stable tubular or sheet material upon cooling.","Prior to the sintering step, the lubricant must be removed because the sintering temperature of PTFE is greater than the flash point of commercially available lubricants.","Sintered ePTFE articles exhibit significant resistance to further uniaxial, or radial expansion.","This property has led many in the art to devise techniques which entail endoluminal delivery and placement of an ePTFE graft having a desired fixed diameter, followed by endoluminal delivery and placement of an endoluminal prosthesis, such as a stent or other fixation device, to frictionally engage the endoluminal prosthesis within the lumen of the anatomical passageway.","The Kreamer patent, U.S. Pat.","No.","5,078,726, discussed above, exemplifies such use of an ePTFE prosthetic graft.","Similarly, International Publication Nos.","WO95/05132 and WO95/05555, filed by W.L.","Gore Associates, Inc., disclose balloon expandable prosthetic stents which have been covered on inner and outer surfaces by wrapping ePTFE sheet material about the balloon expandable prosthetic stent in its enlarged diameter, sintering the wrapped ePTFE sheet material to secure it about the stent, and crimping the assembly to a reduced diameter for endoluminal delivery.","Once positioned endoluminally, the stent-graft combination is dilated to re-expand the stent to its enlarged diameter returning the ePTFE wrapping to its original diameter.","Thus, it is well known in the prior art to provide an ePTFE covering which is fabricated at the final desired endovascular diameter and is endoluminally delivered in a folded or crimped condition to reduce its delivery profile, then unfolded in vivo using either the spring tension of a self-expanding, thermally induced expanding structural support member or a balloon catheter.","However, the known ePTFE covered endoluminal stents are often covered on only one surface of the stent, i.e., either the luminal or abluminal wall surface of the stent.","Where the stent is fully covered on both the luminal and abluminal wall surfaces of the stent, the covering completely surrounds the stent elements and fills the stent interstices, thereby encapsulating the stent.","Examples of patents teaching encapsulated stents and encapsulation techniques include commonly assigned patents: U.S. Pat.","No.","5,749,880, U.S. Pat.","No.","6,039,755, U.S. Pat.","No.","6,124,523, and U.S. Pat.","No.","6,451,047, each of which is incorporated into this application as if fully set forth herein.","When the encapsulated stent is comprised of shape memory alloy, characteristics of the stent make it necessary to encapsulate in the “large” state and then compress the encapsulated stent for delivery.","In this case, encapsulation either increases the device's resistance to compression, or increases the delivery profile of the device as compression causes the polymeric material to fold or buckle around the stent.","Perhaps the most serious problem is that the folding during compression actually encompasses folding of the stent itself, which unduly stresses the stent material and may result in structural failure.","In contrast to the prior art, the present invention provides a method to encapsulate a stent in ePTFE whereby the structure contains pockets or regions where the ePTFE layers are not adhered to one another allowing the stent to contract or expand without being encumbered by ePTFE and without folding or stressing the stent itself.","As used herein, the following terms have the following meanings: “Fibril” refers to a strand of PTFE material that originates from one or more nodes and terminates at one or more nodes.","“Node” refers to the solid region within an ePTFE material at which fibrils originate and converge.","“Internodal Distance” or “IND” refers to a distance between two adjacent nodes measured along the longitudinal axis of fibrils between the facing surfaces of the adjacent nodes.","IND is usually expressed in micrometers (μm).","“Node Length” as used herein refers to a distance measured along a straight line between the furthermost end points of a single node which line is perpendicular to the fibrils emanating from the node.","“Nodal Elongation” as used herein refers to expansion of PTFE nodes in the ePTFE microstructure along the Node Length.","“Longitudinal Surface” of a node as used herein refers to a nodal surface from which fibrils emanate.","“Node Width” as used herein refers to a distance measured along a straight line, drawn parallel to the fibrils, between opposing longitudinal surfaces of a node.","“Plastic Deformation” as used herein refers to the deformation of the ePTFE microstructure under the influence of an expansive force which deforms and increases the Node Length and results in elastic recoil of the ePTFE material less than about 25%.","“Radially Expandable” as used herein to describe the present invention refers to a property of the ePTFE tubular member to undergo radially oriented Plastic Deformation mediated by Nodal Elongation.","“Structural Integrity” as used herein to describe the present invention in terms of the ePTFE refers to a condition of the ePTFE microstructure both pre- and post-radial deformation in which the fibrils are substantially free of fractures or breaks and the ePTFE material is free of gross failures; when used to describe the entire device “Structural Integrity” may also include delamination of the ePTFE layers.","Endoluminal stent devices are typically categorized into two primary types: balloon expandable and self-expanding.","Of the self-expanding types of endoluminal stent devices, there are two principle sub-categories: elastically self-expanding and thermally self-expanding.","The balloon expandable stents are typically made of a ductile material, such as stainless steel tube, which has been machined to form a pattern of openings separated by stent elements.","Radial expansion is achieved by applying a radially outwardly directed force to the lumen of a balloon expandable stent and deforming the stent beyond its elastic limit from a smaller initial diameter to an enlarged final diameter.","In this process the slots deform into “diamond shapes.” Balloon expandable stents are typically radially and longitudinally rigid and have limited recoil after expansion.","These stents have superior hoop strength against compressive forces but should this strength be overcome, the devices will deform and not recover.","Self-expanding stents, on the other hand, are fabricated from either spring metal or shape memory alloy wire which has been woven, wound or formed into a stent having interstices separated with wire stent elements.","When compared to balloon-expandable stents, these devices have less hoop strength but their inherent resiliency allows them to recover once a compressive force that results in deformation is removed.","Covered endoluminal stents are known in the art.","Heretofore, however, the stent covering has been made of a polymeric material which has completely subtended the stent interstices, that is, the stent was completely embedded in the polymeric material.","This has posed difficulty particularly with the self-expanding stents.","To preserve their self-expanding property, all covered self-expanding stents have been covered with a polymeric covering while the stent is in its unstrained dimensional condition (i.e., its native enlarged diameter).","Yet in order to deliver a covered stent, it must be constricted to a smaller delivery diameter.","Radial compression of a stent necessarily causes the individual stent elements to traverse the stent interstices and pass into proximity to a laterally adjacent individual stent element, thereby occupying the previously open interstitial space.","Any polymeric material which subtends or resides within the previously open interstitial space will necessarily be displaced, either through shearing, fracturing or otherwise responding to the narrowing of the interstitial space as the stent is compressed from its enlarged unstrained diameter to its strained reduced diameter.","Because the struts of the stent are completely encapsulated, resistance of the polymer may cause folding or stressing of the struts during compression.","It was recognized, therefore, that a need has developed to provide an encapsulating covering for a stent which is permanently retained on the stent, substantially isolates the stent material from the body tissue forming the anatomical passageway or from matter within the anatomical passageway, and which permits the stent to deform without substantial interference from the covering material.","It is, therefore, a primary objective of the present invention to provide a method for encapsulating an endoluminal stent such that the encapsulating covering forms non-adhered regions which act as slip planes or pockets to permit the individual stent elements to traverse a substantial surface area of interstitial space between adjacent stent elements without resistance or interference from the encapsulating covering, thereby avoiding damage or stress to the stent elements.","It is a further object of the present invention to use the pockets between the bonded regions to contain and deliver therapeutic substances.","It is another objective of the present invention to provide an apparatus for applying to and selectively adhering sections of the encapsulating covering about the stent, and to provide a selectively adhered encapsulated covered stent-graft device.","BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention relates generally to endoluminal stent-graft devices suitable for percutaneous delivery into a body through anatomical passageways to treat injured or diseased areas of the body.","More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of bonding microporous polytetrafluoroethylene (“PTFE”) coverings over a stent scaffold in a manner which maintains unbonded regions to act as slip planes or pockets to accommodate planar movement of stent elements.","In one embodiment of the present invention bonded and unbonded regions are formed by means of a mandrel which has a pattern of either raised projections or recesses in its surface which are either synchronous or asynchronous, respectively, with stent elements.","In one embodiment, an encapsulated stent-graft device is provided in which an endoluminal stent having a plurality of individual stent elements separated by interstitial spaces is circumferentially covered along at least a portion of its longitudinal axis by at least one luminal and at least one abluminal covering of a polymeric material, the luminal and abluminal coverings being selectively adhered to one another at discrete portions thereof in a manner which forms a plurality of open pockets surrounding a plurality of stent elements.","In another embodiment, a radially expandable reinforced vascular graft includes a first layer of biocompatible flexible material, a second layer of biocompatible flexible material, and a support layer sandwiched between the first and second layers of biocompatible flexible material.","In one embodiment, a selective bonding system can be advantageously used to produce inflatable pockets by bonding the first layer to the second layer in defined patterns.","The resulting structure can then be inflated and stiffened by injection of a fluid resulting in a supporting structure without inclusion of a stent.","A crude analogy might be the construction of an air mattress that is composed of flexible polymeric layers bonded to each other in a predetermined pattern.","The at least one luminal and at least one abluminal covering of a polymeric material are preferably comprised of expanded PTFE, unexpanded porous PTFE, woven polyester or expanded PTFE yarns, polyimides, silicones, polyurethane, fluoroethylpolypropylene (PEP), polypropylfluorinated amines (PFA), or other related fluorinated polymers.","The stent may be made of any strong material which can undergo radial expansion but which is also resistant to non-elastic collapse such as silver, titanium, nickel-titanium alloys, stainless steel, gold, or any suitable plastic material capable of maintaining its shape and material properties at sintering temperatures and having the necessary strength and elasticity to enable radial expansion without collapse due to the presence of the polymer coverings.","A preferred embodiment of the radially expandable reinforced vascular device includes a tubular stent, having a plurality of stent elements and stent interstices, concentrically covered along at least a portion of its longitudinal length by a luminal polymeric covering and an abluminal polymeric covering.","The luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings are discontinuously joined to one another through some of the stent interstices.","The luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings may be shorter in length than the stent member to permit opposing stent ends to flare outwardly upon radial expansion of the stent member.","Alternatively, the ends of the stent member may be completely encased by the luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings.","The stent member is preferably a self-expanding stent, which may be either an elastic spring material stent, such as a stainless steel stent as disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,266,073 to Wall, a non-woven stainless steel self-expanding stent as disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,282,824 to Gianturco, or a thermoelastic stent made of a shape memory alloy, e.g., a nickel-titanium alloy commonly known as NITINOL, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,147,370 to McNamara et al., each of which is incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein.","As used herein, a tubular shaped support member preferably comprises a stent made of silver, titanium, stainless steel, gold, or any suitable plastic material capable of maintaining its shape and material properties at sintering temperatures and having the strength and elasticity to permit radial expansion and resist radial collapse.","In accordance with the present invention, selective bonding of expanded PTFE luminal and abluminal layers encapsulates the endoluminal stent and isolates the stent from both the tissue forming the anatomical passageway as well as any fluid, such as blood, bile, urine, etc.","which may pass through the anatomical passageway.","The presence of slip planes or pockets formed by the selectively adhered regions of ePTFE: i) permits freedom of movement of stent elements within the encapsulating covering during both expansion and contraction of the stent along either its radial or longitudinal axes; ii) permits uniform folding of the ePTFE stent covering material which is complementary to the structure of the stent element lattice; iii) permits movement of the stent relative to the ePTFE encapsulating layers; iv) reduces forces required to compress or dilate the stent in the case of elastically or thermally self-expanding stents; v) reduces radial expansion pressures required to balloon expand an ePTFE encapsulated stent; and vi) provides void regions which may be used in conjunction with the microporous microstructure of the ePTFE covering material to retain and release bioactive substances, such as anticoagulant drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, or the like.","Alternative arrangements of the stent member or other suitable structural support sufficient to maintain the luminal patency of the luminal and abluminal polymer coverings may be employed.","For example, a radially expandable, articulated reinforced vascular graft may be formed by concentrically interdisposing a structural support assembly comprising multiple stent members spaced apart from one another between two tubular polymer covering members, then partially joining the two tubular polymer covering members by circumferentially compressing selected regions of the two tubular polymer covering members and thermally bonding the selectively compressed regions to one another.","The present invention also encompasses selective bonding of multiple polymeric layers to create an inflatable structure.","Such a structure can be inflated by fluids delivered through lumens within the delivery catheter.","The selective bonding method allows creation of devices with multiple adjacent channels or pockets.","Some of these pockets can be pre-filled with a therapeutic drug to prevent restenosis or local thrombosis.","Alternate pockets can be arranged for fluid inflation after the device is inserted.","One method of making the foregoing encapsulated stent-graft is to join concentrically a luminal polymeric tube, an endoluminal stent, and an abluminal polymeric tube and to place the assembly onto a mandrel having a plurality of raised projections separated by land areas, or by a plurality of land areas separated by a plurality of recesses.","Either the raised projections or the land areas are patterned to match a pattern of either the stent elements of the stent interstices, both the stent elements and stent interstices or portions of each.","In this way the projections or the landed areas exert pressure, respectively on select regions of the PTFE resulting in limited regions of adherence or fusion when the device is heated to sintering temperatures.","Using a mandrel, luminal pressure is selectively applied to produce selectively placed bonds.","As will become clear, bonding pressure can be applied from the luminal or the abluminal or both surfaces of the device.","The present invention is also directed to a process for making a radially expandable reinforced stent-graft device by: a) positioning a radially expandable stent member including a plurality of interconnected stent elements and a plurality of interstices between adjacent interconnected stent elements, concentrically over a first polymeric cover member; b) positioning a second polymer cover member concentrically over the radially expandable stent member and the first polymeric cover member; c) selectively joining portions of the first polymeric cover member and the second polymeric cover member through a plurality of the interstices of the stent member, while leaving portions of the first and second polymeric cover members unjoined and forming slip planes or pockets to accommodate movement of at least a portion of the interconnected stent elements therethrough; and d) fully joining opposing end regions of the first and second polymer cover members through the interstices of the stent member proximate to opposing ends of the stent member.","Fixing the support layer to the biocompatible graft layers includes selectively applying pressure to the portions of the luminal and abluminal polymer covers after they are loaded onto a mandrel and then heating the resulting assembly at sintering temperatures to form a mechanical bond at the selected areas of applied pressure.","Alternatively, a pattern of at least one of an adhesive, an aqueous dispersion of polytetrafluoroethylene, a polytetrafluoroethylene tape, fluoroethylpolypropylene (PEP), or tetrafluoroethylene (collectively the “adhesive”) may be introduced between the luminal and abluminal polymer covers at selected positions, followed by heating the assembly to the melt temperature of the adhesive to bond the luminal and abluminal polymer covers while leaving unbonded slip plane regions to accommodate movement of the stent elements.","If ultraviolet curable adhesives are used, a UV laser or a photolithography system can be used to create the bond pattern.","Many thermoplastic polymers such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyurethane and polyethylene terephthalate can also be used.","If pieces of one of these or similar polymers are placed or attached to one of the polymer covers in the region to be bonded, heat and pressure will melt the thermoplastic causing it to flow into the pores of the ePTFE, thereby bonding the ePTFE layers together.","These and other embodiments, features and advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art when taken with reference to the following more detailed description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings that are first briefly described.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 is a process flow diagram illustrating a preferred method of making a stent-graft device FIG.","2 is a perspective view of a mandrel having longitudinal ridges or splines.","FIG.","3 is a cross-section view of the mandrel shown in FIG.","2.FIG.","4 is a perspective view of a stent-graft device illustrating selected regions of bonding between the luminal and abluminal stent covers and a plurality of slip plane pockets intermediate the luminal and abluminal stent covers.","FIG.","5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG.","4.FIG.","6 is a scanning electron micrograph illustrating a selectively bonded region and a slip plane pocket with a stent element residing therein.","FIG.","7 is a perspective view of a mandrel having circumferential ridges (as opposed to longitudinal splines).","FIG.","8 is a flow diagram showing a method of using adhesives to create selective adherence.","FIG.","9 is a flow diagram of an alternative method of using adhesives to create selective bonds.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The following detailed description should be read with reference to the drawings, in which like elements in different drawings are identically numbered.","The drawings, which are not necessarily to scale, depict selected embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.","The detailed description illustrates by way of example, not by way of limitation, the principles of the invention.","This description will clearly enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and describes several embodiments, adaptations, variations, alternatives and uses of the invention, including what is presently believed to be the best mode of carrying out the invention.","The selective adherence encapsulation of the present invention is an improvement to the total adherence method taught in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,749,880 that is incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein.","The '880 patent discloses a method for encapsulating a support stent by placing the stent over a first tubular member of unsintered ePTFE and then placing a second tubular member of unsintered ePTFE coaxially over the stent so that the stent is sandwiched between two layers of ePTFE.","Radial force is applied either internally or externally to force the first tubular member into contact with the stent and into contact with the second tubular members through openings in the stent or, respectively, to force the second tubular into contact with the stent and into contact with the first tubular member through openings in the stent.","Finally, the compound structure is exposed to an elevated temperature to bond the first tubular member to the second tubular member wherever they are pressed into contact.","In one embodiment an adhesive spread between the tubular members achieves the bonding.","In a preferred embodiment the elevated temperature is a sintering temperature (above the crystalline melting point of PTFE) and direct PTFE to PTFE bonds form.","As mentioned above, a potential drawback of this approach is that when the radial dimensions of the stent change, movement of components of the stent (necessary for radial dimensional changes) may be impeded by surrounding ePTFE.","If the stent is encapsulated in an expanded form and then reduced in diameter prior to insertion into a patient, the encapsulating ePTFE may significantly increase the force needed to compress the stent and may fold in a manner so as to increase the profile of the collapsed device.","If the bonding of the first member to the second member is selective, i.e., does not occur through all available openings in the stent, slip planes or pockets will be left in the structure so that stent components can reorient within these pockets without encountering resistance from the ePTFE.","Without the slip planes formed by the selective bonds of the present invention, crimping a shape memory stent may cause the stent members to fold or otherwise become stressed.","This can result in permanent damage to the stent.","There is a considerable possible range of extent for the selective adherence of the instant invention.","At one extreme is a fully encapsulated stent as provided by the '880 patent in which there is full bonding between all areas of the two tubular members in which the stent struts do not block contact.","At the other extreme would be a “spot welded” device where only tiny areas, probably in the middle of the open areas of the stent structure, are bonded.","At that extreme, there might be a tendency for the PTFE members to separate from the stent should the spot weld bond strength be exceeded; however, the spot weld structure would provide virtually no impedance to radial deformation of the stent.","The optimum extent of selective adherence, as well as the geometric position of the bonds in relation to the stent, depends on the structure of the stent as well as the desired properties of the completed device.","Complete control of the bond positions can be achieved by a numerically controlled (NC) machine in which the two-ePTFE members with the interposed stent are mounted on a mandrel that is attached to the spindle drive of a modified NC lathe.","In this device a heated tool whose tip is equal to the desired spot weld area is automatically pressed onto the mandrel-mounted ePTFE-stent sandwich in proper registration to create a bond in an open region between components or struts of the stent.","The tool moves away slightly as the mandrel turns to expose another open region and the tool then moves in to create a second bond and so on.","Depending on the distance that the mandrel turns, the spot welds may be in adjacent open spaces or may skip one or more open spaces.","As the mandrel is turned, the tool advances along the longitudinal axis of the mandrel so that virtually any patterns of spot welds can be created on the ePTFE-stent device.","The precise pattern is under computer control and an entire stent can be treated quite quickly.","If the design calls for spot welds of different surface areas, the stent can be treated with different tools (e.g., different areas) in several passes.","An ultrasonic welding tip can readily be substituted for the heated tool.","It is also possible to use radiant energy, as with a laser, to effect similar results.","However, the inventors presently believe that pressure as well as heat are needed for the best bonds.","Currently, laser-induced bonds do not appear to be as strong as bonds that are made with heat and pressure unless a curable adhesive system (as with a UV laser) is employed.","Splined or textured mandrels can also be used to apply selective heat and pressure to create selective adherence between the ePTFE members.","By “spline or splined” is meant a cylindrical structure with longitudinally oriented ridges equally spaced about the structure's circumference.","Wherever the first and second ePTFE tubular members come into contact a bond can be formed if heat and pressure are applied.","If the ePTFE tubular members and support stent are placed over a mandrel whose surface is patterned with elevated and depressed regions (hills and valleys), the elevated regions or ridges will apply pressure to the overlying stent-ePTFE regions allowing selective bonding of those regions.","Regions of ePTFE overlying valleys will not be pressed together and no bond will form there.","That is, the pattern of the mandrel will be translated into an identical pattern of bonded regions in the stent-graft device.","To make this translation, the process diagram of FIG.","1 is followed, as described below.","In a first step 32, a first ePTFE tubular member is placed on a mandrel.","Preferably, the first tubular member is composed of unsintered ePTFE.","In a second step 34, a stent device is placed over the first tubular member.","In a third step 36, a second ePTFE tubular member is slid coaxially over the stent.","The second tubular member may be unsintered or partially sintered.","Use of a partially sintered second tubular member reduces the chance of tearing the member while pulling it over the stent.","It will be apparent to one of skill in the art that there is an advantage to using a second tubular member with a slightly larger diameter than the first tubular member.","However, if the second tubular member is too large, folds or creases may develop during the bonding process.","This entire process may use one of the textured mandrels that will be described below.","However, it is also possible to assemble one or both tubular members and the stent on a smooth mandrel and then slip the assembly off the smooth mandrel and onto the textured mandrel.","If the fit is fairly tight, it may be easier to place the stent over the first tubular member when that member is supported by a smooth mandrel.","Also, there may be a limited number of textured mandrels available for production so that making a number of ePTFE-stent assemblies on less expensive smooth mandrels may result in a significant savings of time.","If a smooth mandrel is used, the stent assembly is transferred to a textured mandrel before the next step (wrapping) occurs.","In a fourth step 38, the ePTFE-stent assembly is helically wrapped with PTFE “tape.” This tape is actually a long, thin strip of PTFE of the type generally known as “plumber's tape.” The tape is evenly wound over the stent device so that the device is covered from end to end.","The tape is wound so that the long axis of the tape is approximately normal (offset by 10-) 15° to the long axis of the stent device.","Ideally, there should be some overlap of the tape covering the device so that coverage is even and complete.","In fact an overlap ratio wherein five revolutions is needed to progress one tape width has proven effective.","The tape should be applied with a controlled and even tension so that it is sufficiently tight to apply pressure at right angles to the surface of the stent device.","One way of achieving this is to use a force clutch on the tape spool to ensure a reproducible tension in the tape as it is wound over the stent device.","While this process can be performed by hand, it is fairly easy to automate the winding process by having the mandrel mounted in a modified lathe.","As the lathe spindle turns, the spool of tape automatically advances along the turning mandrel ensuring an even and reproducible wrapping.","In a fifth step 42, the wrapped assembly is then placed into an oven at a temperature above or nearly equal to the crystalline melting temperature of ePTFE.","The wrapping applies pressure to regions of ePTFE that are underlaid by raised portions of the textured mandrel.","The oven provides the necessary heat to cause a strong ePTFE-ePTFE bond to form in these regions.","The sintering time can vary from a few minutes to a few tens of minutes.","The overall time depends to some extent on the mass of the mandrel.","If the mandrel is solid, it may take a considerable time for the surface of the mandrel to reach sintering temperatures.","The process can be speeded up by using a hollow mandrel or even a mandrel containing a heating element so that the ePTFE is rapidly brought to a sintering temperature.","A thermistor or similar temperature sensor is advantageous embedded into the surface of the mandrel so that it is possible to determine when the ePTFE reaches sintering temperature.","In this way the process can be accurately timed.","In the final step 44, the tape is removed from the mandrel (after cooling) and the finished device is removed.","Results in this step indicate the success of the sintering step 42.If sintering time or temperature is excessive, there may be some bonding of the PTFE tape to the stent device.","The solution is to reduce the sintering time and/or temperature in future sintering.","This is one reason that time, temperature and wrapping force should be carefully controlled.","This problem can also be avoided by using means other than PTFE wrapping to apply pressure to the device during the sintering process.","At first glance it would appear that the radial pressure can be applied by a “clam shell” heating device that clamps around the stent device and mandrel.","However, such a device is not capable of applying even radial pressure.","One possible solution is to divide the clam shell device into a number of segments, preferably at least six, each of which is equipped with pressure means to force the segment radially towards the center of textured mandrel.","Similarly, the mandrel can be divided into segments or otherwise be capable of an increase in diameter (e.g., by formation from a material having a large coefficient of expansion upon temperature increase) to create radial pressure between the surface of the mandrel and the surrounding clam shell device.","An additional method of achieving bond pressure without wrapping is to use a clamshell device having an inner surface relief mirroring the textured mandrel.","That is, there would be ridges and valleys that would exactly register with the ridges and valleys on the mandrel when the shell is closed.","Similarly, a flat surface could be provided with ridges and valleys matching the mandrel surface if that surface were unrolled onto a flat plane.","With such a surface it is possible to roll the mandrel in contact and registration with the flat pattern so that defined pressure is applied to the raised mandrel regions.","The downward force applied to the mandrel controls the bond pressure while the rate of rolling controls the time a given bond is under pressure.","This process can be carried out in an oven or the mandrel and surface can contain heating elements.","One method of ensuring registration between the mandrel pattern and the flat surface pattern is to have gears attached to one or both ends of the mandrel mesh with a toothed rack that runs along one or both edges of the patterned surface.","Contact pressure is controlled by weight of the mandrel or by a mechanical linkage that applies a controlled downward force to the mandrel.","To this point no mandrel patterns or textures have been described.","It will be clear to one skilled in the art that this invention permits a complex pattern wherein the entire stent structure is mirrored by the valleys and ridges of the mandrel with the structural members of the stent fitting into the valleys and the apices of the ridges or raised portions falling at discrete points within the open areas of the stent.","What may be somewhat less obvious is that far simpler patterns can also produce excellent results in the present invention.","One simple mandrel design is a “splined” mandrel wherein the mandrel has a number of longitudinal ridges (splines) so that a cross-section of the mandrel looks something like a toothed gear.","FIG.","2 shows a perspective view of such a mandrel 20 with longitudinal splines 22.FIG.","3 shows a cross section of the mandrel 20 wherein it is apparent that the splines 22 have rounded edges to avoid damaging or cutting the surface of the ePTFE.","FIG.","4 shows a perspective view of an encapsulated stent 30 made on the splined mandrel 20.The stent 46 is composed of struts 48 arranged in a diamond pattern.","Regions 52 at the ends of the device (marked by cross-hatching) have complete bonding between the two ePTFE tubular members.","This region is produced by smooth, non-splined regions of the mandrel.","Dotted lines 54 mark the position of the splines and the resulting regions of selective bonding.","That is, the device has spaced apart bonded regions running the length of the open diamond regions 56.Because of this orientation, successive tiers of diamond regions 56 along the longitudinal axis of the device are alternately bonded and unbonded.","FIG.","6 shows a scanning electron micrograph of an oblique section through a longitudinally selectively bonded stent 44.A cross-section of the strut 48 is shown as well as a bonded region 54 and an unbonded slip pocket 62.The unbonded pockets 62 allow free movement of the stent struts 48.However, even those diamond regions 56 containing bonds 54 allow relatively unimpeded movement of the struts 48 because the bond 54 is only down the central part of the diamond region 56—relatively distant from the struts 48.Tests show that the selectively bonded stent 30 can be radially compressed with considerably less force than a stent that is encapsulated by uniformly bonding all regions where the ePTFE tubular members contact each other.","The longitudinal bonds somewhat restrict longitudinal compression of the device as the bonded regions buckle less readily than unbonded ePTFE.","The longitudinal bonds 54 do restrict the side to side flexibility or bendability of the device to some extent.","In some applications this stiffening of the device is desirable while in other applications one needs a stent device that is able to bend more freely.","Increased lateral flexibility can be achieved by using a mandrel with radial ridges rather than longitudinal ridges as shown in FIG.","7.Again the ridges 58 are spaced apart in relation to the strut 48 spacing in the stent to be encapsulated.","If the stent 46 shown in FIG.","4 is used, the radial ridges 58 can be spaced apart to place circumferential bonds through alternate tiers of diamond regions 56.The resulting device is more bendable laterally than the version with longitudinal bonds.","In addition, the circumferential bonds result in a device that is more easily compressed longitudinally.","It is clear that the area and orientation of the bond regions influence the properties of the final device.","For example, a helical pattern of ridges produces a device with intermediate properties: it is more laterally bendable that the longitudinally bonded device of FIG.","4, but it has more resistance to longitudinal compression than does a device with circumferential bonds.","The pitch of the helical pattern controls the overall effect with shallow pitches acting more like circumferential ridges and steep pitches acting more like longitudinal ridges.","Multiple helices can be used with opposing (e.g., clockwise and counter clockwise) ridges, producing a device that is more resistant to lateral bending.","Virtually any combination of the described patterns can be used to produce devices having a preferred direction of bendability or devices that resist longitudinal compression in one region while permitting such compression in another.","The stent device illustrated in the figures is one in which the stent struts form courses or diamond-shaped spaces and the struts continue from course to course to create an extended tubular device.","Stents are also available which consist of only a single course (or segment) of diamond-shapes.","The current method can advantageously be used to combine a number of these segments together to make an extended tubular device.","Frequently, these single segment stents consist of an alternation of larger and smaller diamond shapes.","For example, the segments can be arranged with large diamonds touching large diamonds.","Other arrangements included a “twisted” design wherein each successive segment is rotationally offset and an “alternating” design wherein alternate segment are rotated so that a given large diamond is bounded on either side by a small diamond.","The precise properties of the resulting encapsulated device depend on these factors.","However, the significant thing about the prior art encapsulation is that it produced a device that is relatively stiff and unbending.","Various adhesives (as opposed to directly adhering PTFE to PTFE) can also be used to create the pattern of bonded regions.","FIG.","8 shows a diagram of one method for using adhesives to create selective bonds.","In a first step 32, a tubular graft member is placed on a support such as a mandrel.","In a second step 34, a stent (or stents) is placed over the first graft member.","In a third step 64, a coating of adhesive is placed over the stent graft combination.","This adhesive is one that is “activatable” meaning that the material is not inherently sticky as it is applied.","However, it can be activated by applying heat, light or some other energy so that it hardens or otherwise changes to form a permanent bond.","In the next step 64, a second tubular member is placed over the adhesive-coated stent.","In the final step 66, a pattern of desired bonds is inscribed on the device with, for example, a laser or a heated probe or a photolithographic mask image.","The inscribing process provides energy to local regions of the structure to activate the adhesive and create selectively bonded regions.","A number of different activatable adhesive materials can be used in the present invention.","One such material might be a layer or coating of a thermoplastic such as polyethylene.","This material can be activated by heat that melts it so that it flows into the pores of the ePTFE.","After cooling, the plastic hardens so that the PTFE of one tubular member is bonded to the other tubular member."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"SELECTIVE ADHERENCE OF STENT-GRAFT COVERINGS\",\n \"An endoluminal prosthesis including a radially expandable support member having interior and exterior surfaces and a wall with openings, a first covering member including a biocompatible polymer material at least partially positioned against the interior surface, and a second covering member including a biocompatible polymer material at least partially positioned against the exterior surface.\",\n \"The first covering member attaches to the second covering member at predetermined bonding locations within less than all of the openings thereby leaving unbonded regions.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A prosthesis comprising: an expandable support comprising plural openings; a first covering inside of the support; and a second covering outside of the support, wherein the first and second coverings have multiple connections that extend through openings in the support and the connections form a pattern of loose space around the support.\",\n \"2.The prosthesis of claim 1 wherein the pattern of loose space includes a pocket around the support.\",\n \"3.The prosthesis of claim 2 wherein the prosthesis further comprises a therapeutic agent.\",\n \"4.The prosthesis of claim 3 wherein the pocket holds the therapeutic agent.\",\n \"5.The prosthesis of claim 4 wherein the connections additionally form a predominantly circumferential pattern.\",\n \"6.The prosthesis of claim 5 wherein the first covering is biocompatible.\",\n \"7.The prosthesis of claim 6 wherein the second covering is biocompatible.\",\n \"8.The prosthesis of claim 7 wherein the support and the first covering are unconnected.\",\n \"9.The prosthesis of claim 4 wherein the connections additionally form a predominantly longitudinal pattern.\",\n \"10.The prosthesis of claim 9 wherein the prosthesis length is greater than the first covering length and the second covering length.\",\n \"11.The prosthesis of claim 10 wherein the first covering and the second covering are fully bonded at their ends.\",\n \"12.The prosthesis of claim 11 wherein the second covering is biocompatible.\",\n \"13.The prosthesis of claim 12 wherein the first covering is biocompatible.\",\n \"14.The prosthesis of claim 13 wherein the support and the second covering are unconnected.\",\n \"15.The prosthesis of claim 14 wherein the support is radially expandable.\",\n \"16.The prosthesis of claim 15 wherein the support is cylindrical.\",\n \"17.The prosthesis of claim 16 wherein the support is a stent.\",\n \"18.A prosthesis comprising: a radially expandable stent comprising a plurality of openings; a first biocompatible covering inside of the stent; and a second biocompatible outside of the stent, wherein the first and second coverings are fully bonded at their ends, are unconnected to the stent, and have multiple connections that extend through openings in the stent, and the connections form a pattern of loose space defining a pocket around the stent, the pocket contains a therapeutic agent, and the stent length is greater than the first covering length and the second covering length.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The use of implantable vascular grafts comprised of PTFE is well known in the art.\",\n \"These grafts are typically used to replace or repair damaged or occluded blood vessels within the body.\",\n \"However, if such grafts are radially expanded within a blood vessel, they will exhibit some subsequent retraction.\",\n \"Further, such grafts usually require additional means for anchoring the graft within the blood vessel, such as sutures, clamps, or similarly functioning elements.\",\n \"To minimize the retraction and eliminate the requirement for additional attachment means, those skilled in the art have used stents, such as those presented by Palmaz in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,733,665 and Gianturco in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,580,568, which are incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein, either alone or in combination with PTFE grafts.\",\n \"For example, the stent described by Palmaz in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,733,665 can be used to repair an occluded blood vessel.\",\n \"The stent is introduced into the blood vessel via a balloon catheter, which is then positioned at the occluded site of the blood vessel.\",\n \"The balloon is then expanded, thereby expanding the overlying stent to a diameter comparable to the diameter of an unoccluded blood vessel.\",\n \"The balloon catheter is then deflated and removed with the stent remaining seated within the blood vessel because the stent shows little or no radial retraction.\",\n \"Use of radially expandable stents in combination with a PTFE graft is disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,078,726 to Kreamer, which teaches placing a pair of expandable stents within the interior ends of a prosthetic graft, having a length that is sufficient to span the damaged section of a blood vessel.\",\n \"The stents are then expanded to secure the graft to the blood vessel wall via a friction fit.\",\n \"Although stents and stent/graft combinations have been used to provide endovascular prostheses that are capable of maintaining their fit against blood vessel walls, other desirable features are lacking.\",\n \"For instance, features such as increased strength and durability of the prosthesis, as well as an inert, smooth, biocompatible blood flow surface on the luminal surface of the prosthesis and an inert, smooth biocompatible surface on the abluminal surface of the prosthesis, are advantageous characteristics of an implantable vascular graft.\",\n \"Some skilled in the art have recently addressed these desirable characteristics by producing strengthened and reinforced prostheses composed entirely of biocompatible grafts and graft layers.\",\n \"For example, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,048,065, issued to Weldon, et al.\",\n \"discloses a reinforced graft assembly comprising a biologic or biosynthetic graft component having a porous surface and a biologic or biosynthetic reinforcing sleeve which is concentrically fitted over the graft component.\",\n \"The reinforcing sleeve includes an internal layer, an intermediate layer, and an external layer, all of which comprise biocompatible fibers.\",\n \"The sleeve component functions to provide compliant reinforcement to the graft component.\",\n \"Further, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,163,951, issued to Pinchuk, et al.\",\n \"describes a composite vascular graft having an inner component, an intermediate component, and an outer component.\",\n \"The inner and outer components are preferably formed of expanded PTFE while the intermediate component is formed of strands of biocompatible synthetic material having a melting point lower than the material which comprises the inner and outer components.\",\n \"Another reinforced vascular prosthesis having enhanced compatibility and compliance is disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,354,329, issued to Whalen.\",\n \"This patent discloses a non-pyrogenic vascular prosthesis comprising a multilaminar tubular member having an interior stratum, a unitary medial stratum, and an exterior stratum.\",\n \"The medial stratum forms an exclusionary boundary between the interior and exterior strata.\",\n \"One embodiment of this prosthesis is formed entirely of silicone rubber that comprises different characteristics for the different strata contained within the graft.\",\n \"The prior art also includes grafts having increased strength and durability, which have been reinforced with stent-like members.\",\n \"For example, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,731,073, issued to Robinson, discloses an arterial graft prosthesis comprising a multi-layer graft having a helical reinforcement embedded within the wall of the graft.\",\n \"U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,969,896, issued to Shors describes an inner elastomeric biocompatible tube having a plurality of rib members spaced about the exterior surface of the inner tube, and a perforate flexible biocompatible wrap circumferentially disposed about, and attached to, the rib members.\",\n \"Another example of a graft having reinforcing stent-like members is disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,123,917, issued to Lee, which describes an expandable intraluminal vascular graft having an inner flexible cylindrical tube, an outer flexible cylindrical tube concentrically enclosing the inner tube, and a plurality of separate scaffold members positioned between the inner and outer tubes.\",\n \"Further, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,282,860, issued to Matsuno et al.\",\n \"discloses a multi-layer stent comprising an outer resin tube having at least one flap to provide an anchoring means, an inner fluorine-based resin tube and a mechanical reinforcing layer positioned between the inner and outer tubes.\",\n \"Still another stent-containing graft is described in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,389,106 issued to Tower, which discloses an impermeable expandable intravascular stent including a dispensable frame and an impermeable deformable membrane interconnecting portions of the frame to form an impermeable exterior wall.\",\n \"The membrane comprises a synthetic non-latex, non-vinyl polymer while the frame is comprised of a fine platinum wire.\",\n \"The membrane is attached to the frame by placing the frame on a mandrel, dipping the frame and the mandrel into a polymer and organic solvent solution, withdrawing the frame and mandrel from the solution, drying the frame and mandrel, and removing the mandrel from the polymer-coated frame.\",\n \"Microporous expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (“ePTFE”) tubes may be made by any of a number of well-known methods.\",\n \"Expanded PTFE is frequently produced by admixing particulate dry polytetrafluoroethylene resin with a liquid lubricant to form a viscous slurry.\",\n \"The mixture is poured into a mold, typically a cylindrical mold, and compressed to form a cylindrical billet.\",\n \"The billet is then rammed extruded through an extrusion die into either tubular or sheet structures, termed extrudates in the art.\",\n \"The extrudates consist of extruded PTFE-lubricant mixture called “wet PTFE.” Wet PTFE has a microstructure of coalesced, coherent PTFE resin particles in a highly crystalline state.\",\n \"Following extrusion, the wet PTFE is heated to a temperature below the flash point of the lubricant to volatilize a major fraction of the lubricant from the PTFE extrudate.\",\n \"The resulting PTFE extrudate without a major fraction of lubricant is known in the art as dried PTFE.\",\n \"The dried PTFE is then either uniaxially, biaxially or radially expanded using appropriate mechanical apparatus known in the art.\",\n \"Expansion is typically carried out at an elevated temperature, e.g., above room temperature but below 327° C., the crystalline melt point of PTFE.\",\n \"Uniaxial, biaxial or radial expansion of the dried PTFE causes the coalesced, coherent PTFE resin to form fibrils emanating from nodes (regions of coalesced PTFE), with the fibrils oriented parallel to the axis of expansion.\",\n \"Once expanded, the dried PTFE is referred to as expanded PTFE (“ePTFE”) or microporous PTFE.\",\n \"The ePTFE is then transferred to an oven where it is sintered by being heated to a temperature above 327° C., the crystalline melt point of PTFE.\",\n \"During the sintering process the ePTFE is restrained against uniaxial, biaxial or radial contraction.\",\n \"Sintering causes at least a portion of the crystalline PTFE to change from a crystalline state to an amorphous state.\",\n \"The conversion from a highly crystalline structure to one having an increased amorphous content locks the node and fibril microstructure, as well as its orientation relative to the axis of expansion, and provides a dimensionally stable tubular or sheet material upon cooling.\",\n \"Prior to the sintering step, the lubricant must be removed because the sintering temperature of PTFE is greater than the flash point of commercially available lubricants.\",\n \"Sintered ePTFE articles exhibit significant resistance to further uniaxial, or radial expansion.\",\n \"This property has led many in the art to devise techniques which entail endoluminal delivery and placement of an ePTFE graft having a desired fixed diameter, followed by endoluminal delivery and placement of an endoluminal prosthesis, such as a stent or other fixation device, to frictionally engage the endoluminal prosthesis within the lumen of the anatomical passageway.\",\n \"The Kreamer patent, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,078,726, discussed above, exemplifies such use of an ePTFE prosthetic graft.\",\n \"Similarly, International Publication Nos.\",\n \"WO95/05132 and WO95/05555, filed by W.L.\",\n \"Gore Associates, Inc., disclose balloon expandable prosthetic stents which have been covered on inner and outer surfaces by wrapping ePTFE sheet material about the balloon expandable prosthetic stent in its enlarged diameter, sintering the wrapped ePTFE sheet material to secure it about the stent, and crimping the assembly to a reduced diameter for endoluminal delivery.\",\n \"Once positioned endoluminally, the stent-graft combination is dilated to re-expand the stent to its enlarged diameter returning the ePTFE wrapping to its original diameter.\",\n \"Thus, it is well known in the prior art to provide an ePTFE covering which is fabricated at the final desired endovascular diameter and is endoluminally delivered in a folded or crimped condition to reduce its delivery profile, then unfolded in vivo using either the spring tension of a self-expanding, thermally induced expanding structural support member or a balloon catheter.\",\n \"However, the known ePTFE covered endoluminal stents are often covered on only one surface of the stent, i.e., either the luminal or abluminal wall surface of the stent.\",\n \"Where the stent is fully covered on both the luminal and abluminal wall surfaces of the stent, the covering completely surrounds the stent elements and fills the stent interstices, thereby encapsulating the stent.\",\n \"Examples of patents teaching encapsulated stents and encapsulation techniques include commonly assigned patents: U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,749,880, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,039,755, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,124,523, and U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,451,047, each of which is incorporated into this application as if fully set forth herein.\",\n \"When the encapsulated stent is comprised of shape memory alloy, characteristics of the stent make it necessary to encapsulate in the “large” state and then compress the encapsulated stent for delivery.\",\n \"In this case, encapsulation either increases the device's resistance to compression, or increases the delivery profile of the device as compression causes the polymeric material to fold or buckle around the stent.\",\n \"Perhaps the most serious problem is that the folding during compression actually encompasses folding of the stent itself, which unduly stresses the stent material and may result in structural failure.\",\n \"In contrast to the prior art, the present invention provides a method to encapsulate a stent in ePTFE whereby the structure contains pockets or regions where the ePTFE layers are not adhered to one another allowing the stent to contract or expand without being encumbered by ePTFE and without folding or stressing the stent itself.\",\n \"As used herein, the following terms have the following meanings: “Fibril” refers to a strand of PTFE material that originates from one or more nodes and terminates at one or more nodes.\",\n \"“Node” refers to the solid region within an ePTFE material at which fibrils originate and converge.\",\n \"“Internodal Distance” or “IND” refers to a distance between two adjacent nodes measured along the longitudinal axis of fibrils between the facing surfaces of the adjacent nodes.\",\n \"IND is usually expressed in micrometers (μm).\",\n \"“Node Length” as used herein refers to a distance measured along a straight line between the furthermost end points of a single node which line is perpendicular to the fibrils emanating from the node.\",\n \"“Nodal Elongation” as used herein refers to expansion of PTFE nodes in the ePTFE microstructure along the Node Length.\",\n \"“Longitudinal Surface” of a node as used herein refers to a nodal surface from which fibrils emanate.\",\n \"“Node Width” as used herein refers to a distance measured along a straight line, drawn parallel to the fibrils, between opposing longitudinal surfaces of a node.\",\n \"“Plastic Deformation” as used herein refers to the deformation of the ePTFE microstructure under the influence of an expansive force which deforms and increases the Node Length and results in elastic recoil of the ePTFE material less than about 25%.\",\n \"“Radially Expandable” as used herein to describe the present invention refers to a property of the ePTFE tubular member to undergo radially oriented Plastic Deformation mediated by Nodal Elongation.\",\n \"“Structural Integrity” as used herein to describe the present invention in terms of the ePTFE refers to a condition of the ePTFE microstructure both pre- and post-radial deformation in which the fibrils are substantially free of fractures or breaks and the ePTFE material is free of gross failures; when used to describe the entire device “Structural Integrity” may also include delamination of the ePTFE layers.\",\n \"Endoluminal stent devices are typically categorized into two primary types: balloon expandable and self-expanding.\",\n \"Of the self-expanding types of endoluminal stent devices, there are two principle sub-categories: elastically self-expanding and thermally self-expanding.\",\n \"The balloon expandable stents are typically made of a ductile material, such as stainless steel tube, which has been machined to form a pattern of openings separated by stent elements.\",\n \"Radial expansion is achieved by applying a radially outwardly directed force to the lumen of a balloon expandable stent and deforming the stent beyond its elastic limit from a smaller initial diameter to an enlarged final diameter.\",\n \"In this process the slots deform into “diamond shapes.” Balloon expandable stents are typically radially and longitudinally rigid and have limited recoil after expansion.\",\n \"These stents have superior hoop strength against compressive forces but should this strength be overcome, the devices will deform and not recover.\",\n \"Self-expanding stents, on the other hand, are fabricated from either spring metal or shape memory alloy wire which has been woven, wound or formed into a stent having interstices separated with wire stent elements.\",\n \"When compared to balloon-expandable stents, these devices have less hoop strength but their inherent resiliency allows them to recover once a compressive force that results in deformation is removed.\",\n \"Covered endoluminal stents are known in the art.\",\n \"Heretofore, however, the stent covering has been made of a polymeric material which has completely subtended the stent interstices, that is, the stent was completely embedded in the polymeric material.\",\n \"This has posed difficulty particularly with the self-expanding stents.\",\n \"To preserve their self-expanding property, all covered self-expanding stents have been covered with a polymeric covering while the stent is in its unstrained dimensional condition (i.e., its native enlarged diameter).\",\n \"Yet in order to deliver a covered stent, it must be constricted to a smaller delivery diameter.\",\n \"Radial compression of a stent necessarily causes the individual stent elements to traverse the stent interstices and pass into proximity to a laterally adjacent individual stent element, thereby occupying the previously open interstitial space.\",\n \"Any polymeric material which subtends or resides within the previously open interstitial space will necessarily be displaced, either through shearing, fracturing or otherwise responding to the narrowing of the interstitial space as the stent is compressed from its enlarged unstrained diameter to its strained reduced diameter.\",\n \"Because the struts of the stent are completely encapsulated, resistance of the polymer may cause folding or stressing of the struts during compression.\",\n \"It was recognized, therefore, that a need has developed to provide an encapsulating covering for a stent which is permanently retained on the stent, substantially isolates the stent material from the body tissue forming the anatomical passageway or from matter within the anatomical passageway, and which permits the stent to deform without substantial interference from the covering material.\",\n \"It is, therefore, a primary objective of the present invention to provide a method for encapsulating an endoluminal stent such that the encapsulating covering forms non-adhered regions which act as slip planes or pockets to permit the individual stent elements to traverse a substantial surface area of interstitial space between adjacent stent elements without resistance or interference from the encapsulating covering, thereby avoiding damage or stress to the stent elements.\",\n \"It is a further object of the present invention to use the pockets between the bonded regions to contain and deliver therapeutic substances.\",\n \"It is another objective of the present invention to provide an apparatus for applying to and selectively adhering sections of the encapsulating covering about the stent, and to provide a selectively adhered encapsulated covered stent-graft device.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Accordingly, the present invention relates generally to endoluminal stent-graft devices suitable for percutaneous delivery into a body through anatomical passageways to treat injured or diseased areas of the body.\",\n \"More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of bonding microporous polytetrafluoroethylene (“PTFE”) coverings over a stent scaffold in a manner which maintains unbonded regions to act as slip planes or pockets to accommodate planar movement of stent elements.\",\n \"In one embodiment of the present invention bonded and unbonded regions are formed by means of a mandrel which has a pattern of either raised projections or recesses in its surface which are either synchronous or asynchronous, respectively, with stent elements.\",\n \"In one embodiment, an encapsulated stent-graft device is provided in which an endoluminal stent having a plurality of individual stent elements separated by interstitial spaces is circumferentially covered along at least a portion of its longitudinal axis by at least one luminal and at least one abluminal covering of a polymeric material, the luminal and abluminal coverings being selectively adhered to one another at discrete portions thereof in a manner which forms a plurality of open pockets surrounding a plurality of stent elements.\",\n \"In another embodiment, a radially expandable reinforced vascular graft includes a first layer of biocompatible flexible material, a second layer of biocompatible flexible material, and a support layer sandwiched between the first and second layers of biocompatible flexible material.\",\n \"In one embodiment, a selective bonding system can be advantageously used to produce inflatable pockets by bonding the first layer to the second layer in defined patterns.\",\n \"The resulting structure can then be inflated and stiffened by injection of a fluid resulting in a supporting structure without inclusion of a stent.\",\n \"A crude analogy might be the construction of an air mattress that is composed of flexible polymeric layers bonded to each other in a predetermined pattern.\",\n \"The at least one luminal and at least one abluminal covering of a polymeric material are preferably comprised of expanded PTFE, unexpanded porous PTFE, woven polyester or expanded PTFE yarns, polyimides, silicones, polyurethane, fluoroethylpolypropylene (PEP), polypropylfluorinated amines (PFA), or other related fluorinated polymers.\",\n \"The stent may be made of any strong material which can undergo radial expansion but which is also resistant to non-elastic collapse such as silver, titanium, nickel-titanium alloys, stainless steel, gold, or any suitable plastic material capable of maintaining its shape and material properties at sintering temperatures and having the necessary strength and elasticity to enable radial expansion without collapse due to the presence of the polymer coverings.\",\n \"A preferred embodiment of the radially expandable reinforced vascular device includes a tubular stent, having a plurality of stent elements and stent interstices, concentrically covered along at least a portion of its longitudinal length by a luminal polymeric covering and an abluminal polymeric covering.\",\n \"The luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings are discontinuously joined to one another through some of the stent interstices.\",\n \"The luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings may be shorter in length than the stent member to permit opposing stent ends to flare outwardly upon radial expansion of the stent member.\",\n \"Alternatively, the ends of the stent member may be completely encased by the luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings.\",\n \"The stent member is preferably a self-expanding stent, which may be either an elastic spring material stent, such as a stainless steel stent as disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,266,073 to Wall, a non-woven stainless steel self-expanding stent as disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,282,824 to Gianturco, or a thermoelastic stent made of a shape memory alloy, e.g., a nickel-titanium alloy commonly known as NITINOL, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,147,370 to McNamara et al., each of which is incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein.\",\n \"As used herein, a tubular shaped support member preferably comprises a stent made of silver, titanium, stainless steel, gold, or any suitable plastic material capable of maintaining its shape and material properties at sintering temperatures and having the strength and elasticity to permit radial expansion and resist radial collapse.\",\n \"In accordance with the present invention, selective bonding of expanded PTFE luminal and abluminal layers encapsulates the endoluminal stent and isolates the stent from both the tissue forming the anatomical passageway as well as any fluid, such as blood, bile, urine, etc.\",\n \"which may pass through the anatomical passageway.\",\n \"The presence of slip planes or pockets formed by the selectively adhered regions of ePTFE: i) permits freedom of movement of stent elements within the encapsulating covering during both expansion and contraction of the stent along either its radial or longitudinal axes; ii) permits uniform folding of the ePTFE stent covering material which is complementary to the structure of the stent element lattice; iii) permits movement of the stent relative to the ePTFE encapsulating layers; iv) reduces forces required to compress or dilate the stent in the case of elastically or thermally self-expanding stents; v) reduces radial expansion pressures required to balloon expand an ePTFE encapsulated stent; and vi) provides void regions which may be used in conjunction with the microporous microstructure of the ePTFE covering material to retain and release bioactive substances, such as anticoagulant drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, or the like.\",\n \"Alternative arrangements of the stent member or other suitable structural support sufficient to maintain the luminal patency of the luminal and abluminal polymer coverings may be employed.\",\n \"For example, a radially expandable, articulated reinforced vascular graft may be formed by concentrically interdisposing a structural support assembly comprising multiple stent members spaced apart from one another between two tubular polymer covering members, then partially joining the two tubular polymer covering members by circumferentially compressing selected regions of the two tubular polymer covering members and thermally bonding the selectively compressed regions to one another.\",\n \"The present invention also encompasses selective bonding of multiple polymeric layers to create an inflatable structure.\",\n \"Such a structure can be inflated by fluids delivered through lumens within the delivery catheter.\",\n \"The selective bonding method allows creation of devices with multiple adjacent channels or pockets.\",\n \"Some of these pockets can be pre-filled with a therapeutic drug to prevent restenosis or local thrombosis.\",\n \"Alternate pockets can be arranged for fluid inflation after the device is inserted.\",\n \"One method of making the foregoing encapsulated stent-graft is to join concentrically a luminal polymeric tube, an endoluminal stent, and an abluminal polymeric tube and to place the assembly onto a mandrel having a plurality of raised projections separated by land areas, or by a plurality of land areas separated by a plurality of recesses.\",\n \"Either the raised projections or the land areas are patterned to match a pattern of either the stent elements of the stent interstices, both the stent elements and stent interstices or portions of each.\",\n \"In this way the projections or the landed areas exert pressure, respectively on select regions of the PTFE resulting in limited regions of adherence or fusion when the device is heated to sintering temperatures.\",\n \"Using a mandrel, luminal pressure is selectively applied to produce selectively placed bonds.\",\n \"As will become clear, bonding pressure can be applied from the luminal or the abluminal or both surfaces of the device.\",\n \"The present invention is also directed to a process for making a radially expandable reinforced stent-graft device by: a) positioning a radially expandable stent member including a plurality of interconnected stent elements and a plurality of interstices between adjacent interconnected stent elements, concentrically over a first polymeric cover member; b) positioning a second polymer cover member concentrically over the radially expandable stent member and the first polymeric cover member; c) selectively joining portions of the first polymeric cover member and the second polymeric cover member through a plurality of the interstices of the stent member, while leaving portions of the first and second polymeric cover members unjoined and forming slip planes or pockets to accommodate movement of at least a portion of the interconnected stent elements therethrough; and d) fully joining opposing end regions of the first and second polymer cover members through the interstices of the stent member proximate to opposing ends of the stent member.\",\n \"Fixing the support layer to the biocompatible graft layers includes selectively applying pressure to the portions of the luminal and abluminal polymer covers after they are loaded onto a mandrel and then heating the resulting assembly at sintering temperatures to form a mechanical bond at the selected areas of applied pressure.\",\n \"Alternatively, a pattern of at least one of an adhesive, an aqueous dispersion of polytetrafluoroethylene, a polytetrafluoroethylene tape, fluoroethylpolypropylene (PEP), or tetrafluoroethylene (collectively the “adhesive”) may be introduced between the luminal and abluminal polymer covers at selected positions, followed by heating the assembly to the melt temperature of the adhesive to bond the luminal and abluminal polymer covers while leaving unbonded slip plane regions to accommodate movement of the stent elements.\",\n \"If ultraviolet curable adhesives are used, a UV laser or a photolithography system can be used to create the bond pattern.\",\n \"Many thermoplastic polymers such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyurethane and polyethylene terephthalate can also be used.\",\n \"If pieces of one of these or similar polymers are placed or attached to one of the polymer covers in the region to be bonded, heat and pressure will melt the thermoplastic causing it to flow into the pores of the ePTFE, thereby bonding the ePTFE layers together.\",\n \"These and other embodiments, features and advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art when taken with reference to the following more detailed description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings that are first briefly described.\"\n ],\n [\n \"PRIORITY This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/348,180, filed Nov. 10, 2016, which is a division of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/310,527, filed Jun.\",\n \"20, 2014, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,492,269, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/225,028, filed Sep. 2, 2011, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,790,241, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"11/363,689, filed Feb. 27, 2006, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,012,194, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"10/410,589, filed Apr.\",\n \"9, 2003, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"7,004,966, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"09/1764,811, filed Jan. 16, 2001, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,547,814, which is a division of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"09/409,209, filed Sep. 30, 1999, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,245,099, which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"§ 119(e) to U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application No.\",\n \"60/1102,518, filed Sep. 30, 1998, each of which is incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein.\",\n \"BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The use of implantable vascular grafts comprised of PTFE is well known in the art.\",\n \"These grafts are typically used to replace or repair damaged or occluded blood vessels within the body.\",\n \"However, if such grafts are radially expanded within a blood vessel, they will exhibit some subsequent retraction.\",\n \"Further, such grafts usually require additional means for anchoring the graft within the blood vessel, such as sutures, clamps, or similarly functioning elements.\",\n \"To minimize the retraction and eliminate the requirement for additional attachment means, those skilled in the art have used stents, such as those presented by Palmaz in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,733,665 and Gianturco in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,580,568, which are incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein, either alone or in combination with PTFE grafts.\",\n \"For example, the stent described by Palmaz in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,733,665 can be used to repair an occluded blood vessel.\",\n \"The stent is introduced into the blood vessel via a balloon catheter, which is then positioned at the occluded site of the blood vessel.\",\n \"The balloon is then expanded, thereby expanding the overlying stent to a diameter comparable to the diameter of an unoccluded blood vessel.\",\n \"The balloon catheter is then deflated and removed with the stent remaining seated within the blood vessel because the stent shows little or no radial retraction.\",\n \"Use of radially expandable stents in combination with a PTFE graft is disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,078,726 to Kreamer, which teaches placing a pair of expandable stents within the interior ends of a prosthetic graft, having a length that is sufficient to span the damaged section of a blood vessel.\",\n \"The stents are then expanded to secure the graft to the blood vessel wall via a friction fit.\",\n \"Although stents and stent/graft combinations have been used to provide endovascular prostheses that are capable of maintaining their fit against blood vessel walls, other desirable features are lacking.\",\n \"For instance, features such as increased strength and durability of the prosthesis, as well as an inert, smooth, biocompatible blood flow surface on the luminal surface of the prosthesis and an inert, smooth biocompatible surface on the abluminal surface of the prosthesis, are advantageous characteristics of an implantable vascular graft.\",\n \"Some skilled in the art have recently addressed these desirable characteristics by producing strengthened and reinforced prostheses composed entirely of biocompatible grafts and graft layers.\",\n \"For example, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,048,065, issued to Weldon, et al.\",\n \"discloses a reinforced graft assembly comprising a biologic or biosynthetic graft component having a porous surface and a biologic or biosynthetic reinforcing sleeve which is concentrically fitted over the graft component.\",\n \"The reinforcing sleeve includes an internal layer, an intermediate layer, and an external layer, all of which comprise biocompatible fibers.\",\n \"The sleeve component functions to provide compliant reinforcement to the graft component.\",\n \"Further, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,163,951, issued to Pinchuk, et al.\",\n \"describes a composite vascular graft having an inner component, an intermediate component, and an outer component.\",\n \"The inner and outer components are preferably formed of expanded PTFE while the intermediate component is formed of strands of biocompatible synthetic material having a melting point lower than the material which comprises the inner and outer components.\",\n \"Another reinforced vascular prosthesis having enhanced compatibility and compliance is disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,354,329, issued to Whalen.\",\n \"This patent discloses a non-pyrogenic vascular prosthesis comprising a multilaminar tubular member having an interior stratum, a unitary medial stratum, and an exterior stratum.\",\n \"The medial stratum forms an exclusionary boundary between the interior and exterior strata.\",\n \"One embodiment of this prosthesis is formed entirely of silicone rubber that comprises different characteristics for the different strata contained within the graft.\",\n \"The prior art also includes grafts having increased strength and durability, which have been reinforced with stent-like members.\",\n \"For example, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,731,073, issued to Robinson, discloses an arterial graft prosthesis comprising a multi-layer graft having a helical reinforcement embedded within the wall of the graft.\",\n \"U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,969,896, issued to Shors describes an inner elastomeric biocompatible tube having a plurality of rib members spaced about the exterior surface of the inner tube, and a perforate flexible biocompatible wrap circumferentially disposed about, and attached to, the rib members.\",\n \"Another example of a graft having reinforcing stent-like members is disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,123,917, issued to Lee, which describes an expandable intraluminal vascular graft having an inner flexible cylindrical tube, an outer flexible cylindrical tube concentrically enclosing the inner tube, and a plurality of separate scaffold members positioned between the inner and outer tubes.\",\n \"Further, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,282,860, issued to Matsuno et al.\",\n \"discloses a multi-layer stent comprising an outer resin tube having at least one flap to provide an anchoring means, an inner fluorine-based resin tube and a mechanical reinforcing layer positioned between the inner and outer tubes.\",\n \"Still another stent-containing graft is described in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,389,106 issued to Tower, which discloses an impermeable expandable intravascular stent including a dispensable frame and an impermeable deformable membrane interconnecting portions of the frame to form an impermeable exterior wall.\",\n \"The membrane comprises a synthetic non-latex, non-vinyl polymer while the frame is comprised of a fine platinum wire.\",\n \"The membrane is attached to the frame by placing the frame on a mandrel, dipping the frame and the mandrel into a polymer and organic solvent solution, withdrawing the frame and mandrel from the solution, drying the frame and mandrel, and removing the mandrel from the polymer-coated frame.\",\n \"Microporous expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (“ePTFE”) tubes may be made by any of a number of well-known methods.\",\n \"Expanded PTFE is frequently produced by admixing particulate dry polytetrafluoroethylene resin with a liquid lubricant to form a viscous slurry.\",\n \"The mixture is poured into a mold, typically a cylindrical mold, and compressed to form a cylindrical billet.\",\n \"The billet is then rammed extruded through an extrusion die into either tubular or sheet structures, termed extrudates in the art.\",\n \"The extrudates consist of extruded PTFE-lubricant mixture called “wet PTFE.” Wet PTFE has a microstructure of coalesced, coherent PTFE resin particles in a highly crystalline state.\",\n \"Following extrusion, the wet PTFE is heated to a temperature below the flash point of the lubricant to volatilize a major fraction of the lubricant from the PTFE extrudate.\",\n \"The resulting PTFE extrudate without a major fraction of lubricant is known in the art as dried PTFE.\",\n \"The dried PTFE is then either uniaxially, biaxially or radially expanded using appropriate mechanical apparatus known in the art.\",\n \"Expansion is typically carried out at an elevated temperature, e.g., above room temperature but below 327° C., the crystalline melt point of PTFE.\",\n \"Uniaxial, biaxial or radial expansion of the dried PTFE causes the coalesced, coherent PTFE resin to form fibrils emanating from nodes (regions of coalesced PTFE), with the fibrils oriented parallel to the axis of expansion.\",\n \"Once expanded, the dried PTFE is referred to as expanded PTFE (“ePTFE”) or microporous PTFE.\",\n \"The ePTFE is then transferred to an oven where it is sintered by being heated to a temperature above 327° C., the crystalline melt point of PTFE.\",\n \"During the sintering process the ePTFE is restrained against uniaxial, biaxial or radial contraction.\",\n \"Sintering causes at least a portion of the crystalline PTFE to change from a crystalline state to an amorphous state.\",\n \"The conversion from a highly crystalline structure to one having an increased amorphous content locks the node and fibril microstructure, as well as its orientation relative to the axis of expansion, and provides a dimensionally stable tubular or sheet material upon cooling.\",\n \"Prior to the sintering step, the lubricant must be removed because the sintering temperature of PTFE is greater than the flash point of commercially available lubricants.\",\n \"Sintered ePTFE articles exhibit significant resistance to further uniaxial, or radial expansion.\",\n \"This property has led many in the art to devise techniques which entail endoluminal delivery and placement of an ePTFE graft having a desired fixed diameter, followed by endoluminal delivery and placement of an endoluminal prosthesis, such as a stent or other fixation device, to frictionally engage the endoluminal prosthesis within the lumen of the anatomical passageway.\",\n \"The Kreamer patent, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,078,726, discussed above, exemplifies such use of an ePTFE prosthetic graft.\",\n \"Similarly, International Publication Nos.\",\n \"WO95/05132 and WO95/05555, filed by W.L.\",\n \"Gore Associates, Inc., disclose balloon expandable prosthetic stents which have been covered on inner and outer surfaces by wrapping ePTFE sheet material about the balloon expandable prosthetic stent in its enlarged diameter, sintering the wrapped ePTFE sheet material to secure it about the stent, and crimping the assembly to a reduced diameter for endoluminal delivery.\",\n \"Once positioned endoluminally, the stent-graft combination is dilated to re-expand the stent to its enlarged diameter returning the ePTFE wrapping to its original diameter.\",\n \"Thus, it is well known in the prior art to provide an ePTFE covering which is fabricated at the final desired endovascular diameter and is endoluminally delivered in a folded or crimped condition to reduce its delivery profile, then unfolded in vivo using either the spring tension of a self-expanding, thermally induced expanding structural support member or a balloon catheter.\",\n \"However, the known ePTFE covered endoluminal stents are often covered on only one surface of the stent, i.e., either the luminal or abluminal wall surface of the stent.\",\n \"Where the stent is fully covered on both the luminal and abluminal wall surfaces of the stent, the covering completely surrounds the stent elements and fills the stent interstices, thereby encapsulating the stent.\",\n \"Examples of patents teaching encapsulated stents and encapsulation techniques include commonly assigned patents: U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,749,880, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,039,755, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,124,523, and U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,451,047, each of which is incorporated into this application as if fully set forth herein.\",\n \"When the encapsulated stent is comprised of shape memory alloy, characteristics of the stent make it necessary to encapsulate in the “large” state and then compress the encapsulated stent for delivery.\",\n \"In this case, encapsulation either increases the device's resistance to compression, or increases the delivery profile of the device as compression causes the polymeric material to fold or buckle around the stent.\",\n \"Perhaps the most serious problem is that the folding during compression actually encompasses folding of the stent itself, which unduly stresses the stent material and may result in structural failure.\",\n \"In contrast to the prior art, the present invention provides a method to encapsulate a stent in ePTFE whereby the structure contains pockets or regions where the ePTFE layers are not adhered to one another allowing the stent to contract or expand without being encumbered by ePTFE and without folding or stressing the stent itself.\",\n \"As used herein, the following terms have the following meanings: “Fibril” refers to a strand of PTFE material that originates from one or more nodes and terminates at one or more nodes.\",\n \"“Node” refers to the solid region within an ePTFE material at which fibrils originate and converge.\",\n \"“Internodal Distance” or “IND” refers to a distance between two adjacent nodes measured along the longitudinal axis of fibrils between the facing surfaces of the adjacent nodes.\",\n \"IND is usually expressed in micrometers (μm).\",\n \"“Node Length” as used herein refers to a distance measured along a straight line between the furthermost end points of a single node which line is perpendicular to the fibrils emanating from the node.\",\n \"“Nodal Elongation” as used herein refers to expansion of PTFE nodes in the ePTFE microstructure along the Node Length.\",\n \"“Longitudinal Surface” of a node as used herein refers to a nodal surface from which fibrils emanate.\",\n \"“Node Width” as used herein refers to a distance measured along a straight line, drawn parallel to the fibrils, between opposing longitudinal surfaces of a node.\",\n \"“Plastic Deformation” as used herein refers to the deformation of the ePTFE microstructure under the influence of an expansive force which deforms and increases the Node Length and results in elastic recoil of the ePTFE material less than about 25%.\",\n \"“Radially Expandable” as used herein to describe the present invention refers to a property of the ePTFE tubular member to undergo radially oriented Plastic Deformation mediated by Nodal Elongation.\",\n \"“Structural Integrity” as used herein to describe the present invention in terms of the ePTFE refers to a condition of the ePTFE microstructure both pre- and post-radial deformation in which the fibrils are substantially free of fractures or breaks and the ePTFE material is free of gross failures; when used to describe the entire device “Structural Integrity” may also include delamination of the ePTFE layers.\",\n \"Endoluminal stent devices are typically categorized into two primary types: balloon expandable and self-expanding.\",\n \"Of the self-expanding types of endoluminal stent devices, there are two principle sub-categories: elastically self-expanding and thermally self-expanding.\",\n \"The balloon expandable stents are typically made of a ductile material, such as stainless steel tube, which has been machined to form a pattern of openings separated by stent elements.\",\n \"Radial expansion is achieved by applying a radially outwardly directed force to the lumen of a balloon expandable stent and deforming the stent beyond its elastic limit from a smaller initial diameter to an enlarged final diameter.\",\n \"In this process the slots deform into “diamond shapes.” Balloon expandable stents are typically radially and longitudinally rigid and have limited recoil after expansion.\",\n \"These stents have superior hoop strength against compressive forces but should this strength be overcome, the devices will deform and not recover.\",\n \"Self-expanding stents, on the other hand, are fabricated from either spring metal or shape memory alloy wire which has been woven, wound or formed into a stent having interstices separated with wire stent elements.\",\n \"When compared to balloon-expandable stents, these devices have less hoop strength but their inherent resiliency allows them to recover once a compressive force that results in deformation is removed.\",\n \"Covered endoluminal stents are known in the art.\",\n \"Heretofore, however, the stent covering has been made of a polymeric material which has completely subtended the stent interstices, that is, the stent was completely embedded in the polymeric material.\",\n \"This has posed difficulty particularly with the self-expanding stents.\",\n \"To preserve their self-expanding property, all covered self-expanding stents have been covered with a polymeric covering while the stent is in its unstrained dimensional condition (i.e., its native enlarged diameter).\",\n \"Yet in order to deliver a covered stent, it must be constricted to a smaller delivery diameter.\",\n \"Radial compression of a stent necessarily causes the individual stent elements to traverse the stent interstices and pass into proximity to a laterally adjacent individual stent element, thereby occupying the previously open interstitial space.\",\n \"Any polymeric material which subtends or resides within the previously open interstitial space will necessarily be displaced, either through shearing, fracturing or otherwise responding to the narrowing of the interstitial space as the stent is compressed from its enlarged unstrained diameter to its strained reduced diameter.\",\n \"Because the struts of the stent are completely encapsulated, resistance of the polymer may cause folding or stressing of the struts during compression.\",\n \"It was recognized, therefore, that a need has developed to provide an encapsulating covering for a stent which is permanently retained on the stent, substantially isolates the stent material from the body tissue forming the anatomical passageway or from matter within the anatomical passageway, and which permits the stent to deform without substantial interference from the covering material.\",\n \"It is, therefore, a primary objective of the present invention to provide a method for encapsulating an endoluminal stent such that the encapsulating covering forms non-adhered regions which act as slip planes or pockets to permit the individual stent elements to traverse a substantial surface area of interstitial space between adjacent stent elements without resistance or interference from the encapsulating covering, thereby avoiding damage or stress to the stent elements.\",\n \"It is a further object of the present invention to use the pockets between the bonded regions to contain and deliver therapeutic substances.\",\n \"It is another objective of the present invention to provide an apparatus for applying to and selectively adhering sections of the encapsulating covering about the stent, and to provide a selectively adhered encapsulated covered stent-graft device.\",\n \"BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention relates generally to endoluminal stent-graft devices suitable for percutaneous delivery into a body through anatomical passageways to treat injured or diseased areas of the body.\",\n \"More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of bonding microporous polytetrafluoroethylene (“PTFE”) coverings over a stent scaffold in a manner which maintains unbonded regions to act as slip planes or pockets to accommodate planar movement of stent elements.\",\n \"In one embodiment of the present invention bonded and unbonded regions are formed by means of a mandrel which has a pattern of either raised projections or recesses in its surface which are either synchronous or asynchronous, respectively, with stent elements.\",\n \"In one embodiment, an encapsulated stent-graft device is provided in which an endoluminal stent having a plurality of individual stent elements separated by interstitial spaces is circumferentially covered along at least a portion of its longitudinal axis by at least one luminal and at least one abluminal covering of a polymeric material, the luminal and abluminal coverings being selectively adhered to one another at discrete portions thereof in a manner which forms a plurality of open pockets surrounding a plurality of stent elements.\",\n \"In another embodiment, a radially expandable reinforced vascular graft includes a first layer of biocompatible flexible material, a second layer of biocompatible flexible material, and a support layer sandwiched between the first and second layers of biocompatible flexible material.\",\n \"In one embodiment, a selective bonding system can be advantageously used to produce inflatable pockets by bonding the first layer to the second layer in defined patterns.\",\n \"The resulting structure can then be inflated and stiffened by injection of a fluid resulting in a supporting structure without inclusion of a stent.\",\n \"A crude analogy might be the construction of an air mattress that is composed of flexible polymeric layers bonded to each other in a predetermined pattern.\",\n \"The at least one luminal and at least one abluminal covering of a polymeric material are preferably comprised of expanded PTFE, unexpanded porous PTFE, woven polyester or expanded PTFE yarns, polyimides, silicones, polyurethane, fluoroethylpolypropylene (PEP), polypropylfluorinated amines (PFA), or other related fluorinated polymers.\",\n \"The stent may be made of any strong material which can undergo radial expansion but which is also resistant to non-elastic collapse such as silver, titanium, nickel-titanium alloys, stainless steel, gold, or any suitable plastic material capable of maintaining its shape and material properties at sintering temperatures and having the necessary strength and elasticity to enable radial expansion without collapse due to the presence of the polymer coverings.\",\n \"A preferred embodiment of the radially expandable reinforced vascular device includes a tubular stent, having a plurality of stent elements and stent interstices, concentrically covered along at least a portion of its longitudinal length by a luminal polymeric covering and an abluminal polymeric covering.\",\n \"The luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings are discontinuously joined to one another through some of the stent interstices.\",\n \"The luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings may be shorter in length than the stent member to permit opposing stent ends to flare outwardly upon radial expansion of the stent member.\",\n \"Alternatively, the ends of the stent member may be completely encased by the luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings.\",\n \"The stent member is preferably a self-expanding stent, which may be either an elastic spring material stent, such as a stainless steel stent as disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,266,073 to Wall, a non-woven stainless steel self-expanding stent as disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,282,824 to Gianturco, or a thermoelastic stent made of a shape memory alloy, e.g., a nickel-titanium alloy commonly known as NITINOL, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,147,370 to McNamara et al., each of which is incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein.\",\n \"As used herein, a tubular shaped support member preferably comprises a stent made of silver, titanium, stainless steel, gold, or any suitable plastic material capable of maintaining its shape and material properties at sintering temperatures and having the strength and elasticity to permit radial expansion and resist radial collapse.\",\n \"In accordance with the present invention, selective bonding of expanded PTFE luminal and abluminal layers encapsulates the endoluminal stent and isolates the stent from both the tissue forming the anatomical passageway as well as any fluid, such as blood, bile, urine, etc.\",\n \"which may pass through the anatomical passageway.\",\n \"The presence of slip planes or pockets formed by the selectively adhered regions of ePTFE: i) permits freedom of movement of stent elements within the encapsulating covering during both expansion and contraction of the stent along either its radial or longitudinal axes; ii) permits uniform folding of the ePTFE stent covering material which is complementary to the structure of the stent element lattice; iii) permits movement of the stent relative to the ePTFE encapsulating layers; iv) reduces forces required to compress or dilate the stent in the case of elastically or thermally self-expanding stents; v) reduces radial expansion pressures required to balloon expand an ePTFE encapsulated stent; and vi) provides void regions which may be used in conjunction with the microporous microstructure of the ePTFE covering material to retain and release bioactive substances, such as anticoagulant drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, or the like.\",\n \"Alternative arrangements of the stent member or other suitable structural support sufficient to maintain the luminal patency of the luminal and abluminal polymer coverings may be employed.\",\n \"For example, a radially expandable, articulated reinforced vascular graft may be formed by concentrically interdisposing a structural support assembly comprising multiple stent members spaced apart from one another between two tubular polymer covering members, then partially joining the two tubular polymer covering members by circumferentially compressing selected regions of the two tubular polymer covering members and thermally bonding the selectively compressed regions to one another.\",\n \"The present invention also encompasses selective bonding of multiple polymeric layers to create an inflatable structure.\",\n \"Such a structure can be inflated by fluids delivered through lumens within the delivery catheter.\",\n \"The selective bonding method allows creation of devices with multiple adjacent channels or pockets.\",\n \"Some of these pockets can be pre-filled with a therapeutic drug to prevent restenosis or local thrombosis.\",\n \"Alternate pockets can be arranged for fluid inflation after the device is inserted.\",\n \"One method of making the foregoing encapsulated stent-graft is to join concentrically a luminal polymeric tube, an endoluminal stent, and an abluminal polymeric tube and to place the assembly onto a mandrel having a plurality of raised projections separated by land areas, or by a plurality of land areas separated by a plurality of recesses.\",\n \"Either the raised projections or the land areas are patterned to match a pattern of either the stent elements of the stent interstices, both the stent elements and stent interstices or portions of each.\",\n \"In this way the projections or the landed areas exert pressure, respectively on select regions of the PTFE resulting in limited regions of adherence or fusion when the device is heated to sintering temperatures.\",\n \"Using a mandrel, luminal pressure is selectively applied to produce selectively placed bonds.\",\n \"As will become clear, bonding pressure can be applied from the luminal or the abluminal or both surfaces of the device.\",\n \"The present invention is also directed to a process for making a radially expandable reinforced stent-graft device by: a) positioning a radially expandable stent member including a plurality of interconnected stent elements and a plurality of interstices between adjacent interconnected stent elements, concentrically over a first polymeric cover member; b) positioning a second polymer cover member concentrically over the radially expandable stent member and the first polymeric cover member; c) selectively joining portions of the first polymeric cover member and the second polymeric cover member through a plurality of the interstices of the stent member, while leaving portions of the first and second polymeric cover members unjoined and forming slip planes or pockets to accommodate movement of at least a portion of the interconnected stent elements therethrough; and d) fully joining opposing end regions of the first and second polymer cover members through the interstices of the stent member proximate to opposing ends of the stent member.\",\n \"Fixing the support layer to the biocompatible graft layers includes selectively applying pressure to the portions of the luminal and abluminal polymer covers after they are loaded onto a mandrel and then heating the resulting assembly at sintering temperatures to form a mechanical bond at the selected areas of applied pressure.\",\n \"Alternatively, a pattern of at least one of an adhesive, an aqueous dispersion of polytetrafluoroethylene, a polytetrafluoroethylene tape, fluoroethylpolypropylene (PEP), or tetrafluoroethylene (collectively the “adhesive”) may be introduced between the luminal and abluminal polymer covers at selected positions, followed by heating the assembly to the melt temperature of the adhesive to bond the luminal and abluminal polymer covers while leaving unbonded slip plane regions to accommodate movement of the stent elements.\",\n \"If ultraviolet curable adhesives are used, a UV laser or a photolithography system can be used to create the bond pattern.\",\n \"Many thermoplastic polymers such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyurethane and polyethylene terephthalate can also be used.\",\n \"If pieces of one of these or similar polymers are placed or attached to one of the polymer covers in the region to be bonded, heat and pressure will melt the thermoplastic causing it to flow into the pores of the ePTFE, thereby bonding the ePTFE layers together.\",\n \"These and other embodiments, features and advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art when taken with reference to the following more detailed description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings that are first briefly described.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 is a process flow diagram illustrating a preferred method of making a stent-graft device FIG.\",\n \"2 is a perspective view of a mandrel having longitudinal ridges or splines.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 is a cross-section view of the mandrel shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.FIG.\",\n \"4 is a perspective view of a stent-graft device illustrating selected regions of bonding between the luminal and abluminal stent covers and a plurality of slip plane pockets intermediate the luminal and abluminal stent covers.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG.\",\n \"4.FIG.\",\n \"6 is a scanning electron micrograph illustrating a selectively bonded region and a slip plane pocket with a stent element residing therein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 is a perspective view of a mandrel having circumferential ridges (as opposed to longitudinal splines).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is a flow diagram showing a method of using adhesives to create selective adherence.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 is a flow diagram of an alternative method of using adhesives to create selective bonds.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The following detailed description should be read with reference to the drawings, in which like elements in different drawings are identically numbered.\",\n \"The drawings, which are not necessarily to scale, depict selected embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.\",\n \"The detailed description illustrates by way of example, not by way of limitation, the principles of the invention.\",\n \"This description will clearly enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and describes several embodiments, adaptations, variations, alternatives and uses of the invention, including what is presently believed to be the best mode of carrying out the invention.\",\n \"The selective adherence encapsulation of the present invention is an improvement to the total adherence method taught in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,749,880 that is incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein.\",\n \"The '880 patent discloses a method for encapsulating a support stent by placing the stent over a first tubular member of unsintered ePTFE and then placing a second tubular member of unsintered ePTFE coaxially over the stent so that the stent is sandwiched between two layers of ePTFE.\",\n \"Radial force is applied either internally or externally to force the first tubular member into contact with the stent and into contact with the second tubular members through openings in the stent or, respectively, to force the second tubular into contact with the stent and into contact with the first tubular member through openings in the stent.\",\n \"Finally, the compound structure is exposed to an elevated temperature to bond the first tubular member to the second tubular member wherever they are pressed into contact.\",\n \"In one embodiment an adhesive spread between the tubular members achieves the bonding.\",\n \"In a preferred embodiment the elevated temperature is a sintering temperature (above the crystalline melting point of PTFE) and direct PTFE to PTFE bonds form.\",\n \"As mentioned above, a potential drawback of this approach is that when the radial dimensions of the stent change, movement of components of the stent (necessary for radial dimensional changes) may be impeded by surrounding ePTFE.\",\n \"If the stent is encapsulated in an expanded form and then reduced in diameter prior to insertion into a patient, the encapsulating ePTFE may significantly increase the force needed to compress the stent and may fold in a manner so as to increase the profile of the collapsed device.\",\n \"If the bonding of the first member to the second member is selective, i.e., does not occur through all available openings in the stent, slip planes or pockets will be left in the structure so that stent components can reorient within these pockets without encountering resistance from the ePTFE.\",\n \"Without the slip planes formed by the selective bonds of the present invention, crimping a shape memory stent may cause the stent members to fold or otherwise become stressed.\",\n \"This can result in permanent damage to the stent.\",\n \"There is a considerable possible range of extent for the selective adherence of the instant invention.\",\n \"At one extreme is a fully encapsulated stent as provided by the '880 patent in which there is full bonding between all areas of the two tubular members in which the stent struts do not block contact.\",\n \"At the other extreme would be a “spot welded” device where only tiny areas, probably in the middle of the open areas of the stent structure, are bonded.\",\n \"At that extreme, there might be a tendency for the PTFE members to separate from the stent should the spot weld bond strength be exceeded; however, the spot weld structure would provide virtually no impedance to radial deformation of the stent.\",\n \"The optimum extent of selective adherence, as well as the geometric position of the bonds in relation to the stent, depends on the structure of the stent as well as the desired properties of the completed device.\",\n \"Complete control of the bond positions can be achieved by a numerically controlled (NC) machine in which the two-ePTFE members with the interposed stent are mounted on a mandrel that is attached to the spindle drive of a modified NC lathe.\",\n \"In this device a heated tool whose tip is equal to the desired spot weld area is automatically pressed onto the mandrel-mounted ePTFE-stent sandwich in proper registration to create a bond in an open region between components or struts of the stent.\",\n \"The tool moves away slightly as the mandrel turns to expose another open region and the tool then moves in to create a second bond and so on.\",\n \"Depending on the distance that the mandrel turns, the spot welds may be in adjacent open spaces or may skip one or more open spaces.\",\n \"As the mandrel is turned, the tool advances along the longitudinal axis of the mandrel so that virtually any patterns of spot welds can be created on the ePTFE-stent device.\",\n \"The precise pattern is under computer control and an entire stent can be treated quite quickly.\",\n \"If the design calls for spot welds of different surface areas, the stent can be treated with different tools (e.g., different areas) in several passes.\",\n \"An ultrasonic welding tip can readily be substituted for the heated tool.\",\n \"It is also possible to use radiant energy, as with a laser, to effect similar results.\",\n \"However, the inventors presently believe that pressure as well as heat are needed for the best bonds.\",\n \"Currently, laser-induced bonds do not appear to be as strong as bonds that are made with heat and pressure unless a curable adhesive system (as with a UV laser) is employed.\",\n \"Splined or textured mandrels can also be used to apply selective heat and pressure to create selective adherence between the ePTFE members.\",\n \"By “spline or splined” is meant a cylindrical structure with longitudinally oriented ridges equally spaced about the structure's circumference.\",\n \"Wherever the first and second ePTFE tubular members come into contact a bond can be formed if heat and pressure are applied.\",\n \"If the ePTFE tubular members and support stent are placed over a mandrel whose surface is patterned with elevated and depressed regions (hills and valleys), the elevated regions or ridges will apply pressure to the overlying stent-ePTFE regions allowing selective bonding of those regions.\",\n \"Regions of ePTFE overlying valleys will not be pressed together and no bond will form there.\",\n \"That is, the pattern of the mandrel will be translated into an identical pattern of bonded regions in the stent-graft device.\",\n \"To make this translation, the process diagram of FIG.\",\n \"1 is followed, as described below.\",\n \"In a first step 32, a first ePTFE tubular member is placed on a mandrel.\",\n \"Preferably, the first tubular member is composed of unsintered ePTFE.\",\n \"In a second step 34, a stent device is placed over the first tubular member.\",\n \"In a third step 36, a second ePTFE tubular member is slid coaxially over the stent.\",\n \"The second tubular member may be unsintered or partially sintered.\",\n \"Use of a partially sintered second tubular member reduces the chance of tearing the member while pulling it over the stent.\",\n \"It will be apparent to one of skill in the art that there is an advantage to using a second tubular member with a slightly larger diameter than the first tubular member.\",\n \"However, if the second tubular member is too large, folds or creases may develop during the bonding process.\",\n \"This entire process may use one of the textured mandrels that will be described below.\",\n \"However, it is also possible to assemble one or both tubular members and the stent on a smooth mandrel and then slip the assembly off the smooth mandrel and onto the textured mandrel.\",\n \"If the fit is fairly tight, it may be easier to place the stent over the first tubular member when that member is supported by a smooth mandrel.\",\n \"Also, there may be a limited number of textured mandrels available for production so that making a number of ePTFE-stent assemblies on less expensive smooth mandrels may result in a significant savings of time.\",\n \"If a smooth mandrel is used, the stent assembly is transferred to a textured mandrel before the next step (wrapping) occurs.\",\n \"In a fourth step 38, the ePTFE-stent assembly is helically wrapped with PTFE “tape.” This tape is actually a long, thin strip of PTFE of the type generally known as “plumber's tape.” The tape is evenly wound over the stent device so that the device is covered from end to end.\",\n \"The tape is wound so that the long axis of the tape is approximately normal (offset by 10-) 15° to the long axis of the stent device.\",\n \"Ideally, there should be some overlap of the tape covering the device so that coverage is even and complete.\",\n \"In fact an overlap ratio wherein five revolutions is needed to progress one tape width has proven effective.\",\n \"The tape should be applied with a controlled and even tension so that it is sufficiently tight to apply pressure at right angles to the surface of the stent device.\",\n \"One way of achieving this is to use a force clutch on the tape spool to ensure a reproducible tension in the tape as it is wound over the stent device.\",\n \"While this process can be performed by hand, it is fairly easy to automate the winding process by having the mandrel mounted in a modified lathe.\",\n \"As the lathe spindle turns, the spool of tape automatically advances along the turning mandrel ensuring an even and reproducible wrapping.\",\n \"In a fifth step 42, the wrapped assembly is then placed into an oven at a temperature above or nearly equal to the crystalline melting temperature of ePTFE.\",\n \"The wrapping applies pressure to regions of ePTFE that are underlaid by raised portions of the textured mandrel.\",\n \"The oven provides the necessary heat to cause a strong ePTFE-ePTFE bond to form in these regions.\",\n \"The sintering time can vary from a few minutes to a few tens of minutes.\",\n \"The overall time depends to some extent on the mass of the mandrel.\",\n \"If the mandrel is solid, it may take a considerable time for the surface of the mandrel to reach sintering temperatures.\",\n \"The process can be speeded up by using a hollow mandrel or even a mandrel containing a heating element so that the ePTFE is rapidly brought to a sintering temperature.\",\n \"A thermistor or similar temperature sensor is advantageous embedded into the surface of the mandrel so that it is possible to determine when the ePTFE reaches sintering temperature.\",\n \"In this way the process can be accurately timed.\",\n \"In the final step 44, the tape is removed from the mandrel (after cooling) and the finished device is removed.\",\n \"Results in this step indicate the success of the sintering step 42.If sintering time or temperature is excessive, there may be some bonding of the PTFE tape to the stent device.\",\n \"The solution is to reduce the sintering time and/or temperature in future sintering.\",\n \"This is one reason that time, temperature and wrapping force should be carefully controlled.\",\n \"This problem can also be avoided by using means other than PTFE wrapping to apply pressure to the device during the sintering process.\",\n \"At first glance it would appear that the radial pressure can be applied by a “clam shell” heating device that clamps around the stent device and mandrel.\",\n \"However, such a device is not capable of applying even radial pressure.\",\n \"One possible solution is to divide the clam shell device into a number of segments, preferably at least six, each of which is equipped with pressure means to force the segment radially towards the center of textured mandrel.\",\n \"Similarly, the mandrel can be divided into segments or otherwise be capable of an increase in diameter (e.g., by formation from a material having a large coefficient of expansion upon temperature increase) to create radial pressure between the surface of the mandrel and the surrounding clam shell device.\",\n \"An additional method of achieving bond pressure without wrapping is to use a clamshell device having an inner surface relief mirroring the textured mandrel.\",\n \"That is, there would be ridges and valleys that would exactly register with the ridges and valleys on the mandrel when the shell is closed.\",\n \"Similarly, a flat surface could be provided with ridges and valleys matching the mandrel surface if that surface were unrolled onto a flat plane.\",\n \"With such a surface it is possible to roll the mandrel in contact and registration with the flat pattern so that defined pressure is applied to the raised mandrel regions.\",\n \"The downward force applied to the mandrel controls the bond pressure while the rate of rolling controls the time a given bond is under pressure.\",\n \"This process can be carried out in an oven or the mandrel and surface can contain heating elements.\",\n \"One method of ensuring registration between the mandrel pattern and the flat surface pattern is to have gears attached to one or both ends of the mandrel mesh with a toothed rack that runs along one or both edges of the patterned surface.\",\n \"Contact pressure is controlled by weight of the mandrel or by a mechanical linkage that applies a controlled downward force to the mandrel.\",\n \"To this point no mandrel patterns or textures have been described.\",\n \"It will be clear to one skilled in the art that this invention permits a complex pattern wherein the entire stent structure is mirrored by the valleys and ridges of the mandrel with the structural members of the stent fitting into the valleys and the apices of the ridges or raised portions falling at discrete points within the open areas of the stent.\",\n \"What may be somewhat less obvious is that far simpler patterns can also produce excellent results in the present invention.\",\n \"One simple mandrel design is a “splined” mandrel wherein the mandrel has a number of longitudinal ridges (splines) so that a cross-section of the mandrel looks something like a toothed gear.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 shows a perspective view of such a mandrel 20 with longitudinal splines 22.FIG.\",\n \"3 shows a cross section of the mandrel 20 wherein it is apparent that the splines 22 have rounded edges to avoid damaging or cutting the surface of the ePTFE.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 shows a perspective view of an encapsulated stent 30 made on the splined mandrel 20.The stent 46 is composed of struts 48 arranged in a diamond pattern.\",\n \"Regions 52 at the ends of the device (marked by cross-hatching) have complete bonding between the two ePTFE tubular members.\",\n \"This region is produced by smooth, non-splined regions of the mandrel.\",\n \"Dotted lines 54 mark the position of the splines and the resulting regions of selective bonding.\",\n \"That is, the device has spaced apart bonded regions running the length of the open diamond regions 56.Because of this orientation, successive tiers of diamond regions 56 along the longitudinal axis of the device are alternately bonded and unbonded.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 shows a scanning electron micrograph of an oblique section through a longitudinally selectively bonded stent 44.A cross-section of the strut 48 is shown as well as a bonded region 54 and an unbonded slip pocket 62.The unbonded pockets 62 allow free movement of the stent struts 48.However, even those diamond regions 56 containing bonds 54 allow relatively unimpeded movement of the struts 48 because the bond 54 is only down the central part of the diamond region 56—relatively distant from the struts 48.Tests show that the selectively bonded stent 30 can be radially compressed with considerably less force than a stent that is encapsulated by uniformly bonding all regions where the ePTFE tubular members contact each other.\",\n \"The longitudinal bonds somewhat restrict longitudinal compression of the device as the bonded regions buckle less readily than unbonded ePTFE.\",\n \"The longitudinal bonds 54 do restrict the side to side flexibility or bendability of the device to some extent.\",\n \"In some applications this stiffening of the device is desirable while in other applications one needs a stent device that is able to bend more freely.\",\n \"Increased lateral flexibility can be achieved by using a mandrel with radial ridges rather than longitudinal ridges as shown in FIG.\",\n \"7.Again the ridges 58 are spaced apart in relation to the strut 48 spacing in the stent to be encapsulated.\",\n \"If the stent 46 shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 is used, the radial ridges 58 can be spaced apart to place circumferential bonds through alternate tiers of diamond regions 56.The resulting device is more bendable laterally than the version with longitudinal bonds.\",\n \"In addition, the circumferential bonds result in a device that is more easily compressed longitudinally.\",\n \"It is clear that the area and orientation of the bond regions influence the properties of the final device.\",\n \"For example, a helical pattern of ridges produces a device with intermediate properties: it is more laterally bendable that the longitudinally bonded device of FIG.\",\n \"4, but it has more resistance to longitudinal compression than does a device with circumferential bonds.\",\n \"The pitch of the helical pattern controls the overall effect with shallow pitches acting more like circumferential ridges and steep pitches acting more like longitudinal ridges.\",\n \"Multiple helices can be used with opposing (e.g., clockwise and counter clockwise) ridges, producing a device that is more resistant to lateral bending.\",\n \"Virtually any combination of the described patterns can be used to produce devices having a preferred direction of bendability or devices that resist longitudinal compression in one region while permitting such compression in another.\",\n \"The stent device illustrated in the figures is one in which the stent struts form courses or diamond-shaped spaces and the struts continue from course to course to create an extended tubular device.\",\n \"Stents are also available which consist of only a single course (or segment) of diamond-shapes.\",\n \"The current method can advantageously be used to combine a number of these segments together to make an extended tubular device.\",\n \"Frequently, these single segment stents consist of an alternation of larger and smaller diamond shapes.\",\n \"For example, the segments can be arranged with large diamonds touching large diamonds.\",\n \"Other arrangements included a “twisted” design wherein each successive segment is rotationally offset and an “alternating” design wherein alternate segment are rotated so that a given large diamond is bounded on either side by a small diamond.\",\n \"The precise properties of the resulting encapsulated device depend on these factors.\",\n \"However, the significant thing about the prior art encapsulation is that it produced a device that is relatively stiff and unbending.\",\n \"Various adhesives (as opposed to directly adhering PTFE to PTFE) can also be used to create the pattern of bonded regions.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 shows a diagram of one method for using adhesives to create selective bonds.\",\n \"In a first step 32, a tubular graft member is placed on a support such as a mandrel.\",\n \"In a second step 34, a stent (or stents) is placed over the first graft member.\",\n \"In a third step 64, a coating of adhesive is placed over the stent graft combination.\",\n \"This adhesive is one that is “activatable” meaning that the material is not inherently sticky as it is applied.\",\n \"However, it can be activated by applying heat, light or some other energy so that it hardens or otherwise changes to form a permanent bond.\",\n \"In the next step 64, a second tubular member is placed over the adhesive-coated stent.\",\n \"In the final step 66, a pattern of desired bonds is inscribed on the device with, for example, a laser or a heated probe or a photolithographic mask image.\",\n \"The inscribing process provides energy to local regions of the structure to activate the adhesive and create selectively bonded regions.\",\n \"A number of different activatable adhesive materials can be used in the present invention.\",\n \"One such material might be a layer or coating of a thermoplastic such as polyethylene.\",\n \"This material can be activated by heat that melts it so that it flows into the pores of the ePTFE.\",\n \"After cooling, the plastic hardens so that the PTFE of one tubular member is bonded to the other tubular member.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876029"}}},{"rowIdx":4495057,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["VEHICLE DISPLAY DEVICE","A vehicle display device is configured for installation to a vehicle and includes a mirror element configured to reflect external light entering from a front surface toward the front surface, and a light emitting device.","The light emitting device includes a light source configured to emit light, and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source.","The light guide element includes an emission surface configured to output incident light, and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface.","The mirror element and the light guide element are stacked at an outer surface of the mirror element to allow the optical-path changing portion to change the optical path."],["1.A vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle, the vehicle display device comprising: a mirror element configured to reflect external light entering from a front surface toward the front surface; and a light emitting device; wherein the light emitting device comprises: a light source configured to emit light, and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, wherein the light guide element comprises: an emission surface configured to output incident light, and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface, and wherein the mirror element and the light guide element are stacked at an outer surface of the mirror element to allow the optical-path changing portion to change the optical path.","2.The vehicle display device according to claim 1, wherein the light guide element is panel-like, and wherein the light guide element is stacked on the mirror element at an outer surface of the mirror element.","3.The vehicle display device according to claim 1, wherein the mirror element comprises: a thin-film transmissive portion configured with one surface as a front surface, and a reflective layer formed on the other surface of the transmissive portion and configured to reflect external light entering from the front surface and passing through the transmissive portion toward the front surface, and wherein the light guide element is arranged at the other surface of the mirror element.","4.A vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle, the vehicle display device comprising: a light emitting device, wherein the light emitting device comprises: a light source configured to emit light, and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, and wherein the light guide element comprises: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light from the light source toward the emission surface, and wherein a reflective layer is formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element, that is configured to reflect external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element toward the emission surface.","5.A vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle, the vehicle display device comprising: a light emitting device, wherein the light emitting device comprises: a light source configured to emit light, and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, and wherein the light guide element comprises: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source, an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light, a transmissive layer formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element and configured to allow external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element to pass therethrough, and a reflective layer configured to reflect external light passing through the transmissive layer toward the emission surface.","6.The vehicle display device according claim 1, wherein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.","7.The vehicle display device according to claim 1, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.","8.The vehicle display device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.","9.","(canceled) 10.","(canceled) 11.The vehicle display device according claim 2, wherein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.","12.The vehicle display device according claim 3, wherein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.","13.The vehicle display device according claim 4, wherein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.","14.The vehicle display device according claim 5, wherein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.","15.The vehicle display device according to claim 2, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.","16.The vehicle display device according to claim 3, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.","17.The vehicle display device according to claim 4, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.","18.The vehicle display device according to claim 5, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.","19.The vehicle display device according to claim 6, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.","20.The vehicle display device according to claim 2, wherein the vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.","21.The vehicle display device according to claim 3, wherein the vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.","22.The vehicle display device according to claim 4, wherein the vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>"],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>One or more embodiments of the present invention provides a vehicle display device that is easily visible from other vehicles by using a door mirror or window pane so that the mirror surface or window surface emits the light.","A vehicle display device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is configured for installation to a vehicle and includes: a mirror element configured to reflect external light entering from a front surface toward the front surface; and a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface; and the mirror element and the light guide element are stacked at an outer surface of the mirror element to allow the optical-path changing portion to change the optical path.","In the vehicle display device described herein: the light guide element is panel-like, and is stacked on the mirror element at an outer surface of the mirror element.","In the vehicle display device described herein the mirror element includes: a thin-film transmissive portion configured with one surface as a front surface; and a reflective layer formed on the other surface of the transmissive portion and configured to reflect external light entering from the front surface and passing through the transmissive portion toward the front surface; and the light guide element is arranged at the other surface of the mirror element.","A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; and the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light from the light source toward the emission surface; and a reflective layer formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element and configured to reflect external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element toward the emission surface.","A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; and the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light; a transmissive layer formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element and configured to allow external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element to pass therethrough; and a reflective layer configured to reflect external light passing through the transmissive layer toward the emission surface.","In the vehicle display device described herein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.","The vehicle display device described herein further includes: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle; and the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.","The vehicle display device described herein the vehicle display device is configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.","A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a window material; and a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface; and the window material and the light guide element are stacked.","A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, and to serve as window material; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light from the light source toward the emission surface.","The vehicle display device described herein is provided with a light emitting device that includes a light source and a light guide element that may be attached to a door mirror or a window pane, and the vehicle display device is configured to emit light."],["BACKGROUND Field The present invention relates to a vehicle display device that may be installed on a vehicle.","Related Art It is increasingly common for a door mirror to incorporate a turn signal, allowing the door mirror with the built-in turn signal to function as a vehicle display device.","Japanese Patent Publication No.","2008-94215 discloses a turn signal provided with a light source and an oblong light guide material; the turn signal is attached to the door mirror and emits light lengthwise.","However, only a portion of the door mirror body emits light among the vehicle display devices of the related art.","Therefore, a vehicle display device that emits light easily visible to other vehicles is desired.","The door mirror disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No.","2008-94215 is similar.","Since the oblong light guide material is simply attached to the mirror body, the door mirror has a small light emission area.","Thus, a more easily visible light emitting surface area is desired.","SUMMARY One or more embodiments of the present invention provides a vehicle display device that is easily visible from other vehicles by using a door mirror or window pane so that the mirror surface or window surface emits the light.","A vehicle display device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is configured for installation to a vehicle and includes: a mirror element configured to reflect external light entering from a front surface toward the front surface; and a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface; and the mirror element and the light guide element are stacked at an outer surface of the mirror element to allow the optical-path changing portion to change the optical path.","In the vehicle display device described herein: the light guide element is panel-like, and is stacked on the mirror element at an outer surface of the mirror element.","In the vehicle display device described herein the mirror element includes: a thin-film transmissive portion configured with one surface as a front surface; and a reflective layer formed on the other surface of the transmissive portion and configured to reflect external light entering from the front surface and passing through the transmissive portion toward the front surface; and the light guide element is arranged at the other surface of the mirror element.","A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; and the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light from the light source toward the emission surface; and a reflective layer formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element and configured to reflect external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element toward the emission surface.","A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; and the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light; a transmissive layer formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element and configured to allow external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element to pass therethrough; and a reflective layer configured to reflect external light passing through the transmissive layer toward the emission surface.","In the vehicle display device described herein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.","The vehicle display device described herein further includes: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle; and the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.","The vehicle display device described herein the vehicle display device is configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.","A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a window material; and a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface; and the window material and the light guide element are stacked.","A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, and to serve as window material; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light from the light source toward the emission surface.","The vehicle display device described herein is provided with a light emitting device that includes a light source and a light guide element that may be attached to a door mirror or a window pane, and the vehicle display device is configured to emit light.","EFFECTS A vehicle display device according to embodiments of the present invention may be applied to a door mirror or window pane configured for installation to a vehicle.","The vehicle display device is provided with a light emitting device which includes a light source and a light guide element, where the light emitting device changes the path light travels so the that the mirror surface or window surface radiates light and the light is emitted.","Thus, embodiments of the present invention exhibit superior benefits, such as improving the visibility to other vehicles.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 is a schematic plan view illustrating an example of the external features of a vehicle with a door mirror mounted thereon; and the door mirror using a vehicle display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","2A and FIG.","2B are schematic perspective views illustrating an example of the external features of a door mirror that uses a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","3 is a schematic diagram for describing a light emitting device in the vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","4 is a conceptual diagram depicting an optical path through a cross section of a light emitting device in the vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","5 is a schematic perspective view illustrating one example of a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","6 is a schematic front view illustrating a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","7 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","8 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","9 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device provided with a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","10 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an example of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","11 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","12 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","13 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","14A, FIG.","14B, and FIG.","14C are schematic diagrams for describing an example where a vehicle display device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle window pane; FIG.","15 is a schematic diagram for describing an example where a vehicle display device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle window pane; FIG.","16 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","17 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention; and FIG.","18 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the drawings.","Note that the following working example is merely an embodiment of the present invention and in no way limits the technical character of the present invention.","First Embodiment FIG.","1 is a schematic plan view illustrating an example of the external features of a vehicle with a door mirror mounted thereon, the door mirror using a vehicle display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention; The reference number 1 represents a vehicle; a vehicle display device according to an embodiment of the invention is adopted in a door mirror 2 which is installed on the vehicle 1.The door mirror 2 includes a built-in light emitting device 3 (later described; refer to FIG.","3); the light emitting device 3 emits highly directional light.","FIG.","1 is a plan view of the vehicle 1 and depicts the range of visibility for light emitted from the light emitting device 3 installed in the left-side door mirror 2 as oblique lines.","The light emitting device 3 emits directional light that is oriented outward from the host vehicle 1.Thus light emitted from the light emitting device 3 can be seen outside the vehicle 1 as illustrated in FIG.","1, for instance in a vehicle behind the vehicle 1.However, passengers in the vehicle 1, and especially the driver seated in the driver seat cannot see the light emitted from the light emitting device 3; passengers see an ordinary mirror.","Note that the right side door mirror 2 (not shown) functions identically.","FIG.","2A and FIG.","2B are schematic perspective views illustrating an example of the appearance of a door mirror that uses a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","2A illustrates the door mirror 2 in a normal state; FIG.","2B illustrates when the built-in light emitting device 3 emits light.","The entire mirror surface of the door mirror 2 radiates light when the light emitting device 3 emits light.","Therefore, a larger surface area radiates light compared to when the edge portion of the door mirror 2 lighting up lengthwise, for instance, the light emitted can be easily seen outside the vehicle 1, e.g., from a vehicle following the vehicle 1.Light Emitting Device Next, the principles governing a light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device (door mirror 2) according to embodiments of the invention is described.","FIG.","3 is a schematic diagram for describing a light emitting device provided to the vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; and FIG.","4 is a conceptual diagram depicting an optical path through a cross section of a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.","Note that the drawings are provided as outlines or schematic views to facilitate a simple and easy-to-understand description.","There are also cases where the drawings referenced in the description contain elements that are not drawn to scale in terms of the horizontal and vertical proportions or the spaces between components.","The light emitting device 3 is provided with a light source 30 that emits light and a light guide plate 31 (light guide element) that guides the incident light from the light source 30.The light source 30 may be configured using a light emitting element such as an LED with the light emitted from the light source 10 entering the light guide plate 31.The light guide plate 31 may be formed from a flexible thin-film material or curable sheet into a rectangular panel-like shape using a transparent resin having a high refractive index such as a polycarbonate (PC) resin or poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) resin, or using an inorganic material such as glass.","Here “panel like” indicates an object that is shorter in the thickness direction (thickness) than in the planar direction spreading out in two dimensions orthogonal to the thickness direction.","That is, while the light guide plate 31 is a rectangular parallelepiped, the length thereof in the thickness direction is less than the length in a plane spreading out in two dimensions and formed by the longitudinal direction and the transverse direction.","The light source 30 is installed at one end surface in the longitudinal direction of the light guide plate 31.That is, one of the surfaces making up the short side of the rectangle in the thickness direction is the incidence end surface 32 where light emitted from the light source 30 enters.","The light guide plate 31 causes light entering therein from the incidence end surface 32 to spread out in planar form in the light guide plate 31.The panel-like light guide plate 31 includes an emission surface 33 configured to emit incident light from the light source 30 and a rear surface 34 relative to and across from the emission surface 33.A plurality of optical-path changing portions 35 are formed on the rear surface 34 of the light guide plate 31.The optical-path changing portions 35 change the path of incident light that enters from the incidence end surface 32; in other words, the optical-path changing portions 35 modifies light by a prescribed angle toward the emission surface 33.Here, the optical-path changing portions 35 are illustrated as optical surfaces formed inside the light guide plate 31, and in this particular case, as reflection surfaces 35a that reflect incident light entering from the incidence end surface 32.Oblique notches may be cut into the rear surface 34 with the inclined surfaces serving as the reflection surfaces 35a.","The light entering the light guide plate 31 is directed to each of the optical-path changing portions 35, and each of the optical-path changing portions 35 modifies the optical path of light incident at positions thereon by a prescribed angle with the light exiting from the emission surface 33 toward a prescribed direction.","As illustrated in FIG.","3, the light source 30 is installed at the incidence end surface 32 of the light guide plate 31, and the incidence end surface 32 and the emission surface 33 are substantially orthogonal.","Additionally, the rear surface 34 faces the emission surface 33, and the rear surface 34 is also substantially orthogonal to the incidence end surface 32.The rear surface 34 is a flat surface substantially parallel to the emission surface 33 and is provided with inclined surfaces that form the optical-path changing portions 35.The flat rear surface 34 along with the emission surface 33 directs the incident light entering the light guide plate 31 from the incidence end surface 32 via total internal reflection therebetween and function to spread the light in the light guide plate 31 in planar form.","The inclined surfaces forming the optical-path changing portions 35 serve as the reflection surfaces 35a and reflect incident light entering the light guide plate 31 to modify the optical path thereof toward the emission surface 33.That is, the light emitted from the light source 30 and incident on the light guide plate 31 from the incidence end surface 32 is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34 within the light guide plate 31 and propagates therethrough in planar form.","On arriving at a reflection surface 35a formed in the optical-path changing portions 35, the light propagating through the light guide plate 31 is reflected by the reflection surface 35a and exits to the outside from the emission surface 33.The reflection surfaces 35a here serve as the optical-path changing portions 35.However, the optical-path changing portions 35 can have various forms so long as the optical-path changing portions 35 can change the path of incident light traveling through the light guide plate 31.For instance, the optical-path changing portions 35 may be formed as a cylindrical Fresnel lens, whereby the refraction effect of the refraction surface of the Fresnel lens (i.e.","the prism surface) changes the path of the incident light.","Additionally, in this case the Fresnel lens may be constituted by a plurality of parts with gaps therebetween.","The optical-path changing portions 35 may also be formed as a diffraction grating whereby the diffraction effect may change the optical path of the incident light.","Moreover, the reflection effect and the refraction effect of the prism may change the optical path of the incident light.","A vehicle display device provided with such kind of light emitting device 3 makes it possible to implement various kinds of door mirrors 2.Embodiments of the various internal structures possible for implementing the door mirror 2 using the vehicle display device are described.","First Embodiment FIG.","5 is a schematic perspective view illustrating one example of a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","6 is a schematic front view illustrating a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","7 and FIG.","8 are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","5 and FIG.","6 depict parts that can be seen when some components of the light emitting device 3 are removed from the door mirror 2.FIG.","7 schematically illustrates an arrangement of the light emitting device 3 and the mirror element 20 inside the door mirror 2 as seen from above.","FIG.","8 is an exploded view of the components in the light emitting device 3 and the mirror element 20 inside the door mirror 2 as seen from above.","The door mirror 2 is provided with a housing 21 that accommodates the various components in the light emitting device 3 and the mirror element 20.The front plane of the housing 21 is open and the rim includes a gap which allows the mirror element 20 to block the opening when the mirror element 20 is fitted to the housing 21.The housing 21 is provided with a drive mechanism 22 capable of changing the angle of the mirror element 20; the mirror element is secured to the drive mechanism 22.The housing 21 may also be installed on the vehicle 1 by way of an attachment 23; the attachment 23 contains various kinds of communication wiring for connecting the various electrical components in the mirror unit 20 such as the light source 30 of the light emitting device 3 in the door mirror 2 and the drive mechanism 22 to units in the vehicle 1 such as a control device.","The driver may manipulate various operational input buttons arranged near the driver seat which operates the drive mechanism 22 and adjusts the angle of the mirror element 20.Initiating operations such as a lane change may also cause the light source 30 to emit light.","A fastener frame 24 acts as a border inside the housing 21 and secures the light guide plate 31 and the mirror element 20 to the drive mechanism 22; the light guide plate 31 and the mirror element 20 are housed within the fastener frame 24 and thereby blocks the opening in the front surface of the housing 21.The fastener frame 24 includes a fastening panel at the rear so that securing the fastening panel to the drive mechanism 22 fastens the light guide plate 31 and mirror element 20 housed within the fastener frame 24 to the drive mechanism 22.The light guide plate 31 appears as a rectangle when viewed from the front, with the light guide plate 31 arranged so that the long side direction and the short side direction thereof are substantially parallel to the horizontal direction on the vertical direction respectively.","The light source 30 is arranged at the light guide plate 31 near the attachment 23 emits light from near the attachment 23.Arranging the light source so that incident light enters the light guide plate from near the attachment 23 facilitates adjusting the optical path towards outside the vehicle 1.Note that the light guide plate 31 may be configured from a flexible transparent panel, and the end portion of the light guide plate 31 near the light source 30 may be bent so that the light source is arranged behind the drive mechanism 22.Even in this case, the components may be arranged so that light emitted from the light source 30 enters the light guide plate 31 from near the attachment 23.The light guide plate 31 may be arranged behind the mirror element 20 within the fastener frame 24.The mirror element 20 and the light guide plate 31 may be securely adhered to the fastener panel as necessary with an adhesive agent.","The mirror element 20 is provided a transmissive portion 20b, a front surface 20a in front of the transmissive portion 20b, and a reflective layer 20c behind the transmissive portion 20b.","Light enters the mirror element 20 through the front surface 20a, passes through the transmissive portion 20b and reflects from the reflective layer 20c.","The transmissive portion 20b may be produced using a resin material such as transparent polycarbonate resin or poly methyl methacrylate resin, or an inorganic material such as glass.","The reflective layer 20c may be a metal-plated or vapor-deposited layer produced by plating or depositing a metal such as aluminum or silver.","The reflective layer 20c reflects light entering from the front surface 20a of the mirror element 20 whereby the mirror element 20 functions as a mirror.","The door mirror 2 with a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention applied thereto is configured with the light guide plate 31 stacked behind the mirror element 20.More specifically, the mirror element 20 and the light guide plates 31 behind the mirror element 20 are stacked so that the respective panel-like surfaces are parallel.","In other words, the mirror element 20 is a thin panel-like component provided with a transmissive portion 20b, a front surface 20a as one surface on the front part of the transmissive portion 20b, and a reflective layer 20c as the other surface on the back surface of the transmissive portion 20b.","Light enters the mirror element 20 through the front surface 20a, passes through the transmissive portion 20b and reflects from the reflective layer 20c toward the front surface 20a.","The light guide plate 31 is arranged at the other surface of the mirror element 20.The optical functions of the first embodiment of the present invention thusly configured are described.","FIG.","9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the optical path through the light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","9 superimposes a solid arrow and a double-line arrow over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the first embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while double-line arrow represent the path of external light entering from outside.","Light emitted from the light source 30 enters the light guide plate 31 from near the attachment 23.The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 (omitted from FIG.","9), and exits from the emission surface 33.Light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 passes through the mirror element 20 and exits from the door mirror 2.The mirror element 20 functions as a mirror by causing external light to enter through the front surface 20a, pass through the transmissive portion 20b, and reflect from reflective layer 20c to pass through the front surface 20a to the outside.","Given that the light guide plate 31 does not affect the light entering from outside, an image will not be distorted on reflection from the mirror element 20.The first embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a door mirror 2.The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (door mirror 2) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The vehicle display device functions identically to an ordinary mirror in a door mirror 2 when a driver in the driver seat views the door mirror 2.Outside the vehicle 1, for instance when viewed from a vehicle behind the vehicle 1, the entire mirror surface of the vehicle display device functions as a light emitting device 3 capable of emitting light, and the emission of light may provide various alerts on the operation of the vehicle, e.g., indicating the direction of the vehicle and the like.","More specifically, the vehicle display device operates as a turn indicator (i.e., turn signal) when one of the left or right door mirrors 2 provided to the vehicle emits light.","When both vehicle display devices emit light, the vehicle display device functions as a brake indicator (i.e., brake signal).","Moreover, when both vehicle display devices emit lights, and especially when blinking at predetermined intervals, the vehicle display device functions as an emergency display signal (hazard signal).","Thus, the vehicle display device emits light whereby various kinds of information may be provided outside the vehicle, for instance, to the driver in a following vehicle.","The mirror element 20 housed in the door mirror 2 is arranged in front of the light guide plate 31; therefore, the image reflected by the mirror element 20 does not give rise to certain phenomena such as distortion due to effects from the light guide plate 31.Second Embodiment The second embodiment changes the locations of the light guide plate 31 and the mirror element 20 in the vehicle display device of the first embodiment.","Given that only the location of the light guide plate 31 and the mirror element 20 changes in the second embodiment and all other configurations are identical to the first embodiment, it is sufficient to reference the first embodiment for these configurations as further descriptions thereof are omitted.","The identical parts in the first and second embodiments are given the same reference numerals.","FIG.","10 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an example of the internal structure for a door mirror 2 using a vehicle display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","10 depicts that door mirror 2 provided with a vehicle display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and schematically illustrates an arrangement of the light emitting device 3 and the mirror element 20 inside the door mirror 2 when viewed from above.","The light guide plate 31 is arranged in front of the mirror element 20 in the vehicle display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.","More specifically, the mirror element 20 and the light guide plate 31 in front of the mirror element 20 are stacked so that the respective panel-like surfaces are parallel.","In other words, the mirror element 20 is a thin panel-like component provided a transmissive portion 20b, a front surface 20a in front of the transmissive portion 20b, and a reflective layer 20c behind the transmissive portion 20b.","Light enters the mirror element 20 through the front surface 20a, passes through the transmissive portion 20b and reflects from the reflective layer 20c toward the front surface 20a.","The light guide plate 31 is stacked at the front surface 20a of the mirror element 20.The optical functions of a second embodiment of the present invention thusly configured are described.","FIG.","11 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through the light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","11 superimposes a solid arrow and a double-line arrow over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the second embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while the double-line arrow represent the path of external light entering from outside.","Light emitted from the light source 30 enters the light guide plate 31 from the incidence end surface 32.The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 (omitted from FIG.","11), and exits from the emission surface 33.Light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 exits from the door mirror 2.Note that light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 does not need to pass through the reflective layer 20c of the mirror component 20; therefore, this allows the light emitting device 3 according to the second embodiment to emit bright light externally.","The mirror element 20 functions as a mirror by allowing the external light transmitted through the light guide plate 31 to enter through the front surface 20a, pass through the transmissive portion 20b and reflect from the reflective layer 20c to pass through the light guide plate 31 and exit to the outside.","The external lights reflected by the mirror element 20 is transmitted through the light guide plate 31.However, the surface area of the reflection surfaces 35a of the optical-path changing portions 35 (i.e., the number of reflection surfaces 35a) may be smaller than the surface area of the front surface 20a.","This configuration allows the mirror element 20 to function as a mirror and additionally keep the distortion of an image reflected there from at a level unrecognizable to an observer.","The second embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a door mirror 2.The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (door mirror 2) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The vehicle display device functions identically to an ordinary mirror in a door mirror 2 when a driver in the driver seat views the door mirror 2.Outside the vehicle 1, for instance when viewed from a vehicle behind the vehicle 1, the entire mirror surface of the vehicle display device functions as a light emitting device 3 capable of emitting light, and the emission of light may provide various alerts on the operation of the vehicle, e.g., indicating the direction of the vehicle and the like.","The light guide plate 31 housed in the door mirror 2 is arranged in front of the mirror element 20 and thus also allows a brighter light to be emitted therefrom.","Third Embodiment The third embodiment uses the light guide plate 31 of the light emitting device 3 as a mirror element 20 in the vehicle display device of the first embodiment.","Given that only the light guide plate 31 and the mirror element 20 changes in the third embodiment and all other configurations are identical to the first embodiment, it is sufficient to reference the first embodiment for these configurations as further descriptions thereof are omitted.","The identical parts in the first and third embodiments are given the same reference numerals.","FIG.","12 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","12 superimposes a solid arrow and a double-line arrow over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the third embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while the double-line arrow represent the path of external light entering from outside.","In the third embodiment the light guide plate 31 with attached light source 30 is inserted into the fastener frame 24 which is secured to the front surface of the drive mechanism 22 that is in the housing 21.The light guide plate 31 also acts as a mirror element; and no specific mirror element 20 is provided.","A metal-plated or vapor-deposited reflective layer 36 may be formed as a metal-plated or vapor-deposited layer produced on the rear surface of the light guide plate 31 in the vehicle display device according to the third embodiment of the present invention by plating or depositing a metal such as aluminum or silver.","Therefore, the external light which enters from the emission surface 33 reflects from the reflective layer 36 whereby the light guide plate 31 acts as a mirror element.","Light emitted from the light source 30 enters the light guide plate 31 from the incidence end surface 32.The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 and exits from the emission surface 33.Light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 exits from the door mirror 2.In other words, the light guide plate 31 in the light emitting device 3 possesses an emission surface 33 and optical-path changing portions 35; the emission surface 33 outputs incident light that entered from the light source 30, and the optical-path changing portions 35 change the path of incident light from the light source 30 toward the emission surface 33.The light guide plate 31 further includes a reflective layer 36 formed on the rear surface 34 thereof which faces the emission surface 33; external light entering the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 reflects from the reflective layer 36 toward the emission surface 33.Thus, the light guide plate 31 functions to emit light to outside of the vehicle 1 and as a mirror.","Note that the light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 does not need to pass through the mirror element 20 as with the second embodiment; therefore, this allows the light emitting device 3 according to the third embodiment to emit bright light externally.","The third embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a door mirror 2.The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (door mirror 2) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The vehicle display device functions identically to an ordinary mirror in a door mirror 2 when a driver in the driver seat views the door mirror 2.Outside the vehicle 1, for instance when viewed from a vehicle behind the vehicle 1, the entire mirror surface of the vehicle display device functions as a light emitting device 3 capable of emitting light, and the emission of light may provide various alerts on the operation of the vehicle, e.g., indicating the direction of the vehicle and the like.","Additionally, having the light guide plate 31 include a reflective layer 36 that acts as the mirror element 20 therefore allows the light guide plate 31 emit bright light.","Fourth Embodiment The fourth embodiment provides a layer for protecting an outer surface of the light guide plate 31 of the third embodiment.","Given that only a layer is added in the fourth embodiment and all other configurations are identical to the third embodiment, it is sufficient to reference the third embodiment for these configurations as further descriptions thereof are omitted.","The identical parts in the third and fourth embodiments are given the same reference numerals.","FIG.","13 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","13 superimposes a solid arrow over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the fourth embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30.In the fourth embodiment the light guide plate 31 with attached light source 30, is inserted into the fastener frame 24 that is secured to the front surface of the drive mechanism 22 in the housing 21.The light guide plate 31 also acts as a mirror element; and no specific mirror element 20 is provided.","A layer is formed on a surface behind the attached light guide plate 31 to protect the surface at the back of the light guide plate.","The layer is produced from stacking metal-plated or vapor deposited reflective layer 36 formed by metal plating or vapor-depositing a metal such as aluminum or silver on top of a transmissive layer 37 produced from a resin material such as a transparent polycarbonate resin or a poly methyl methacrylate resin.","The transmissive layer 37 is integrally molded via heat treatment or the like to the flat portions of the light guide plate 31 with no light focusing portions 35.In a light guide plate 31 thusly configured, the protective layer which includes the transmissive layer 37 and the reflective layer 36, functions as a mirror element since the external light that enters from the emission surface 33 passes through the light guide plate 31, further passes through the transmissive layer 37 and reflects from the reflective layer 36.Light emitted from the light source 30 enters the light guide plate 31 from the incidence end surface 32.The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 and exits from the emission surface 33.Light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 exits from the door mirror 2.In other words, the light guide plate 31 in the light emitting device 3 possesses an emission surface 33 and optical-path changing portions 35; the emission surface 33 outputs incident light that entered from the light source 30, and the optical-path changing portions 35 change the path of incident light from the light source 30 toward the emission surface 33.Thus, the light guide plate 31 functions to emit light to outside of the vehicle 1 when the light source 30 emits light, and as a mirror.","Note that the light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 does not need to pass through the mirror element 20; therefore, this allows the light emitting device 3 according to the fourth embodiment to emit bright light externally.","Moreover, the light guide plate 31 is not affected by the reflective layer 36 since no reflective layer 36 is formed at the notched portions in the rear surface 34 of the light guide plate 31 that create the optical-path changing portions 35; consequently, a light emitting device 3 according to the embodiment can present an even brighter image than the display device 1 of the third embodiment.","The fourth embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a door mirror 2.The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (door mirror 2) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The light guide plate 31 includes a transmissive layer 37 on the rear surface 14 at the rear part facing the emission surface 33, and a reflective layer 36.The transmissive layer 37 allows external light entering from the emission surface 33 of the light guide plate 31 to pass therethrough, and the reflective layer 36 reflects the external light that passed through the transmissive layer 37 toward the emission surface 33.The external light that reflects from the reflective layer 36 passes through the transmissive layer, and exits through the emission surface 33 of the front light guide plate 31.The transmissive layer thus acts as a mirror.","Fifth Embodiment In the fifth embodiment a vehicle display device according to the present invention is applied to a vehicle window pane.","The identical parts in the first and fifth embodiments are given the same reference numerals.","FIG.","14A, FIG.","14B, and FIG.","14C are schematic diagrams for describing an example where a vehicle display device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle window pane.","FIG.","14A illustrates when the light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device is not emitting light; and FIG.","14B and FIG.","14C illustrate when the light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device emits light.","The vehicle display device illustrated in FIG.","14A, FIG.","14B, and FIG.","14C is a vehicle window pane, and more specifically is a rear side window 4 in the vehicle 1.The vehicle display device functions as an ordinary window pane (FIG.","14A) when the light emitting device 3 therein does not emit light.","The light emitting device 3 emits light whereby, the vehicle display device operates to provide alerts for the various operations of the vehicle such as a direction indicator (FIG.","14B).","Additionally, for instance, the vehicle display device may show at least one of an arrow or textual information indicating a lane change (FIG.","14C) as a means of providing alerts to outside the vehicle for the various operations of the vehicle such as a direction indicator.","Note that the display of symbol information such as an arrow, or information of a desired fomi such as text may be achieved by appropriately designing the locations at which the optical-path changing portions 35 are formed in the light guide plate 31 as well as the direction toward which incident light is reflected from the light guide plate 31.FIG.","15 is a schematic diagram for describing an example where a vehicle display device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle window pane.","FIG.","15 illustrates an example of modifying the configuration depicted in FIGS.","14A, 14B, and 14C; here, the vehicle display device is applied to the rear window 5 of the vehicle 1 to show a symbol modeled after the triangular display panel used for indicating an emergency stop.","In this manner, the vehicle display device according to the fifth embodiment may be developed for use in various forms.","FIG.","16 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","16 superimposes a solid arrow and double-line arrows over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the fifth embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while the double-line arrows from top to bottom and from bottom to top represent the path of light from inside to outside the vehicle, and light from outside to inside the vehicle respectively.","The light guide plate 31 in the light emitting device 3 is stacked on the cabin facing side (top, FIG.","16) of the window material 40 used as the window panes for the rear side window 4, the rear window 5, and the like.","The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 and exits from the emission surface 33.Light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 passes through the window material 40 and is emitted outside the vehicle.","The window material 40 allows light to pass from outside to inside and from inside to outside the vehicle.","The fifth embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a window pane such as a rear side window 4, a rear window 5, or the like.","The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (rear side window 4 and rear window 5) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The window material 40 is stacked on the light guide plate 31 toward the outside of the vehicle.","The rear side window 4 and the rear window 5 function as ordinary windowpanes when the light source 30 does not emit light, and when the light source 30 emits light operates to provide alerts for the various operations of the vehicle such as a direction indicator.","Sixth Embodiment The sixth embodiment changes the locations of the light guide plate 31 and the window material 40 in the vehicle display device of the fifth embodiment.","Given that only the location of the light guide plate 31 and the window material 40 changes in the sixth embodiment and all other configurations are identical to the fifth embodiment, it is sufficient to reference the fifth embodiment for these configurations as further descriptions thereof are omitted.","The identical parts in the first and sixth embodiments are given the same reference numerals.","FIG.","17 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","17 superimposes a solid arrow and double-line arrows over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the sixth embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while the double-line arrows from top to bottom and from bottom to top represent the path of light from inside to outside the vehicle, and light from outside to inside the vehicle respectively.","The light guide plate 31 in the light emitting device 3 is stacked on the window material 40 used as the window panes for the rear side window 4, the rear window 5, and the like toward the outside of the vehicle.","The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 and exits from the emission surface 33.The window material 40 allows light to pass from outside to inside and from inside to outside the vehicle.","The sixth embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a window pane such as a rear side window 4, a rear window 5, or the like.","The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (rear side window 4 and rear window 5) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The window material 40 is stacked on the light guide plate 31 toward the inside of the vehicle.","The rear side window 4 and the rear window 5 function as ordinary windowpanes when the light source 30 does not emit light, and when the light source 30 emits light operates to provide alerts for the various operations of the vehicle such as a direction indicator.","Seventh Embodiment The seventh embodiment uses the light guide plate 31 of the light emitting device 3 as the window material 40 in the vehicle display device of the fifth embodiment.","Given that only the light guide plate 31 and the window material 40 changes in the seventh embodiment and all other configurations are identical to the fifth embodiment, it is sufficient to reference the fifth embodiment for these configurations as further descriptions thereof are omitted.","The identical parts in the fifth and seventh embodiments are given the same reference numerals.","FIG.","18 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","18 superimposes a solid arrow and double-line arrows over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the fifth embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while the double-line arrows from top to bottom and from bottom to top represent the path of light from inside to outside the vehicle, and light from outside to inside the vehicle respectively.","Here, the light guide plate 31 in the light emitting device 3 is serves as the window pane for the rear side window 4, the rear window 5, and the like in the seventh embodiment.","The light guide plate 31 functions as the window material and as a light guide plate, and no specific window material 40 is provided.","Consequently, while a flexible thin-film material may be sued as the light guide plate 31 in the fifth and sixth embodiments, the light guide plate 31 of the seventh embodiment is produced from a hardened panel like material that is durable enough to serve as a window pane.","The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 and exits from the emission surface 33.The light guide plate 31 also allows light to pass from outside to inside and from inside to outside the vehicle.","The seventh embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a window pane such as a rear side window 4, a rear window 5, or the like.","The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (rear side window 4 and rear window 5) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The rear side window 4 and the rear window 5 function as ordinary windowpanes when the light source 30 does not emit light, and when the light source 30 emits light operates to provide alerts for the various operations of the vehicle such as a direction indicator.","The present invention is not limited to the above described embodiments and may be implemented in various other ways.","Therefore, in all respects the above embodiments are merely examples and should not be interpreted as limitations.","The scope of the present invention is delineated by the claims and not limited by the specification.","Moreover, all modifications and variations with a scope equivalent to the claims are within the scope of the present invention.","For instance, each of the aforementioned embodiments use a single light guide plate 31; the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be developed in various fauns which, for example, use a plurality of light guide plates 31.Moreover, when using a plurality of light guide plates 31, all the light guide plates 31 do not need to be configured to emit light toward outside the vehicle 1.More specifically, the light guide plates 31 that emit light toward outside the vehicle may be stacked, with a light guide plate 31 arranged for emitting light in a direction where the driver is considered the observer.","The light guide plate 31 designated for the driver as an observer may further include a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of incident light toward the emission surface 33 causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide plate or to radiate from a convergence point P or convergence line outside the light guide plate, and thereby form an image externally.","The vehicle display device thusly configured may be adopted as a door mirror 2.In this case the light guide plate 31 can produce an image from light visible to the driver where the image appears to emerge from a position different from the mirror surface of the door mirror 2.In addition, the basic principles of the door mirror 2 presented in the first through fourth embodiments may be applied to other mirrors such as a rearview mirror.","Furthermore, the basic principles of the rear side window 4 and the rear window 5 presented in the fifth through seventh embodiments may be applied to other window panes such are the windshield.","The vehicle display device thusly configured as herein disclosed may be applied to mirrors such as a door mirror 2, and window pane surfaces such as a rear side window 4, a rear window 5, and the like, to provide alerts for the various operations of a vehicle such as a direction indicator, brake signal, emergency signal, and the like to persons outside the vehicle.","Note that the information that may be provided as an alert is not limited to the vehicles operational state.","For instance, textual information may be displayed which indicates the state of the roadway being traveled, e.g., “Traffic accident ahead”.","Hereby, the vehicle display device may be configured to emit light for the purpose of reporting various kinds of information.","REFERENCE NUMERALS 1 Vehicle 2 Door mirror (vehicle display device) 20 Mirror element 20a Front surface 20b Transmissive portion 20c Reflective layer 3 Light emitting device 30 Light source 31 Light guide plate (light guide element) 32 Incidence end surface 33 Emission surface 34 Rear surface 35 Optical-path changing portion 35a Reflection surface 36 Reflective layer 37 Transmissive layer 4 Rear side window (vehicle display device) 5 Rear windshield (vehicle display device) 40 Window material"]],"string":"[\n [\n \"VEHICLE DISPLAY DEVICE\",\n \"A vehicle display device is configured for installation to a vehicle and includes a mirror element configured to reflect external light entering from a front surface toward the front surface, and a light emitting device.\",\n \"The light emitting device includes a light source configured to emit light, and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source.\",\n \"The light guide element includes an emission surface configured to output incident light, and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface.\",\n \"The mirror element and the light guide element are stacked at an outer surface of the mirror element to allow the optical-path changing portion to change the optical path.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle, the vehicle display device comprising: a mirror element configured to reflect external light entering from a front surface toward the front surface; and a light emitting device; wherein the light emitting device comprises: a light source configured to emit light, and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, wherein the light guide element comprises: an emission surface configured to output incident light, and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface, and wherein the mirror element and the light guide element are stacked at an outer surface of the mirror element to allow the optical-path changing portion to change the optical path.\",\n \"2.The vehicle display device according to claim 1, wherein the light guide element is panel-like, and wherein the light guide element is stacked on the mirror element at an outer surface of the mirror element.\",\n \"3.The vehicle display device according to claim 1, wherein the mirror element comprises: a thin-film transmissive portion configured with one surface as a front surface, and a reflective layer formed on the other surface of the transmissive portion and configured to reflect external light entering from the front surface and passing through the transmissive portion toward the front surface, and wherein the light guide element is arranged at the other surface of the mirror element.\",\n \"4.A vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle, the vehicle display device comprising: a light emitting device, wherein the light emitting device comprises: a light source configured to emit light, and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, and wherein the light guide element comprises: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light from the light source toward the emission surface, and wherein a reflective layer is formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element, that is configured to reflect external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element toward the emission surface.\",\n \"5.A vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle, the vehicle display device comprising: a light emitting device, wherein the light emitting device comprises: a light source configured to emit light, and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, and wherein the light guide element comprises: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source, an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light, a transmissive layer formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element and configured to allow external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element to pass therethrough, and a reflective layer configured to reflect external light passing through the transmissive layer toward the emission surface.\",\n \"6.The vehicle display device according claim 1, wherein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.\",\n \"7.The vehicle display device according to claim 1, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.\",\n \"8.The vehicle display device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.\",\n \"9.\",\n \"(canceled) 10.\",\n \"(canceled) 11.The vehicle display device according claim 2, wherein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.\",\n \"12.The vehicle display device according claim 3, wherein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.\",\n \"13.The vehicle display device according claim 4, wherein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.\",\n \"14.The vehicle display device according claim 5, wherein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.\",\n \"15.The vehicle display device according to claim 2, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.\",\n \"16.The vehicle display device according to claim 3, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.\",\n \"17.The vehicle display device according to claim 4, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.\",\n \"18.The vehicle display device according to claim 5, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.\",\n \"19.The vehicle display device according to claim 6, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.\",\n \"20.The vehicle display device according to claim 2, wherein the vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.\",\n \"21.The vehicle display device according to claim 3, wherein the vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.\",\n \"22.The vehicle display device according to claim 4, wherein the vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>One or more embodiments of the present invention provides a vehicle display device that is easily visible from other vehicles by using a door mirror or window pane so that the mirror surface or window surface emits the light.\",\n \"A vehicle display device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is configured for installation to a vehicle and includes: a mirror element configured to reflect external light entering from a front surface toward the front surface; and a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface; and the mirror element and the light guide element are stacked at an outer surface of the mirror element to allow the optical-path changing portion to change the optical path.\",\n \"In the vehicle display device described herein: the light guide element is panel-like, and is stacked on the mirror element at an outer surface of the mirror element.\",\n \"In the vehicle display device described herein the mirror element includes: a thin-film transmissive portion configured with one surface as a front surface; and a reflective layer formed on the other surface of the transmissive portion and configured to reflect external light entering from the front surface and passing through the transmissive portion toward the front surface; and the light guide element is arranged at the other surface of the mirror element.\",\n \"A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; and the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light from the light source toward the emission surface; and a reflective layer formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element and configured to reflect external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element toward the emission surface.\",\n \"A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; and the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light; a transmissive layer formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element and configured to allow external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element to pass therethrough; and a reflective layer configured to reflect external light passing through the transmissive layer toward the emission surface.\",\n \"In the vehicle display device described herein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.\",\n \"The vehicle display device described herein further includes: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle; and the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.\",\n \"The vehicle display device described herein the vehicle display device is configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.\",\n \"A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a window material; and a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface; and the window material and the light guide element are stacked.\",\n \"A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, and to serve as window material; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light from the light source toward the emission surface.\",\n \"The vehicle display device described herein is provided with a light emitting device that includes a light source and a light guide element that may be attached to a door mirror or a window pane, and the vehicle display device is configured to emit light.\"\n ],\n [\n \"BACKGROUND Field The present invention relates to a vehicle display device that may be installed on a vehicle.\",\n \"Related Art It is increasingly common for a door mirror to incorporate a turn signal, allowing the door mirror with the built-in turn signal to function as a vehicle display device.\",\n \"Japanese Patent Publication No.\",\n \"2008-94215 discloses a turn signal provided with a light source and an oblong light guide material; the turn signal is attached to the door mirror and emits light lengthwise.\",\n \"However, only a portion of the door mirror body emits light among the vehicle display devices of the related art.\",\n \"Therefore, a vehicle display device that emits light easily visible to other vehicles is desired.\",\n \"The door mirror disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No.\",\n \"2008-94215 is similar.\",\n \"Since the oblong light guide material is simply attached to the mirror body, the door mirror has a small light emission area.\",\n \"Thus, a more easily visible light emitting surface area is desired.\",\n \"SUMMARY One or more embodiments of the present invention provides a vehicle display device that is easily visible from other vehicles by using a door mirror or window pane so that the mirror surface or window surface emits the light.\",\n \"A vehicle display device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is configured for installation to a vehicle and includes: a mirror element configured to reflect external light entering from a front surface toward the front surface; and a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface; and the mirror element and the light guide element are stacked at an outer surface of the mirror element to allow the optical-path changing portion to change the optical path.\",\n \"In the vehicle display device described herein: the light guide element is panel-like, and is stacked on the mirror element at an outer surface of the mirror element.\",\n \"In the vehicle display device described herein the mirror element includes: a thin-film transmissive portion configured with one surface as a front surface; and a reflective layer formed on the other surface of the transmissive portion and configured to reflect external light entering from the front surface and passing through the transmissive portion toward the front surface; and the light guide element is arranged at the other surface of the mirror element.\",\n \"A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; and the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light from the light source toward the emission surface; and a reflective layer formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element and configured to reflect external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element toward the emission surface.\",\n \"A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; and the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light; a transmissive layer formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element and configured to allow external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element to pass therethrough; and a reflective layer configured to reflect external light passing through the transmissive layer toward the emission surface.\",\n \"In the vehicle display device described herein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.\",\n \"The vehicle display device described herein further includes: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle; and the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.\",\n \"The vehicle display device described herein the vehicle display device is configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.\",\n \"A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a window material; and a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface; and the window material and the light guide element are stacked.\",\n \"A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, and to serve as window material; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light from the light source toward the emission surface.\",\n \"The vehicle display device described herein is provided with a light emitting device that includes a light source and a light guide element that may be attached to a door mirror or a window pane, and the vehicle display device is configured to emit light.\",\n \"EFFECTS A vehicle display device according to embodiments of the present invention may be applied to a door mirror or window pane configured for installation to a vehicle.\",\n \"The vehicle display device is provided with a light emitting device which includes a light source and a light guide element, where the light emitting device changes the path light travels so the that the mirror surface or window surface radiates light and the light is emitted.\",\n \"Thus, embodiments of the present invention exhibit superior benefits, such as improving the visibility to other vehicles.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 is a schematic plan view illustrating an example of the external features of a vehicle with a door mirror mounted thereon; and the door mirror using a vehicle display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"2A and FIG.\",\n \"2B are schematic perspective views illustrating an example of the external features of a door mirror that uses a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"3 is a schematic diagram for describing a light emitting device in the vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"4 is a conceptual diagram depicting an optical path through a cross section of a light emitting device in the vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"5 is a schematic perspective view illustrating one example of a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"6 is a schematic front view illustrating a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"7 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"8 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"9 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device provided with a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"10 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an example of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"11 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"12 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"13 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"14A, FIG.\",\n \"14B, and FIG.\",\n \"14C are schematic diagrams for describing an example where a vehicle display device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle window pane; FIG.\",\n \"15 is a schematic diagram for describing an example where a vehicle display device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle window pane; FIG.\",\n \"16 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"17 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention; and FIG.\",\n \"18 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the drawings.\",\n \"Note that the following working example is merely an embodiment of the present invention and in no way limits the technical character of the present invention.\",\n \"First Embodiment FIG.\",\n \"1 is a schematic plan view illustrating an example of the external features of a vehicle with a door mirror mounted thereon, the door mirror using a vehicle display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention; The reference number 1 represents a vehicle; a vehicle display device according to an embodiment of the invention is adopted in a door mirror 2 which is installed on the vehicle 1.The door mirror 2 includes a built-in light emitting device 3 (later described; refer to FIG.\",\n \"3); the light emitting device 3 emits highly directional light.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 is a plan view of the vehicle 1 and depicts the range of visibility for light emitted from the light emitting device 3 installed in the left-side door mirror 2 as oblique lines.\",\n \"The light emitting device 3 emits directional light that is oriented outward from the host vehicle 1.Thus light emitted from the light emitting device 3 can be seen outside the vehicle 1 as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1, for instance in a vehicle behind the vehicle 1.However, passengers in the vehicle 1, and especially the driver seated in the driver seat cannot see the light emitted from the light emitting device 3; passengers see an ordinary mirror.\",\n \"Note that the right side door mirror 2 (not shown) functions identically.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2A and FIG.\",\n \"2B are schematic perspective views illustrating an example of the appearance of a door mirror that uses a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"2A illustrates the door mirror 2 in a normal state; FIG.\",\n \"2B illustrates when the built-in light emitting device 3 emits light.\",\n \"The entire mirror surface of the door mirror 2 radiates light when the light emitting device 3 emits light.\",\n \"Therefore, a larger surface area radiates light compared to when the edge portion of the door mirror 2 lighting up lengthwise, for instance, the light emitted can be easily seen outside the vehicle 1, e.g., from a vehicle following the vehicle 1.Light Emitting Device Next, the principles governing a light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device (door mirror 2) according to embodiments of the invention is described.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 is a schematic diagram for describing a light emitting device provided to the vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; and FIG.\",\n \"4 is a conceptual diagram depicting an optical path through a cross section of a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"Note that the drawings are provided as outlines or schematic views to facilitate a simple and easy-to-understand description.\",\n \"There are also cases where the drawings referenced in the description contain elements that are not drawn to scale in terms of the horizontal and vertical proportions or the spaces between components.\",\n \"The light emitting device 3 is provided with a light source 30 that emits light and a light guide plate 31 (light guide element) that guides the incident light from the light source 30.The light source 30 may be configured using a light emitting element such as an LED with the light emitted from the light source 10 entering the light guide plate 31.The light guide plate 31 may be formed from a flexible thin-film material or curable sheet into a rectangular panel-like shape using a transparent resin having a high refractive index such as a polycarbonate (PC) resin or poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) resin, or using an inorganic material such as glass.\",\n \"Here “panel like” indicates an object that is shorter in the thickness direction (thickness) than in the planar direction spreading out in two dimensions orthogonal to the thickness direction.\",\n \"That is, while the light guide plate 31 is a rectangular parallelepiped, the length thereof in the thickness direction is less than the length in a plane spreading out in two dimensions and formed by the longitudinal direction and the transverse direction.\",\n \"The light source 30 is installed at one end surface in the longitudinal direction of the light guide plate 31.That is, one of the surfaces making up the short side of the rectangle in the thickness direction is the incidence end surface 32 where light emitted from the light source 30 enters.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 causes light entering therein from the incidence end surface 32 to spread out in planar form in the light guide plate 31.The panel-like light guide plate 31 includes an emission surface 33 configured to emit incident light from the light source 30 and a rear surface 34 relative to and across from the emission surface 33.A plurality of optical-path changing portions 35 are formed on the rear surface 34 of the light guide plate 31.The optical-path changing portions 35 change the path of incident light that enters from the incidence end surface 32; in other words, the optical-path changing portions 35 modifies light by a prescribed angle toward the emission surface 33.Here, the optical-path changing portions 35 are illustrated as optical surfaces formed inside the light guide plate 31, and in this particular case, as reflection surfaces 35a that reflect incident light entering from the incidence end surface 32.Oblique notches may be cut into the rear surface 34 with the inclined surfaces serving as the reflection surfaces 35a.\",\n \"The light entering the light guide plate 31 is directed to each of the optical-path changing portions 35, and each of the optical-path changing portions 35 modifies the optical path of light incident at positions thereon by a prescribed angle with the light exiting from the emission surface 33 toward a prescribed direction.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3, the light source 30 is installed at the incidence end surface 32 of the light guide plate 31, and the incidence end surface 32 and the emission surface 33 are substantially orthogonal.\",\n \"Additionally, the rear surface 34 faces the emission surface 33, and the rear surface 34 is also substantially orthogonal to the incidence end surface 32.The rear surface 34 is a flat surface substantially parallel to the emission surface 33 and is provided with inclined surfaces that form the optical-path changing portions 35.The flat rear surface 34 along with the emission surface 33 directs the incident light entering the light guide plate 31 from the incidence end surface 32 via total internal reflection therebetween and function to spread the light in the light guide plate 31 in planar form.\",\n \"The inclined surfaces forming the optical-path changing portions 35 serve as the reflection surfaces 35a and reflect incident light entering the light guide plate 31 to modify the optical path thereof toward the emission surface 33.That is, the light emitted from the light source 30 and incident on the light guide plate 31 from the incidence end surface 32 is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34 within the light guide plate 31 and propagates therethrough in planar form.\",\n \"On arriving at a reflection surface 35a formed in the optical-path changing portions 35, the light propagating through the light guide plate 31 is reflected by the reflection surface 35a and exits to the outside from the emission surface 33.The reflection surfaces 35a here serve as the optical-path changing portions 35.However, the optical-path changing portions 35 can have various forms so long as the optical-path changing portions 35 can change the path of incident light traveling through the light guide plate 31.For instance, the optical-path changing portions 35 may be formed as a cylindrical Fresnel lens, whereby the refraction effect of the refraction surface of the Fresnel lens (i.e.\",\n \"the prism surface) changes the path of the incident light.\",\n \"Additionally, in this case the Fresnel lens may be constituted by a plurality of parts with gaps therebetween.\",\n \"The optical-path changing portions 35 may also be formed as a diffraction grating whereby the diffraction effect may change the optical path of the incident light.\",\n \"Moreover, the reflection effect and the refraction effect of the prism may change the optical path of the incident light.\",\n \"A vehicle display device provided with such kind of light emitting device 3 makes it possible to implement various kinds of door mirrors 2.Embodiments of the various internal structures possible for implementing the door mirror 2 using the vehicle display device are described.\",\n \"First Embodiment FIG.\",\n \"5 is a schematic perspective view illustrating one example of a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 is a schematic front view illustrating a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 and FIG.\",\n \"8 are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 and FIG.\",\n \"6 depict parts that can be seen when some components of the light emitting device 3 are removed from the door mirror 2.FIG.\",\n \"7 schematically illustrates an arrangement of the light emitting device 3 and the mirror element 20 inside the door mirror 2 as seen from above.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is an exploded view of the components in the light emitting device 3 and the mirror element 20 inside the door mirror 2 as seen from above.\",\n \"The door mirror 2 is provided with a housing 21 that accommodates the various components in the light emitting device 3 and the mirror element 20.The front plane of the housing 21 is open and the rim includes a gap which allows the mirror element 20 to block the opening when the mirror element 20 is fitted to the housing 21.The housing 21 is provided with a drive mechanism 22 capable of changing the angle of the mirror element 20; the mirror element is secured to the drive mechanism 22.The housing 21 may also be installed on the vehicle 1 by way of an attachment 23; the attachment 23 contains various kinds of communication wiring for connecting the various electrical components in the mirror unit 20 such as the light source 30 of the light emitting device 3 in the door mirror 2 and the drive mechanism 22 to units in the vehicle 1 such as a control device.\",\n \"The driver may manipulate various operational input buttons arranged near the driver seat which operates the drive mechanism 22 and adjusts the angle of the mirror element 20.Initiating operations such as a lane change may also cause the light source 30 to emit light.\",\n \"A fastener frame 24 acts as a border inside the housing 21 and secures the light guide plate 31 and the mirror element 20 to the drive mechanism 22; the light guide plate 31 and the mirror element 20 are housed within the fastener frame 24 and thereby blocks the opening in the front surface of the housing 21.The fastener frame 24 includes a fastening panel at the rear so that securing the fastening panel to the drive mechanism 22 fastens the light guide plate 31 and mirror element 20 housed within the fastener frame 24 to the drive mechanism 22.The light guide plate 31 appears as a rectangle when viewed from the front, with the light guide plate 31 arranged so that the long side direction and the short side direction thereof are substantially parallel to the horizontal direction on the vertical direction respectively.\",\n \"The light source 30 is arranged at the light guide plate 31 near the attachment 23 emits light from near the attachment 23.Arranging the light source so that incident light enters the light guide plate from near the attachment 23 facilitates adjusting the optical path towards outside the vehicle 1.Note that the light guide plate 31 may be configured from a flexible transparent panel, and the end portion of the light guide plate 31 near the light source 30 may be bent so that the light source is arranged behind the drive mechanism 22.Even in this case, the components may be arranged so that light emitted from the light source 30 enters the light guide plate 31 from near the attachment 23.The light guide plate 31 may be arranged behind the mirror element 20 within the fastener frame 24.The mirror element 20 and the light guide plate 31 may be securely adhered to the fastener panel as necessary with an adhesive agent.\",\n \"The mirror element 20 is provided a transmissive portion 20b, a front surface 20a in front of the transmissive portion 20b, and a reflective layer 20c behind the transmissive portion 20b.\",\n \"Light enters the mirror element 20 through the front surface 20a, passes through the transmissive portion 20b and reflects from the reflective layer 20c.\",\n \"The transmissive portion 20b may be produced using a resin material such as transparent polycarbonate resin or poly methyl methacrylate resin, or an inorganic material such as glass.\",\n \"The reflective layer 20c may be a metal-plated or vapor-deposited layer produced by plating or depositing a metal such as aluminum or silver.\",\n \"The reflective layer 20c reflects light entering from the front surface 20a of the mirror element 20 whereby the mirror element 20 functions as a mirror.\",\n \"The door mirror 2 with a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention applied thereto is configured with the light guide plate 31 stacked behind the mirror element 20.More specifically, the mirror element 20 and the light guide plates 31 behind the mirror element 20 are stacked so that the respective panel-like surfaces are parallel.\",\n \"In other words, the mirror element 20 is a thin panel-like component provided with a transmissive portion 20b, a front surface 20a as one surface on the front part of the transmissive portion 20b, and a reflective layer 20c as the other surface on the back surface of the transmissive portion 20b.\",\n \"Light enters the mirror element 20 through the front surface 20a, passes through the transmissive portion 20b and reflects from the reflective layer 20c toward the front surface 20a.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 is arranged at the other surface of the mirror element 20.The optical functions of the first embodiment of the present invention thusly configured are described.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the optical path through the light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 superimposes a solid arrow and a double-line arrow over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the first embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while double-line arrow represent the path of external light entering from outside.\",\n \"Light emitted from the light source 30 enters the light guide plate 31 from near the attachment 23.The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 (omitted from FIG.\",\n \"9), and exits from the emission surface 33.Light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 passes through the mirror element 20 and exits from the door mirror 2.The mirror element 20 functions as a mirror by causing external light to enter through the front surface 20a, pass through the transmissive portion 20b, and reflect from reflective layer 20c to pass through the front surface 20a to the outside.\",\n \"Given that the light guide plate 31 does not affect the light entering from outside, an image will not be distorted on reflection from the mirror element 20.The first embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a door mirror 2.The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (door mirror 2) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The vehicle display device functions identically to an ordinary mirror in a door mirror 2 when a driver in the driver seat views the door mirror 2.Outside the vehicle 1, for instance when viewed from a vehicle behind the vehicle 1, the entire mirror surface of the vehicle display device functions as a light emitting device 3 capable of emitting light, and the emission of light may provide various alerts on the operation of the vehicle, e.g., indicating the direction of the vehicle and the like.\",\n \"More specifically, the vehicle display device operates as a turn indicator (i.e., turn signal) when one of the left or right door mirrors 2 provided to the vehicle emits light.\",\n \"When both vehicle display devices emit light, the vehicle display device functions as a brake indicator (i.e., brake signal).\",\n \"Moreover, when both vehicle display devices emit lights, and especially when blinking at predetermined intervals, the vehicle display device functions as an emergency display signal (hazard signal).\",\n \"Thus, the vehicle display device emits light whereby various kinds of information may be provided outside the vehicle, for instance, to the driver in a following vehicle.\",\n \"The mirror element 20 housed in the door mirror 2 is arranged in front of the light guide plate 31; therefore, the image reflected by the mirror element 20 does not give rise to certain phenomena such as distortion due to effects from the light guide plate 31.Second Embodiment The second embodiment changes the locations of the light guide plate 31 and the mirror element 20 in the vehicle display device of the first embodiment.\",\n \"Given that only the location of the light guide plate 31 and the mirror element 20 changes in the second embodiment and all other configurations are identical to the first embodiment, it is sufficient to reference the first embodiment for these configurations as further descriptions thereof are omitted.\",\n \"The identical parts in the first and second embodiments are given the same reference numerals.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an example of the internal structure for a door mirror 2 using a vehicle display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 depicts that door mirror 2 provided with a vehicle display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and schematically illustrates an arrangement of the light emitting device 3 and the mirror element 20 inside the door mirror 2 when viewed from above.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 is arranged in front of the mirror element 20 in the vehicle display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"More specifically, the mirror element 20 and the light guide plate 31 in front of the mirror element 20 are stacked so that the respective panel-like surfaces are parallel.\",\n \"In other words, the mirror element 20 is a thin panel-like component provided a transmissive portion 20b, a front surface 20a in front of the transmissive portion 20b, and a reflective layer 20c behind the transmissive portion 20b.\",\n \"Light enters the mirror element 20 through the front surface 20a, passes through the transmissive portion 20b and reflects from the reflective layer 20c toward the front surface 20a.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 is stacked at the front surface 20a of the mirror element 20.The optical functions of a second embodiment of the present invention thusly configured are described.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through the light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11 superimposes a solid arrow and a double-line arrow over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the second embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while the double-line arrow represent the path of external light entering from outside.\",\n \"Light emitted from the light source 30 enters the light guide plate 31 from the incidence end surface 32.The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 (omitted from FIG.\",\n \"11), and exits from the emission surface 33.Light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 exits from the door mirror 2.Note that light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 does not need to pass through the reflective layer 20c of the mirror component 20; therefore, this allows the light emitting device 3 according to the second embodiment to emit bright light externally.\",\n \"The mirror element 20 functions as a mirror by allowing the external light transmitted through the light guide plate 31 to enter through the front surface 20a, pass through the transmissive portion 20b and reflect from the reflective layer 20c to pass through the light guide plate 31 and exit to the outside.\",\n \"The external lights reflected by the mirror element 20 is transmitted through the light guide plate 31.However, the surface area of the reflection surfaces 35a of the optical-path changing portions 35 (i.e., the number of reflection surfaces 35a) may be smaller than the surface area of the front surface 20a.\",\n \"This configuration allows the mirror element 20 to function as a mirror and additionally keep the distortion of an image reflected there from at a level unrecognizable to an observer.\",\n \"The second embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a door mirror 2.The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (door mirror 2) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The vehicle display device functions identically to an ordinary mirror in a door mirror 2 when a driver in the driver seat views the door mirror 2.Outside the vehicle 1, for instance when viewed from a vehicle behind the vehicle 1, the entire mirror surface of the vehicle display device functions as a light emitting device 3 capable of emitting light, and the emission of light may provide various alerts on the operation of the vehicle, e.g., indicating the direction of the vehicle and the like.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 housed in the door mirror 2 is arranged in front of the mirror element 20 and thus also allows a brighter light to be emitted therefrom.\",\n \"Third Embodiment The third embodiment uses the light guide plate 31 of the light emitting device 3 as a mirror element 20 in the vehicle display device of the first embodiment.\",\n \"Given that only the light guide plate 31 and the mirror element 20 changes in the third embodiment and all other configurations are identical to the first embodiment, it is sufficient to reference the first embodiment for these configurations as further descriptions thereof are omitted.\",\n \"The identical parts in the first and third embodiments are given the same reference numerals.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 superimposes a solid arrow and a double-line arrow over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the third embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while the double-line arrow represent the path of external light entering from outside.\",\n \"In the third embodiment the light guide plate 31 with attached light source 30 is inserted into the fastener frame 24 which is secured to the front surface of the drive mechanism 22 that is in the housing 21.The light guide plate 31 also acts as a mirror element; and no specific mirror element 20 is provided.\",\n \"A metal-plated or vapor-deposited reflective layer 36 may be formed as a metal-plated or vapor-deposited layer produced on the rear surface of the light guide plate 31 in the vehicle display device according to the third embodiment of the present invention by plating or depositing a metal such as aluminum or silver.\",\n \"Therefore, the external light which enters from the emission surface 33 reflects from the reflective layer 36 whereby the light guide plate 31 acts as a mirror element.\",\n \"Light emitted from the light source 30 enters the light guide plate 31 from the incidence end surface 32.The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 and exits from the emission surface 33.Light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 exits from the door mirror 2.In other words, the light guide plate 31 in the light emitting device 3 possesses an emission surface 33 and optical-path changing portions 35; the emission surface 33 outputs incident light that entered from the light source 30, and the optical-path changing portions 35 change the path of incident light from the light source 30 toward the emission surface 33.The light guide plate 31 further includes a reflective layer 36 formed on the rear surface 34 thereof which faces the emission surface 33; external light entering the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 reflects from the reflective layer 36 toward the emission surface 33.Thus, the light guide plate 31 functions to emit light to outside of the vehicle 1 and as a mirror.\",\n \"Note that the light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 does not need to pass through the mirror element 20 as with the second embodiment; therefore, this allows the light emitting device 3 according to the third embodiment to emit bright light externally.\",\n \"The third embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a door mirror 2.The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (door mirror 2) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The vehicle display device functions identically to an ordinary mirror in a door mirror 2 when a driver in the driver seat views the door mirror 2.Outside the vehicle 1, for instance when viewed from a vehicle behind the vehicle 1, the entire mirror surface of the vehicle display device functions as a light emitting device 3 capable of emitting light, and the emission of light may provide various alerts on the operation of the vehicle, e.g., indicating the direction of the vehicle and the like.\",\n \"Additionally, having the light guide plate 31 include a reflective layer 36 that acts as the mirror element 20 therefore allows the light guide plate 31 emit bright light.\",\n \"Fourth Embodiment The fourth embodiment provides a layer for protecting an outer surface of the light guide plate 31 of the third embodiment.\",\n \"Given that only a layer is added in the fourth embodiment and all other configurations are identical to the third embodiment, it is sufficient to reference the third embodiment for these configurations as further descriptions thereof are omitted.\",\n \"The identical parts in the third and fourth embodiments are given the same reference numerals.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 superimposes a solid arrow over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the fourth embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30.In the fourth embodiment the light guide plate 31 with attached light source 30, is inserted into the fastener frame 24 that is secured to the front surface of the drive mechanism 22 in the housing 21.The light guide plate 31 also acts as a mirror element; and no specific mirror element 20 is provided.\",\n \"A layer is formed on a surface behind the attached light guide plate 31 to protect the surface at the back of the light guide plate.\",\n \"The layer is produced from stacking metal-plated or vapor deposited reflective layer 36 formed by metal plating or vapor-depositing a metal such as aluminum or silver on top of a transmissive layer 37 produced from a resin material such as a transparent polycarbonate resin or a poly methyl methacrylate resin.\",\n \"The transmissive layer 37 is integrally molded via heat treatment or the like to the flat portions of the light guide plate 31 with no light focusing portions 35.In a light guide plate 31 thusly configured, the protective layer which includes the transmissive layer 37 and the reflective layer 36, functions as a mirror element since the external light that enters from the emission surface 33 passes through the light guide plate 31, further passes through the transmissive layer 37 and reflects from the reflective layer 36.Light emitted from the light source 30 enters the light guide plate 31 from the incidence end surface 32.The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 and exits from the emission surface 33.Light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 exits from the door mirror 2.In other words, the light guide plate 31 in the light emitting device 3 possesses an emission surface 33 and optical-path changing portions 35; the emission surface 33 outputs incident light that entered from the light source 30, and the optical-path changing portions 35 change the path of incident light from the light source 30 toward the emission surface 33.Thus, the light guide plate 31 functions to emit light to outside of the vehicle 1 when the light source 30 emits light, and as a mirror.\",\n \"Note that the light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 does not need to pass through the mirror element 20; therefore, this allows the light emitting device 3 according to the fourth embodiment to emit bright light externally.\",\n \"Moreover, the light guide plate 31 is not affected by the reflective layer 36 since no reflective layer 36 is formed at the notched portions in the rear surface 34 of the light guide plate 31 that create the optical-path changing portions 35; consequently, a light emitting device 3 according to the embodiment can present an even brighter image than the display device 1 of the third embodiment.\",\n \"The fourth embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a door mirror 2.The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (door mirror 2) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The light guide plate 31 includes a transmissive layer 37 on the rear surface 14 at the rear part facing the emission surface 33, and a reflective layer 36.The transmissive layer 37 allows external light entering from the emission surface 33 of the light guide plate 31 to pass therethrough, and the reflective layer 36 reflects the external light that passed through the transmissive layer 37 toward the emission surface 33.The external light that reflects from the reflective layer 36 passes through the transmissive layer, and exits through the emission surface 33 of the front light guide plate 31.The transmissive layer thus acts as a mirror.\",\n \"Fifth Embodiment In the fifth embodiment a vehicle display device according to the present invention is applied to a vehicle window pane.\",\n \"The identical parts in the first and fifth embodiments are given the same reference numerals.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14A, FIG.\",\n \"14B, and FIG.\",\n \"14C are schematic diagrams for describing an example where a vehicle display device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle window pane.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14A illustrates when the light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device is not emitting light; and FIG.\",\n \"14B and FIG.\",\n \"14C illustrate when the light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device emits light.\",\n \"The vehicle display device illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"14A, FIG.\",\n \"14B, and FIG.\",\n \"14C is a vehicle window pane, and more specifically is a rear side window 4 in the vehicle 1.The vehicle display device functions as an ordinary window pane (FIG.\",\n \"14A) when the light emitting device 3 therein does not emit light.\",\n \"The light emitting device 3 emits light whereby, the vehicle display device operates to provide alerts for the various operations of the vehicle such as a direction indicator (FIG.\",\n \"14B).\",\n \"Additionally, for instance, the vehicle display device may show at least one of an arrow or textual information indicating a lane change (FIG.\",\n \"14C) as a means of providing alerts to outside the vehicle for the various operations of the vehicle such as a direction indicator.\",\n \"Note that the display of symbol information such as an arrow, or information of a desired fomi such as text may be achieved by appropriately designing the locations at which the optical-path changing portions 35 are formed in the light guide plate 31 as well as the direction toward which incident light is reflected from the light guide plate 31.FIG.\",\n \"15 is a schematic diagram for describing an example where a vehicle display device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle window pane.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"15 illustrates an example of modifying the configuration depicted in FIGS.\",\n \"14A, 14B, and 14C; here, the vehicle display device is applied to the rear window 5 of the vehicle 1 to show a symbol modeled after the triangular display panel used for indicating an emergency stop.\",\n \"In this manner, the vehicle display device according to the fifth embodiment may be developed for use in various forms.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16 superimposes a solid arrow and double-line arrows over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the fifth embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while the double-line arrows from top to bottom and from bottom to top represent the path of light from inside to outside the vehicle, and light from outside to inside the vehicle respectively.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 in the light emitting device 3 is stacked on the cabin facing side (top, FIG.\",\n \"16) of the window material 40 used as the window panes for the rear side window 4, the rear window 5, and the like.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 and exits from the emission surface 33.Light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 passes through the window material 40 and is emitted outside the vehicle.\",\n \"The window material 40 allows light to pass from outside to inside and from inside to outside the vehicle.\",\n \"The fifth embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a window pane such as a rear side window 4, a rear window 5, or the like.\",\n \"The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (rear side window 4 and rear window 5) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The window material 40 is stacked on the light guide plate 31 toward the outside of the vehicle.\",\n \"The rear side window 4 and the rear window 5 function as ordinary windowpanes when the light source 30 does not emit light, and when the light source 30 emits light operates to provide alerts for the various operations of the vehicle such as a direction indicator.\",\n \"Sixth Embodiment The sixth embodiment changes the locations of the light guide plate 31 and the window material 40 in the vehicle display device of the fifth embodiment.\",\n \"Given that only the location of the light guide plate 31 and the window material 40 changes in the sixth embodiment and all other configurations are identical to the fifth embodiment, it is sufficient to reference the fifth embodiment for these configurations as further descriptions thereof are omitted.\",\n \"The identical parts in the first and sixth embodiments are given the same reference numerals.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"17 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"17 superimposes a solid arrow and double-line arrows over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the sixth embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while the double-line arrows from top to bottom and from bottom to top represent the path of light from inside to outside the vehicle, and light from outside to inside the vehicle respectively.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 in the light emitting device 3 is stacked on the window material 40 used as the window panes for the rear side window 4, the rear window 5, and the like toward the outside of the vehicle.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 and exits from the emission surface 33.The window material 40 allows light to pass from outside to inside and from inside to outside the vehicle.\",\n \"The sixth embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a window pane such as a rear side window 4, a rear window 5, or the like.\",\n \"The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (rear side window 4 and rear window 5) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The window material 40 is stacked on the light guide plate 31 toward the inside of the vehicle.\",\n \"The rear side window 4 and the rear window 5 function as ordinary windowpanes when the light source 30 does not emit light, and when the light source 30 emits light operates to provide alerts for the various operations of the vehicle such as a direction indicator.\",\n \"Seventh Embodiment The seventh embodiment uses the light guide plate 31 of the light emitting device 3 as the window material 40 in the vehicle display device of the fifth embodiment.\",\n \"Given that only the light guide plate 31 and the window material 40 changes in the seventh embodiment and all other configurations are identical to the fifth embodiment, it is sufficient to reference the fifth embodiment for these configurations as further descriptions thereof are omitted.\",\n \"The identical parts in the fifth and seventh embodiments are given the same reference numerals.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"18 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"18 superimposes a solid arrow and double-line arrows over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the fifth embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while the double-line arrows from top to bottom and from bottom to top represent the path of light from inside to outside the vehicle, and light from outside to inside the vehicle respectively.\",\n \"Here, the light guide plate 31 in the light emitting device 3 is serves as the window pane for the rear side window 4, the rear window 5, and the like in the seventh embodiment.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 functions as the window material and as a light guide plate, and no specific window material 40 is provided.\",\n \"Consequently, while a flexible thin-film material may be sued as the light guide plate 31 in the fifth and sixth embodiments, the light guide plate 31 of the seventh embodiment is produced from a hardened panel like material that is durable enough to serve as a window pane.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 and exits from the emission surface 33.The light guide plate 31 also allows light to pass from outside to inside and from inside to outside the vehicle.\",\n \"The seventh embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a window pane such as a rear side window 4, a rear window 5, or the like.\",\n \"The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (rear side window 4 and rear window 5) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The rear side window 4 and the rear window 5 function as ordinary windowpanes when the light source 30 does not emit light, and when the light source 30 emits light operates to provide alerts for the various operations of the vehicle such as a direction indicator.\",\n \"The present invention is not limited to the above described embodiments and may be implemented in various other ways.\",\n \"Therefore, in all respects the above embodiments are merely examples and should not be interpreted as limitations.\",\n \"The scope of the present invention is delineated by the claims and not limited by the specification.\",\n \"Moreover, all modifications and variations with a scope equivalent to the claims are within the scope of the present invention.\",\n \"For instance, each of the aforementioned embodiments use a single light guide plate 31; the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be developed in various fauns which, for example, use a plurality of light guide plates 31.Moreover, when using a plurality of light guide plates 31, all the light guide plates 31 do not need to be configured to emit light toward outside the vehicle 1.More specifically, the light guide plates 31 that emit light toward outside the vehicle may be stacked, with a light guide plate 31 arranged for emitting light in a direction where the driver is considered the observer.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 designated for the driver as an observer may further include a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of incident light toward the emission surface 33 causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide plate or to radiate from a convergence point P or convergence line outside the light guide plate, and thereby form an image externally.\",\n \"The vehicle display device thusly configured may be adopted as a door mirror 2.In this case the light guide plate 31 can produce an image from light visible to the driver where the image appears to emerge from a position different from the mirror surface of the door mirror 2.In addition, the basic principles of the door mirror 2 presented in the first through fourth embodiments may be applied to other mirrors such as a rearview mirror.\",\n \"Furthermore, the basic principles of the rear side window 4 and the rear window 5 presented in the fifth through seventh embodiments may be applied to other window panes such are the windshield.\",\n \"The vehicle display device thusly configured as herein disclosed may be applied to mirrors such as a door mirror 2, and window pane surfaces such as a rear side window 4, a rear window 5, and the like, to provide alerts for the various operations of a vehicle such as a direction indicator, brake signal, emergency signal, and the like to persons outside the vehicle.\",\n \"Note that the information that may be provided as an alert is not limited to the vehicles operational state.\",\n \"For instance, textual information may be displayed which indicates the state of the roadway being traveled, e.g., “Traffic accident ahead”.\",\n \"Hereby, the vehicle display device may be configured to emit light for the purpose of reporting various kinds of information.\",\n \"REFERENCE NUMERALS 1 Vehicle 2 Door mirror (vehicle display device) 20 Mirror element 20a Front surface 20b Transmissive portion 20c Reflective layer 3 Light emitting device 30 Light source 31 Light guide plate (light guide element) 32 Incidence end surface 33 Emission surface 34 Rear surface 35 Optical-path changing portion 35a Reflection surface 36 Reflective layer 37 Transmissive layer 4 Rear side window (vehicle display device) 5 Rear windshield (vehicle display device) 40 Window material\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876031"}}},{"rowIdx":4495058,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["DART SCORING SYSTEM","A platform for facilitating a dart tournament allows gathering, at an electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, which includes the event or events in which each player is participating.","The platform allows generating, at a cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list.","The platform allows sending of the master tournament player list and the tournament record to mobile computing devices executing an electronic dart scoring application.","The platform allows scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the mobile computing devices executing the electronic dart scoring application.","The platform allows automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores."],["1.An integrated dart scoring platform comprising: an electronic bracket program, a cloud server application, an electronic dart scoring application, and one or more application program interfaces, wherein the platform is configured to facilitate a dart tournament scored on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application: gathering, at the electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating: generating, at the cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list; wherein the tournament record comprises at least: device settings, and match rules; sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application; scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application; automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The game of darts is traditionally an English pub game in which each player takes turns throwing 3 steel-tipped throwing devices (i.e., “darts”) at various targets on a bristle board containing 20 segments and bulls eye.","The two primary games played in the United States are titled '01 (“oh-one”) and Cricket.","Historically, scoring was done on chalkboards and more recently, dry erase boards.","Although electronic wall-mounted score machines have been developed, they can be expensive and many have a steep learning curve.","Furthermore, electronic soft tip machines use special darts and special scoreboards to automatically record scores when the darts hit the board.","These are akin to video games, often requiring money for each game and requiring players go to specific establishments having such scoreboards.","Additionally, dart software programs (i.e., applications) typically have a narrow focus and their interfaces tend to be technical and difficult to learn as they do not conform to the typical chalkboard/dry erase board scoring system.","Team/league and tournament play is especially challenging to accommodate in such software due to the nature of match format variations and group play.","Many additional factors have prevented easy-to-use modern scoring systems from being developed and/or widely accepted.","A first of these is math.","Scoring a dart game is prone to math errors, which at a minimum slows game play and often results in incorrect scores.","It is this particular pain point that is credited for giving rise to the soft-tip electronic vending game industry described above, impacting the popularity of the steel tipped game.","A second factor is the existing electronic scoreboards, which, as stated, can be intimidating or confusing, especially for the uninitiated.","Confirming and editing recent scores can be very difficult on these systems, due to a lack of instructions.","Furthermore, interfaces vary dramatically from traditional chalk board scoring.","A third preventing modern scoring systems from wide acceptance is that darts is a hard game to watch.","For example, teammates and spectators often struggle with seeing the current score of the match due to legibility, lighting, positioning, and space restrictions.","This often prevents spectators from keeping up with the status of a live game.","A fourth problem is finding opponents & creating opportunities to play.","As with scheduling any joint activity, the logistics of finding an agreeable time and a common meeting point, while managing the personal commitments in life, can make playing darts a challenge.","A fifth issue are game rule variations.","There are dozens of niche dart games and practice routines with rule variations.","The result is that there are hundreds of possibilities of game types, with even identical games going by different names depending on geography.","This difference creates decreased accuracy.","Player performance also limits acceptance.","Players are not familiar with ways to measure their performance as current player performance measurement tools require additional manual calculations after every game or match and is especially tedious for cricket-based games."],["<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>An aspect of the disclosure provides an integrated dart scoring platform comprising an electronic bracket program, a cloud server application, an electronic dart scoring application, and one or more application program interfaces.","The platform may be configured to facilitate a dart tournament scored on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application by gathering, at the electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.","Then, the platform may include, generating, at the cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.","The platform may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.","The platform may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.","Then the platform may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.","Another aspect of the disclosure provides a method for facilitating a dart tournament.","The method may include gathering, at an electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.","Then, the method may include, generating, at a cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.","The method may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of a plurality of mobile computing devices executing an electronic scoring dart application.","The method may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.","Then the method may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.","Yet another aspect of the invention comprises a non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable storage medium, encoded with processor-readable instructions to perform a method of facilitating a dart tournament.","The method may include gathering, at an electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.","Then, the method may include, generating, at a cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.","The method may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of a plurality of mobile computing devices executing an electronic scoring dart application.","The method may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.","Then the method may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores."],["PRIORITY This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/832,366 filed Aug. 21, 2015 and entitled “Dart Scoring System”, which claims priority to U.S.","Provisional Application No.","62/040,299, filed Aug. 21, 2014 and entitled “Dart Scoring System”, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.","FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention is related to the game of darts.","In particular, but not by way of limitation, the invention is related to providing a scoring system for various dart games.","BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The game of darts is traditionally an English pub game in which each player takes turns throwing 3 steel-tipped throwing devices (i.e., “darts”) at various targets on a bristle board containing 20 segments and bulls eye.","The two primary games played in the United States are titled '01 (“oh-one”) and Cricket.","Historically, scoring was done on chalkboards and more recently, dry erase boards.","Although electronic wall-mounted score machines have been developed, they can be expensive and many have a steep learning curve.","Furthermore, electronic soft tip machines use special darts and special scoreboards to automatically record scores when the darts hit the board.","These are akin to video games, often requiring money for each game and requiring players go to specific establishments having such scoreboards.","Additionally, dart software programs (i.e., applications) typically have a narrow focus and their interfaces tend to be technical and difficult to learn as they do not conform to the typical chalkboard/dry erase board scoring system.","Team/league and tournament play is especially challenging to accommodate in such software due to the nature of match format variations and group play.","Many additional factors have prevented easy-to-use modern scoring systems from being developed and/or widely accepted.","A first of these is math.","Scoring a dart game is prone to math errors, which at a minimum slows game play and often results in incorrect scores.","It is this particular pain point that is credited for giving rise to the soft-tip electronic vending game industry described above, impacting the popularity of the steel tipped game.","A second factor is the existing electronic scoreboards, which, as stated, can be intimidating or confusing, especially for the uninitiated.","Confirming and editing recent scores can be very difficult on these systems, due to a lack of instructions.","Furthermore, interfaces vary dramatically from traditional chalk board scoring.","A third preventing modern scoring systems from wide acceptance is that darts is a hard game to watch.","For example, teammates and spectators often struggle with seeing the current score of the match due to legibility, lighting, positioning, and space restrictions.","This often prevents spectators from keeping up with the status of a live game.","A fourth problem is finding opponents & creating opportunities to play.","As with scheduling any joint activity, the logistics of finding an agreeable time and a common meeting point, while managing the personal commitments in life, can make playing darts a challenge.","A fifth issue are game rule variations.","There are dozens of niche dart games and practice routines with rule variations.","The result is that there are hundreds of possibilities of game types, with even identical games going by different names depending on geography.","This difference creates decreased accuracy.","Player performance also limits acceptance.","Players are not familiar with ways to measure their performance as current player performance measurement tools require additional manual calculations after every game or match and is especially tedious for cricket-based games.","SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An aspect of the disclosure provides an integrated dart scoring platform comprising an electronic bracket program, a cloud server application, an electronic dart scoring application, and one or more application program interfaces.","The platform may be configured to facilitate a dart tournament scored on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application by gathering, at the electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.","Then, the platform may include, generating, at the cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.","The platform may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.","The platform may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.","Then the platform may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.","Another aspect of the disclosure provides a method for facilitating a dart tournament.","The method may include gathering, at an electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.","Then, the method may include, generating, at a cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.","The method may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of a plurality of mobile computing devices executing an electronic scoring dart application.","The method may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.","Then the method may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.","Yet another aspect of the invention comprises a non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable storage medium, encoded with processor-readable instructions to perform a method of facilitating a dart tournament.","The method may include gathering, at an electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.","Then, the method may include, generating, at a cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.","The method may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of a plurality of mobile computing devices executing an electronic scoring dart application.","The method may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.","Then the method may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various objects and advantages and a more complete understanding of the present invention are apparent and more readily appreciated by reference to the following Detailed Description and to the appended claims when taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings wherein: FIG.","1 depicts a dart game system according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","2A depicts a first screen of a dart gaming system broadcasting feature according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","2B depicts a code screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","2C depicts various dart game broadcasting options according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","3 depicts a launch screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","4 depicts an '01 scoring interface according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","5A depicts a training tool according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","5B depicts suggested out options in a notification according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","6 depicts an assist notification according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","7 depicts a cricket scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","8 depicts a cricket scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","9 depicts a cricket scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","10 depicts a marksman cricket scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","11A depicts a hint that may be provided during cricket play scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","11B depicts a hint that may be provided during cricket play scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","12 depicts a game and practice generation screen scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","12A depicts a game and practice generation screen scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","12B depicts a game and practice generation screen scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","13 depicts a Group/Team screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","14 depicts a Group/Team screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","15 depicts a game start screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","16 depicts a menu screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","17 depicts handicapping and custom scoring screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","18 depicts a corking tool according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","19 depicts user settings according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","20 depicts various user interface screens for a dart gaming system according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","21 depicts a match setup screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","22 depicts a connection options screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","23 depicts a second connection options screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","24 depicts a report comprising statistics screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","25 depicts a report comprising statistics screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","26 depicts a communication according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","27 depicts various statistical leaders according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","28 depicts a diagrammatic representation of one embodiment of a computer system according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","29 depicts a method according to one embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","30 depicts a logical block diagram of an integrated dart scoring platform for managing tournaments; FIG.","31 depicts a settings screen and a match rules screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","32 depicts a board selection screen, a selectable match screen, and a match confirmation screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","33 depicts an aging board calls screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","34 depicts a tournament viewing screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","35 depicts a method for implementing a tournament via an integrated dart scoring platform according to one embodiment of the invention; DETAILED DESCRIPTION The dart game system 100 (also referred to herein as a dart scoring system or dart gaming system) seen in FIG.","1 has addressed the issues presented above.","For example, the dart gaming system's unique interface substantially decreases the need for math skills and does not interfere with even the most proficient player's game.","The dart gaming system 100 may also provide a calculation of your three dart average for all games, including a reference point that compares it to your most recent 3 month average.","The dart gaming system's interface makes it easy to score, confirm or edit what was entered on the prior turn.","With network access, the dart gaming system's interface can be broadcast to any computing device, allowing spectators who are at a distance or even offsite to follow the score of the game on a public or personal device.","Furthermore, with network or internet-enabled devices, the dart gaming system 100 allows two opponents in separate locations to play a game, each taking turns scoring their respective turns.","The dart gaming system 100 also provides a custom play option for enabling various game rules, where users have the ability to design games and practice routines to create the version of the game they are accustomed to playing or want to play.","One embodiment of the dart scoring system improves game play and the scoring experience.","For example, the dart gaming system 100 captures data and statistics during the scoring of the game, eliminating the need for manual documentation.","The dart gaming system 100 further utilizes the cloud to broadcast games for spectators to follow on any internet enabled device and enables game play between 2 opponents in separate locations.","League and tournament play is supported with instant results & stats available to administrators, captains and players, and an interactive community is created utilizing the data collected from game play.","It is contemplated that the system 100 may be utilized with or without a network connection.","For example, when there is a network connection, the system 100 will automatically update the player/league/tournament statistics on a per throw/game/match segment, as identified by the user.","However, if no network connection is available, the system stores the information locally and transfers the data to the server 180 up re-establishing a network connection, integrating the information with any previous information stored.","Turning first to FIG.","1, seen is on embodiment of a dart gaming system 100.Although each figure described below may refer to a particular aspect of the dart gaming system 100, it is contemplated that the figure, or a feature thereof, may be referred to as the system 100.As seen in FIG.","1, one dart gaming system 100 comprises on-site solutions 110 and off-site solutions 120.The on-site solutions 110 may comprise a scoreboard 112, mobile device 114 or home device 116, while the off-site solutions 120 may comprise one or more network-enabled or internet-enabled devices.","The off-site solutions 120 may also be referred to herein as remote devices or broadcast devices.","The use of the system 100 is adapted to provide a quick, easy, and effective dart game scoring mechanism, having the ability to score many niche dart games and/or dart games with one or more regional variation.","Each of the devices seen in FIG.","1 may comprise a mobile computing device, a desktop device, or any other computing device known in the art.","In one embodiment, the scoreboard 112 may be used to enter and display a dart game score on a user interface.","A server 180 may broadcast the user interface to the remote devices.","The home devices 116 may mirror the user interface by as a remote device 120.In addition to the scoreboard, 112, the mobile device 114 may also be used to enter scores onto the user interface.","For example, the scoreboard 112 device may be placed near a dart board.","In order to enter scores in a safe manner, a player may wish to use his or her handheld mobile device 114 to enter scores into the user interface instead of the scoreboard.","However, if a mobile device 114 is used to enter scores, the scoreboard 112 may still control various user settings.","Seen in FIG.","19 is one set of user settings 1919 that may be controlled by the scoreboard.","One of these user settings 1919 may comprise when the broadcast scores (i.e., the scores on the remote devices 120) are updated.","For example, the scores on the broadcast devices may be updated after each dart throw or may be updated after each player, or after each round.","Other update scenarios are contemplated.","As seen in FIG.","1, the remote devices may comprise advertisements—“ADS”, as shown in the figure.","Turning now to FIG.","20, seen is a system flow 2095 for enabling various system 100 features.","For example, the log-in screen 2094 may be initially displayed to a user upon initiating the system 100 on any of the devices seen in FIG.","1.Through this screen, a user of the dart gaming system 100 may create an active member user profile in the system 100 and access the system 100 features.","Each active member may have access to all matches & events (e.g., games, tournaments, etc.)","in which they have participated.","Data from the games that users have participated in may be populated within a membership account on the server 180, giving each user access to performance analysis.","Such analysis may be used to provide a user rating and/or a user ranking and/or any other rating/ranking information or metrics which can be used to compare to the user to other members.","It is also contemplated that the dart gaming system 100 may be used be a guest user 352, as seen in FIG.","3.A guest user may have the option of subscribing to the system 100 at any point and identifying the games they have previously participated in, populating their membership account with previous game data.","Additionally, approved “outsiders” (e.g., though leagues, tournaments, etc.)","can be given permission to have access to selected matches.","As member games are stored over time, opportunities for virtual game play (i.e., database play) against themselves or others is available.","After entering a username/password into the log-in screen 2094, the launch screen 2050 may be displayed.","The launch screen 350 is also seen in FIG.","3.Upon selecting the play 351 option in the launch screen 350, a menu 2026 screen, as also seen in FIG.","16 may be displayed.","Seen in FIG.","16 are various dart game options 1628.A player may then select one of the dart game options 1628.Upon selecting one of the dart game options 1628, the match set up screen 2045 may be displayed, as seen in FIG.","20.As seen in FIG.","21, the match set up screen 2145 may comprise a connect 2131 option, manage player library 2132 option, match format 2133 option, add player 2134 option, and additional options 2136.The match format 2133 option modifies the no of games/sets/matches to be played.","Players may be added through the add player 2134 and manage player library 2132 options.","Upon selecting the players in the game, selecting the match format, and any additional options, the connect 2131 option may be selected.","The connect 2131 option will display the first connection options screen 2060.As seen in FIG.","22, the connection options screen 2260 may provide a broadcast match option 2261 and an online option 2262.By selecting the broadcast match option 2261, a second connection options screen 2365 may be displayed, as seen in FIG.","23, which may provide a connection code 2366.The connection codes 2366, 266 described herein may also be referred to as a broadcast key, key, password, or any other similar term known in the art.","The host may then share this connection code 266, 2366 with other users so that the other users may view the match.","Turning now to FIGS.","2A-2C, seen are examples of a dart gaming system broadcasting feature 230.The screen seen in FIG.","2A may comprise a code option 231, which, when selected, may display the code screen 232 seen in FIG.","2B.","Entering the connection code 2366 into this screen will enable the spectator to receive the scoring interface from the scoreboard 112 or other on-site solution 110 device, via the server 180 in at least one embodiment.","Selecting one of the link options 233 may provide a link to public matches to view.","For example, the online option 2262 seen in FIG.","22 may create a publicly-accessible link on a publicly-available webpage.","This link may have the ability to “broadcast” their match play on the internet—viewable with any browser, when the link is accessed.","For public broadcasts, interested parties may also be directed to a listing on a web page that provides a link which gives the spectator instant access to the game/match/tournament.","The broadcasting application may comprise a feature which takes advantage of landscape display environments.","One dart gaming system 100 may comprise an HTMLS (or any other program known in the art) program capable of running on any computing device comprising an internet browser such as, but not limited to, Internet Explorer®, Mozilla®, or Google Chrome®.","As seen in FIG.","2C, a standard viewing option 233, league viewing option 234, and/or game coach viewing option 235 may be provided to a spectator after either entering the code, as seen in FIG.","2b, or accessing the link through the link options 233.The standard viewing option 233 may display a scoring interface and current averages for each player.","The league viewing option 234 may also provide a match score and full name listing of the players, while the game coach option 235 may also enable the viewers to receive game tips and strategies.","The players may also receive these tips and strategies or may choose not to receive them through the user settings 1919, as seen in FIG.","19.The system 100 may comprise an audio and/or video component (e.g., live two-way audio and video) to any dart game initiated on the dart gaming system.","Such audio/video may be provided through the dart gaming system using any 3rd-party VOIP or video-streaming service.","It is contemplated that the video component may be utilized to support the scoring in the system 100.For example, if a score is contested, a video replay may be used to determine whether the entered score was accurate.","Alternatively, the video feed may be automatically utilized by the system 100 to record scores in the system.","Two players, geographically separated, can play a match through the dart gaming system 100 by connecting through the server 180.The server 180 will also distribute the user interface on the scoreboard 112 device to the spectators, as well as record and save all player, team, league, and tournament score data for each throw in every game played on the system 100.To enable play between two geographically remote players, a match host may provide the broadcast key to an opponent that the opponent uses to join the host in the system 100.The game may proceed on two devices, giving each player an opportunity to score their own turn.","The server 180 ensures that each player's scoreboard 112 is updated with the same data in real-time, regardless of which player enters the data.","The host may also have the option of broadcasting this game to spectators at the same time through the broadcasting feature seen in FIG.","2 or described in relation to FIGS.","22 and 23.One embodiment of the system 100 may comprise using data generated by the system 100 to create an interactive community between users of the system.","In such a community, statistics for players may be created for comparison within and amongst the community.","Such statistics and reports may be seen in FIGS.","24 and 25.Furthermore, rankings may be created among friends and/or competitors, players may be allowed to share achievements amongst other users and the system may enable players to play another player's games from a system database.","For example, users have the ability to practice against “real games” that were previously played by users of the system 100 (themselves or others).","This feature is provided by the system 100 keeping a historical log of all games played by users of the system.","In one such feature, the system 100 may select a random recent game previously played by a user.","Such a game may have been won by the user.","The system 100 then reproduces each turn the player had, while the challenging player throws live darts and records his turns as he normally would in the system 100.The result is a similar to playing against a computer opponent, but instead the user is alternating turns with a historical game.","After a match ends, the dart gaming system 100 may generate a communication such as, but not limited to, an email with a link which accesses the reports seen in FIGS.","24 and 25, or any other report.","One such communication 2626 is seen in FIG.","26.An example of statistics 2727 created with the system is shown in FIG.","27.These reports and/or statistics may comprise information for all match participants and may comprise (a) an event description, (b) a match analysis, (c) a match recap, (d) the recognition of an exceptional player and any team accomplishments, and (e) any other news and/or offers for the user.","In one embodiment, a user may have the ability to combine match data from separate devices or separate matches into one event summary that the user can review afterwards.","For multi-device summaries, a user may request an “event key” and then distribute the key to other members of the match who may then flag their matches on their devices with this identifier.","For a multi-match summary, a user can create an on-going “open” event.","Anytime a user wants to include a specific match, they would simply reuse the assigned key.","The dart gaming system 100 is adapted to reduce new user anxiety.","For example, any required math skills for scoring are eliminated as the system 100 accommodates all level of users.","This increases the scoring accuracy, using redundant features to mitigate the typical mistakes associated with electronic interfaces, including user miss-keys, score keeper errors and unresponsive devices.","Furthermore, the system 100 uses traditional scoring methods to replicate the “chalk board” scoring experience, enabling easier, faster and more accurate match scoring, allowing the players and score keepers to focus on the game itself.","Turning now to FIG.","4, seen is one example of a scoring screen 490 for an '01 dart game.","This may be the scoring screen 490 displayed on the scoring device 112 and adapted to receive scoring information, and may be broadcast to the off-site devices 120.Various challenges of scoring a dart match are addressed in such a screen 490.For example, the current turn 492 in the match (i.e., which identifies the user that needs to input a score for each round) is highlighted in s color different from the previously-entered scores in an audit trail 196 to make it clear to all what is being scored.","Additionally, a score window 494 displays and stores for later review (upon accessing a score in the audit trail 496) what is actually being keyed by the user though an integrated calculator functionality within the keypad, which assists with math processing.","Through the audit trail 496 of recent turns, players, score keepers and spectators may quickly and easily review the accuracy of entered prior turn scores.","Also provided is an easy edit “UNDO” button 498 to erase the current entry.","The UNDO button transforms into a BACK button when there are no entries in the score window 494 and the “BACK” button highlights the prior turn in the audit trail 496 to show parties what was keyed by the user in the score window 494 along with the resulting score in the audit trail 496.Seen in FIG.","5A is one example of a training tool to assist in determining the optimum targets to win an '01 game.","As seen, as assist notification 591 may display what score the “Guest” player would need to obtain with each dart in a 3-dart throw in order to obtain a score of “170”.","These scores are shown as “T20,” “T20,” and “DB,” which means that the first dart throw lands in a triple-20 score portion of the dartboard, the second dart throw also lands on a triple-20 score portion of the dartboard, and the third dart throw lands in the double bull's-eye.","With each triple-20 score providing sixty points and the double bulls-eye providing 50 points, this point total would be 60+60+50, or 170 points.","Seen in FIG.","5B are alternative or additional outputs 593 that may be shown in the notification 591.For example, instead of the alpha-numeric display shown in FIG.","5A, only a numerical display may be used (though the display in FIG.","5B does not add up to 170, so this is for a different game/user).","The alternative output 593 may also provide a “hint” which provides a mathematical solution for reaching the optimum targets.","In one embodiment, suggested outs for an '01 match may be broadcast to one or more connected devices.","The devices adapted to receive the suggested outs may be set up through the options 1919, as seen in FIG.","19.The suggested outs may be based on the current game score.","For example, the system may utilize a network connection between the scoreboard 112, server 180, and remote devices to broadcast coaching tips to user device in real time or to assist a player with the current game.","Such messages may be only displayed at an identified user device (e.g.","the “host” device) and may not be displayed on a shared score board, which may also be referred to herein as a primary score board.","In addition to the required out strategy for '01 games, additional examples of this feature comprise providing an additional number of point bullseyes required to win a game of Cricket.","Alternatively, strategy tips may be provided to user for any game.","As stated, such information may only be broadcast to a particular user, who may request it, which preserves the presentation of the game state on the primary device.","Turning now to FIG.","6, seen is an assist notification 691 comprising a suggested out option provided to a user that has thrown a partial turn, but still has one or two darts to throw to complete his round.","In such an instance, the user may click, for example, the “+” sign in the image below.","This may display one or more suggested targets for each throw.","Turning now to FIG.","7, seen is a cricket scoreboard 705.As seen, the cricket scoreboard 705 uses a “/” or “slash,” an “x,” and an “O” identify a single hit in a single-point throw, a double-point hit in a single throw, and a triple-point hit in a single throw, respectively, on that number.","The cricket scoreboard 705 also displays the exact throws which lead to three hits “O” mark.","For example, the “1” bubble shows two slashes (an “x”) and a circle.","This is used for a user that hit the target over three separate turns.","The “2” bubble displays a single-slash and a circle, evidencing that a player hit that target once in a prior turn (single slash) then connected again twice in a subsequent turn, with the additional two connections shown by the circle (a double target score portion of the mark was hit, for example).","If the player hits a valid target three times in the same turn, then the closed target will be represented by a circle only, as seen in bubble “3.” Turning now to FIG.","8, seen is one example of a cricket scoreboard 805 showing the redundancy in recording scores to ensure accuracy.","For example, the current turn target “hits” 881 may be highlighted in a first color to differentiate current turn scores (marks) from pre-exiting scores 883 in a second color.","Additional redundancy may be provided by displaying the number 887 of times a user has tapped the target button 807 for that target (tapping the target button 807 may be how a user identifies that the target was hit by a dart, thereby recording a score for that target).","This number 887 is shown in FIG.","8 as the “1” & “4” next to the “18” and “16” targets, respectively.","Furthermore, any target hit that results in points for the turn, is reflected in the margin for that target (note the “16” points) in the margin for the “16” target.","Redundancy is further provided by listing all target entries for the turn in the score window 894 (note the “18, 16×4 times”).","If a target has been “closed” by both players in prior turns (i.e., no further points may be obtained for either player for that target/number), the target may become visibly inactive (e.g., the “20” target button may comprise a darker color).","Turning now to FIG.","9, seen is what may happen after a turn has been submitted by pressing the “enter” button, as seen in FIG.","8.In one embodiment, the cricket scoreboard 905 may display what targets were scored on the previous turn (note the “1” and “4” in the margin).","Exceptional or high-count turns may generate a pop-up fade-out message 907 calling out the nature of the accomplishment and to ensure the correct score was recorded.","Seen in FIG.","10 is a marksman cricket scoreboard 1015.The marksman cricket scoreboard 1015 comprises a 3-button (“D” button, target button, “T” button) approach to scoring cricket.","The “D” button is for registering a double point score of the proximal Target Number and the “T” button is for registering a triple point score for the proximal Target Number amount.","The Target Number registers a single target number score.","This scoreboard 1015 may improve accuracy as the user avoids having to count and tap the Target Number multiple times for each hit that is a double or a triple.","Furthermore, the score window 1094 displays exactly what was keyed.","Speed of scoring may be increased since the maximum key stokes per turn is 3, as opposed to up to 9 with the approach seen, for example, in FIG.","9.Unique statistics may also be provided with the marksman cricket scoreboard 1015.For example, since the user informs the scoreboard 1015 what segment (single/double/triple) of each target the each dart actually hits (as opposed to the “roll up” scoring method associated with the standard FIG.","9 methods), specific statistics could be generated for this information, including, but not limited to, total missed darts (not just missed turns), total number of triple segments, doubles segments, single segments acquired, and targets hit but not scored due to opponent's existing position in the game.","Such information may allow the user to know how many darts scored their full potential value or the average of potential value for each dart thrown.","Turning now to FIGS.","11A and 11B, seen are hints that may be provided during cricket play.","In FIG.","11A the hint is shown in the score window 1194, informing the Host player that the player is behind by 16 points.","In FIG.","11B, both players have closed out all their respective targets except the bulls-eye target (“B”).","Rather than forcing each user to calculate the math value of the number of target bulls that are required for that player to win the game, the system calculates how many bull targets each player needs to hit to win the game.","As seen in the score window 1194, the host player needs to acquire six Bull targets and the guest player requires only three bull targets to win.","Turning now to FIG.","12, seen is a game and practice generation screen 1215.The menu system seen in FIG.","12 enables a user to design a game or practice routine according to their personal preferences and rules.","Games and routines fall into 3 general categories: (i) point-style games, (ii) half-it style games, and (iii) target-style games.","Games & routines can be further customized with options including (a) Enable Negative scoring, (b) Assuming 3 Dart Finish, (c) Determining Target values, (d) Enabling inclusion of Special targets, and (e) Determining the Starting target.","Created games and routines can be saved for future use.","FIGS.","12A and 12B may also be used in creating the new games/practice routines.","Turning now to FIG.","13, seen is an example of a Group/Team screen 1325.The Group/Team screen 1325 provides the ability to easily run competing teams of 4-12 players (may have different number of player per team) in a multigame match while also tracking their personal performance and updating their performance statistics in real-time without interfering with match play.","The Group/Team screen 1325 sets up group play by eliminating traditional menus & software wizards.","As players are selected for each game through the Edit Teams button, the screen 1325 will automatically change from singles to doubles, triples, etc.","As seen in FIG.","13, one Group/Team screen 1325 may be adapted to select two teams for a match and display the team rosters.","After selecting the players for each team, a match may be initiated by selecting the connect 1331 button.","The connect button displayed in FIG.","13 comprises a similar functionality as the connect 2131 option in FIG.","21 and as seen and/or described elsewhere herein.","The system 100 may record each player's turn in the order it occurred and automatically start a new set whenever there is a change in the player line-up.","Through this feature, the system 100 is enabled to create a match summary populated with player names and their throwing order, while tracking individual performance—even when participating in group play (Doubles, Triples, Quadruples).","The system 100 may inform the players to “Check In” before the next game commences As seen in the Group/Team screen 1425 in FIG.","14, the players or a third-party score keeper may select the opponents from each team, with the system 100 automatically determining what type of group play is occurring (Doubles in the FIG.","14 case).","The system 100 may accommodate team number mismatches such as, but not limited to, Singles vs. Doubles, by automatically recording a “bye” (or miss) for the group that is short a player.","Alternatively, the system 100 may rotate through each team, ensuring a team member is assigned to each round.","The system 100 may also provide each opposing team how player data is displayed to the team members.","For example, a Team Report may display team-related statistical data related to the match, tournament, league, and/or team history.","A Group Report may provide data for an identified Doubles/Triples/Quads, etc.","team.","A Player Report may provide individual darts and accomplishments data, assigned to each player, regardless of whether they are involved in any team or group play.","Examples of these reports may be seen in FIGS.","24 & 25.Turning now to FIG.","15, seen is how to select a starting player.","After choosing the teams through the edit teams selection, selecting team members from each team to participate in the game from the team lists and connecting, the game start screen 1535 is shown.","In the game start screen 1535, the selected players are listed and the user selects the play order for each group.","This is done by touching or selecting each player in each team in the order which they will participate in the match.","Selecting the player order allows the system 100 to assign the entered dart throw data and corresponding stats and achievements to each individual player, as opposed to a generic “pairing” or group.","Dart throw data may be entered through one of the screens seen in FIGS.","4-11B, or any other screen, depending on the dart game being played.","During group play, the system 100 alternates between opposing teams, listing which player is currently throwing.","For example, the player name may be listed at the top 1536 of the screen in lieu of, or in addition to, listing the team name.","The system 100 may also create and provide custom menus for leagues and tournaments to reflect their exact format.","One benefit of this would be fewer game set-up decisions (game type and options) that need to be made by the score keeper and players.","When playing an accepted league format, upon launching the system 100 on a mobile computing device, players may be greeted with a simplified menu, such as, but not limited to, the menu 1626 seen in FIG.","16.Such a menu 1626 would substantially eliminate the need to format each game prior to game start.","One such menu 1626 may display the league name 1627, acronym and/or logo to reinforce the league brand and assure users they are playing the correct format.","Also listed are various game options 1628.Looking now at FIG.","17, seen is a handicapping and custom score chart 1717.Users have the ability with this chart 1717 to modify their starting score to create any custom game or to handicap one of the opponents.","In one embodiment, prior to starting any game, a user can adjust the starting points, by simply tapping the starting score 1718 in the header.","The system may allow you to input the starting total (point games) or pre-scored marks (cricket and target games) for either player.","Users may also have the option of allowing the system to automatically determine the appropriate handicap for a given match up, based on their historical performance.","One system 100 seen in FIG.","1 may also comprise a corking tool 1880, as seen in FIG.","18.Such a tool may be used to determine who throws first in a dart game.","Prior to game play, each player often throws a single dart at the bulls-eye of a dart board & the player with the closest dart throws first.","In order to determine who is the closest to the bulls-eye, the corking tool 1880 seen in FIG.","18 was created.","The arcs 1881 on the corking tool 1880 are shaped to align with the outer ring on the bulls-eye of a dart board.","Using the measurement markings 1882 along the edges of the corking tool 1880, a user may determine what distance the dart is located from the outer ring of the bulls-eye, and compare such distance with a distance of another player, potentially playing from a remote location.","As seen, the measurement markings 1882 are divided up into six lettered sections (A-D), with each lettered section being divided up into six separate numbered sections (1-6).","The player with the smallest distance to the bull eye would throw first.","Turning now to FIG.","29, seen is method 2929 of conducting a dart game.","The dart game referred to in method 2929 may comprise any of the dart games referred to in any of FIGS.","1-28 such as, but not limited to, '01 and cricket.","One method starts at 2909 and at 2919 comprises initiating a dart game in at least one location.","For example, the location of the scoreboard 112 may comprise such a location.","At 2939, the method comprises recording a dart player's scores across a plurality of rounds via a user interface on a mobile computing device.","For example, the user interface may be any of the scoring interfaces described above such as, but not limited to, the '01 interface seen in FIG.","4 or the cricket interface see in FIG.","7.At 2949, the method 2929 comprises sharing the user interface and the dart plyer's scores in a near real-time manner with at least one remote location.","Such a remote location may be the off-site devices 120 seen in FIG.","1.Although not explicitly listed in FIG.","29, it is contemplated that the user interface in the method 292 may comprise a first display screen, with the first display screen comprising a game creation option, a game join option, a game share option, and a game watch option.","For example, and as seen in FIG.","20 is the launch screen 2050, which may comprise the first display screen.","Through the launch screen 2050, as use may create a game through the “play” feature (i.e., a game creation option), may join a game through the “connect” 2131 feature (or as otherwise described herein) after selecting any of the league, play, or another other of the options on the screen 2050, and may comprise a game watch option.","Whatever dart game is chosen may comprise a first dart game.","One method 2929 may further comprise initiating a second dart game.","For example, the first and second dart games may be related to a league and/or event/tournament, as seen in FIG.","20.One or more statistics may be obtained for the first dart game and the second dart game (as well as any additionally-related dart games, as identified by the player in the user settings 1919 or otherwise), aggregating the one or more statistics from the first dart game and the second dart game into a plurality of statistics for the dart player/league/tournament/event, and ranking at least a portion of the plurality of statistics for the dart player against one or more additional dart players/leagues/tournaments/events.","The method 292 may further comprise providing match summary information to the dart player upon conclusion of the match—for example in a message with a link as shown in FIG.","26.Game detail information may be provided to the dart player upon conclusion of the match.","Player performance information may also be provided to at least one of the dart player and the at least one remote location one of during the match and upon conclusion of the match.","Such information may be seen in FIGS.","25, 26, as well as FIGS.","9, 5, and 6.Further methods 292 may comprise storing the dart player's scores related to each of the plurality of rounds in the server 180, choosing to play a game against game stored in the server, and/or utilizing a server device to share the user interface and the dart player's scores in a near real-time manner with at least one additional location.","Another aspect of the disclosure pertains to systems and methods for integrating the scoring application with systems for managing tournament brackets.","Some software programs exist for managing the match-ups within sports tournaments, including dart tournaments.","Such programs may be referred to herein as “electronic bracket programs,” or simply “bracket programs.” The present disclosure provides an electronic bracket program that interacts with the dart scoring application to create a comprehensive electronic tournament scoring and management system.","The disclosure also provides application program interfaces (APIs) to allow the dart scoring system to integrate with existing electronic bracket programs.","The APIs of the present dart scoring system provide several features and functions that facilitate the management of dart tournaments.","Historically, steel tip dart competition has been conducted with a multi-part paper ticket based system, using one part to operate the bracket, one part to accompany the players as they proceed to each match assignment, and the last as proof of event registration.","Such paper systems are inherently prone to errors and delays, since they are filled out by hand, manually numbered, and continuously change hands between staff and players.","Sometimes, slips go missing or become duplicated.","The APIs coordinate an electronic bracket program (including the one provided in the present disclosure and third-party programs) with the connected match scoring system described herein, which provides a level of service to players, spectators and staff that has not previously been available for events and tournaments.","The APIs enable an electronic bracket program and dart match scoring software to communicate critical information with each other, simplifying the operation of each, reducing event staffing and the need for operational expertise with both programs.","In addition, the overall system provides players and fans public access to all aspects of the tournaments, so they can locate individual matches, peruse bracket standings, or review results.","FIG.","30 shows a logical block diagram of an integrated dart scoring platform 3000 (which may also be referred to as an integrated dart scoring system) for conducting dart tournaments of the present disclosure.","The diagram should not be construed as a hardware diagram, and may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware.","The system 3000 comprises a bracket program 3010.One function of the electronic bracket program 3010 is to provide an interface for collecting player (or team) information, which may be implemented by a Player Information Component 3011.For the purposes of a dart tournament, player information including a player name, player ID (e.g., an ID number assigned to members of sporting associations), and a player e-mail, may be entered upon registration in a particular tournament.","Bracket programs can generate complete player rosters for a particular event and create an event ID (or competition ID) through an Event ID component 3012.A main function of an electronic bracket program is to create matchups of players out of the roster, based on the competition structure of the tournament, which may be implemented by an Initial Bracket Assignment Component 3013.For example, players on the roster may be placed into a single- or double-elimination competition format, or may be placed into round-robin pool play before being placed in single- or double-elimination rounds.","Placing players in such brackets manually can be time-consuming and confusing, especially when there are large numbers of players.","It can be even more time-consuming and confusing to manually advance players into different stages after wins and losses, which is why existing electronic bracket programs create the initial placements and advance players automatically when they win or lose.","The automatic advancing of players may be implemented by the Bracket Advance Component 3014.The bracket program of the present disclosure provides these functions, but also provides unique features to facilitate the interaction with the dart scoring application.","Several features of the bracket program of the present disclosure also make it easier to manage tournaments.","One such feature includes dashboard indicators to create calls to action for a bracket operator.","Another is a list view of the bracket to provide a simple action list for the bracket operator.","Yet another is a system for creating a printable mailing label or other small paper document system that expedites the pairing of players and board assignments in the correct initial event board call process to expedite the running of the event.","This is especially helpful for “Blind Draw” events, which, in a paper based system, require a multi-step process: First, staff must match all the individual player entries with a partner randomly, creating a doubles team.","Then, staff must then randomly match each doubles team with an additional doubles team.","Then, the match assignments are organized into a board assignment call order.","With previous paper-based systems, written entry slips are spread out on a large table to create an initial match of paired teams.","Then, a secondary match is performed to create the competitions, and then they are organized according to preferred board call assignment.","The presently disclosed bracket program combines all three steps into one succinct process, that allows a bracket operator to print the board call slips, with the proper partners and opponents in the order they are to be call.","Printing can occur on cards, full sheets of paper, or mailing labels.","This feature reduces a 30-minute (or greater) process into an approximately five-minute process.","Mailing labels allow the staff to reuse the original submitted paper entry slips.","To utilize a bracket program (either the one of the present disclosure or a third-party bracket program) for a tournament, participants register once for the entire tournament, creating a player record that is aggregated into the Master Player Roster.","Each player is then eligible to enter into individual event competitions.","Individual event competition may include, for example, women's only, men's only, one game type only (e.g., either cricket or '01), multiple game types, singles, doubles, etc.","The Master Player Roster comprises the player information for any player who registers a to play in at least one event throughout the tournament.","An Event Player Roster (or simply “Event Roster”) is comprises just the player information for players competing in one particular event.","There may be multiple Event Rosters within a Master Tournament Roster.","Once a player enters an event through a registration process, the bracket program can either automatically import the eligible players for the event, or the tournament staff can manually enter and/or select participants.","The bracket program then organizes the competition and provides a dart board assignment for each of the initial match(es) between players.","In prior approaches, paper tickets would then be used to score the matches and the scores and winners would have to be manually entered in the bracket program, which would typically be run at one, or at most, a few computing devices operated by tournament administrators or staff.","The integration system of the present disclosure allows the scoring to be done electronically, through computing devices at each board at which a match is being played that execute the dart scoring application of the present disclosure, and transmitted in real time to the bracket program via the cloud server application 3030.The cloud server application 3030 may be the same cloud server application referred to previously throughout this disclosure.","The bracket program 3010 can then advance players automatically based on the transmitted scores from dart scoring application mobile devices 3050-3052, rather than wait for manual entry of scores and winners.","The transferring functions between each of the computing devices and applications depicted in FIG.","30 are performed by one or more APIs, depicted in FIG.","30 as API 3020.As will be described throughout this disclosure, the API(s) 3020 allows the transfer of information back and forth between the bracket program 3020, cloud server application 3030, and the mobile devices 3050-3052, the control desk(s) 3040, and the remote broadcasting device(s) 3060.As depicted, this information includes, but is not limited to, player registration info 3021, event ID 3022, bracket assignments 3023, board assignments 3024, match scores 3025, notifications 3026, and match progress and status 3027.The integration system 3000 also allows spectators to view scores and tournament standings at one or more remote broadcasting devices 3060 for matches in progress in real-time.","The present disclosure has previously described how individual matches may be viewed by spectators when broadcast publicly or with a private key; the integration system adds the ability for spectators to view multiple match scores within a tournament and the live tournament standings themselves.","Additionally, the integrated scoring system 3000 may include a control desk interface 3040, on which certain functions for tournament administrators and staff may be displayed.","It is contemplated that, in some embodiments, a separate device may not be required to implement the control desk interface 3040, and it may be displayed, instead, on a screen of a device that is running the dart scoring application.","Still referring to FIG.","30, to set up a tournament once players have been registered, a bracket program 3000 may first provide player registration information 3021 to the cloud server of the dart scoring application.","The bracket program sends an Event ID 3022 (also known as a “Competition ID”), and a complete Event Player Roster, which includes at least a Player Name, Player ID, and (optionally, though not required) the Player e-mail of each player on the Event Player Roster.","Then, the cloud server application, via a Tournament Record Component 3031, develops a Tournament Record, which adds, based on the Event ID, the following information: a Tournament ID (for login purposes) Event Data, Device Settings, Event Format (which provides designations indicating whether the event is Elimination, Round Robin, Set Play, Win by Two, etc.","), and Match Instructions (which provide actual instructions like Cork for Start, number of legs, alternate, etc.","), and optionally, a Player ID associated with the scoring application.","Turning to FIG.","31, the Device Settings may be visible on a settings screen 3100 of the dart scoring application that show which functions that may be accessible or inaccessible to scorers depending on the Match Rules, as shown on the match rules screen 3150.The device settings screen may highlight what features of the scoring application will be visible during game play and scoring.","It may be configurable by a scorer, or frozen, depending on the tournament rules.","Event Match Rules shown on the match rules screen 3150 may include, for example, the eligible games for the match, the starting rules, the number of legs to be played, etc.","As shown in the match rules screen 3150, the applicable match rules are highlighted and the others are grayed out.","Depending on the embodiments, scorers may or may not be able to alter these settings.","Referring back to FIG.","30, mobile devices 3050-3052 with the dart scoring application may associate with the tournament by logging in (e.g., entering the Event ID on a screen) to the dart scoring application.","Any device (including the control desk 3040, the mobile application scoring devices 3050-3052, and the remote broadcasting device 3060) associated with the tournament may then receive, from the cloud server application 3030, the Tournament Record 3031, which comprises the complete Event Player Roster 3032, the Event Data 3033, the Device Rules 3033, the Event Match Rules 3035, and any associated Player IDs 3036 (including any player association IDs and scoring-application-specific IDs).","In some embodiments, only selected information may be sent to each computing device depicted, based on permissions set at the permissions component 3038 at the cloud server application.","The scoring system is intended to maintain wireless connectivity throughout the competition, so that board assignments, scores, and other information may be transmitted back-and-forth between the scoring devices, the cloud server application, and the bracket program.","However, several features of the system provide backup and redundancy features to preserve information if network connectivity is lost.","One of those features is that each device, once logged into the tournament, receives the Tournament Record and Master Tournament Player List and keeps a copy of it locally.","This feature ensures that, once the device has logged into the tournament, it has at least all the assigned and scheduled matches at the proper boards.","If, for example, network connectivity is lost after a few matches have been played, and the board assignments are no longer being updated to the device in real-time, the dart scoring application will still be able to pull up a list of correct possible match-ups at particular boards, and may be used to manually select players from the master tournament list if absolutely necessary.","The Tournament Record 3031 is also transferred from the cloud server application to the bracket program itself through the API 3030.To continue setting up a tournament, the bracket program 3010 may then use this Tournament Record 3031 to create a board assignment for each match.","Creating a bracket in order to figure out how to advance players and create match-ups is a first component of setting up a tournament; assigning the boards on which those matches are to take place is another endeavor.","“Boards” may also be referred to as “dart alleys,” and may be identified by numbers.","For example, the first two players may be assigned to Board 1, the second two players to Board 2, etc.","In the past, tournament staff set up board assignments manually, which was a very cumbersome and confusing process.","Some bracket programs have recently developed board assignment tools.","The bracket program of the present disclosure provides an advanced “intelligent board assignment” system (depicted by component 3015) to further improve the process.","In general, the process of board assignment in any tournament is accomplished by first creating a list of eligible events.","Each event can import a player list or be manually populated from the master player list.","After the bracket program organizes the competition for a specific event, the bracket program creates a Match ID for each individual player vs. player competition, associating it with the Event ID and Tournament ID.","The final step is assigning a dart alley (board assignment) where the competition will take place.","The cloud server application electronically notifies participants (for example, via e-mail, text message, push notification, or any other suitable electronic communication) of their board assignment, as well as publishing an electronic master list on viewing screens of the display system (e.g., the dart game display system referred to in FIGS.","2A-2C).","One of the fundamental challenges of running a steel tip dart tournament is that there are a limited number of playing fields (dart alleys), with potentially hundreds of players, that are being used by multiple events at the same time.","Depending on the event format and match rules, the dartboards can turn over every 10-15 minutes.","No matter what kind of system is used to facilitate a dart tournament, it is the goal of tournament staff to continuously assign as many boards as quickly as possible, without assigning multiple live matches to the same dart alley for certain events.","In some event formats, though, multiple matches may purposefully be assigned to a single dart alley with the intention that they are to be played sequentially.","To enable the continual assignment of boards without assigning multiple matches at the same time at the same boards, the bracket program must have a board management system, which is at the tournament level, and not at the individual event level.","This allows the board management system to manage which boards are currently available (not being actively played on) and to enable tournament staff to develop individual board assignment guidelines for each event.","For instance, in a singles competition event, staff may want to assign every available board.","In a team event, staff may choose to assign every other board, or only even/odd boards to allow for additional physical spacing for the multi-player teams (since boards are often placed close together).","Staff can also designate a range of dart alleys that are eligible for an individual event.","For example, a particular event may have a board assignment guideline of “even numbered boards only, from 2 to 20,” out of a total of 50 available.","In prior approaches, assigning boards in this way has been done manually and has been cumbersome to implement.","These guidelines are typically set before the tournament begins, but may be updated as the tournament continues.","In embodiments of the disclosure, the event board assignment can either be “absolute” or a “guideline”.","When it is a guideline, each event bracket operator may view the total list of available dart alleys (those not being currently utilized by an active match from any event).","However, the preferred dart alleys for the particular event the bracket operator is running may have a primary color designation, while the remaining ones are monochromatic.","This allows the bracket operator to readily identify recommended boards, yet select any available board, should the need arise.","In contrast, if an event board assignment is absolute, the designated boards do not appear in the list of boards that other bracket operators can view for their respective events.","The intelligent board assignment system of the present disclosure (depicted in intelligent board assignment component 3015 of FIG.","30) enables the assigning of multiple available boards at once.","This system alleviates a large challenge for tournament management which is made apparent at the start of each event.","A large event can have more than 50 dart alleys, and it is the goal of tournament staff to facilitate the board assignments as quickly as possible once the initial event draw is done.","Assigning each board individually creates a time delay that prevents the event from getting underway.","With a single command, the intelligent board assignment system of the bracket program allows an operator to assign all “available” boards (i.e., ones not being currently utilized), while respecting the board assignment guidelines for that particular event, and any others that are underway.","The bracket operator has the option of “activating” the board assignments immediately, or setting them to a delay, to both enable additional editing (un-assigning or changing particular board assignments) and to manage when electronic board notifications are sent to the participants.","Another aspect of the intelligent board management system is that the event operator has the ability to designate which round of the tournament this function should be applied to when they run the command: Preliminary round, Round 1, Round 2, etc.","For example, a youth event may be set up with an absolute board assignment for boards 1-4 (i.e., all the boards 1-4) for the duration of the youth event, which, for this example, begins sometime after the very start of the tournament and ends sometime before the very end of the tournament.","These boards will not be listed in any operator's event board list, except for the list of the bracket operator running the youth event.","This same tournament may begin with a doubles event, for which the staff have set the board assignment guideline to “even numbered” dart alleys.","Since the doubles event is the first event, there are no boards being utilized yet, the system automatically assigns matches to all available even numbered boards 5-50 in the initial round of competition, because boards 1-4 are not made available for assignment, having been assigned absolutely to the youth event.","In this same tournament, towards the end of the doubles event, but still during the youth event, a singles competition event begins, and it has a broader board assignment guideline of “all boards,” which means that all boards that are available can be assigned.","With a single command, all available even and odd boards (including ones that are available despite having been used in the doubles competition earlier) are assigned for the Prelim Round, and then repeated for Round 1 of the singles event with the exception of boards 1-4, which are still assigned to the youth event.","For the remaining doubles matches, which are now fewer in number, only even numbered dart alleys continue to be recommended and available for the doubles bracket operator to schedule.","Eventually the youth event ends, and the absolute board guideline for that event is retired, freeing up boards 1-4, for both the doubles and singles events, still respecting their event board guidelines.","Additional guidelines may be implemented at the tournament level or event level to properly assign boards based on tournament or event rules.","For example, some tournaments have a rule that a player cannot play on the same board for two consecutive matches because it could potentially give that player an advantage over his or her opponent.","In order to implement this rule, the intelligent board assignment system may track previously played boards and take those into account in addition to the other event board assignment guidelines.","In some embodiments, the intelligent board assignment system may have an option of placing a tournament in a full automation mode, rather than having bracket operators assign boards based on guidelines.","Guidelines could instead be used to automatically assign everything from the initial board assignments to the final event match.","The results from the scoring application would be used to automatically advance each winner through the bracket and create the board assignments based on bracket assignments.","The overall integrated scoring system (or platform) may implement several permissions of restriction levels at the various interfaces of the system.","In general, the scoring application is available to members (i.e., paid subscribers to the scoring application, whether participating in the current tournament or not) and tournament participants.","The bracket operations, which may be implemented at the control desk 3040, are general only available to tournament staff.","The dart game display system (e.g., on the remote broadcasting device 3060), is generally available to anyone who wants to watch, including tournament participants, staff, and spectators.","The display system includes public access to tournament check-in, event registration confirmation (which allows viewing of registrations, but not the function of actually registering), fan alerts, board calls, and live match scores and statuses.","The live scores and statuses are shown in FIG.","34, As part of the integration between the bracket program and the scoring application, scorers on devices associated with the tournament may enter a board assignment in a board entry field 3201, as shown in board selection screen 3200 of FIG.","32.Scorers may be players who self-score in some tournaments, or referees who score in other tournaments.","Once a board assignment is entered, the scoring application presents only player match-ups that are assigned to that particular board.","For example, in the match selection screen 3210, only one selectable match 3211 is presented for the scorer to select.","In some embodiments, this selectable match is also presented based on the time and on previous matches that have been played.","A “more options” button 3212 is also available, which may allow a scorer to view matches assigned to that particular board for future matches and alternate events.","In some tournaments, multiple matches may be assigned to the same board at the same time, and the selectable match screen 3211 may present the matches in the recommended order of play to maximize efficiency.","This selectable match screen 3211 is the result of filtering data at the cloud server application and/or the local scoring application.","Without such filtering, scorers would have to manually check a master tournament list, and possibly a board assignment list and event list to confirm that the correct players are at the correct board.","In large tournaments, the process of checking such lists can be time-consuming and error-prone, because they may have dozens or hundreds of entries.","The selectable match screen 3210 presents only the correct possible matches for the selected board, reducing time and mistakes.","Once a match is selected, a match confirmation screen 3220 may be shown.","Each of the pieces of data created by the cloud server application enables the tailoring of distinct match instructions for each event to be delivered to each device.","This, in turn, allows the dart scoring application and cloud server to run multiple overlapping events simultaneously at each individual scoring device.","That is, event staff and players do not need to intervene manually to change scoring application instructions every time the same device is used for a different event.","For example, a single tournament may have both cricket and '01 events, and singles and doubles events.","Some players may be participating in both simultaneously.","Also, some dart alleys may be used for both events.","The rules may differ greatly or slightly between events; no matter the degree of change, it can be difficult to keep track of such changes manually or even mentally.","When a board assignment is entered into the board selection screen 3200, one of the matches on the match selection screen 3210 is selected, and the match is confirmed on a match confirmation screen 3220, the scoring application screens that will be presented to the scorer will automatically have the correct competition records and match rules for the match.","This ensures that, when players show up to play at an assigned board at a particular time, neither the staff nor players have to worry about interpreting and implementing the match rules for each event, and do not have to go through a tedious process of selecting participants from the master tournament list.","Another aspect of the dart scoring system and integration with the bracket program is that match results may be reported in substantially real-time to the bracket program via the cloud server application and used to advance the winner.","When the match is complete, the scoring application utilizes the API to return the competition record, appended with the match score, to the bracket program.","The bracket program can then be set up in one of two ways.","A first option is that an electronic notification appears in the bracket program, that the operator manually approves, releasing the board assignment, advancing the winning player and recording the match score.","The second option is that the notification automatically performs these steps.","The match result reporting feature allows tournaments to be run more efficiently and with fewer delays, because it eliminates the need to call in or physically walk scores over to a central control area where the bracket program is run.","It also eliminates the need for waiting for advances and new board assignments from the bracket program to be communicated to a central viewing area or individual dart alleys.","In any kind of tournament, bracket advances (whether done manually or electronically) are often displayed on some kind of whiteboard or paper on an easel.","Since the bracket program itself is electronic, it may be displayed on a central screen, but finding an individual match or player on an entire displayed bracket can still be time-consuming in a big tournament.","Sometimes, board assignments may be verbally broadcast over a PA system, but such announcements are easy to miss.","In the present integrated dart scoring system, bracket advances and new board assignments are communicated in real-time back to the scoring applications on individual devices.","They are also communicated electronically to each player via e-mail, text message, and/or push notification.","It is contemplated that many tournament participants may have the dart scoring application running on their own smartphones, whether they are self-scoring the tournament matches or not, because if they have the application on their smartphones and are logged into the tournament, they can receive a push notification immediately with a new board assignment.","Players may want to have the application running on their smartphones for other purposes, including watching other match scores and bracket standings in the tournament.","Other spectator features enabled by the integrated dart scoring system will be described later in this disclosure.","Other features of the integrated dart scoring system are related to the automated match status reporting feature, and provide additional tournament efficiency benefits.","A challenge for all tournament events is running on-time.","In a traditional paper-based environment, the two most common obstacles are players not responding to their verbal board assignments, which delays the start times of scheduled matched, or failing to report the winning result, which delays the next match assignment.","Some players who delay reporting winning results do so because they are playing in a high volume of matches, and they may purposefully delay reporting in order to pace themselves and have the matches be a bit more spread out.","In the present system, the cloud server application automatically time stamps all board assignments, and groups them according their delayed status in 5-minute increments.","As shown in FIG.","33, these delayed match starts may be displayed on an “aging board calls” screen 3300.This screen may be visible at a control desk interface of the integrated dart scoring system, and may only be accessible to tournament staff or officials.","In other embodiments, it may be available to any user of the dart scoring application who is logged into the tournament.","The aging board calls screen 3300 shows a list in which each line includes a board assignment 3310, a Match ID 3320, and a time-stamp of the board call 3330.Any board calls that have been time-stamped more than five minutes in the past and have not started a match are shown under a 5+ minutes line 3240 and any that have been time-stamped more than 10 minutes in the past are shown under a 10+ minutes line 3250.Other visual cues may be used to alert viewers that matches are running late.","For example, matches that are more than 15 minutes late may be highlighted in or changed to red.","This display is enabled by time-stamping bracket advances once they have occurred in the bracket program, sending out board calls to players contemporaneously, and transmitting this information to a computing device that displays the control desk interface.","This display screen allows staff to police procrastinators and provide the documentation required to disqualify players who are delaying the tournament.","Tournaments may have rules that disqualify players who are more than 10 minutes late to a board call, for example.","Some other problems can delay tournaments as well.","For example, matches may become abandoned or not formally completed due to technical glitches such as devices freezing or running out of batteries, or any number of other unique circumstances.","FIG.","34 shows a tournament viewing screen 3400 that may be available on a control desk screen or to any viewer watching the tournament through a viewing mode of the scoring application.","If matches are abandoned, if they are not formally completed, or should the individual tablet become disconnected to the network, the cloud server application will replace a “live match” icon 3410 with a stop sign icon 3420 to alert tournament staff that a match or device needs to be investigated.","With the board assignment provided in the match listing, staff can be dispatched to fix the device and/or complete the match, sending results back to the bracket program to free up the board and advance the bracket.","As discussed previously, there are several features throughout the integrated scoring system that prevent issues resulting from a loss of network connectivity.","Even if the network fails during the competition, the tournament record (comprising the event list, along with the corresponding match instructions) and the master tournament players list is still stored locally at the mobile computing device, which creates a backup option to score a match.","Players (or other scorers) can manually select the event and their participant records to create a match.","The completed match will reside on the individual tablet until the connectivity is restored.","When a connection is re-established, the scoring application will forward the completed match record(s) to the bracket program via the cloud server application.","While the record will lack a match ID and board assignment, it will contain a tournament ID, event ID and player IDs, enabling the bracket operator to manually fill in this information and update the results as needed.","FIG.","35 shows a method for facilitating a dart tournament using the integrated scoring system of the present disclosure.","The method may be implemented by an electronic bracket program, a cloud server application, an electronic dart scoring application, and one or more application program interfaces by first, at 3501, gathering, at the electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.","Then, the method may include, at 3502, generating, at the cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.","The method may further comprise, at 3503, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.","At 3504, the method may comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.","Then at 3505, the method may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and at 3506, automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.","Embodiments of the invention may further comprise a non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable storage medium, encoded with processor-readable instructions to perform a method of providing information related to a dart game.","One non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable storage medium, encoded with processor-readable instructions may be described with reference to FIG.","28, below.","One such method may comprise rendering a dart game scoring interface on a mobile computing device.","One dart game scoring interface may comprise the various scoring interfaces and display screens shown in the figures and described herein.","One such interface may display at least one current player score and at least one another player score.","The method may further comprise ensuring that a dart score is entered correctly into the dart game scoring interface.","For example, a color of the at least one current player score (the player currently entering scoring data) may be differentiated from the color of the at least one another player's score.","Additionally, each entry to the scoring interface may be displayed in a scoring interface score window.","Also, the method may comprise at least one of (i) displaying in an audit trail a sum of each previous entry entered into the score window, and (ii) displaying a number of times a user has selected a target.","The method may also comprise sharing the dart game scoring interface with a plurality of additional mobile computing devices.","It is contemplated that a portion of the at least one current player score comprises mark notations, as described herein.","Furthermore, target on the dart board may comprise one of an enabled target and a disabled target.","This may occur in a cricket game.","For example, prior to both or all players hitting the target three times, after a player hits the target three times (receives three mark notations—two slashes and a circle), that player may receive a numerical score for the target amount for any subsequent hits (i.e., “selected” on the user interface) prior to the other player or players hitting the target three times.","During this period, the target is enabled.","After all players have hit the target three times, the target is disabled and no points may be obtained for this target by any player.","The user interface may also comprise a first scoring redundancy and a second scoring redundancy, to ensure scoring accuracy.","One such first redundancy may comprise differentiating a color of the enabled target from the disabled target.","A second redundancy may comprise: (i) accessing one sum in the audit trail, (ii) differentiating the color of the accessed sum from each other sum, and (iii) displaying in the score window each previous entry related to the accessed sum.","The non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage medium method may further comprise requesting an event key, also referred to herein as a code or a password, or any other term known in the art.","The event key may then be distributed to another computing device and then a dart game scoring interface may be received by another computing device, as well as displaying score information on the interface.","Such scoring information may be related to one or more forthcoming player dart throws for a next round.","Such scoring information may be provided before or after the player has thrown at least one dart for the round.","A fade-out display message may also provide information related to one or more recent dart throws to the plurality of additional mobile computing devices.","It is contemplated that ensuring that a dart score is entered correctly into the dart game scoring interface further comprises providing a series of selectable features that automatically enter a score related to a dart throw, decreasing a number of selections required to enter the score as compared to the number of selections required not using the series of selectable features, and calculating statistics related to the selectable features.","The systems and methods described herein can be implemented in a computer system in addition to the specific physical devices described herein.","Referring back to FIG.","28, shown is a diagrammatic representation of one embodiment of a computer system 2800 within which a set of instructions can execute for causing a device to perform or execute any one or more of the aspects and/or methodologies of the present disclosure.","A computer comprising the any of the devices disclosed with reference to FIGS.","1 and 30, such as, but not limited to, the scoreboard 112 device, the cloud server application 3030, the API 3020, and the bracket program 3010 are examples of some implementations of the computer system 2800.The components in FIG.","28 are examples only and do not limit the scope of use or functionality of any hardware, software, firmware, embedded logic component, or a combination of two or more such components implementing particular embodiments of this disclosure.","Some or all of the illustrated components can be part of the computer system 2800.For instance, the computer system 2800 can be a general purpose computer (e.g., a laptop computer) or an embedded logic device (e.g., an FPGA), to name just two non-limiting examples.","Computer system 2800 includes at least a processor 2801 such as a central processing unit (CPU) or an FPGA to name two non-limiting examples.","Any of the subsystems described throughout this disclosure could embody the processor 2801.The computer system 2800 may also comprise a memory 2803 and a storage 2808, both communicating with each other, and with other components, via a bus 2840.The bus 2840 may also link a display 2832, one or more input devices 2833 (which may, for example, include a keypad, a keyboard, a mouse, a stylus, etc.","), one or more output devices 2834, one or more storage devices 2835, and various non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media 2836 with each other and with one or more of the processor 2801, the memory 2803, and the storage 2808.All of these elements may interface directly or via one or more interfaces or adaptors to the bus 2840.For instance, the various non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media 2836 can interface with the bus 2840 via storage medium interface 2826.Computer system 2800 may have any suitable physical form, including but not limited to one or more integrated circuits (ICs), printed circuit boards (PCBs), mobile handheld devices (such as mobile telephones or PDAs), laptop or notebook computers, distributed computer systems, computing grids, or servers.","Processor(s) 2801 (or central processing unit(s) (CPU(s))) optionally contains a cache memory unit 2802 for temporary local storage of instructions, data, or computer addresses.","Processor(s) 2801 are configured to assist in execution of computer-readable instructions stored on at least one non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium.","Computer system 2800 may provide functionality as a result of the processor(s) 2801 executing software embodied in one or more non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media, such as memory 2803, storage 2808, storage devices 2835, and/or storage medium 2836 (e.g., read only memory (ROM)).","For instance, the methods 2929 in FIG.","29 may be embodied in one or more non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media.","The non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media may store software that implements particular embodiments, such as the method 2929 and processor(s) 2801 may execute the software.","Memory 2803 may read the software from one or more other non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media (such as mass storage device(s) 2835, 2836) or from one or more other sources through a suitable interface, such as network interface 2820.Any of the subsystems herein disclosed could include a network interface such as the network interface 2820.The software may cause processor(s) 2801 to carry out one or more processes or one or more steps of one or more processes described or illustrated herein.","Carrying out such processes or steps may include defining data structures stored in memory 2803 and modifying the data structures as directed by the software.","In some embodiments, an FPGA can store instructions for carrying out functionality as described in this disclosure (e.g., the method 2929).","In other embodiments, firmware includes instructions for carrying out functionality as described in this disclosure (e.g., the method 2929).","The memory 2803 may include various components (e.g., non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media) including, but not limited to, a random access memory component (e.g., RAM 2804) (e.g., a static RAM “SRAM”, a dynamic RAM “DRAM, etc.","), a read-only component (e.g., ROM 2805), and any combinations thereof.","ROM 2805 may act to communicate data and instructions unidirectionally to processor(s) 2801, and RAM 2804 may act to communicate data and instructions bidirectionally with processor(s) 2801.ROM 2805 and RAM 2804 may include any suitable non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media.","In some instances, ROM 2805 and RAM 2804 include non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media for carrying out the method 2929.In one example, a basic input/output system 2806 (BIOS), including basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computer system 2800, such as during start-up, may be stored in the memory 2803.Fixed storage 2808 is connected bidirectionally to processor(s) 2801, optionally through storage control unit 2807.Fixed storage 2808 provides additional data storage capacity and may also include any suitable non-transitory, tangible computer-readable media described herein.","Storage 2808 may be used to store operating system 2809, EXECs 2810 (executables), data 2811, API applications 2812 (application programs), and the like.","Often, although not always, storage 2808 is a secondary storage medium (such as a hard disk) that is slower than primary storage (e.g., memory 2803).","Storage 2808 can also include an optical disk drive, a solid-state memory device (e.g., flash-based systems), or a combination of any of the above.","Information in storage 2808 may, in appropriate cases, be incorporated as virtual memory in memory 2803.In one example, storage device(s) 2835 may be removably interfaced with computer system 2800 (e.g., via an external port connector (not shown)) via a storage device interface 2825.Particularly, storage device(s) 2835 and an associated machine-readable medium may provide nonvolatile and/or volatile storage of machine-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and/or other data for the computer system 2800.In one example, software may reside, completely or partially, within a machine-readable medium on storage device(s) 2835.In another example, software may reside, completely or partially, within processor(s) 2801.Bus 2840 connects a wide variety of subsystems.","Herein, reference to a bus may encompass one or more digital signal lines serving a common function, where appropriate.","Bus 2840 may be any of several types of bus structures including, but not limited to, a memory bus, a memory controller, a peripheral bus, a local bus, and any combinations thereof, using any of a variety of bus architectures.","As an example, and not by way of limitation, such architectures include an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, an Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association local bus (VLB), a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, a PCI-Express (PCI-X) bus, an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) bus, HyperTransport (HTX) bus, serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) bus, and any combinations thereof.","Computer system 2800 may also include an input device 2833.In one example, a user of computer system 2800 may enter commands and/or other information into computer system 2800 via input device(s) 2833.Examples of an input device(s) 2833 include, but are not limited to, an alpha-numeric input device (e.g., a keyboard), a pointing device (e.g., a mouse or touchpad), a touchpad, a joystick, a gamepad, an audio input device (e.g., a microphone, a voice response system, etc.","), an optical scanner, a video or still image capture device (e.g., a camera), and any combinations thereof.","Input device(s) 2833 may be interfaced to bus 2840 via any of a variety of input interfaces 2823 (e.g., input interface 2823) including, but not limited to, serial, parallel, game port, USB, FIREWIRE, THUNDERBOLT, or any combination of the above.","In particular embodiments, when computer system 2800 is connected to network 2830, computer system 2800 may communicate with other devices, such as mobile devices and enterprise systems, connected to network 2830.Communications to and from computer system 2800 may be sent through network interface 2820.For example, network interface 2820 may receive incoming communications (such as requests or responses from other devices) in the form of one or more packets (such as Internet Protocol (IP) packets) from network 2830, and computer system 2800 may store the incoming communications in memory 2803 for processing.","Computer system 2800 may similarly store outgoing communications (such as requests or responses to other devices) in the form of one or more packets in memory 2803 and communicated to network 2830 from network interface 2820.Processor(s) 2801 may access these communication packets stored in memory 2803 for processing.","Examples of the network interface 2820 include, but are not limited to, a network interface card, a modem, and any combination thereof.","Examples of a network 2830 or network segment 2830 include, but are not limited to, a wide area network (WAN) (e.g., the Internet, an enterprise network), a local area network (LAN) (e.g., a network associated with an office, a building, a campus or other relatively small geographic space), a telephone network, a direct connection between two computing devices, and any combinations thereof.","A network, such as network 2830, may employ a wired and/or a wireless mode of communication.","In general, any network topology may be used.","Information and data can be displayed through a display 2832.Examples of a display 2832 include, but are not limited to, a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic liquid crystal display (OLED), a cathode ray tube (CRT), a plasma display, and any combinations thereof.","The display 2832 can interface to the processor(s) 2801, memory 2803, and fixed storage 2808, as well as other devices, such as input device(s) 2833, via the bus 2840.The display 2832 is linked to the bus 2840 via a video interface 2822, and transport of data between the display 2832 and the bus 2840 can be controlled via the graphics control 2821.In addition to a display 2832, computer system 2800 may include one or more other peripheral output devices 2834 including, but not limited to, an audio speaker, a printer, and any combinations thereof.","Such peripheral output devices may be connected to the bus 2840 via an output interface 2824.Examples of an output interface 2824 include, but are not limited to, a serial port, a parallel connection, a USB port, a FIREWIRE port, a THUNDERBOLT port, and any combinations thereof.","In addition, or as an alternative, computer system 2800 may provide functionality as a result of logic hardwired or otherwise embodied in a circuit, which may operate in place of or together with software to execute one or more processes or one or more steps of one or more processes described or illustrated herein.","Reference to software in this disclosure may encompass logic, and reference to logic may encompass software.","Moreover, reference to a non-transitory, tangible computer-readable medium may encompass a circuit (such as an IC) storing software for execution, a circuit embodying logic for execution, or both, where appropriate.","The present disclosure encompasses any suitable combination of hardware, software, or both.","Those of skill in the art will understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques.","Those of skill will further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both.","To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality.","Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.","Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.","The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.","A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine.","A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.","The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein (e.g., the method 2929) may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, a software module implemented as digital logic devices, or in a combination of these.","A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium known in the art.","An exemplary non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium.","In the alternative, the non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium may be integral to the processor.","The processor and the non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium may reside in an ASIC.","The ASIC may reside in a user terminal.","In the alternative, the processor and the non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.","In some embodiments, a software module may be implemented as digital logic components such as those in an FPGA once programmed with the software module.","The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosure.","Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure.","Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"DART SCORING SYSTEM\",\n \"A platform for facilitating a dart tournament allows gathering, at an electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, which includes the event or events in which each player is participating.\",\n \"The platform allows generating, at a cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list.\",\n \"The platform allows sending of the master tournament player list and the tournament record to mobile computing devices executing an electronic dart scoring application.\",\n \"The platform allows scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the mobile computing devices executing the electronic dart scoring application.\",\n \"The platform allows automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.An integrated dart scoring platform comprising: an electronic bracket program, a cloud server application, an electronic dart scoring application, and one or more application program interfaces, wherein the platform is configured to facilitate a dart tournament scored on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application: gathering, at the electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating: generating, at the cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list; wherein the tournament record comprises at least: device settings, and match rules; sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application; scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application; automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The game of darts is traditionally an English pub game in which each player takes turns throwing 3 steel-tipped throwing devices (i.e., “darts”) at various targets on a bristle board containing 20 segments and bulls eye.\",\n \"The two primary games played in the United States are titled '01 (“oh-one”) and Cricket.\",\n \"Historically, scoring was done on chalkboards and more recently, dry erase boards.\",\n \"Although electronic wall-mounted score machines have been developed, they can be expensive and many have a steep learning curve.\",\n \"Furthermore, electronic soft tip machines use special darts and special scoreboards to automatically record scores when the darts hit the board.\",\n \"These are akin to video games, often requiring money for each game and requiring players go to specific establishments having such scoreboards.\",\n \"Additionally, dart software programs (i.e., applications) typically have a narrow focus and their interfaces tend to be technical and difficult to learn as they do not conform to the typical chalkboard/dry erase board scoring system.\",\n \"Team/league and tournament play is especially challenging to accommodate in such software due to the nature of match format variations and group play.\",\n \"Many additional factors have prevented easy-to-use modern scoring systems from being developed and/or widely accepted.\",\n \"A first of these is math.\",\n \"Scoring a dart game is prone to math errors, which at a minimum slows game play and often results in incorrect scores.\",\n \"It is this particular pain point that is credited for giving rise to the soft-tip electronic vending game industry described above, impacting the popularity of the steel tipped game.\",\n \"A second factor is the existing electronic scoreboards, which, as stated, can be intimidating or confusing, especially for the uninitiated.\",\n \"Confirming and editing recent scores can be very difficult on these systems, due to a lack of instructions.\",\n \"Furthermore, interfaces vary dramatically from traditional chalk board scoring.\",\n \"A third preventing modern scoring systems from wide acceptance is that darts is a hard game to watch.\",\n \"For example, teammates and spectators often struggle with seeing the current score of the match due to legibility, lighting, positioning, and space restrictions.\",\n \"This often prevents spectators from keeping up with the status of a live game.\",\n \"A fourth problem is finding opponents & creating opportunities to play.\",\n \"As with scheduling any joint activity, the logistics of finding an agreeable time and a common meeting point, while managing the personal commitments in life, can make playing darts a challenge.\",\n \"A fifth issue are game rule variations.\",\n \"There are dozens of niche dart games and practice routines with rule variations.\",\n \"The result is that there are hundreds of possibilities of game types, with even identical games going by different names depending on geography.\",\n \"This difference creates decreased accuracy.\",\n \"Player performance also limits acceptance.\",\n \"Players are not familiar with ways to measure their performance as current player performance measurement tools require additional manual calculations after every game or match and is especially tedious for cricket-based games.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>An aspect of the disclosure provides an integrated dart scoring platform comprising an electronic bracket program, a cloud server application, an electronic dart scoring application, and one or more application program interfaces.\",\n \"The platform may be configured to facilitate a dart tournament scored on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application by gathering, at the electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.\",\n \"Then, the platform may include, generating, at the cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.\",\n \"The platform may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"The platform may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"Then the platform may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.\",\n \"Another aspect of the disclosure provides a method for facilitating a dart tournament.\",\n \"The method may include gathering, at an electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.\",\n \"Then, the method may include, generating, at a cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.\",\n \"The method may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of a plurality of mobile computing devices executing an electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"The method may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"Then the method may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.\",\n \"Yet another aspect of the invention comprises a non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable storage medium, encoded with processor-readable instructions to perform a method of facilitating a dart tournament.\",\n \"The method may include gathering, at an electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.\",\n \"Then, the method may include, generating, at a cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.\",\n \"The method may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of a plurality of mobile computing devices executing an electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"The method may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"Then the method may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.\"\n ],\n [\n \"PRIORITY This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/832,366 filed Aug. 21, 2015 and entitled “Dart Scoring System”, which claims priority to U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application No.\",\n \"62/040,299, filed Aug. 21, 2014 and entitled “Dart Scoring System”, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.\",\n \"FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention is related to the game of darts.\",\n \"In particular, but not by way of limitation, the invention is related to providing a scoring system for various dart games.\",\n \"BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The game of darts is traditionally an English pub game in which each player takes turns throwing 3 steel-tipped throwing devices (i.e., “darts”) at various targets on a bristle board containing 20 segments and bulls eye.\",\n \"The two primary games played in the United States are titled '01 (“oh-one”) and Cricket.\",\n \"Historically, scoring was done on chalkboards and more recently, dry erase boards.\",\n \"Although electronic wall-mounted score machines have been developed, they can be expensive and many have a steep learning curve.\",\n \"Furthermore, electronic soft tip machines use special darts and special scoreboards to automatically record scores when the darts hit the board.\",\n \"These are akin to video games, often requiring money for each game and requiring players go to specific establishments having such scoreboards.\",\n \"Additionally, dart software programs (i.e., applications) typically have a narrow focus and their interfaces tend to be technical and difficult to learn as they do not conform to the typical chalkboard/dry erase board scoring system.\",\n \"Team/league and tournament play is especially challenging to accommodate in such software due to the nature of match format variations and group play.\",\n \"Many additional factors have prevented easy-to-use modern scoring systems from being developed and/or widely accepted.\",\n \"A first of these is math.\",\n \"Scoring a dart game is prone to math errors, which at a minimum slows game play and often results in incorrect scores.\",\n \"It is this particular pain point that is credited for giving rise to the soft-tip electronic vending game industry described above, impacting the popularity of the steel tipped game.\",\n \"A second factor is the existing electronic scoreboards, which, as stated, can be intimidating or confusing, especially for the uninitiated.\",\n \"Confirming and editing recent scores can be very difficult on these systems, due to a lack of instructions.\",\n \"Furthermore, interfaces vary dramatically from traditional chalk board scoring.\",\n \"A third preventing modern scoring systems from wide acceptance is that darts is a hard game to watch.\",\n \"For example, teammates and spectators often struggle with seeing the current score of the match due to legibility, lighting, positioning, and space restrictions.\",\n \"This often prevents spectators from keeping up with the status of a live game.\",\n \"A fourth problem is finding opponents & creating opportunities to play.\",\n \"As with scheduling any joint activity, the logistics of finding an agreeable time and a common meeting point, while managing the personal commitments in life, can make playing darts a challenge.\",\n \"A fifth issue are game rule variations.\",\n \"There are dozens of niche dart games and practice routines with rule variations.\",\n \"The result is that there are hundreds of possibilities of game types, with even identical games going by different names depending on geography.\",\n \"This difference creates decreased accuracy.\",\n \"Player performance also limits acceptance.\",\n \"Players are not familiar with ways to measure their performance as current player performance measurement tools require additional manual calculations after every game or match and is especially tedious for cricket-based games.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An aspect of the disclosure provides an integrated dart scoring platform comprising an electronic bracket program, a cloud server application, an electronic dart scoring application, and one or more application program interfaces.\",\n \"The platform may be configured to facilitate a dart tournament scored on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application by gathering, at the electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.\",\n \"Then, the platform may include, generating, at the cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.\",\n \"The platform may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"The platform may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"Then the platform may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.\",\n \"Another aspect of the disclosure provides a method for facilitating a dart tournament.\",\n \"The method may include gathering, at an electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.\",\n \"Then, the method may include, generating, at a cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.\",\n \"The method may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of a plurality of mobile computing devices executing an electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"The method may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"Then the method may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.\",\n \"Yet another aspect of the invention comprises a non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable storage medium, encoded with processor-readable instructions to perform a method of facilitating a dart tournament.\",\n \"The method may include gathering, at an electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.\",\n \"Then, the method may include, generating, at a cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.\",\n \"The method may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of a plurality of mobile computing devices executing an electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"The method may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"Then the method may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various objects and advantages and a more complete understanding of the present invention are apparent and more readily appreciated by reference to the following Detailed Description and to the appended claims when taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings wherein: FIG.\",\n \"1 depicts a dart game system according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"2A depicts a first screen of a dart gaming system broadcasting feature according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"2B depicts a code screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"2C depicts various dart game broadcasting options according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"3 depicts a launch screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"4 depicts an '01 scoring interface according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"5A depicts a training tool according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"5B depicts suggested out options in a notification according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"6 depicts an assist notification according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"7 depicts a cricket scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"8 depicts a cricket scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"9 depicts a cricket scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"10 depicts a marksman cricket scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"11A depicts a hint that may be provided during cricket play scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"11B depicts a hint that may be provided during cricket play scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"12 depicts a game and practice generation screen scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"12A depicts a game and practice generation screen scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"12B depicts a game and practice generation screen scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"13 depicts a Group/Team screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"14 depicts a Group/Team screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"15 depicts a game start screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"16 depicts a menu screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"17 depicts handicapping and custom scoring screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"18 depicts a corking tool according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"19 depicts user settings according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"20 depicts various user interface screens for a dart gaming system according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"21 depicts a match setup screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"22 depicts a connection options screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"23 depicts a second connection options screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"24 depicts a report comprising statistics screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"25 depicts a report comprising statistics screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"26 depicts a communication according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"27 depicts various statistical leaders according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"28 depicts a diagrammatic representation of one embodiment of a computer system according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"29 depicts a method according to one embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"30 depicts a logical block diagram of an integrated dart scoring platform for managing tournaments; FIG.\",\n \"31 depicts a settings screen and a match rules screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"32 depicts a board selection screen, a selectable match screen, and a match confirmation screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"33 depicts an aging board calls screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"34 depicts a tournament viewing screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"35 depicts a method for implementing a tournament via an integrated dart scoring platform according to one embodiment of the invention; DETAILED DESCRIPTION The dart game system 100 (also referred to herein as a dart scoring system or dart gaming system) seen in FIG.\",\n \"1 has addressed the issues presented above.\",\n \"For example, the dart gaming system's unique interface substantially decreases the need for math skills and does not interfere with even the most proficient player's game.\",\n \"The dart gaming system 100 may also provide a calculation of your three dart average for all games, including a reference point that compares it to your most recent 3 month average.\",\n \"The dart gaming system's interface makes it easy to score, confirm or edit what was entered on the prior turn.\",\n \"With network access, the dart gaming system's interface can be broadcast to any computing device, allowing spectators who are at a distance or even offsite to follow the score of the game on a public or personal device.\",\n \"Furthermore, with network or internet-enabled devices, the dart gaming system 100 allows two opponents in separate locations to play a game, each taking turns scoring their respective turns.\",\n \"The dart gaming system 100 also provides a custom play option for enabling various game rules, where users have the ability to design games and practice routines to create the version of the game they are accustomed to playing or want to play.\",\n \"One embodiment of the dart scoring system improves game play and the scoring experience.\",\n \"For example, the dart gaming system 100 captures data and statistics during the scoring of the game, eliminating the need for manual documentation.\",\n \"The dart gaming system 100 further utilizes the cloud to broadcast games for spectators to follow on any internet enabled device and enables game play between 2 opponents in separate locations.\",\n \"League and tournament play is supported with instant results & stats available to administrators, captains and players, and an interactive community is created utilizing the data collected from game play.\",\n \"It is contemplated that the system 100 may be utilized with or without a network connection.\",\n \"For example, when there is a network connection, the system 100 will automatically update the player/league/tournament statistics on a per throw/game/match segment, as identified by the user.\",\n \"However, if no network connection is available, the system stores the information locally and transfers the data to the server 180 up re-establishing a network connection, integrating the information with any previous information stored.\",\n \"Turning first to FIG.\",\n \"1, seen is on embodiment of a dart gaming system 100.Although each figure described below may refer to a particular aspect of the dart gaming system 100, it is contemplated that the figure, or a feature thereof, may be referred to as the system 100.As seen in FIG.\",\n \"1, one dart gaming system 100 comprises on-site solutions 110 and off-site solutions 120.The on-site solutions 110 may comprise a scoreboard 112, mobile device 114 or home device 116, while the off-site solutions 120 may comprise one or more network-enabled or internet-enabled devices.\",\n \"The off-site solutions 120 may also be referred to herein as remote devices or broadcast devices.\",\n \"The use of the system 100 is adapted to provide a quick, easy, and effective dart game scoring mechanism, having the ability to score many niche dart games and/or dart games with one or more regional variation.\",\n \"Each of the devices seen in FIG.\",\n \"1 may comprise a mobile computing device, a desktop device, or any other computing device known in the art.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the scoreboard 112 may be used to enter and display a dart game score on a user interface.\",\n \"A server 180 may broadcast the user interface to the remote devices.\",\n \"The home devices 116 may mirror the user interface by as a remote device 120.In addition to the scoreboard, 112, the mobile device 114 may also be used to enter scores onto the user interface.\",\n \"For example, the scoreboard 112 device may be placed near a dart board.\",\n \"In order to enter scores in a safe manner, a player may wish to use his or her handheld mobile device 114 to enter scores into the user interface instead of the scoreboard.\",\n \"However, if a mobile device 114 is used to enter scores, the scoreboard 112 may still control various user settings.\",\n \"Seen in FIG.\",\n \"19 is one set of user settings 1919 that may be controlled by the scoreboard.\",\n \"One of these user settings 1919 may comprise when the broadcast scores (i.e., the scores on the remote devices 120) are updated.\",\n \"For example, the scores on the broadcast devices may be updated after each dart throw or may be updated after each player, or after each round.\",\n \"Other update scenarios are contemplated.\",\n \"As seen in FIG.\",\n \"1, the remote devices may comprise advertisements—“ADS”, as shown in the figure.\",\n \"Turning now to FIG.\",\n \"20, seen is a system flow 2095 for enabling various system 100 features.\",\n \"For example, the log-in screen 2094 may be initially displayed to a user upon initiating the system 100 on any of the devices seen in FIG.\",\n \"1.Through this screen, a user of the dart gaming system 100 may create an active member user profile in the system 100 and access the system 100 features.\",\n \"Each active member may have access to all matches & events (e.g., games, tournaments, etc.)\",\n \"in which they have participated.\",\n \"Data from the games that users have participated in may be populated within a membership account on the server 180, giving each user access to performance analysis.\",\n \"Such analysis may be used to provide a user rating and/or a user ranking and/or any other rating/ranking information or metrics which can be used to compare to the user to other members.\",\n \"It is also contemplated that the dart gaming system 100 may be used be a guest user 352, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"3.A guest user may have the option of subscribing to the system 100 at any point and identifying the games they have previously participated in, populating their membership account with previous game data.\",\n \"Additionally, approved “outsiders” (e.g., though leagues, tournaments, etc.)\",\n \"can be given permission to have access to selected matches.\",\n \"As member games are stored over time, opportunities for virtual game play (i.e., database play) against themselves or others is available.\",\n \"After entering a username/password into the log-in screen 2094, the launch screen 2050 may be displayed.\",\n \"The launch screen 350 is also seen in FIG.\",\n \"3.Upon selecting the play 351 option in the launch screen 350, a menu 2026 screen, as also seen in FIG.\",\n \"16 may be displayed.\",\n \"Seen in FIG.\",\n \"16 are various dart game options 1628.A player may then select one of the dart game options 1628.Upon selecting one of the dart game options 1628, the match set up screen 2045 may be displayed, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"20.As seen in FIG.\",\n \"21, the match set up screen 2145 may comprise a connect 2131 option, manage player library 2132 option, match format 2133 option, add player 2134 option, and additional options 2136.The match format 2133 option modifies the no of games/sets/matches to be played.\",\n \"Players may be added through the add player 2134 and manage player library 2132 options.\",\n \"Upon selecting the players in the game, selecting the match format, and any additional options, the connect 2131 option may be selected.\",\n \"The connect 2131 option will display the first connection options screen 2060.As seen in FIG.\",\n \"22, the connection options screen 2260 may provide a broadcast match option 2261 and an online option 2262.By selecting the broadcast match option 2261, a second connection options screen 2365 may be displayed, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"23, which may provide a connection code 2366.The connection codes 2366, 266 described herein may also be referred to as a broadcast key, key, password, or any other similar term known in the art.\",\n \"The host may then share this connection code 266, 2366 with other users so that the other users may view the match.\",\n \"Turning now to FIGS.\",\n \"2A-2C, seen are examples of a dart gaming system broadcasting feature 230.The screen seen in FIG.\",\n \"2A may comprise a code option 231, which, when selected, may display the code screen 232 seen in FIG.\",\n \"2B.\",\n \"Entering the connection code 2366 into this screen will enable the spectator to receive the scoring interface from the scoreboard 112 or other on-site solution 110 device, via the server 180 in at least one embodiment.\",\n \"Selecting one of the link options 233 may provide a link to public matches to view.\",\n \"For example, the online option 2262 seen in FIG.\",\n \"22 may create a publicly-accessible link on a publicly-available webpage.\",\n \"This link may have the ability to “broadcast” their match play on the internet—viewable with any browser, when the link is accessed.\",\n \"For public broadcasts, interested parties may also be directed to a listing on a web page that provides a link which gives the spectator instant access to the game/match/tournament.\",\n \"The broadcasting application may comprise a feature which takes advantage of landscape display environments.\",\n \"One dart gaming system 100 may comprise an HTMLS (or any other program known in the art) program capable of running on any computing device comprising an internet browser such as, but not limited to, Internet Explorer®, Mozilla®, or Google Chrome®.\",\n \"As seen in FIG.\",\n \"2C, a standard viewing option 233, league viewing option 234, and/or game coach viewing option 235 may be provided to a spectator after either entering the code, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"2b, or accessing the link through the link options 233.The standard viewing option 233 may display a scoring interface and current averages for each player.\",\n \"The league viewing option 234 may also provide a match score and full name listing of the players, while the game coach option 235 may also enable the viewers to receive game tips and strategies.\",\n \"The players may also receive these tips and strategies or may choose not to receive them through the user settings 1919, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"19.The system 100 may comprise an audio and/or video component (e.g., live two-way audio and video) to any dart game initiated on the dart gaming system.\",\n \"Such audio/video may be provided through the dart gaming system using any 3rd-party VOIP or video-streaming service.\",\n \"It is contemplated that the video component may be utilized to support the scoring in the system 100.For example, if a score is contested, a video replay may be used to determine whether the entered score was accurate.\",\n \"Alternatively, the video feed may be automatically utilized by the system 100 to record scores in the system.\",\n \"Two players, geographically separated, can play a match through the dart gaming system 100 by connecting through the server 180.The server 180 will also distribute the user interface on the scoreboard 112 device to the spectators, as well as record and save all player, team, league, and tournament score data for each throw in every game played on the system 100.To enable play between two geographically remote players, a match host may provide the broadcast key to an opponent that the opponent uses to join the host in the system 100.The game may proceed on two devices, giving each player an opportunity to score their own turn.\",\n \"The server 180 ensures that each player's scoreboard 112 is updated with the same data in real-time, regardless of which player enters the data.\",\n \"The host may also have the option of broadcasting this game to spectators at the same time through the broadcasting feature seen in FIG.\",\n \"2 or described in relation to FIGS.\",\n \"22 and 23.One embodiment of the system 100 may comprise using data generated by the system 100 to create an interactive community between users of the system.\",\n \"In such a community, statistics for players may be created for comparison within and amongst the community.\",\n \"Such statistics and reports may be seen in FIGS.\",\n \"24 and 25.Furthermore, rankings may be created among friends and/or competitors, players may be allowed to share achievements amongst other users and the system may enable players to play another player's games from a system database.\",\n \"For example, users have the ability to practice against “real games” that were previously played by users of the system 100 (themselves or others).\",\n \"This feature is provided by the system 100 keeping a historical log of all games played by users of the system.\",\n \"In one such feature, the system 100 may select a random recent game previously played by a user.\",\n \"Such a game may have been won by the user.\",\n \"The system 100 then reproduces each turn the player had, while the challenging player throws live darts and records his turns as he normally would in the system 100.The result is a similar to playing against a computer opponent, but instead the user is alternating turns with a historical game.\",\n \"After a match ends, the dart gaming system 100 may generate a communication such as, but not limited to, an email with a link which accesses the reports seen in FIGS.\",\n \"24 and 25, or any other report.\",\n \"One such communication 2626 is seen in FIG.\",\n \"26.An example of statistics 2727 created with the system is shown in FIG.\",\n \"27.These reports and/or statistics may comprise information for all match participants and may comprise (a) an event description, (b) a match analysis, (c) a match recap, (d) the recognition of an exceptional player and any team accomplishments, and (e) any other news and/or offers for the user.\",\n \"In one embodiment, a user may have the ability to combine match data from separate devices or separate matches into one event summary that the user can review afterwards.\",\n \"For multi-device summaries, a user may request an “event key” and then distribute the key to other members of the match who may then flag their matches on their devices with this identifier.\",\n \"For a multi-match summary, a user can create an on-going “open” event.\",\n \"Anytime a user wants to include a specific match, they would simply reuse the assigned key.\",\n \"The dart gaming system 100 is adapted to reduce new user anxiety.\",\n \"For example, any required math skills for scoring are eliminated as the system 100 accommodates all level of users.\",\n \"This increases the scoring accuracy, using redundant features to mitigate the typical mistakes associated with electronic interfaces, including user miss-keys, score keeper errors and unresponsive devices.\",\n \"Furthermore, the system 100 uses traditional scoring methods to replicate the “chalk board” scoring experience, enabling easier, faster and more accurate match scoring, allowing the players and score keepers to focus on the game itself.\",\n \"Turning now to FIG.\",\n \"4, seen is one example of a scoring screen 490 for an '01 dart game.\",\n \"This may be the scoring screen 490 displayed on the scoring device 112 and adapted to receive scoring information, and may be broadcast to the off-site devices 120.Various challenges of scoring a dart match are addressed in such a screen 490.For example, the current turn 492 in the match (i.e., which identifies the user that needs to input a score for each round) is highlighted in s color different from the previously-entered scores in an audit trail 196 to make it clear to all what is being scored.\",\n \"Additionally, a score window 494 displays and stores for later review (upon accessing a score in the audit trail 496) what is actually being keyed by the user though an integrated calculator functionality within the keypad, which assists with math processing.\",\n \"Through the audit trail 496 of recent turns, players, score keepers and spectators may quickly and easily review the accuracy of entered prior turn scores.\",\n \"Also provided is an easy edit “UNDO” button 498 to erase the current entry.\",\n \"The UNDO button transforms into a BACK button when there are no entries in the score window 494 and the “BACK” button highlights the prior turn in the audit trail 496 to show parties what was keyed by the user in the score window 494 along with the resulting score in the audit trail 496.Seen in FIG.\",\n \"5A is one example of a training tool to assist in determining the optimum targets to win an '01 game.\",\n \"As seen, as assist notification 591 may display what score the “Guest” player would need to obtain with each dart in a 3-dart throw in order to obtain a score of “170”.\",\n \"These scores are shown as “T20,” “T20,” and “DB,” which means that the first dart throw lands in a triple-20 score portion of the dartboard, the second dart throw also lands on a triple-20 score portion of the dartboard, and the third dart throw lands in the double bull's-eye.\",\n \"With each triple-20 score providing sixty points and the double bulls-eye providing 50 points, this point total would be 60+60+50, or 170 points.\",\n \"Seen in FIG.\",\n \"5B are alternative or additional outputs 593 that may be shown in the notification 591.For example, instead of the alpha-numeric display shown in FIG.\",\n \"5A, only a numerical display may be used (though the display in FIG.\",\n \"5B does not add up to 170, so this is for a different game/user).\",\n \"The alternative output 593 may also provide a “hint” which provides a mathematical solution for reaching the optimum targets.\",\n \"In one embodiment, suggested outs for an '01 match may be broadcast to one or more connected devices.\",\n \"The devices adapted to receive the suggested outs may be set up through the options 1919, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"19.The suggested outs may be based on the current game score.\",\n \"For example, the system may utilize a network connection between the scoreboard 112, server 180, and remote devices to broadcast coaching tips to user device in real time or to assist a player with the current game.\",\n \"Such messages may be only displayed at an identified user device (e.g.\",\n \"the “host” device) and may not be displayed on a shared score board, which may also be referred to herein as a primary score board.\",\n \"In addition to the required out strategy for '01 games, additional examples of this feature comprise providing an additional number of point bullseyes required to win a game of Cricket.\",\n \"Alternatively, strategy tips may be provided to user for any game.\",\n \"As stated, such information may only be broadcast to a particular user, who may request it, which preserves the presentation of the game state on the primary device.\",\n \"Turning now to FIG.\",\n \"6, seen is an assist notification 691 comprising a suggested out option provided to a user that has thrown a partial turn, but still has one or two darts to throw to complete his round.\",\n \"In such an instance, the user may click, for example, the “+” sign in the image below.\",\n \"This may display one or more suggested targets for each throw.\",\n \"Turning now to FIG.\",\n \"7, seen is a cricket scoreboard 705.As seen, the cricket scoreboard 705 uses a “/” or “slash,” an “x,” and an “O” identify a single hit in a single-point throw, a double-point hit in a single throw, and a triple-point hit in a single throw, respectively, on that number.\",\n \"The cricket scoreboard 705 also displays the exact throws which lead to three hits “O” mark.\",\n \"For example, the “1” bubble shows two slashes (an “x”) and a circle.\",\n \"This is used for a user that hit the target over three separate turns.\",\n \"The “2” bubble displays a single-slash and a circle, evidencing that a player hit that target once in a prior turn (single slash) then connected again twice in a subsequent turn, with the additional two connections shown by the circle (a double target score portion of the mark was hit, for example).\",\n \"If the player hits a valid target three times in the same turn, then the closed target will be represented by a circle only, as seen in bubble “3.” Turning now to FIG.\",\n \"8, seen is one example of a cricket scoreboard 805 showing the redundancy in recording scores to ensure accuracy.\",\n \"For example, the current turn target “hits” 881 may be highlighted in a first color to differentiate current turn scores (marks) from pre-exiting scores 883 in a second color.\",\n \"Additional redundancy may be provided by displaying the number 887 of times a user has tapped the target button 807 for that target (tapping the target button 807 may be how a user identifies that the target was hit by a dart, thereby recording a score for that target).\",\n \"This number 887 is shown in FIG.\",\n \"8 as the “1” & “4” next to the “18” and “16” targets, respectively.\",\n \"Furthermore, any target hit that results in points for the turn, is reflected in the margin for that target (note the “16” points) in the margin for the “16” target.\",\n \"Redundancy is further provided by listing all target entries for the turn in the score window 894 (note the “18, 16×4 times”).\",\n \"If a target has been “closed” by both players in prior turns (i.e., no further points may be obtained for either player for that target/number), the target may become visibly inactive (e.g., the “20” target button may comprise a darker color).\",\n \"Turning now to FIG.\",\n \"9, seen is what may happen after a turn has been submitted by pressing the “enter” button, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"8.In one embodiment, the cricket scoreboard 905 may display what targets were scored on the previous turn (note the “1” and “4” in the margin).\",\n \"Exceptional or high-count turns may generate a pop-up fade-out message 907 calling out the nature of the accomplishment and to ensure the correct score was recorded.\",\n \"Seen in FIG.\",\n \"10 is a marksman cricket scoreboard 1015.The marksman cricket scoreboard 1015 comprises a 3-button (“D” button, target button, “T” button) approach to scoring cricket.\",\n \"The “D” button is for registering a double point score of the proximal Target Number and the “T” button is for registering a triple point score for the proximal Target Number amount.\",\n \"The Target Number registers a single target number score.\",\n \"This scoreboard 1015 may improve accuracy as the user avoids having to count and tap the Target Number multiple times for each hit that is a double or a triple.\",\n \"Furthermore, the score window 1094 displays exactly what was keyed.\",\n \"Speed of scoring may be increased since the maximum key stokes per turn is 3, as opposed to up to 9 with the approach seen, for example, in FIG.\",\n \"9.Unique statistics may also be provided with the marksman cricket scoreboard 1015.For example, since the user informs the scoreboard 1015 what segment (single/double/triple) of each target the each dart actually hits (as opposed to the “roll up” scoring method associated with the standard FIG.\",\n \"9 methods), specific statistics could be generated for this information, including, but not limited to, total missed darts (not just missed turns), total number of triple segments, doubles segments, single segments acquired, and targets hit but not scored due to opponent's existing position in the game.\",\n \"Such information may allow the user to know how many darts scored their full potential value or the average of potential value for each dart thrown.\",\n \"Turning now to FIGS.\",\n \"11A and 11B, seen are hints that may be provided during cricket play.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"11A the hint is shown in the score window 1194, informing the Host player that the player is behind by 16 points.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"11B, both players have closed out all their respective targets except the bulls-eye target (“B”).\",\n \"Rather than forcing each user to calculate the math value of the number of target bulls that are required for that player to win the game, the system calculates how many bull targets each player needs to hit to win the game.\",\n \"As seen in the score window 1194, the host player needs to acquire six Bull targets and the guest player requires only three bull targets to win.\",\n \"Turning now to FIG.\",\n \"12, seen is a game and practice generation screen 1215.The menu system seen in FIG.\",\n \"12 enables a user to design a game or practice routine according to their personal preferences and rules.\",\n \"Games and routines fall into 3 general categories: (i) point-style games, (ii) half-it style games, and (iii) target-style games.\",\n \"Games & routines can be further customized with options including (a) Enable Negative scoring, (b) Assuming 3 Dart Finish, (c) Determining Target values, (d) Enabling inclusion of Special targets, and (e) Determining the Starting target.\",\n \"Created games and routines can be saved for future use.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"12A and 12B may also be used in creating the new games/practice routines.\",\n \"Turning now to FIG.\",\n \"13, seen is an example of a Group/Team screen 1325.The Group/Team screen 1325 provides the ability to easily run competing teams of 4-12 players (may have different number of player per team) in a multigame match while also tracking their personal performance and updating their performance statistics in real-time without interfering with match play.\",\n \"The Group/Team screen 1325 sets up group play by eliminating traditional menus & software wizards.\",\n \"As players are selected for each game through the Edit Teams button, the screen 1325 will automatically change from singles to doubles, triples, etc.\",\n \"As seen in FIG.\",\n \"13, one Group/Team screen 1325 may be adapted to select two teams for a match and display the team rosters.\",\n \"After selecting the players for each team, a match may be initiated by selecting the connect 1331 button.\",\n \"The connect button displayed in FIG.\",\n \"13 comprises a similar functionality as the connect 2131 option in FIG.\",\n \"21 and as seen and/or described elsewhere herein.\",\n \"The system 100 may record each player's turn in the order it occurred and automatically start a new set whenever there is a change in the player line-up.\",\n \"Through this feature, the system 100 is enabled to create a match summary populated with player names and their throwing order, while tracking individual performance—even when participating in group play (Doubles, Triples, Quadruples).\",\n \"The system 100 may inform the players to “Check In” before the next game commences As seen in the Group/Team screen 1425 in FIG.\",\n \"14, the players or a third-party score keeper may select the opponents from each team, with the system 100 automatically determining what type of group play is occurring (Doubles in the FIG.\",\n \"14 case).\",\n \"The system 100 may accommodate team number mismatches such as, but not limited to, Singles vs. Doubles, by automatically recording a “bye” (or miss) for the group that is short a player.\",\n \"Alternatively, the system 100 may rotate through each team, ensuring a team member is assigned to each round.\",\n \"The system 100 may also provide each opposing team how player data is displayed to the team members.\",\n \"For example, a Team Report may display team-related statistical data related to the match, tournament, league, and/or team history.\",\n \"A Group Report may provide data for an identified Doubles/Triples/Quads, etc.\",\n \"team.\",\n \"A Player Report may provide individual darts and accomplishments data, assigned to each player, regardless of whether they are involved in any team or group play.\",\n \"Examples of these reports may be seen in FIGS.\",\n \"24 & 25.Turning now to FIG.\",\n \"15, seen is how to select a starting player.\",\n \"After choosing the teams through the edit teams selection, selecting team members from each team to participate in the game from the team lists and connecting, the game start screen 1535 is shown.\",\n \"In the game start screen 1535, the selected players are listed and the user selects the play order for each group.\",\n \"This is done by touching or selecting each player in each team in the order which they will participate in the match.\",\n \"Selecting the player order allows the system 100 to assign the entered dart throw data and corresponding stats and achievements to each individual player, as opposed to a generic “pairing” or group.\",\n \"Dart throw data may be entered through one of the screens seen in FIGS.\",\n \"4-11B, or any other screen, depending on the dart game being played.\",\n \"During group play, the system 100 alternates between opposing teams, listing which player is currently throwing.\",\n \"For example, the player name may be listed at the top 1536 of the screen in lieu of, or in addition to, listing the team name.\",\n \"The system 100 may also create and provide custom menus for leagues and tournaments to reflect their exact format.\",\n \"One benefit of this would be fewer game set-up decisions (game type and options) that need to be made by the score keeper and players.\",\n \"When playing an accepted league format, upon launching the system 100 on a mobile computing device, players may be greeted with a simplified menu, such as, but not limited to, the menu 1626 seen in FIG.\",\n \"16.Such a menu 1626 would substantially eliminate the need to format each game prior to game start.\",\n \"One such menu 1626 may display the league name 1627, acronym and/or logo to reinforce the league brand and assure users they are playing the correct format.\",\n \"Also listed are various game options 1628.Looking now at FIG.\",\n \"17, seen is a handicapping and custom score chart 1717.Users have the ability with this chart 1717 to modify their starting score to create any custom game or to handicap one of the opponents.\",\n \"In one embodiment, prior to starting any game, a user can adjust the starting points, by simply tapping the starting score 1718 in the header.\",\n \"The system may allow you to input the starting total (point games) or pre-scored marks (cricket and target games) for either player.\",\n \"Users may also have the option of allowing the system to automatically determine the appropriate handicap for a given match up, based on their historical performance.\",\n \"One system 100 seen in FIG.\",\n \"1 may also comprise a corking tool 1880, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"18.Such a tool may be used to determine who throws first in a dart game.\",\n \"Prior to game play, each player often throws a single dart at the bulls-eye of a dart board & the player with the closest dart throws first.\",\n \"In order to determine who is the closest to the bulls-eye, the corking tool 1880 seen in FIG.\",\n \"18 was created.\",\n \"The arcs 1881 on the corking tool 1880 are shaped to align with the outer ring on the bulls-eye of a dart board.\",\n \"Using the measurement markings 1882 along the edges of the corking tool 1880, a user may determine what distance the dart is located from the outer ring of the bulls-eye, and compare such distance with a distance of another player, potentially playing from a remote location.\",\n \"As seen, the measurement markings 1882 are divided up into six lettered sections (A-D), with each lettered section being divided up into six separate numbered sections (1-6).\",\n \"The player with the smallest distance to the bull eye would throw first.\",\n \"Turning now to FIG.\",\n \"29, seen is method 2929 of conducting a dart game.\",\n \"The dart game referred to in method 2929 may comprise any of the dart games referred to in any of FIGS.\",\n \"1-28 such as, but not limited to, '01 and cricket.\",\n \"One method starts at 2909 and at 2919 comprises initiating a dart game in at least one location.\",\n \"For example, the location of the scoreboard 112 may comprise such a location.\",\n \"At 2939, the method comprises recording a dart player's scores across a plurality of rounds via a user interface on a mobile computing device.\",\n \"For example, the user interface may be any of the scoring interfaces described above such as, but not limited to, the '01 interface seen in FIG.\",\n \"4 or the cricket interface see in FIG.\",\n \"7.At 2949, the method 2929 comprises sharing the user interface and the dart plyer's scores in a near real-time manner with at least one remote location.\",\n \"Such a remote location may be the off-site devices 120 seen in FIG.\",\n \"1.Although not explicitly listed in FIG.\",\n \"29, it is contemplated that the user interface in the method 292 may comprise a first display screen, with the first display screen comprising a game creation option, a game join option, a game share option, and a game watch option.\",\n \"For example, and as seen in FIG.\",\n \"20 is the launch screen 2050, which may comprise the first display screen.\",\n \"Through the launch screen 2050, as use may create a game through the “play” feature (i.e., a game creation option), may join a game through the “connect” 2131 feature (or as otherwise described herein) after selecting any of the league, play, or another other of the options on the screen 2050, and may comprise a game watch option.\",\n \"Whatever dart game is chosen may comprise a first dart game.\",\n \"One method 2929 may further comprise initiating a second dart game.\",\n \"For example, the first and second dart games may be related to a league and/or event/tournament, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"20.One or more statistics may be obtained for the first dart game and the second dart game (as well as any additionally-related dart games, as identified by the player in the user settings 1919 or otherwise), aggregating the one or more statistics from the first dart game and the second dart game into a plurality of statistics for the dart player/league/tournament/event, and ranking at least a portion of the plurality of statistics for the dart player against one or more additional dart players/leagues/tournaments/events.\",\n \"The method 292 may further comprise providing match summary information to the dart player upon conclusion of the match—for example in a message with a link as shown in FIG.\",\n \"26.Game detail information may be provided to the dart player upon conclusion of the match.\",\n \"Player performance information may also be provided to at least one of the dart player and the at least one remote location one of during the match and upon conclusion of the match.\",\n \"Such information may be seen in FIGS.\",\n \"25, 26, as well as FIGS.\",\n \"9, 5, and 6.Further methods 292 may comprise storing the dart player's scores related to each of the plurality of rounds in the server 180, choosing to play a game against game stored in the server, and/or utilizing a server device to share the user interface and the dart player's scores in a near real-time manner with at least one additional location.\",\n \"Another aspect of the disclosure pertains to systems and methods for integrating the scoring application with systems for managing tournament brackets.\",\n \"Some software programs exist for managing the match-ups within sports tournaments, including dart tournaments.\",\n \"Such programs may be referred to herein as “electronic bracket programs,” or simply “bracket programs.” The present disclosure provides an electronic bracket program that interacts with the dart scoring application to create a comprehensive electronic tournament scoring and management system.\",\n \"The disclosure also provides application program interfaces (APIs) to allow the dart scoring system to integrate with existing electronic bracket programs.\",\n \"The APIs of the present dart scoring system provide several features and functions that facilitate the management of dart tournaments.\",\n \"Historically, steel tip dart competition has been conducted with a multi-part paper ticket based system, using one part to operate the bracket, one part to accompany the players as they proceed to each match assignment, and the last as proof of event registration.\",\n \"Such paper systems are inherently prone to errors and delays, since they are filled out by hand, manually numbered, and continuously change hands between staff and players.\",\n \"Sometimes, slips go missing or become duplicated.\",\n \"The APIs coordinate an electronic bracket program (including the one provided in the present disclosure and third-party programs) with the connected match scoring system described herein, which provides a level of service to players, spectators and staff that has not previously been available for events and tournaments.\",\n \"The APIs enable an electronic bracket program and dart match scoring software to communicate critical information with each other, simplifying the operation of each, reducing event staffing and the need for operational expertise with both programs.\",\n \"In addition, the overall system provides players and fans public access to all aspects of the tournaments, so they can locate individual matches, peruse bracket standings, or review results.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"30 shows a logical block diagram of an integrated dart scoring platform 3000 (which may also be referred to as an integrated dart scoring system) for conducting dart tournaments of the present disclosure.\",\n \"The diagram should not be construed as a hardware diagram, and may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware.\",\n \"The system 3000 comprises a bracket program 3010.One function of the electronic bracket program 3010 is to provide an interface for collecting player (or team) information, which may be implemented by a Player Information Component 3011.For the purposes of a dart tournament, player information including a player name, player ID (e.g., an ID number assigned to members of sporting associations), and a player e-mail, may be entered upon registration in a particular tournament.\",\n \"Bracket programs can generate complete player rosters for a particular event and create an event ID (or competition ID) through an Event ID component 3012.A main function of an electronic bracket program is to create matchups of players out of the roster, based on the competition structure of the tournament, which may be implemented by an Initial Bracket Assignment Component 3013.For example, players on the roster may be placed into a single- or double-elimination competition format, or may be placed into round-robin pool play before being placed in single- or double-elimination rounds.\",\n \"Placing players in such brackets manually can be time-consuming and confusing, especially when there are large numbers of players.\",\n \"It can be even more time-consuming and confusing to manually advance players into different stages after wins and losses, which is why existing electronic bracket programs create the initial placements and advance players automatically when they win or lose.\",\n \"The automatic advancing of players may be implemented by the Bracket Advance Component 3014.The bracket program of the present disclosure provides these functions, but also provides unique features to facilitate the interaction with the dart scoring application.\",\n \"Several features of the bracket program of the present disclosure also make it easier to manage tournaments.\",\n \"One such feature includes dashboard indicators to create calls to action for a bracket operator.\",\n \"Another is a list view of the bracket to provide a simple action list for the bracket operator.\",\n \"Yet another is a system for creating a printable mailing label or other small paper document system that expedites the pairing of players and board assignments in the correct initial event board call process to expedite the running of the event.\",\n \"This is especially helpful for “Blind Draw” events, which, in a paper based system, require a multi-step process: First, staff must match all the individual player entries with a partner randomly, creating a doubles team.\",\n \"Then, staff must then randomly match each doubles team with an additional doubles team.\",\n \"Then, the match assignments are organized into a board assignment call order.\",\n \"With previous paper-based systems, written entry slips are spread out on a large table to create an initial match of paired teams.\",\n \"Then, a secondary match is performed to create the competitions, and then they are organized according to preferred board call assignment.\",\n \"The presently disclosed bracket program combines all three steps into one succinct process, that allows a bracket operator to print the board call slips, with the proper partners and opponents in the order they are to be call.\",\n \"Printing can occur on cards, full sheets of paper, or mailing labels.\",\n \"This feature reduces a 30-minute (or greater) process into an approximately five-minute process.\",\n \"Mailing labels allow the staff to reuse the original submitted paper entry slips.\",\n \"To utilize a bracket program (either the one of the present disclosure or a third-party bracket program) for a tournament, participants register once for the entire tournament, creating a player record that is aggregated into the Master Player Roster.\",\n \"Each player is then eligible to enter into individual event competitions.\",\n \"Individual event competition may include, for example, women's only, men's only, one game type only (e.g., either cricket or '01), multiple game types, singles, doubles, etc.\",\n \"The Master Player Roster comprises the player information for any player who registers a to play in at least one event throughout the tournament.\",\n \"An Event Player Roster (or simply “Event Roster”) is comprises just the player information for players competing in one particular event.\",\n \"There may be multiple Event Rosters within a Master Tournament Roster.\",\n \"Once a player enters an event through a registration process, the bracket program can either automatically import the eligible players for the event, or the tournament staff can manually enter and/or select participants.\",\n \"The bracket program then organizes the competition and provides a dart board assignment for each of the initial match(es) between players.\",\n \"In prior approaches, paper tickets would then be used to score the matches and the scores and winners would have to be manually entered in the bracket program, which would typically be run at one, or at most, a few computing devices operated by tournament administrators or staff.\",\n \"The integration system of the present disclosure allows the scoring to be done electronically, through computing devices at each board at which a match is being played that execute the dart scoring application of the present disclosure, and transmitted in real time to the bracket program via the cloud server application 3030.The cloud server application 3030 may be the same cloud server application referred to previously throughout this disclosure.\",\n \"The bracket program 3010 can then advance players automatically based on the transmitted scores from dart scoring application mobile devices 3050-3052, rather than wait for manual entry of scores and winners.\",\n \"The transferring functions between each of the computing devices and applications depicted in FIG.\",\n \"30 are performed by one or more APIs, depicted in FIG.\",\n \"30 as API 3020.As will be described throughout this disclosure, the API(s) 3020 allows the transfer of information back and forth between the bracket program 3020, cloud server application 3030, and the mobile devices 3050-3052, the control desk(s) 3040, and the remote broadcasting device(s) 3060.As depicted, this information includes, but is not limited to, player registration info 3021, event ID 3022, bracket assignments 3023, board assignments 3024, match scores 3025, notifications 3026, and match progress and status 3027.The integration system 3000 also allows spectators to view scores and tournament standings at one or more remote broadcasting devices 3060 for matches in progress in real-time.\",\n \"The present disclosure has previously described how individual matches may be viewed by spectators when broadcast publicly or with a private key; the integration system adds the ability for spectators to view multiple match scores within a tournament and the live tournament standings themselves.\",\n \"Additionally, the integrated scoring system 3000 may include a control desk interface 3040, on which certain functions for tournament administrators and staff may be displayed.\",\n \"It is contemplated that, in some embodiments, a separate device may not be required to implement the control desk interface 3040, and it may be displayed, instead, on a screen of a device that is running the dart scoring application.\",\n \"Still referring to FIG.\",\n \"30, to set up a tournament once players have been registered, a bracket program 3000 may first provide player registration information 3021 to the cloud server of the dart scoring application.\",\n \"The bracket program sends an Event ID 3022 (also known as a “Competition ID”), and a complete Event Player Roster, which includes at least a Player Name, Player ID, and (optionally, though not required) the Player e-mail of each player on the Event Player Roster.\",\n \"Then, the cloud server application, via a Tournament Record Component 3031, develops a Tournament Record, which adds, based on the Event ID, the following information: a Tournament ID (for login purposes) Event Data, Device Settings, Event Format (which provides designations indicating whether the event is Elimination, Round Robin, Set Play, Win by Two, etc.\",\n \"), and Match Instructions (which provide actual instructions like Cork for Start, number of legs, alternate, etc.\",\n \"), and optionally, a Player ID associated with the scoring application.\",\n \"Turning to FIG.\",\n \"31, the Device Settings may be visible on a settings screen 3100 of the dart scoring application that show which functions that may be accessible or inaccessible to scorers depending on the Match Rules, as shown on the match rules screen 3150.The device settings screen may highlight what features of the scoring application will be visible during game play and scoring.\",\n \"It may be configurable by a scorer, or frozen, depending on the tournament rules.\",\n \"Event Match Rules shown on the match rules screen 3150 may include, for example, the eligible games for the match, the starting rules, the number of legs to be played, etc.\",\n \"As shown in the match rules screen 3150, the applicable match rules are highlighted and the others are grayed out.\",\n \"Depending on the embodiments, scorers may or may not be able to alter these settings.\",\n \"Referring back to FIG.\",\n \"30, mobile devices 3050-3052 with the dart scoring application may associate with the tournament by logging in (e.g., entering the Event ID on a screen) to the dart scoring application.\",\n \"Any device (including the control desk 3040, the mobile application scoring devices 3050-3052, and the remote broadcasting device 3060) associated with the tournament may then receive, from the cloud server application 3030, the Tournament Record 3031, which comprises the complete Event Player Roster 3032, the Event Data 3033, the Device Rules 3033, the Event Match Rules 3035, and any associated Player IDs 3036 (including any player association IDs and scoring-application-specific IDs).\",\n \"In some embodiments, only selected information may be sent to each computing device depicted, based on permissions set at the permissions component 3038 at the cloud server application.\",\n \"The scoring system is intended to maintain wireless connectivity throughout the competition, so that board assignments, scores, and other information may be transmitted back-and-forth between the scoring devices, the cloud server application, and the bracket program.\",\n \"However, several features of the system provide backup and redundancy features to preserve information if network connectivity is lost.\",\n \"One of those features is that each device, once logged into the tournament, receives the Tournament Record and Master Tournament Player List and keeps a copy of it locally.\",\n \"This feature ensures that, once the device has logged into the tournament, it has at least all the assigned and scheduled matches at the proper boards.\",\n \"If, for example, network connectivity is lost after a few matches have been played, and the board assignments are no longer being updated to the device in real-time, the dart scoring application will still be able to pull up a list of correct possible match-ups at particular boards, and may be used to manually select players from the master tournament list if absolutely necessary.\",\n \"The Tournament Record 3031 is also transferred from the cloud server application to the bracket program itself through the API 3030.To continue setting up a tournament, the bracket program 3010 may then use this Tournament Record 3031 to create a board assignment for each match.\",\n \"Creating a bracket in order to figure out how to advance players and create match-ups is a first component of setting up a tournament; assigning the boards on which those matches are to take place is another endeavor.\",\n \"“Boards” may also be referred to as “dart alleys,” and may be identified by numbers.\",\n \"For example, the first two players may be assigned to Board 1, the second two players to Board 2, etc.\",\n \"In the past, tournament staff set up board assignments manually, which was a very cumbersome and confusing process.\",\n \"Some bracket programs have recently developed board assignment tools.\",\n \"The bracket program of the present disclosure provides an advanced “intelligent board assignment” system (depicted by component 3015) to further improve the process.\",\n \"In general, the process of board assignment in any tournament is accomplished by first creating a list of eligible events.\",\n \"Each event can import a player list or be manually populated from the master player list.\",\n \"After the bracket program organizes the competition for a specific event, the bracket program creates a Match ID for each individual player vs. player competition, associating it with the Event ID and Tournament ID.\",\n \"The final step is assigning a dart alley (board assignment) where the competition will take place.\",\n \"The cloud server application electronically notifies participants (for example, via e-mail, text message, push notification, or any other suitable electronic communication) of their board assignment, as well as publishing an electronic master list on viewing screens of the display system (e.g., the dart game display system referred to in FIGS.\",\n \"2A-2C).\",\n \"One of the fundamental challenges of running a steel tip dart tournament is that there are a limited number of playing fields (dart alleys), with potentially hundreds of players, that are being used by multiple events at the same time.\",\n \"Depending on the event format and match rules, the dartboards can turn over every 10-15 minutes.\",\n \"No matter what kind of system is used to facilitate a dart tournament, it is the goal of tournament staff to continuously assign as many boards as quickly as possible, without assigning multiple live matches to the same dart alley for certain events.\",\n \"In some event formats, though, multiple matches may purposefully be assigned to a single dart alley with the intention that they are to be played sequentially.\",\n \"To enable the continual assignment of boards without assigning multiple matches at the same time at the same boards, the bracket program must have a board management system, which is at the tournament level, and not at the individual event level.\",\n \"This allows the board management system to manage which boards are currently available (not being actively played on) and to enable tournament staff to develop individual board assignment guidelines for each event.\",\n \"For instance, in a singles competition event, staff may want to assign every available board.\",\n \"In a team event, staff may choose to assign every other board, or only even/odd boards to allow for additional physical spacing for the multi-player teams (since boards are often placed close together).\",\n \"Staff can also designate a range of dart alleys that are eligible for an individual event.\",\n \"For example, a particular event may have a board assignment guideline of “even numbered boards only, from 2 to 20,” out of a total of 50 available.\",\n \"In prior approaches, assigning boards in this way has been done manually and has been cumbersome to implement.\",\n \"These guidelines are typically set before the tournament begins, but may be updated as the tournament continues.\",\n \"In embodiments of the disclosure, the event board assignment can either be “absolute” or a “guideline”.\",\n \"When it is a guideline, each event bracket operator may view the total list of available dart alleys (those not being currently utilized by an active match from any event).\",\n \"However, the preferred dart alleys for the particular event the bracket operator is running may have a primary color designation, while the remaining ones are monochromatic.\",\n \"This allows the bracket operator to readily identify recommended boards, yet select any available board, should the need arise.\",\n \"In contrast, if an event board assignment is absolute, the designated boards do not appear in the list of boards that other bracket operators can view for their respective events.\",\n \"The intelligent board assignment system of the present disclosure (depicted in intelligent board assignment component 3015 of FIG.\",\n \"30) enables the assigning of multiple available boards at once.\",\n \"This system alleviates a large challenge for tournament management which is made apparent at the start of each event.\",\n \"A large event can have more than 50 dart alleys, and it is the goal of tournament staff to facilitate the board assignments as quickly as possible once the initial event draw is done.\",\n \"Assigning each board individually creates a time delay that prevents the event from getting underway.\",\n \"With a single command, the intelligent board assignment system of the bracket program allows an operator to assign all “available” boards (i.e., ones not being currently utilized), while respecting the board assignment guidelines for that particular event, and any others that are underway.\",\n \"The bracket operator has the option of “activating” the board assignments immediately, or setting them to a delay, to both enable additional editing (un-assigning or changing particular board assignments) and to manage when electronic board notifications are sent to the participants.\",\n \"Another aspect of the intelligent board management system is that the event operator has the ability to designate which round of the tournament this function should be applied to when they run the command: Preliminary round, Round 1, Round 2, etc.\",\n \"For example, a youth event may be set up with an absolute board assignment for boards 1-4 (i.e., all the boards 1-4) for the duration of the youth event, which, for this example, begins sometime after the very start of the tournament and ends sometime before the very end of the tournament.\",\n \"These boards will not be listed in any operator's event board list, except for the list of the bracket operator running the youth event.\",\n \"This same tournament may begin with a doubles event, for which the staff have set the board assignment guideline to “even numbered” dart alleys.\",\n \"Since the doubles event is the first event, there are no boards being utilized yet, the system automatically assigns matches to all available even numbered boards 5-50 in the initial round of competition, because boards 1-4 are not made available for assignment, having been assigned absolutely to the youth event.\",\n \"In this same tournament, towards the end of the doubles event, but still during the youth event, a singles competition event begins, and it has a broader board assignment guideline of “all boards,” which means that all boards that are available can be assigned.\",\n \"With a single command, all available even and odd boards (including ones that are available despite having been used in the doubles competition earlier) are assigned for the Prelim Round, and then repeated for Round 1 of the singles event with the exception of boards 1-4, which are still assigned to the youth event.\",\n \"For the remaining doubles matches, which are now fewer in number, only even numbered dart alleys continue to be recommended and available for the doubles bracket operator to schedule.\",\n \"Eventually the youth event ends, and the absolute board guideline for that event is retired, freeing up boards 1-4, for both the doubles and singles events, still respecting their event board guidelines.\",\n \"Additional guidelines may be implemented at the tournament level or event level to properly assign boards based on tournament or event rules.\",\n \"For example, some tournaments have a rule that a player cannot play on the same board for two consecutive matches because it could potentially give that player an advantage over his or her opponent.\",\n \"In order to implement this rule, the intelligent board assignment system may track previously played boards and take those into account in addition to the other event board assignment guidelines.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the intelligent board assignment system may have an option of placing a tournament in a full automation mode, rather than having bracket operators assign boards based on guidelines.\",\n \"Guidelines could instead be used to automatically assign everything from the initial board assignments to the final event match.\",\n \"The results from the scoring application would be used to automatically advance each winner through the bracket and create the board assignments based on bracket assignments.\",\n \"The overall integrated scoring system (or platform) may implement several permissions of restriction levels at the various interfaces of the system.\",\n \"In general, the scoring application is available to members (i.e., paid subscribers to the scoring application, whether participating in the current tournament or not) and tournament participants.\",\n \"The bracket operations, which may be implemented at the control desk 3040, are general only available to tournament staff.\",\n \"The dart game display system (e.g., on the remote broadcasting device 3060), is generally available to anyone who wants to watch, including tournament participants, staff, and spectators.\",\n \"The display system includes public access to tournament check-in, event registration confirmation (which allows viewing of registrations, but not the function of actually registering), fan alerts, board calls, and live match scores and statuses.\",\n \"The live scores and statuses are shown in FIG.\",\n \"34, As part of the integration between the bracket program and the scoring application, scorers on devices associated with the tournament may enter a board assignment in a board entry field 3201, as shown in board selection screen 3200 of FIG.\",\n \"32.Scorers may be players who self-score in some tournaments, or referees who score in other tournaments.\",\n \"Once a board assignment is entered, the scoring application presents only player match-ups that are assigned to that particular board.\",\n \"For example, in the match selection screen 3210, only one selectable match 3211 is presented for the scorer to select.\",\n \"In some embodiments, this selectable match is also presented based on the time and on previous matches that have been played.\",\n \"A “more options” button 3212 is also available, which may allow a scorer to view matches assigned to that particular board for future matches and alternate events.\",\n \"In some tournaments, multiple matches may be assigned to the same board at the same time, and the selectable match screen 3211 may present the matches in the recommended order of play to maximize efficiency.\",\n \"This selectable match screen 3211 is the result of filtering data at the cloud server application and/or the local scoring application.\",\n \"Without such filtering, scorers would have to manually check a master tournament list, and possibly a board assignment list and event list to confirm that the correct players are at the correct board.\",\n \"In large tournaments, the process of checking such lists can be time-consuming and error-prone, because they may have dozens or hundreds of entries.\",\n \"The selectable match screen 3210 presents only the correct possible matches for the selected board, reducing time and mistakes.\",\n \"Once a match is selected, a match confirmation screen 3220 may be shown.\",\n \"Each of the pieces of data created by the cloud server application enables the tailoring of distinct match instructions for each event to be delivered to each device.\",\n \"This, in turn, allows the dart scoring application and cloud server to run multiple overlapping events simultaneously at each individual scoring device.\",\n \"That is, event staff and players do not need to intervene manually to change scoring application instructions every time the same device is used for a different event.\",\n \"For example, a single tournament may have both cricket and '01 events, and singles and doubles events.\",\n \"Some players may be participating in both simultaneously.\",\n \"Also, some dart alleys may be used for both events.\",\n \"The rules may differ greatly or slightly between events; no matter the degree of change, it can be difficult to keep track of such changes manually or even mentally.\",\n \"When a board assignment is entered into the board selection screen 3200, one of the matches on the match selection screen 3210 is selected, and the match is confirmed on a match confirmation screen 3220, the scoring application screens that will be presented to the scorer will automatically have the correct competition records and match rules for the match.\",\n \"This ensures that, when players show up to play at an assigned board at a particular time, neither the staff nor players have to worry about interpreting and implementing the match rules for each event, and do not have to go through a tedious process of selecting participants from the master tournament list.\",\n \"Another aspect of the dart scoring system and integration with the bracket program is that match results may be reported in substantially real-time to the bracket program via the cloud server application and used to advance the winner.\",\n \"When the match is complete, the scoring application utilizes the API to return the competition record, appended with the match score, to the bracket program.\",\n \"The bracket program can then be set up in one of two ways.\",\n \"A first option is that an electronic notification appears in the bracket program, that the operator manually approves, releasing the board assignment, advancing the winning player and recording the match score.\",\n \"The second option is that the notification automatically performs these steps.\",\n \"The match result reporting feature allows tournaments to be run more efficiently and with fewer delays, because it eliminates the need to call in or physically walk scores over to a central control area where the bracket program is run.\",\n \"It also eliminates the need for waiting for advances and new board assignments from the bracket program to be communicated to a central viewing area or individual dart alleys.\",\n \"In any kind of tournament, bracket advances (whether done manually or electronically) are often displayed on some kind of whiteboard or paper on an easel.\",\n \"Since the bracket program itself is electronic, it may be displayed on a central screen, but finding an individual match or player on an entire displayed bracket can still be time-consuming in a big tournament.\",\n \"Sometimes, board assignments may be verbally broadcast over a PA system, but such announcements are easy to miss.\",\n \"In the present integrated dart scoring system, bracket advances and new board assignments are communicated in real-time back to the scoring applications on individual devices.\",\n \"They are also communicated electronically to each player via e-mail, text message, and/or push notification.\",\n \"It is contemplated that many tournament participants may have the dart scoring application running on their own smartphones, whether they are self-scoring the tournament matches or not, because if they have the application on their smartphones and are logged into the tournament, they can receive a push notification immediately with a new board assignment.\",\n \"Players may want to have the application running on their smartphones for other purposes, including watching other match scores and bracket standings in the tournament.\",\n \"Other spectator features enabled by the integrated dart scoring system will be described later in this disclosure.\",\n \"Other features of the integrated dart scoring system are related to the automated match status reporting feature, and provide additional tournament efficiency benefits.\",\n \"A challenge for all tournament events is running on-time.\",\n \"In a traditional paper-based environment, the two most common obstacles are players not responding to their verbal board assignments, which delays the start times of scheduled matched, or failing to report the winning result, which delays the next match assignment.\",\n \"Some players who delay reporting winning results do so because they are playing in a high volume of matches, and they may purposefully delay reporting in order to pace themselves and have the matches be a bit more spread out.\",\n \"In the present system, the cloud server application automatically time stamps all board assignments, and groups them according their delayed status in 5-minute increments.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"33, these delayed match starts may be displayed on an “aging board calls” screen 3300.This screen may be visible at a control desk interface of the integrated dart scoring system, and may only be accessible to tournament staff or officials.\",\n \"In other embodiments, it may be available to any user of the dart scoring application who is logged into the tournament.\",\n \"The aging board calls screen 3300 shows a list in which each line includes a board assignment 3310, a Match ID 3320, and a time-stamp of the board call 3330.Any board calls that have been time-stamped more than five minutes in the past and have not started a match are shown under a 5+ minutes line 3240 and any that have been time-stamped more than 10 minutes in the past are shown under a 10+ minutes line 3250.Other visual cues may be used to alert viewers that matches are running late.\",\n \"For example, matches that are more than 15 minutes late may be highlighted in or changed to red.\",\n \"This display is enabled by time-stamping bracket advances once they have occurred in the bracket program, sending out board calls to players contemporaneously, and transmitting this information to a computing device that displays the control desk interface.\",\n \"This display screen allows staff to police procrastinators and provide the documentation required to disqualify players who are delaying the tournament.\",\n \"Tournaments may have rules that disqualify players who are more than 10 minutes late to a board call, for example.\",\n \"Some other problems can delay tournaments as well.\",\n \"For example, matches may become abandoned or not formally completed due to technical glitches such as devices freezing or running out of batteries, or any number of other unique circumstances.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"34 shows a tournament viewing screen 3400 that may be available on a control desk screen or to any viewer watching the tournament through a viewing mode of the scoring application.\",\n \"If matches are abandoned, if they are not formally completed, or should the individual tablet become disconnected to the network, the cloud server application will replace a “live match” icon 3410 with a stop sign icon 3420 to alert tournament staff that a match or device needs to be investigated.\",\n \"With the board assignment provided in the match listing, staff can be dispatched to fix the device and/or complete the match, sending results back to the bracket program to free up the board and advance the bracket.\",\n \"As discussed previously, there are several features throughout the integrated scoring system that prevent issues resulting from a loss of network connectivity.\",\n \"Even if the network fails during the competition, the tournament record (comprising the event list, along with the corresponding match instructions) and the master tournament players list is still stored locally at the mobile computing device, which creates a backup option to score a match.\",\n \"Players (or other scorers) can manually select the event and their participant records to create a match.\",\n \"The completed match will reside on the individual tablet until the connectivity is restored.\",\n \"When a connection is re-established, the scoring application will forward the completed match record(s) to the bracket program via the cloud server application.\",\n \"While the record will lack a match ID and board assignment, it will contain a tournament ID, event ID and player IDs, enabling the bracket operator to manually fill in this information and update the results as needed.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"35 shows a method for facilitating a dart tournament using the integrated scoring system of the present disclosure.\",\n \"The method may be implemented by an electronic bracket program, a cloud server application, an electronic dart scoring application, and one or more application program interfaces by first, at 3501, gathering, at the electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.\",\n \"Then, the method may include, at 3502, generating, at the cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.\",\n \"The method may further comprise, at 3503, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"At 3504, the method may comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"Then at 3505, the method may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and at 3506, automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.\",\n \"Embodiments of the invention may further comprise a non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable storage medium, encoded with processor-readable instructions to perform a method of providing information related to a dart game.\",\n \"One non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable storage medium, encoded with processor-readable instructions may be described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"28, below.\",\n \"One such method may comprise rendering a dart game scoring interface on a mobile computing device.\",\n \"One dart game scoring interface may comprise the various scoring interfaces and display screens shown in the figures and described herein.\",\n \"One such interface may display at least one current player score and at least one another player score.\",\n \"The method may further comprise ensuring that a dart score is entered correctly into the dart game scoring interface.\",\n \"For example, a color of the at least one current player score (the player currently entering scoring data) may be differentiated from the color of the at least one another player's score.\",\n \"Additionally, each entry to the scoring interface may be displayed in a scoring interface score window.\",\n \"Also, the method may comprise at least one of (i) displaying in an audit trail a sum of each previous entry entered into the score window, and (ii) displaying a number of times a user has selected a target.\",\n \"The method may also comprise sharing the dart game scoring interface with a plurality of additional mobile computing devices.\",\n \"It is contemplated that a portion of the at least one current player score comprises mark notations, as described herein.\",\n \"Furthermore, target on the dart board may comprise one of an enabled target and a disabled target.\",\n \"This may occur in a cricket game.\",\n \"For example, prior to both or all players hitting the target three times, after a player hits the target three times (receives three mark notations—two slashes and a circle), that player may receive a numerical score for the target amount for any subsequent hits (i.e., “selected” on the user interface) prior to the other player or players hitting the target three times.\",\n \"During this period, the target is enabled.\",\n \"After all players have hit the target three times, the target is disabled and no points may be obtained for this target by any player.\",\n \"The user interface may also comprise a first scoring redundancy and a second scoring redundancy, to ensure scoring accuracy.\",\n \"One such first redundancy may comprise differentiating a color of the enabled target from the disabled target.\",\n \"A second redundancy may comprise: (i) accessing one sum in the audit trail, (ii) differentiating the color of the accessed sum from each other sum, and (iii) displaying in the score window each previous entry related to the accessed sum.\",\n \"The non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage medium method may further comprise requesting an event key, also referred to herein as a code or a password, or any other term known in the art.\",\n \"The event key may then be distributed to another computing device and then a dart game scoring interface may be received by another computing device, as well as displaying score information on the interface.\",\n \"Such scoring information may be related to one or more forthcoming player dart throws for a next round.\",\n \"Such scoring information may be provided before or after the player has thrown at least one dart for the round.\",\n \"A fade-out display message may also provide information related to one or more recent dart throws to the plurality of additional mobile computing devices.\",\n \"It is contemplated that ensuring that a dart score is entered correctly into the dart game scoring interface further comprises providing a series of selectable features that automatically enter a score related to a dart throw, decreasing a number of selections required to enter the score as compared to the number of selections required not using the series of selectable features, and calculating statistics related to the selectable features.\",\n \"The systems and methods described herein can be implemented in a computer system in addition to the specific physical devices described herein.\",\n \"Referring back to FIG.\",\n \"28, shown is a diagrammatic representation of one embodiment of a computer system 2800 within which a set of instructions can execute for causing a device to perform or execute any one or more of the aspects and/or methodologies of the present disclosure.\",\n \"A computer comprising the any of the devices disclosed with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"1 and 30, such as, but not limited to, the scoreboard 112 device, the cloud server application 3030, the API 3020, and the bracket program 3010 are examples of some implementations of the computer system 2800.The components in FIG.\",\n \"28 are examples only and do not limit the scope of use or functionality of any hardware, software, firmware, embedded logic component, or a combination of two or more such components implementing particular embodiments of this disclosure.\",\n \"Some or all of the illustrated components can be part of the computer system 2800.For instance, the computer system 2800 can be a general purpose computer (e.g., a laptop computer) or an embedded logic device (e.g., an FPGA), to name just two non-limiting examples.\",\n \"Computer system 2800 includes at least a processor 2801 such as a central processing unit (CPU) or an FPGA to name two non-limiting examples.\",\n \"Any of the subsystems described throughout this disclosure could embody the processor 2801.The computer system 2800 may also comprise a memory 2803 and a storage 2808, both communicating with each other, and with other components, via a bus 2840.The bus 2840 may also link a display 2832, one or more input devices 2833 (which may, for example, include a keypad, a keyboard, a mouse, a stylus, etc.\",\n \"), one or more output devices 2834, one or more storage devices 2835, and various non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media 2836 with each other and with one or more of the processor 2801, the memory 2803, and the storage 2808.All of these elements may interface directly or via one or more interfaces or adaptors to the bus 2840.For instance, the various non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media 2836 can interface with the bus 2840 via storage medium interface 2826.Computer system 2800 may have any suitable physical form, including but not limited to one or more integrated circuits (ICs), printed circuit boards (PCBs), mobile handheld devices (such as mobile telephones or PDAs), laptop or notebook computers, distributed computer systems, computing grids, or servers.\",\n \"Processor(s) 2801 (or central processing unit(s) (CPU(s))) optionally contains a cache memory unit 2802 for temporary local storage of instructions, data, or computer addresses.\",\n \"Processor(s) 2801 are configured to assist in execution of computer-readable instructions stored on at least one non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium.\",\n \"Computer system 2800 may provide functionality as a result of the processor(s) 2801 executing software embodied in one or more non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media, such as memory 2803, storage 2808, storage devices 2835, and/or storage medium 2836 (e.g., read only memory (ROM)).\",\n \"For instance, the methods 2929 in FIG.\",\n \"29 may be embodied in one or more non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media.\",\n \"The non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media may store software that implements particular embodiments, such as the method 2929 and processor(s) 2801 may execute the software.\",\n \"Memory 2803 may read the software from one or more other non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media (such as mass storage device(s) 2835, 2836) or from one or more other sources through a suitable interface, such as network interface 2820.Any of the subsystems herein disclosed could include a network interface such as the network interface 2820.The software may cause processor(s) 2801 to carry out one or more processes or one or more steps of one or more processes described or illustrated herein.\",\n \"Carrying out such processes or steps may include defining data structures stored in memory 2803 and modifying the data structures as directed by the software.\",\n \"In some embodiments, an FPGA can store instructions for carrying out functionality as described in this disclosure (e.g., the method 2929).\",\n \"In other embodiments, firmware includes instructions for carrying out functionality as described in this disclosure (e.g., the method 2929).\",\n \"The memory 2803 may include various components (e.g., non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media) including, but not limited to, a random access memory component (e.g., RAM 2804) (e.g., a static RAM “SRAM”, a dynamic RAM “DRAM, etc.\",\n \"), a read-only component (e.g., ROM 2805), and any combinations thereof.\",\n \"ROM 2805 may act to communicate data and instructions unidirectionally to processor(s) 2801, and RAM 2804 may act to communicate data and instructions bidirectionally with processor(s) 2801.ROM 2805 and RAM 2804 may include any suitable non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media.\",\n \"In some instances, ROM 2805 and RAM 2804 include non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media for carrying out the method 2929.In one example, a basic input/output system 2806 (BIOS), including basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computer system 2800, such as during start-up, may be stored in the memory 2803.Fixed storage 2808 is connected bidirectionally to processor(s) 2801, optionally through storage control unit 2807.Fixed storage 2808 provides additional data storage capacity and may also include any suitable non-transitory, tangible computer-readable media described herein.\",\n \"Storage 2808 may be used to store operating system 2809, EXECs 2810 (executables), data 2811, API applications 2812 (application programs), and the like.\",\n \"Often, although not always, storage 2808 is a secondary storage medium (such as a hard disk) that is slower than primary storage (e.g., memory 2803).\",\n \"Storage 2808 can also include an optical disk drive, a solid-state memory device (e.g., flash-based systems), or a combination of any of the above.\",\n \"Information in storage 2808 may, in appropriate cases, be incorporated as virtual memory in memory 2803.In one example, storage device(s) 2835 may be removably interfaced with computer system 2800 (e.g., via an external port connector (not shown)) via a storage device interface 2825.Particularly, storage device(s) 2835 and an associated machine-readable medium may provide nonvolatile and/or volatile storage of machine-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and/or other data for the computer system 2800.In one example, software may reside, completely or partially, within a machine-readable medium on storage device(s) 2835.In another example, software may reside, completely or partially, within processor(s) 2801.Bus 2840 connects a wide variety of subsystems.\",\n \"Herein, reference to a bus may encompass one or more digital signal lines serving a common function, where appropriate.\",\n \"Bus 2840 may be any of several types of bus structures including, but not limited to, a memory bus, a memory controller, a peripheral bus, a local bus, and any combinations thereof, using any of a variety of bus architectures.\",\n \"As an example, and not by way of limitation, such architectures include an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, an Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association local bus (VLB), a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, a PCI-Express (PCI-X) bus, an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) bus, HyperTransport (HTX) bus, serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) bus, and any combinations thereof.\",\n \"Computer system 2800 may also include an input device 2833.In one example, a user of computer system 2800 may enter commands and/or other information into computer system 2800 via input device(s) 2833.Examples of an input device(s) 2833 include, but are not limited to, an alpha-numeric input device (e.g., a keyboard), a pointing device (e.g., a mouse or touchpad), a touchpad, a joystick, a gamepad, an audio input device (e.g., a microphone, a voice response system, etc.\",\n \"), an optical scanner, a video or still image capture device (e.g., a camera), and any combinations thereof.\",\n \"Input device(s) 2833 may be interfaced to bus 2840 via any of a variety of input interfaces 2823 (e.g., input interface 2823) including, but not limited to, serial, parallel, game port, USB, FIREWIRE, THUNDERBOLT, or any combination of the above.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, when computer system 2800 is connected to network 2830, computer system 2800 may communicate with other devices, such as mobile devices and enterprise systems, connected to network 2830.Communications to and from computer system 2800 may be sent through network interface 2820.For example, network interface 2820 may receive incoming communications (such as requests or responses from other devices) in the form of one or more packets (such as Internet Protocol (IP) packets) from network 2830, and computer system 2800 may store the incoming communications in memory 2803 for processing.\",\n \"Computer system 2800 may similarly store outgoing communications (such as requests or responses to other devices) in the form of one or more packets in memory 2803 and communicated to network 2830 from network interface 2820.Processor(s) 2801 may access these communication packets stored in memory 2803 for processing.\",\n \"Examples of the network interface 2820 include, but are not limited to, a network interface card, a modem, and any combination thereof.\",\n \"Examples of a network 2830 or network segment 2830 include, but are not limited to, a wide area network (WAN) (e.g., the Internet, an enterprise network), a local area network (LAN) (e.g., a network associated with an office, a building, a campus or other relatively small geographic space), a telephone network, a direct connection between two computing devices, and any combinations thereof.\",\n \"A network, such as network 2830, may employ a wired and/or a wireless mode of communication.\",\n \"In general, any network topology may be used.\",\n \"Information and data can be displayed through a display 2832.Examples of a display 2832 include, but are not limited to, a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic liquid crystal display (OLED), a cathode ray tube (CRT), a plasma display, and any combinations thereof.\",\n \"The display 2832 can interface to the processor(s) 2801, memory 2803, and fixed storage 2808, as well as other devices, such as input device(s) 2833, via the bus 2840.The display 2832 is linked to the bus 2840 via a video interface 2822, and transport of data between the display 2832 and the bus 2840 can be controlled via the graphics control 2821.In addition to a display 2832, computer system 2800 may include one or more other peripheral output devices 2834 including, but not limited to, an audio speaker, a printer, and any combinations thereof.\",\n \"Such peripheral output devices may be connected to the bus 2840 via an output interface 2824.Examples of an output interface 2824 include, but are not limited to, a serial port, a parallel connection, a USB port, a FIREWIRE port, a THUNDERBOLT port, and any combinations thereof.\",\n \"In addition, or as an alternative, computer system 2800 may provide functionality as a result of logic hardwired or otherwise embodied in a circuit, which may operate in place of or together with software to execute one or more processes or one or more steps of one or more processes described or illustrated herein.\",\n \"Reference to software in this disclosure may encompass logic, and reference to logic may encompass software.\",\n \"Moreover, reference to a non-transitory, tangible computer-readable medium may encompass a circuit (such as an IC) storing software for execution, a circuit embodying logic for execution, or both, where appropriate.\",\n \"The present disclosure encompasses any suitable combination of hardware, software, or both.\",\n \"Those of skill in the art will understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques.\",\n \"Those of skill will further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both.\",\n \"To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality.\",\n \"Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.\",\n \"Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.\",\n \"A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine.\",\n \"A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.\",\n \"The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein (e.g., the method 2929) may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, a software module implemented as digital logic devices, or in a combination of these.\",\n \"A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium known in the art.\",\n \"An exemplary non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium.\",\n \"In the alternative, the non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium may be integral to the processor.\",\n \"The processor and the non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium may reside in an ASIC.\",\n \"The ASIC may reside in a user terminal.\",\n \"In the alternative, the processor and the non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a software module may be implemented as digital logic components such as those in an FPGA once programmed with the software module.\",\n \"The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosure.\",\n \"Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876037"}}},{"rowIdx":4495059,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["ANCHOR BOLT ADAPTOR","An anchor bolt adapter (ABA) for adapting a bolt circle of an anchor bolt foundation to a bolt circle of a pole is adapted to secure a base to a foundation.","The ABA can comprise a downwardly positioned female threaded opening configured to receive a first one of the anchor bolts and an upwardly positioned female threaded opening configured to receive a threaded connector bolt."],["1.An anchor bolt adapter (ABA) for adapting a bolt circle of an anchor bolt foundation to a bolt circle of a pole, wherein the foundation includes a plurality of horizontally spaced-apart, upwardly directed anchor bolts having externally threaded upper ends, and the pole including a base portion with a plurality of openings formed therein corresponding to expected positions of the anchor bolts, the adapter comprising: a downwardly positioned female threaded opening configured to receive a first one of the anchor bolts; and an upwardly positioned female threaded opening configured to receive a threaded connector bolt, wherein the upwardly positioned female threaded opening is horizontally spaced apart from the downwardly positioned female threaded opening.","2.The ABA of claim 1, further comprising an intermediate upwardly or downwardly positioned female threaded opening, horizontally spaced between the downwardly positioned female threaded opening and the upwardly positioned female threaded opening.","3.The ABA of claim 1, wherein the downwardly positioned female threaded opening extends all the way from an upper surface of the ABA to a lower surface of the ABA.","4.The ABA of claim 1, wherein a center of the downwardly positioned, female threaded opening is spaced apart from a center of the an upwardly positioned female threaded opening by at least 3 cm.","5.The ABA of claim 1, wherein the ABA comprises a forged metal alloy.","6.The ABA of claim 1, wherein the downwardly positioned female threaded opening has a different gauge from the upwardly positioned female threaded opening.","7.A method of adapting a bolt circle of an anchor bolt foundation to a bolt circle of a pole, comprising: mating a downwardly positioned, female threaded opening of an anchor bolt adapter with an upwardly positioned male threaded anchor bolt having one end anchored into a foundation; and guiding a male threaded member, extending from a body of the anchor bolt adapter, up through a hole in the bolt circle.","8.The method of claim 7, further comprising mating the upwardly positioned male threaded member with a female threads of a nut, such that at least a portion of the base plate is substantially fixed between a top surface of the anchor bolt adapter and the nut.","9.The method of claim 7, further comprising guiding the upwardly positioned male threaded member of the anchor bolt through a hole in a second bolt circle.","10.The method of claim 7, wherein the anchor bolt adapter comprises an upwardly facing female threaded opening, the male threaded member is a bolt, and further comprising the step of mating the bolt with the upwardly facing female threaded opening 11.The method of claim 7, wherein the anchor bolt adapter comprises an upwardly facing female threaded opening, the male threaded member is a bolt, and further comprising guiding the downwardly bolt downwards through a hole in the bolt circle, to mate with the upwardly facing female threaded opening.","12.The method of claim 7, wherein the downwardly positioned female threaded opening has a different gauge from the male threaded member.","13.An anchored pole configuration, comprising: a foundation; at least an upwardly directed anchor bolt having one end anchored into the foundation, and an opposite, upwardly extending male threaded end; a pole having a base plate at a lower end, the base plate having a bolt circle; an adapter having a downwardly facing female threaded opening, in mating arrangement with the male threads of the first anchor bolt; and an attachment bolt extending from the adapter through the bolt circle.","14.The anchored pole configuration of claim 13, wherein the adapter further comprises upwardly facing female threads in mating arrangement with downwardly facing male threads of the attachment bolt.","15.The anchored pole configuration of claim 13, wherein that attachment bolt has male threads on both ends.","16.The anchored pole configuration of claim 13, wherein the attachment has a unitary construction with the adapter.","17.The anchored pole configuration of claim 13, wherein the adapter has a second, downwardly facing female threaded opening.","18.The anchored pole configuration of claim 13, wherein the downwardly positioned female threaded opening has a different gauge from the attachment bolt."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention.","It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.","All publications herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.","Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.","It is well recognized that light pole and the like foundation anchor bolts do not always match the mounting holes in the base plate of the light pole and the like.","This can occur for several reasons, including that the anchor bolts were installed incorrectly in the concrete foundation, or that the replacement pole is different from the original.","In the past this problem has often been addressed by cutting off and then drilling out the existing anchor bolts, followed by epoxying in the new ones.","Other solutions include demoing the existing footing, and then pouring a new footing with correct location of anchor bolts, modifying the base plate plate, or custom making an adaptor plate.","All of these solution are problematic from a cost and/or time standpoint.","Relevant patents and applications include U.S. Pat.","No.","3,552,698, US20130036679, U.S. Pat.","No.","4,295,308, U.S. Pat.","No.","3,837,752, U.S. Pat.","No.","3,521,413, U.S. Pat.","No.","3,572,223, U.S. Pat.","No.","3,630,474, U.S. Pat.","No.","4,923,319, U.S. Pat.","No.","7,721,490, U.S. Pat.","No.","8,037,651, U.S. Pat.","No.","8,281,531, US20090272053, and US20100293870.Thus, there remains a need for a system and method that accommodates misaligned anchor bolts and the base plate holes of light or other pole, without having to drill out the existing anchor bolts, or using custom adaptor place."],["<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The following description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention.","It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.","The inventive subject matter provides apparatus, systems, and methods in which a coupling block is physically positioned between an upwardly positioned anchor bolt and a horizontally disposed base plate.","The coupling block has at least one downwardly positioned, female threaded opening to receive one of the anchor bolts, and either (a) an upwardly positioned female threaded opening to receive a bolt, or (b) a bolt extending directly upwards out of the body of the coupling block.","In either case, an upwardly directed bolt has a bottom in the coupling block, whether or not held threadingly in place, passes up through a hole of the base plate, and is secured with a nut positioned above the base plate.","In light pole installation work, misalignment between anchor bolts and bolt circles/openings can require substantial investments in manpower and monetary resources to correct.","Conventional anchor bolts are directly anchored into anchor foundations comprising hard materials, such as wood and concrete.","As a result, misaligned anchor bolts often require the destruction of the anchor foundation.","It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus enabling misaligned anchor bolts to be connected to bolt circles on a light pole.","A further objective of the invention is to provide positional adjustment options on an anchor bolt adapter to adapt to a variety of bolt circle configurations associated with different base plates.","Yet another objective of the invention is to provide the ability to adjust the rotational position of a light pole in relation to the anchor bolts.","Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.","The following discussion provides many example embodiments of the inventive subject matter.","Although each embodiment represents a single combination of inventive elements, the inventive subject matter is considered to include all possible combinations of the disclosed elements.","Thus if one embodiment comprises elements A, B, and C, and a second embodiment comprises elements B and D, then the inventive subject matter is also considered to include other remaining combinations of A, B, C, or D, even if not explicitly disclosed."],["Field of the Invention The field of the invention is light poles.","BACKGROUND The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention.","It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.","All publications herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.","Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.","It is well recognized that light pole and the like foundation anchor bolts do not always match the mounting holes in the base plate of the light pole and the like.","This can occur for several reasons, including that the anchor bolts were installed incorrectly in the concrete foundation, or that the replacement pole is different from the original.","In the past this problem has often been addressed by cutting off and then drilling out the existing anchor bolts, followed by epoxying in the new ones.","Other solutions include demoing the existing footing, and then pouring a new footing with correct location of anchor bolts, modifying the base plate plate, or custom making an adaptor plate.","All of these solution are problematic from a cost and/or time standpoint.","Relevant patents and applications include U.S. Pat.","No.","3,552,698, US20130036679, U.S. Pat.","No.","4,295,308, U.S. Pat.","No.","3,837,752, U.S. Pat.","No.","3,521,413, U.S. Pat.","No.","3,572,223, U.S. Pat.","No.","3,630,474, U.S. Pat.","No.","4,923,319, U.S. Pat.","No.","7,721,490, U.S. Pat.","No.","8,037,651, U.S. Pat.","No.","8,281,531, US20090272053, and US20100293870.Thus, there remains a need for a system and method that accommodates misaligned anchor bolts and the base plate holes of light or other pole, without having to drill out the existing anchor bolts, or using custom adaptor place.","SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The following description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention.","It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.","The inventive subject matter provides apparatus, systems, and methods in which a coupling block is physically positioned between an upwardly positioned anchor bolt and a horizontally disposed base plate.","The coupling block has at least one downwardly positioned, female threaded opening to receive one of the anchor bolts, and either (a) an upwardly positioned female threaded opening to receive a bolt, or (b) a bolt extending directly upwards out of the body of the coupling block.","In either case, an upwardly directed bolt has a bottom in the coupling block, whether or not held threadingly in place, passes up through a hole of the base plate, and is secured with a nut positioned above the base plate.","In light pole installation work, misalignment between anchor bolts and bolt circles/openings can require substantial investments in manpower and monetary resources to correct.","Conventional anchor bolts are directly anchored into anchor foundations comprising hard materials, such as wood and concrete.","As a result, misaligned anchor bolts often require the destruction of the anchor foundation.","It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus enabling misaligned anchor bolts to be connected to bolt circles on a light pole.","A further objective of the invention is to provide positional adjustment options on an anchor bolt adapter to adapt to a variety of bolt circle configurations associated with different base plates.","Yet another objective of the invention is to provide the ability to adjust the rotational position of a light pole in relation to the anchor bolts.","Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.","The following discussion provides many example embodiments of the inventive subject matter.","Although each embodiment represents a single combination of inventive elements, the inventive subject matter is considered to include all possible combinations of the disclosed elements.","Thus if one embodiment comprises elements A, B, and C, and a second embodiment comprises elements B and D, then the inventive subject matter is also considered to include other remaining combinations of A, B, C, or D, even if not explicitly disclosed.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG.","1 is a partial view of a pole outfitted with a plurality of inventive Anchor Bolt Adaptors (ABAs).","FIG.","2 is a partial section view illustrating the manner in which the Anchor Bolt Adaptor (ABA) of FIG.","1 is positioned between the anchor bolts and the support plate of the pole.","FIG.","3 is a perspective view of the Anchor Bolt Adaptor (ABA) of FIG.","1.FIG.","4 is a partial top view of the Anchor Bolt Adaptor (ABA) of FIG.","1.FIG.","5 is a top-down perspective view of original bolt circle (anchor bolts) and a modified bolt circle.","FIG.","6 is an exploded view of components used to anchor the base plate to the foundation.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION The inventive subject matter provides apparatus, systems, and methods an anchor bolt adaptor (ABA) has at least one downwardly positioned female threaded opening positioned to mate with an upwardly positioned anchor bolt, and either (a) at least one upwardly positioned female threaded opening positioned to mate with a bolt passing upwards through a base plate, or (b) a bolt extending directly upwards out of the body of the coupling block.","As used herein the term “bolt” means a shaft having at least one machine-threaded end to which a nut could be secured.","Also as used herein, the term “threaded end” as applied to a bolt means that the bolt has at least some threads within an inch of an actual end of the bolt.","Similarly, the term “bolt having one end anchored into the foundation” means a bolt having at least one inch of the actual end of the bolt being anchored, threadingly or non-threadingly, into the foundation.","FIG.","1 is a partial view of a pole outfitted with a plurality of ABAs 10 coupled or connected to a pole 12 to a foundation 14 having a plurality of anchor bolts 16 set therein.","Pole 12 includes a horizontally disposed base plate 20 having a plurality of openings 22 formed therein that do not align with anchor bolt(s) 16.In other words, if footing 14 has 4 anchor bolts set therein a square or rectangle fashion, base plate 20 would have 4 openings 22 formed therein which are arranged in a square or rectangle fashion that does not match that of the anchor bolts 16.Each ABA 10 is mounted respectively on each of anchor bolts 16 using the internally threaded bore 29 that allows each upwardly facing female threaded opening to best align with their respective openings 22.In some embodiments, a washer 17 can be positioned on the upper face of ABA 10.It is also contemplated that ABA 10 of this invention also functions as a leveling nut for the light pole or the like.","It is further contemplated that the ABA 10 of this invention also functions as a spacer between the top of the foundation and bottom of the pole to allow for water drainage from inside the pole.","Bolt 36 is mounted to one of the unused threaded bore 29 that best corrects the offset to allow bolt circle 25 on base plate 20 to be secured to anchor bolts 16.Base plate 20 is mounted on the upper ends of the ABA 10 with bolt 36 extended upwards through the openings in washer 17 or not and through opening 22 formed in base plate 20 secured with washer 32 and threadable nut 30.As previously stated, ABA 10 connects the misaligned anchor bolts to base plate 20.FIG.","2 is a partial section view of one ABA 10 coupled or connected to the base of pole 12 at one end and attached to an anchor bolt 16 at the opposite end.","As depicted, anchor bolt 16 is screwed into ABA 10 using anchor bolt threads 18.On the opposite end, ABA 10 is removably coupled to base plate 20 of pole 12 through opening 22.FIG.","3 is a perspective view of one corner of the base of pole 12 and ABA 10 coupled to components allowing ABA 10 to anchor a light pole to a foundation.","ABA 10 includes an upper end 26, a lower end 28 and two or more internally threaded bores 29 (discussed below in FIG.","4) extending the distance between the upper and lower ends ABA 10.Anchor bolts 16 can include anchor bolt threads 18 on one end to be mated with the one or more internally threaded bores 29 of ABA 10.FIG.","4 is a top-down view of ABA 10.ABA 10 includes at least two threaded bores 29.ABA 10 is preferably a rectangular prism shape.","Threaded bores 29 can have any combination of diameters on the same ABA 10.For example, threaded bores 29 can be different diameters on the same ABA 10.It is also contemplated that threaded bore 29 can receive various adapters to adapt threaded bore 29 to bolts 36 with smaller diameters.","For example, a threaded bore 29 originally adapted to receive a 1 inch diameter bolt can receive an adapter allowing threaded bore 29 to receive a .75 inch diameter bolt.","However, ABA 10 can be cube-shaped, ellipsoid-shaped, spherical, and any combination thereof.","Cross-sections of ABA 10 from the top-down can be rectangular-shaped, oval-shaped, circle-shaped, and any combination thereof.","FIG.","5 is a top-down view of pivot circle 24 and bolt circle 25 which defines the maximum reach of ABA 10 and the minimum reach of ABA 10.ABA 10 pivots on a circumference defined by pivot circle 24.The minimum reach of ABA 10 is achieved when 4 ABA 10 are rotated such that the threaded bores 29 that couple with openings 22 are as close together as possible.","The maximum reach of ABA 10 is achieved when 4 ABA 10 are rotated such that the threaded bores 29 that couple with openings 22 are as far apart as possible.","It is contemplated that the ABA 10 can be rotated in varying degrees to allow it to anchor to base plates 20 with openings 22 falling between the minimum and maximum reach of ABA 10.FIG.","6 depicts an exploded view of components comprising the anchoring mechanism.","Anchor bolts 16 couple with threaded bore 29 of ABA 10 on one side of ABA 10.ABA 10 also couples with bolt 36 on the opposite side of ABA 10 via threaded bore 29.A second end of bolt 36 can be passed through the centers of washer 17, base plate 20 (not depicted), and washer 32 to secure ABA to base plate 20.Threadable nut 30 couples with the second end of bolt 36 to secure base plate 20 to the foundation 14.Thus, it can be seen that a unique ABA has been provided which accomplishes at least all of its stated objectives.","It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those already described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein.","The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the scope of the appended claims.","Moreover, in interpreting both the specification and the claims, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context.","In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced.","Where the specification claims refers to at least one of something selected from the group consisting of A, B, C .",".",".","and N, the text should be interpreted as requiring only one element from the group, not A plus N, or B plus N, etc."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"ANCHOR BOLT ADAPTOR\",\n \"An anchor bolt adapter (ABA) for adapting a bolt circle of an anchor bolt foundation to a bolt circle of a pole is adapted to secure a base to a foundation.\",\n \"The ABA can comprise a downwardly positioned female threaded opening configured to receive a first one of the anchor bolts and an upwardly positioned female threaded opening configured to receive a threaded connector bolt.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.An anchor bolt adapter (ABA) for adapting a bolt circle of an anchor bolt foundation to a bolt circle of a pole, wherein the foundation includes a plurality of horizontally spaced-apart, upwardly directed anchor bolts having externally threaded upper ends, and the pole including a base portion with a plurality of openings formed therein corresponding to expected positions of the anchor bolts, the adapter comprising: a downwardly positioned female threaded opening configured to receive a first one of the anchor bolts; and an upwardly positioned female threaded opening configured to receive a threaded connector bolt, wherein the upwardly positioned female threaded opening is horizontally spaced apart from the downwardly positioned female threaded opening.\",\n \"2.The ABA of claim 1, further comprising an intermediate upwardly or downwardly positioned female threaded opening, horizontally spaced between the downwardly positioned female threaded opening and the upwardly positioned female threaded opening.\",\n \"3.The ABA of claim 1, wherein the downwardly positioned female threaded opening extends all the way from an upper surface of the ABA to a lower surface of the ABA.\",\n \"4.The ABA of claim 1, wherein a center of the downwardly positioned, female threaded opening is spaced apart from a center of the an upwardly positioned female threaded opening by at least 3 cm.\",\n \"5.The ABA of claim 1, wherein the ABA comprises a forged metal alloy.\",\n \"6.The ABA of claim 1, wherein the downwardly positioned female threaded opening has a different gauge from the upwardly positioned female threaded opening.\",\n \"7.A method of adapting a bolt circle of an anchor bolt foundation to a bolt circle of a pole, comprising: mating a downwardly positioned, female threaded opening of an anchor bolt adapter with an upwardly positioned male threaded anchor bolt having one end anchored into a foundation; and guiding a male threaded member, extending from a body of the anchor bolt adapter, up through a hole in the bolt circle.\",\n \"8.The method of claim 7, further comprising mating the upwardly positioned male threaded member with a female threads of a nut, such that at least a portion of the base plate is substantially fixed between a top surface of the anchor bolt adapter and the nut.\",\n \"9.The method of claim 7, further comprising guiding the upwardly positioned male threaded member of the anchor bolt through a hole in a second bolt circle.\",\n \"10.The method of claim 7, wherein the anchor bolt adapter comprises an upwardly facing female threaded opening, the male threaded member is a bolt, and further comprising the step of mating the bolt with the upwardly facing female threaded opening 11.The method of claim 7, wherein the anchor bolt adapter comprises an upwardly facing female threaded opening, the male threaded member is a bolt, and further comprising guiding the downwardly bolt downwards through a hole in the bolt circle, to mate with the upwardly facing female threaded opening.\",\n \"12.The method of claim 7, wherein the downwardly positioned female threaded opening has a different gauge from the male threaded member.\",\n \"13.An anchored pole configuration, comprising: a foundation; at least an upwardly directed anchor bolt having one end anchored into the foundation, and an opposite, upwardly extending male threaded end; a pole having a base plate at a lower end, the base plate having a bolt circle; an adapter having a downwardly facing female threaded opening, in mating arrangement with the male threads of the first anchor bolt; and an attachment bolt extending from the adapter through the bolt circle.\",\n \"14.The anchored pole configuration of claim 13, wherein the adapter further comprises upwardly facing female threads in mating arrangement with downwardly facing male threads of the attachment bolt.\",\n \"15.The anchored pole configuration of claim 13, wherein that attachment bolt has male threads on both ends.\",\n \"16.The anchored pole configuration of claim 13, wherein the attachment has a unitary construction with the adapter.\",\n \"17.The anchored pole configuration of claim 13, wherein the adapter has a second, downwardly facing female threaded opening.\",\n \"18.The anchored pole configuration of claim 13, wherein the downwardly positioned female threaded opening has a different gauge from the attachment bolt.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention.\",\n \"It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.\",\n \"All publications herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.\",\n \"Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.\",\n \"It is well recognized that light pole and the like foundation anchor bolts do not always match the mounting holes in the base plate of the light pole and the like.\",\n \"This can occur for several reasons, including that the anchor bolts were installed incorrectly in the concrete foundation, or that the replacement pole is different from the original.\",\n \"In the past this problem has often been addressed by cutting off and then drilling out the existing anchor bolts, followed by epoxying in the new ones.\",\n \"Other solutions include demoing the existing footing, and then pouring a new footing with correct location of anchor bolts, modifying the base plate plate, or custom making an adaptor plate.\",\n \"All of these solution are problematic from a cost and/or time standpoint.\",\n \"Relevant patents and applications include U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,552,698, US20130036679, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,295,308, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,837,752, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,521,413, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,572,223, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,630,474, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,923,319, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"7,721,490, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,037,651, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,281,531, US20090272053, and US20100293870.Thus, there remains a need for a system and method that accommodates misaligned anchor bolts and the base plate holes of light or other pole, without having to drill out the existing anchor bolts, or using custom adaptor place.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The following description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention.\",\n \"It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.\",\n \"The inventive subject matter provides apparatus, systems, and methods in which a coupling block is physically positioned between an upwardly positioned anchor bolt and a horizontally disposed base plate.\",\n \"The coupling block has at least one downwardly positioned, female threaded opening to receive one of the anchor bolts, and either (a) an upwardly positioned female threaded opening to receive a bolt, or (b) a bolt extending directly upwards out of the body of the coupling block.\",\n \"In either case, an upwardly directed bolt has a bottom in the coupling block, whether or not held threadingly in place, passes up through a hole of the base plate, and is secured with a nut positioned above the base plate.\",\n \"In light pole installation work, misalignment between anchor bolts and bolt circles/openings can require substantial investments in manpower and monetary resources to correct.\",\n \"Conventional anchor bolts are directly anchored into anchor foundations comprising hard materials, such as wood and concrete.\",\n \"As a result, misaligned anchor bolts often require the destruction of the anchor foundation.\",\n \"It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus enabling misaligned anchor bolts to be connected to bolt circles on a light pole.\",\n \"A further objective of the invention is to provide positional adjustment options on an anchor bolt adapter to adapt to a variety of bolt circle configurations associated with different base plates.\",\n \"Yet another objective of the invention is to provide the ability to adjust the rotational position of a light pole in relation to the anchor bolts.\",\n \"Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.\",\n \"The following discussion provides many example embodiments of the inventive subject matter.\",\n \"Although each embodiment represents a single combination of inventive elements, the inventive subject matter is considered to include all possible combinations of the disclosed elements.\",\n \"Thus if one embodiment comprises elements A, B, and C, and a second embodiment comprises elements B and D, then the inventive subject matter is also considered to include other remaining combinations of A, B, C, or D, even if not explicitly disclosed.\"\n ],\n [\n \"Field of the Invention The field of the invention is light poles.\",\n \"BACKGROUND The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention.\",\n \"It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.\",\n \"All publications herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.\",\n \"Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.\",\n \"It is well recognized that light pole and the like foundation anchor bolts do not always match the mounting holes in the base plate of the light pole and the like.\",\n \"This can occur for several reasons, including that the anchor bolts were installed incorrectly in the concrete foundation, or that the replacement pole is different from the original.\",\n \"In the past this problem has often been addressed by cutting off and then drilling out the existing anchor bolts, followed by epoxying in the new ones.\",\n \"Other solutions include demoing the existing footing, and then pouring a new footing with correct location of anchor bolts, modifying the base plate plate, or custom making an adaptor plate.\",\n \"All of these solution are problematic from a cost and/or time standpoint.\",\n \"Relevant patents and applications include U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,552,698, US20130036679, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,295,308, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,837,752, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,521,413, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,572,223, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,630,474, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,923,319, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"7,721,490, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,037,651, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,281,531, US20090272053, and US20100293870.Thus, there remains a need for a system and method that accommodates misaligned anchor bolts and the base plate holes of light or other pole, without having to drill out the existing anchor bolts, or using custom adaptor place.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The following description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention.\",\n \"It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.\",\n \"The inventive subject matter provides apparatus, systems, and methods in which a coupling block is physically positioned between an upwardly positioned anchor bolt and a horizontally disposed base plate.\",\n \"The coupling block has at least one downwardly positioned, female threaded opening to receive one of the anchor bolts, and either (a) an upwardly positioned female threaded opening to receive a bolt, or (b) a bolt extending directly upwards out of the body of the coupling block.\",\n \"In either case, an upwardly directed bolt has a bottom in the coupling block, whether or not held threadingly in place, passes up through a hole of the base plate, and is secured with a nut positioned above the base plate.\",\n \"In light pole installation work, misalignment between anchor bolts and bolt circles/openings can require substantial investments in manpower and monetary resources to correct.\",\n \"Conventional anchor bolts are directly anchored into anchor foundations comprising hard materials, such as wood and concrete.\",\n \"As a result, misaligned anchor bolts often require the destruction of the anchor foundation.\",\n \"It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus enabling misaligned anchor bolts to be connected to bolt circles on a light pole.\",\n \"A further objective of the invention is to provide positional adjustment options on an anchor bolt adapter to adapt to a variety of bolt circle configurations associated with different base plates.\",\n \"Yet another objective of the invention is to provide the ability to adjust the rotational position of a light pole in relation to the anchor bolts.\",\n \"Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.\",\n \"The following discussion provides many example embodiments of the inventive subject matter.\",\n \"Although each embodiment represents a single combination of inventive elements, the inventive subject matter is considered to include all possible combinations of the disclosed elements.\",\n \"Thus if one embodiment comprises elements A, B, and C, and a second embodiment comprises elements B and D, then the inventive subject matter is also considered to include other remaining combinations of A, B, C, or D, even if not explicitly disclosed.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG.\",\n \"1 is a partial view of a pole outfitted with a plurality of inventive Anchor Bolt Adaptors (ABAs).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 is a partial section view illustrating the manner in which the Anchor Bolt Adaptor (ABA) of FIG.\",\n \"1 is positioned between the anchor bolts and the support plate of the pole.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 is a perspective view of the Anchor Bolt Adaptor (ABA) of FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"4 is a partial top view of the Anchor Bolt Adaptor (ABA) of FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"5 is a top-down perspective view of original bolt circle (anchor bolts) and a modified bolt circle.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 is an exploded view of components used to anchor the base plate to the foundation.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION The inventive subject matter provides apparatus, systems, and methods an anchor bolt adaptor (ABA) has at least one downwardly positioned female threaded opening positioned to mate with an upwardly positioned anchor bolt, and either (a) at least one upwardly positioned female threaded opening positioned to mate with a bolt passing upwards through a base plate, or (b) a bolt extending directly upwards out of the body of the coupling block.\",\n \"As used herein the term “bolt” means a shaft having at least one machine-threaded end to which a nut could be secured.\",\n \"Also as used herein, the term “threaded end” as applied to a bolt means that the bolt has at least some threads within an inch of an actual end of the bolt.\",\n \"Similarly, the term “bolt having one end anchored into the foundation” means a bolt having at least one inch of the actual end of the bolt being anchored, threadingly or non-threadingly, into the foundation.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 is a partial view of a pole outfitted with a plurality of ABAs 10 coupled or connected to a pole 12 to a foundation 14 having a plurality of anchor bolts 16 set therein.\",\n \"Pole 12 includes a horizontally disposed base plate 20 having a plurality of openings 22 formed therein that do not align with anchor bolt(s) 16.In other words, if footing 14 has 4 anchor bolts set therein a square or rectangle fashion, base plate 20 would have 4 openings 22 formed therein which are arranged in a square or rectangle fashion that does not match that of the anchor bolts 16.Each ABA 10 is mounted respectively on each of anchor bolts 16 using the internally threaded bore 29 that allows each upwardly facing female threaded opening to best align with their respective openings 22.In some embodiments, a washer 17 can be positioned on the upper face of ABA 10.It is also contemplated that ABA 10 of this invention also functions as a leveling nut for the light pole or the like.\",\n \"It is further contemplated that the ABA 10 of this invention also functions as a spacer between the top of the foundation and bottom of the pole to allow for water drainage from inside the pole.\",\n \"Bolt 36 is mounted to one of the unused threaded bore 29 that best corrects the offset to allow bolt circle 25 on base plate 20 to be secured to anchor bolts 16.Base plate 20 is mounted on the upper ends of the ABA 10 with bolt 36 extended upwards through the openings in washer 17 or not and through opening 22 formed in base plate 20 secured with washer 32 and threadable nut 30.As previously stated, ABA 10 connects the misaligned anchor bolts to base plate 20.FIG.\",\n \"2 is a partial section view of one ABA 10 coupled or connected to the base of pole 12 at one end and attached to an anchor bolt 16 at the opposite end.\",\n \"As depicted, anchor bolt 16 is screwed into ABA 10 using anchor bolt threads 18.On the opposite end, ABA 10 is removably coupled to base plate 20 of pole 12 through opening 22.FIG.\",\n \"3 is a perspective view of one corner of the base of pole 12 and ABA 10 coupled to components allowing ABA 10 to anchor a light pole to a foundation.\",\n \"ABA 10 includes an upper end 26, a lower end 28 and two or more internally threaded bores 29 (discussed below in FIG.\",\n \"4) extending the distance between the upper and lower ends ABA 10.Anchor bolts 16 can include anchor bolt threads 18 on one end to be mated with the one or more internally threaded bores 29 of ABA 10.FIG.\",\n \"4 is a top-down view of ABA 10.ABA 10 includes at least two threaded bores 29.ABA 10 is preferably a rectangular prism shape.\",\n \"Threaded bores 29 can have any combination of diameters on the same ABA 10.For example, threaded bores 29 can be different diameters on the same ABA 10.It is also contemplated that threaded bore 29 can receive various adapters to adapt threaded bore 29 to bolts 36 with smaller diameters.\",\n \"For example, a threaded bore 29 originally adapted to receive a 1 inch diameter bolt can receive an adapter allowing threaded bore 29 to receive a .75 inch diameter bolt.\",\n \"However, ABA 10 can be cube-shaped, ellipsoid-shaped, spherical, and any combination thereof.\",\n \"Cross-sections of ABA 10 from the top-down can be rectangular-shaped, oval-shaped, circle-shaped, and any combination thereof.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a top-down view of pivot circle 24 and bolt circle 25 which defines the maximum reach of ABA 10 and the minimum reach of ABA 10.ABA 10 pivots on a circumference defined by pivot circle 24.The minimum reach of ABA 10 is achieved when 4 ABA 10 are rotated such that the threaded bores 29 that couple with openings 22 are as close together as possible.\",\n \"The maximum reach of ABA 10 is achieved when 4 ABA 10 are rotated such that the threaded bores 29 that couple with openings 22 are as far apart as possible.\",\n \"It is contemplated that the ABA 10 can be rotated in varying degrees to allow it to anchor to base plates 20 with openings 22 falling between the minimum and maximum reach of ABA 10.FIG.\",\n \"6 depicts an exploded view of components comprising the anchoring mechanism.\",\n \"Anchor bolts 16 couple with threaded bore 29 of ABA 10 on one side of ABA 10.ABA 10 also couples with bolt 36 on the opposite side of ABA 10 via threaded bore 29.A second end of bolt 36 can be passed through the centers of washer 17, base plate 20 (not depicted), and washer 32 to secure ABA to base plate 20.Threadable nut 30 couples with the second end of bolt 36 to secure base plate 20 to the foundation 14.Thus, it can be seen that a unique ABA has been provided which accomplishes at least all of its stated objectives.\",\n \"It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those already described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein.\",\n \"The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the scope of the appended claims.\",\n \"Moreover, in interpreting both the specification and the claims, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context.\",\n \"In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced.\",\n \"Where the specification claims refers to at least one of something selected from the group consisting of A, B, C .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"and N, the text should be interpreted as requiring only one element from the group, not A plus N, or B plus N, etc.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876042"}}},{"rowIdx":4495060,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["LTE-BASED WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR THE M-LMS BAND","A receiver capable of receiving and a transmitter capable of transmitting LTE (Long-Term Evolution) signals.","The receiver is capable of executing firmware to determine position location from a received LTE-like position waveform over signals modulated on a carrier in a positioning frequency band.","In one embodiment the positioning signals are transmitted in a positioning band continuously for up to 100 ms, allowing the receiver to integrate the received positioning signals over a period of up to 100 ms.","In one such embodiment, the signals can be integrated coherently for up to 60 ms, assuming acceptable stability of the clock in the receiver and further assuming that less than a predetermined amount of Doppler shift has been introduced in the received signal.","The number of physical resource blocks (PRB) can be determined to optimize the signal allocation for the available bandwidth."],["1.A method for transmitting positioning signals, the method comprising: generating a grid of resource elements, the resource elements within the grid being grouped into physical resource blocks (PRBs); organizing the PRBs in slots, each slot having a number of the PRBs; and transmitting a signal used for positioning in multiple contiguous slots in a continuous transmission at a frequency within a frequency band allocated for determining position.","2.The method of claim 1, wherein the number of the PRBs is 37 or 40, and each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.","3.The method of claim 1, wherein each resource element represents an allocation of one symbol in time to one LTE OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.","4.The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the slots includes transmitting the slots in at least 60 consecutive subframes.","5.The method of claim 1, wherein the frequency band is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.","6.The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting a Long Term Evolution (LTE) signal over another frequency allocated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for use by cellular telephones.","7.A method for receiving positioning signals, the method comprising: generating a grid of resource elements, the resource elements within the grid being grouped into physical resource blocks (PRBs); receiving an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulated positioning signal on a frequency within a frequency band allocated for transmitting positioning signals; and searching for positioning information within the received positioning signal using the parameters of the generated grid of resource elements as search parameters, where multiple resource elements used for the positioning information are contiguous and received after being continuously transmitted.","8.The method of claim 7, wherein the grid of resource elements includes 37 or 40 PRBs that are grouped together in a slot, and each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.","9.The method of claim 7, wherein each resource element represents an allocation of one symbol in time to one LTE OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.","10.The method of claim 7, wherein searching for position information includes integrating the received signal over at least 60 consecutive subframes.","11.The method of claim 7, wherein the frequency band is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.","12.A positioning system comprising: a transmitter that includes: a resource element grid generator (REGG) having first and second inputs and an output, the first input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in a generated grid of resource elements, and the second input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter; a modulator having a first input and an output, wherein the first input is coupled to the output of the REGG to receive a signal having a number of PRBs together in a slot and the signal having a number of slots to be consecutively transmitted from the transmitter; and a radio frequency (RF) signal generator having a first input coupled to the output of the modulator to receive a modulated waveform from the modulator, the modulated waveform having a number of consecutive slots to be contiguously transmitted in a continuous transmission at a frequency within a frequency band for transmitting a positioning signal.","13.The system of claim 12, wherein the transmitter further includes: a physical layer (PHY) controller, the PHY controller having a first output coupled to the first input of the REGG to provide the signal indicating the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in the generated grid of resource elements, the PHY controller having a second output coupled to the second input of the REGG to provide the signal indicating the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter, wherein the modulator has a second input coupled to the PHY controller to receive position location content to be modulated on the signal received from resource element grid generator.","14.The system of claim 12, wherein the RF signal generator has second input to receive information regarding a carrier frequency to be used for transmitting the positioning signal.","15.The system of claim 12, wherein the received signal indicating the number of PRBs to be included in the generated grid of resource elements indicates that 37 or 40 PRBs are to be included in the generated grid of resource elements, and wherein each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.","16.The system of claim 15, wherein each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.","17.The system of claim 12, wherein the received signal indicating the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter indicates that the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted is 60.18.The system of claim 12, wherein the frequency band is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.","19.The system of claim 12, the system further comprising: a receiver that includes: a down converter having a first input to receive an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulated positioning signal, the down converter having a second input to receive information regarding a carrier frequency of the received positioning signal; and a searcher having a first input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in a search for position information within the received positioning signal, and having a second input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of subframes over which the searcher is to integrate the received positioning signal in performing the search for positioning information.","20.The receiver of claim 19, wherein the received positioning signal comprises a plurality of consecutively transmitted slots, wherein each slot of the received positioning signal having 37 or 40 PRBs, wherein the signal indicating the number of PRBs indicates that there are 37 or 40 PRBs in each slot of the received positioning signal, and wherein each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Quickly and accurately estimating the location of things within a geographic area can be very useful.","For example, information regarding the location of people or items can be used to speed up emergency response times, track movement of items and people, and link consumers to nearby businesses.","Most approaches rely on a process called trilateration.","Trilateration uses geometry to estimate the position of an object using distances traveled by different positioning signals (also referred to as “ranging” signals) that are transmitted from three or more transmitters to receivers that are co-located with the object to be located.","Various networks of transmitters have been used to transmit positioning signals.","For example, orbiting satellites in the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system transmit positioning signals.","Each GPS satellite transmits a positioning signal on which a coarse/acquisition code is modulated.","The positioning signal is received by a GPS receiver.","The GPS receiver identifies the time the positioning signal was transmitted by the satellite.","The receiver also determines a relative time of arrival based on an internal clock in the receiver.","Once the transmission time and the relative reception times of the positioning signal are known, the receiver uses measurements from at least three satellites to solve a set of simultaneous equations to determine the position and relative clock offset for the receiver.","Unfortunately, GPS signals are very faint, which means that the signals require integration over a very long time for a receiver to acquire a GPS signal and to demodulate enough information from the signal to determine the range measurements necessary to determine the location of the receiver.","In many cases, the range measurements are not as accurate as may be desired due to the fact that the signals may take indirect paths from the GPS satellites to the receiver.","Acquiring enough information to compute an estimated range measurement associated with a direct path from each GPS satellite to the receiver may take additional time and processing power.","Receiving weak GPS signals in urban environments poses additional problems.","Weak GPS signals often cannot reach receivers through buildings.","In addition, in such urban environments, GPS signals are more likely to take multiple paths by reflecting off buildings.","As noted above, such “multipathing” disrupts a receiver's ability to accurately estimate a range measurement between the receiver and the satellite.","One way to address the challenges of determining the position location of a device in an urban environment is to use terrestrial transmitter systems.","Such terrestrial transmitter systems provide stronger signals.","Furthermore, terrestrial transmitter systems can include transmitters at different locations within the urban environment that reduce the number of instances when there is no direct path between the satellite and the receiver.","Examples of terrestrial transmitter systems that transmit positioning signals are described in U.S. Pat.","No.","8,130,141 (the “'141 patent”).","In at least one embodiment of the '141 patent, each terrestrial transmitter uses a GPS-like channel to transmit a precisely-timed positioning signal.","The receiver computes its location by processing the positioning signals from three or more terrestrial transmitters, similar to the way in which the receiver would process GPS positioning signals from three or more GPS satellites.","Since most (if not all) receivers understand how to process GPS signaling, the signals transmitted by such a terrestrial transmitter system can be used by existing receivers with minimal (or no) modifications to those receivers.","Even though terrestrial transmitter systems provide a more-reliable positioning service than GPS, such terrestrial transmitter systems may require a substantial amount of additional infrastructure to transmit the terrestrial positioning signals.","Therefore, it would be desirable to reduce the need for such additional terrestrial hardware.","In addition to using terrestrial positioning signals transmitted from stations dedicated to sending such positioning signals, cellular telephones are capable of performing ranging measurements, such as observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) measurements on cellular telephone signals, such as LTE (Long-Term Evolution) signals.","Such signals are transmitted with waveforms organized in resource blocks.","Each resource block consists of 7×12 resource elements in the case of normal cyclic prefix.","In one embodiment in which an extended cyclic prefix is used, a Physical Resource Block (PRB) only has 6 symbols.","A resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.","A typical LTE waveform is transmitted at a frequency that is different from the frequency of dedicated terrestrial positioning systems, such as systems that conform to the well-known M-LMS industry standard.","Typical LTE waveforms used to communicate positioning information comprise 50 resource blocks transmitted over a period of 6 ms.","Accordingly, when determining the time difference of arrival of such LTE signals, the received signal is integrated over a period of no more than 6 ms.","Restricting the positioning signals to 6 ms reduces the amount of bandwidth consumed by the positioning signals.","While it is advantageous to use LTE signals for ranging due to the ubiquitous nature of the LTE, there are several deficiencies with using the LTE signals for ranging.","For one, it would be advantageous to be able to integrate over longer times.","In addition, it would be advantageous to have waveforms that conform with a format optimized for position location rather than to a cellular telephone format, such as the signals that are transmitted by M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) systems."],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Various embodiments described in this disclosure relate generally to methods, systems, means, and machine-readable media for reducing the number of additional terrestrial transmitters required to provide a reliable “position location” system (i.e., a “positioning” system that aids in determining the position of a receiver).","Such methods, systems, means and machine-readable media may use pre-existing cellular telephone infrastructure to supplement terrestrial transmitter systems for determining the location of a receiver.","Certain embodiments include a receiver capable of receiving LTE (Long-Term Evolution) signals and capable of executing instructions embodied in firmware, software or the like, in order to determine position location information from a received LTE-like position waveform.","In one embodiment, positioning signals are transmitted continuously for what is referred to as a “positioning period” of up to 100 ms, allowing the receiver to integrate the received positioning signals over that positioning period.","The positioning signals can be integrated coherently for up to 60 ms, assuming acceptable stability of a clock in the receiver, and further assuming that less than a predetermined amount of Doppler shift has been introduced in the received signal.","For integration over a period greater than approximately 60 ms, the integration can be done non-coherently.","Instructions may be executed by a physical layer controller that controls a radio frequency section (RF) of the receiver.","Under the control of the firmware, the physical layer controller (i.e., PHY controller) instructs the RF section of the receiver to tune to a center frequency and indicates the number of PRB (physical resource blocks) to be used to generate the waveform.","The center frequency is outside the LTE band.","In addition, the number of PRBs (each having a bandwidth of 180 kHz (i.e., 12 sub-carriers multiplied by 15 kHz each) determines the bandwidth of the waveform.","In one embodiment, the frequency to which the RF section tunes is in the M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) frequency band.","The PHY controller also instructs the RF section to receive the signal in accordance with an LTE-like format that has 40 PRBs for a bandwidth of approximately 7.2 MHz.","The resulting signal is then pulse shaped to constrain the signal to the desired frequency mask.","In one embodiment, the result of the pulse shaping is a signal having a bandwidth of 8 MHz.","Alternatively, the LTE-like format has 37 PRBs for a bandwidth of 6.66 MHz which is pulse shaped to fit within a 7.5 MHz mask.","In one embodiment, an LTE-like format can have other numbers of PRBs, where a PRB is defined according to the LTE standard.","Each such PRB includes 12 subcarriers, and each sub-carrier has a bandwidth of approximately 15 kHz and extends for a period of 1 ms (i.e., the duration of an LTE subframe).","A receiver may receive a waveform that includes a number of continuous subframes.","The PHY controller may instruct the RF section to receive the number of subframes that are included in the waveform.","In one embodiment, the waveform includes up to 100 or more subframes.","In another embodiment, the waveform includes 60 subframes and the receiver performs coherent integration on the received signals.","In yet another embodiment, the waveform includes 200 subframes.","In yet another embodiment, the waveform includes n subframes, where n is greater than a standard number of subframes.","The receiver may also decover the signal, including the PRS (position reference signal) samples, integrating them across the predetermined number of subframes to maximize the strength of the decovered positioning signal.","By using firmware to control the PHY controller, the RF section can be controlled in a way that uses LTE standard PRBs to allow the RF section to generate a new LTE format that is particularly well-suited for generating positioning signals, such as M-LMS signals.","Thus, the receiver may operate in accordance with the general operation of an LTE receiver, with the only change being to the firmware to instruct the RF section to generate a new waveform having a non-LTE standard number of PRBs at a non-LTE center frequency for a duration that is greater than the LTE waveform.","A transmitter may be capable of transmitting LTE signals and capable of executing instructions to form LTE-like positioning signals having a duration of greater than 6 ms transmitted at a carrier frequency within a terrestrial positioning system spectrum, such as the spectrum used by M-LMS.","In one embodiment, the instructions control the operation of a digital signal processor (DSP) within the physical layer of the transmitter.","In another embodiment, the signals that are transmitted during the positioning period use a different type of modulation that is optimized for the positioning application—e.g., based on direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS), such as employed in systems currently deployed in the M-LMS band., where LTE-based signals are transmitted at the remaining times.","Details of embodiments are set forth in the drawings and the description below."],["RELATED APPLICATIONS This application relates to U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","62/117,580, filed Feb. 18, 2015, entitled AN LTE-BASED WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR THE M-LMS BAND, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.","This application relates to U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","15/015,935, filed Feb. 4, 2016, entitled AN LTE-BASED WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR THE M-LMS BAND, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.","FIELD Various embodiments relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, to transmitting positioning signals over an M-LMS band from an LTE (Long-Term Evolution) base station.","BACKGROUND Quickly and accurately estimating the location of things within a geographic area can be very useful.","For example, information regarding the location of people or items can be used to speed up emergency response times, track movement of items and people, and link consumers to nearby businesses.","Most approaches rely on a process called trilateration.","Trilateration uses geometry to estimate the position of an object using distances traveled by different positioning signals (also referred to as “ranging” signals) that are transmitted from three or more transmitters to receivers that are co-located with the object to be located.","Various networks of transmitters have been used to transmit positioning signals.","For example, orbiting satellites in the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system transmit positioning signals.","Each GPS satellite transmits a positioning signal on which a coarse/acquisition code is modulated.","The positioning signal is received by a GPS receiver.","The GPS receiver identifies the time the positioning signal was transmitted by the satellite.","The receiver also determines a relative time of arrival based on an internal clock in the receiver.","Once the transmission time and the relative reception times of the positioning signal are known, the receiver uses measurements from at least three satellites to solve a set of simultaneous equations to determine the position and relative clock offset for the receiver.","Unfortunately, GPS signals are very faint, which means that the signals require integration over a very long time for a receiver to acquire a GPS signal and to demodulate enough information from the signal to determine the range measurements necessary to determine the location of the receiver.","In many cases, the range measurements are not as accurate as may be desired due to the fact that the signals may take indirect paths from the GPS satellites to the receiver.","Acquiring enough information to compute an estimated range measurement associated with a direct path from each GPS satellite to the receiver may take additional time and processing power.","Receiving weak GPS signals in urban environments poses additional problems.","Weak GPS signals often cannot reach receivers through buildings.","In addition, in such urban environments, GPS signals are more likely to take multiple paths by reflecting off buildings.","As noted above, such “multipathing” disrupts a receiver's ability to accurately estimate a range measurement between the receiver and the satellite.","One way to address the challenges of determining the position location of a device in an urban environment is to use terrestrial transmitter systems.","Such terrestrial transmitter systems provide stronger signals.","Furthermore, terrestrial transmitter systems can include transmitters at different locations within the urban environment that reduce the number of instances when there is no direct path between the satellite and the receiver.","Examples of terrestrial transmitter systems that transmit positioning signals are described in U.S. Pat.","No.","8,130,141 (the “'141 patent”).","In at least one embodiment of the '141 patent, each terrestrial transmitter uses a GPS-like channel to transmit a precisely-timed positioning signal.","The receiver computes its location by processing the positioning signals from three or more terrestrial transmitters, similar to the way in which the receiver would process GPS positioning signals from three or more GPS satellites.","Since most (if not all) receivers understand how to process GPS signaling, the signals transmitted by such a terrestrial transmitter system can be used by existing receivers with minimal (or no) modifications to those receivers.","Even though terrestrial transmitter systems provide a more-reliable positioning service than GPS, such terrestrial transmitter systems may require a substantial amount of additional infrastructure to transmit the terrestrial positioning signals.","Therefore, it would be desirable to reduce the need for such additional terrestrial hardware.","In addition to using terrestrial positioning signals transmitted from stations dedicated to sending such positioning signals, cellular telephones are capable of performing ranging measurements, such as observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) measurements on cellular telephone signals, such as LTE (Long-Term Evolution) signals.","Such signals are transmitted with waveforms organized in resource blocks.","Each resource block consists of 7×12 resource elements in the case of normal cyclic prefix.","In one embodiment in which an extended cyclic prefix is used, a Physical Resource Block (PRB) only has 6 symbols.","A resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.","A typical LTE waveform is transmitted at a frequency that is different from the frequency of dedicated terrestrial positioning systems, such as systems that conform to the well-known M-LMS industry standard.","Typical LTE waveforms used to communicate positioning information comprise 50 resource blocks transmitted over a period of 6 ms.","Accordingly, when determining the time difference of arrival of such LTE signals, the received signal is integrated over a period of no more than 6 ms.","Restricting the positioning signals to 6 ms reduces the amount of bandwidth consumed by the positioning signals.","While it is advantageous to use LTE signals for ranging due to the ubiquitous nature of the LTE, there are several deficiencies with using the LTE signals for ranging.","For one, it would be advantageous to be able to integrate over longer times.","In addition, it would be advantageous to have waveforms that conform with a format optimized for position location rather than to a cellular telephone format, such as the signals that are transmitted by M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) systems.","SUMMARY Various embodiments described in this disclosure relate generally to methods, systems, means, and machine-readable media for reducing the number of additional terrestrial transmitters required to provide a reliable “position location” system (i.e., a “positioning” system that aids in determining the position of a receiver).","Such methods, systems, means and machine-readable media may use pre-existing cellular telephone infrastructure to supplement terrestrial transmitter systems for determining the location of a receiver.","Certain embodiments include a receiver capable of receiving LTE (Long-Term Evolution) signals and capable of executing instructions embodied in firmware, software or the like, in order to determine position location information from a received LTE-like position waveform.","In one embodiment, positioning signals are transmitted continuously for what is referred to as a “positioning period” of up to 100 ms, allowing the receiver to integrate the received positioning signals over that positioning period.","The positioning signals can be integrated coherently for up to 60 ms, assuming acceptable stability of a clock in the receiver, and further assuming that less than a predetermined amount of Doppler shift has been introduced in the received signal.","For integration over a period greater than approximately 60 ms, the integration can be done non-coherently.","Instructions may be executed by a physical layer controller that controls a radio frequency section (RF) of the receiver.","Under the control of the firmware, the physical layer controller (i.e., PHY controller) instructs the RF section of the receiver to tune to a center frequency and indicates the number of PRB (physical resource blocks) to be used to generate the waveform.","The center frequency is outside the LTE band.","In addition, the number of PRBs (each having a bandwidth of 180 kHz (i.e., 12 sub-carriers multiplied by 15 kHz each) determines the bandwidth of the waveform.","In one embodiment, the frequency to which the RF section tunes is in the M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) frequency band.","The PHY controller also instructs the RF section to receive the signal in accordance with an LTE-like format that has 40 PRBs for a bandwidth of approximately 7.2 MHz.","The resulting signal is then pulse shaped to constrain the signal to the desired frequency mask.","In one embodiment, the result of the pulse shaping is a signal having a bandwidth of 8 MHz.","Alternatively, the LTE-like format has 37 PRBs for a bandwidth of 6.66 MHz which is pulse shaped to fit within a 7.5 MHz mask.","In one embodiment, an LTE-like format can have other numbers of PRBs, where a PRB is defined according to the LTE standard.","Each such PRB includes 12 subcarriers, and each sub-carrier has a bandwidth of approximately 15 kHz and extends for a period of 1 ms (i.e., the duration of an LTE subframe).","A receiver may receive a waveform that includes a number of continuous subframes.","The PHY controller may instruct the RF section to receive the number of subframes that are included in the waveform.","In one embodiment, the waveform includes up to 100 or more subframes.","In another embodiment, the waveform includes 60 subframes and the receiver performs coherent integration on the received signals.","In yet another embodiment, the waveform includes 200 subframes.","In yet another embodiment, the waveform includes n subframes, where n is greater than a standard number of subframes.","The receiver may also decover the signal, including the PRS (position reference signal) samples, integrating them across the predetermined number of subframes to maximize the strength of the decovered positioning signal.","By using firmware to control the PHY controller, the RF section can be controlled in a way that uses LTE standard PRBs to allow the RF section to generate a new LTE format that is particularly well-suited for generating positioning signals, such as M-LMS signals.","Thus, the receiver may operate in accordance with the general operation of an LTE receiver, with the only change being to the firmware to instruct the RF section to generate a new waveform having a non-LTE standard number of PRBs at a non-LTE center frequency for a duration that is greater than the LTE waveform.","A transmitter may be capable of transmitting LTE signals and capable of executing instructions to form LTE-like positioning signals having a duration of greater than 6 ms transmitted at a carrier frequency within a terrestrial positioning system spectrum, such as the spectrum used by M-LMS.","In one embodiment, the instructions control the operation of a digital signal processor (DSP) within the physical layer of the transmitter.","In another embodiment, the signals that are transmitted during the positioning period use a different type of modulation that is optimized for the positioning application—e.g., based on direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS), such as employed in systems currently deployed in the M-LMS band., where LTE-based signals are transmitted at the remaining times.","Details of embodiments are set forth in the drawings and the description below.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 illustrates a positioning system.","FIG.","2 depicts a simplified block diagram of an LTE transmitter.","FIG.","3 illustrates of one embodiment of the structure of a waveform.","FIG.","4 shows additional details regarding the structure of an LTE waveform.","FIG.","5 depicts a simplified functional block diagram of the PHY layer of a transmitter.","FIG.","6 illustrates an LTE waveform where there are 40 PRBs in each slot.","FIG.","7 depicts a simplified block diagram of a receiver that is capable of receiving positioning signals in a positioning frequency band.","FIG.","8 depicts a simplified functional block diagram of the PHY layer of the receiver.","Like reference numbers and designations in the drawings indicate like elements.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG.","1 illustrates a positioning system 100.The positioning system 100 includes any number of receivers, including a receiver 120 that receive signals from transmitters 110, satellites 150, and/or other system nodes 160 via corresponding transmitted communication signals 113, 153 and 163.The receiver 120 may also receive information from a backend system 130 through the transmitters 110 and from other receivers.","For the sake of simplicity, the connections between the backend system 130 and each of the transmitters 110 is not shown.","The transmitters 110 may be configured to transmit signals 113 that are received by the receiver 120.The transmitters 110 communicate with the backend 130 via the transmitted communication signals 133.In some embodiments, the transmitters 110 transmit the signals 113 using one or more common multiplexing schemes, such as time multiplexing using different time slots, code division multiplexing using different pseudorandom sequences, or frequency division multiplexing using different frequencies.","Each of the signals 113 from each of the transmitters 110 may carry different information that, once extracted by the receiver 120 or the backend 130, may identify the following: (1) the transmitter that transmitted the signal; (2) the latitude, longitude and altitude (LLA) of that transmitter; (3) pressure, temperature and other atmospheric conditions at or near that transmitter; (4) ranging information that is used to measure a distance to that transmitter; and (5) other information.","In one embodiment, at least one of the transmitters 110 is an LTE transmitter capable of sending signals in accordance with the LTE (Long Term Evolution) standard.","The receiver 120 may include a location computation engine (not shown) to determine positioning information based on the signals 113, 153, and/or 163 received from the transmitters 110, the satellites 150, and/or the nodes 160.The receiver 120 may include a signal processing component (not shown) that: (1) demodulates the received signals 113, 153, and/or 163; (2) estimates positioning information like travel time of the received signals 113, 153, and/or 163; and (3) uses the positioning information to estimate the position of the receiver 120.The backend 130 communicates with various other systems, such as the transmitters 110, the receivers 120, and the other networks 160.The backend system 130 may include one or more processor(s), data source(s), and other components (not shown).","One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that methods described herein may be carried out using processors at any or all of the transmitters 110, the receivers 120, the backend 130, and other components of the system 100.FIG.","2 is a simplified block diagram of an LTE transmitter 200.An upper protocol layer module 202 determines the content that is to be transmitted based on information received from another source, such as from a backend system 130 (see FIG.","1) or from a network, such as the internet or a telecommunications network.","In one embodiment, the content to be transmitted is positioning information generated locally (i.e., either in a physical layer controller (PHY controller) 204 or upper protocol layers 202 of the receiver 200.Alternatively, the positioning information can be generated at a remote location and provided to the transmitter 200.In one embodiment in which the information to be transmitted is generated or received by the upper protocol layer 202, the information is provided by the upper protocol layer 202 to the PHY controller 204.The PHY controller 204 determines how much bandwidth is needed to transmit the information.","A set of LTE parameters are provided by the PHY controller 204 to the physical layer (PHY layer) 206.In response to the LTE parameters provided to the PHY layer 206 by the PHY controller 204, the PHY layer will modulate the information onto an LTE waveform and couple the LTE waveform to a transmission antenna 208.The current LTE standard defines positioning reference signals (PRS) that are transmitted in band (i.e., at the same frequency as the voice information).","Accordingly, the LTE standard places a limit on the duration of the PRS signal.","In one embodiment, the PRS signals are transmitted in a positioning frequency band that is distinct from the band used to communicate other information (e.g., voice and other non-position location related data).","FIG.","3 illustrates the structure of an LTE waveform 300.An LTE waveform is organized as frames 301.Each of the frames 301 is ten milliseconds (ms) long, and comprises ten subframes 303.Each of the subframes 303 is one ms long, and comprises two slots 305 of 0.5 ms each.","While a frame is ten ms long, the LTE standard limits PRS signals to a maximum of 6 subframes (i.e., 6 ms).","Positioning signals that conform to this structure are “covered” or “spread” with a pseudo-random number (PRN) code sequence based on a “gold code” sequence.","FIG.","4 shows additional details regarding the structure of an LTE waveform 300.Each of the slots 305 can be used to transmit a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) 401.Each PRB 401 has a duration of 7 symbols in time and is 12 subcarriers wide in frequency (i.e., 7×12 resource elements).","Each subcarrier is 15 kHz wide.","A resource element 403 represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one subcarrier in frequency.","Accordingly, each PRB 401 comprises 84 resource elements 403.A typical LTE waveform used for cellular telephone communications has 50 PRBs centered at frequencies allocated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).","When the PHY controller 204 instructs the PHY layer 206 to transmit information, the parameters that the PHY controller 204 provides the PHY layer 206 include: (1) the center frequency at which the LTE waveform is to be transmitted (i.e., the positioning frequency band carrier frequency); (2) the number of resource blocks that will be used in the waveform and (3) the number of subframes to be continuously transmitted.","FIG.","5 is a simplified functional block diagram of the PHY layer 206 in one embodiment.","The number of PRBs and subframes to be used are provided to the PHY layer 206 by the PHY controller 204 (see FIG.","2).","For each of the slots 305, a Resource Element Grid Generator (REGG) 502 generates a resource element grid 405 based on the information provided by the PHY controller 204.In one embodiment, each of the slots 305 includes 40 PRBs 401.In one embodiment, the REGG 502 is a digital signal processor (DSP) that generates a signal having a bandwidth determined by the number of the PRBs 401 to be included in the grid 405.Alternatively, the REGG 502 is an analog signal processor or module comprising discrete components capable of generating the grid 405.The generated grid 405 is coupled to an LTE modulator 504.The LTE modulator 504 modulates position location content to be transmitted onto the signals of the generated grid 405.In one embodiment, the content is modulated using OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) modulation.","An output of the LTE modulator 504 is coupled to a pulse shaping filter module 506 that pulse shapes the signal to be transmitted to fit the waveform into a desired mask.","The mask is determined based on the position frequency band requirements provided by the PHY controller 204.The position frequency band requirements include the available bandwidth and the spectral mask to be used.","In one embodiment, these requirements are dictated by an industry standard.","In one embodiment in which the bandwidth of the positioning signal is 8 MHz, 40 PRBs 401 are used to generate the grid 405.In an alternative embodiment, the positioning signal bandwidth is 7.5 MHz, in which case 37 PRBs are used to generate the grid 405.The output from the filter 506 is coupled to an RF signal generator 508.The RF signal generator 508 up-converts the signal to the position location carrier frequency.","In one embodiment, the M-LMS band is used to transmit positioning signals using a waveform that is similar to the LTE waveform, but having a non-LTE carrier frequency, a number of PRBs that differ from the LTE waveform, and being transmitted with up to 200 or more subframes.","It should be noted that as a consequence of the pulse shaping of the filter 506, the output to the RF signal generator 508 will have an 8 MHz bandwidth, even though the generated grid is 40×180 kHz=7.2 MHz.","FIG.","6 is an illustration of an LTE waveform generated in one embodiment in which there are 40 PRBs in each slot.","In one such embodiment, 100 continuous subframes (having 200 slots) are transmitted together.","In another embodiment, the number of subframes that are transmitted together can vary depending upon the conditions under which signals are being transmitted.","Under conditions that are more challenging for the receivers, a greater number of subframes can be transmitted.","For example, when the transmitter is operating in an urban environment, a relatively large number of subframes can be transmitted together.","In one such embodiment, 200 or more subframes can be transmitted in a very challenging environment.","In a less challenging environment, 60 continuous subframes or less are transmitted together.","By continuously transmitting more subframes, the receiver can integrate over a longer period, increasing the sensitivity of the receiver.","FIG.","7 is a simplified block diagram of a receiver 700 in one embodiment.","Signals transmitted from an LTE transmitter 200 are received in an antenna 702.The output from the antenna 702 is coupled to a PHY layer 704.The PHY layer 704 receives control signals from a PHY controller 706.The control signals indicate the structure of the waveform to be received, including the frequency of the carrier, the number of subframes 303 over which the received signal will be integrated, and the number of PRBs 401 to be received.","As noted above in relation to one embodiment, the signals are received in the M-LMS band.","Alternatively, the signals can be received at other frequencies appropriate for transmission and reception of positioning signals.","For signals that are received with 200 or more subframes, the receiver can integrate the received signal over the entire period of 200 or more milliseconds.","In one such embodiment in which the received signal has a bandwidth of approximately 8 MHz, the PHY controller 706 instructs the PHY layer 704 that there are 40 PRBs in each slot.","Alternatively, the received signal may have a bandwidth of 7.5 MHz, in which case, the PHY controller 706 will instruct the PHY layer 704 that there are 37 PRBs in the received signal.","It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the particular number of PRBs to be received may depend upon the number of PRBs in the transmitted signals.","The number of PRBs, in turn, depends upon the bandwidth of the signal to be transmitted and the filter used within the transmitter to pulse shape the signal prior to up-converting the signal to the carrier frequency.","FIG.","8 is an exemplary simplified block diagram of a PHY layer 704.The received over-the-air (OTA) signals are coupled from the antenna 702 (see FIG.","7) to a receiver down converter 801 within the PHY layer 704.The output of the down converter 801 is coupled to a searcher 803.The searcher 803 also receives signals from the PHY controller 706.The signals from the PHY controller 706 indicate the number of subframes that have been continuously transmitted and the number of PRBs in each slot of each subframe.","The searcher 803 uses the number of PRBs to set the parameter for a PRS.","In one embodiment, the PRS includes a gold code that is OFDM encoded into the PRBs of the received signal.","Finding the gold code provides a means to determine the relative distance (i.e., range) from the transmitter to the receiver.","In addition, the searcher 803 uses the number of subframes to determine how long to integrate the signal received from the down converter 801.By receiving a signal that has a relatively large number of continuously transmitted PRBs, the integration period of the searcher can be relatively long.","Increasing the length of the integration period improves the sensitivity of the receiver.","The output of the searcher 803 is a ranging output 805 that can be used to determine the relative distance between the transmitter and the receiver.","Examples of Other Features in Some Embodiments Functionality and operation disclosed herein may be embodied as one or more methods implemented, in whole or in part, by machine(s)—e.g., processor(s), computers, or other suitable means known in the art—at one or more locations, which enhances the functionality of those machines, as well as computing devices that incorporate those machines.","Non-transitory machine-readable media embodying program instructions adapted to be executed to implement the method(s) are also contemplated.","Execution of the program instructions by one or more processors cause the processors to carry out the method(s).","Systems (e.g., apparatuses or components thereof) operable to implement the method(s) are also contemplated.","It is noted that method steps described herein may be order independent, and can therefore be performed in an order different from that described.","It is also noted that different method steps described herein can be combined to form any number of methods, as would be understood by one of skill in the art.","It is further noted that any two or more steps described herein may be performed at the same time.","Any method step or feature disclosed herein may be expressly restricted from a claim for various reasons like achieving reduced manufacturing costs, lower power consumption, and increased processing efficiency.","By way of example, not by way of limitation, method(s), system(s) or other means may perform the following or be operable perform the following: generating a grid of resource elements, the resource elements within the grid being grouped into physical resource blocks (PRBs); organizing the PRBs in slots, each slot having a number of the PRBs; and transmitting a plurality of the slots in a continuous transmission at a frequency within a frequency band allocated for determining position.","In different embodiments, the number of PRBs is 40 or 37.In at least one embodiment, the slot is 0.5 milliseconds in duration.","In at least one embodiment, each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.","In different embodiments, slots are transmitted in at least 60 consecutive subframes, at least 100 consecutive subframes, or at least 200 consecutive subframes.","In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents an allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.","In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents an allocation of one symbol in time to one LTE OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.","In at least one embodiment, the frequency band allocated for transmitting positioning signals is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.","Method(s), system(s) or other means may further or alternatively perform the following or be operable to perform the following: transmitting a Long Term Evolution (LTE) signal over another frequency allocated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for use by cellular telephones.","By way of example, not by way of limitation, method(s), system(s) or other means may perform the following or be operable perform the following: generating a grid of resource elements, the resource elements within the grid being grouped into physical resource blocks (PRBs); receiving an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulated positioning signal on a frequency for transmitting positioning signals; and searching for positioning information within the received positioning signal using the parameters of the generated grid of resource elements as search parameters, where the resource elements used for positioning information are contiguous.","In different embodiments, the grid of resource elements includes 40 or 37 PRBs that are grouped together in a slot.","In at least one embodiment, the slot is 0.5 milliseconds in duration.","In at least one embodiment, each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.","In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.","In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents an allocation of one symbol in time to one LTE OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.","In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.","In different embodiments, searching for position information includes integrating the received signal over at least 60 consecutive subframes, at least 100 consecutive subframes, or at least 200 consecutive subframes.","In at least one embodiment, the frequency band is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.","By way of example, one or more systems may comprise hardware modules that perform the methods or particular steps of the methods disclosed herein.","In accordance with certain embodiments, a transmitter for transmitting positioning signals includes: a resource element grid generator (REGG) having first and second inputs and an output, the first input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in a generated grid of resource elements, and the second input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter; a modulator having a first input and an output, wherein the first input is coupled to the output of the REGG to receive a signal having a number of PRBs together in a slot and the signal having a number of slots to be consecutively transmitted from the transmitter; and a radio frequency (RF) signal generator having a first input coupled to the output of the modulator to receive a modulated waveform from the modulator, the modulated waveform having a number of consecutive slots to be contiguously transmitted at a frequency within a frequency band for transmitting a positioning signal.","The transmitter may further comprise: a physical layer (PHY) controller, the PHY controller having a first output coupled to the first input of the REGG to provide the signal indicating the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in the generated grid of resource elements, the PHY controller having a second output coupled to the second input of the REGG to provide the signal indicating the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter.","In at least one embodiment, the modulator has a second input coupled to the PHY controller to receive position location content to be modulated on the signal received from resource element grid generator.","In at least one embodiment, the RF signal generator has second input to receive information regarding a carrier frequency to be used for transmitting the positioning signals.","In different embodiments, the received signal indicating the number of PRBs to be included in the generated grid of resource elements indicates that 40 or 37 PRBs are to be included in the generated grid of resource elements.","In at least one embodiment, each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.","In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.","In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.","In different embodiments, the received signal indicating the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter indicates that the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted is 60, 100 or 200.In at least one embodiment, the frequency band allocated by the FCC for transmitting positioning signals is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.","In accordance with certain embodiments, a receiver of positioning signals includes: a down converter having a first input to receive an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulated positioning signal, the down converter having a second input to receive information regarding a carrier frequency of the received positioning signal; and a searcher having a first input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in a search for position information within the received positioning signal, and having a second input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of subframes over which the searcher is to integrate the received positioning signal in performing the search for positioning information.","In different embodiments, the received positioning signal comprises a plurality of consecutively transmitted slots, each slot of the received positioning signal having 40 or 37 PRBs.","In different embodiments, the signal indicating the number of PRBs indicates that there are 40 or 37 PRBs in each slot of the received positioning signal.","In different embodiments, the received positioning signal comprises 60, 100 or 200 subframes.","In different embodiments, the signal indicating the number of subframes indicates that the search is to integrate across 60, 100 or 200 subframes of the received signal.","In at least one embodiment, each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.","In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.","In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.","In at least one embodiment, each module includes one or more inputs to receive information used to perform what it is operable to do, and further includes one or more outputs to send information to other modules.","A “receiver” may be in the form of a computing device (e.g., a mobile phone, a tablet, a PDA, a laptop, a digital camera, a tracking tag).","A receiver may also take the form of any component of the computer, including a processor.","Processing by the receiver can also occur at a server.","The illustrative methods described herein may be implemented, performed, or otherwise controlled by suitable hardware known or later-developed by one of skill in the art, or by firmware or software executed by processor(s), or any combination of hardware, software and firmware.","Software may be downloadable and non-downloadable at a particular system.","Such software, once loaded on a machine, changes the operation of that machine.","Systems on which methods described herein are performed may include one or more means that implement those methods.","For example, such means may include processor(s) or other hardware that, when executing instructions (e.g., embodied in software or firmware), perform any method step disclosed herein.","A processor may include, or be included within, a computer or computing device, a controller, an integrated circuit, a “chip”, a system on a chip, a server, other programmable logic devices, other circuitry, or any combination thereof.","“Memory” may be accessible by a machine (e.g., a processor), such that the machine can read/write information from/to the memory.","Memory may be integral with or separate from the machine.","Memory may include a non-transitory machine-readable medium having machine-readable program code (e.g., instructions) embodied therein that is adapted to be executed to implement any or all of the methods and method steps disclosed herein.","Memory may include any available storage media, including removable, non-removable, volatile, and non-volatile media—e.g., integrated circuit media, magnetic storage media, optical storage media, or any other computer data storage media.","As used herein, machine-readable media includes all forms of machine-readable media except to the extent that such media is deemed to be non-statutory (e.g., transitory propagating signals).","All of the information disclosed herein may be represented by data, and that data may be transmitted over any communication pathway using any protocol, stored on data source(s), and processed by a processor.","Transmission of data may be carried out using a variety of wires, cables, radio signals and infrared light beams, and an even greater variety of connectors, plugs and protocols even if not shown or explicitly described.","Systems may exchange information with each other using any communication technology.","Data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips and the like may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, or optical fields or particles.","Features in system figures that are illustrated as rectangles may refer to hardware, firmware or software.","It is noted that lines linking two such features may be illustrative of data transfer between those features.","Such transfer may occur directly between those features or through intermediate features.","Where no line connects two features, transfer of data between those features is contemplated unless otherwise stated.","When two things (e.g., modules, circuit elements, etc.)","are “coupled to” each other, those two things may be directly connected together, or may be separated by one or more intervening things.","Thus, no direct connection is required between the two things.","Where an output and an input are coupled to each other, data and/or signaling sent from the output is received by the input even if the data passes through one or more intermediate things.","The words comprise, comprising, include, including and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense (i.e., not limited to) as opposed to an exclusive sense (i.e., consisting only of).","Words using the singular or plural number also include the plural or singular number, respectively.","The word or and the word and, as used in the Detailed Description, cover any of the items and all of the items in a list.","The words some, any and at least one refer to one or more.","The term may is used herein to indicate an example, not a requirement—e.g., a thing that may perform an operation or may have a characteristic need not perform that operation or have that characteristic in each embodiment, but that thing performs that operation or has that characteristic in at least one embodiment.","It is noted that the term “GPS” may refer to any Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as GLONASS, Galileo, and Compass/Beidou, and vice versa."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"LTE-BASED WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR THE M-LMS BAND\",\n \"A receiver capable of receiving and a transmitter capable of transmitting LTE (Long-Term Evolution) signals.\",\n \"The receiver is capable of executing firmware to determine position location from a received LTE-like position waveform over signals modulated on a carrier in a positioning frequency band.\",\n \"In one embodiment the positioning signals are transmitted in a positioning band continuously for up to 100 ms, allowing the receiver to integrate the received positioning signals over a period of up to 100 ms.\",\n \"In one such embodiment, the signals can be integrated coherently for up to 60 ms, assuming acceptable stability of the clock in the receiver and further assuming that less than a predetermined amount of Doppler shift has been introduced in the received signal.\",\n \"The number of physical resource blocks (PRB) can be determined to optimize the signal allocation for the available bandwidth.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A method for transmitting positioning signals, the method comprising: generating a grid of resource elements, the resource elements within the grid being grouped into physical resource blocks (PRBs); organizing the PRBs in slots, each slot having a number of the PRBs; and transmitting a signal used for positioning in multiple contiguous slots in a continuous transmission at a frequency within a frequency band allocated for determining position.\",\n \"2.The method of claim 1, wherein the number of the PRBs is 37 or 40, and each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.\",\n \"3.The method of claim 1, wherein each resource element represents an allocation of one symbol in time to one LTE OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"4.The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the slots includes transmitting the slots in at least 60 consecutive subframes.\",\n \"5.The method of claim 1, wherein the frequency band is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.\",\n \"6.The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting a Long Term Evolution (LTE) signal over another frequency allocated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for use by cellular telephones.\",\n \"7.A method for receiving positioning signals, the method comprising: generating a grid of resource elements, the resource elements within the grid being grouped into physical resource blocks (PRBs); receiving an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulated positioning signal on a frequency within a frequency band allocated for transmitting positioning signals; and searching for positioning information within the received positioning signal using the parameters of the generated grid of resource elements as search parameters, where multiple resource elements used for the positioning information are contiguous and received after being continuously transmitted.\",\n \"8.The method of claim 7, wherein the grid of resource elements includes 37 or 40 PRBs that are grouped together in a slot, and each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.\",\n \"9.The method of claim 7, wherein each resource element represents an allocation of one symbol in time to one LTE OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"10.The method of claim 7, wherein searching for position information includes integrating the received signal over at least 60 consecutive subframes.\",\n \"11.The method of claim 7, wherein the frequency band is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.\",\n \"12.A positioning system comprising: a transmitter that includes: a resource element grid generator (REGG) having first and second inputs and an output, the first input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in a generated grid of resource elements, and the second input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter; a modulator having a first input and an output, wherein the first input is coupled to the output of the REGG to receive a signal having a number of PRBs together in a slot and the signal having a number of slots to be consecutively transmitted from the transmitter; and a radio frequency (RF) signal generator having a first input coupled to the output of the modulator to receive a modulated waveform from the modulator, the modulated waveform having a number of consecutive slots to be contiguously transmitted in a continuous transmission at a frequency within a frequency band for transmitting a positioning signal.\",\n \"13.The system of claim 12, wherein the transmitter further includes: a physical layer (PHY) controller, the PHY controller having a first output coupled to the first input of the REGG to provide the signal indicating the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in the generated grid of resource elements, the PHY controller having a second output coupled to the second input of the REGG to provide the signal indicating the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter, wherein the modulator has a second input coupled to the PHY controller to receive position location content to be modulated on the signal received from resource element grid generator.\",\n \"14.The system of claim 12, wherein the RF signal generator has second input to receive information regarding a carrier frequency to be used for transmitting the positioning signal.\",\n \"15.The system of claim 12, wherein the received signal indicating the number of PRBs to be included in the generated grid of resource elements indicates that 37 or 40 PRBs are to be included in the generated grid of resource elements, and wherein each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.\",\n \"16.The system of claim 15, wherein each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"17.The system of claim 12, wherein the received signal indicating the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter indicates that the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted is 60.18.The system of claim 12, wherein the frequency band is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.\",\n \"19.The system of claim 12, the system further comprising: a receiver that includes: a down converter having a first input to receive an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulated positioning signal, the down converter having a second input to receive information regarding a carrier frequency of the received positioning signal; and a searcher having a first input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in a search for position information within the received positioning signal, and having a second input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of subframes over which the searcher is to integrate the received positioning signal in performing the search for positioning information.\",\n \"20.The receiver of claim 19, wherein the received positioning signal comprises a plurality of consecutively transmitted slots, wherein each slot of the received positioning signal having 37 or 40 PRBs, wherein the signal indicating the number of PRBs indicates that there are 37 or 40 PRBs in each slot of the received positioning signal, and wherein each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Quickly and accurately estimating the location of things within a geographic area can be very useful.\",\n \"For example, information regarding the location of people or items can be used to speed up emergency response times, track movement of items and people, and link consumers to nearby businesses.\",\n \"Most approaches rely on a process called trilateration.\",\n \"Trilateration uses geometry to estimate the position of an object using distances traveled by different positioning signals (also referred to as “ranging” signals) that are transmitted from three or more transmitters to receivers that are co-located with the object to be located.\",\n \"Various networks of transmitters have been used to transmit positioning signals.\",\n \"For example, orbiting satellites in the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system transmit positioning signals.\",\n \"Each GPS satellite transmits a positioning signal on which a coarse/acquisition code is modulated.\",\n \"The positioning signal is received by a GPS receiver.\",\n \"The GPS receiver identifies the time the positioning signal was transmitted by the satellite.\",\n \"The receiver also determines a relative time of arrival based on an internal clock in the receiver.\",\n \"Once the transmission time and the relative reception times of the positioning signal are known, the receiver uses measurements from at least three satellites to solve a set of simultaneous equations to determine the position and relative clock offset for the receiver.\",\n \"Unfortunately, GPS signals are very faint, which means that the signals require integration over a very long time for a receiver to acquire a GPS signal and to demodulate enough information from the signal to determine the range measurements necessary to determine the location of the receiver.\",\n \"In many cases, the range measurements are not as accurate as may be desired due to the fact that the signals may take indirect paths from the GPS satellites to the receiver.\",\n \"Acquiring enough information to compute an estimated range measurement associated with a direct path from each GPS satellite to the receiver may take additional time and processing power.\",\n \"Receiving weak GPS signals in urban environments poses additional problems.\",\n \"Weak GPS signals often cannot reach receivers through buildings.\",\n \"In addition, in such urban environments, GPS signals are more likely to take multiple paths by reflecting off buildings.\",\n \"As noted above, such “multipathing” disrupts a receiver's ability to accurately estimate a range measurement between the receiver and the satellite.\",\n \"One way to address the challenges of determining the position location of a device in an urban environment is to use terrestrial transmitter systems.\",\n \"Such terrestrial transmitter systems provide stronger signals.\",\n \"Furthermore, terrestrial transmitter systems can include transmitters at different locations within the urban environment that reduce the number of instances when there is no direct path between the satellite and the receiver.\",\n \"Examples of terrestrial transmitter systems that transmit positioning signals are described in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,130,141 (the “'141 patent”).\",\n \"In at least one embodiment of the '141 patent, each terrestrial transmitter uses a GPS-like channel to transmit a precisely-timed positioning signal.\",\n \"The receiver computes its location by processing the positioning signals from three or more terrestrial transmitters, similar to the way in which the receiver would process GPS positioning signals from three or more GPS satellites.\",\n \"Since most (if not all) receivers understand how to process GPS signaling, the signals transmitted by such a terrestrial transmitter system can be used by existing receivers with minimal (or no) modifications to those receivers.\",\n \"Even though terrestrial transmitter systems provide a more-reliable positioning service than GPS, such terrestrial transmitter systems may require a substantial amount of additional infrastructure to transmit the terrestrial positioning signals.\",\n \"Therefore, it would be desirable to reduce the need for such additional terrestrial hardware.\",\n \"In addition to using terrestrial positioning signals transmitted from stations dedicated to sending such positioning signals, cellular telephones are capable of performing ranging measurements, such as observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) measurements on cellular telephone signals, such as LTE (Long-Term Evolution) signals.\",\n \"Such signals are transmitted with waveforms organized in resource blocks.\",\n \"Each resource block consists of 7×12 resource elements in the case of normal cyclic prefix.\",\n \"In one embodiment in which an extended cyclic prefix is used, a Physical Resource Block (PRB) only has 6 symbols.\",\n \"A resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"A typical LTE waveform is transmitted at a frequency that is different from the frequency of dedicated terrestrial positioning systems, such as systems that conform to the well-known M-LMS industry standard.\",\n \"Typical LTE waveforms used to communicate positioning information comprise 50 resource blocks transmitted over a period of 6 ms.\",\n \"Accordingly, when determining the time difference of arrival of such LTE signals, the received signal is integrated over a period of no more than 6 ms.\",\n \"Restricting the positioning signals to 6 ms reduces the amount of bandwidth consumed by the positioning signals.\",\n \"While it is advantageous to use LTE signals for ranging due to the ubiquitous nature of the LTE, there are several deficiencies with using the LTE signals for ranging.\",\n \"For one, it would be advantageous to be able to integrate over longer times.\",\n \"In addition, it would be advantageous to have waveforms that conform with a format optimized for position location rather than to a cellular telephone format, such as the signals that are transmitted by M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) systems.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Various embodiments described in this disclosure relate generally to methods, systems, means, and machine-readable media for reducing the number of additional terrestrial transmitters required to provide a reliable “position location” system (i.e., a “positioning” system that aids in determining the position of a receiver).\",\n \"Such methods, systems, means and machine-readable media may use pre-existing cellular telephone infrastructure to supplement terrestrial transmitter systems for determining the location of a receiver.\",\n \"Certain embodiments include a receiver capable of receiving LTE (Long-Term Evolution) signals and capable of executing instructions embodied in firmware, software or the like, in order to determine position location information from a received LTE-like position waveform.\",\n \"In one embodiment, positioning signals are transmitted continuously for what is referred to as a “positioning period” of up to 100 ms, allowing the receiver to integrate the received positioning signals over that positioning period.\",\n \"The positioning signals can be integrated coherently for up to 60 ms, assuming acceptable stability of a clock in the receiver, and further assuming that less than a predetermined amount of Doppler shift has been introduced in the received signal.\",\n \"For integration over a period greater than approximately 60 ms, the integration can be done non-coherently.\",\n \"Instructions may be executed by a physical layer controller that controls a radio frequency section (RF) of the receiver.\",\n \"Under the control of the firmware, the physical layer controller (i.e., PHY controller) instructs the RF section of the receiver to tune to a center frequency and indicates the number of PRB (physical resource blocks) to be used to generate the waveform.\",\n \"The center frequency is outside the LTE band.\",\n \"In addition, the number of PRBs (each having a bandwidth of 180 kHz (i.e., 12 sub-carriers multiplied by 15 kHz each) determines the bandwidth of the waveform.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the frequency to which the RF section tunes is in the M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) frequency band.\",\n \"The PHY controller also instructs the RF section to receive the signal in accordance with an LTE-like format that has 40 PRBs for a bandwidth of approximately 7.2 MHz.\",\n \"The resulting signal is then pulse shaped to constrain the signal to the desired frequency mask.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the result of the pulse shaping is a signal having a bandwidth of 8 MHz.\",\n \"Alternatively, the LTE-like format has 37 PRBs for a bandwidth of 6.66 MHz which is pulse shaped to fit within a 7.5 MHz mask.\",\n \"In one embodiment, an LTE-like format can have other numbers of PRBs, where a PRB is defined according to the LTE standard.\",\n \"Each such PRB includes 12 subcarriers, and each sub-carrier has a bandwidth of approximately 15 kHz and extends for a period of 1 ms (i.e., the duration of an LTE subframe).\",\n \"A receiver may receive a waveform that includes a number of continuous subframes.\",\n \"The PHY controller may instruct the RF section to receive the number of subframes that are included in the waveform.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the waveform includes up to 100 or more subframes.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the waveform includes 60 subframes and the receiver performs coherent integration on the received signals.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment, the waveform includes 200 subframes.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment, the waveform includes n subframes, where n is greater than a standard number of subframes.\",\n \"The receiver may also decover the signal, including the PRS (position reference signal) samples, integrating them across the predetermined number of subframes to maximize the strength of the decovered positioning signal.\",\n \"By using firmware to control the PHY controller, the RF section can be controlled in a way that uses LTE standard PRBs to allow the RF section to generate a new LTE format that is particularly well-suited for generating positioning signals, such as M-LMS signals.\",\n \"Thus, the receiver may operate in accordance with the general operation of an LTE receiver, with the only change being to the firmware to instruct the RF section to generate a new waveform having a non-LTE standard number of PRBs at a non-LTE center frequency for a duration that is greater than the LTE waveform.\",\n \"A transmitter may be capable of transmitting LTE signals and capable of executing instructions to form LTE-like positioning signals having a duration of greater than 6 ms transmitted at a carrier frequency within a terrestrial positioning system spectrum, such as the spectrum used by M-LMS.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the instructions control the operation of a digital signal processor (DSP) within the physical layer of the transmitter.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the signals that are transmitted during the positioning period use a different type of modulation that is optimized for the positioning application—e.g., based on direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS), such as employed in systems currently deployed in the M-LMS band., where LTE-based signals are transmitted at the remaining times.\",\n \"Details of embodiments are set forth in the drawings and the description below.\"\n ],\n [\n \"RELATED APPLICATIONS This application relates to U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/117,580, filed Feb. 18, 2015, entitled AN LTE-BASED WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR THE M-LMS BAND, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.\",\n \"This application relates to U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/015,935, filed Feb. 4, 2016, entitled AN LTE-BASED WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR THE M-LMS BAND, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.\",\n \"FIELD Various embodiments relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, to transmitting positioning signals over an M-LMS band from an LTE (Long-Term Evolution) base station.\",\n \"BACKGROUND Quickly and accurately estimating the location of things within a geographic area can be very useful.\",\n \"For example, information regarding the location of people or items can be used to speed up emergency response times, track movement of items and people, and link consumers to nearby businesses.\",\n \"Most approaches rely on a process called trilateration.\",\n \"Trilateration uses geometry to estimate the position of an object using distances traveled by different positioning signals (also referred to as “ranging” signals) that are transmitted from three or more transmitters to receivers that are co-located with the object to be located.\",\n \"Various networks of transmitters have been used to transmit positioning signals.\",\n \"For example, orbiting satellites in the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system transmit positioning signals.\",\n \"Each GPS satellite transmits a positioning signal on which a coarse/acquisition code is modulated.\",\n \"The positioning signal is received by a GPS receiver.\",\n \"The GPS receiver identifies the time the positioning signal was transmitted by the satellite.\",\n \"The receiver also determines a relative time of arrival based on an internal clock in the receiver.\",\n \"Once the transmission time and the relative reception times of the positioning signal are known, the receiver uses measurements from at least three satellites to solve a set of simultaneous equations to determine the position and relative clock offset for the receiver.\",\n \"Unfortunately, GPS signals are very faint, which means that the signals require integration over a very long time for a receiver to acquire a GPS signal and to demodulate enough information from the signal to determine the range measurements necessary to determine the location of the receiver.\",\n \"In many cases, the range measurements are not as accurate as may be desired due to the fact that the signals may take indirect paths from the GPS satellites to the receiver.\",\n \"Acquiring enough information to compute an estimated range measurement associated with a direct path from each GPS satellite to the receiver may take additional time and processing power.\",\n \"Receiving weak GPS signals in urban environments poses additional problems.\",\n \"Weak GPS signals often cannot reach receivers through buildings.\",\n \"In addition, in such urban environments, GPS signals are more likely to take multiple paths by reflecting off buildings.\",\n \"As noted above, such “multipathing” disrupts a receiver's ability to accurately estimate a range measurement between the receiver and the satellite.\",\n \"One way to address the challenges of determining the position location of a device in an urban environment is to use terrestrial transmitter systems.\",\n \"Such terrestrial transmitter systems provide stronger signals.\",\n \"Furthermore, terrestrial transmitter systems can include transmitters at different locations within the urban environment that reduce the number of instances when there is no direct path between the satellite and the receiver.\",\n \"Examples of terrestrial transmitter systems that transmit positioning signals are described in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,130,141 (the “'141 patent”).\",\n \"In at least one embodiment of the '141 patent, each terrestrial transmitter uses a GPS-like channel to transmit a precisely-timed positioning signal.\",\n \"The receiver computes its location by processing the positioning signals from three or more terrestrial transmitters, similar to the way in which the receiver would process GPS positioning signals from three or more GPS satellites.\",\n \"Since most (if not all) receivers understand how to process GPS signaling, the signals transmitted by such a terrestrial transmitter system can be used by existing receivers with minimal (or no) modifications to those receivers.\",\n \"Even though terrestrial transmitter systems provide a more-reliable positioning service than GPS, such terrestrial transmitter systems may require a substantial amount of additional infrastructure to transmit the terrestrial positioning signals.\",\n \"Therefore, it would be desirable to reduce the need for such additional terrestrial hardware.\",\n \"In addition to using terrestrial positioning signals transmitted from stations dedicated to sending such positioning signals, cellular telephones are capable of performing ranging measurements, such as observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) measurements on cellular telephone signals, such as LTE (Long-Term Evolution) signals.\",\n \"Such signals are transmitted with waveforms organized in resource blocks.\",\n \"Each resource block consists of 7×12 resource elements in the case of normal cyclic prefix.\",\n \"In one embodiment in which an extended cyclic prefix is used, a Physical Resource Block (PRB) only has 6 symbols.\",\n \"A resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"A typical LTE waveform is transmitted at a frequency that is different from the frequency of dedicated terrestrial positioning systems, such as systems that conform to the well-known M-LMS industry standard.\",\n \"Typical LTE waveforms used to communicate positioning information comprise 50 resource blocks transmitted over a period of 6 ms.\",\n \"Accordingly, when determining the time difference of arrival of such LTE signals, the received signal is integrated over a period of no more than 6 ms.\",\n \"Restricting the positioning signals to 6 ms reduces the amount of bandwidth consumed by the positioning signals.\",\n \"While it is advantageous to use LTE signals for ranging due to the ubiquitous nature of the LTE, there are several deficiencies with using the LTE signals for ranging.\",\n \"For one, it would be advantageous to be able to integrate over longer times.\",\n \"In addition, it would be advantageous to have waveforms that conform with a format optimized for position location rather than to a cellular telephone format, such as the signals that are transmitted by M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) systems.\",\n \"SUMMARY Various embodiments described in this disclosure relate generally to methods, systems, means, and machine-readable media for reducing the number of additional terrestrial transmitters required to provide a reliable “position location” system (i.e., a “positioning” system that aids in determining the position of a receiver).\",\n \"Such methods, systems, means and machine-readable media may use pre-existing cellular telephone infrastructure to supplement terrestrial transmitter systems for determining the location of a receiver.\",\n \"Certain embodiments include a receiver capable of receiving LTE (Long-Term Evolution) signals and capable of executing instructions embodied in firmware, software or the like, in order to determine position location information from a received LTE-like position waveform.\",\n \"In one embodiment, positioning signals are transmitted continuously for what is referred to as a “positioning period” of up to 100 ms, allowing the receiver to integrate the received positioning signals over that positioning period.\",\n \"The positioning signals can be integrated coherently for up to 60 ms, assuming acceptable stability of a clock in the receiver, and further assuming that less than a predetermined amount of Doppler shift has been introduced in the received signal.\",\n \"For integration over a period greater than approximately 60 ms, the integration can be done non-coherently.\",\n \"Instructions may be executed by a physical layer controller that controls a radio frequency section (RF) of the receiver.\",\n \"Under the control of the firmware, the physical layer controller (i.e., PHY controller) instructs the RF section of the receiver to tune to a center frequency and indicates the number of PRB (physical resource blocks) to be used to generate the waveform.\",\n \"The center frequency is outside the LTE band.\",\n \"In addition, the number of PRBs (each having a bandwidth of 180 kHz (i.e., 12 sub-carriers multiplied by 15 kHz each) determines the bandwidth of the waveform.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the frequency to which the RF section tunes is in the M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) frequency band.\",\n \"The PHY controller also instructs the RF section to receive the signal in accordance with an LTE-like format that has 40 PRBs for a bandwidth of approximately 7.2 MHz.\",\n \"The resulting signal is then pulse shaped to constrain the signal to the desired frequency mask.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the result of the pulse shaping is a signal having a bandwidth of 8 MHz.\",\n \"Alternatively, the LTE-like format has 37 PRBs for a bandwidth of 6.66 MHz which is pulse shaped to fit within a 7.5 MHz mask.\",\n \"In one embodiment, an LTE-like format can have other numbers of PRBs, where a PRB is defined according to the LTE standard.\",\n \"Each such PRB includes 12 subcarriers, and each sub-carrier has a bandwidth of approximately 15 kHz and extends for a period of 1 ms (i.e., the duration of an LTE subframe).\",\n \"A receiver may receive a waveform that includes a number of continuous subframes.\",\n \"The PHY controller may instruct the RF section to receive the number of subframes that are included in the waveform.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the waveform includes up to 100 or more subframes.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the waveform includes 60 subframes and the receiver performs coherent integration on the received signals.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment, the waveform includes 200 subframes.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment, the waveform includes n subframes, where n is greater than a standard number of subframes.\",\n \"The receiver may also decover the signal, including the PRS (position reference signal) samples, integrating them across the predetermined number of subframes to maximize the strength of the decovered positioning signal.\",\n \"By using firmware to control the PHY controller, the RF section can be controlled in a way that uses LTE standard PRBs to allow the RF section to generate a new LTE format that is particularly well-suited for generating positioning signals, such as M-LMS signals.\",\n \"Thus, the receiver may operate in accordance with the general operation of an LTE receiver, with the only change being to the firmware to instruct the RF section to generate a new waveform having a non-LTE standard number of PRBs at a non-LTE center frequency for a duration that is greater than the LTE waveform.\",\n \"A transmitter may be capable of transmitting LTE signals and capable of executing instructions to form LTE-like positioning signals having a duration of greater than 6 ms transmitted at a carrier frequency within a terrestrial positioning system spectrum, such as the spectrum used by M-LMS.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the instructions control the operation of a digital signal processor (DSP) within the physical layer of the transmitter.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the signals that are transmitted during the positioning period use a different type of modulation that is optimized for the positioning application—e.g., based on direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS), such as employed in systems currently deployed in the M-LMS band., where LTE-based signals are transmitted at the remaining times.\",\n \"Details of embodiments are set forth in the drawings and the description below.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates a positioning system.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 depicts a simplified block diagram of an LTE transmitter.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates of one embodiment of the structure of a waveform.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 shows additional details regarding the structure of an LTE waveform.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 depicts a simplified functional block diagram of the PHY layer of a transmitter.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an LTE waveform where there are 40 PRBs in each slot.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 depicts a simplified block diagram of a receiver that is capable of receiving positioning signals in a positioning frequency band.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 depicts a simplified functional block diagram of the PHY layer of the receiver.\",\n \"Like reference numbers and designations in the drawings indicate like elements.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates a positioning system 100.The positioning system 100 includes any number of receivers, including a receiver 120 that receive signals from transmitters 110, satellites 150, and/or other system nodes 160 via corresponding transmitted communication signals 113, 153 and 163.The receiver 120 may also receive information from a backend system 130 through the transmitters 110 and from other receivers.\",\n \"For the sake of simplicity, the connections between the backend system 130 and each of the transmitters 110 is not shown.\",\n \"The transmitters 110 may be configured to transmit signals 113 that are received by the receiver 120.The transmitters 110 communicate with the backend 130 via the transmitted communication signals 133.In some embodiments, the transmitters 110 transmit the signals 113 using one or more common multiplexing schemes, such as time multiplexing using different time slots, code division multiplexing using different pseudorandom sequences, or frequency division multiplexing using different frequencies.\",\n \"Each of the signals 113 from each of the transmitters 110 may carry different information that, once extracted by the receiver 120 or the backend 130, may identify the following: (1) the transmitter that transmitted the signal; (2) the latitude, longitude and altitude (LLA) of that transmitter; (3) pressure, temperature and other atmospheric conditions at or near that transmitter; (4) ranging information that is used to measure a distance to that transmitter; and (5) other information.\",\n \"In one embodiment, at least one of the transmitters 110 is an LTE transmitter capable of sending signals in accordance with the LTE (Long Term Evolution) standard.\",\n \"The receiver 120 may include a location computation engine (not shown) to determine positioning information based on the signals 113, 153, and/or 163 received from the transmitters 110, the satellites 150, and/or the nodes 160.The receiver 120 may include a signal processing component (not shown) that: (1) demodulates the received signals 113, 153, and/or 163; (2) estimates positioning information like travel time of the received signals 113, 153, and/or 163; and (3) uses the positioning information to estimate the position of the receiver 120.The backend 130 communicates with various other systems, such as the transmitters 110, the receivers 120, and the other networks 160.The backend system 130 may include one or more processor(s), data source(s), and other components (not shown).\",\n \"One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that methods described herein may be carried out using processors at any or all of the transmitters 110, the receivers 120, the backend 130, and other components of the system 100.FIG.\",\n \"2 is a simplified block diagram of an LTE transmitter 200.An upper protocol layer module 202 determines the content that is to be transmitted based on information received from another source, such as from a backend system 130 (see FIG.\",\n \"1) or from a network, such as the internet or a telecommunications network.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the content to be transmitted is positioning information generated locally (i.e., either in a physical layer controller (PHY controller) 204 or upper protocol layers 202 of the receiver 200.Alternatively, the positioning information can be generated at a remote location and provided to the transmitter 200.In one embodiment in which the information to be transmitted is generated or received by the upper protocol layer 202, the information is provided by the upper protocol layer 202 to the PHY controller 204.The PHY controller 204 determines how much bandwidth is needed to transmit the information.\",\n \"A set of LTE parameters are provided by the PHY controller 204 to the physical layer (PHY layer) 206.In response to the LTE parameters provided to the PHY layer 206 by the PHY controller 204, the PHY layer will modulate the information onto an LTE waveform and couple the LTE waveform to a transmission antenna 208.The current LTE standard defines positioning reference signals (PRS) that are transmitted in band (i.e., at the same frequency as the voice information).\",\n \"Accordingly, the LTE standard places a limit on the duration of the PRS signal.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the PRS signals are transmitted in a positioning frequency band that is distinct from the band used to communicate other information (e.g., voice and other non-position location related data).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates the structure of an LTE waveform 300.An LTE waveform is organized as frames 301.Each of the frames 301 is ten milliseconds (ms) long, and comprises ten subframes 303.Each of the subframes 303 is one ms long, and comprises two slots 305 of 0.5 ms each.\",\n \"While a frame is ten ms long, the LTE standard limits PRS signals to a maximum of 6 subframes (i.e., 6 ms).\",\n \"Positioning signals that conform to this structure are “covered” or “spread” with a pseudo-random number (PRN) code sequence based on a “gold code” sequence.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 shows additional details regarding the structure of an LTE waveform 300.Each of the slots 305 can be used to transmit a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) 401.Each PRB 401 has a duration of 7 symbols in time and is 12 subcarriers wide in frequency (i.e., 7×12 resource elements).\",\n \"Each subcarrier is 15 kHz wide.\",\n \"A resource element 403 represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one subcarrier in frequency.\",\n \"Accordingly, each PRB 401 comprises 84 resource elements 403.A typical LTE waveform used for cellular telephone communications has 50 PRBs centered at frequencies allocated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).\",\n \"When the PHY controller 204 instructs the PHY layer 206 to transmit information, the parameters that the PHY controller 204 provides the PHY layer 206 include: (1) the center frequency at which the LTE waveform is to be transmitted (i.e., the positioning frequency band carrier frequency); (2) the number of resource blocks that will be used in the waveform and (3) the number of subframes to be continuously transmitted.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a simplified functional block diagram of the PHY layer 206 in one embodiment.\",\n \"The number of PRBs and subframes to be used are provided to the PHY layer 206 by the PHY controller 204 (see FIG.\",\n \"2).\",\n \"For each of the slots 305, a Resource Element Grid Generator (REGG) 502 generates a resource element grid 405 based on the information provided by the PHY controller 204.In one embodiment, each of the slots 305 includes 40 PRBs 401.In one embodiment, the REGG 502 is a digital signal processor (DSP) that generates a signal having a bandwidth determined by the number of the PRBs 401 to be included in the grid 405.Alternatively, the REGG 502 is an analog signal processor or module comprising discrete components capable of generating the grid 405.The generated grid 405 is coupled to an LTE modulator 504.The LTE modulator 504 modulates position location content to be transmitted onto the signals of the generated grid 405.In one embodiment, the content is modulated using OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) modulation.\",\n \"An output of the LTE modulator 504 is coupled to a pulse shaping filter module 506 that pulse shapes the signal to be transmitted to fit the waveform into a desired mask.\",\n \"The mask is determined based on the position frequency band requirements provided by the PHY controller 204.The position frequency band requirements include the available bandwidth and the spectral mask to be used.\",\n \"In one embodiment, these requirements are dictated by an industry standard.\",\n \"In one embodiment in which the bandwidth of the positioning signal is 8 MHz, 40 PRBs 401 are used to generate the grid 405.In an alternative embodiment, the positioning signal bandwidth is 7.5 MHz, in which case 37 PRBs are used to generate the grid 405.The output from the filter 506 is coupled to an RF signal generator 508.The RF signal generator 508 up-converts the signal to the position location carrier frequency.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the M-LMS band is used to transmit positioning signals using a waveform that is similar to the LTE waveform, but having a non-LTE carrier frequency, a number of PRBs that differ from the LTE waveform, and being transmitted with up to 200 or more subframes.\",\n \"It should be noted that as a consequence of the pulse shaping of the filter 506, the output to the RF signal generator 508 will have an 8 MHz bandwidth, even though the generated grid is 40×180 kHz=7.2 MHz.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 is an illustration of an LTE waveform generated in one embodiment in which there are 40 PRBs in each slot.\",\n \"In one such embodiment, 100 continuous subframes (having 200 slots) are transmitted together.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the number of subframes that are transmitted together can vary depending upon the conditions under which signals are being transmitted.\",\n \"Under conditions that are more challenging for the receivers, a greater number of subframes can be transmitted.\",\n \"For example, when the transmitter is operating in an urban environment, a relatively large number of subframes can be transmitted together.\",\n \"In one such embodiment, 200 or more subframes can be transmitted in a very challenging environment.\",\n \"In a less challenging environment, 60 continuous subframes or less are transmitted together.\",\n \"By continuously transmitting more subframes, the receiver can integrate over a longer period, increasing the sensitivity of the receiver.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 is a simplified block diagram of a receiver 700 in one embodiment.\",\n \"Signals transmitted from an LTE transmitter 200 are received in an antenna 702.The output from the antenna 702 is coupled to a PHY layer 704.The PHY layer 704 receives control signals from a PHY controller 706.The control signals indicate the structure of the waveform to be received, including the frequency of the carrier, the number of subframes 303 over which the received signal will be integrated, and the number of PRBs 401 to be received.\",\n \"As noted above in relation to one embodiment, the signals are received in the M-LMS band.\",\n \"Alternatively, the signals can be received at other frequencies appropriate for transmission and reception of positioning signals.\",\n \"For signals that are received with 200 or more subframes, the receiver can integrate the received signal over the entire period of 200 or more milliseconds.\",\n \"In one such embodiment in which the received signal has a bandwidth of approximately 8 MHz, the PHY controller 706 instructs the PHY layer 704 that there are 40 PRBs in each slot.\",\n \"Alternatively, the received signal may have a bandwidth of 7.5 MHz, in which case, the PHY controller 706 will instruct the PHY layer 704 that there are 37 PRBs in the received signal.\",\n \"It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the particular number of PRBs to be received may depend upon the number of PRBs in the transmitted signals.\",\n \"The number of PRBs, in turn, depends upon the bandwidth of the signal to be transmitted and the filter used within the transmitter to pulse shape the signal prior to up-converting the signal to the carrier frequency.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is an exemplary simplified block diagram of a PHY layer 704.The received over-the-air (OTA) signals are coupled from the antenna 702 (see FIG.\",\n \"7) to a receiver down converter 801 within the PHY layer 704.The output of the down converter 801 is coupled to a searcher 803.The searcher 803 also receives signals from the PHY controller 706.The signals from the PHY controller 706 indicate the number of subframes that have been continuously transmitted and the number of PRBs in each slot of each subframe.\",\n \"The searcher 803 uses the number of PRBs to set the parameter for a PRS.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the PRS includes a gold code that is OFDM encoded into the PRBs of the received signal.\",\n \"Finding the gold code provides a means to determine the relative distance (i.e., range) from the transmitter to the receiver.\",\n \"In addition, the searcher 803 uses the number of subframes to determine how long to integrate the signal received from the down converter 801.By receiving a signal that has a relatively large number of continuously transmitted PRBs, the integration period of the searcher can be relatively long.\",\n \"Increasing the length of the integration period improves the sensitivity of the receiver.\",\n \"The output of the searcher 803 is a ranging output 805 that can be used to determine the relative distance between the transmitter and the receiver.\",\n \"Examples of Other Features in Some Embodiments Functionality and operation disclosed herein may be embodied as one or more methods implemented, in whole or in part, by machine(s)—e.g., processor(s), computers, or other suitable means known in the art—at one or more locations, which enhances the functionality of those machines, as well as computing devices that incorporate those machines.\",\n \"Non-transitory machine-readable media embodying program instructions adapted to be executed to implement the method(s) are also contemplated.\",\n \"Execution of the program instructions by one or more processors cause the processors to carry out the method(s).\",\n \"Systems (e.g., apparatuses or components thereof) operable to implement the method(s) are also contemplated.\",\n \"It is noted that method steps described herein may be order independent, and can therefore be performed in an order different from that described.\",\n \"It is also noted that different method steps described herein can be combined to form any number of methods, as would be understood by one of skill in the art.\",\n \"It is further noted that any two or more steps described herein may be performed at the same time.\",\n \"Any method step or feature disclosed herein may be expressly restricted from a claim for various reasons like achieving reduced manufacturing costs, lower power consumption, and increased processing efficiency.\",\n \"By way of example, not by way of limitation, method(s), system(s) or other means may perform the following or be operable perform the following: generating a grid of resource elements, the resource elements within the grid being grouped into physical resource blocks (PRBs); organizing the PRBs in slots, each slot having a number of the PRBs; and transmitting a plurality of the slots in a continuous transmission at a frequency within a frequency band allocated for determining position.\",\n \"In different embodiments, the number of PRBs is 40 or 37.In at least one embodiment, the slot is 0.5 milliseconds in duration.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.\",\n \"In different embodiments, slots are transmitted in at least 60 consecutive subframes, at least 100 consecutive subframes, or at least 200 consecutive subframes.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents an allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents an allocation of one symbol in time to one LTE OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the frequency band allocated for transmitting positioning signals is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.\",\n \"Method(s), system(s) or other means may further or alternatively perform the following or be operable to perform the following: transmitting a Long Term Evolution (LTE) signal over another frequency allocated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for use by cellular telephones.\",\n \"By way of example, not by way of limitation, method(s), system(s) or other means may perform the following or be operable perform the following: generating a grid of resource elements, the resource elements within the grid being grouped into physical resource blocks (PRBs); receiving an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulated positioning signal on a frequency for transmitting positioning signals; and searching for positioning information within the received positioning signal using the parameters of the generated grid of resource elements as search parameters, where the resource elements used for positioning information are contiguous.\",\n \"In different embodiments, the grid of resource elements includes 40 or 37 PRBs that are grouped together in a slot.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the slot is 0.5 milliseconds in duration.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents an allocation of one symbol in time to one LTE OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"In different embodiments, searching for position information includes integrating the received signal over at least 60 consecutive subframes, at least 100 consecutive subframes, or at least 200 consecutive subframes.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the frequency band is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.\",\n \"By way of example, one or more systems may comprise hardware modules that perform the methods or particular steps of the methods disclosed herein.\",\n \"In accordance with certain embodiments, a transmitter for transmitting positioning signals includes: a resource element grid generator (REGG) having first and second inputs and an output, the first input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in a generated grid of resource elements, and the second input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter; a modulator having a first input and an output, wherein the first input is coupled to the output of the REGG to receive a signal having a number of PRBs together in a slot and the signal having a number of slots to be consecutively transmitted from the transmitter; and a radio frequency (RF) signal generator having a first input coupled to the output of the modulator to receive a modulated waveform from the modulator, the modulated waveform having a number of consecutive slots to be contiguously transmitted at a frequency within a frequency band for transmitting a positioning signal.\",\n \"The transmitter may further comprise: a physical layer (PHY) controller, the PHY controller having a first output coupled to the first input of the REGG to provide the signal indicating the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in the generated grid of resource elements, the PHY controller having a second output coupled to the second input of the REGG to provide the signal indicating the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the modulator has a second input coupled to the PHY controller to receive position location content to be modulated on the signal received from resource element grid generator.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the RF signal generator has second input to receive information regarding a carrier frequency to be used for transmitting the positioning signals.\",\n \"In different embodiments, the received signal indicating the number of PRBs to be included in the generated grid of resource elements indicates that 40 or 37 PRBs are to be included in the generated grid of resource elements.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"In different embodiments, the received signal indicating the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter indicates that the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted is 60, 100 or 200.In at least one embodiment, the frequency band allocated by the FCC for transmitting positioning signals is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.\",\n \"In accordance with certain embodiments, a receiver of positioning signals includes: a down converter having a first input to receive an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulated positioning signal, the down converter having a second input to receive information regarding a carrier frequency of the received positioning signal; and a searcher having a first input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in a search for position information within the received positioning signal, and having a second input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of subframes over which the searcher is to integrate the received positioning signal in performing the search for positioning information.\",\n \"In different embodiments, the received positioning signal comprises a plurality of consecutively transmitted slots, each slot of the received positioning signal having 40 or 37 PRBs.\",\n \"In different embodiments, the signal indicating the number of PRBs indicates that there are 40 or 37 PRBs in each slot of the received positioning signal.\",\n \"In different embodiments, the received positioning signal comprises 60, 100 or 200 subframes.\",\n \"In different embodiments, the signal indicating the number of subframes indicates that the search is to integrate across 60, 100 or 200 subframes of the received signal.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each module includes one or more inputs to receive information used to perform what it is operable to do, and further includes one or more outputs to send information to other modules.\",\n \"A “receiver” may be in the form of a computing device (e.g., a mobile phone, a tablet, a PDA, a laptop, a digital camera, a tracking tag).\",\n \"A receiver may also take the form of any component of the computer, including a processor.\",\n \"Processing by the receiver can also occur at a server.\",\n \"The illustrative methods described herein may be implemented, performed, or otherwise controlled by suitable hardware known or later-developed by one of skill in the art, or by firmware or software executed by processor(s), or any combination of hardware, software and firmware.\",\n \"Software may be downloadable and non-downloadable at a particular system.\",\n \"Such software, once loaded on a machine, changes the operation of that machine.\",\n \"Systems on which methods described herein are performed may include one or more means that implement those methods.\",\n \"For example, such means may include processor(s) or other hardware that, when executing instructions (e.g., embodied in software or firmware), perform any method step disclosed herein.\",\n \"A processor may include, or be included within, a computer or computing device, a controller, an integrated circuit, a “chip”, a system on a chip, a server, other programmable logic devices, other circuitry, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"“Memory” may be accessible by a machine (e.g., a processor), such that the machine can read/write information from/to the memory.\",\n \"Memory may be integral with or separate from the machine.\",\n \"Memory may include a non-transitory machine-readable medium having machine-readable program code (e.g., instructions) embodied therein that is adapted to be executed to implement any or all of the methods and method steps disclosed herein.\",\n \"Memory may include any available storage media, including removable, non-removable, volatile, and non-volatile media—e.g., integrated circuit media, magnetic storage media, optical storage media, or any other computer data storage media.\",\n \"As used herein, machine-readable media includes all forms of machine-readable media except to the extent that such media is deemed to be non-statutory (e.g., transitory propagating signals).\",\n \"All of the information disclosed herein may be represented by data, and that data may be transmitted over any communication pathway using any protocol, stored on data source(s), and processed by a processor.\",\n \"Transmission of data may be carried out using a variety of wires, cables, radio signals and infrared light beams, and an even greater variety of connectors, plugs and protocols even if not shown or explicitly described.\",\n \"Systems may exchange information with each other using any communication technology.\",\n \"Data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips and the like may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, or optical fields or particles.\",\n \"Features in system figures that are illustrated as rectangles may refer to hardware, firmware or software.\",\n \"It is noted that lines linking two such features may be illustrative of data transfer between those features.\",\n \"Such transfer may occur directly between those features or through intermediate features.\",\n \"Where no line connects two features, transfer of data between those features is contemplated unless otherwise stated.\",\n \"When two things (e.g., modules, circuit elements, etc.)\",\n \"are “coupled to” each other, those two things may be directly connected together, or may be separated by one or more intervening things.\",\n \"Thus, no direct connection is required between the two things.\",\n \"Where an output and an input are coupled to each other, data and/or signaling sent from the output is received by the input even if the data passes through one or more intermediate things.\",\n \"The words comprise, comprising, include, including and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense (i.e., not limited to) as opposed to an exclusive sense (i.e., consisting only of).\",\n \"Words using the singular or plural number also include the plural or singular number, respectively.\",\n \"The word or and the word and, as used in the Detailed Description, cover any of the items and all of the items in a list.\",\n \"The words some, any and at least one refer to one or more.\",\n \"The term may is used herein to indicate an example, not a requirement—e.g., a thing that may perform an operation or may have a characteristic need not perform that operation or have that characteristic in each embodiment, but that thing performs that operation or has that characteristic in at least one embodiment.\",\n \"It is noted that the term “GPS” may refer to any Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as GLONASS, Galileo, and Compass/Beidou, and vice versa.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876045"}}},{"rowIdx":4495061,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["SEMICONDUCTOR PACKAGE WITH CANTILEVER PADS","One or more embodiments are directed to semiconductor packages with one or more cantilever pads and methods of making same.","In one embodiment a recess is located in a substrate of the package facing the cantilever pad.","The cantilever pad includes a conductive pad on which a conductive ball is formed.","The cantilever pad is configured to absorb stresses acting on the package."],["1.A method, comprising: forming a recess in a first surface of a first layer of insulative material; covering the recess with a second layer of insulative material, a layer of conductive material located on the second layer and extending over a portion of the recess; and forming a through hole in the second layer of insulative material to form a cantilever pad over the recess.","2.The method of claim 1, further comprising forming a conductive ball on the cantilever pad.","3.The method of claim 1, further comprising forming a conductive through via through the first and second layers, the conductive through via being electrically coupled to the cantilever pad.","4.The method of claim 3 wherein the conductive through via is coupled to a pad on a second surface of the first layer, the second surface being opposite the first surface, the pad being electrically coupled to the cantilever pad.","5.The method of claim 4, further comprising coupling a semiconductor die to the second surface of the first layer and electrically coupling the semiconductor die to the pad.","6.The method of claim 1 wherein forming the through hole comprises forming a U-shaped, C-shaped, or V-shaped through hole around the layer of conductive material extending over the portion of the recess.","7.A method, comprising: forming a recess in a first surface of a substrate that includes insulative material; partially covering the recess with a cantilevered pad, the cantilevered pad being configured to flex into the recess; and attaching a solder ball to the cantilevered pad.","8.The method of claim 7, further comprising coupling a semiconductor die to a second surface of the substrate, the second surface being opposite the first surface, and electrically coupling the semiconductor die to the cantilevered pad.","9.The method of claim 8 wherein electrically coupling the semiconductor die to the cantilevered pad includes coupling a first end of a wire to a bond pad of the semiconductor die and coupling a second end of the wire to a pad on a second surface of the substrate, wherein the pad on the second surface of the substrate is coupled to the cantilevered pad by a conductive through via in the substrate.","10.The method of claim 7 wherein partially covering the recess comprises: coupling a layer of insulative material to the first surface of the substrate; forming a conductive layer on the layer of the insulative material; and forming a through hole that extends through an entire thickness of the layer of insulative material.","11.The method of claim 10 wherein coupling the layer of insulative material to the first surface of the substrate comprises laminating the layer of insulative material to the first surface of the substrate.","12.The method of claim 10 wherein forming the through hole comprises forming a through hole that is U, C, or V shaped.","13.The method of claim 7 wherein forming the recess in the first surface of the substrate comprises forming a plurality of recesses in the first surface of the substrate, and wherein partially covering comprises partially covering the plurality of recesses with cantilevered pads, respectively.","14.A method, comprising: forming a recess in a first surface of a first layer of insulative material; coupling the first layer and a second layer of insulating material together, the second layer covering the recess; depositing a conductive material on the second layer, the conductive material located over a portion of the recess; and forming a through hole in the second layer of insulative material, the through hole of the second layer being in fluid communication with the recess of the second layer, wherein forming the through hole includes forming a cantilever pad, a portion of the conductive material deposited on the second layer being located on the cantilever pad.","15.The method of claim 14 wherein coupling the first and second layers together comprises laminating the first and second layers together.","16.The method of claim 14 wherein forming the through hole in the second layer occurs after coupling the first and second layers together.","17.The method of claim 14 wherein forming the through hole comprises forming a U-shaped, C-shaped, or V-shaped through hole.","18.The method of claim 14, further comprising: securing a semiconductor die to the first surface of the first layer; and electrically coupling the semiconductor die to the conductive material on the second layer and on the cantilever pad.","19.The method of claim 14 wherein forming the recess comprises forming a plurality of recesses and forming the through hole comprises forming a plurality of through holes."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>"],["<SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY <EOH>One or more embodiments are directed to semiconductor packages with one or more cantilever pads and methods of making same.","In one embodiment a recess is located in a substrate of the package facing the cantilever pad.","The cantilever pad includes a conductive pad on which a conductive ball is formed.","The cantilever pad is configured to absorb stresses acting on the package.","For instance, the cantilever pad may be configured to flex into the recess and/or flex outwardly therefrom.","In that regard, the cantilever pad may respond readily in response to stress that is acting on various materials of the semiconductor package.","For instance, during operation, the cantilever pad may be configured to flex inward, toward the recess, and/or outward, away from the recess, in response to expansion of one or more materials caused by various materials having differing CTEs and expanding at differing rates.","Thus, the likelihood of cracks being formed in electrical structures of the package or a PCB coupled to the package is reduced.","In one embodiment, the cantilever pad may prevent or reduce the likelihood of cracks occurring in conductive balls that electrically couple the package to the PCB."],["BACKGROUND Technical Field Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to semiconductor packages and methods of making same.","Description of the Related Art Reliability of semiconductor packages is of significant importance.","Although various issues cause reliability problems in semiconductor packages, one known reason for reliability issues is that packages and the boards, onto which the package are mounted, are formed of various types of materials, each having different coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE).","During use, heat is generated, and due to differing CTEs, stress may be introduced into the package and/or the board, which can cause cracks, for instance, in solder joints that couple the semiconductor package to a printed circuit board (PCB), thereby affecting board level reliability of the package by disrupting the electrical coupling between the package and the PCB.","BRIEF SUMMARY One or more embodiments are directed to semiconductor packages with one or more cantilever pads and methods of making same.","In one embodiment a recess is located in a substrate of the package facing the cantilever pad.","The cantilever pad includes a conductive pad on which a conductive ball is formed.","The cantilever pad is configured to absorb stresses acting on the package.","For instance, the cantilever pad may be configured to flex into the recess and/or flex outwardly therefrom.","In that regard, the cantilever pad may respond readily in response to stress that is acting on various materials of the semiconductor package.","For instance, during operation, the cantilever pad may be configured to flex inward, toward the recess, and/or outward, away from the recess, in response to expansion of one or more materials caused by various materials having differing CTEs and expanding at differing rates.","Thus, the likelihood of cracks being formed in electrical structures of the package or a PCB coupled to the package is reduced.","In one embodiment, the cantilever pad may prevent or reduce the likelihood of cracks occurring in conductive balls that electrically couple the package to the PCB.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings, identical reference numbers identify similar elements.","The sizes and relative positions of elements in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.","FIG.","1A is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor package in accordance with one embodiment of the disclosure.","FIG.","1B is a close-up cross-sectional view of the package of FIG.","1.FIG.","1C is a close-up bottom view of the close-up view of FIG.","1B.","FIG.","2 is a close-up cross sectional view of the package of FIG.","1 coupled to another device.","FIG.","3 illustrates a bottom surface of a package that includes some cantilever pads in accordance with one embodiment.","FIGS.","4A-4H illustrate cross-sectional views illustrating the packages of FIG.","1 being assembled in the close-up view of FIG.","1B at various stages of manufacture in accordance with one embodiment.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION It will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.","In the following description, certain specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of the disclosed subject matter.","However, the disclosed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details.","In some instances, well-known structures and methods of semiconductor processing comprising embodiments of the subject matter disclosed herein have not been described in detail to avoid obscuring the descriptions of other aspects of the present disclosure.","FIG.","1A shows a cross-sectional view of a package 10 in accordance with one embodiment of the disclosure.","FIG.","1B shows a close-up view of a portion of FIG.","1A.","The package 10 includes a semiconductor die 12 on an upper surface 13 of a substrate 14.The semiconductor die 12 includes electrical structures of an electrical device, such as an integrated circuit.","The substrate 14 has a lower surface 15 opposite the upper surface 13 and includes one or more conductive and insulative layers.","In the illustrated embodiment, the substrate 14 includes first and second layers 17, 19 of insulative material; however, the substrate 14 may include any number of insulative layers.","The insulative layers may include any insulative material including ceramic, glass, polymer, or any other suitable insulative material.","The one or more conductive layers may be any conductive material, such as a metal material.","In one embodiment, the conductive layers are copper.","The semiconductor die 12 is coupled to the upper surface 13 of the substrate 14 by an adhesive material 18.The adhesive material 18 may be any adhesive material 18 that bonds the semiconductor die 12 to the upper surface 13 of the substrate 14, such as paste, glue, epoxy, double-sided tape, or any other suitable material.","The upper surface 13 of the substrate 14 includes a plurality of conductive fingers 20 located near one or more edges of the semiconductor die 12.Although only two conductive fingers 20 are shown, it is to be appreciated that any number of conductive fingers 20 may be provided, including just one.","In some embodiments, a plurality of conductive fingers 20 is located on each side of the semiconductor die 12.In general, the conductive fingers 20 are electrically isolated from each other, however, two or more may be coupled together by one or more conductive traces.","The semiconductor die 12 is electrically coupled to the conductive fingers 20.In particular, the electrical device of the semiconductor die 12 is coupled to the conductive fingers 20 by conductive wires 22.More particularly, a first end 24 of the conductive wire 22 is coupled to a bond pad of the semiconductor die 12, which may be coupled to various electrical components of the electrical device, and a second end 26 of the conductive wire is coupled to the conductive finger.","In another embodiment, the electrical device of the semiconductor die 12 is coupled to the conductive fingers 20 by flip chip arrangement as is well known in the art.","In that regard, the conductive fingers 20 would be located under the semiconductor die 12 and coupled to the bond pads of the semiconductor die 12 by conductive balls.","The lower surface 15 of the substrate 14 includes a plurality of cantilever pads 26.As best shown in FIG.","1B, the cantilever pads 26 include a conductive pad 28 that is supported by a substrate support portion 30.On the conductive pad 28 of the cantilever pad 26 is a conductive ball 31, such as a solder ball, that is configured to couple the package 10 to another substrate or board, such as a PCB 50 (FIG.","2).","The cantilever pads 26 are cantilevered by recesses 32 located above the cantilever pads 26 and by through openings 33 in the substrate 14 along three sides of the cantilever pads 26.In particular, the recesses 32 are located in the first layer 17 and the through openings 33 are located the second layer 19 in communication with the recesses 32.As best shown in FIG.","1C, through openings 33 extend from one end and along side surfaces of the cantilever pads 26 forming a C-shape in planar view.","The through openings 33, in planar view, may be any shape that forms a cantilever pad with the recess 32.For instance, the through openings 33 may also be V-shaped or U-shaped.","The thickness of the cantilever pad 26 is any thickness that provides suitable structural support for the cantilever pad 26 when the package 10 is attached to another substrate or board, while also allowing some flexing of the cantilever pad 26.The cantilever pad 26 may allow flexing in one direction, such as into or away from the recess 32, or in two directions, such as both into and away from the recess 32.The recess 32 may have a depth that is sufficient to provide adequate clearance in view of the flexing of the cantilever pad 26 into the recess 32 such that an upper surface of the cantilever pad 26 does not abut against the inner surface of the substrate 14 that delimits the recess 32.The conductive fingers 20 are electrically coupled to conductive pads 28 of the cantilever pads 26 by one or more conductive traces 36 and through vias 38 that extend through the substrate 14.That is, the conductive fingers 20 are coupled to the trace 36 located above the first layer 17.The trace 36 on the first layer 17 is coupled to the trace 36 on the second layer 19 by through vias 38 that extend through the first and second layers 17, 19 of the substrate 14.In the illustrated embodiment, an inner trace 44 couples the through via 38 in the first layer 17 to the through via 38 in the second layer 19.A dielectric material 46 is located over the traces 36 and on the first and second surfaces of the substrate 14.The dielectric material 46 may be any material that can provide protection from environmental sources of damage, such as corrosion, physical damage, moisture damage, or other causes of damage to electrical features.","In one embodiment, the dielectric material 46 is a solder mask material.","The solder mask may be a liquid material that hardens, such as during a curing process.","Encapsulation material 48 is located over the substrate, surrounding the die, the conductive fingers 20, and the conductive wires 22.The encapsulation material 48 may be any material configured to provide protection from environmental sources of damage, such as corrosion, physical damage, moisture damage, or other causes of damage to electrical devices.","The encapsulation material 48 may be a molding compound that includes one or more of polymer, polyurethane, acrylic, epoxy resin, silicone, or any other suitable material.","FIG.","2 shows a portion of the package 10 coupled to a board, such as a printed circuit board (PCB) 50 by the conductive balls 31.As shown in FIG.","2, the cantilever pad 26 flexes into the recess 32.The cantilever pad 26 may be able to absorb stresses created in various materials or components of the package or components coupled to the package.","In particular, the cantilever pad 26 can move into and/or away from the recess 26 in response to forces, such as those caused by thermal expansion of one or more components, thereby preventing or reducing the likelihood of cracks being formed in electrical components, such as conductive balls 31.Due to the flexibility of cantilever pad 26, the conductive joint reliability or solder joint reliability of the package 10 is improved.","The cantilever pad 26 may flex into the recess 32 during the mounting process in which the package 10 is mounted to the PCB 50 as well.","For instance, due to nonplanar conductive balls 31 (e.g., standoff height differences of the conductive balls), some cantilever pads 26 may flex inward or outward from the recess.","In some embodiments, pressure may be applied during mount, thereby placing a force on the cantilever pads 26 to move inward.","Nonplanar conductive balls may be caused by dispensing different proportions of conductive material that form the balls or by warping of various components of the package.","The package 10 may include any number of cantilever pads 26.In one embodiment, all of the conductive pads of a package are cantilever pads 26.In other embodiments, only some of the conductive pads of a package are cantilever pads 26, while the other conductive pads are not cantilevered.","In one embodiment, cantilever pads 26 are positioned on the package in locations that correspond to the largest amount of expected stress to be applied to the pad and conductive bump located on the pad.","FIG.","3 illustrates a layout of a bottom surface of a package 10a that includes conductive balls 31 secured to cantilever pads 26 as described above and traditional pads 27 that are not cantilevered.","That is, the cantilever pads 26 and conductive bump 31 are located at the perimeter of the package 10a, while the conductive pads 27 and conductive bump 31 at the center of the package 10a are traditional, non-cantilevered pads.","In some embodiments, during thermal expansion, the conductive pads and bumps located at the perimeter of a package may be exposed to greater stresses than the central pads.","In that regard, the cantilever pads 26 at an outer perimeter of the package are able to flex in response to stress induced therein, while the center pads are not exposed to substantial stresses.","FIGS.","4A-4H illustrate cross-sectional views illustrating the package 10 of FIG.","1A being assembled in the close-up view of FIG.","1B at various stages of manufacture in accordance with one embodiment.","FIG.","4A shows a first layer 17 of insulative core material which may be ceramic, glass, polymer, or any suitable core material.","Although not shown, the first layer 17 may, in some embodiments, be coupled to a support structure during at least a portion of the processing.","The first layer 17 of insulative material has a first surface 62 and a second surface 64.As shown in FIG.","4B, portions of the first layer 17 of the insulative material are removed.","In particular, recesses 32 are formed in the second surface 64 of the first layer 17 and through holes 66 are formed that extend from the first surface 62 to the second surface 64.The recesses 32 correspond to locations for the cantilever pads 26 and the through holes 66 correspond to locations for the conductive through vias 38 of FIGS.","1A and 1 B.","The recess 32 and through hole 66 are formed using standard semiconductor processing, including patterning the second surface using light sensitive material, such as photoresist and etching, such as wet and/or dry etching.","Although only one recess and through hole are shown, it will be clear to persons of ordinary skill in the art that a plurality of recesses 32 and through holes 66 are formed in the second surface 64 of the first layer 17.As shown in FIG.","4C, the through hole 66 is filled with a conductive material to form a conductive through via 38.Similarly, conductive material is deposited on the first and second surfaces 62, 64 of the first layer 17 above and below the conductive through vias 38 forming traces 36 and the conductive fingers 20.The deposition is performed using standard semiconductor processing techniques, which may include patterning the conductive material or blanket depositing the conductive material and then removing portions of the conductive material to form traces and conductive fingers.","As mentioned above, the conductive material may be any conductive material, and in one embodiment is copper.","In another embodiment the conductive material in the through via may be different from the conductive material forming the traces.","As shown in FIG.","3D, a second layer 19 of insulative material is secured to the second surface 64 of the first layer 17.The second layer 19 may be secured to the first layer 17 by any method, including by lamination, which may include pressure and/or heat.","The thickness of the second layer 19 varies depending on the material properties used for the second layer 19 and may also depend on the mechanical properties of the conductive material that forms the trace 36 and conductive pad 28.In an embodiment, in which the second layer 19 is ceramic, the second layer 19 may be a thin film.","As shown in FIG.","4D, a through hole 68 is formed in the second layer 19 below the conductive through via 38 in the first layer 17.The through hole 68 is formed using standard processing techniques including patterning and etching as referenced above.","The through hole 68 may be formed prior to securing the second layer 19 to the first layer 17 or after.","As shown in FIG.","4E, conductive material is deposited in the through hole 68 of the second layer 19 to form a conductive through via 38.The through via 38 of the second layer 19 is electrically coupled to the through via 38 of the first layer 17 by the inner trace 44.It is noted that the inner trace 44 extends laterally beyond the through vias 38.The inner trace 44 may resolve any misalignment issues that occur between the through via 38 of the first layer 17 and the through via 38 of the second layer 19 in view of the through holes 66 and 68 being etched in different processing steps.","As shown in FIG.","4E, a conductive material is deposited on the bottom surface of the second layer 19 to form trace 36 and conductive pad 28.The conductive material may be deposited and patterned using standard semiconductor techniques referenced above.","As shown in FIG.","4F, a dielectric layer 46 is deposited over portions of the first and second layers 17, 19 and various structures on the first and second layers 17 19, such as traces 36.The dielectric layer 46 is deposited by standard semiconductor processing techniques, including blanket deposition with patterning and etch or patterning light sensitive material then patterned deposition.","As mentioned above, the dielectric layer 46 may be formed by depositing a liquid material that hardens.","The liquid material may harden over time or may harden in a heating or curing step.","As shown in FIG.","4F, the conductive pad 28 on the second layer 19 remains exposed and conductive finger 20 on the first layer 17 remains exposed.","Additionally, a portion 70 of the second layer 19 remains uncovered by the dielectric layer 46.The portion 70 is at least partially located below the recess 32.The portion 70 that remains open has a shape that corresponds to the shape of the through opening 33 in FIG.","1C.","As indicated above, the shape of the portion 70, however, may be any shape that when etched away causes a portion of the second layer 19 to form the cantilever pad 26 with the recess 32.Thus, the shape may be any two or three-sided shape, such as a C-shape, U-shape, V-shape, or any other suitable shape.","As shown in FIG.","4G, the portion 70 of the second layer 19 below the recess is removed, such as in a dry or wet etch step.","In one embodiment, the dielectric material acts as an etch mask.","Upon removal of the portion 70 of the second layer 19, the cantilever pad 26 is formed.","As shown in FIG.","4H, the semiconductor die 12 is coupled to the upper surface 13 of the substrate 14 by the adhesive material 18.That is, the adhesive material may be applied to one or both of the upper surface 13 and a back surface of the semiconductor die 12.The conductive wire 22 is coupled between the semiconductor die 12 and the conductive finger 20 as is well known in the art.","An encapsulation material 48 is formed over the upper surface 13 of the substrate 14, encapsulating various components of the package.","The encapsulation material may be formed using standard semiconductor processing techniques, including using a mold in which molding compound is injected therein and around the various components.","The molding compound then hardens in a hardening step, which may include a curing or heat step.","Conductive ball 31 may be formed on the cantilever pad 26, such as by solder dispensing techniques.","In other embodiments, however, the conductive ball 31 is formed on another device to which the package 10 will be coupled.","It is to be understood that the method steps can be performed in any order and thus may be in a different order than is shown and described.","For instance, the through opening 33 may be formed in the second layer 19 before coupling the first and second layers 17, 19 together.","The various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments.","All of the U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applications and non-patent publications referred to in this specification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet are incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety.","Aspects of the embodiments can be modified, if necessary to employ concepts of the various patents, applications and publications to provide yet further embodiments.","These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of the above-detailed description.","In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all possible embodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.","Accordingly, the claims are not limited by the disclosure."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"SEMICONDUCTOR PACKAGE WITH CANTILEVER PADS\",\n \"One or more embodiments are directed to semiconductor packages with one or more cantilever pads and methods of making same.\",\n \"In one embodiment a recess is located in a substrate of the package facing the cantilever pad.\",\n \"The cantilever pad includes a conductive pad on which a conductive ball is formed.\",\n \"The cantilever pad is configured to absorb stresses acting on the package.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A method, comprising: forming a recess in a first surface of a first layer of insulative material; covering the recess with a second layer of insulative material, a layer of conductive material located on the second layer and extending over a portion of the recess; and forming a through hole in the second layer of insulative material to form a cantilever pad over the recess.\",\n \"2.The method of claim 1, further comprising forming a conductive ball on the cantilever pad.\",\n \"3.The method of claim 1, further comprising forming a conductive through via through the first and second layers, the conductive through via being electrically coupled to the cantilever pad.\",\n \"4.The method of claim 3 wherein the conductive through via is coupled to a pad on a second surface of the first layer, the second surface being opposite the first surface, the pad being electrically coupled to the cantilever pad.\",\n \"5.The method of claim 4, further comprising coupling a semiconductor die to the second surface of the first layer and electrically coupling the semiconductor die to the pad.\",\n \"6.The method of claim 1 wherein forming the through hole comprises forming a U-shaped, C-shaped, or V-shaped through hole around the layer of conductive material extending over the portion of the recess.\",\n \"7.A method, comprising: forming a recess in a first surface of a substrate that includes insulative material; partially covering the recess with a cantilevered pad, the cantilevered pad being configured to flex into the recess; and attaching a solder ball to the cantilevered pad.\",\n \"8.The method of claim 7, further comprising coupling a semiconductor die to a second surface of the substrate, the second surface being opposite the first surface, and electrically coupling the semiconductor die to the cantilevered pad.\",\n \"9.The method of claim 8 wherein electrically coupling the semiconductor die to the cantilevered pad includes coupling a first end of a wire to a bond pad of the semiconductor die and coupling a second end of the wire to a pad on a second surface of the substrate, wherein the pad on the second surface of the substrate is coupled to the cantilevered pad by a conductive through via in the substrate.\",\n \"10.The method of claim 7 wherein partially covering the recess comprises: coupling a layer of insulative material to the first surface of the substrate; forming a conductive layer on the layer of the insulative material; and forming a through hole that extends through an entire thickness of the layer of insulative material.\",\n \"11.The method of claim 10 wherein coupling the layer of insulative material to the first surface of the substrate comprises laminating the layer of insulative material to the first surface of the substrate.\",\n \"12.The method of claim 10 wherein forming the through hole comprises forming a through hole that is U, C, or V shaped.\",\n \"13.The method of claim 7 wherein forming the recess in the first surface of the substrate comprises forming a plurality of recesses in the first surface of the substrate, and wherein partially covering comprises partially covering the plurality of recesses with cantilevered pads, respectively.\",\n \"14.A method, comprising: forming a recess in a first surface of a first layer of insulative material; coupling the first layer and a second layer of insulating material together, the second layer covering the recess; depositing a conductive material on the second layer, the conductive material located over a portion of the recess; and forming a through hole in the second layer of insulative material, the through hole of the second layer being in fluid communication with the recess of the second layer, wherein forming the through hole includes forming a cantilever pad, a portion of the conductive material deposited on the second layer being located on the cantilever pad.\",\n \"15.The method of claim 14 wherein coupling the first and second layers together comprises laminating the first and second layers together.\",\n \"16.The method of claim 14 wherein forming the through hole in the second layer occurs after coupling the first and second layers together.\",\n \"17.The method of claim 14 wherein forming the through hole comprises forming a U-shaped, C-shaped, or V-shaped through hole.\",\n \"18.The method of claim 14, further comprising: securing a semiconductor die to the first surface of the first layer; and electrically coupling the semiconductor die to the conductive material on the second layer and on the cantilever pad.\",\n \"19.The method of claim 14 wherein forming the recess comprises forming a plurality of recesses and forming the through hole comprises forming a plurality of through holes.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY <EOH>One or more embodiments are directed to semiconductor packages with one or more cantilever pads and methods of making same.\",\n \"In one embodiment a recess is located in a substrate of the package facing the cantilever pad.\",\n \"The cantilever pad includes a conductive pad on which a conductive ball is formed.\",\n \"The cantilever pad is configured to absorb stresses acting on the package.\",\n \"For instance, the cantilever pad may be configured to flex into the recess and/or flex outwardly therefrom.\",\n \"In that regard, the cantilever pad may respond readily in response to stress that is acting on various materials of the semiconductor package.\",\n \"For instance, during operation, the cantilever pad may be configured to flex inward, toward the recess, and/or outward, away from the recess, in response to expansion of one or more materials caused by various materials having differing CTEs and expanding at differing rates.\",\n \"Thus, the likelihood of cracks being formed in electrical structures of the package or a PCB coupled to the package is reduced.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the cantilever pad may prevent or reduce the likelihood of cracks occurring in conductive balls that electrically couple the package to the PCB.\"\n ],\n [\n \"BACKGROUND Technical Field Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to semiconductor packages and methods of making same.\",\n \"Description of the Related Art Reliability of semiconductor packages is of significant importance.\",\n \"Although various issues cause reliability problems in semiconductor packages, one known reason for reliability issues is that packages and the boards, onto which the package are mounted, are formed of various types of materials, each having different coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE).\",\n \"During use, heat is generated, and due to differing CTEs, stress may be introduced into the package and/or the board, which can cause cracks, for instance, in solder joints that couple the semiconductor package to a printed circuit board (PCB), thereby affecting board level reliability of the package by disrupting the electrical coupling between the package and the PCB.\",\n \"BRIEF SUMMARY One or more embodiments are directed to semiconductor packages with one or more cantilever pads and methods of making same.\",\n \"In one embodiment a recess is located in a substrate of the package facing the cantilever pad.\",\n \"The cantilever pad includes a conductive pad on which a conductive ball is formed.\",\n \"The cantilever pad is configured to absorb stresses acting on the package.\",\n \"For instance, the cantilever pad may be configured to flex into the recess and/or flex outwardly therefrom.\",\n \"In that regard, the cantilever pad may respond readily in response to stress that is acting on various materials of the semiconductor package.\",\n \"For instance, during operation, the cantilever pad may be configured to flex inward, toward the recess, and/or outward, away from the recess, in response to expansion of one or more materials caused by various materials having differing CTEs and expanding at differing rates.\",\n \"Thus, the likelihood of cracks being formed in electrical structures of the package or a PCB coupled to the package is reduced.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the cantilever pad may prevent or reduce the likelihood of cracks occurring in conductive balls that electrically couple the package to the PCB.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings, identical reference numbers identify similar elements.\",\n \"The sizes and relative positions of elements in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1A is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor package in accordance with one embodiment of the disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1B is a close-up cross-sectional view of the package of FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"1C is a close-up bottom view of the close-up view of FIG.\",\n \"1B.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 is a close-up cross sectional view of the package of FIG.\",\n \"1 coupled to another device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates a bottom surface of a package that includes some cantilever pads in accordance with one embodiment.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"4A-4H illustrate cross-sectional views illustrating the packages of FIG.\",\n \"1 being assembled in the close-up view of FIG.\",\n \"1B at various stages of manufacture in accordance with one embodiment.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION It will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"In the following description, certain specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of the disclosed subject matter.\",\n \"However, the disclosed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details.\",\n \"In some instances, well-known structures and methods of semiconductor processing comprising embodiments of the subject matter disclosed herein have not been described in detail to avoid obscuring the descriptions of other aspects of the present disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1A shows a cross-sectional view of a package 10 in accordance with one embodiment of the disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1B shows a close-up view of a portion of FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"The package 10 includes a semiconductor die 12 on an upper surface 13 of a substrate 14.The semiconductor die 12 includes electrical structures of an electrical device, such as an integrated circuit.\",\n \"The substrate 14 has a lower surface 15 opposite the upper surface 13 and includes one or more conductive and insulative layers.\",\n \"In the illustrated embodiment, the substrate 14 includes first and second layers 17, 19 of insulative material; however, the substrate 14 may include any number of insulative layers.\",\n \"The insulative layers may include any insulative material including ceramic, glass, polymer, or any other suitable insulative material.\",\n \"The one or more conductive layers may be any conductive material, such as a metal material.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the conductive layers are copper.\",\n \"The semiconductor die 12 is coupled to the upper surface 13 of the substrate 14 by an adhesive material 18.The adhesive material 18 may be any adhesive material 18 that bonds the semiconductor die 12 to the upper surface 13 of the substrate 14, such as paste, glue, epoxy, double-sided tape, or any other suitable material.\",\n \"The upper surface 13 of the substrate 14 includes a plurality of conductive fingers 20 located near one or more edges of the semiconductor die 12.Although only two conductive fingers 20 are shown, it is to be appreciated that any number of conductive fingers 20 may be provided, including just one.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a plurality of conductive fingers 20 is located on each side of the semiconductor die 12.In general, the conductive fingers 20 are electrically isolated from each other, however, two or more may be coupled together by one or more conductive traces.\",\n \"The semiconductor die 12 is electrically coupled to the conductive fingers 20.In particular, the electrical device of the semiconductor die 12 is coupled to the conductive fingers 20 by conductive wires 22.More particularly, a first end 24 of the conductive wire 22 is coupled to a bond pad of the semiconductor die 12, which may be coupled to various electrical components of the electrical device, and a second end 26 of the conductive wire is coupled to the conductive finger.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the electrical device of the semiconductor die 12 is coupled to the conductive fingers 20 by flip chip arrangement as is well known in the art.\",\n \"In that regard, the conductive fingers 20 would be located under the semiconductor die 12 and coupled to the bond pads of the semiconductor die 12 by conductive balls.\",\n \"The lower surface 15 of the substrate 14 includes a plurality of cantilever pads 26.As best shown in FIG.\",\n \"1B, the cantilever pads 26 include a conductive pad 28 that is supported by a substrate support portion 30.On the conductive pad 28 of the cantilever pad 26 is a conductive ball 31, such as a solder ball, that is configured to couple the package 10 to another substrate or board, such as a PCB 50 (FIG.\",\n \"2).\",\n \"The cantilever pads 26 are cantilevered by recesses 32 located above the cantilever pads 26 and by through openings 33 in the substrate 14 along three sides of the cantilever pads 26.In particular, the recesses 32 are located in the first layer 17 and the through openings 33 are located the second layer 19 in communication with the recesses 32.As best shown in FIG.\",\n \"1C, through openings 33 extend from one end and along side surfaces of the cantilever pads 26 forming a C-shape in planar view.\",\n \"The through openings 33, in planar view, may be any shape that forms a cantilever pad with the recess 32.For instance, the through openings 33 may also be V-shaped or U-shaped.\",\n \"The thickness of the cantilever pad 26 is any thickness that provides suitable structural support for the cantilever pad 26 when the package 10 is attached to another substrate or board, while also allowing some flexing of the cantilever pad 26.The cantilever pad 26 may allow flexing in one direction, such as into or away from the recess 32, or in two directions, such as both into and away from the recess 32.The recess 32 may have a depth that is sufficient to provide adequate clearance in view of the flexing of the cantilever pad 26 into the recess 32 such that an upper surface of the cantilever pad 26 does not abut against the inner surface of the substrate 14 that delimits the recess 32.The conductive fingers 20 are electrically coupled to conductive pads 28 of the cantilever pads 26 by one or more conductive traces 36 and through vias 38 that extend through the substrate 14.That is, the conductive fingers 20 are coupled to the trace 36 located above the first layer 17.The trace 36 on the first layer 17 is coupled to the trace 36 on the second layer 19 by through vias 38 that extend through the first and second layers 17, 19 of the substrate 14.In the illustrated embodiment, an inner trace 44 couples the through via 38 in the first layer 17 to the through via 38 in the second layer 19.A dielectric material 46 is located over the traces 36 and on the first and second surfaces of the substrate 14.The dielectric material 46 may be any material that can provide protection from environmental sources of damage, such as corrosion, physical damage, moisture damage, or other causes of damage to electrical features.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the dielectric material 46 is a solder mask material.\",\n \"The solder mask may be a liquid material that hardens, such as during a curing process.\",\n \"Encapsulation material 48 is located over the substrate, surrounding the die, the conductive fingers 20, and the conductive wires 22.The encapsulation material 48 may be any material configured to provide protection from environmental sources of damage, such as corrosion, physical damage, moisture damage, or other causes of damage to electrical devices.\",\n \"The encapsulation material 48 may be a molding compound that includes one or more of polymer, polyurethane, acrylic, epoxy resin, silicone, or any other suitable material.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 shows a portion of the package 10 coupled to a board, such as a printed circuit board (PCB) 50 by the conductive balls 31.As shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, the cantilever pad 26 flexes into the recess 32.The cantilever pad 26 may be able to absorb stresses created in various materials or components of the package or components coupled to the package.\",\n \"In particular, the cantilever pad 26 can move into and/or away from the recess 26 in response to forces, such as those caused by thermal expansion of one or more components, thereby preventing or reducing the likelihood of cracks being formed in electrical components, such as conductive balls 31.Due to the flexibility of cantilever pad 26, the conductive joint reliability or solder joint reliability of the package 10 is improved.\",\n \"The cantilever pad 26 may flex into the recess 32 during the mounting process in which the package 10 is mounted to the PCB 50 as well.\",\n \"For instance, due to nonplanar conductive balls 31 (e.g., standoff height differences of the conductive balls), some cantilever pads 26 may flex inward or outward from the recess.\",\n \"In some embodiments, pressure may be applied during mount, thereby placing a force on the cantilever pads 26 to move inward.\",\n \"Nonplanar conductive balls may be caused by dispensing different proportions of conductive material that form the balls or by warping of various components of the package.\",\n \"The package 10 may include any number of cantilever pads 26.In one embodiment, all of the conductive pads of a package are cantilever pads 26.In other embodiments, only some of the conductive pads of a package are cantilever pads 26, while the other conductive pads are not cantilevered.\",\n \"In one embodiment, cantilever pads 26 are positioned on the package in locations that correspond to the largest amount of expected stress to be applied to the pad and conductive bump located on the pad.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates a layout of a bottom surface of a package 10a that includes conductive balls 31 secured to cantilever pads 26 as described above and traditional pads 27 that are not cantilevered.\",\n \"That is, the cantilever pads 26 and conductive bump 31 are located at the perimeter of the package 10a, while the conductive pads 27 and conductive bump 31 at the center of the package 10a are traditional, non-cantilevered pads.\",\n \"In some embodiments, during thermal expansion, the conductive pads and bumps located at the perimeter of a package may be exposed to greater stresses than the central pads.\",\n \"In that regard, the cantilever pads 26 at an outer perimeter of the package are able to flex in response to stress induced therein, while the center pads are not exposed to substantial stresses.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"4A-4H illustrate cross-sectional views illustrating the package 10 of FIG.\",\n \"1A being assembled in the close-up view of FIG.\",\n \"1B at various stages of manufacture in accordance with one embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4A shows a first layer 17 of insulative core material which may be ceramic, glass, polymer, or any suitable core material.\",\n \"Although not shown, the first layer 17 may, in some embodiments, be coupled to a support structure during at least a portion of the processing.\",\n \"The first layer 17 of insulative material has a first surface 62 and a second surface 64.As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4B, portions of the first layer 17 of the insulative material are removed.\",\n \"In particular, recesses 32 are formed in the second surface 64 of the first layer 17 and through holes 66 are formed that extend from the first surface 62 to the second surface 64.The recesses 32 correspond to locations for the cantilever pads 26 and the through holes 66 correspond to locations for the conductive through vias 38 of FIGS.\",\n \"1A and 1 B.\",\n \"The recess 32 and through hole 66 are formed using standard semiconductor processing, including patterning the second surface using light sensitive material, such as photoresist and etching, such as wet and/or dry etching.\",\n \"Although only one recess and through hole are shown, it will be clear to persons of ordinary skill in the art that a plurality of recesses 32 and through holes 66 are formed in the second surface 64 of the first layer 17.As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4C, the through hole 66 is filled with a conductive material to form a conductive through via 38.Similarly, conductive material is deposited on the first and second surfaces 62, 64 of the first layer 17 above and below the conductive through vias 38 forming traces 36 and the conductive fingers 20.The deposition is performed using standard semiconductor processing techniques, which may include patterning the conductive material or blanket depositing the conductive material and then removing portions of the conductive material to form traces and conductive fingers.\",\n \"As mentioned above, the conductive material may be any conductive material, and in one embodiment is copper.\",\n \"In another embodiment the conductive material in the through via may be different from the conductive material forming the traces.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"3D, a second layer 19 of insulative material is secured to the second surface 64 of the first layer 17.The second layer 19 may be secured to the first layer 17 by any method, including by lamination, which may include pressure and/or heat.\",\n \"The thickness of the second layer 19 varies depending on the material properties used for the second layer 19 and may also depend on the mechanical properties of the conductive material that forms the trace 36 and conductive pad 28.In an embodiment, in which the second layer 19 is ceramic, the second layer 19 may be a thin film.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4D, a through hole 68 is formed in the second layer 19 below the conductive through via 38 in the first layer 17.The through hole 68 is formed using standard processing techniques including patterning and etching as referenced above.\",\n \"The through hole 68 may be formed prior to securing the second layer 19 to the first layer 17 or after.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4E, conductive material is deposited in the through hole 68 of the second layer 19 to form a conductive through via 38.The through via 38 of the second layer 19 is electrically coupled to the through via 38 of the first layer 17 by the inner trace 44.It is noted that the inner trace 44 extends laterally beyond the through vias 38.The inner trace 44 may resolve any misalignment issues that occur between the through via 38 of the first layer 17 and the through via 38 of the second layer 19 in view of the through holes 66 and 68 being etched in different processing steps.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4E, a conductive material is deposited on the bottom surface of the second layer 19 to form trace 36 and conductive pad 28.The conductive material may be deposited and patterned using standard semiconductor techniques referenced above.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4F, a dielectric layer 46 is deposited over portions of the first and second layers 17, 19 and various structures on the first and second layers 17 19, such as traces 36.The dielectric layer 46 is deposited by standard semiconductor processing techniques, including blanket deposition with patterning and etch or patterning light sensitive material then patterned deposition.\",\n \"As mentioned above, the dielectric layer 46 may be formed by depositing a liquid material that hardens.\",\n \"The liquid material may harden over time or may harden in a heating or curing step.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4F, the conductive pad 28 on the second layer 19 remains exposed and conductive finger 20 on the first layer 17 remains exposed.\",\n \"Additionally, a portion 70 of the second layer 19 remains uncovered by the dielectric layer 46.The portion 70 is at least partially located below the recess 32.The portion 70 that remains open has a shape that corresponds to the shape of the through opening 33 in FIG.\",\n \"1C.\",\n \"As indicated above, the shape of the portion 70, however, may be any shape that when etched away causes a portion of the second layer 19 to form the cantilever pad 26 with the recess 32.Thus, the shape may be any two or three-sided shape, such as a C-shape, U-shape, V-shape, or any other suitable shape.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4G, the portion 70 of the second layer 19 below the recess is removed, such as in a dry or wet etch step.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the dielectric material acts as an etch mask.\",\n \"Upon removal of the portion 70 of the second layer 19, the cantilever pad 26 is formed.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4H, the semiconductor die 12 is coupled to the upper surface 13 of the substrate 14 by the adhesive material 18.That is, the adhesive material may be applied to one or both of the upper surface 13 and a back surface of the semiconductor die 12.The conductive wire 22 is coupled between the semiconductor die 12 and the conductive finger 20 as is well known in the art.\",\n \"An encapsulation material 48 is formed over the upper surface 13 of the substrate 14, encapsulating various components of the package.\",\n \"The encapsulation material may be formed using standard semiconductor processing techniques, including using a mold in which molding compound is injected therein and around the various components.\",\n \"The molding compound then hardens in a hardening step, which may include a curing or heat step.\",\n \"Conductive ball 31 may be formed on the cantilever pad 26, such as by solder dispensing techniques.\",\n \"In other embodiments, however, the conductive ball 31 is formed on another device to which the package 10 will be coupled.\",\n \"It is to be understood that the method steps can be performed in any order and thus may be in a different order than is shown and described.\",\n \"For instance, the through opening 33 may be formed in the second layer 19 before coupling the first and second layers 17, 19 together.\",\n \"The various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments.\",\n \"All of the U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applications and non-patent publications referred to in this specification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet are incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety.\",\n \"Aspects of the embodiments can be modified, if necessary to employ concepts of the various patents, applications and publications to provide yet further embodiments.\",\n \"These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of the above-detailed description.\",\n \"In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all possible embodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.\",\n \"Accordingly, the claims are not limited by the disclosure.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876046"}}},{"rowIdx":4495062,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["APPLICATION SPECIFIC INTEGRATED CIRCUIT INTERCONNECT","Systems and methods for providing Chronos Channel interconnects in an ASIC are provided.","Chronos Channels rely on a reduced set of timing assumptions and are robust against delay variations.","Chronos Channels transmit data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic.","Chronos Channels are insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations, but for those belonging to a few specific forking logic paths called isochronic forks.","Chronos Channels use temporal compression in internal paths to reduce the overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.","Chronos Channels are defined by a combination of a DI code, a temporal compression ratio and hardware."],["1.A point-to-point connection between a first intellectual property (IP) block and a second IP block of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), the point-to-point connection comprising: a transmitter (TX) associated with the first IP block, the TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals from the first IP block into one or more temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals and transmit the temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals via a channel; a receiver (RX) associated with the second IP block, the RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to receive the one or more DI asynchronous signals via the channel and restore the one or more compressed DI asynchronous signals to form a representation of the input data signals compliant to an input data format of the second IP block; and wherein the channel is a timing independent channel between the first IP block and the second IP block, wherein the one or more DI asynchronous signals from the TX are propagated via the timing independent channel in a self-timed fashion to the RX.","2.The point-to-point connection as recited in claim 1, wherein the TX is configured to encode data symbols comprising two elements (a,b) using DI encoding that relies on three codewords A, B, and C and the RX is configured to decode the codewords (A,B,C) using DI encoding to form duplicates of the data symbols (a,b).","3.The point-to-point connection as recited in claim 1, wherein the TX is configured to encode data symbols comprising two elements (a,b) using DI encoding that relies on four codewords A, B, C and D, and the RX is configured to decode the codewords (A,B,C and D) using DI decoding to form duplicates of the data symbols (a,b).","4.The point-to-point connection as recited in claim 1, wherein the TX is configured to encode data symbols comprising four elements (a,b,c,d) using DI encoding that relies on four symbols A, B, C and D, and the RX is configured to decode the codewords (A,B,C and D) using DI decoding to form duplicates of the data symbols (a, b, c, d).","5.The point-to-point connection as recited in claim 1, wherein the TX is configured to use a selected one of a plurality of DI encoding schemes to transform the input data signals into the compressed DI asynchronous signals and the RX is configured to restore the one or more compressed DI asynchronous signals to form the representation of the input data signals compliant to the input data format of the second IP block."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>"],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Apparatuses and methods for ASIC design are provided.","According to various aspects, there is provided a point-to-point connection between a first intellectual property (IP) block and a second IP block of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).","The point-to-point connection may comprise a transmitter (TX) associated with the first IP block, the TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals to the first IP block into one or more temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals and transmit the temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals via a channel.","The point-to-point connection may further comprise a receiver (RX) associated with the second IP block, the RX comprising one or more DI decoders, and configured to receive the one or more DI asynchronous signals via the channel and restore the one or more compressed DI asynchronous signals to form a representation of the input data signals compliant to an input data format of the second IP block; and wherein the channel is a timing independent channel between the first IP block and the second IP block, wherein the one or more DI asynchronous signals from the TX are propagated via the timing independent channel in a self-timed fashion to the RX.","According to various aspects, there is provided a point-to-multipoint connection between a first intellectual property (IP) block and a plurality of IP blocks.","The point-to-multipoint connection may comprise a transmitter (TX) associated with the first IP block, the TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals from the first IP block into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.","The a point-to-multipoint connection may further comprise a timing independent channel between the TX and a Flow Control block, wherein the DI asynchronous signal from the TX is propagated via the timing independent channel in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) Flow Control element configured to broadcast or selectively propagate the compressed DI asynchronous signals to a plurality of individual timing independent channels; and multiple receivers (RXs) associated with receiving IP blocks, each RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to receive the DI asynchronous signals from the Flow control block and restore the compressed DI asynchronous signals received from the the Flow Control block to form duplicates of the input data signals.","According to various aspects, there is provided a multipoint-to-point connection between a transmitting Intellectual Property (IP) block and a plurality of receiving IP blocks.","The multipoint-to-point connection may comprise a plurality of transmitters (TXs) each associated with respective transmitting IP blocks, each TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals received from the transmitting IP blocks into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.","The multipoint-to-point connection may further comprise a plurality of timing independent channels between the TXs and individual inputs of a Flow Control block, wherein the compressed DI asynchronous signals from the TXs are propagated via timing independent channels in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a QDI Flow Control element configured to merge or selectively propagate the individual timing independent channels; anda receiver (RX) associated with the receiving IP block, the RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to restore the compressed DI asynchronous signal received from the Flow Control block to form duplicates of the input data signals.","According to various aspects, there is provided a multipoint-to-multipoint connection between a plurality of transmitting IP blocks and a plurality of receiving IP blocks.","The multipoint-to-multipoint connection may comprise a plurality of transmitters (TXs) each associated with a respective one of the transmitting IP blocks, each TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals from the IP block into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.","The multipoint-to-multipoint connection may further comprise timing independent channels between the TXs and individual inputs of a Flow Control block, wherein the DI asynchronous signals from the TXs are propagated via the timing independent channels in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a QDI Flow Control element configured to merge or selectively propagate the DI asynchronous signals to the individual timing independent channels; the QDI Flow Control element further configured to broadcast or selectively propagate the DI asynchronous signals to the individual timing independent channels; and multiple receivers (RXs) associated with the receiving IP blocks, each RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to receive the compressed DI asynchronous signals via the individual timing independent channels and restore the compressed DI asynchronous signal to form duplicates of the input data signals.","Other features and advantages of the present inventive concept should be apparent from the following description which illustrates by way of example aspects of the present inventive concept."],["RELATED APPLICATIONS INFORMATION This present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","15/344,416, entitled “Application specific integrated circuit interconnect,” filed on Nov. 4, 2016, which claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.","119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","62/372,217, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-to-Point Interconnect,” filed Aug. 8, 2016 and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.","119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","62/250,998, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-to-Point Interconnect,” filed Nov. 4, 2015, all of which are incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in full.","BACKGROUND 1.Technical Field The various embodiments described herein are related to application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and more particularly to the design of various ASICs.","2.Related Art Continuing advances in semiconductor device fabrication technology have yielded a steady decline in the size of process nodes.","For example, 22 nanometer (nm) process nodes were introduced in 2012 but were quickly succeeded by 14 nm fin field-effect transistors (FinFETs) in 2014 while 5 nm process nodes are projected for 2020.The decrease in process node size allows a growing number of intellectual property (IP) cores or IP blocks to be placed on a single ASIC chip.","That is, modern ASIC designs often spread numerous process nodes across a comparatively large silicon die, and include combinations of IP blocks and logic functions.","At the same time, modern technology also requires increased connectivity and large data transfers between various IP blocks.","In addition, modern ASIC chips frequently include multiple clock domains in order to leverage multi-core implementations.","Thus, one or more clock signals may need to be distributed across the chip in a manner that minimizes clock skew.","For instance, the edge of the clock signal received at a logic block located near a clock source should be aligned with those received at more distant logic blocks.","Conventionally, a balanced clock signal distribution (i.e., timing closure) is achieved by inserting buffers.","For example, pursuant to a traditional ASIC design flow, after floor planning and placing various IP blocks, a clock tree (i.e., a clock distribution network) may be synthesized and buffers may be added along the signal path from a clock source to various IP blocks according to the clock tree.","In fact, timing closure for a clock signal that is distributed over a large and complex ASIC design typically requires the strategic placement of numerous buffers.","Moreover, the distribution of a clock signal is also highly susceptible to both systematic and random variations.","In particular, proper timing closure must account for the effects of on-chip variations that arise as a result of different process, voltage, and temperature (PVTs) and operation modes, which would otherwise introduce additional clock skews.","As such, the most laborious and time consuming aspect of conventional ASIC design tends to be clock alignment.","Clock tree synthesis and timing closure generally require significant manual intervention.","In addition, the mechanisms (i.e., buffers) used to balance the clock across an ASIC chip generally consume a majority of the power in any conventional ASIC design.","Therefore, what is needed are an apparatus and method that overcome these significant problems found in the aforementioned conventional approach to ASIC design.","SUMMARY Apparatuses and methods for ASIC design are provided.","According to various aspects, there is provided a point-to-point connection between a first intellectual property (IP) block and a second IP block of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).","The point-to-point connection may comprise a transmitter (TX) associated with the first IP block, the TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals to the first IP block into one or more temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals and transmit the temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals via a channel.","The point-to-point connection may further comprise a receiver (RX) associated with the second IP block, the RX comprising one or more DI decoders, and configured to receive the one or more DI asynchronous signals via the channel and restore the one or more compressed DI asynchronous signals to form a representation of the input data signals compliant to an input data format of the second IP block; and wherein the channel is a timing independent channel between the first IP block and the second IP block, wherein the one or more DI asynchronous signals from the TX are propagated via the timing independent channel in a self-timed fashion to the RX.","According to various aspects, there is provided a point-to-multipoint connection between a first intellectual property (IP) block and a plurality of IP blocks.","The point-to-multipoint connection may comprise a transmitter (TX) associated with the first IP block, the TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals from the first IP block into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.","The a point-to-multipoint connection may further comprise a timing independent channel between the TX and a Flow Control block, wherein the DI asynchronous signal from the TX is propagated via the timing independent channel in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) Flow Control element configured to broadcast or selectively propagate the compressed DI asynchronous signals to a plurality of individual timing independent channels; and multiple receivers (RXs) associated with receiving IP blocks, each RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to receive the DI asynchronous signals from the Flow control block and restore the compressed DI asynchronous signals received from the the Flow Control block to form duplicates of the input data signals.","According to various aspects, there is provided a multipoint-to-point connection between a transmitting Intellectual Property (IP) block and a plurality of receiving IP blocks.","The multipoint-to-point connection may comprise a plurality of transmitters (TXs) each associated with respective transmitting IP blocks, each TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals received from the transmitting IP blocks into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.","The multipoint-to-point connection may further comprise a plurality of timing independent channels between the TXs and individual inputs of a Flow Control block, wherein the compressed DI asynchronous signals from the TXs are propagated via timing independent channels in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a QDI Flow Control element configured to merge or selectively propagate the individual timing independent channels; anda receiver (RX) associated with the receiving IP block, the RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to restore the compressed DI asynchronous signal received from the Flow Control block to form duplicates of the input data signals.","According to various aspects, there is provided a multipoint-to-multipoint connection between a plurality of transmitting IP blocks and a plurality of receiving IP blocks.","The multipoint-to-multipoint connection may comprise a plurality of transmitters (TXs) each associated with a respective one of the transmitting IP blocks, each TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals from the IP block into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.","The multipoint-to-multipoint connection may further comprise timing independent channels between the TXs and individual inputs of a Flow Control block, wherein the DI asynchronous signals from the TXs are propagated via the timing independent channels in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a QDI Flow Control element configured to merge or selectively propagate the DI asynchronous signals to the individual timing independent channels; the QDI Flow Control element further configured to broadcast or selectively propagate the DI asynchronous signals to the individual timing independent channels; and multiple receivers (RXs) associated with the receiving IP blocks, each RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to receive the compressed DI asynchronous signals via the individual timing independent channels and restore the compressed DI asynchronous signal to form duplicates of the input data signals.","Other features and advantages of the present inventive concept should be apparent from the following description which illustrates by way of example aspects of the present inventive concept.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other aspects and features of the present inventive concept will be more apparent by describing example embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG.","1 is a general block diagram illustrating a possible embodiment of a generic Chronos Channel implementation; FIG.","2a is an example of a 2 bits Chronos Channel; FIG.","2b is an example of a 4 bits Chronos Channel; FIG.","2c is an example of a 6 bits Chronos Channel; FIG.","2d is an example of an 8 bits Chronos Channel; FIG.","3a represents a Chronos Robust flow graph; FIG.","3b represents a Chronos Robust Low Power flow graph; FIG.","3c represents a Chronos Dense flow graph; FIG.","4a shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join or Merge blocks; FIG.","4b shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Fork or Steer blocks; and FIG.","4c shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join, Merge, Fork and Steer blocks.","FIG.","5 is a flowchart illustrating a process for ASIC design according to various embodiments; FIG.","6 is a flowchart illustrating a process for gasket generation according to various embodiments; and FIG.","7 is a block diagram illustrating a wired or wireless system according to various embodiments.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION While certain embodiments are described, these embodiments are presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection.","The methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms.","Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form of the example methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the scope of protection.","A Chronos Channel is an ASIC Interconnect that allows transmitter blocks to send data to receiver blocks.","Chronos Channels stand out by relying on a reduced set of timing assumptions and being robust against delay variations.","To do so, Chronos Channels transmit data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic.","In this way, Chronos Channels are insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations, but for those belonging to a few specific forking logic paths called isochronic forks.","Also, a unique characteristic of a Chronos Channel, when compared to related solutions, is that it uses temporal compression in its internal paths to reduce the overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.","In fact, data can be compressed by different ratios, which can be any rational number (as long as a technology specific maximum frequency restriction is respected).","In this way, a Chronos Channel is defined by the combination of a DI code (and related handshake protocol), a temporal compression ratio and the hardware required to encode, decode, compress, decompress and transmit data.","DI codes are a specific family of encoding schemes where no codeword can be contained in another codeword.","This allows a receiver to perceive the transmission of a codeword unambiguously.","Such a characteristic eliminates the need for a control signal that identifies the validity of a data channel, and its respective timing assumptions (as in synchronous or bundled-data asynchronous design), as the validity of the data channel is encoded in the data itself.","Also, note that, usually, DI codes are employed in digital applications, which means that their code words are typically defined using a set of binary values.","However, in a Chronos Channel, signals do not need to be digital and codewords can be represented using sets with more than 2 values, provided that data is still encoded using a DI code.","In other words, the data in a Chronos Channel can be composed of analog signals, as long as no codeword is contained in another codeword.","Such a characteristic allows a more flexible usage of Chronos Channels.","Another aspect of DI codes is that, to allow data transmission, they are usually coupled to a handshake protocol, which is usually 4- or 2-phases.","A large variety of DI codes are available in the state-of-the-art.","One example of DI encoding schemes for Chronos Channels is the Chronos-Robust encoding scheme, a flowchart of which is illustrated in FIG.","3a.","In this scheme 300, the decoded data is represented by the set of symbols (a,b) and the encoded data by (A, B, C).","For transmitting data using this encoding scheme, whenever codeword “A” 301 is detected in the channel, one can safely identify that a value “a” 303 is in the channel.","The same is valid whenever a codeword “B” 304 is detected and one can safely identify a value “b” 305.However, to allow data transmission there is always the transmission of an empty codeword “C” 306 between every valid codeword (“A” or “B”).","This allows a receiver to detect sequences of “A”s or “B”s unambiguously.","In this case, a 4-phase handshake is established and the protocol for transmitting data is: (i) the sender issues a valid codeword; (ii) the receiver acknowledges the valid codeword; (iii) the sender issues a spacer; and (iv) the receiver acknowledges the spacer.","As an example, one can have a 1 bit binary data (a=0, b=1) being encoded using 2 bits binary codewords (A=01, B=10, C=00).","Note that, by using this scheme, one can safely identify transitions between “a” and “b”.","As another example, one can have the same 1 bit binary data (a=0, b=1) being encoded using a single analog signal (A=0V, B=1V, C=0.5V).","Another example of DI encoding scheme for a Chronos Channel is the Chronos-Robust Low Power encoding scheme, a flowchart of which is illustrated in FIG.","3b.","In this scheme, 310, decoded data is represented by (a,b) and encoded data by (A, B, C, D).","For transmitting data using this encoding scheme, it is not enough to analyze the current codeword to detect the respective value.","For example, codeword “A” 311 may represent either an “a” 312 or a “b” 314 value, depending if the previous codeword was “B” 315 or “C” 316, respectively.","In this case, where one can only detect a value analyzing transitions, rather than codewords, a 2-phase handshake protocol is required: (i) the sender issues a new codeword; (ii) the receiver acknowledges the codeword; As an example, one can have a 1 bit binary data (a=0, b=1) being encoded using 2 bits binary codewords (A=00, B=01, C=10, D=11).","Note that, by using this scheme, one can safely identify “a” values whenever there is a transition in the least significant bit of the codewords and “b” values whenever there is a transition in the most significant bit of the codewords.","Compared to the Chronos Robust encoding scheme this encoding scheme reduces the number of transitions leading to lower switching power.","A Chronos Robust Dense encoding scheme illustrated in FIG.","3c is another DI encoding scheme, where decoded data is represented by the set (a,b,c,d) and encoded data by (A, B, C, D).","In this encoding scheme 320, it is also not enough to analyze the current codeword to detect the respective value.","In this encoding scheme a value is detected by analyzing transitions, rather than codewords.","However, differently from the Chronos Robust Low Power example, data detection always requires 2 transitions, one to issue a pre-valid codeword (B 322 or C 323) and one to issue a valid codeword (A 321 or D 324).","Therefore, a 4-phase handshake protocol is required: (i) the sender issues a new pre-valid codeword; (ii) the receiver acknowledges the pre-valid codeword; (iii) the sender issues a new codeword; and (iv) the receiver acknowledges the new codeword.","As an example, one can have a 2 bit binary data (a=00, b=01, c=10, d=11) being encoded using 2 bits binary codewords (A=00, B=01,C=10, D=11).","Note that, by using this encoding scheme, one can safely identify valid data such that: (i) “a”: whenever there is a transition to B followed by a transition to A; (ii) “b”: whenever there is a transition to C followed by a transition to A; (iii) “c”: whenever there is a transition to B followed by a transition to D; and (iv) “d”: whenever there is a transition to C followed by a transition to D. A possible application of the Chronos Robust Dense encoding scheme is data encryption or data correction.","Chronos Channels do not have a global clock signal, hence their basic performance cannot be defined as an operating frequency, but rather as a cycle time.","In such channels, the cycle time is defined as the time between two consecutive transactions when the Channel is always transmitting data.","In other words, the cycle time of a Chronos Channel dictates how fast it can consume the data of a producer and how fast it will generate data to a consumer.","For example, assuming that the cycle time of a Chronos Channel is fns, a producer can generate a new data every 1 ns (or operate at an equivalent frequency of 1 GHz) and safely assume that every new piece of data it generates will be consumed by the Chronos Channel.","Similarly, in this case, a consumer can expect to receive a new data every 1 ns from the channel.","Hence, it can also sample data at an equivalent frequency of 1 GHz.","Note, however, that Chronos Channels do not have any assumption of possible clock signals used in producers and consumers connected to them, as they employ synchronizers in their control path interfaces.","Another performance metric of a Chronos Channel is its latency, or the time it takes for data being available in its inputs to being transmitted to its outputs.","Note that, depending on the spatial distribution of the Chronos Channel in the physical implementation of the circuit, its latency can grow, due to long wiring.","Although it is unavoidable to increase the latency as the length of wires increase, the impact on cycle time can be mitigated (or even avoided) by adding repeater stages, which are like pipeline stages.","In this way, a long link may exhibit an increased latency but cycle time can remain the same.","In other words, it can take some cycles for the data to propagate through the Chronos Channel.","However, the producer will still be able to inject new data at every cycle time and the consumer can still expect a new data at every cycle time.","The notion of the cycle time and latency of a Chronos Channel is important to understand the different possibilities of temporal compression that can be adopted for these channels.","In a Chronos Channel, the temporal compression ratio determines the number of slots in which a cycle time will be divided.","This allows distributing temporally the data to be transmitted and reducing hardware overhead because the different slots can be propagated by sequentially using the same hardware.","In other words, the temporal compression ratio defines how many pieces the data will be split into in order to be serially transmitted through the Chronos Channel.","This ratio can be defined as any positive rational number and is only constrained by the maximum frequency allowed by a target technology.","For example, assuming a cycle time of 1 ns, a compression ratio of 2 means that the data to be transmitted will be split in two pieces of data, each with a 0.5 ns slot of the total cycle time.","In this way, the circuit implemented in the Chronos Channel needs to guarantee that each piece of data can be transmitted in 0.5 ns to ensure a 1 ns cycle time.","Note that, for higher temporal compression ratios, this cycle time is reduced, in such a way that the maximum ratio possible is limited by the maximum ratio allowed by the target technology (or the minimum delay for a single slot).","To implement a Chronos Channel in a target technology, different circuits can be employed.","FIG.","1 shows a block diagram of a possible embodiment of a generic Chronos Channel implementation with the general hardware organization, in various embodiments, to explore the functionality of these circuits.","In this hardware organization 100 there are 5 main components: encoders (Enc) 111; temporal compressors (TC) 112; repeaters (RP) 130; temporal decompressors (TD) 122; and decoders (Dec) 121.An encoder 111 is responsible for transforming the input data (e.g., input data received from a producer IP block to be transmitted to a consumer IP block), which is represented using “m” wires, into encoded data that uses “k” wires and a specific DI code.","A Chronos Channel requires “j” encoders 111, where “j” is the size of the input data divided by the size of the DI code of choice.","Also, encoder blocks 111 may require input control signals to indicate the validity of the data in their inputs.","A clock signal (clockA) can be used for synchronous data inputs and an enable signal (enableA) can be used to enable or disable data consumption in order to fulfil specific data transmission protocol requirements.","These encoder blocks 111 also generate an output control signal to indicate when the Chronos Channel is full and cannot accept new data.","Note that data in either the inputs or the outputs of an encoder 111 can be digital or analog.","The TC 112 splits a “j” sized set of encoded data in “j/i” (or the temporal compression ratio) “i” sized sets of encoded data.","Then, the TC 112 issues each of the “j/i” sets in its outputs, one at a time.","To control the flow of this data, the handshake protocol defined by the choice of DI code is used.","Note that the maximum time to transmit each of the “j/i” sets is the delay of the slot defined by the target cycle time divided by the compression ratio.","In this way, and assuming that the remaining parts of the circuit will also be able to consume the data while guaranteeing cycle time performance, all the “j/i” sets will be sent in one cycle time.","The outputs of the TC 112 can feed either a repeater 130 or the TD 122 directly.","Also, note that in case “j/i” is not a natural number, but rather a positive rational number, the TC 112 will use only the required number of its outputs in the transmission of the last slots of data.","Nevertheless, the division of the cycle time in slots will still be a natural number defined as the ceiling function of “j/i”.","Repeaters 130 have memory elements and are capable of holding encoded data and sending it to a next repeater or the TD 122.To control the flow of this data, the handshake protocol defined by the choice of DI code is used.","Furthermore, the maximum time to transmit each of the “j/i” sets is also the delay of the slot defined by the target cycle time divided by the compression ratio.","Note that repeaters 130 may or may not be required in a Chronos Channel, as they are used to fix slot delay violations in long paths that fail to meet cycle time requirements or to improve signal strength.","Also, note that different numbers of repeaters 130 may be required for the different outputs of a TC 112.This is valid because, in a Chronos Channel, there is no global control signal dictating how events flow through the data path.","Rather, each path from an output of a TC 112 to the input of a TD 122 has an independent flow control.","Again, the only restriction is the specified cycle time.","The TD 122 merges “q/i” sets of encoded data, each with size “i”, in a single set of encoded data with size “q”.","Then the TD 122 issues the whole “q” sized set in its outputs, which feed the decoder blocks 121.To control the flow of this data, the handshake protocol defined by the choice of DI code is used.","In this circuit, the maximum time to consume each of the “q/i” sets is the delay of the slot defined by the target cycle time divided by its compression ratio.","Note that, in some embodiments, TDs 122 can have a different compression ratio than that of the TC 112 and can generate sets with a different size from those originally consumed by the TC 112.This is particularly useful when connecting transmitters and receivers with different clock frequencies.","Also, if the compression ratio of the TD 122 is a positive rational number, it will only use the required number of its inputs in the consumption of the last slots of data.","The decoder 121 is responsible for transforming input encoded data, which is represented using “k” wires and a specific DI code, back to the original input data that used “m” wires.","In various embodiments, the decoder 121 is configured to transform the input encoded data to form a representation of the data signals input to the encoders 111, the representation being compliant to an input data format of the consumer IP block.","To decode data, a Chronos Channel needs “q” decoders, as defined in the compression ratio of the TD 133.A decoder block may also require input control signals to indicate that data in its outputs was successfully collected.","To do so, a clock signal (clockB) can be used, for synchronous data outputs, and an enable signal (enableB) can be used to enable or disable the generation of new data in the outputs of the Chronos Channel, to fulfil specific data transmission protocol requirements.","Furthermore, decoders 121 also generate an output control signal to indicate when they are empty, which means there is no data in the Chronos Channel to be consumed.","Note that data in either the inputs or the outputs of a decoder 121 can be digital or analog.","Another important concept in a Chronos Channel is the definition of TX and RX blocks.","As FIG.","1 shows, TX 110 is the block that comprises the encoders 111 and TC 112 of the channel and RX 120 is the block that comprises the decoders 121 and TD 122 of the channel.","In this way, the control signals connected to the TX 110 (enableA, clockA and full) must be produced and consumed by the transmitter connected to the Chronos Channel, whenever applicable.","This means that the clock connected to the TX 110 (clockA) must be the same clock connected to the transmitter, assuming that the transmitter is synchronous.","The same is valid for the input and output control signals of the TX 110 (enableA and valid), they must be respectively produced and consumed by the transmitter.","In a similar way, the control signals of the RX 120 (enableB, clockB and empty) must be produced and consumed by the receiver connected to the Chronos Channel.","Due to the asynchronous communication between TX and RX blocks 110 and 120, a Chronos Channel can interface transmitters and receivers that operate at different frequencies and with different data bus widths (as the compression ratios can be different in the TX and RX blocks 110 and 120).","However, to avoid data loss, it must be ensured that the receiver consumes data as fast as the producer generates new data.","To do so, the output throughput must be greater or equal to the input throughput.","More specifically, recalling FIG.","1: FB*p≥FA*n, where FB is the frequency of clockB and FA is the frequency of clockA.","The usage of controllers coupled to the TX 110 and RX 120 can enable avoiding the requirement of constrained frequencies between transmitter and receiver blocks.","Such controllers must be able to implement a communication protocol using the control signals provided by the TX and RX blocks 110 and 120.Note that these signals allow implementing a variety of communication protocols, such as (and not limited to) handshake- or credit-based protocols.","The coupling of controllers to a Chronos Channel generates what is called a Chronos Link, and enables leveraging the full flexibility of Chronos Channels.","This is because transmitters and receivers connected to Chronos Links can be completely asynchronous to each other and communication may be established by a handshake procedure without any need to perform complex timing closure.","An example of such an implementation is given in patent application Ser.","No.","15/344,420.FIG.","2a is a block diagram of a 2 bits Chronos Channel illustrating a point-to-point connection 200 from a transmitter (TX 211) operating at 100 MHz and sending digital data with a width of 2 bits to a receiver (RX 212) operating at 100 MHz and receiving digital data with a width of 2 bits.","The employed TX 211 block and the RX 212 block both have a temporal compression ratio of 1 and, therefore, their TC and decompressor blocks can be omitted.","Furthermore, in this example, data within the Chronos Channel is encoded using a digital 1-of-4 DI code, and requires 4 wires for each 2 bits of decoded data.","In this example, one repeater 213 is enough to guarantee throughput and signal strength requirements.","FIG.","2b is a block diagram of a 4 bits Chronos Channel illustrating a point-to-point connection 220 from a transmitter (TX 221) operating at 100 MHz and sending digital data with a width of 4 bits to a receiver (RX 222) operating at 200 MHz and receiving digital data with a width of 2 bits.","To accommodate the discrepancy between the input and the output data widths while maintaining throughput, the TX 221 has a temporal compression ratio of 2 and the RX 222 has a temporal ratio of 1.In this example, data within the Chronos Channel is also encoded using a digital 1-of-4 DI code, and requires 4 wires for each 2 bits of decoded data.","Also, two repeaters 223 and 224 are used to guarantee throughput and signal strength requirements.","Note that, because the compression ratio in the RX 222 is 1, a single decoder (Dec1) is used.","However, because the compression ratio in the TX 221 is 2, the 4 bits input data is split in two 2 bits buses that are connected to 2 encoders 225 and 226 that generate data using a 1-of-4 DI code.","The generated data is the input to a 2 to 1 TC 227 that issues the data of one input at a time in its output, which is also encoded using a 1-of-4 DI code.","FIG.","2c is a block diagram of a 6 bits Chronos Channel illustrating a point-to-point connection 240 from a transmitter (TX 241) operating at 100 MHz and sending digital data with a width of 6 bits to a receiver (RX 245) operating at 300 MHz and receiving digital data with a width of 2 bits.","To accommodate the discrepancy between the input and the output data widths while maintaining throughput, the TX 241 has a temporal compression ratio of 3 and the RX 245 has a ratio of 1.Furthermore, this example demonstrates how TXs can be nested to allow more flexible and modular design of Chronos Channels, as the input data is divided in two buses, with widths of 4 and 2 bits.","The bus of 4 bits is input to the nested TX 242, which can be the same implementation described in reference to TX 221 in FIG.","2b.","In this way, TX 242 encodes the data using a 1-of-4 DI code and divides it in two temporal slots, sending one at a time in its output.","The TX 242 output is then connected to the first two inputs of the 3 to 1 TC 244 shown in FIG.","2c.","The third input of the TC 244 is connected to an encoder 243 that generates data using the same 1-of-4 DI codes used in the nested TX1 242.The TC 244 will then issue the three inputs one at a time to an output, which is directly connected to the RX 245.Note that in this example there is no need for repeaters between the TX and RX blocks.","FIG.","2d is a block diagram of an 8 bits Chronos Channel illustrating a point-to-point connection 250 from a transmitter (TX 251) operating at 100 MHz and sending digital data with a width of 8 bits to a receiver (RX 259) operating at 100 MHz and receiving digital data with a width of 8 bits.","In this example, the TX 251 and RX 259 have the same throughput, requiring the same temporal compression ratio (in this case 4).","Also, this example shows how TCs and decompressors can be arranged in tree structures, as they are associative.","In the TX block 251, 4 encoders (End, Enc2, Enc3 and Enc4) encode data using a 1-of-4 DI code and two pairs of encoders, with each pair of encoders being connected to one of two 2 to 1 TCs 252 and 253.The TCs 252 and 253 are then connected to another TC 254.In this example, a single repeater 255 between the TX 251 and RX 259 blocks is used to fulfil throughput requirements.","In the RX 259, TDs 256, 257 and 258 are organized in a tree structure where a single 1 to 2 TD 256 has its outputs connected to two other TDs 257 and 258.These TDs 256, 257 and 258, in turn, are connected to 4 decoders (Dec1, Dec2, Dec3 and Dec4) to decode the 1-of-4 DI data back to 8 bits digital data.","In various embodiments, the decoders Dec1, Dec2, Dec3 and Dec4 are configured to transform encoded data input to the decoders to form a representation of data signals generated by a producer IP block and input to the encoders Enc1, Enc2, Enc3 and Enc4, the representation being compliant to an input data format of the consumer IP block.","FIG.","4a shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join or Merge blocks in a multi-point-to-point connection 400 according to various embodiments.","Referring to FIG.","4a, in various embodiments, a multi-point-to-point connection 400 may serve as a connection between two producer IP blocks and a third consumer IP block.","The producer IPs are connected to respective inputs of TXs 401 and 402 (and subsequently to inputs of two repeaters RPO and RP1 in this example), thereby generating two independent paths in the Chronos Channel.","These paths can then be combined using a flow control block 403, which can be (but are not limited to) a merge, a join or a select component, depending of the control flow requirements.","For example, a merge component combines the information of both paths into a single output path, while a select or a join component can arbitrate between paths using some control mechanism.","The output of the control flow block 403 will be propagated to the inputs of an RX block 404 via a third repeater RP2 in this example.","Note that repeaters RP0, RP1 and RP2 can be added in any point between TXs 401 and 402 and RX 404, including before and after the flow control block 403.FIG.","4b shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Fork or Steer blocks in a point-to-multi-point connection 420 according to various embodiments.","Referring to FIG.","4b, in various embodiments, the point-to-multi-point connection 420 may serve as a connection between a producer IP block and two consumer IP blocks.","The producer IP is connected to an input of TX 421 (and a repeater RPO in this example) and the generated path in the Chronos Channel can be divided using a flow control block 422, which can be (but is not limited to) a fork or a steer component, depending on the flow control requirements.","For example, a fork component sends the same input information to both output paths, while a steer component can arbitrate to send different input information to each of the output paths using some control mechanism.","The outputs of the control flow block 422 are propagated to inputs of RX blocks 423 and 424.Note that repeaters RP0, RP1 and RP2 can be added in any point between the TX 421 and the RXs 423 and 424, including before and after the flow control block 422.FIG.","4c shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join, Merge, Fork and Steer blocks illustrating a multi-point-to-multi-point connection 430 according to various embodiments.","Referring to FIG.","4c, in various embodiments, the multi-point-to-multi-point connection 430 may serve as a connection between a set of producer IP blocks and a set of consumer IP blocks.","Each producer IP block is connected to one of j TXs (TX0, TX1 to TXj), each which generates an independent path in the Chronos Channel.","These independent paths can then be combined using different combinations of flow control blocks and any number of repeaters (RP0 to RPh) to implement a specific functionality.","The combined paths are received at another set of flow control blocks and forwarded via repeaters (RP0, RP1 to RPq in this example) to receivers RX0, RX1 to RXq.","In the end of each path in the Chronos Channel, the RXs are interfaced with the consumer IPs.","Note that between the TXs (TX0, TX1 to TXj) and the RXs (RX0, RX1 to RXq), different combinations of flow control blocks and repeaters can be employed, to fulfil functional and performance requirements.","All the logic used to implement the components of a Chronos Channel must be QDI.","This requirement is to ensure the robustness of such channels and to guarantee that synchronization and control of events inside a Chronos Channel are all performed asynchronously.","This allows timing independent channels to be established between IP blocks in an ASIC design.","In this way, timing closure for the ASIC design may be accomplished with simplified, top level checks.","That is, testing each individual IP block in the ASIC design across all corners (i.e., PVT) obviates any complex timing margin evaluation for the ASIC design as a whole.","In various embodiments, a timing independent channel between two or more IP blocks may include one or more repeaters, which can improve signal strength and throughput.","In various embodiments, repeaters may be inserted on the basis of distance between IP blocks, which can be determined beforehand.","Advantageously, a Chronos Channel included in an ASIC design renders the ASIC design insensitive to PVT variations and resilient to aging.","Due to the absence of a clock, the ASIC design also consumes less power.","The ASIC design also exhibits low electromagnetic interference (EMI) as a result of the self-timed nature of the circuits as well as low leakage.","Consequently, the ASIC design may be especially ideal for large area ASICs where routing (i.e., of the clock signal) is difficult and significant effort is traditionally expended in synthesizing a clock tree to balance the skew across corners and modes of operation.","In various embodiments, each IP block may be associated with a liberty (i.e., .lib) file describing the timing and power parameters for the block in a particular technology across a range of operation modes.","Moreover, each IP block may also be associated with an abstract view, which contains the IP physical boundary as well as the location of each pin.","A top level netlist may describe the connections between different IP blocks.","In addition, information on different clock domains should also be available.","The foregoing information may serve as inputs into a Chronos Channel generation process.","FIG.","5 is a flowchart illustrating a process 500 for ASIC design according to various embodiments.","Referring to FIG.","5, in various embodiments, the process 500 includes a physical design step 510.In various embodiments, the physical design step 510 may include partitioning 512, floorplanning 514, placement 516, gasket insertion 518, simplified routing 520, and simplified timing check 522.In various embodiments, gasket insertion 518 replaces clock tree synthesis, which could be performed as part of the physical design step in a conventional ASIC design flow (e.g., a conventional ASIC design flow).","According to one exemplary embodiment, gasket insertion 518 communication between various IP blocks uses self-timed as opposed to synchronous signals.","Gasket insertion 518 includes inserting one or more gaskets (i.e., a transmitter gasket and/or a receiver gasket) for each IP block in an ASIC design.","The gaskets transform a signal between two IP blocks from a synchronous signal to an asynchronous self-timed signal with a handshake between the IP blocks.","In various embodiments, simplified signal routing 520 replaces conventional signal routing.","The gaskets afford independence from any timing constraints.","Consequently, connections between various IP blocks may be easily established.","One or more asynchronous buffers (Abufs) may be inserted as a repeater between distantly located IP blocks in order to improve signal strength and throughput.","Nevertheless, Abufs are inserted based on the distance between IP blocks and not based on any process, voltage and temperature (PVT) conditions or operation mode variations.","In various embodiments, simplified timing check 522 replaces timing closure, which may be performed as part of the physical design step in a conventional ASIC design flow.","The use of gaskets obviates a substantial need to evaluate timing margins across PVT corners.","Most PVT and operation mode variations are accounted for by the asynchronous protocol.","In various embodiments, the simplified timing check 522 includes verification of a small subset (e.g., approximate 10%) of slow corners.","In various embodiments, each IP block may be associated with a liberty (i.e., .lib) file describing the timing and power parameters for the block in a particular technology across a range of operation modes.","Moreover, each IP block may also be associated with an abstract view, which contains the IP physical boundary as well as the location of each pin.","A top level netlist may describe the connection between different IP blocks.","In addition, information on different clock domains should also be available.","The foregoing information may serve as inputs into a gasket generation process.","FIG.","6 is a flowchart illustrating a process 600 for gasket generation according to various embodiments.","Referring to FIGS.","5 and 6, in various embodiments, the process 600 may implement gasket insertion 518.In various embodiments, one or more point-to-point buses (e.g., one of the point-to-point connections 200, 220 or 240) and/or point-to-multi-point buses (e.g., the point-to-multi-point connection 420) and/or multi-point-to-point buses (e.g., the multi-point-to-point connection 400) and/or multi-point-to-multi-point buses (e.g., the multi-point-to-multi-point connection 430) are identified in an ASIC design (602).","The maximum speed of a clock associated with each bus is determined (604).","For example, buses may include output signals from one IP block to one or more other IP blocks.","The maximum speed of the clock associated with each bus corresponds to a maximum equivalent speed in an asynchronous domain for a given technology (i.e., MSPD).","As such, the MSPD for each bus is determined (606).","A required number of dual-rail or 1-of-n QDI blocks (i.e., encoders and decoders) is determined based on the MSPD for each bus (608).","The transmitter and receiver gaskets for each bus may include the same number of dual-rail or 1-of-n QDI blocks.","In various embodiments, a dual-rail or 1-of-n QDI implementation guarantees delay insensitivity in the timing independent channels between IP blocks in the ASIC design.","One or more asynchronous multiplexers may be inserted to multiplex low speed transmission bus outputs from the dual rail or 1-of-n QDI encoders (610).","The multiplexing of low speed transmission buses alleviates congestion.","Thus, the transmitter gasket for each bus may include a certain number of asynchronous multiplexers.","As such, a corresponding number of de-multiplexers are inserted on the receiving side (612).","The de-multiplexers de-multiplex the buses to its original speed.","FIG.","7 is a block diagram illustrating a wired or wireless system 550 according to various embodiments.","Referring to FIGS.","5, 6 and 7, the system 550 may be used to perform the process 600.In various embodiments, the system 550 may be a conventional personal computer, computer server, personal digital assistant, smart phone, tablet computer, or any other processor enabled device that is capable of wired or wireless data communication.","A person having ordinary skill in the art can appreciate that other computer systems and/or architectures may be used without departing from the scope of the present inventive concept.","The system 550 preferably includes one or more processors, such as processor 560.Additional processors may be provided, such as an auxiliary processor to manage input/output, an auxiliary processor to perform floating point mathematical operations, a special-purpose microprocessor having an architecture suitable for fast execution of signal processing algorithms (e.g., digital signal processor), a slave processor subordinate to the main processing system (e.g., back-end processor), an additional microprocessor or controller for dual or multiple processor systems, or a coprocessor.","Such auxiliary processors may be discrete processors or may be integrated with the processor 560.The processor 560 is preferably connected to a communication bus 555.The communication bus 555 may include a data channel for facilitating information transfer between storage and other peripheral components of the system 550.The communication bus 555 further may provide a set of signals used for communication with the processor 560, including a data bus, address bus, and control bus (not shown).","The communication bus 555 may comprise any standard or non-standard bus architecture such as, for example, bus architectures compliant with industry standard architecture (“ISA”), extended industry standard architecture (“EISA”), Micro Channel Architecture (“MCA”), peripheral component interconnect (“PCI”) local bus, or standards promulgated by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (“IEEE”) including IEEE 488 general-purpose interface bus (“GPIB”), IEEE 696/S-100, and the like.","The system 550 preferably includes a main memory 565 and may also include a secondary memory 570.The main memory 565 provides storage of instructions and data for programs executing on the processor 560.The main memory 565 is typically semiconductor-based memory such as dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) and/or static random access memory (“SRAM”).","Other semiconductor-based memory types include, for example, synchronous dynamic random access memory (“SDRAM”), Rambus dynamic random access memory (“RDRAM”), ferroelectric random access memory (“FRAM”), and the like, including read only memory (“ROM”).","The secondary memory 570 may optionally include an internal memory 575 and/or a removable medium 580, for example a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, a compact disc (“CD”) drive, a digital versatile disc (“DVD”) drive, etc.","The removable medium 580 is read from and/or written to in a well-known manner.","Removable medium 580 may be, for example, a floppy disk, magnetic tape, CD, DVD, SD card, etc.","The removable medium 580 is a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable code (i.e., software) and/or data.","The computer software or data stored on the removable medium 580 is read into the system 550 for execution by the processor 560.In alternative embodiments, secondary memory 570 may include other similar means for allowing computer programs or other data or instructions to be loaded into the system 550.Such means may include, for example, an external medium 595 and a communication interface 590.Examples of external medium 595 may include an external hard disk drive or an external optical drive, or and external magneto-optical drive.","Other examples of secondary memory 570 may include semiconductor-based memory such as programmable read-only memory (“PROM”), erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM”), electrically erasable read-only memory (“EEPROM”), or flash memory (block oriented memory similar to EEPROM).","The removable medium 580 and the communication interface 590 allow software and data to be transferred from the external medium 595 to the system 550.The system 550 may also include an input/output (“I/O”) interface 585.The I/O interface 585 facilitates input from and output to external devices.","For example the I/O interface 585 may receive input from a keyboard or mouse and may provide output to a display.","The I/O interface 585 is capable of facilitating input from and output to various alternative types of human interface and machine interface devices alike.","The communication interface 590 allows software and data to be transferred between system 550 and external devices (e.g.","printers), networks, or information sources.","For example, computer software or executable code may be transferred to system 550 from a network server via communication interface 590.Examples of communication interface 590 include, for example, but not limited to, a modem, a network interface card (“NIC”), a wireless data card, a communications port, a PCMCIA slot and card, an infrared interface, and an IEEE 1394 fire-wire.","The communication interface 590 preferably implements industry promulgated protocol standards, such as Ethernet IEEE 802 standards, Fiber Channel, digital subscriber line (“DSL”), asynchronous digital subscriber line (“ADSL”), frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode (“ATM”), integrated digital services network (“ISDN”), personal communications services (“PCS”), transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (“TCP/IP”), serial line Internet protocol/point to point protocol (“SLIP/PPP”), and so on, but may also implement customized or non-standard interface protocols as well.","Software and data transferred via the communication interface 590 are generally in the form of electrical communication signals 605.In one exemplary embodiment, these electrical communication signals 605 are provided to the communication interface 590 via a communication channel 635.In one embodiment, the communication channel 635 may be a wired or wireless network, or any variety of other communication links.","The communication channel 635 carries the electrical communication signals 605 and can be implemented using a variety of wired or wireless communication means including wire or cable, fiber optics, conventional phone line, cellular phone link, wireless data communication link, radio frequency (“RF”) link, or infrared link, just to name a few.","Computer executable code (i.e., computer programs or software) is stored in the main memory 565 and/or the secondary memory 570.Computer programs can also be received via communication interface 590 and stored in the main memory 565 and/or the secondary memory 570.Such computer programs, when executed, enable the system 550 to perform the various functions of the present invention as previously described.","In this description, the term “computer readable medium” is used to refer to any non-transitory computer readable storage media used to provide computer executable code (e.g., software and computer programs) to the system 550.Examples of these media include the main memory 565, the secondary memory 570 (including the internal memory 575, the removable medium 580, and the external medium 595), and any peripheral device communicatively coupled with the communication interface 590 (including a network information server or other network device).","These non-transitory computer readable mediums are means for providing executable code, programming instructions, and software to the system 550.In one embodiment implemented using software, the software may be stored on a computer readable medium and loaded into the system 550 by way of the removable medium 580, the I/O interface 585, or the communication interface 590.In such an embodiment, the software is loaded into the system 550 in the form of electrical communication signals 605.The software, when executed by the processor 560, preferably causes the processor 560 to perform the inventive features and functions previously described herein.","The system 550 also includes optional wireless communication components that facilitate wireless communication over a voice and over a data network.","The wireless communication components comprise an antenna system 655, a radio system 645 and a baseband system 625.In the system 550, radio frequency (“RF”) signals are transmitted and received over the air by the antenna system 655 under the management of the radio system 645.In one embodiment, the antenna system 655 may comprise one or more antennae and one or more multiplexors (not shown) that perform a switching function to provide the antenna system 655 with transmit and receive signal paths.","In the receive path, received RF signals can be coupled from a multiplexor to a low noise amplifier (not shown) that amplifies the received RF signal and sends the amplified signal to the radio system 645.In alternative embodiments, the radio system 645 may comprise one or more radios that are configured to communicate over various frequencies.","In one embodiment, the radio system 645 may combine a demodulator (not shown) and modulator (not shown) in one integrated circuit (“IC”).","The demodulator and modulator can also be separate components.","In the incoming path, the demodulator strips away the RF carrier signal leaving a baseband receive audio signal, which is sent from the radio system 645 to the baseband system 625.If the received signal contains audio information, then baseband system 625 decodes the signal and converts it to an analog signal.","Then the signal is amplified and sent to a speaker.","The baseband system 625 may also receive analog audio signals from a microphone.","These analog audio signals are converted to digital signals and encoded by the baseband system 625.The baseband system 625 also codes the digital signals for transmission and generates a baseband transmit audio signal that is routed to the modulator portion of the radio system 645.The modulator mixes the baseband transmit audio signal with an RF carrier signal generating an RF transmit signal that is routed to the antenna system 655 and may pass through a power amplifier (not shown).","The power amplifier amplifies the RF transmit signal and routes it to the antenna system 655 where the signal is switched to the antenna port for transmission.","The baseband system 625 may also be communicatively coupled with the processor 560.The processor 560 has access to main memory 565 and/or secondary memory 570.The processor 560 is preferably configured to execute instructions (i.e., computer programs or software) that can be stored in the main memory 565 or the secondary memory 570.Computer programs can also be received from the baseband system 625and stored in the main memory 565 or in secondary memory 570, or executed upon receipt.","Such computer programs, when executed, enable the system 550 to perform the various functions of the present invention as previously described.","For example, the main memory 565 may include various software modules (not shown) that are executable by processor 560.The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the protection.","For example, the example apparatuses, methods, and systems disclosed herein can be applied wireless communication devices incorporating HF and/or UHF RFID reader capabilities.","The various components illustrated in the figures may be implemented as, for example, but not limited to, software and/or firmware on a processor, ASIC/FPGA/DSP, or dedicated hardware.","Also, the features and attributes of the specific example embodiments disclosed above may be combined in different ways to form additional embodiments, all of which fall within the scope of the present disclosure.","The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams are provided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed in the order presented.","As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art the order of steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in any order.","Words such as “thereafter,” “then,” “next,” etc.","are not intended to limit the order of the steps; these words are simply used to guide the reader through the description of the methods.","Further, any reference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using the articles “a,” “an” or “the” is not to be construed as limiting the element to the singular.","The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both.","To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality.","Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.","Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.","The hardware used to implement the various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.","A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but, in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine.","A processor may also be implemented as a combination of receiver devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.","Alternatively, some steps or methods may be performed by circuitry that is specific to a given function.","In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.","If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or non-transitory processor-readable storage medium.","The steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein may be embodied in processor-executable instructions that may reside on a non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage medium.","Non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media may be any storage media that may be accessed by a computer or a processor.","By way of example but not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, FLASH memory, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that may be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a computer.","Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.","Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of non-transitory computer-readable and processor-readable media.","Additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium and/or computer-readable storage medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.","Although the present disclosure provides certain example embodiments and applications, other embodiments that are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, including embodiments which do not provide all of the features and advantages set forth herein, are also within the scope of this disclosure.","Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to be defined only by reference to the appended claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"APPLICATION SPECIFIC INTEGRATED CIRCUIT INTERCONNECT\",\n \"Systems and methods for providing Chronos Channel interconnects in an ASIC are provided.\",\n \"Chronos Channels rely on a reduced set of timing assumptions and are robust against delay variations.\",\n \"Chronos Channels transmit data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic.\",\n \"Chronos Channels are insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations, but for those belonging to a few specific forking logic paths called isochronic forks.\",\n \"Chronos Channels use temporal compression in internal paths to reduce the overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.\",\n \"Chronos Channels are defined by a combination of a DI code, a temporal compression ratio and hardware.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A point-to-point connection between a first intellectual property (IP) block and a second IP block of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), the point-to-point connection comprising: a transmitter (TX) associated with the first IP block, the TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals from the first IP block into one or more temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals and transmit the temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals via a channel; a receiver (RX) associated with the second IP block, the RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to receive the one or more DI asynchronous signals via the channel and restore the one or more compressed DI asynchronous signals to form a representation of the input data signals compliant to an input data format of the second IP block; and wherein the channel is a timing independent channel between the first IP block and the second IP block, wherein the one or more DI asynchronous signals from the TX are propagated via the timing independent channel in a self-timed fashion to the RX.\",\n \"2.The point-to-point connection as recited in claim 1, wherein the TX is configured to encode data symbols comprising two elements (a,b) using DI encoding that relies on three codewords A, B, and C and the RX is configured to decode the codewords (A,B,C) using DI encoding to form duplicates of the data symbols (a,b).\",\n \"3.The point-to-point connection as recited in claim 1, wherein the TX is configured to encode data symbols comprising two elements (a,b) using DI encoding that relies on four codewords A, B, C and D, and the RX is configured to decode the codewords (A,B,C and D) using DI decoding to form duplicates of the data symbols (a,b).\",\n \"4.The point-to-point connection as recited in claim 1, wherein the TX is configured to encode data symbols comprising four elements (a,b,c,d) using DI encoding that relies on four symbols A, B, C and D, and the RX is configured to decode the codewords (A,B,C and D) using DI decoding to form duplicates of the data symbols (a, b, c, d).\",\n \"5.The point-to-point connection as recited in claim 1, wherein the TX is configured to use a selected one of a plurality of DI encoding schemes to transform the input data signals into the compressed DI asynchronous signals and the RX is configured to restore the one or more compressed DI asynchronous signals to form the representation of the input data signals compliant to the input data format of the second IP block.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Apparatuses and methods for ASIC design are provided.\",\n \"According to various aspects, there is provided a point-to-point connection between a first intellectual property (IP) block and a second IP block of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).\",\n \"The point-to-point connection may comprise a transmitter (TX) associated with the first IP block, the TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals to the first IP block into one or more temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals and transmit the temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals via a channel.\",\n \"The point-to-point connection may further comprise a receiver (RX) associated with the second IP block, the RX comprising one or more DI decoders, and configured to receive the one or more DI asynchronous signals via the channel and restore the one or more compressed DI asynchronous signals to form a representation of the input data signals compliant to an input data format of the second IP block; and wherein the channel is a timing independent channel between the first IP block and the second IP block, wherein the one or more DI asynchronous signals from the TX are propagated via the timing independent channel in a self-timed fashion to the RX.\",\n \"According to various aspects, there is provided a point-to-multipoint connection between a first intellectual property (IP) block and a plurality of IP blocks.\",\n \"The point-to-multipoint connection may comprise a transmitter (TX) associated with the first IP block, the TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals from the first IP block into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.\",\n \"The a point-to-multipoint connection may further comprise a timing independent channel between the TX and a Flow Control block, wherein the DI asynchronous signal from the TX is propagated via the timing independent channel in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) Flow Control element configured to broadcast or selectively propagate the compressed DI asynchronous signals to a plurality of individual timing independent channels; and multiple receivers (RXs) associated with receiving IP blocks, each RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to receive the DI asynchronous signals from the Flow control block and restore the compressed DI asynchronous signals received from the the Flow Control block to form duplicates of the input data signals.\",\n \"According to various aspects, there is provided a multipoint-to-point connection between a transmitting Intellectual Property (IP) block and a plurality of receiving IP blocks.\",\n \"The multipoint-to-point connection may comprise a plurality of transmitters (TXs) each associated with respective transmitting IP blocks, each TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals received from the transmitting IP blocks into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.\",\n \"The multipoint-to-point connection may further comprise a plurality of timing independent channels between the TXs and individual inputs of a Flow Control block, wherein the compressed DI asynchronous signals from the TXs are propagated via timing independent channels in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a QDI Flow Control element configured to merge or selectively propagate the individual timing independent channels; anda receiver (RX) associated with the receiving IP block, the RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to restore the compressed DI asynchronous signal received from the Flow Control block to form duplicates of the input data signals.\",\n \"According to various aspects, there is provided a multipoint-to-multipoint connection between a plurality of transmitting IP blocks and a plurality of receiving IP blocks.\",\n \"The multipoint-to-multipoint connection may comprise a plurality of transmitters (TXs) each associated with a respective one of the transmitting IP blocks, each TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals from the IP block into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.\",\n \"The multipoint-to-multipoint connection may further comprise timing independent channels between the TXs and individual inputs of a Flow Control block, wherein the DI asynchronous signals from the TXs are propagated via the timing independent channels in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a QDI Flow Control element configured to merge or selectively propagate the DI asynchronous signals to the individual timing independent channels; the QDI Flow Control element further configured to broadcast or selectively propagate the DI asynchronous signals to the individual timing independent channels; and multiple receivers (RXs) associated with the receiving IP blocks, each RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to receive the compressed DI asynchronous signals via the individual timing independent channels and restore the compressed DI asynchronous signal to form duplicates of the input data signals.\",\n \"Other features and advantages of the present inventive concept should be apparent from the following description which illustrates by way of example aspects of the present inventive concept.\"\n ],\n [\n \"RELATED APPLICATIONS INFORMATION This present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/344,416, entitled “Application specific integrated circuit interconnect,” filed on Nov. 4, 2016, which claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/372,217, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-to-Point Interconnect,” filed Aug. 8, 2016 and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/250,998, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-to-Point Interconnect,” filed Nov. 4, 2015, all of which are incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in full.\",\n \"BACKGROUND 1.Technical Field The various embodiments described herein are related to application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and more particularly to the design of various ASICs.\",\n \"2.Related Art Continuing advances in semiconductor device fabrication technology have yielded a steady decline in the size of process nodes.\",\n \"For example, 22 nanometer (nm) process nodes were introduced in 2012 but were quickly succeeded by 14 nm fin field-effect transistors (FinFETs) in 2014 while 5 nm process nodes are projected for 2020.The decrease in process node size allows a growing number of intellectual property (IP) cores or IP blocks to be placed on a single ASIC chip.\",\n \"That is, modern ASIC designs often spread numerous process nodes across a comparatively large silicon die, and include combinations of IP blocks and logic functions.\",\n \"At the same time, modern technology also requires increased connectivity and large data transfers between various IP blocks.\",\n \"In addition, modern ASIC chips frequently include multiple clock domains in order to leverage multi-core implementations.\",\n \"Thus, one or more clock signals may need to be distributed across the chip in a manner that minimizes clock skew.\",\n \"For instance, the edge of the clock signal received at a logic block located near a clock source should be aligned with those received at more distant logic blocks.\",\n \"Conventionally, a balanced clock signal distribution (i.e., timing closure) is achieved by inserting buffers.\",\n \"For example, pursuant to a traditional ASIC design flow, after floor planning and placing various IP blocks, a clock tree (i.e., a clock distribution network) may be synthesized and buffers may be added along the signal path from a clock source to various IP blocks according to the clock tree.\",\n \"In fact, timing closure for a clock signal that is distributed over a large and complex ASIC design typically requires the strategic placement of numerous buffers.\",\n \"Moreover, the distribution of a clock signal is also highly susceptible to both systematic and random variations.\",\n \"In particular, proper timing closure must account for the effects of on-chip variations that arise as a result of different process, voltage, and temperature (PVTs) and operation modes, which would otherwise introduce additional clock skews.\",\n \"As such, the most laborious and time consuming aspect of conventional ASIC design tends to be clock alignment.\",\n \"Clock tree synthesis and timing closure generally require significant manual intervention.\",\n \"In addition, the mechanisms (i.e., buffers) used to balance the clock across an ASIC chip generally consume a majority of the power in any conventional ASIC design.\",\n \"Therefore, what is needed are an apparatus and method that overcome these significant problems found in the aforementioned conventional approach to ASIC design.\",\n \"SUMMARY Apparatuses and methods for ASIC design are provided.\",\n \"According to various aspects, there is provided a point-to-point connection between a first intellectual property (IP) block and a second IP block of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).\",\n \"The point-to-point connection may comprise a transmitter (TX) associated with the first IP block, the TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals to the first IP block into one or more temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals and transmit the temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals via a channel.\",\n \"The point-to-point connection may further comprise a receiver (RX) associated with the second IP block, the RX comprising one or more DI decoders, and configured to receive the one or more DI asynchronous signals via the channel and restore the one or more compressed DI asynchronous signals to form a representation of the input data signals compliant to an input data format of the second IP block; and wherein the channel is a timing independent channel between the first IP block and the second IP block, wherein the one or more DI asynchronous signals from the TX are propagated via the timing independent channel in a self-timed fashion to the RX.\",\n \"According to various aspects, there is provided a point-to-multipoint connection between a first intellectual property (IP) block and a plurality of IP blocks.\",\n \"The point-to-multipoint connection may comprise a transmitter (TX) associated with the first IP block, the TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals from the first IP block into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.\",\n \"The a point-to-multipoint connection may further comprise a timing independent channel between the TX and a Flow Control block, wherein the DI asynchronous signal from the TX is propagated via the timing independent channel in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) Flow Control element configured to broadcast or selectively propagate the compressed DI asynchronous signals to a plurality of individual timing independent channels; and multiple receivers (RXs) associated with receiving IP blocks, each RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to receive the DI asynchronous signals from the Flow control block and restore the compressed DI asynchronous signals received from the the Flow Control block to form duplicates of the input data signals.\",\n \"According to various aspects, there is provided a multipoint-to-point connection between a transmitting Intellectual Property (IP) block and a plurality of receiving IP blocks.\",\n \"The multipoint-to-point connection may comprise a plurality of transmitters (TXs) each associated with respective transmitting IP blocks, each TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals received from the transmitting IP blocks into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.\",\n \"The multipoint-to-point connection may further comprise a plurality of timing independent channels between the TXs and individual inputs of a Flow Control block, wherein the compressed DI asynchronous signals from the TXs are propagated via timing independent channels in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a QDI Flow Control element configured to merge or selectively propagate the individual timing independent channels; anda receiver (RX) associated with the receiving IP block, the RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to restore the compressed DI asynchronous signal received from the Flow Control block to form duplicates of the input data signals.\",\n \"According to various aspects, there is provided a multipoint-to-multipoint connection between a plurality of transmitting IP blocks and a plurality of receiving IP blocks.\",\n \"The multipoint-to-multipoint connection may comprise a plurality of transmitters (TXs) each associated with a respective one of the transmitting IP blocks, each TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals from the IP block into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.\",\n \"The multipoint-to-multipoint connection may further comprise timing independent channels between the TXs and individual inputs of a Flow Control block, wherein the DI asynchronous signals from the TXs are propagated via the timing independent channels in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a QDI Flow Control element configured to merge or selectively propagate the DI asynchronous signals to the individual timing independent channels; the QDI Flow Control element further configured to broadcast or selectively propagate the DI asynchronous signals to the individual timing independent channels; and multiple receivers (RXs) associated with the receiving IP blocks, each RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to receive the compressed DI asynchronous signals via the individual timing independent channels and restore the compressed DI asynchronous signal to form duplicates of the input data signals.\",\n \"Other features and advantages of the present inventive concept should be apparent from the following description which illustrates by way of example aspects of the present inventive concept.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other aspects and features of the present inventive concept will be more apparent by describing example embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG.\",\n \"1 is a general block diagram illustrating a possible embodiment of a generic Chronos Channel implementation; FIG.\",\n \"2a is an example of a 2 bits Chronos Channel; FIG.\",\n \"2b is an example of a 4 bits Chronos Channel; FIG.\",\n \"2c is an example of a 6 bits Chronos Channel; FIG.\",\n \"2d is an example of an 8 bits Chronos Channel; FIG.\",\n \"3a represents a Chronos Robust flow graph; FIG.\",\n \"3b represents a Chronos Robust Low Power flow graph; FIG.\",\n \"3c represents a Chronos Dense flow graph; FIG.\",\n \"4a shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join or Merge blocks; FIG.\",\n \"4b shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Fork or Steer blocks; and FIG.\",\n \"4c shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join, Merge, Fork and Steer blocks.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a flowchart illustrating a process for ASIC design according to various embodiments; FIG.\",\n \"6 is a flowchart illustrating a process for gasket generation according to various embodiments; and FIG.\",\n \"7 is a block diagram illustrating a wired or wireless system according to various embodiments.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION While certain embodiments are described, these embodiments are presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection.\",\n \"The methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms.\",\n \"Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form of the example methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the scope of protection.\",\n \"A Chronos Channel is an ASIC Interconnect that allows transmitter blocks to send data to receiver blocks.\",\n \"Chronos Channels stand out by relying on a reduced set of timing assumptions and being robust against delay variations.\",\n \"To do so, Chronos Channels transmit data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic.\",\n \"In this way, Chronos Channels are insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations, but for those belonging to a few specific forking logic paths called isochronic forks.\",\n \"Also, a unique characteristic of a Chronos Channel, when compared to related solutions, is that it uses temporal compression in its internal paths to reduce the overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.\",\n \"In fact, data can be compressed by different ratios, which can be any rational number (as long as a technology specific maximum frequency restriction is respected).\",\n \"In this way, a Chronos Channel is defined by the combination of a DI code (and related handshake protocol), a temporal compression ratio and the hardware required to encode, decode, compress, decompress and transmit data.\",\n \"DI codes are a specific family of encoding schemes where no codeword can be contained in another codeword.\",\n \"This allows a receiver to perceive the transmission of a codeword unambiguously.\",\n \"Such a characteristic eliminates the need for a control signal that identifies the validity of a data channel, and its respective timing assumptions (as in synchronous or bundled-data asynchronous design), as the validity of the data channel is encoded in the data itself.\",\n \"Also, note that, usually, DI codes are employed in digital applications, which means that their code words are typically defined using a set of binary values.\",\n \"However, in a Chronos Channel, signals do not need to be digital and codewords can be represented using sets with more than 2 values, provided that data is still encoded using a DI code.\",\n \"In other words, the data in a Chronos Channel can be composed of analog signals, as long as no codeword is contained in another codeword.\",\n \"Such a characteristic allows a more flexible usage of Chronos Channels.\",\n \"Another aspect of DI codes is that, to allow data transmission, they are usually coupled to a handshake protocol, which is usually 4- or 2-phases.\",\n \"A large variety of DI codes are available in the state-of-the-art.\",\n \"One example of DI encoding schemes for Chronos Channels is the Chronos-Robust encoding scheme, a flowchart of which is illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3a.\",\n \"In this scheme 300, the decoded data is represented by the set of symbols (a,b) and the encoded data by (A, B, C).\",\n \"For transmitting data using this encoding scheme, whenever codeword “A” 301 is detected in the channel, one can safely identify that a value “a” 303 is in the channel.\",\n \"The same is valid whenever a codeword “B” 304 is detected and one can safely identify a value “b” 305.However, to allow data transmission there is always the transmission of an empty codeword “C” 306 between every valid codeword (“A” or “B”).\",\n \"This allows a receiver to detect sequences of “A”s or “B”s unambiguously.\",\n \"In this case, a 4-phase handshake is established and the protocol for transmitting data is: (i) the sender issues a valid codeword; (ii) the receiver acknowledges the valid codeword; (iii) the sender issues a spacer; and (iv) the receiver acknowledges the spacer.\",\n \"As an example, one can have a 1 bit binary data (a=0, b=1) being encoded using 2 bits binary codewords (A=01, B=10, C=00).\",\n \"Note that, by using this scheme, one can safely identify transitions between “a” and “b”.\",\n \"As another example, one can have the same 1 bit binary data (a=0, b=1) being encoded using a single analog signal (A=0V, B=1V, C=0.5V).\",\n \"Another example of DI encoding scheme for a Chronos Channel is the Chronos-Robust Low Power encoding scheme, a flowchart of which is illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3b.\",\n \"In this scheme, 310, decoded data is represented by (a,b) and encoded data by (A, B, C, D).\",\n \"For transmitting data using this encoding scheme, it is not enough to analyze the current codeword to detect the respective value.\",\n \"For example, codeword “A” 311 may represent either an “a” 312 or a “b” 314 value, depending if the previous codeword was “B” 315 or “C” 316, respectively.\",\n \"In this case, where one can only detect a value analyzing transitions, rather than codewords, a 2-phase handshake protocol is required: (i) the sender issues a new codeword; (ii) the receiver acknowledges the codeword; As an example, one can have a 1 bit binary data (a=0, b=1) being encoded using 2 bits binary codewords (A=00, B=01, C=10, D=11).\",\n \"Note that, by using this scheme, one can safely identify “a” values whenever there is a transition in the least significant bit of the codewords and “b” values whenever there is a transition in the most significant bit of the codewords.\",\n \"Compared to the Chronos Robust encoding scheme this encoding scheme reduces the number of transitions leading to lower switching power.\",\n \"A Chronos Robust Dense encoding scheme illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3c is another DI encoding scheme, where decoded data is represented by the set (a,b,c,d) and encoded data by (A, B, C, D).\",\n \"In this encoding scheme 320, it is also not enough to analyze the current codeword to detect the respective value.\",\n \"In this encoding scheme a value is detected by analyzing transitions, rather than codewords.\",\n \"However, differently from the Chronos Robust Low Power example, data detection always requires 2 transitions, one to issue a pre-valid codeword (B 322 or C 323) and one to issue a valid codeword (A 321 or D 324).\",\n \"Therefore, a 4-phase handshake protocol is required: (i) the sender issues a new pre-valid codeword; (ii) the receiver acknowledges the pre-valid codeword; (iii) the sender issues a new codeword; and (iv) the receiver acknowledges the new codeword.\",\n \"As an example, one can have a 2 bit binary data (a=00, b=01, c=10, d=11) being encoded using 2 bits binary codewords (A=00, B=01,C=10, D=11).\",\n \"Note that, by using this encoding scheme, one can safely identify valid data such that: (i) “a”: whenever there is a transition to B followed by a transition to A; (ii) “b”: whenever there is a transition to C followed by a transition to A; (iii) “c”: whenever there is a transition to B followed by a transition to D; and (iv) “d”: whenever there is a transition to C followed by a transition to D. A possible application of the Chronos Robust Dense encoding scheme is data encryption or data correction.\",\n \"Chronos Channels do not have a global clock signal, hence their basic performance cannot be defined as an operating frequency, but rather as a cycle time.\",\n \"In such channels, the cycle time is defined as the time between two consecutive transactions when the Channel is always transmitting data.\",\n \"In other words, the cycle time of a Chronos Channel dictates how fast it can consume the data of a producer and how fast it will generate data to a consumer.\",\n \"For example, assuming that the cycle time of a Chronos Channel is fns, a producer can generate a new data every 1 ns (or operate at an equivalent frequency of 1 GHz) and safely assume that every new piece of data it generates will be consumed by the Chronos Channel.\",\n \"Similarly, in this case, a consumer can expect to receive a new data every 1 ns from the channel.\",\n \"Hence, it can also sample data at an equivalent frequency of 1 GHz.\",\n \"Note, however, that Chronos Channels do not have any assumption of possible clock signals used in producers and consumers connected to them, as they employ synchronizers in their control path interfaces.\",\n \"Another performance metric of a Chronos Channel is its latency, or the time it takes for data being available in its inputs to being transmitted to its outputs.\",\n \"Note that, depending on the spatial distribution of the Chronos Channel in the physical implementation of the circuit, its latency can grow, due to long wiring.\",\n \"Although it is unavoidable to increase the latency as the length of wires increase, the impact on cycle time can be mitigated (or even avoided) by adding repeater stages, which are like pipeline stages.\",\n \"In this way, a long link may exhibit an increased latency but cycle time can remain the same.\",\n \"In other words, it can take some cycles for the data to propagate through the Chronos Channel.\",\n \"However, the producer will still be able to inject new data at every cycle time and the consumer can still expect a new data at every cycle time.\",\n \"The notion of the cycle time and latency of a Chronos Channel is important to understand the different possibilities of temporal compression that can be adopted for these channels.\",\n \"In a Chronos Channel, the temporal compression ratio determines the number of slots in which a cycle time will be divided.\",\n \"This allows distributing temporally the data to be transmitted and reducing hardware overhead because the different slots can be propagated by sequentially using the same hardware.\",\n \"In other words, the temporal compression ratio defines how many pieces the data will be split into in order to be serially transmitted through the Chronos Channel.\",\n \"This ratio can be defined as any positive rational number and is only constrained by the maximum frequency allowed by a target technology.\",\n \"For example, assuming a cycle time of 1 ns, a compression ratio of 2 means that the data to be transmitted will be split in two pieces of data, each with a 0.5 ns slot of the total cycle time.\",\n \"In this way, the circuit implemented in the Chronos Channel needs to guarantee that each piece of data can be transmitted in 0.5 ns to ensure a 1 ns cycle time.\",\n \"Note that, for higher temporal compression ratios, this cycle time is reduced, in such a way that the maximum ratio possible is limited by the maximum ratio allowed by the target technology (or the minimum delay for a single slot).\",\n \"To implement a Chronos Channel in a target technology, different circuits can be employed.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 shows a block diagram of a possible embodiment of a generic Chronos Channel implementation with the general hardware organization, in various embodiments, to explore the functionality of these circuits.\",\n \"In this hardware organization 100 there are 5 main components: encoders (Enc) 111; temporal compressors (TC) 112; repeaters (RP) 130; temporal decompressors (TD) 122; and decoders (Dec) 121.An encoder 111 is responsible for transforming the input data (e.g., input data received from a producer IP block to be transmitted to a consumer IP block), which is represented using “m” wires, into encoded data that uses “k” wires and a specific DI code.\",\n \"A Chronos Channel requires “j” encoders 111, where “j” is the size of the input data divided by the size of the DI code of choice.\",\n \"Also, encoder blocks 111 may require input control signals to indicate the validity of the data in their inputs.\",\n \"A clock signal (clockA) can be used for synchronous data inputs and an enable signal (enableA) can be used to enable or disable data consumption in order to fulfil specific data transmission protocol requirements.\",\n \"These encoder blocks 111 also generate an output control signal to indicate when the Chronos Channel is full and cannot accept new data.\",\n \"Note that data in either the inputs or the outputs of an encoder 111 can be digital or analog.\",\n \"The TC 112 splits a “j” sized set of encoded data in “j/i” (or the temporal compression ratio) “i” sized sets of encoded data.\",\n \"Then, the TC 112 issues each of the “j/i” sets in its outputs, one at a time.\",\n \"To control the flow of this data, the handshake protocol defined by the choice of DI code is used.\",\n \"Note that the maximum time to transmit each of the “j/i” sets is the delay of the slot defined by the target cycle time divided by the compression ratio.\",\n \"In this way, and assuming that the remaining parts of the circuit will also be able to consume the data while guaranteeing cycle time performance, all the “j/i” sets will be sent in one cycle time.\",\n \"The outputs of the TC 112 can feed either a repeater 130 or the TD 122 directly.\",\n \"Also, note that in case “j/i” is not a natural number, but rather a positive rational number, the TC 112 will use only the required number of its outputs in the transmission of the last slots of data.\",\n \"Nevertheless, the division of the cycle time in slots will still be a natural number defined as the ceiling function of “j/i”.\",\n \"Repeaters 130 have memory elements and are capable of holding encoded data and sending it to a next repeater or the TD 122.To control the flow of this data, the handshake protocol defined by the choice of DI code is used.\",\n \"Furthermore, the maximum time to transmit each of the “j/i” sets is also the delay of the slot defined by the target cycle time divided by the compression ratio.\",\n \"Note that repeaters 130 may or may not be required in a Chronos Channel, as they are used to fix slot delay violations in long paths that fail to meet cycle time requirements or to improve signal strength.\",\n \"Also, note that different numbers of repeaters 130 may be required for the different outputs of a TC 112.This is valid because, in a Chronos Channel, there is no global control signal dictating how events flow through the data path.\",\n \"Rather, each path from an output of a TC 112 to the input of a TD 122 has an independent flow control.\",\n \"Again, the only restriction is the specified cycle time.\",\n \"The TD 122 merges “q/i” sets of encoded data, each with size “i”, in a single set of encoded data with size “q”.\",\n \"Then the TD 122 issues the whole “q” sized set in its outputs, which feed the decoder blocks 121.To control the flow of this data, the handshake protocol defined by the choice of DI code is used.\",\n \"In this circuit, the maximum time to consume each of the “q/i” sets is the delay of the slot defined by the target cycle time divided by its compression ratio.\",\n \"Note that, in some embodiments, TDs 122 can have a different compression ratio than that of the TC 112 and can generate sets with a different size from those originally consumed by the TC 112.This is particularly useful when connecting transmitters and receivers with different clock frequencies.\",\n \"Also, if the compression ratio of the TD 122 is a positive rational number, it will only use the required number of its inputs in the consumption of the last slots of data.\",\n \"The decoder 121 is responsible for transforming input encoded data, which is represented using “k” wires and a specific DI code, back to the original input data that used “m” wires.\",\n \"In various embodiments, the decoder 121 is configured to transform the input encoded data to form a representation of the data signals input to the encoders 111, the representation being compliant to an input data format of the consumer IP block.\",\n \"To decode data, a Chronos Channel needs “q” decoders, as defined in the compression ratio of the TD 133.A decoder block may also require input control signals to indicate that data in its outputs was successfully collected.\",\n \"To do so, a clock signal (clockB) can be used, for synchronous data outputs, and an enable signal (enableB) can be used to enable or disable the generation of new data in the outputs of the Chronos Channel, to fulfil specific data transmission protocol requirements.\",\n \"Furthermore, decoders 121 also generate an output control signal to indicate when they are empty, which means there is no data in the Chronos Channel to be consumed.\",\n \"Note that data in either the inputs or the outputs of a decoder 121 can be digital or analog.\",\n \"Another important concept in a Chronos Channel is the definition of TX and RX blocks.\",\n \"As FIG.\",\n \"1 shows, TX 110 is the block that comprises the encoders 111 and TC 112 of the channel and RX 120 is the block that comprises the decoders 121 and TD 122 of the channel.\",\n \"In this way, the control signals connected to the TX 110 (enableA, clockA and full) must be produced and consumed by the transmitter connected to the Chronos Channel, whenever applicable.\",\n \"This means that the clock connected to the TX 110 (clockA) must be the same clock connected to the transmitter, assuming that the transmitter is synchronous.\",\n \"The same is valid for the input and output control signals of the TX 110 (enableA and valid), they must be respectively produced and consumed by the transmitter.\",\n \"In a similar way, the control signals of the RX 120 (enableB, clockB and empty) must be produced and consumed by the receiver connected to the Chronos Channel.\",\n \"Due to the asynchronous communication between TX and RX blocks 110 and 120, a Chronos Channel can interface transmitters and receivers that operate at different frequencies and with different data bus widths (as the compression ratios can be different in the TX and RX blocks 110 and 120).\",\n \"However, to avoid data loss, it must be ensured that the receiver consumes data as fast as the producer generates new data.\",\n \"To do so, the output throughput must be greater or equal to the input throughput.\",\n \"More specifically, recalling FIG.\",\n \"1: FB*p≥FA*n, where FB is the frequency of clockB and FA is the frequency of clockA.\",\n \"The usage of controllers coupled to the TX 110 and RX 120 can enable avoiding the requirement of constrained frequencies between transmitter and receiver blocks.\",\n \"Such controllers must be able to implement a communication protocol using the control signals provided by the TX and RX blocks 110 and 120.Note that these signals allow implementing a variety of communication protocols, such as (and not limited to) handshake- or credit-based protocols.\",\n \"The coupling of controllers to a Chronos Channel generates what is called a Chronos Link, and enables leveraging the full flexibility of Chronos Channels.\",\n \"This is because transmitters and receivers connected to Chronos Links can be completely asynchronous to each other and communication may be established by a handshake procedure without any need to perform complex timing closure.\",\n \"An example of such an implementation is given in patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/344,420.FIG.\",\n \"2a is a block diagram of a 2 bits Chronos Channel illustrating a point-to-point connection 200 from a transmitter (TX 211) operating at 100 MHz and sending digital data with a width of 2 bits to a receiver (RX 212) operating at 100 MHz and receiving digital data with a width of 2 bits.\",\n \"The employed TX 211 block and the RX 212 block both have a temporal compression ratio of 1 and, therefore, their TC and decompressor blocks can be omitted.\",\n \"Furthermore, in this example, data within the Chronos Channel is encoded using a digital 1-of-4 DI code, and requires 4 wires for each 2 bits of decoded data.\",\n \"In this example, one repeater 213 is enough to guarantee throughput and signal strength requirements.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2b is a block diagram of a 4 bits Chronos Channel illustrating a point-to-point connection 220 from a transmitter (TX 221) operating at 100 MHz and sending digital data with a width of 4 bits to a receiver (RX 222) operating at 200 MHz and receiving digital data with a width of 2 bits.\",\n \"To accommodate the discrepancy between the input and the output data widths while maintaining throughput, the TX 221 has a temporal compression ratio of 2 and the RX 222 has a temporal ratio of 1.In this example, data within the Chronos Channel is also encoded using a digital 1-of-4 DI code, and requires 4 wires for each 2 bits of decoded data.\",\n \"Also, two repeaters 223 and 224 are used to guarantee throughput and signal strength requirements.\",\n \"Note that, because the compression ratio in the RX 222 is 1, a single decoder (Dec1) is used.\",\n \"However, because the compression ratio in the TX 221 is 2, the 4 bits input data is split in two 2 bits buses that are connected to 2 encoders 225 and 226 that generate data using a 1-of-4 DI code.\",\n \"The generated data is the input to a 2 to 1 TC 227 that issues the data of one input at a time in its output, which is also encoded using a 1-of-4 DI code.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2c is a block diagram of a 6 bits Chronos Channel illustrating a point-to-point connection 240 from a transmitter (TX 241) operating at 100 MHz and sending digital data with a width of 6 bits to a receiver (RX 245) operating at 300 MHz and receiving digital data with a width of 2 bits.\",\n \"To accommodate the discrepancy between the input and the output data widths while maintaining throughput, the TX 241 has a temporal compression ratio of 3 and the RX 245 has a ratio of 1.Furthermore, this example demonstrates how TXs can be nested to allow more flexible and modular design of Chronos Channels, as the input data is divided in two buses, with widths of 4 and 2 bits.\",\n \"The bus of 4 bits is input to the nested TX 242, which can be the same implementation described in reference to TX 221 in FIG.\",\n \"2b.\",\n \"In this way, TX 242 encodes the data using a 1-of-4 DI code and divides it in two temporal slots, sending one at a time in its output.\",\n \"The TX 242 output is then connected to the first two inputs of the 3 to 1 TC 244 shown in FIG.\",\n \"2c.\",\n \"The third input of the TC 244 is connected to an encoder 243 that generates data using the same 1-of-4 DI codes used in the nested TX1 242.The TC 244 will then issue the three inputs one at a time to an output, which is directly connected to the RX 245.Note that in this example there is no need for repeaters between the TX and RX blocks.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2d is a block diagram of an 8 bits Chronos Channel illustrating a point-to-point connection 250 from a transmitter (TX 251) operating at 100 MHz and sending digital data with a width of 8 bits to a receiver (RX 259) operating at 100 MHz and receiving digital data with a width of 8 bits.\",\n \"In this example, the TX 251 and RX 259 have the same throughput, requiring the same temporal compression ratio (in this case 4).\",\n \"Also, this example shows how TCs and decompressors can be arranged in tree structures, as they are associative.\",\n \"In the TX block 251, 4 encoders (End, Enc2, Enc3 and Enc4) encode data using a 1-of-4 DI code and two pairs of encoders, with each pair of encoders being connected to one of two 2 to 1 TCs 252 and 253.The TCs 252 and 253 are then connected to another TC 254.In this example, a single repeater 255 between the TX 251 and RX 259 blocks is used to fulfil throughput requirements.\",\n \"In the RX 259, TDs 256, 257 and 258 are organized in a tree structure where a single 1 to 2 TD 256 has its outputs connected to two other TDs 257 and 258.These TDs 256, 257 and 258, in turn, are connected to 4 decoders (Dec1, Dec2, Dec3 and Dec4) to decode the 1-of-4 DI data back to 8 bits digital data.\",\n \"In various embodiments, the decoders Dec1, Dec2, Dec3 and Dec4 are configured to transform encoded data input to the decoders to form a representation of data signals generated by a producer IP block and input to the encoders Enc1, Enc2, Enc3 and Enc4, the representation being compliant to an input data format of the consumer IP block.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4a shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join or Merge blocks in a multi-point-to-point connection 400 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"4a, in various embodiments, a multi-point-to-point connection 400 may serve as a connection between two producer IP blocks and a third consumer IP block.\",\n \"The producer IPs are connected to respective inputs of TXs 401 and 402 (and subsequently to inputs of two repeaters RPO and RP1 in this example), thereby generating two independent paths in the Chronos Channel.\",\n \"These paths can then be combined using a flow control block 403, which can be (but are not limited to) a merge, a join or a select component, depending of the control flow requirements.\",\n \"For example, a merge component combines the information of both paths into a single output path, while a select or a join component can arbitrate between paths using some control mechanism.\",\n \"The output of the control flow block 403 will be propagated to the inputs of an RX block 404 via a third repeater RP2 in this example.\",\n \"Note that repeaters RP0, RP1 and RP2 can be added in any point between TXs 401 and 402 and RX 404, including before and after the flow control block 403.FIG.\",\n \"4b shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Fork or Steer blocks in a point-to-multi-point connection 420 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"4b, in various embodiments, the point-to-multi-point connection 420 may serve as a connection between a producer IP block and two consumer IP blocks.\",\n \"The producer IP is connected to an input of TX 421 (and a repeater RPO in this example) and the generated path in the Chronos Channel can be divided using a flow control block 422, which can be (but is not limited to) a fork or a steer component, depending on the flow control requirements.\",\n \"For example, a fork component sends the same input information to both output paths, while a steer component can arbitrate to send different input information to each of the output paths using some control mechanism.\",\n \"The outputs of the control flow block 422 are propagated to inputs of RX blocks 423 and 424.Note that repeaters RP0, RP1 and RP2 can be added in any point between the TX 421 and the RXs 423 and 424, including before and after the flow control block 422.FIG.\",\n \"4c shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join, Merge, Fork and Steer blocks illustrating a multi-point-to-multi-point connection 430 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"4c, in various embodiments, the multi-point-to-multi-point connection 430 may serve as a connection between a set of producer IP blocks and a set of consumer IP blocks.\",\n \"Each producer IP block is connected to one of j TXs (TX0, TX1 to TXj), each which generates an independent path in the Chronos Channel.\",\n \"These independent paths can then be combined using different combinations of flow control blocks and any number of repeaters (RP0 to RPh) to implement a specific functionality.\",\n \"The combined paths are received at another set of flow control blocks and forwarded via repeaters (RP0, RP1 to RPq in this example) to receivers RX0, RX1 to RXq.\",\n \"In the end of each path in the Chronos Channel, the RXs are interfaced with the consumer IPs.\",\n \"Note that between the TXs (TX0, TX1 to TXj) and the RXs (RX0, RX1 to RXq), different combinations of flow control blocks and repeaters can be employed, to fulfil functional and performance requirements.\",\n \"All the logic used to implement the components of a Chronos Channel must be QDI.\",\n \"This requirement is to ensure the robustness of such channels and to guarantee that synchronization and control of events inside a Chronos Channel are all performed asynchronously.\",\n \"This allows timing independent channels to be established between IP blocks in an ASIC design.\",\n \"In this way, timing closure for the ASIC design may be accomplished with simplified, top level checks.\",\n \"That is, testing each individual IP block in the ASIC design across all corners (i.e., PVT) obviates any complex timing margin evaluation for the ASIC design as a whole.\",\n \"In various embodiments, a timing independent channel between two or more IP blocks may include one or more repeaters, which can improve signal strength and throughput.\",\n \"In various embodiments, repeaters may be inserted on the basis of distance between IP blocks, which can be determined beforehand.\",\n \"Advantageously, a Chronos Channel included in an ASIC design renders the ASIC design insensitive to PVT variations and resilient to aging.\",\n \"Due to the absence of a clock, the ASIC design also consumes less power.\",\n \"The ASIC design also exhibits low electromagnetic interference (EMI) as a result of the self-timed nature of the circuits as well as low leakage.\",\n \"Consequently, the ASIC design may be especially ideal for large area ASICs where routing (i.e., of the clock signal) is difficult and significant effort is traditionally expended in synthesizing a clock tree to balance the skew across corners and modes of operation.\",\n \"In various embodiments, each IP block may be associated with a liberty (i.e., .lib) file describing the timing and power parameters for the block in a particular technology across a range of operation modes.\",\n \"Moreover, each IP block may also be associated with an abstract view, which contains the IP physical boundary as well as the location of each pin.\",\n \"A top level netlist may describe the connections between different IP blocks.\",\n \"In addition, information on different clock domains should also be available.\",\n \"The foregoing information may serve as inputs into a Chronos Channel generation process.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a flowchart illustrating a process 500 for ASIC design according to various embodiments.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"5, in various embodiments, the process 500 includes a physical design step 510.In various embodiments, the physical design step 510 may include partitioning 512, floorplanning 514, placement 516, gasket insertion 518, simplified routing 520, and simplified timing check 522.In various embodiments, gasket insertion 518 replaces clock tree synthesis, which could be performed as part of the physical design step in a conventional ASIC design flow (e.g., a conventional ASIC design flow).\",\n \"According to one exemplary embodiment, gasket insertion 518 communication between various IP blocks uses self-timed as opposed to synchronous signals.\",\n \"Gasket insertion 518 includes inserting one or more gaskets (i.e., a transmitter gasket and/or a receiver gasket) for each IP block in an ASIC design.\",\n \"The gaskets transform a signal between two IP blocks from a synchronous signal to an asynchronous self-timed signal with a handshake between the IP blocks.\",\n \"In various embodiments, simplified signal routing 520 replaces conventional signal routing.\",\n \"The gaskets afford independence from any timing constraints.\",\n \"Consequently, connections between various IP blocks may be easily established.\",\n \"One or more asynchronous buffers (Abufs) may be inserted as a repeater between distantly located IP blocks in order to improve signal strength and throughput.\",\n \"Nevertheless, Abufs are inserted based on the distance between IP blocks and not based on any process, voltage and temperature (PVT) conditions or operation mode variations.\",\n \"In various embodiments, simplified timing check 522 replaces timing closure, which may be performed as part of the physical design step in a conventional ASIC design flow.\",\n \"The use of gaskets obviates a substantial need to evaluate timing margins across PVT corners.\",\n \"Most PVT and operation mode variations are accounted for by the asynchronous protocol.\",\n \"In various embodiments, the simplified timing check 522 includes verification of a small subset (e.g., approximate 10%) of slow corners.\",\n \"In various embodiments, each IP block may be associated with a liberty (i.e., .lib) file describing the timing and power parameters for the block in a particular technology across a range of operation modes.\",\n \"Moreover, each IP block may also be associated with an abstract view, which contains the IP physical boundary as well as the location of each pin.\",\n \"A top level netlist may describe the connection between different IP blocks.\",\n \"In addition, information on different clock domains should also be available.\",\n \"The foregoing information may serve as inputs into a gasket generation process.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 is a flowchart illustrating a process 600 for gasket generation according to various embodiments.\",\n \"Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"5 and 6, in various embodiments, the process 600 may implement gasket insertion 518.In various embodiments, one or more point-to-point buses (e.g., one of the point-to-point connections 200, 220 or 240) and/or point-to-multi-point buses (e.g., the point-to-multi-point connection 420) and/or multi-point-to-point buses (e.g., the multi-point-to-point connection 400) and/or multi-point-to-multi-point buses (e.g., the multi-point-to-multi-point connection 430) are identified in an ASIC design (602).\",\n \"The maximum speed of a clock associated with each bus is determined (604).\",\n \"For example, buses may include output signals from one IP block to one or more other IP blocks.\",\n \"The maximum speed of the clock associated with each bus corresponds to a maximum equivalent speed in an asynchronous domain for a given technology (i.e., MSPD).\",\n \"As such, the MSPD for each bus is determined (606).\",\n \"A required number of dual-rail or 1-of-n QDI blocks (i.e., encoders and decoders) is determined based on the MSPD for each bus (608).\",\n \"The transmitter and receiver gaskets for each bus may include the same number of dual-rail or 1-of-n QDI blocks.\",\n \"In various embodiments, a dual-rail or 1-of-n QDI implementation guarantees delay insensitivity in the timing independent channels between IP blocks in the ASIC design.\",\n \"One or more asynchronous multiplexers may be inserted to multiplex low speed transmission bus outputs from the dual rail or 1-of-n QDI encoders (610).\",\n \"The multiplexing of low speed transmission buses alleviates congestion.\",\n \"Thus, the transmitter gasket for each bus may include a certain number of asynchronous multiplexers.\",\n \"As such, a corresponding number of de-multiplexers are inserted on the receiving side (612).\",\n \"The de-multiplexers de-multiplex the buses to its original speed.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 is a block diagram illustrating a wired or wireless system 550 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"5, 6 and 7, the system 550 may be used to perform the process 600.In various embodiments, the system 550 may be a conventional personal computer, computer server, personal digital assistant, smart phone, tablet computer, or any other processor enabled device that is capable of wired or wireless data communication.\",\n \"A person having ordinary skill in the art can appreciate that other computer systems and/or architectures may be used without departing from the scope of the present inventive concept.\",\n \"The system 550 preferably includes one or more processors, such as processor 560.Additional processors may be provided, such as an auxiliary processor to manage input/output, an auxiliary processor to perform floating point mathematical operations, a special-purpose microprocessor having an architecture suitable for fast execution of signal processing algorithms (e.g., digital signal processor), a slave processor subordinate to the main processing system (e.g., back-end processor), an additional microprocessor or controller for dual or multiple processor systems, or a coprocessor.\",\n \"Such auxiliary processors may be discrete processors or may be integrated with the processor 560.The processor 560 is preferably connected to a communication bus 555.The communication bus 555 may include a data channel for facilitating information transfer between storage and other peripheral components of the system 550.The communication bus 555 further may provide a set of signals used for communication with the processor 560, including a data bus, address bus, and control bus (not shown).\",\n \"The communication bus 555 may comprise any standard or non-standard bus architecture such as, for example, bus architectures compliant with industry standard architecture (“ISA”), extended industry standard architecture (“EISA”), Micro Channel Architecture (“MCA”), peripheral component interconnect (“PCI”) local bus, or standards promulgated by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (“IEEE”) including IEEE 488 general-purpose interface bus (“GPIB”), IEEE 696/S-100, and the like.\",\n \"The system 550 preferably includes a main memory 565 and may also include a secondary memory 570.The main memory 565 provides storage of instructions and data for programs executing on the processor 560.The main memory 565 is typically semiconductor-based memory such as dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) and/or static random access memory (“SRAM”).\",\n \"Other semiconductor-based memory types include, for example, synchronous dynamic random access memory (“SDRAM”), Rambus dynamic random access memory (“RDRAM”), ferroelectric random access memory (“FRAM”), and the like, including read only memory (“ROM”).\",\n \"The secondary memory 570 may optionally include an internal memory 575 and/or a removable medium 580, for example a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, a compact disc (“CD”) drive, a digital versatile disc (“DVD”) drive, etc.\",\n \"The removable medium 580 is read from and/or written to in a well-known manner.\",\n \"Removable medium 580 may be, for example, a floppy disk, magnetic tape, CD, DVD, SD card, etc.\",\n \"The removable medium 580 is a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable code (i.e., software) and/or data.\",\n \"The computer software or data stored on the removable medium 580 is read into the system 550 for execution by the processor 560.In alternative embodiments, secondary memory 570 may include other similar means for allowing computer programs or other data or instructions to be loaded into the system 550.Such means may include, for example, an external medium 595 and a communication interface 590.Examples of external medium 595 may include an external hard disk drive or an external optical drive, or and external magneto-optical drive.\",\n \"Other examples of secondary memory 570 may include semiconductor-based memory such as programmable read-only memory (“PROM”), erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM”), electrically erasable read-only memory (“EEPROM”), or flash memory (block oriented memory similar to EEPROM).\",\n \"The removable medium 580 and the communication interface 590 allow software and data to be transferred from the external medium 595 to the system 550.The system 550 may also include an input/output (“I/O”) interface 585.The I/O interface 585 facilitates input from and output to external devices.\",\n \"For example the I/O interface 585 may receive input from a keyboard or mouse and may provide output to a display.\",\n \"The I/O interface 585 is capable of facilitating input from and output to various alternative types of human interface and machine interface devices alike.\",\n \"The communication interface 590 allows software and data to be transferred between system 550 and external devices (e.g.\",\n \"printers), networks, or information sources.\",\n \"For example, computer software or executable code may be transferred to system 550 from a network server via communication interface 590.Examples of communication interface 590 include, for example, but not limited to, a modem, a network interface card (“NIC”), a wireless data card, a communications port, a PCMCIA slot and card, an infrared interface, and an IEEE 1394 fire-wire.\",\n \"The communication interface 590 preferably implements industry promulgated protocol standards, such as Ethernet IEEE 802 standards, Fiber Channel, digital subscriber line (“DSL”), asynchronous digital subscriber line (“ADSL”), frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode (“ATM”), integrated digital services network (“ISDN”), personal communications services (“PCS”), transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (“TCP/IP”), serial line Internet protocol/point to point protocol (“SLIP/PPP”), and so on, but may also implement customized or non-standard interface protocols as well.\",\n \"Software and data transferred via the communication interface 590 are generally in the form of electrical communication signals 605.In one exemplary embodiment, these electrical communication signals 605 are provided to the communication interface 590 via a communication channel 635.In one embodiment, the communication channel 635 may be a wired or wireless network, or any variety of other communication links.\",\n \"The communication channel 635 carries the electrical communication signals 605 and can be implemented using a variety of wired or wireless communication means including wire or cable, fiber optics, conventional phone line, cellular phone link, wireless data communication link, radio frequency (“RF”) link, or infrared link, just to name a few.\",\n \"Computer executable code (i.e., computer programs or software) is stored in the main memory 565 and/or the secondary memory 570.Computer programs can also be received via communication interface 590 and stored in the main memory 565 and/or the secondary memory 570.Such computer programs, when executed, enable the system 550 to perform the various functions of the present invention as previously described.\",\n \"In this description, the term “computer readable medium” is used to refer to any non-transitory computer readable storage media used to provide computer executable code (e.g., software and computer programs) to the system 550.Examples of these media include the main memory 565, the secondary memory 570 (including the internal memory 575, the removable medium 580, and the external medium 595), and any peripheral device communicatively coupled with the communication interface 590 (including a network information server or other network device).\",\n \"These non-transitory computer readable mediums are means for providing executable code, programming instructions, and software to the system 550.In one embodiment implemented using software, the software may be stored on a computer readable medium and loaded into the system 550 by way of the removable medium 580, the I/O interface 585, or the communication interface 590.In such an embodiment, the software is loaded into the system 550 in the form of electrical communication signals 605.The software, when executed by the processor 560, preferably causes the processor 560 to perform the inventive features and functions previously described herein.\",\n \"The system 550 also includes optional wireless communication components that facilitate wireless communication over a voice and over a data network.\",\n \"The wireless communication components comprise an antenna system 655, a radio system 645 and a baseband system 625.In the system 550, radio frequency (“RF”) signals are transmitted and received over the air by the antenna system 655 under the management of the radio system 645.In one embodiment, the antenna system 655 may comprise one or more antennae and one or more multiplexors (not shown) that perform a switching function to provide the antenna system 655 with transmit and receive signal paths.\",\n \"In the receive path, received RF signals can be coupled from a multiplexor to a low noise amplifier (not shown) that amplifies the received RF signal and sends the amplified signal to the radio system 645.In alternative embodiments, the radio system 645 may comprise one or more radios that are configured to communicate over various frequencies.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the radio system 645 may combine a demodulator (not shown) and modulator (not shown) in one integrated circuit (“IC”).\",\n \"The demodulator and modulator can also be separate components.\",\n \"In the incoming path, the demodulator strips away the RF carrier signal leaving a baseband receive audio signal, which is sent from the radio system 645 to the baseband system 625.If the received signal contains audio information, then baseband system 625 decodes the signal and converts it to an analog signal.\",\n \"Then the signal is amplified and sent to a speaker.\",\n \"The baseband system 625 may also receive analog audio signals from a microphone.\",\n \"These analog audio signals are converted to digital signals and encoded by the baseband system 625.The baseband system 625 also codes the digital signals for transmission and generates a baseband transmit audio signal that is routed to the modulator portion of the radio system 645.The modulator mixes the baseband transmit audio signal with an RF carrier signal generating an RF transmit signal that is routed to the antenna system 655 and may pass through a power amplifier (not shown).\",\n \"The power amplifier amplifies the RF transmit signal and routes it to the antenna system 655 where the signal is switched to the antenna port for transmission.\",\n \"The baseband system 625 may also be communicatively coupled with the processor 560.The processor 560 has access to main memory 565 and/or secondary memory 570.The processor 560 is preferably configured to execute instructions (i.e., computer programs or software) that can be stored in the main memory 565 or the secondary memory 570.Computer programs can also be received from the baseband system 625and stored in the main memory 565 or in secondary memory 570, or executed upon receipt.\",\n \"Such computer programs, when executed, enable the system 550 to perform the various functions of the present invention as previously described.\",\n \"For example, the main memory 565 may include various software modules (not shown) that are executable by processor 560.The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the protection.\",\n \"For example, the example apparatuses, methods, and systems disclosed herein can be applied wireless communication devices incorporating HF and/or UHF RFID reader capabilities.\",\n \"The various components illustrated in the figures may be implemented as, for example, but not limited to, software and/or firmware on a processor, ASIC/FPGA/DSP, or dedicated hardware.\",\n \"Also, the features and attributes of the specific example embodiments disclosed above may be combined in different ways to form additional embodiments, all of which fall within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams are provided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed in the order presented.\",\n \"As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art the order of steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in any order.\",\n \"Words such as “thereafter,” “then,” “next,” etc.\",\n \"are not intended to limit the order of the steps; these words are simply used to guide the reader through the description of the methods.\",\n \"Further, any reference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using the articles “a,” “an” or “the” is not to be construed as limiting the element to the singular.\",\n \"The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both.\",\n \"To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality.\",\n \"Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.\",\n \"Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.\",\n \"The hardware used to implement the various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.\",\n \"A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but, in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine.\",\n \"A processor may also be implemented as a combination of receiver devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.\",\n \"Alternatively, some steps or methods may be performed by circuitry that is specific to a given function.\",\n \"In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or non-transitory processor-readable storage medium.\",\n \"The steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein may be embodied in processor-executable instructions that may reside on a non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage medium.\",\n \"Non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media may be any storage media that may be accessed by a computer or a processor.\",\n \"By way of example but not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, FLASH memory, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that may be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a computer.\",\n \"Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.\",\n \"Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of non-transitory computer-readable and processor-readable media.\",\n \"Additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium and/or computer-readable storage medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.\",\n \"Although the present disclosure provides certain example embodiments and applications, other embodiments that are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, including embodiments which do not provide all of the features and advantages set forth herein, are also within the scope of this disclosure.\",\n \"Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to be defined only by reference to the appended claims.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876047"}}},{"rowIdx":4495063,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["Crystalline Semiconductor Growth on Amorphous and Poly-Crystalline Substrates","A multilayer semiconductor structure including at least in part a substrate and an III-N film layer.","The substrate's constant of thermal expansion being substantially matched to the III-N film's constant of thermal expansion.","The multilayer semiconductor structure may also include a crystal matching layer that has a lattice constant that substantially matches the lattice of constant of the III-N film.","By not relying on the substrate for lattice matching the III-N film, the multilayer structure allows greater flexibility in the selection of an applicable substrate."],["1.A multilayer structure comprising: a semiconductor substrate; a seed layer comprising of silicon deposited above the semiconductor substrate; a graphitic crystal matching layer comprising carbon deposited above the seed layer; and a device layer formed above the graphitic crystal matching layer, wherein the semiconductor substrate has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) substantially matching a CTE of the device layer.","2.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the seed layer defines crystal orientation and grain size of the graphitic crystal matching layer.","3.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor substrate is not a single crystal substrate.","4.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor substrate comprises oriented multi-crystalline material.","5.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer has point defects throughout its surface.","6.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the device layer comprises one or more of the following materials: AlGaN, GaN, or InGaN 7.The multilayer structure of claim 5, further comprising a nucleation layer deposited on the graphitic crystal matching layer.","8.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer comprises at least two layers of carbon.","9.The multilayer structure of claim 8, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer has point defects in a first layer of carbon, wherein the first layer of carbon is above all other layers of carbon.","10.A method of creating a multilayer structure comprising: forming a seed layer comprising of silicon deposited above a semiconductor substrate; forming a graphitic crystal matching layer comprising carbon above the seed layer; and forming a device layer above the graphitic crystal matching layer, wherein the semiconductor substrate has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) substantially matching a CTE of the device layer.","11.The method of claim 10, wherein the seed layer defines crystal orientation and grain size of the graphitic crystal matching layer.","12.The method of claim 10, wherein the semiconductor substrate is not a single crystal substrate.","13.The method of claim 10, wherein the semiconductor substrate comprises oriented multi-crystalline material.","14.The method of claim 10, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer has point defects throughout its surface.","15.The method of claim 10, wherein the device layer comprises one or more of the following materials: AlGaN, GaN, or InGaN 16.The method of claim 14, further comprising forming a nucleation layer deposited on the graphitic crystal matching layer.","17.The method of claim 10, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer comprises at least two layers of carbon.","18.The method of claim 10, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer has point defects in a first layer of carbon, wherein the first layer of carbon is above all other layers of carbon.","19.The method of claim 10, initially forming the graphitic crystal matching layer on a metal surface using vapor phase deposition, wherein the metal surface is separate from the semiconductor substrate, seed layer, and device layer; mechanically removing the graphitic crystal matching layer from the metal surface; and depositing the graphitic crystal matching layer on the seed layer."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Group III-Nitride (III-N) semiconductors such as AlN, Al GaN, GaN, and InGaN have become important materials for the production of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and high power devices such as High-Electron-Mobility Transistors (HEMTs).","Other III-Nitrides such as AlN and AlGaN are often included in device structures to mitigate mismatches in lattice and thermal expansion or as barrier or cladding layers in LEDs.","Homoepitaxial growth of III-Nitrides has significant commercial limitations due to the absence of crystalline III-N substrates of reasonable cost and adequate size.","Accordingly, heteroepitaxial growth methods have been developed wherein the III-Nitrides are grown on non-native substrates which are not well-matched to III-Nitride films in terms of crystal lattice dimensions or coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE).","The mismatch between the substrate, also referred to as the growth template, and the III-N film results in undesirable defects in the films crystal structure and distortions such as bowing or cracking of the substrate/film stack.","Current techniques for heteroepitaxy growth of III-N materials involve expensive processes while only partially mitigating defect generation resulting from lattice and CTE mismatch."],["<SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY <EOH>Various embodiments of the invention seek to separate the CTE and lattice matching requirements for optimized III-Nitride growth by (1) creating a coefficient of thermal expansion match by providing a CTE-matched substrate and (2) creating a lattice-matched growth surface using a film or stack of films that create a crystalline lattice structure and/or lattice spacing.","Embodiments of the present invention may be achieved, for example, by selecting a bulk material for a substrate having a coefficient of thermal expansion substantially matching that of GaN or other semiconductor film and being manufactured as a wafer-like substrate with sub-nanometer-scale surface finish and selecting a thin film material or material stack that can be induced to have a crystal lattice substantially matching that of GaN.","The thin film material or material stack is deposited on the bulk material in such a way that the thin film crystal structure is achieved independently of the bulk materials structure or lack of structure.","In one embodiment, the thin film crystalline layer or stack of layers establishes a crystal structure suitable for the nucleation and growth of III-Nitride films.","Crystal quality can be further influence by adding seed layers, also known as underlayers, between the bulk substrate and the thin film stack.","Seed layers can also be used to influence both crystal orientation and grain size of the thin film stack.","In one embodiment, the substrate is chosen to be CTE matched to the GaN film, but the substrate is not a single crystal or oriented multi-crystalline material and does not provide a crystalline template for the GaN growth.","Instead, an oriented crystalline template for the GaN is provided by the intermediate layers (e.g.","thin film crystalline layer, seed layer etc.).","In contrast with growth templates currently used in the art, embodiments of the invention do not rely on the structure of the bulk substrate to establish crystallinity.","Crystallinity is established only in the thin film stack, with no required coincidence or crystal registry to the crystal lattice of the substrate.","Consequently, the bulk material can be chosen based on CTE properties and suitability for mass production; opening the opportunity to use amorphous or low crystal quality poly-crystals with little to no crystalline orientation."],["CROSS REFERENCE RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation in part of application Ser.","No.","15/161,111 entitled “Crystalline Semiconductor Growth on Amorphous and Polycrystalline Substrates” filed May 20, 2016, which claims benefit under 35 USC 119 (e) of U.S.","Provisional Application No.","62/184,692 entitled “Power Devices and LED Architectures Enabled by Bulk Quality Seeded Growth of a Member in the Solid Solution of Al GaN-InGaN using Group III-Nitride Crystal Matching Layer (“CML”) film” filed Jun.","25, 2015; and of U.S.","Provisional Application No.","62/233,157 entitled “Crystalline Semiconductor Growth on Amorphous and Poly-Crystalline Substrates” filed Sep. 25, 2015; the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.","TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention is related to a multilayer semiconductor structure.","BACKGROUND Group III-Nitride (III-N) semiconductors such as AlN, Al GaN, GaN, and InGaN have become important materials for the production of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and high power devices such as High-Electron-Mobility Transistors (HEMTs).","Other III-Nitrides such as AlN and AlGaN are often included in device structures to mitigate mismatches in lattice and thermal expansion or as barrier or cladding layers in LEDs.","Homoepitaxial growth of III-Nitrides has significant commercial limitations due to the absence of crystalline III-N substrates of reasonable cost and adequate size.","Accordingly, heteroepitaxial growth methods have been developed wherein the III-Nitrides are grown on non-native substrates which are not well-matched to III-Nitride films in terms of crystal lattice dimensions or coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE).","The mismatch between the substrate, also referred to as the growth template, and the III-N film results in undesirable defects in the films crystal structure and distortions such as bowing or cracking of the substrate/film stack.","Current techniques for heteroepitaxy growth of III-N materials involve expensive processes while only partially mitigating defect generation resulting from lattice and CTE mismatch.","BRIEF SUMMARY Various embodiments of the invention seek to separate the CTE and lattice matching requirements for optimized III-Nitride growth by (1) creating a coefficient of thermal expansion match by providing a CTE-matched substrate and (2) creating a lattice-matched growth surface using a film or stack of films that create a crystalline lattice structure and/or lattice spacing.","Embodiments of the present invention may be achieved, for example, by selecting a bulk material for a substrate having a coefficient of thermal expansion substantially matching that of GaN or other semiconductor film and being manufactured as a wafer-like substrate with sub-nanometer-scale surface finish and selecting a thin film material or material stack that can be induced to have a crystal lattice substantially matching that of GaN.","The thin film material or material stack is deposited on the bulk material in such a way that the thin film crystal structure is achieved independently of the bulk materials structure or lack of structure.","In one embodiment, the thin film crystalline layer or stack of layers establishes a crystal structure suitable for the nucleation and growth of III-Nitride films.","Crystal quality can be further influence by adding seed layers, also known as underlayers, between the bulk substrate and the thin film stack.","Seed layers can also be used to influence both crystal orientation and grain size of the thin film stack.","In one embodiment, the substrate is chosen to be CTE matched to the GaN film, but the substrate is not a single crystal or oriented multi-crystalline material and does not provide a crystalline template for the GaN growth.","Instead, an oriented crystalline template for the GaN is provided by the intermediate layers (e.g.","thin film crystalline layer, seed layer etc.).","In contrast with growth templates currently used in the art, embodiments of the invention do not rely on the structure of the bulk substrate to establish crystallinity.","Crystallinity is established only in the thin film stack, with no required coincidence or crystal registry to the crystal lattice of the substrate.","Consequently, the bulk material can be chosen based on CTE properties and suitability for mass production; opening the opportunity to use amorphous or low crystal quality poly-crystals with little to no crystalline orientation.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1A is a cross sectional view of a multilayer semiconductor structure, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","1B is a cross sectional view of a multilayer semiconductor structure, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","1C is a cross sectional view of a multilayer semiconductor structure, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","1D is a cross sectional view of a multilayer semiconductor structure, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","1E is a cross sectional view of a multilayer semiconductor structure, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION The various embodiments are described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.","These example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to readers of this specification having knowledge in the technical field.","Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.","FIG.","1E illustrates a cross-section view of multilayer structure 100.Multilayer structure 100 includes several layers including: substrate 101, isolation layer 103, seed layer 105, crystal matching layer 107, nucleation layer 109, and III-N film 111.III-N film is a layer of semiconductor material consisting of at least one group III nitride material and/or their alloys (e.g.","GaN, InN, AlGaN, InGaN).","In some embodiments one or more layers 103, 105, 109, and 111 may be optional.","Although, embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to an III-N film, it is understood that any semiconductor film may be used by adjusting crystal matching layer 107 to accommodate the lattice parameter of the chosen semiconductor film.","The process of forming multilayer structure 100 is described with relation to FIGS.","1A-1E.","Now with reference to FIG.","1A, multilayer structure 100 includes, in part isolation layer 103 deposited via physical layer deposition (PVD) or chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on substrate 101.Depending on various applications, substrate 101 includes, in part a semiconductor material, a compound semiconductor material, or other type of material such as a metal or non-metal.","For example, the materials comprising substrate 101 may include: molybdenum, molybdenum-copper, poly-aluminum nitride ceramic, mullite ceramic, alumina, sapphire, refractory nitrides of Zr(ZrN), Ti (Ti-N), Hf (HFN) or any alloy therein, graphite, aluminum-oxynitrides, silicon, silicon carbide, zinc oxides and rare earth oxides, and/or other suitable materials.","In some embodiments, substrate 101 has a thickness in the range of 250 microns to 1 mm.","Depending on various applications and material composition, substrate 101 may take different structural forms.","For example, substrate 101 may include an amorphous or polycrystalline structure.","However, in other embodiments, substrate 101 may include a single crystal (e.g.","sapphire and silicon) or oriented multi-crystalline material.","Regardless of the material or the structure, substrate 101 has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) substantially matching the CTE of III-N film 111.In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, substrate 101 for the multilayer structure 100 may be chosen for its CTE properties, and there may be no reliance on the underlying crystal structure of the substrate.","As a result, substrate 101 may include any material so long as substrate 101 has a CTE (ppm per degree Kelvin or 10̂−6/K) that substantially matches the III-N film 111.Instead of depending on substrate 101 for providing a crystal structure or template for III-N film 111 growth, the crystal matching layer 107 may completely replace, upgrade, or enhance the crystal structure of substrate 101 and directly enable III-N film 111 growth.","What is considered a substantially matched CTE depends on the application of the multilayer structure 100.In accordance with one embodiment, the substrate's CTE is within ±5% of the III-N film's CTE to be substantially matching.","For example, in order for a substrate to be substantially matched with GaN (having an approximate CTE of 5.6), the substrate has a CTE between 5.32 and 5.88.The CTE of molybdenum is approximately 5.4, and according to one embodiment, is substantially matched to the CTE of GaN.","Applications in power semiconductor discrete devices, GaN based integrated circuits (IC), or high current density optoelectronic devices; of which creating significant thermal stresses during fabrication of semiconductor device layer on the substrate would benefit from a substantial match in CTE in accordance with one embodiment.","On the other hand, a silicon substrate with an approximate CTE of 2.6, would not be substantially matched to the CTE of the GaN film according to one embodiment.","According to one embodiment, other materials that substantially match GaN include but are not limited to: Zirconium, Molybdenum, pure Arsenic, ZrTi (86:14 atomic percent), Carbide, and multigrained or polycrystalline Aluminum Nitride ceramic (1 to 1 atomic ratio).","In one embodiment, a substrate's CTE substantially matches the III-N film's CTE if the substrate's CTE is within 1 unit (where 1 unit is a ppm per degree Kelvin) of the III-N film's CTE.","In accordance with this embodiment, materials that substantially match GaN include, but are not limited to: Zirconium, Osmium, Hafnium, Chromium, Molybdenum, Cerium, Rhenium, Tantalum, Iridium, Ruthenium, Tungsten, Praseodymium, Germanium, InAs, InP, InSb, AlAs, AlP, GaP, GaAs, pure Arsenic, Molybdenum-Copper, alloys of ZrTi, alloys of HfTi, Carbide, and poly-Aluminum Nitride ceramic (1 to 1 atomic ratio), Titanium, alloys of Molybdenum, alloys of Tungsten, alloys of Nickel, alloys of Niobium, alloys of Iridium, Kovar, alloys of Neodymium, Molybdenum-Copper, metal alloys of Ti, alloys of Zr, alloys of Hf, Carbide, poly-Aluminum Nitride ceramic of varying atomic proportions, alumina ceramic, titania, polycrystalline SiC.","Typical applications requiring a substantially matched CTE according to this embodiment include, but are not limited to, thermal annealing, thermal degas or cleaning steps, physical or chemical film growth, recrystallization steps, metal contact firing steps, implantation and subsequent annealing, or any circuit fabrication steps (mask/lithography, growth, etch/pattern, metallization, CMP, etc) that may require temperature heat up/cool down steps in any portion of the range of 1400 Celsius to room temperature and must remain below 50 microns of substrate or wafer bow over any wafer diameter.","In another embodiment, a substrate's CTE substantially matches the III-N film's CTE if the substrate's CTE is within 0.5 unit (where the unit is a ppm per degree Kelvin) of the III-N film's CTE.","For example, molybdenum has a CTE of approximately 5.4, which is within 0.5 of the CTE (unit of ppm per degree Kelvin) of GaN.","In accordance with this embodiment, other materials that substantially match GaN include, but are not limited to: Molybdenum, pure Arsenic, Chromium, ZrTi (86:14), Carbide, Germanium, Osmium, Zirconium, Hafnium, InSb, Kovar, and poly-Aluminum Nitride ceramic (1 to 1 atomic ratio).","Typical applications requiring a substantially matched CTE according to this embodiment include, but are not limited to: thermal annealing, thermal degas or cleaning steps, physical or chemical film growth, recrystallization steps, metal contact firing steps, implantation and subsequent annealing, or any circuit fabrication step (mask/lithography, growth, etch/pattern, metallization, CMP, etc.)","that requires temperature heat up/cool down steps in any portion of the range of 1400 Celsius to room temperature, and must remain below 25 microns of substrate or wafer bow over any wafer diameter.","It is known that differences in CTE between a film and substrate can lead to residual stress between the film and the substrate as a result of heating and cooling processes during film deposition.","Residual stress may result in compression or tension on the film.","When the film compresses, the residual stress may be relieved by buckling of the film, but when the film is under tension, the residual stress may be relieved by cracking of the film.","In one embodiment, in the case of a CTE mismatch between the film and the substrate that results in residual stress, the multilayer structure 100 should be designed to create compression on III-N film 111 rather than tension on III-N film 111.Moreover, maintaining wafer flatness is crucial to manufacture devices from the deposited GaN film(s) on the substrates.","For any film thickness of GaN grown on a substrate where the film thickness is less than the substrate thickness, Table 1 enumerates designs that would be allowed assuming increasing substrate diameter and corresponding thickness to achieve two categories of tolerable bow or warp, namely less than 25 microns and lower than 50 microns (limits mainly set by automatic handling equipment and limits in depth of focus for lithographic steps).","TABLE 1 Extrinsic Strain Delta CTE allowed @ Assumed allowed by 1400 C. Calculated Thickness Diameter CTE Match matching cool down max Bow Curvature (micron) (nam) Range (ppm/C) cycle (micron) (1/km) 675 150 +/−5% 0.28 −0.000385 3.21 1.14 725 200 +/−5% 0.28 −0.000385 5.31 1.06 825 300 +/−5% 0.28 −0.000385 10.50 0.93 675 150 +/−0.5 0.5 −0.0006875 5.73 2.04 725 200 +/−0.5 0.5 −0.0006875 9.48 1.90 825 300 +/−0.5 0.5 −0.0006875 18.75 1.67 675 150 +/−1.0 1.0 −0.001375 11.46 4.07 725 200 +/−1.0 1.0 −0.001375 18.97 3.79 825 300 +/−1.0 1.0 −0.001375 37.50 3.33 To remain below 50 microns of bow or warp any wafer diameter and any of the 3 ranges of CTE matching can be used (+/−5% of value, +/−0.5, and +/−1.0 about the value of GaN).","Similarly to remain below 25 microns of bow or warp all wafer diameters are allowed for all 3 ranges of CTE matching with the exception of 300 mm for +/−1.0 ppm about the GaN value.","This latter condition could be reached if wafer thickness is allowed to increase by industry standards to 1200 mm (<25 microns bow for a +/−1 ppm delta in CTE compared to GaN on 300 mm diameter).","As previously stated, the isolation layer 103 is deposited on substrate 101 by any suitable PVD or CVD process (e.g.","Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor disposition (PECVD), Low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD), Atomic layer deposition (ALD), Plasma Torch, Liquid phase epitaxy (LPE), and spin coat annealing) In some embodiments, the thickness of the isolation layer 103 is in the range of 1.0 nm (1 nm=1 nanometer=1×10−9 m) to 500 nm.","In one embodiment, the isolation layer 103 is deposited via a spin on coat technique from a liquid and annealed to achieve a smooth film.","The isolation layer 103 may serve as a smooth and non-reacting surface for subsequent layers.","The isolation layer 103 may be also used to prevent subsequent layers from replicating an undesirable crystal structure that may be found in substrate 101, resetting the crystalline orientation and setting a new growth axis.","Materials that could be used in the isolation layer 103 would have one or more of the following function(s) and properties: amorphous or lack of crystal structure, be deposited as non-conformal films, low stress, and the capability to fill in high aspect ratio morphology such as pits, grooves, or ledges.","For example, glasses, glassy carbon, metal nitrides, oxy-nitrides, and oxides such as SiO2 are examples of materials that can be included in the isolation layer 103.In some embodiments, where the substrate has a desirable crystal structure isolation layer 103 may be omitted from structure 100.In one embodiment, isolation layer 103 includes silicon dioxide or silicon nitride.","In some embodiments, isolation layer 103 includes multiple layers followed by a chemical mechanical polish to achieve sufficient flatness, in the range of <5 nm rms surface roughness on areas of 25 um×25 um.","Now with reference to FIG.","1B, seed layer 105 is deposited on isolation layer 103.Seed layer 105 includes, in part one or more thin film layers deposited on top of each other (i.e.","in a stack) by any known CVD or PVD process.","In some embodiments, the thickness of the seed layer 105 is in the range of 1 atomic layer to 500 nm.","Seed layer 105 defines crystal orientation, crystal polarity, crystal structure type, and/or grain size for crystal matching layer 107 and may consist of multiple layers.","In one embodiment, the seed layer 105 includes, in part at least one or more of the following materials: carbon, iron, chromium, titanium, cobalt, ruthenium, tantalum, nickel, and molybdenum.","In one embodiment, seed layers will be grown using PVD techniques and will be grown at appropriate temperatures and target power to achieve dense films.","In the case of wurtzite structure films, the c-axis will be normal to the growth plane, and in the case of cubic crystals, the 111 axis will be normal to the growth plane.","For example, a first layer in seed layer 105 includes titanium (Ti) and may be used to lower the surface energy of substrate 101 in order to improve the growth of subsequent layers by thermodynamically favoring the (0001) direction to be normal to the plane.","In another example, substrate 101 is an aluminum nitride ceramic wafer and seed layer 105 is a thin film layer of cobalt, which together establish a hexagonal close packed (HCP) structure with the c-axis perpendicular to substrate 101.The HCP structure created by seed layer 105 influences the crystal orientation of the subsequent crystal matching layer 107.In other embodiments, seed layer 105 may be used to form a face center cubic (FCC) structure, HCP, or a body centered cubic (BCC) structure, which allows the crystal matching layer 107 to grow with the HCP crystal structure.","Stated another way, the seed layer 105 does not have to be a matched crystal structure to the crystal matching layer 107; instead the seed layer 105 is an appropriate crystal structure.","In some embodiments where substrate 101 presents a suitable crystal structure, both isolation layer 103 and seed layer 105 may be omitted from multilayer structure 100.Examples of such substrates could include ZrTi, Molybdebdum, HfTi, c-oriented polycrystalline Aluminum Nitride, and c-oriented poly-crystalline SiC, materials with CTE within +/−5% about the value of GaN.","With reference to FIG.","1C, crystal matching layer 107 is deposited on seed layer 105.The crystal matching layer may be deposited on seed layer 105 using any known and suitable PVD or CVD method.","Because, substrate 101 is selected due to its CTE qualities in relation to III-N film 111, there may exist lattice constant mismatch between substrate 101 and III-N film 111.In particular, the lattice mismatch can be extremely different, and may be greater than the 13% typically sought for heteroepitaxy.","Embodiments of the invention allow for independently matching the CTE of substrate 101 and III-N film 111 without regard to the lattice parameter of substrate 101 of multilayer structure 100.The crystal matching layer 107 includes, in part one or more metal layers that accommodate and/or eliminate the lattice constant mismatch between substrate 101 and III-N film 111.The thickness of crystal matching layer 107 ranges between 5 nm and 1000 nm.","In one embodiment, the crystal matching layer includes, in part two or more constituent elements, for example two constituents includes, in part a first chemical element and a second chemical element to form a constituent element alloy.","The constituent elements may have similar crystal structures at room temperature, such as an HCP structure.","In addition to crystal structures, the constituent elements may have similar chemical properties.","In one embodiment, the first and second chemical elements may both belong to group four elements (e.g.","titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr), hafnium (Hf) and rutherfordium (Rf)), alloys of the group four elements, nitrides of the group four elements, and the alloys further alloyed with the elements of tantalum (Ta), boron (B), silicon (Si), and the crystal matching layer 107 is capped with the nucleation layer 109.The constituent element alloy may include a third chemical element or more elements which have similar crystal structures and similar chemical properties.","The different chemical elements and the proportions of those chemical elements that make up the constituent element alloy(s) of crystal matching layer 107 may be modified to substantially match the lattice constant of III-N film 111.According one embodiment, ranges for substantial match for heteroepitaxy to mimic homo-epitaxy and do not form crystal misfit and dislocation defects is within the range of +/−1-3% of the value of the III-N film layer's lattice constant (layer 111).","The process of selecting and proportion these chemical elements is further described in U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","8,956,952 and U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/106,657.By utilizing crystal matching layer 107, potential residual stress, along with point and extended defects such as crystal misfit and threading dislocation, may all together be lowered or completely removed which might otherwise occur in III-N film 111 as a result of the difference in the lattice constants between substrate 101 and III-N film 111.Substantially matching the lattice constants (i.e.","+/−1-3%) of crystal matching layer 107 and III-N film 111 aids in the growth of the highest crystalline quality III-N film.","In another embodiment, the crystal matching layer 107 may comprise of a glassy carbon, graphene carbon, graphitic carbon, or pyrolyzed carbon, diamond carbon, and diamond-like coatings that has been purposefully “peppered” with point defects throughout the surface of the film.","The term “graphitic crystal matching layer” and like terms refers to an embodiment where crystal matching layer 107 comprises may comprise of a glassy carbon, graphene carbon, graphitic carbon, or pyrolyzed carbon, diamond carbon, and diamond-like coatings that has been purposefully “peppered” with point defects throughout the surface of the film.","The graphitic crystal matching layer 107 is comprised of >2 carbon layers (e.g.","2, 3, 4, 5), wherein the point defects are introduced in the topmost layer of carbon atoms.","A point defect is created by a displacing an atom from its equilibrium lattice position.","In one embodiment, graphitic crystal matching layer 107 is initially grown on low cost metal such as copper metal, or SiC wafer, or SiC coating on Si wafer, forming graphene from the decomposition of a methane or acetylene gas, or other carbon containing gas using a vapor phase deposition.","The carbon grows as graphene sheets, 1 to 5 carbon layers thick, and can be mechanically released using a thermal anneal tape or direct wafer to wafer contact transfer method, and subsequently transferred by direct application to seed layer 105 (or any other suitable layer.)","Once the graphitic crystal matching layer 107 is transferred to multilayer structure 100 the tape or the carrier substrate of the graphitic crystal matching layer 107 is released by reheating to temperatures above 250 C and cooling down to room temperature.","In a second embodiment, a positive photoresist (PR) is spun directly onto seed layer 105 and then annealed at temperatures >1000C in inert gas annealing chamber or under high vacuum, resulting in benzene rings in the PR to form hexagonal graphene or graphitic carbon as the volatile organic compounds are evaporated from the PR.","Thus the PR becomes graphitic or graphene and acts as the graphitic crystal matching layer.","The ability to use graphene comes about due to the satisfied sp2 bonds associated with graphene, which in turn does not provide chemically reactive sites for traditional epitaxial growth that rely on covalent bonding out of the plane of the film on the graphene.","Instead, the first layer of atoms from nucleation layer 109 is attracted to the outermost layer of atoms from graphitic crystal matching layer 107 owing to the point defects, otherwise uniform film formation would not arise without the point defect strategy.","State another way, without point defects in graphitic crystal matching layer 107 subsequent layers cannot be uniformly grown on graphitic crystal matching layer 107.This means no electrons transfer and no significant lattice mismatch can form, with III-N film 111 if one can nucleate the III-N film 111 (e.g.","AlGaN, GaN, InGaN) on the graphene, the only bonds of significance that determine strain are the cohesive ones within the III-N film 111 itself.","Stated another way, the graphene or graphitic crystal matching layer 107 interface with substrate 101 consists of van der Waals bonds only, which allows for completely relaxed growth of III-N film 111 at its unstrained lattice parameters, producing a compliant interface.","Furthermore, graphene allows for the growth of high quality III-N films since III-N film 111 does not initiate with strain.","Because of the lack of strain there is no buildup as the film grows to a given thickness as is traditionally the case with heteroepitaxy of dissimilar materials.","The cause for a film to form defects is the buildup of strain leading to stress which is released by forming extended defects after a critical thickness is reached.","By utilizing van der Waals nucleation, defects which are typically generated due to this strain have no driving force to form.","In other words, when using a graphene or graphitic crystal with sp2 bonding within the plane and no out of plane bonds for the crystal matching layer 107, requiring the addition of point defects by plasma exposure or other energetic bombardment prior to growth of nucleation layer 109, III-N film 111 film grows unstrained to underlying substrate 101 which paves the way for very high structural and crystalline quality film to grow with its equilibrium lattice constants.","In one embodiment, crystals in the range of 3.1 Angstroms to 4.5 Angstroms can grow “relaxed” and without mismatch, as they are accommodated to float via van der Waal interaction.","In another embodiment, the graphitic crystal matching layer 107 is a thermal conductive layer in the range of 1000 to 2000 Watts/meter*Kelvin (W/m*k), enabling heat to be removed from this layer that is in in the range 20× to 40× more thermally conductive than the substrates or the GaN itself.","Thus, for example, the graphitic crystal matching layer 107 would allow a transistor that operates at 250 C to run at 100 C for example.","Typical conductivity of polycrsytalline AlN is about 150-180 W/mK, Si and GaN are approximately 50 W/mK.","Thus, the graphitic crystal matching layer 107 operation as a heat sink would be a big advantage over traditional heat sinks in the semiconductor field.","Now with reference to FIG.","1D, nucleation layer 109 is deposited on the crystal matching layer 107.The nucleation layer 109 may be deposited by any suitable PVD or CVD process.","The nucleation layer provides a surface that is chemically and physically compatible with III-N film 111.Nucleation layer 109 also provides a suitable growth environment (i.e.","chemistry, crystal polarity, and symmetry) for growing III-N film 111.In some embodiments, nucleation layer 109 includes, in part a nitride film (e.g.","aluminum nitride (AlN)).","In one embodiment, nucleation layer 109 is deposited in the range of 1.0 nm to 200 nm and is pseudomorphically grown to maintain the lattice of the crystal matching layer 107.The nucleation layer 109 may be pseudomorphically (with the same lattice parameter of crystal matching layer 107) grown aluminum nitride (AlN), aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN), gallium nitride (GaN), indium gallium nitride (InGaN).","In one embodiment, the nucleation layer 109 has the same lattice parameter as the crystal matching layer 107.With reference to FIG.","1E, III-N film 111 is deposited on the nucleation layer 109.The III-N film may be epitaxial grown by any suitable PVD or CVD process.","In one embodiment, the III-N film 111 is a semiconductor compound and a member of the solid solution gallium nitride (GaN) and its alloys with aluminum (Al), indium (In), boron (B), including and not limited to: aluminum nitride (AlN), aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN), gallium nitride (GaN), indium nitride (InN), indium gallium nitride (InGaN), and boron nitride (BN).","A novel concept presented by the embodiments of the present invention is that by removing lattice mismatch and CTE mismatch independently using multilayer structure 100, for the first time there is no upper limit to the thickness of the III-N film 111 that can be grown.","In an alternate embodiment III-N film 111 is deposited on the nucleation layer 109 or directly upon the crystal matching layer 107 by hydride Vapour Phase Epitaxy (HVPE).","The use of HVPE for the epitaxial growth of the III-N semiconductor allows for the III-N semiconductor to grow cost effective high crystalline quality (thick) films.","Typically, HVPE films can be grown from 10 microns to 1 mm in 1-3 hours, whereas the limitation in grow rates for conventional MOCVD limits grow to <10 microns, takes 10-20 hours to grow.","In one embodiment, multilayer structure 100 includes the following layers: poly ALN substrate with a diameter of 200 mm and a thickness of 825 micron (101), spin on glass such as SiO2 with a thickness of 750 nm (103), tantalum seed layer with a thickness of 10 nm (105), ZrTi with a thickness of 1000 nm (107), AlN with a thickness of 200 nm (109), and device layers of GaN with a thickness of 1 micron to 50 micron (111).","In another embodiment, multilayer structure includes the following layers: polycrystalline AlN ceramic substrate with a diameter of 200 nm and a thickness of 825 um (101), SiO2 layer with a thickness of 750 nm (103), graphene seed layer with a thickness of >2 atomic layers (107), AlN layer with a thickness of >10 nm (109), and a device layers of GaN with a thickness of 1 micron to 50 micron (111).","Many modifications and other example embodiments set forth herein will bring to mind to the reader knowledgeable in the technical field to which these example pertain to having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings.","Therefore, it is to be understood that the embodiments are not to be limited to the specific ones disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the claims.","Moreover, although the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings describe example embodiments in the context of certain example combinations of elements and/or functions, it should be appreciated that different combinations of elements and/or functions may be provided by alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims.","In this regard, for example, different combinations of elements and/or functions other than those explicitly described above are also contemplated as may be set forth in some of the appended claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"Crystalline Semiconductor Growth on Amorphous and Poly-Crystalline Substrates\",\n \"A multilayer semiconductor structure including at least in part a substrate and an III-N film layer.\",\n \"The substrate's constant of thermal expansion being substantially matched to the III-N film's constant of thermal expansion.\",\n \"The multilayer semiconductor structure may also include a crystal matching layer that has a lattice constant that substantially matches the lattice of constant of the III-N film.\",\n \"By not relying on the substrate for lattice matching the III-N film, the multilayer structure allows greater flexibility in the selection of an applicable substrate.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A multilayer structure comprising: a semiconductor substrate; a seed layer comprising of silicon deposited above the semiconductor substrate; a graphitic crystal matching layer comprising carbon deposited above the seed layer; and a device layer formed above the graphitic crystal matching layer, wherein the semiconductor substrate has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) substantially matching a CTE of the device layer.\",\n \"2.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the seed layer defines crystal orientation and grain size of the graphitic crystal matching layer.\",\n \"3.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor substrate is not a single crystal substrate.\",\n \"4.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor substrate comprises oriented multi-crystalline material.\",\n \"5.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer has point defects throughout its surface.\",\n \"6.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the device layer comprises one or more of the following materials: AlGaN, GaN, or InGaN 7.The multilayer structure of claim 5, further comprising a nucleation layer deposited on the graphitic crystal matching layer.\",\n \"8.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer comprises at least two layers of carbon.\",\n \"9.The multilayer structure of claim 8, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer has point defects in a first layer of carbon, wherein the first layer of carbon is above all other layers of carbon.\",\n \"10.A method of creating a multilayer structure comprising: forming a seed layer comprising of silicon deposited above a semiconductor substrate; forming a graphitic crystal matching layer comprising carbon above the seed layer; and forming a device layer above the graphitic crystal matching layer, wherein the semiconductor substrate has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) substantially matching a CTE of the device layer.\",\n \"11.The method of claim 10, wherein the seed layer defines crystal orientation and grain size of the graphitic crystal matching layer.\",\n \"12.The method of claim 10, wherein the semiconductor substrate is not a single crystal substrate.\",\n \"13.The method of claim 10, wherein the semiconductor substrate comprises oriented multi-crystalline material.\",\n \"14.The method of claim 10, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer has point defects throughout its surface.\",\n \"15.The method of claim 10, wherein the device layer comprises one or more of the following materials: AlGaN, GaN, or InGaN 16.The method of claim 14, further comprising forming a nucleation layer deposited on the graphitic crystal matching layer.\",\n \"17.The method of claim 10, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer comprises at least two layers of carbon.\",\n \"18.The method of claim 10, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer has point defects in a first layer of carbon, wherein the first layer of carbon is above all other layers of carbon.\",\n \"19.The method of claim 10, initially forming the graphitic crystal matching layer on a metal surface using vapor phase deposition, wherein the metal surface is separate from the semiconductor substrate, seed layer, and device layer; mechanically removing the graphitic crystal matching layer from the metal surface; and depositing the graphitic crystal matching layer on the seed layer.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Group III-Nitride (III-N) semiconductors such as AlN, Al GaN, GaN, and InGaN have become important materials for the production of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and high power devices such as High-Electron-Mobility Transistors (HEMTs).\",\n \"Other III-Nitrides such as AlN and AlGaN are often included in device structures to mitigate mismatches in lattice and thermal expansion or as barrier or cladding layers in LEDs.\",\n \"Homoepitaxial growth of III-Nitrides has significant commercial limitations due to the absence of crystalline III-N substrates of reasonable cost and adequate size.\",\n \"Accordingly, heteroepitaxial growth methods have been developed wherein the III-Nitrides are grown on non-native substrates which are not well-matched to III-Nitride films in terms of crystal lattice dimensions or coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE).\",\n \"The mismatch between the substrate, also referred to as the growth template, and the III-N film results in undesirable defects in the films crystal structure and distortions such as bowing or cracking of the substrate/film stack.\",\n \"Current techniques for heteroepitaxy growth of III-N materials involve expensive processes while only partially mitigating defect generation resulting from lattice and CTE mismatch.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY <EOH>Various embodiments of the invention seek to separate the CTE and lattice matching requirements for optimized III-Nitride growth by (1) creating a coefficient of thermal expansion match by providing a CTE-matched substrate and (2) creating a lattice-matched growth surface using a film or stack of films that create a crystalline lattice structure and/or lattice spacing.\",\n \"Embodiments of the present invention may be achieved, for example, by selecting a bulk material for a substrate having a coefficient of thermal expansion substantially matching that of GaN or other semiconductor film and being manufactured as a wafer-like substrate with sub-nanometer-scale surface finish and selecting a thin film material or material stack that can be induced to have a crystal lattice substantially matching that of GaN.\",\n \"The thin film material or material stack is deposited on the bulk material in such a way that the thin film crystal structure is achieved independently of the bulk materials structure or lack of structure.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the thin film crystalline layer or stack of layers establishes a crystal structure suitable for the nucleation and growth of III-Nitride films.\",\n \"Crystal quality can be further influence by adding seed layers, also known as underlayers, between the bulk substrate and the thin film stack.\",\n \"Seed layers can also be used to influence both crystal orientation and grain size of the thin film stack.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the substrate is chosen to be CTE matched to the GaN film, but the substrate is not a single crystal or oriented multi-crystalline material and does not provide a crystalline template for the GaN growth.\",\n \"Instead, an oriented crystalline template for the GaN is provided by the intermediate layers (e.g.\",\n \"thin film crystalline layer, seed layer etc.).\",\n \"In contrast with growth templates currently used in the art, embodiments of the invention do not rely on the structure of the bulk substrate to establish crystallinity.\",\n \"Crystallinity is established only in the thin film stack, with no required coincidence or crystal registry to the crystal lattice of the substrate.\",\n \"Consequently, the bulk material can be chosen based on CTE properties and suitability for mass production; opening the opportunity to use amorphous or low crystal quality poly-crystals with little to no crystalline orientation.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS REFERENCE RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation in part of application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/161,111 entitled “Crystalline Semiconductor Growth on Amorphous and Polycrystalline Substrates” filed May 20, 2016, which claims benefit under 35 USC 119 (e) of U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application No.\",\n \"62/184,692 entitled “Power Devices and LED Architectures Enabled by Bulk Quality Seeded Growth of a Member in the Solid Solution of Al GaN-InGaN using Group III-Nitride Crystal Matching Layer (“CML”) film” filed Jun.\",\n \"25, 2015; and of U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application No.\",\n \"62/233,157 entitled “Crystalline Semiconductor Growth on Amorphous and Poly-Crystalline Substrates” filed Sep. 25, 2015; the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention is related to a multilayer semiconductor structure.\",\n \"BACKGROUND Group III-Nitride (III-N) semiconductors such as AlN, Al GaN, GaN, and InGaN have become important materials for the production of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and high power devices such as High-Electron-Mobility Transistors (HEMTs).\",\n \"Other III-Nitrides such as AlN and AlGaN are often included in device structures to mitigate mismatches in lattice and thermal expansion or as barrier or cladding layers in LEDs.\",\n \"Homoepitaxial growth of III-Nitrides has significant commercial limitations due to the absence of crystalline III-N substrates of reasonable cost and adequate size.\",\n \"Accordingly, heteroepitaxial growth methods have been developed wherein the III-Nitrides are grown on non-native substrates which are not well-matched to III-Nitride films in terms of crystal lattice dimensions or coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE).\",\n \"The mismatch between the substrate, also referred to as the growth template, and the III-N film results in undesirable defects in the films crystal structure and distortions such as bowing or cracking of the substrate/film stack.\",\n \"Current techniques for heteroepitaxy growth of III-N materials involve expensive processes while only partially mitigating defect generation resulting from lattice and CTE mismatch.\",\n \"BRIEF SUMMARY Various embodiments of the invention seek to separate the CTE and lattice matching requirements for optimized III-Nitride growth by (1) creating a coefficient of thermal expansion match by providing a CTE-matched substrate and (2) creating a lattice-matched growth surface using a film or stack of films that create a crystalline lattice structure and/or lattice spacing.\",\n \"Embodiments of the present invention may be achieved, for example, by selecting a bulk material for a substrate having a coefficient of thermal expansion substantially matching that of GaN or other semiconductor film and being manufactured as a wafer-like substrate with sub-nanometer-scale surface finish and selecting a thin film material or material stack that can be induced to have a crystal lattice substantially matching that of GaN.\",\n \"The thin film material or material stack is deposited on the bulk material in such a way that the thin film crystal structure is achieved independently of the bulk materials structure or lack of structure.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the thin film crystalline layer or stack of layers establishes a crystal structure suitable for the nucleation and growth of III-Nitride films.\",\n \"Crystal quality can be further influence by adding seed layers, also known as underlayers, between the bulk substrate and the thin film stack.\",\n \"Seed layers can also be used to influence both crystal orientation and grain size of the thin film stack.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the substrate is chosen to be CTE matched to the GaN film, but the substrate is not a single crystal or oriented multi-crystalline material and does not provide a crystalline template for the GaN growth.\",\n \"Instead, an oriented crystalline template for the GaN is provided by the intermediate layers (e.g.\",\n \"thin film crystalline layer, seed layer etc.).\",\n \"In contrast with growth templates currently used in the art, embodiments of the invention do not rely on the structure of the bulk substrate to establish crystallinity.\",\n \"Crystallinity is established only in the thin film stack, with no required coincidence or crystal registry to the crystal lattice of the substrate.\",\n \"Consequently, the bulk material can be chosen based on CTE properties and suitability for mass production; opening the opportunity to use amorphous or low crystal quality poly-crystals with little to no crystalline orientation.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1A is a cross sectional view of a multilayer semiconductor structure, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1B is a cross sectional view of a multilayer semiconductor structure, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1C is a cross sectional view of a multilayer semiconductor structure, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1D is a cross sectional view of a multilayer semiconductor structure, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1E is a cross sectional view of a multilayer semiconductor structure, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION The various embodiments are described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.\",\n \"These example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to readers of this specification having knowledge in the technical field.\",\n \"Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1E illustrates a cross-section view of multilayer structure 100.Multilayer structure 100 includes several layers including: substrate 101, isolation layer 103, seed layer 105, crystal matching layer 107, nucleation layer 109, and III-N film 111.III-N film is a layer of semiconductor material consisting of at least one group III nitride material and/or their alloys (e.g.\",\n \"GaN, InN, AlGaN, InGaN).\",\n \"In some embodiments one or more layers 103, 105, 109, and 111 may be optional.\",\n \"Although, embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to an III-N film, it is understood that any semiconductor film may be used by adjusting crystal matching layer 107 to accommodate the lattice parameter of the chosen semiconductor film.\",\n \"The process of forming multilayer structure 100 is described with relation to FIGS.\",\n \"1A-1E.\",\n \"Now with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1A, multilayer structure 100 includes, in part isolation layer 103 deposited via physical layer deposition (PVD) or chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on substrate 101.Depending on various applications, substrate 101 includes, in part a semiconductor material, a compound semiconductor material, or other type of material such as a metal or non-metal.\",\n \"For example, the materials comprising substrate 101 may include: molybdenum, molybdenum-copper, poly-aluminum nitride ceramic, mullite ceramic, alumina, sapphire, refractory nitrides of Zr(ZrN), Ti (Ti-N), Hf (HFN) or any alloy therein, graphite, aluminum-oxynitrides, silicon, silicon carbide, zinc oxides and rare earth oxides, and/or other suitable materials.\",\n \"In some embodiments, substrate 101 has a thickness in the range of 250 microns to 1 mm.\",\n \"Depending on various applications and material composition, substrate 101 may take different structural forms.\",\n \"For example, substrate 101 may include an amorphous or polycrystalline structure.\",\n \"However, in other embodiments, substrate 101 may include a single crystal (e.g.\",\n \"sapphire and silicon) or oriented multi-crystalline material.\",\n \"Regardless of the material or the structure, substrate 101 has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) substantially matching the CTE of III-N film 111.In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, substrate 101 for the multilayer structure 100 may be chosen for its CTE properties, and there may be no reliance on the underlying crystal structure of the substrate.\",\n \"As a result, substrate 101 may include any material so long as substrate 101 has a CTE (ppm per degree Kelvin or 10̂−6/K) that substantially matches the III-N film 111.Instead of depending on substrate 101 for providing a crystal structure or template for III-N film 111 growth, the crystal matching layer 107 may completely replace, upgrade, or enhance the crystal structure of substrate 101 and directly enable III-N film 111 growth.\",\n \"What is considered a substantially matched CTE depends on the application of the multilayer structure 100.In accordance with one embodiment, the substrate's CTE is within ±5% of the III-N film's CTE to be substantially matching.\",\n \"For example, in order for a substrate to be substantially matched with GaN (having an approximate CTE of 5.6), the substrate has a CTE between 5.32 and 5.88.The CTE of molybdenum is approximately 5.4, and according to one embodiment, is substantially matched to the CTE of GaN.\",\n \"Applications in power semiconductor discrete devices, GaN based integrated circuits (IC), or high current density optoelectronic devices; of which creating significant thermal stresses during fabrication of semiconductor device layer on the substrate would benefit from a substantial match in CTE in accordance with one embodiment.\",\n \"On the other hand, a silicon substrate with an approximate CTE of 2.6, would not be substantially matched to the CTE of the GaN film according to one embodiment.\",\n \"According to one embodiment, other materials that substantially match GaN include but are not limited to: Zirconium, Molybdenum, pure Arsenic, ZrTi (86:14 atomic percent), Carbide, and multigrained or polycrystalline Aluminum Nitride ceramic (1 to 1 atomic ratio).\",\n \"In one embodiment, a substrate's CTE substantially matches the III-N film's CTE if the substrate's CTE is within 1 unit (where 1 unit is a ppm per degree Kelvin) of the III-N film's CTE.\",\n \"In accordance with this embodiment, materials that substantially match GaN include, but are not limited to: Zirconium, Osmium, Hafnium, Chromium, Molybdenum, Cerium, Rhenium, Tantalum, Iridium, Ruthenium, Tungsten, Praseodymium, Germanium, InAs, InP, InSb, AlAs, AlP, GaP, GaAs, pure Arsenic, Molybdenum-Copper, alloys of ZrTi, alloys of HfTi, Carbide, and poly-Aluminum Nitride ceramic (1 to 1 atomic ratio), Titanium, alloys of Molybdenum, alloys of Tungsten, alloys of Nickel, alloys of Niobium, alloys of Iridium, Kovar, alloys of Neodymium, Molybdenum-Copper, metal alloys of Ti, alloys of Zr, alloys of Hf, Carbide, poly-Aluminum Nitride ceramic of varying atomic proportions, alumina ceramic, titania, polycrystalline SiC.\",\n \"Typical applications requiring a substantially matched CTE according to this embodiment include, but are not limited to, thermal annealing, thermal degas or cleaning steps, physical or chemical film growth, recrystallization steps, metal contact firing steps, implantation and subsequent annealing, or any circuit fabrication steps (mask/lithography, growth, etch/pattern, metallization, CMP, etc) that may require temperature heat up/cool down steps in any portion of the range of 1400 Celsius to room temperature and must remain below 50 microns of substrate or wafer bow over any wafer diameter.\",\n \"In another embodiment, a substrate's CTE substantially matches the III-N film's CTE if the substrate's CTE is within 0.5 unit (where the unit is a ppm per degree Kelvin) of the III-N film's CTE.\",\n \"For example, molybdenum has a CTE of approximately 5.4, which is within 0.5 of the CTE (unit of ppm per degree Kelvin) of GaN.\",\n \"In accordance with this embodiment, other materials that substantially match GaN include, but are not limited to: Molybdenum, pure Arsenic, Chromium, ZrTi (86:14), Carbide, Germanium, Osmium, Zirconium, Hafnium, InSb, Kovar, and poly-Aluminum Nitride ceramic (1 to 1 atomic ratio).\",\n \"Typical applications requiring a substantially matched CTE according to this embodiment include, but are not limited to: thermal annealing, thermal degas or cleaning steps, physical or chemical film growth, recrystallization steps, metal contact firing steps, implantation and subsequent annealing, or any circuit fabrication step (mask/lithography, growth, etch/pattern, metallization, CMP, etc.)\",\n \"that requires temperature heat up/cool down steps in any portion of the range of 1400 Celsius to room temperature, and must remain below 25 microns of substrate or wafer bow over any wafer diameter.\",\n \"It is known that differences in CTE between a film and substrate can lead to residual stress between the film and the substrate as a result of heating and cooling processes during film deposition.\",\n \"Residual stress may result in compression or tension on the film.\",\n \"When the film compresses, the residual stress may be relieved by buckling of the film, but when the film is under tension, the residual stress may be relieved by cracking of the film.\",\n \"In one embodiment, in the case of a CTE mismatch between the film and the substrate that results in residual stress, the multilayer structure 100 should be designed to create compression on III-N film 111 rather than tension on III-N film 111.Moreover, maintaining wafer flatness is crucial to manufacture devices from the deposited GaN film(s) on the substrates.\",\n \"For any film thickness of GaN grown on a substrate where the film thickness is less than the substrate thickness, Table 1 enumerates designs that would be allowed assuming increasing substrate diameter and corresponding thickness to achieve two categories of tolerable bow or warp, namely less than 25 microns and lower than 50 microns (limits mainly set by automatic handling equipment and limits in depth of focus for lithographic steps).\",\n \"TABLE 1 Extrinsic Strain Delta CTE allowed @ Assumed allowed by 1400 C. Calculated Thickness Diameter CTE Match matching cool down max Bow Curvature (micron) (nam) Range (ppm/C) cycle (micron) (1/km) 675 150 +/−5% 0.28 −0.000385 3.21 1.14 725 200 +/−5% 0.28 −0.000385 5.31 1.06 825 300 +/−5% 0.28 −0.000385 10.50 0.93 675 150 +/−0.5 0.5 −0.0006875 5.73 2.04 725 200 +/−0.5 0.5 −0.0006875 9.48 1.90 825 300 +/−0.5 0.5 −0.0006875 18.75 1.67 675 150 +/−1.0 1.0 −0.001375 11.46 4.07 725 200 +/−1.0 1.0 −0.001375 18.97 3.79 825 300 +/−1.0 1.0 −0.001375 37.50 3.33 To remain below 50 microns of bow or warp any wafer diameter and any of the 3 ranges of CTE matching can be used (+/−5% of value, +/−0.5, and +/−1.0 about the value of GaN).\",\n \"Similarly to remain below 25 microns of bow or warp all wafer diameters are allowed for all 3 ranges of CTE matching with the exception of 300 mm for +/−1.0 ppm about the GaN value.\",\n \"This latter condition could be reached if wafer thickness is allowed to increase by industry standards to 1200 mm (<25 microns bow for a +/−1 ppm delta in CTE compared to GaN on 300 mm diameter).\",\n \"As previously stated, the isolation layer 103 is deposited on substrate 101 by any suitable PVD or CVD process (e.g.\",\n \"Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor disposition (PECVD), Low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD), Atomic layer deposition (ALD), Plasma Torch, Liquid phase epitaxy (LPE), and spin coat annealing) In some embodiments, the thickness of the isolation layer 103 is in the range of 1.0 nm (1 nm=1 nanometer=1×10−9 m) to 500 nm.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the isolation layer 103 is deposited via a spin on coat technique from a liquid and annealed to achieve a smooth film.\",\n \"The isolation layer 103 may serve as a smooth and non-reacting surface for subsequent layers.\",\n \"The isolation layer 103 may be also used to prevent subsequent layers from replicating an undesirable crystal structure that may be found in substrate 101, resetting the crystalline orientation and setting a new growth axis.\",\n \"Materials that could be used in the isolation layer 103 would have one or more of the following function(s) and properties: amorphous or lack of crystal structure, be deposited as non-conformal films, low stress, and the capability to fill in high aspect ratio morphology such as pits, grooves, or ledges.\",\n \"For example, glasses, glassy carbon, metal nitrides, oxy-nitrides, and oxides such as SiO2 are examples of materials that can be included in the isolation layer 103.In some embodiments, where the substrate has a desirable crystal structure isolation layer 103 may be omitted from structure 100.In one embodiment, isolation layer 103 includes silicon dioxide or silicon nitride.\",\n \"In some embodiments, isolation layer 103 includes multiple layers followed by a chemical mechanical polish to achieve sufficient flatness, in the range of <5 nm rms surface roughness on areas of 25 um×25 um.\",\n \"Now with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1B, seed layer 105 is deposited on isolation layer 103.Seed layer 105 includes, in part one or more thin film layers deposited on top of each other (i.e.\",\n \"in a stack) by any known CVD or PVD process.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the thickness of the seed layer 105 is in the range of 1 atomic layer to 500 nm.\",\n \"Seed layer 105 defines crystal orientation, crystal polarity, crystal structure type, and/or grain size for crystal matching layer 107 and may consist of multiple layers.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the seed layer 105 includes, in part at least one or more of the following materials: carbon, iron, chromium, titanium, cobalt, ruthenium, tantalum, nickel, and molybdenum.\",\n \"In one embodiment, seed layers will be grown using PVD techniques and will be grown at appropriate temperatures and target power to achieve dense films.\",\n \"In the case of wurtzite structure films, the c-axis will be normal to the growth plane, and in the case of cubic crystals, the 111 axis will be normal to the growth plane.\",\n \"For example, a first layer in seed layer 105 includes titanium (Ti) and may be used to lower the surface energy of substrate 101 in order to improve the growth of subsequent layers by thermodynamically favoring the (0001) direction to be normal to the plane.\",\n \"In another example, substrate 101 is an aluminum nitride ceramic wafer and seed layer 105 is a thin film layer of cobalt, which together establish a hexagonal close packed (HCP) structure with the c-axis perpendicular to substrate 101.The HCP structure created by seed layer 105 influences the crystal orientation of the subsequent crystal matching layer 107.In other embodiments, seed layer 105 may be used to form a face center cubic (FCC) structure, HCP, or a body centered cubic (BCC) structure, which allows the crystal matching layer 107 to grow with the HCP crystal structure.\",\n \"Stated another way, the seed layer 105 does not have to be a matched crystal structure to the crystal matching layer 107; instead the seed layer 105 is an appropriate crystal structure.\",\n \"In some embodiments where substrate 101 presents a suitable crystal structure, both isolation layer 103 and seed layer 105 may be omitted from multilayer structure 100.Examples of such substrates could include ZrTi, Molybdebdum, HfTi, c-oriented polycrystalline Aluminum Nitride, and c-oriented poly-crystalline SiC, materials with CTE within +/−5% about the value of GaN.\",\n \"With reference to FIG.\",\n \"1C, crystal matching layer 107 is deposited on seed layer 105.The crystal matching layer may be deposited on seed layer 105 using any known and suitable PVD or CVD method.\",\n \"Because, substrate 101 is selected due to its CTE qualities in relation to III-N film 111, there may exist lattice constant mismatch between substrate 101 and III-N film 111.In particular, the lattice mismatch can be extremely different, and may be greater than the 13% typically sought for heteroepitaxy.\",\n \"Embodiments of the invention allow for independently matching the CTE of substrate 101 and III-N film 111 without regard to the lattice parameter of substrate 101 of multilayer structure 100.The crystal matching layer 107 includes, in part one or more metal layers that accommodate and/or eliminate the lattice constant mismatch between substrate 101 and III-N film 111.The thickness of crystal matching layer 107 ranges between 5 nm and 1000 nm.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the crystal matching layer includes, in part two or more constituent elements, for example two constituents includes, in part a first chemical element and a second chemical element to form a constituent element alloy.\",\n \"The constituent elements may have similar crystal structures at room temperature, such as an HCP structure.\",\n \"In addition to crystal structures, the constituent elements may have similar chemical properties.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the first and second chemical elements may both belong to group four elements (e.g.\",\n \"titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr), hafnium (Hf) and rutherfordium (Rf)), alloys of the group four elements, nitrides of the group four elements, and the alloys further alloyed with the elements of tantalum (Ta), boron (B), silicon (Si), and the crystal matching layer 107 is capped with the nucleation layer 109.The constituent element alloy may include a third chemical element or more elements which have similar crystal structures and similar chemical properties.\",\n \"The different chemical elements and the proportions of those chemical elements that make up the constituent element alloy(s) of crystal matching layer 107 may be modified to substantially match the lattice constant of III-N film 111.According one embodiment, ranges for substantial match for heteroepitaxy to mimic homo-epitaxy and do not form crystal misfit and dislocation defects is within the range of +/−1-3% of the value of the III-N film layer's lattice constant (layer 111).\",\n \"The process of selecting and proportion these chemical elements is further described in U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,956,952 and U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/106,657.By utilizing crystal matching layer 107, potential residual stress, along with point and extended defects such as crystal misfit and threading dislocation, may all together be lowered or completely removed which might otherwise occur in III-N film 111 as a result of the difference in the lattice constants between substrate 101 and III-N film 111.Substantially matching the lattice constants (i.e.\",\n \"+/−1-3%) of crystal matching layer 107 and III-N film 111 aids in the growth of the highest crystalline quality III-N film.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the crystal matching layer 107 may comprise of a glassy carbon, graphene carbon, graphitic carbon, or pyrolyzed carbon, diamond carbon, and diamond-like coatings that has been purposefully “peppered” with point defects throughout the surface of the film.\",\n \"The term “graphitic crystal matching layer” and like terms refers to an embodiment where crystal matching layer 107 comprises may comprise of a glassy carbon, graphene carbon, graphitic carbon, or pyrolyzed carbon, diamond carbon, and diamond-like coatings that has been purposefully “peppered” with point defects throughout the surface of the film.\",\n \"The graphitic crystal matching layer 107 is comprised of >2 carbon layers (e.g.\",\n \"2, 3, 4, 5), wherein the point defects are introduced in the topmost layer of carbon atoms.\",\n \"A point defect is created by a displacing an atom from its equilibrium lattice position.\",\n \"In one embodiment, graphitic crystal matching layer 107 is initially grown on low cost metal such as copper metal, or SiC wafer, or SiC coating on Si wafer, forming graphene from the decomposition of a methane or acetylene gas, or other carbon containing gas using a vapor phase deposition.\",\n \"The carbon grows as graphene sheets, 1 to 5 carbon layers thick, and can be mechanically released using a thermal anneal tape or direct wafer to wafer contact transfer method, and subsequently transferred by direct application to seed layer 105 (or any other suitable layer.)\",\n \"Once the graphitic crystal matching layer 107 is transferred to multilayer structure 100 the tape or the carrier substrate of the graphitic crystal matching layer 107 is released by reheating to temperatures above 250 C and cooling down to room temperature.\",\n \"In a second embodiment, a positive photoresist (PR) is spun directly onto seed layer 105 and then annealed at temperatures >1000C in inert gas annealing chamber or under high vacuum, resulting in benzene rings in the PR to form hexagonal graphene or graphitic carbon as the volatile organic compounds are evaporated from the PR.\",\n \"Thus the PR becomes graphitic or graphene and acts as the graphitic crystal matching layer.\",\n \"The ability to use graphene comes about due to the satisfied sp2 bonds associated with graphene, which in turn does not provide chemically reactive sites for traditional epitaxial growth that rely on covalent bonding out of the plane of the film on the graphene.\",\n \"Instead, the first layer of atoms from nucleation layer 109 is attracted to the outermost layer of atoms from graphitic crystal matching layer 107 owing to the point defects, otherwise uniform film formation would not arise without the point defect strategy.\",\n \"State another way, without point defects in graphitic crystal matching layer 107 subsequent layers cannot be uniformly grown on graphitic crystal matching layer 107.This means no electrons transfer and no significant lattice mismatch can form, with III-N film 111 if one can nucleate the III-N film 111 (e.g.\",\n \"AlGaN, GaN, InGaN) on the graphene, the only bonds of significance that determine strain are the cohesive ones within the III-N film 111 itself.\",\n \"Stated another way, the graphene or graphitic crystal matching layer 107 interface with substrate 101 consists of van der Waals bonds only, which allows for completely relaxed growth of III-N film 111 at its unstrained lattice parameters, producing a compliant interface.\",\n \"Furthermore, graphene allows for the growth of high quality III-N films since III-N film 111 does not initiate with strain.\",\n \"Because of the lack of strain there is no buildup as the film grows to a given thickness as is traditionally the case with heteroepitaxy of dissimilar materials.\",\n \"The cause for a film to form defects is the buildup of strain leading to stress which is released by forming extended defects after a critical thickness is reached.\",\n \"By utilizing van der Waals nucleation, defects which are typically generated due to this strain have no driving force to form.\",\n \"In other words, when using a graphene or graphitic crystal with sp2 bonding within the plane and no out of plane bonds for the crystal matching layer 107, requiring the addition of point defects by plasma exposure or other energetic bombardment prior to growth of nucleation layer 109, III-N film 111 film grows unstrained to underlying substrate 101 which paves the way for very high structural and crystalline quality film to grow with its equilibrium lattice constants.\",\n \"In one embodiment, crystals in the range of 3.1 Angstroms to 4.5 Angstroms can grow “relaxed” and without mismatch, as they are accommodated to float via van der Waal interaction.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the graphitic crystal matching layer 107 is a thermal conductive layer in the range of 1000 to 2000 Watts/meter*Kelvin (W/m*k), enabling heat to be removed from this layer that is in in the range 20× to 40× more thermally conductive than the substrates or the GaN itself.\",\n \"Thus, for example, the graphitic crystal matching layer 107 would allow a transistor that operates at 250 C to run at 100 C for example.\",\n \"Typical conductivity of polycrsytalline AlN is about 150-180 W/mK, Si and GaN are approximately 50 W/mK.\",\n \"Thus, the graphitic crystal matching layer 107 operation as a heat sink would be a big advantage over traditional heat sinks in the semiconductor field.\",\n \"Now with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1D, nucleation layer 109 is deposited on the crystal matching layer 107.The nucleation layer 109 may be deposited by any suitable PVD or CVD process.\",\n \"The nucleation layer provides a surface that is chemically and physically compatible with III-N film 111.Nucleation layer 109 also provides a suitable growth environment (i.e.\",\n \"chemistry, crystal polarity, and symmetry) for growing III-N film 111.In some embodiments, nucleation layer 109 includes, in part a nitride film (e.g.\",\n \"aluminum nitride (AlN)).\",\n \"In one embodiment, nucleation layer 109 is deposited in the range of 1.0 nm to 200 nm and is pseudomorphically grown to maintain the lattice of the crystal matching layer 107.The nucleation layer 109 may be pseudomorphically (with the same lattice parameter of crystal matching layer 107) grown aluminum nitride (AlN), aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN), gallium nitride (GaN), indium gallium nitride (InGaN).\",\n \"In one embodiment, the nucleation layer 109 has the same lattice parameter as the crystal matching layer 107.With reference to FIG.\",\n \"1E, III-N film 111 is deposited on the nucleation layer 109.The III-N film may be epitaxial grown by any suitable PVD or CVD process.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the III-N film 111 is a semiconductor compound and a member of the solid solution gallium nitride (GaN) and its alloys with aluminum (Al), indium (In), boron (B), including and not limited to: aluminum nitride (AlN), aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN), gallium nitride (GaN), indium nitride (InN), indium gallium nitride (InGaN), and boron nitride (BN).\",\n \"A novel concept presented by the embodiments of the present invention is that by removing lattice mismatch and CTE mismatch independently using multilayer structure 100, for the first time there is no upper limit to the thickness of the III-N film 111 that can be grown.\",\n \"In an alternate embodiment III-N film 111 is deposited on the nucleation layer 109 or directly upon the crystal matching layer 107 by hydride Vapour Phase Epitaxy (HVPE).\",\n \"The use of HVPE for the epitaxial growth of the III-N semiconductor allows for the III-N semiconductor to grow cost effective high crystalline quality (thick) films.\",\n \"Typically, HVPE films can be grown from 10 microns to 1 mm in 1-3 hours, whereas the limitation in grow rates for conventional MOCVD limits grow to <10 microns, takes 10-20 hours to grow.\",\n \"In one embodiment, multilayer structure 100 includes the following layers: poly ALN substrate with a diameter of 200 mm and a thickness of 825 micron (101), spin on glass such as SiO2 with a thickness of 750 nm (103), tantalum seed layer with a thickness of 10 nm (105), ZrTi with a thickness of 1000 nm (107), AlN with a thickness of 200 nm (109), and device layers of GaN with a thickness of 1 micron to 50 micron (111).\",\n \"In another embodiment, multilayer structure includes the following layers: polycrystalline AlN ceramic substrate with a diameter of 200 nm and a thickness of 825 um (101), SiO2 layer with a thickness of 750 nm (103), graphene seed layer with a thickness of >2 atomic layers (107), AlN layer with a thickness of >10 nm (109), and a device layers of GaN with a thickness of 1 micron to 50 micron (111).\",\n \"Many modifications and other example embodiments set forth herein will bring to mind to the reader knowledgeable in the technical field to which these example pertain to having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings.\",\n \"Therefore, it is to be understood that the embodiments are not to be limited to the specific ones disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the claims.\",\n \"Moreover, although the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings describe example embodiments in the context of certain example combinations of elements and/or functions, it should be appreciated that different combinations of elements and/or functions may be provided by alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims.\",\n \"In this regard, for example, different combinations of elements and/or functions other than those explicitly described above are also contemplated as may be set forth in some of the appended claims.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876048"}}},{"rowIdx":4495064,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FINGERPRINTING DATASETS","Systems and methods for the matching of datasets, such as input audio segments, with known datasets in a database are disclosed.","In an illustrative embodiment, the use of the presently disclosed systems and methods is described in conjunction with recognizing known network message recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call.","The methodologies include creation of a ternary fingerprint bitmap to make the comparison process more efficient.","Also disclosed are automated methodologies for creating the database of known datasets from a larger collection of datasets."],["1.A method for matching an audio stream comprising the steps of: a. generating a collection of ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps; b. subdividing each ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap into a plurality of segments; c. obtaining a hash key from each segment; and d. aggregating obtained hash keys from the ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps into a lookup table.","2.The method of claim 1, wherein said ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap is generated for an audio object to detect.","3.The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of step (a) further comprises the step of generating a number of ternary values per frame of audio.","4.The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of segments are equal in length.","5.The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of segments comprises four equal segments.","6.The method of claim 1, wherein the hash key of step (c) is obtained by extracting a number of ternary values from ternary values of a number of frames from each segment.","7.The method of claim 6, wherein the number of frames of each segment evenly divides the number of ternary values.","8.The method of claim 7, wherein said number of ternary values is 128.9.The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of: e. generating a number of bit vectors from a number of input audio frames; f. combining the bit vectors into a binary hash key; g. comparing the binary hash key from step (f) against all obtained hash keys in the lookup table.","h. identifying audio fingerprints corresponding to matching hash keys, wherein, if a match is not found, repeating the method from step (e).","10.The method of claim 9, wherein the binary hash key comprises a number of bits.","11.The method of claim 10, wherein the number of input audio frames evenly divides the number of bits.","12.The method of claim 11, wherein the number of bits is 128.13.The method of claim 9, wherein said comparing of step (g) is performed by computing a masked Hamming distance.","14.The method of claim 13, wherein said computing is parallelized and optimized with at least one of: Single-Instruction-Multiple Data Instructions and population count instruction.","15.The method of claim 13, wherein said hash keys in the lookup table match with a low masked Hamming distance.","16.The method of claim 9, wherein step (h) further comprises the steps of: a. performing a first match with a first criteria; b. identifying fingerprints matching said first criteria as candidate matches; c. performing a second match on said candidate matches with a second criteria; and d. declaring candidate matches meeting the second criteria a match.","17.The method of claim 16, wherein the first criteria and the second criteria are derived from a bit error rate.","18.The method of claim 17, wherein at least one of: said first criteria comprises a lower number of standard deviations and said second criteria comprises a higher number of standard deviations.","19.The method of claim 18, wherein at least one of: said lower number is 3 and said higher number is 9.20.-29.","(canceled)"],["<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS <EOH>The background of the present disclosure and the illustrative embodiments disclosed herein are described in the context of identifying known audio recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call, for example during a call placed from a contact center.","However, the present invention has applicability to the identification of any segment of audio or an image (as used herein, the term “image” is intended to encompass both still and moving images), regardless of the type or source of the audio or image, and regardless of in what circumstances the audio or image is encountered.","Furthermore, the present invention also has applicability to the identification of any segment of data such as, for example, data obtained from any type of sensor.","Therefore, as used herein, the term “dataset” shall encompass a collection of any type of data, whether comprising audio, image, or other type of data.","In a classic contact center scenario, outbound calls are made either automatically (by a class of devices known as “automated dialers” or “autodialers”) or manually.","A number of human “agents” are available to join into calls that are determined to reach a live person at the called end.","In this way, efficiencies are obtained by not having agents involved in a call until it is determined that there is a live person at the called end with whom the agent may speak.","The use of automated equipment to monitor the telephone line during the outbound call is referred to as call progress analysis (CPA).","CPA is a class of algorithms that operate on audio and network signaling during call setup.","The goal of CPA is to determine the nature of the callee, or the outcome of call setup to an external network (traditional public switched telephone network or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)).","Specifically, when a call or session is being established, the caller or initiator must determine whether it was answered by a live speaker, if the line is busy, etc.","When the caller is an automated application, such as an automated dialer or message broadcasting system, CPA algorithms are used to perform the classification automatically.","CPA is used to interpret so-called call-progress tones, such as ring back and busy, that are delivered by the telephone network to the calling entity.","Traditional CPA is performed using low- and high-pass frequency discriminators together with energy measurements over time to qualify in-band signaling tones.","Another method for classifying audio on an outbound call is known as Voice Activity Detection (VAD), which is a class of audio processing algorithms that identify where speech is present in an audio stream.","The detected speech may originate from any source, including a live speaker or a prerecorded message.","Modern VAD algorithms use spectral analysis to distinguish the utterance of a primary speaker from background noise.","A subclass of CPA algorithms that extract speaking patterns using VAD, and determine whether the patterns originate from a live speaker or a prerecorded message, is known as Answering Machine Detection (AMD).","By identifying calls that do not connect to a live speaker, an accurate AMD algorithm can significantly increase throughput of an automated dialer.","However, false positives from AMD lead to silent or abandoned calls, causing revenue loss for the contact center, and negative impressions amongst the public.","The quality of an AMD algorithm is a function of the accuracy and response time, and some regions of the world (notably the U.S. and U.K.) impose strict legal requirements on both.","AMD is not an exact science, and the optimal approach is an open problem.","To achieve acceptable accuracy, speed, and flexibility, AMD algorithms use a combination of heuristics and statistical models such as neural networks to classify an utterance as live or pre-recorded.","Although many commercial AMD systems available on the market report high accuracy rates in the marketing literature (e.g., 95% or more), there is no independent auditor for these figures, and the actual accuracy rate is typically much lower in practice (e.g., 80% or less), as reflected by continued widespread complaints.","A general ban has been proposed by some consumer advocacy groups, and some contact centers simply cannot use AMD because of its limitations.","A relatively new science of audio identification is known as Acoustic Fingerprinting, in which a system generates a “fingerprint” of a candidate audio stream, and compares it against a database of known fingerprints, analogous to human fingerprinting used in forensics.","In this context, a “fingerprint” is a condensed digest of an audio stream that can quickly establish perceptual equality with other audio streams.","A database of known fingerprints may associate known fingerprints with meta-data such as “title”, “artist”, etc.","The past ten years have seen a rapidly growing scientific and industrial interest in fingerprinting technology for audio and images.","Applications include identifying songs and advertisements, media library management, and copyright compliance.","Various acoustic fingerprinting algorithm classes have been proposed, and the most prevalent today are those based on either “landmarks” or “bitmaps”.","Landmark-based algorithms extract discrete features from an audio stream called “landmarks”, such as spectral peaks, sudden changes in tone, pitch, loudness, etc.","The optimal choice of landmark is an open question guided mostly by heuristics.","The acoustic fingerprint is stored as a sequence of data structures that describe each landmark.","At runtime, landmarks extracted from a candidate audio stream are compared to a database of fingerprints based on a distance metric.","Bitmap-based algorithms analyze an audio stream as a sequence of frames, and use a filter bank to quantize each frame into a bit vector of size N, where N is typically chosen for convenience as the number of bits in a C-style integer, e.g.","Nϵ {8, 16, 32, or 64}.","A popular and well-studied example is known as the “Haitsma-Kalker algorithm”, which computes a binary bitmap using a filter that compares short-term differences in both time and frequency.","The Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm has been well-studied in the literature.","It's inventors, Jaap Haitsma and Ton Kalker, have published a report of use of the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm and the comparison of binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps to identify three (3) second recordings of songs from a database of millions of songs (Haitsma and Kalker, “A Highly Robust Audio Fingerprinting System,” Journal of New Music Research, Vol.","32, No.","2 (2003), pp.","211-221).","The complete acoustic fingerprint is stored as a sequence of bit vectors, or a bitmap.","As illustrated in FIG.","1A-C , there are shown three images of an audio stream containing a message from a telephone network saying “This number has been disconnected”.","FIG.","1A shows the original audio wave signal, with 1.5 seconds of audio sampled at 8000 KHz.","FIG.","1B shows a spectrogram of the original audio input signal, with dark regions indicating high energy at a particular frequency.","FIG.","1C shows a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap created using the Haitsma-Kalker algorithm, with height N=16.The height is determined by the number of bits computed at each frame, and the width is determined by the number of frames in the audio stream.","At runtime, the bitmap computed from a candidate audio stream is compared to a database of bitmaps based on the number of non-matching bits, also known as the Hamming distance.","The use of bitmap matching and the process of acoustic fingerprinting is a powerful emerging tool in the science of audio recognition; however, it is computationally intense and requires several seconds of sampled audio to make a match in many cases.","This delay makes it not well suited for use in call progress analysis.","Accordingly, there remains a need for faster and more accurate systems and methods for identifying audio, both in the general case and during an outbound call attempt."],["<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS <EOH>Systems and methods for the matching of datasets, such as input audio segments, with known datasets in a database are disclosed.","In an illustrative embodiment, the use of the presently disclosed systems and methods is described in conjunction with recognizing known network message recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call.","The methodologies include creation of a ternary fingerprint bitmap to make the comparison process more efficient.","Also disclosed are automated methodologies for creating the database of known datasets from a larger collection of datasets.","In one embodiment, a method for matching an audio stream is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) generating a collection of ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps; b) subdividing each ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap into a plurality of segments; c) obtaining a hash key from each segment; and d) aggregating obtained hash keys from the ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps into a lookup table.","In another embodiment, a method for extracting fingerprints for common recordings is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) identifying segments of interest from a dataset of recordings by a means of classification; b) generating fingerprint candidates for said identified segments; c) adding said fingerprint candidates to an acoustic fingerprint database; d) repeating steps (a) and (b) to process the recordings in the dataset using the fingerprint database containing said fingerprint candidates added in step (c); and e) removing fingerprint candidates from the database that were not detected a specified number of times.","In a further embodiment, a method for extracting fingerprints for common data is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) identifying subsets of interest from a dataset by means of classification; b) generating fingerprint candidates for said subsets; c) adding said fingerprint candidates to a database; d) repeating steps (a) and (b) to process the dataset using the database in step (c) containing the additions of fingerprint candidates; and e) removing fingerprint candidates from the database that do not meet a specified criteria.","Other embodiments are also disclosed."],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","13/432,838, filed on Mar.","28, 2012, now allowed, and titled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FINGERPRINTING DATASETS.","The disclosure of the prior application is considered part of and is incorporated by reference in the disclosure of this application.","TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS The present invention generally relates to identifying known datasets, such as audio signals and, more particularly, to systems and methods for fingerprinting datasets.","BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS The background of the present disclosure and the illustrative embodiments disclosed herein are described in the context of identifying known audio recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call, for example during a call placed from a contact center.","However, the present invention has applicability to the identification of any segment of audio or an image (as used herein, the term “image” is intended to encompass both still and moving images), regardless of the type or source of the audio or image, and regardless of in what circumstances the audio or image is encountered.","Furthermore, the present invention also has applicability to the identification of any segment of data such as, for example, data obtained from any type of sensor.","Therefore, as used herein, the term “dataset” shall encompass a collection of any type of data, whether comprising audio, image, or other type of data.","In a classic contact center scenario, outbound calls are made either automatically (by a class of devices known as “automated dialers” or “autodialers”) or manually.","A number of human “agents” are available to join into calls that are determined to reach a live person at the called end.","In this way, efficiencies are obtained by not having agents involved in a call until it is determined that there is a live person at the called end with whom the agent may speak.","The use of automated equipment to monitor the telephone line during the outbound call is referred to as call progress analysis (CPA).","CPA is a class of algorithms that operate on audio and network signaling during call setup.","The goal of CPA is to determine the nature of the callee, or the outcome of call setup to an external network (traditional public switched telephone network or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)).","Specifically, when a call or session is being established, the caller or initiator must determine whether it was answered by a live speaker, if the line is busy, etc.","When the caller is an automated application, such as an automated dialer or message broadcasting system, CPA algorithms are used to perform the classification automatically.","CPA is used to interpret so-called call-progress tones, such as ring back and busy, that are delivered by the telephone network to the calling entity.","Traditional CPA is performed using low- and high-pass frequency discriminators together with energy measurements over time to qualify in-band signaling tones.","Another method for classifying audio on an outbound call is known as Voice Activity Detection (VAD), which is a class of audio processing algorithms that identify where speech is present in an audio stream.","The detected speech may originate from any source, including a live speaker or a prerecorded message.","Modern VAD algorithms use spectral analysis to distinguish the utterance of a primary speaker from background noise.","A subclass of CPA algorithms that extract speaking patterns using VAD, and determine whether the patterns originate from a live speaker or a prerecorded message, is known as Answering Machine Detection (AMD).","By identifying calls that do not connect to a live speaker, an accurate AMD algorithm can significantly increase throughput of an automated dialer.","However, false positives from AMD lead to silent or abandoned calls, causing revenue loss for the contact center, and negative impressions amongst the public.","The quality of an AMD algorithm is a function of the accuracy and response time, and some regions of the world (notably the U.S. and U.K.) impose strict legal requirements on both.","AMD is not an exact science, and the optimal approach is an open problem.","To achieve acceptable accuracy, speed, and flexibility, AMD algorithms use a combination of heuristics and statistical models such as neural networks to classify an utterance as live or pre-recorded.","Although many commercial AMD systems available on the market report high accuracy rates in the marketing literature (e.g., 95% or more), there is no independent auditor for these figures, and the actual accuracy rate is typically much lower in practice (e.g., 80% or less), as reflected by continued widespread complaints.","A general ban has been proposed by some consumer advocacy groups, and some contact centers simply cannot use AMD because of its limitations.","A relatively new science of audio identification is known as Acoustic Fingerprinting, in which a system generates a “fingerprint” of a candidate audio stream, and compares it against a database of known fingerprints, analogous to human fingerprinting used in forensics.","In this context, a “fingerprint” is a condensed digest of an audio stream that can quickly establish perceptual equality with other audio streams.","A database of known fingerprints may associate known fingerprints with meta-data such as “title”, “artist”, etc.","The past ten years have seen a rapidly growing scientific and industrial interest in fingerprinting technology for audio and images.","Applications include identifying songs and advertisements, media library management, and copyright compliance.","Various acoustic fingerprinting algorithm classes have been proposed, and the most prevalent today are those based on either “landmarks” or “bitmaps”.","Landmark-based algorithms extract discrete features from an audio stream called “landmarks”, such as spectral peaks, sudden changes in tone, pitch, loudness, etc.","The optimal choice of landmark is an open question guided mostly by heuristics.","The acoustic fingerprint is stored as a sequence of data structures that describe each landmark.","At runtime, landmarks extracted from a candidate audio stream are compared to a database of fingerprints based on a distance metric.","Bitmap-based algorithms analyze an audio stream as a sequence of frames, and use a filter bank to quantize each frame into a bit vector of size N, where N is typically chosen for convenience as the number of bits in a C-style integer, e.g.","Nϵ {8, 16, 32, or 64}.","A popular and well-studied example is known as the “Haitsma-Kalker algorithm”, which computes a binary bitmap using a filter that compares short-term differences in both time and frequency.","The Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm has been well-studied in the literature.","It's inventors, Jaap Haitsma and Ton Kalker, have published a report of use of the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm and the comparison of binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps to identify three (3) second recordings of songs from a database of millions of songs (Haitsma and Kalker, “A Highly Robust Audio Fingerprinting System,” Journal of New Music Research, Vol.","32, No.","2 (2003), pp.","211-221).","The complete acoustic fingerprint is stored as a sequence of bit vectors, or a bitmap.","As illustrated in FIG.","1A-C, there are shown three images of an audio stream containing a message from a telephone network saying “This number has been disconnected”.","FIG.","1A shows the original audio wave signal, with 1.5 seconds of audio sampled at 8000 KHz.","FIG.","1B shows a spectrogram of the original audio input signal, with dark regions indicating high energy at a particular frequency.","FIG.","1C shows a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap created using the Haitsma-Kalker algorithm, with height N=16.The height is determined by the number of bits computed at each frame, and the width is determined by the number of frames in the audio stream.","At runtime, the bitmap computed from a candidate audio stream is compared to a database of bitmaps based on the number of non-matching bits, also known as the Hamming distance.","The use of bitmap matching and the process of acoustic fingerprinting is a powerful emerging tool in the science of audio recognition; however, it is computationally intense and requires several seconds of sampled audio to make a match in many cases.","This delay makes it not well suited for use in call progress analysis.","Accordingly, there remains a need for faster and more accurate systems and methods for identifying audio, both in the general case and during an outbound call attempt.","SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS Systems and methods for the matching of datasets, such as input audio segments, with known datasets in a database are disclosed.","In an illustrative embodiment, the use of the presently disclosed systems and methods is described in conjunction with recognizing known network message recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call.","The methodologies include creation of a ternary fingerprint bitmap to make the comparison process more efficient.","Also disclosed are automated methodologies for creating the database of known datasets from a larger collection of datasets.","In one embodiment, a method for matching an audio stream is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) generating a collection of ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps; b) subdividing each ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap into a plurality of segments; c) obtaining a hash key from each segment; and d) aggregating obtained hash keys from the ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps into a lookup table.","In another embodiment, a method for extracting fingerprints for common recordings is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) identifying segments of interest from a dataset of recordings by a means of classification; b) generating fingerprint candidates for said identified segments; c) adding said fingerprint candidates to an acoustic fingerprint database; d) repeating steps (a) and (b) to process the recordings in the dataset using the fingerprint database containing said fingerprint candidates added in step (c); and e) removing fingerprint candidates from the database that were not detected a specified number of times.","In a further embodiment, a method for extracting fingerprints for common data is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) identifying subsets of interest from a dataset by means of classification; b) generating fingerprint candidates for said subsets; c) adding said fingerprint candidates to a database; d) repeating steps (a) and (b) to process the dataset using the database in step (c) containing the additions of fingerprint candidates; and e) removing fingerprint candidates from the database that do not meet a specified criteria.","Other embodiments are also disclosed.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS.","1A-C are an audio wave, spectrogram and binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap, respectively.","FIG.","2 is a schematic flow diagram of one embodiment of a method for building an acoustic fingerprint; FIG.","3A is a graph of amplitude vs. time for a set of exemplary sliding windows used in a transformation according to one embodiment; FIG.","3B is a spectrogram of an audio sample; FIG.","4 is a schematic representation of the Mel scale; FIG.","5 is a graphical representation of the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm; FIG.","6 is a schematic flow diagram illustrating a method for creating ternary bitmaps according to one embodiment; FIG.","7 is a schematic graphical representation of the creation of a ternary bitmap from a binary bitmap according to one embodiment; FIG.","8 is a schematic flow diagram of the creation of a hash key from a ternary bitmap according to one embodiment; FIG.","9 is a graphical representation of the process of FIG.","7; FIG.","10 is a schematic flow diagram of a matching procedure using hash keys according to one embodiment; and FIG.","11 is a schematic flow diagram of a method for extracting fingerprints for common recordings from large audio datasets according to one embodiment.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, and specific language will be used to describe that embodiment.","It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is intended.","Alterations and modifications in the illustrated systems and methods, and further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein, as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates are contemplated, are desired to be protected.","Such alternative embodiments require certain adaptations to the embodiments discussed herein that would be obvious to those skilled in the art.","Although the various embodiments disclosed herein will be described in the context of identifying known recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call, for example during a call placed from a contact center, the present invention has applicability to the identification of any segment of audio, image, or other type of data, regardless of the type or source of the audio, image, or other type of data, and regardless of in what circumstances the audio, image, or other type of data is encountered.","Additionally, the present invention has applicability to the recognition of any type of dataset having two or more dimensions.","The predominant reliance on the recognition of audio recordings herein is simply for convenience of description.","The Use of Acoustic Fingerprinting in a Call Progress Analysis System.","Call Progress Analysis may be improved by using a system that augments conventional AMD with an acoustic fingerprinting system to identify specific call progress events of interest including, but not limited to: a.","Telephone network messages (e.g., “We're sorry”; “The number or code you have dialed is incorrect”) b. Voicemail greetings shared by multiple subscribers (e.g., “Hello, the party you have dialed”) c. Colored tones, jingles, chimes d. Ringback tones containing music or speech (e.g., “Please hold while your call is completed”) e. Call screeners f. Privacy managers (e.g., “You have reached a number that does not accept solicitations”) g. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) prompts These are collectively referred to herein as “network messages.” All such network messages share the common trait that the same audio is used by the network in certain situations for calls placed to multiple called parties.","Therefore, a dialing program should expect to encounter these network messages in the future, and identifying them as such will help the call progress analysis software determine that a live speaker has not been reached.","It is desired that the call progress analysis software exhibit the following characteristics: 1.Efficient (low use of CPU and memory) 2.Fast (low latency and delay) 3.Robust (low rate of false negatives) 4.Accurate (low rate of false positives) 5.Scalable (low lookup cost) 6.Repeatable (low learning curve) In one embodiment, during the real-time progress of an outbound call, the CPA system processes the audio stream using both a conventional AMD algorithm and an acoustic fingerprinting system.","As the audio proceeds, the acoustic fingerprinting system identifies whether there is a likely match in the database of acoustic fingerprints of known network messages.","If so, any output from the AMD algorithm is preempted: instead, the CPA system reports specific call progress events based on the matched acoustic fingerprint.","For the general case where the acoustic fingerprint system finds no matches in the database, the conventional AMD algorithm is used to detect a greeting, and report the event of either a live speaker or an answering machine.","All events are interpreted by the user of the CPA system to choose an appropriate response, such as whether to proceed or terminate the call, dispatch to an agent, adjust the dialer plan, etc.","In other embodiments, the acoustic fingerprinting system is used without an additional CPA mechanism.","FIG.","2 schematically illustrates one embodiment of a method for building an acoustic fingerprint.","In order to build an acoustic fingerprint, either of a known audio segment or of a candidate audio segment from a current telephone call, a time varying spectral representation of the signal (referred to herein as a “spectrogram”) is created (as indicated at step 100) using any desired transform, such as Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT), Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), wavelet transform, or even just a set of filter banks, to name just four non-limiting examples.","At each frame, the power spectrum in frequency space is computed.","For example, FIG.","3A illustrates amplitude vs. time for the sliding windows used in a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT, a particularly efficient algorithm to implement Discrete Fourier Transform) of an audio sample using the following parameters: Sample rate: 8 kHz Frame duration: 30 milliseconds Step size: 20 milliseconds Overlap: ⅓ FFT size: 256 A sample spectrogram of an audio sample using this technique is illustrated in FIG.","3B.","The next step is to create a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap, as indicated at step 102.The power spectrogram may be used as is, or it may be optionally transformed in order to condense the data.","Any transformation technique that will condense the data may be used.","To give just one non-limiting example, the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm may be used, where a sequence of frames are created and are combined to build the acoustic fingerprint bitmap.","A filter bank can be used to quantize each frame into a bit vector of size N, where N may be chosen for convenience as the number of bits in a C-style integer (8, 16, 32 or 64).","In one embodiment, a Mel-scale filter bank is used to transform the power spectrum data into Mel space with (N+1) bands, as indicated at step 104.The Mel scale is a perceptual scale of pitches judged by listeners to be equal in distance from one another, as illustrated in FIG.","4.From the sequence of (N+1)-band spectrums in Mel space, a sequence of N-bit binary fingerprint frame values based on band energy differences over successive frames is computed at step 106.In one embodiment, this is done using the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm as follows: F ( n , m ) = { 1 if E ( n , m ) - E ( n , m + 1 ) - ( E ( n - 1 , m ) - E ( n - 1 , m + 1 ) ) > 0 0 if E ( n , m ) - E ( n , m + 1 ) - ( E ( n - 1 , m ) - E ( n - 1 , m + 1 ) ) ≤ 0 where: E(n,m) is the energy of frequency band m of frame n, and F(n,m) is the mth bit of fingerprint frame n This is illustrated schematically in FIG.","5.Thus, the acoustic fingerprint is built up as a vector of N-bit integers, one integer per frame.","FIG.","1C illustrates an exemplary 16-bit binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap.","For use during call progress analysis, a database is maintained that contains binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps for known network messages.","In one embodiment, during the real-time progress of an outbound call, the CPA system processes the audio stream using both a conventional AMD algorithm and an acoustic fingerprinting system.","As the audio proceeds, the acoustic fingerprinting system creates binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps of the incoming audio and compares those bitmaps to known network message bitmaps stored in a database (step 108).","The CPA system identifies whether there is a match in the database of binary bitmaps (step 110), indicating that the outbound call has resulted in receipt of a known network message instead of a live speaker (step 112).","If so, any output from the AMD algorithm is preempted: instead, the CPA system reports specific call progress events based on the matched acoustic fingerprint.","For the general case where the acoustic fingerprint system finds no matches in the database, the conventional AMD algorithm is used to detect a greeting, and report the event of either a live speaker or an answering machine (step 114).","All events are interpreted by the user of the CPA system to choose an appropriate response, such as whether to proceed or terminate the call, dispatch to an agent, adjust the dialer plan, etc.","In other embodiments, the binary acoustic fingerprinting bitmap matching system is used without an additional CPA mechanism.","The Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm has been well-studied in the literature.","In Haitsma and Kalker's published report of use of the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm and the comparison of binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps to identify three (3) second recordings of songs from a database of millions of songs (Haitsma and Kalker, “A Highly Robust Audio Fingerprinting System,” Journal of New Music Research, Vol.","32, No.","2 (2003), pp.","211-221).","Their system required a large frame size, large overlap/small step size, and large fingerprints in order to achieve good results.","The parameters they used were: Sample rate: 5 kHz Frame duration: 370 milliseconds Step size: 10 milliseconds Overlap: 31/32 FFT size: 2048 The Haitsma-Kalker algorithm computes a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap with a relatively low Signal-to-Noise ratio, with bits highly sensitive to noise and windowing artifacts.","To achieve an acoustic fingerprinting system with acceptably high accuracy and low false positive rate typically requires a relatively long segment of audio (˜3 seconds) with large frame size (370 ms) and large overlap between frames (31/32, or about 97%).","Such a system is computationally intensive and requires a relatively large audio sample to make reliable comparisons, both of which are undesirable in many audio matching scenarios.","The present inventors have observed that many bits in a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap are sensitive to noise and artifacts resulting from the transform into the spectral representation (windowing), especially where the energy of the signal is relatively small.","A proposed solution is to mask out bits of little value due to their sensitivity to noise and windowing artifacts, and compute the error rate of the bitmap comparisons using only the bits that are in the mask (i.e., the bits that are not masked out).","Ternary Bitmap Acoustic Fingerprint Using Mask Bits to Obtain High Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) To improve the bitmap matching speed without sacrificing accuracy, one embodiment of the present invention makes the following modification to any acoustic fingerprinting algorithm that generates a binary bitmap.","In the training stage where the database of known network message bitmaps is created, the methodology of FIG.","6 may be implemented.","At step 200, the binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap is created for the audio segment using the same process described hereinabove with respect to FIG.","2.At step 202, in the illustrated embodiment the first sample is deleted from the audio segment (although other segment modification schemes may be employed, as discussed below), and at step 204 another binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap is created for the modified audio segment using the same process described hereinabove with respect to FIG.","2.Steps 202-204 are repeated X times (step 206), where X is the number of samples in each frame used by the acoustic fingerprinting process of FIG.","2.This process will generate X binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps of the audio segment.","The X binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps are combined into a ternary bitmap at step 208 as follows.","If a bit is 0 in all X binary bitmaps, set the bit in the ternary bitmap to 0 If a bit is 1 in all X binary bitmaps, set the bit in the ternary bitmap to 1 Otherwise, set the bit of the ternary bitmap to * (“Don't Care”) The “Don't Care” bits change in the successive binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps because they are sensitive to framing, noise, compression, and other effects that introduce signal distortion.","It will be appreciated from the above description that the “Don't Care” bits may be defined in other ways, such as a predetermined percentage of bit values changing across the bitmaps, etc.","If the ternary bitmap is used for bitmap comparison (step 210) and the “Don't Care” bits are ignored during the comparison process, the “Don't care” bits mask out these regions in frequency and time of the original binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap that introduce signal distortion.","FIG.","7 illustrates an example comparison between a binary bitmap and its associated ternary bitmap.","It will also be appreciated from the above description that the input signal can be artificially degraded before computing the acoustic fingerprint by adding noise or other artifacts commonly introduced by the communication channel in order to make the acoustic fingerprint and mask more sensitive.","At runtime, these “Don't Care” bits are excluded from the evaluated “masked Hamming distance” between the candidate audio stream and the database of known fingerprints.","Use of the ternary bitmap mask eliminates false negatives due to framing misalignment between the input candidate audio stream and the recordings in the database.","By excluding the bits most sensitive to windowing and noise, the ternary fingerprint system is more robust than its binary counterpart, and achieves comparable accuracy and false positive rate with much fewer bits.","It will be appreciated that the above steps create many fingerprints of the same signal, with the analysis window shifted by a fraction of the frame size, and those fingerprints are then used to identify which parts of the fingerprint change.","Therefore, in step 202 the analysis window may be shifted by any fraction of the frame size, rather than the illustrated single-sample shift.","It will additionally be appreciated that the acoustic fingerprint and ternary bitmap (mask) may be represented in ways other than as vectors of vectors where each element is a bit with a value of zero or one, but instead more generally as vectors of vectors where each element comprises numeric scores and weights (and quantized into multi-bit representations).","For example, a method for creating a weighted compressed representation of a dataset may comprise the steps of a) computing a compressed representation of the dataset; b) deleting a first number of elements from the dataset to create a modified dataset; c) computing another compressed representation of the modified dataset; d) repeating steps (b) and (c) a plurality of times to create a plurality of compressed representations; and e) combining the plurality of compressed representations into a weighted compressed representation, where each weight in the weighted compressed representation is computed as a function of the elements in the plurality of compressed representations.","In some embodiments, the compressed representation is a two-dimensional vector of first numbers.","In some embodiments the first numbers are each represented with a first number of bits, where in the first number of bits may be one bit in some embodiments, and greater than one bit in other embodiments.","In other embodiments, the weighted compressed representation is a two-dimensional vector of second numbers.","In some embodiments the second numbers are each represented with a second number of bits.","In some embodiments, the function computes each said weight as correlation coefficient of the elements in the plurality of compressed representations.","In some embodiments, the correlation coefficient is computed as follows: 1) if an element is below a first predetermined threshold in a first predetermined number of the plurality of compressed representations, set the correlation coefficient to a first value; 2) if an element is above a second predetermined threshold in a second predetermined number of the plurality of compressed representations, set the correlation coefficient to a second value; 3) otherwise set the correlation coefficient to a third value.","For example, in one embodiment, the first value is +1, the second value is −1, and the third value is 0 (zero).","Those skilled in the art will recognize from the present disclosure that the correlation coefficient can be any value between −1 and +1 (or any other desired number range).","In the present embodiment, the values correspond to the ternary bitmap discussed herein, where a set bit is +1, a cleared bit is −1 and a Don't Care bit is 0.The thresholds can be set to any desired level.","For example, the first predetermined threshold may be 1 (one) and the second predetermined threshold may be 0 (zero) in one embodiment.","When computing the correlation coefficient in one embodiment, first predetermined number comprises all of the plurality of compressed representations and the second predetermined number comprises all of the plurality of compressed representations.","The methodology of FIG.","6 can be compared to the Haitsma-Kalker algorithm binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap comparison approach of FIG.","2, which computes a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap with a relatively low Signal-to-Noise ratio, with bits highly sensitive to noise and windowing artifacts.","To achieve a fingerprinting system with acceptably high accuracy and low false positive rate using this approach typically requires a relatively long segment of audio (˜3 seconds) with large frame size (370 ms) and large overlap between frames (31/32, or about 97%).","By comparison, the ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap methodology disclosed herein, such as that illustrated in FIG.","6, can obtain comparable matching accuracy and precision much more efficiently, with a short segment of low-bandwidth audio (˜0.25 seconds at 8 kHz), using a small frame size of 30 ms and a small frame overlap of 33%.","Not only does this achieve matching in approximately 1/12th the amount of time, it is much less computationally intensive and works well with low quality audio samples.","Real-Time Matching of Acoustic Fingerprints in a Database with Minimal Delay Using Exhaustive Search Most existing acoustic fingerprinting systems are not well adapted for real-time applications because they require a large segment of a source audio stream to achieve a valid match.","The requirement imposes a time delay of several seconds from the beginning of the matched segment before a matching fingerprint can be confirmed.","However, to use fingerprinting in real-time in tandem with other signal processing algorithms such as conventional AMD, the fingerprinting system must identify whether a match is likely within a fraction of a second.","To achieve minimal delay, the present inventors propose an approach using an optimized exhaustive search to match an audio stream in real-time against a database on the order of thousands of fingerprints.","As shown in FIGS.","8 and 9, during preprocessing a collection of ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps, one for each audio object to detect, with N ternary values per frame, is generated (step 300).","For each fingerprint, the ternary bitmap is subdivided into a plurality of equal segments (step 302).","In one embodiment, the ternary bitmap is subdivided into four equal segments as shown in FIG.","9.From each segment, a hash key is obtained (step 304) by extracting the ternary values from 128/N frames of the subdivided fingerprint, for a total of 128 ternary values in each hash key (i.e., a 128-bit ternary hash key).","It will be appreciated that the hash key may have fewer or a greater number of values.","All of the hash keys thus obtained from the ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps are then aggregated into a single lookup table (step 306).","The selection of hash keys from various segments of the acoustic fingerprint allows a match to be made even if the candidate audio stream is an interrupted recording and the beginning of the recording is not received.","For example, if using this methodology for identifying samples of music, the person wishing to identify a song may not have (and most likely did not) start recording a sample of the song to be identified until sometime after the song started playing.","Use of hash keys from different segments of the acoustic fingerprint allows the system to still make a match between the candidate audio stream and the acoustic fingerprints in the database.","FIG.","10 illustrates one embodiment of a matching procedure that may be used at runtime after the lookup table of hash keys has been assembled.","For each new frame of the input audio stream, a binary bitmap acoustic fingerprinting algorithm is used to generate a new bit vector of length N (step 400).","The bit vectors from the previous 128/N frames of the input audio stream are combined into a 128-bit binary hash key for lookup (step 402).","The current 128-bit binary hash key of the input audio stream is compared against all of the ternary hash keys in the lookup table by computing the masked Hamming distance (step 404).","On modern microprocessors, this calculation can easily be parallelized and optimized with Single-Instruction-Multiple-Data instructions (such as the SSE or AVX SIMD instruction set extensions to the Intel x86 microprocessor architecture) and/or the “population count” instruction.","If any hash keys in the lookup table match (step 406) with a sufficiently low masked Hamming distance, the audio fingerprint corresponding to the hash key is identified as a “candidate” (step 408).","The threshold bit error rate (BER) for establishing a candidate may be based on a relatively low value of σcandidate (e.g., 3 standard deviations, although other thresholds may be used).","If the overall BER for a candidate exceeds a relatively large value of σnotify, (e.g., 9 standard deviations, although other thresholds may be used) (step 410) this candidate is determined to be a match (step 412).","If no match has been determined, the process returns to step 400 where the next frame is used to generate a new bit vector of length N. By continuing to analyze subsequent frames, the process is able to resolve all candidates as a match or non-match, based upon where the masked Hamming distance falls with respect to the thresholds.","Method for Extracting Fingerprints for Common Recordings from Large Audio Collections As will be appreciated from the above description, systems and methods are provided for matching an audio sample to a database of known audio recordings.","The systems and methods described above are computationally efficient and are able to identify a match with an acoustic fingerprint in a database, but a problem remains in how to efficiently identify the audio recordings that will be represented by acoustic fingerprints in the database.","The methodology described herein below for doing so is discussed in the context of a telephonic contact center; however, those skilled in the art will recognize from the present disclosure that the methodology may be applied to compiling fingerprint databases relating to any type of source audio, images, or other types of data.","A sizable campaign from a contact center may generate thousands of digital recordings of outbound calls each day.","From this recording collection, the objective is to extract all audio segments containing call progress events of interest, in order to assist CPA in future call campaigns.","For example, many calls in a campaign are dialed to numbers on the same network or sub-network, which plays an identical recorded greeting for each subscriber.","In the absence of an automated data driven technique, the large volumes of data must be listened to by a human subject, to identify candidate segments from which acoustic fingerprints may be extracted.","The present inventors propose an offline process to automatically identify common acoustic recordings in a large collection of recordings, so they may be detected in future call campaigns to improve the accuracy of CPA.","The process used for automated identification of fingerprints in our invention is illustrated schematically in FIG.","11.At step 500, the CPA system, combined with AMD and acoustic fingerprinting (if the database already contains acoustic fingerprints for some known recordings), is used to classify all audio recordings in the collection based on events detected therein.","For all audio recordings classified as a live speaker or answering machine using conventional AMD, the endpoints of the audio segments that do not comprise silence, background noise, or simple tones are identified at step 502.For example, audio segments containing speaking patterns, music, non-speech signals, etc.","are identified at step 502.At step 504, a ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap is generated for all identified segments using the methodology described hereinabove (it will be appreciated that a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap can be used instead of the ternary bitmap).","These new acoustic fingerprints are added to the acoustic fingerprint database at step 506.All of the audio recordings in the collection are then re-processed through the CPA/AMD system using the newly-augmented ternary acoustic fingerprint database at step 508.At step 510, the system identifies the augmented fingerprints that are not unique and were detected multiple times (i.e., a recording in the collection being processed matched multiple ones of the augmented acoustic fingerprints, indicating that these are acoustic fingerprints of recordings that were encountered multiple times in the collection).","Any acoustic fingerprints discovered multiple times are likely candidates for a call progress event of interest, and are therefore left in the acoustic fingerprint database at step 512 for use in future CPA tasks.","All of the other augmented fingerprints (i.e., those new acoustic fingerprints that were not detected multiple times) are removed from the database at step 514, since they represent unique audio segments of vocal utterances, and therefore cannot be determined to be recorded network messages.","In this way, an automated system may be used to look through a large collection of recordings (or images or other data) and extract therefrom fingerprints of recordings that were encountered multiple times.","This methodology allows the acoustic fingerprint database to be built automatically and continuously updated to account for new network messages that may be brought on line by the various telephone companies.","As can be seen from the above description, the various embodiments allow for the matching of input audio segments with known audio segments in a database.","The audio segments may originate from any source and contain any type of audio, such as speech, tones, music, or any other audio that is desired to be recognized.","In an illustrative embodiment, the use of the presently disclosed systems and methods was described in conjunction with recognizing known network message recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call.","However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosed systems and methods will find application in recognition of any type of two- or more-dimensional dataset, such as any form of audio, image, or other type of data.","While the organization of steps, software blocks, data and data structures have been illustrated as clearly delineated, a person skilled in the art will appreciate that the delineation between steps, blocks and data is somewhat arbitrary.","Numerous other arrangements of steps, software blocks and data are possible.","Finally, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein which are merely illustrative of several embodiments for carrying out the invention, and which are susceptible to modification of form, arrangement of parts, steps, details and order of operation.","The invention, rather, is intended to encompass all such modifications within its spirit and scope, as defined by the claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FINGERPRINTING DATASETS\",\n \"Systems and methods for the matching of datasets, such as input audio segments, with known datasets in a database are disclosed.\",\n \"In an illustrative embodiment, the use of the presently disclosed systems and methods is described in conjunction with recognizing known network message recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call.\",\n \"The methodologies include creation of a ternary fingerprint bitmap to make the comparison process more efficient.\",\n \"Also disclosed are automated methodologies for creating the database of known datasets from a larger collection of datasets.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A method for matching an audio stream comprising the steps of: a. generating a collection of ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps; b. subdividing each ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap into a plurality of segments; c. obtaining a hash key from each segment; and d. aggregating obtained hash keys from the ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps into a lookup table.\",\n \"2.The method of claim 1, wherein said ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap is generated for an audio object to detect.\",\n \"3.The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of step (a) further comprises the step of generating a number of ternary values per frame of audio.\",\n \"4.The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of segments are equal in length.\",\n \"5.The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of segments comprises four equal segments.\",\n \"6.The method of claim 1, wherein the hash key of step (c) is obtained by extracting a number of ternary values from ternary values of a number of frames from each segment.\",\n \"7.The method of claim 6, wherein the number of frames of each segment evenly divides the number of ternary values.\",\n \"8.The method of claim 7, wherein said number of ternary values is 128.9.The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of: e. generating a number of bit vectors from a number of input audio frames; f. combining the bit vectors into a binary hash key; g. comparing the binary hash key from step (f) against all obtained hash keys in the lookup table.\",\n \"h. identifying audio fingerprints corresponding to matching hash keys, wherein, if a match is not found, repeating the method from step (e).\",\n \"10.The method of claim 9, wherein the binary hash key comprises a number of bits.\",\n \"11.The method of claim 10, wherein the number of input audio frames evenly divides the number of bits.\",\n \"12.The method of claim 11, wherein the number of bits is 128.13.The method of claim 9, wherein said comparing of step (g) is performed by computing a masked Hamming distance.\",\n \"14.The method of claim 13, wherein said computing is parallelized and optimized with at least one of: Single-Instruction-Multiple Data Instructions and population count instruction.\",\n \"15.The method of claim 13, wherein said hash keys in the lookup table match with a low masked Hamming distance.\",\n \"16.The method of claim 9, wherein step (h) further comprises the steps of: a. performing a first match with a first criteria; b. identifying fingerprints matching said first criteria as candidate matches; c. performing a second match on said candidate matches with a second criteria; and d. declaring candidate matches meeting the second criteria a match.\",\n \"17.The method of claim 16, wherein the first criteria and the second criteria are derived from a bit error rate.\",\n \"18.The method of claim 17, wherein at least one of: said first criteria comprises a lower number of standard deviations and said second criteria comprises a higher number of standard deviations.\",\n \"19.The method of claim 18, wherein at least one of: said lower number is 3 and said higher number is 9.20.-29.\",\n \"(canceled)\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS <EOH>The background of the present disclosure and the illustrative embodiments disclosed herein are described in the context of identifying known audio recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call, for example during a call placed from a contact center.\",\n \"However, the present invention has applicability to the identification of any segment of audio or an image (as used herein, the term “image” is intended to encompass both still and moving images), regardless of the type or source of the audio or image, and regardless of in what circumstances the audio or image is encountered.\",\n \"Furthermore, the present invention also has applicability to the identification of any segment of data such as, for example, data obtained from any type of sensor.\",\n \"Therefore, as used herein, the term “dataset” shall encompass a collection of any type of data, whether comprising audio, image, or other type of data.\",\n \"In a classic contact center scenario, outbound calls are made either automatically (by a class of devices known as “automated dialers” or “autodialers”) or manually.\",\n \"A number of human “agents” are available to join into calls that are determined to reach a live person at the called end.\",\n \"In this way, efficiencies are obtained by not having agents involved in a call until it is determined that there is a live person at the called end with whom the agent may speak.\",\n \"The use of automated equipment to monitor the telephone line during the outbound call is referred to as call progress analysis (CPA).\",\n \"CPA is a class of algorithms that operate on audio and network signaling during call setup.\",\n \"The goal of CPA is to determine the nature of the callee, or the outcome of call setup to an external network (traditional public switched telephone network or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)).\",\n \"Specifically, when a call or session is being established, the caller or initiator must determine whether it was answered by a live speaker, if the line is busy, etc.\",\n \"When the caller is an automated application, such as an automated dialer or message broadcasting system, CPA algorithms are used to perform the classification automatically.\",\n \"CPA is used to interpret so-called call-progress tones, such as ring back and busy, that are delivered by the telephone network to the calling entity.\",\n \"Traditional CPA is performed using low- and high-pass frequency discriminators together with energy measurements over time to qualify in-band signaling tones.\",\n \"Another method for classifying audio on an outbound call is known as Voice Activity Detection (VAD), which is a class of audio processing algorithms that identify where speech is present in an audio stream.\",\n \"The detected speech may originate from any source, including a live speaker or a prerecorded message.\",\n \"Modern VAD algorithms use spectral analysis to distinguish the utterance of a primary speaker from background noise.\",\n \"A subclass of CPA algorithms that extract speaking patterns using VAD, and determine whether the patterns originate from a live speaker or a prerecorded message, is known as Answering Machine Detection (AMD).\",\n \"By identifying calls that do not connect to a live speaker, an accurate AMD algorithm can significantly increase throughput of an automated dialer.\",\n \"However, false positives from AMD lead to silent or abandoned calls, causing revenue loss for the contact center, and negative impressions amongst the public.\",\n \"The quality of an AMD algorithm is a function of the accuracy and response time, and some regions of the world (notably the U.S. and U.K.) impose strict legal requirements on both.\",\n \"AMD is not an exact science, and the optimal approach is an open problem.\",\n \"To achieve acceptable accuracy, speed, and flexibility, AMD algorithms use a combination of heuristics and statistical models such as neural networks to classify an utterance as live or pre-recorded.\",\n \"Although many commercial AMD systems available on the market report high accuracy rates in the marketing literature (e.g., 95% or more), there is no independent auditor for these figures, and the actual accuracy rate is typically much lower in practice (e.g., 80% or less), as reflected by continued widespread complaints.\",\n \"A general ban has been proposed by some consumer advocacy groups, and some contact centers simply cannot use AMD because of its limitations.\",\n \"A relatively new science of audio identification is known as Acoustic Fingerprinting, in which a system generates a “fingerprint” of a candidate audio stream, and compares it against a database of known fingerprints, analogous to human fingerprinting used in forensics.\",\n \"In this context, a “fingerprint” is a condensed digest of an audio stream that can quickly establish perceptual equality with other audio streams.\",\n \"A database of known fingerprints may associate known fingerprints with meta-data such as “title”, “artist”, etc.\",\n \"The past ten years have seen a rapidly growing scientific and industrial interest in fingerprinting technology for audio and images.\",\n \"Applications include identifying songs and advertisements, media library management, and copyright compliance.\",\n \"Various acoustic fingerprinting algorithm classes have been proposed, and the most prevalent today are those based on either “landmarks” or “bitmaps”.\",\n \"Landmark-based algorithms extract discrete features from an audio stream called “landmarks”, such as spectral peaks, sudden changes in tone, pitch, loudness, etc.\",\n \"The optimal choice of landmark is an open question guided mostly by heuristics.\",\n \"The acoustic fingerprint is stored as a sequence of data structures that describe each landmark.\",\n \"At runtime, landmarks extracted from a candidate audio stream are compared to a database of fingerprints based on a distance metric.\",\n \"Bitmap-based algorithms analyze an audio stream as a sequence of frames, and use a filter bank to quantize each frame into a bit vector of size N, where N is typically chosen for convenience as the number of bits in a C-style integer, e.g.\",\n \"Nϵ {8, 16, 32, or 64}.\",\n \"A popular and well-studied example is known as the “Haitsma-Kalker algorithm”, which computes a binary bitmap using a filter that compares short-term differences in both time and frequency.\",\n \"The Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm has been well-studied in the literature.\",\n \"It's inventors, Jaap Haitsma and Ton Kalker, have published a report of use of the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm and the comparison of binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps to identify three (3) second recordings of songs from a database of millions of songs (Haitsma and Kalker, “A Highly Robust Audio Fingerprinting System,” Journal of New Music Research, Vol.\",\n \"32, No.\",\n \"2 (2003), pp.\",\n \"211-221).\",\n \"The complete acoustic fingerprint is stored as a sequence of bit vectors, or a bitmap.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1A-C , there are shown three images of an audio stream containing a message from a telephone network saying “This number has been disconnected”.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1A shows the original audio wave signal, with 1.5 seconds of audio sampled at 8000 KHz.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1B shows a spectrogram of the original audio input signal, with dark regions indicating high energy at a particular frequency.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1C shows a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap created using the Haitsma-Kalker algorithm, with height N=16.The height is determined by the number of bits computed at each frame, and the width is determined by the number of frames in the audio stream.\",\n \"At runtime, the bitmap computed from a candidate audio stream is compared to a database of bitmaps based on the number of non-matching bits, also known as the Hamming distance.\",\n \"The use of bitmap matching and the process of acoustic fingerprinting is a powerful emerging tool in the science of audio recognition; however, it is computationally intense and requires several seconds of sampled audio to make a match in many cases.\",\n \"This delay makes it not well suited for use in call progress analysis.\",\n \"Accordingly, there remains a need for faster and more accurate systems and methods for identifying audio, both in the general case and during an outbound call attempt.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS <EOH>Systems and methods for the matching of datasets, such as input audio segments, with known datasets in a database are disclosed.\",\n \"In an illustrative embodiment, the use of the presently disclosed systems and methods is described in conjunction with recognizing known network message recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call.\",\n \"The methodologies include creation of a ternary fingerprint bitmap to make the comparison process more efficient.\",\n \"Also disclosed are automated methodologies for creating the database of known datasets from a larger collection of datasets.\",\n \"In one embodiment, a method for matching an audio stream is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) generating a collection of ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps; b) subdividing each ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap into a plurality of segments; c) obtaining a hash key from each segment; and d) aggregating obtained hash keys from the ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps into a lookup table.\",\n \"In another embodiment, a method for extracting fingerprints for common recordings is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) identifying segments of interest from a dataset of recordings by a means of classification; b) generating fingerprint candidates for said identified segments; c) adding said fingerprint candidates to an acoustic fingerprint database; d) repeating steps (a) and (b) to process the recordings in the dataset using the fingerprint database containing said fingerprint candidates added in step (c); and e) removing fingerprint candidates from the database that were not detected a specified number of times.\",\n \"In a further embodiment, a method for extracting fingerprints for common data is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) identifying subsets of interest from a dataset by means of classification; b) generating fingerprint candidates for said subsets; c) adding said fingerprint candidates to a database; d) repeating steps (a) and (b) to process the dataset using the database in step (c) containing the additions of fingerprint candidates; and e) removing fingerprint candidates from the database that do not meet a specified criteria.\",\n \"Other embodiments are also disclosed.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/432,838, filed on Mar.\",\n \"28, 2012, now allowed, and titled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FINGERPRINTING DATASETS.\",\n \"The disclosure of the prior application is considered part of and is incorporated by reference in the disclosure of this application.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS The present invention generally relates to identifying known datasets, such as audio signals and, more particularly, to systems and methods for fingerprinting datasets.\",\n \"BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS The background of the present disclosure and the illustrative embodiments disclosed herein are described in the context of identifying known audio recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call, for example during a call placed from a contact center.\",\n \"However, the present invention has applicability to the identification of any segment of audio or an image (as used herein, the term “image” is intended to encompass both still and moving images), regardless of the type or source of the audio or image, and regardless of in what circumstances the audio or image is encountered.\",\n \"Furthermore, the present invention also has applicability to the identification of any segment of data such as, for example, data obtained from any type of sensor.\",\n \"Therefore, as used herein, the term “dataset” shall encompass a collection of any type of data, whether comprising audio, image, or other type of data.\",\n \"In a classic contact center scenario, outbound calls are made either automatically (by a class of devices known as “automated dialers” or “autodialers”) or manually.\",\n \"A number of human “agents” are available to join into calls that are determined to reach a live person at the called end.\",\n \"In this way, efficiencies are obtained by not having agents involved in a call until it is determined that there is a live person at the called end with whom the agent may speak.\",\n \"The use of automated equipment to monitor the telephone line during the outbound call is referred to as call progress analysis (CPA).\",\n \"CPA is a class of algorithms that operate on audio and network signaling during call setup.\",\n \"The goal of CPA is to determine the nature of the callee, or the outcome of call setup to an external network (traditional public switched telephone network or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)).\",\n \"Specifically, when a call or session is being established, the caller or initiator must determine whether it was answered by a live speaker, if the line is busy, etc.\",\n \"When the caller is an automated application, such as an automated dialer or message broadcasting system, CPA algorithms are used to perform the classification automatically.\",\n \"CPA is used to interpret so-called call-progress tones, such as ring back and busy, that are delivered by the telephone network to the calling entity.\",\n \"Traditional CPA is performed using low- and high-pass frequency discriminators together with energy measurements over time to qualify in-band signaling tones.\",\n \"Another method for classifying audio on an outbound call is known as Voice Activity Detection (VAD), which is a class of audio processing algorithms that identify where speech is present in an audio stream.\",\n \"The detected speech may originate from any source, including a live speaker or a prerecorded message.\",\n \"Modern VAD algorithms use spectral analysis to distinguish the utterance of a primary speaker from background noise.\",\n \"A subclass of CPA algorithms that extract speaking patterns using VAD, and determine whether the patterns originate from a live speaker or a prerecorded message, is known as Answering Machine Detection (AMD).\",\n \"By identifying calls that do not connect to a live speaker, an accurate AMD algorithm can significantly increase throughput of an automated dialer.\",\n \"However, false positives from AMD lead to silent or abandoned calls, causing revenue loss for the contact center, and negative impressions amongst the public.\",\n \"The quality of an AMD algorithm is a function of the accuracy and response time, and some regions of the world (notably the U.S. and U.K.) impose strict legal requirements on both.\",\n \"AMD is not an exact science, and the optimal approach is an open problem.\",\n \"To achieve acceptable accuracy, speed, and flexibility, AMD algorithms use a combination of heuristics and statistical models such as neural networks to classify an utterance as live or pre-recorded.\",\n \"Although many commercial AMD systems available on the market report high accuracy rates in the marketing literature (e.g., 95% or more), there is no independent auditor for these figures, and the actual accuracy rate is typically much lower in practice (e.g., 80% or less), as reflected by continued widespread complaints.\",\n \"A general ban has been proposed by some consumer advocacy groups, and some contact centers simply cannot use AMD because of its limitations.\",\n \"A relatively new science of audio identification is known as Acoustic Fingerprinting, in which a system generates a “fingerprint” of a candidate audio stream, and compares it against a database of known fingerprints, analogous to human fingerprinting used in forensics.\",\n \"In this context, a “fingerprint” is a condensed digest of an audio stream that can quickly establish perceptual equality with other audio streams.\",\n \"A database of known fingerprints may associate known fingerprints with meta-data such as “title”, “artist”, etc.\",\n \"The past ten years have seen a rapidly growing scientific and industrial interest in fingerprinting technology for audio and images.\",\n \"Applications include identifying songs and advertisements, media library management, and copyright compliance.\",\n \"Various acoustic fingerprinting algorithm classes have been proposed, and the most prevalent today are those based on either “landmarks” or “bitmaps”.\",\n \"Landmark-based algorithms extract discrete features from an audio stream called “landmarks”, such as spectral peaks, sudden changes in tone, pitch, loudness, etc.\",\n \"The optimal choice of landmark is an open question guided mostly by heuristics.\",\n \"The acoustic fingerprint is stored as a sequence of data structures that describe each landmark.\",\n \"At runtime, landmarks extracted from a candidate audio stream are compared to a database of fingerprints based on a distance metric.\",\n \"Bitmap-based algorithms analyze an audio stream as a sequence of frames, and use a filter bank to quantize each frame into a bit vector of size N, where N is typically chosen for convenience as the number of bits in a C-style integer, e.g.\",\n \"Nϵ {8, 16, 32, or 64}.\",\n \"A popular and well-studied example is known as the “Haitsma-Kalker algorithm”, which computes a binary bitmap using a filter that compares short-term differences in both time and frequency.\",\n \"The Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm has been well-studied in the literature.\",\n \"It's inventors, Jaap Haitsma and Ton Kalker, have published a report of use of the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm and the comparison of binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps to identify three (3) second recordings of songs from a database of millions of songs (Haitsma and Kalker, “A Highly Robust Audio Fingerprinting System,” Journal of New Music Research, Vol.\",\n \"32, No.\",\n \"2 (2003), pp.\",\n \"211-221).\",\n \"The complete acoustic fingerprint is stored as a sequence of bit vectors, or a bitmap.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1A-C, there are shown three images of an audio stream containing a message from a telephone network saying “This number has been disconnected”.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1A shows the original audio wave signal, with 1.5 seconds of audio sampled at 8000 KHz.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1B shows a spectrogram of the original audio input signal, with dark regions indicating high energy at a particular frequency.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1C shows a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap created using the Haitsma-Kalker algorithm, with height N=16.The height is determined by the number of bits computed at each frame, and the width is determined by the number of frames in the audio stream.\",\n \"At runtime, the bitmap computed from a candidate audio stream is compared to a database of bitmaps based on the number of non-matching bits, also known as the Hamming distance.\",\n \"The use of bitmap matching and the process of acoustic fingerprinting is a powerful emerging tool in the science of audio recognition; however, it is computationally intense and requires several seconds of sampled audio to make a match in many cases.\",\n \"This delay makes it not well suited for use in call progress analysis.\",\n \"Accordingly, there remains a need for faster and more accurate systems and methods for identifying audio, both in the general case and during an outbound call attempt.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS Systems and methods for the matching of datasets, such as input audio segments, with known datasets in a database are disclosed.\",\n \"In an illustrative embodiment, the use of the presently disclosed systems and methods is described in conjunction with recognizing known network message recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call.\",\n \"The methodologies include creation of a ternary fingerprint bitmap to make the comparison process more efficient.\",\n \"Also disclosed are automated methodologies for creating the database of known datasets from a larger collection of datasets.\",\n \"In one embodiment, a method for matching an audio stream is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) generating a collection of ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps; b) subdividing each ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap into a plurality of segments; c) obtaining a hash key from each segment; and d) aggregating obtained hash keys from the ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps into a lookup table.\",\n \"In another embodiment, a method for extracting fingerprints for common recordings is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) identifying segments of interest from a dataset of recordings by a means of classification; b) generating fingerprint candidates for said identified segments; c) adding said fingerprint candidates to an acoustic fingerprint database; d) repeating steps (a) and (b) to process the recordings in the dataset using the fingerprint database containing said fingerprint candidates added in step (c); and e) removing fingerprint candidates from the database that were not detected a specified number of times.\",\n \"In a further embodiment, a method for extracting fingerprints for common data is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) identifying subsets of interest from a dataset by means of classification; b) generating fingerprint candidates for said subsets; c) adding said fingerprint candidates to a database; d) repeating steps (a) and (b) to process the dataset using the database in step (c) containing the additions of fingerprint candidates; and e) removing fingerprint candidates from the database that do not meet a specified criteria.\",\n \"Other embodiments are also disclosed.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS.\",\n \"1A-C are an audio wave, spectrogram and binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap, respectively.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 is a schematic flow diagram of one embodiment of a method for building an acoustic fingerprint; FIG.\",\n \"3A is a graph of amplitude vs. time for a set of exemplary sliding windows used in a transformation according to one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"3B is a spectrogram of an audio sample; FIG.\",\n \"4 is a schematic representation of the Mel scale; FIG.\",\n \"5 is a graphical representation of the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm; FIG.\",\n \"6 is a schematic flow diagram illustrating a method for creating ternary bitmaps according to one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"7 is a schematic graphical representation of the creation of a ternary bitmap from a binary bitmap according to one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"8 is a schematic flow diagram of the creation of a hash key from a ternary bitmap according to one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"9 is a graphical representation of the process of FIG.\",\n \"7; FIG.\",\n \"10 is a schematic flow diagram of a matching procedure using hash keys according to one embodiment; and FIG.\",\n \"11 is a schematic flow diagram of a method for extracting fingerprints for common recordings from large audio datasets according to one embodiment.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, and specific language will be used to describe that embodiment.\",\n \"It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is intended.\",\n \"Alterations and modifications in the illustrated systems and methods, and further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein, as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates are contemplated, are desired to be protected.\",\n \"Such alternative embodiments require certain adaptations to the embodiments discussed herein that would be obvious to those skilled in the art.\",\n \"Although the various embodiments disclosed herein will be described in the context of identifying known recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call, for example during a call placed from a contact center, the present invention has applicability to the identification of any segment of audio, image, or other type of data, regardless of the type or source of the audio, image, or other type of data, and regardless of in what circumstances the audio, image, or other type of data is encountered.\",\n \"Additionally, the present invention has applicability to the recognition of any type of dataset having two or more dimensions.\",\n \"The predominant reliance on the recognition of audio recordings herein is simply for convenience of description.\",\n \"The Use of Acoustic Fingerprinting in a Call Progress Analysis System.\",\n \"Call Progress Analysis may be improved by using a system that augments conventional AMD with an acoustic fingerprinting system to identify specific call progress events of interest including, but not limited to: a.\",\n \"Telephone network messages (e.g., “We're sorry”; “The number or code you have dialed is incorrect”) b. Voicemail greetings shared by multiple subscribers (e.g., “Hello, the party you have dialed”) c. Colored tones, jingles, chimes d. Ringback tones containing music or speech (e.g., “Please hold while your call is completed”) e. Call screeners f. Privacy managers (e.g., “You have reached a number that does not accept solicitations”) g. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) prompts These are collectively referred to herein as “network messages.” All such network messages share the common trait that the same audio is used by the network in certain situations for calls placed to multiple called parties.\",\n \"Therefore, a dialing program should expect to encounter these network messages in the future, and identifying them as such will help the call progress analysis software determine that a live speaker has not been reached.\",\n \"It is desired that the call progress analysis software exhibit the following characteristics: 1.Efficient (low use of CPU and memory) 2.Fast (low latency and delay) 3.Robust (low rate of false negatives) 4.Accurate (low rate of false positives) 5.Scalable (low lookup cost) 6.Repeatable (low learning curve) In one embodiment, during the real-time progress of an outbound call, the CPA system processes the audio stream using both a conventional AMD algorithm and an acoustic fingerprinting system.\",\n \"As the audio proceeds, the acoustic fingerprinting system identifies whether there is a likely match in the database of acoustic fingerprints of known network messages.\",\n \"If so, any output from the AMD algorithm is preempted: instead, the CPA system reports specific call progress events based on the matched acoustic fingerprint.\",\n \"For the general case where the acoustic fingerprint system finds no matches in the database, the conventional AMD algorithm is used to detect a greeting, and report the event of either a live speaker or an answering machine.\",\n \"All events are interpreted by the user of the CPA system to choose an appropriate response, such as whether to proceed or terminate the call, dispatch to an agent, adjust the dialer plan, etc.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the acoustic fingerprinting system is used without an additional CPA mechanism.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 schematically illustrates one embodiment of a method for building an acoustic fingerprint.\",\n \"In order to build an acoustic fingerprint, either of a known audio segment or of a candidate audio segment from a current telephone call, a time varying spectral representation of the signal (referred to herein as a “spectrogram”) is created (as indicated at step 100) using any desired transform, such as Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT), Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), wavelet transform, or even just a set of filter banks, to name just four non-limiting examples.\",\n \"At each frame, the power spectrum in frequency space is computed.\",\n \"For example, FIG.\",\n \"3A illustrates amplitude vs. time for the sliding windows used in a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT, a particularly efficient algorithm to implement Discrete Fourier Transform) of an audio sample using the following parameters: Sample rate: 8 kHz Frame duration: 30 milliseconds Step size: 20 milliseconds Overlap: ⅓ FFT size: 256 A sample spectrogram of an audio sample using this technique is illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3B.\",\n \"The next step is to create a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap, as indicated at step 102.The power spectrogram may be used as is, or it may be optionally transformed in order to condense the data.\",\n \"Any transformation technique that will condense the data may be used.\",\n \"To give just one non-limiting example, the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm may be used, where a sequence of frames are created and are combined to build the acoustic fingerprint bitmap.\",\n \"A filter bank can be used to quantize each frame into a bit vector of size N, where N may be chosen for convenience as the number of bits in a C-style integer (8, 16, 32 or 64).\",\n \"In one embodiment, a Mel-scale filter bank is used to transform the power spectrum data into Mel space with (N+1) bands, as indicated at step 104.The Mel scale is a perceptual scale of pitches judged by listeners to be equal in distance from one another, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4.From the sequence of (N+1)-band spectrums in Mel space, a sequence of N-bit binary fingerprint frame values based on band energy differences over successive frames is computed at step 106.In one embodiment, this is done using the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm as follows: F ( n , m ) = { 1 if E ( n , m ) - E ( n , m + 1 ) - ( E ( n - 1 , m ) - E ( n - 1 , m + 1 ) ) > 0 0 if E ( n , m ) - E ( n , m + 1 ) - ( E ( n - 1 , m ) - E ( n - 1 , m + 1 ) ) ≤ 0 where: E(n,m) is the energy of frequency band m of frame n, and F(n,m) is the mth bit of fingerprint frame n This is illustrated schematically in FIG.\",\n \"5.Thus, the acoustic fingerprint is built up as a vector of N-bit integers, one integer per frame.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1C illustrates an exemplary 16-bit binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap.\",\n \"For use during call progress analysis, a database is maintained that contains binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps for known network messages.\",\n \"In one embodiment, during the real-time progress of an outbound call, the CPA system processes the audio stream using both a conventional AMD algorithm and an acoustic fingerprinting system.\",\n \"As the audio proceeds, the acoustic fingerprinting system creates binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps of the incoming audio and compares those bitmaps to known network message bitmaps stored in a database (step 108).\",\n \"The CPA system identifies whether there is a match in the database of binary bitmaps (step 110), indicating that the outbound call has resulted in receipt of a known network message instead of a live speaker (step 112).\",\n \"If so, any output from the AMD algorithm is preempted: instead, the CPA system reports specific call progress events based on the matched acoustic fingerprint.\",\n \"For the general case where the acoustic fingerprint system finds no matches in the database, the conventional AMD algorithm is used to detect a greeting, and report the event of either a live speaker or an answering machine (step 114).\",\n \"All events are interpreted by the user of the CPA system to choose an appropriate response, such as whether to proceed or terminate the call, dispatch to an agent, adjust the dialer plan, etc.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the binary acoustic fingerprinting bitmap matching system is used without an additional CPA mechanism.\",\n \"The Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm has been well-studied in the literature.\",\n \"In Haitsma and Kalker's published report of use of the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm and the comparison of binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps to identify three (3) second recordings of songs from a database of millions of songs (Haitsma and Kalker, “A Highly Robust Audio Fingerprinting System,” Journal of New Music Research, Vol.\",\n \"32, No.\",\n \"2 (2003), pp.\",\n \"211-221).\",\n \"Their system required a large frame size, large overlap/small step size, and large fingerprints in order to achieve good results.\",\n \"The parameters they used were: Sample rate: 5 kHz Frame duration: 370 milliseconds Step size: 10 milliseconds Overlap: 31/32 FFT size: 2048 The Haitsma-Kalker algorithm computes a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap with a relatively low Signal-to-Noise ratio, with bits highly sensitive to noise and windowing artifacts.\",\n \"To achieve an acoustic fingerprinting system with acceptably high accuracy and low false positive rate typically requires a relatively long segment of audio (˜3 seconds) with large frame size (370 ms) and large overlap between frames (31/32, or about 97%).\",\n \"Such a system is computationally intensive and requires a relatively large audio sample to make reliable comparisons, both of which are undesirable in many audio matching scenarios.\",\n \"The present inventors have observed that many bits in a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap are sensitive to noise and artifacts resulting from the transform into the spectral representation (windowing), especially where the energy of the signal is relatively small.\",\n \"A proposed solution is to mask out bits of little value due to their sensitivity to noise and windowing artifacts, and compute the error rate of the bitmap comparisons using only the bits that are in the mask (i.e., the bits that are not masked out).\",\n \"Ternary Bitmap Acoustic Fingerprint Using Mask Bits to Obtain High Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) To improve the bitmap matching speed without sacrificing accuracy, one embodiment of the present invention makes the following modification to any acoustic fingerprinting algorithm that generates a binary bitmap.\",\n \"In the training stage where the database of known network message bitmaps is created, the methodology of FIG.\",\n \"6 may be implemented.\",\n \"At step 200, the binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap is created for the audio segment using the same process described hereinabove with respect to FIG.\",\n \"2.At step 202, in the illustrated embodiment the first sample is deleted from the audio segment (although other segment modification schemes may be employed, as discussed below), and at step 204 another binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap is created for the modified audio segment using the same process described hereinabove with respect to FIG.\",\n \"2.Steps 202-204 are repeated X times (step 206), where X is the number of samples in each frame used by the acoustic fingerprinting process of FIG.\",\n \"2.This process will generate X binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps of the audio segment.\",\n \"The X binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps are combined into a ternary bitmap at step 208 as follows.\",\n \"If a bit is 0 in all X binary bitmaps, set the bit in the ternary bitmap to 0 If a bit is 1 in all X binary bitmaps, set the bit in the ternary bitmap to 1 Otherwise, set the bit of the ternary bitmap to * (“Don't Care”) The “Don't Care” bits change in the successive binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps because they are sensitive to framing, noise, compression, and other effects that introduce signal distortion.\",\n \"It will be appreciated from the above description that the “Don't Care” bits may be defined in other ways, such as a predetermined percentage of bit values changing across the bitmaps, etc.\",\n \"If the ternary bitmap is used for bitmap comparison (step 210) and the “Don't Care” bits are ignored during the comparison process, the “Don't care” bits mask out these regions in frequency and time of the original binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap that introduce signal distortion.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an example comparison between a binary bitmap and its associated ternary bitmap.\",\n \"It will also be appreciated from the above description that the input signal can be artificially degraded before computing the acoustic fingerprint by adding noise or other artifacts commonly introduced by the communication channel in order to make the acoustic fingerprint and mask more sensitive.\",\n \"At runtime, these “Don't Care” bits are excluded from the evaluated “masked Hamming distance” between the candidate audio stream and the database of known fingerprints.\",\n \"Use of the ternary bitmap mask eliminates false negatives due to framing misalignment between the input candidate audio stream and the recordings in the database.\",\n \"By excluding the bits most sensitive to windowing and noise, the ternary fingerprint system is more robust than its binary counterpart, and achieves comparable accuracy and false positive rate with much fewer bits.\",\n \"It will be appreciated that the above steps create many fingerprints of the same signal, with the analysis window shifted by a fraction of the frame size, and those fingerprints are then used to identify which parts of the fingerprint change.\",\n \"Therefore, in step 202 the analysis window may be shifted by any fraction of the frame size, rather than the illustrated single-sample shift.\",\n \"It will additionally be appreciated that the acoustic fingerprint and ternary bitmap (mask) may be represented in ways other than as vectors of vectors where each element is a bit with a value of zero or one, but instead more generally as vectors of vectors where each element comprises numeric scores and weights (and quantized into multi-bit representations).\",\n \"For example, a method for creating a weighted compressed representation of a dataset may comprise the steps of a) computing a compressed representation of the dataset; b) deleting a first number of elements from the dataset to create a modified dataset; c) computing another compressed representation of the modified dataset; d) repeating steps (b) and (c) a plurality of times to create a plurality of compressed representations; and e) combining the plurality of compressed representations into a weighted compressed representation, where each weight in the weighted compressed representation is computed as a function of the elements in the plurality of compressed representations.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the compressed representation is a two-dimensional vector of first numbers.\",\n \"In some embodiments the first numbers are each represented with a first number of bits, where in the first number of bits may be one bit in some embodiments, and greater than one bit in other embodiments.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the weighted compressed representation is a two-dimensional vector of second numbers.\",\n \"In some embodiments the second numbers are each represented with a second number of bits.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the function computes each said weight as correlation coefficient of the elements in the plurality of compressed representations.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the correlation coefficient is computed as follows: 1) if an element is below a first predetermined threshold in a first predetermined number of the plurality of compressed representations, set the correlation coefficient to a first value; 2) if an element is above a second predetermined threshold in a second predetermined number of the plurality of compressed representations, set the correlation coefficient to a second value; 3) otherwise set the correlation coefficient to a third value.\",\n \"For example, in one embodiment, the first value is +1, the second value is −1, and the third value is 0 (zero).\",\n \"Those skilled in the art will recognize from the present disclosure that the correlation coefficient can be any value between −1 and +1 (or any other desired number range).\",\n \"In the present embodiment, the values correspond to the ternary bitmap discussed herein, where a set bit is +1, a cleared bit is −1 and a Don't Care bit is 0.The thresholds can be set to any desired level.\",\n \"For example, the first predetermined threshold may be 1 (one) and the second predetermined threshold may be 0 (zero) in one embodiment.\",\n \"When computing the correlation coefficient in one embodiment, first predetermined number comprises all of the plurality of compressed representations and the second predetermined number comprises all of the plurality of compressed representations.\",\n \"The methodology of FIG.\",\n \"6 can be compared to the Haitsma-Kalker algorithm binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap comparison approach of FIG.\",\n \"2, which computes a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap with a relatively low Signal-to-Noise ratio, with bits highly sensitive to noise and windowing artifacts.\",\n \"To achieve a fingerprinting system with acceptably high accuracy and low false positive rate using this approach typically requires a relatively long segment of audio (˜3 seconds) with large frame size (370 ms) and large overlap between frames (31/32, or about 97%).\",\n \"By comparison, the ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap methodology disclosed herein, such as that illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6, can obtain comparable matching accuracy and precision much more efficiently, with a short segment of low-bandwidth audio (˜0.25 seconds at 8 kHz), using a small frame size of 30 ms and a small frame overlap of 33%.\",\n \"Not only does this achieve matching in approximately 1/12th the amount of time, it is much less computationally intensive and works well with low quality audio samples.\",\n \"Real-Time Matching of Acoustic Fingerprints in a Database with Minimal Delay Using Exhaustive Search Most existing acoustic fingerprinting systems are not well adapted for real-time applications because they require a large segment of a source audio stream to achieve a valid match.\",\n \"The requirement imposes a time delay of several seconds from the beginning of the matched segment before a matching fingerprint can be confirmed.\",\n \"However, to use fingerprinting in real-time in tandem with other signal processing algorithms such as conventional AMD, the fingerprinting system must identify whether a match is likely within a fraction of a second.\",\n \"To achieve minimal delay, the present inventors propose an approach using an optimized exhaustive search to match an audio stream in real-time against a database on the order of thousands of fingerprints.\",\n \"As shown in FIGS.\",\n \"8 and 9, during preprocessing a collection of ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps, one for each audio object to detect, with N ternary values per frame, is generated (step 300).\",\n \"For each fingerprint, the ternary bitmap is subdivided into a plurality of equal segments (step 302).\",\n \"In one embodiment, the ternary bitmap is subdivided into four equal segments as shown in FIG.\",\n \"9.From each segment, a hash key is obtained (step 304) by extracting the ternary values from 128/N frames of the subdivided fingerprint, for a total of 128 ternary values in each hash key (i.e., a 128-bit ternary hash key).\",\n \"It will be appreciated that the hash key may have fewer or a greater number of values.\",\n \"All of the hash keys thus obtained from the ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps are then aggregated into a single lookup table (step 306).\",\n \"The selection of hash keys from various segments of the acoustic fingerprint allows a match to be made even if the candidate audio stream is an interrupted recording and the beginning of the recording is not received.\",\n \"For example, if using this methodology for identifying samples of music, the person wishing to identify a song may not have (and most likely did not) start recording a sample of the song to be identified until sometime after the song started playing.\",\n \"Use of hash keys from different segments of the acoustic fingerprint allows the system to still make a match between the candidate audio stream and the acoustic fingerprints in the database.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 illustrates one embodiment of a matching procedure that may be used at runtime after the lookup table of hash keys has been assembled.\",\n \"For each new frame of the input audio stream, a binary bitmap acoustic fingerprinting algorithm is used to generate a new bit vector of length N (step 400).\",\n \"The bit vectors from the previous 128/N frames of the input audio stream are combined into a 128-bit binary hash key for lookup (step 402).\",\n \"The current 128-bit binary hash key of the input audio stream is compared against all of the ternary hash keys in the lookup table by computing the masked Hamming distance (step 404).\",\n \"On modern microprocessors, this calculation can easily be parallelized and optimized with Single-Instruction-Multiple-Data instructions (such as the SSE or AVX SIMD instruction set extensions to the Intel x86 microprocessor architecture) and/or the “population count” instruction.\",\n \"If any hash keys in the lookup table match (step 406) with a sufficiently low masked Hamming distance, the audio fingerprint corresponding to the hash key is identified as a “candidate” (step 408).\",\n \"The threshold bit error rate (BER) for establishing a candidate may be based on a relatively low value of σcandidate (e.g., 3 standard deviations, although other thresholds may be used).\",\n \"If the overall BER for a candidate exceeds a relatively large value of σnotify, (e.g., 9 standard deviations, although other thresholds may be used) (step 410) this candidate is determined to be a match (step 412).\",\n \"If no match has been determined, the process returns to step 400 where the next frame is used to generate a new bit vector of length N. By continuing to analyze subsequent frames, the process is able to resolve all candidates as a match or non-match, based upon where the masked Hamming distance falls with respect to the thresholds.\",\n \"Method for Extracting Fingerprints for Common Recordings from Large Audio Collections As will be appreciated from the above description, systems and methods are provided for matching an audio sample to a database of known audio recordings.\",\n \"The systems and methods described above are computationally efficient and are able to identify a match with an acoustic fingerprint in a database, but a problem remains in how to efficiently identify the audio recordings that will be represented by acoustic fingerprints in the database.\",\n \"The methodology described herein below for doing so is discussed in the context of a telephonic contact center; however, those skilled in the art will recognize from the present disclosure that the methodology may be applied to compiling fingerprint databases relating to any type of source audio, images, or other types of data.\",\n \"A sizable campaign from a contact center may generate thousands of digital recordings of outbound calls each day.\",\n \"From this recording collection, the objective is to extract all audio segments containing call progress events of interest, in order to assist CPA in future call campaigns.\",\n \"For example, many calls in a campaign are dialed to numbers on the same network or sub-network, which plays an identical recorded greeting for each subscriber.\",\n \"In the absence of an automated data driven technique, the large volumes of data must be listened to by a human subject, to identify candidate segments from which acoustic fingerprints may be extracted.\",\n \"The present inventors propose an offline process to automatically identify common acoustic recordings in a large collection of recordings, so they may be detected in future call campaigns to improve the accuracy of CPA.\",\n \"The process used for automated identification of fingerprints in our invention is illustrated schematically in FIG.\",\n \"11.At step 500, the CPA system, combined with AMD and acoustic fingerprinting (if the database already contains acoustic fingerprints for some known recordings), is used to classify all audio recordings in the collection based on events detected therein.\",\n \"For all audio recordings classified as a live speaker or answering machine using conventional AMD, the endpoints of the audio segments that do not comprise silence, background noise, or simple tones are identified at step 502.For example, audio segments containing speaking patterns, music, non-speech signals, etc.\",\n \"are identified at step 502.At step 504, a ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap is generated for all identified segments using the methodology described hereinabove (it will be appreciated that a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap can be used instead of the ternary bitmap).\",\n \"These new acoustic fingerprints are added to the acoustic fingerprint database at step 506.All of the audio recordings in the collection are then re-processed through the CPA/AMD system using the newly-augmented ternary acoustic fingerprint database at step 508.At step 510, the system identifies the augmented fingerprints that are not unique and were detected multiple times (i.e., a recording in the collection being processed matched multiple ones of the augmented acoustic fingerprints, indicating that these are acoustic fingerprints of recordings that were encountered multiple times in the collection).\",\n \"Any acoustic fingerprints discovered multiple times are likely candidates for a call progress event of interest, and are therefore left in the acoustic fingerprint database at step 512 for use in future CPA tasks.\",\n \"All of the other augmented fingerprints (i.e., those new acoustic fingerprints that were not detected multiple times) are removed from the database at step 514, since they represent unique audio segments of vocal utterances, and therefore cannot be determined to be recorded network messages.\",\n \"In this way, an automated system may be used to look through a large collection of recordings (or images or other data) and extract therefrom fingerprints of recordings that were encountered multiple times.\",\n \"This methodology allows the acoustic fingerprint database to be built automatically and continuously updated to account for new network messages that may be brought on line by the various telephone companies.\",\n \"As can be seen from the above description, the various embodiments allow for the matching of input audio segments with known audio segments in a database.\",\n \"The audio segments may originate from any source and contain any type of audio, such as speech, tones, music, or any other audio that is desired to be recognized.\",\n \"In an illustrative embodiment, the use of the presently disclosed systems and methods was described in conjunction with recognizing known network message recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call.\",\n \"However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosed systems and methods will find application in recognition of any type of two- or more-dimensional dataset, such as any form of audio, image, or other type of data.\",\n \"While the organization of steps, software blocks, data and data structures have been illustrated as clearly delineated, a person skilled in the art will appreciate that the delineation between steps, blocks and data is somewhat arbitrary.\",\n \"Numerous other arrangements of steps, software blocks and data are possible.\",\n \"Finally, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein which are merely illustrative of several embodiments for carrying out the invention, and which are susceptible to modification of form, arrangement of parts, steps, details and order of operation.\",\n \"The invention, rather, is intended to encompass all such modifications within its spirit and scope, as defined by the claims.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876050"}}},{"rowIdx":4495065,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["TRUST METRICS ON SHARED COMPUTERS","Particular embodiments of a verification authority associated with a web service may receive a request to access the web service.","The request may comprise data uniquely identifying a client device.","The request may have been received from a shared device, wherein the shared device is configured for use by a plurality of users.","The verification authority may access a social graph of a user associated with the client device to determine whether one or more social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device.","The verification authority may then transmit to the client device information indicating which of the social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device."],["1.A method comprising: by a verification authority associated with a web service, receiving a request to access the web service, wherein the request comprises data uniquely identifying a client device, wherein the request was received from a shared device, and wherein the shared device is configured for use by a plurality of users; by the verification authority, accessing a social graph of a user associated with the client device to determine whether one or more social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device; and by the verification authority, transmitting to the client device information indicating which of the social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device.","2.The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining whether an account on a social-networking system for each of the social-networking users had been compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device; and displaying on the display a trust-based metric indicating a number of the social-networking users whose account was compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device.","3.The method of claim 2, wherein the trust-based metric comprises data from an extended social graph of the user associated with the client device, wherein the extended social graph comprises users not directly connected to the user associated with the client device.","4.The method of claim 2, further comprising: determining whether the account had been compromised based on whether a password of the account has been reset within a pre-determined period of time subsequent to accessing shared device.","5.The method of claim 1, wherein the information indicating the social-networking users that accessed the shared device comprises an image of each of the social-networking users that previously accessed the shared device.","6.The method of claim 1, wherein the shared device is registered with the verification authority.","7.The method of claim 1, wherein the data uniquely identifying the client device comprises a digital credential transmitted by the client device, the digital credential uniquely identifying the client device.","8.The method of claim 1, wherein the request to access the web service comprises a request to access the web service by transmitting data through the shared device.","9.The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing the verification authority associated with the web service.","10.One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software that is operable when executed by one or more processors to: establish a verification authority associated with a web service; by the verification authority, receive a request to access the web service, wherein the request comprises data uniquely identifying a client device, wherein the request was received from a shared device, and wherein the shared device is configured for use by a plurality of users; by the verification authority, access a social graph of a user associated with the client device to determine whether one or more social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device; and by the verification authority, transmit to the client device information indicating which of the social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device.","11.The media of claim 10, further comprising software that is operable when executed by the one or more processors to: determine whether an account on a social-networking system for each of the social-networking users had been compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device; and display on the display a trust-based metric indicating a number of the social-networking users whose account was compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device.","12.The media of claim 11, wherein the trust-based metric comprises data from an extended social graph of the user associated with the client device, wherein the extended social graph comprises users not directly connected to the user associated with the client device.","13.The media of claim 11, further comprising software that is operable when executed by the one or more processors to: determine whether the account had been compromised based on whether a password of the account has been reset within a pre-determined period of time subsequent to accessing shared device.","14.The media of claim 10, wherein the information indicating the social-networking users that accessed the shared device comprises an image of each of the social-networking users that previously accessed the shared device.","15.The media of claim 10, wherein the shared device is registered with the verification authority.","16.The media of claim 10, wherein the data uniquely identifying the client device comprises a digital credential transmitted by the client device, the digital credential uniquely identifying the client device.","17.The media of claim 10, wherein the request to access the web service comprises a request to access the web service by transmitting data through the shared device.","18.A system of a verification authority, comprising: one or more processors; and a memory coupled to the processors comprising instructions executable by the processors, the processors being operable when executing the instructions to: receive a request to access the web service, wherein the request comprises data uniquely identifying a client device, wherein the request was received from a shared device, and wherein the shared device is configured for use by a plurality of users; access a social graph of a user associated with the client device to determine whether one or more social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device; and transmit to the client device information indicating which of the social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device.","19.The system of claim 18, the processors being further operable when executing the instructions to: determine whether an account on a social-networking system for each of the social-networking users had been compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device; and display on the display a trust-based metric indicating a number of the social-networking users whose account was compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device.","20.The system of claim 19, wherein the trust-based metric comprises data from an extended social graph of the user associated with the client device, wherein the extended social graph comprises users not directly connected to the user associated with the client device."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>A mobile electronic device, such as a smartphone, tablet device, laptop computer, etc., has general computing capabilities.","The mobile electronic device may execute one or more applications such as for example, communications through short-message service (SMS), communications through multimedia-messaging service (MMS), accessing e-mail, accessing Internet content, communications through a short-range wireless (e.g.","infrared or BLUETOOTH), business applications, gaming, or photography using a camera integrated into the mobile electronic device.","A smartphone is a particular class of mobile electronic device with telephony capabilities provided through a radio-frequency (RF) communication link whilst moving within a geographic area.","The smartphone may have a touch sensor integrated with a display screen, where the touch sensor detects touch inputs and the display screen displays content.","The smartphone connects to a cellular network for access to the public telephone network and Internet content."],["<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>FIG.","1 illustrates example interactions for an example mobile-device-based trust computing system.","FIG.","2 illustrates an example method for mobile-device-based trust computing.","FIG.","3 illustrates an example method for determining a trust metric for a shared devices by a verification authority.","FIG.","4 illustrates an example method for presenting a trust metric for a shared device on a mobile device.","FIG.","5 illustrates an example social-networking system.","FIG.","6 illustrates an example mobile device.","FIG.","7 illustrates example internal components of an example mobile device.","detailed-description description=\"Detailed Description\" end=\"lead\"?"],["PRIORITY This application is a continuation under 35 U.S.C.","§ 120 of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/754,590, filed 29 Jun.","2015, which is a continuation under 35 U.S.C.","§ 120 of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/498,677, filed 26 Sep. 2014, which is a continuation under 35 U.S.C.","§ 120 of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","13/541,244, filed 3 Jul.","2012, all of which are incorporated by reference.","TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure generally relates to shared computing resources.","BACKGROUND A mobile electronic device, such as a smartphone, tablet device, laptop computer, etc., has general computing capabilities.","The mobile electronic device may execute one or more applications such as for example, communications through short-message service (SMS), communications through multimedia-messaging service (MMS), accessing e-mail, accessing Internet content, communications through a short-range wireless (e.g.","infrared or BLUETOOTH), business applications, gaming, or photography using a camera integrated into the mobile electronic device.","A smartphone is a particular class of mobile electronic device with telephony capabilities provided through a radio-frequency (RF) communication link whilst moving within a geographic area.","The smartphone may have a touch sensor integrated with a display screen, where the touch sensor detects touch inputs and the display screen displays content.","The smartphone connects to a cellular network for access to the public telephone network and Internet content.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 illustrates example interactions for an example mobile-device-based trust computing system.","FIG.","2 illustrates an example method for mobile-device-based trust computing.","FIG.","3 illustrates an example method for determining a trust metric for a shared devices by a verification authority.","FIG.","4 illustrates an example method for presenting a trust metric for a shared device on a mobile device.","FIG.","5 illustrates an example social-networking system.","FIG.","6 illustrates an example mobile device.","FIG.","7 illustrates example internal components of an example mobile device.","DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS FIG.","1 illustrates example interactions for an example mobile-device-based trust computing system.","In the example of FIG.","1, the example mobile-device-based trust computing system includes mobile device 10, shared device 4, and verification authority 31.In particular embodiments, mobile device 10 is associated with a particular user.","In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may perform an authentication procedure allowing a user to access shared device 4 or the system that includes verification authority 31 through shared device 4.As an example and not by way of limitation, verification authority 31 is a social-networking system and access to shared device 4 is controlled by a webpage hosted by the social-networking system.","In particular embodiments, the user may perform an authentication procedure to access a service hosted by verification authority 31 through shared device 4 using mobile device 10.Herein, reference to a verification authority may encompass both the authentication component and the Internet entity providing a service to the user such as for example a social-networking system, a financial institution, or a web portal, where appropriate.","Alternatively, where appropriate, reference to a verification authority may encompass authentication component, but not the Internet entity hosting the authentication component.","As part of the trust-based authentication procedure, the user may receive authentication data associated with shared device 4, as illustrated by interaction 60 in FIG.","1.In particular embodiments, an application (“app”) on mobile device 10 obtains the authentication data from shared device 4.As an example and not by way of limitation, the application on mobile device 10 may capture an image of a quick-response (QR) code presented on a display of shared device 4 and transmit authentication data encoded in the QR code to verification authority 31.As another example, the application executed on mobile device 10 may receive the authentication data from shared device 4 through a wireless protocol, such as for example, BLUETOOTH or WI-FI.","As another example, the display of shared device 4 may present the authentication data, e.g.","an alphanumeric verification code, that is manually input into mobile device 10 for transmission to verification authority 31.In particular embodiments, the authentication data from shared device 4 originates from verification authority 31 and is provided to the application on mobile device 10 through shared device 4.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may authenticate mobile device 10, shared device 4, or any combination of shared device 4 and mobile devices 10 through the access data transmitted by the application on mobile device 10, as illustrated by interaction 62 in FIG.","1.In particular embodiments, the access data transmitted to verification authority 31 includes a digital credential associated with mobile device 10 and the authentication data associated with shared device 4 that function as a signed digital certificate.","As an example and not by way of limitation, the digital credential may include an authentication cookie installed on mobile device 10 when initially accessing verification authority 31 through mobile device 10.The authentication cookie uniquely identifies mobile device 10 or the user to verification authority 31.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 authenticates the access data, that includes authentication data associated with shared device 4 and the digital credential associated with mobile device 10, transmitted by the application on mobile device 10.Verification authority 31 may compare the access data with verification data associated with shared device 4 and mobile device 10 stored on verification authority 31.As an example and not by way of limitation, the authentication manager of a social-networking system may act as the verification authority 31 and may compare the authentication data associated with shared device 4 and transmitted by mobile device 10 with the verification data stored on the social-networking system.","As another example, the social-networking system may compare information in the authentication cookie transmitted by mobile device 10 with the verification data stored on the social-networking system.","Verification authority 31 may transmit a signed digital certificate to shared device 4 in response to authenticating the access data, as illustrated by interaction 64 of FIG.","1.The user of mobile device 10 is allowed to access shared device 4 in response to shared device 4 receiving the signed digital certificate from verification authority 31.Access to shared device 4 is achieved without providing information of the user to shared device 4.In particular embodiments, shared device 4 is a computer located at a publically accessible location such as for example, an Internet café or a public library.","In other particular embodiments, shared device 4 is a wireless router of a publically accessible WI-FI hotspot.","In particular embodiments, shared device 4 in turn may sign the digital certificate signed by verification authority 31 and transmit the digital certificate signed by both shared device 4 and verification authority 31 to the application of mobile device 10 for an additional level of assurance, as illustrated by interaction 66 of FIG.","1.In particular embodiments, based on authentication of the user on shared device 4 through mobile device 10, verification authority 31 may restore the last saved state associated with the user on a service hosted by verification authority 31 on shared device 4.As an example and not by way of limitation, verification authority 31 may restore a last saved state of a web browser executed on shared device 4.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may establish a trust metric for mobile device 10 or shared device 4.System-state or configuration information of mobile device 10 may be transmitted to verification authority 31.As an example and not by way of limitation, mobile device 10 may include a trusted-platform module (TPM) that provides system-state information detailing the configuration of mobile device 10 and including data that indicates which applications are installed on mobile device 10.Moreover, verification authority 31 may access an application store, such as for example GOOGLE PLAY or APP STORE, to obtain a unique signature for each application installed on mobile device 10 according to the system-state data.","In particular embodiments, the system-state information of mobile device 10 may be used to provide a trust metric for mobile device 10.As an example and not by way of limitation, the authentication manager of social-networking system 30 may compare the information provided by the TPM of mobile device 10 with the unique signatures of the applications installed on mobile device 10.In particular embodiments, a discrepancy between the system-state information and the signatures of the applications installed on mobile device 10 may indicate mobile device 10 has been compromised.","A compromised mobile device 10 may be denied access to a service hosted by verification authority 31 or to shared device 4.In particular embodiments, shared device 4 is registered with verification authority 31.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may scan shared device 4 to detect the presence of viruses or malware on shared device 4.Moreover, verification authority 31 may determine the configuration of shared device 4 including such as for example, the installed software and the versions of the software, operating system, or security patches, that are installed on shared device 4.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may collect statistics on the effectiveness of different anti-virus software by tracking the anti-virus software installed on shared device 4 and other devices registered with verification authority 31 and the number of viruses or malware found on those devices.","Verification authority 31 may provide a trust-based metric on mobile device 10 of the user indicating the “trustworthiness” of shared device 4.In particular embodiments, prior to accessing shared device 4, a social-networking system acting as a verification authority 31 may access the social graph and action store to determine if other users in the social graph of the user of mobile device 10 have previously accessed shared device 4.As described below, the social graph stores connections each user has with other users of a social-networking system and the action store stores actions that have been performed by the users of the social-networking system.","In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may transmit one or more names and/or images of other users of the social graph (e.g.","as a “facepile”) who have previously accessed shared device 10.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may present a trust-based metric for shared device 4 based on the number of other users in the social graph of the user who have previously accessed shared device 4 and subsequently had their account on a service hosted by verification authority 31 compromised.","As described below, the social graph of the user may include information of connections the user has with other users of an online service.","In particular embodiments, the social graph may also include information of second-order connections, thereby forming a non-extended or extended social graph based at least in part on whether the other users or nodes have direct or indirect connection respectively with the user.","In particular embodiments, the trust-based metric may include data from the extended social graph of the user to include users who are not directly connected to the user of mobile device 10.As an example and not by way of limitation, data from the extended social graph in cases where the amount of data available from the non-extended social graph is too small to generate a meaningful trust-based metric.","As an example and not by way of limitation, verification authority 31 may determine an account is compromised based on whether the user reset their account password subsequent to accessing shared device 10 within a pre-determined period of time.","In particular embodiments, the names and/or images of users in the social graph and the trust-based metric may be displayed on the display of mobile device 10 and the user may decide whether to proceed with accessing shared device 4.Although this disclosure describes a particular trust-based metric that includes particular elements, this disclosure contemplates a trust-based metric that includes any suitable elements, such as for example numerical or graphical data, or a natural language message.","As an example and not by way of limitation, verification authority 31 may present a message stating “13 of your friends have used this machine without issue.” As another example, verification authority 31 may provide a pie chart indicating a number of users in the social graph that had an issue with their account subsequent to accessing shared device 4 out of the total number of users in the social graph that accessed shared device 4.FIG.","2 illustrates an example method for mobile-device-based trust computing.","The method may start at step 100, where a verification authority receives access data from an application on a mobile device of a user.","The access data may include authentication data associated with a shared device and a digital credential associated with the mobile device.","At step 102, the verification authority authenticates the access data based on a comparison of the access data with verification data stored by the verification authority.","In particular embodiments, the digital credential associated with the mobile device may be an authentication cookie installed on the mobile device.","In other particular embodiments, the authentication data associated with the shared device is encoded in a QR code generated by the verification authority and displayed on a display of the shared device.","At step 104, the verification authority signs and transmits the signed digital certificate to the shared device in response to the authentication, at which point the method may end.","The signed digital certificate provides the user access to the shared device.","Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular steps of the method of FIG.","2 as occurring in a particular order, this disclosure contemplates any suitable steps of the method of FIG.","2 occurring in any suitable order.","Moreover, although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular components carrying out particular steps of the method of FIG.","2, this disclosure contemplates any suitable combination of any suitable components carrying out any suitable steps of the method of FIG.","2.FIG.","3 illustrates an example method for determining a trust metric for a shared device by a verification authority.","The method may start at step 150, where a verification authority receives data uniquely identifying a particular user to the verification authority and a request to access a shared device.","As described above, the shared device is configured for use by multiple users.","At step 152, the verification authority accesses a social graph of the particular user to determine whether one or more users in the social graph have previously accessed the shared device.","At step 154, the verification authority transmits information indicating which of the users in the social graph have previously accessed the shared device on a display of the mobile device, at which point the method may end.","In particular embodiments, the information transmitted by the verification authority may be one or more names and/or images of other users of the social graph who have previously accessed shared device.","Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular steps of the method of FIG.","3 as occurring in a particular order, this disclosure contemplates any suitable steps of the method of FIG.","3 occurring in any suitable order.","Moreover, although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular components carrying out particular steps of the method of FIG.","3, this disclosure contemplates any suitable combination of any suitable components carrying out any suitable steps of the method of FIG.","3.FIG.","4 illustrates an example method for presenting on a mobile device trust-based information for a particular shared device.","The method may start at step 200, where an application on a mobile device of a particular user transmits data uniquely identifying the particular user to a verification authority and a request to access a shared device.","In particular embodiments, the shared device is located at an Internet café or a public library.","At step 202, the application on the mobile device presents on a display information from the verification authority indicating which users in a social graph of the particular user have previously accessed the shared device, at which point the method may end.","As described above, the verification authority may access the social graph of the particular user to determine whether the users in the social graph have previously accessed the shared device.","In particular embodiments, the trust-based metric may indicate a number of the users in the social graph that had an account compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device.","Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular steps of the method of FIG.","4 as occurring in a particular order, this disclosure contemplates any suitable steps of the method of FIG.","4 occurring in any suitable order.","Moreover, although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular components carrying out particular steps of the method of FIG.","4, this disclosure contemplates any suitable combination of any suitable components carrying out any suitable steps of the method of FIG.","4.FIG.","5 illustrates an example social-networking system.","In particular embodiments, authentication manager 42 in conjunction with one or more external applications 46A-B or platform applications 50A-B of social-networking system 30 may act as the verification authority 31 described above.","In other particular embodiments, the verification authority may access data stored in social graph 36 and action store 38.In the example of FIG.","5, a social-networking system 30 and an external server 32 are coupled through a network 34.Network 34 generally represents a network or collection of networks (such as for example the Internet, a corporate intranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a local-area network (LAN), a wireless local-area network (WLAN), a cellular network, a wide-area network (WAN), a metropolitan-area network (MAN), or a combination of two or more such networks) over which social-networking system 30 or external server 32 may communicate with shared device 4 and mobile device 10.A user may interact with social-networking system 30 using shared device 4 in conjunction with mobile device 10.Shared device 4 and mobile device 10 may communicate with social-networking system 30 via an application such as a web browser or native application executed on processor of shared device 4 and mobile device 10.As an example and not by way of limitation, interactions between shared device 10 and social-networking system 30 may include viewing profiles of other users of social-networking system 30, contributing and interacting with media items, joining groups, listing and confirming attendance at events, checking in at locations, liking certain pages, creating pages, and performing other tasks that facilitate social interaction.","In particular embodiments, shared device 4 may be a publically accessible computing resource, such as for example a shared computer at an Internet café or public library, and mobile device 10 may be a smartphone, as described above.","In other particular embodiments, shared device 4 may be a virtualized computing resource or a WI-FI or other wireless access point in addition to or instead of a shared computer.","Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular interactions between particular devices and the example social-networking system, this disclosure contemplates any suitable interactions between any suitable devices and any suitable system.","Social-networking system 30 includes components used to store information about users and objects represented in the social networking environment and relationships among the users and objects.","The social-networking system 30 may include components enabling interactions with shared device 4 or mobile device 10, as described below.","Components of social-networking system 30 may be hosted on one or more servers.","This disclosure contemplates any suitable servers, such as servers that are internal to social-networking system 30 or external servers 32.As an example and not by way of limitation, one or more servers may each include one or more advertising servers, applications servers, catalog servers, communications servers, database servers, exchange servers, fax servers, file servers, game servers, home servers, mail servers, message servers, news servers, name or domain-name servers (DNS), print servers, proxy servers, sound servers, standalone servers, web servers, or web-feed servers.","In particular embodiments, a server includes hardware, software, or both for providing the functionality of the server.","As an example and not by way of limitation, a server that operates as a web server may be capable of hosting websites containing web pages or elements of web pages and include appropriate hardware, software, or both for doing so.","In particular embodiments, a web server may host Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) or other suitable files or dynamically create or constitute files for web pages on request.","In response to a Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or other request from shared device 4 or mobile device 10, the web server may communicate one or more such files to mobile device 10.As another example, a server that operates as a database server may be capable of providing an interface for interacting with one or more data stores (such as, for example, action store 38 described below).","Where appropriate, a server may include one or more servers; be unitary or distributed; span multiple locations; span multiple machines; span multiple datacenters; or reside in a cloud, which may include one or more cloud components in one or more networks.","A social graph 36 of social-networking system 30 stores the connections each user has with other users of social-networking system 30.In particular embodiments, social graph 36 may also store second-order connections.","The connections may thus be direct or indirect.","As an example and not by way of limitation, if user A is a first-order connection of user B but not of user C, and B is a first-order connection of C, then C is a second-order connection of A on social graph 36.An action store 38 stores actions that have been performed by the users of social-networking system 30, along with an indication of the time associated with those actions and references to any objects related to the actions.","Action store 38 may store statistics for specified categories of actions.","As an example and not by way of limitation, for a given user, action store 38 may contain a number of stories posted in 30 days by a user, a number of photos posted by the user in 30 days, or a number of distinct users that received comments of the user within the past 30 days.","For a given connection between two users, user A and user B, action store 38 may contain actions such as the number of profile page views from user A to user B, the number of photo page views from user A to user B, and the number of times user A and user B were tagged in the same photo, and these actions may be associated with a timestamp or may be filtered by a cutoff (e.g., 24 hours, 90 days, etc.).","The actions recorded in action store 38 may be farmed actions, which are performed by a user in response to the social-networking system 30 providing suggested choices of actions to the user.","A predictor module 40 is responsible for computing a set predictor functions that predict whether a user will perform a set of corresponding actions.","Each predictor function may be representative of a user's interest in a particular action associated with the predictor function.","The historical activity of a user may be used as a signal of a user's future interest in the same activity.","In particular embodiments, the predictor function is generated using a machine-learned algorithm, that is trained using a user's historical activity associated with an action.","Predictor module 40 thus provides a predictor function for each of a set of actions, where a predictor function may take as an input the a user's historical activity and then outputs a measure of the likelihood that the user will engage in the corresponding activity.","An authentication manager 42 may allow users to log into social-networking system 30 from mobile device 10 or shared device 4 through an application supporting social-networking system 30.An application programming interface (API) 44 works in conjunction with authentication manager 40 to validate users via external applications 46A-B stored on external server 32.In particular embodiments, authentication manager 42 in conjunction with API 44 may periodically verify account information of the user.","An affinity module 48 provides a measure of affinity based on input data about the user from the social-networking system 30 using the predictor functions.","Various processes may request a measure of affinity from affinity module 48.As an example and not by way of limitation, the processes may include basic social-networking system functionality, such as for example newsfeed algorithms, advertising-targeting algorithms, or friend-suggestion algorithms.","Other processes that request measures of affinity may be executed by one or more platform applications 50A-B, which are applications that operate within the social-networking system 30 but may be provided by third parties other than an operator of the social-networking system 30.Platform applications 50A-B may include social games, messaging services, or any suitable application that uses the social platform provided by social-networking system 30.In particular embodiments, the processes requesting a measure of affinity for a user may include one or more external applications 46A-B executed on external server 32.External applications 46A-B may interact with the social-networking system 30 via API 44.External applications 46A-B can perform various operations supported by the API 44, such as enabling users to send each other messages or SMS messages through social-networking system 30 or showing advertisements routed through social-networking system 30.Herein, reference to SMS messages encompasses messages in text and other forms of content, such as for example, images or links to web content.","Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular social-networking system having a particular configuration of particular components, this disclosure contemplates a social-networking system having any suitable configuration of any suitable components.","FIG.","6 illustrates an example mobile device.","This disclosure contemplates mobile device 10 taking any suitable physical form.","As example and not by way of limitation, mobile device 10 may be a single-board computer system (SBC) (such as, for example, a computer-on-module (COM) or system-on-module (SOM)), a laptop or notebook computer system, a mobile telephone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer system, or a combination of two or more of these.","In particular embodiments, mobile device 10 may have a touch screen 12 as an input component.","In the example of FIG.","5, touch screen 12 is incorporated on a front surface of mobile device 10.In the case of capacitive touch sensors, there may be two types of electrodes: transmitting and receiving.","These electrodes may be connected to a controller designed to drive the transmitting electrodes with electrical pulses and measure the changes in capacitance from the receiving electrodes caused by a touch or proximity input.","In the example of FIG.","6, one or more antennae 14A-B may be incorporated into one or more sides of mobile device 10.Antennae 14A-B are components that convert electric current into radio waves, and vice versa.","During transmission of signals, a transmitter applies an oscillating radio frequency (RF) electric current to terminals of antenna 14A-B, and antenna 14A-B radiates the energy of the applied the current as electromagnetic (EM) waves.","During reception of signals, antennae 14A-B convert the power of an incoming EM wave into a voltage at the terminals of antennae 14A-B.","The voltage may be transmitted to a receiver for amplification.","FIG.","7 illustrates example internal components of an example mobile device.","Where appropriate, one or more mobile devices 10 may perform without substantial spatial or temporal limitation one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein.","As an example and not by way of limitation, one or more mobile devices 10 may perform in real time or in batch mode one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein.","In particular embodiments, one or more mobile devices 10 performs one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein.","In particular embodiments, one or more mobile devices 10 provides functionality described or illustrated herein.","In particular embodiments, software running on one or more mobile devices 10 performs one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein or provides functionality described or illustrated herein.","Particular embodiments include one or more portions of one or more mobile devices 10.In particular embodiments, mobile device 10 includes a processor 16, memory 18, storage 22, an input/output (I/O) interface 24, a communication component 20, and a bus 26.Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular mobile device having a particular number of particular components in a particular arrangement, this disclosure contemplates any suitable mobile device having any suitable number of any suitable components in any suitable arrangement.","In particular embodiments, processor 16 includes hardware for executing instructions, such as those making up a computer program or application.","As an example and not by way of limitation, to execute instructions, processor 16 may retrieve (or fetch) the instructions from an internal register, an internal cache, memory 18, or storage 22; decode and execute them; and then write one or more results to an internal register, an internal cache, memory 18, or storage 22.In particular embodiments, processor 16 may include one or more internal caches for data, instructions, or addresses.","This disclosure contemplates processor 16 including any suitable number of any suitable internal caches, where appropriate.","As an example and not by way of limitation, processor 16 may include one or more instruction caches, one or more data caches, and one or more translation lookaside buffers (TLBs).","Instructions in the instruction caches may be copies of instructions in memory 18 or storage 22, and the instruction caches may speed up retrieval of those instructions by processor 16.Data in the data caches may be copies of data in memory 18 or storage 22 for instructions executing at processor 16 to operate on; the results of previous instructions executed at processor 16 for access by subsequent instructions executing at processor 16 or for writing to memory 18 or storage 22; or other suitable data.","The data caches may speed up read or write operations by processor 16.The TLBs may speed up virtual-address translation for processor 16.In particular embodiments, processor 16 may include one or more internal registers for data, instructions, or addresses.","This disclosure contemplates a processor 16 including any suitable number of any suitable internal registers, where appropriate.","Where appropriate, processor 16 may include one or more arithmetic logic units (ALUs); be a multi-core processor; or include one or more processors.","Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular processor, this disclosure contemplates any suitable processor.","In particular embodiments, software executed by processor 16 may include an operating system (OS).","The OS may include a kernel or any number of device drivers corresponding to one or more hardware components of mobile device 10.As an example and not by limitation, if mobile device 10 is a smartphone, then the OS may be a mobile operating system, such as for example, WINDOWS Phone, ANDROID, SYMBIAN, IOS, or BADA.","In particular embodiments, one or more software applications may be executed on mobile device 10.In particular embodiments, the applications may be native applications installed and residing on mobile device 10.As an example and not by way of limitation, an application (e.g.","GOOGLE MAPS) may display a map on a touch screen, search for addresses and businesses, or provide directions to a geographic location; a second application may provide remote access to email; a third application (i.e.","a web browser) may enable the device user to browse and search the Internet; a fourth application may control a camera to take photos or record videos; and a fifth application may allow the device user to receive and initiate voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) or cellular network calls.","The software applications may have a user interface (UI) and may implement one or more specific functionalities.","The software applications may include one or more software modules implementing the specific functionalities.","The executable code of the software applications may be stored in memory 18 or storage 22 of mobile device 10.In particular embodiments, memory 18 includes main memory for storing instructions for processor 16 to execute or data for processor 16 to operate on.","As an example and not by way of limitation, mobile device 10 may load instructions from storage 22 or another source (such as, for example, another mobile device 10) to memory 18.Processor 16 may then load the instructions from memory 18 to an internal register or internal cache.","To execute the instructions, processor 16 may retrieve the instructions from the internal register or internal cache and decode them.","During or after execution of the instructions, processor 16 may write one or more results (which may be intermediate or final results) to the internal register or internal cache.","Processor 16 may then write one or more of those results to memory 18.In particular embodiments, processor 16 executes only instructions in one or more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 18 (as opposed to storage 22 or elsewhere) and operates only on data in one or more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 18 (as opposed to storage 22 or elsewhere).","One or more memory buses (which may each include an address bus and a data bus) may couple processor 16 to memory 18.Bus 26 may include one or more memory buses, as described below.","In particular embodiments, one or more memory management units (MMUs) reside between processor 16 and memory 18 and facilitate accesses to memory 18 requested by processor 16.In particular embodiments, memory 18 includes random-access memory (RAM).","This RAM may be volatile memory, where appropriate Where appropriate, this RAM may be dynamic RAM (DRAM) or static RAM (SRAM).","Moreover, where appropriate, this RAM may be single-ported or multi-ported RAM.","This disclosure contemplates any suitable RAM.","Memory 18 may include one or more memories, where appropriate.","Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular memory, this disclosure contemplates any suitable memory.","In particular embodiments, storage 22 includes mass storage for data or instructions.","As an example and not by way of limitation, storage 22 may include a hard-disk drive (HDD), a floppy disk drive, flash memory, or a combination of two or more of these.","Storage 22 may include removable or non-removable (or fixed) media, where appropriate.","Storage 22 may be internal or external to mobile device 10, where appropriate.","In particular embodiments, storage 22 is non-volatile, solid-state memory.","In particular embodiments, storage 22 includes read-only memory (ROM).","Where appropriate, this ROM may be mask-programmed ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), electrically alterable ROM (EAROM), or flash memory or a combination of two or more of these.","This disclosure contemplates mass storage 22 taking any suitable physical form.","Storage 22 may include one or more storage control units facilitating communication between processor 16 and storage 22, where appropriate.","Where appropriate, storage 22 may include one or more storages 22.Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular storage, this disclosure contemplates any suitable storage.","In particular embodiments, I/O interface 24 includes hardware, software, or both providing one or more interfaces for communication between mobile device 10 and one or more I/O devices.","Mobile device 10 may include one or more of these I/O devices, where appropriate.","One or more of these I/O devices may enable communication between a user and mobile device 10.As an example and not by way of limitation, an I/O device may include a keyboard, keypad, one or more sensors, touch screen, microphone, monitor, mouse, printer, scanner, speaker, digital still camera, stylus, trackball, video camera, another suitable I/O device or a combination of two or more of these.","This disclosure contemplates any suitable I/O devices and any suitable I/O interfaces 24 for them.","Where appropriate, I/O interface 24 may include one or more device or software drivers enabling processor 16 to drive one or more of these I/O devices.","I/O interface 24 may include one or more I/O interfaces 24, where appropriate.","Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular I/O interface, this disclosure contemplates any suitable I/O interface.","In particular embodiments, communication component 20 includes hardware, software, or both providing one or more interfaces for communication (such as, for example, packet-based communication) between mobile device 10 and one or more other mobile devices 10 or one or more networks.","As an example and not by way of limitation, communication component 20 may include a network interface controller (NIC) or network adapter for communicating with an Ethernet or other wire-based network or a wireless NIC (WNIC), wireless adapter for communicating with a wireless network, such as for example a WI-FI network or modem for communicating with a cellular network, such third generation mobile telecommunications (3G), or Long Term Evolution (LTE) network.","This disclosure contemplates any suitable network and any suitable communication component 20 for it.","As an example and not by way of limitation, mobile device 10 may communicate with an ad hoc network, a personal area network (PAN), a LAN, a WAN, a MAN, or one or more portions of the Internet or a combination of two or more of these.","One or more portions of one or more of these networks may be wired or wireless.","As another example, mobile device 10 may communicate with a wireless PAN (WPAN) (such as, for example, a BLUETOOTH WPAN), a WI-FI network, a WI-MAX network, a cellular telephone network (such as, for example, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), 3G, or LTE network), or other suitable wireless network or a combination of two or more of these.","Mobile device 10 may include any suitable communication component for any of these networks, where appropriate.","Communication component 20 may include one or more communication components, where appropriate.","Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular communication component, this disclosure contemplates any suitable communication component.","In particular embodiments, bus 26 includes hardware, software, or both coupling components of mobile device 10 to each other.","As an example and not by way of limitation, bus 26 may include a graphics bus, an Enhanced Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, a front-side bus (FSB), a HYPERTRANSPORT (HT) interconnect, an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, an INFINIBAND interconnect, a low-pin-count (LPC) bus, a memory bus, a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association local (VLB) bus, or another suitable bus or a combination of two or more of these.","Bus 26 may include one or more buses 26, where appropriate.","Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular bus, this disclosure contemplates any suitable bus or interconnect.","Herein, a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium or media may include one or more semiconductor-based or other integrated circuits (ICs) (such, as for example, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or application-specific ICs (ASICs)), hard disk drives (HDDs), hybrid hard drives (HHDs), optical discs, optical disc drives (ODDs), magneto-optical discs, magneto-optical drives, floppy diskettes, floppy disk drives (FDDs), magnetic tapes, solid-state drives (SSDs), RAM-drives, SECURE DIGITAL cards or drives, any other suitable computer-readable non-transitory storage media, or any suitable combination of two or more of these, where appropriate.","A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium may be volatile, non-volatile, or a combination of volatile and non-volatile, where appropriate.","Herein, “or” is inclusive and not exclusive, unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.","Therefore, herein, “A or B” means “A, B, or both,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.","Moreover, “and” is both joint and several, unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.","Therefore, herein, “A and B” means “A and B, jointly or severally,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.","This disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodiments herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend.","Moreover, although this disclosure describes and illustrates respective embodiments herein as including particular components, elements, functions, operations, or steps, any of these embodiments may include any combination or permutation of any of the components, elements, functions, operations, or steps described or illustrated anywhere herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend.","Furthermore, reference in the appended claims to an apparatus or system or a component of an apparatus or system being adapted to, arranged to, capable of, configured to, enabled to, operable to, or operative to perform a particular function encompasses that apparatus, system, component, whether or not it or that particular function is activated, turned on, or unlocked, as long as that apparatus, system, or component is so adapted, arranged, capable, configured, enabled, operable, or operative."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"TRUST METRICS ON SHARED COMPUTERS\",\n \"Particular embodiments of a verification authority associated with a web service may receive a request to access the web service.\",\n \"The request may comprise data uniquely identifying a client device.\",\n \"The request may have been received from a shared device, wherein the shared device is configured for use by a plurality of users.\",\n \"The verification authority may access a social graph of a user associated with the client device to determine whether one or more social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device.\",\n \"The verification authority may then transmit to the client device information indicating which of the social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A method comprising: by a verification authority associated with a web service, receiving a request to access the web service, wherein the request comprises data uniquely identifying a client device, wherein the request was received from a shared device, and wherein the shared device is configured for use by a plurality of users; by the verification authority, accessing a social graph of a user associated with the client device to determine whether one or more social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device; and by the verification authority, transmitting to the client device information indicating which of the social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device.\",\n \"2.The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining whether an account on a social-networking system for each of the social-networking users had been compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device; and displaying on the display a trust-based metric indicating a number of the social-networking users whose account was compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device.\",\n \"3.The method of claim 2, wherein the trust-based metric comprises data from an extended social graph of the user associated with the client device, wherein the extended social graph comprises users not directly connected to the user associated with the client device.\",\n \"4.The method of claim 2, further comprising: determining whether the account had been compromised based on whether a password of the account has been reset within a pre-determined period of time subsequent to accessing shared device.\",\n \"5.The method of claim 1, wherein the information indicating the social-networking users that accessed the shared device comprises an image of each of the social-networking users that previously accessed the shared device.\",\n \"6.The method of claim 1, wherein the shared device is registered with the verification authority.\",\n \"7.The method of claim 1, wherein the data uniquely identifying the client device comprises a digital credential transmitted by the client device, the digital credential uniquely identifying the client device.\",\n \"8.The method of claim 1, wherein the request to access the web service comprises a request to access the web service by transmitting data through the shared device.\",\n \"9.The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing the verification authority associated with the web service.\",\n \"10.One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software that is operable when executed by one or more processors to: establish a verification authority associated with a web service; by the verification authority, receive a request to access the web service, wherein the request comprises data uniquely identifying a client device, wherein the request was received from a shared device, and wherein the shared device is configured for use by a plurality of users; by the verification authority, access a social graph of a user associated with the client device to determine whether one or more social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device; and by the verification authority, transmit to the client device information indicating which of the social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device.\",\n \"11.The media of claim 10, further comprising software that is operable when executed by the one or more processors to: determine whether an account on a social-networking system for each of the social-networking users had been compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device; and display on the display a trust-based metric indicating a number of the social-networking users whose account was compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device.\",\n \"12.The media of claim 11, wherein the trust-based metric comprises data from an extended social graph of the user associated with the client device, wherein the extended social graph comprises users not directly connected to the user associated with the client device.\",\n \"13.The media of claim 11, further comprising software that is operable when executed by the one or more processors to: determine whether the account had been compromised based on whether a password of the account has been reset within a pre-determined period of time subsequent to accessing shared device.\",\n \"14.The media of claim 10, wherein the information indicating the social-networking users that accessed the shared device comprises an image of each of the social-networking users that previously accessed the shared device.\",\n \"15.The media of claim 10, wherein the shared device is registered with the verification authority.\",\n \"16.The media of claim 10, wherein the data uniquely identifying the client device comprises a digital credential transmitted by the client device, the digital credential uniquely identifying the client device.\",\n \"17.The media of claim 10, wherein the request to access the web service comprises a request to access the web service by transmitting data through the shared device.\",\n \"18.A system of a verification authority, comprising: one or more processors; and a memory coupled to the processors comprising instructions executable by the processors, the processors being operable when executing the instructions to: receive a request to access the web service, wherein the request comprises data uniquely identifying a client device, wherein the request was received from a shared device, and wherein the shared device is configured for use by a plurality of users; access a social graph of a user associated with the client device to determine whether one or more social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device; and transmit to the client device information indicating which of the social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device.\",\n \"19.The system of claim 18, the processors being further operable when executing the instructions to: determine whether an account on a social-networking system for each of the social-networking users had been compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device; and display on the display a trust-based metric indicating a number of the social-networking users whose account was compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device.\",\n \"20.The system of claim 19, wherein the trust-based metric comprises data from an extended social graph of the user associated with the client device, wherein the extended social graph comprises users not directly connected to the user associated with the client device.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>A mobile electronic device, such as a smartphone, tablet device, laptop computer, etc., has general computing capabilities.\",\n \"The mobile electronic device may execute one or more applications such as for example, communications through short-message service (SMS), communications through multimedia-messaging service (MMS), accessing e-mail, accessing Internet content, communications through a short-range wireless (e.g.\",\n \"infrared or BLUETOOTH), business applications, gaming, or photography using a camera integrated into the mobile electronic device.\",\n \"A smartphone is a particular class of mobile electronic device with telephony capabilities provided through a radio-frequency (RF) communication link whilst moving within a geographic area.\",\n \"The smartphone may have a touch sensor integrated with a display screen, where the touch sensor detects touch inputs and the display screen displays content.\",\n \"The smartphone connects to a cellular network for access to the public telephone network and Internet content.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates example interactions for an example mobile-device-based trust computing system.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an example method for mobile-device-based trust computing.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an example method for determining a trust metric for a shared devices by a verification authority.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an example method for presenting a trust metric for a shared device on a mobile device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an example social-networking system.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an example mobile device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates example internal components of an example mobile device.\",\n \"detailed-description description=\\\"Detailed Description\\\" end=\\\"lead\\\"?\"\n ],\n [\n \"PRIORITY This application is a continuation under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"§ 120 of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/754,590, filed 29 Jun.\",\n \"2015, which is a continuation under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"§ 120 of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/498,677, filed 26 Sep. 2014, which is a continuation under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"§ 120 of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/541,244, filed 3 Jul.\",\n \"2012, all of which are incorporated by reference.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure generally relates to shared computing resources.\",\n \"BACKGROUND A mobile electronic device, such as a smartphone, tablet device, laptop computer, etc., has general computing capabilities.\",\n \"The mobile electronic device may execute one or more applications such as for example, communications through short-message service (SMS), communications through multimedia-messaging service (MMS), accessing e-mail, accessing Internet content, communications through a short-range wireless (e.g.\",\n \"infrared or BLUETOOTH), business applications, gaming, or photography using a camera integrated into the mobile electronic device.\",\n \"A smartphone is a particular class of mobile electronic device with telephony capabilities provided through a radio-frequency (RF) communication link whilst moving within a geographic area.\",\n \"The smartphone may have a touch sensor integrated with a display screen, where the touch sensor detects touch inputs and the display screen displays content.\",\n \"The smartphone connects to a cellular network for access to the public telephone network and Internet content.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates example interactions for an example mobile-device-based trust computing system.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an example method for mobile-device-based trust computing.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an example method for determining a trust metric for a shared devices by a verification authority.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an example method for presenting a trust metric for a shared device on a mobile device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an example social-networking system.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an example mobile device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates example internal components of an example mobile device.\",\n \"DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates example interactions for an example mobile-device-based trust computing system.\",\n \"In the example of FIG.\",\n \"1, the example mobile-device-based trust computing system includes mobile device 10, shared device 4, and verification authority 31.In particular embodiments, mobile device 10 is associated with a particular user.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may perform an authentication procedure allowing a user to access shared device 4 or the system that includes verification authority 31 through shared device 4.As an example and not by way of limitation, verification authority 31 is a social-networking system and access to shared device 4 is controlled by a webpage hosted by the social-networking system.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, the user may perform an authentication procedure to access a service hosted by verification authority 31 through shared device 4 using mobile device 10.Herein, reference to a verification authority may encompass both the authentication component and the Internet entity providing a service to the user such as for example a social-networking system, a financial institution, or a web portal, where appropriate.\",\n \"Alternatively, where appropriate, reference to a verification authority may encompass authentication component, but not the Internet entity hosting the authentication component.\",\n \"As part of the trust-based authentication procedure, the user may receive authentication data associated with shared device 4, as illustrated by interaction 60 in FIG.\",\n \"1.In particular embodiments, an application (“app”) on mobile device 10 obtains the authentication data from shared device 4.As an example and not by way of limitation, the application on mobile device 10 may capture an image of a quick-response (QR) code presented on a display of shared device 4 and transmit authentication data encoded in the QR code to verification authority 31.As another example, the application executed on mobile device 10 may receive the authentication data from shared device 4 through a wireless protocol, such as for example, BLUETOOTH or WI-FI.\",\n \"As another example, the display of shared device 4 may present the authentication data, e.g.\",\n \"an alphanumeric verification code, that is manually input into mobile device 10 for transmission to verification authority 31.In particular embodiments, the authentication data from shared device 4 originates from verification authority 31 and is provided to the application on mobile device 10 through shared device 4.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may authenticate mobile device 10, shared device 4, or any combination of shared device 4 and mobile devices 10 through the access data transmitted by the application on mobile device 10, as illustrated by interaction 62 in FIG.\",\n \"1.In particular embodiments, the access data transmitted to verification authority 31 includes a digital credential associated with mobile device 10 and the authentication data associated with shared device 4 that function as a signed digital certificate.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, the digital credential may include an authentication cookie installed on mobile device 10 when initially accessing verification authority 31 through mobile device 10.The authentication cookie uniquely identifies mobile device 10 or the user to verification authority 31.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 authenticates the access data, that includes authentication data associated with shared device 4 and the digital credential associated with mobile device 10, transmitted by the application on mobile device 10.Verification authority 31 may compare the access data with verification data associated with shared device 4 and mobile device 10 stored on verification authority 31.As an example and not by way of limitation, the authentication manager of a social-networking system may act as the verification authority 31 and may compare the authentication data associated with shared device 4 and transmitted by mobile device 10 with the verification data stored on the social-networking system.\",\n \"As another example, the social-networking system may compare information in the authentication cookie transmitted by mobile device 10 with the verification data stored on the social-networking system.\",\n \"Verification authority 31 may transmit a signed digital certificate to shared device 4 in response to authenticating the access data, as illustrated by interaction 64 of FIG.\",\n \"1.The user of mobile device 10 is allowed to access shared device 4 in response to shared device 4 receiving the signed digital certificate from verification authority 31.Access to shared device 4 is achieved without providing information of the user to shared device 4.In particular embodiments, shared device 4 is a computer located at a publically accessible location such as for example, an Internet café or a public library.\",\n \"In other particular embodiments, shared device 4 is a wireless router of a publically accessible WI-FI hotspot.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, shared device 4 in turn may sign the digital certificate signed by verification authority 31 and transmit the digital certificate signed by both shared device 4 and verification authority 31 to the application of mobile device 10 for an additional level of assurance, as illustrated by interaction 66 of FIG.\",\n \"1.In particular embodiments, based on authentication of the user on shared device 4 through mobile device 10, verification authority 31 may restore the last saved state associated with the user on a service hosted by verification authority 31 on shared device 4.As an example and not by way of limitation, verification authority 31 may restore a last saved state of a web browser executed on shared device 4.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may establish a trust metric for mobile device 10 or shared device 4.System-state or configuration information of mobile device 10 may be transmitted to verification authority 31.As an example and not by way of limitation, mobile device 10 may include a trusted-platform module (TPM) that provides system-state information detailing the configuration of mobile device 10 and including data that indicates which applications are installed on mobile device 10.Moreover, verification authority 31 may access an application store, such as for example GOOGLE PLAY or APP STORE, to obtain a unique signature for each application installed on mobile device 10 according to the system-state data.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, the system-state information of mobile device 10 may be used to provide a trust metric for mobile device 10.As an example and not by way of limitation, the authentication manager of social-networking system 30 may compare the information provided by the TPM of mobile device 10 with the unique signatures of the applications installed on mobile device 10.In particular embodiments, a discrepancy between the system-state information and the signatures of the applications installed on mobile device 10 may indicate mobile device 10 has been compromised.\",\n \"A compromised mobile device 10 may be denied access to a service hosted by verification authority 31 or to shared device 4.In particular embodiments, shared device 4 is registered with verification authority 31.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may scan shared device 4 to detect the presence of viruses or malware on shared device 4.Moreover, verification authority 31 may determine the configuration of shared device 4 including such as for example, the installed software and the versions of the software, operating system, or security patches, that are installed on shared device 4.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may collect statistics on the effectiveness of different anti-virus software by tracking the anti-virus software installed on shared device 4 and other devices registered with verification authority 31 and the number of viruses or malware found on those devices.\",\n \"Verification authority 31 may provide a trust-based metric on mobile device 10 of the user indicating the “trustworthiness” of shared device 4.In particular embodiments, prior to accessing shared device 4, a social-networking system acting as a verification authority 31 may access the social graph and action store to determine if other users in the social graph of the user of mobile device 10 have previously accessed shared device 4.As described below, the social graph stores connections each user has with other users of a social-networking system and the action store stores actions that have been performed by the users of the social-networking system.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may transmit one or more names and/or images of other users of the social graph (e.g.\",\n \"as a “facepile”) who have previously accessed shared device 10.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may present a trust-based metric for shared device 4 based on the number of other users in the social graph of the user who have previously accessed shared device 4 and subsequently had their account on a service hosted by verification authority 31 compromised.\",\n \"As described below, the social graph of the user may include information of connections the user has with other users of an online service.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, the social graph may also include information of second-order connections, thereby forming a non-extended or extended social graph based at least in part on whether the other users or nodes have direct or indirect connection respectively with the user.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, the trust-based metric may include data from the extended social graph of the user to include users who are not directly connected to the user of mobile device 10.As an example and not by way of limitation, data from the extended social graph in cases where the amount of data available from the non-extended social graph is too small to generate a meaningful trust-based metric.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, verification authority 31 may determine an account is compromised based on whether the user reset their account password subsequent to accessing shared device 10 within a pre-determined period of time.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, the names and/or images of users in the social graph and the trust-based metric may be displayed on the display of mobile device 10 and the user may decide whether to proceed with accessing shared device 4.Although this disclosure describes a particular trust-based metric that includes particular elements, this disclosure contemplates a trust-based metric that includes any suitable elements, such as for example numerical or graphical data, or a natural language message.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, verification authority 31 may present a message stating “13 of your friends have used this machine without issue.” As another example, verification authority 31 may provide a pie chart indicating a number of users in the social graph that had an issue with their account subsequent to accessing shared device 4 out of the total number of users in the social graph that accessed shared device 4.FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an example method for mobile-device-based trust computing.\",\n \"The method may start at step 100, where a verification authority receives access data from an application on a mobile device of a user.\",\n \"The access data may include authentication data associated with a shared device and a digital credential associated with the mobile device.\",\n \"At step 102, the verification authority authenticates the access data based on a comparison of the access data with verification data stored by the verification authority.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, the digital credential associated with the mobile device may be an authentication cookie installed on the mobile device.\",\n \"In other particular embodiments, the authentication data associated with the shared device is encoded in a QR code generated by the verification authority and displayed on a display of the shared device.\",\n \"At step 104, the verification authority signs and transmits the signed digital certificate to the shared device in response to the authentication, at which point the method may end.\",\n \"The signed digital certificate provides the user access to the shared device.\",\n \"Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"2 as occurring in a particular order, this disclosure contemplates any suitable steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"2 occurring in any suitable order.\",\n \"Moreover, although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular components carrying out particular steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"2, this disclosure contemplates any suitable combination of any suitable components carrying out any suitable steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"2.FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an example method for determining a trust metric for a shared device by a verification authority.\",\n \"The method may start at step 150, where a verification authority receives data uniquely identifying a particular user to the verification authority and a request to access a shared device.\",\n \"As described above, the shared device is configured for use by multiple users.\",\n \"At step 152, the verification authority accesses a social graph of the particular user to determine whether one or more users in the social graph have previously accessed the shared device.\",\n \"At step 154, the verification authority transmits information indicating which of the users in the social graph have previously accessed the shared device on a display of the mobile device, at which point the method may end.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, the information transmitted by the verification authority may be one or more names and/or images of other users of the social graph who have previously accessed shared device.\",\n \"Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"3 as occurring in a particular order, this disclosure contemplates any suitable steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"3 occurring in any suitable order.\",\n \"Moreover, although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular components carrying out particular steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"3, this disclosure contemplates any suitable combination of any suitable components carrying out any suitable steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"3.FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an example method for presenting on a mobile device trust-based information for a particular shared device.\",\n \"The method may start at step 200, where an application on a mobile device of a particular user transmits data uniquely identifying the particular user to a verification authority and a request to access a shared device.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, the shared device is located at an Internet café or a public library.\",\n \"At step 202, the application on the mobile device presents on a display information from the verification authority indicating which users in a social graph of the particular user have previously accessed the shared device, at which point the method may end.\",\n \"As described above, the verification authority may access the social graph of the particular user to determine whether the users in the social graph have previously accessed the shared device.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, the trust-based metric may indicate a number of the users in the social graph that had an account compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device.\",\n \"Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"4 as occurring in a particular order, this disclosure contemplates any suitable steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"4 occurring in any suitable order.\",\n \"Moreover, although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular components carrying out particular steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"4, this disclosure contemplates any suitable combination of any suitable components carrying out any suitable steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"4.FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an example social-networking system.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, authentication manager 42 in conjunction with one or more external applications 46A-B or platform applications 50A-B of social-networking system 30 may act as the verification authority 31 described above.\",\n \"In other particular embodiments, the verification authority may access data stored in social graph 36 and action store 38.In the example of FIG.\",\n \"5, a social-networking system 30 and an external server 32 are coupled through a network 34.Network 34 generally represents a network or collection of networks (such as for example the Internet, a corporate intranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a local-area network (LAN), a wireless local-area network (WLAN), a cellular network, a wide-area network (WAN), a metropolitan-area network (MAN), or a combination of two or more such networks) over which social-networking system 30 or external server 32 may communicate with shared device 4 and mobile device 10.A user may interact with social-networking system 30 using shared device 4 in conjunction with mobile device 10.Shared device 4 and mobile device 10 may communicate with social-networking system 30 via an application such as a web browser or native application executed on processor of shared device 4 and mobile device 10.As an example and not by way of limitation, interactions between shared device 10 and social-networking system 30 may include viewing profiles of other users of social-networking system 30, contributing and interacting with media items, joining groups, listing and confirming attendance at events, checking in at locations, liking certain pages, creating pages, and performing other tasks that facilitate social interaction.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, shared device 4 may be a publically accessible computing resource, such as for example a shared computer at an Internet café or public library, and mobile device 10 may be a smartphone, as described above.\",\n \"In other particular embodiments, shared device 4 may be a virtualized computing resource or a WI-FI or other wireless access point in addition to or instead of a shared computer.\",\n \"Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular interactions between particular devices and the example social-networking system, this disclosure contemplates any suitable interactions between any suitable devices and any suitable system.\",\n \"Social-networking system 30 includes components used to store information about users and objects represented in the social networking environment and relationships among the users and objects.\",\n \"The social-networking system 30 may include components enabling interactions with shared device 4 or mobile device 10, as described below.\",\n \"Components of social-networking system 30 may be hosted on one or more servers.\",\n \"This disclosure contemplates any suitable servers, such as servers that are internal to social-networking system 30 or external servers 32.As an example and not by way of limitation, one or more servers may each include one or more advertising servers, applications servers, catalog servers, communications servers, database servers, exchange servers, fax servers, file servers, game servers, home servers, mail servers, message servers, news servers, name or domain-name servers (DNS), print servers, proxy servers, sound servers, standalone servers, web servers, or web-feed servers.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, a server includes hardware, software, or both for providing the functionality of the server.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, a server that operates as a web server may be capable of hosting websites containing web pages or elements of web pages and include appropriate hardware, software, or both for doing so.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, a web server may host Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) or other suitable files or dynamically create or constitute files for web pages on request.\",\n \"In response to a Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or other request from shared device 4 or mobile device 10, the web server may communicate one or more such files to mobile device 10.As another example, a server that operates as a database server may be capable of providing an interface for interacting with one or more data stores (such as, for example, action store 38 described below).\",\n \"Where appropriate, a server may include one or more servers; be unitary or distributed; span multiple locations; span multiple machines; span multiple datacenters; or reside in a cloud, which may include one or more cloud components in one or more networks.\",\n \"A social graph 36 of social-networking system 30 stores the connections each user has with other users of social-networking system 30.In particular embodiments, social graph 36 may also store second-order connections.\",\n \"The connections may thus be direct or indirect.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, if user A is a first-order connection of user B but not of user C, and B is a first-order connection of C, then C is a second-order connection of A on social graph 36.An action store 38 stores actions that have been performed by the users of social-networking system 30, along with an indication of the time associated with those actions and references to any objects related to the actions.\",\n \"Action store 38 may store statistics for specified categories of actions.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, for a given user, action store 38 may contain a number of stories posted in 30 days by a user, a number of photos posted by the user in 30 days, or a number of distinct users that received comments of the user within the past 30 days.\",\n \"For a given connection between two users, user A and user B, action store 38 may contain actions such as the number of profile page views from user A to user B, the number of photo page views from user A to user B, and the number of times user A and user B were tagged in the same photo, and these actions may be associated with a timestamp or may be filtered by a cutoff (e.g., 24 hours, 90 days, etc.).\",\n \"The actions recorded in action store 38 may be farmed actions, which are performed by a user in response to the social-networking system 30 providing suggested choices of actions to the user.\",\n \"A predictor module 40 is responsible for computing a set predictor functions that predict whether a user will perform a set of corresponding actions.\",\n \"Each predictor function may be representative of a user's interest in a particular action associated with the predictor function.\",\n \"The historical activity of a user may be used as a signal of a user's future interest in the same activity.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, the predictor function is generated using a machine-learned algorithm, that is trained using a user's historical activity associated with an action.\",\n \"Predictor module 40 thus provides a predictor function for each of a set of actions, where a predictor function may take as an input the a user's historical activity and then outputs a measure of the likelihood that the user will engage in the corresponding activity.\",\n \"An authentication manager 42 may allow users to log into social-networking system 30 from mobile device 10 or shared device 4 through an application supporting social-networking system 30.An application programming interface (API) 44 works in conjunction with authentication manager 40 to validate users via external applications 46A-B stored on external server 32.In particular embodiments, authentication manager 42 in conjunction with API 44 may periodically verify account information of the user.\",\n \"An affinity module 48 provides a measure of affinity based on input data about the user from the social-networking system 30 using the predictor functions.\",\n \"Various processes may request a measure of affinity from affinity module 48.As an example and not by way of limitation, the processes may include basic social-networking system functionality, such as for example newsfeed algorithms, advertising-targeting algorithms, or friend-suggestion algorithms.\",\n \"Other processes that request measures of affinity may be executed by one or more platform applications 50A-B, which are applications that operate within the social-networking system 30 but may be provided by third parties other than an operator of the social-networking system 30.Platform applications 50A-B may include social games, messaging services, or any suitable application that uses the social platform provided by social-networking system 30.In particular embodiments, the processes requesting a measure of affinity for a user may include one or more external applications 46A-B executed on external server 32.External applications 46A-B may interact with the social-networking system 30 via API 44.External applications 46A-B can perform various operations supported by the API 44, such as enabling users to send each other messages or SMS messages through social-networking system 30 or showing advertisements routed through social-networking system 30.Herein, reference to SMS messages encompasses messages in text and other forms of content, such as for example, images or links to web content.\",\n \"Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular social-networking system having a particular configuration of particular components, this disclosure contemplates a social-networking system having any suitable configuration of any suitable components.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an example mobile device.\",\n \"This disclosure contemplates mobile device 10 taking any suitable physical form.\",\n \"As example and not by way of limitation, mobile device 10 may be a single-board computer system (SBC) (such as, for example, a computer-on-module (COM) or system-on-module (SOM)), a laptop or notebook computer system, a mobile telephone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer system, or a combination of two or more of these.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, mobile device 10 may have a touch screen 12 as an input component.\",\n \"In the example of FIG.\",\n \"5, touch screen 12 is incorporated on a front surface of mobile device 10.In the case of capacitive touch sensors, there may be two types of electrodes: transmitting and receiving.\",\n \"These electrodes may be connected to a controller designed to drive the transmitting electrodes with electrical pulses and measure the changes in capacitance from the receiving electrodes caused by a touch or proximity input.\",\n \"In the example of FIG.\",\n \"6, one or more antennae 14A-B may be incorporated into one or more sides of mobile device 10.Antennae 14A-B are components that convert electric current into radio waves, and vice versa.\",\n \"During transmission of signals, a transmitter applies an oscillating radio frequency (RF) electric current to terminals of antenna 14A-B, and antenna 14A-B radiates the energy of the applied the current as electromagnetic (EM) waves.\",\n \"During reception of signals, antennae 14A-B convert the power of an incoming EM wave into a voltage at the terminals of antennae 14A-B.\",\n \"The voltage may be transmitted to a receiver for amplification.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates example internal components of an example mobile device.\",\n \"Where appropriate, one or more mobile devices 10 may perform without substantial spatial or temporal limitation one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, one or more mobile devices 10 may perform in real time or in batch mode one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, one or more mobile devices 10 performs one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, one or more mobile devices 10 provides functionality described or illustrated herein.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, software running on one or more mobile devices 10 performs one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein or provides functionality described or illustrated herein.\",\n \"Particular embodiments include one or more portions of one or more mobile devices 10.In particular embodiments, mobile device 10 includes a processor 16, memory 18, storage 22, an input/output (I/O) interface 24, a communication component 20, and a bus 26.Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular mobile device having a particular number of particular components in a particular arrangement, this disclosure contemplates any suitable mobile device having any suitable number of any suitable components in any suitable arrangement.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, processor 16 includes hardware for executing instructions, such as those making up a computer program or application.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, to execute instructions, processor 16 may retrieve (or fetch) the instructions from an internal register, an internal cache, memory 18, or storage 22; decode and execute them; and then write one or more results to an internal register, an internal cache, memory 18, or storage 22.In particular embodiments, processor 16 may include one or more internal caches for data, instructions, or addresses.\",\n \"This disclosure contemplates processor 16 including any suitable number of any suitable internal caches, where appropriate.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, processor 16 may include one or more instruction caches, one or more data caches, and one or more translation lookaside buffers (TLBs).\",\n \"Instructions in the instruction caches may be copies of instructions in memory 18 or storage 22, and the instruction caches may speed up retrieval of those instructions by processor 16.Data in the data caches may be copies of data in memory 18 or storage 22 for instructions executing at processor 16 to operate on; the results of previous instructions executed at processor 16 for access by subsequent instructions executing at processor 16 or for writing to memory 18 or storage 22; or other suitable data.\",\n \"The data caches may speed up read or write operations by processor 16.The TLBs may speed up virtual-address translation for processor 16.In particular embodiments, processor 16 may include one or more internal registers for data, instructions, or addresses.\",\n \"This disclosure contemplates a processor 16 including any suitable number of any suitable internal registers, where appropriate.\",\n \"Where appropriate, processor 16 may include one or more arithmetic logic units (ALUs); be a multi-core processor; or include one or more processors.\",\n \"Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular processor, this disclosure contemplates any suitable processor.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, software executed by processor 16 may include an operating system (OS).\",\n \"The OS may include a kernel or any number of device drivers corresponding to one or more hardware components of mobile device 10.As an example and not by limitation, if mobile device 10 is a smartphone, then the OS may be a mobile operating system, such as for example, WINDOWS Phone, ANDROID, SYMBIAN, IOS, or BADA.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, one or more software applications may be executed on mobile device 10.In particular embodiments, the applications may be native applications installed and residing on mobile device 10.As an example and not by way of limitation, an application (e.g.\",\n \"GOOGLE MAPS) may display a map on a touch screen, search for addresses and businesses, or provide directions to a geographic location; a second application may provide remote access to email; a third application (i.e.\",\n \"a web browser) may enable the device user to browse and search the Internet; a fourth application may control a camera to take photos or record videos; and a fifth application may allow the device user to receive and initiate voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) or cellular network calls.\",\n \"The software applications may have a user interface (UI) and may implement one or more specific functionalities.\",\n \"The software applications may include one or more software modules implementing the specific functionalities.\",\n \"The executable code of the software applications may be stored in memory 18 or storage 22 of mobile device 10.In particular embodiments, memory 18 includes main memory for storing instructions for processor 16 to execute or data for processor 16 to operate on.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, mobile device 10 may load instructions from storage 22 or another source (such as, for example, another mobile device 10) to memory 18.Processor 16 may then load the instructions from memory 18 to an internal register or internal cache.\",\n \"To execute the instructions, processor 16 may retrieve the instructions from the internal register or internal cache and decode them.\",\n \"During or after execution of the instructions, processor 16 may write one or more results (which may be intermediate or final results) to the internal register or internal cache.\",\n \"Processor 16 may then write one or more of those results to memory 18.In particular embodiments, processor 16 executes only instructions in one or more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 18 (as opposed to storage 22 or elsewhere) and operates only on data in one or more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 18 (as opposed to storage 22 or elsewhere).\",\n \"One or more memory buses (which may each include an address bus and a data bus) may couple processor 16 to memory 18.Bus 26 may include one or more memory buses, as described below.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, one or more memory management units (MMUs) reside between processor 16 and memory 18 and facilitate accesses to memory 18 requested by processor 16.In particular embodiments, memory 18 includes random-access memory (RAM).\",\n \"This RAM may be volatile memory, where appropriate Where appropriate, this RAM may be dynamic RAM (DRAM) or static RAM (SRAM).\",\n \"Moreover, where appropriate, this RAM may be single-ported or multi-ported RAM.\",\n \"This disclosure contemplates any suitable RAM.\",\n \"Memory 18 may include one or more memories, where appropriate.\",\n \"Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular memory, this disclosure contemplates any suitable memory.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, storage 22 includes mass storage for data or instructions.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, storage 22 may include a hard-disk drive (HDD), a floppy disk drive, flash memory, or a combination of two or more of these.\",\n \"Storage 22 may include removable or non-removable (or fixed) media, where appropriate.\",\n \"Storage 22 may be internal or external to mobile device 10, where appropriate.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, storage 22 is non-volatile, solid-state memory.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, storage 22 includes read-only memory (ROM).\",\n \"Where appropriate, this ROM may be mask-programmed ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), electrically alterable ROM (EAROM), or flash memory or a combination of two or more of these.\",\n \"This disclosure contemplates mass storage 22 taking any suitable physical form.\",\n \"Storage 22 may include one or more storage control units facilitating communication between processor 16 and storage 22, where appropriate.\",\n \"Where appropriate, storage 22 may include one or more storages 22.Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular storage, this disclosure contemplates any suitable storage.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, I/O interface 24 includes hardware, software, or both providing one or more interfaces for communication between mobile device 10 and one or more I/O devices.\",\n \"Mobile device 10 may include one or more of these I/O devices, where appropriate.\",\n \"One or more of these I/O devices may enable communication between a user and mobile device 10.As an example and not by way of limitation, an I/O device may include a keyboard, keypad, one or more sensors, touch screen, microphone, monitor, mouse, printer, scanner, speaker, digital still camera, stylus, trackball, video camera, another suitable I/O device or a combination of two or more of these.\",\n \"This disclosure contemplates any suitable I/O devices and any suitable I/O interfaces 24 for them.\",\n \"Where appropriate, I/O interface 24 may include one or more device or software drivers enabling processor 16 to drive one or more of these I/O devices.\",\n \"I/O interface 24 may include one or more I/O interfaces 24, where appropriate.\",\n \"Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular I/O interface, this disclosure contemplates any suitable I/O interface.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, communication component 20 includes hardware, software, or both providing one or more interfaces for communication (such as, for example, packet-based communication) between mobile device 10 and one or more other mobile devices 10 or one or more networks.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, communication component 20 may include a network interface controller (NIC) or network adapter for communicating with an Ethernet or other wire-based network or a wireless NIC (WNIC), wireless adapter for communicating with a wireless network, such as for example a WI-FI network or modem for communicating with a cellular network, such third generation mobile telecommunications (3G), or Long Term Evolution (LTE) network.\",\n \"This disclosure contemplates any suitable network and any suitable communication component 20 for it.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, mobile device 10 may communicate with an ad hoc network, a personal area network (PAN), a LAN, a WAN, a MAN, or one or more portions of the Internet or a combination of two or more of these.\",\n \"One or more portions of one or more of these networks may be wired or wireless.\",\n \"As another example, mobile device 10 may communicate with a wireless PAN (WPAN) (such as, for example, a BLUETOOTH WPAN), a WI-FI network, a WI-MAX network, a cellular telephone network (such as, for example, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), 3G, or LTE network), or other suitable wireless network or a combination of two or more of these.\",\n \"Mobile device 10 may include any suitable communication component for any of these networks, where appropriate.\",\n \"Communication component 20 may include one or more communication components, where appropriate.\",\n \"Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular communication component, this disclosure contemplates any suitable communication component.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, bus 26 includes hardware, software, or both coupling components of mobile device 10 to each other.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, bus 26 may include a graphics bus, an Enhanced Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, a front-side bus (FSB), a HYPERTRANSPORT (HT) interconnect, an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, an INFINIBAND interconnect, a low-pin-count (LPC) bus, a memory bus, a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association local (VLB) bus, or another suitable bus or a combination of two or more of these.\",\n \"Bus 26 may include one or more buses 26, where appropriate.\",\n \"Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular bus, this disclosure contemplates any suitable bus or interconnect.\",\n \"Herein, a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium or media may include one or more semiconductor-based or other integrated circuits (ICs) (such, as for example, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or application-specific ICs (ASICs)), hard disk drives (HDDs), hybrid hard drives (HHDs), optical discs, optical disc drives (ODDs), magneto-optical discs, magneto-optical drives, floppy diskettes, floppy disk drives (FDDs), magnetic tapes, solid-state drives (SSDs), RAM-drives, SECURE DIGITAL cards or drives, any other suitable computer-readable non-transitory storage media, or any suitable combination of two or more of these, where appropriate.\",\n \"A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium may be volatile, non-volatile, or a combination of volatile and non-volatile, where appropriate.\",\n \"Herein, “or” is inclusive and not exclusive, unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.\",\n \"Therefore, herein, “A or B” means “A, B, or both,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.\",\n \"Moreover, “and” is both joint and several, unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.\",\n \"Therefore, herein, “A and B” means “A and B, jointly or severally,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.\",\n \"This disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodiments herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend.\",\n \"Moreover, although this disclosure describes and illustrates respective embodiments herein as including particular components, elements, functions, operations, or steps, any of these embodiments may include any combination or permutation of any of the components, elements, functions, operations, or steps described or illustrated anywhere herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend.\",\n \"Furthermore, reference in the appended claims to an apparatus or system or a component of an apparatus or system being adapted to, arranged to, capable of, configured to, enabled to, operable to, or operative to perform a particular function encompasses that apparatus, system, component, whether or not it or that particular function is activated, turned on, or unlocked, as long as that apparatus, system, or component is so adapted, arranged, capable, configured, enabled, operable, or operative.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876055"}}},{"rowIdx":4495066,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["DISPLAY DEVICE","A display device is configured to show an image inside a vehicle, and mounted inside the vehicle as an internal component.","The display device has a light source configured to emit light, and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source.","The light guide element includes an emission surface configured to output incident light, and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element."],["1.A display device configured to show an image inside a vehicle, and mounted inside the vehicle as an internal component, the display device comprising: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, wherein the light guide element comprises: an emission surface configured to output incident light, and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.","2.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image on a virtual plane oblique or orthogonal to the emission surface.","3.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light guide element is arranged at the upper part of a dashboard with the emission surface oriented upward, and wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image above the dashboard.","4.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on a window surface of the vehicle with the emission surface oriented toward inside the vehicle.","5.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on an internal component of the vehicle including at least one of a glove box, a center console, an arm rest, a door trim, a container trim, and a front seat.","6.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.","7.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a seat behind the driver seat.","8.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image for presentation of an image representing at least one of a vehicle state, a vehicle ridership state, and a vehicle operation state.","9.A display device mounted in a conveyance and configured to show an image inside the conveyance; the display device comprising: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, wherein the light guide element comprises: an emission surface configured to output incident light, and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.","10.The display device according to claim 2, wherein the light guide element is arranged at the upper part of a dashboard with the emission surface oriented upward, and wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image above the dashboard.","11.The display device according to claim 2, wherein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on a window surface of the vehicle with the emission surface oriented toward inside the vehicle.","12.The display device according to claim 2, wherein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on an internal component of the vehicle including at least one of a glove box, a center console, an arm rest, a door trim, a container trim, and a front seat.","13.The display device according to claim 2, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.","14.The display device according to claim 3, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.","15.The display device according to claim 4, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.","16.The display device according to claim 5, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.","17.The display device according to claim 2, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a seat behind the driver seat.","18.The display device according to claim 3, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a seat behind the driver seat.","19.The display device according to claim 4, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a seat behind the driver seat.","20.The display device according to claim 5, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a seat behind the driver seat."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>"],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>However, given the large variety of content, such as warning lights which may be presented on the instrument panel, the panel design and the individual warning lights may be given a size and a position that are hard to see.","Selecting a size and a position that improves the visibility of the warning lights, and the like may then lead to limiting the design of the panel.","However, limits to designing the panel remain despite providing the vehicle display device described in Japanese Patent Publication No.","2006-214757 with a multifunction display unit capable of presenting details and providing a warning display unit that lists all the plurality of warning indicators that may be presented thereon individually.","One or more embodiments of the present invention provides a display device as an internal component, the display device equipped with a light guide element capable of changing an optical path to form an image externally which improves flexibility in designing other components in an instrument panel and the like and improves visibility.","A display device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is configured to show an image inside a vehicle, and is mounted inside the vehicle as an internal component.","The display device includes a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.","In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image on a virtual plane oblique or orthogonal to the emission surface.","In the display device described herein the light guide element is arranged at the upper part of a dashboard with the emission surface oriented upward; and the light focusing portions form an image above the dashboard.","In the display device described herein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on a window surface of the vehicle with the emission surface oriented toward inside the vehicle.","In the display device described herein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on an internal component of the vehicle including at least one of a glove box, a center console, an arm rest, a door trim, a container trim, and a front seat.","In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.","In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat behind the driver seat.","In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image for presentation of an image representing at least one of the vehicle state, a vehicle ridership state, and a vehicle operation state.","A display device described herein may be mounted in a conveyance and configured to show an image inside the conveyance; and includes: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.","The display device described herein is capable of presenting an image formed inside a conveyance such as a passenger vehicle."],["BACKGROUND Field The present invention relates to a display device for displaying an image that serves as an internal component of a conveyance such as an automobile.","Related Art A variety of warning lights may be included in a panel (instrument panel) arranged inside a vehicle such as a passenger car to provide notifications on the vehicle state.","The content of the warnings provided by an arrangement of warning lights tend to be shown in small hard-to-see areas regardless of the importance of the information to be presented.","For instance, Japanese Patent Publication No.","2006-214757 discloses a vehicle display device provided with a warning display unit and multifunction display unit; the warning display unit lists all the plurality of warning indicators that may be presented thereon individually, while the multifunction display unit can present details for a plurality of warnings.","The vehicle display device shows the relevant warning indicator on the warning display unit when showing the details of the warning on the multifunction display unit.","SUMMARY However, given the large variety of content, such as warning lights which may be presented on the instrument panel, the panel design and the individual warning lights may be given a size and a position that are hard to see.","Selecting a size and a position that improves the visibility of the warning lights, and the like may then lead to limiting the design of the panel.","However, limits to designing the panel remain despite providing the vehicle display device described in Japanese Patent Publication No.","2006-214757 with a multifunction display unit capable of presenting details and providing a warning display unit that lists all the plurality of warning indicators that may be presented thereon individually.","One or more embodiments of the present invention provides a display device as an internal component, the display device equipped with a light guide element capable of changing an optical path to form an image externally which improves flexibility in designing other components in an instrument panel and the like and improves visibility.","A display device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is configured to show an image inside a vehicle, and is mounted inside the vehicle as an internal component.","The display device includes a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.","In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image on a virtual plane oblique or orthogonal to the emission surface.","In the display device described herein the light guide element is arranged at the upper part of a dashboard with the emission surface oriented upward; and the light focusing portions form an image above the dashboard.","In the display device described herein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on a window surface of the vehicle with the emission surface oriented toward inside the vehicle.","In the display device described herein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on an internal component of the vehicle including at least one of a glove box, a center console, an arm rest, a door trim, a container trim, and a front seat.","In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.","In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat behind the driver seat.","In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image for presentation of an image representing at least one of the vehicle state, a vehicle ridership state, and a vehicle operation state.","A display device described herein may be mounted in a conveyance and configured to show an image inside the conveyance; and includes: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.","The display device described herein is capable of presenting an image formed inside a conveyance such as a passenger vehicle.","Effects Embodiments of the present invention are provided as internal components and include a light source and a light guide element, and the light guide element uses incident light entering therein from the light source to form an image externally.","Hereby, the display device can thereby show display content such as various warning lights and the like outside the device, and for instance, in a space above a dashboard.","Accordingly, the display device exhibits superior benefits such as, allowing other internal components to be designed without, for instance, being adversely limited by the instrument panel design and reducing constraints on the design of other components while providing better visibility.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 is for describing a display device according to embodiments of the present invention and schematically illustrates the display device along with an image formed in a space; FIG.","2 is a conceptual diagram outlining a cross section of the display device according to embodiments of the present invention and an optical path; FIG.","3 is a conceptual diagram outlining a cross section of the display device according to embodiments of the present invention and an optical path; FIG.","4 is a schematic view illustrating around the driver seat in a vehicle provided with a display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component; FIG.","5 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating around the drivers seat and includes a driver in a vehicle provided with a display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component; FIG.","6A and FIG.","6B are schematic diagrams for describing the relationship between an emission surface of the display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention and an image; FIG.","7 is a schematic view illustrating near the drivers seat in a vehicle cabin provided with a display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component; FIG.","8 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating around the driver seat and includes a driver in a vehicle provided with a display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component; and FIG.","9 is a schematic view illustrating near the rear passenger seat in a vehicle cabin provided with a display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the drawings.","Note that the following working example is merely an embodiment of the present invention and in no way limits the technical character of the present invention.","The display device according to embodiments of the present invention focuses light in a space inside a conveyance, e.g., vehicle such as a passenger car, and produces an image therein.","First, the principle of producing an image in a space is described.","FIG.","1 is for describing a display device according to embodiments of the present invention and schematically illustrates the display device along with an image farmed in a space.","Note that the drawings are provided as outlines or schematic views to facilitate a simple and easy-to-understand description.","There are also cases where the drawings referenced in the description contain elements that are not drawn to scale in terms of the horizontal and vertical proportions or the spaces between components.","The light emitting device 1 is provided with a light source 10 that emits light and a light guide plate 11 (light guide element) that guides the incident light from the light source 10.The light source 10 may be configured using a light emitting element such as an LED with the light emitted from the light source 10 entering the light guide plate 11.The light guide plate 11 may be formed from a flexible thin-film material or curable sheet into a rectangular panel-like shape using a transparent resin having a high refractive index such as a polycarbonate (PC) resin or poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) resin, or using an inorganic material such as glass.","Here “panel like” indicates an object that is shorter (thinner) in the thickness direction (Z axis direction) than in the planar direction spreading out in two dimensions (XY plane) orthogonal to the thickness direction.","That is, while the light guide plate 11 is a rectangular parallelepiped, the length thereof in the thickness direction (Z axis direction) is less than the length in a plane spreading out in two dimensions and formed by the longitudinal direction (X axis direction) and the transverse direction (Y axis direction).","The light source 10 is installed at one end surface in the longitudinal direction of the light guide plate 11.That is, one of the surfaces making up the short side of the rectangle in the thickness direction is the incidence end surface 12 where light emitted from the light source 10 enters.","The light guide plate 11 causes light entering therein from the incidence end surface to spread out in planar form.","The panel-like light guide plate 11 includes an emission surface 13 configured to emit incident light entering from the light source 10 and a rear surface 14 relative to and across from the emission surface 13.In the description that follows, the rectangular coordinate system, and in particular the right-handed system of x axis, y axis, and z axis is used as necessary.","The X axis is the transverse direction of the light guide plate 11, i.e., the direction along the short side of the rectangle.","The Y axis is the longitudinal direction of the light guide plate 11, i.e., the direction along the long side of the rectangle, where the direction from the incidence end surface 12 toward the end surface facing the incidence end is the positive direction.","The Z axis is the thickness direction of the light guide plate 11, where the direction from the rear surface 14 to the emission surface 13 is the positive direction.","The light guide plate 11 may be used in a non-planar way, e.g., may be bent for use.","In this case, the surface including the main portion of the emission surface 13 or a neighboring surface may be used as a reference for the X axis, Y axis, and Z axis.","A plurality of light focusing portions 15 is formed on the rear surface 14 of the light guide plate 11; the light focusing portions 15 are represented as light focusing portions 15a, 15b, 15c, .",".",".","in the drawings.","The light focusing portions 15 are situated along the progressive path of incident light entering from the incidence end surface; that is, the light focusing portions 15 adjust the optical path of the incident light toward the emission surface 13.Here, the light focusing portions 15 are illustrated as optical surfaces formed inside the light guide plate 11, and in this particular case, as reflection surfaces 150 (FIG.","2: 150x, 150y; and FIG.","3: 150x1, 150x2, 150x3) that reflect incident light entering from the incidence end surface 12.Oblique notches may be cut into the rear surface 14 with the inclined surfaces serving as the reflection surfaces 150.The reflection surfaces 150 of the light focusing portions 15 are formed as substantially continuous in the X axis direction.","More specifically, the plurality of light focusing portions 15a, 15a, .",".",".","fall along a line 16a, and the plurality of light focusing portions 15b, 15b, .",".",".","fall along a line 16b.","The plurality of light focusing portions 15c, 15d, .",".",".",", 15g fall along lines 16c, 16d, .",".",".",", line 16g respectively in the same manner.","Here the lines 16 (lines 16a, 16b, .",".",".",", 16g)are virtual straight lines extending substantially parallel to the X axis on the rear surface 14.Any given light focusing portion 15, 15, .",".",".","is formed as substantially continuous along a straight line 16 that is substantially parallel to the X axis direction.","The incident light entering the light guide plate 11 is guided toward the light focusing portions 15, 15, .",".",".","lined up along the X axis direction.","The light focusing portions 15 include components such as the reflection surfaces 150 for changing the optical path.","The reflection surface 150 in a light focusing portion 15 changes the path of incident light causing the light to exit from the emission surface 13 and substantially converge at convergence point P corresponding to the light focusing portion 15.FIG.","1 depicts a portion of the light focusing portions 15, namely, light focusing portions 15a, 15b, .",".",".",", 15g; more specifically, FIG.","1 depicts the plurality of light rays with paths changed by each of the light focusing portions 15a, 15b, .",".",".",", 15g converging at convergence points Pa, Pb, .",".",".",", Pg respectively.","Each of the light focusing portions 15 cause the light rays to converge at convergence points P to form an image, thus forming an image 17.More specifically, the plurality of light focusing portions 15 on any of the lines 16a, 16b, .",".",".","may correspond to a convergence point P in the image 17.The plurality of light focusing portions 15 in any given line 16 may change the optical path of the light rays emanating from the positions of the light focusing portions 15 when light reflects from the optical surfaces, e.g., from the reflection surfaces 150; hereby the light rays exit from the emission surface 13 and converge at a convergence point P. Therefore, the wavefront of light from the plurality of light focusing portions 15 becomes a wavefront that appears to radiate from the convergence point P. For example, the plurality of light focusing portions 15a on the line 16a corresponds to a convergence point Pa in the image 17.The light focusing portions 15a change the optical path of the light rays guided toward the plurality of light focusing portions 15a on the line 16a, and thus the light rays exit from the emission surface 13 and converge at the convergence point Pa. Light reflected by the plurality of light focusing portions 15 along other lines 16 converges identically at convergence points P. Thus, any desired light focusing portion 15 can provide a wavefront of light so that light appears to radiate from the corresponding convergence point P. The convergence points P correspond to mutually different light focusing portions 15.A grouping of a plurality of convergence points P that correspond to each of the light focusing portions 15 produces a recognizable image 17 in a space.","The display device 1 thus projects the image 17 as a three-dimensional image in a space.","The image 17 depicted in FIG.","1 is drawn as a three-dimensional image with lines; the lines used to draw the image 17 are produced by grouping a plurality of convergence points P corresponding to each of the light focusing portions 15.The display device 1 forms an image with light exiting from the emission surface 13 to produce the image 17 as a spectroscopic image.","The image 17 is a spectroscopic image that may be recognized in a space by an observer.","Note that in this specification, the term spectroscopic image refers to an image 17 that appears to be at a location that is different from the emission surface 13 external to the display device 1.The term spectroscopic image is not limited to a three-dimensional image and includes a two-dimensional image perceived at a location separate from the efficient surface 13 of the display device 1, for instance.","In other words the term “spectroscopic image” does not refer only to an image perceived as having a solid shape, but also includes the image 17 in two-dimensional form perceived at a different location than on emission surface 13 of the display device 1 and represents an image 17 that appears to be protruding from the light guide plate 11 of the display device 1.The light guided by the light guide plate 11 is oriented in a direction connecting locations in the light guide plate 11 and the light source 10 while not including a spread component orthogonal to a direction connecting locations in the light guide plate 11 and the light source 10.The light focusing portions 15 may be provided at locations separated from the light source 10; in this case, the light guided by the light guide plate 11 is oriented generally towards the Y axis direction from the location at which the light focusing portion is provided but does not spread in the X axis direction.","Therefore, light from the light focusing portion 15 substantially converges onto a single convergence point P in a plane parallel to the XZ plane that includes the convergence point P. When light entering the light focusing portions 15 spread in the Z axis direction, the light from the light focusing portions 15 converge on a convergence line along the Y axis in a space containing the convergence point P. However, the description of the embodiment focuses on the convergence of light in the XZ plane to facilitate understanding of the embodiment and describes the same as light from the light focusing portions 15 converging on the convergence points P. FIGS.","2 and 3 are conceptual diagrams outlining a cross section of the display device according to embodiments of the present invention and an optical path; FIG.","2 illustrates a cross-section parallel to the YZ plane, and FIG.","3 also illustrates the image 17 viewed by an observer of a cross-section parallel to the XZ plane.","FIG.","2 and FIG.","3 illustrates not only the emission surface 13 of the light guide plate 11 (i.e., the positive Z axis direction), but also provides an example of the image 17 representing an arrow that also spreads at the rear surface 14 (negative Z axis direction).","In the examples illustrated in FIG.","2 and FIG.","3, the image 17, which represents an arrow, appears with the front portion of the arrow protruding from the emission surface 13 and the rear portion of the arrow protruding from the rear surface 14.As illustrated in FIG.","2, the light source 10 is installed at the incidence end surface 12 of the light guide plate 11, and the incidence end surface 12 and the emission surface 13 are substantially orthogonal.","Additionally, the rear surface 14 faces the emission surface 13, and the rear surface 14 is also substantially orthogonal to the incidence end surface 12.The rear surface 14 is a flat surface substantially parallel to the emission surface 13 and is provided with inclined surfaces that form the reflection surfaces 150 (150x, 150y) of the light focusing portions 15.The flat rear surface 14 along with the emission surface 13 directs the incident light entering the light guide plate 12 from the incidence end surface 11 via total internal reflection therebetween and function to spread the light in the light guide plate 11 in planar form.","The inclined reflection surfaces 150 of the light focusing portions 15 reflect the incident light entering the light guide plate 11 to thereby adjust the optical path of the light toward the emission surface 13.That is, the light emitted from the light source 10 and entering the light guide plate 11 from the incidence and surface 12 is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 13 and the rear surface 14 within the light guide plate 11 and propagates therethrough in planar form.","On arriving at a reflection surface 150 formed in the light focusing portion 15, the light propagating through the light guide plate 11 is reflected by the reflection surface 150 and exits to the outside from the emission surface 13.As illustrated in FIG.","2 and FIG.","3, the plurality of light focusing portions 15x(light focusing portions 15x1, 15x2, 15x3, .",".",". )","located on a line 16 include reflection surfaces 150x1, 150x2, 150x3, .",".",".",", respectively.","The reflection surfaces 150x1, 150x2, 150x3, .",".",".","corresponding to the plurality of light focusing portions 15x located along the line 16 reflect light toward the emission surface 13 in a direction converging at a convergence point P1 near the emission surface 13.A plurality of light focusing portions 15y (light focusing portions 15y1,15y2, 15y3, .",".",". )","is located on another line 16 and also include reflection surfaces 150y1, 150y2, 150y3, .",".",".",", respectively.","The reflection surfaces 150y1, 150y2, 150y3 corresponding to the plurality of light focusing portions 15y located along the other line 16 reflect light toward the emission surface 13 toward a direction where the light radiates from a convergence point P2 near the rear surface 14.Therefore, the incline of the reflection surface 150y2 of the light focusing portion 15y2 and the reflection surface 150y3 of the light focusing portion 15y3 (written in parenthesis in FIG.","3) are the opposite direction in FIG.","3 and are inclined toward the end surface of the light guide plate 11.The reflection surfaces 150x (e.g., the reflection surfaces 150x1, 150x2, 150x3, .",".",". )","each reflects light from the light source 10 in a direction along a line connecting a point on each of the reflection surfaces 150x and the convergence point P1.The light rays reflected from the reflection surfaces 150x converge at the convergence point P1.Thus, the plurality of reflection surfaces 150x in corresponding light focusing portions 15x reflects incident light entering from the light source 10 in a direction along a line connecting a point on each of the reflection surfaces 150x and the convergence point P1.Therefore, the display device 1 can supply light from the convergence point P1 oriented toward any of the positions in a range from a position V2 through a position V1 and up to position V3.A convergence point P1 of this kind produces the image 17 which appears to protrude from near the emission surface 13.The reflection surfaces 150y (e.g., the reflection surfaces 150y1, 150y2, 150y3, .",".",". )","each reflects incident light entering from the light source 10 in a direction along a line connecting a point on each of the reflection surfaces 150y and the convergence point P2.The light rays reflected from the reflection surfaces 150y may be extended in a direction opposite the direction the light rays travel, in which case the extension line from the light rays converge at the convergence point P2.Thus, the plurality of reflection surfaces 150y in corresponding light focusing portions 15y reflects incident light entering from the light source 10 in a direction along a line connecting a point on each of the reflection surfaces 150y and the convergence point P2.Therefore, the display device 1 can supply light from the convergence point P2 oriented toward any of the positions in a range from a position V2 through a position V1 and up to position V3.A convergence point P2 of this kind produces the image 17 which appears to protrude from the opposite side of emission surface 13 (i.e., near the rear surface 14).","As above described, the light guide plate 11 includes a plurality of light focusing portions 15 having mutually different convergence points P, where a grouping of a plurality of convergence point P including a convergence point P1 and a convergence point P2 produces an image 17 that serves as a stereoscopic image.","That is, the light guide plate 11 is provided with a plurality of light focusing portions 15 which change the path of incidence light toward an emission surface 13 causing the light output to converge toward an external convergence point or convergence line or to radiate from an external convergence point or convergence line and thereby form an image externally.","By grouping a plurality of convergence points P and convergence lines, the display device 1 can thus form an image 17 outside the light guide plate 11 that can be perceived by an observer as a stereoscopic image.","In other words, the following kinds of statements can be made.","Light emitted from a light source 10 enters a light guide plate 11, and the light guide plate 11 guides light within a plane parallel to the emission surface 13.A plurality of light focusing portions 15 is formed on the light guide plate 11; the light focusing portions 15 lengthen in a direction (i.e., the X axis direction) orthogonal to the direction (Y axis direction) in which the light guide plate guides light within a plane parallel to the emission surface 13.Each of the light focusing portions 15 includes optical surfaces where the direction of the normal line thereof projected onto a surface parallel to the emission surface varies continuously or gradually along the length direction (X axis direction) of the light focusing portions 15.The light guided by the light guide plate 11 reflects from the optical surfaces whereby the light exits as emission light from the emission surface 13 in a direction to substantially converge on a single convergence point P or convergence line in a space, or to substantially radiate from a single convergence point P or convergence line.","The convergence points P or convergence lines are mutually different for the plurality of light focusing portions 15 at different positions along the Y axis, and grouping a plurality of convergence points P or convergence lines produces an image 17 in a space.","FIG.","2 and FIG.","3 and the corresponding descriptions illustrate a stereoscopic image that appears to protrude from both the emission surface 13 and the rear surface 14; this is used to describe the basic principles behind producing a stereoscopic image.","However, as illustrated in FIG.","1 the stereoscopic image may appear to protrude from near only one surface.","The reflection surfaces 150 here serve as the light focusing portions 15.However, the light focusing portions 15 can have various forms so long as the light focusing portions 15 can change the path of incident light traveling through the light guide plate 11.For instance, the light focusing portion 16 may be formed as a cylindrical Fresnel lens, whereby the refraction effect of the refraction surface of the Fresnel lens (i.e.","the prism surface) changes the path of the incident light.","Additionally, in this case the Fresnel lens may be constituted by a plurality of parts with gaps therebetween.","The light focusing portions 15 may also be formed as a diffraction grating whereby the diffraction effect may change the path of the incident light.","Moreover, the reflection effect and the refraction effect of the prism may change the optical path of the incident light.","Additionally, the distances between all the convergence points P and emission surface 13 may be non-uniform.","In this case, the density of converging light is configured to increase as the distance from the emission surface 13 increases when forming an image 17 that spreads for instance three dimensionally, or when forming a two-dimensional image 17 that contains a plane obliquely intersecting the emission surface 13.Hereby, any blurring in the image 17 formed is substantially uniform, making it possible to create an image 17 that does not make the observer uneasy.","Furthermore, while the light emitted from the light source 10 is represented as incident light entering the light guide plate 11 from the incidence end surface 12, which is one in surface in the longitudinal direction of the light guide plate 11, the incident light is not limited thereto.","For example, the rear surface 14 may be taken as the light incidence surface and appropriately designed so that light enters the light guide plate therefrom.","First Embodiment A display device 1 thusly configured according embodiments of the present invention may be installed as an internal vehicle component; such an embodiment is described below.","FIG.","4 is a schematic view illustrating around the driver seat in a vehicle 2 provided with a display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component.","The vehicle 2 in FIG.","4 is a passenger vehicle.","A display device 1 according to embodiments of the present invention is mounted in the vehicle 2 and the image 17 produced by the display device 1 is projected above a dashboard 20 provided in front of both the driver seat and the passenger seat.","The projected image 17 presents various content such as the status of the vehicle 2, the status of the ridership, and the operation state of the vehicle 2.The projected image 17 presents a still image particularly for display states that are fixed.","FIG.","4 depicts images representing: the vehicle state, i.e., a brake warning indicator; a ridership state, i.e., an unbuckled seatbelt indicator showing whether the passenger seat or driver seat seatbelt is unbuckled, and the vehicle operation state, i.e., a gear position indicator (shown as “N”, FIG.","4).","These kinds of images 17 are not limited to the images illustrated in FIG.","4 and may further include images representing, for instance, a water temperature indicator, a headlamp beam direction indicator, a fog light indicator, a four-wheel drive indicator, an engine warning indicator, an oil pressure warning indicator, a battery warning indicator, a fuel level warning indicator, an ABS warning indicator, an SRS warning indicator, and direction indicators.","The gear shift position indicator is not limited to the “N” as depicted in FIG.","4 but may also include images of other gear positions “P”, “R”, “D”, “2”, “L”, and the like, or may further include an image indicating the state of an overhead light.","In FIG.","4, the image 17 is presented enclosed in a thin square frame to provide a convenient illustration.","The image 17 may in fact be shown as floating inside a square frame over a space including a rectangle represented by the square frame.","FIG.","5 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating around the drivers seat and includes a driver in a vehicle provided with a display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component; FIG.","5 schematically illustrates a cross section parallel to the YZ plane.","The display device 1 is arranged on the upper part of the dashboard 20 in the vehicle 2 so that the emission surface 13 in the light guide plate 11 is oriented upward.","The light guide plate 11 in the display device 1 may be configured from a flexible transparent panel; the incidence end surface 12 at the end portion of the light guide plate 11 near the light source 10 or the opposite end may be bent and embedded in the dashboard 20.The light focusing portions 15 are formed in the flat middle section of the light guide plate 11; this flat middle section serves as the emission surface 13, and the emission surface 13 is oriented upward.","The light source 10 is embedded in the dashboard 20 with the incidence end surface 12 attached thereto; the light source 10 is connected to a control device (not shown) in the vehicle 2 and emits light as appropriate on the basis of control from the control device.","The light focusing portions 15 in the light guide plate 11 are configured to form images only upward.","That is the light focusing portions 15 form an image above the dashboard 20 where it is embedded so that various planar images such as an image representing the position of the gearshift is formed along a virtual plane oblique or orthogonal to the emission surface 13.FIG.","6A and FIG.","6B are schematic diagrams for describing the relationship between an emission surface of the display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention and an image.","FIG.","6A is a schematic view illustrating the relationship between the emission surface 13 of the light guide plate 11 in the display device 1 and the image 17 that is formed; FIG.","6B is a schematic side view.","In FIG.","6A and FIG.","6B, the virtual plane created by the emission surface 13 and the image 17 slants at an angle θ.","The image 17 is formed in a flat plane substantially orthogonal to the direction of an observer, i.e., the driver's gaze, and the image 17 is readily visible to the driver.","Note that depending on the positioning of the light guide plate 11, the image 17 may be formed such that the angle θ is a right angle; that is the light guide plate 11 may be positioned so that the emission surface and the virtual plane are orthogonal.","In addition, not all the images 17 need to be formed oriented toward the driver.","For instance, the image of an unbuckled passenger seatbelt indicator may be formed in a plane substantially orthogonal to the direction of the observer's gaze, i.e.","in the direction of a rider in the passenger seat.","The installation location of the display device 1 in general, and of the light guide plate 11 in particular is not limited to the dashboard 20 as above described.","As illustrated in FIG.","4, the display device 1 may be arranged at various locations such as the cover of the glove box 21 in front of the drivers the passenger seat or thereabouts, the center console 22 between the drivers seat and the passenger seat, an armrest (not shown), and any site on the door trim 23 that is an internal door component.","Riders in any seat such as the driver seat, the passenger seat, or the backseat can view an image 17 produced by the display device 1.A display device 1 thusly configured does not require warning lights to be arranged in the panel; therefore, this increases the flexibility in designing the panel, and in order to improve visibility of the warning lights displays allows images 17 of the appropriate size to be produced.","Additionally, light guide plates 11 may be stacked for images that do not need to be displayed simultaneously, e.g., images showing the position of the gearshift to allow each gear position to be shown by switching the display at the same position.","It is thus possible to minimize the space needed for display.","Second Embodiment FIG.","7 is a schematic view illustrating near the drivers seat in a vehicle cabin provided with a display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component.","In the second embodiment, the image 17 created by the display device 1 is projected in front of the driver seat near the lower part of the front windshield 24 above the dashboard 20.The formed image 17 is identical to the image describes for the first embodiment using FIG.","4; it is thus sufficient to reference the first embodiment for these configurations and so further descriptions thereof are omitted.","In FIG.","7, the image 17 is presented enclosed in a thin square frame to provide a convenient illustration.","The image 17 may in fact be shown inside a square frame presented in a space including a rectangle represented by the square frame.","FIG.","8 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating around the driver seat and includes a driver in a vehicle provided with a display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component.","FIG.","8 schematically illustrates a cross section parallel to the YZ plane.","The display device 1 is arranged on the lower part of the front windshield 24 in the vehicle 2 so that the emission surface 13 in the light guide plate 11 is oriented downward.","The light guide plate 11 in the display device 1 may be configured from a flexible transparent panel; the incidence end surface 12 at the end portion of the light guide plate 11 near the light source 10 may be bent and embedded in the dashboard 20.The light focusing portions 15 are formed in a flat section of the light guide plate 11; this flat section serves as the emission surface 13, and the emission surface 13 is oriented downward.","The light source 10 is embedded in the dashboard 20 with the incidence end surface 12 attached thereto; the light source 10 is connected to a control device (not shown) in the vehicle 2 and emits light as appropriate on the basis of control from the control device.","The light focusing portions 15 in the light guide plate 11 are configured to form images only inside the vehicle.","That is the light focusing portions 15 form an image near the lower part of the front windshield 24 (above the dashboard 20) so that various planar images such as an image representing the position of the gearshift is formed along a virtual plane oblique or orthogonal to the emission surface 13.The image 17 is formed in a flat plane substantially orthogonal to the direction of an observer, i.e., the driver's gaze, and the image 17 is readily visible to the driver.","Not all the images 17 need to be formed oriented toward the driver.","For instance, the image of an unbuckled passenger seatbelt indicator may be formed in a plane substantially orthogonal to the direction of the observer's gaze, i.e.","in the direction of a rider in the passenger seat.","Additionally, not all images 17 need to be produced inside the vehicle; all or a portion of the images may be formed outside the vehicle so long as visibility is not a problem.","A display device 1 thusly configured exhibits superior benefits, such as increasing the flexibility in designing internal components for the vehicle 2 while providing the driver with important information.","Third Embodiment FIG.","9 is a schematic view illustrating near the rear passenger seat in a vehicle cabin provided with a display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component.","In the third embodiment, the image 17 produced by the display device 1 is projected behind the head rest 25 of a front seat.","The image 17 may be an unbuckled seat indicator for the backseat.","For instance, the display device 1 may be installed at the rear part of the front seat head rest 25, the lower part of the seatback of the front seat 26, or the cabin ceiling whereby and image 17 is projected as depicted in FIG.","9.The display device 1 may also be arranged at various locations such as the container trip (not shown) behind the back seat, or the door trim (not shown), which is an internal component of the rear door.","The display device may be configured so that if an image 17 is produced for the rear part of the vehicle 2, then the image formed should be visible to riders in the back seat; and for example, the display device may be configured so that a driver seated in the driver seat can verify the image without looking toward the back.","More specifically, when the gearshift is placed in reverse (i.e., “R”), a display device 1 in the container trim may show an image 17 for various indicators whereby various displays are presented, e.g., to represent the state of the vehicle 2 allowing the driver to recognize various kinds of information.","The present invention is not limited to the above described embodiments and may be implemented in various other ways.","Therefore, in all respects the above embodiments are merely examples and should not be interpreted as limitations.","The scope of the present invention is delineated by the claims and not limited by the specification.","Moreover, all modifications and variations with a scope equivalent to the claims are within the scope of the present invention.","For example, the aforementioned embodiments illustrated producing images in a two-dimensional plane; however, the present invention is not limited thereto and may be developed into various forms where a three-dimensional image is produced.","The aforementioned embodiments also illustrated arranging the display device on the surface of the front windshield 24; however, the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be configured such that the display device is arranged on other window surfaces such as the rear windshield or a side window or the like.","Finally, the aforementioned embodiments depict a form that is mounted to a passenger vehicle.","However, the display device may be mounted inside various other kinds of vehicles such as a train and may produce images inside the train.","The display device may also be mounted inside other forms of conveyance besides a vehicle 2, such as in an airplane or on a ship, and produce images inside the conveyance.","REFERENCE NUMERALS 1 Display device 10 Light source 11 Light guide plate (light guide element) 12 Incidence end surface 13 Emission surface 15 (15a, 15b, .",".",".",", 15x1, .",".",".",", 15y3) Light focusing portions 17 Image P (Pa, Pb, .",".",".",", P1, P2) Convergence points 2 Vehicle 20 Dashboard 21 Glove box 22 Center console 23 Door trim 24 Front windshield 25 Head rest 26 Front seat"]],"string":"[\n [\n \"DISPLAY DEVICE\",\n \"A display device is configured to show an image inside a vehicle, and mounted inside the vehicle as an internal component.\",\n \"The display device has a light source configured to emit light, and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source.\",\n \"The light guide element includes an emission surface configured to output incident light, and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A display device configured to show an image inside a vehicle, and mounted inside the vehicle as an internal component, the display device comprising: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, wherein the light guide element comprises: an emission surface configured to output incident light, and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.\",\n \"2.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image on a virtual plane oblique or orthogonal to the emission surface.\",\n \"3.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light guide element is arranged at the upper part of a dashboard with the emission surface oriented upward, and wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image above the dashboard.\",\n \"4.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on a window surface of the vehicle with the emission surface oriented toward inside the vehicle.\",\n \"5.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on an internal component of the vehicle including at least one of a glove box, a center console, an arm rest, a door trim, a container trim, and a front seat.\",\n \"6.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.\",\n \"7.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a seat behind the driver seat.\",\n \"8.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image for presentation of an image representing at least one of a vehicle state, a vehicle ridership state, and a vehicle operation state.\",\n \"9.A display device mounted in a conveyance and configured to show an image inside the conveyance; the display device comprising: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, wherein the light guide element comprises: an emission surface configured to output incident light, and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.\",\n \"10.The display device according to claim 2, wherein the light guide element is arranged at the upper part of a dashboard with the emission surface oriented upward, and wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image above the dashboard.\",\n \"11.The display device according to claim 2, wherein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on a window surface of the vehicle with the emission surface oriented toward inside the vehicle.\",\n \"12.The display device according to claim 2, wherein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on an internal component of the vehicle including at least one of a glove box, a center console, an arm rest, a door trim, a container trim, and a front seat.\",\n \"13.The display device according to claim 2, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.\",\n \"14.The display device according to claim 3, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.\",\n \"15.The display device according to claim 4, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.\",\n \"16.The display device according to claim 5, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.\",\n \"17.The display device according to claim 2, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a seat behind the driver seat.\",\n \"18.The display device according to claim 3, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a seat behind the driver seat.\",\n \"19.The display device according to claim 4, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a seat behind the driver seat.\",\n \"20.The display device according to claim 5, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a seat behind the driver seat.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>However, given the large variety of content, such as warning lights which may be presented on the instrument panel, the panel design and the individual warning lights may be given a size and a position that are hard to see.\",\n \"Selecting a size and a position that improves the visibility of the warning lights, and the like may then lead to limiting the design of the panel.\",\n \"However, limits to designing the panel remain despite providing the vehicle display device described in Japanese Patent Publication No.\",\n \"2006-214757 with a multifunction display unit capable of presenting details and providing a warning display unit that lists all the plurality of warning indicators that may be presented thereon individually.\",\n \"One or more embodiments of the present invention provides a display device as an internal component, the display device equipped with a light guide element capable of changing an optical path to form an image externally which improves flexibility in designing other components in an instrument panel and the like and improves visibility.\",\n \"A display device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is configured to show an image inside a vehicle, and is mounted inside the vehicle as an internal component.\",\n \"The display device includes a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image on a virtual plane oblique or orthogonal to the emission surface.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light guide element is arranged at the upper part of a dashboard with the emission surface oriented upward; and the light focusing portions form an image above the dashboard.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on a window surface of the vehicle with the emission surface oriented toward inside the vehicle.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on an internal component of the vehicle including at least one of a glove box, a center console, an arm rest, a door trim, a container trim, and a front seat.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat behind the driver seat.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image for presentation of an image representing at least one of the vehicle state, a vehicle ridership state, and a vehicle operation state.\",\n \"A display device described herein may be mounted in a conveyance and configured to show an image inside the conveyance; and includes: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.\",\n \"The display device described herein is capable of presenting an image formed inside a conveyance such as a passenger vehicle.\"\n ],\n [\n \"BACKGROUND Field The present invention relates to a display device for displaying an image that serves as an internal component of a conveyance such as an automobile.\",\n \"Related Art A variety of warning lights may be included in a panel (instrument panel) arranged inside a vehicle such as a passenger car to provide notifications on the vehicle state.\",\n \"The content of the warnings provided by an arrangement of warning lights tend to be shown in small hard-to-see areas regardless of the importance of the information to be presented.\",\n \"For instance, Japanese Patent Publication No.\",\n \"2006-214757 discloses a vehicle display device provided with a warning display unit and multifunction display unit; the warning display unit lists all the plurality of warning indicators that may be presented thereon individually, while the multifunction display unit can present details for a plurality of warnings.\",\n \"The vehicle display device shows the relevant warning indicator on the warning display unit when showing the details of the warning on the multifunction display unit.\",\n \"SUMMARY However, given the large variety of content, such as warning lights which may be presented on the instrument panel, the panel design and the individual warning lights may be given a size and a position that are hard to see.\",\n \"Selecting a size and a position that improves the visibility of the warning lights, and the like may then lead to limiting the design of the panel.\",\n \"However, limits to designing the panel remain despite providing the vehicle display device described in Japanese Patent Publication No.\",\n \"2006-214757 with a multifunction display unit capable of presenting details and providing a warning display unit that lists all the plurality of warning indicators that may be presented thereon individually.\",\n \"One or more embodiments of the present invention provides a display device as an internal component, the display device equipped with a light guide element capable of changing an optical path to form an image externally which improves flexibility in designing other components in an instrument panel and the like and improves visibility.\",\n \"A display device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is configured to show an image inside a vehicle, and is mounted inside the vehicle as an internal component.\",\n \"The display device includes a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image on a virtual plane oblique or orthogonal to the emission surface.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light guide element is arranged at the upper part of a dashboard with the emission surface oriented upward; and the light focusing portions form an image above the dashboard.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on a window surface of the vehicle with the emission surface oriented toward inside the vehicle.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on an internal component of the vehicle including at least one of a glove box, a center console, an arm rest, a door trim, a container trim, and a front seat.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat behind the driver seat.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image for presentation of an image representing at least one of the vehicle state, a vehicle ridership state, and a vehicle operation state.\",\n \"A display device described herein may be mounted in a conveyance and configured to show an image inside the conveyance; and includes: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.\",\n \"The display device described herein is capable of presenting an image formed inside a conveyance such as a passenger vehicle.\",\n \"Effects Embodiments of the present invention are provided as internal components and include a light source and a light guide element, and the light guide element uses incident light entering therein from the light source to form an image externally.\",\n \"Hereby, the display device can thereby show display content such as various warning lights and the like outside the device, and for instance, in a space above a dashboard.\",\n \"Accordingly, the display device exhibits superior benefits such as, allowing other internal components to be designed without, for instance, being adversely limited by the instrument panel design and reducing constraints on the design of other components while providing better visibility.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 is for describing a display device according to embodiments of the present invention and schematically illustrates the display device along with an image formed in a space; FIG.\",\n \"2 is a conceptual diagram outlining a cross section of the display device according to embodiments of the present invention and an optical path; FIG.\",\n \"3 is a conceptual diagram outlining a cross section of the display device according to embodiments of the present invention and an optical path; FIG.\",\n \"4 is a schematic view illustrating around the driver seat in a vehicle provided with a display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component; FIG.\",\n \"5 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating around the drivers seat and includes a driver in a vehicle provided with a display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component; FIG.\",\n \"6A and FIG.\",\n \"6B are schematic diagrams for describing the relationship between an emission surface of the display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention and an image; FIG.\",\n \"7 is a schematic view illustrating near the drivers seat in a vehicle cabin provided with a display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component; FIG.\",\n \"8 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating around the driver seat and includes a driver in a vehicle provided with a display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component; and FIG.\",\n \"9 is a schematic view illustrating near the rear passenger seat in a vehicle cabin provided with a display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the drawings.\",\n \"Note that the following working example is merely an embodiment of the present invention and in no way limits the technical character of the present invention.\",\n \"The display device according to embodiments of the present invention focuses light in a space inside a conveyance, e.g., vehicle such as a passenger car, and produces an image therein.\",\n \"First, the principle of producing an image in a space is described.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 is for describing a display device according to embodiments of the present invention and schematically illustrates the display device along with an image farmed in a space.\",\n \"Note that the drawings are provided as outlines or schematic views to facilitate a simple and easy-to-understand description.\",\n \"There are also cases where the drawings referenced in the description contain elements that are not drawn to scale in terms of the horizontal and vertical proportions or the spaces between components.\",\n \"The light emitting device 1 is provided with a light source 10 that emits light and a light guide plate 11 (light guide element) that guides the incident light from the light source 10.The light source 10 may be configured using a light emitting element such as an LED with the light emitted from the light source 10 entering the light guide plate 11.The light guide plate 11 may be formed from a flexible thin-film material or curable sheet into a rectangular panel-like shape using a transparent resin having a high refractive index such as a polycarbonate (PC) resin or poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) resin, or using an inorganic material such as glass.\",\n \"Here “panel like” indicates an object that is shorter (thinner) in the thickness direction (Z axis direction) than in the planar direction spreading out in two dimensions (XY plane) orthogonal to the thickness direction.\",\n \"That is, while the light guide plate 11 is a rectangular parallelepiped, the length thereof in the thickness direction (Z axis direction) is less than the length in a plane spreading out in two dimensions and formed by the longitudinal direction (X axis direction) and the transverse direction (Y axis direction).\",\n \"The light source 10 is installed at one end surface in the longitudinal direction of the light guide plate 11.That is, one of the surfaces making up the short side of the rectangle in the thickness direction is the incidence end surface 12 where light emitted from the light source 10 enters.\",\n \"The light guide plate 11 causes light entering therein from the incidence end surface to spread out in planar form.\",\n \"The panel-like light guide plate 11 includes an emission surface 13 configured to emit incident light entering from the light source 10 and a rear surface 14 relative to and across from the emission surface 13.In the description that follows, the rectangular coordinate system, and in particular the right-handed system of x axis, y axis, and z axis is used as necessary.\",\n \"The X axis is the transverse direction of the light guide plate 11, i.e., the direction along the short side of the rectangle.\",\n \"The Y axis is the longitudinal direction of the light guide plate 11, i.e., the direction along the long side of the rectangle, where the direction from the incidence end surface 12 toward the end surface facing the incidence end is the positive direction.\",\n \"The Z axis is the thickness direction of the light guide plate 11, where the direction from the rear surface 14 to the emission surface 13 is the positive direction.\",\n \"The light guide plate 11 may be used in a non-planar way, e.g., may be bent for use.\",\n \"In this case, the surface including the main portion of the emission surface 13 or a neighboring surface may be used as a reference for the X axis, Y axis, and Z axis.\",\n \"A plurality of light focusing portions 15 is formed on the rear surface 14 of the light guide plate 11; the light focusing portions 15 are represented as light focusing portions 15a, 15b, 15c, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"in the drawings.\",\n \"The light focusing portions 15 are situated along the progressive path of incident light entering from the incidence end surface; that is, the light focusing portions 15 adjust the optical path of the incident light toward the emission surface 13.Here, the light focusing portions 15 are illustrated as optical surfaces formed inside the light guide plate 11, and in this particular case, as reflection surfaces 150 (FIG.\",\n \"2: 150x, 150y; and FIG.\",\n \"3: 150x1, 150x2, 150x3) that reflect incident light entering from the incidence end surface 12.Oblique notches may be cut into the rear surface 14 with the inclined surfaces serving as the reflection surfaces 150.The reflection surfaces 150 of the light focusing portions 15 are formed as substantially continuous in the X axis direction.\",\n \"More specifically, the plurality of light focusing portions 15a, 15a, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"fall along a line 16a, and the plurality of light focusing portions 15b, 15b, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"fall along a line 16b.\",\n \"The plurality of light focusing portions 15c, 15d, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", 15g fall along lines 16c, 16d, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", line 16g respectively in the same manner.\",\n \"Here the lines 16 (lines 16a, 16b, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", 16g)are virtual straight lines extending substantially parallel to the X axis on the rear surface 14.Any given light focusing portion 15, 15, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"is formed as substantially continuous along a straight line 16 that is substantially parallel to the X axis direction.\",\n \"The incident light entering the light guide plate 11 is guided toward the light focusing portions 15, 15, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"lined up along the X axis direction.\",\n \"The light focusing portions 15 include components such as the reflection surfaces 150 for changing the optical path.\",\n \"The reflection surface 150 in a light focusing portion 15 changes the path of incident light causing the light to exit from the emission surface 13 and substantially converge at convergence point P corresponding to the light focusing portion 15.FIG.\",\n \"1 depicts a portion of the light focusing portions 15, namely, light focusing portions 15a, 15b, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", 15g; more specifically, FIG.\",\n \"1 depicts the plurality of light rays with paths changed by each of the light focusing portions 15a, 15b, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", 15g converging at convergence points Pa, Pb, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", Pg respectively.\",\n \"Each of the light focusing portions 15 cause the light rays to converge at convergence points P to form an image, thus forming an image 17.More specifically, the plurality of light focusing portions 15 on any of the lines 16a, 16b, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"may correspond to a convergence point P in the image 17.The plurality of light focusing portions 15 in any given line 16 may change the optical path of the light rays emanating from the positions of the light focusing portions 15 when light reflects from the optical surfaces, e.g., from the reflection surfaces 150; hereby the light rays exit from the emission surface 13 and converge at a convergence point P. Therefore, the wavefront of light from the plurality of light focusing portions 15 becomes a wavefront that appears to radiate from the convergence point P. For example, the plurality of light focusing portions 15a on the line 16a corresponds to a convergence point Pa in the image 17.The light focusing portions 15a change the optical path of the light rays guided toward the plurality of light focusing portions 15a on the line 16a, and thus the light rays exit from the emission surface 13 and converge at the convergence point Pa. Light reflected by the plurality of light focusing portions 15 along other lines 16 converges identically at convergence points P. Thus, any desired light focusing portion 15 can provide a wavefront of light so that light appears to radiate from the corresponding convergence point P. The convergence points P correspond to mutually different light focusing portions 15.A grouping of a plurality of convergence points P that correspond to each of the light focusing portions 15 produces a recognizable image 17 in a space.\",\n \"The display device 1 thus projects the image 17 as a three-dimensional image in a space.\",\n \"The image 17 depicted in FIG.\",\n \"1 is drawn as a three-dimensional image with lines; the lines used to draw the image 17 are produced by grouping a plurality of convergence points P corresponding to each of the light focusing portions 15.The display device 1 forms an image with light exiting from the emission surface 13 to produce the image 17 as a spectroscopic image.\",\n \"The image 17 is a spectroscopic image that may be recognized in a space by an observer.\",\n \"Note that in this specification, the term spectroscopic image refers to an image 17 that appears to be at a location that is different from the emission surface 13 external to the display device 1.The term spectroscopic image is not limited to a three-dimensional image and includes a two-dimensional image perceived at a location separate from the efficient surface 13 of the display device 1, for instance.\",\n \"In other words the term “spectroscopic image” does not refer only to an image perceived as having a solid shape, but also includes the image 17 in two-dimensional form perceived at a different location than on emission surface 13 of the display device 1 and represents an image 17 that appears to be protruding from the light guide plate 11 of the display device 1.The light guided by the light guide plate 11 is oriented in a direction connecting locations in the light guide plate 11 and the light source 10 while not including a spread component orthogonal to a direction connecting locations in the light guide plate 11 and the light source 10.The light focusing portions 15 may be provided at locations separated from the light source 10; in this case, the light guided by the light guide plate 11 is oriented generally towards the Y axis direction from the location at which the light focusing portion is provided but does not spread in the X axis direction.\",\n \"Therefore, light from the light focusing portion 15 substantially converges onto a single convergence point P in a plane parallel to the XZ plane that includes the convergence point P. When light entering the light focusing portions 15 spread in the Z axis direction, the light from the light focusing portions 15 converge on a convergence line along the Y axis in a space containing the convergence point P. However, the description of the embodiment focuses on the convergence of light in the XZ plane to facilitate understanding of the embodiment and describes the same as light from the light focusing portions 15 converging on the convergence points P. FIGS.\",\n \"2 and 3 are conceptual diagrams outlining a cross section of the display device according to embodiments of the present invention and an optical path; FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates a cross-section parallel to the YZ plane, and FIG.\",\n \"3 also illustrates the image 17 viewed by an observer of a cross-section parallel to the XZ plane.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 and FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates not only the emission surface 13 of the light guide plate 11 (i.e., the positive Z axis direction), but also provides an example of the image 17 representing an arrow that also spreads at the rear surface 14 (negative Z axis direction).\",\n \"In the examples illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2 and FIG.\",\n \"3, the image 17, which represents an arrow, appears with the front portion of the arrow protruding from the emission surface 13 and the rear portion of the arrow protruding from the rear surface 14.As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2, the light source 10 is installed at the incidence end surface 12 of the light guide plate 11, and the incidence end surface 12 and the emission surface 13 are substantially orthogonal.\",\n \"Additionally, the rear surface 14 faces the emission surface 13, and the rear surface 14 is also substantially orthogonal to the incidence end surface 12.The rear surface 14 is a flat surface substantially parallel to the emission surface 13 and is provided with inclined surfaces that form the reflection surfaces 150 (150x, 150y) of the light focusing portions 15.The flat rear surface 14 along with the emission surface 13 directs the incident light entering the light guide plate 12 from the incidence end surface 11 via total internal reflection therebetween and function to spread the light in the light guide plate 11 in planar form.\",\n \"The inclined reflection surfaces 150 of the light focusing portions 15 reflect the incident light entering the light guide plate 11 to thereby adjust the optical path of the light toward the emission surface 13.That is, the light emitted from the light source 10 and entering the light guide plate 11 from the incidence and surface 12 is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 13 and the rear surface 14 within the light guide plate 11 and propagates therethrough in planar form.\",\n \"On arriving at a reflection surface 150 formed in the light focusing portion 15, the light propagating through the light guide plate 11 is reflected by the reflection surface 150 and exits to the outside from the emission surface 13.As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2 and FIG.\",\n \"3, the plurality of light focusing portions 15x(light focusing portions 15x1, 15x2, 15x3, .\",\n \".\",\n \". )\",\n \"located on a line 16 include reflection surfaces 150x1, 150x2, 150x3, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", respectively.\",\n \"The reflection surfaces 150x1, 150x2, 150x3, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"corresponding to the plurality of light focusing portions 15x located along the line 16 reflect light toward the emission surface 13 in a direction converging at a convergence point P1 near the emission surface 13.A plurality of light focusing portions 15y (light focusing portions 15y1,15y2, 15y3, .\",\n \".\",\n \". )\",\n \"is located on another line 16 and also include reflection surfaces 150y1, 150y2, 150y3, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", respectively.\",\n \"The reflection surfaces 150y1, 150y2, 150y3 corresponding to the plurality of light focusing portions 15y located along the other line 16 reflect light toward the emission surface 13 toward a direction where the light radiates from a convergence point P2 near the rear surface 14.Therefore, the incline of the reflection surface 150y2 of the light focusing portion 15y2 and the reflection surface 150y3 of the light focusing portion 15y3 (written in parenthesis in FIG.\",\n \"3) are the opposite direction in FIG.\",\n \"3 and are inclined toward the end surface of the light guide plate 11.The reflection surfaces 150x (e.g., the reflection surfaces 150x1, 150x2, 150x3, .\",\n \".\",\n \". )\",\n \"each reflects light from the light source 10 in a direction along a line connecting a point on each of the reflection surfaces 150x and the convergence point P1.The light rays reflected from the reflection surfaces 150x converge at the convergence point P1.Thus, the plurality of reflection surfaces 150x in corresponding light focusing portions 15x reflects incident light entering from the light source 10 in a direction along a line connecting a point on each of the reflection surfaces 150x and the convergence point P1.Therefore, the display device 1 can supply light from the convergence point P1 oriented toward any of the positions in a range from a position V2 through a position V1 and up to position V3.A convergence point P1 of this kind produces the image 17 which appears to protrude from near the emission surface 13.The reflection surfaces 150y (e.g., the reflection surfaces 150y1, 150y2, 150y3, .\",\n \".\",\n \". )\",\n \"each reflects incident light entering from the light source 10 in a direction along a line connecting a point on each of the reflection surfaces 150y and the convergence point P2.The light rays reflected from the reflection surfaces 150y may be extended in a direction opposite the direction the light rays travel, in which case the extension line from the light rays converge at the convergence point P2.Thus, the plurality of reflection surfaces 150y in corresponding light focusing portions 15y reflects incident light entering from the light source 10 in a direction along a line connecting a point on each of the reflection surfaces 150y and the convergence point P2.Therefore, the display device 1 can supply light from the convergence point P2 oriented toward any of the positions in a range from a position V2 through a position V1 and up to position V3.A convergence point P2 of this kind produces the image 17 which appears to protrude from the opposite side of emission surface 13 (i.e., near the rear surface 14).\",\n \"As above described, the light guide plate 11 includes a plurality of light focusing portions 15 having mutually different convergence points P, where a grouping of a plurality of convergence point P including a convergence point P1 and a convergence point P2 produces an image 17 that serves as a stereoscopic image.\",\n \"That is, the light guide plate 11 is provided with a plurality of light focusing portions 15 which change the path of incidence light toward an emission surface 13 causing the light output to converge toward an external convergence point or convergence line or to radiate from an external convergence point or convergence line and thereby form an image externally.\",\n \"By grouping a plurality of convergence points P and convergence lines, the display device 1 can thus form an image 17 outside the light guide plate 11 that can be perceived by an observer as a stereoscopic image.\",\n \"In other words, the following kinds of statements can be made.\",\n \"Light emitted from a light source 10 enters a light guide plate 11, and the light guide plate 11 guides light within a plane parallel to the emission surface 13.A plurality of light focusing portions 15 is formed on the light guide plate 11; the light focusing portions 15 lengthen in a direction (i.e., the X axis direction) orthogonal to the direction (Y axis direction) in which the light guide plate guides light within a plane parallel to the emission surface 13.Each of the light focusing portions 15 includes optical surfaces where the direction of the normal line thereof projected onto a surface parallel to the emission surface varies continuously or gradually along the length direction (X axis direction) of the light focusing portions 15.The light guided by the light guide plate 11 reflects from the optical surfaces whereby the light exits as emission light from the emission surface 13 in a direction to substantially converge on a single convergence point P or convergence line in a space, or to substantially radiate from a single convergence point P or convergence line.\",\n \"The convergence points P or convergence lines are mutually different for the plurality of light focusing portions 15 at different positions along the Y axis, and grouping a plurality of convergence points P or convergence lines produces an image 17 in a space.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 and FIG.\",\n \"3 and the corresponding descriptions illustrate a stereoscopic image that appears to protrude from both the emission surface 13 and the rear surface 14; this is used to describe the basic principles behind producing a stereoscopic image.\",\n \"However, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1 the stereoscopic image may appear to protrude from near only one surface.\",\n \"The reflection surfaces 150 here serve as the light focusing portions 15.However, the light focusing portions 15 can have various forms so long as the light focusing portions 15 can change the path of incident light traveling through the light guide plate 11.For instance, the light focusing portion 16 may be formed as a cylindrical Fresnel lens, whereby the refraction effect of the refraction surface of the Fresnel lens (i.e.\",\n \"the prism surface) changes the path of the incident light.\",\n \"Additionally, in this case the Fresnel lens may be constituted by a plurality of parts with gaps therebetween.\",\n \"The light focusing portions 15 may also be formed as a diffraction grating whereby the diffraction effect may change the path of the incident light.\",\n \"Moreover, the reflection effect and the refraction effect of the prism may change the optical path of the incident light.\",\n \"Additionally, the distances between all the convergence points P and emission surface 13 may be non-uniform.\",\n \"In this case, the density of converging light is configured to increase as the distance from the emission surface 13 increases when forming an image 17 that spreads for instance three dimensionally, or when forming a two-dimensional image 17 that contains a plane obliquely intersecting the emission surface 13.Hereby, any blurring in the image 17 formed is substantially uniform, making it possible to create an image 17 that does not make the observer uneasy.\",\n \"Furthermore, while the light emitted from the light source 10 is represented as incident light entering the light guide plate 11 from the incidence end surface 12, which is one in surface in the longitudinal direction of the light guide plate 11, the incident light is not limited thereto.\",\n \"For example, the rear surface 14 may be taken as the light incidence surface and appropriately designed so that light enters the light guide plate therefrom.\",\n \"First Embodiment A display device 1 thusly configured according embodiments of the present invention may be installed as an internal vehicle component; such an embodiment is described below.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 is a schematic view illustrating around the driver seat in a vehicle 2 provided with a display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component.\",\n \"The vehicle 2 in FIG.\",\n \"4 is a passenger vehicle.\",\n \"A display device 1 according to embodiments of the present invention is mounted in the vehicle 2 and the image 17 produced by the display device 1 is projected above a dashboard 20 provided in front of both the driver seat and the passenger seat.\",\n \"The projected image 17 presents various content such as the status of the vehicle 2, the status of the ridership, and the operation state of the vehicle 2.The projected image 17 presents a still image particularly for display states that are fixed.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 depicts images representing: the vehicle state, i.e., a brake warning indicator; a ridership state, i.e., an unbuckled seatbelt indicator showing whether the passenger seat or driver seat seatbelt is unbuckled, and the vehicle operation state, i.e., a gear position indicator (shown as “N”, FIG.\",\n \"4).\",\n \"These kinds of images 17 are not limited to the images illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4 and may further include images representing, for instance, a water temperature indicator, a headlamp beam direction indicator, a fog light indicator, a four-wheel drive indicator, an engine warning indicator, an oil pressure warning indicator, a battery warning indicator, a fuel level warning indicator, an ABS warning indicator, an SRS warning indicator, and direction indicators.\",\n \"The gear shift position indicator is not limited to the “N” as depicted in FIG.\",\n \"4 but may also include images of other gear positions “P”, “R”, “D”, “2”, “L”, and the like, or may further include an image indicating the state of an overhead light.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"4, the image 17 is presented enclosed in a thin square frame to provide a convenient illustration.\",\n \"The image 17 may in fact be shown as floating inside a square frame over a space including a rectangle represented by the square frame.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating around the drivers seat and includes a driver in a vehicle provided with a display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component; FIG.\",\n \"5 schematically illustrates a cross section parallel to the YZ plane.\",\n \"The display device 1 is arranged on the upper part of the dashboard 20 in the vehicle 2 so that the emission surface 13 in the light guide plate 11 is oriented upward.\",\n \"The light guide plate 11 in the display device 1 may be configured from a flexible transparent panel; the incidence end surface 12 at the end portion of the light guide plate 11 near the light source 10 or the opposite end may be bent and embedded in the dashboard 20.The light focusing portions 15 are formed in the flat middle section of the light guide plate 11; this flat middle section serves as the emission surface 13, and the emission surface 13 is oriented upward.\",\n \"The light source 10 is embedded in the dashboard 20 with the incidence end surface 12 attached thereto; the light source 10 is connected to a control device (not shown) in the vehicle 2 and emits light as appropriate on the basis of control from the control device.\",\n \"The light focusing portions 15 in the light guide plate 11 are configured to form images only upward.\",\n \"That is the light focusing portions 15 form an image above the dashboard 20 where it is embedded so that various planar images such as an image representing the position of the gearshift is formed along a virtual plane oblique or orthogonal to the emission surface 13.FIG.\",\n \"6A and FIG.\",\n \"6B are schematic diagrams for describing the relationship between an emission surface of the display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention and an image.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6A is a schematic view illustrating the relationship between the emission surface 13 of the light guide plate 11 in the display device 1 and the image 17 that is formed; FIG.\",\n \"6B is a schematic side view.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"6A and FIG.\",\n \"6B, the virtual plane created by the emission surface 13 and the image 17 slants at an angle θ.\",\n \"The image 17 is formed in a flat plane substantially orthogonal to the direction of an observer, i.e., the driver's gaze, and the image 17 is readily visible to the driver.\",\n \"Note that depending on the positioning of the light guide plate 11, the image 17 may be formed such that the angle θ is a right angle; that is the light guide plate 11 may be positioned so that the emission surface and the virtual plane are orthogonal.\",\n \"In addition, not all the images 17 need to be formed oriented toward the driver.\",\n \"For instance, the image of an unbuckled passenger seatbelt indicator may be formed in a plane substantially orthogonal to the direction of the observer's gaze, i.e.\",\n \"in the direction of a rider in the passenger seat.\",\n \"The installation location of the display device 1 in general, and of the light guide plate 11 in particular is not limited to the dashboard 20 as above described.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4, the display device 1 may be arranged at various locations such as the cover of the glove box 21 in front of the drivers the passenger seat or thereabouts, the center console 22 between the drivers seat and the passenger seat, an armrest (not shown), and any site on the door trim 23 that is an internal door component.\",\n \"Riders in any seat such as the driver seat, the passenger seat, or the backseat can view an image 17 produced by the display device 1.A display device 1 thusly configured does not require warning lights to be arranged in the panel; therefore, this increases the flexibility in designing the panel, and in order to improve visibility of the warning lights displays allows images 17 of the appropriate size to be produced.\",\n \"Additionally, light guide plates 11 may be stacked for images that do not need to be displayed simultaneously, e.g., images showing the position of the gearshift to allow each gear position to be shown by switching the display at the same position.\",\n \"It is thus possible to minimize the space needed for display.\",\n \"Second Embodiment FIG.\",\n \"7 is a schematic view illustrating near the drivers seat in a vehicle cabin provided with a display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component.\",\n \"In the second embodiment, the image 17 created by the display device 1 is projected in front of the driver seat near the lower part of the front windshield 24 above the dashboard 20.The formed image 17 is identical to the image describes for the first embodiment using FIG.\",\n \"4; it is thus sufficient to reference the first embodiment for these configurations and so further descriptions thereof are omitted.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"7, the image 17 is presented enclosed in a thin square frame to provide a convenient illustration.\",\n \"The image 17 may in fact be shown inside a square frame presented in a space including a rectangle represented by the square frame.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating around the driver seat and includes a driver in a vehicle provided with a display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 schematically illustrates a cross section parallel to the YZ plane.\",\n \"The display device 1 is arranged on the lower part of the front windshield 24 in the vehicle 2 so that the emission surface 13 in the light guide plate 11 is oriented downward.\",\n \"The light guide plate 11 in the display device 1 may be configured from a flexible transparent panel; the incidence end surface 12 at the end portion of the light guide plate 11 near the light source 10 may be bent and embedded in the dashboard 20.The light focusing portions 15 are formed in a flat section of the light guide plate 11; this flat section serves as the emission surface 13, and the emission surface 13 is oriented downward.\",\n \"The light source 10 is embedded in the dashboard 20 with the incidence end surface 12 attached thereto; the light source 10 is connected to a control device (not shown) in the vehicle 2 and emits light as appropriate on the basis of control from the control device.\",\n \"The light focusing portions 15 in the light guide plate 11 are configured to form images only inside the vehicle.\",\n \"That is the light focusing portions 15 form an image near the lower part of the front windshield 24 (above the dashboard 20) so that various planar images such as an image representing the position of the gearshift is formed along a virtual plane oblique or orthogonal to the emission surface 13.The image 17 is formed in a flat plane substantially orthogonal to the direction of an observer, i.e., the driver's gaze, and the image 17 is readily visible to the driver.\",\n \"Not all the images 17 need to be formed oriented toward the driver.\",\n \"For instance, the image of an unbuckled passenger seatbelt indicator may be formed in a plane substantially orthogonal to the direction of the observer's gaze, i.e.\",\n \"in the direction of a rider in the passenger seat.\",\n \"Additionally, not all images 17 need to be produced inside the vehicle; all or a portion of the images may be formed outside the vehicle so long as visibility is not a problem.\",\n \"A display device 1 thusly configured exhibits superior benefits, such as increasing the flexibility in designing internal components for the vehicle 2 while providing the driver with important information.\",\n \"Third Embodiment FIG.\",\n \"9 is a schematic view illustrating near the rear passenger seat in a vehicle cabin provided with a display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component.\",\n \"In the third embodiment, the image 17 produced by the display device 1 is projected behind the head rest 25 of a front seat.\",\n \"The image 17 may be an unbuckled seat indicator for the backseat.\",\n \"For instance, the display device 1 may be installed at the rear part of the front seat head rest 25, the lower part of the seatback of the front seat 26, or the cabin ceiling whereby and image 17 is projected as depicted in FIG.\",\n \"9.The display device 1 may also be arranged at various locations such as the container trip (not shown) behind the back seat, or the door trim (not shown), which is an internal component of the rear door.\",\n \"The display device may be configured so that if an image 17 is produced for the rear part of the vehicle 2, then the image formed should be visible to riders in the back seat; and for example, the display device may be configured so that a driver seated in the driver seat can verify the image without looking toward the back.\",\n \"More specifically, when the gearshift is placed in reverse (i.e., “R”), a display device 1 in the container trim may show an image 17 for various indicators whereby various displays are presented, e.g., to represent the state of the vehicle 2 allowing the driver to recognize various kinds of information.\",\n \"The present invention is not limited to the above described embodiments and may be implemented in various other ways.\",\n \"Therefore, in all respects the above embodiments are merely examples and should not be interpreted as limitations.\",\n \"The scope of the present invention is delineated by the claims and not limited by the specification.\",\n \"Moreover, all modifications and variations with a scope equivalent to the claims are within the scope of the present invention.\",\n \"For example, the aforementioned embodiments illustrated producing images in a two-dimensional plane; however, the present invention is not limited thereto and may be developed into various forms where a three-dimensional image is produced.\",\n \"The aforementioned embodiments also illustrated arranging the display device on the surface of the front windshield 24; however, the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be configured such that the display device is arranged on other window surfaces such as the rear windshield or a side window or the like.\",\n \"Finally, the aforementioned embodiments depict a form that is mounted to a passenger vehicle.\",\n \"However, the display device may be mounted inside various other kinds of vehicles such as a train and may produce images inside the train.\",\n \"The display device may also be mounted inside other forms of conveyance besides a vehicle 2, such as in an airplane or on a ship, and produce images inside the conveyance.\",\n \"REFERENCE NUMERALS 1 Display device 10 Light source 11 Light guide plate (light guide element) 12 Incidence end surface 13 Emission surface 15 (15a, 15b, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", 15x1, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", 15y3) Light focusing portions 17 Image P (Pa, Pb, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", P1, P2) Convergence points 2 Vehicle 20 Dashboard 21 Glove box 22 Center console 23 Door trim 24 Front windshield 25 Head rest 26 Front seat\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876056"}}},{"rowIdx":4495067,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["APPLICATION SPECIFIC INTEGRATED CIRCUIT LINK","Systems and methods for application specific integrated circuit design using Chronos links are disclosed.","A Chronos Link is an ASIC on-chip and off-chip interconnect communication protocol that allows interfaces to transmit and receive information.","The protocol may utilize messages or signals to indicate the availability and/or readiness of information to be exchanged between a producer and a consumer allowing the communication to be placed on hold and to be resumed seamlessly.","A method includes inserting gaskets and channel repeaters connected to interfaces of multiple intellectual property (IP) blocks in order to replace traditional links with Chronos Links; performing simplified floorplanning; performing simplified placement; performing simplified clock tree synthesis (CTS) and routing; and performing simplified timing closure."],["1.A system for communicating between intellectual property blocks, the system comprising: a communication channel communicatively coupled between a first intellectual property block and a second intellectual property block for transmission of data between the first and second intellectual property blocks; a slave controller communicatively coupled between the first intellectual property block and the communication channel, the slave controller comprising: a slave synchronizer circuit configured to receive a first asynchronous signal from the communication channel and transform the received first asynchronous signal into a synchronous domain for controlling the transmission of data according to a first protocol of the first intellectual property block, and a slave digital logic circuit configured to create a first control signal and, using digital logic, regulate the transmission of data into the communication channel; and a master controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and the second intellectual property block, the master controller comprising: a master synchronizer configured to receive a second asynchronous signal from the communication channel and transform the received second asynchronous signal into the synchronous domain for controlling the transmission of data according to a second protocol of the second intellectual property block, and a master digital logic circuit configured to create a second control signal and, using digital logic, regulate the transmission of data out from the communication channel.","2.The system of claim 1, wherein the communication channel is configured to encode data using delay insensitive coding and transmit data using a quasi-delay insensitive logic circuit and a clock-less temporal compression ratio.","3.The system of claim 1, wherein the communication channel is configured to translate a traditional handshake communication protocol into a compressed delay insensitive communication protocol where the original control signals are not propagated to the channel but embedded into the data itself.","4.The system of claim 2, wherein the communication channel is a point-to-point communication channel.","5.The system of claim 2, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples the first intellectual property block to a plurality of intellectual property blocks comprising the second intellectual property block, wherein the master controller comprises a plurality of master controllers, each master controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and a different intellectual property block of the plurality of intellectual property blocks.","6.The system of claim 2, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples the second intellectual property block to a plurality of intellectual property blocks comprising the first intellectual property block, wherein the slave controller comprises a plurality of slave controllers, each slave controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and a different intellectual property block of the plurality of intellectual property blocks.","7.The system of claim 2, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples a plurality of first intellectual property blocks to a plurality of second intellectual property blocks, wherein the master controller comprises a plurality of master controllers, each master controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and a different second intellectual property block of the plurality of second intellectual property blocks, and the slave controller comprises a plurality of slave controllers, each slave controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and a different first intellectual property block of the plurality of first intellectual property blocks.","8.The system of claim 1, wherein the delay insensitive coding comprises analog signals.","9.The system of claim 1, wherein the first intellectual property block is a producer block and the second intellectual property block is a consumer block, wherein data is transmitted from the producer block to the consumer block.","10.The system of claim 1, wherein the first and second intellectual property blocks are disposed on a common application specific integrated circuit chip.","11.The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the slave and the master synchronizer comprises a flip-flop circuit communicatively coupled to the digital logic circuit and configured to transmit the transformed first or second asynchronous signal to the digital logic circuit.","12.The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the slave and the master synchronizer comprises a mutex circuit communicatively coupled to a flip-flop circuit, the mutex circuit configured to receive the asynchronous signal and the flip-flop circuit configured to transmit the transformed first or second asynchronous signal to the digital logic circuit.","13.A system for communicating between intellectual property blocks, the system comprising: a communication channel communicatively coupled between a first intellectual property block and a second intellectual property block for transmission of register information between the first and second intellectual property blocks, the register information comprising data for configuring a mode of operation of the second intellectual property block; a register controller communicatively coupled between the second intellectual property block and the communication channel, the register controller comprising: a synchronizer circuit configured to receive an asynchronous signal from the communication channel and transform the received asynchronous signal into a synchronous domain, and a digital logic circuit configured to create a control signal comprising the data for configuring a mode of operation and transmit the control signal over the communication channel using digital logic.","14.The system of claim 13, wherein the communication channel is configured to encode data using delay insensitive coding and transmit data using a quasi-delay insensitive logic circuit and a clock-less temporal compression ratio.","15.The system of claim 13, wherein the communication channel is configured to translate a traditional handshake communication protocol into a compressed delay insensitive communication protocol where the original control signals are not propagated to the channel but embedded into the data itself.","16.The system of claim 14, wherein the communication channel is a point to point communication channel.","17.The system of claim 14, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples the first intellectual property block to a plurality of intellectual property blocks comprising the second intellectual property block, wherein the register controller comprises a plurality of register controllers, each register controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and a different intellectual property block of the plurality of intellectual property blocks.","18.The system of claim 17, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples a plurality of first intellectual property blocks to the plurality of intellectual property blocks.","19.The system of claim 14, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples a plurality of intellectual property blocks to the second intellectual property block, the plurality of intellectual property blocks comprising the first intellectual property block.","20.The system of claim 13, wherein the delay insensitive coding comprises analog signals.","21.The system of claim 13, wherein the synchronizer comprises a mutex circuit communicatively coupled to a flip-flop circuit, the mutex circuit configured to receive the asynchronous signal and the flip-flop circuit configured to transmit the transformed asynchronous signal to the digital logic circuit.","22.A system for communicating between intellectual property blocks, the system comprising: a communication channel communicatively coupled between a first intellectual property block and a second intellectual property block for transmission of data between the first and second intellectual property blocks; a controller communicatively coupled to the communication channel, the controller configured to: receive an asynchronous signal from the communication channel, transform the received asynchronous signal into a synchronous domain and control the transmission of data according to a protocol of the second intellectual property block."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>"],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Apparatuses and methods for ASIC interconnect design are provided.","A Chronos Link is an ASIC on-chip and off-chip interconnect communication protocol that allows two IP blocks to transmit and receive information.","The Chronos Link protocol may utilize messages or signals to indicate the availability and/or readiness of information to be exchanged between a producer device and a consumer device allowing the communication to be placed on hold and to be resumed seamlessly.","The Chronos Link stands out by relying on a reduced set of timing assumptions and is robustness against delay variations.","To do so, the Chronos Link transmits data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic, making the communication insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations.","Also, a unique characteristic of a Chronos Link, when compared to related solutions, is the fact that the Chronos Link uses temporal compression in its internal paths to reduce the overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.","In fact, data can be compressed by different ratios, which can be any rational number (as long as a technology specific maximum frequency restriction is respected).","Chronos Link protocol agnostic capability allows for direct replacement of many commonly used ASIC communication protocol such as AMBA AXI, CoreConnect, IPBus, OCP, Hyper Transport, Quick Path, etc.","or it can be tailored to a fully custom implementation.","Other features and advantages of the present inventive concept should be apparent from the following description which illustrates by way of example aspects of the present inventive concept."],["RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION This present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","15/344,420, entitled “Application specific integrated circuit link, filed on Nov. 4, 2016, which claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.","119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","62/372,221, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-To-Multi-Point Interconnect,” filed Aug. 8, 2016 and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.","119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","62/251,000, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-To-Multi-Point Interconnect,” filed Nov. 4, 2015, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.","119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","62/372,217, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-to-Point Interconnect,” filed Aug. 8, 2016 and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.","119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","62/250,998, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-to-Point Interconnect,” filed Nov. 4, 2015, all of which are incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in full.","BACKGROUND 1.Technical Field The various embodiments described herein are related to application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and more particularly to the design of various ASICs.","2.Related Art Continuing advances in semiconductor device fabrication technology have yielded a steady decline in the size of process nodes.","For example, 22 nanometer (nm) process nodes were introduced in 2012 but were quickly succeeded by 14 nm fin field-effect transistors (FinFETs) in 2014 while 5 nm process nodes are projected for 2020.The decrease in process node size allows a growing number of intellectual property (IP) cores or IP blocks to be placed on a single ASIC chip.","That is, modern ASIC designs often spread numerous process nodes across a comparatively large silicon die, and include combinations of IP blocks and logic functions.","At the same time, modern technology also requires increased connectivity and large data transfers between various IP blocks.","In addition, modern ASIC chips frequently include multiple clock domains in order to leverage multi-core implementations.","Thus, one or more clock signals may need to be distributed across the chip in a manner that minimizes clock skew.","For instance, the edge of the clock signal received at a logic block located near a clock source should be aligned with those received at more distant logic blocks.","To simplify data exchange among heterogeneous IPs, data is exchanged using a shared communication protocol (i.e.","AMBA-AXI) which make use of Master and Slave interfaces.","Conventionally, a balanced clock signal distribution (i.e., timing closure) is achieved by inserting buffers.","For example, pursuant to a traditional ASIC design flow, after floor planning and placing various IP blocks, a clock tree (i.e., a clock distribution network) may be synthesized and buffers may be added along the signal path from a clock source to various IP blocks according to the clock tree.","In fact, timing closure for a clock signal that is distributed over a large and complex ASIC design typically requires the strategic placement of numerous buffers.","Moreover, the distribution of a clock signal is also highly susceptible to both systematic and random variations.","In particular, proper timing closure must account for the effects of on-chip variations that arise as a result of different process, voltage, and temperature (PVTs) and operation modes, which would otherwise introduce additional clock skews.","As such, the most laborious and time consuming aspect of conventional ASIC design tends to be clock alignment.","Clock tree synthesis and timing closure generally require significant manual intervention.","In addition, the mechanisms (i.e., buffers) used to balance the clock across an ASIC chip generally consume a majority of the power in any conventional ASIC design.","If the distance between to IPs is too long for guaranteeing timing closure, one or more Protocol Pipeline Stage (i.e.","AMBA Register Slice) is inserted between them to relax timing between the two IP ports, complicating even more top level clock routing and balancing, and significantly increasing the used area.","Therefore, what is needed are an apparatus and method that overcome these significant problems found in the aforementioned conventional approach to modern ASIC design.","SUMMARY Apparatuses and methods for ASIC interconnect design are provided.","A Chronos Link is an ASIC on-chip and off-chip interconnect communication protocol that allows two IP blocks to transmit and receive information.","The Chronos Link protocol may utilize messages or signals to indicate the availability and/or readiness of information to be exchanged between a producer device and a consumer device allowing the communication to be placed on hold and to be resumed seamlessly.","The Chronos Link stands out by relying on a reduced set of timing assumptions and is robustness against delay variations.","To do so, the Chronos Link transmits data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic, making the communication insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations.","Also, a unique characteristic of a Chronos Link, when compared to related solutions, is the fact that the Chronos Link uses temporal compression in its internal paths to reduce the overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.","In fact, data can be compressed by different ratios, which can be any rational number (as long as a technology specific maximum frequency restriction is respected).","Chronos Link protocol agnostic capability allows for direct replacement of many commonly used ASIC communication protocol such as AMBA AXI, CoreConnect, IPBus, OCP, Hyper Transport, Quick Path, etc.","or it can be tailored to a fully custom implementation.","Other features and advantages of the present inventive concept should be apparent from the following description which illustrates by way of example aspects of the present inventive concept.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other aspects and features of the present inventive concept will be more apparent by describing example embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG.","1 is a top level block diagram of a generic ASIC design; FIG.","2 illustrates a generic Advanced Microcontroller Bus Architecture (AMBA) with Advanced eXtensible Interface (AXI), known as AMBA-AXI, (composed of 5 AMBA-AXI Channels: Address Write (AW), Write (W), Write Response (B), Address Read (AR) and Read (R)); FIG.","3A details the AMBA AXI Write channel and its control signals; FIG.","3B illustrates an exemplary implementation of the AMBA AXI Write channel with Chronos Link (a combination of a Chronos Channel plus a Chronos Controller Slave and a Chronos Controller Master) according to various embodiments; FIG.","4A is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a generic Chronos Channel implementation; FIG.","4B shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join or Merge blocks; FIG.","4C shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Fork or Steer blocks; and FIG.","4D shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join, Merge, Fork and Steer blocks.","FIG.","5A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the Chronos Slave Controller; FIG.","5B illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the Chronos Master Controller; FIG.","5C illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the Chronos Register Controller; FIG.","6A illustrates an exemplary implementation of a standard register to register interface; FIG.","6B illustrates an exemplary implementation of a register interface with Chronos Link (a combination of a Chronos Channel plus a Chronos Register Controller) according to various embodiments; FIG.","7 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Mutex element; FIG.","8A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a synchronizer; FIG.","8B illustrates exemplary Mutex waveforms ; FIG.","9A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Chronos Slave Controller state flow diagram of a burst mode machine; FIG.","9B illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Chronos Master Controller state flow diagram of a burst mode machine; FIG.","10A shows an exemplary embodiment of an AXI producer channel handshake protocol in which two auxiliary signals (ValidM and ReadyM), are used to implement the handshake protocol; FIG.","10B shows an exemplary embodiment of an AXI consumer channel handshake protocol in which two auxiliary signals (ValidS and ReadyS), are used to implement the handshake protocol; and FIG.","11 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary wired or wireless system according to various embodiments.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION While certain embodiments are described, these embodiments are presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection.","The methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms.","Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form of the example methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the scope of protection.","FIG.","1 is a chart illustrating an example of top level block diagram 100 for a generic ASIC design.","The diagram of FIG.","1 shows data communication between various IP blocks including, for example, but not limited to, Two Central Processing Units (CPU) blocks 151, and 152, a Random Access Memory (RAM) block 153, a Read Only Memory (ROM) block 154, a General Purpose IO (GPIO) block 155, a Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter (UART) block 156, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) block 157, a Bluetooth block 158, an Ethernet PHY block 159 and an AXI Crossbar block 160; through a specific protocol bus interconnect (i. e. AMBA-AXI interconnect with its 5 communication channels).","In this diagram each IP has one or more Master or Slave bus interconnect ports to perform the data communication tasks.","FIG.","2 shows the detail of a AMBA-AXI interconnect between a Master (block 211) and a Slave (block 212) port.","In the diagram of FIG.","2 the five independent channels (Write-Address (AW-CHANNEL in FIG.","1), Write-Data (W-CHANNEL in FIG.","1), Write-Response (B-CHANNEL in FIG.","1), Read-Address (AR-CHANNEL in FIG.","1), and Read-Data (R-CHANNEL in FIG.","1)) with their payloads and control signals (e.g., AWREADY and AWVALID, for example as shown in FIG.","2) can be seen.","FIG.","3A illustrates details for one AMBA-AXI channel (Write-Data) where a Master port (310) transfers data to a Slave Port (311).","FIG.","3B illustrates an exemplary implementation of a Chronos Link (360) to perform the same data exchange as the AMBA-AXI channel of FIG.","1 between the Master port (310) and the Slave port (311).","FIG.","10A shows an exemplary embodiment of an AXI producer channel handshake protocol in which two auxiliary signals (ValidM and ReadyM), are used to implement the handshake protocol.","The ValidM signal generated by the producer indicates validity of the data, while the ReadyM signal received by the producer indicates the readiness of the consumer to accept new data.","Only when both signals are asserted can the data be successfully transferred into the channel.","In a Chronos-Link, the data is compressed and converted in a delay insensitive code.","In one embodiment, a Chronos Slave Controller generates the ReadyM signal and transmits it to the producer based on receiving a Full signal from the Chronos Channel.","FIG.","10B shows an exemplary embodiment of an AXI consumer channel handshake protocol in which two auxiliary signals (ValidS and ReadyS), are used to implement the handshake protocol.","The ValidS signal received by the consumer indicates validity of the data, while the ReadyS signal generated by the consumer indicates the readiness of the consumer to accept new data.","Only when both signals are asserted can the data be successfully extracted from the channel.","In a Chronos-Link, the data coming from the Chronos Channel is de-compressed and converted back to its original format.","In one embodiment, a Chronos Master Controller, takes care of generating the ValidS signal and transmitting it to the consumer based on receiving an Empty signal from the Chronos Channel.","A Chronos Link is an ASIC on-chip and off-chip interconnect communication protocol that allows two IP blocks to transmit and receive information.","The Chronos Link protocol may utilize messages or signals to indicate the availability and/or readiness of information to be exchanged between a producer device and a consumer device allowing the communication to be placed on hold and to be resumed seamlessly.","The Chronos Link stands out by relying on a reduced set of timing assumptions and is robustness against delay variations.","To do so, the Chronos Link transmits data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic, making the communication insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations.","Also, a unique characteristic of a Chronos Link, when compared to related solutions, is the fact that the Chronos Link uses temporal compression in its internal paths to reduce the overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.","In fact, data can be compressed by different ratios, which can be any rational number (as long as a technology specific maximum frequency restriction is respected).","Chronos Link protocol agnostic capability allows for direct replacement of many commonly used ASIC communication protocol such as AMBA AXI, CoreConnect, IPBus, OCP, Hyper Transport, Quick Path, etc.","or it can be tailored to a fully custom implementation.","In one embodiment a Chronos Link (360) is composed of a Chronos Channel (361) fully disclosed in a separate utility patent application (patent application Ser.","No.","15/344,416) plus a Chronos Slave Controller (362), communicating directly to the original Master Port 310 and a Chronos Master Controller (363) to connect to the original Slave Port 311.A Chronos Link brings all the advantage of Chronos Channels to a communication protocol, allowing independent clock references for Master and Slave IPs, PVT tolerance, simplified floorplan, enhanced yield, and data time compression (with potential for minimize routing).","FIG.","4A is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a generic Chronos Channel 400 according to various embodiments.","A Chronos Channel is an ASIC Interconnect that allows transmitter blocks to send data to receiver blocks.","It stands out by relying on a reduced set of timing assumptions and is robust against delay variations.","To do so, Chronos Channels transmit data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic.","In this way, Chronos Channels are insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations, but for those belonging to a few specific forking logic paths called isochronic forks.","Also, a unique characteristic of a Chronos Channel, when compared to related solutions, is the fact that it uses temporal compression in its internal paths to reduce overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.","In fact, data can be compressed by different ratios, which can be any rational number (as long as a technology specific maximum frequency restriction is respected).","In this way, a Chronos Channel is defined by the combination of a DI code (and related handshake protocol), a temporal compression ratio and the hardware required to encode, decode, compress, decompress and transmit data.","DI codes are a specific family of encoding schemes where no codeword can be contained in another codeword.","This allows a receiver to perceive the transmission of a codeword unambiguously.","Such a characteristic eliminates the need for a control signal that identifies the validity of a data channel, and its respective timing assumptions (as in synchronous or bundled-data asynchronous design), as the validity of the data channel is encoded in the data itself.","Also, note that, usually, DI codes are employed in digital applications, which means that their code words are typically defined using a set of binary values.","However, in a Chronos Channel, signals do not need to be digital and codewords can be represented using sets with more than 2 values, provided that data is still encoded using a DI code.","In other words, the data in a Chronos Channel can be composed of analog signals, as long as no codeword is contained in another codeword.","Such characteristic allows a more flexible usage of Chronos Channels.","Another aspect of DI codes is that, to allow data transmission, they are usually coupled to a handshake protocol, which is usually 4- or 2-phases.","Referring to FIG.","4A, in various embodiments, a Chronos Channel may serve as a connection 400 between a n-bit wide data bus running at a frequency determined by a clockA frequency and a second p-bit wide data bus running at a frequency determined by a clockB frequency.","According to one exemplary embodiment, the connection 400 may include a transmitter 410 (i.e., a synchronous to asynchronous gasket) and a receiver 420 (i.e., an asynchronous to synchronous gasket).","In various embodiments, data “n” from a first block (not shown) and a clock signal “clockA” may enter the transmitter 410 and the output (i.e., asynchronous data) from the transmitter 410 may travel through a timing independent channel composed of a “i+1” rows of “h+1”-number of parallel repeaters 430.The asynchronous data from the transmitter 410 is then input into the receiver 420 that is associated with the second block (not shown).","The output of the receiver 420 includes data “p” that is input into the second block.","The transmitter 410 also produces an asynchronous signal (labeled “full”) to indicate when the pipeline is full.","The Receiver 420 also produces an asynchronous signal (labeled “empty”) to indicate when the pipeline is empty.","Advantageously, the timing independent channel composed of the repeaters 430 is self-regulating and process independent.","As such, in various embodiments, the timing independent channel between the first block and the second block may be established by a handshake procedure without any need to perform complex timing closure.","In some embodiments, the timing independent channel between the transmitter 410 and the receiver 420 may include one or more repeaters 430.The repeaters 430 may improve signal strength and throughput in the asynchronous pipeline between the transmitter 410 and the receiver 420.Alternately, the transmitter 410 and the receiver 420 may have a direct connection, i.e., without any repeaters 430.The transmitter 410 also includes “j” encoders (Enc) 411; a “j/i” temporal compressor (TC) 412.The receiver 420 includes a “i/q” temporal decompressor (TD) 422, and “q” decoders (Dec) 421.FIG.","4B shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join or Merge blocks in a multi-point-to-point connection 430 according to various embodiments.","Referring to FIG.","4B, in various embodiments, a multi-point-to-point connection 430 may serve as a connection between two producer IP blocks and a third consumer IP block.","The producer IPs are connected to respective inputs of TXs 431 and 432 (and subsequently to inputs of two repeaters RP0 and RP1 in this example), thereby generating two independent paths in the Chronos Channel.","These paths can then be combined using a flow control block 433, which can be (but are not limited to) a merge, a join or a select component, depending of the control flow requirements.","For example, a merge component combines the information of both paths into a single output path, while a select or a join component can arbitrate between paths using some control mechanism.","The output of the control flow block 433 will be propagated to the inputs of an RX block 434 via a third repeater RP2 in this example.","Note that repeaters RP0, RP1 and RP2 can be added in any point between TXs 431 and 432 and RX 434, including before and after the flow control block 433.FIG.","4C shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Fork or Steer blocks in a point-to-multi-point connection 440 according to various embodiments.","Referring to FIG.","4C, in various embodiments, the point-to-multi-point connection 440 may serve as a connection between a producer IP block and two consumer IP blocks.","The producer IP is connected to an input of TX 441 (and a repeater RP0 in this example) and the generated path in the Chronos Channel can be divided using a flow control block 442, which can be (but is not limited to) a fork or a steer component, depending on the flow control requirements.","For example, a fork component sends the same input information to both output paths, while a steer component can arbitrate to send different input information to each of the output paths using some control mechanism.","The outputs of the control flow block 442 are propagated to inputs of RX blocks 443 and 444.Note that repeaters RP0, RP1 and RP2 can be added in any point between the TX 441 and the RXs 443 and 444, including before and after the flow control block 442.FIG.","4D shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join, Merge, Fork and Steer blocks illustrating a multi-point-to-multi-point connection 450 according to various embodiments.","Referring to FIG.","4D, in various embodiments, the multi-point-to-multi-point connection 450 may serve as a connection between a set of producer IP blocks and a set of consumer IP blocks.","Each producer IP block is connected to one of j TXs 451 (TX0, TX1 to TXj), each which generates an independent path in the Chronos Channel.","These independent paths can then be combined using different combinations of TX-side flow control blocks 452 and any number of repeaters (RP0 to RPh) to implement a specific functionality.","The combined paths are received at a RX-side set of flow control blocks 453 and forwarded via repeaters (RP0, RP1 to RPq in this example) to q RXs 454 (RX0, RX1 to RXq).","In the end of each path in the Chronos Channel, the RXs 454 are interfaced with the consumer IPs.","Note that between the TXs 452 and the RXs 454 (RX0, RX1 to RXq), different combinations of flow control blocks 452 and 453 and repeaters can be employed, to fulfil functional and performance requirements.","Any of the Chronos Channel connections 400, 420, 430 and 450 may be used as the Chronos Channel 361 described above in reference to FIG.","3B.","FIG.","5A is a block diagram illustrating a Chronos Slave Controller 500 according to various embodiments.","The Chronos Slave Controller 500 may be used in various embodiments as the Chronos Slave Controller 362 described above in reference to FIG.","3B.","The most important element in the controller 500 is the synchronizer 510 which is responsible for the synchronization of the asynchronous signals coming from the Chronos Channel 361 (FIG.","3B) in asynchronous domain (in particular full) to the synchronous domain.","Depending on Medium Time Between Failures (MTBF) requirement the physical implementation of the synchronizer can change.","An exemplary embodiment of the circuit is represented in FIG.","5A 510 composed of a Mutex (511) followed by a Flip-Flop (512).","Other embodiments can be implemented such as replacing the Mutex with a second Flip-Flop, or a composition of a “n” number of alternating latches, and or combinations of the above elements, trading latency performance for MTBF performance.","As can be seen in FIG.","3B, the addition of the Chronos Slave Controller 500 as the Chronos Slave Controller 362 allows a Master Interface 310 to properly interact with the Chronos Channel 361 as if it was communicating with a standard synchronous Slave Interface.","FIG.","5B is a block diagram illustrating a Chronos Master Controller 550 according to various embodiments.","The Chronos Master Controller 550 may be used in various embodiments as the Chronos Slave Controller 363 described above in reference to FIG.","3B.","The most important element in the controller 550 is a synchronizer 560 which is responsible for the synchronization of the asynchronous signals coming from the Chronos Channel 361 in asynchronous domain (in particular empty) to the synchronous domain.","Depending on Medium Time Between Failures (MTBF) requirement the physical implementation of the synchronizer can change.","An exemplary embodiment of a synchronizer circuit 560 is represented in FIG.","5B.","The synchronizer circuit 560 comprises a Mutex (561) followed by a Flip-Flop (562).","Other embodiments can be implemented such as replacing the Mutex 561 with a second Flip-Flop 562, or alternatively a “n” number of alternating latches, and or combinations of the above elements, trading latency performance for MTBF performance.","As can be seen in FIG.","3B, addition of the Chronos Master Controller 550 as the Chronos Master Controller 363 allows the Slave Interface 311 to properly interact with the Chronos Channel 361 as if it was communicating with a standard synchronous Master Interface.","FIG.","7 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a block diagram of a Mutex (701).","The Mutex (701) is commonly composed of two main elements: Latch (711) and Metastability Filter (712).","The Mutex 701 has the characteristics of eliminating metastable levels at its output, or in other words, if either setup-time or hold-time are violated its outputs resolves to a valid logic level; the propagation delay of the outputs can be unbounded when this happens.","An exemplary implementation of a Mutex is shown in 720.Only one of a G1 and G2 output can reach a “high” logic level at any one time (never both).","If R1 and R2 inputs transition high in close proximity, metastability can result.","The metastability filter 712 keeps both outputs (G1 and G2) at a “low” logic level until metastability resolves.","Table 730 shows an example of a True table of the Mutex 701.FIG.","8a shows an exemplary implementation of a synchronizer (800) used within a Chronos Master Controller, a Chronos Slave Controller and a Chronos Register Controller.","It is composed of a Mutex (810), with a pin R2 driven by an inverted version of a clock signal, where the output (mid) of the Mutex (810) is transferred to a Flip-Flop (811).","The Mutex (810) receiving the inverted clock signal at the R2 pin produces an output (mid) which guarantees at least half a clock cycle of setup time for the Flip-Flop 811.Furthermore, because of the behavior of the Mutex 810, the mid signal presented to the Flip-Flop is always level correct, reducing even further the MTBF of the synchronizer as a whole, compared to the standard 2 Flip-Flop solution.","FIG.","8b shows exemplary waveforms (850) of the synchronizer described above.","FIG.","9A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Chronos Slave Controller state flow diagram of a burst mode machine.","FIG.","9A shows a burst mode specification of the behavior of the exemplary Chronos Slave Controller presented in FIG.","5A.","As FIG.","9A shows, at reset, the circuit will set its “ready” output to 1, its “ctrl” output to 0 and enter state S0.At this state, the connected producer IP has no data for the Chronos Channel to consume and the Chronos Channel is not full.","In this way, at every clock cycle (“clk” at 1), the Chronos Slave Controller can keep its outputs at reset state, to indicate to the producer IP that it is ready to receive data (“ready” at 1) and to signal to the Chronos Channel that it should not consume any data available in its inputs (“ctrl” at 0).","Note that, at reset, the inputs of the controller are expected to be both 0.Also, note that every transition in the outputs of the controller happen during clock transitions (“clk” at 1) because the IP connected to it is synchronous input (and share the same clock signal of the controller) and the Chronos Channel consumes data from a synchronous bus (the output of the producer IP).","Therefore, data validity of this bus is signaled by a clocked signal.","From S0, the circuit will set “ctrl” to 1 and switch to state S1 if a rising edge is detected in its “valid” input, meaning that the producer IP has new data to be consumed.","At S1, the system is in a state where the producer IP has new data to be consumed and the Chronos Channel is not full.","Therefore, at every rising edge of the clock signal (“clk” at 1), the controller will write 1 in both its outputs, to indicate to the producer IP that it is ready to receive data (“ready” at 1) and to signal to the Chronos Channel that it should consume the data available in its inputs (“ctrl” at 1).","From S1, the controller can: (i) go back to S0 if the producer IP signals that it has no new data to be consumed (“valid” switches back to 0); (ii) switch to S2 if the Chronos Channel becomes full (“full” switches to 1); or (iii) stay at S1 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true (in this case a burst transmission is still taking place).","At S2, the producer IP has new data to be consumed but the Chronos Channel is full and cannot receive it.","Therefore, at every clock cycle (“clk” at 1), the controller will set both its outputs to 0, to indicate to the producer IP that it is not ready to receive data (“ready” at 0) and to signal to the Chronos Channel that it should not consume any data available in its inputs (“ctrl” at 0), to avoid overwriting previous data consumed by it.","From S2, the controller can: (i) go back to S1 if the Chronos Channel frees space for more data (switching “full” back to 0); (ii) switch to S3 if the producer IP signals that it has no new data to be consumed (“valid” switches to 0); or (iii) stay at S2 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true.","At S3, the producer IP has no new data and the Chronos Channel is full.","Hence, at every clock cycle (“clk” at 1), the controller will set both its outputs to 0, to indicate to the producer IP that it is not ready to receive data (“ready” at 0) and to signal to the Chronos Channel that it should not consume any data available in its inputs (“ctrl” at 0), to avoid overwriting previous data consumed by it.","From S2, the controller can: (i) go back to S2 if the producer IP signals that it has new data to be consumed (“valid” switches back to 1); (ii) switch to S0 if the Chronos Channel frees space for more data (switching “full” to 0); or (iii) stay at S3 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true.","FIG.","9B illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Chronos Master Controller state flow diagram of a burst mode machine.","FIG.","9B shows a burst mode specification of the behavior of the Chronos Master Controller presented in FIG.","5B.","As FIG.","9B shows, at reset, the circuit will set its “valid” output to 0, its “ctrl” output to 1 and enter state S0.At this state, the connected Chronos Channel is empty and there is no data for the consumer IP to consume.","At every clock cycle (“clk” at 1), the Chronos Slave Controller will keep its valid output at reset state, to indicate to the consumer IP that there is no data for it to consume (“valid” at 0).","Note that, at reset, the “empty” input of the controller is expected to be at 1 and the “ready” input is expected to be at 0.Also note that every transition in the output of the controller connected to the consumer IP happen during clock transitions because the consumer IP is synchronous (and shares the same clock signal of the controller).","However, transitions in the output that feed the Chronos Channel are not controlled by the clock signal because the data generated by it is asynchronous.","From S0, the controller can: (i) switch to S1 if the Chronos Channel has new data to be consumed (“empty” switches to 0); (ii) switch to S3 if the consumer IP becomes ready to receive new data (“ready” switches to 1); or (iii) stay at S0 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true.","At S1, the system is in a state where the Chronos Channel has new data to be consumed but the consumer IP cannot receive it.","Therefore, at every rising edge of the clock signal (“clk” at 1), the controller will write 1 in its “valid” output, to indicate to the consumer IP that new data is available.","Note that while switching from S0 to S1 or S2 to S1, the controller will switch its “ctrl” output to 0, to signal to the Chronos Channel that the data in its output was not consumed (as “ready” is at 0) and avoid it to be overwritten.","The value of “ctrl” will stay at 0 until the controller switch to S1.From S1, the controller can: (i) switch to S2 if the consumer IP becomes ready to receive new data (“ready” switches to 1); or (ii) stay at S1.At S2, the system is in a state where the Chronos Channel has new data to be consumed and the consumer IP is ready to receive it.","Therefore, at every rising edge of the clock signal (“clk” at 1), the controller will write 1 in its “valid” output, to indicate to the consumer IP that new data is available.","Also, while switching from S2 to S1, the controller will switch its “ctrl” output to 1, to signal to the Chronos Channel that the data in its output will be consumed in the next clock cycle (as “ready” is at 1), so that it can generate new data.","Note that the value of “ctrl” will stay at 1 until the controller switch to S1.From S2, the controller can: (i) switch back to S1 if the consumer IP stops being ready to receive new data (“ready” switches to 0); (ii) switch to S3 if the Chronos Channel becomes empty and no new data is available for the consumer IP to receive (“empty” switches to 1); or (iii) stay at S2 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true (in this case a burst is taking place).","At S3, the system is in a state where the consumer IP is ready to receive data, but the Chronos Channel has no new data in its outputs.","Therefore, at every rising edge of the clock signal (“clk” at 1), the controller will write 0 in its “valid” output, to indicate to the consumer IP that there is no new data available.","Note that, while switching from S0 to S3, the controller will switch its “ctrl” output to 1, to signal to the Chronos Channel that its can generate new data in its output as soon as it is ready, because the consumer IP is ready to receive (as “ready” is at 1).","Note that the value of “ctrl” will stay at 1 until the controller switch to S1.From S3, the controller can: (i) switch back to S2 if the Chronos Channel becomes not empty and has new data for the consumer IP to receive (“empty” switches to 0); (ii) switch to S0 if the consumer IP stops being ready to receive new data (“ready” switches to 0); or (iii) stay at S3 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true.","In various embodiments, sets of Chronos Links between different IP blocks allow timing independent channels to be established between IP blocks in the ASIC design 100, for example.","For example, in reference to FIG.","1, a first set of five timing independent channel links may be established between the CPU block 151 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 using five different Chronos Links.","In various embodiments, the first timing independent channel may be a part of a point-to-point connection between the CPU block 151 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (labeled “intc1” in FIG.","1).","Eight other sets of timing independent channel links, each containing five different Chronos Links may be established between the CPU block 152 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc2”), the RAM block 153 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc3”), the ROM block 154 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc4”), the GPIO block 155 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc5”), the UART block 156 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc6”), the USB block 157 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc7”), the Bluetooth block 158 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc8”), and the Ethernet PHY block 159 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc9”), each using five independent Chronos Links as highlighted for the “intc1” connection for the CPU block 151 in FIG.","1.According to one exemplary embodiment, timing closure for the ASIC design 100 may be accomplished with simplified, top level checks.","That is, testing each individual IP block in the ASIC design 100 across all corners (i.e., PVT corners) obviates any complex timing margin evaluation for the ASIC design 100 as a whole.","As illustrated in FIG.","3B, introduction of a Chronos Link 360 (Chronos Channel 361+Chronos Slave Controller 362+Chronos Master Controller 363) has the unique characteristic to completely decouple the Master Interface 211 (FIG.","2) from the Slave Interface 212 (FIG.","2) in terms of both frequency and phase of operation as well as data bus width.","The combination of a timing insensitive channel (e.g., a Chronos Channel) and proper handling of the communication protocol (i.e.","AMBA-AXI) allows for isochronous, mesochronous, plesiochronous and asynchronous communication between the IP blocks without data corruption and/or data losses.","Furthermore, the availability of linear compression within the Chronos Channel enables the possibility of connecting IP blocks even with different data width (as long as they operate on the same protocol).","Chronos link 360 includes linear compression capability that allows for easier routing in the ASIC design 100 between IP blocks by lowering the total numbers of wires connecting the different IP blocks.","As a result of lowering the total number of wires, manufacturing wire failure yield is also improved.","Power efficiency is also boosted by allowing the various IP blocks to send and receive short bursts of data independently from each other (Master Interface can potentially send a quick burst of data and power down, while the Slave Interface on the other side is still in power down state) due to the intrinsic memory characteristic of the Chronos Channel, and the handling of the communication protocol by the Chronos slave and master controllers 362 and 363.FIG.","6A illustrates an exemplary implementation of a standard register to register interface 600 commonly used in ASIC design to dynamically change IP configuration settings for different modes of operation.","The register configuration usually does not require a complete handshake.","The register interface 600 includes a transmit register 610 linked to a receive register 620 via a channel.","FIG.","6B illustrates an exemplary implementation of a register interface 650 with Chronos Link (a combination of a Chronos Channel plus a Chronos Register Controller) according to various embodiments.","FIG.","6B shows an implementation of a Chronos Link (651) to perform the same configuration register exchange between the TX Register (610) and the RX Register (620).","In one embodiment a Chronos Link (651) composed of a Chronos Channel (361) fully disclosed in a separate utility patent (Attorney Docket Number 123666-001UT1) plus a Chronos Register Controller (652).","A Chronos Link links the transmit register 610 and the receive register 620 and brings all the advantages of Chronos Channels to a communication protocol, allowing independent clock references for Master and Slave IP blocks, PVT tolerance, simplified floorplan, enhanced yield, data time compression (with potential for minimize routing).","FIG.","5C is a block diagram illustrating a Chronos Register Controller 570 according to various embodiments.","The most important element in the controller is the synchronizer 560 which is responsible for the synchronization of the asynchronous signals coming from the TX register 610 via Chronos Channel 361 in the asynchronous domain (in particular empty) and being transformed to the synchronous domain of the RX register 620.Depending on Medium Time Between Failures (MTBF) requirement the physical implementation of the synchronizer 560 can change.","An exemplary embodiment of the circuit is represented in FIG.","5C 570 composed of a Mutex (561) followed by a Flip-Flop (562).","Other embodiments can be implemented such as replacing the Mutex with a second Flip-Flop, or a composition of a “n” number of alternating latches, and or a combinations of the above elements, trading latency performance for MTBF performance.","FIG.","11 is a block diagram illustrating a wired or wireless system 750 according to various embodiments that may utilize the systems and various types of links and channels described above in reference to the other Figures.","In various embodiments, the system 750 may be a conventional personal computer, computer server, personal digital assistant, smart phone, tablet computer, or any other processor enabled device that is capable of wired or wireless data communication.","A person having ordinary skill in the art can appreciate that other computer systems and/or architectures may be used without departing from the scope of the present inventive concept.","The system 750 preferably includes one or more processors, such as processor 760.Additional processors may be provided, such as an auxiliary processor to manage input/output, an auxiliary processor to perform floating point mathematical operations, a special-purpose microprocessor having an architecture suitable for fast execution of signal processing algorithms (e.g., digital signal processor), a slave processor subordinate to the main processing system (e.g., back-end processor), an additional microprocessor or controller for dual or multiple processor systems, or a coprocessor.","Such auxiliary processors may be discrete processors or may be integrated with the processor 760.The processor 760 is preferably connected to a communication bus 755.The communication bus 755 may include a data channel for facilitating information transfer between storage and other peripheral components of the system 750.The communication bus 755 further may provide a set of signals used for communication with the processor 760, including a data bus, address bus, and control bus (not shown).","The communication bus 755 may comprise any standard or non-standard bus architecture such as, for example, bus architectures compliant with industry standard architecture (“ISA”), extended industry standard architecture (“EISA”), Micro Channel Architecture (“MCA”), peripheral component interconnect (“PCI”) local bus, or standards promulgated by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (“IEEE”) including IEEE 488 general-purpose interface bus (“GPIB”), IEEE 696/S-100, and the like.","The system 750 preferably includes a main memory 765 and may also include a secondary memory 770.The main memory 765 provides storage of instructions and data for programs executing on the processor 760.The main memory 765 is typically semiconductor-based memory such as dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) and/or static random access memory (“SRAM”).","Other semiconductor-based memory types include, for example, synchronous dynamic random access memory (“SDRAM”), Rambus dynamic random access memory (“RDRAM”), ferroelectric random access memory (“FRAM”), and the like, including read only memory (“ROM”).","The secondary memory 770 may optionally include an internal memory 775 and/or a removable medium 780, for example a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, a compact disc (“CD”) drive, a digital versatile disc (“DVD”) drive, etc.","The removable medium 780 is read from and/or written to in a well-known manner.","Removable medium 780 may be, for example, a floppy disk, magnetic tape, CD, DVD, SD card, etc.","The removable medium 780 is a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable code (i.e., software) and/or data.","The computer software or data stored on the removable medium 780 is read into the system 750 for execution by the processor 760.In alternative embodiments, secondary memory 770 may include other similar means for allowing computer programs or other data or instructions to be loaded into the system 750.Such means may include, for example, an external medium 795 and a communication interface 790.Examples of external medium 795 may include an external hard disk drive or an external optical drive, or and external magneto-optical drive.","Other examples of secondary memory 770 may include semiconductor-based memory such as programmable read-only memory (“PROM”), erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM”), electrically erasable read-only memory (“EEPROM”), or flash memory (block oriented memory similar to EEPROM).","Also included are a removable medium 580 and a communication interface 790, which allow software and data to be transferred from an external medium 795 to the system 750.The system 750 may also include an input/output (“I/O”) interface 785.The I/O interface 785 facilitates input from and output to external devices.","For example the I/O interface 785 may receive input from a keyboard or mouse and may provide output to a display.","The I/O interface 785 is capable of facilitating input from and output to various alternative types of human interface and machine interface devices alike.","The communication interface 790 allows software and data to be transferred between system 750 and external devices (e.g.","printers), networks, or information sources.","For example, computer software or executable code may be transferred to system 750 from a network server via communication interface 790.Examples of communication interface 790 include, for example, but not limited to, a modem, a network interface card (“NIC”), a wireless data card, a communications port, a PCMCIA slot and card, an infrared interface, and an IEEE 1394 fire-wire.","The communication interface 790 preferably implements industry promulgated protocol standards, such as Ethernet IEEE 802 standards, Fiber Channel, digital subscriber line (“DSL”), asynchronous digital subscriber line (“ADSL”), frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode (“ATM”), integrated digital services network (“ISDN”), personal communications services (“PCS”), transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (“TCP/IP”), serial line Internet protocol/point to point protocol (“SLIP/PPP”), and so on, but may also implement customized or non-standard interface protocols as well.","Software and data transferred via the communication interface 790 are generally in the form of electrical communication signals 605.In one exemplary embodiment, these electrical communication signals 605 are provided to the communication interface 790 via a communication channel 635.In one embodiment, the communication channel 635 may be a wired or wireless network, or any variety of other communication links.","The communication channel 635 carries the electrical communication signals 605 and can be implemented using a variety of wired or wireless communication means including wire or cable, fiber optics, conventional phone line, cellular phone link, wireless data communication link, radio frequency (“RF”) link, or infrared link, just to name a few.","Computer executable code (i.e., computer programs or software) is stored in the main memory 765 and/or the secondary memory 770.Computer programs can also be received via communication interface 590 and stored in the main memory 765 and/or the secondary memory 770.Such computer programs, when executed, enable the system 550 to perform the various functions of the present invention as previously described.","In this description, the term “computer readable medium” is used to refer to any non-transitory computer readable storage media used to provide computer executable code (e.g., software and computer programs) to the system 750.Examples of these media include the main memory 765, the secondary memory 770 (including the internal memory 775, the removable medium 780, and the external medium 795), and any peripheral device communicatively coupled with the communication interface 790 (including a network information server or other network device).","These non-transitory computer readable mediums are means for providing executable code, programming instructions, and software to the system 750.In one embodiment implemented using software, the software may be stored on a computer readable medium and loaded into the system 750 by way of the removable medium 780, the I/O interface 785, or the communication interface 790.In such an embodiment, the software is loaded into the system 750 in the form of electrical communication signals 605.The software, when executed by the processor 760, preferably causes the processor 760 to perform the inventive features and functions previously described herein.","The system 750 also includes optional wireless communication components that facilitate wireless communication over a voice and over a data network.","The wireless communication components comprise an antenna system 655, a radio system 645 and a baseband system 625.In the system 750, radio frequency (“RF”) signals are transmitted and received over the air by the antenna system 655 under the management of the radio system 645.In one embodiment, the antenna system 655 may comprise one or more antennae and one or more multiplexors (not shown) that perform a switching function to provide the antenna system 655 with transmit and receive signal paths.","In the receive path, received RF signals can be coupled from a multiplexor to a low noise amplifier (not shown) that amplifies the received RF signal and sends the amplified signal to the radio system 645.In alternative embodiments, the radio system 645 may comprise one or more radios that are configured to communicate over various frequencies.","In one embodiment, the radio system 645 may combine a demodulator (not shown) and modulator (not shown) in one integrated circuit (“IC”).","The demodulator and modulator can also be separate components.","In the incoming path, the demodulator strips away the RF carrier signal leaving a baseband receive audio signal, which is sent from the radio system 645 to the baseband system 625.If the received signal contains audio information, then baseband system 625 decodes the signal and converts it to an analog signal.","Then the signal is amplified and sent to a speaker.","The baseband system 625may also also receive analog audio signals from a microphone.","These analog audio signals are converted to digital signals and encoded by the baseband system 625.The baseband system 625 also codes the digital signals for transmission and generates a baseband transmit audio signal that is routed to the modulator portion of the radio system 645.The modulator mixes the baseband transmit audio signal with an RF carrier signal generating an RF transmit signal that is routed to the antenna system 655 and may pass through a power amplifier (not shown).","The power amplifier amplifies the RF transmit signal and routes it to the antenna system 655 where the signal is switched to the antenna port for transmission.","The baseband system 625 may also be communicatively coupled with the processor 760.The processor 760 has access to main memory 765 and/or secondary memory 770.The processor 760 is preferably configured to execute instructions (i.e., computer programs or software) that can be stored in the main memory 765 or the secondary memory 770.Computer programs can also be received from the baseband system 625 and stored in the main memory 765 or in secondary memory 770, or executed upon receipt.","Such computer programs, when executed, enable the system 750 to perform the various functions of the present invention as previously described.","For example, the main memory 765 may include various software modules (not shown) that are executable by processor 760.The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the protection.","For example, the example apparatuses, methods, and systems disclosed herein can be applied wireless communication devices incorporating HF and/or UHF RFID reader capabilities.","The various components illustrated in the figures may be implemented as, for example, but not limited to, software and/or firmware on a processor, ASIC/FPGA/DSP, or dedicated hardware.","Also, the features and attributes of the specific example embodiments disclosed above may be combined in different ways to form additional embodiments, all of which fall within the scope of the present disclosure.","The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams are provided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed in the order presented.","As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art the order of steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in any order.","Words such as “thereafter,” “then,” “next,” etc.","are not intended to limit the order of the steps; these words are simply used to guide the reader through the description of the methods.","Further, any reference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using the articles “a,” “an” or “the” is not to be construed as limiting the element to the singular.","The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both.","To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality.","Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.","Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.","The hardware used to implement the various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.","A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but, in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine.","A processor may also be implemented as a combination of receiver devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.","Alternatively, some steps or methods may be performed by circuitry that is specific to a given function.","In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.","If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or non-transitory processor-readable storage medium.","The steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein may be embodied in processor-executable instructions that may reside on a non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage medium.","Non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media may be any storage media that may be accessed by a computer or a processor.","By way of example but not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, FLASH memory, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that may be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a computer.","Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.","Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of non-transitory computer-readable and processor-readable media.","Additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium and/or computer-readable storage medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.","Although the present disclosure provides certain example embodiments and applications, other embodiments that are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, including embodiments which do not provide all of the features and advantages set forth herein, are also within the scope of this disclosure.","Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to be defined only by reference to the appended claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"APPLICATION SPECIFIC INTEGRATED CIRCUIT LINK\",\n \"Systems and methods for application specific integrated circuit design using Chronos links are disclosed.\",\n \"A Chronos Link is an ASIC on-chip and off-chip interconnect communication protocol that allows interfaces to transmit and receive information.\",\n \"The protocol may utilize messages or signals to indicate the availability and/or readiness of information to be exchanged between a producer and a consumer allowing the communication to be placed on hold and to be resumed seamlessly.\",\n \"A method includes inserting gaskets and channel repeaters connected to interfaces of multiple intellectual property (IP) blocks in order to replace traditional links with Chronos Links; performing simplified floorplanning; performing simplified placement; performing simplified clock tree synthesis (CTS) and routing; and performing simplified timing closure.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A system for communicating between intellectual property blocks, the system comprising: a communication channel communicatively coupled between a first intellectual property block and a second intellectual property block for transmission of data between the first and second intellectual property blocks; a slave controller communicatively coupled between the first intellectual property block and the communication channel, the slave controller comprising: a slave synchronizer circuit configured to receive a first asynchronous signal from the communication channel and transform the received first asynchronous signal into a synchronous domain for controlling the transmission of data according to a first protocol of the first intellectual property block, and a slave digital logic circuit configured to create a first control signal and, using digital logic, regulate the transmission of data into the communication channel; and a master controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and the second intellectual property block, the master controller comprising: a master synchronizer configured to receive a second asynchronous signal from the communication channel and transform the received second asynchronous signal into the synchronous domain for controlling the transmission of data according to a second protocol of the second intellectual property block, and a master digital logic circuit configured to create a second control signal and, using digital logic, regulate the transmission of data out from the communication channel.\",\n \"2.The system of claim 1, wherein the communication channel is configured to encode data using delay insensitive coding and transmit data using a quasi-delay insensitive logic circuit and a clock-less temporal compression ratio.\",\n \"3.The system of claim 1, wherein the communication channel is configured to translate a traditional handshake communication protocol into a compressed delay insensitive communication protocol where the original control signals are not propagated to the channel but embedded into the data itself.\",\n \"4.The system of claim 2, wherein the communication channel is a point-to-point communication channel.\",\n \"5.The system of claim 2, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples the first intellectual property block to a plurality of intellectual property blocks comprising the second intellectual property block, wherein the master controller comprises a plurality of master controllers, each master controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and a different intellectual property block of the plurality of intellectual property blocks.\",\n \"6.The system of claim 2, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples the second intellectual property block to a plurality of intellectual property blocks comprising the first intellectual property block, wherein the slave controller comprises a plurality of slave controllers, each slave controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and a different intellectual property block of the plurality of intellectual property blocks.\",\n \"7.The system of claim 2, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples a plurality of first intellectual property blocks to a plurality of second intellectual property blocks, wherein the master controller comprises a plurality of master controllers, each master controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and a different second intellectual property block of the plurality of second intellectual property blocks, and the slave controller comprises a plurality of slave controllers, each slave controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and a different first intellectual property block of the plurality of first intellectual property blocks.\",\n \"8.The system of claim 1, wherein the delay insensitive coding comprises analog signals.\",\n \"9.The system of claim 1, wherein the first intellectual property block is a producer block and the second intellectual property block is a consumer block, wherein data is transmitted from the producer block to the consumer block.\",\n \"10.The system of claim 1, wherein the first and second intellectual property blocks are disposed on a common application specific integrated circuit chip.\",\n \"11.The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the slave and the master synchronizer comprises a flip-flop circuit communicatively coupled to the digital logic circuit and configured to transmit the transformed first or second asynchronous signal to the digital logic circuit.\",\n \"12.The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the slave and the master synchronizer comprises a mutex circuit communicatively coupled to a flip-flop circuit, the mutex circuit configured to receive the asynchronous signal and the flip-flop circuit configured to transmit the transformed first or second asynchronous signal to the digital logic circuit.\",\n \"13.A system for communicating between intellectual property blocks, the system comprising: a communication channel communicatively coupled between a first intellectual property block and a second intellectual property block for transmission of register information between the first and second intellectual property blocks, the register information comprising data for configuring a mode of operation of the second intellectual property block; a register controller communicatively coupled between the second intellectual property block and the communication channel, the register controller comprising: a synchronizer circuit configured to receive an asynchronous signal from the communication channel and transform the received asynchronous signal into a synchronous domain, and a digital logic circuit configured to create a control signal comprising the data for configuring a mode of operation and transmit the control signal over the communication channel using digital logic.\",\n \"14.The system of claim 13, wherein the communication channel is configured to encode data using delay insensitive coding and transmit data using a quasi-delay insensitive logic circuit and a clock-less temporal compression ratio.\",\n \"15.The system of claim 13, wherein the communication channel is configured to translate a traditional handshake communication protocol into a compressed delay insensitive communication protocol where the original control signals are not propagated to the channel but embedded into the data itself.\",\n \"16.The system of claim 14, wherein the communication channel is a point to point communication channel.\",\n \"17.The system of claim 14, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples the first intellectual property block to a plurality of intellectual property blocks comprising the second intellectual property block, wherein the register controller comprises a plurality of register controllers, each register controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and a different intellectual property block of the plurality of intellectual property blocks.\",\n \"18.The system of claim 17, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples a plurality of first intellectual property blocks to the plurality of intellectual property blocks.\",\n \"19.The system of claim 14, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples a plurality of intellectual property blocks to the second intellectual property block, the plurality of intellectual property blocks comprising the first intellectual property block.\",\n \"20.The system of claim 13, wherein the delay insensitive coding comprises analog signals.\",\n \"21.The system of claim 13, wherein the synchronizer comprises a mutex circuit communicatively coupled to a flip-flop circuit, the mutex circuit configured to receive the asynchronous signal and the flip-flop circuit configured to transmit the transformed asynchronous signal to the digital logic circuit.\",\n \"22.A system for communicating between intellectual property blocks, the system comprising: a communication channel communicatively coupled between a first intellectual property block and a second intellectual property block for transmission of data between the first and second intellectual property blocks; a controller communicatively coupled to the communication channel, the controller configured to: receive an asynchronous signal from the communication channel, transform the received asynchronous signal into a synchronous domain and control the transmission of data according to a protocol of the second intellectual property block.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Apparatuses and methods for ASIC interconnect design are provided.\",\n \"A Chronos Link is an ASIC on-chip and off-chip interconnect communication protocol that allows two IP blocks to transmit and receive information.\",\n \"The Chronos Link protocol may utilize messages or signals to indicate the availability and/or readiness of information to be exchanged between a producer device and a consumer device allowing the communication to be placed on hold and to be resumed seamlessly.\",\n \"The Chronos Link stands out by relying on a reduced set of timing assumptions and is robustness against delay variations.\",\n \"To do so, the Chronos Link transmits data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic, making the communication insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations.\",\n \"Also, a unique characteristic of a Chronos Link, when compared to related solutions, is the fact that the Chronos Link uses temporal compression in its internal paths to reduce the overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.\",\n \"In fact, data can be compressed by different ratios, which can be any rational number (as long as a technology specific maximum frequency restriction is respected).\",\n \"Chronos Link protocol agnostic capability allows for direct replacement of many commonly used ASIC communication protocol such as AMBA AXI, CoreConnect, IPBus, OCP, Hyper Transport, Quick Path, etc.\",\n \"or it can be tailored to a fully custom implementation.\",\n \"Other features and advantages of the present inventive concept should be apparent from the following description which illustrates by way of example aspects of the present inventive concept.\"\n ],\n [\n \"RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION This present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"15/344,420, entitled “Application specific integrated circuit link, filed on Nov. 4, 2016, which claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/372,221, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-To-Multi-Point Interconnect,” filed Aug. 8, 2016 and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/251,000, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-To-Multi-Point Interconnect,” filed Nov. 4, 2015, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/372,217, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-to-Point Interconnect,” filed Aug. 8, 2016 and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/250,998, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-to-Point Interconnect,” filed Nov. 4, 2015, all of which are incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in full.\",\n \"BACKGROUND 1.Technical Field The various embodiments described herein are related to application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and more particularly to the design of various ASICs.\",\n \"2.Related Art Continuing advances in semiconductor device fabrication technology have yielded a steady decline in the size of process nodes.\",\n \"For example, 22 nanometer (nm) process nodes were introduced in 2012 but were quickly succeeded by 14 nm fin field-effect transistors (FinFETs) in 2014 while 5 nm process nodes are projected for 2020.The decrease in process node size allows a growing number of intellectual property (IP) cores or IP blocks to be placed on a single ASIC chip.\",\n \"That is, modern ASIC designs often spread numerous process nodes across a comparatively large silicon die, and include combinations of IP blocks and logic functions.\",\n \"At the same time, modern technology also requires increased connectivity and large data transfers between various IP blocks.\",\n \"In addition, modern ASIC chips frequently include multiple clock domains in order to leverage multi-core implementations.\",\n \"Thus, one or more clock signals may need to be distributed across the chip in a manner that minimizes clock skew.\",\n \"For instance, the edge of the clock signal received at a logic block located near a clock source should be aligned with those received at more distant logic blocks.\",\n \"To simplify data exchange among heterogeneous IPs, data is exchanged using a shared communication protocol (i.e.\",\n \"AMBA-AXI) which make use of Master and Slave interfaces.\",\n \"Conventionally, a balanced clock signal distribution (i.e., timing closure) is achieved by inserting buffers.\",\n \"For example, pursuant to a traditional ASIC design flow, after floor planning and placing various IP blocks, a clock tree (i.e., a clock distribution network) may be synthesized and buffers may be added along the signal path from a clock source to various IP blocks according to the clock tree.\",\n \"In fact, timing closure for a clock signal that is distributed over a large and complex ASIC design typically requires the strategic placement of numerous buffers.\",\n \"Moreover, the distribution of a clock signal is also highly susceptible to both systematic and random variations.\",\n \"In particular, proper timing closure must account for the effects of on-chip variations that arise as a result of different process, voltage, and temperature (PVTs) and operation modes, which would otherwise introduce additional clock skews.\",\n \"As such, the most laborious and time consuming aspect of conventional ASIC design tends to be clock alignment.\",\n \"Clock tree synthesis and timing closure generally require significant manual intervention.\",\n \"In addition, the mechanisms (i.e., buffers) used to balance the clock across an ASIC chip generally consume a majority of the power in any conventional ASIC design.\",\n \"If the distance between to IPs is too long for guaranteeing timing closure, one or more Protocol Pipeline Stage (i.e.\",\n \"AMBA Register Slice) is inserted between them to relax timing between the two IP ports, complicating even more top level clock routing and balancing, and significantly increasing the used area.\",\n \"Therefore, what is needed are an apparatus and method that overcome these significant problems found in the aforementioned conventional approach to modern ASIC design.\",\n \"SUMMARY Apparatuses and methods for ASIC interconnect design are provided.\",\n \"A Chronos Link is an ASIC on-chip and off-chip interconnect communication protocol that allows two IP blocks to transmit and receive information.\",\n \"The Chronos Link protocol may utilize messages or signals to indicate the availability and/or readiness of information to be exchanged between a producer device and a consumer device allowing the communication to be placed on hold and to be resumed seamlessly.\",\n \"The Chronos Link stands out by relying on a reduced set of timing assumptions and is robustness against delay variations.\",\n \"To do so, the Chronos Link transmits data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic, making the communication insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations.\",\n \"Also, a unique characteristic of a Chronos Link, when compared to related solutions, is the fact that the Chronos Link uses temporal compression in its internal paths to reduce the overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.\",\n \"In fact, data can be compressed by different ratios, which can be any rational number (as long as a technology specific maximum frequency restriction is respected).\",\n \"Chronos Link protocol agnostic capability allows for direct replacement of many commonly used ASIC communication protocol such as AMBA AXI, CoreConnect, IPBus, OCP, Hyper Transport, Quick Path, etc.\",\n \"or it can be tailored to a fully custom implementation.\",\n \"Other features and advantages of the present inventive concept should be apparent from the following description which illustrates by way of example aspects of the present inventive concept.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other aspects and features of the present inventive concept will be more apparent by describing example embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG.\",\n \"1 is a top level block diagram of a generic ASIC design; FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates a generic Advanced Microcontroller Bus Architecture (AMBA) with Advanced eXtensible Interface (AXI), known as AMBA-AXI, (composed of 5 AMBA-AXI Channels: Address Write (AW), Write (W), Write Response (B), Address Read (AR) and Read (R)); FIG.\",\n \"3A details the AMBA AXI Write channel and its control signals; FIG.\",\n \"3B illustrates an exemplary implementation of the AMBA AXI Write channel with Chronos Link (a combination of a Chronos Channel plus a Chronos Controller Slave and a Chronos Controller Master) according to various embodiments; FIG.\",\n \"4A is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a generic Chronos Channel implementation; FIG.\",\n \"4B shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join or Merge blocks; FIG.\",\n \"4C shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Fork or Steer blocks; and FIG.\",\n \"4D shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join, Merge, Fork and Steer blocks.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the Chronos Slave Controller; FIG.\",\n \"5B illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the Chronos Master Controller; FIG.\",\n \"5C illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the Chronos Register Controller; FIG.\",\n \"6A illustrates an exemplary implementation of a standard register to register interface; FIG.\",\n \"6B illustrates an exemplary implementation of a register interface with Chronos Link (a combination of a Chronos Channel plus a Chronos Register Controller) according to various embodiments; FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Mutex element; FIG.\",\n \"8A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a synchronizer; FIG.\",\n \"8B illustrates exemplary Mutex waveforms ; FIG.\",\n \"9A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Chronos Slave Controller state flow diagram of a burst mode machine; FIG.\",\n \"9B illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Chronos Master Controller state flow diagram of a burst mode machine; FIG.\",\n \"10A shows an exemplary embodiment of an AXI producer channel handshake protocol in which two auxiliary signals (ValidM and ReadyM), are used to implement the handshake protocol; FIG.\",\n \"10B shows an exemplary embodiment of an AXI consumer channel handshake protocol in which two auxiliary signals (ValidS and ReadyS), are used to implement the handshake protocol; and FIG.\",\n \"11 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary wired or wireless system according to various embodiments.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION While certain embodiments are described, these embodiments are presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection.\",\n \"The methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms.\",\n \"Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form of the example methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the scope of protection.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 is a chart illustrating an example of top level block diagram 100 for a generic ASIC design.\",\n \"The diagram of FIG.\",\n \"1 shows data communication between various IP blocks including, for example, but not limited to, Two Central Processing Units (CPU) blocks 151, and 152, a Random Access Memory (RAM) block 153, a Read Only Memory (ROM) block 154, a General Purpose IO (GPIO) block 155, a Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter (UART) block 156, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) block 157, a Bluetooth block 158, an Ethernet PHY block 159 and an AXI Crossbar block 160; through a specific protocol bus interconnect (i. e. AMBA-AXI interconnect with its 5 communication channels).\",\n \"In this diagram each IP has one or more Master or Slave bus interconnect ports to perform the data communication tasks.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 shows the detail of a AMBA-AXI interconnect between a Master (block 211) and a Slave (block 212) port.\",\n \"In the diagram of FIG.\",\n \"2 the five independent channels (Write-Address (AW-CHANNEL in FIG.\",\n \"1), Write-Data (W-CHANNEL in FIG.\",\n \"1), Write-Response (B-CHANNEL in FIG.\",\n \"1), Read-Address (AR-CHANNEL in FIG.\",\n \"1), and Read-Data (R-CHANNEL in FIG.\",\n \"1)) with their payloads and control signals (e.g., AWREADY and AWVALID, for example as shown in FIG.\",\n \"2) can be seen.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3A illustrates details for one AMBA-AXI channel (Write-Data) where a Master port (310) transfers data to a Slave Port (311).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3B illustrates an exemplary implementation of a Chronos Link (360) to perform the same data exchange as the AMBA-AXI channel of FIG.\",\n \"1 between the Master port (310) and the Slave port (311).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10A shows an exemplary embodiment of an AXI producer channel handshake protocol in which two auxiliary signals (ValidM and ReadyM), are used to implement the handshake protocol.\",\n \"The ValidM signal generated by the producer indicates validity of the data, while the ReadyM signal received by the producer indicates the readiness of the consumer to accept new data.\",\n \"Only when both signals are asserted can the data be successfully transferred into the channel.\",\n \"In a Chronos-Link, the data is compressed and converted in a delay insensitive code.\",\n \"In one embodiment, a Chronos Slave Controller generates the ReadyM signal and transmits it to the producer based on receiving a Full signal from the Chronos Channel.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10B shows an exemplary embodiment of an AXI consumer channel handshake protocol in which two auxiliary signals (ValidS and ReadyS), are used to implement the handshake protocol.\",\n \"The ValidS signal received by the consumer indicates validity of the data, while the ReadyS signal generated by the consumer indicates the readiness of the consumer to accept new data.\",\n \"Only when both signals are asserted can the data be successfully extracted from the channel.\",\n \"In a Chronos-Link, the data coming from the Chronos Channel is de-compressed and converted back to its original format.\",\n \"In one embodiment, a Chronos Master Controller, takes care of generating the ValidS signal and transmitting it to the consumer based on receiving an Empty signal from the Chronos Channel.\",\n \"A Chronos Link is an ASIC on-chip and off-chip interconnect communication protocol that allows two IP blocks to transmit and receive information.\",\n \"The Chronos Link protocol may utilize messages or signals to indicate the availability and/or readiness of information to be exchanged between a producer device and a consumer device allowing the communication to be placed on hold and to be resumed seamlessly.\",\n \"The Chronos Link stands out by relying on a reduced set of timing assumptions and is robustness against delay variations.\",\n \"To do so, the Chronos Link transmits data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic, making the communication insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations.\",\n \"Also, a unique characteristic of a Chronos Link, when compared to related solutions, is the fact that the Chronos Link uses temporal compression in its internal paths to reduce the overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.\",\n \"In fact, data can be compressed by different ratios, which can be any rational number (as long as a technology specific maximum frequency restriction is respected).\",\n \"Chronos Link protocol agnostic capability allows for direct replacement of many commonly used ASIC communication protocol such as AMBA AXI, CoreConnect, IPBus, OCP, Hyper Transport, Quick Path, etc.\",\n \"or it can be tailored to a fully custom implementation.\",\n \"In one embodiment a Chronos Link (360) is composed of a Chronos Channel (361) fully disclosed in a separate utility patent application (patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/344,416) plus a Chronos Slave Controller (362), communicating directly to the original Master Port 310 and a Chronos Master Controller (363) to connect to the original Slave Port 311.A Chronos Link brings all the advantage of Chronos Channels to a communication protocol, allowing independent clock references for Master and Slave IPs, PVT tolerance, simplified floorplan, enhanced yield, and data time compression (with potential for minimize routing).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4A is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a generic Chronos Channel 400 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"A Chronos Channel is an ASIC Interconnect that allows transmitter blocks to send data to receiver blocks.\",\n \"It stands out by relying on a reduced set of timing assumptions and is robust against delay variations.\",\n \"To do so, Chronos Channels transmit data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic.\",\n \"In this way, Chronos Channels are insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations, but for those belonging to a few specific forking logic paths called isochronic forks.\",\n \"Also, a unique characteristic of a Chronos Channel, when compared to related solutions, is the fact that it uses temporal compression in its internal paths to reduce overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.\",\n \"In fact, data can be compressed by different ratios, which can be any rational number (as long as a technology specific maximum frequency restriction is respected).\",\n \"In this way, a Chronos Channel is defined by the combination of a DI code (and related handshake protocol), a temporal compression ratio and the hardware required to encode, decode, compress, decompress and transmit data.\",\n \"DI codes are a specific family of encoding schemes where no codeword can be contained in another codeword.\",\n \"This allows a receiver to perceive the transmission of a codeword unambiguously.\",\n \"Such a characteristic eliminates the need for a control signal that identifies the validity of a data channel, and its respective timing assumptions (as in synchronous or bundled-data asynchronous design), as the validity of the data channel is encoded in the data itself.\",\n \"Also, note that, usually, DI codes are employed in digital applications, which means that their code words are typically defined using a set of binary values.\",\n \"However, in a Chronos Channel, signals do not need to be digital and codewords can be represented using sets with more than 2 values, provided that data is still encoded using a DI code.\",\n \"In other words, the data in a Chronos Channel can be composed of analog signals, as long as no codeword is contained in another codeword.\",\n \"Such characteristic allows a more flexible usage of Chronos Channels.\",\n \"Another aspect of DI codes is that, to allow data transmission, they are usually coupled to a handshake protocol, which is usually 4- or 2-phases.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"4A, in various embodiments, a Chronos Channel may serve as a connection 400 between a n-bit wide data bus running at a frequency determined by a clockA frequency and a second p-bit wide data bus running at a frequency determined by a clockB frequency.\",\n \"According to one exemplary embodiment, the connection 400 may include a transmitter 410 (i.e., a synchronous to asynchronous gasket) and a receiver 420 (i.e., an asynchronous to synchronous gasket).\",\n \"In various embodiments, data “n” from a first block (not shown) and a clock signal “clockA” may enter the transmitter 410 and the output (i.e., asynchronous data) from the transmitter 410 may travel through a timing independent channel composed of a “i+1” rows of “h+1”-number of parallel repeaters 430.The asynchronous data from the transmitter 410 is then input into the receiver 420 that is associated with the second block (not shown).\",\n \"The output of the receiver 420 includes data “p” that is input into the second block.\",\n \"The transmitter 410 also produces an asynchronous signal (labeled “full”) to indicate when the pipeline is full.\",\n \"The Receiver 420 also produces an asynchronous signal (labeled “empty”) to indicate when the pipeline is empty.\",\n \"Advantageously, the timing independent channel composed of the repeaters 430 is self-regulating and process independent.\",\n \"As such, in various embodiments, the timing independent channel between the first block and the second block may be established by a handshake procedure without any need to perform complex timing closure.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the timing independent channel between the transmitter 410 and the receiver 420 may include one or more repeaters 430.The repeaters 430 may improve signal strength and throughput in the asynchronous pipeline between the transmitter 410 and the receiver 420.Alternately, the transmitter 410 and the receiver 420 may have a direct connection, i.e., without any repeaters 430.The transmitter 410 also includes “j” encoders (Enc) 411; a “j/i” temporal compressor (TC) 412.The receiver 420 includes a “i/q” temporal decompressor (TD) 422, and “q” decoders (Dec) 421.FIG.\",\n \"4B shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join or Merge blocks in a multi-point-to-point connection 430 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"4B, in various embodiments, a multi-point-to-point connection 430 may serve as a connection between two producer IP blocks and a third consumer IP block.\",\n \"The producer IPs are connected to respective inputs of TXs 431 and 432 (and subsequently to inputs of two repeaters RP0 and RP1 in this example), thereby generating two independent paths in the Chronos Channel.\",\n \"These paths can then be combined using a flow control block 433, which can be (but are not limited to) a merge, a join or a select component, depending of the control flow requirements.\",\n \"For example, a merge component combines the information of both paths into a single output path, while a select or a join component can arbitrate between paths using some control mechanism.\",\n \"The output of the control flow block 433 will be propagated to the inputs of an RX block 434 via a third repeater RP2 in this example.\",\n \"Note that repeaters RP0, RP1 and RP2 can be added in any point between TXs 431 and 432 and RX 434, including before and after the flow control block 433.FIG.\",\n \"4C shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Fork or Steer blocks in a point-to-multi-point connection 440 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"4C, in various embodiments, the point-to-multi-point connection 440 may serve as a connection between a producer IP block and two consumer IP blocks.\",\n \"The producer IP is connected to an input of TX 441 (and a repeater RP0 in this example) and the generated path in the Chronos Channel can be divided using a flow control block 442, which can be (but is not limited to) a fork or a steer component, depending on the flow control requirements.\",\n \"For example, a fork component sends the same input information to both output paths, while a steer component can arbitrate to send different input information to each of the output paths using some control mechanism.\",\n \"The outputs of the control flow block 442 are propagated to inputs of RX blocks 443 and 444.Note that repeaters RP0, RP1 and RP2 can be added in any point between the TX 441 and the RXs 443 and 444, including before and after the flow control block 442.FIG.\",\n \"4D shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join, Merge, Fork and Steer blocks illustrating a multi-point-to-multi-point connection 450 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"4D, in various embodiments, the multi-point-to-multi-point connection 450 may serve as a connection between a set of producer IP blocks and a set of consumer IP blocks.\",\n \"Each producer IP block is connected to one of j TXs 451 (TX0, TX1 to TXj), each which generates an independent path in the Chronos Channel.\",\n \"These independent paths can then be combined using different combinations of TX-side flow control blocks 452 and any number of repeaters (RP0 to RPh) to implement a specific functionality.\",\n \"The combined paths are received at a RX-side set of flow control blocks 453 and forwarded via repeaters (RP0, RP1 to RPq in this example) to q RXs 454 (RX0, RX1 to RXq).\",\n \"In the end of each path in the Chronos Channel, the RXs 454 are interfaced with the consumer IPs.\",\n \"Note that between the TXs 452 and the RXs 454 (RX0, RX1 to RXq), different combinations of flow control blocks 452 and 453 and repeaters can be employed, to fulfil functional and performance requirements.\",\n \"Any of the Chronos Channel connections 400, 420, 430 and 450 may be used as the Chronos Channel 361 described above in reference to FIG.\",\n \"3B.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5A is a block diagram illustrating a Chronos Slave Controller 500 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"The Chronos Slave Controller 500 may be used in various embodiments as the Chronos Slave Controller 362 described above in reference to FIG.\",\n \"3B.\",\n \"The most important element in the controller 500 is the synchronizer 510 which is responsible for the synchronization of the asynchronous signals coming from the Chronos Channel 361 (FIG.\",\n \"3B) in asynchronous domain (in particular full) to the synchronous domain.\",\n \"Depending on Medium Time Between Failures (MTBF) requirement the physical implementation of the synchronizer can change.\",\n \"An exemplary embodiment of the circuit is represented in FIG.\",\n \"5A 510 composed of a Mutex (511) followed by a Flip-Flop (512).\",\n \"Other embodiments can be implemented such as replacing the Mutex with a second Flip-Flop, or a composition of a “n” number of alternating latches, and or combinations of the above elements, trading latency performance for MTBF performance.\",\n \"As can be seen in FIG.\",\n \"3B, the addition of the Chronos Slave Controller 500 as the Chronos Slave Controller 362 allows a Master Interface 310 to properly interact with the Chronos Channel 361 as if it was communicating with a standard synchronous Slave Interface.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5B is a block diagram illustrating a Chronos Master Controller 550 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"The Chronos Master Controller 550 may be used in various embodiments as the Chronos Slave Controller 363 described above in reference to FIG.\",\n \"3B.\",\n \"The most important element in the controller 550 is a synchronizer 560 which is responsible for the synchronization of the asynchronous signals coming from the Chronos Channel 361 in asynchronous domain (in particular empty) to the synchronous domain.\",\n \"Depending on Medium Time Between Failures (MTBF) requirement the physical implementation of the synchronizer can change.\",\n \"An exemplary embodiment of a synchronizer circuit 560 is represented in FIG.\",\n \"5B.\",\n \"The synchronizer circuit 560 comprises a Mutex (561) followed by a Flip-Flop (562).\",\n \"Other embodiments can be implemented such as replacing the Mutex 561 with a second Flip-Flop 562, or alternatively a “n” number of alternating latches, and or combinations of the above elements, trading latency performance for MTBF performance.\",\n \"As can be seen in FIG.\",\n \"3B, addition of the Chronos Master Controller 550 as the Chronos Master Controller 363 allows the Slave Interface 311 to properly interact with the Chronos Channel 361 as if it was communicating with a standard synchronous Master Interface.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a block diagram of a Mutex (701).\",\n \"The Mutex (701) is commonly composed of two main elements: Latch (711) and Metastability Filter (712).\",\n \"The Mutex 701 has the characteristics of eliminating metastable levels at its output, or in other words, if either setup-time or hold-time are violated its outputs resolves to a valid logic level; the propagation delay of the outputs can be unbounded when this happens.\",\n \"An exemplary implementation of a Mutex is shown in 720.Only one of a G1 and G2 output can reach a “high” logic level at any one time (never both).\",\n \"If R1 and R2 inputs transition high in close proximity, metastability can result.\",\n \"The metastability filter 712 keeps both outputs (G1 and G2) at a “low” logic level until metastability resolves.\",\n \"Table 730 shows an example of a True table of the Mutex 701.FIG.\",\n \"8a shows an exemplary implementation of a synchronizer (800) used within a Chronos Master Controller, a Chronos Slave Controller and a Chronos Register Controller.\",\n \"It is composed of a Mutex (810), with a pin R2 driven by an inverted version of a clock signal, where the output (mid) of the Mutex (810) is transferred to a Flip-Flop (811).\",\n \"The Mutex (810) receiving the inverted clock signal at the R2 pin produces an output (mid) which guarantees at least half a clock cycle of setup time for the Flip-Flop 811.Furthermore, because of the behavior of the Mutex 810, the mid signal presented to the Flip-Flop is always level correct, reducing even further the MTBF of the synchronizer as a whole, compared to the standard 2 Flip-Flop solution.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8b shows exemplary waveforms (850) of the synchronizer described above.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Chronos Slave Controller state flow diagram of a burst mode machine.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9A shows a burst mode specification of the behavior of the exemplary Chronos Slave Controller presented in FIG.\",\n \"5A.\",\n \"As FIG.\",\n \"9A shows, at reset, the circuit will set its “ready” output to 1, its “ctrl” output to 0 and enter state S0.At this state, the connected producer IP has no data for the Chronos Channel to consume and the Chronos Channel is not full.\",\n \"In this way, at every clock cycle (“clk” at 1), the Chronos Slave Controller can keep its outputs at reset state, to indicate to the producer IP that it is ready to receive data (“ready” at 1) and to signal to the Chronos Channel that it should not consume any data available in its inputs (“ctrl” at 0).\",\n \"Note that, at reset, the inputs of the controller are expected to be both 0.Also, note that every transition in the outputs of the controller happen during clock transitions (“clk” at 1) because the IP connected to it is synchronous input (and share the same clock signal of the controller) and the Chronos Channel consumes data from a synchronous bus (the output of the producer IP).\",\n \"Therefore, data validity of this bus is signaled by a clocked signal.\",\n \"From S0, the circuit will set “ctrl” to 1 and switch to state S1 if a rising edge is detected in its “valid” input, meaning that the producer IP has new data to be consumed.\",\n \"At S1, the system is in a state where the producer IP has new data to be consumed and the Chronos Channel is not full.\",\n \"Therefore, at every rising edge of the clock signal (“clk” at 1), the controller will write 1 in both its outputs, to indicate to the producer IP that it is ready to receive data (“ready” at 1) and to signal to the Chronos Channel that it should consume the data available in its inputs (“ctrl” at 1).\",\n \"From S1, the controller can: (i) go back to S0 if the producer IP signals that it has no new data to be consumed (“valid” switches back to 0); (ii) switch to S2 if the Chronos Channel becomes full (“full” switches to 1); or (iii) stay at S1 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true (in this case a burst transmission is still taking place).\",\n \"At S2, the producer IP has new data to be consumed but the Chronos Channel is full and cannot receive it.\",\n \"Therefore, at every clock cycle (“clk” at 1), the controller will set both its outputs to 0, to indicate to the producer IP that it is not ready to receive data (“ready” at 0) and to signal to the Chronos Channel that it should not consume any data available in its inputs (“ctrl” at 0), to avoid overwriting previous data consumed by it.\",\n \"From S2, the controller can: (i) go back to S1 if the Chronos Channel frees space for more data (switching “full” back to 0); (ii) switch to S3 if the producer IP signals that it has no new data to be consumed (“valid” switches to 0); or (iii) stay at S2 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true.\",\n \"At S3, the producer IP has no new data and the Chronos Channel is full.\",\n \"Hence, at every clock cycle (“clk” at 1), the controller will set both its outputs to 0, to indicate to the producer IP that it is not ready to receive data (“ready” at 0) and to signal to the Chronos Channel that it should not consume any data available in its inputs (“ctrl” at 0), to avoid overwriting previous data consumed by it.\",\n \"From S2, the controller can: (i) go back to S2 if the producer IP signals that it has new data to be consumed (“valid” switches back to 1); (ii) switch to S0 if the Chronos Channel frees space for more data (switching “full” to 0); or (iii) stay at S3 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9B illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Chronos Master Controller state flow diagram of a burst mode machine.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9B shows a burst mode specification of the behavior of the Chronos Master Controller presented in FIG.\",\n \"5B.\",\n \"As FIG.\",\n \"9B shows, at reset, the circuit will set its “valid” output to 0, its “ctrl” output to 1 and enter state S0.At this state, the connected Chronos Channel is empty and there is no data for the consumer IP to consume.\",\n \"At every clock cycle (“clk” at 1), the Chronos Slave Controller will keep its valid output at reset state, to indicate to the consumer IP that there is no data for it to consume (“valid” at 0).\",\n \"Note that, at reset, the “empty” input of the controller is expected to be at 1 and the “ready” input is expected to be at 0.Also note that every transition in the output of the controller connected to the consumer IP happen during clock transitions because the consumer IP is synchronous (and shares the same clock signal of the controller).\",\n \"However, transitions in the output that feed the Chronos Channel are not controlled by the clock signal because the data generated by it is asynchronous.\",\n \"From S0, the controller can: (i) switch to S1 if the Chronos Channel has new data to be consumed (“empty” switches to 0); (ii) switch to S3 if the consumer IP becomes ready to receive new data (“ready” switches to 1); or (iii) stay at S0 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true.\",\n \"At S1, the system is in a state where the Chronos Channel has new data to be consumed but the consumer IP cannot receive it.\",\n \"Therefore, at every rising edge of the clock signal (“clk” at 1), the controller will write 1 in its “valid” output, to indicate to the consumer IP that new data is available.\",\n \"Note that while switching from S0 to S1 or S2 to S1, the controller will switch its “ctrl” output to 0, to signal to the Chronos Channel that the data in its output was not consumed (as “ready” is at 0) and avoid it to be overwritten.\",\n \"The value of “ctrl” will stay at 0 until the controller switch to S1.From S1, the controller can: (i) switch to S2 if the consumer IP becomes ready to receive new data (“ready” switches to 1); or (ii) stay at S1.At S2, the system is in a state where the Chronos Channel has new data to be consumed and the consumer IP is ready to receive it.\",\n \"Therefore, at every rising edge of the clock signal (“clk” at 1), the controller will write 1 in its “valid” output, to indicate to the consumer IP that new data is available.\",\n \"Also, while switching from S2 to S1, the controller will switch its “ctrl” output to 1, to signal to the Chronos Channel that the data in its output will be consumed in the next clock cycle (as “ready” is at 1), so that it can generate new data.\",\n \"Note that the value of “ctrl” will stay at 1 until the controller switch to S1.From S2, the controller can: (i) switch back to S1 if the consumer IP stops being ready to receive new data (“ready” switches to 0); (ii) switch to S3 if the Chronos Channel becomes empty and no new data is available for the consumer IP to receive (“empty” switches to 1); or (iii) stay at S2 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true (in this case a burst is taking place).\",\n \"At S3, the system is in a state where the consumer IP is ready to receive data, but the Chronos Channel has no new data in its outputs.\",\n \"Therefore, at every rising edge of the clock signal (“clk” at 1), the controller will write 0 in its “valid” output, to indicate to the consumer IP that there is no new data available.\",\n \"Note that, while switching from S0 to S3, the controller will switch its “ctrl” output to 1, to signal to the Chronos Channel that its can generate new data in its output as soon as it is ready, because the consumer IP is ready to receive (as “ready” is at 1).\",\n \"Note that the value of “ctrl” will stay at 1 until the controller switch to S1.From S3, the controller can: (i) switch back to S2 if the Chronos Channel becomes not empty and has new data for the consumer IP to receive (“empty” switches to 0); (ii) switch to S0 if the consumer IP stops being ready to receive new data (“ready” switches to 0); or (iii) stay at S3 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true.\",\n \"In various embodiments, sets of Chronos Links between different IP blocks allow timing independent channels to be established between IP blocks in the ASIC design 100, for example.\",\n \"For example, in reference to FIG.\",\n \"1, a first set of five timing independent channel links may be established between the CPU block 151 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 using five different Chronos Links.\",\n \"In various embodiments, the first timing independent channel may be a part of a point-to-point connection between the CPU block 151 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (labeled “intc1” in FIG.\",\n \"1).\",\n \"Eight other sets of timing independent channel links, each containing five different Chronos Links may be established between the CPU block 152 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc2”), the RAM block 153 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc3”), the ROM block 154 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc4”), the GPIO block 155 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc5”), the UART block 156 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc6”), the USB block 157 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc7”), the Bluetooth block 158 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc8”), and the Ethernet PHY block 159 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc9”), each using five independent Chronos Links as highlighted for the “intc1” connection for the CPU block 151 in FIG.\",\n \"1.According to one exemplary embodiment, timing closure for the ASIC design 100 may be accomplished with simplified, top level checks.\",\n \"That is, testing each individual IP block in the ASIC design 100 across all corners (i.e., PVT corners) obviates any complex timing margin evaluation for the ASIC design 100 as a whole.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3B, introduction of a Chronos Link 360 (Chronos Channel 361+Chronos Slave Controller 362+Chronos Master Controller 363) has the unique characteristic to completely decouple the Master Interface 211 (FIG.\",\n \"2) from the Slave Interface 212 (FIG.\",\n \"2) in terms of both frequency and phase of operation as well as data bus width.\",\n \"The combination of a timing insensitive channel (e.g., a Chronos Channel) and proper handling of the communication protocol (i.e.\",\n \"AMBA-AXI) allows for isochronous, mesochronous, plesiochronous and asynchronous communication between the IP blocks without data corruption and/or data losses.\",\n \"Furthermore, the availability of linear compression within the Chronos Channel enables the possibility of connecting IP blocks even with different data width (as long as they operate on the same protocol).\",\n \"Chronos link 360 includes linear compression capability that allows for easier routing in the ASIC design 100 between IP blocks by lowering the total numbers of wires connecting the different IP blocks.\",\n \"As a result of lowering the total number of wires, manufacturing wire failure yield is also improved.\",\n \"Power efficiency is also boosted by allowing the various IP blocks to send and receive short bursts of data independently from each other (Master Interface can potentially send a quick burst of data and power down, while the Slave Interface on the other side is still in power down state) due to the intrinsic memory characteristic of the Chronos Channel, and the handling of the communication protocol by the Chronos slave and master controllers 362 and 363.FIG.\",\n \"6A illustrates an exemplary implementation of a standard register to register interface 600 commonly used in ASIC design to dynamically change IP configuration settings for different modes of operation.\",\n \"The register configuration usually does not require a complete handshake.\",\n \"The register interface 600 includes a transmit register 610 linked to a receive register 620 via a channel.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6B illustrates an exemplary implementation of a register interface 650 with Chronos Link (a combination of a Chronos Channel plus a Chronos Register Controller) according to various embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6B shows an implementation of a Chronos Link (651) to perform the same configuration register exchange between the TX Register (610) and the RX Register (620).\",\n \"In one embodiment a Chronos Link (651) composed of a Chronos Channel (361) fully disclosed in a separate utility patent (Attorney Docket Number 123666-001UT1) plus a Chronos Register Controller (652).\",\n \"A Chronos Link links the transmit register 610 and the receive register 620 and brings all the advantages of Chronos Channels to a communication protocol, allowing independent clock references for Master and Slave IP blocks, PVT tolerance, simplified floorplan, enhanced yield, data time compression (with potential for minimize routing).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5C is a block diagram illustrating a Chronos Register Controller 570 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"The most important element in the controller is the synchronizer 560 which is responsible for the synchronization of the asynchronous signals coming from the TX register 610 via Chronos Channel 361 in the asynchronous domain (in particular empty) and being transformed to the synchronous domain of the RX register 620.Depending on Medium Time Between Failures (MTBF) requirement the physical implementation of the synchronizer 560 can change.\",\n \"An exemplary embodiment of the circuit is represented in FIG.\",\n \"5C 570 composed of a Mutex (561) followed by a Flip-Flop (562).\",\n \"Other embodiments can be implemented such as replacing the Mutex with a second Flip-Flop, or a composition of a “n” number of alternating latches, and or a combinations of the above elements, trading latency performance for MTBF performance.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11 is a block diagram illustrating a wired or wireless system 750 according to various embodiments that may utilize the systems and various types of links and channels described above in reference to the other Figures.\",\n \"In various embodiments, the system 750 may be a conventional personal computer, computer server, personal digital assistant, smart phone, tablet computer, or any other processor enabled device that is capable of wired or wireless data communication.\",\n \"A person having ordinary skill in the art can appreciate that other computer systems and/or architectures may be used without departing from the scope of the present inventive concept.\",\n \"The system 750 preferably includes one or more processors, such as processor 760.Additional processors may be provided, such as an auxiliary processor to manage input/output, an auxiliary processor to perform floating point mathematical operations, a special-purpose microprocessor having an architecture suitable for fast execution of signal processing algorithms (e.g., digital signal processor), a slave processor subordinate to the main processing system (e.g., back-end processor), an additional microprocessor or controller for dual or multiple processor systems, or a coprocessor.\",\n \"Such auxiliary processors may be discrete processors or may be integrated with the processor 760.The processor 760 is preferably connected to a communication bus 755.The communication bus 755 may include a data channel for facilitating information transfer between storage and other peripheral components of the system 750.The communication bus 755 further may provide a set of signals used for communication with the processor 760, including a data bus, address bus, and control bus (not shown).\",\n \"The communication bus 755 may comprise any standard or non-standard bus architecture such as, for example, bus architectures compliant with industry standard architecture (“ISA”), extended industry standard architecture (“EISA”), Micro Channel Architecture (“MCA”), peripheral component interconnect (“PCI”) local bus, or standards promulgated by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (“IEEE”) including IEEE 488 general-purpose interface bus (“GPIB”), IEEE 696/S-100, and the like.\",\n \"The system 750 preferably includes a main memory 765 and may also include a secondary memory 770.The main memory 765 provides storage of instructions and data for programs executing on the processor 760.The main memory 765 is typically semiconductor-based memory such as dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) and/or static random access memory (“SRAM”).\",\n \"Other semiconductor-based memory types include, for example, synchronous dynamic random access memory (“SDRAM”), Rambus dynamic random access memory (“RDRAM”), ferroelectric random access memory (“FRAM”), and the like, including read only memory (“ROM”).\",\n \"The secondary memory 770 may optionally include an internal memory 775 and/or a removable medium 780, for example a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, a compact disc (“CD”) drive, a digital versatile disc (“DVD”) drive, etc.\",\n \"The removable medium 780 is read from and/or written to in a well-known manner.\",\n \"Removable medium 780 may be, for example, a floppy disk, magnetic tape, CD, DVD, SD card, etc.\",\n \"The removable medium 780 is a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable code (i.e., software) and/or data.\",\n \"The computer software or data stored on the removable medium 780 is read into the system 750 for execution by the processor 760.In alternative embodiments, secondary memory 770 may include other similar means for allowing computer programs or other data or instructions to be loaded into the system 750.Such means may include, for example, an external medium 795 and a communication interface 790.Examples of external medium 795 may include an external hard disk drive or an external optical drive, or and external magneto-optical drive.\",\n \"Other examples of secondary memory 770 may include semiconductor-based memory such as programmable read-only memory (“PROM”), erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM”), electrically erasable read-only memory (“EEPROM”), or flash memory (block oriented memory similar to EEPROM).\",\n \"Also included are a removable medium 580 and a communication interface 790, which allow software and data to be transferred from an external medium 795 to the system 750.The system 750 may also include an input/output (“I/O”) interface 785.The I/O interface 785 facilitates input from and output to external devices.\",\n \"For example the I/O interface 785 may receive input from a keyboard or mouse and may provide output to a display.\",\n \"The I/O interface 785 is capable of facilitating input from and output to various alternative types of human interface and machine interface devices alike.\",\n \"The communication interface 790 allows software and data to be transferred between system 750 and external devices (e.g.\",\n \"printers), networks, or information sources.\",\n \"For example, computer software or executable code may be transferred to system 750 from a network server via communication interface 790.Examples of communication interface 790 include, for example, but not limited to, a modem, a network interface card (“NIC”), a wireless data card, a communications port, a PCMCIA slot and card, an infrared interface, and an IEEE 1394 fire-wire.\",\n \"The communication interface 790 preferably implements industry promulgated protocol standards, such as Ethernet IEEE 802 standards, Fiber Channel, digital subscriber line (“DSL”), asynchronous digital subscriber line (“ADSL”), frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode (“ATM”), integrated digital services network (“ISDN”), personal communications services (“PCS”), transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (“TCP/IP”), serial line Internet protocol/point to point protocol (“SLIP/PPP”), and so on, but may also implement customized or non-standard interface protocols as well.\",\n \"Software and data transferred via the communication interface 790 are generally in the form of electrical communication signals 605.In one exemplary embodiment, these electrical communication signals 605 are provided to the communication interface 790 via a communication channel 635.In one embodiment, the communication channel 635 may be a wired or wireless network, or any variety of other communication links.\",\n \"The communication channel 635 carries the electrical communication signals 605 and can be implemented using a variety of wired or wireless communication means including wire or cable, fiber optics, conventional phone line, cellular phone link, wireless data communication link, radio frequency (“RF”) link, or infrared link, just to name a few.\",\n \"Computer executable code (i.e., computer programs or software) is stored in the main memory 765 and/or the secondary memory 770.Computer programs can also be received via communication interface 590 and stored in the main memory 765 and/or the secondary memory 770.Such computer programs, when executed, enable the system 550 to perform the various functions of the present invention as previously described.\",\n \"In this description, the term “computer readable medium” is used to refer to any non-transitory computer readable storage media used to provide computer executable code (e.g., software and computer programs) to the system 750.Examples of these media include the main memory 765, the secondary memory 770 (including the internal memory 775, the removable medium 780, and the external medium 795), and any peripheral device communicatively coupled with the communication interface 790 (including a network information server or other network device).\",\n \"These non-transitory computer readable mediums are means for providing executable code, programming instructions, and software to the system 750.In one embodiment implemented using software, the software may be stored on a computer readable medium and loaded into the system 750 by way of the removable medium 780, the I/O interface 785, or the communication interface 790.In such an embodiment, the software is loaded into the system 750 in the form of electrical communication signals 605.The software, when executed by the processor 760, preferably causes the processor 760 to perform the inventive features and functions previously described herein.\",\n \"The system 750 also includes optional wireless communication components that facilitate wireless communication over a voice and over a data network.\",\n \"The wireless communication components comprise an antenna system 655, a radio system 645 and a baseband system 625.In the system 750, radio frequency (“RF”) signals are transmitted and received over the air by the antenna system 655 under the management of the radio system 645.In one embodiment, the antenna system 655 may comprise one or more antennae and one or more multiplexors (not shown) that perform a switching function to provide the antenna system 655 with transmit and receive signal paths.\",\n \"In the receive path, received RF signals can be coupled from a multiplexor to a low noise amplifier (not shown) that amplifies the received RF signal and sends the amplified signal to the radio system 645.In alternative embodiments, the radio system 645 may comprise one or more radios that are configured to communicate over various frequencies.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the radio system 645 may combine a demodulator (not shown) and modulator (not shown) in one integrated circuit (“IC”).\",\n \"The demodulator and modulator can also be separate components.\",\n \"In the incoming path, the demodulator strips away the RF carrier signal leaving a baseband receive audio signal, which is sent from the radio system 645 to the baseband system 625.If the received signal contains audio information, then baseband system 625 decodes the signal and converts it to an analog signal.\",\n \"Then the signal is amplified and sent to a speaker.\",\n \"The baseband system 625may also also receive analog audio signals from a microphone.\",\n \"These analog audio signals are converted to digital signals and encoded by the baseband system 625.The baseband system 625 also codes the digital signals for transmission and generates a baseband transmit audio signal that is routed to the modulator portion of the radio system 645.The modulator mixes the baseband transmit audio signal with an RF carrier signal generating an RF transmit signal that is routed to the antenna system 655 and may pass through a power amplifier (not shown).\",\n \"The power amplifier amplifies the RF transmit signal and routes it to the antenna system 655 where the signal is switched to the antenna port for transmission.\",\n \"The baseband system 625 may also be communicatively coupled with the processor 760.The processor 760 has access to main memory 765 and/or secondary memory 770.The processor 760 is preferably configured to execute instructions (i.e., computer programs or software) that can be stored in the main memory 765 or the secondary memory 770.Computer programs can also be received from the baseband system 625 and stored in the main memory 765 or in secondary memory 770, or executed upon receipt.\",\n \"Such computer programs, when executed, enable the system 750 to perform the various functions of the present invention as previously described.\",\n \"For example, the main memory 765 may include various software modules (not shown) that are executable by processor 760.The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the protection.\",\n \"For example, the example apparatuses, methods, and systems disclosed herein can be applied wireless communication devices incorporating HF and/or UHF RFID reader capabilities.\",\n \"The various components illustrated in the figures may be implemented as, for example, but not limited to, software and/or firmware on a processor, ASIC/FPGA/DSP, or dedicated hardware.\",\n \"Also, the features and attributes of the specific example embodiments disclosed above may be combined in different ways to form additional embodiments, all of which fall within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams are provided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed in the order presented.\",\n \"As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art the order of steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in any order.\",\n \"Words such as “thereafter,” “then,” “next,” etc.\",\n \"are not intended to limit the order of the steps; these words are simply used to guide the reader through the description of the methods.\",\n \"Further, any reference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using the articles “a,” “an” or “the” is not to be construed as limiting the element to the singular.\",\n \"The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both.\",\n \"To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality.\",\n \"Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.\",\n \"Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.\",\n \"The hardware used to implement the various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.\",\n \"A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but, in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine.\",\n \"A processor may also be implemented as a combination of receiver devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.\",\n \"Alternatively, some steps or methods may be performed by circuitry that is specific to a given function.\",\n \"In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or non-transitory processor-readable storage medium.\",\n \"The steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein may be embodied in processor-executable instructions that may reside on a non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage medium.\",\n \"Non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media may be any storage media that may be accessed by a computer or a processor.\",\n \"By way of example but not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, FLASH memory, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that may be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a computer.\",\n \"Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.\",\n \"Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of non-transitory computer-readable and processor-readable media.\",\n \"Additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium and/or computer-readable storage medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.\",\n \"Although the present disclosure provides certain example embodiments and applications, other embodiments that are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, including embodiments which do not provide all of the features and advantages set forth herein, are also within the scope of this disclosure.\",\n \"Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to be defined only by reference to the appended claims.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876059"}}},{"rowIdx":4495068,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["MAGNETIC SHIELD STRUCTURE","A magnetic shield structure includes a housing made of a dielectric material, and a magnetic shield body formed by metal plating.","The magnetic shield body is partially provided on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form a surface of the housing made of the dielectric material."],["1.A magnetic shield structure, comprising: a housing made of a dielectric material; and a magnetic shield body formed by metal plating, wherein the magnetic shield body is partially provided on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form a surface of the housing made of the dielectric material.","2.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed by the metal plating in a region facing high-frequency transmission path disposed in the housing on the inner surface and/or the outer surface of the housing, such that a characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.","3.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed by the metal plating and a dielectric in a region facing the high-frequency transmission path disposed in the housing on the inner surface and/or the outer surface of the housing, such that a characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.","4.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 1, wherein the housing is made up of a base and a case fitted to the base.","5.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed on at least a part of an outer surface of the case.","6.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed on at least a part of an inner surface of the case.","7.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the inner surface of the case are electrically connected by the metal plating.","8.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed on at least a part of a bottom surface of the base.","9.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the bottom surface of the base are electrically connected by the metal plating.","10.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 1, wherein the housing is made up of a plug body and a socket body connected to the plug body.","11.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 10, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed by the metal plating on at least a part of the plug body.","12.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 10, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed by the metal plating on at least a part of the socket body.","13.An electric/electronic component comprising: a magnetic shield structure, comprising: a housing made of a dielectric material; and a magnetic shield body formed by metal plating, wherein the magnetic shield body is partially provided on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form a surface of the housing.","14.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 2, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed by the metal plating and a dielectric in a region facing the high-frequency transmission path disposed in the housing on the inner surface and/or the outer surface of the housing, such that a characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.","15.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 2, wherein the housing is made up of a base and a case fitted to the base.","16.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 3, wherein the housing is made up of a base and a case fitted to the base.","17.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 5, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed on at least a part of an inner surface of the case.","18.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 5, wherein the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the inner surface of the case are electrically connected by the metal plating.","19.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 6, wherein the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the inner surface of the case are electrically connected by the metal plating.","20.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 5, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed on at least a part of a bottom surface of the base."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>"],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>However, the high-frequency relay is made up by covering, with the metal case, the relay body formed by covering a body with a cover.","Hence the high-frequency relay requires the separate metal case, the number of parts and the number of assembling steps are large, and the productivity is low.","Further, external dimensions of the metal case and the positional relationship between the metal case and a high-frequency transmission component affect high-frequency characteristics.","For this reason, high dimensional accuracy and assembly accuracy are required in manufacturing and assembling the metal case, and the manufacturing and the assembly are thus not easy.","The metal case covers the entire exposed surface, except for the installation surface, of the relay body.","This leads to a problem in which desired high-frequency characteristics cannot be obtained due to the metal case covering an unnecessary region and a region that causes deterioration in characteristics of a transmission path structure.","In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic shield structure having high productivity and excellent high-frequency characteristics, and easy to manufacture and assembly.","For solving the above problem, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention is partially provided with a magnetic shield body, formed by metal plating, on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form the surface of a housing made of a dielectric material.","According to the present invention, since the magnetic shield body is provided directly on the housing, it is possible to obtain a magnetic shield structure having high productivity with smaller numbers of parts and assembling steps.","Also, a magnetic shield body is formed directly in a region that requires the housing.","Hence it is possible to prevent deterioration in high-frequency characteristics based on the variations of the dimensional accuracy and the assembly accuracy in the housing.","Then, a magnetic shield body is formed only in a region that requires the housing.","Therefore, as in the conventional example, the magnetic shield body is not formed in an unnecessary region or a region that causes deterioration in characteristics of a transmission path structure.","As a result, the effect of obtaining a magnetic shield structure with excellent high-frequency characteristics is provided."],["BACKGROUND Technical Field The present invention relates to a magnetic shield structure, and particularly a magnetic shield structure formed by performing metal plating on a housing.","Related Art As an example of a magnetic shield structure, there has been a high-frequency relay that is magnetically shielded by fitting a separate metal case to a relay body and covering the entire relay body (Patent Document 1).","Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.","2000-340084 SUMMARY However, the high-frequency relay is made up by covering, with the metal case, the relay body formed by covering a body with a cover.","Hence the high-frequency relay requires the separate metal case, the number of parts and the number of assembling steps are large, and the productivity is low.","Further, external dimensions of the metal case and the positional relationship between the metal case and a high-frequency transmission component affect high-frequency characteristics.","For this reason, high dimensional accuracy and assembly accuracy are required in manufacturing and assembling the metal case, and the manufacturing and the assembly are thus not easy.","The metal case covers the entire exposed surface, except for the installation surface, of the relay body.","This leads to a problem in which desired high-frequency characteristics cannot be obtained due to the metal case covering an unnecessary region and a region that causes deterioration in characteristics of a transmission path structure.","In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic shield structure having high productivity and excellent high-frequency characteristics, and easy to manufacture and assembly.","For solving the above problem, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention is partially provided with a magnetic shield body, formed by metal plating, on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form the surface of a housing made of a dielectric material.","According to the present invention, since the magnetic shield body is provided directly on the housing, it is possible to obtain a magnetic shield structure having high productivity with smaller numbers of parts and assembling steps.","Also, a magnetic shield body is formed directly in a region that requires the housing.","Hence it is possible to prevent deterioration in high-frequency characteristics based on the variations of the dimensional accuracy and the assembly accuracy in the housing.","Then, a magnetic shield body is formed only in a region that requires the housing.","Therefore, as in the conventional example, the magnetic shield body is not formed in an unnecessary region or a region that causes deterioration in characteristics of a transmission path structure.","As a result, the effect of obtaining a magnetic shield structure with excellent high-frequency characteristics is provided.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 is a perspective view illustrating an electromagnetic relay of a first embodiment, to which a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied.","FIG.","2 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a case has been removed from the electromagnetic relay illustrated in FIG.","1.FIG.","3 is a front sectional view of the electromagnetic relay illustrated in FIG.","1.FIG.","4 is a central front sectional view of the electromagnetic relay illustrated in FIG.","1.FIG.","5 is a side sectional view of the electromagnetic relay illustrated in FIG.","1.FIG.","6 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the electromagnetic relay illustrated in FIG.","1.FIG.","7 is a perspective view of only a magnetic shield body illustrated in FIG.","1.FIG.","8 is a graph illustrating analysis results of Example and Comparative Example according to the first embodiment.","FIG.","9 is a perspective view of a case illustrating a second embodiment of a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention.","FIG.","10 is a perspective view of only a magnetic shield body provided in the case illustrated in FIG.","9.FIG.","11 is a perspective view of only the magnetic shield body located on an inner side in FIG.","10.FIG.","12 is a perspective view of the case illustrated in FIG.","9 viewed from different viewpoints.","FIG.","13 is a perspective view of only the magnetic shield body illustrated in FIG.","10 viewed from different angles.","FIG.","14 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the case illustrated in FIG.","9.FIG.","15 is a partially enlarged sectional view of only the magnetic shield body of the case illustrated in FIG.","14.FIG.","16 is a perspective view illustrating a switch according to a third embodiment, to which a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied.","FIG.","17 is a perspective view of the switch illustrated in FIG.","16, viewed from a different viewpoint.","FIG.","18 is a central front sectional view of the switch illustrated in FIG.","16.FIG.","19 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a case has been removed from the switch illustrated in FIG.","16.FIG.","20 is a perspective view illustrating a state where an operation lever is removed from FIG.","19.FIG.","21 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a base is removed from FIG.","20.FIG.","22 is a sectional perspective view of only a magnetic shield body illustrated in FIG.","16.FIG.","23 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a connector according to a fourth embodiment, to which a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied.","FIG.","24 is a sectional exploded perspective view of the connector illustrated in FIG.","23.FIG.","25 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a resin molded portion is removed from the connector illustrated in FIG.","24.FIG.","26 is a perspective view of only a magnetic shield body illustrated in FIG.","25 viewed from a different angle.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION A magnetic shield structure according to an aspect of the present invention is partially provided with a magnetic shield body, formed by metal plating, on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form a surface of a housing made of a dielectric material.","According to this aspect, since the magnetic shield body is provided directly on the housing, it is possible to obtain a magnetic shield structure having high productivity with smaller numbers of parts and assembling steps.","Also, a magnetic shield body is formed directly in a region that requires the housing.","Hence it is possible to prevent deterioration in high-frequency characteristics based on the variations of the dimensional accuracy and the assembly accuracy in the housing.","Then, a magnetic shield body is formed only in a region that requires the housing.","Therefore, as in the conventional example, the magnetic shield body is not formed in an unnecessary region or a region that causes deterioration in characteristics of a transmission path structure.","As a result, the effect of obtaining a magnetic shield structure with excellent high-frequency characteristics is provided.","In the magnetic shield structure according to the aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body may be formed by the metal plating in a region facing high-frequency transmission path disposed in the housing on the inner surface and/or the outer surface of the housing, such that a characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.","According to this aspect, it is unnecessary to always provide the magnetic shield body by metal plating on the entire inner surface and/or outer surface of the housing.","Hence it is possible to save a raw material and obtain a magnetic shield structure with high productivity.","In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body may be formed by the metal plating and a dielectric in a region facing the high-frequency transmission path disposed in the housing on the inner surface and/or the outer surface of the housing, such that a characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.","According to this aspect, it is unnecessary to always provide the magnetic shield body by metal plating and a dielectric on the entire inner surface and/or outer surface of the housing.","Hence it is possible to save a raw material and obtain a magnetic shield structure with high productivity.","In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the housing may be made up of a base and a case fitted to the base.","According to this aspect, a highly versatile magnetic shield structure can be obtained.","In a magnetic shield structure according to a new aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body may be formed on at least a part of an outer surface of the case Further, the magnetic shield body may be formed on at least a part of the inner surface of the case.","According to this aspect, since the magnetic shield body can be formed in a necessary region as necessary, it is possible to obtain a magnetic shield structure having more excellent high-frequency characteristics.","In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the inner surface of the case may be electrically connected by the metal plating.","According to this aspect, it is possible to obtain a magnetic shield structure having more excellent high-frequency characteristics.","In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body may be provided on at least a part of a bottom surface of the base.","According to this aspect, since the magnetic shield body can be formed in a necessary region as necessary, a magnetic shield structure having a wide application can be obtained.","In a magnetic shield structure according to a new aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the bottom surface of the base may be electrically connected by the metal plating.","According to this aspect, it is possible to connect to the ground via the magnetic shield body provided on the bottom surface of the base.","In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the housing may be made up of a plug body and a socket body connected to the plug body.","According to this aspect, a highly versatile magnetic shield structure can be obtained.","In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body may be formed by the metal plating on at least a part of the plug body.","In addition, the magnetic shield body may be formed by the metal plating on at least a part of the socket body.","According to this aspect, there is an effect that a magnetic shield structure can be formed in a necessary region as necessary.","An electric/electronic component according to an aspect of the present invention includes the above magnetic shield structure.","According to this aspect, the magnetic shield structure is not limited to electromagnetic relays, switches, and connectors, and can be applied to other electric devices and electronic components having a high-frequency transmission component in a housing made of resin.","Embodiments of a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.","1 to 25.First Embodiment In a first embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.","1 to 7, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied to a magnetically shielded self-holding type electromagnetic relay 10.As illustrated in FIGS.","1 and 2, the electromagnetic relay 10 rotatably supports a movable block 30 in an internal space formed by fitting a case 40 to a base 11.For convenience of description, a magnetic shield body 50 provided in the case 40 is illustrated in a dotted pattern.","As illustrated in FIGS.","2 to 6, the base 11 is formed by integrally molding an electromagnet block 20.Further, as illustrated in FIG.","2, fixed contacts 12, 14 are disposed at corner portions of the upper surface of the base 11.The fixed contacts 12, 14 are connected to fixed contact terminals 13, 15 integrally molded with the base 11, respectively.","Further, the base 11 is provided with common connection receivers 16 on opposite side edges of the upper surface of the base 11.The common connection receiver 16 is connected to a common terminal 17 integrally molded with the base 11.Note that a coil terminal 18 integrally molded with the base 11 is connected to a coil 22 of the electromagnet block 20 described later.","As illustrated in FIGS.","3 and 5, the electromagnet block 20 is formed by winding a coil 22 about an iron core 21 having a gate shape in cross section via an insulating sheet (not shown), to integrally mold the iron core 21 and the coil 22 with a spool 23.Magnetic pole portions 21a, 21b of the iron core 21 are exposed from both side edges of the upper surface of the base 11 (FIG.","4).","As illustrated in FIG.","4, the movable block 30 is formed by disposing a permanent magnet 32 having a plate shape on the lower surface of a movable iron piece 31 having a strip shape and disposing movable touch pieces 33, 33 in parallel on both sides of the movable iron piece 31 as illustrated in FIG.","2, to integrally mold the permanent magnet 32 and the movable touch pieces 33, 33.As illustrated in FIGS.","2 and 5, the movable touch piece 33 extends laterally from the side edge thereof, and has a connecting tongue piece 34 having a substantially planar T-shape.","As illustrated in FIG.","2, the connecting tongue pieces 34 protrude on the same axial center from both side end surfaces of the movable block 30.Further, as illustrated in FIG.","3, both ends of the movable touch piece 33 have a twin contact structure in which movable contacts 35, 36 are provided on the respective divided pieces divided into two areas in the width direction.","Then, as illustrated in FIG.","5, by welding and integrating the connecting tongue piece 34 of the movable block 30 to the common connection receiver 16 of the base 11, the movable block 30 is rotatably supported.","As a result, both ends 31a, 31b of the movable iron piece 31 face the magnetic pole portions 21a, 21b of the iron core 21 so as to be contactable with and separable from each other alternately.","Further, the movable contacts 35, 36 of the movable touch piece 33 face the fixed contacts 12, 14 alternately so as to be contactable and separable.","The case 40 is a resin molded product having a box shape that can be fitted to the base 11.The magnetic shield body 50 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the case 40 by a molded interconnect devices (MID) molding method.","In the MID molding method, laser irradiation is performed on a molded article formed from a material in which a resin and a conductive material are mixed, based on a predetermined pattern, and the resin is removed.","Then, metal plating is performed on the exposed conductive material so as to form a desired circuit pattern.","A tubular magnetic shield portion 51 is also provided on the entire surface of a terminal portion 41 extending from the opening edge of the case 40 (FIG.","7).","This is for connecting to a ground of a printed circuit board (not shown) or the like.","The magnetic shield body 50 is provided based on the knowledge that high-frequency signals tend to leak if the characteristic impedance varies in the high-frequency transmission path.","Therefore, in order to reduce the leakage of the high-frequency signal, the magnetic shield body 50 is formed so as to reduce variations in the characteristic impedance in the high-frequency transmission path.","In short, instead of forming the magnetic shield body by metal plating over the entire outer peripheral surface of the case 40, a suitable magnetic shield body 50 is formed in a necessary region.","As a result, the magnetic shield body 50 constitutes, for example, a microstrip structure, a strip line structure, and a coplanar line structure.","The region where the magnetic shield body 50 is formed may be a region facing the high-frequency transmission path installed in the housing among the inner surface and/or the outer surface of a housing formed of a base and a case.","More specifically, it is preferable to arrange and form metal plating and/or dielectric so that the characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.","It is a matter of course that air is also considered as a dielectric.","For example, it is preferable to arrange and form the metal plating and/or the dielectric so that the characteristic impedance in each region of the high-frequency transmission path is equal to the reference value of 50 Ω.","This is because if there is a difference in characteristic impedance for each region of the high-frequency transmission path, high frequency leaks easily from the boundary of the region where the difference is present, and the high-frequency characteristics are degraded.","As the microstrip structure in this embodiment, for example, as illustrated in FIG.","6, a common terminal 17 which is a high-frequency transmission path is sandwiched between a spool 23 made of resin of an electromagnet block 20 which is a dielectric and a case 40 made of resin which is a dielectric material provided with a magnetic shield body 50.Further, as a strip line structure, for example, as illustrated in FIG.","6, a structure in which a case 40 made of resin which is a dielectric provided with a magnetic shield body 50 is disposed above a movable touch piece 33 which is a high-frequency transmission path can be mentioned.","As a coplanar line structure, for example, as illustrated in FIG.","1, between a coil terminal 18 which is a high-frequency transmission path and a magnetic shield body 50 formed on the outer peripheral surface of a case 40 made of resin which is a dielectric, a structure in which a minute gap portion is formed can be mentioned.","Similarly, the fixed contact terminals 13, 15 and the common terminal 17 constitute a coplanar line structure.","Next, a method of operating a self-holding type electromagnetic relay having the above-described configuration will be described.","For example, when no voltage is applied to the coil 22 of the electromagnet block 20 illustrated in FIG.","4, one end 31a of the movable iron piece 31 is attracted to one magnetic pole portion of the iron core 21, for example, the magnetic pole portion 21a, thereby constituting a magnetic circuit.","Therefore, the movable contact 35 of the movable touch piece 33 illustrated in FIG.","3 comes into contact with the fixed contact 12, and the movable contact 36 is separated from the fixed contact 14.When a voltage is applied to the coil 22 so as to generate a magnetic line of force in a direction canceling the magnetic lines of force of the permanent magnet 32 illustrated in FIG.","4, the other end 31b of the movable iron piece 31 illustrated in FIG.","3 is attracted to the magnetic pole portion 21b of the iron core 21 against the magnetic force of the permanent magnet 32.Hence the movable block 30 rotates about the connecting tongue piece 34 (FIG.","5).","As a result, after the movable contact 36 of the movable touch piece 33 illustrated in FIG.","3 comes into contact with the fixed contact 14, the other end 31b of the movable iron piece 31 illustrated in FIG.","4 is attracted to the magnetic pole portion 21b of the iron core 21 to form a magnetic circuit.","Subsequently, even when the application of the voltage to the coil 22 is stopped, the movable block 30 keeps its state by the magnetic force of the permanent magnet 32.Finally, a voltage in a direction opposite to the above-mentioned voltage application direction is applied to the coil 22 illustrated in FIG.","4.As a result, when the generated magnetic lines of force overcome the magnetic lines of force of the permanent magnet 32, one end 31a of the movable iron piece 31 illustrated in FIG.","4 is attracted to the magnetic pole portion 21a of the iron core 21, and the movable block 30 rotates about the connecting tongue piece 34 (FIG.","5).","For this reason, after the movable contact 35 provided at one end of the movable touch piece 33 illustrated in FIG.","3 comes into contact with the fixed contact 12, one end 31a of the movable iron piece 31 illustrated in FIG.","4 is attracted to the magnetic pole portion 21a of the iron core 21.Thereafter, the contacts are switched by repeating the same operation.","EXAMPLE The high-frequency characteristics of the electromagnetic relay provided with the magnetic shield body 50 according to the embodiment were analyzed.","The analysis result is illustrated in the graph of FIG.","8.COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE As a comparative example, there was used a case where a metal case covering the entire case was covered without forming a magnetic shield body of metal plating on the case of the same electromagnetic relay as in the first embodiment.","The other high-frequency characteristics were analyzed on the same conditions as in the first embodiment described above.","The analysis result is illustrated in the graph of FIG.","8.The high-frequency characteristics are measured by time domain reflectometry (TDR) method in FIG.","8.The TDR method refers to a method of applying a high-speed pulse or a step signal input to an object to be measured and measuring a returned reflection waveform.","From the reflection waveform, a characteristic impedance in the course of the high-frequency transmission path can be detected.","In FIG.","8, “(A) Terminal portion” indicates a characteristic impedance of only a distal region of the common terminal 17 in FIG.","2 which is surface-mounted on a printed circuit board.","“(B) Fixed contact terminal” indicates a characteristic impedance in a region from a boundary of the distal region to the common connection receiver 16 in the common terminal 17.“(C) Movable touch piece” indicates a characteristic impedance in a region from the base of the connecting tongue piece 34 of the movable touch piece 33 to the movable contact 36.“(D) Fixed contact terminal” indicates a characteristic impedance in a region from the fixed contact 14 of the fixed contact terminal 15 provided on the fixed contact terminal 15 to a boundary of a distal region surface-mounted on the printed circuit board.","“(E) Terminal portion” indicates a characteristic impedance of only a distal region of the fixed contact terminal 15 which is surface-mounted on the printed circuit board.","As is apparent from FIG.","8, it was found that the reflection waveform of the example is closer to the characteristic impedance (50 0) than the reflection waveform of the comparative example.","As a result, it was found that the variation in the characteristic impedance in the example is smaller, and the leakage of the high frequency signal is smaller, than in the comparative example.","Second Embodiment In a second embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.","9 to 15, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied to the case 40 of the electromagnetic relay as in the first embodiment.","A difference from the first embodiment is that a magnetic shield body 60 is also formed on the inner peripheral surface of the case 40 by the MID molding method.","Therefore, the difference from the first embodiment will be described, and the same parts will be denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.","The magnetic shield body 60 is provided at each corner portion facing the inner peripheral surface of the case 40.In particular, as illustrated in FIG.","11, the magnetic shield body 60 has a pair of arms 61 extending from both ends.","The arm 61 has a shape that surrounds both ends of the movable touch piece 33 of the first embodiment.","Further, the magnetic shield body 60 is electrically connected to the tubular magnetic shield portion 51 of the magnetic shield body 50 via a leg 62 extending downward.","According to the embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.","14 and 15, both ends of the movable touch piece 33 are disposed so as to form a minute gap between the magnetic shield body 60 attached to the inner surface of a case made of resin which is a dielectric and its arm 61.As a result, a coplanar line structure similar to that of the first embodiment is constituted.","Therefore, according to the second embodiment, not only the magnetic shield body 50 but also the magnetic shield body 60 is provided, whereby the characteristic impedance can be easily adjusted.","For this reason, the variation in the characteristic impedance in the high-frequency transmission path is more easily reduced, and the high-frequency characteristics can be improved.","There is thus an advantage that the degree of design freedom is widened to further expand the application.","Third Embodiment In a third embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.","16 to 22, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied to a switch 70.The switch 70 is formed of a plate-shaped base 71, a box-shaped case 80, and an operation lever 100 assembled to the box-shaped case 80.As illustrated in FIG.","18, the plate-shaped base 71 is integrally molded with a pair of fixed contact terminals 72, 73 so that fixed contacts 74, 75 are exposed at both side edges of the upper surface.","Further, the plate-shaped base 71 has four positioning legs 76 projecting from the lower surface thereof between the fixed contact terminals 72, 73.In the plate-shaped base 71, a magnetic shield body 90 is formed on the lower surface including the positioning legs 76 by the MID molding method.","The box-shaped case 80 has a box shape capable of covering the upper surface of the plate-shaped base 71, and an operation hole 81 is formed on the ceiling surface.","In addition, the box-shaped case 80 has a magnetic shield body 91 having an annular shape and formed on its outer surface by the MID molding method.","The magnetic shield body 91 is electrically connected to the magnetic shield body 90 via a connecting portion 92.Therefore, the magnetic shield body 91 can be connected to the ground via the magnetic shield body 90 covering the positioning legs 76 of the plate-shaped base 71.As illustrated in FIG.","18, the operation lever 100 has an inverted T-shape in cross section, and a caulking projection 101 provided on the lower surface thereof is inserted and fixed into a caulking hole 108 of a movable touch piece 105.The movable touch piece 105 has a cross-sectional shape in which movable contacts 106, 107 located at both ends of the movable touch piece 105 are in contact with the fixed contacts 74, 75, respectively.","The operation lever 100 protrudes from the operation hole 81 of the box-shaped case 80 so that an operation protrusion 102 protruding from the upper surface of the operation lever 100 is operable.","Therefore, by sliding the operation protrusion 102 of the operation lever 100, the movable contacts 106, 107 come into contact with the fixed contacts 74, 75, respectively.","Even when a high frequency signal flows to the fixed contact terminal 72, the movable touch piece 105 and the fixed contact terminal 73, it is magnetically shielded by the magnetic shield bodies 90, 91.There is thus an advantage that not only leakage of high frequency signals but also entry of external signals can be prevented.","Fourth Embodiment In a fourth embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.","22 to 25, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied to a high-frequency connector.","The high-frequency connector includes a plug 110 and a socket 130.The plug 110 is formed by integrally molding three connecting pins 112, 113, 114 disposed side by side into a plug body 111 formed of resin serving as a dielectric.","A magnetic shield body 120 is formed on the plug body 111 by the MID molding method.","That is, in the magnetic shield body 120, an upper piece portion 121 and a lower piece portion 122 which are disposed so as to sandwich the connecting pins 112, 113, 114 from above and below, are electrically connected by a connecting portion 123.The connecting portion 123 is electrically connected to the connecting pin 114 connected to the ground.","Further, the socket 130 is formed by integrally molding three receiving pins 132, 133, 134 disposed side by side into a socket body 131 formed of resin serving as a dielectric.","In the socket body 131, a magnetic shield body 140 is formed by the MID molding method.","That is, in the magnetic shield body 140, an upper piece portion 141 and a lower piece portion 142 which are formed so as to sandwich the receiving pins 132, 133, 134 from above and below, are electrically connected by a connecting portion 143.The connecting portion 143 is electrically connected to the receiving pin 134 connected to the ground.","A magnetic shield structure according to the present invention is not limited to the electromagnetic relay, the switch, and the connector described above, and may be applied to other electric devices and electronic components having a high-frequency transmission component in a housing made of resin.","Description of Symbols 10 electromagnetic relay 11 base 12 fixed contact 13 fixed contact terminal 14 fixed contact 15 fixed contact terminal 16 common connection receiver 17 common terminal 18 coil terminal 20 electromagnet block 21 iron core 22 coil 23 spool 30 movable block 31 movable iron piece 32 permanent magnet 33 movable touch piece 40 case 41 terminal portion 50 magnetic shield body 51 tubular magnetic shield portion 60 magnetic shield body 61 arm 62 leg 70 switch 71 plate-shaped base 72 fixed contact terminal 73 fixed contact terminal 74 fixed contact 75 fixed contact 76 positioning leg 80 box-shaped case 81 operation hole 90 magnetic shield body 91 magnetic shield body 92 connecting portion 110 plug 111 plug body 120 magnetic shield body 121 upper piece portion 122 lower piece portion 123 connecting portion 130 socket 131 socket body 140 magnetic shield body 141 upper piece portion 142 lower piece portion 143 connecting portion"]],"string":"[\n [\n \"MAGNETIC SHIELD STRUCTURE\",\n \"A magnetic shield structure includes a housing made of a dielectric material, and a magnetic shield body formed by metal plating.\",\n \"The magnetic shield body is partially provided on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form a surface of the housing made of the dielectric material.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A magnetic shield structure, comprising: a housing made of a dielectric material; and a magnetic shield body formed by metal plating, wherein the magnetic shield body is partially provided on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form a surface of the housing made of the dielectric material.\",\n \"2.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed by the metal plating in a region facing high-frequency transmission path disposed in the housing on the inner surface and/or the outer surface of the housing, such that a characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.\",\n \"3.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed by the metal plating and a dielectric in a region facing the high-frequency transmission path disposed in the housing on the inner surface and/or the outer surface of the housing, such that a characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.\",\n \"4.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 1, wherein the housing is made up of a base and a case fitted to the base.\",\n \"5.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed on at least a part of an outer surface of the case.\",\n \"6.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed on at least a part of an inner surface of the case.\",\n \"7.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the inner surface of the case are electrically connected by the metal plating.\",\n \"8.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed on at least a part of a bottom surface of the base.\",\n \"9.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the bottom surface of the base are electrically connected by the metal plating.\",\n \"10.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 1, wherein the housing is made up of a plug body and a socket body connected to the plug body.\",\n \"11.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 10, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed by the metal plating on at least a part of the plug body.\",\n \"12.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 10, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed by the metal plating on at least a part of the socket body.\",\n \"13.An electric/electronic component comprising: a magnetic shield structure, comprising: a housing made of a dielectric material; and a magnetic shield body formed by metal plating, wherein the magnetic shield body is partially provided on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form a surface of the housing.\",\n \"14.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 2, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed by the metal plating and a dielectric in a region facing the high-frequency transmission path disposed in the housing on the inner surface and/or the outer surface of the housing, such that a characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.\",\n \"15.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 2, wherein the housing is made up of a base and a case fitted to the base.\",\n \"16.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 3, wherein the housing is made up of a base and a case fitted to the base.\",\n \"17.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 5, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed on at least a part of an inner surface of the case.\",\n \"18.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 5, wherein the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the inner surface of the case are electrically connected by the metal plating.\",\n \"19.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 6, wherein the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the inner surface of the case are electrically connected by the metal plating.\",\n \"20.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 5, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed on at least a part of a bottom surface of the base.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>However, the high-frequency relay is made up by covering, with the metal case, the relay body formed by covering a body with a cover.\",\n \"Hence the high-frequency relay requires the separate metal case, the number of parts and the number of assembling steps are large, and the productivity is low.\",\n \"Further, external dimensions of the metal case and the positional relationship between the metal case and a high-frequency transmission component affect high-frequency characteristics.\",\n \"For this reason, high dimensional accuracy and assembly accuracy are required in manufacturing and assembling the metal case, and the manufacturing and the assembly are thus not easy.\",\n \"The metal case covers the entire exposed surface, except for the installation surface, of the relay body.\",\n \"This leads to a problem in which desired high-frequency characteristics cannot be obtained due to the metal case covering an unnecessary region and a region that causes deterioration in characteristics of a transmission path structure.\",\n \"In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic shield structure having high productivity and excellent high-frequency characteristics, and easy to manufacture and assembly.\",\n \"For solving the above problem, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention is partially provided with a magnetic shield body, formed by metal plating, on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form the surface of a housing made of a dielectric material.\",\n \"According to the present invention, since the magnetic shield body is provided directly on the housing, it is possible to obtain a magnetic shield structure having high productivity with smaller numbers of parts and assembling steps.\",\n \"Also, a magnetic shield body is formed directly in a region that requires the housing.\",\n \"Hence it is possible to prevent deterioration in high-frequency characteristics based on the variations of the dimensional accuracy and the assembly accuracy in the housing.\",\n \"Then, a magnetic shield body is formed only in a region that requires the housing.\",\n \"Therefore, as in the conventional example, the magnetic shield body is not formed in an unnecessary region or a region that causes deterioration in characteristics of a transmission path structure.\",\n \"As a result, the effect of obtaining a magnetic shield structure with excellent high-frequency characteristics is provided.\"\n ],\n [\n \"BACKGROUND Technical Field The present invention relates to a magnetic shield structure, and particularly a magnetic shield structure formed by performing metal plating on a housing.\",\n \"Related Art As an example of a magnetic shield structure, there has been a high-frequency relay that is magnetically shielded by fitting a separate metal case to a relay body and covering the entire relay body (Patent Document 1).\",\n \"Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.\",\n \"2000-340084 SUMMARY However, the high-frequency relay is made up by covering, with the metal case, the relay body formed by covering a body with a cover.\",\n \"Hence the high-frequency relay requires the separate metal case, the number of parts and the number of assembling steps are large, and the productivity is low.\",\n \"Further, external dimensions of the metal case and the positional relationship between the metal case and a high-frequency transmission component affect high-frequency characteristics.\",\n \"For this reason, high dimensional accuracy and assembly accuracy are required in manufacturing and assembling the metal case, and the manufacturing and the assembly are thus not easy.\",\n \"The metal case covers the entire exposed surface, except for the installation surface, of the relay body.\",\n \"This leads to a problem in which desired high-frequency characteristics cannot be obtained due to the metal case covering an unnecessary region and a region that causes deterioration in characteristics of a transmission path structure.\",\n \"In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic shield structure having high productivity and excellent high-frequency characteristics, and easy to manufacture and assembly.\",\n \"For solving the above problem, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention is partially provided with a magnetic shield body, formed by metal plating, on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form the surface of a housing made of a dielectric material.\",\n \"According to the present invention, since the magnetic shield body is provided directly on the housing, it is possible to obtain a magnetic shield structure having high productivity with smaller numbers of parts and assembling steps.\",\n \"Also, a magnetic shield body is formed directly in a region that requires the housing.\",\n \"Hence it is possible to prevent deterioration in high-frequency characteristics based on the variations of the dimensional accuracy and the assembly accuracy in the housing.\",\n \"Then, a magnetic shield body is formed only in a region that requires the housing.\",\n \"Therefore, as in the conventional example, the magnetic shield body is not formed in an unnecessary region or a region that causes deterioration in characteristics of a transmission path structure.\",\n \"As a result, the effect of obtaining a magnetic shield structure with excellent high-frequency characteristics is provided.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 is a perspective view illustrating an electromagnetic relay of a first embodiment, to which a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a case has been removed from the electromagnetic relay illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"3 is a front sectional view of the electromagnetic relay illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"4 is a central front sectional view of the electromagnetic relay illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"5 is a side sectional view of the electromagnetic relay illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"6 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the electromagnetic relay illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"7 is a perspective view of only a magnetic shield body illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"8 is a graph illustrating analysis results of Example and Comparative Example according to the first embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 is a perspective view of a case illustrating a second embodiment of a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 is a perspective view of only a magnetic shield body provided in the case illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9.FIG.\",\n \"11 is a perspective view of only the magnetic shield body located on an inner side in FIG.\",\n \"10.FIG.\",\n \"12 is a perspective view of the case illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9 viewed from different viewpoints.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 is a perspective view of only the magnetic shield body illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"10 viewed from different angles.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the case illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9.FIG.\",\n \"15 is a partially enlarged sectional view of only the magnetic shield body of the case illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"14.FIG.\",\n \"16 is a perspective view illustrating a switch according to a third embodiment, to which a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"17 is a perspective view of the switch illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"16, viewed from a different viewpoint.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"18 is a central front sectional view of the switch illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"16.FIG.\",\n \"19 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a case has been removed from the switch illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"16.FIG.\",\n \"20 is a perspective view illustrating a state where an operation lever is removed from FIG.\",\n \"19.FIG.\",\n \"21 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a base is removed from FIG.\",\n \"20.FIG.\",\n \"22 is a sectional perspective view of only a magnetic shield body illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"16.FIG.\",\n \"23 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a connector according to a fourth embodiment, to which a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"24 is a sectional exploded perspective view of the connector illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"23.FIG.\",\n \"25 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a resin molded portion is removed from the connector illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"24.FIG.\",\n \"26 is a perspective view of only a magnetic shield body illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"25 viewed from a different angle.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION A magnetic shield structure according to an aspect of the present invention is partially provided with a magnetic shield body, formed by metal plating, on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form a surface of a housing made of a dielectric material.\",\n \"According to this aspect, since the magnetic shield body is provided directly on the housing, it is possible to obtain a magnetic shield structure having high productivity with smaller numbers of parts and assembling steps.\",\n \"Also, a magnetic shield body is formed directly in a region that requires the housing.\",\n \"Hence it is possible to prevent deterioration in high-frequency characteristics based on the variations of the dimensional accuracy and the assembly accuracy in the housing.\",\n \"Then, a magnetic shield body is formed only in a region that requires the housing.\",\n \"Therefore, as in the conventional example, the magnetic shield body is not formed in an unnecessary region or a region that causes deterioration in characteristics of a transmission path structure.\",\n \"As a result, the effect of obtaining a magnetic shield structure with excellent high-frequency characteristics is provided.\",\n \"In the magnetic shield structure according to the aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body may be formed by the metal plating in a region facing high-frequency transmission path disposed in the housing on the inner surface and/or the outer surface of the housing, such that a characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.\",\n \"According to this aspect, it is unnecessary to always provide the magnetic shield body by metal plating on the entire inner surface and/or outer surface of the housing.\",\n \"Hence it is possible to save a raw material and obtain a magnetic shield structure with high productivity.\",\n \"In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body may be formed by the metal plating and a dielectric in a region facing the high-frequency transmission path disposed in the housing on the inner surface and/or the outer surface of the housing, such that a characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.\",\n \"According to this aspect, it is unnecessary to always provide the magnetic shield body by metal plating and a dielectric on the entire inner surface and/or outer surface of the housing.\",\n \"Hence it is possible to save a raw material and obtain a magnetic shield structure with high productivity.\",\n \"In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the housing may be made up of a base and a case fitted to the base.\",\n \"According to this aspect, a highly versatile magnetic shield structure can be obtained.\",\n \"In a magnetic shield structure according to a new aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body may be formed on at least a part of an outer surface of the case Further, the magnetic shield body may be formed on at least a part of the inner surface of the case.\",\n \"According to this aspect, since the magnetic shield body can be formed in a necessary region as necessary, it is possible to obtain a magnetic shield structure having more excellent high-frequency characteristics.\",\n \"In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the inner surface of the case may be electrically connected by the metal plating.\",\n \"According to this aspect, it is possible to obtain a magnetic shield structure having more excellent high-frequency characteristics.\",\n \"In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body may be provided on at least a part of a bottom surface of the base.\",\n \"According to this aspect, since the magnetic shield body can be formed in a necessary region as necessary, a magnetic shield structure having a wide application can be obtained.\",\n \"In a magnetic shield structure according to a new aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the bottom surface of the base may be electrically connected by the metal plating.\",\n \"According to this aspect, it is possible to connect to the ground via the magnetic shield body provided on the bottom surface of the base.\",\n \"In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the housing may be made up of a plug body and a socket body connected to the plug body.\",\n \"According to this aspect, a highly versatile magnetic shield structure can be obtained.\",\n \"In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body may be formed by the metal plating on at least a part of the plug body.\",\n \"In addition, the magnetic shield body may be formed by the metal plating on at least a part of the socket body.\",\n \"According to this aspect, there is an effect that a magnetic shield structure can be formed in a necessary region as necessary.\",\n \"An electric/electronic component according to an aspect of the present invention includes the above magnetic shield structure.\",\n \"According to this aspect, the magnetic shield structure is not limited to electromagnetic relays, switches, and connectors, and can be applied to other electric devices and electronic components having a high-frequency transmission component in a housing made of resin.\",\n \"Embodiments of a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"1 to 25.First Embodiment In a first embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"1 to 7, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied to a magnetically shielded self-holding type electromagnetic relay 10.As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"1 and 2, the electromagnetic relay 10 rotatably supports a movable block 30 in an internal space formed by fitting a case 40 to a base 11.For convenience of description, a magnetic shield body 50 provided in the case 40 is illustrated in a dotted pattern.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"2 to 6, the base 11 is formed by integrally molding an electromagnet block 20.Further, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2, fixed contacts 12, 14 are disposed at corner portions of the upper surface of the base 11.The fixed contacts 12, 14 are connected to fixed contact terminals 13, 15 integrally molded with the base 11, respectively.\",\n \"Further, the base 11 is provided with common connection receivers 16 on opposite side edges of the upper surface of the base 11.The common connection receiver 16 is connected to a common terminal 17 integrally molded with the base 11.Note that a coil terminal 18 integrally molded with the base 11 is connected to a coil 22 of the electromagnet block 20 described later.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"3 and 5, the electromagnet block 20 is formed by winding a coil 22 about an iron core 21 having a gate shape in cross section via an insulating sheet (not shown), to integrally mold the iron core 21 and the coil 22 with a spool 23.Magnetic pole portions 21a, 21b of the iron core 21 are exposed from both side edges of the upper surface of the base 11 (FIG.\",\n \"4).\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4, the movable block 30 is formed by disposing a permanent magnet 32 having a plate shape on the lower surface of a movable iron piece 31 having a strip shape and disposing movable touch pieces 33, 33 in parallel on both sides of the movable iron piece 31 as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2, to integrally mold the permanent magnet 32 and the movable touch pieces 33, 33.As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"2 and 5, the movable touch piece 33 extends laterally from the side edge thereof, and has a connecting tongue piece 34 having a substantially planar T-shape.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2, the connecting tongue pieces 34 protrude on the same axial center from both side end surfaces of the movable block 30.Further, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3, both ends of the movable touch piece 33 have a twin contact structure in which movable contacts 35, 36 are provided on the respective divided pieces divided into two areas in the width direction.\",\n \"Then, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5, by welding and integrating the connecting tongue piece 34 of the movable block 30 to the common connection receiver 16 of the base 11, the movable block 30 is rotatably supported.\",\n \"As a result, both ends 31a, 31b of the movable iron piece 31 face the magnetic pole portions 21a, 21b of the iron core 21 so as to be contactable with and separable from each other alternately.\",\n \"Further, the movable contacts 35, 36 of the movable touch piece 33 face the fixed contacts 12, 14 alternately so as to be contactable and separable.\",\n \"The case 40 is a resin molded product having a box shape that can be fitted to the base 11.The magnetic shield body 50 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the case 40 by a molded interconnect devices (MID) molding method.\",\n \"In the MID molding method, laser irradiation is performed on a molded article formed from a material in which a resin and a conductive material are mixed, based on a predetermined pattern, and the resin is removed.\",\n \"Then, metal plating is performed on the exposed conductive material so as to form a desired circuit pattern.\",\n \"A tubular magnetic shield portion 51 is also provided on the entire surface of a terminal portion 41 extending from the opening edge of the case 40 (FIG.\",\n \"7).\",\n \"This is for connecting to a ground of a printed circuit board (not shown) or the like.\",\n \"The magnetic shield body 50 is provided based on the knowledge that high-frequency signals tend to leak if the characteristic impedance varies in the high-frequency transmission path.\",\n \"Therefore, in order to reduce the leakage of the high-frequency signal, the magnetic shield body 50 is formed so as to reduce variations in the characteristic impedance in the high-frequency transmission path.\",\n \"In short, instead of forming the magnetic shield body by metal plating over the entire outer peripheral surface of the case 40, a suitable magnetic shield body 50 is formed in a necessary region.\",\n \"As a result, the magnetic shield body 50 constitutes, for example, a microstrip structure, a strip line structure, and a coplanar line structure.\",\n \"The region where the magnetic shield body 50 is formed may be a region facing the high-frequency transmission path installed in the housing among the inner surface and/or the outer surface of a housing formed of a base and a case.\",\n \"More specifically, it is preferable to arrange and form metal plating and/or dielectric so that the characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.\",\n \"It is a matter of course that air is also considered as a dielectric.\",\n \"For example, it is preferable to arrange and form the metal plating and/or the dielectric so that the characteristic impedance in each region of the high-frequency transmission path is equal to the reference value of 50 Ω.\",\n \"This is because if there is a difference in characteristic impedance for each region of the high-frequency transmission path, high frequency leaks easily from the boundary of the region where the difference is present, and the high-frequency characteristics are degraded.\",\n \"As the microstrip structure in this embodiment, for example, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6, a common terminal 17 which is a high-frequency transmission path is sandwiched between a spool 23 made of resin of an electromagnet block 20 which is a dielectric and a case 40 made of resin which is a dielectric material provided with a magnetic shield body 50.Further, as a strip line structure, for example, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6, a structure in which a case 40 made of resin which is a dielectric provided with a magnetic shield body 50 is disposed above a movable touch piece 33 which is a high-frequency transmission path can be mentioned.\",\n \"As a coplanar line structure, for example, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1, between a coil terminal 18 which is a high-frequency transmission path and a magnetic shield body 50 formed on the outer peripheral surface of a case 40 made of resin which is a dielectric, a structure in which a minute gap portion is formed can be mentioned.\",\n \"Similarly, the fixed contact terminals 13, 15 and the common terminal 17 constitute a coplanar line structure.\",\n \"Next, a method of operating a self-holding type electromagnetic relay having the above-described configuration will be described.\",\n \"For example, when no voltage is applied to the coil 22 of the electromagnet block 20 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4, one end 31a of the movable iron piece 31 is attracted to one magnetic pole portion of the iron core 21, for example, the magnetic pole portion 21a, thereby constituting a magnetic circuit.\",\n \"Therefore, the movable contact 35 of the movable touch piece 33 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 comes into contact with the fixed contact 12, and the movable contact 36 is separated from the fixed contact 14.When a voltage is applied to the coil 22 so as to generate a magnetic line of force in a direction canceling the magnetic lines of force of the permanent magnet 32 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4, the other end 31b of the movable iron piece 31 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 is attracted to the magnetic pole portion 21b of the iron core 21 against the magnetic force of the permanent magnet 32.Hence the movable block 30 rotates about the connecting tongue piece 34 (FIG.\",\n \"5).\",\n \"As a result, after the movable contact 36 of the movable touch piece 33 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 comes into contact with the fixed contact 14, the other end 31b of the movable iron piece 31 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4 is attracted to the magnetic pole portion 21b of the iron core 21 to form a magnetic circuit.\",\n \"Subsequently, even when the application of the voltage to the coil 22 is stopped, the movable block 30 keeps its state by the magnetic force of the permanent magnet 32.Finally, a voltage in a direction opposite to the above-mentioned voltage application direction is applied to the coil 22 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4.As a result, when the generated magnetic lines of force overcome the magnetic lines of force of the permanent magnet 32, one end 31a of the movable iron piece 31 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4 is attracted to the magnetic pole portion 21a of the iron core 21, and the movable block 30 rotates about the connecting tongue piece 34 (FIG.\",\n \"5).\",\n \"For this reason, after the movable contact 35 provided at one end of the movable touch piece 33 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 comes into contact with the fixed contact 12, one end 31a of the movable iron piece 31 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4 is attracted to the magnetic pole portion 21a of the iron core 21.Thereafter, the contacts are switched by repeating the same operation.\",\n \"EXAMPLE The high-frequency characteristics of the electromagnetic relay provided with the magnetic shield body 50 according to the embodiment were analyzed.\",\n \"The analysis result is illustrated in the graph of FIG.\",\n \"8.COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE As a comparative example, there was used a case where a metal case covering the entire case was covered without forming a magnetic shield body of metal plating on the case of the same electromagnetic relay as in the first embodiment.\",\n \"The other high-frequency characteristics were analyzed on the same conditions as in the first embodiment described above.\",\n \"The analysis result is illustrated in the graph of FIG.\",\n \"8.The high-frequency characteristics are measured by time domain reflectometry (TDR) method in FIG.\",\n \"8.The TDR method refers to a method of applying a high-speed pulse or a step signal input to an object to be measured and measuring a returned reflection waveform.\",\n \"From the reflection waveform, a characteristic impedance in the course of the high-frequency transmission path can be detected.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"8, “(A) Terminal portion” indicates a characteristic impedance of only a distal region of the common terminal 17 in FIG.\",\n \"2 which is surface-mounted on a printed circuit board.\",\n \"“(B) Fixed contact terminal” indicates a characteristic impedance in a region from a boundary of the distal region to the common connection receiver 16 in the common terminal 17.“(C) Movable touch piece” indicates a characteristic impedance in a region from the base of the connecting tongue piece 34 of the movable touch piece 33 to the movable contact 36.“(D) Fixed contact terminal” indicates a characteristic impedance in a region from the fixed contact 14 of the fixed contact terminal 15 provided on the fixed contact terminal 15 to a boundary of a distal region surface-mounted on the printed circuit board.\",\n \"“(E) Terminal portion” indicates a characteristic impedance of only a distal region of the fixed contact terminal 15 which is surface-mounted on the printed circuit board.\",\n \"As is apparent from FIG.\",\n \"8, it was found that the reflection waveform of the example is closer to the characteristic impedance (50 0) than the reflection waveform of the comparative example.\",\n \"As a result, it was found that the variation in the characteristic impedance in the example is smaller, and the leakage of the high frequency signal is smaller, than in the comparative example.\",\n \"Second Embodiment In a second embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"9 to 15, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied to the case 40 of the electromagnetic relay as in the first embodiment.\",\n \"A difference from the first embodiment is that a magnetic shield body 60 is also formed on the inner peripheral surface of the case 40 by the MID molding method.\",\n \"Therefore, the difference from the first embodiment will be described, and the same parts will be denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.\",\n \"The magnetic shield body 60 is provided at each corner portion facing the inner peripheral surface of the case 40.In particular, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"11, the magnetic shield body 60 has a pair of arms 61 extending from both ends.\",\n \"The arm 61 has a shape that surrounds both ends of the movable touch piece 33 of the first embodiment.\",\n \"Further, the magnetic shield body 60 is electrically connected to the tubular magnetic shield portion 51 of the magnetic shield body 50 via a leg 62 extending downward.\",\n \"According to the embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"14 and 15, both ends of the movable touch piece 33 are disposed so as to form a minute gap between the magnetic shield body 60 attached to the inner surface of a case made of resin which is a dielectric and its arm 61.As a result, a coplanar line structure similar to that of the first embodiment is constituted.\",\n \"Therefore, according to the second embodiment, not only the magnetic shield body 50 but also the magnetic shield body 60 is provided, whereby the characteristic impedance can be easily adjusted.\",\n \"For this reason, the variation in the characteristic impedance in the high-frequency transmission path is more easily reduced, and the high-frequency characteristics can be improved.\",\n \"There is thus an advantage that the degree of design freedom is widened to further expand the application.\",\n \"Third Embodiment In a third embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"16 to 22, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied to a switch 70.The switch 70 is formed of a plate-shaped base 71, a box-shaped case 80, and an operation lever 100 assembled to the box-shaped case 80.As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"18, the plate-shaped base 71 is integrally molded with a pair of fixed contact terminals 72, 73 so that fixed contacts 74, 75 are exposed at both side edges of the upper surface.\",\n \"Further, the plate-shaped base 71 has four positioning legs 76 projecting from the lower surface thereof between the fixed contact terminals 72, 73.In the plate-shaped base 71, a magnetic shield body 90 is formed on the lower surface including the positioning legs 76 by the MID molding method.\",\n \"The box-shaped case 80 has a box shape capable of covering the upper surface of the plate-shaped base 71, and an operation hole 81 is formed on the ceiling surface.\",\n \"In addition, the box-shaped case 80 has a magnetic shield body 91 having an annular shape and formed on its outer surface by the MID molding method.\",\n \"The magnetic shield body 91 is electrically connected to the magnetic shield body 90 via a connecting portion 92.Therefore, the magnetic shield body 91 can be connected to the ground via the magnetic shield body 90 covering the positioning legs 76 of the plate-shaped base 71.As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"18, the operation lever 100 has an inverted T-shape in cross section, and a caulking projection 101 provided on the lower surface thereof is inserted and fixed into a caulking hole 108 of a movable touch piece 105.The movable touch piece 105 has a cross-sectional shape in which movable contacts 106, 107 located at both ends of the movable touch piece 105 are in contact with the fixed contacts 74, 75, respectively.\",\n \"The operation lever 100 protrudes from the operation hole 81 of the box-shaped case 80 so that an operation protrusion 102 protruding from the upper surface of the operation lever 100 is operable.\",\n \"Therefore, by sliding the operation protrusion 102 of the operation lever 100, the movable contacts 106, 107 come into contact with the fixed contacts 74, 75, respectively.\",\n \"Even when a high frequency signal flows to the fixed contact terminal 72, the movable touch piece 105 and the fixed contact terminal 73, it is magnetically shielded by the magnetic shield bodies 90, 91.There is thus an advantage that not only leakage of high frequency signals but also entry of external signals can be prevented.\",\n \"Fourth Embodiment In a fourth embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"22 to 25, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied to a high-frequency connector.\",\n \"The high-frequency connector includes a plug 110 and a socket 130.The plug 110 is formed by integrally molding three connecting pins 112, 113, 114 disposed side by side into a plug body 111 formed of resin serving as a dielectric.\",\n \"A magnetic shield body 120 is formed on the plug body 111 by the MID molding method.\",\n \"That is, in the magnetic shield body 120, an upper piece portion 121 and a lower piece portion 122 which are disposed so as to sandwich the connecting pins 112, 113, 114 from above and below, are electrically connected by a connecting portion 123.The connecting portion 123 is electrically connected to the connecting pin 114 connected to the ground.\",\n \"Further, the socket 130 is formed by integrally molding three receiving pins 132, 133, 134 disposed side by side into a socket body 131 formed of resin serving as a dielectric.\",\n \"In the socket body 131, a magnetic shield body 140 is formed by the MID molding method.\",\n \"That is, in the magnetic shield body 140, an upper piece portion 141 and a lower piece portion 142 which are formed so as to sandwich the receiving pins 132, 133, 134 from above and below, are electrically connected by a connecting portion 143.The connecting portion 143 is electrically connected to the receiving pin 134 connected to the ground.\",\n \"A magnetic shield structure according to the present invention is not limited to the electromagnetic relay, the switch, and the connector described above, and may be applied to other electric devices and electronic components having a high-frequency transmission component in a housing made of resin.\",\n \"Description of Symbols 10 electromagnetic relay 11 base 12 fixed contact 13 fixed contact terminal 14 fixed contact 15 fixed contact terminal 16 common connection receiver 17 common terminal 18 coil terminal 20 electromagnet block 21 iron core 22 coil 23 spool 30 movable block 31 movable iron piece 32 permanent magnet 33 movable touch piece 40 case 41 terminal portion 50 magnetic shield body 51 tubular magnetic shield portion 60 magnetic shield body 61 arm 62 leg 70 switch 71 plate-shaped base 72 fixed contact terminal 73 fixed contact terminal 74 fixed contact 75 fixed contact 76 positioning leg 80 box-shaped case 81 operation hole 90 magnetic shield body 91 magnetic shield body 92 connecting portion 110 plug 111 plug body 120 magnetic shield body 121 upper piece portion 122 lower piece portion 123 connecting portion 130 socket 131 socket body 140 magnetic shield body 141 upper piece portion 142 lower piece portion 143 connecting portion\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876069"}}},{"rowIdx":4495069,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["ELECTROMAGNETIC DEVICE AND ELECTROMAGNETIC RELAY USING SAME","An electromagnetic device includes a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole, a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating, and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil.","An induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil."],["1.An electromagnetic device comprising: a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole; a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating; and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil, wherein an induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.","2.The electromagnetic device according to claim 1, wherein a guard portion is provided at at least one end of the cylindrical body, and wherein both ends of the secondary coil, formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body, are electrically connected to each other by a lead wire formed by metal plating through a communication hole provided in the cylindrical body and the guard portion and an inner peripheral surface of the through hole in the cylindrical body.","3.The electromagnetic device according to claim 2, further comprising: an operation indicator lamp fixed to the guard portion and electrically connected to the secondary coil.","4.The electromagnetic device according to claim 3, wherein the operation indicator lamp is a light-emitting diode.","5.An electromagnetic relay comprising: a base; and an electromagnetic device incorporated into the base, and comprising: a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole; a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating; and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil, wherein an induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.","6.The electromagnetic relay according to claim 5, wherein a movable iron piece is disposed so as to be attracted by magnetic force to a magnetic pole portion of an iron core protruding from the guard portion provided at at least one end of the cylindrical body among iron cores inserted through the through holes of the spool, the magnetic force being generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, and wherein the movable iron piece is provided with a notch through which light of the operation indicator lamp is transmitted.","7.The electromagnetic relay according to claim 6, further comprising: an operation check window configured to transmit the light of the operation indicator lamp on an outer peripheral surface of a casing fitted to the base.","8.The electromagnetic relay according to claim 7, wherein the operation check window is a transparent window provided in the casing."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>"],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>However, the coil 112 is wound in two layers on the bobbin 113 , so that the bobbin complete body 111 becomes bulky and the device cannot be made more compact in size.","In the bobbin complete body 111 , it is necessary to wind extended wires 112 a , 112 a ′ of the coil 112 around external connection terminals 114 a , 114 a ′.","Similarly, it is necessary to wind extended wires 112 b , 112 b ′ of the coil 112 around external connection terminals 114 b , 114 b ′.","For this reason, with the bobbin complete body 111 , it takes time and effort to do connection work on the coil 112 and the productivity is thus low.","One or more embodiments of the present invention provides an electromagnetic device compact in size and with high productivity and an electromagnetic relay using the electromagnetic device.","An electromagnetic device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is provided with: a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole; a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating; and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil.","An induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.","According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, with the secondary coil formed by metal plating, an electromagnetic device more compact in size and smaller in bulk than that of the conventional example can be obtained.","Further, according to the above aspect of the present invention, there is no need to bind the extended wire of the coil to the coil terminal as in the conventional example, thus facilitating the connection work, so that an electromagnetic device with high productivity can be obtained."],["BACKGROUND Technical Field The present invention relates to an electromagnetic device, particularly an electromagnetic device incorporated into an electromagnetic relay by winding a coil twice, and an electromagnetic relay using this electromagnetic device.","Related Art As an electromagnetic device with a double-wound coil, for example, a bobbin complete body 111 has been used which is formed by winding a coil 112 in two layers around a bobbin 113, as illustrated in FIG.","8 of Patent Document 1.In FIG.","8, an electromagnetic relay in which the bobbin complete body 111 is incorporated into a base 116 is disclosed.","Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.","H3-254035 SUMMARY However, the coil 112 is wound in two layers on the bobbin 113, so that the bobbin complete body 111 becomes bulky and the device cannot be made more compact in size.","In the bobbin complete body 111, it is necessary to wind extended wires 112a, 112a′ of the coil 112 around external connection terminals 114a, 114a′.","Similarly, it is necessary to wind extended wires 112b, 112b′ of the coil 112 around external connection terminals 114b, 114b′.","For this reason, with the bobbin complete body 111, it takes time and effort to do connection work on the coil 112 and the productivity is thus low.","One or more embodiments of the present invention provides an electromagnetic device compact in size and with high productivity and an electromagnetic relay using the electromagnetic device.","An electromagnetic device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is provided with: a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole; a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating; and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil.","An induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.","According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, with the secondary coil formed by metal plating, an electromagnetic device more compact in size and smaller in bulk than that of the conventional example can be obtained.","Further, according to the above aspect of the present invention, there is no need to bind the extended wire of the coil to the coil terminal as in the conventional example, thus facilitating the connection work, so that an electromagnetic device with high productivity can be obtained.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments the present invention will become apparent from the following description in conjunction with embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.","In the drawings, FIG.","1 is a perspective view illustrating an electromagnetic relay into which an electromagnetic device according to an embodiment of the present invention has been incorporated; FIG.","2 is an exploded perspective view of the electromagnetic relay into which the electromagnetic device according to the embodiment of the present invention has been incorporated; FIG.","3 is a perspective view illustrating a state where the base has been erased from FIG.","1; FIG.","4 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a primary coil has been erased from FIG.","3; FIG.","5 is a perspective view illustrating a spool illustrated in FIG.","4; FIG.","6A is a longitudinal sectional perspective view of FIG.","5; FIG.","6B is a partially enlarged perspective view of FIG.","6A; FIG.","7A is a transverse sectional perspective view of FIG.","5 as viewed from another viewpoint; FIG.","7B is a partially enlarged perspective view of FIG.","7A; and FIG.","8 is a perspective view of an electromagnetic device of Patent Document 1.DETAILED DESCRIPTION Before continuing with the description of the present invention, the same reference numerals are provided to the same parts in the accompanying drawings.","In describing embodiments of the present invention and in describing configurations represented in the drawings, terms indicating directions such as “up”, “down”, “left”, and “right”, and other terms including those, will be used.","The purpose for using those terms is to facilitate understanding of the embodiments through the drawings.","Accordingly, those terms do not necessarily indicate directions used at the time of actually using the embodiments of the present invention.","A technical scope recited in the claims shall not be restrictively interpreted by using those terms.","A description will be given of a case where an electromagnetic device according to the embodiment of the present invention is incorporated into an electromagnetic relay according to the accompanying drawings of FIGS.","1 to 7B.","As illustrated in FIG.","2, an electromagnetic relay 10 includes a base 11, an electromagnetic device 20 installed on the base 11, a movable iron piece 40 that rotates based on excitation and demagnetization of the electromagnetic device 20, a contact mechanism 50 mounted on the base 11, a card 60 that drives the contact mechanism 50 via the movable iron piece 40, and a casing 70.For convenience of explanation, the casing 70 (see FIG.","2) is not illustrated in FIG.","1.As illustrated in FIGS.","1 and 2, the base 11 is provided with a placement space 12 for installing the electromagnetic device 20 on one side of an upper surface of the base 11.Three terminal holes (not illustrated) are provided on the other side of the upper surface of the base 11 to form the contact mechanism 50.In the placement space 12, terminal holes (not illustrated) for press-fitting coil terminals 27, 27 of the electromagnetic device 20 are provided at adjacent corner portions on the front side of the placement space 12 in FIG.","2.Further, the placement space 12 is provided with a rib 13 having a flat gate shape at the rear-side corner portion in FIG.","2.The rib 13 is provided with a press-fit groove 14 for press-fitting a yoke 32, which will be described later, into the corner portion of the inner side surface thereof.","The rib 13 has, on its facing outer side surfaces, engaging claw portions 15 for fixing a casing 70, which will be described later, onto the rib 13.As illustrated in FIG.","2, the electromagnetic device 20 includes a spool 21, a primary coil 30, an iron core 31, and the yoke 32.As illustrated in FIG.","5, the spool 21 is formed of a cylindrical body 22 and guard portions 24, 25 formed integrally at both axial ends of the cylindrical body 22.As illustrated in FIGS.","6A and 6B, the cylindrical body 22 is provided with a through hole 23 in which the iron core 31 having a T-shaped cross section can be inserted from the upper opening to prevent it from coming off.","Further, as illustrated in FIGS.","5 to 7B, a secondary coil 26 formed along the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 22 is formed by the molded interconnect device (MID) molding method, for example.","The MID molding method is a method in which a molded article made of a material obtained by mixing a resin and a conductive material is irradiated with a laser in a predetermined pattern to remove the resin and then metal plating is performed on the exposed conductive material, thereby forming a desired circuit pattern.","In the embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.","5, 7A and 7B, patterns 26a are formed at predetermined pitches in the secondary coil 26, the patterns 26a extending in a circumferential direction along the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 22 and being axially parallel to each other.","Then, the patterns 26a, which are adjacent to each other vertically, are connected by a stepped auxiliary pattern 26b (FIG.","7A).","Further, as illustrated in FIG.","7B, the lower end of the secondary coil 26 is connected to a lead wire 26c (FIG.","6A) along the substantially axial direction on the inner peripheral surface of the through hole 23 of the cylindrical body 22 through a communication hole 22a provided in the cylindrical body 22, the lead wire 26c having been formed by metal plating by the MID molding method, for example.","The lead wire 26c is connected to a lead wire 26d provided on the upper surface of the guard portion 24 by metal plating by the MID molding method, for example.","The lead wire 26d is connected to a lead wire 26e (FIG.","7A) formed by metal plating on the rear surface of the guard portion 24 through a communication hole 24a (FIG.","6B) provided in the guard portion 24.The lead wire 26e is connected to the upper end of the secondary coil 26.Therefore, the secondary coil 26 forms a closed circuit.","Note that a light emitting element 33 and a resistor 34 are connected in series to the lead wire 26d formed in the guard portion 24 (FIG.","6A).","The light emitting element 33 functions as an example of an operation indicator lamp, and as a specific example, it is a light-emitting diode (LED).","In the embodiment, the light emitting element 33 and the resistor 34 are directly connected to the lead wire 26d of the guard portion 24.There is thus an advantage that the number of parts and assembling steps in the assembling process are small, the productivity is high, and the electromagnetic device 20 which is space-saving can be obtained.","Further, as illustrated in FIG.","6A, the spool 21 is provided with a recess 25a for fitting the yoke 32, which will be described later, to the guard portion 25.In addition, as illustrated in FIG.","5, the coil terminals 27, 27 are press-fitted into terminal holes 25b, 25b provided on the side end face of the guard portion 25 (FIG.","4).","An insulating film 30a is wound around the cylindrical body 22 of the spool 21 as an example of an insulating material, and a conductive wire 30b is wound around the insulating film 30a to form the primary coil 30, thus constituting the primary coil 30.A extended wire from the conductive wire 30b of the primary coil 30 is then soldered by being bound to binding portions 27a, 27a of the coil terminals 27, 27 (FIG.","3).","In the embodiment, ribs 28, 28 capable of press-fitting connection terminals (not illustrated) are formed on the guard portion 24 of the spool 21.This is because the spool 21 is used for assembling other electromagnetic relays.","The yoke 32 is a magnetic material having an L-shaped cross section, and as illustrated in FIG.","2, a support portion 32a is formed by cutting out the upper end thereof.","Further, the yoke 32 has a caulking hole 32c in a horizontal portion 32b of the yoke 32.Then, an iron core body of the iron core 31 is inserted into the through hole 23 of the cylindrical body 22 of the spool 21 around which the primary coil 30 is wound.","A one end 31a, connected to one end of the iron core body and protruding like a guard from one end of the cylindrical body 22, is fixed, for example by caulking, to the caulking hole 32c of the yoke 32.Meanwhile, the other end, connected to the other end of the iron core body and protruding like a guard from the other end of the cylindrical body 22, is taken as a magnetic pole portion 31b.","Therefore, the iron core 31 is a magnetic material (FIG.","2) having a T-shaped cross section made up of the iron core body with the one end 31a and the magnetic pole portion 31b, and the iron core body of the iron core 31 has a cross-sectional area capable of being inserted through the through hole 23 of the cylindrical body 22 of the spool 21.As illustrated in FIG.","2, the movable iron piece 40 is formed of a magnetic material bent into a substantially L-shaped cross section.","The movable iron piece 40 is rotatably supported around the support portion 32a of the yoke 32 via a hinge spring 35 fixed to the rear surface of the yoke 32, for example by caulking.","As a result, the movable iron piece 40 has a horizontal portion (plate portion) 41 which faces so as to be able to contact and separate from the magnetic pole portion 31b of the iron core 31.In the movable iron piece 40, the horizontal portion 41 is provided with a notch 42 for visually checking the light emitting element 33.In other words, the notch 42 is configured to transmit the light, emitted by the light emitting element 33, to the outside.","As illustrated in FIG.","3, the contact mechanism 50 includes a fixed contact terminal 51 to which a normally closed fixed contact 51a is fixed, for example by caulking, a movable touch piece 52 to which a movable contact 52a is fixed, for example by caulking, and a fixed contact terminal 53 to which a normally open fixed contact 53a is fixed, for example by caulking As illustrated in FIG.","1, a terminal portion 51b of the fixed contact terminal 51, a terminal portion 52b of the movable touch piece 52, and a terminal portion 53b of the fixed contact terminal 53 are press-fitted into the base 11, to form the contact mechanism 50.As a result, the movable contact 52a faces the normally closed fixed contact 51a and the normally open fixed contact 53a so as to be able to contact and separate from each other.","As illustrated in FIGS.","1 to 4, the card 60 has a recess (not illustrated) engaging with a lower end 43 of the movable iron piece 40 on one side of the facing front and rear surfaces, while the card 60 has an operating protrusion 61 projecting from the other side thereof.","Then, the card 60 engages the recess with the lower end 43 of the movable iron piece 40 assembled to the yoke 32.As a result, the operating protrusion 61 is pressure-welded to the movable touch piece 52 through a through hole 51c of the fixed contact terminal 51.The casing 70 has a box shape that can be fitted to the base 11, and an engagement hole 71 is provided in the lower side edge of each of the facing side surfaces.","The ceiling surface of the casing 70 is provided with an operation check window 72 through which the light emitting element 33 can be checked visually.","An example of the operation check window 72 is a transparent window.","That is, the operation check window 72 is disposed to face the notch 42, and is configured so as to guide the light, emitted by the light emitting element 33, to the outside through the notch 42 and the operation check window 72.Next, the operation of the electromagnetic relay 10 will be described.","First, when no voltage is applied to the primary coil 30 of the electromagnetic device 20, as illustrated in FIG.","1, no induced current is generated in the secondary coil 26, and the light emitting element 33 is not lit.","Further, the movable touch piece 52 biases the lower end 43 of the movable iron piece 40 via the card 60.The movable contact 52a is thus in contact with the normally closed fixed contact 51a.","The horizontal portion 41 of the movable iron piece 40 is separated from the magnetic pole portion 31b of the iron core 31.When a voltage is applied to the primary coil 30 for excitation, the magnetic line of force passing through the iron core 31 attracts the horizontal portion 41 of the movable iron piece 40 to the magnetic pole portion 31b of the iron core 31.Then, against the spring force of the movable touch piece 52, the movable iron piece 40 rotates around the support portion 32a of the yoke 32, and the lower end 43 of the movable iron piece 40 presses the card 60.Therefore, the operating protrusion 61 of the card 60 presses the movable touch piece 52, and the movable touch piece 52 rotates.","As a result, the movable contact 52a is separated from the normally closed fixed contact 51a, and thereafter comes into contact with the normally open fixed contact 53a.","Then, the horizontal portion 41 of the movable iron piece 40 is attracted to the magnetic pole portion 31b of the iron core 31.When a voltage is applied to the primary coil 30, an induced current flows through the secondary coil 26 by electromagnetic induction, and the light emitting element 33 is lit via the lead wire 26d and the like.","The light of the light emitting element 33 is then transmitted through the notch 42 of the movable iron piece 40 provided above the light emitting element 33 and the operation check window 72, and whether or not the light emitting element 33 is lit can be checked from the operation check window 72 of the casing 70.Hence in the embodiment, the light emitting element 33 continues to emit light while a voltage is applied to the primary coil 30, so that whether or not the electromagnetic relay 10 is in operation can be determined from the outside of the electromagnetic relay 10.Note that at least a part of the casing 70 may have the operation check window 72 which is translucent or transparent so that the light of the light emitting element 33 can be visually checked from the outside.","Subsequently, when the application of the voltage to the primary coil 30 is stopped, the magnetic line of force passing through the iron core 31 disappears, and the movable touch piece 52 pushes back the movable iron piece 40 via the card 60.Thus, after being separated from the normally open fixed contact 53a, the movable contact 52a comes into contact with the normally closed fixed contact 51a and returns to its original position.","Then, the induced current flowing through the secondary coil 26 disappears, and the light emitting element 33 is turned off.","This enables visual checking that the electromagnetic relay 10 has stopped operating.","According to the embodiment, with the secondary coil 26 formed by metal plating, it is possible to obtain the electromagnetic device 20 more compact in size and smaller in bulk than that of the conventional example.","Further, according to the embodiment, there is no need to bind the extended wire of the coil to the coil terminal as in the conventional example, thus facilitating the connection work, so that the electromagnetic device 20 with high productivity can be obtained.","In the embodiment, the light emitting element 33 is directly attached to the guard portion 24 of the spool 21.Therefore, it is unnecessary to attach the light emitting element 33 to the guard portion 24 of the spool 21 via the connection terminal.","Furthermore, there is no need to electrically connect the light emitting element 33 to the connection terminal via a lead wire.","This eliminates the need to do assembling work and soldering work on the connection terminal, and the electromagnetic device with high productivity can be obtained with small numbers of parts and assembling steps.","Further, the secondary coil 26 is formed in advance on the cylindrical body 22 of the spool 21 by metal plating, for example, the MID molding method, thus eliminating the need to do winding work on the secondary coil 26, so that the productivity is further improved.","Moreover, the light emitting element 33 is lit by an induced current flowing through the secondary coil 26.This eliminates the need to obtain the power, which is necessary for lighting the light emitting element 33, from an external power supply.","As a result, it is unnecessary to connect the light emitting element 33 to the external power supply, and an electromagnetic device 20 having a simple structure can be obtained.","Although the secondary coil 26 of the electromagnetic device 20 according to the embodiment is provided with the stepped auxiliary pattern 26b in a part of the secondary coil 26, a smoothly continuous spiral secondary coil may be formed.","Further, the communication holes 22a, 24a of the spool 21 may be formed in a mortar shape in order to facilitate laser irradiation performed in the MID molding method.","A variety of embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, and lastly, a variety of aspects of the present invention will be described.","A electromagnetic device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention includes: a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole; a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating; and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil.","An induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.","According to the first aspect of the present invention, with the secondary coil formed by metal plating, an electromagnetic device more compact in size and smaller in bulk than that of the conventional example can be obtained.","Further, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is no need to bind the extended wire of the coil to the coil terminal as in the conventional example, thus facilitating the connection work, so that an electromagnetic device with high productivity can be obtained.","According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the guard portion may be provided at at least one end of the cylindrical body, and both ends of the secondary coil, formed on an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body, are electrically connected to each other by a lead wire formed by metal plating through a communication hole provided in the cylindrical body and the guard portion and an inner peripheral surface of the through hole in the cylindrical body.","According to the second aspect, both ends of the secondary coil are connected by metal plating, thus eliminating the need to connect the both ends by the lead wire of the conductive wire.","This can lead to further reduction in the occupied space and the size.","This further facilitates the connection work, thereby enabling saving of labor, so that an electromagnetic device with even higher productivity can be obtained.","In a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, there may be provided an operation indicator lamp, fixed to the guard portion and electrically connected to the secondary coil.","According to the third aspect, the operation indicator lamp provided on the guard portion is electrically connected to the secondary coil, thereby facilitating the connection work on the operation indicator lamp.","In addition, with the operation indicator lamp installed directly on the guard portion, a large wiring space is not required and the device can thus be made more compact in size.","Furthermore, the operation indicator lamp is lit by the induced current generated at the time when a voltage is applied to the primary coil, and hence an electromagnetic device with an energy saving can be obtained.","In a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect, the operation indicator lamp may be a light-emitting diode (LED).","According to the fourth aspect, it is possible to obtain an electromagnetic device provided with an operation indicator lamp with a further energy saving.","An electromagnetic relay according to a fifth aspect of the present invention has a configuration in which the above electromagnetic device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects is incorporated into a base.","According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the secondary coil is formed by metal plating, so that the electromagnetic device is more compact in size and smaller in bulk than that of the conventional example It is thus possible to obtain a compact electromagnetic relay.","It is not necessary to bind the extended wire of the coil to the coil terminal as in the conventional example, thus facilitating the connection work, so that an electromagnetic relay with high productivity can be obtained.","According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect, a movable iron piece may be disposed so as to be attracted by magnetic force to a magnetic pole portion of an iron core protruding from the flange portion provided at at least one end of the cylindrical body among iron cores inserted through the through holes of the spool, the magnetic force being generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, and the movable iron piece may be provided with a notch through which light of the operation indicator lamp is transmitted.","According to the sixth aspect, the light of the operation indicator lamp provided on the guard portion of the electromagnetic device transmits through the notch provided in the movable iron piece, so that the light can be checked visually.","It is therefore possible to visually check an operating state through the notch, thereby to obtain an electromagnetic relay with high safety and a user's sense of security.","According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect, there may be provided an operation check window configured to transmit the light of the operation indicator lamp on an outer peripheral surface of a casing fitted to the base.","According to the seventh aspect, the operation indicator lamp can be checked through the operation check window provided in the casing, and an electromagnetic relay with good usability can be obtained.","According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the seventh aspect, the operation check window may be a transparent window provided in the casing.","According to the eighth aspect, with no through hole provided in the casing, no fault occurs based on intrusion of dust or the like, and there is an effect that an electromagnetic relay with high reliability can be obtained.","Note that by appropriately combining freely selected embodiments or modifications of the above variety of embodiments and modifications, it is possible to achieve the respective effects of those combined.","While it is possible to combine embodiments, combine examples, or combine an embodiment and an example, it is also possible to combine features in different embodiments or examples.","The electromagnetic device and the electromagnetic relay using the electromagnetic device according to the present invention are not limited to the above electromagnetic device and may be applied to other electromagnetic devices and electromagnetic relays incorporating the electromagnetic devices.","While the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, a variety of modifications or corrections will be apparent to those skilled in the art.","Such modifications or corrections are to be understood as being included in the scope of the invention according to the appended claims so long as not deviating therefrom.","DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 electromagnetic relay 11 base 12 placement space 13 rib 14 press-fit groove 15 engaging claw portion 20 electromagnetic device 21 spool 22 cylindrical body 22a communication hole 23 through hole 24 guard portion 25 guard portion 24a communication hole 26 secondary coil 26a pattern 26b auxiliary pattern 26c lead wire 26d lead wire 26e lead wire 30 primary coil 31 iron core 31b magnetic pole portion 32 yoke 33 light emitting element 34 resistor 35 hinge spring 40 movable iron piece 41 horizontal portion 42 notch 50 contact mechanism 51 fixed contact terminal 51a normally closed fixed contact 52 movable touch piece 52a movable contact 53 fixed contact terminal 53a normally open fixed contact 60 card 61 operating protrusion 70 casing 71 engagement hole 72 operation check window"]],"string":"[\n [\n \"ELECTROMAGNETIC DEVICE AND ELECTROMAGNETIC RELAY USING SAME\",\n \"An electromagnetic device includes a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole, a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating, and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil.\",\n \"An induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.An electromagnetic device comprising: a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole; a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating; and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil, wherein an induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.\",\n \"2.The electromagnetic device according to claim 1, wherein a guard portion is provided at at least one end of the cylindrical body, and wherein both ends of the secondary coil, formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body, are electrically connected to each other by a lead wire formed by metal plating through a communication hole provided in the cylindrical body and the guard portion and an inner peripheral surface of the through hole in the cylindrical body.\",\n \"3.The electromagnetic device according to claim 2, further comprising: an operation indicator lamp fixed to the guard portion and electrically connected to the secondary coil.\",\n \"4.The electromagnetic device according to claim 3, wherein the operation indicator lamp is a light-emitting diode.\",\n \"5.An electromagnetic relay comprising: a base; and an electromagnetic device incorporated into the base, and comprising: a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole; a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating; and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil, wherein an induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.\",\n \"6.The electromagnetic relay according to claim 5, wherein a movable iron piece is disposed so as to be attracted by magnetic force to a magnetic pole portion of an iron core protruding from the guard portion provided at at least one end of the cylindrical body among iron cores inserted through the through holes of the spool, the magnetic force being generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, and wherein the movable iron piece is provided with a notch through which light of the operation indicator lamp is transmitted.\",\n \"7.The electromagnetic relay according to claim 6, further comprising: an operation check window configured to transmit the light of the operation indicator lamp on an outer peripheral surface of a casing fitted to the base.\",\n \"8.The electromagnetic relay according to claim 7, wherein the operation check window is a transparent window provided in the casing.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>However, the coil 112 is wound in two layers on the bobbin 113 , so that the bobbin complete body 111 becomes bulky and the device cannot be made more compact in size.\",\n \"In the bobbin complete body 111 , it is necessary to wind extended wires 112 a , 112 a ′ of the coil 112 around external connection terminals 114 a , 114 a ′.\",\n \"Similarly, it is necessary to wind extended wires 112 b , 112 b ′ of the coil 112 around external connection terminals 114 b , 114 b ′.\",\n \"For this reason, with the bobbin complete body 111 , it takes time and effort to do connection work on the coil 112 and the productivity is thus low.\",\n \"One or more embodiments of the present invention provides an electromagnetic device compact in size and with high productivity and an electromagnetic relay using the electromagnetic device.\",\n \"An electromagnetic device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is provided with: a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole; a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating; and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil.\",\n \"An induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.\",\n \"According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, with the secondary coil formed by metal plating, an electromagnetic device more compact in size and smaller in bulk than that of the conventional example can be obtained.\",\n \"Further, according to the above aspect of the present invention, there is no need to bind the extended wire of the coil to the coil terminal as in the conventional example, thus facilitating the connection work, so that an electromagnetic device with high productivity can be obtained.\"\n ],\n [\n \"BACKGROUND Technical Field The present invention relates to an electromagnetic device, particularly an electromagnetic device incorporated into an electromagnetic relay by winding a coil twice, and an electromagnetic relay using this electromagnetic device.\",\n \"Related Art As an electromagnetic device with a double-wound coil, for example, a bobbin complete body 111 has been used which is formed by winding a coil 112 in two layers around a bobbin 113, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"8 of Patent Document 1.In FIG.\",\n \"8, an electromagnetic relay in which the bobbin complete body 111 is incorporated into a base 116 is disclosed.\",\n \"Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.\",\n \"H3-254035 SUMMARY However, the coil 112 is wound in two layers on the bobbin 113, so that the bobbin complete body 111 becomes bulky and the device cannot be made more compact in size.\",\n \"In the bobbin complete body 111, it is necessary to wind extended wires 112a, 112a′ of the coil 112 around external connection terminals 114a, 114a′.\",\n \"Similarly, it is necessary to wind extended wires 112b, 112b′ of the coil 112 around external connection terminals 114b, 114b′.\",\n \"For this reason, with the bobbin complete body 111, it takes time and effort to do connection work on the coil 112 and the productivity is thus low.\",\n \"One or more embodiments of the present invention provides an electromagnetic device compact in size and with high productivity and an electromagnetic relay using the electromagnetic device.\",\n \"An electromagnetic device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is provided with: a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole; a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating; and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil.\",\n \"An induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.\",\n \"According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, with the secondary coil formed by metal plating, an electromagnetic device more compact in size and smaller in bulk than that of the conventional example can be obtained.\",\n \"Further, according to the above aspect of the present invention, there is no need to bind the extended wire of the coil to the coil terminal as in the conventional example, thus facilitating the connection work, so that an electromagnetic device with high productivity can be obtained.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments the present invention will become apparent from the following description in conjunction with embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.\",\n \"In the drawings, FIG.\",\n \"1 is a perspective view illustrating an electromagnetic relay into which an electromagnetic device according to an embodiment of the present invention has been incorporated; FIG.\",\n \"2 is an exploded perspective view of the electromagnetic relay into which the electromagnetic device according to the embodiment of the present invention has been incorporated; FIG.\",\n \"3 is a perspective view illustrating a state where the base has been erased from FIG.\",\n \"1; FIG.\",\n \"4 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a primary coil has been erased from FIG.\",\n \"3; FIG.\",\n \"5 is a perspective view illustrating a spool illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4; FIG.\",\n \"6A is a longitudinal sectional perspective view of FIG.\",\n \"5; FIG.\",\n \"6B is a partially enlarged perspective view of FIG.\",\n \"6A; FIG.\",\n \"7A is a transverse sectional perspective view of FIG.\",\n \"5 as viewed from another viewpoint; FIG.\",\n \"7B is a partially enlarged perspective view of FIG.\",\n \"7A; and FIG.\",\n \"8 is a perspective view of an electromagnetic device of Patent Document 1.DETAILED DESCRIPTION Before continuing with the description of the present invention, the same reference numerals are provided to the same parts in the accompanying drawings.\",\n \"In describing embodiments of the present invention and in describing configurations represented in the drawings, terms indicating directions such as “up”, “down”, “left”, and “right”, and other terms including those, will be used.\",\n \"The purpose for using those terms is to facilitate understanding of the embodiments through the drawings.\",\n \"Accordingly, those terms do not necessarily indicate directions used at the time of actually using the embodiments of the present invention.\",\n \"A technical scope recited in the claims shall not be restrictively interpreted by using those terms.\",\n \"A description will be given of a case where an electromagnetic device according to the embodiment of the present invention is incorporated into an electromagnetic relay according to the accompanying drawings of FIGS.\",\n \"1 to 7B.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2, an electromagnetic relay 10 includes a base 11, an electromagnetic device 20 installed on the base 11, a movable iron piece 40 that rotates based on excitation and demagnetization of the electromagnetic device 20, a contact mechanism 50 mounted on the base 11, a card 60 that drives the contact mechanism 50 via the movable iron piece 40, and a casing 70.For convenience of explanation, the casing 70 (see FIG.\",\n \"2) is not illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1.As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"1 and 2, the base 11 is provided with a placement space 12 for installing the electromagnetic device 20 on one side of an upper surface of the base 11.Three terminal holes (not illustrated) are provided on the other side of the upper surface of the base 11 to form the contact mechanism 50.In the placement space 12, terminal holes (not illustrated) for press-fitting coil terminals 27, 27 of the electromagnetic device 20 are provided at adjacent corner portions on the front side of the placement space 12 in FIG.\",\n \"2.Further, the placement space 12 is provided with a rib 13 having a flat gate shape at the rear-side corner portion in FIG.\",\n \"2.The rib 13 is provided with a press-fit groove 14 for press-fitting a yoke 32, which will be described later, into the corner portion of the inner side surface thereof.\",\n \"The rib 13 has, on its facing outer side surfaces, engaging claw portions 15 for fixing a casing 70, which will be described later, onto the rib 13.As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2, the electromagnetic device 20 includes a spool 21, a primary coil 30, an iron core 31, and the yoke 32.As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5, the spool 21 is formed of a cylindrical body 22 and guard portions 24, 25 formed integrally at both axial ends of the cylindrical body 22.As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"6A and 6B, the cylindrical body 22 is provided with a through hole 23 in which the iron core 31 having a T-shaped cross section can be inserted from the upper opening to prevent it from coming off.\",\n \"Further, as illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"5 to 7B, a secondary coil 26 formed along the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 22 is formed by the molded interconnect device (MID) molding method, for example.\",\n \"The MID molding method is a method in which a molded article made of a material obtained by mixing a resin and a conductive material is irradiated with a laser in a predetermined pattern to remove the resin and then metal plating is performed on the exposed conductive material, thereby forming a desired circuit pattern.\",\n \"In the embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"5, 7A and 7B, patterns 26a are formed at predetermined pitches in the secondary coil 26, the patterns 26a extending in a circumferential direction along the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 22 and being axially parallel to each other.\",\n \"Then, the patterns 26a, which are adjacent to each other vertically, are connected by a stepped auxiliary pattern 26b (FIG.\",\n \"7A).\",\n \"Further, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7B, the lower end of the secondary coil 26 is connected to a lead wire 26c (FIG.\",\n \"6A) along the substantially axial direction on the inner peripheral surface of the through hole 23 of the cylindrical body 22 through a communication hole 22a provided in the cylindrical body 22, the lead wire 26c having been formed by metal plating by the MID molding method, for example.\",\n \"The lead wire 26c is connected to a lead wire 26d provided on the upper surface of the guard portion 24 by metal plating by the MID molding method, for example.\",\n \"The lead wire 26d is connected to a lead wire 26e (FIG.\",\n \"7A) formed by metal plating on the rear surface of the guard portion 24 through a communication hole 24a (FIG.\",\n \"6B) provided in the guard portion 24.The lead wire 26e is connected to the upper end of the secondary coil 26.Therefore, the secondary coil 26 forms a closed circuit.\",\n \"Note that a light emitting element 33 and a resistor 34 are connected in series to the lead wire 26d formed in the guard portion 24 (FIG.\",\n \"6A).\",\n \"The light emitting element 33 functions as an example of an operation indicator lamp, and as a specific example, it is a light-emitting diode (LED).\",\n \"In the embodiment, the light emitting element 33 and the resistor 34 are directly connected to the lead wire 26d of the guard portion 24.There is thus an advantage that the number of parts and assembling steps in the assembling process are small, the productivity is high, and the electromagnetic device 20 which is space-saving can be obtained.\",\n \"Further, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6A, the spool 21 is provided with a recess 25a for fitting the yoke 32, which will be described later, to the guard portion 25.In addition, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5, the coil terminals 27, 27 are press-fitted into terminal holes 25b, 25b provided on the side end face of the guard portion 25 (FIG.\",\n \"4).\",\n \"An insulating film 30a is wound around the cylindrical body 22 of the spool 21 as an example of an insulating material, and a conductive wire 30b is wound around the insulating film 30a to form the primary coil 30, thus constituting the primary coil 30.A extended wire from the conductive wire 30b of the primary coil 30 is then soldered by being bound to binding portions 27a, 27a of the coil terminals 27, 27 (FIG.\",\n \"3).\",\n \"In the embodiment, ribs 28, 28 capable of press-fitting connection terminals (not illustrated) are formed on the guard portion 24 of the spool 21.This is because the spool 21 is used for assembling other electromagnetic relays.\",\n \"The yoke 32 is a magnetic material having an L-shaped cross section, and as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2, a support portion 32a is formed by cutting out the upper end thereof.\",\n \"Further, the yoke 32 has a caulking hole 32c in a horizontal portion 32b of the yoke 32.Then, an iron core body of the iron core 31 is inserted into the through hole 23 of the cylindrical body 22 of the spool 21 around which the primary coil 30 is wound.\",\n \"A one end 31a, connected to one end of the iron core body and protruding like a guard from one end of the cylindrical body 22, is fixed, for example by caulking, to the caulking hole 32c of the yoke 32.Meanwhile, the other end, connected to the other end of the iron core body and protruding like a guard from the other end of the cylindrical body 22, is taken as a magnetic pole portion 31b.\",\n \"Therefore, the iron core 31 is a magnetic material (FIG.\",\n \"2) having a T-shaped cross section made up of the iron core body with the one end 31a and the magnetic pole portion 31b, and the iron core body of the iron core 31 has a cross-sectional area capable of being inserted through the through hole 23 of the cylindrical body 22 of the spool 21.As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2, the movable iron piece 40 is formed of a magnetic material bent into a substantially L-shaped cross section.\",\n \"The movable iron piece 40 is rotatably supported around the support portion 32a of the yoke 32 via a hinge spring 35 fixed to the rear surface of the yoke 32, for example by caulking.\",\n \"As a result, the movable iron piece 40 has a horizontal portion (plate portion) 41 which faces so as to be able to contact and separate from the magnetic pole portion 31b of the iron core 31.In the movable iron piece 40, the horizontal portion 41 is provided with a notch 42 for visually checking the light emitting element 33.In other words, the notch 42 is configured to transmit the light, emitted by the light emitting element 33, to the outside.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3, the contact mechanism 50 includes a fixed contact terminal 51 to which a normally closed fixed contact 51a is fixed, for example by caulking, a movable touch piece 52 to which a movable contact 52a is fixed, for example by caulking, and a fixed contact terminal 53 to which a normally open fixed contact 53a is fixed, for example by caulking As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1, a terminal portion 51b of the fixed contact terminal 51, a terminal portion 52b of the movable touch piece 52, and a terminal portion 53b of the fixed contact terminal 53 are press-fitted into the base 11, to form the contact mechanism 50.As a result, the movable contact 52a faces the normally closed fixed contact 51a and the normally open fixed contact 53a so as to be able to contact and separate from each other.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"1 to 4, the card 60 has a recess (not illustrated) engaging with a lower end 43 of the movable iron piece 40 on one side of the facing front and rear surfaces, while the card 60 has an operating protrusion 61 projecting from the other side thereof.\",\n \"Then, the card 60 engages the recess with the lower end 43 of the movable iron piece 40 assembled to the yoke 32.As a result, the operating protrusion 61 is pressure-welded to the movable touch piece 52 through a through hole 51c of the fixed contact terminal 51.The casing 70 has a box shape that can be fitted to the base 11, and an engagement hole 71 is provided in the lower side edge of each of the facing side surfaces.\",\n \"The ceiling surface of the casing 70 is provided with an operation check window 72 through which the light emitting element 33 can be checked visually.\",\n \"An example of the operation check window 72 is a transparent window.\",\n \"That is, the operation check window 72 is disposed to face the notch 42, and is configured so as to guide the light, emitted by the light emitting element 33, to the outside through the notch 42 and the operation check window 72.Next, the operation of the electromagnetic relay 10 will be described.\",\n \"First, when no voltage is applied to the primary coil 30 of the electromagnetic device 20, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1, no induced current is generated in the secondary coil 26, and the light emitting element 33 is not lit.\",\n \"Further, the movable touch piece 52 biases the lower end 43 of the movable iron piece 40 via the card 60.The movable contact 52a is thus in contact with the normally closed fixed contact 51a.\",\n \"The horizontal portion 41 of the movable iron piece 40 is separated from the magnetic pole portion 31b of the iron core 31.When a voltage is applied to the primary coil 30 for excitation, the magnetic line of force passing through the iron core 31 attracts the horizontal portion 41 of the movable iron piece 40 to the magnetic pole portion 31b of the iron core 31.Then, against the spring force of the movable touch piece 52, the movable iron piece 40 rotates around the support portion 32a of the yoke 32, and the lower end 43 of the movable iron piece 40 presses the card 60.Therefore, the operating protrusion 61 of the card 60 presses the movable touch piece 52, and the movable touch piece 52 rotates.\",\n \"As a result, the movable contact 52a is separated from the normally closed fixed contact 51a, and thereafter comes into contact with the normally open fixed contact 53a.\",\n \"Then, the horizontal portion 41 of the movable iron piece 40 is attracted to the magnetic pole portion 31b of the iron core 31.When a voltage is applied to the primary coil 30, an induced current flows through the secondary coil 26 by electromagnetic induction, and the light emitting element 33 is lit via the lead wire 26d and the like.\",\n \"The light of the light emitting element 33 is then transmitted through the notch 42 of the movable iron piece 40 provided above the light emitting element 33 and the operation check window 72, and whether or not the light emitting element 33 is lit can be checked from the operation check window 72 of the casing 70.Hence in the embodiment, the light emitting element 33 continues to emit light while a voltage is applied to the primary coil 30, so that whether or not the electromagnetic relay 10 is in operation can be determined from the outside of the electromagnetic relay 10.Note that at least a part of the casing 70 may have the operation check window 72 which is translucent or transparent so that the light of the light emitting element 33 can be visually checked from the outside.\",\n \"Subsequently, when the application of the voltage to the primary coil 30 is stopped, the magnetic line of force passing through the iron core 31 disappears, and the movable touch piece 52 pushes back the movable iron piece 40 via the card 60.Thus, after being separated from the normally open fixed contact 53a, the movable contact 52a comes into contact with the normally closed fixed contact 51a and returns to its original position.\",\n \"Then, the induced current flowing through the secondary coil 26 disappears, and the light emitting element 33 is turned off.\",\n \"This enables visual checking that the electromagnetic relay 10 has stopped operating.\",\n \"According to the embodiment, with the secondary coil 26 formed by metal plating, it is possible to obtain the electromagnetic device 20 more compact in size and smaller in bulk than that of the conventional example.\",\n \"Further, according to the embodiment, there is no need to bind the extended wire of the coil to the coil terminal as in the conventional example, thus facilitating the connection work, so that the electromagnetic device 20 with high productivity can be obtained.\",\n \"In the embodiment, the light emitting element 33 is directly attached to the guard portion 24 of the spool 21.Therefore, it is unnecessary to attach the light emitting element 33 to the guard portion 24 of the spool 21 via the connection terminal.\",\n \"Furthermore, there is no need to electrically connect the light emitting element 33 to the connection terminal via a lead wire.\",\n \"This eliminates the need to do assembling work and soldering work on the connection terminal, and the electromagnetic device with high productivity can be obtained with small numbers of parts and assembling steps.\",\n \"Further, the secondary coil 26 is formed in advance on the cylindrical body 22 of the spool 21 by metal plating, for example, the MID molding method, thus eliminating the need to do winding work on the secondary coil 26, so that the productivity is further improved.\",\n \"Moreover, the light emitting element 33 is lit by an induced current flowing through the secondary coil 26.This eliminates the need to obtain the power, which is necessary for lighting the light emitting element 33, from an external power supply.\",\n \"As a result, it is unnecessary to connect the light emitting element 33 to the external power supply, and an electromagnetic device 20 having a simple structure can be obtained.\",\n \"Although the secondary coil 26 of the electromagnetic device 20 according to the embodiment is provided with the stepped auxiliary pattern 26b in a part of the secondary coil 26, a smoothly continuous spiral secondary coil may be formed.\",\n \"Further, the communication holes 22a, 24a of the spool 21 may be formed in a mortar shape in order to facilitate laser irradiation performed in the MID molding method.\",\n \"A variety of embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, and lastly, a variety of aspects of the present invention will be described.\",\n \"A electromagnetic device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention includes: a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole; a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating; and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil.\",\n \"An induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.\",\n \"According to the first aspect of the present invention, with the secondary coil formed by metal plating, an electromagnetic device more compact in size and smaller in bulk than that of the conventional example can be obtained.\",\n \"Further, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is no need to bind the extended wire of the coil to the coil terminal as in the conventional example, thus facilitating the connection work, so that an electromagnetic device with high productivity can be obtained.\",\n \"According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the guard portion may be provided at at least one end of the cylindrical body, and both ends of the secondary coil, formed on an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body, are electrically connected to each other by a lead wire formed by metal plating through a communication hole provided in the cylindrical body and the guard portion and an inner peripheral surface of the through hole in the cylindrical body.\",\n \"According to the second aspect, both ends of the secondary coil are connected by metal plating, thus eliminating the need to connect the both ends by the lead wire of the conductive wire.\",\n \"This can lead to further reduction in the occupied space and the size.\",\n \"This further facilitates the connection work, thereby enabling saving of labor, so that an electromagnetic device with even higher productivity can be obtained.\",\n \"In a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, there may be provided an operation indicator lamp, fixed to the guard portion and electrically connected to the secondary coil.\",\n \"According to the third aspect, the operation indicator lamp provided on the guard portion is electrically connected to the secondary coil, thereby facilitating the connection work on the operation indicator lamp.\",\n \"In addition, with the operation indicator lamp installed directly on the guard portion, a large wiring space is not required and the device can thus be made more compact in size.\",\n \"Furthermore, the operation indicator lamp is lit by the induced current generated at the time when a voltage is applied to the primary coil, and hence an electromagnetic device with an energy saving can be obtained.\",\n \"In a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect, the operation indicator lamp may be a light-emitting diode (LED).\",\n \"According to the fourth aspect, it is possible to obtain an electromagnetic device provided with an operation indicator lamp with a further energy saving.\",\n \"An electromagnetic relay according to a fifth aspect of the present invention has a configuration in which the above electromagnetic device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects is incorporated into a base.\",\n \"According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the secondary coil is formed by metal plating, so that the electromagnetic device is more compact in size and smaller in bulk than that of the conventional example It is thus possible to obtain a compact electromagnetic relay.\",\n \"It is not necessary to bind the extended wire of the coil to the coil terminal as in the conventional example, thus facilitating the connection work, so that an electromagnetic relay with high productivity can be obtained.\",\n \"According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect, a movable iron piece may be disposed so as to be attracted by magnetic force to a magnetic pole portion of an iron core protruding from the flange portion provided at at least one end of the cylindrical body among iron cores inserted through the through holes of the spool, the magnetic force being generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, and the movable iron piece may be provided with a notch through which light of the operation indicator lamp is transmitted.\",\n \"According to the sixth aspect, the light of the operation indicator lamp provided on the guard portion of the electromagnetic device transmits through the notch provided in the movable iron piece, so that the light can be checked visually.\",\n \"It is therefore possible to visually check an operating state through the notch, thereby to obtain an electromagnetic relay with high safety and a user's sense of security.\",\n \"According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect, there may be provided an operation check window configured to transmit the light of the operation indicator lamp on an outer peripheral surface of a casing fitted to the base.\",\n \"According to the seventh aspect, the operation indicator lamp can be checked through the operation check window provided in the casing, and an electromagnetic relay with good usability can be obtained.\",\n \"According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the seventh aspect, the operation check window may be a transparent window provided in the casing.\",\n \"According to the eighth aspect, with no through hole provided in the casing, no fault occurs based on intrusion of dust or the like, and there is an effect that an electromagnetic relay with high reliability can be obtained.\",\n \"Note that by appropriately combining freely selected embodiments or modifications of the above variety of embodiments and modifications, it is possible to achieve the respective effects of those combined.\",\n \"While it is possible to combine embodiments, combine examples, or combine an embodiment and an example, it is also possible to combine features in different embodiments or examples.\",\n \"The electromagnetic device and the electromagnetic relay using the electromagnetic device according to the present invention are not limited to the above electromagnetic device and may be applied to other electromagnetic devices and electromagnetic relays incorporating the electromagnetic devices.\",\n \"While the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, a variety of modifications or corrections will be apparent to those skilled in the art.\",\n \"Such modifications or corrections are to be understood as being included in the scope of the invention according to the appended claims so long as not deviating therefrom.\",\n \"DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 electromagnetic relay 11 base 12 placement space 13 rib 14 press-fit groove 15 engaging claw portion 20 electromagnetic device 21 spool 22 cylindrical body 22a communication hole 23 through hole 24 guard portion 25 guard portion 24a communication hole 26 secondary coil 26a pattern 26b auxiliary pattern 26c lead wire 26d lead wire 26e lead wire 30 primary coil 31 iron core 31b magnetic pole portion 32 yoke 33 light emitting element 34 resistor 35 hinge spring 40 movable iron piece 41 horizontal portion 42 notch 50 contact mechanism 51 fixed contact terminal 51a normally closed fixed contact 52 movable touch piece 52a movable contact 53 fixed contact terminal 53a normally open fixed contact 60 card 61 operating protrusion 70 casing 71 engagement hole 72 operation check window\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876072"}}},{"rowIdx":4495070,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR VIRTUAL AND PHYSICAL NETWORK INTEGRATION","The disclosure herein describes a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) gateway.","During operation, the VXLAN gateway receives, from a physical host, an Ethernet packet destined for a virtual machine residing in a remote layer-2 network broadcast domain that is different from a local layer-2 network broadcast domain where the physical host resides.","The VXLAN gateway then determines a VXLAN identifier for the received Ethernet packet.","The VXLAN gateway further encapsulates the Ethernet packet with the virtual extensible local area network identifier and an Internet Protocol (IP) header, and forwards the encapsulated packet to an IP network, thereby allowing the packet to be transported to the virtual machine via the IP network and allowing the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain and the local layer-2 network broadcast domain to be part of a common layer-2 broadcast domain."],["1-21.","(canceled) 22.For a physical device separate from sources and destinations of packets in a network, a method for implementing a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) gateway, the method comprising: through an IP network to which the physical device implementing the gateway connects, receiving an encapsulated packet that originated from a virtual machine residing in a remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; decapsulating the packet by removing an IP header of the packet and identifying a VXLAN identifier for the packet, wherein an Ethernet packet remains after decapsulation; based at least in part on the VXLAN identifier, determining that a destination for the Ethernet packet is a server separate from the physical device implementing the gateway, the server residing in a local layer-2 network broadcast domain that is different from the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; and forwarding the Ethernet packet to the server on the local layer-2 network broadcast domain.","23.The method of claim 22 further comprising maintaining a data structure that maps the VXLAN identifier to at least one of (i) the server's medium access control (MAC) address and (ii) the server's virtual local area network (VLAN) tag.","24.The method of claim 22, wherein the VXLAN gateway is a first VXLAN gateway, wherein the packet is encapsulated by a second VXLAN gateway to add the VXLAN identifier and IP header to the packet, wherein the method further comprises establishing a tunnel with the second VXLAN gateway.","25.The method of claim 22 further comprising: receiving, from the server, a second Ethernet packet destined for the machine residing in the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; encapsulating the second Ethernet packet with the VXLAN identifier and a second IP header; and forwarding the encapsulated second packet to the IP network, thereby allowing the packet to be transmitted to the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain.","26.The method of claim 25 further comprising determining that the second Ethernet packet maps to the VXLAN identifier.","27.The method of claim 22 further comprising receiving configuration information from a controller, wherein the configuration comprises mapping information that maps a set of addresses to the VXLAN identifier.","28.The method of claim 27, wherein the controller is an OpenFlow controller, wherein the configuration information is received as a set of flows from the OpenFlow controller.","29.The method of claim 22, wherein the destination of the Ethernet packet is a virtual machine that operates on the server, wherein a virtual switch that operates on the physical host is not configured to decapsulate packets with VXLAN identifiers.","30.The method of claim 22, wherein the IP header comprises a destination address corresponding to the VXLAN gateway.","31.The method of claim 22, wherein the server is a first server, the local layer-2 network broadcast domain is a first local layer-2 network broadcast domain, the encapsulated packet is a first encapsulated packet, the Ethernet packet is a first Ethernet packet, the machine is a first machine, the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain is a first remote layer-2 network domain, and the VXLAN identifier is a first VXLAN identifier, the method further comprising: receiving, through the IP network, a second encapsulated packet that originated from a second machine residing in a second remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; decapsulating the second packet by removing an IP header of the second packet and identifying a second VXLAN identifier for the packet, wherein a second Ethernet packet remains after decapsulation; and based at least in part on the second VXLAN identifier, determining that a destination for the second Ethernet packet is a second server separate from the physical device implementing the VXLAN gateway, the second server residing in the second local layer-2 network broadcast domain; and forwarding the second Ethernet packet to the second server on the second local layer-2 network broadcast domain.","32.A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program which when executed by a set of processing units of a physical device separate from sources and destinations of packets in a network implements a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) gateway, the program comprising sets of instructions for: through an IP network to which the physical device implementing the gateway connects, receiving an encapsulated packet that originated from a virtual machine residing in a remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; decapsulating the packet by removing an IP header of the packet and identifying a VXLAN identifier for the packet, wherein an Ethernet packet remains after decapsulation; based at least in part on the VXLAN identifier, determining that a destination for the Ethernet packet is a server separate from the physical device implementing the gateway, the server residing in a local layer-2 network broadcast domain that is different from the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; and forwarding the Ethernet packet to the server on the local layer-2 network broadcast domain.","33.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for maintaining a data structure that maps the VXLAN identifier to at least one of (i) the server's medium access control (MAC) address and (ii) the server's virtual local area network (VLAN) tag.","34.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the VXLAN gateway is a first VXLAN gateway, wherein the packet is encapsulated by a second VXLAN gateway to add the VXLAN identifier and IP header to the packet, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for establishing a tunnel with the second VXLAN gateway.","35.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32 wherein the program further comprises sets of instructions for: receiving, from the server, a second Ethernet packet destined for the machine residing in the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; encapsulating the second Ethernet packet with the VXLAN identifier and a second IP header; and forwarding the encapsulated second packet to the IP network, thereby allowing the packet to be transmitted to the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain.","36.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 35, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for determining that the second Ethernet packet maps to the VXLAN identifier.","37.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for receiving configuration information from a controller, wherein the configuration comprises mapping information that maps a set of addresses to the VXLAN identifier.","38.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 37, wherein the controller is an OpenFlow controller, wherein the configuration information is received as a set of flows from the OpenFlow controller.","39.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the destination of the Ethernet packet is a virtual machine that operates on the server, wherein a virtual switch that operates on the physical host is not configured to decapsulate packets with VXLAN identifiers.","40.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the IP header comprises a destination address corresponding to the VXLAN gateway.","41.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the server is a first server, the local layer-2 network broadcast domain is a first local layer-2 network broadcast domain, the encapsulated packet is a first encapsulated packet, the Ethernet packet is a first Ethernet packet, the machine is a first machine, the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain is a first remote layer-2 network domain, and the VXLAN identifier is a first VXLAN identifier, wherein the program further comprises sets of instructions for: receiving, through the IP network, a second encapsulated packet that originated from a second machine residing in a second remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; decapsulating the second packet by removing an IP header of the second packet and identifying a second VXLAN identifier for the packet, wherein a second Ethernet packet remains after decapsulation; and based at least in part on the second VXLAN identifier, determining that a destination for the second Ethernet packet is a second server separate from the physical device implementing the VXLAN gateway, the second server residing in the second local layer-2 network broadcast domain; and forwarding the second Ethernet packet to the second server on the second local layer-2 network broadcast domain."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>The exponential growth of the Internet has made it a ubiquitous delivery medium for a variety of applications.","Such applications have in turn brought with them an increasing demand for bandwidth.","As a result, service providers race to build larger and faster data centers with versatile capabilities.","Meanwhile, advances in virtualization technologies have made it possible to implement a large number of virtual machines (VMs) in a data center.","These virtual machines can essentially operate as physical hosts and perform a variety of functions such as Web or database servers.","Because virtual machines are implemented in software, they can freely migrate to various locations.","This capability allows service providers to partition and isolate physical resources (e.g., computing power and network capacity) according to customer needs, and to allocate such resources dynamically.","While virtualization brings unprecedented flexibility to service providers, the conventional layer-2 network architecture, however, tends to be rigid and cannot readily accommodate the dynamic nature of virtual machines.","For example, in conventional data center architecture, hosts are often inter-connected by one or more layer-2 (e.g., Ethernet) switches to form a layer-2 broadcast domain.","The physical reach of a layer-2 broadcast domain is limited by the transmission medium.","As a result, different data centers are typically associated with different layer-2 broadcast domains, and multiple layer-2 broadcast domains could exist within a single data center.","For a VM in one data center to communicate with a VM or a storage device in another data center, such communication would need to be carried over layer-3 networks.","That is, the packets between the source and destination have to be processed and forwarded by layer-3 devices (e.g., IP routers), since the source and destination belong to different layer-2 broadcast domains.","While this architecture has benefits, flat layer-2 processing has its advantages.","In fact, it would be desirable to exploit the advantages of both layer-3 and layer-2 models and processing capabilities in the network.","One technique to solve the problems described above is to implement a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN).","VXLAN is a standard network virtualization technology managed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and works by creating a logical layer-2 network that is overlaid above a layer-3 IP network.","Ethernet packets generated by VMs are encapsulated in an IP header before they are transported to a remote data center where the IP header is removed and the original Ethernet packet is delivered to the destination.","The IP encapsulation mechanism allows a logical layer-2 broadcast domain to be extended to an arbitrary number of remote locations, and allows different data centers or different sections of the same data center (and hence the VMs and devices therein) to be in the same layer-2 broadcast domain.","The VXLAN function typically resides within a host's hypervisor, and works in conjunction with the hypervisor's virtual switch.","More details of VXLAN can be found in IETF draft “VXLAN: A Framework for Overlaying Virtualized Layer 2 Networks over Layer 3 Networks,” available at https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-mahalingam-dutt-dcops-vxlan-02, which is incorporated by reference here.","Existing VXLAN implementations, however, cannot easily accommodate a mixture of physical hosts and VMs in the same logical layer-2 broadcast domain.","This is because by default the VXLAN feature in a hypervisor encapsulates Ethernet packets generated by a VM that belongs to a certain VXLAN.","A physical host, on the other hand, cannot easily participate in the same VXLAN because there is no mechanism to encapsulate the Ethernet packets it generates, which would otherwise allow the Ethernet packets to be delivered to other VXLAN-capable VMs."],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>The disclosure herein describes a network communication system that facilitates the integration of virtual and physical network devices.","Specifically, the system provides a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) gateway.","During operation, the VXLAN gateway receives, from a physical host, an Ethernet packet destined for a virtual machine residing in a remote layer-2 network broadcast domain that is different from a local layer-2 network broadcast domain where the physical host resides.","The VXLAN gateway then determines a VXLAN network identifier (VNI) for the received Ethernet packet.","The VXLAN gateway further encapsulates the Ethernet packet with the VNI and an Internet Protocol (IP) header, and forwards the encapsulated packet to an IP network, thereby allowing the packet to be transported to the virtual machine via the IP network and allowing the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain and the local layer-2 network broadcast domain to be part of a common layer-2 broadcast domain.","Ethernet packet received from the physical host can be an address resolution protocol (ARP) request packet.","In addition, the VXLAN gateway maintains a data structure that maps the VNI to an IP multicast group.","The VXLAN gateway also sets a destination IP address in the IP header to be an IP address corresponding to the IP multicast group.","The VXLAN gateway can also maintain a data structure that maps the physical host's medium access control (MAC) address and optionally the physical host's virtual local area network (VLAN) tag to the VNI.","The data structure may also contain entries to encompass all the physical hosts on a specific VLAN.","This is indicated as a mapping between the VNI and VLAN tag without any host-specific information.","Additionally, the VXLAN gateway can receive a packet from the virtual machine, wherein the packet includes an outer Ethernet header, an IP header, and an inner Ethernet header.","The VXLAN gateway then decapsulates the packet received from the virtual machine by removing its outer Ethernet header and IP header and forwards the decapsulated packet to the physical host.","The VXLAN gateway can further establish a tunnel with a second virtual extensible local area network gateway, thereby joining two layer-2 network broadcast domains with a common VNI.","Optionally, the VXLAN gateway can receive configuration information from an OpenFlow controller."],["RELATED APPLICATION This application claims the benefit of U.S.","Provisional Application No.","61/683,100, Attorney Docket Number A954.PRO, entitled “VIRTUAL AND PHYSICAL NETWORKING INTEGRATION WITH VXLAN GATEWAYS,” by inventors Thayumanavan Sridhar and Margaret Petrus, filed 14 Aug. 2012.BACKGROUND The exponential growth of the Internet has made it a ubiquitous delivery medium for a variety of applications.","Such applications have in turn brought with them an increasing demand for bandwidth.","As a result, service providers race to build larger and faster data centers with versatile capabilities.","Meanwhile, advances in virtualization technologies have made it possible to implement a large number of virtual machines (VMs) in a data center.","These virtual machines can essentially operate as physical hosts and perform a variety of functions such as Web or database servers.","Because virtual machines are implemented in software, they can freely migrate to various locations.","This capability allows service providers to partition and isolate physical resources (e.g., computing power and network capacity) according to customer needs, and to allocate such resources dynamically.","While virtualization brings unprecedented flexibility to service providers, the conventional layer-2 network architecture, however, tends to be rigid and cannot readily accommodate the dynamic nature of virtual machines.","For example, in conventional data center architecture, hosts are often inter-connected by one or more layer-2 (e.g., Ethernet) switches to form a layer-2 broadcast domain.","The physical reach of a layer-2 broadcast domain is limited by the transmission medium.","As a result, different data centers are typically associated with different layer-2 broadcast domains, and multiple layer-2 broadcast domains could exist within a single data center.","For a VM in one data center to communicate with a VM or a storage device in another data center, such communication would need to be carried over layer-3 networks.","That is, the packets between the source and destination have to be processed and forwarded by layer-3 devices (e.g., IP routers), since the source and destination belong to different layer-2 broadcast domains.","While this architecture has benefits, flat layer-2 processing has its advantages.","In fact, it would be desirable to exploit the advantages of both layer-3 and layer-2 models and processing capabilities in the network.","One technique to solve the problems described above is to implement a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN).","VXLAN is a standard network virtualization technology managed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and works by creating a logical layer-2 network that is overlaid above a layer-3 IP network.","Ethernet packets generated by VMs are encapsulated in an IP header before they are transported to a remote data center where the IP header is removed and the original Ethernet packet is delivered to the destination.","The IP encapsulation mechanism allows a logical layer-2 broadcast domain to be extended to an arbitrary number of remote locations, and allows different data centers or different sections of the same data center (and hence the VMs and devices therein) to be in the same layer-2 broadcast domain.","The VXLAN function typically resides within a host's hypervisor, and works in conjunction with the hypervisor's virtual switch.","More details of VXLAN can be found in IETF draft “VXLAN: A Framework for Overlaying Virtualized Layer 2 Networks over Layer 3 Networks,” available at https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-mahalingam-dutt-dcops-vxlan-02, which is incorporated by reference here.","Existing VXLAN implementations, however, cannot easily accommodate a mixture of physical hosts and VMs in the same logical layer-2 broadcast domain.","This is because by default the VXLAN feature in a hypervisor encapsulates Ethernet packets generated by a VM that belongs to a certain VXLAN.","A physical host, on the other hand, cannot easily participate in the same VXLAN because there is no mechanism to encapsulate the Ethernet packets it generates, which would otherwise allow the Ethernet packets to be delivered to other VXLAN-capable VMs.","SUMMARY The disclosure herein describes a network communication system that facilitates the integration of virtual and physical network devices.","Specifically, the system provides a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) gateway.","During operation, the VXLAN gateway receives, from a physical host, an Ethernet packet destined for a virtual machine residing in a remote layer-2 network broadcast domain that is different from a local layer-2 network broadcast domain where the physical host resides.","The VXLAN gateway then determines a VXLAN network identifier (VNI) for the received Ethernet packet.","The VXLAN gateway further encapsulates the Ethernet packet with the VNI and an Internet Protocol (IP) header, and forwards the encapsulated packet to an IP network, thereby allowing the packet to be transported to the virtual machine via the IP network and allowing the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain and the local layer-2 network broadcast domain to be part of a common layer-2 broadcast domain.","Ethernet packet received from the physical host can be an address resolution protocol (ARP) request packet.","In addition, the VXLAN gateway maintains a data structure that maps the VNI to an IP multicast group.","The VXLAN gateway also sets a destination IP address in the IP header to be an IP address corresponding to the IP multicast group.","The VXLAN gateway can also maintain a data structure that maps the physical host's medium access control (MAC) address and optionally the physical host's virtual local area network (VLAN) tag to the VNI.","The data structure may also contain entries to encompass all the physical hosts on a specific VLAN.","This is indicated as a mapping between the VNI and VLAN tag without any host-specific information.","Additionally, the VXLAN gateway can receive a packet from the virtual machine, wherein the packet includes an outer Ethernet header, an IP header, and an inner Ethernet header.","The VXLAN gateway then decapsulates the packet received from the virtual machine by removing its outer Ethernet header and IP header and forwards the decapsulated packet to the physical host.","The VXLAN gateway can further establish a tunnel with a second virtual extensible local area network gateway, thereby joining two layer-2 network broadcast domains with a common VNI.","Optionally, the VXLAN gateway can receive configuration information from an OpenFlow controller.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES FIG.","1 illustrates an exemplary network architecture that facilitates a VXLAN gateway.","FIG.","2 illustrates header format for a conventional Ethernet packet and its VXLAN encapsulation.","FIG.","3 presents a time-space diagram illustrating an exemplary process of a physical host initiating communication with a VM across an IP network, via a VXLAN gateway.","FIG.","4 presents a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process of a physical host communicating with a VM via a VXLAN gateway.","FIG.","5 illustrates an exemplary network architecture where two remotely located data centers are joined to form a single layer-2 broadcast domain by VXLAN gateways.","FIG.","6 illustrates an exemplary network architecture that facilitates configuration of a VXLAN gateway using an OpeFlow controller.","FIG.","7 illustrates an exemplary computer system that facilitates a VXLAN gateway.","In the figures, like reference numerals refer to the same figure elements.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the embodiments, and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements.","Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.","Thus, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.","Embodiments of the system disclosed herein solve the problem of enabling VXLAN-encapsulated communication between a VM and a physical host by facilitating a VXLAN gateway, which serves as a gateway for the physical host and performs VXLAN encapsulation and decapsulation on behalf of the physical host.","As mentioned above, the VXLAN feature in a hypervisor (such as the ESX® product family by VMware, Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif.) automatically encapsulates an Ethernet packet generated by a VM that is part of a VXLAN-enabled Ethernet broadcast domain.","There is currently no ready-to-use mechanism that can allow a physical host, which does not have this VXLAN feature in its protocol stack, to participate in this VXLAN-enabled broadcast domain.","This is because there is no device in the network that can encapsulate the physical host's Ethernet packet with VXLAN headers.","To solve this problem, a VXLAN gateway residing in the same layer-2 broadcast domain as the physical host can perform the VXLAN encapsulation and decapsulation on behalf of the physical host.","FIG.","1 illustrates an exemplary network architecture that facilitates a VXLAN gateway.","In this example, an IP network 100 couples several conventional layer-2 networks.","Specifically, a host 102 is coupled to an IP router 130.Host 102 hosts a number of VMs: 108, 110, and 112.VMs 108 and 110 belong to VXLAN 1, and VM 112 belongs to VXLAN 2.Virtualization software 104 (such as a hypervisor) manages the VMs in host 102, and includes a VXLAN module 106.VXLAN module 106 is responsible for encapsulating and decapsulating the Ethernet packets generated by VMs 108, 110, and 112.Similarly, a host 103 is coupled to an IP router 132.Host 103 hosts a number of VMs: 118, 120, and 122.VM 118 belongs to VXLAN 1, and VMs 120 and 122 belong to VXLAN 2.Virtualization software 114 manages VMs 118, 120, and 122, and includes a VXLAN module 116.When VMs within the same VXLAN communicate with each other, the Ethernet packet generated by a VM is encapsulated with an IP header and then delivered to the VXLAN module in the destination physical host (which owns the destination IP address).","For example, when VM 108 communicates with VM 118, VM 108 generates an Ethernet packet with VM 118's MAC address as its MAC destination address (DA).","(Note that VMs within the same VXLAN are in the same logical layer-2 broadcast domain, and are therefore assumed to learn each other's MAC address.)","When this Ethernet packet reaches VXLAN module 106, VXLAN module 106 inspects the packet's MAC source address (SA), MAC DA, and optionally VLAN tag, and determines that both the source (VM 108) and destination (VM 118) belong to VXLAN 1.Furthermore, based on the packet's MAC DA, VXLAN module 106 determines the IP address of the destination physical host 103.In turn, VXLAN module 106 encapsulates this Ethernet packet with a proper VXLAN header and IP header (which will be described in more detail in conjunction with FIG.","2), and transmits this encapsulated packet to IP router 130.Since the encapsulated packet has an IP destination address that is associated with host 103, IP router 130 (and other IP routers in IP network 100) can then make the proper forwarding decision and forwards the encapsulated packet toward host 103.When host 103 receives the encapsulated packet, VXLAN module 116 first removes the IP header to expose the inner Ethernet packet.","Subsequently, based on both the VNI and the inner Ethernet header's MAC DA, virtualization software 114 forwards the inner Ethernet packet to VM 118.Note that when VXLAN 116 receives the Ethernet packet, it can establish a mapping relationship of the MAC SA of the inner Ethernet packet (which is VM 108's MAC address) and the IP source address (which is host 102's IP address).","Hence, when in the future VM 118 sends an Ethernet packet to VM 108, VXLAN module 116 can perform VXLAN encapsulation with host 102's IP address as the IP destination address.","In the situation where a source VM does not have knowledge of a destination VM's MAC address (and only the destination VM's IP address), the source VM typically issues an address resolution protocol (ARP) request with the destination VM's IP address.","This ARP request is a broadcast layer-2 message, which is supposed to be received by all the hosts (and VMs) in a layer-2 broadcast domain.","In the case of VXLAN, for example, when VM 108 sends out an ARP request, this ARP request first reaches VXLAN module 106.In turn, when VXLAN module 106 determines that it is an ARP request that is supposed to be broadcast to the entire VXLAN, VXLAN module 106 encapsulates the ARP request with an IP header that has an IP multicast group address as its destination IP address.","That is, each VXLAN is associated with an IP multicast tree that includes all the physical hosts in the VXLAN.","This way, when there is a broadcast packet for the entire VXLAN, a VXLAN module in a host's hypervisor can encapsulate the packet with an IP multicast header, and multicast this encapsulated packet to all the hosts in the VXLAN.","Hence, the ARP request would be multicast to all the hosts associated with the same VXLAN.","The VXLAN module on each receiving host would decapsulate the packet, and locally broadcast the inner ARP request to all the VMs belonging to that VXLAN.","In response, the VM that has an IP address that matches the one in the ARP request produces an ARP response, which would be encapsulated by the local VXLAN module and unicast back to the requesting VM.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","1, if a physical host (or a VM that is not VXLAN-capable) is coupled to IP network 100, either directly or via a layer-2 switch, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for the physical host to communicate with any VM that belongs to a VXLAN, because an Ethernet packet from the physical host cannot be delivered to any of the VMs since the Ethernet packet is not probably encapsulated with a VXLAN header and IP header.","One solution is to use a VXLAN gateway 124, which can be a stand-alone device that performs the functions of VXLAN module 106 or 108.For example, a physical host 126 can be coupled to VXLAN gateway 124 via a layer-2 switch 127.Physical host 126 belongs to VLAN 1, which is mapped to VXLAN 1 by VXLAN gateway 124.A physical host 128 can host a number of VMs 138, 140, and 142, which are not VXLAN enabled.","VM 138 belongs to VLAN 1, which maps to VXLAN 1.VMs 140 and 142 belong to VLAN 2, which maps to VXLAN 2.Host 128 is also coupled to VXLAN gateway 124.When physical host 126 is to communicate with VM 108, physical host 126 can send out an Ethernet packet with VM 108's MAC address as the MAC DA, its own MAC address as the MAC SA, and a VLAN tag corresponding to VLAN 1.When this Ethernet packet reaches VXLAN gateway 124, VXLAN gateway 124 inspects the packet's MAC SA and MAC DA, and its VLAN tag.","Note that VXLAN gateway maintains a set of mapping information that maps a MAC address and optionally a VLAN tag to a VXLAN.","Note that the data structure to maintain the mapping information may also contain entries to encompass all the physical hosts on a specific VLAN.","This is indicated as a mapping between the VNI and VLAN tag without any host-specific information.","If physical host 126 is properly configured, VXLAN gateway 124 would identify the Ethernet packet's MAC SA and MAC DA (and optionally VLAN tag) to be associated with VXLAN 1.","(Note that if the VLAN tag is present, VXLAN gateway 124 may directly map the VLAN to a VXLAN without using the MAC addresses.","If VLAN is not configured, however, VXLAN gateway 124 can map the MAC SA, MAC DA, or both, to the VXLAN.)","Furthermore, VXLAN gateway 124 also maintains a set of mapping information between a VM's MAC address and the IP address of that VM's physical host.","Hence, based on the MAC DA of the Ethernet packet generated by physical host 126, which is VM 108's MAC address, VXLAN gateway 124 determines that host 102's IP address should be used as the destination IP address for the VXLAN encapsulation.","In addition, VXLAN gateway 124 uses its own IP address as the source IP address for the encapsulation.","Subsequently, VXLAN encapsulates the Ethernet packet from host 126 with the proper VXLAN header and IP header and transmits the encapsulated packet to IP network 100.When the encapsulated packet reaches host 102, the encapsulated packet is forwarded to VXLAN module 106.VXLAN module 106 in turn removes the IP header to obtain the inner Ethernet packet.","Note that VXLAN module 106 can learn the mapping between the source IP address of the IP header (which is VXLAN gateway 124's IP address) and the MAC SA of the inner Ethernet packet (which is host 126's MAC address).","This mapping information is used to encapsulate outbound traffic to host 126.Subsequently, VXLAN module 106 forwards the inner Ethernet packet to VM 108 based on the MAC DA.","When VM 108 sends an Ethernet packet back to host 126, a similar VXLAN encapsulation/decapsulation process takes place.","Specifically, VXLAN module 106 identifies that the Ethernet packet from VM 108 to host 126 belongs to VXLAN 1.Furthermore, based on the Ethernet packet's MAC DA (which is host 126's MAC address), VXLAN module 106 identifies host 126's IP address as the destination IP address for the VXLAN encapsulation, and uses host 102's IP address as the source IP address.","Host 102 then sends the encapsulated Ethernet packet to IP network 100, which delivers the packet to VXLAN gateway 124.VXLAN gateway 124 then decapsulates the packet by removing its IP header, and forwards the inner Ethernet packet to host 126.FIG.","2 illustrates header format for a conventional Ethernet packet and its VXLAN encapsulation.","In this example, a conventional Ethernet packet 200 typically includes a payload 203 and an Ethernet header 208.Typically, payload 203 can include an IP packet which includes an IP header 206.Ethernet header 208 includes a MAC DA 204, a MAC SA 202, and optionally a VLAN tag 205.In one embodiment, VXLAN gateway 124 can encapsulate conventional Ethernet packet 200 into an encapsulated packet 220.Encapsulated packet 220 typically includes a VXLAN header 222 which contains a VNI to indicate the VXLAN to which inner Ethernet packet 200 belongs, a UDP header 218 which indicates the transport-layer protocol and port number reserved for VXLAN, and an outer IP header 210.In addition, encapsulated packet 220 includes an outer Ethernet header 212.Take, for example, Ethernet packet 200 as an Ethernet packet generated by host 126 and destined for VM 108.Typically, an upper layer application in host 126 would generate an IP packet destined for VM 108, using VM 108's IP address.","This IP packet becomes payload 203, and VM 108's IP address would be the destination IP address in IP header 206.In addition, host 126's IP address would be the source IP address in IP header 206.The datalink layer in host 126 then generates Ethernet header 208 to encapsulate payload 203.MAC DA 204 of Ethernet header 208 would be VM 108's MAC address, and MAC SA 202 of Ethernet header 208 would be host 126's MAC address.","This is based on the assumption that host 126 has learned VM 108's MAC address.","In the case where host 126 does not have knowledge of VM 108's MAC address, host 126 can use ARP to discover VM 108's MAC address.","This ARP process is described in conjunction with FIG.","3.Host 126 then sends Ethernet packet 200 to VXLAN gateway 124.When VXLAN gateway 124 receives Ethernet packet 200 from host 126, VXLAN gateway 124 inspects the Ethernet MAC DA 204, MAC SA 202, and optionally VLAN tag 205.Based on this information VXLAN gateway 124 determines that Ethernet packet 200 is associated with VXLAN 1.Furthermore, based on MAC DA 204, VXLAN gateway 124 determines that the destination IP address for VXLAN encapsulation is the IP address of host 102.Subsequently, VXLAN gateway 124 assembles the VXLAN header which includes VXLAN header 222 (corresponding to VXLAN 1), and attaches UDP header 218 which includes the appropriate UDP port number.","In addition, VXLAN gateway 124 assembles outer IP header 210 which uses host 102's IP address as the destination address, and VXLAN gateway 124's own IP address as the source address.","VXLAN gateway 124 then assembles an outer Ethernet header 212.Outer Ethernet header 212 is used to transport packet 220 from VXLAN gateway 124 to the next-hop IP router 134.Outer Ethernet header 212 has a MAC DA 214 which is IP router 134's MAC address, a MAC SA which is VXLAN gateway 124's MAC address, and optionally an outer VLAN tag 217.Once packet 220 reaches IP router 134, IP router 134 can remove outer Ethernet header 212 and forward the packet based on outer IP header 210.This process continues throughout IP network 100 until the packet reaches host 102.As mentioned above, when host 126 attempts to communicate with VM 108 for the very first time, host 126 might only have VM 108's IP address but not its MAC address.","To discover VM 108's MAC address, host 126 can perform an ARP query operation.","FIG.","3 presents a time-space diagram illustrating this process.","Initially, host 126 generates an ARP request message which is carried in an Ethernet broadcast packet 302.Host 126 then transmits broadcast packet 302 to VXLAN gateway 124.In turn, VXLAN gateway 124 identifies that host 126 belongs to VXLAN 1 based on the MAC SA of packet 302.In addition, since packet 302 is an Ethernet broadcast packet, VXLAN gateway 124 maps packet 302 to an IP multicast group corresponding to VXLAN 1, and generates an IP multicast header 303 to encapsulate packet 302.Note that the IP multicast group includes both hosts 102 and 103, since these two hosts both host VMs belonging to VXLAN 1 (VMs 108 and 110 on host 102, and VM 118 on host 103).","This IP multicast packet is then delivered by IP network 100 to both hosts 102 and 103.VXLAN module 106 on host 102 then removes IP header 303 from packet 302 and locally broadcasts packet 302 to all the VMs (i.e., VMs 108 and 110) belonging to VXLAN 1.In addition, VXLAN module 106 learns the mapping between host 126's MAC address, which is the MAC SA in packet 302, and the corresponding IP address, which is VXLAN gateway 124's IP address and the source IP address in the IP multicast packet.","Similarly, VXLAN module 116 on host 103 receives the same IP multicast packet and forwards the inner Ethernet broadcast packet 302 to VM 118 (not shown in FIG.","3).","Subsequently, VM 108 determines and its IP address matches the IP address in the ARP request in packet 302.In response, VM 108 generates an ARP response message and encapsulates it in an Ethernet unicast packet 304, which has host 126's MAC address as the MAC DA and VM 108's own MAC address as the MAC SA.","VXLAN module 106 on host 102 then encapsulates packet 304 with a unicast IP header 305.The source IP address of IP header 305 is host 102's IP address, and the destination IP address is VXLAN gateway 124's IP address.","When this unicast IP packet reaches VXLAN gateway 124, VXLAN gateway 124 removes IP header 305, and forwards the inner Ethernet packet 304 to host 126.In turn, host 126 retrieves the ARP response carried in packet 304, and learns VM 108's MAC address.","Next, host 126 generates a regular unicast Ethernet packet 306 that carries a payload to VM 108.The MAC DA of packet 306 is VM 108's MAC address, which was learned by host 126 based on packet 304 (the ARP response).","The MAC SA of packet 306 is host 126's MAC address.","VXLAN gateway 124 then encapsulates packet 306 with a VXLAN header followed by a unicast IP header 307.IP header 307 has host 102's IP address as its destination IP address, and VXLAN gateway 124's IP address as its source IP address.","Subsequently, VXLAN module 106 on host 102 removes IP header 307 and forwards inner Ethernet packet 306 to VM 108.When VM 108 sends an Ethernet packet 308 in return, VXLAN module 106 encapsulates packet 308 with a unicast IP header 309.Unicast IP header 309 has VXLAN gateway 124's IP address as its destination IP address, and host 102's IP address as its source IP address.","VXLAN gateway 124 then receives the encapsulated packet, removes IP header 309, and forwards inner Ethernet packet 308 to host 126.FIG.","4 presents a flow chart illustrating a general process of a physical host communicating with a VM via a VXLAN gateway.","During operation, to initiate communication with a VM in a VXLAN, a physical host first broadcasts an ARP request which reaches the VXLAN gateway (operation 402).","In response, the VXLAN gateway maps the ARP request to a particular VXLAN and the corresponding IP multicast group based on the physical host's MAC address and optionally its VLAN tag (operation 404).","The VXLAN gateway encapsulates the ARP request with a VXLAN header, a UDP header, and an outer IP header (which includes an IP multicast group address as destination IP address) and an outer Ethernet header (operation 406).","The VXLAN gateway then transmits the encapsulated packet to the IP network (operation 408).","The encapsulated packet is delivered by the IP network to all the hosts that host VMs belonging to the same VXLAN.","As a result, a VXLAN-enabled hypervisor on the host which hosts the VM corresponding to the ARP request receives the encapsulated packet, decapsulates the packet, and forwards the inner ARP request to the VMs belonging to the same VXLAN and running on the host (operation 410).","Subsequently, the VM with an IP address matching the ARP request responds to the ARP request (operation 412).","In response, the hypervisor for the VM encapsulates the ARP response with the VXLAN gateway's IP address as the destination IP address and transmits the encapsulated packet to the IP network (operation 414).","Next, the VXLAN gateway receives the encapsulated ARP response packet and decapsulates it (operation 416).","The VXLAN gateway then forwards the decapsulated ARP response packet to the physical host (operation 418).","In turn, the physical host learns the destination VM's MAC address (operation 420).","The physical host subsequently can proceed to communicate with the VM using the VM's MAC address as if the VM is residing in the same layer-2 broadcast domain (operation 422).","In some embodiments, in addition to providing the VXLAN function to a non-VXLAN-enabled physical host, VXLAN gateways can also “stitch” two data centers which are not VXLAN-capable into one VXLAN domain with a common VXLAN ID.","To facilitate such “stitching,” two VXLAN gateways residing within two data centers respectively establish a tunnel (which for example can be IP-based, such as IPSEC based, tunnel in one embodiment) between them.","In one embodiment, this tunnel is an IPsec tunnel.","The two VXLAN gateways can transparently pass through packets from one data center to the other, hence joining two data centers into a single broadcast domain.","Note that IPsec tunnel is used as an example, and any tunneling protocol can be used by the two VXLAN gateways.","FIG.","5 illustrates an exemplary network architecture where two remotely located data centers are joined to form a single layer-2 broadcast domain by VXLAN gateways.","In this example, host 504 hosts VMs 518, 520, and 522.Host 506 hosts VMs 508, 510, and 512.Host 504 is coupled to VXLAN gateway 516, and host 506 is coupled to VXLAN gateway 516.VXLAN gateways 516 and 506 are both coupled to IP network 500, and have established a tunnel 515 between them.","During operation, each VXLAN gateway maintains a set of mapping information that maps not only the local MAC addresses to the VXLAN, but also the MAC addresses in the remote data center to the VXLAN.","For example, when VM 508 sends out an Ethernet packet destined for VM 518, VXLAN gateway 514 would encapsulate this Ethernet packet with the VXLAN and IP headers, and send this encapsulated packet via tunnel 515 to VXLAN gateway 516.VXLAN gateway 516 in turn would decapsulate the packet and send the inner Ethernet packet to host 504, which can forward it to VM 518.Essentially, VXLAN gateways 516 and 506 provide the functionality of a VXLAN module in a VXLAN-enabled hypervisor.","As mentioned above, a VXLAN gateway typically maintains a set of mapping information, which maps a MAC address and (optionally) a VLAN tag to a VXLAN ID.","Furthermore, the VXLAN encapsulation requires mapping a MAC DA to a destination IP address (either unicast or multicast, depending on the inner Ethernet).","In one embodiment, an OpenFlow controller can facilitate such configuration of each VXLAN gateway in the network, as illustrated in FIG.","6.In this example, all the mapping information (which is stored in the form of flow definition) is communicated from an OpenFlow controller 602 to VXLAN gateway 124 via a secure (e.g., SSL) tunnel 604.The configuration information provided by OpenFlow controller 602 can be used by VXLAN gateway 124 to build a forwarding table containing entries for specific flows.","Each flow is defined using a 12 tuple value {MAC DA, MAC SA, Ethertype, Source IP, Destination IP, etc.",".",".",". }","with the possibility of using wildcards in any field.","More details on OpenFlow can be found in https://www.opennetworking.org/images/stories/downloads/specification/openflow-spec-v1.2.pdf, which is incorporated by reference herein.","It should be noted that the VXLAN gateway described herein can be implemented as a stand-alone appliance, as part of a switch or router, or as part of a host.","Furthermore, the VXLAN gateway can be implemented in hardware or software, or a combination of both.","FIG.","7 illustrates an exemplary computer system that facilitates a VXLAN gateway.","In this example, a computer system 702 includes a processor 704, memory 706, and a storage device 708.Computer system 702 is also coupled to a display 710, a keyboard 712, and a pointing device 708.Storage device 708 stores data 730 and instructions which when loaded into memory 706 and executed by processor 704 implement an operating system 716 and a VXLAN gateway system 718.Gateway system 718 includes a communication module 720, a VXLAN mapping module 722, a packet encapsulation module 724, an IP tunnel module 726, and an OpenFlow module 728.When executed by the processor, these modules jointly or separately perform the functions described above.","The data structures and code described in this detailed description are typically stored on a computer-readable storage medium, which may be any device or medium that can store code and/or data for use by a computer system.","The computer-readable storage medium includes, but is not limited to, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, magnetic and optical storage devices such as disk drives, magnetic tape, CDs (compact discs), DVDs (digital versatile discs or digital video discs), or other media capable of storing computer-readable media now known or later developed.","The methods and processes described in the detailed description section can be embodied as code and/or data, which can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium as described above.","When a computer system reads and executes the code and/or data stored on the computer-readable storage medium, the computer system performs the methods and processes embodied as data structures and code and stored within the computer-readable storage medium.","Furthermore, the methods and processes described above can be included in hardware modules.","For example, the hardware modules can include, but are not limited to, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and other programmable-logic devices now known or later developed.","When the hardware modules are activated, the hardware modules perform the methods and processes included within the hardware modules.","The foregoing descriptions of embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description only.","They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the forms disclosed.","Accordingly, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art.","Additionally, the above disclosure is not intended to limit the present invention.","The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR VIRTUAL AND PHYSICAL NETWORK INTEGRATION\",\n \"The disclosure herein describes a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) gateway.\",\n \"During operation, the VXLAN gateway receives, from a physical host, an Ethernet packet destined for a virtual machine residing in a remote layer-2 network broadcast domain that is different from a local layer-2 network broadcast domain where the physical host resides.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway then determines a VXLAN identifier for the received Ethernet packet.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway further encapsulates the Ethernet packet with the virtual extensible local area network identifier and an Internet Protocol (IP) header, and forwards the encapsulated packet to an IP network, thereby allowing the packet to be transported to the virtual machine via the IP network and allowing the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain and the local layer-2 network broadcast domain to be part of a common layer-2 broadcast domain.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1-21.\",\n \"(canceled) 22.For a physical device separate from sources and destinations of packets in a network, a method for implementing a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) gateway, the method comprising: through an IP network to which the physical device implementing the gateway connects, receiving an encapsulated packet that originated from a virtual machine residing in a remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; decapsulating the packet by removing an IP header of the packet and identifying a VXLAN identifier for the packet, wherein an Ethernet packet remains after decapsulation; based at least in part on the VXLAN identifier, determining that a destination for the Ethernet packet is a server separate from the physical device implementing the gateway, the server residing in a local layer-2 network broadcast domain that is different from the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; and forwarding the Ethernet packet to the server on the local layer-2 network broadcast domain.\",\n \"23.The method of claim 22 further comprising maintaining a data structure that maps the VXLAN identifier to at least one of (i) the server's medium access control (MAC) address and (ii) the server's virtual local area network (VLAN) tag.\",\n \"24.The method of claim 22, wherein the VXLAN gateway is a first VXLAN gateway, wherein the packet is encapsulated by a second VXLAN gateway to add the VXLAN identifier and IP header to the packet, wherein the method further comprises establishing a tunnel with the second VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"25.The method of claim 22 further comprising: receiving, from the server, a second Ethernet packet destined for the machine residing in the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; encapsulating the second Ethernet packet with the VXLAN identifier and a second IP header; and forwarding the encapsulated second packet to the IP network, thereby allowing the packet to be transmitted to the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain.\",\n \"26.The method of claim 25 further comprising determining that the second Ethernet packet maps to the VXLAN identifier.\",\n \"27.The method of claim 22 further comprising receiving configuration information from a controller, wherein the configuration comprises mapping information that maps a set of addresses to the VXLAN identifier.\",\n \"28.The method of claim 27, wherein the controller is an OpenFlow controller, wherein the configuration information is received as a set of flows from the OpenFlow controller.\",\n \"29.The method of claim 22, wherein the destination of the Ethernet packet is a virtual machine that operates on the server, wherein a virtual switch that operates on the physical host is not configured to decapsulate packets with VXLAN identifiers.\",\n \"30.The method of claim 22, wherein the IP header comprises a destination address corresponding to the VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"31.The method of claim 22, wherein the server is a first server, the local layer-2 network broadcast domain is a first local layer-2 network broadcast domain, the encapsulated packet is a first encapsulated packet, the Ethernet packet is a first Ethernet packet, the machine is a first machine, the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain is a first remote layer-2 network domain, and the VXLAN identifier is a first VXLAN identifier, the method further comprising: receiving, through the IP network, a second encapsulated packet that originated from a second machine residing in a second remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; decapsulating the second packet by removing an IP header of the second packet and identifying a second VXLAN identifier for the packet, wherein a second Ethernet packet remains after decapsulation; and based at least in part on the second VXLAN identifier, determining that a destination for the second Ethernet packet is a second server separate from the physical device implementing the VXLAN gateway, the second server residing in the second local layer-2 network broadcast domain; and forwarding the second Ethernet packet to the second server on the second local layer-2 network broadcast domain.\",\n \"32.A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program which when executed by a set of processing units of a physical device separate from sources and destinations of packets in a network implements a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) gateway, the program comprising sets of instructions for: through an IP network to which the physical device implementing the gateway connects, receiving an encapsulated packet that originated from a virtual machine residing in a remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; decapsulating the packet by removing an IP header of the packet and identifying a VXLAN identifier for the packet, wherein an Ethernet packet remains after decapsulation; based at least in part on the VXLAN identifier, determining that a destination for the Ethernet packet is a server separate from the physical device implementing the gateway, the server residing in a local layer-2 network broadcast domain that is different from the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; and forwarding the Ethernet packet to the server on the local layer-2 network broadcast domain.\",\n \"33.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for maintaining a data structure that maps the VXLAN identifier to at least one of (i) the server's medium access control (MAC) address and (ii) the server's virtual local area network (VLAN) tag.\",\n \"34.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the VXLAN gateway is a first VXLAN gateway, wherein the packet is encapsulated by a second VXLAN gateway to add the VXLAN identifier and IP header to the packet, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for establishing a tunnel with the second VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"35.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32 wherein the program further comprises sets of instructions for: receiving, from the server, a second Ethernet packet destined for the machine residing in the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; encapsulating the second Ethernet packet with the VXLAN identifier and a second IP header; and forwarding the encapsulated second packet to the IP network, thereby allowing the packet to be transmitted to the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain.\",\n \"36.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 35, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for determining that the second Ethernet packet maps to the VXLAN identifier.\",\n \"37.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for receiving configuration information from a controller, wherein the configuration comprises mapping information that maps a set of addresses to the VXLAN identifier.\",\n \"38.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 37, wherein the controller is an OpenFlow controller, wherein the configuration information is received as a set of flows from the OpenFlow controller.\",\n \"39.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the destination of the Ethernet packet is a virtual machine that operates on the server, wherein a virtual switch that operates on the physical host is not configured to decapsulate packets with VXLAN identifiers.\",\n \"40.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the IP header comprises a destination address corresponding to the VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"41.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the server is a first server, the local layer-2 network broadcast domain is a first local layer-2 network broadcast domain, the encapsulated packet is a first encapsulated packet, the Ethernet packet is a first Ethernet packet, the machine is a first machine, the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain is a first remote layer-2 network domain, and the VXLAN identifier is a first VXLAN identifier, wherein the program further comprises sets of instructions for: receiving, through the IP network, a second encapsulated packet that originated from a second machine residing in a second remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; decapsulating the second packet by removing an IP header of the second packet and identifying a second VXLAN identifier for the packet, wherein a second Ethernet packet remains after decapsulation; and based at least in part on the second VXLAN identifier, determining that a destination for the second Ethernet packet is a second server separate from the physical device implementing the VXLAN gateway, the second server residing in the second local layer-2 network broadcast domain; and forwarding the second Ethernet packet to the second server on the second local layer-2 network broadcast domain.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>The exponential growth of the Internet has made it a ubiquitous delivery medium for a variety of applications.\",\n \"Such applications have in turn brought with them an increasing demand for bandwidth.\",\n \"As a result, service providers race to build larger and faster data centers with versatile capabilities.\",\n \"Meanwhile, advances in virtualization technologies have made it possible to implement a large number of virtual machines (VMs) in a data center.\",\n \"These virtual machines can essentially operate as physical hosts and perform a variety of functions such as Web or database servers.\",\n \"Because virtual machines are implemented in software, they can freely migrate to various locations.\",\n \"This capability allows service providers to partition and isolate physical resources (e.g., computing power and network capacity) according to customer needs, and to allocate such resources dynamically.\",\n \"While virtualization brings unprecedented flexibility to service providers, the conventional layer-2 network architecture, however, tends to be rigid and cannot readily accommodate the dynamic nature of virtual machines.\",\n \"For example, in conventional data center architecture, hosts are often inter-connected by one or more layer-2 (e.g., Ethernet) switches to form a layer-2 broadcast domain.\",\n \"The physical reach of a layer-2 broadcast domain is limited by the transmission medium.\",\n \"As a result, different data centers are typically associated with different layer-2 broadcast domains, and multiple layer-2 broadcast domains could exist within a single data center.\",\n \"For a VM in one data center to communicate with a VM or a storage device in another data center, such communication would need to be carried over layer-3 networks.\",\n \"That is, the packets between the source and destination have to be processed and forwarded by layer-3 devices (e.g., IP routers), since the source and destination belong to different layer-2 broadcast domains.\",\n \"While this architecture has benefits, flat layer-2 processing has its advantages.\",\n \"In fact, it would be desirable to exploit the advantages of both layer-3 and layer-2 models and processing capabilities in the network.\",\n \"One technique to solve the problems described above is to implement a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN).\",\n \"VXLAN is a standard network virtualization technology managed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and works by creating a logical layer-2 network that is overlaid above a layer-3 IP network.\",\n \"Ethernet packets generated by VMs are encapsulated in an IP header before they are transported to a remote data center where the IP header is removed and the original Ethernet packet is delivered to the destination.\",\n \"The IP encapsulation mechanism allows a logical layer-2 broadcast domain to be extended to an arbitrary number of remote locations, and allows different data centers or different sections of the same data center (and hence the VMs and devices therein) to be in the same layer-2 broadcast domain.\",\n \"The VXLAN function typically resides within a host's hypervisor, and works in conjunction with the hypervisor's virtual switch.\",\n \"More details of VXLAN can be found in IETF draft “VXLAN: A Framework for Overlaying Virtualized Layer 2 Networks over Layer 3 Networks,” available at https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-mahalingam-dutt-dcops-vxlan-02, which is incorporated by reference here.\",\n \"Existing VXLAN implementations, however, cannot easily accommodate a mixture of physical hosts and VMs in the same logical layer-2 broadcast domain.\",\n \"This is because by default the VXLAN feature in a hypervisor encapsulates Ethernet packets generated by a VM that belongs to a certain VXLAN.\",\n \"A physical host, on the other hand, cannot easily participate in the same VXLAN because there is no mechanism to encapsulate the Ethernet packets it generates, which would otherwise allow the Ethernet packets to be delivered to other VXLAN-capable VMs.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>The disclosure herein describes a network communication system that facilitates the integration of virtual and physical network devices.\",\n \"Specifically, the system provides a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) gateway.\",\n \"During operation, the VXLAN gateway receives, from a physical host, an Ethernet packet destined for a virtual machine residing in a remote layer-2 network broadcast domain that is different from a local layer-2 network broadcast domain where the physical host resides.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway then determines a VXLAN network identifier (VNI) for the received Ethernet packet.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway further encapsulates the Ethernet packet with the VNI and an Internet Protocol (IP) header, and forwards the encapsulated packet to an IP network, thereby allowing the packet to be transported to the virtual machine via the IP network and allowing the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain and the local layer-2 network broadcast domain to be part of a common layer-2 broadcast domain.\",\n \"Ethernet packet received from the physical host can be an address resolution protocol (ARP) request packet.\",\n \"In addition, the VXLAN gateway maintains a data structure that maps the VNI to an IP multicast group.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway also sets a destination IP address in the IP header to be an IP address corresponding to the IP multicast group.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway can also maintain a data structure that maps the physical host's medium access control (MAC) address and optionally the physical host's virtual local area network (VLAN) tag to the VNI.\",\n \"The data structure may also contain entries to encompass all the physical hosts on a specific VLAN.\",\n \"This is indicated as a mapping between the VNI and VLAN tag without any host-specific information.\",\n \"Additionally, the VXLAN gateway can receive a packet from the virtual machine, wherein the packet includes an outer Ethernet header, an IP header, and an inner Ethernet header.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway then decapsulates the packet received from the virtual machine by removing its outer Ethernet header and IP header and forwards the decapsulated packet to the physical host.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway can further establish a tunnel with a second virtual extensible local area network gateway, thereby joining two layer-2 network broadcast domains with a common VNI.\",\n \"Optionally, the VXLAN gateway can receive configuration information from an OpenFlow controller.\"\n ],\n [\n \"RELATED APPLICATION This application claims the benefit of U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application No.\",\n \"61/683,100, Attorney Docket Number A954.PRO, entitled “VIRTUAL AND PHYSICAL NETWORKING INTEGRATION WITH VXLAN GATEWAYS,” by inventors Thayumanavan Sridhar and Margaret Petrus, filed 14 Aug. 2012.BACKGROUND The exponential growth of the Internet has made it a ubiquitous delivery medium for a variety of applications.\",\n \"Such applications have in turn brought with them an increasing demand for bandwidth.\",\n \"As a result, service providers race to build larger and faster data centers with versatile capabilities.\",\n \"Meanwhile, advances in virtualization technologies have made it possible to implement a large number of virtual machines (VMs) in a data center.\",\n \"These virtual machines can essentially operate as physical hosts and perform a variety of functions such as Web or database servers.\",\n \"Because virtual machines are implemented in software, they can freely migrate to various locations.\",\n \"This capability allows service providers to partition and isolate physical resources (e.g., computing power and network capacity) according to customer needs, and to allocate such resources dynamically.\",\n \"While virtualization brings unprecedented flexibility to service providers, the conventional layer-2 network architecture, however, tends to be rigid and cannot readily accommodate the dynamic nature of virtual machines.\",\n \"For example, in conventional data center architecture, hosts are often inter-connected by one or more layer-2 (e.g., Ethernet) switches to form a layer-2 broadcast domain.\",\n \"The physical reach of a layer-2 broadcast domain is limited by the transmission medium.\",\n \"As a result, different data centers are typically associated with different layer-2 broadcast domains, and multiple layer-2 broadcast domains could exist within a single data center.\",\n \"For a VM in one data center to communicate with a VM or a storage device in another data center, such communication would need to be carried over layer-3 networks.\",\n \"That is, the packets between the source and destination have to be processed and forwarded by layer-3 devices (e.g., IP routers), since the source and destination belong to different layer-2 broadcast domains.\",\n \"While this architecture has benefits, flat layer-2 processing has its advantages.\",\n \"In fact, it would be desirable to exploit the advantages of both layer-3 and layer-2 models and processing capabilities in the network.\",\n \"One technique to solve the problems described above is to implement a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN).\",\n \"VXLAN is a standard network virtualization technology managed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and works by creating a logical layer-2 network that is overlaid above a layer-3 IP network.\",\n \"Ethernet packets generated by VMs are encapsulated in an IP header before they are transported to a remote data center where the IP header is removed and the original Ethernet packet is delivered to the destination.\",\n \"The IP encapsulation mechanism allows a logical layer-2 broadcast domain to be extended to an arbitrary number of remote locations, and allows different data centers or different sections of the same data center (and hence the VMs and devices therein) to be in the same layer-2 broadcast domain.\",\n \"The VXLAN function typically resides within a host's hypervisor, and works in conjunction with the hypervisor's virtual switch.\",\n \"More details of VXLAN can be found in IETF draft “VXLAN: A Framework for Overlaying Virtualized Layer 2 Networks over Layer 3 Networks,” available at https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-mahalingam-dutt-dcops-vxlan-02, which is incorporated by reference here.\",\n \"Existing VXLAN implementations, however, cannot easily accommodate a mixture of physical hosts and VMs in the same logical layer-2 broadcast domain.\",\n \"This is because by default the VXLAN feature in a hypervisor encapsulates Ethernet packets generated by a VM that belongs to a certain VXLAN.\",\n \"A physical host, on the other hand, cannot easily participate in the same VXLAN because there is no mechanism to encapsulate the Ethernet packets it generates, which would otherwise allow the Ethernet packets to be delivered to other VXLAN-capable VMs.\",\n \"SUMMARY The disclosure herein describes a network communication system that facilitates the integration of virtual and physical network devices.\",\n \"Specifically, the system provides a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) gateway.\",\n \"During operation, the VXLAN gateway receives, from a physical host, an Ethernet packet destined for a virtual machine residing in a remote layer-2 network broadcast domain that is different from a local layer-2 network broadcast domain where the physical host resides.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway then determines a VXLAN network identifier (VNI) for the received Ethernet packet.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway further encapsulates the Ethernet packet with the VNI and an Internet Protocol (IP) header, and forwards the encapsulated packet to an IP network, thereby allowing the packet to be transported to the virtual machine via the IP network and allowing the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain and the local layer-2 network broadcast domain to be part of a common layer-2 broadcast domain.\",\n \"Ethernet packet received from the physical host can be an address resolution protocol (ARP) request packet.\",\n \"In addition, the VXLAN gateway maintains a data structure that maps the VNI to an IP multicast group.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway also sets a destination IP address in the IP header to be an IP address corresponding to the IP multicast group.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway can also maintain a data structure that maps the physical host's medium access control (MAC) address and optionally the physical host's virtual local area network (VLAN) tag to the VNI.\",\n \"The data structure may also contain entries to encompass all the physical hosts on a specific VLAN.\",\n \"This is indicated as a mapping between the VNI and VLAN tag without any host-specific information.\",\n \"Additionally, the VXLAN gateway can receive a packet from the virtual machine, wherein the packet includes an outer Ethernet header, an IP header, and an inner Ethernet header.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway then decapsulates the packet received from the virtual machine by removing its outer Ethernet header and IP header and forwards the decapsulated packet to the physical host.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway can further establish a tunnel with a second virtual extensible local area network gateway, thereby joining two layer-2 network broadcast domains with a common VNI.\",\n \"Optionally, the VXLAN gateway can receive configuration information from an OpenFlow controller.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an exemplary network architecture that facilitates a VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates header format for a conventional Ethernet packet and its VXLAN encapsulation.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 presents a time-space diagram illustrating an exemplary process of a physical host initiating communication with a VM across an IP network, via a VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 presents a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process of a physical host communicating with a VM via a VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an exemplary network architecture where two remotely located data centers are joined to form a single layer-2 broadcast domain by VXLAN gateways.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an exemplary network architecture that facilitates configuration of a VXLAN gateway using an OpeFlow controller.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an exemplary computer system that facilitates a VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"In the figures, like reference numerals refer to the same figure elements.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the embodiments, and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements.\",\n \"Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"Thus, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.\",\n \"Embodiments of the system disclosed herein solve the problem of enabling VXLAN-encapsulated communication between a VM and a physical host by facilitating a VXLAN gateway, which serves as a gateway for the physical host and performs VXLAN encapsulation and decapsulation on behalf of the physical host.\",\n \"As mentioned above, the VXLAN feature in a hypervisor (such as the ESX® product family by VMware, Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif.) automatically encapsulates an Ethernet packet generated by a VM that is part of a VXLAN-enabled Ethernet broadcast domain.\",\n \"There is currently no ready-to-use mechanism that can allow a physical host, which does not have this VXLAN feature in its protocol stack, to participate in this VXLAN-enabled broadcast domain.\",\n \"This is because there is no device in the network that can encapsulate the physical host's Ethernet packet with VXLAN headers.\",\n \"To solve this problem, a VXLAN gateway residing in the same layer-2 broadcast domain as the physical host can perform the VXLAN encapsulation and decapsulation on behalf of the physical host.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an exemplary network architecture that facilitates a VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"In this example, an IP network 100 couples several conventional layer-2 networks.\",\n \"Specifically, a host 102 is coupled to an IP router 130.Host 102 hosts a number of VMs: 108, 110, and 112.VMs 108 and 110 belong to VXLAN 1, and VM 112 belongs to VXLAN 2.Virtualization software 104 (such as a hypervisor) manages the VMs in host 102, and includes a VXLAN module 106.VXLAN module 106 is responsible for encapsulating and decapsulating the Ethernet packets generated by VMs 108, 110, and 112.Similarly, a host 103 is coupled to an IP router 132.Host 103 hosts a number of VMs: 118, 120, and 122.VM 118 belongs to VXLAN 1, and VMs 120 and 122 belong to VXLAN 2.Virtualization software 114 manages VMs 118, 120, and 122, and includes a VXLAN module 116.When VMs within the same VXLAN communicate with each other, the Ethernet packet generated by a VM is encapsulated with an IP header and then delivered to the VXLAN module in the destination physical host (which owns the destination IP address).\",\n \"For example, when VM 108 communicates with VM 118, VM 108 generates an Ethernet packet with VM 118's MAC address as its MAC destination address (DA).\",\n \"(Note that VMs within the same VXLAN are in the same logical layer-2 broadcast domain, and are therefore assumed to learn each other's MAC address.)\",\n \"When this Ethernet packet reaches VXLAN module 106, VXLAN module 106 inspects the packet's MAC source address (SA), MAC DA, and optionally VLAN tag, and determines that both the source (VM 108) and destination (VM 118) belong to VXLAN 1.Furthermore, based on the packet's MAC DA, VXLAN module 106 determines the IP address of the destination physical host 103.In turn, VXLAN module 106 encapsulates this Ethernet packet with a proper VXLAN header and IP header (which will be described in more detail in conjunction with FIG.\",\n \"2), and transmits this encapsulated packet to IP router 130.Since the encapsulated packet has an IP destination address that is associated with host 103, IP router 130 (and other IP routers in IP network 100) can then make the proper forwarding decision and forwards the encapsulated packet toward host 103.When host 103 receives the encapsulated packet, VXLAN module 116 first removes the IP header to expose the inner Ethernet packet.\",\n \"Subsequently, based on both the VNI and the inner Ethernet header's MAC DA, virtualization software 114 forwards the inner Ethernet packet to VM 118.Note that when VXLAN 116 receives the Ethernet packet, it can establish a mapping relationship of the MAC SA of the inner Ethernet packet (which is VM 108's MAC address) and the IP source address (which is host 102's IP address).\",\n \"Hence, when in the future VM 118 sends an Ethernet packet to VM 108, VXLAN module 116 can perform VXLAN encapsulation with host 102's IP address as the IP destination address.\",\n \"In the situation where a source VM does not have knowledge of a destination VM's MAC address (and only the destination VM's IP address), the source VM typically issues an address resolution protocol (ARP) request with the destination VM's IP address.\",\n \"This ARP request is a broadcast layer-2 message, which is supposed to be received by all the hosts (and VMs) in a layer-2 broadcast domain.\",\n \"In the case of VXLAN, for example, when VM 108 sends out an ARP request, this ARP request first reaches VXLAN module 106.In turn, when VXLAN module 106 determines that it is an ARP request that is supposed to be broadcast to the entire VXLAN, VXLAN module 106 encapsulates the ARP request with an IP header that has an IP multicast group address as its destination IP address.\",\n \"That is, each VXLAN is associated with an IP multicast tree that includes all the physical hosts in the VXLAN.\",\n \"This way, when there is a broadcast packet for the entire VXLAN, a VXLAN module in a host's hypervisor can encapsulate the packet with an IP multicast header, and multicast this encapsulated packet to all the hosts in the VXLAN.\",\n \"Hence, the ARP request would be multicast to all the hosts associated with the same VXLAN.\",\n \"The VXLAN module on each receiving host would decapsulate the packet, and locally broadcast the inner ARP request to all the VMs belonging to that VXLAN.\",\n \"In response, the VM that has an IP address that matches the one in the ARP request produces an ARP response, which would be encapsulated by the local VXLAN module and unicast back to the requesting VM.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1, if a physical host (or a VM that is not VXLAN-capable) is coupled to IP network 100, either directly or via a layer-2 switch, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for the physical host to communicate with any VM that belongs to a VXLAN, because an Ethernet packet from the physical host cannot be delivered to any of the VMs since the Ethernet packet is not probably encapsulated with a VXLAN header and IP header.\",\n \"One solution is to use a VXLAN gateway 124, which can be a stand-alone device that performs the functions of VXLAN module 106 or 108.For example, a physical host 126 can be coupled to VXLAN gateway 124 via a layer-2 switch 127.Physical host 126 belongs to VLAN 1, which is mapped to VXLAN 1 by VXLAN gateway 124.A physical host 128 can host a number of VMs 138, 140, and 142, which are not VXLAN enabled.\",\n \"VM 138 belongs to VLAN 1, which maps to VXLAN 1.VMs 140 and 142 belong to VLAN 2, which maps to VXLAN 2.Host 128 is also coupled to VXLAN gateway 124.When physical host 126 is to communicate with VM 108, physical host 126 can send out an Ethernet packet with VM 108's MAC address as the MAC DA, its own MAC address as the MAC SA, and a VLAN tag corresponding to VLAN 1.When this Ethernet packet reaches VXLAN gateway 124, VXLAN gateway 124 inspects the packet's MAC SA and MAC DA, and its VLAN tag.\",\n \"Note that VXLAN gateway maintains a set of mapping information that maps a MAC address and optionally a VLAN tag to a VXLAN.\",\n \"Note that the data structure to maintain the mapping information may also contain entries to encompass all the physical hosts on a specific VLAN.\",\n \"This is indicated as a mapping between the VNI and VLAN tag without any host-specific information.\",\n \"If physical host 126 is properly configured, VXLAN gateway 124 would identify the Ethernet packet's MAC SA and MAC DA (and optionally VLAN tag) to be associated with VXLAN 1.\",\n \"(Note that if the VLAN tag is present, VXLAN gateway 124 may directly map the VLAN to a VXLAN without using the MAC addresses.\",\n \"If VLAN is not configured, however, VXLAN gateway 124 can map the MAC SA, MAC DA, or both, to the VXLAN.)\",\n \"Furthermore, VXLAN gateway 124 also maintains a set of mapping information between a VM's MAC address and the IP address of that VM's physical host.\",\n \"Hence, based on the MAC DA of the Ethernet packet generated by physical host 126, which is VM 108's MAC address, VXLAN gateway 124 determines that host 102's IP address should be used as the destination IP address for the VXLAN encapsulation.\",\n \"In addition, VXLAN gateway 124 uses its own IP address as the source IP address for the encapsulation.\",\n \"Subsequently, VXLAN encapsulates the Ethernet packet from host 126 with the proper VXLAN header and IP header and transmits the encapsulated packet to IP network 100.When the encapsulated packet reaches host 102, the encapsulated packet is forwarded to VXLAN module 106.VXLAN module 106 in turn removes the IP header to obtain the inner Ethernet packet.\",\n \"Note that VXLAN module 106 can learn the mapping between the source IP address of the IP header (which is VXLAN gateway 124's IP address) and the MAC SA of the inner Ethernet packet (which is host 126's MAC address).\",\n \"This mapping information is used to encapsulate outbound traffic to host 126.Subsequently, VXLAN module 106 forwards the inner Ethernet packet to VM 108 based on the MAC DA.\",\n \"When VM 108 sends an Ethernet packet back to host 126, a similar VXLAN encapsulation/decapsulation process takes place.\",\n \"Specifically, VXLAN module 106 identifies that the Ethernet packet from VM 108 to host 126 belongs to VXLAN 1.Furthermore, based on the Ethernet packet's MAC DA (which is host 126's MAC address), VXLAN module 106 identifies host 126's IP address as the destination IP address for the VXLAN encapsulation, and uses host 102's IP address as the source IP address.\",\n \"Host 102 then sends the encapsulated Ethernet packet to IP network 100, which delivers the packet to VXLAN gateway 124.VXLAN gateway 124 then decapsulates the packet by removing its IP header, and forwards the inner Ethernet packet to host 126.FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates header format for a conventional Ethernet packet and its VXLAN encapsulation.\",\n \"In this example, a conventional Ethernet packet 200 typically includes a payload 203 and an Ethernet header 208.Typically, payload 203 can include an IP packet which includes an IP header 206.Ethernet header 208 includes a MAC DA 204, a MAC SA 202, and optionally a VLAN tag 205.In one embodiment, VXLAN gateway 124 can encapsulate conventional Ethernet packet 200 into an encapsulated packet 220.Encapsulated packet 220 typically includes a VXLAN header 222 which contains a VNI to indicate the VXLAN to which inner Ethernet packet 200 belongs, a UDP header 218 which indicates the transport-layer protocol and port number reserved for VXLAN, and an outer IP header 210.In addition, encapsulated packet 220 includes an outer Ethernet header 212.Take, for example, Ethernet packet 200 as an Ethernet packet generated by host 126 and destined for VM 108.Typically, an upper layer application in host 126 would generate an IP packet destined for VM 108, using VM 108's IP address.\",\n \"This IP packet becomes payload 203, and VM 108's IP address would be the destination IP address in IP header 206.In addition, host 126's IP address would be the source IP address in IP header 206.The datalink layer in host 126 then generates Ethernet header 208 to encapsulate payload 203.MAC DA 204 of Ethernet header 208 would be VM 108's MAC address, and MAC SA 202 of Ethernet header 208 would be host 126's MAC address.\",\n \"This is based on the assumption that host 126 has learned VM 108's MAC address.\",\n \"In the case where host 126 does not have knowledge of VM 108's MAC address, host 126 can use ARP to discover VM 108's MAC address.\",\n \"This ARP process is described in conjunction with FIG.\",\n \"3.Host 126 then sends Ethernet packet 200 to VXLAN gateway 124.When VXLAN gateway 124 receives Ethernet packet 200 from host 126, VXLAN gateway 124 inspects the Ethernet MAC DA 204, MAC SA 202, and optionally VLAN tag 205.Based on this information VXLAN gateway 124 determines that Ethernet packet 200 is associated with VXLAN 1.Furthermore, based on MAC DA 204, VXLAN gateway 124 determines that the destination IP address for VXLAN encapsulation is the IP address of host 102.Subsequently, VXLAN gateway 124 assembles the VXLAN header which includes VXLAN header 222 (corresponding to VXLAN 1), and attaches UDP header 218 which includes the appropriate UDP port number.\",\n \"In addition, VXLAN gateway 124 assembles outer IP header 210 which uses host 102's IP address as the destination address, and VXLAN gateway 124's own IP address as the source address.\",\n \"VXLAN gateway 124 then assembles an outer Ethernet header 212.Outer Ethernet header 212 is used to transport packet 220 from VXLAN gateway 124 to the next-hop IP router 134.Outer Ethernet header 212 has a MAC DA 214 which is IP router 134's MAC address, a MAC SA which is VXLAN gateway 124's MAC address, and optionally an outer VLAN tag 217.Once packet 220 reaches IP router 134, IP router 134 can remove outer Ethernet header 212 and forward the packet based on outer IP header 210.This process continues throughout IP network 100 until the packet reaches host 102.As mentioned above, when host 126 attempts to communicate with VM 108 for the very first time, host 126 might only have VM 108's IP address but not its MAC address.\",\n \"To discover VM 108's MAC address, host 126 can perform an ARP query operation.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 presents a time-space diagram illustrating this process.\",\n \"Initially, host 126 generates an ARP request message which is carried in an Ethernet broadcast packet 302.Host 126 then transmits broadcast packet 302 to VXLAN gateway 124.In turn, VXLAN gateway 124 identifies that host 126 belongs to VXLAN 1 based on the MAC SA of packet 302.In addition, since packet 302 is an Ethernet broadcast packet, VXLAN gateway 124 maps packet 302 to an IP multicast group corresponding to VXLAN 1, and generates an IP multicast header 303 to encapsulate packet 302.Note that the IP multicast group includes both hosts 102 and 103, since these two hosts both host VMs belonging to VXLAN 1 (VMs 108 and 110 on host 102, and VM 118 on host 103).\",\n \"This IP multicast packet is then delivered by IP network 100 to both hosts 102 and 103.VXLAN module 106 on host 102 then removes IP header 303 from packet 302 and locally broadcasts packet 302 to all the VMs (i.e., VMs 108 and 110) belonging to VXLAN 1.In addition, VXLAN module 106 learns the mapping between host 126's MAC address, which is the MAC SA in packet 302, and the corresponding IP address, which is VXLAN gateway 124's IP address and the source IP address in the IP multicast packet.\",\n \"Similarly, VXLAN module 116 on host 103 receives the same IP multicast packet and forwards the inner Ethernet broadcast packet 302 to VM 118 (not shown in FIG.\",\n \"3).\",\n \"Subsequently, VM 108 determines and its IP address matches the IP address in the ARP request in packet 302.In response, VM 108 generates an ARP response message and encapsulates it in an Ethernet unicast packet 304, which has host 126's MAC address as the MAC DA and VM 108's own MAC address as the MAC SA.\",\n \"VXLAN module 106 on host 102 then encapsulates packet 304 with a unicast IP header 305.The source IP address of IP header 305 is host 102's IP address, and the destination IP address is VXLAN gateway 124's IP address.\",\n \"When this unicast IP packet reaches VXLAN gateway 124, VXLAN gateway 124 removes IP header 305, and forwards the inner Ethernet packet 304 to host 126.In turn, host 126 retrieves the ARP response carried in packet 304, and learns VM 108's MAC address.\",\n \"Next, host 126 generates a regular unicast Ethernet packet 306 that carries a payload to VM 108.The MAC DA of packet 306 is VM 108's MAC address, which was learned by host 126 based on packet 304 (the ARP response).\",\n \"The MAC SA of packet 306 is host 126's MAC address.\",\n \"VXLAN gateway 124 then encapsulates packet 306 with a VXLAN header followed by a unicast IP header 307.IP header 307 has host 102's IP address as its destination IP address, and VXLAN gateway 124's IP address as its source IP address.\",\n \"Subsequently, VXLAN module 106 on host 102 removes IP header 307 and forwards inner Ethernet packet 306 to VM 108.When VM 108 sends an Ethernet packet 308 in return, VXLAN module 106 encapsulates packet 308 with a unicast IP header 309.Unicast IP header 309 has VXLAN gateway 124's IP address as its destination IP address, and host 102's IP address as its source IP address.\",\n \"VXLAN gateway 124 then receives the encapsulated packet, removes IP header 309, and forwards inner Ethernet packet 308 to host 126.FIG.\",\n \"4 presents a flow chart illustrating a general process of a physical host communicating with a VM via a VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"During operation, to initiate communication with a VM in a VXLAN, a physical host first broadcasts an ARP request which reaches the VXLAN gateway (operation 402).\",\n \"In response, the VXLAN gateway maps the ARP request to a particular VXLAN and the corresponding IP multicast group based on the physical host's MAC address and optionally its VLAN tag (operation 404).\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway encapsulates the ARP request with a VXLAN header, a UDP header, and an outer IP header (which includes an IP multicast group address as destination IP address) and an outer Ethernet header (operation 406).\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway then transmits the encapsulated packet to the IP network (operation 408).\",\n \"The encapsulated packet is delivered by the IP network to all the hosts that host VMs belonging to the same VXLAN.\",\n \"As a result, a VXLAN-enabled hypervisor on the host which hosts the VM corresponding to the ARP request receives the encapsulated packet, decapsulates the packet, and forwards the inner ARP request to the VMs belonging to the same VXLAN and running on the host (operation 410).\",\n \"Subsequently, the VM with an IP address matching the ARP request responds to the ARP request (operation 412).\",\n \"In response, the hypervisor for the VM encapsulates the ARP response with the VXLAN gateway's IP address as the destination IP address and transmits the encapsulated packet to the IP network (operation 414).\",\n \"Next, the VXLAN gateway receives the encapsulated ARP response packet and decapsulates it (operation 416).\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway then forwards the decapsulated ARP response packet to the physical host (operation 418).\",\n \"In turn, the physical host learns the destination VM's MAC address (operation 420).\",\n \"The physical host subsequently can proceed to communicate with the VM using the VM's MAC address as if the VM is residing in the same layer-2 broadcast domain (operation 422).\",\n \"In some embodiments, in addition to providing the VXLAN function to a non-VXLAN-enabled physical host, VXLAN gateways can also “stitch” two data centers which are not VXLAN-capable into one VXLAN domain with a common VXLAN ID.\",\n \"To facilitate such “stitching,” two VXLAN gateways residing within two data centers respectively establish a tunnel (which for example can be IP-based, such as IPSEC based, tunnel in one embodiment) between them.\",\n \"In one embodiment, this tunnel is an IPsec tunnel.\",\n \"The two VXLAN gateways can transparently pass through packets from one data center to the other, hence joining two data centers into a single broadcast domain.\",\n \"Note that IPsec tunnel is used as an example, and any tunneling protocol can be used by the two VXLAN gateways.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an exemplary network architecture where two remotely located data centers are joined to form a single layer-2 broadcast domain by VXLAN gateways.\",\n \"In this example, host 504 hosts VMs 518, 520, and 522.Host 506 hosts VMs 508, 510, and 512.Host 504 is coupled to VXLAN gateway 516, and host 506 is coupled to VXLAN gateway 516.VXLAN gateways 516 and 506 are both coupled to IP network 500, and have established a tunnel 515 between them.\",\n \"During operation, each VXLAN gateway maintains a set of mapping information that maps not only the local MAC addresses to the VXLAN, but also the MAC addresses in the remote data center to the VXLAN.\",\n \"For example, when VM 508 sends out an Ethernet packet destined for VM 518, VXLAN gateway 514 would encapsulate this Ethernet packet with the VXLAN and IP headers, and send this encapsulated packet via tunnel 515 to VXLAN gateway 516.VXLAN gateway 516 in turn would decapsulate the packet and send the inner Ethernet packet to host 504, which can forward it to VM 518.Essentially, VXLAN gateways 516 and 506 provide the functionality of a VXLAN module in a VXLAN-enabled hypervisor.\",\n \"As mentioned above, a VXLAN gateway typically maintains a set of mapping information, which maps a MAC address and (optionally) a VLAN tag to a VXLAN ID.\",\n \"Furthermore, the VXLAN encapsulation requires mapping a MAC DA to a destination IP address (either unicast or multicast, depending on the inner Ethernet).\",\n \"In one embodiment, an OpenFlow controller can facilitate such configuration of each VXLAN gateway in the network, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6.In this example, all the mapping information (which is stored in the form of flow definition) is communicated from an OpenFlow controller 602 to VXLAN gateway 124 via a secure (e.g., SSL) tunnel 604.The configuration information provided by OpenFlow controller 602 can be used by VXLAN gateway 124 to build a forwarding table containing entries for specific flows.\",\n \"Each flow is defined using a 12 tuple value {MAC DA, MAC SA, Ethertype, Source IP, Destination IP, etc.\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \". }\",\n \"with the possibility of using wildcards in any field.\",\n \"More details on OpenFlow can be found in https://www.opennetworking.org/images/stories/downloads/specification/openflow-spec-v1.2.pdf, which is incorporated by reference herein.\",\n \"It should be noted that the VXLAN gateway described herein can be implemented as a stand-alone appliance, as part of a switch or router, or as part of a host.\",\n \"Furthermore, the VXLAN gateway can be implemented in hardware or software, or a combination of both.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an exemplary computer system that facilitates a VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"In this example, a computer system 702 includes a processor 704, memory 706, and a storage device 708.Computer system 702 is also coupled to a display 710, a keyboard 712, and a pointing device 708.Storage device 708 stores data 730 and instructions which when loaded into memory 706 and executed by processor 704 implement an operating system 716 and a VXLAN gateway system 718.Gateway system 718 includes a communication module 720, a VXLAN mapping module 722, a packet encapsulation module 724, an IP tunnel module 726, and an OpenFlow module 728.When executed by the processor, these modules jointly or separately perform the functions described above.\",\n \"The data structures and code described in this detailed description are typically stored on a computer-readable storage medium, which may be any device or medium that can store code and/or data for use by a computer system.\",\n \"The computer-readable storage medium includes, but is not limited to, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, magnetic and optical storage devices such as disk drives, magnetic tape, CDs (compact discs), DVDs (digital versatile discs or digital video discs), or other media capable of storing computer-readable media now known or later developed.\",\n \"The methods and processes described in the detailed description section can be embodied as code and/or data, which can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium as described above.\",\n \"When a computer system reads and executes the code and/or data stored on the computer-readable storage medium, the computer system performs the methods and processes embodied as data structures and code and stored within the computer-readable storage medium.\",\n \"Furthermore, the methods and processes described above can be included in hardware modules.\",\n \"For example, the hardware modules can include, but are not limited to, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and other programmable-logic devices now known or later developed.\",\n \"When the hardware modules are activated, the hardware modules perform the methods and processes included within the hardware modules.\",\n \"The foregoing descriptions of embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description only.\",\n \"They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the forms disclosed.\",\n \"Accordingly, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art.\",\n \"Additionally, the above disclosure is not intended to limit the present invention.\",\n \"The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876077"}}},{"rowIdx":4495071,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["Depth Controllable and Measurable Medical Driver Devices and Methods of Use","Disclosed are devices and methods for creating a bore in bone.","The devices and methods described involve controlling the drive and measuring the drilling energy of a working tool such that a user can avoid injuries to surrounding structures."],["1.A driving device comprising: a housing having a proximal end and a distal end; a motor contained within the housing; a gearbox connecting the motor to a working tool interchangeably connected via a coupler, wherein the motor turns the gearbox, the coupler and the working tool; a torque sensor configured to measure drilling torque at an output of the gearbox and convert the measured drilling torque into a torque measurement signal, wherein the drilling torque is in a direction opposite rotation of the working tool, wherein the gearbox has a gearbox torque in a direction opposite rotation of the working tool, and wherein the gearbox is held as a reference point such that the gearbox torque is excluded from the torque measurement signal; a programmable electronics package programmed to keep constant rotations per minute (RPM) of the motor preventing working tool rotational acceleration or deceleration, and programmed to integrate over time the torque measurement signal from the torque sensor to obtain a measurement of drilling energy of the working tool; and a tool guide assembly coupled to the housing, wherein upon actuation, axial motion of the tool guide assembly towards the proximal end of the housing to a retracted state allows a length of the working tool to be driven into a target region of work.","2.The device of claim 1, wherein the tool guide assembly comprises: a tool guide configured to surround at least a portion of the working tool; and a surface guide having a proximal region and a distal region, the distal region configured to couple to the tool guide and the proximal region configured to couple to the housing.","3.The device of claim 1, wherein a change in the drilling energy corresponds to a change in material strength and density of work penetrated.","4.The device of claim 3, further comprising an alert, wherein the torque sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.","5.The device of claim 4, wherein the alert comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.","6.The device of claim 3, wherein the work penetrated comprises medullary canal, cancellous bone, cortical bone, or soft tissue.","7.The device of claim 1, wherein the working tool is selected from the group consisting of a drill bit, a detuned drill bit, wire, Kirschner wire, pin, trochar, burr, screwdriver, reamer, saw, saw blade, router, router bit, stepped drill bit, bone plug removal tool, bone harvesting tool, bone marrow harvesting tool, and bone marrow aspirating tool.","8.The device of claim 1, further comprising one or more axial force sensors configured to sense the axial force applied at one or both of the distal end of the tool guide and the working tool, wherein the programmable electronics package is further programmed to obtain a measurement of work done by the working tool based on the axial force and a linear distance traveled by the tool guide assembly and/or the length of the working tool driven into the target region.","9.The device of claim 8, wherein the programmable electronics package is further programmed to obtain a measurement of drilling energy based on the measurement of work.","10.The device of claim 8, further comprising an axial force alert, wherein the axial force sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the axial force alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.","11.The device of claim 10, wherein the axial force alert comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.","12.The device of claim 11, wherein the visual signal comprises one or more LEDs positioned within a user line-of-sight, wherein the LEDs indicate degree of axial force being applied by the user to the tool guide in real-time.","13.The device of claim 8, wherein the one or more axial force sensors comprises a tool guide sensor configured to sense and signal the axial force applied by the user to the tool guide.","14.The device of claim 13, wherein the one or more axial force sensors comprises a working tool sensor configured to sense and signal the axial force applied by the user to the working tool, wherein the degree of axial force being applied to the tool guide is provided separately from the degree of axial force being applied to the working tool.","15.The device of claim 14, wherein the degree of axial force being applied to the tool guide and the degree of axial force being applied to the working tool equals the total user force applied to the device.","16.The device of claim 2, wherein the tool guide at least partially surrounding the working tool is configured to assist in the engagement of an implant.","17.The device of claim 16, wherein the tool guide comprises one or more features that mechanically couple with corresponding features of the implant.","18.The device of claim 16, wherein the implant comprises a fracture fixation plate or a joint part.","19.The device of claim 16, wherein the tool guide couples to the implant at an angle away from perpendicular.","20.The device of claim 1, wherein a change in current used to drive the motor is received by the programmable electronics package signaling when to stop the axial motion of the tool guide assembly and preventing penetration of the working tool beyond the target region of the work.","21.The device of claim 1, wherein the torque sensor is coupled to the housing and to the motor such that the torque sensor couples the motor to the housing.","22.The device of claim 2, further comprising a second motor contained within the housing, wherein the proximal region of the surface guide is coupled to the second motor.","23.The device of claim 22, wherein the second motor is configured to cause the axial motion of the tool guide assembly toward the proximal end of the housing.","24.The device of claim 22, wherein the first motor is coupled to a first drive shaft and the second motor is coupled to a second drive shaft.","25.The device of claim 24, wherein the first drive shaft and the second drive shaft are in a co-axial, parallel, or orthogonal arrangement relative to one another.","26.The device of claim 24, wherein the surface guide comprises a forward surface guide and a rear surface guide, wherein a distal region of the forward surface guide couples to the tool guide and a proximal region of the forward surface guide couples to the rear surface guide, and wherein the rear surface guide couples to the second drive shaft.","27.The device of claim 26, wherein the rear surface guide is attached to a drive lug coupled to and powered by the second motor to move the rear surface guide in an axial direction.","28.The device of claim 26, wherein the forward surface guide comprises at least one support that mates with corresponding support of the rear surface guide.","29.The device of claim 26, wherein the forward surface guide engages an outer surface of the coupler.","30.The device of claim 1, wherein the tool guide assembly is configured to be removed away from the working tool.","31.The device of claim 1, wherein contact between the tool guide assembly and the working tool is prevented by maintaining the tool guide assembly coaxial with a longitudinal axis of the working tool."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Orthopedic surgery can require bone drilling for the repair of fractures or insertion of implants or other devices.","The resulting holes can be used to accept screws, implants and other devices to exert pressure, fixation or reduction of the bone or to place prosthetic joints or other implants.","Other medical procedures can require access to bone.","For example, the interosseous canal of bone can be accessed to allow fluid administration.","Bone can also be accessed to allow the harvesting of bone, collection of bone marrow cores, or for the aspiration of bone marrow for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.","During any procedure where a drill or other driver is used to advance a tool into and through bone, the user must consciously and carefully limit the penetration to the desired depth.","If the user allows the tool to penetrate further, the patient can suffer injury to distal structures such as nerve, brain, spinal cord, artery, vein, muscle, fascia, bone or joint space structures.","These types of injuries can lead to severe patient morbidity and even death.","The devices inserted to a drilled bore often must fit within a narrow length range that can vary sometimes by no more than a millimeter or less.","Once the drilling of a bone is safely complete, it is often prudent to obtain the depth of the bore made by the drilling tool.","Many procedures require knowledge of the depth of tool penetration, such as in the placement of internal fixation devices, screws and other implantable hardware.","Selecting an appropriate length of the screw or other implant necessary for the procedure depends upon such knowledge of the bore's depth.","Conventional techniques used in the art are often inconvenient, time consuming and unreliable often requiring trial and error and multiple exposures to radiographs before the proper implant insertion is achieved.","A common way to obtain the depth of the bore formed by a drilling tool is to use a depth gauge.","Often users must interrupt the drilling procedure in order to palpate or measure with a depth gauge whether or not the desired depth has been achieved.","In many instances a user will take a radiograph during a drilling procedure to confirm the appropriate depth of penetration has been achieved or take a radiograph while the depth gauge is in place to ensure the information the gauge provides is accurate.","Depth gauges used in the art can be inaccurate resulting in a user placing a screw of an inappropriate length not often identified until a confirming radiograph is taken.","Each radiograph taken increases the radiation exposure of the surgeon, staff and patient in the operating suite.","Depth gauges known in the art can also break and require the user to retrieve it from the bore.","Inconvenient and inaccurate depth measurement devices and methods can result in improperly sized screws that must be removed and replaced with new properly sized screws.","Wasted hardware, increased disruptions and delays in orthopedic procedures ultimately increase the expense of a procedure as well as expose the surgeon, staff and the patient to unnecessary radiation.","The cost of the additional time, the wasted hardware and the radiation exposure are quite significant."],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>The techniques known in the art to drill holes in bone are technically demanding and require separate measuring steps that interrupt the actual drilling of the bone adding time, cost and the need for additional confirming radiographs to complete such procedures.","There remains a need for safer, controlled drilling methods and devices.","There is also a need for an instrument that simultaneously controls and measures the depth of penetration of the instrument during procedures such as placement of internal fixation devices, screws, and other implantable hardware.","In one aspect, disclosed is a medical driving device including a housing having a proximal end and a distal end.","The housing includes a hand-held portion near the proximal end of the housing; and an engagement portion near the distal end of the housing; a first drive shaft extending through a region of the housing between the proximal and distal ends; a first drive element coupled to a region of the first drive shaft; a second drive element coupled to the first drive shaft and to a second drive shaft; a coupler coupled to the second drive element, the coupler interchangeably connected to a working tool; and a tool guide assembly.","The tool guide assembly includes a tool guide surrounding the working tool; a forward surface guide having a proximal region and a distal region, the distal region configured to couple to the tool guide; and a rear surface guide configured to couple to the first drive shaft and the proximal region of the forward surface guide.","The device further includes a programmable electronics package configured to sense torque in at least the second drive element.","The first drive shaft and the second drive shaft can be in a co-axial arrangement, parallel arrangement, or an orthogonal co-axial arrangement relative to one another.","The hand-held portion further can include an actuator.","The second drive element coupled to the second drive shaft can drive the coupler and the working tool.","The coupler and the working tool can be rotated by the second drive shaft.","The coupler and the working tool can be oscillated by the second drive shaft.","The tool guide assembly can travel axially towards the proximal end of the housing to a retracted state upon actuation of the first drive shaft.","Axial travel of the tool guide towards the proximal end of the housing can reveal a length of the working tool that extends beyond the tool guide.","The working tool can be a drill bit, a detuned drill bit, wire, Kirschner wire, pin, trochar, burr, screwdriver, reamer, saw, saw blade, router, router bit, stepped drill bit, bone plug removal tool, bone harvesting tool, bone marrow harvesting tool, and bone marrow aspirating tool.","The programmable electronics package can measure current used to drive the second drive element.","The current measured can correspond to a torque of the working tool and the material strength and density of work penetrated.","The device can further include a torque sensor positioned on the housing between the second drive element and the working tool, the torque sensor configured to directly measure torque of the working tool.","The torque sensor can be configured to communicate measurements of torque to the programmable electronics package.","A change in the measurements of torque can correspond to change in material strength and density of work penetrated.","The device can further include an alert such that the torque sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.","The alert can be an auditory, visual or tactile signal.","The work penetrated can be medullary canal, cancellous bone, cortical bone, or soft tissue.","The device can further include one or more axial force sensors configured to sense the axial force applied at one or both of the distal end of the tool guide and the working tool.","The device can further include an axial force alert, the axial force sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the axial force alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.","The axial force alert can be an auditory, visual or tactile signal.","The visual signal can be one or more LEDs positioned within a user line-of-sight, wherein the LEDs indicate degree of axial pressure being applied by the user in real-time.","The proximal region of the forward surface guide can be telescopically coupled to the rear surface guide.","The device can further include a gearbox connecting the second drive element to the working tool.","The tool guide surrounding the working tool can be configured to assist in the engagement of an implant.","The tool guide can include one or more features that mechanically couple with corresponding features of the implant.","The implant can be a fracture fixation plate or a joint part.","The tool guide can couple to the implant at an angle away from perpendicular.","In another aspect, disclosed is a method of penetrating bone using a driving instrument including contacting a field of bone with a distal engagement end of the instrument; receiving a first input by a first drive element of the instrument, the first drive element coupled to a working tool; driving the working tool at a first speed; receiving a second input by a second drive element of the instrument, the second drive element coupled to a guide surrounding at least a portion of the distal engagement end of the instrument; moving the guide axially in a proximal direction; and revealing a length of the working tool extending beyond the distal engagement end of the instrument.","The length of the working tool extending beyond the distal engagement end of the instrument can correspond to a depth of penetration by the working tool into the field of bone.","The method can further include receiving commands by the instrument to electronically program the depth of penetration by the working tool.","The method can further include instantaneously measuring axial motion of the guide using a transducer coupled to the instrument.","The method can further include adjusting axial movement of the guide to avoid plunge of the working tool.","The method can further include adjusting movement of the working tool to avoid tissue damage.","The method can further include alerting a user of a change in axial force against the field of bone using a signal, wherein the signal comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.","The method can further include instantaneously measuring torque of the working tool.","The torque can be measured electronically.","The torque can be measured directly using a torque sensor in contact with at least a portion of the second drive element.","The torque can correspond to a material strength and density of the field of bone.","The method can further include alerting a user of a change in material strength and density of the field of bone using a signal, wherein the signal comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.","A change in torque measured can indicate a transition from a first tissue type to a second tissue type.","The first tissue type can include cortical bone and the second tissue type can include medullary canal or cancellous bone.","The first tissue type can include medullary canal or cancellous bone and the second tissue type can include cortical bone.","Other features and advantages will be apparent from the following description of various embodiments, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the disclosed devices and methods."],["REFERENCE TO PRIORITY DOCUMENTS This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","14/522,087 filed Nov. 24, 2014, which is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser.","No.","13/077,794 filed Mar.","31, 2011, which claims the benefit of priority to U.S.","Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","61/319,771, filed on Mar.","31, 2010; and U.S.","Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","61/333,685, filed on May 11, 2010; and U.S.","Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","61/421,596, filed on Dec. 9, 2010.Priority of the filing dates and the disclosures of the Patent Applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.","BACKGROUND Orthopedic surgery can require bone drilling for the repair of fractures or insertion of implants or other devices.","The resulting holes can be used to accept screws, implants and other devices to exert pressure, fixation or reduction of the bone or to place prosthetic joints or other implants.","Other medical procedures can require access to bone.","For example, the interosseous canal of bone can be accessed to allow fluid administration.","Bone can also be accessed to allow the harvesting of bone, collection of bone marrow cores, or for the aspiration of bone marrow for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.","During any procedure where a drill or other driver is used to advance a tool into and through bone, the user must consciously and carefully limit the penetration to the desired depth.","If the user allows the tool to penetrate further, the patient can suffer injury to distal structures such as nerve, brain, spinal cord, artery, vein, muscle, fascia, bone or joint space structures.","These types of injuries can lead to severe patient morbidity and even death.","The devices inserted to a drilled bore often must fit within a narrow length range that can vary sometimes by no more than a millimeter or less.","Once the drilling of a bone is safely complete, it is often prudent to obtain the depth of the bore made by the drilling tool.","Many procedures require knowledge of the depth of tool penetration, such as in the placement of internal fixation devices, screws and other implantable hardware.","Selecting an appropriate length of the screw or other implant necessary for the procedure depends upon such knowledge of the bore's depth.","Conventional techniques used in the art are often inconvenient, time consuming and unreliable often requiring trial and error and multiple exposures to radiographs before the proper implant insertion is achieved.","A common way to obtain the depth of the bore formed by a drilling tool is to use a depth gauge.","Often users must interrupt the drilling procedure in order to palpate or measure with a depth gauge whether or not the desired depth has been achieved.","In many instances a user will take a radiograph during a drilling procedure to confirm the appropriate depth of penetration has been achieved or take a radiograph while the depth gauge is in place to ensure the information the gauge provides is accurate.","Depth gauges used in the art can be inaccurate resulting in a user placing a screw of an inappropriate length not often identified until a confirming radiograph is taken.","Each radiograph taken increases the radiation exposure of the surgeon, staff and patient in the operating suite.","Depth gauges known in the art can also break and require the user to retrieve it from the bore.","Inconvenient and inaccurate depth measurement devices and methods can result in improperly sized screws that must be removed and replaced with new properly sized screws.","Wasted hardware, increased disruptions and delays in orthopedic procedures ultimately increase the expense of a procedure as well as expose the surgeon, staff and the patient to unnecessary radiation.","The cost of the additional time, the wasted hardware and the radiation exposure are quite significant.","SUMMARY The techniques known in the art to drill holes in bone are technically demanding and require separate measuring steps that interrupt the actual drilling of the bone adding time, cost and the need for additional confirming radiographs to complete such procedures.","There remains a need for safer, controlled drilling methods and devices.","There is also a need for an instrument that simultaneously controls and measures the depth of penetration of the instrument during procedures such as placement of internal fixation devices, screws, and other implantable hardware.","In one aspect, disclosed is a medical driving device including a housing having a proximal end and a distal end.","The housing includes a hand-held portion near the proximal end of the housing; and an engagement portion near the distal end of the housing; a first drive shaft extending through a region of the housing between the proximal and distal ends; a first drive element coupled to a region of the first drive shaft; a second drive element coupled to the first drive shaft and to a second drive shaft; a coupler coupled to the second drive element, the coupler interchangeably connected to a working tool; and a tool guide assembly.","The tool guide assembly includes a tool guide surrounding the working tool; a forward surface guide having a proximal region and a distal region, the distal region configured to couple to the tool guide; and a rear surface guide configured to couple to the first drive shaft and the proximal region of the forward surface guide.","The device further includes a programmable electronics package configured to sense torque in at least the second drive element.","The first drive shaft and the second drive shaft can be in a co-axial arrangement, parallel arrangement, or an orthogonal co-axial arrangement relative to one another.","The hand-held portion further can include an actuator.","The second drive element coupled to the second drive shaft can drive the coupler and the working tool.","The coupler and the working tool can be rotated by the second drive shaft.","The coupler and the working tool can be oscillated by the second drive shaft.","The tool guide assembly can travel axially towards the proximal end of the housing to a retracted state upon actuation of the first drive shaft.","Axial travel of the tool guide towards the proximal end of the housing can reveal a length of the working tool that extends beyond the tool guide.","The working tool can be a drill bit, a detuned drill bit, wire, Kirschner wire, pin, trochar, burr, screwdriver, reamer, saw, saw blade, router, router bit, stepped drill bit, bone plug removal tool, bone harvesting tool, bone marrow harvesting tool, and bone marrow aspirating tool.","The programmable electronics package can measure current used to drive the second drive element.","The current measured can correspond to a torque of the working tool and the material strength and density of work penetrated.","The device can further include a torque sensor positioned on the housing between the second drive element and the working tool, the torque sensor configured to directly measure torque of the working tool.","The torque sensor can be configured to communicate measurements of torque to the programmable electronics package.","A change in the measurements of torque can correspond to change in material strength and density of work penetrated.","The device can further include an alert such that the torque sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.","The alert can be an auditory, visual or tactile signal.","The work penetrated can be medullary canal, cancellous bone, cortical bone, or soft tissue.","The device can further include one or more axial force sensors configured to sense the axial force applied at one or both of the distal end of the tool guide and the working tool.","The device can further include an axial force alert, the axial force sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the axial force alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.","The axial force alert can be an auditory, visual or tactile signal.","The visual signal can be one or more LEDs positioned within a user line-of-sight, wherein the LEDs indicate degree of axial pressure being applied by the user in real-time.","The proximal region of the forward surface guide can be telescopically coupled to the rear surface guide.","The device can further include a gearbox connecting the second drive element to the working tool.","The tool guide surrounding the working tool can be configured to assist in the engagement of an implant.","The tool guide can include one or more features that mechanically couple with corresponding features of the implant.","The implant can be a fracture fixation plate or a joint part.","The tool guide can couple to the implant at an angle away from perpendicular.","In another aspect, disclosed is a method of penetrating bone using a driving instrument including contacting a field of bone with a distal engagement end of the instrument; receiving a first input by a first drive element of the instrument, the first drive element coupled to a working tool; driving the working tool at a first speed; receiving a second input by a second drive element of the instrument, the second drive element coupled to a guide surrounding at least a portion of the distal engagement end of the instrument; moving the guide axially in a proximal direction; and revealing a length of the working tool extending beyond the distal engagement end of the instrument.","The length of the working tool extending beyond the distal engagement end of the instrument can correspond to a depth of penetration by the working tool into the field of bone.","The method can further include receiving commands by the instrument to electronically program the depth of penetration by the working tool.","The method can further include instantaneously measuring axial motion of the guide using a transducer coupled to the instrument.","The method can further include adjusting axial movement of the guide to avoid plunge of the working tool.","The method can further include adjusting movement of the working tool to avoid tissue damage.","The method can further include alerting a user of a change in axial force against the field of bone using a signal, wherein the signal comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.","The method can further include instantaneously measuring torque of the working tool.","The torque can be measured electronically.","The torque can be measured directly using a torque sensor in contact with at least a portion of the second drive element.","The torque can correspond to a material strength and density of the field of bone.","The method can further include alerting a user of a change in material strength and density of the field of bone using a signal, wherein the signal comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.","A change in torque measured can indicate a transition from a first tissue type to a second tissue type.","The first tissue type can include cortical bone and the second tissue type can include medullary canal or cancellous bone.","The first tissue type can include medullary canal or cancellous bone and the second tissue type can include cortical bone.","Other features and advantages will be apparent from the following description of various embodiments, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the disclosed devices and methods.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 is a perspective, cut-away view of one embodiment of an instrument.","FIG.","2 is a side, cut-away view of the instrument of FIG.","1.FIG.","3 is a perspective view of another embodiment of an instrument.","FIG.","4 is a perspective view of the instrument of FIG.","3 showing a length of the working tool in an extended position.","FIG.","5 is an exploded view of the instrument of FIG.","3.FIG.","6 is a perspective view of an instrument having a guide interfaced with a fracture fixation plate.","FIG.","7 is a perspective view of the guide of FIG.","6 interfaced with the fracture fixation plate.","FIG.","8 is a perspective view of a guide/fixation plate interface system.","FIG.","9 is a perspective view of a guide coupled to the instrument of FIG.","6 interfaced with the fracture fixation plate.","FIG.","10 is a side view of a drill bit having detuned flutes.","FIGS.","11A and 11B are perspective views of an instrument having a saw blade and saw blade guide coupled thereto.","FIG.","12 is a side view of an instrument having a driving tool coupled thereto.","FIG.","13 is a perspective view of another embodiment of an instrument.","FIG.","14 is a perspective view of a rotary encoder for use with an instrument described herein.","FIG.","15 is a schematic view of a drive mechanism showing torque forces generated by a working tool, gearbox and motor.","FIG.","16 is a schematic view of a direct torque sensor measuring force produced by drilling torque.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION This disclosure relates to a surgical instrument for preparing a bore in animal tissue.","In an embodiment, the disclosure relates to a surgical instrument that drives a tool in which both drive power and relative axial extension of the tool are controlled and measurable.","The instrument can have both a rotational drive and an axial drive, each of which can be controllable by the user.","The instrument allows a user to control and simultaneously measure the travel of the tool into a target tissue.","FIGS.","1-2 illustrate cut-away views of an instrument 10.The instrument 10 can include a body 20 that houses two drive motors 30, 60 and a working tool 110 coupled via a chuck 90 extendable near a distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10.As will be described in more detail below, the instrument 10 can instantaneously sense, meter and control the work created by the tool 110.Instantaneous sensing, metering and controlling the instrument 10 help to prevent injury to surrounding tissues and structures that could otherwise be caused by the tool 110.For example, sensing, metering and controlling the rotational speed of the drive can reduce the risk of heating surrounding tissue and bone, for example to the point of causing localized burns.","Sensing, metering and controlling the axial motion and/or relative extension of the working tool 110 can prevent penetrating injuries, for example, to structures distal of the target such as nerve, brain, spinal cord, artery, vein, muscle, fascia, bone or joint space structures.","Instantaneous sensing, metering and controlling the bore created as the working tool penetrates the tissue can provide an advantage when selecting implants for insertion.","For example, the length of the drilling hole and subsequently the length of the implant needed can be simultaneously metered upon creating the bore.","This eliminates the need for an additional step of measuring the depth of the bore created with a separate device.","Further, depth gauges can frequently provide false measurements resulting in users selecting the wrong size implant for insertion and requiring them to remove the implant and reinsert a different sized implant.","Conventional depth gauges are also prone to breakage, which can lead to additional time usage and patient morbidity.","Sensing, metering and controlling the depth of the bore in real-time or as it is being created eliminates the trial-and-error process of selecting the correct implant for the procedure, which ultimately can improve patient safety.","The instruments described herein also save operating time and the need for additional procedures like repeated radiographs in determining implant size.","Because estimates of operating room costs for the personnel alone can be as high as $25 per minute even small savings of time in an operating room can result in large savings of money.","The instruments described herein provide an added benefit of reducing the number of radiographs needed in the operating room.","Intra-operative radiographs and radiation exposure are one of the major occupational risks to surgeons and operating room staff.","Radiation exposure of this type has been shown to lead to radiation dermatitis, cataracts, skin cancers, leukemia and other cancers.","The instruments and methods described herein reduce the number of radiographs needed per procedure and the life-time exposure of surgeons and staff to x-rays.","This reduced radiation exposure ultimately lowers chronic radiation exposure and the risk of radiation-related illnesses in surgeons and their staff.","Drive System The configuration of the drive system of the instrument 10 can vary.","In an embodiment shown in FIGS.","1-2, drive motor 30 of the instrument 10 can be a fixed axial drive motor 30 and drive motor 60 can be a slidable, rotational drive motor 60.Drive motor 30 can be coupled to a drive shaft 40, which can in turn be coupled to drive motor 60.The drive shaft 40 can be a jack screw, ball screw, lead screw and the like that can translate the torque or rotary movement of the drive motor 30 into thrust in an axial direction to slidably move the drive motor 60 relative to the instrument 10.The drive shaft 40 can be made to move either in a distal (forward) direction or a proximal (reverse) direction that is substantially parallel to the axis of the instrument 10.The drive motor 60 can connect to the drive shaft 40 by way of a detachable coupler 50.The drive motor 60 can be coupled to and rotate a drive shaft 80 that can connect to the chuck 90 that holds the working tool 110.As such, movement of the drive motor 60 along the longitudinal axis of the instrument 10 can cause similar movement of the working tool 110 and extension of the tool 110, for example beyond the distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10.In use, the drive shaft 40 driven by drive motor 30 can axially drive the drive motor 60, which can rotate the drive shaft 80, which can rotate the chuck 90 which can rotate the tool 110.The chuck 90 can be stabilized within the body 20, for example by bearings 100.The bearings 100 can be axially slidable and stabilizing.","The second drive motor 60 can be constrained or held rotationally still to provide for the eventual rotational movement of the working tool 110.The drive motor 60 can be fixed against rotational movement by guide rails or anti-rotation conducting flanges 70.In an embodiment, the flanges 70 slide within channels in the body 20.In an embodiment, each channel can have an opposite polarity such that they conduct electricity from a power source to the drive motor 60.In another embodiment, the power can be separate from the conducting flanges 70.The anti-rotation conduction flanges 70 can also be spiral shaped and travel through spiral grooves to add stability.","The anti-rotation conduction flanges can also be excluded from the device and the rotational drive motor fixed to the axial drive shaft 40 causing the drive motor 60 to turn along with the axial drive shaft 40.It should be appreciated that the configuration of the drive shaft 40, 80 relative to the drive motors 30, 60 can vary.","For example, the motors 30, 60 can be in parallel overlapping orientation relative to one another as shown in FIGS.","1 and 2.Alternatively, the drive shaft 40 and motor 30 can be positioned in a co-axial orientation as shown in FIGS.","3, 4 and 5.In another example, the drive shaft 40 and motor 30 can be positioned orthogonal to drive shaft 80 and motor 60.For example, the rotated motor can be positioned within the handle 25 of the instrument 10.The parallel overlapping orientation as well as the orthogonal orientation can provide for a shorter, more compact length of the instrument 10 without limiting the overall extension of the tool 110 that can be achieved.","Alternatively, the drive shaft 40, 80 and motor 30, 60 can be connected via a gearbox (not shown).","It should also be appreciated that use of the term “working tool” herein or “rotation of the working tool” is not intended to be limiting and that working tools other than rotating drill bits are considered as will be described in more detail below.","Although the embodiments shown herein use motors, such as a stepper motor powered by a battery, it should be appreciated that power systems other than rotational drive motors are considered.","For example, a non-electric drive motor, pneumatic motors or actuators powered for example by a nitrogen gas source, electrical motors, hydraulic actuators, and the like or a combination thereof can be incorporated into the instrument.","It should also be appreciated that a motor and gearing can be used in place of the two-motor embodiment.","Instrument Guides Extension of the working tool 110 relative to the longitudinal axis of the instrument 10 can be accomplished as described above via linear movement of the drive motor 60 within the body 20 of the instrument 10.In another embodiment, the drive motor 60 need not move axially relative to the instrument 10.Instead, extension of the working tool 110 relative to the distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10 can be effected by the movement of one or more surface guides on the instrument 10 as will be described below.","FIGS.","3-5 illustrate an embodiment of an instrument 10 that includes a body 20 that houses an axial drive motor 30, a rotational drive motor 60, a working tool 110 coupled via a chuck 90 extendable near a distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10.A chuck extension 280 can also be included.","The instrument 10 can further include a rear surface guide 300 and a forward surface 302 guide that, as will be discussed in more detail below, can be withdrawn in a proximal direction to reveal a length of the working tool 110 extending beyond the distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10.The drive motor 30 can be an axial drive motor and spindle seated near the proximal end (rear) of the body 20 and the second drive motor 60 can be a rotational drive motor and spindle seated near the distal (front) end of the body 20.Body insert 220 can fit inside the top of the body 20 such that the body insert 220 covers the drive motors 30, 60 (see FIG.","5).","The drive motor 30 can attach to drive a drive shaft 40 and the drive shaft 40 can attach to the drive lug 240.The drive lug 240 can attach to the rear surface guide 300 at its proximal end.","The distal end of the rear surface guide 300 can attach to the proximal end of the forward surface guide 302.There can be one or more o-rings 250 between the two surface guides 300, 302.The drive lug 240 and the rear surface guide 300 can sit in the body 20 above the body insert 220.The top of the body 20 also can accept a body cover 214.The rear surface guide 300 can fit between the body 20 and the body cover 214 such that it is free to move within the body 20 and extend beyond the body 20 and the body cover 214.As best shown in FIG.","3, the forward surface guide 302 can engage an outer surface of the chuck 90, for example, via a sleeve and/or one or more stabilizing flanges 305.In another embodiment, the chuck 90 can function without a sleeve or stabilizing flanges and instead the forward surface guide 302 can have a bushing or other device to engage the chuck 90 directly and still allow the chuck 90 to spin freely.","In use, the axial drive motor 30 can power the drive lug 240 in an axial direction, which in turn can drive in an axial direction the rear surface guide 300 coupled to the forward surface guide 302.An increased length of the working tool 110 is revealed in order to engage the work.","The drive motor 60 rotates the chuck 90 and the working tool 110.The surface guides 300, 302 shown in the drawings have two “arms” or supports that extend axially.","But it should be appreciated that the surface guides 300, 302 can have one, two, three or more arms that provide additional support to bear the load.","It should also be appreciated that the surface guides 300, 302 can be a single unit.","In another embodiment, the surface guides 300, 302 can be telescoping surface guides.","This can provide the instrument 10 with a larger range in overall drill length in a more efficient configuration.","The telescoping surface guides can each include an actuator such as a pneumatic, hydraulic, motorized or other actuator that causes the surface guides 300, 302 to telescope and change overall guide length (i.e.","telescope outward to lengthen or telescope inward to shorten).","In another embodiment, the telescoping surface guides 300, 302 can be used to achieve depth control without the use of an axial motor.","The axial electric motor can be replaced by a hydraulic or pneumatic motor, as can the rotational motor.","A distal guide 170 can optionally be coupled to the instrument 10.In one embodiment, the distal guide 170 is coupled to a distal end of the body 20 of the instrument 10 (as shown in FIGS.","1 and 2).","In another embodiment, the distal guide 170 is coupled to the forward surface guide 302 (as shown in FIGS.","3-5).","The distal guide 170 can include a central channel through which the working tool 110 can extend to engage the work.","The distal guide 170 can have a tapered geometry or reduced outer diameter such that its contact surface is relatively small compared to the distal end of the body 20 and the bulk of the instrument 10 is focused into a small area of contact with the work.","The distal guide 170 can also include gripping features at its forward surface such as spikes or other protrusions such that the guide 170 can hold its position on the work.","The distal guide 170 can assist in the engagement of bone, fracture plates or other implants or joint parts.","One or more portions of the distal guide 170 can couple with the implant, for example by directly pressing or screwing the implant onto one or more corresponding features of the distal guide 170.FIGS.","6-9 show an instrument and various embodiments of distal guides 170a, 170b, 170c that can interface with the work using various mechanisms.","Guide 170a can engage an implant 815, such as a fracture fixation plate, by a threaded interface, or by another mechanism, such that the guide 170a screws into, or otherwise couples with the implant 815.Guides 170a and 170b are shown connected to the implant 815 in a generally perpendicular configuration.","Alternatively, distal guide 170c can connect to the implant 815 at an angle away from perpendicular.","The guide 170b can include an interface that provides a unique connection with the implant 815.For example, the distal guide 170b can include a pin-index type connection or a diameter-index type system that provide non-interchangeable connections between the distal guide 170 and the implant 815.As such, a specific implant 815 can interface with a particular distal guide 170 to prevent misconnections.","The specific geometry of the interface between the distal guide 170 and the implant 815 can vary.","FIG.","8 shows a schematic of just one example of an interface system between the implant 815 and the distal guide 170.The distal guide 170 can include one or more geometric features 805 that extend from a forward surface of the distal guide 170.The geometric features 805 can couple with corresponding geometric features 810 provided on the implant 815 such that the two properly and uniquely interconnect.","The corresponding geometric features 805, 810 can dictate the type of implant 815 that can be used with a particular distal guide 170 providing for a unique pairing between the two.","It should be appreciated that although the figure shows the implant 815 as a fracture fixation plate, the implant 815 with which the guide 170 can interface can vary including bone, fracture plates or other implants or joint parts.","The interface between the distal guide 170 and the implant 815 can provide for directional guidance for the working tool 110.The implant 815 can connect to the distal guide 170, the distal guide 170 can connect to the instrument 10 resulting in one interconnected complex for drilling a bore.","In one embodiment, the implant 815 couples to the distal guide 170 which can be attached to the instrument 10 via the forward surface guide 302.The implant 815 can also couple a distal guide 170 that is separate from the instrument 10.In another embodiment shown in FIG.","9, the instrument can include two guides.","In this embodiment, a first distal guide 170 is attached to the instrument 10 and a second distal guide 170a is connected to the implant 815.The first distal guide 170 can then couple to the second distal guide 170a.","Working Tools As mentioned above, the working tool 110 can be connected to the instrument 10 using a rotatably-driven coupler or chuck 90 with or without a chuck extension 280.The chuck 90 can be a conventional coupler such as a three-jaw chuck in which the jaws grasp the proximal portion of the tool 110 and hold it firmly in place.","The chuck 90 can be actuated to open or close the jaws by a rotation mechanism or a key or other techniques known in the art.","The chuck 90 can also be a quick-release type of coupler.","The chuck 90 can be extended beyond the distal engagement end 120 such that the chuck 90 can be accessed external of the body 20.This accessibility of the chuck 90 relative to the instrument 10 allows for a user to make reliable connections between the working tool 110 and the chuck 90.The exterior access can also allow for shorter, safer driven tools than if the chuck 90 was internal to the instrument body 20.Additionally, the exterior access can provide for ease of cleaning this portion of the instrument 10.The working tool 110 as described herein can include, but is not limited to, tools such as a drill bit, Kirschner (or other) wire, pin, trochar, burr, screwdriver, reamer, saw, saw blade, router, router bit, stepped drill bit, bone plug removal tools, bone harvesting tools, bone marrow harvesting tools, bone marrow aspirating tools or any other tools that can be reversibly attached to a chuck 90 or other type of coupling device.","It should be appreciated that where a working tool is described herein as a drill bit or wire or pin or other type of tool that such description is not intended to be limiting.","It should be appreciated that a wide variety of tools can be used as the working tool with the instruments described herein.","For example, the working tool can be a saw blade connected to a coupler that oscillates or reciprocates the saw blade as described with respect to FIGS.","11A-11B below or a wire driver as described with respect to FIG.","12 below.","The working tool 110 can be made of metal materials such as titanium metal or stainless steel that can be sterilized and reused.","Alternatively, the working tool 110 can be made of polymeric material that can be discarded after each use.","The material can be chosen to provide the necessary strength to allow the proper tool action.","FIG.","10 shows an embodiment of a drill bit 905 having a flute 910 that is detuned or dulled.","It should be appreciated that the entire length of the flute 910 need not have the same edge geometry.","For example, the detuned flute 910 can have an edge 915 that is sharper starting at a proximal region of the bit 905 towards the tool attachment region.","It should also be appreciated that the bit 905 can have more than one flute 910 as is known in the art.","The detuned flute 910 allows for greater sensitivity in measurement of torque and measurement of current.","The bit 905 can also have fast spirals 920 with short rotational diameter and a short tip 925 such that it transfers less energy to the work to avoid over-heating the work and surrounding tissues.","The drill bit 905 design also can provide a feel to the user such that information regarding the subtle material strength and density changes of the work can be appreciated during use.","Other Tool Embodiments It should be appreciated that other medical devices can incorporate the metering and controlling features of the instruments as described herein.","FIGS.","11A and 11B show an embodiment of an instrument 1005 having a working tool that is an oscillating bone saw blade 1010 coupled to chuck 1090 and surrounded by a saw blade guide 1007 that is coupled to a forward surface guide 1002 coupled to a rear surface guide 1000.The oscillating saw blade 1010 can have opposed proximal and distal ends and can be formed so that teeth 1015 extend forward from the distal end of the planar body of the blade 1010.The arrangement and geometry of the teeth 1015 can vary.","The body of the blade 1010 can be formed of material such as stainless steel or other appropriate cutting material.","The teeth 1015 can extend forward from the blade distal end through an elongate slot 1008 in the saw blade guide 1007 coupled to the instrument as best shown in FIG.","11B.","The proximal end of the blade 1010 can include features (not shown) that facilitate the coupling of the blade 1010 to a chuck 1090.The chuck 1090 can connect to a drive mechanism that oscillates or reciprocates the saw blade 1010 to effect cutting.","For example, the distal end of the blade 1010 can pivot back and forth relative to the proximal end of the blade 1010.As the saw blade 1010 saws through material, another drive mechanism can drive the rear surface guide 1000, the forward surface guide 1002 and the saw blade guide 1007 in an axial direction such that the body of the blade 1010 extends further through the slot 1008 of the saw blade guide 1007.The slot 1008 and the guides 1000, 1002, 1007 are configured such that they do not interfere with the oscillating and/or reciprocating motion of the blade 1010.The length of the blade 1010 can vary to accommodate various depth penetrations.","FIG.","12 shows an embodiment of an instrument 1105 having a working tool used to implant a Kirschner wire (k-wire) or other wire or pin.","In an embodiment, the instrument 1105 can incorporate a wire driver 1110 used to implant a k-wire 1115 (or other wire or pin, hereinafter called “wire” for simplicity).","The wire driver 1110 can be a modular attachment that can be used with the various instruments described herein.","For example, the wire driver 1110 can be inserted into other instruments 10 described herein and used in place of the chuck 90, which can be removable.","Alternatively, the wire driver instrument 1105 can be completely separate embodiments in which the wire driver 1110 is not modular or removable and instead is coupled permanently to the instrument 1105.It should be appreciated that the various instruments described herein can be modular such that mechanical features such as the chuck 90 or the axial drive motor 30 can be swapped out in place for one another.","The wire driver 1110 can hold the wire 1115 as well as rotate or oscillate the wire 1115.The wire driver 1110 can be released to slide axially to a new position causing more (or less) wire 1115 to be exposed for allowing a further penetration of the bone.","In an embodiment, the body 1120 of the driver 1105 including the internal workings are cannulated such that the wire 1115 can be fed through the driver 1105 body 1120.The wire 1115 can extend through the cannulation in the body 1120 of the driver 1105 from the front of the driver 1105 out through the back end 1125 of the driver 1105.As mentioned, the wire driver 1110 can hold the wire 1115 in place much like a drill chuck.","When the wire driver 1110 is activated, the rotational motor (not shown) can oscillate or rotate the wire 1115 in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction.","As with previous embodiments, the rotational motor can be biased in either rotational direction.","When the driver 1105 is activated the axial drive (not shown) can pull the surface guide(s) 1130 back (proximally) and the wire 1115 can advance into the work site such as bone.","A trigger 1135 can be incorporated into the driver 1105 that holds the wire 1115 when grasped by a user.","If pressure on the trigger 1135 is released, the trigger 1135 releases the wire 1115 such that the driver 1105 can slide forward or backward to expose less or more wire 1115, respectively.","When a user desires more wire 1115, the trigger 1135 can be released and the driver 1105 pushes the surface guide 1130 forward.","The length the surface guide 1130 moves forward equals the length of wire 1115 that is now available for advancement into the bone.","This length can be added to the computed total axial distance as needed to obtain an accurate account of the length of wire 1115 that was driven into the bone.","The wire 1115 can be held in place by either the guide 1130 (such as by pinching) or the bone into which the wire 1115 was driven can itself be used to hold the wire 1115 in place.","If the wire 1115 is held in place by the bone, the user can urge the guide 1130 against the bone as the surface guide 1130 pushes the driver 1105 back to let out more wire 1115.If the user desires to remove the wire 1115 from the bone, the reverse axial drive (not shown) can be engaged such that the surface guide 1130 move forward and the driver 1105 moves backward away from patient while the trigger 1135 is engaged.","It should also be appreciated that, although not shown, this instrument embodiment can incorporate a distal guide 170 coupled to a forward end of the surface guide 1130 as described in previous embodiments.","Tool Actuation Actuation of the drive motors and other features of the instruments described herein can vary.","Actuators can include triggers, buttons and switches that can be retracted, pressed, squeezed, slid or otherwise actuated to perform a certain function of the instrument 10.The actuators can be incorporated into a handle of the instrument 10 in such a way that is ergonomically comfortable for a user.","For example, the instrument can include a pistol grip having trigger-type actuators such that the instrument 10 can be easily and comfortably held and actuated during use.","It should be appreciated, however, that the instrument 10 can have other configurations such as a straight-bodied instruments that do not include a pistol grip.","Each drive motor can have a separate actuator for activation.","For example, the drive motor 30 can be turned on by actuator 32 and the drive motor 60 can be turned on by actuator 62 (see FIG.","1).","The actuators 32, 62 can be depressible triggers positioned on a handle 25 of the body 20, such as within a trigger housing 212.The actuators 32, 62 can adjust the speed of the drive motors 30, 60 in a manner that is proportional to the degree of depression of the actuators 32, 62, for example relative to the instrument handle 25.The direction the drive shaft 40 moves can be changed from a forward to a reverse direction, for example, by the position of a switch or other selectable mechanism.","Similarly, the drive motor 60 can be made to move in a forward or reverse direction as determined by the position of a selectable switch.","Further, the motor can be biased in either rotational direction.","In another embodiment shown in FIGS.","3-5, the instrument 10 can include a forward trigger 232 and a reverse trigger 234 that can each actuate both drive motors 30, 60.The forward trigger 232 can be a two-stage forward trigger 232 such that it can engage the rotational drive motor 60 in the first stage (i.e.","effecting working tool 110 rotation) and the axial drive motor 30 in the second stage (i.e.","effecting working tool 110 extension).","The speed of the rotational drive motor 60 can be proportional to the degree of actuation of the first stage of the forward trigger 232, for example depression of the trigger 232.The speed of the axial drive motor 30 can be proportional to the degree of actuation of the second stage of the forward trigger 232.In an embodiment, the trigger 232 in the first stage can engage the rotational drive motor 60.The tool 110 spins and with further depression of the trigger 232 can reach full speed.","Just before the trigger 232 enters the second stage, the axial drive motor 30 can engage.","The axial drive motor 30 can cause withdrawal of the surface guides 300, 302 in a proximal direction P (see FIG.","4) to reveal a length of the working tool 110 allowing it to engage with and bore into the work as the user applies pressure to the instrument 10 and keeps it engaged with the work.","It should be appreciated that the axial drive motor 30 can also cause the movement of the working tool 110 in a distal direction to reveal the length as described with respect to other embodiments herein.","It should be appreciated that an axial force sensor can be incorporated that assists a user in keeping the instrument engaged with the work, as will be discussed in more detail below.","The reverse trigger 234 can cause both of the drive motors 30, 60 to reverse their direction.","When the reverse trigger 234 is engaged while the two-stage trigger 232 is actuated during the first stage, the rotational drive motor 60 as well as the chuck 90 and the working tool 110, can spin in a reverse direction.","When the second stage of the forward trigger 232 is actuated, and the reverse trigger 234 is still engaged, the rotational drive motor 60 as well as the chuck 90 and the working tool 110, can spin at maximal speed in a reverse direction and the axial drive motor 30 can begin to spin proportional to the degree of actuation of the second stage of the forward trigger 232.The action of the axial drive motor 30 can cause the drive lug 240, the rear surface guide 300, the forward surface guide 302 and the guide 170 to move in the distal direction (i.e.","towards the work in direction of Arrow D, see FIG.","3).","The axial movement of the guides 300, 302 can push the instrument 10 away from the work and draw the working tool 110 out of the work.","In another embodiment, the motors 30, 60 can have independent reverse functions and can be controlled independently via independent actuators or triggers.","The instrument 10 can also include an oscillation select switch 262 (see FIGS.","3-5).","The oscillating function can also be actuated by certain trigger combinations or an oscillation trigger.","When the oscillation select switch 262 is in the “off” position, the instrument 10 can function as described above.","When the oscillation select switch 262 is in the “on” position, the rotational drive motor 60 can oscillate in the appropriate direction when the triggers 232, 234 are actuated and the axial drive motor 30 function is not affected.","If the forward trigger 232 is actuated, the instrument 10 can oscillate in the forward direction, i.e.","the rotational drive motor 60 can oscillate forward but the axial drive motor 30 can cause the drive lug 240, the rear surface guide 300 the forward surface guide 302 and the guide 170 to move in a proximal direction as before.","If the reverse and forward triggers 232, 234 are actuated, the instrument 10 can oscillate in the reverse direction, i.e.","the rotational drive motor 60 oscillates in reverse but the axial drive motor 30 can cause the drive lug 240, the rear surface guide 300, the forward surface guide 302 and the guide 170 to move in the distal direction as before.","The oscillation select switch 262 can affect the function of the rotational motor 60 not the axial drive motor 30.When selected it can cause the rotational motor 60 to oscillate.","Irrigation System The instruments described herein can include an irrigation system.","The irrigation system allows for the surgical field to be kept cool while the instrument 10 is in use and reduce the risk of tissue damage such as bone burning and bone death.","The irrigation system can also reduce the risk of hardware failure, the need for re-operation, infection, limb loss and death.","The irrigation system can include one or more irrigation nozzles 130 located at or near the engagement end 120 of the body 20.In one embodiment, the irrigation nozzles 130 spray fluid from the distal tip of the body 20.In another embodiment, the irrigation nozzles 130 can be routed internally through the working tool 110.The irrigation fluid can be sprayed through a channel running through the working tool 110 and exiting at a port near the distal end of the tool 110.In a further embodiment, the forward surface guide 302 can have one or more irrigation nozzles 130 (see FIGS.","3-5).","The irrigation nozzles 130 can also be coupled to the distal guide 170.The irrigation nozzles 130 can deliver irrigation fluid (i.e.","a liquid or a gas) through irrigation tubing 340 (see FIGS.","3-5) from a sterile fluid bag or other irrigation fluid source.","In an embodiment, carbon dioxide gas can be used to irrigate the work to remove heat.","The irrigation tubing 340 can be coupled to the instrument 10 via an irrigation port near a proximal end of the body 20.The irrigation tubing 340 can be angled downward to avoid crimping and for more efficient manipulation of the instrument 10 by the user.","An external fluid pump or gravity can be used to pressurize the irrigation system.","The irrigation system can be kept outside the sterile surgical field except, for example, the irrigation tubing 340 connected to the instrument 10.Such an arrangement can contribute to the engagement end 120 and the working tool 110 remaining relatively free from bulk or other awkward equipment enabling more accurate placement and easy use of the instrument 10 in the surgical field.","The irrigation system of the instrument 10 can also include a suction mechanism at or near the surgical field.","Suction can be applied through the irrigation nozzles 130 or can be applied through additional channels.","The irrigation system can be controlled manually by the user such as with an irrigation actuator positioned, for example, on a handle 25 of the instrument 10 or by a foot pedal or other mechanism.","The irrigation actuator can be a depressible trigger or button that can turn on or off the flow of irrigation fluid from the irrigation tube 340.The same actuator or another actuator can turn on or off the suction applied to the surgical field.","The irrigation system can also be controlled automatically for example by one or more sensors near the work site communicating with an electronics package of the instrument to be described in more detail below.","Automated irrigation is generally a desired option for users as it can effectively reduce drill bit temperature, bone temperature and the risk of bone burning.","Modularity and Internal Access The body 20 of the instruments 10 described herein can include one or more removable covers that can be used to access one or more of the various internal components.","Further, one or more of the internal components can be modular and can be completely separated from the body 20 of the instrument 10.This allows for interchanging parts as well as cleaning and sterilizing the components of the instrument 10.In one embodiment, the instrument 10 can have a cover 122 near the engagement end 120 that can be removed to access, clean or remove the coupler 90, bearings 100 and drive shaft 80 and any other internal components of the instrument 10.The drive motor 60 can extend to a region near the distal end of the body 20 and allow for the actuation and release of the coupler 50.For example, the release can be a depressible button 52 (see FIG.","5) on a surface of the drive motor 60 that can allow a user to disconnect the drive motor 60 from the drive shaft 40 when the release is depressed to allow a user to remove the drive motor 60 from the body 20.In another embodiment shown in FIG.","13, a body cover 1515 can enclose the rear surface guide (not shown) and at least a proximal portion of the forward surface guide 302.The forward surface guide 302 can be covered by the body cover 1515 up to the point where the chuck 90 is exposed at the distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10 and can exit the body cover 1515 through openings 1520.These openings can include bushings seated around the perimeter of the opening 1520 that are sealed from the remainder of the instrument body.","The one or more body covers 1515 can be removed independently of one or more of the guides.","Alternatively, the one or more body covers 1515 can be integrated with one or more of the guides such that they can be removed along with the covers 1515 in order to access the interior of the instrument 10.Proximally, the body 20 can include a removable end piece 150 that can be removed to gain access to the proximal region of the body 20 in order to clean or remove the modular portions of the instrument 10 near the proximal end, such as the drive shaft 40 and the drive motor 30.The removable end piece 150 can be incorporated with a removable electronics package as will be discussed in more detail below.","One or more of the body covers can be translucent or transparent such that the components inside are visible from the outside without removal of the covers.","It should also be appreciated that the components can be disposable and need not be removed or cleaned.","Electronics and Sensors An electronics package 236 can be positioned within the body 20 of the instrument 10 and can have a variety of configurations.","In an embodiment, the electronics package 236 can be positioned within the body 20 as well as within the handle 25.In an embodiment, the electronics package 236 can be positioned within a space of the body 20, for example near or at the proximal end behind drive motor 30 (see for example, FIG.","5 or 6).","The electronics package 236 can include a display.","The electronics package 236 and display can be removable along with one or more of the body covers.","Information regarding the use of the instrument 10 can be relayed in real-time to the display such that the information is provided to a user instantaneously during use of the instrument 10, for example bore depth or other information as will be described in more detail below.","The display can include an LED or other display using, for example, electrical filaments, plasma, gas or the like.","The instrument 10 can also include a display that is not coupled or integrated within the instrument itself, for example, a heads-up display that communicates with the instrument 10 (i.e.","either wired or wirelessly).","The heads-up display can include a graphical user interface (GUI) that can display data and provide interactive functions such as a touch screen for input of data and information such as the drill bit size.","The heads-up display can be mounted as is known in the art such as with a boom or other mechanism that provides user convenience.","For example, the heads-up display can be mounted on a boom that can be easily positioned and moved around during a surgical procedure.","The heads-up display can be autoclavable such that the display can be positioned within the surgical field where a user is using the instrument 10.Alternatively, the heads-up display can be inserted into a sterile cover such that the display can be positioned within the surgical field where a user is using the instrument 10.The electronics package 236 (see FIGS.","5-6) can communicate with various sensors positioned within the instrument 10 that assess the status of the components of the instrument and communicate this information in real-time to the electronics package 236 and the user via a display.","The instrument 10 can provide the user with alerts and information regarding the status of the instrument and instrument components during use such that manual and/or automatic adjustments can be made.","The electronics package 236 can also include motor control electronics and software programs that can be programmed to automatically adjust the instrument 10 in real-time to maintain use of the instrument 10 within set thresholds.","For example, the instrument can include software capable of being programmed to continuously measure and/or control a variety of functions including, but not limited to, bone depth, material strength, bone density, skive, drill bit development, speed of rotation, acceleration, deceleration, irrigation, voltage, torque, thrust, feed rate, current, voltage, axial movement, axial force and other functions of the instrument or a combination thereof.","The instrument can include mechanical measurement systems, such as a mechanical torque measurement system as will be described in more detail below.","As such, the instruments described herein can detect and control penetration of the working tool through various tissue layers.","The instruments can control, for example, axial feed rate, motor RPM, and engagement of the work to allow a user to avoid certain unsafe instrument situations.","For example, the instruments described herein can detect joint penetration in real-time allowing a user to avoid “pop through” or plunging situations, for example, in which the instrument suddenly penetrates the cortical bone and inadvertently damages soft tissue or joint structures.","Joint penetration can occur perpendicularly as well as tangentially (also known as skiving).","The instruments described herein can provide an overall system stability that allows for the accurate tracking and detection and control of instrument status during use.","It should be appreciated that the control of the instruments described herein can also be adjusted manually by the user.","For example, the user can change the thrust of the drive motor 30 by letting up or pressing down on the actuator 32.The user can also change the thrust of the instrument 10 by pushing down or letting up on the axial pressure being applied to the instrument 10.In an embodiment, tissue resistance as compared to axial pressure on the instrument 10 applied by the user can cause/allow the relative position of the handle of the instrument 10 to feel as if it were backing out of the work as the tool 110 is axially extended from the instrument 10.This can require the user to apply additional axial pressure to drive the tool 110 through the tissue.","The torque as related to the rotating tool 110 can also change during use of the instrument 10.This change provides feedback to the user who in turn can make appropriate adjustments to the axial and rotational movements as needed.","The instruments 10 described herein can instantaneously measure the axial motion and the depth the working tool 110 travels into the work by a transducer or encoder, such as an incremental rotary encoder, an absolute rotary encoder, mechanical, magnetic, electrical, or optical rotary encoder, or the like (see for example BEI Optical encoder; www.motion-control-info.com/encoder_design_guide.html).","The depth the working tool 110 travels into the work can also be measured by a synchro, a resolver, a rotary variable differential transformer (RVDT) or a rotary potentiometer, or the like.","As shown in FIG.","14, the rotary encoder 39 can include a bearing housing assembly 201, a light source 202, a code disc 203, a mask 204, a photodetector assembly 205, an electronics board 206 that rotate around shaft 208.In an embodiment, the rotary encoder is an incremental rotary encoder with dual channels in quadrature with an additional data track to provide an internal position reference for setting a “zero point”.","The rotary encoder can be an absolute rotary encoder.","The encoder can measure rotation and convert that information into axial motion.","The encoder can interface with the drive motor 30 and the drive shaft 40 and can provide instantaneous information on the position of the drive shaft 40 regarding the depth of axial movement of the working tool into a bore.","This information can be fed to the electronics package 236 that can perform count multiplication to determine the tool position.","For example, the rotation of the drive shaft 40 can be measure and a calculation performed to determine the distance traveled.","This distance traveled can be compared to a set point or zero point such that the position of the working tool 110 from the distal end of the instrument can be calculated.","This calculation relates to depth as determined by the position of the distal end of the instrument with respect to the target tissue (e.g.","bone).","In an embodiment, the instrument can include a meter that measures the rotational speed (see for example the speed device described in U.S. Pat.","No.","4,723,911), time, velocity, acceleration, deceleration or torque.","The meter can provide the user information pertaining to the passage of the working tool 110 through different layers of tissue.","For example, movement of the working tool 110 through cortical bone into medullary canal or cancellous bone, medullary canal or cancellous bone to cortical bone, or from cortical bone to soft tissue.","In an embodiment, metrics can be obtained via an axial force sensor and/or a torque sensor to measure drive or motor torque directly.","In an embodiment, the rotational drive motor 60, or a gearbox connected to the rotational motor 60, can be positioned such that it can press against a force sensor to provide direct measurements of torque that can be displayed to a user and provide information pertaining to the passage of the tool through varied layers of tissue.","In another embodiment the rotational drive motor 60 can have a torque sensor (not shown).","In an embodiment the rotation drive motor 60 can be a brushless DC (BLDC) electric motor having one or more Hall sensors.","When the tool passes from cortical bone into medullary canal or cancellous bone or from cortical bone into soft tissue the measured torque can drop dramatically.","The information can be relayed to the display 236 and integrated with the function of the motor drivers and their actuators.","For example, in an embodiment, when the tool 110 is moving axially in a forward direction and passes from cortical bone to medullary canal or cancellous bone or from cortical bone to soft tissue the reduced torque will interrupt the axial motion.","The axial drive can then be reengaged by releasing pressure on the forward two-stage trigger and reapplying pressure.","The instruments 10 described herein can also control the depth of penetration of the working tool 110.In an embodiment, the maximum depth of the bore that is to be created by the instrument 10 can be programmed with electronics in advance of drilling.","The measurement can be zeroed by the user prior to use, for example, by depressing an axial measurement selector/reset button.","This allows the user to zero the measurement according to the length of the selected tool 110.In one embodiment, the distal end of the working tool 110 can be aligned with the distal end of the body 20 and the instrument zeroed.","This can be performed manually by the user or electronically with set points and a feedback system (i.e.","interface with the coupler).","The alignment of the distal end of the tool 110 and the distal end of the body 20 can be such that the two are flush with one another or the distal end of the tool 110 can be some distance beyond the distal end of the body 20, for example between about 3 mm and 7 mm.","The tool 110 can be positioned flush against the bone prior to drilling.","As the tool 110 advances into the bone, the instrument 10 can be held flush against the bone.","The instrument 10 can also include a distal guide 170 and be zeroed once the tool 110 aligns with the distal end of the guide 170 (and a fixation plate attached to the guide 170, if present).","Once the cut is started and the tool 110 can be flush with the bone, the user can use the axial drive to further advance the tool 110 through the bone.","The electronics package 236 can be zeroed as described above to include the additional axial length of the guide 170.In another embodiment, the user can feed in a distal direction a portion of the working tool 110, for example 30 mm if working on a tibia or femur or 12 mm if working on a radius.","The user can then manually drill through the bone as with an axially static drill.","Upon reaching that pre-programmed depth, if the distal cortex had not yet been breached, the axial drive can be used to penetrate the bone further.","In another embodiment, the electronics can contain a preset maximum distance that can limit the distal travel of the tool 110.For example, a stop and go signal (i.e.","single click of the trigger) or a double stop and go (i.e.","double click of the trigger) can release the depth stop and allow further travel.","Any of a variety of schedules can be programmed into the electronics to control distal advancement of the tool.","For example, each time the tool 110 is advanced beyond the initial stop, the electronics can be programmed to allow only a further distal travel of for example 3 mm or 6 mm or other incremental distance before stopping again and alerting the user similar to a snooze alarm system of a clock radio.","Identifying the desired depth of penetration for pre-programmed embodiments can be determined, for example, by knowing the typical size of the target tissue based upon the age and size of a patient or the actual size of the target tissue from pre-op radiographs, CT scans or MRI scans.","A user can also manually estimate to approximately 70-80% depth travel through the proximal cortex, the medullar bone and close to or into the distal cortex prior to the automatic pre-programmed settings taking effect.","For example, the user can manually estimate until a region of the bone is entered where a greater amount of control is desirable such as the distal cortex.","At that stage, the axial drive of the instrument can be used to slowly proceed through that portion of the bone to the target location.","A user can also proceed until a pop is felt or a change in speed can be heard in the drill.","This can be augmented by acceleration or torque measurements provided to the user.","For example, as the drill bit penetrates to the very last layers of the distal cortex it can begin to accelerate with a burst of acceleration as it breeches the distal cortex completely, this can also be sensed as a change in torque.","In another embodiment, the RPM of the rotational drill motor is kept constant, preventing tool acceleration or deceleration.","This allows the torque to be correlated to material strength.","The instrument can provide its own auditory output to accentuate the sometimes subtle auditory changes caused by the drill bit.","Upon reaching the predetermined target depth, axial movement of the device can automatically slow or stop while rotational movement can continue.","It should be appreciated, however, that the user can manually override any pre-programmed limitations or automated controls by actuation/triggers on the device without changing hand positions to continue.","As described above, the instruments described herein can include one or more sensors that communicate information to the user using a variety of alert mechanisms and/or graphical displays.","In an embodiment, the instrument includes an axial force sensor and an axial force alert.","As described herein, the axial force sensor can be used to sense the axial force applied at the distal end of the drill guide and/or applied by the working tool.","The axial force sensor can communicate with the axial force alert and provide information to the user to ensure that the distal end of the drill guide and/or tool stay engaged with the work and maintains an appropriate level of pressure.","Applying too much pressure or force on the work can increase the risk for damage to the work or surrounding tissues.","Applying too little pressure or force can cause the tool to back off the work and prevent tool advancement at the desired rate.","The axial force sensor can communicate with the axial force alert in real-time to provide the user with information regarding the status of the drill guide and whether the applied axial force is at the desirable pressure for an optimum result.","The axial force alert can include an alarm or other auditory signal, a light or other visual signal, a vibration or other tactile signal, or a combination thereof.","In an embodiment, the visual output can be an LED light or graphical interface positioned in the line of sight with the work, for example near or at the proximal end or back of the device.","The output of the axial force alert can be proportional to the axial force being applied.","For example, the axial force alert can include a light that can change color or a plurality of lights that sequentially illuminate depending on the axial force applied.","Alternatively, the axial force alert can include an auditory alert that changes pitch or frequency depending on the axial force applied.","In use, the user can inadvertently lighten manually applied forward (or axial) pressure on the instrument 10 that can result in a slowing of progress into the work and consequently the drill guide from backing away from the work.","A user can maintain forward pressure on the instrument 10 such that the working tool 110 drives into the bone distally as the guides retract in a proximal direction.","If a user does not maintain forward pressure the instrument 10 can be pushed in a proximal direction resulting in the working tool 110 not moving into the work.","It can be desirable, however, to use as little forward pressure on the instrument as necessary to avoid injury to the bone.","In some embodiments, the instrument 10 can include an axial force sensor that can measure the axial force a user applies to the work.","The axial force sensor can interact with the electronics and provide an output to the user (e.g.","visual or auditory or other output) to indicate when an amount of pressure is being applied by the user.","The instrument can be programmed to provide the output to the user when an appropriate amount of pressure is being applied or when the pressure being applied falls outside a programmed range.","In one example, LED lights can be positioned near a proximal end of the instrument within a user's line-of-sight such that the axial force applied can be visualized.","For example, a flashing white LED can mean too little axial pressure is being applied, a green LED can mean the axial pressure is in a desired range and a flashing red LED can mean the axial pressure is too high.","The instruments described herein can also include a torque sensor that detects the torque applied by the rotational motor and a torque alert.","As described previously in reference to the axial force alert, the torque alert can also include an alarm or other auditory signal, a light or other visual signal, a vibration or other tactile signal, or a combination thereof.","For example, the sensed torque similar to the sensed axial force can be displayed visually such as on a graphical interface in the line of sight with the work.","The torque alert can also be proportional relative to the torque being applied.","Further, the output for the axial force alert can be distinguishable from the output for the torque alert.","For example, a first auditory signal can be provided by the axial force alert proportional to the axial force and a second auditory signal can be provided by the torque alert proportional to the torque applied.","The auditory signals from the two alerts can be distinguishable by the user as being separate.","For example, the axial force alert can be a different pitched auditory signal compared to the torque alert.","In another embodiment, the axial force alert can signal the user only when conditions at the work change, whereas the torque alert can be a continuous signal, such as a sound with a variable pitch that is proportional to the torque or energy being sensed.","It should be appreciated that any number of sensors and a variety of alerts or graphical information can be used singly or in combination as is known in the art.","The systems described herein can also provide information to the user regarding optimal screw placement even in the case of a shared or convergent drill hole for the placement of interference screws, such as screws that are purposefully touching.","Clinically, a user can feel when an interference screw is contacted by a drilling or driving device.","However, once the interference screw is engaged the distal cortex can no longer be clinically felt by the user and a myriad of potential problems exist with regard to injury of distal structures.","Both the interference screw and the distal cortex can be detected by tracking changes in the metrics, for example current or measured torque.","The data can be used to inform the user in real-time when the instrument is in contact with one or more of the bone cortices or the screw.","Similarly, the instruments described herein can provide instant, intra-operative feedback on drill bit performance such as drill flute clogging and the assessment of drill bit sharpness using a calibration block.","Material strength and bone density can be determined by comparing intraoperative metrics such as current, measured torque or axial force with existing empirical data obtained while drilling with known drill bit sizes, drill bit types, axial feed rates and motor RPMs.","The instruments described herein therefore can be useful in diagnosing bone pathologies such as osteoporosis and the detection of holes or fractures in the bone being drilled.","Further, material strength and bone density data can assist a user in choosing an appropriate fixation technique, e.g.","non-locking (cortical or cancellous) versus locking (unicortical or bicortical).","Conventionally, to select the appropriate fixation technique a user must make an educated guess or using bone density data obtained prior to the fracture to estimate local material strength at the fracture fixation site.","For example, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scans are commonly used to measure bone density and monitor osteopenia or osteoporosis treatments.","But a DEXA scan cannot be performed acutely for a fracture patient and the standardized regional measurements may not be relevant at the fracture site.","The instruments described herein provide an advantage in that determination of bone strength and bone density can be performed in acute situations and in real-time at the fracture site.","Drilling torque (or energy) of the working tool is related to the properties of the bone, such as its material strength and its bone density.","One or more of the sensors described herein can be used to estimate the material strength and bone density such that the instrument can detect transitions between different types of bone, as well as entry and exit from bone in real-time.","As shown in FIG.","15, a motor 60 can rotate and produce a motor torque Tm that is in the direction of rotation of a working tool 110 coupled to the motor 60.Drilling torque Td is opposite the direction of rotation of the working tool 110.A gearbox 75 can be incorporated in the instrument to convert the high-speed, low-torque operation of the motor 60 to a higher torque working tool 110 speed.","The gearbox 75 can exhibit an additional torque component Tg due to internal energy losses, such as mechanical losses in the form of drag that counteracts torque and can result in a loss of energy between the motor 60 and the working tool 110.Gearbox torque Tg is also opposite the direction of rotation of the working tool 110.The motor 60 can be held as the reference point and the motor torque Tm measured electronically.","In this embodiment, the instrument measures the current required to operate the motor 60, for example a brushless DC motor with a Hall Sensor that operates a drive train, and the motor 60 acts as both the actuator and the sensor.","Motor torque measurements in this embodiment include both drilling torque Td and gearbox Tg losses.","The gearbox inefficiencies can affect the accuracy of the torque measurements.","The error in estimating the drilling torque component can be more pronounced for larger gear ratios in that more gears have more surface contact and thus, more drag.","In another embodiment, the instrument can directly measure torque (see FIG.","16).","The gearbox 75 is held as a reference point for the torque measurement and only the drilling torque Td is measured.","Measurements of the drilling torque Td can be taken at the output of the gearbox 75 such that internal gearbox losses are not included in the torque measurement although the motor 60 may still drive against the internal drag.","A discrete sensor can be incorporated in the instrument to convert the drilling torque Td into a measurement signal.","A mechanical beam or level can be incorporated to support the gearbox 75 and convert the torque Td into a linear force.","The linear force can be converted into an electrical signal using a strain gauge load cell or scale or other torque sensor 77 to measure the resulting linear force.","The direct torque measurement does not measure the energy lost internally to the gearbox 75 or the other motor components.","The motor 60 can exert torque between its shaft and housing, which can be rigid mounted to the gearbox 75.In this embodiment, the torque required to overcome the internal losses of the gearbox 75 can be transferred through the housing of the motor 60 and gearbox 75 and the mechanical path does not include a torque sensor.","The torque sensor 77 can, instead be positioned between the gearbox housing 75 and the working tool 110 by attaching the torque sensor 77 to the drill housing.","The user can hold the body 20 of the instrument 10, which is rigidly attached to the gearbox housing 75.Although motor self-torque measurement can be more convenient since no additional sensor is needed, the accuracy can be lower than for a direct torque measurement in which a torque sensor is used.","Direct torque measurements from a manufacturing standpoint can also allow one to design the gearbox independently from the torque measurement sensitivity.","The instrument 10 can be a corded or cordless powered instrument.","In an embodiment, the instrument 10 includes and is powered by a removable battery 360 (see FIG.","5).","The battery 360 can be enclosed within a battery cover 362 capped on the bottom by a battery case cover 364.The body 20 can accept battery release buttons 366.The battery 360 can have different chemical compositions or characteristics.","For instance, batteries can include lead-acid, nickel cadmium, nickel metal hydride, silver-oxide, mercury oxide, lithium ion, lithium ion polymer, or other lithium chemistries.","The instruments can also include rechargeable batteries using either a DC power-port, induction, solar cells or the like for recharging.","Power systems known in the art for powering medical devices for use in the operating room are to be considered herein.","Methods of Use Below is an example of a method of using an instrument described herein.","It should be appreciated that a variety of driving devices or working tools can be coupled to the instruments described herein.","Description related to guides on a drilling device having a drill bit coupled thereto is not intended to be limited to only drills and drilling bores.","Rather, the instruments and guides can be used to saw or drive into tissues as described herein.","It should be appreciated that any of the instruments described herein can be coupled to robotic arms or robotic systems or other computer-assisted surgical systems in which the user uses a computer console to manipulate the controls of the instrument.","The computer can translate the user's movements and actuation of the controls to be then carried out on the patient by the robotic arm.","Robotics can provide real-time pre- and inter-operative tactile and/or auditory feedback along with visualization, such as three-dimensional modeling.","The robotic system can have an articulated endowrist at the end of two or more “working” arms configured to be inserted through a small portal.","A stable, camera arm with two lenses (allowing stereoscopic images) can be also inserted through another small portal.","The end-effectors can manipulate instruments and can have various degrees of freedom.","The user can control the robot through a console placed in the operating room, allowing control of both the external and internal surgical environments.","The user's interface can have instrument controllers that can filter tremor and decrease the scale of motion.","Foot pedals can expand the user's repertoire, allowing tissue coagulation and irrigation.","Visual feedback can be through a stereoscopic display.","Robotic systems to which the devices disclosed herein can be coupled include the Haptic Guidance System or RIO® Systems (MAKO Surgical Corp, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and the da Vinci® Surgical Systems (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, Calif.).","Other surgical robots can be considered as well including the Robot-Assisted Micro-Surgery (RAMS) system (MicroDexterity Systems, Inc.), NeuroArm® (University of Calgary), Zeus® Surgical robots, SpineAssist (Mazor Surgical Technologies, Israel), ROBODOC and ORTHODOC (Curexo Technology Corp., Fremont, Calif.), ACROBOT (Acrobot, Elstree, UK), PathFinder (Prosurgics Ltd., Loudwater, High Wycombe, UK), and Laprotek system (Hansen Medical, Inc.).","Other robotic arms can be used with the instruments described herein such that the instrument can be independently controlled by the robot as opposed to direct manipulation by the user.","In one embodiment of the method, the user can dissect tissue down to the bone and create a field large enough to put against the bone the working tool 110 or distal guide 170 or an implant attached to the distal guide 170.Screws can be placed across fractures without any other implants or a plate can be fixed across the fracture by bone screws.","The screws can lock into the plate and bone.","When a plate is to be used, the user can create a field large enough to place the plate.","Alternatively, the plate can be inserted through a small incision such that the user can slide it along the surface of the bone in combination of blunt dissection of the tissue along the way (i.e.","subcutaneous plate).","The screws can be placed, for example using a radiograph to find the holes in the plate, through small incisions through the skin with dissection down to the bone.","The surrounding tissue can be protected using retractors, a guide through which the working tool is inserted, attachable guides placed on the instrument and the like.","If a distal guide 170 is used, the length of the guide 170 can be accounted for in the depth measurement.","If a guide 170 attached to an implant is used, the depth can be automatically or manually zeroed.","For example, if a plate is used the thickness of the plate can be automatically or manually accounted for in the zeroing.","The working end of the instrument 10, with or without a distal guide 170, can be placed next to the exposed and dissected bone and the instrument zeroed.","Alternatively, the user can extend a few millimeters of the working tool 110 to engage the bone and drill a counter-sink or pilot hole prior to zeroing the instrument 10.Where a fixation plate is used, the plate can be placed next to the bone and the drill end placed snug to the plate.","Alternatively, some plates have guides that interface such that the instrument is directed at a selected angle.","The instruments disclosed herein can be made such that they attach to or freely engage these types of distal guides 170.The user can apply pressure axially and engage first the rotational drive motor 60 to the desired speed.","The user can proceed to engage the axial drive motor 30 either continuously or incrementally, depending upon the material strength and bone density and preference of the user.","The drilling can continue through the cortical bone, through the medullary canal or cancellous bone, into and through the distal cortical bone.","Once through the distal cortical bone as determined by pre-set depth control mechanism, axial resistance, auditory feedback from the rotational speed of the drill bit and/or auditory feedback from acceleration or torque sensors, the axial movement can be stopped.","The user can remove the working tool 110 by reversing the axial drive motor 30 or by pulling back on the instrument 10.The rotational drive motor 60 can be left engaged and in the forward direction to facilitate clearing the hole created.","The user can read the depth on the display 236 and select the proper screw for implantation.","The screw can be implanted using a screw driver or the like.","In another method, the user can perform a unicortical procedure wherein the working tool is stopped prior to some other endpoint such as before or after a growth plate or before or after the distal cortex.","In use, an instrument 10, such as the instrument shown in FIG.","4, can be set against exposed bone or, if used, the fracture fixation plate or other type of implant such as a joint prosthetic.","The appropriate zero-depth position can be determined automatically.","Once the user activates the trigger 232, the guide 170 as well as the guides 300, 302 retracts in the proximal direction (arrow P) and the working tool 110 can extend through the guide 170.The working tool 110 can engage the work and bore into the work as the user applies pressure to the instrument 10 and keeps it engaged with the work.","The working tool 110 can drill into the bone by the amount the guide 170 retracts.","The guide 170 retraction can be measured instantaneously and shown on a display, for example a display positioned at the back of the instrument 10.The automatic determination of the zero-position whether set against bone or against a fracture fixation plate can depend upon algorithms related to the way the guide 170 sets against the bone or the plate and the thickness of the plate.","These variables can be unique to each plating system and set of guides.","The depth of the travel of working tool 110 into the work, and/or the instantaneous torque or torque curve, can be measured and shown on the display 236 simultaneously and instantaneously as the working tool 110 moves axially in a distal direction and penetrates the work.","Once the desired depth of penetration is reached, the reverse trigger 234 can be actuated to cause both of the drive motors 30, 60 to reverse their direction.","The action of the axial drive motor 30 can cause the drive lug 240, the rear surface guide 300, the forward surface guide 302 and the guide 170 to move in an axial direction away from the body 20 of the instrument 10 in a distal direction such that the axial movement pushes the instrument body 20 away from the work and draws the tool 110 out of the work.","Alternatively, the operator can pull the tool 110 from the work with the instrument either on (in any direction) or off.","Aspects of the subject matter described herein may be realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry, specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof.","These various implementations may include implementation in one or more computer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device.","For example, a software program can be incorporated into the device that takes advantage of the reproducible relationship between current, torque, material strength and density in a system where the RPM of the rotational motor is held constant.","Current is proportional to torque and torque is proportional to bone strength and density.","As such the software can correlate the current the motor uses during drilling or sawing to the material strength and bone density.","Such a software program can be used to measure material strength and bone density in real-time by reading the current being used by the motor.","The software program can also be used to control RPM, feed rate, current and/or voltage.","These computer programs (also known as programs, software, software applications or code) include machine instructions for a programmable processor, and may be implemented in a high-level procedural and/or object-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machine language.","As used herein, the term “machine-readable medium” refers to any computer program product, apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal.","The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.","While this specification contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the claims or of what can be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particular embodiments.","Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment.","Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.","For example, a current sensing mechanism can be incorporated into a drill or saw device and used independently of a depth-control mechanism.","Similarly, a depth-control mechanism can be incorporated into a device that does not include other sensing mechanisms.","Moreover, although features can be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination can be directed to a sub-combination or a variation of a sub-combination.","Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results.","Although embodiments of various methods and devices are described herein in detail with reference to certain versions, it should be appreciated that other versions, embodiments, methods of use, and combinations thereof are also possible.","Therefore the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"Depth Controllable and Measurable Medical Driver Devices and Methods of Use\",\n \"Disclosed are devices and methods for creating a bore in bone.\",\n \"The devices and methods described involve controlling the drive and measuring the drilling energy of a working tool such that a user can avoid injuries to surrounding structures.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A driving device comprising: a housing having a proximal end and a distal end; a motor contained within the housing; a gearbox connecting the motor to a working tool interchangeably connected via a coupler, wherein the motor turns the gearbox, the coupler and the working tool; a torque sensor configured to measure drilling torque at an output of the gearbox and convert the measured drilling torque into a torque measurement signal, wherein the drilling torque is in a direction opposite rotation of the working tool, wherein the gearbox has a gearbox torque in a direction opposite rotation of the working tool, and wherein the gearbox is held as a reference point such that the gearbox torque is excluded from the torque measurement signal; a programmable electronics package programmed to keep constant rotations per minute (RPM) of the motor preventing working tool rotational acceleration or deceleration, and programmed to integrate over time the torque measurement signal from the torque sensor to obtain a measurement of drilling energy of the working tool; and a tool guide assembly coupled to the housing, wherein upon actuation, axial motion of the tool guide assembly towards the proximal end of the housing to a retracted state allows a length of the working tool to be driven into a target region of work.\",\n \"2.The device of claim 1, wherein the tool guide assembly comprises: a tool guide configured to surround at least a portion of the working tool; and a surface guide having a proximal region and a distal region, the distal region configured to couple to the tool guide and the proximal region configured to couple to the housing.\",\n \"3.The device of claim 1, wherein a change in the drilling energy corresponds to a change in material strength and density of work penetrated.\",\n \"4.The device of claim 3, further comprising an alert, wherein the torque sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.\",\n \"5.The device of claim 4, wherein the alert comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.\",\n \"6.The device of claim 3, wherein the work penetrated comprises medullary canal, cancellous bone, cortical bone, or soft tissue.\",\n \"7.The device of claim 1, wherein the working tool is selected from the group consisting of a drill bit, a detuned drill bit, wire, Kirschner wire, pin, trochar, burr, screwdriver, reamer, saw, saw blade, router, router bit, stepped drill bit, bone plug removal tool, bone harvesting tool, bone marrow harvesting tool, and bone marrow aspirating tool.\",\n \"8.The device of claim 1, further comprising one or more axial force sensors configured to sense the axial force applied at one or both of the distal end of the tool guide and the working tool, wherein the programmable electronics package is further programmed to obtain a measurement of work done by the working tool based on the axial force and a linear distance traveled by the tool guide assembly and/or the length of the working tool driven into the target region.\",\n \"9.The device of claim 8, wherein the programmable electronics package is further programmed to obtain a measurement of drilling energy based on the measurement of work.\",\n \"10.The device of claim 8, further comprising an axial force alert, wherein the axial force sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the axial force alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.\",\n \"11.The device of claim 10, wherein the axial force alert comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.\",\n \"12.The device of claim 11, wherein the visual signal comprises one or more LEDs positioned within a user line-of-sight, wherein the LEDs indicate degree of axial force being applied by the user to the tool guide in real-time.\",\n \"13.The device of claim 8, wherein the one or more axial force sensors comprises a tool guide sensor configured to sense and signal the axial force applied by the user to the tool guide.\",\n \"14.The device of claim 13, wherein the one or more axial force sensors comprises a working tool sensor configured to sense and signal the axial force applied by the user to the working tool, wherein the degree of axial force being applied to the tool guide is provided separately from the degree of axial force being applied to the working tool.\",\n \"15.The device of claim 14, wherein the degree of axial force being applied to the tool guide and the degree of axial force being applied to the working tool equals the total user force applied to the device.\",\n \"16.The device of claim 2, wherein the tool guide at least partially surrounding the working tool is configured to assist in the engagement of an implant.\",\n \"17.The device of claim 16, wherein the tool guide comprises one or more features that mechanically couple with corresponding features of the implant.\",\n \"18.The device of claim 16, wherein the implant comprises a fracture fixation plate or a joint part.\",\n \"19.The device of claim 16, wherein the tool guide couples to the implant at an angle away from perpendicular.\",\n \"20.The device of claim 1, wherein a change in current used to drive the motor is received by the programmable electronics package signaling when to stop the axial motion of the tool guide assembly and preventing penetration of the working tool beyond the target region of the work.\",\n \"21.The device of claim 1, wherein the torque sensor is coupled to the housing and to the motor such that the torque sensor couples the motor to the housing.\",\n \"22.The device of claim 2, further comprising a second motor contained within the housing, wherein the proximal region of the surface guide is coupled to the second motor.\",\n \"23.The device of claim 22, wherein the second motor is configured to cause the axial motion of the tool guide assembly toward the proximal end of the housing.\",\n \"24.The device of claim 22, wherein the first motor is coupled to a first drive shaft and the second motor is coupled to a second drive shaft.\",\n \"25.The device of claim 24, wherein the first drive shaft and the second drive shaft are in a co-axial, parallel, or orthogonal arrangement relative to one another.\",\n \"26.The device of claim 24, wherein the surface guide comprises a forward surface guide and a rear surface guide, wherein a distal region of the forward surface guide couples to the tool guide and a proximal region of the forward surface guide couples to the rear surface guide, and wherein the rear surface guide couples to the second drive shaft.\",\n \"27.The device of claim 26, wherein the rear surface guide is attached to a drive lug coupled to and powered by the second motor to move the rear surface guide in an axial direction.\",\n \"28.The device of claim 26, wherein the forward surface guide comprises at least one support that mates with corresponding support of the rear surface guide.\",\n \"29.The device of claim 26, wherein the forward surface guide engages an outer surface of the coupler.\",\n \"30.The device of claim 1, wherein the tool guide assembly is configured to be removed away from the working tool.\",\n \"31.The device of claim 1, wherein contact between the tool guide assembly and the working tool is prevented by maintaining the tool guide assembly coaxial with a longitudinal axis of the working tool.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Orthopedic surgery can require bone drilling for the repair of fractures or insertion of implants or other devices.\",\n \"The resulting holes can be used to accept screws, implants and other devices to exert pressure, fixation or reduction of the bone or to place prosthetic joints or other implants.\",\n \"Other medical procedures can require access to bone.\",\n \"For example, the interosseous canal of bone can be accessed to allow fluid administration.\",\n \"Bone can also be accessed to allow the harvesting of bone, collection of bone marrow cores, or for the aspiration of bone marrow for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.\",\n \"During any procedure where a drill or other driver is used to advance a tool into and through bone, the user must consciously and carefully limit the penetration to the desired depth.\",\n \"If the user allows the tool to penetrate further, the patient can suffer injury to distal structures such as nerve, brain, spinal cord, artery, vein, muscle, fascia, bone or joint space structures.\",\n \"These types of injuries can lead to severe patient morbidity and even death.\",\n \"The devices inserted to a drilled bore often must fit within a narrow length range that can vary sometimes by no more than a millimeter or less.\",\n \"Once the drilling of a bone is safely complete, it is often prudent to obtain the depth of the bore made by the drilling tool.\",\n \"Many procedures require knowledge of the depth of tool penetration, such as in the placement of internal fixation devices, screws and other implantable hardware.\",\n \"Selecting an appropriate length of the screw or other implant necessary for the procedure depends upon such knowledge of the bore's depth.\",\n \"Conventional techniques used in the art are often inconvenient, time consuming and unreliable often requiring trial and error and multiple exposures to radiographs before the proper implant insertion is achieved.\",\n \"A common way to obtain the depth of the bore formed by a drilling tool is to use a depth gauge.\",\n \"Often users must interrupt the drilling procedure in order to palpate or measure with a depth gauge whether or not the desired depth has been achieved.\",\n \"In many instances a user will take a radiograph during a drilling procedure to confirm the appropriate depth of penetration has been achieved or take a radiograph while the depth gauge is in place to ensure the information the gauge provides is accurate.\",\n \"Depth gauges used in the art can be inaccurate resulting in a user placing a screw of an inappropriate length not often identified until a confirming radiograph is taken.\",\n \"Each radiograph taken increases the radiation exposure of the surgeon, staff and patient in the operating suite.\",\n \"Depth gauges known in the art can also break and require the user to retrieve it from the bore.\",\n \"Inconvenient and inaccurate depth measurement devices and methods can result in improperly sized screws that must be removed and replaced with new properly sized screws.\",\n \"Wasted hardware, increased disruptions and delays in orthopedic procedures ultimately increase the expense of a procedure as well as expose the surgeon, staff and the patient to unnecessary radiation.\",\n \"The cost of the additional time, the wasted hardware and the radiation exposure are quite significant.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>The techniques known in the art to drill holes in bone are technically demanding and require separate measuring steps that interrupt the actual drilling of the bone adding time, cost and the need for additional confirming radiographs to complete such procedures.\",\n \"There remains a need for safer, controlled drilling methods and devices.\",\n \"There is also a need for an instrument that simultaneously controls and measures the depth of penetration of the instrument during procedures such as placement of internal fixation devices, screws, and other implantable hardware.\",\n \"In one aspect, disclosed is a medical driving device including a housing having a proximal end and a distal end.\",\n \"The housing includes a hand-held portion near the proximal end of the housing; and an engagement portion near the distal end of the housing; a first drive shaft extending through a region of the housing between the proximal and distal ends; a first drive element coupled to a region of the first drive shaft; a second drive element coupled to the first drive shaft and to a second drive shaft; a coupler coupled to the second drive element, the coupler interchangeably connected to a working tool; and a tool guide assembly.\",\n \"The tool guide assembly includes a tool guide surrounding the working tool; a forward surface guide having a proximal region and a distal region, the distal region configured to couple to the tool guide; and a rear surface guide configured to couple to the first drive shaft and the proximal region of the forward surface guide.\",\n \"The device further includes a programmable electronics package configured to sense torque in at least the second drive element.\",\n \"The first drive shaft and the second drive shaft can be in a co-axial arrangement, parallel arrangement, or an orthogonal co-axial arrangement relative to one another.\",\n \"The hand-held portion further can include an actuator.\",\n \"The second drive element coupled to the second drive shaft can drive the coupler and the working tool.\",\n \"The coupler and the working tool can be rotated by the second drive shaft.\",\n \"The coupler and the working tool can be oscillated by the second drive shaft.\",\n \"The tool guide assembly can travel axially towards the proximal end of the housing to a retracted state upon actuation of the first drive shaft.\",\n \"Axial travel of the tool guide towards the proximal end of the housing can reveal a length of the working tool that extends beyond the tool guide.\",\n \"The working tool can be a drill bit, a detuned drill bit, wire, Kirschner wire, pin, trochar, burr, screwdriver, reamer, saw, saw blade, router, router bit, stepped drill bit, bone plug removal tool, bone harvesting tool, bone marrow harvesting tool, and bone marrow aspirating tool.\",\n \"The programmable electronics package can measure current used to drive the second drive element.\",\n \"The current measured can correspond to a torque of the working tool and the material strength and density of work penetrated.\",\n \"The device can further include a torque sensor positioned on the housing between the second drive element and the working tool, the torque sensor configured to directly measure torque of the working tool.\",\n \"The torque sensor can be configured to communicate measurements of torque to the programmable electronics package.\",\n \"A change in the measurements of torque can correspond to change in material strength and density of work penetrated.\",\n \"The device can further include an alert such that the torque sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.\",\n \"The alert can be an auditory, visual or tactile signal.\",\n \"The work penetrated can be medullary canal, cancellous bone, cortical bone, or soft tissue.\",\n \"The device can further include one or more axial force sensors configured to sense the axial force applied at one or both of the distal end of the tool guide and the working tool.\",\n \"The device can further include an axial force alert, the axial force sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the axial force alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.\",\n \"The axial force alert can be an auditory, visual or tactile signal.\",\n \"The visual signal can be one or more LEDs positioned within a user line-of-sight, wherein the LEDs indicate degree of axial pressure being applied by the user in real-time.\",\n \"The proximal region of the forward surface guide can be telescopically coupled to the rear surface guide.\",\n \"The device can further include a gearbox connecting the second drive element to the working tool.\",\n \"The tool guide surrounding the working tool can be configured to assist in the engagement of an implant.\",\n \"The tool guide can include one or more features that mechanically couple with corresponding features of the implant.\",\n \"The implant can be a fracture fixation plate or a joint part.\",\n \"The tool guide can couple to the implant at an angle away from perpendicular.\",\n \"In another aspect, disclosed is a method of penetrating bone using a driving instrument including contacting a field of bone with a distal engagement end of the instrument; receiving a first input by a first drive element of the instrument, the first drive element coupled to a working tool; driving the working tool at a first speed; receiving a second input by a second drive element of the instrument, the second drive element coupled to a guide surrounding at least a portion of the distal engagement end of the instrument; moving the guide axially in a proximal direction; and revealing a length of the working tool extending beyond the distal engagement end of the instrument.\",\n \"The length of the working tool extending beyond the distal engagement end of the instrument can correspond to a depth of penetration by the working tool into the field of bone.\",\n \"The method can further include receiving commands by the instrument to electronically program the depth of penetration by the working tool.\",\n \"The method can further include instantaneously measuring axial motion of the guide using a transducer coupled to the instrument.\",\n \"The method can further include adjusting axial movement of the guide to avoid plunge of the working tool.\",\n \"The method can further include adjusting movement of the working tool to avoid tissue damage.\",\n \"The method can further include alerting a user of a change in axial force against the field of bone using a signal, wherein the signal comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.\",\n \"The method can further include instantaneously measuring torque of the working tool.\",\n \"The torque can be measured electronically.\",\n \"The torque can be measured directly using a torque sensor in contact with at least a portion of the second drive element.\",\n \"The torque can correspond to a material strength and density of the field of bone.\",\n \"The method can further include alerting a user of a change in material strength and density of the field of bone using a signal, wherein the signal comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.\",\n \"A change in torque measured can indicate a transition from a first tissue type to a second tissue type.\",\n \"The first tissue type can include cortical bone and the second tissue type can include medullary canal or cancellous bone.\",\n \"The first tissue type can include medullary canal or cancellous bone and the second tissue type can include cortical bone.\",\n \"Other features and advantages will be apparent from the following description of various embodiments, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the disclosed devices and methods.\"\n ],\n [\n \"REFERENCE TO PRIORITY DOCUMENTS This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/522,087 filed Nov. 24, 2014, which is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/077,794 filed Mar.\",\n \"31, 2011, which claims the benefit of priority to U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"61/319,771, filed on Mar.\",\n \"31, 2010; and U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"61/333,685, filed on May 11, 2010; and U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"61/421,596, filed on Dec. 9, 2010.Priority of the filing dates and the disclosures of the Patent Applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.\",\n \"BACKGROUND Orthopedic surgery can require bone drilling for the repair of fractures or insertion of implants or other devices.\",\n \"The resulting holes can be used to accept screws, implants and other devices to exert pressure, fixation or reduction of the bone or to place prosthetic joints or other implants.\",\n \"Other medical procedures can require access to bone.\",\n \"For example, the interosseous canal of bone can be accessed to allow fluid administration.\",\n \"Bone can also be accessed to allow the harvesting of bone, collection of bone marrow cores, or for the aspiration of bone marrow for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.\",\n \"During any procedure where a drill or other driver is used to advance a tool into and through bone, the user must consciously and carefully limit the penetration to the desired depth.\",\n \"If the user allows the tool to penetrate further, the patient can suffer injury to distal structures such as nerve, brain, spinal cord, artery, vein, muscle, fascia, bone or joint space structures.\",\n \"These types of injuries can lead to severe patient morbidity and even death.\",\n \"The devices inserted to a drilled bore often must fit within a narrow length range that can vary sometimes by no more than a millimeter or less.\",\n \"Once the drilling of a bone is safely complete, it is often prudent to obtain the depth of the bore made by the drilling tool.\",\n \"Many procedures require knowledge of the depth of tool penetration, such as in the placement of internal fixation devices, screws and other implantable hardware.\",\n \"Selecting an appropriate length of the screw or other implant necessary for the procedure depends upon such knowledge of the bore's depth.\",\n \"Conventional techniques used in the art are often inconvenient, time consuming and unreliable often requiring trial and error and multiple exposures to radiographs before the proper implant insertion is achieved.\",\n \"A common way to obtain the depth of the bore formed by a drilling tool is to use a depth gauge.\",\n \"Often users must interrupt the drilling procedure in order to palpate or measure with a depth gauge whether or not the desired depth has been achieved.\",\n \"In many instances a user will take a radiograph during a drilling procedure to confirm the appropriate depth of penetration has been achieved or take a radiograph while the depth gauge is in place to ensure the information the gauge provides is accurate.\",\n \"Depth gauges used in the art can be inaccurate resulting in a user placing a screw of an inappropriate length not often identified until a confirming radiograph is taken.\",\n \"Each radiograph taken increases the radiation exposure of the surgeon, staff and patient in the operating suite.\",\n \"Depth gauges known in the art can also break and require the user to retrieve it from the bore.\",\n \"Inconvenient and inaccurate depth measurement devices and methods can result in improperly sized screws that must be removed and replaced with new properly sized screws.\",\n \"Wasted hardware, increased disruptions and delays in orthopedic procedures ultimately increase the expense of a procedure as well as expose the surgeon, staff and the patient to unnecessary radiation.\",\n \"The cost of the additional time, the wasted hardware and the radiation exposure are quite significant.\",\n \"SUMMARY The techniques known in the art to drill holes in bone are technically demanding and require separate measuring steps that interrupt the actual drilling of the bone adding time, cost and the need for additional confirming radiographs to complete such procedures.\",\n \"There remains a need for safer, controlled drilling methods and devices.\",\n \"There is also a need for an instrument that simultaneously controls and measures the depth of penetration of the instrument during procedures such as placement of internal fixation devices, screws, and other implantable hardware.\",\n \"In one aspect, disclosed is a medical driving device including a housing having a proximal end and a distal end.\",\n \"The housing includes a hand-held portion near the proximal end of the housing; and an engagement portion near the distal end of the housing; a first drive shaft extending through a region of the housing between the proximal and distal ends; a first drive element coupled to a region of the first drive shaft; a second drive element coupled to the first drive shaft and to a second drive shaft; a coupler coupled to the second drive element, the coupler interchangeably connected to a working tool; and a tool guide assembly.\",\n \"The tool guide assembly includes a tool guide surrounding the working tool; a forward surface guide having a proximal region and a distal region, the distal region configured to couple to the tool guide; and a rear surface guide configured to couple to the first drive shaft and the proximal region of the forward surface guide.\",\n \"The device further includes a programmable electronics package configured to sense torque in at least the second drive element.\",\n \"The first drive shaft and the second drive shaft can be in a co-axial arrangement, parallel arrangement, or an orthogonal co-axial arrangement relative to one another.\",\n \"The hand-held portion further can include an actuator.\",\n \"The second drive element coupled to the second drive shaft can drive the coupler and the working tool.\",\n \"The coupler and the working tool can be rotated by the second drive shaft.\",\n \"The coupler and the working tool can be oscillated by the second drive shaft.\",\n \"The tool guide assembly can travel axially towards the proximal end of the housing to a retracted state upon actuation of the first drive shaft.\",\n \"Axial travel of the tool guide towards the proximal end of the housing can reveal a length of the working tool that extends beyond the tool guide.\",\n \"The working tool can be a drill bit, a detuned drill bit, wire, Kirschner wire, pin, trochar, burr, screwdriver, reamer, saw, saw blade, router, router bit, stepped drill bit, bone plug removal tool, bone harvesting tool, bone marrow harvesting tool, and bone marrow aspirating tool.\",\n \"The programmable electronics package can measure current used to drive the second drive element.\",\n \"The current measured can correspond to a torque of the working tool and the material strength and density of work penetrated.\",\n \"The device can further include a torque sensor positioned on the housing between the second drive element and the working tool, the torque sensor configured to directly measure torque of the working tool.\",\n \"The torque sensor can be configured to communicate measurements of torque to the programmable electronics package.\",\n \"A change in the measurements of torque can correspond to change in material strength and density of work penetrated.\",\n \"The device can further include an alert such that the torque sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.\",\n \"The alert can be an auditory, visual or tactile signal.\",\n \"The work penetrated can be medullary canal, cancellous bone, cortical bone, or soft tissue.\",\n \"The device can further include one or more axial force sensors configured to sense the axial force applied at one or both of the distal end of the tool guide and the working tool.\",\n \"The device can further include an axial force alert, the axial force sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the axial force alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.\",\n \"The axial force alert can be an auditory, visual or tactile signal.\",\n \"The visual signal can be one or more LEDs positioned within a user line-of-sight, wherein the LEDs indicate degree of axial pressure being applied by the user in real-time.\",\n \"The proximal region of the forward surface guide can be telescopically coupled to the rear surface guide.\",\n \"The device can further include a gearbox connecting the second drive element to the working tool.\",\n \"The tool guide surrounding the working tool can be configured to assist in the engagement of an implant.\",\n \"The tool guide can include one or more features that mechanically couple with corresponding features of the implant.\",\n \"The implant can be a fracture fixation plate or a joint part.\",\n \"The tool guide can couple to the implant at an angle away from perpendicular.\",\n \"In another aspect, disclosed is a method of penetrating bone using a driving instrument including contacting a field of bone with a distal engagement end of the instrument; receiving a first input by a first drive element of the instrument, the first drive element coupled to a working tool; driving the working tool at a first speed; receiving a second input by a second drive element of the instrument, the second drive element coupled to a guide surrounding at least a portion of the distal engagement end of the instrument; moving the guide axially in a proximal direction; and revealing a length of the working tool extending beyond the distal engagement end of the instrument.\",\n \"The length of the working tool extending beyond the distal engagement end of the instrument can correspond to a depth of penetration by the working tool into the field of bone.\",\n \"The method can further include receiving commands by the instrument to electronically program the depth of penetration by the working tool.\",\n \"The method can further include instantaneously measuring axial motion of the guide using a transducer coupled to the instrument.\",\n \"The method can further include adjusting axial movement of the guide to avoid plunge of the working tool.\",\n \"The method can further include adjusting movement of the working tool to avoid tissue damage.\",\n \"The method can further include alerting a user of a change in axial force against the field of bone using a signal, wherein the signal comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.\",\n \"The method can further include instantaneously measuring torque of the working tool.\",\n \"The torque can be measured electronically.\",\n \"The torque can be measured directly using a torque sensor in contact with at least a portion of the second drive element.\",\n \"The torque can correspond to a material strength and density of the field of bone.\",\n \"The method can further include alerting a user of a change in material strength and density of the field of bone using a signal, wherein the signal comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.\",\n \"A change in torque measured can indicate a transition from a first tissue type to a second tissue type.\",\n \"The first tissue type can include cortical bone and the second tissue type can include medullary canal or cancellous bone.\",\n \"The first tissue type can include medullary canal or cancellous bone and the second tissue type can include cortical bone.\",\n \"Other features and advantages will be apparent from the following description of various embodiments, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the disclosed devices and methods.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 is a perspective, cut-away view of one embodiment of an instrument.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 is a side, cut-away view of the instrument of FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"3 is a perspective view of another embodiment of an instrument.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 is a perspective view of the instrument of FIG.\",\n \"3 showing a length of the working tool in an extended position.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is an exploded view of the instrument of FIG.\",\n \"3.FIG.\",\n \"6 is a perspective view of an instrument having a guide interfaced with a fracture fixation plate.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 is a perspective view of the guide of FIG.\",\n \"6 interfaced with the fracture fixation plate.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is a perspective view of a guide/fixation plate interface system.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 is a perspective view of a guide coupled to the instrument of FIG.\",\n \"6 interfaced with the fracture fixation plate.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 is a side view of a drill bit having detuned flutes.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"11A and 11B are perspective views of an instrument having a saw blade and saw blade guide coupled thereto.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 is a side view of an instrument having a driving tool coupled thereto.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 is a perspective view of another embodiment of an instrument.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14 is a perspective view of a rotary encoder for use with an instrument described herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"15 is a schematic view of a drive mechanism showing torque forces generated by a working tool, gearbox and motor.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16 is a schematic view of a direct torque sensor measuring force produced by drilling torque.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION This disclosure relates to a surgical instrument for preparing a bore in animal tissue.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the disclosure relates to a surgical instrument that drives a tool in which both drive power and relative axial extension of the tool are controlled and measurable.\",\n \"The instrument can have both a rotational drive and an axial drive, each of which can be controllable by the user.\",\n \"The instrument allows a user to control and simultaneously measure the travel of the tool into a target tissue.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"1-2 illustrate cut-away views of an instrument 10.The instrument 10 can include a body 20 that houses two drive motors 30, 60 and a working tool 110 coupled via a chuck 90 extendable near a distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10.As will be described in more detail below, the instrument 10 can instantaneously sense, meter and control the work created by the tool 110.Instantaneous sensing, metering and controlling the instrument 10 help to prevent injury to surrounding tissues and structures that could otherwise be caused by the tool 110.For example, sensing, metering and controlling the rotational speed of the drive can reduce the risk of heating surrounding tissue and bone, for example to the point of causing localized burns.\",\n \"Sensing, metering and controlling the axial motion and/or relative extension of the working tool 110 can prevent penetrating injuries, for example, to structures distal of the target such as nerve, brain, spinal cord, artery, vein, muscle, fascia, bone or joint space structures.\",\n \"Instantaneous sensing, metering and controlling the bore created as the working tool penetrates the tissue can provide an advantage when selecting implants for insertion.\",\n \"For example, the length of the drilling hole and subsequently the length of the implant needed can be simultaneously metered upon creating the bore.\",\n \"This eliminates the need for an additional step of measuring the depth of the bore created with a separate device.\",\n \"Further, depth gauges can frequently provide false measurements resulting in users selecting the wrong size implant for insertion and requiring them to remove the implant and reinsert a different sized implant.\",\n \"Conventional depth gauges are also prone to breakage, which can lead to additional time usage and patient morbidity.\",\n \"Sensing, metering and controlling the depth of the bore in real-time or as it is being created eliminates the trial-and-error process of selecting the correct implant for the procedure, which ultimately can improve patient safety.\",\n \"The instruments described herein also save operating time and the need for additional procedures like repeated radiographs in determining implant size.\",\n \"Because estimates of operating room costs for the personnel alone can be as high as $25 per minute even small savings of time in an operating room can result in large savings of money.\",\n \"The instruments described herein provide an added benefit of reducing the number of radiographs needed in the operating room.\",\n \"Intra-operative radiographs and radiation exposure are one of the major occupational risks to surgeons and operating room staff.\",\n \"Radiation exposure of this type has been shown to lead to radiation dermatitis, cataracts, skin cancers, leukemia and other cancers.\",\n \"The instruments and methods described herein reduce the number of radiographs needed per procedure and the life-time exposure of surgeons and staff to x-rays.\",\n \"This reduced radiation exposure ultimately lowers chronic radiation exposure and the risk of radiation-related illnesses in surgeons and their staff.\",\n \"Drive System The configuration of the drive system of the instrument 10 can vary.\",\n \"In an embodiment shown in FIGS.\",\n \"1-2, drive motor 30 of the instrument 10 can be a fixed axial drive motor 30 and drive motor 60 can be a slidable, rotational drive motor 60.Drive motor 30 can be coupled to a drive shaft 40, which can in turn be coupled to drive motor 60.The drive shaft 40 can be a jack screw, ball screw, lead screw and the like that can translate the torque or rotary movement of the drive motor 30 into thrust in an axial direction to slidably move the drive motor 60 relative to the instrument 10.The drive shaft 40 can be made to move either in a distal (forward) direction or a proximal (reverse) direction that is substantially parallel to the axis of the instrument 10.The drive motor 60 can connect to the drive shaft 40 by way of a detachable coupler 50.The drive motor 60 can be coupled to and rotate a drive shaft 80 that can connect to the chuck 90 that holds the working tool 110.As such, movement of the drive motor 60 along the longitudinal axis of the instrument 10 can cause similar movement of the working tool 110 and extension of the tool 110, for example beyond the distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10.In use, the drive shaft 40 driven by drive motor 30 can axially drive the drive motor 60, which can rotate the drive shaft 80, which can rotate the chuck 90 which can rotate the tool 110.The chuck 90 can be stabilized within the body 20, for example by bearings 100.The bearings 100 can be axially slidable and stabilizing.\",\n \"The second drive motor 60 can be constrained or held rotationally still to provide for the eventual rotational movement of the working tool 110.The drive motor 60 can be fixed against rotational movement by guide rails or anti-rotation conducting flanges 70.In an embodiment, the flanges 70 slide within channels in the body 20.In an embodiment, each channel can have an opposite polarity such that they conduct electricity from a power source to the drive motor 60.In another embodiment, the power can be separate from the conducting flanges 70.The anti-rotation conduction flanges 70 can also be spiral shaped and travel through spiral grooves to add stability.\",\n \"The anti-rotation conduction flanges can also be excluded from the device and the rotational drive motor fixed to the axial drive shaft 40 causing the drive motor 60 to turn along with the axial drive shaft 40.It should be appreciated that the configuration of the drive shaft 40, 80 relative to the drive motors 30, 60 can vary.\",\n \"For example, the motors 30, 60 can be in parallel overlapping orientation relative to one another as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"1 and 2.Alternatively, the drive shaft 40 and motor 30 can be positioned in a co-axial orientation as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"3, 4 and 5.In another example, the drive shaft 40 and motor 30 can be positioned orthogonal to drive shaft 80 and motor 60.For example, the rotated motor can be positioned within the handle 25 of the instrument 10.The parallel overlapping orientation as well as the orthogonal orientation can provide for a shorter, more compact length of the instrument 10 without limiting the overall extension of the tool 110 that can be achieved.\",\n \"Alternatively, the drive shaft 40, 80 and motor 30, 60 can be connected via a gearbox (not shown).\",\n \"It should also be appreciated that use of the term “working tool” herein or “rotation of the working tool” is not intended to be limiting and that working tools other than rotating drill bits are considered as will be described in more detail below.\",\n \"Although the embodiments shown herein use motors, such as a stepper motor powered by a battery, it should be appreciated that power systems other than rotational drive motors are considered.\",\n \"For example, a non-electric drive motor, pneumatic motors or actuators powered for example by a nitrogen gas source, electrical motors, hydraulic actuators, and the like or a combination thereof can be incorporated into the instrument.\",\n \"It should also be appreciated that a motor and gearing can be used in place of the two-motor embodiment.\",\n \"Instrument Guides Extension of the working tool 110 relative to the longitudinal axis of the instrument 10 can be accomplished as described above via linear movement of the drive motor 60 within the body 20 of the instrument 10.In another embodiment, the drive motor 60 need not move axially relative to the instrument 10.Instead, extension of the working tool 110 relative to the distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10 can be effected by the movement of one or more surface guides on the instrument 10 as will be described below.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"3-5 illustrate an embodiment of an instrument 10 that includes a body 20 that houses an axial drive motor 30, a rotational drive motor 60, a working tool 110 coupled via a chuck 90 extendable near a distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10.A chuck extension 280 can also be included.\",\n \"The instrument 10 can further include a rear surface guide 300 and a forward surface 302 guide that, as will be discussed in more detail below, can be withdrawn in a proximal direction to reveal a length of the working tool 110 extending beyond the distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10.The drive motor 30 can be an axial drive motor and spindle seated near the proximal end (rear) of the body 20 and the second drive motor 60 can be a rotational drive motor and spindle seated near the distal (front) end of the body 20.Body insert 220 can fit inside the top of the body 20 such that the body insert 220 covers the drive motors 30, 60 (see FIG.\",\n \"5).\",\n \"The drive motor 30 can attach to drive a drive shaft 40 and the drive shaft 40 can attach to the drive lug 240.The drive lug 240 can attach to the rear surface guide 300 at its proximal end.\",\n \"The distal end of the rear surface guide 300 can attach to the proximal end of the forward surface guide 302.There can be one or more o-rings 250 between the two surface guides 300, 302.The drive lug 240 and the rear surface guide 300 can sit in the body 20 above the body insert 220.The top of the body 20 also can accept a body cover 214.The rear surface guide 300 can fit between the body 20 and the body cover 214 such that it is free to move within the body 20 and extend beyond the body 20 and the body cover 214.As best shown in FIG.\",\n \"3, the forward surface guide 302 can engage an outer surface of the chuck 90, for example, via a sleeve and/or one or more stabilizing flanges 305.In another embodiment, the chuck 90 can function without a sleeve or stabilizing flanges and instead the forward surface guide 302 can have a bushing or other device to engage the chuck 90 directly and still allow the chuck 90 to spin freely.\",\n \"In use, the axial drive motor 30 can power the drive lug 240 in an axial direction, which in turn can drive in an axial direction the rear surface guide 300 coupled to the forward surface guide 302.An increased length of the working tool 110 is revealed in order to engage the work.\",\n \"The drive motor 60 rotates the chuck 90 and the working tool 110.The surface guides 300, 302 shown in the drawings have two “arms” or supports that extend axially.\",\n \"But it should be appreciated that the surface guides 300, 302 can have one, two, three or more arms that provide additional support to bear the load.\",\n \"It should also be appreciated that the surface guides 300, 302 can be a single unit.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the surface guides 300, 302 can be telescoping surface guides.\",\n \"This can provide the instrument 10 with a larger range in overall drill length in a more efficient configuration.\",\n \"The telescoping surface guides can each include an actuator such as a pneumatic, hydraulic, motorized or other actuator that causes the surface guides 300, 302 to telescope and change overall guide length (i.e.\",\n \"telescope outward to lengthen or telescope inward to shorten).\",\n \"In another embodiment, the telescoping surface guides 300, 302 can be used to achieve depth control without the use of an axial motor.\",\n \"The axial electric motor can be replaced by a hydraulic or pneumatic motor, as can the rotational motor.\",\n \"A distal guide 170 can optionally be coupled to the instrument 10.In one embodiment, the distal guide 170 is coupled to a distal end of the body 20 of the instrument 10 (as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"1 and 2).\",\n \"In another embodiment, the distal guide 170 is coupled to the forward surface guide 302 (as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"3-5).\",\n \"The distal guide 170 can include a central channel through which the working tool 110 can extend to engage the work.\",\n \"The distal guide 170 can have a tapered geometry or reduced outer diameter such that its contact surface is relatively small compared to the distal end of the body 20 and the bulk of the instrument 10 is focused into a small area of contact with the work.\",\n \"The distal guide 170 can also include gripping features at its forward surface such as spikes or other protrusions such that the guide 170 can hold its position on the work.\",\n \"The distal guide 170 can assist in the engagement of bone, fracture plates or other implants or joint parts.\",\n \"One or more portions of the distal guide 170 can couple with the implant, for example by directly pressing or screwing the implant onto one or more corresponding features of the distal guide 170.FIGS.\",\n \"6-9 show an instrument and various embodiments of distal guides 170a, 170b, 170c that can interface with the work using various mechanisms.\",\n \"Guide 170a can engage an implant 815, such as a fracture fixation plate, by a threaded interface, or by another mechanism, such that the guide 170a screws into, or otherwise couples with the implant 815.Guides 170a and 170b are shown connected to the implant 815 in a generally perpendicular configuration.\",\n \"Alternatively, distal guide 170c can connect to the implant 815 at an angle away from perpendicular.\",\n \"The guide 170b can include an interface that provides a unique connection with the implant 815.For example, the distal guide 170b can include a pin-index type connection or a diameter-index type system that provide non-interchangeable connections between the distal guide 170 and the implant 815.As such, a specific implant 815 can interface with a particular distal guide 170 to prevent misconnections.\",\n \"The specific geometry of the interface between the distal guide 170 and the implant 815 can vary.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 shows a schematic of just one example of an interface system between the implant 815 and the distal guide 170.The distal guide 170 can include one or more geometric features 805 that extend from a forward surface of the distal guide 170.The geometric features 805 can couple with corresponding geometric features 810 provided on the implant 815 such that the two properly and uniquely interconnect.\",\n \"The corresponding geometric features 805, 810 can dictate the type of implant 815 that can be used with a particular distal guide 170 providing for a unique pairing between the two.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that although the figure shows the implant 815 as a fracture fixation plate, the implant 815 with which the guide 170 can interface can vary including bone, fracture plates or other implants or joint parts.\",\n \"The interface between the distal guide 170 and the implant 815 can provide for directional guidance for the working tool 110.The implant 815 can connect to the distal guide 170, the distal guide 170 can connect to the instrument 10 resulting in one interconnected complex for drilling a bore.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the implant 815 couples to the distal guide 170 which can be attached to the instrument 10 via the forward surface guide 302.The implant 815 can also couple a distal guide 170 that is separate from the instrument 10.In another embodiment shown in FIG.\",\n \"9, the instrument can include two guides.\",\n \"In this embodiment, a first distal guide 170 is attached to the instrument 10 and a second distal guide 170a is connected to the implant 815.The first distal guide 170 can then couple to the second distal guide 170a.\",\n \"Working Tools As mentioned above, the working tool 110 can be connected to the instrument 10 using a rotatably-driven coupler or chuck 90 with or without a chuck extension 280.The chuck 90 can be a conventional coupler such as a three-jaw chuck in which the jaws grasp the proximal portion of the tool 110 and hold it firmly in place.\",\n \"The chuck 90 can be actuated to open or close the jaws by a rotation mechanism or a key or other techniques known in the art.\",\n \"The chuck 90 can also be a quick-release type of coupler.\",\n \"The chuck 90 can be extended beyond the distal engagement end 120 such that the chuck 90 can be accessed external of the body 20.This accessibility of the chuck 90 relative to the instrument 10 allows for a user to make reliable connections between the working tool 110 and the chuck 90.The exterior access can also allow for shorter, safer driven tools than if the chuck 90 was internal to the instrument body 20.Additionally, the exterior access can provide for ease of cleaning this portion of the instrument 10.The working tool 110 as described herein can include, but is not limited to, tools such as a drill bit, Kirschner (or other) wire, pin, trochar, burr, screwdriver, reamer, saw, saw blade, router, router bit, stepped drill bit, bone plug removal tools, bone harvesting tools, bone marrow harvesting tools, bone marrow aspirating tools or any other tools that can be reversibly attached to a chuck 90 or other type of coupling device.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that where a working tool is described herein as a drill bit or wire or pin or other type of tool that such description is not intended to be limiting.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that a wide variety of tools can be used as the working tool with the instruments described herein.\",\n \"For example, the working tool can be a saw blade connected to a coupler that oscillates or reciprocates the saw blade as described with respect to FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11B below or a wire driver as described with respect to FIG.\",\n \"12 below.\",\n \"The working tool 110 can be made of metal materials such as titanium metal or stainless steel that can be sterilized and reused.\",\n \"Alternatively, the working tool 110 can be made of polymeric material that can be discarded after each use.\",\n \"The material can be chosen to provide the necessary strength to allow the proper tool action.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 shows an embodiment of a drill bit 905 having a flute 910 that is detuned or dulled.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that the entire length of the flute 910 need not have the same edge geometry.\",\n \"For example, the detuned flute 910 can have an edge 915 that is sharper starting at a proximal region of the bit 905 towards the tool attachment region.\",\n \"It should also be appreciated that the bit 905 can have more than one flute 910 as is known in the art.\",\n \"The detuned flute 910 allows for greater sensitivity in measurement of torque and measurement of current.\",\n \"The bit 905 can also have fast spirals 920 with short rotational diameter and a short tip 925 such that it transfers less energy to the work to avoid over-heating the work and surrounding tissues.\",\n \"The drill bit 905 design also can provide a feel to the user such that information regarding the subtle material strength and density changes of the work can be appreciated during use.\",\n \"Other Tool Embodiments It should be appreciated that other medical devices can incorporate the metering and controlling features of the instruments as described herein.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"11A and 11B show an embodiment of an instrument 1005 having a working tool that is an oscillating bone saw blade 1010 coupled to chuck 1090 and surrounded by a saw blade guide 1007 that is coupled to a forward surface guide 1002 coupled to a rear surface guide 1000.The oscillating saw blade 1010 can have opposed proximal and distal ends and can be formed so that teeth 1015 extend forward from the distal end of the planar body of the blade 1010.The arrangement and geometry of the teeth 1015 can vary.\",\n \"The body of the blade 1010 can be formed of material such as stainless steel or other appropriate cutting material.\",\n \"The teeth 1015 can extend forward from the blade distal end through an elongate slot 1008 in the saw blade guide 1007 coupled to the instrument as best shown in FIG.\",\n \"11B.\",\n \"The proximal end of the blade 1010 can include features (not shown) that facilitate the coupling of the blade 1010 to a chuck 1090.The chuck 1090 can connect to a drive mechanism that oscillates or reciprocates the saw blade 1010 to effect cutting.\",\n \"For example, the distal end of the blade 1010 can pivot back and forth relative to the proximal end of the blade 1010.As the saw blade 1010 saws through material, another drive mechanism can drive the rear surface guide 1000, the forward surface guide 1002 and the saw blade guide 1007 in an axial direction such that the body of the blade 1010 extends further through the slot 1008 of the saw blade guide 1007.The slot 1008 and the guides 1000, 1002, 1007 are configured such that they do not interfere with the oscillating and/or reciprocating motion of the blade 1010.The length of the blade 1010 can vary to accommodate various depth penetrations.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 shows an embodiment of an instrument 1105 having a working tool used to implant a Kirschner wire (k-wire) or other wire or pin.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the instrument 1105 can incorporate a wire driver 1110 used to implant a k-wire 1115 (or other wire or pin, hereinafter called “wire” for simplicity).\",\n \"The wire driver 1110 can be a modular attachment that can be used with the various instruments described herein.\",\n \"For example, the wire driver 1110 can be inserted into other instruments 10 described herein and used in place of the chuck 90, which can be removable.\",\n \"Alternatively, the wire driver instrument 1105 can be completely separate embodiments in which the wire driver 1110 is not modular or removable and instead is coupled permanently to the instrument 1105.It should be appreciated that the various instruments described herein can be modular such that mechanical features such as the chuck 90 or the axial drive motor 30 can be swapped out in place for one another.\",\n \"The wire driver 1110 can hold the wire 1115 as well as rotate or oscillate the wire 1115.The wire driver 1110 can be released to slide axially to a new position causing more (or less) wire 1115 to be exposed for allowing a further penetration of the bone.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the body 1120 of the driver 1105 including the internal workings are cannulated such that the wire 1115 can be fed through the driver 1105 body 1120.The wire 1115 can extend through the cannulation in the body 1120 of the driver 1105 from the front of the driver 1105 out through the back end 1125 of the driver 1105.As mentioned, the wire driver 1110 can hold the wire 1115 in place much like a drill chuck.\",\n \"When the wire driver 1110 is activated, the rotational motor (not shown) can oscillate or rotate the wire 1115 in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction.\",\n \"As with previous embodiments, the rotational motor can be biased in either rotational direction.\",\n \"When the driver 1105 is activated the axial drive (not shown) can pull the surface guide(s) 1130 back (proximally) and the wire 1115 can advance into the work site such as bone.\",\n \"A trigger 1135 can be incorporated into the driver 1105 that holds the wire 1115 when grasped by a user.\",\n \"If pressure on the trigger 1135 is released, the trigger 1135 releases the wire 1115 such that the driver 1105 can slide forward or backward to expose less or more wire 1115, respectively.\",\n \"When a user desires more wire 1115, the trigger 1135 can be released and the driver 1105 pushes the surface guide 1130 forward.\",\n \"The length the surface guide 1130 moves forward equals the length of wire 1115 that is now available for advancement into the bone.\",\n \"This length can be added to the computed total axial distance as needed to obtain an accurate account of the length of wire 1115 that was driven into the bone.\",\n \"The wire 1115 can be held in place by either the guide 1130 (such as by pinching) or the bone into which the wire 1115 was driven can itself be used to hold the wire 1115 in place.\",\n \"If the wire 1115 is held in place by the bone, the user can urge the guide 1130 against the bone as the surface guide 1130 pushes the driver 1105 back to let out more wire 1115.If the user desires to remove the wire 1115 from the bone, the reverse axial drive (not shown) can be engaged such that the surface guide 1130 move forward and the driver 1105 moves backward away from patient while the trigger 1135 is engaged.\",\n \"It should also be appreciated that, although not shown, this instrument embodiment can incorporate a distal guide 170 coupled to a forward end of the surface guide 1130 as described in previous embodiments.\",\n \"Tool Actuation Actuation of the drive motors and other features of the instruments described herein can vary.\",\n \"Actuators can include triggers, buttons and switches that can be retracted, pressed, squeezed, slid or otherwise actuated to perform a certain function of the instrument 10.The actuators can be incorporated into a handle of the instrument 10 in such a way that is ergonomically comfortable for a user.\",\n \"For example, the instrument can include a pistol grip having trigger-type actuators such that the instrument 10 can be easily and comfortably held and actuated during use.\",\n \"It should be appreciated, however, that the instrument 10 can have other configurations such as a straight-bodied instruments that do not include a pistol grip.\",\n \"Each drive motor can have a separate actuator for activation.\",\n \"For example, the drive motor 30 can be turned on by actuator 32 and the drive motor 60 can be turned on by actuator 62 (see FIG.\",\n \"1).\",\n \"The actuators 32, 62 can be depressible triggers positioned on a handle 25 of the body 20, such as within a trigger housing 212.The actuators 32, 62 can adjust the speed of the drive motors 30, 60 in a manner that is proportional to the degree of depression of the actuators 32, 62, for example relative to the instrument handle 25.The direction the drive shaft 40 moves can be changed from a forward to a reverse direction, for example, by the position of a switch or other selectable mechanism.\",\n \"Similarly, the drive motor 60 can be made to move in a forward or reverse direction as determined by the position of a selectable switch.\",\n \"Further, the motor can be biased in either rotational direction.\",\n \"In another embodiment shown in FIGS.\",\n \"3-5, the instrument 10 can include a forward trigger 232 and a reverse trigger 234 that can each actuate both drive motors 30, 60.The forward trigger 232 can be a two-stage forward trigger 232 such that it can engage the rotational drive motor 60 in the first stage (i.e.\",\n \"effecting working tool 110 rotation) and the axial drive motor 30 in the second stage (i.e.\",\n \"effecting working tool 110 extension).\",\n \"The speed of the rotational drive motor 60 can be proportional to the degree of actuation of the first stage of the forward trigger 232, for example depression of the trigger 232.The speed of the axial drive motor 30 can be proportional to the degree of actuation of the second stage of the forward trigger 232.In an embodiment, the trigger 232 in the first stage can engage the rotational drive motor 60.The tool 110 spins and with further depression of the trigger 232 can reach full speed.\",\n \"Just before the trigger 232 enters the second stage, the axial drive motor 30 can engage.\",\n \"The axial drive motor 30 can cause withdrawal of the surface guides 300, 302 in a proximal direction P (see FIG.\",\n \"4) to reveal a length of the working tool 110 allowing it to engage with and bore into the work as the user applies pressure to the instrument 10 and keeps it engaged with the work.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that the axial drive motor 30 can also cause the movement of the working tool 110 in a distal direction to reveal the length as described with respect to other embodiments herein.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that an axial force sensor can be incorporated that assists a user in keeping the instrument engaged with the work, as will be discussed in more detail below.\",\n \"The reverse trigger 234 can cause both of the drive motors 30, 60 to reverse their direction.\",\n \"When the reverse trigger 234 is engaged while the two-stage trigger 232 is actuated during the first stage, the rotational drive motor 60 as well as the chuck 90 and the working tool 110, can spin in a reverse direction.\",\n \"When the second stage of the forward trigger 232 is actuated, and the reverse trigger 234 is still engaged, the rotational drive motor 60 as well as the chuck 90 and the working tool 110, can spin at maximal speed in a reverse direction and the axial drive motor 30 can begin to spin proportional to the degree of actuation of the second stage of the forward trigger 232.The action of the axial drive motor 30 can cause the drive lug 240, the rear surface guide 300, the forward surface guide 302 and the guide 170 to move in the distal direction (i.e.\",\n \"towards the work in direction of Arrow D, see FIG.\",\n \"3).\",\n \"The axial movement of the guides 300, 302 can push the instrument 10 away from the work and draw the working tool 110 out of the work.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the motors 30, 60 can have independent reverse functions and can be controlled independently via independent actuators or triggers.\",\n \"The instrument 10 can also include an oscillation select switch 262 (see FIGS.\",\n \"3-5).\",\n \"The oscillating function can also be actuated by certain trigger combinations or an oscillation trigger.\",\n \"When the oscillation select switch 262 is in the “off” position, the instrument 10 can function as described above.\",\n \"When the oscillation select switch 262 is in the “on” position, the rotational drive motor 60 can oscillate in the appropriate direction when the triggers 232, 234 are actuated and the axial drive motor 30 function is not affected.\",\n \"If the forward trigger 232 is actuated, the instrument 10 can oscillate in the forward direction, i.e.\",\n \"the rotational drive motor 60 can oscillate forward but the axial drive motor 30 can cause the drive lug 240, the rear surface guide 300 the forward surface guide 302 and the guide 170 to move in a proximal direction as before.\",\n \"If the reverse and forward triggers 232, 234 are actuated, the instrument 10 can oscillate in the reverse direction, i.e.\",\n \"the rotational drive motor 60 oscillates in reverse but the axial drive motor 30 can cause the drive lug 240, the rear surface guide 300, the forward surface guide 302 and the guide 170 to move in the distal direction as before.\",\n \"The oscillation select switch 262 can affect the function of the rotational motor 60 not the axial drive motor 30.When selected it can cause the rotational motor 60 to oscillate.\",\n \"Irrigation System The instruments described herein can include an irrigation system.\",\n \"The irrigation system allows for the surgical field to be kept cool while the instrument 10 is in use and reduce the risk of tissue damage such as bone burning and bone death.\",\n \"The irrigation system can also reduce the risk of hardware failure, the need for re-operation, infection, limb loss and death.\",\n \"The irrigation system can include one or more irrigation nozzles 130 located at or near the engagement end 120 of the body 20.In one embodiment, the irrigation nozzles 130 spray fluid from the distal tip of the body 20.In another embodiment, the irrigation nozzles 130 can be routed internally through the working tool 110.The irrigation fluid can be sprayed through a channel running through the working tool 110 and exiting at a port near the distal end of the tool 110.In a further embodiment, the forward surface guide 302 can have one or more irrigation nozzles 130 (see FIGS.\",\n \"3-5).\",\n \"The irrigation nozzles 130 can also be coupled to the distal guide 170.The irrigation nozzles 130 can deliver irrigation fluid (i.e.\",\n \"a liquid or a gas) through irrigation tubing 340 (see FIGS.\",\n \"3-5) from a sterile fluid bag or other irrigation fluid source.\",\n \"In an embodiment, carbon dioxide gas can be used to irrigate the work to remove heat.\",\n \"The irrigation tubing 340 can be coupled to the instrument 10 via an irrigation port near a proximal end of the body 20.The irrigation tubing 340 can be angled downward to avoid crimping and for more efficient manipulation of the instrument 10 by the user.\",\n \"An external fluid pump or gravity can be used to pressurize the irrigation system.\",\n \"The irrigation system can be kept outside the sterile surgical field except, for example, the irrigation tubing 340 connected to the instrument 10.Such an arrangement can contribute to the engagement end 120 and the working tool 110 remaining relatively free from bulk or other awkward equipment enabling more accurate placement and easy use of the instrument 10 in the surgical field.\",\n \"The irrigation system of the instrument 10 can also include a suction mechanism at or near the surgical field.\",\n \"Suction can be applied through the irrigation nozzles 130 or can be applied through additional channels.\",\n \"The irrigation system can be controlled manually by the user such as with an irrigation actuator positioned, for example, on a handle 25 of the instrument 10 or by a foot pedal or other mechanism.\",\n \"The irrigation actuator can be a depressible trigger or button that can turn on or off the flow of irrigation fluid from the irrigation tube 340.The same actuator or another actuator can turn on or off the suction applied to the surgical field.\",\n \"The irrigation system can also be controlled automatically for example by one or more sensors near the work site communicating with an electronics package of the instrument to be described in more detail below.\",\n \"Automated irrigation is generally a desired option for users as it can effectively reduce drill bit temperature, bone temperature and the risk of bone burning.\",\n \"Modularity and Internal Access The body 20 of the instruments 10 described herein can include one or more removable covers that can be used to access one or more of the various internal components.\",\n \"Further, one or more of the internal components can be modular and can be completely separated from the body 20 of the instrument 10.This allows for interchanging parts as well as cleaning and sterilizing the components of the instrument 10.In one embodiment, the instrument 10 can have a cover 122 near the engagement end 120 that can be removed to access, clean or remove the coupler 90, bearings 100 and drive shaft 80 and any other internal components of the instrument 10.The drive motor 60 can extend to a region near the distal end of the body 20 and allow for the actuation and release of the coupler 50.For example, the release can be a depressible button 52 (see FIG.\",\n \"5) on a surface of the drive motor 60 that can allow a user to disconnect the drive motor 60 from the drive shaft 40 when the release is depressed to allow a user to remove the drive motor 60 from the body 20.In another embodiment shown in FIG.\",\n \"13, a body cover 1515 can enclose the rear surface guide (not shown) and at least a proximal portion of the forward surface guide 302.The forward surface guide 302 can be covered by the body cover 1515 up to the point where the chuck 90 is exposed at the distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10 and can exit the body cover 1515 through openings 1520.These openings can include bushings seated around the perimeter of the opening 1520 that are sealed from the remainder of the instrument body.\",\n \"The one or more body covers 1515 can be removed independently of one or more of the guides.\",\n \"Alternatively, the one or more body covers 1515 can be integrated with one or more of the guides such that they can be removed along with the covers 1515 in order to access the interior of the instrument 10.Proximally, the body 20 can include a removable end piece 150 that can be removed to gain access to the proximal region of the body 20 in order to clean or remove the modular portions of the instrument 10 near the proximal end, such as the drive shaft 40 and the drive motor 30.The removable end piece 150 can be incorporated with a removable electronics package as will be discussed in more detail below.\",\n \"One or more of the body covers can be translucent or transparent such that the components inside are visible from the outside without removal of the covers.\",\n \"It should also be appreciated that the components can be disposable and need not be removed or cleaned.\",\n \"Electronics and Sensors An electronics package 236 can be positioned within the body 20 of the instrument 10 and can have a variety of configurations.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the electronics package 236 can be positioned within the body 20 as well as within the handle 25.In an embodiment, the electronics package 236 can be positioned within a space of the body 20, for example near or at the proximal end behind drive motor 30 (see for example, FIG.\",\n \"5 or 6).\",\n \"The electronics package 236 can include a display.\",\n \"The electronics package 236 and display can be removable along with one or more of the body covers.\",\n \"Information regarding the use of the instrument 10 can be relayed in real-time to the display such that the information is provided to a user instantaneously during use of the instrument 10, for example bore depth or other information as will be described in more detail below.\",\n \"The display can include an LED or other display using, for example, electrical filaments, plasma, gas or the like.\",\n \"The instrument 10 can also include a display that is not coupled or integrated within the instrument itself, for example, a heads-up display that communicates with the instrument 10 (i.e.\",\n \"either wired or wirelessly).\",\n \"The heads-up display can include a graphical user interface (GUI) that can display data and provide interactive functions such as a touch screen for input of data and information such as the drill bit size.\",\n \"The heads-up display can be mounted as is known in the art such as with a boom or other mechanism that provides user convenience.\",\n \"For example, the heads-up display can be mounted on a boom that can be easily positioned and moved around during a surgical procedure.\",\n \"The heads-up display can be autoclavable such that the display can be positioned within the surgical field where a user is using the instrument 10.Alternatively, the heads-up display can be inserted into a sterile cover such that the display can be positioned within the surgical field where a user is using the instrument 10.The electronics package 236 (see FIGS.\",\n \"5-6) can communicate with various sensors positioned within the instrument 10 that assess the status of the components of the instrument and communicate this information in real-time to the electronics package 236 and the user via a display.\",\n \"The instrument 10 can provide the user with alerts and information regarding the status of the instrument and instrument components during use such that manual and/or automatic adjustments can be made.\",\n \"The electronics package 236 can also include motor control electronics and software programs that can be programmed to automatically adjust the instrument 10 in real-time to maintain use of the instrument 10 within set thresholds.\",\n \"For example, the instrument can include software capable of being programmed to continuously measure and/or control a variety of functions including, but not limited to, bone depth, material strength, bone density, skive, drill bit development, speed of rotation, acceleration, deceleration, irrigation, voltage, torque, thrust, feed rate, current, voltage, axial movement, axial force and other functions of the instrument or a combination thereof.\",\n \"The instrument can include mechanical measurement systems, such as a mechanical torque measurement system as will be described in more detail below.\",\n \"As such, the instruments described herein can detect and control penetration of the working tool through various tissue layers.\",\n \"The instruments can control, for example, axial feed rate, motor RPM, and engagement of the work to allow a user to avoid certain unsafe instrument situations.\",\n \"For example, the instruments described herein can detect joint penetration in real-time allowing a user to avoid “pop through” or plunging situations, for example, in which the instrument suddenly penetrates the cortical bone and inadvertently damages soft tissue or joint structures.\",\n \"Joint penetration can occur perpendicularly as well as tangentially (also known as skiving).\",\n \"The instruments described herein can provide an overall system stability that allows for the accurate tracking and detection and control of instrument status during use.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that the control of the instruments described herein can also be adjusted manually by the user.\",\n \"For example, the user can change the thrust of the drive motor 30 by letting up or pressing down on the actuator 32.The user can also change the thrust of the instrument 10 by pushing down or letting up on the axial pressure being applied to the instrument 10.In an embodiment, tissue resistance as compared to axial pressure on the instrument 10 applied by the user can cause/allow the relative position of the handle of the instrument 10 to feel as if it were backing out of the work as the tool 110 is axially extended from the instrument 10.This can require the user to apply additional axial pressure to drive the tool 110 through the tissue.\",\n \"The torque as related to the rotating tool 110 can also change during use of the instrument 10.This change provides feedback to the user who in turn can make appropriate adjustments to the axial and rotational movements as needed.\",\n \"The instruments 10 described herein can instantaneously measure the axial motion and the depth the working tool 110 travels into the work by a transducer or encoder, such as an incremental rotary encoder, an absolute rotary encoder, mechanical, magnetic, electrical, or optical rotary encoder, or the like (see for example BEI Optical encoder; www.motion-control-info.com/encoder_design_guide.html).\",\n \"The depth the working tool 110 travels into the work can also be measured by a synchro, a resolver, a rotary variable differential transformer (RVDT) or a rotary potentiometer, or the like.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"14, the rotary encoder 39 can include a bearing housing assembly 201, a light source 202, a code disc 203, a mask 204, a photodetector assembly 205, an electronics board 206 that rotate around shaft 208.In an embodiment, the rotary encoder is an incremental rotary encoder with dual channels in quadrature with an additional data track to provide an internal position reference for setting a “zero point”.\",\n \"The rotary encoder can be an absolute rotary encoder.\",\n \"The encoder can measure rotation and convert that information into axial motion.\",\n \"The encoder can interface with the drive motor 30 and the drive shaft 40 and can provide instantaneous information on the position of the drive shaft 40 regarding the depth of axial movement of the working tool into a bore.\",\n \"This information can be fed to the electronics package 236 that can perform count multiplication to determine the tool position.\",\n \"For example, the rotation of the drive shaft 40 can be measure and a calculation performed to determine the distance traveled.\",\n \"This distance traveled can be compared to a set point or zero point such that the position of the working tool 110 from the distal end of the instrument can be calculated.\",\n \"This calculation relates to depth as determined by the position of the distal end of the instrument with respect to the target tissue (e.g.\",\n \"bone).\",\n \"In an embodiment, the instrument can include a meter that measures the rotational speed (see for example the speed device described in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,723,911), time, velocity, acceleration, deceleration or torque.\",\n \"The meter can provide the user information pertaining to the passage of the working tool 110 through different layers of tissue.\",\n \"For example, movement of the working tool 110 through cortical bone into medullary canal or cancellous bone, medullary canal or cancellous bone to cortical bone, or from cortical bone to soft tissue.\",\n \"In an embodiment, metrics can be obtained via an axial force sensor and/or a torque sensor to measure drive or motor torque directly.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the rotational drive motor 60, or a gearbox connected to the rotational motor 60, can be positioned such that it can press against a force sensor to provide direct measurements of torque that can be displayed to a user and provide information pertaining to the passage of the tool through varied layers of tissue.\",\n \"In another embodiment the rotational drive motor 60 can have a torque sensor (not shown).\",\n \"In an embodiment the rotation drive motor 60 can be a brushless DC (BLDC) electric motor having one or more Hall sensors.\",\n \"When the tool passes from cortical bone into medullary canal or cancellous bone or from cortical bone into soft tissue the measured torque can drop dramatically.\",\n \"The information can be relayed to the display 236 and integrated with the function of the motor drivers and their actuators.\",\n \"For example, in an embodiment, when the tool 110 is moving axially in a forward direction and passes from cortical bone to medullary canal or cancellous bone or from cortical bone to soft tissue the reduced torque will interrupt the axial motion.\",\n \"The axial drive can then be reengaged by releasing pressure on the forward two-stage trigger and reapplying pressure.\",\n \"The instruments 10 described herein can also control the depth of penetration of the working tool 110.In an embodiment, the maximum depth of the bore that is to be created by the instrument 10 can be programmed with electronics in advance of drilling.\",\n \"The measurement can be zeroed by the user prior to use, for example, by depressing an axial measurement selector/reset button.\",\n \"This allows the user to zero the measurement according to the length of the selected tool 110.In one embodiment, the distal end of the working tool 110 can be aligned with the distal end of the body 20 and the instrument zeroed.\",\n \"This can be performed manually by the user or electronically with set points and a feedback system (i.e.\",\n \"interface with the coupler).\",\n \"The alignment of the distal end of the tool 110 and the distal end of the body 20 can be such that the two are flush with one another or the distal end of the tool 110 can be some distance beyond the distal end of the body 20, for example between about 3 mm and 7 mm.\",\n \"The tool 110 can be positioned flush against the bone prior to drilling.\",\n \"As the tool 110 advances into the bone, the instrument 10 can be held flush against the bone.\",\n \"The instrument 10 can also include a distal guide 170 and be zeroed once the tool 110 aligns with the distal end of the guide 170 (and a fixation plate attached to the guide 170, if present).\",\n \"Once the cut is started and the tool 110 can be flush with the bone, the user can use the axial drive to further advance the tool 110 through the bone.\",\n \"The electronics package 236 can be zeroed as described above to include the additional axial length of the guide 170.In another embodiment, the user can feed in a distal direction a portion of the working tool 110, for example 30 mm if working on a tibia or femur or 12 mm if working on a radius.\",\n \"The user can then manually drill through the bone as with an axially static drill.\",\n \"Upon reaching that pre-programmed depth, if the distal cortex had not yet been breached, the axial drive can be used to penetrate the bone further.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the electronics can contain a preset maximum distance that can limit the distal travel of the tool 110.For example, a stop and go signal (i.e.\",\n \"single click of the trigger) or a double stop and go (i.e.\",\n \"double click of the trigger) can release the depth stop and allow further travel.\",\n \"Any of a variety of schedules can be programmed into the electronics to control distal advancement of the tool.\",\n \"For example, each time the tool 110 is advanced beyond the initial stop, the electronics can be programmed to allow only a further distal travel of for example 3 mm or 6 mm or other incremental distance before stopping again and alerting the user similar to a snooze alarm system of a clock radio.\",\n \"Identifying the desired depth of penetration for pre-programmed embodiments can be determined, for example, by knowing the typical size of the target tissue based upon the age and size of a patient or the actual size of the target tissue from pre-op radiographs, CT scans or MRI scans.\",\n \"A user can also manually estimate to approximately 70-80% depth travel through the proximal cortex, the medullar bone and close to or into the distal cortex prior to the automatic pre-programmed settings taking effect.\",\n \"For example, the user can manually estimate until a region of the bone is entered where a greater amount of control is desirable such as the distal cortex.\",\n \"At that stage, the axial drive of the instrument can be used to slowly proceed through that portion of the bone to the target location.\",\n \"A user can also proceed until a pop is felt or a change in speed can be heard in the drill.\",\n \"This can be augmented by acceleration or torque measurements provided to the user.\",\n \"For example, as the drill bit penetrates to the very last layers of the distal cortex it can begin to accelerate with a burst of acceleration as it breeches the distal cortex completely, this can also be sensed as a change in torque.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the RPM of the rotational drill motor is kept constant, preventing tool acceleration or deceleration.\",\n \"This allows the torque to be correlated to material strength.\",\n \"The instrument can provide its own auditory output to accentuate the sometimes subtle auditory changes caused by the drill bit.\",\n \"Upon reaching the predetermined target depth, axial movement of the device can automatically slow or stop while rotational movement can continue.\",\n \"It should be appreciated, however, that the user can manually override any pre-programmed limitations or automated controls by actuation/triggers on the device without changing hand positions to continue.\",\n \"As described above, the instruments described herein can include one or more sensors that communicate information to the user using a variety of alert mechanisms and/or graphical displays.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the instrument includes an axial force sensor and an axial force alert.\",\n \"As described herein, the axial force sensor can be used to sense the axial force applied at the distal end of the drill guide and/or applied by the working tool.\",\n \"The axial force sensor can communicate with the axial force alert and provide information to the user to ensure that the distal end of the drill guide and/or tool stay engaged with the work and maintains an appropriate level of pressure.\",\n \"Applying too much pressure or force on the work can increase the risk for damage to the work or surrounding tissues.\",\n \"Applying too little pressure or force can cause the tool to back off the work and prevent tool advancement at the desired rate.\",\n \"The axial force sensor can communicate with the axial force alert in real-time to provide the user with information regarding the status of the drill guide and whether the applied axial force is at the desirable pressure for an optimum result.\",\n \"The axial force alert can include an alarm or other auditory signal, a light or other visual signal, a vibration or other tactile signal, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the visual output can be an LED light or graphical interface positioned in the line of sight with the work, for example near or at the proximal end or back of the device.\",\n \"The output of the axial force alert can be proportional to the axial force being applied.\",\n \"For example, the axial force alert can include a light that can change color or a plurality of lights that sequentially illuminate depending on the axial force applied.\",\n \"Alternatively, the axial force alert can include an auditory alert that changes pitch or frequency depending on the axial force applied.\",\n \"In use, the user can inadvertently lighten manually applied forward (or axial) pressure on the instrument 10 that can result in a slowing of progress into the work and consequently the drill guide from backing away from the work.\",\n \"A user can maintain forward pressure on the instrument 10 such that the working tool 110 drives into the bone distally as the guides retract in a proximal direction.\",\n \"If a user does not maintain forward pressure the instrument 10 can be pushed in a proximal direction resulting in the working tool 110 not moving into the work.\",\n \"It can be desirable, however, to use as little forward pressure on the instrument as necessary to avoid injury to the bone.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the instrument 10 can include an axial force sensor that can measure the axial force a user applies to the work.\",\n \"The axial force sensor can interact with the electronics and provide an output to the user (e.g.\",\n \"visual or auditory or other output) to indicate when an amount of pressure is being applied by the user.\",\n \"The instrument can be programmed to provide the output to the user when an appropriate amount of pressure is being applied or when the pressure being applied falls outside a programmed range.\",\n \"In one example, LED lights can be positioned near a proximal end of the instrument within a user's line-of-sight such that the axial force applied can be visualized.\",\n \"For example, a flashing white LED can mean too little axial pressure is being applied, a green LED can mean the axial pressure is in a desired range and a flashing red LED can mean the axial pressure is too high.\",\n \"The instruments described herein can also include a torque sensor that detects the torque applied by the rotational motor and a torque alert.\",\n \"As described previously in reference to the axial force alert, the torque alert can also include an alarm or other auditory signal, a light or other visual signal, a vibration or other tactile signal, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"For example, the sensed torque similar to the sensed axial force can be displayed visually such as on a graphical interface in the line of sight with the work.\",\n \"The torque alert can also be proportional relative to the torque being applied.\",\n \"Further, the output for the axial force alert can be distinguishable from the output for the torque alert.\",\n \"For example, a first auditory signal can be provided by the axial force alert proportional to the axial force and a second auditory signal can be provided by the torque alert proportional to the torque applied.\",\n \"The auditory signals from the two alerts can be distinguishable by the user as being separate.\",\n \"For example, the axial force alert can be a different pitched auditory signal compared to the torque alert.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the axial force alert can signal the user only when conditions at the work change, whereas the torque alert can be a continuous signal, such as a sound with a variable pitch that is proportional to the torque or energy being sensed.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that any number of sensors and a variety of alerts or graphical information can be used singly or in combination as is known in the art.\",\n \"The systems described herein can also provide information to the user regarding optimal screw placement even in the case of a shared or convergent drill hole for the placement of interference screws, such as screws that are purposefully touching.\",\n \"Clinically, a user can feel when an interference screw is contacted by a drilling or driving device.\",\n \"However, once the interference screw is engaged the distal cortex can no longer be clinically felt by the user and a myriad of potential problems exist with regard to injury of distal structures.\",\n \"Both the interference screw and the distal cortex can be detected by tracking changes in the metrics, for example current or measured torque.\",\n \"The data can be used to inform the user in real-time when the instrument is in contact with one or more of the bone cortices or the screw.\",\n \"Similarly, the instruments described herein can provide instant, intra-operative feedback on drill bit performance such as drill flute clogging and the assessment of drill bit sharpness using a calibration block.\",\n \"Material strength and bone density can be determined by comparing intraoperative metrics such as current, measured torque or axial force with existing empirical data obtained while drilling with known drill bit sizes, drill bit types, axial feed rates and motor RPMs.\",\n \"The instruments described herein therefore can be useful in diagnosing bone pathologies such as osteoporosis and the detection of holes or fractures in the bone being drilled.\",\n \"Further, material strength and bone density data can assist a user in choosing an appropriate fixation technique, e.g.\",\n \"non-locking (cortical or cancellous) versus locking (unicortical or bicortical).\",\n \"Conventionally, to select the appropriate fixation technique a user must make an educated guess or using bone density data obtained prior to the fracture to estimate local material strength at the fracture fixation site.\",\n \"For example, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scans are commonly used to measure bone density and monitor osteopenia or osteoporosis treatments.\",\n \"But a DEXA scan cannot be performed acutely for a fracture patient and the standardized regional measurements may not be relevant at the fracture site.\",\n \"The instruments described herein provide an advantage in that determination of bone strength and bone density can be performed in acute situations and in real-time at the fracture site.\",\n \"Drilling torque (or energy) of the working tool is related to the properties of the bone, such as its material strength and its bone density.\",\n \"One or more of the sensors described herein can be used to estimate the material strength and bone density such that the instrument can detect transitions between different types of bone, as well as entry and exit from bone in real-time.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"15, a motor 60 can rotate and produce a motor torque Tm that is in the direction of rotation of a working tool 110 coupled to the motor 60.Drilling torque Td is opposite the direction of rotation of the working tool 110.A gearbox 75 can be incorporated in the instrument to convert the high-speed, low-torque operation of the motor 60 to a higher torque working tool 110 speed.\",\n \"The gearbox 75 can exhibit an additional torque component Tg due to internal energy losses, such as mechanical losses in the form of drag that counteracts torque and can result in a loss of energy between the motor 60 and the working tool 110.Gearbox torque Tg is also opposite the direction of rotation of the working tool 110.The motor 60 can be held as the reference point and the motor torque Tm measured electronically.\",\n \"In this embodiment, the instrument measures the current required to operate the motor 60, for example a brushless DC motor with a Hall Sensor that operates a drive train, and the motor 60 acts as both the actuator and the sensor.\",\n \"Motor torque measurements in this embodiment include both drilling torque Td and gearbox Tg losses.\",\n \"The gearbox inefficiencies can affect the accuracy of the torque measurements.\",\n \"The error in estimating the drilling torque component can be more pronounced for larger gear ratios in that more gears have more surface contact and thus, more drag.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the instrument can directly measure torque (see FIG.\",\n \"16).\",\n \"The gearbox 75 is held as a reference point for the torque measurement and only the drilling torque Td is measured.\",\n \"Measurements of the drilling torque Td can be taken at the output of the gearbox 75 such that internal gearbox losses are not included in the torque measurement although the motor 60 may still drive against the internal drag.\",\n \"A discrete sensor can be incorporated in the instrument to convert the drilling torque Td into a measurement signal.\",\n \"A mechanical beam or level can be incorporated to support the gearbox 75 and convert the torque Td into a linear force.\",\n \"The linear force can be converted into an electrical signal using a strain gauge load cell or scale or other torque sensor 77 to measure the resulting linear force.\",\n \"The direct torque measurement does not measure the energy lost internally to the gearbox 75 or the other motor components.\",\n \"The motor 60 can exert torque between its shaft and housing, which can be rigid mounted to the gearbox 75.In this embodiment, the torque required to overcome the internal losses of the gearbox 75 can be transferred through the housing of the motor 60 and gearbox 75 and the mechanical path does not include a torque sensor.\",\n \"The torque sensor 77 can, instead be positioned between the gearbox housing 75 and the working tool 110 by attaching the torque sensor 77 to the drill housing.\",\n \"The user can hold the body 20 of the instrument 10, which is rigidly attached to the gearbox housing 75.Although motor self-torque measurement can be more convenient since no additional sensor is needed, the accuracy can be lower than for a direct torque measurement in which a torque sensor is used.\",\n \"Direct torque measurements from a manufacturing standpoint can also allow one to design the gearbox independently from the torque measurement sensitivity.\",\n \"The instrument 10 can be a corded or cordless powered instrument.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the instrument 10 includes and is powered by a removable battery 360 (see FIG.\",\n \"5).\",\n \"The battery 360 can be enclosed within a battery cover 362 capped on the bottom by a battery case cover 364.The body 20 can accept battery release buttons 366.The battery 360 can have different chemical compositions or characteristics.\",\n \"For instance, batteries can include lead-acid, nickel cadmium, nickel metal hydride, silver-oxide, mercury oxide, lithium ion, lithium ion polymer, or other lithium chemistries.\",\n \"The instruments can also include rechargeable batteries using either a DC power-port, induction, solar cells or the like for recharging.\",\n \"Power systems known in the art for powering medical devices for use in the operating room are to be considered herein.\",\n \"Methods of Use Below is an example of a method of using an instrument described herein.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that a variety of driving devices or working tools can be coupled to the instruments described herein.\",\n \"Description related to guides on a drilling device having a drill bit coupled thereto is not intended to be limited to only drills and drilling bores.\",\n \"Rather, the instruments and guides can be used to saw or drive into tissues as described herein.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that any of the instruments described herein can be coupled to robotic arms or robotic systems or other computer-assisted surgical systems in which the user uses a computer console to manipulate the controls of the instrument.\",\n \"The computer can translate the user's movements and actuation of the controls to be then carried out on the patient by the robotic arm.\",\n \"Robotics can provide real-time pre- and inter-operative tactile and/or auditory feedback along with visualization, such as three-dimensional modeling.\",\n \"The robotic system can have an articulated endowrist at the end of two or more “working” arms configured to be inserted through a small portal.\",\n \"A stable, camera arm with two lenses (allowing stereoscopic images) can be also inserted through another small portal.\",\n \"The end-effectors can manipulate instruments and can have various degrees of freedom.\",\n \"The user can control the robot through a console placed in the operating room, allowing control of both the external and internal surgical environments.\",\n \"The user's interface can have instrument controllers that can filter tremor and decrease the scale of motion.\",\n \"Foot pedals can expand the user's repertoire, allowing tissue coagulation and irrigation.\",\n \"Visual feedback can be through a stereoscopic display.\",\n \"Robotic systems to which the devices disclosed herein can be coupled include the Haptic Guidance System or RIO® Systems (MAKO Surgical Corp, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and the da Vinci® Surgical Systems (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, Calif.).\",\n \"Other surgical robots can be considered as well including the Robot-Assisted Micro-Surgery (RAMS) system (MicroDexterity Systems, Inc.), NeuroArm® (University of Calgary), Zeus® Surgical robots, SpineAssist (Mazor Surgical Technologies, Israel), ROBODOC and ORTHODOC (Curexo Technology Corp., Fremont, Calif.), ACROBOT (Acrobot, Elstree, UK), PathFinder (Prosurgics Ltd., Loudwater, High Wycombe, UK), and Laprotek system (Hansen Medical, Inc.).\",\n \"Other robotic arms can be used with the instruments described herein such that the instrument can be independently controlled by the robot as opposed to direct manipulation by the user.\",\n \"In one embodiment of the method, the user can dissect tissue down to the bone and create a field large enough to put against the bone the working tool 110 or distal guide 170 or an implant attached to the distal guide 170.Screws can be placed across fractures without any other implants or a plate can be fixed across the fracture by bone screws.\",\n \"The screws can lock into the plate and bone.\",\n \"When a plate is to be used, the user can create a field large enough to place the plate.\",\n \"Alternatively, the plate can be inserted through a small incision such that the user can slide it along the surface of the bone in combination of blunt dissection of the tissue along the way (i.e.\",\n \"subcutaneous plate).\",\n \"The screws can be placed, for example using a radiograph to find the holes in the plate, through small incisions through the skin with dissection down to the bone.\",\n \"The surrounding tissue can be protected using retractors, a guide through which the working tool is inserted, attachable guides placed on the instrument and the like.\",\n \"If a distal guide 170 is used, the length of the guide 170 can be accounted for in the depth measurement.\",\n \"If a guide 170 attached to an implant is used, the depth can be automatically or manually zeroed.\",\n \"For example, if a plate is used the thickness of the plate can be automatically or manually accounted for in the zeroing.\",\n \"The working end of the instrument 10, with or without a distal guide 170, can be placed next to the exposed and dissected bone and the instrument zeroed.\",\n \"Alternatively, the user can extend a few millimeters of the working tool 110 to engage the bone and drill a counter-sink or pilot hole prior to zeroing the instrument 10.Where a fixation plate is used, the plate can be placed next to the bone and the drill end placed snug to the plate.\",\n \"Alternatively, some plates have guides that interface such that the instrument is directed at a selected angle.\",\n \"The instruments disclosed herein can be made such that they attach to or freely engage these types of distal guides 170.The user can apply pressure axially and engage first the rotational drive motor 60 to the desired speed.\",\n \"The user can proceed to engage the axial drive motor 30 either continuously or incrementally, depending upon the material strength and bone density and preference of the user.\",\n \"The drilling can continue through the cortical bone, through the medullary canal or cancellous bone, into and through the distal cortical bone.\",\n \"Once through the distal cortical bone as determined by pre-set depth control mechanism, axial resistance, auditory feedback from the rotational speed of the drill bit and/or auditory feedback from acceleration or torque sensors, the axial movement can be stopped.\",\n \"The user can remove the working tool 110 by reversing the axial drive motor 30 or by pulling back on the instrument 10.The rotational drive motor 60 can be left engaged and in the forward direction to facilitate clearing the hole created.\",\n \"The user can read the depth on the display 236 and select the proper screw for implantation.\",\n \"The screw can be implanted using a screw driver or the like.\",\n \"In another method, the user can perform a unicortical procedure wherein the working tool is stopped prior to some other endpoint such as before or after a growth plate or before or after the distal cortex.\",\n \"In use, an instrument 10, such as the instrument shown in FIG.\",\n \"4, can be set against exposed bone or, if used, the fracture fixation plate or other type of implant such as a joint prosthetic.\",\n \"The appropriate zero-depth position can be determined automatically.\",\n \"Once the user activates the trigger 232, the guide 170 as well as the guides 300, 302 retracts in the proximal direction (arrow P) and the working tool 110 can extend through the guide 170.The working tool 110 can engage the work and bore into the work as the user applies pressure to the instrument 10 and keeps it engaged with the work.\",\n \"The working tool 110 can drill into the bone by the amount the guide 170 retracts.\",\n \"The guide 170 retraction can be measured instantaneously and shown on a display, for example a display positioned at the back of the instrument 10.The automatic determination of the zero-position whether set against bone or against a fracture fixation plate can depend upon algorithms related to the way the guide 170 sets against the bone or the plate and the thickness of the plate.\",\n \"These variables can be unique to each plating system and set of guides.\",\n \"The depth of the travel of working tool 110 into the work, and/or the instantaneous torque or torque curve, can be measured and shown on the display 236 simultaneously and instantaneously as the working tool 110 moves axially in a distal direction and penetrates the work.\",\n \"Once the desired depth of penetration is reached, the reverse trigger 234 can be actuated to cause both of the drive motors 30, 60 to reverse their direction.\",\n \"The action of the axial drive motor 30 can cause the drive lug 240, the rear surface guide 300, the forward surface guide 302 and the guide 170 to move in an axial direction away from the body 20 of the instrument 10 in a distal direction such that the axial movement pushes the instrument body 20 away from the work and draws the tool 110 out of the work.\",\n \"Alternatively, the operator can pull the tool 110 from the work with the instrument either on (in any direction) or off.\",\n \"Aspects of the subject matter described herein may be realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry, specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof.\",\n \"These various implementations may include implementation in one or more computer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device.\",\n \"For example, a software program can be incorporated into the device that takes advantage of the reproducible relationship between current, torque, material strength and density in a system where the RPM of the rotational motor is held constant.\",\n \"Current is proportional to torque and torque is proportional to bone strength and density.\",\n \"As such the software can correlate the current the motor uses during drilling or sawing to the material strength and bone density.\",\n \"Such a software program can be used to measure material strength and bone density in real-time by reading the current being used by the motor.\",\n \"The software program can also be used to control RPM, feed rate, current and/or voltage.\",\n \"These computer programs (also known as programs, software, software applications or code) include machine instructions for a programmable processor, and may be implemented in a high-level procedural and/or object-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machine language.\",\n \"As used herein, the term “machine-readable medium” refers to any computer program product, apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal.\",\n \"The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.\",\n \"While this specification contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the claims or of what can be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particular embodiments.\",\n \"Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment.\",\n \"Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.\",\n \"For example, a current sensing mechanism can be incorporated into a drill or saw device and used independently of a depth-control mechanism.\",\n \"Similarly, a depth-control mechanism can be incorporated into a device that does not include other sensing mechanisms.\",\n \"Moreover, although features can be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination can be directed to a sub-combination or a variation of a sub-combination.\",\n \"Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results.\",\n \"Although embodiments of various methods and devices are described herein in detail with reference to certain versions, it should be appreciated that other versions, embodiments, methods of use, and combinations thereof are also possible.\",\n \"Therefore the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876078"}}},{"rowIdx":4495072,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["MULTI-CHIP PACKAGE AND METHOD OF PROVIDING DIE-TO-DIE INTERCONNECTS IN SAME","A multi-chip package includes a substrate (110) having a first side (111), an opposing second side (112), and a third side (213) that extends from the first side to the second side, a first die (120) attached to the first side of the substrate and a second die (130) attached to the first side of the substrate, and a bridge (140) adjacent to the third side of the substrate and attached to the first die and to the second die.","No portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge.","The bridge creates a connection between the first die and the second die.","Alternatively, the bridge may be disposed in a cavity (615, 915) in the substrate or between the substrate and a die layer (750).","The bridge may constitute an active die and may be attached to the substrate using wirebonds (241, 841, 1141, 1541)."],["1.A multi-chip package comprising: a substrate having a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side, the third side constituting a portion of an outside perimeter of the substrate; a first die attached to the first side of the substrate and a second die attached to the first side of the substrate; and a bridge adjacent to the third side of the substrate and attached to the first die and to the second die, wherein no portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge and wherein the bridge creates a connection between the first die and the second die.","2.A method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package, the method comprising: providing a substrate having a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side; attaching a first die to the first side of the substrate such that a portion of the first die extends beyond an edge of the first side of the substrate; attaching a second die to the first side of the substrate such that a portion of the second die extends beyond the edge of the first side of the substrate; providing a bridge containing a plurality of electrically or optically conductive features; positioning the bridge adjacent to the third side of the substrate such that no portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge; and attaching the bridge to the first die and to the second die, thereby creating a connection between the first die and the second die.","3.The method of claim 2 wherein: the bridge comprises silicon.","4.The method of claim 3 wherein: the bridge comprises an active die that constitutes a third die of the multi-chip package; and the bridge is attached to the first die and to the second die using flip-chip connections.","5.The method of claim 4 further comprising: attaching the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.","6.The method of claim 3 wherein: attaching the bridge comprises using a thermocompression bonding process.","7.The method of claim 3 wherein: attaching the bridge comprises using a solder reflow process.","8.The method of claim 3 wherein: providing the substrate comprises forming an aperture through the substrate such that the third side constitutes a portion of an inside perimeter of the substrate.","9.The method of claim 3 wherein: providing the substrate comprises forming a slot in the substrate such that the third side constitutes a portion of an outside perimeter of the substrate.","10.A method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package, the method comprising: attaching a first die and a second die to a carrier; attaching a bridge to the first die and to the second die; providing a substrate; and attaching the first die and the second die to the substrate.","11.The method of claim 10 wherein: the substrate has a cavity therein; and attaching the first die and the second die to the substrate comprises locating the bridge within the cavity.","12.The method of claim 10 further comprising: removing the carrier.","13.The method of claim 10 wherein: the carrier comprises a heat spreader.","14.The method of claim 10 wherein: attaching the bridge comprises using a thermocompression bonding process.","15.The method of claim 10 wherein: the bridge comprises silicon.","16.The method of claim 15 wherein: the bridge comprises an active die that constitutes a third die of the multi-chip package; the bridge is attached to the first die and to the second die using flip-chip connections; and the method further comprises attaching the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.","17.A multi-chip package comprising: a substrate containing a cavity having a plurality of pads therein; a first die attached to the substrate and a second die attached to the substrate; a bridge having a first side and an opposing second side; and a plurality of joints at the second side of the bridge, wherein: the first die and the second die are attached to the first side of the bridge; at least a portion of the bridge is located within the cavity such that the plurality of joints are aligned with the plurality of pads; and the bridge creates a connection between the first die and the second die.","18.The multi-chip package of claim 17 wherein: the bridge comprises silicon.","19.The multi-chip package of claim 18 wherein: the bridge is attached to the first die and to the second die using flip-chip connections; the bridge comprises an active die that constitutes a third die of the multi-chip package; and the bridge is attached to the substrate using a wirebond.","20.The multi-chip package of claim 18 wherein: the first die has a first portion containing a first plurality of interconnect structures and a second portion containing a second plurality of interconnect structures; the second die has a third portion containing a third plurality of interconnect structures and a fourth portion containing a fourth plurality of interconnect structures; the first plurality of interconnect structures and the third plurality of interconnect structures have a first pitch; the second plurality of interconnect structures and the fourth plurality of interconnect structures have a second pitch that is different from the first pitch; and the first portion and the third portion are attached to the bridge.","21.A method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package, the method comprising: providing a substrate having a plurality of embedded pads; forming a cavity in the substrate such that the pads are exposed at a floor of the cavity; providing a bridge having bumps thereon corresponding to the pads; placing the bridge in the cavity and aligning the bumps and the pads to each other; providing a first die and a second die; and attaching the first die and the second die to the bridge and the substrate.","22.The method of claim 21 wherein: the bridge comprises silicon.","23.The method of claim 22 wherein: the bridge comprises an active die that constitutes a third die of the multi-chip package; the bridge is attached to the first die and to the second die using flip-chip connections; and the method further comprises attaching the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.","24.The method of claim 22 wherein: forming the cavity comprises using one of a laser milling and a plasma etching process.","25.A multi-chip package comprising: a substrate; a first active die attached to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection; and a second active die, wherein the second active die is attached to the first active die using a second flip-chip connection and wherein the second active die is also attached to the substrate using a wirebond, wherein: the second active die has a first region and a second region; the first region is an overlap region located between the substrate and a portion of the first active die; and the second flip-chip connection is located in the first region of the second active die and the wirebond is attached to the second active die in the second region.","26.The multi-chip package of claim 25 wherein: the first region of the second active die has a first section and a second section; and the first section contains a first plurality of flip-chip connections having a first density and the second section contains a second plurality of flip-chip connections having a second density less than the first density.","27.The multi-chip package of claim 26 wherein: the first region further comprises a third section that contains a third plurality of flip-chip connections having a third density less than the first density; and the first section is located between the second section and the third section.","28.The multi-chip package of claim 25 wherein: the substrate contains a cavity; and the second active die is at least partially located in the cavity.","29.A method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package, the method comprising: providing a substrate; attaching a first active die to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection; attaching a second active die to the first active die using a second flip-chip connection; and attaching the second active die to the substrate.","30.The method of claim 29 wherein: the second active die is attached to the substrate using a wirebond.","31.A multi-chip package comprising: a substrate; a first active die attached to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection; a second active die, wherein the second active die is attached to the first active die using a second flip-chip connection and wherein the second active die is also attached to the substrate using a wirebond; and a third active die attached to the substrate using a third flip-chip connection and attached to the second active die using a fourth flip-chip connection, wherein: the second active die connects the first active die to the third active die; the second active die has a first region, a second region, and a third region; the first region is a first overlap region located between the substrate and a portion of the first active die; the third region is a second overlap region located between the substrate and a portion of the third active die; the second flip-chip connection is located in the first region of the second active die and the wirebond is attached to the second active die in the second region; and the fourth flip-chip connection is located in the third region of the second active die.","32.The multi-chip package of claim 31 wherein: the first region of the second die has a first section and a second section; the third region of the second die has a third section and a fourth section; the first section contains a first plurality of flip-chip connections having a first density and the second section contains a second plurality of flip-chip connections having a second density less than the first density; and the third section contains a third plurality of flip-chip connections having a third density and the fourth section contains a fourth plurality of flip-chip connections having a fourth density less than the third density.","33.The multi-chip package of claim 32 wherein: the second active die comprises electrically or optically conductive traces extending between the first section and the third section; and the electrically or optically conductive traces connect the first active die to the third active die.","34.The multi-chip package of claim 31 wherein: the substrate contains a cavity; and the second active die is at least partially located in the cavity.","35.A method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package, the method comprising: providing a substrate; attaching a first active die to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection; attaching a second active die to the substrate using a second flip-chip connection; attaching a third active die to the first active die using a third flip-chip connection; attaching the third active die to the second active die using a fourth flip-chip connection; and attaching the third active die to the substrate.","36.The method of claim 35 wherein: the third active die is attached to the substrate using a wirebond."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A continuing focus of the microelectronics industry is the enablement of computer chips (also referred to as dies) having greater density, higher performance, and lower cost.","As part of this effort, microelectronic packages containing multiple dies have been developed.","Such multi-chip packages (MCPs) offer the potential for increased architectural flexibility at reduced cost but to do so must provide appropriate die-to-die interconnect densities in a way that is cost-effective.","The interconnect density is an important consideration because an insufficient number of die connections would limit the bandwidth capability for the affected die interface, and thus logic-logic and/or logic-memory communications would suffer."],["<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>The disclosed embodiments will be better understood from a reading of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures in the drawings in which: FIGS.","1A, 1B, and 1C are plan views of a multi-chip package according to various embodiments of the invention; FIG.","2 is a cross-sectional view of the multi-chip package of FIG.","1C according to an embodiment of the invention; FIGS.","3 and 4 are flowcharts illustrating methods of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to embodiments of the invention; FIGS.","5-8 are cross-sectional views of multi-chip packages at various particular points in their manufacturing processes according to embodiments of the invention; FIG.","9 is a cross-sectional view of a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.","10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.","11A is a plan view and FIGS.","11B and 11C are cross-sectional views of a multi-chip package according to other embodiments of the invention; FIG.","12 is a plan view of one of the active dies in the multi-chip package of FIGS.","11A-11C according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG.","13 is a plan view of an active die according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG.","14 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.","15 is a plan view of a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.","16 illustrates some examples of multi-chip package geometries according to various embodiments of the invention; and FIG.","17 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention.","detailed-description description=\"Detailed Description\" end=\"lead\"?","For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawing figures illustrate the general manner of construction, and descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the discussion of the described embodiments of the invention.","Additionally, elements in the drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.","For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.","The same reference numerals in different figures denote the same elements, while similar reference numerals may, but do not necessarily, denote similar elements.","The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order.","It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.","Similarly, if a method is described herein as comprising a series of steps, the order of such steps as presented herein is not necessarily the only order in which such steps may be performed, and certain of the stated steps may possibly be omitted and/or certain other steps not described herein may possibly be added to the method.","Furthermore, the terms “comprise,” “include,” “have,” and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.","The terms “left,” “right,” “front,” “back,” “top,” “bottom,” “over,” “under,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions.","It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.","The term “coupled,” as used herein, is defined as directly or indirectly connected in an electrical or non-electrical manner.","Objects described herein as being “adjacent to” each other may be in physical contact with each other, in close proximity to each other, or in the same general region or area as each other, as appropriate for the context in which the phrase is used.","Occurrences of the phrase “in one embodiment” herein do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment."],["CLAIM OF PRIORITY This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","13/531,827 filed Jun.","25, 2012, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","12/459,007, now U.S. Pat.","No.","8,227,904, which was filed on Jun.","24, 2009.FIELD OF THE INVENTION The disclosed embodiments of the invention relate generally to multi-chip packages, and relate more particularly to interconnect structures in such packages.","BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A continuing focus of the microelectronics industry is the enablement of computer chips (also referred to as dies) having greater density, higher performance, and lower cost.","As part of this effort, microelectronic packages containing multiple dies have been developed.","Such multi-chip packages (MCPs) offer the potential for increased architectural flexibility at reduced cost but to do so must provide appropriate die-to-die interconnect densities in a way that is cost-effective.","The interconnect density is an important consideration because an insufficient number of die connections would limit the bandwidth capability for the affected die interface, and thus logic-logic and/or logic-memory communications would suffer.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The disclosed embodiments will be better understood from a reading of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures in the drawings in which: FIGS.","1A, 1B, and 1C are plan views of a multi-chip package according to various embodiments of the invention; FIG.","2 is a cross-sectional view of the multi-chip package of FIG.","1C according to an embodiment of the invention; FIGS.","3 and 4 are flowcharts illustrating methods of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to embodiments of the invention; FIGS.","5-8 are cross-sectional views of multi-chip packages at various particular points in their manufacturing processes according to embodiments of the invention; FIG.","9 is a cross-sectional view of a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.","10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.","11A is a plan view and FIGS.","11B and 11C are cross-sectional views of a multi-chip package according to other embodiments of the invention; FIG.","12 is a plan view of one of the active dies in the multi-chip package of FIGS.","11A-11C according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG.","13 is a plan view of an active die according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG.","14 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.","15 is a plan view of a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.","16 illustrates some examples of multi-chip package geometries according to various embodiments of the invention; and FIG.","17 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention.","For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawing figures illustrate the general manner of construction, and descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the discussion of the described embodiments of the invention.","Additionally, elements in the drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.","For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.","The same reference numerals in different figures denote the same elements, while similar reference numerals may, but do not necessarily, denote similar elements.","The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order.","It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.","Similarly, if a method is described herein as comprising a series of steps, the order of such steps as presented herein is not necessarily the only order in which such steps may be performed, and certain of the stated steps may possibly be omitted and/or certain other steps not described herein may possibly be added to the method.","Furthermore, the terms “comprise,” “include,” “have,” and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.","The terms “left,” “right,” “front,” “back,” “top,” “bottom,” “over,” “under,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions.","It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.","The term “coupled,” as used herein, is defined as directly or indirectly connected in an electrical or non-electrical manner.","Objects described herein as being “adjacent to” each other may be in physical contact with each other, in close proximity to each other, or in the same general region or area as each other, as appropriate for the context in which the phrase is used.","Occurrences of the phrase “in one embodiment” herein do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In one embodiment of the invention, a multi-chip package comprises a substrate having a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side, a first die attached to the first side of the substrate and a second die also attached to the first side of the substrate, and a bridge adjacent to the third side of the substrate and attached to the first die and to the second die.","No portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge.","The bridge creates a connection between the first die and the second die.","Alternatively, the bridge may be disposed in a cavity in the substrate or between the substrate and a die layer.","The bridge may constitute an active die and may be attached to the substrate using wirebonds.","Shrinking die sizes coupled with increasing die performance requirements dictate that the density of the corresponding die-to-die interconnects must be increased.","As may be expected, several manufacturing issues must be addressed in order to accomplish this goal.","One such issue is the difficulty inherent in fabricating interconnects within an organic substrate material.","In order to overcome this problem, a silicon interposer sandwiched between the dies and the package substrate has been proposed.","The use of a standard copper damascene process allows fabrication of lines and spaces of submicron dimensions.","However, the large silicon interposer area and need for through-silicon vias (TSVs) make this approach an expensive one, thus negating the perceived MCP-derived cost benefits.","Embodiments of the invention enable density scaling of interconnect structures that represents an accelerated improvement over existing technology generations by making use of silicon bridges (or bridges made of other materials) that are embedded in or attached to the package substrate.","These bridges need to support only the dense die-to-die interconnect from die edge to die edge and can consequently be much smaller than a silicon interposer.","The silicon bridge concept also eliminates the need for TSV technology.","In addition to greatly increased communication bandwidth due to high density interconnect structures, embodiments of the invention may also enable improved assembly processes due (at least in part) to the maturity of silicon process technology.","Certain embodiments of the invention may enable the fabrication of MCPs having unprecedented die-to-die interconnect densities that would in turn enable MCP-type cost savings, modularity, and architectural flexibility.","Examples of such potential benefits include improved reticle and wafer utilization by die aspect ratio optimization, the ability to combine within a single package dies using different optimized silicon (or other) processes or dies incorporating differing or incompatible design methodologies, the potential to assemble non-rectangular or large “super-dies,” the ability to combine dies or die stacks with differing heights, and others.","Embodiments of the invention also enable the precise alignment of bridges, including silicon bridges, to a package substrate.","Such alignment may be important in the creation of an overall well-defined bump field for subsequent die attach, especially in view of the high interconnect densities targeted on the silicon bridges.","Furthermore, an on-die type density may allow reuse of existing circuit designs with minimal modification, and many available pins at the die-package interface may enable simple protocols and good input/output (I/O) power efficiency.","Some embodiments of the invention make use of a hybrid flip-chip/wirebond assembled active “satellite” die (or dies) where the die is flip-chip connected to at least one processing unit die and is also connected by wirebond directly to the package substrate.","The processing unit die is assembled to the package substrate using flip-chip interconnects.","The flip-chip interconnects between the satellite die and the processing unit die enable high-density, high-speed communication between the satellite die and the processing unit die and also (where multiple processing unit dies are involved) allow the satellite die to play the role of a high-speed silicon bridge enabling high-speed, high-density connectivity between two or more processing unit dies in addition to providing the active functionality of the satellite die to one or more of the processing unit dies.","The wirebond connections to the satellite die allow for power delivery to that die and further allow additional I/O or control signal connectivity apart from that provided by the flip chip connections to the processing unit die(s).","As with the embodiments described above, TSVs are avoided altogether.","Referring now to the drawings, FIGS.","1A, 1B, and 1C are plan views of a multi-chip package 100 according to various embodiments of the invention and FIG.","2 is a cross-sectional view, taken at a line 2-2 in FIG.","1C, of multi-chip package 100 according to an embodiment of the invention.","(Views of corresponding cross sections of FIGS.","1A and 1B would be very similar or identical to the cross section depicted in FIG.","2.)","As illustrated in FIGS.","1A-1C and FIG.","2, multi-chip package 100 comprises a substrate 110 having a side 111, an opposing side 112, and a side 213 that extends from side 111 to side 112.Multi-chip package 100 further comprises a die 120 and a die 130, both of which are attached to side 111 of substrate 110, and a bridge 140 adjacent to side 213 of substrate 110 and attached to die 120 and to die 130.As illustrated, and as further discussed below, no portion of substrate 110 is underneath bridge 140 such that there is an unobstructed path to dies 120 and 130 through or along substrate 110 for bridge 140.Bridge 140 creates a connection (e.g., an electrical or optical connection or the like) between die 120 and die 130 by matching electrically and/or optically conductive traces running through the bridge with pads or other interconnect structures on the dies.","In certain embodiments, as mentioned above, bridge 140 comprises silicon.","Silicon bridges are used because silicon process technology is relatively advanced, and interconnect pitches and line widths that are achievable using existing silicon process technology are significantly smaller than what is possible using, for example, currently available technology for copper lines in polymer layers.","Thus die-to-die interconnects may be constructed with much greater density when silicon bridges are used than when such interconnects are fabricated within typical organic substrate materials.","Speaking generally, embodiments of the invention employ silicon bridges with high density solder bumps and fine lines, with the latter being made using traditional silicon processes.","In some embodiments, bridge 140 can be a passive component, in that it has no functionality other than to provide a high-speed, high-density signaling pathway between dies 120 and 130.In other embodiments, bridge 140 comprises an active die, having its own functionality apart from a bridging function, that constitutes a third die (die 120 and die 130 being the first two) of multi-chip package 100.In such embodiments, bridge 140 could have a design enabled for hybrid assembly, such as having both bumps for flip-chip interconnects and pads for wirebond connections prepared on the same side (surface) of the active die.","Furthermore, such embodiments could reduce manufacturing expenses.","For example, a processing unit die requiring on-package external memory in addition to connectivity with another processing unit die could be served by a single bridge die having fast local memory functionality, thus eliminating the need for any additional components, as such a bridge would provide both functions.","As an example, the active die can be an active silicon die, or the active die can comprise other semiconducting materials such as gallium arsenide (GaAs), silicon germanium (SiGe), or any other suitable semiconducting material or combination of semiconducting materials.","Although this description will from time to time make reference to an “active silicon die,” it should be understood that active dies of any suitable semiconducting material or combination of materials are also contemplated.","It should also be understood that what are referred to herein as active dies, no matter what material or materials they are made of, have their own functionality apart from their ability to act as a bridge and provide connections between other dies.","In the illustrated embodiments, the intersection of side 111 and side 213 creates an edge 117.In FIG.","1A, edge 117 is an internal substrate edge because it lies along an inside perimeter of substrate 110.In contrast, edge 117 in FIGS.","1B and 1C is an external substrate edge because it lies along an outside perimeter of substrate 110.In the latter embodiment (FIGS.","1B and 1C), side 213 constitutes a portion of an outside perimeter of substrate 110, i.e., a perimeter that circumscribes all of substrate 110, while in the former embodiment (FIG.","1A) side 213 constitutes a portion of an inside perimeter of substrate 110, i.e., a perimeter that circumscribes an internal feature of substrate 110, such as an aperture 119, but does not circumscribe all of substrate 110.As illustrated, dies 120 and 130 are arranged such that they overhang an internal or an external edge of substrate 110: a portion 221 of die 120 overhangs edge 117 and, similarly, a portion 231 of die 130 overhangs edge 117.As suggested above, die overhang at an internal substrate edge implies substrate 110 has an aperture, such as aperture 119.In at least some embodiments this aperture is slightly larger than bridge 140.In cases where multiple bridges are desired multiple apertures may be provided, or smaller apertures can be combined into a larger aperture accommodating multiple bridges, depending on design requirements.","Overhang at an external substrate edge implies that dies 120 and 130 are mounted near the package substrate periphery, as discussed above and as illustrated in FIG.","1B.","In certain cases, however, the overhang amount may be greater than desired, which can negatively impact I/O routing, power delivery, thermal management, and the like.","These issues may possibly be overcome by using a slotted package substrate such as that shown in FIG.","1C.","It may be seen in FIG.","2 that the portions of dies 120 and 130 that overhang edge 117 (and that are connected to bridge 140), i.e., portions 221 and 231, respectively, contain interconnect structures having a much smaller pitch than do the interconnect structures at the non-overhanging portions of dies 120 and 130.This is consistent with what has been said above regarding the pitches that are achievable both within and outside of bridge 140.In one embodiment, the fine-pitch interfaces (i.e., those contained in portions 221 and 231) are formed separately from the coarse-pitch interfaces at the non-overhanging portions of dies 120 and 130.Regarding these interconnect structures, it should be mentioned that those described herein as having a “fine pitch” do not necessarily all have the same pitch as each of the other “fine pitch” interconnect structures, nor do all of the “coarse pitch” interconnect structures necessarily have the same (coarser) pitch as each of the other “coarse pitch” interconnect structures.","Rather, each of the “fine pitch” interconnect structures have, in general, a pitch that is finer than any of the “coarse pitch” interconnect structures, but individual pitch variations may exist from one interconnect structure to another.","Electrical signaling analysis for dense die-to-die interconnects for silicon bridges has shown that signaling without repeaters is possible at relevant densities and over lengths required (e.g., up to two millimeters).","Additionally, in at least one embodiment, some or all of these interconnect structures may comprise flip-chip or controlled collapse chip connect (C4) connections.","(The “flip-chip” and “C4” labels are used interchangeably herein.)","Because such connections are well known in the art the details of their structure and manufacture will not be discussed herein except to say that the manufacture is transparent to the particular technology used (whether reflow, thermocompression bonding, or some other process).","For reasons discussed below, in some embodiments (such as, for example, where bridge 140 is an active silicon die), bridge 140 is attached to substrate 110 using wirebonds 241.","(These wirebonds have been omitted from FIGS.","1A-1C in order to increase the clarity of those figures.)","Only a portion of wirebonds 241 are shown in FIG.","2 because the perspective of that figure makes it difficult to depict the full extent of the wirebonds.","It should be understood, however, that wirebonds 241 continue in an unbroken path from bridge 140 to substrate 110 in order to create an electrical connection between bridge 140 and substrate 110.As mentioned above, no TSVs are needed in bridge 140 or for the other bridges/satellite dies described herein.","The satellite dies are connected to the processing unit dies using flip-chip (face-to-face) connections in order to allow for interfacing the processing unit and satellite die I/O and for providing an interface (where desired) for die-to-die bridge functionality.","All or some of the other (slower) I/Os of the satellite die and its power and ground connects are, in certain embodiments, supplied by wirebonds.","This represents a possible cost savings.","An advantage of using wirebonding to supply the I/O and power and ground connections, rather than supplying such connections through a connected processing unit die, is that the processing unit dies would not then need the infrastructure required to provide power and additional I/Os that are not needed for the processing unit die itself, which additional infrastructure and associated overhead would likely increase the processing unit die area and significantly increase the processing unit cost.","Also, if used without a satellite die this additional infrastructure in the processing unit would be wasted.","FIG.","3 is a flowchart illustrating a method 300 of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to an embodiment of the invention.","As an example, method 300 may represent a portion of a manufacturing process that results in the formation of a multi-chip package that is similar to multi-chip package 100 as shown in FIGS.","1A, 1B, 1C, and 2.Although these figures depict a single bridge connecting two dies, other embodiments of the invention may involve more than two dies and/or more than a single bridge.","A step 310 of method 300 is to provide a substrate having a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side.","As an example, the substrate can be similar to substrate 110, and the first side, the second side, and the third side can be similar to, respectively, side 111, side 112, and side 213 of substrate 110.Sides 111 and 112 are first shown in FIG.","1A, and side 213 is shown in FIG.","2.In one embodiment, step 310 comprises forming an aperture through the substrate such that the third side constitutes a portion of an inside perimeter of the substrate.","As an example, this embodiment may result in an MCP such as that shown in FIG.","1A.","In another embodiment, step 310 comprises forming a slot in the substrate such that the third side constitutes a portion of an outside perimeter of the substrate.","As an example, this embodiment may result in an MCP such as that shown in FIG.","1C.","Either of these embodiments may be characterized by a lower cost than that likely required for a bridge embedded in a substrate cavity as described elsewhere herein.","Indeed, in cases where coreless substrates or other thin substrates are to be used such embodiments may be the only viable option.","As an example, apertures or slots such as those discussed above may be formed by mechanical or laser drilling, milling, routing, stamping, punching, etching, or the like.","A step 320 of method 300 is to attach a first die to the first side of the substrate such that a portion of the first die extends beyond an edge of the first side of the substrate.","As an example, the first die can be similar to die 120 that is first shown in FIG.","1A.","As another example, the edge of the first side of the substrate can be similar to edge 117, and the portion of the first die that extends beyond the edge can be similar to portion 221 of die 120, which portion is first shown in FIG.","2.A step 330 of method 300 is to attach a second die to the first side of the substrate such that a portion of the second die extends beyond the edge of the first side of the substrate.","As an example, the second die can be similar to die 130 that is first shown in FIG.","1A.","As another example, the portion of the second die that extends beyond the edge can be similar to portion 231 of die 130, which portion is first shown in FIG.","2.In one embodiment, steps 320 and 330 may be combined into a single step.","In the same or another embodiment the die attachment of steps 330 and 320 (or of the single step that combines the two) comprises an alignment function facilitated by solder self-alignment.","Note that in an embodiment such solder self-alignment occurs during the coarse-pitch MCP die attach step or steps and the dies may be precisely positioned with respect to each other by virtue of a single lithographically defined solder mask pattern on the first side of the substrate.","A step 340 of method 300 is to provide a bridge containing a plurality of electrically and/or optically conductive features.","As an example, the bridge can be similar to bridge 140 that is first shown in FIG.","1A.","Accordingly, in some embodiments the bridge can be an active silicon die.","As another example, the electrically conductive features can be metal traces or the like as known in the art that are suitable for conducting electricity between one region and another, or one component and another, of an MCP, while the optically conductive features can be, for example, optical waveguides such as silicon nitride waveguides, rib waveguides, and the like, or optical coupling elements such as gratings, micro-mirrors, and lenses.","A step 350 of method 300 is to position the bridge adjacent to the third side of the substrate such that no portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge.","This arrangement allows for a mechanical decoupling of the bridge and the substrate—materials that have a large mismatch in coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE).","Furthermore, an unconstrained bridge could offer package stress benefits because it could move without creating a bending load on the fine-pitch joints.","Thus, method 300 may not require the use of an underfill or encapsulant to fill the space around the bride in the aperture or slot or the like.","As an example, step 350 may be accomplished using a pick and place machine, as known in the art.","A step 360 of method 300 is to attach the bridge to the first die and to the second die, thereby creating an electrical or optical connection between the first die and the second die.","Accordingly, step 360 may constitute an attachment from the backside of the package, i.e., method 300 may constitute a “bridge last” process flow.","It should be noted that because no portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge, this “bridge last” process flow may allow the use of a full-thickness bridge (unless thermomechanical considerations indicate bridge thinning to be advantageous for fine-pitch interconnect reliability, or unless thinning is needed for form factor or mechanical clearance) where other process flows would require that a thinned bridge be used.","Also, the “bridge last” process flow enables the building of MCPs with dies or die stacks of disparate heights without any modification to the outlined assembly flow while also providing a scaleable solution that enables affordable assembly of multiple bridges in a given MCP configuration.","In one embodiment, step 360 may be accomplished using a thermocompression bonding process.","In another embodiment, step 360 comprises using a solder reflow process.","As is known in the art, in thermocompression bonding temperature and pressure may be controlled; with a solder reflow process only the temperature may be controlled.","As is also known, solder reflow is a high-throughput batch process.","Thermocompression bonding is typically a sequential process; however, a “ganged” bonder can process several units at once.","Thermocompression bonding may in certain embodiments be needed to achieve the fine-pitch interconnect because of its process flexibility and its better control of process parameters.","A step 370 of method 300 is to attach the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.","As an example, the wirebond can be similar to wirebonds 241 that are shown in FIG.","2.Step 370 may be performed, for example, in embodiments where the bridge is an active die.","It should be understood, however, that step 370 is not necessarily performed in every embodiment of method 300.FIG.","4 is a flowchart illustrating a method 400 of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention.","Method 400 is an assembly process enabling the precise alignment of bridges to MCP dies first, followed by the attachment of bridge and dies to a package substrate.","This subsequent attachment of bridge and dies to the package substrate may be easier in the bridge-to-dies first process because it eliminates certain issues typically caused by mixed bump, fine pitches.","Method 400 may also be employed, for example, when a substrate with a cutout cannot be provided and when an overhang over an external substrate edge is not an option due to design considerations.","Method 400 and a multi-chip package 500 related thereto are further illustrated in FIGS.","5-8, which are cross-sectional views of multi-chip package 500 at various particular points in its manufacturing process according to embodiments of the invention.","As explained in further detail below, method 400 generally involves the attachment of dies to a carrier, fine pitch assembly of one or more bridges to the dies, coarse pitch assembly of the carrier, dies, and bridge(s) to a package substrate, and (optionally) de-bonding of the carrier.","Potential advantages of this method over one or more of the other methods or embodiments described herein are that it eliminates the package substrate as a mechanical reference in the mixed-bump-pitch assembly flow, and that it forms the fine-pitch and coarser-pitch interconnects in separate steps.","Furthermore, method 400 permits accurate bridge alignment in three dimensions.","As stated above, accurate bridge alignment may be important in order to create an overall well-defined bump field for subsequent die attach.","High interconnect densities accentuate this requirement.","A step 410 of method 400 is to attach a first die and a second die to a carrier.","When placing the dies, suitable fiducials on previously placed dies or on other components of the subassembly, such as the carrier, may be used as a reference.","As an example, the first die and the second die can be similar to, respectively, die 120 and die 130 that are first shown in FIG.","1A.","As another example, the first die and the second die can be similar to, respectively, a die 520 and a die 530 that are first shown in FIG.","5.Attached to die 520 are fine-pitch interconnect structures 521 and coarse-pitch interconnect structures 522.Attached to die 530 are fine-pitch interconnect structures 531 and coarse-pitch interconnect structures 532.More specifically, and as illustrated in FIG.","5 and subsequent figures, die 520 has a portion 526 containing interconnect structures 521 and a portion 527 containing interconnect structures 522.Similarly, die 530 has a portion 536 containing interconnect structures 531 and a portion 537 containing interconnect structures 532.As mentioned above, interconnect structures 521 and 531 have a first (fine) pitch and interconnect structures 522 and 532 have a second (coarse) pitch that is different from the first pitch.","It may be seen that, as already mentioned elsewhere herein, portions 526 and 536 are attached to the bridge (by way of fine pitch interconnect structures 521 and 531).","Note that interconnect structures 521 and 531 would typically be silicon to silicon structures rather than silicon to organic structures.","As an example, this may help to forestall the problems that are typically associated with a mismatch in the CTE between the two materials.","The carrier can be similar to a carrier 505 that is first shown in FIG.","5.In one embodiment, the carrier comprises an integrated heat spreader (IHS).","As an example, the heat spreader may be made of copper or the like.","Due to the high thermal conductivity of the copper (or other) IHS, the package may be thermally enhanced.","In the embodiment of FIG.","5, dies 520 and 530 are attached to carrier 505 using an adhesive material 507, which may comprise a thermal interface material (TIM) or the like.","A step 420 of method 400 is to attach a bridge to the first die and to the second die.","Note that in this step only the fine pitch interconnect structures are attached.","The small bump pitch may require highly accurate pick-and-place equipment.","Again, on-die fiducials may be useful for achieving successful bonding.","As an example, the bridge can be similar to bridge 140 that is first shown in FIG.","1A.","As another example, the bridge can be similar to a bridge 540, first shown in FIG.","5, that, like bridge 140, may be made of silicon and may, further, be an active silicon die.","In one embodiment, step 420 comprises using a thermocompression bonding process to bond the bridge and the dies to each other.","In other embodiments, step 420 comprises using a solder reflow process or another attachment procedure as known in the art.","A step 430 of method 400 is to provide a substrate.","As an example, the substrate can be similar to substrate 110 that is first shown in FIG.","1A.","As another example, the substrate can be similar to a substrate 610 that is first shown in FIG.","6.Substrate 610 contains a cavity 615 that, in the illustrated embodiment, contains bridge 540 surrounded by a protective material 612 such as an encapsulant, an underfill material, an epoxy, or the like.","Material 612 may be compliant or flexible in order to mechanically decouple bridge 540 and substrate 610, and its presence may enable undisturbed underfilling of dies 520 and 530.As still another example, the substrate can be similar to a substrate 710 that is first shown in FIG.","7.In the FIG.","7 embodiment, dies 520 and 530 form, or are located in, a die layer 750 of multi-chip package 500.Substrate 710 has no cavity; a bridge 740, which is significantly thinner than bridge 540, sits on a surface of substrate 710 or is otherwise located between substrate 710 and dies 520 and 530—in other words, bridge 740 is located between die layer 750 and the surface of the substrate.","(In other respects bridge 740 can be similar to bridges 540 and 140 and can therefore, in certain embodiments, be an active die.)","Also in the FIG.","7 embodiment, one or more of interconnect structures 521, 522, 531, and 532 may need to be modified in order to accommodate the reduced thickness of bridge 740.For example, interconnect structures 521 and 531 may need to be shortened while interconnect structures 522 and 532 may need to be lengthened in order to accommodate the different package geometry.","As with other embodiments described herein, one or more of interconnect structures 521, 522, 531, and 532 may comprise flip-chip connections.","It should be noted that bridge 740 may be thin enough that it requires its own carrier in order to facilitate handling, e.g.","before and during step 420 of method 400.A step 440 of method 400 is to attach the first die and the second die to the substrate.","In this step only the die bumps with a large pitch (outside the bridge area) are attached.","Since the bump pitch is large, less expensive pick-and-place equipment can typically be used.","The appearance of multi-chip package 500 following the performance of step 440 is illustrated in FIG.","6 for an embodiment using substrate 610 and in FIG.","7 for an embodiment using substrate 710.In some embodiments, step 440 is followed by the removal of the carrier.","As an example, this may be accomplished by peeling, cutting, etching away, or melting the adhesive material, or otherwise de-bonding the carrier from the dies.","FIG.","8 shows multi-chip package 500 following the removal of carrier 505.Carrier 505 in FIG.","7 may also be removed (not illustrated).","In other embodiments, such as when the carrier is a heat spreader, step 440 is not performed and the carrier is permanently left in place.","In yet another embodiment (not illustrated), in order to accommodate dies of different thicknesses, a mix of single dies and die stacks, or die stacks of different heights, the carrier or IHS may be stepped such that before bridge-to-die attach the bumps to be interconnected by an individual bridge are coplanar.","Suitable steps or cavities can be created by machining the carrier or IHS.","A step 450 of method 400 is to attach the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.","As an example, the wirebond can be similar to wirebonds 241 that are shown in FIG.","2 or to wirebonds 841 that are shown in FIG.","8.","(The embodiment of FIG.","7 may also include wirebonds, or in other words bridge 740 may also, in certain embodiments, be connected to substrate 710 using wirebonds.","Such wirebonds are not depicted in FIG.","7, however, because the presence in that figure of carrier 505 combined with the figure's cross-sectional nature make it difficult to illustrate the wirebonds clearly, or because the wirebonds are added after the removal of carrier 505.)","Only a portion of wirebonds 841 are shown in FIG.","8 because the perspective of that figure makes it difficult to depict the full extent of the wirebonds.","It should be understood, however, that wirebonds 841 continue in an unbroken path from bridge 540 to substrate 610 in order to create an electrical connection between bridge 540 and substrate 610.Step 450 may be performed, for example, in embodiments where the bridge is an active die.","It should be understood, however, that step 450 is not necessarily performed in every embodiment of method 400.FIG.","9 is a cross-sectional view of a multi-chip package 900 according to an embodiment of the invention.","As illustrated in FIG.","9, multi-chip package 900 comprises a substrate 910 containing a cavity 915 having a plurality of pads 918 therein, a die 920 and a die 930 attached to substrate 910, a bridge 940 having a side 941 and an opposing side 942, and a plurality of joints 960 at side 942 of bridge 940.As an example, pads 918 and joints 960 can be electrically non-functional.","Pads 918 may be prefabricated during conventional build-up processes and then exposed during cavity formation, for example by laser milling or the like.","An encapsulation material 945 at least partially surrounds bridge 940 in cavity 915 in the illustrated embodiment.","As an example, substrate 910, die 920, die 930, and bridge 940 can be similar to, respectively, substrate 110, die 120, die 130, and bridge 140, all of which are first shown in FIG.","1A.","Accordingly, in certain embodiments bridge 940 can be an active die.","As may be seen in the figure, die 920 and die 930 are attached to side 941 of bridge 940, at least a portion of bridge 940 is located within cavity 915 such that the plurality of j oints 960 are aligned with pads 918, and bridge 940 creates an electrical or optical connection between die 920 and die 930.Die 920 has a portion 926 containing a plurality of interconnect structures 921 and a portion 927 containing a plurality of interconnect structures 922.Similarly, die 930 has a portion 936 containing a plurality of interconnect structures 931 and a portion 937 containing a plurality of interconnect structures 932.Interconnect structures 921 and 931 have a first (fine) pitch and interconnect structures 922 and 932 have a second (coarse) pitch that is different from the first pitch.","Portions 926 and 936 are attached to the bridge (by way of fine pitch interconnect structures 921 and 931).","As has been discussed elsewhere herein, in some embodiments, such as, for example, where bridge 940 is an active die, bridge 940 is attached to substrate 910 using wirebonds.","These wirebonds have not been depicted in FIG.","9 because the nature of that figure makes such depiction difficult.","It should be understood, however, that, in a manner similar to what is shown in other figures described herein, the wirebonds continue in an unbroken path from bridge 940 to substrate 910 in order to create an electrical connection between bridge 940 and substrate 910.FIG.","10 is a flowchart illustrating a method 1000 of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to an embodiment of the invention.","As an example, method 1000 may represent a portion of a manufacturing process that results in the formation of a multi-chip package that is similar to multi-chip package 900 as shown in FIG.","9.As explained in further detail below, method 1000 generally involves providing a package substrate, machining or otherwise forming a cavity for a silicon or other bridge, dispensing flux onto cavity floor pads, pick and place of the bridge with backside solder bumps, solder reflow with solder self-alignment of the bridge, deflux (unless a no-clean flux or fluxless attachment process is used), encapsulation of bridge, and assembly of active dies.","A potential advantage of this process is that it is readily scalable to multiple bridges on a package and many substrates on a panel.","A step 1010 of method 1000 is to provide a substrate having a plurality of embedded pads.","As an example, the substrate and the pads can be similar to, respectively, substrate 910 and pads 918 that are shown in FIG.","9.A step 1020 of method 1000 is to form a cavity in the substrate such that the pads are exposed at a floor of the cavity.","As an example, the cavity can be similar to cavity 915 that is shown in FIG.","9.In one embodiment, step 1020 may be accomplished using a laser milling process, a plasma etching/reactive ion etching (RIE) process, or the like.","As cavity 915 is formed, electrically non-functional (dummy) or other pads 918 at the cavity floor are exposed.","In one embodiment, these were previously fabricated during the conventional substrate buildup process and were buried by one or more dielectric buildup layers.","Pads 918 may be made of copper and present a suitable surface finish such as electroless nickel, immersion gold (ENIG), conducive to soldering.","A minimum pad thickness of approximately 10 μm may be desirable when laser milling is used for cavity formation, with the laser operation to stop at the pad layer.","Mating pads may be provided on the backside of bridge 940 and the bridge may be bumped ahead of time using standard metallization and bumping techniques, perhaps at the wafer level.","A solder resist layer may also be added to the backside of bridge 940.A step 1030 of method 1000 is to provide a bridge having bumps thereon corresponding to the pads.","(Such correspondence between bumps and pads may, but does not necessarily, mean the number of bumps and the number of pads are equal to each other; rather, the correspondence is such that the bumps match up with the pads to the degree that a reliable mechanical joining is possible.)","As an example, the bridge can be similar to bridge 940, shown in FIG.","9, and can thus in certain embodiments be an active die, and the joints formed can be similar to joints 960, also shown in FIG.","9.A step 1040 of method 1000 is to place the bridge in the cavity and align the bumps and the pads to each other.","Step 1040 attaches the bridge to the substrate.","In one embodiment, the alignment of bumps and pads to each other is accomplished using the self-alignment of solder during reflow and joint formation.","Solder self-alignment of electronic components where the surface tension of the liquid solder is the driving force is well known in the art.","Careful design of a solder joint array can provide self alignment in the x and y dimensions with a positional tolerance in the order of 1 micrometer (hereinafter “micron” or “μm.”) Accurate alignment in the z dimension (height) can be achieved by control of the solder volume.","The precisely aligned bridge may then be encapsulated, thereby locking the bridge at its precisely defined locations.","The resulting hybrid package substrate may then be supplied to a die attach module.","A step 1050 of method 1000 is to provide a first die and a second die.","As an example, the first die and the second die can be similar to, respectively, die 920 and die 930, both of which are shown in FIG.","9.A step 1060 of method 1000 is to attach the first die and the second die to the bridge and the substrate.","In one embodiment, step 1060 comprises a flux dispense step, die pick-and-place steps, and a reflow step.","As mentioned elsewhere herein, at very high I/O densities and very fine bridge interconnect pitches, accurate alignment becomes important in order to facilitate a successful assembly of the MCP (die attach).","Thus, in certain embodiments, and as shown in FIG.","9, joints 960 located at the backside (i.e., side 942) of bridge 940 are utilized to achieve precise alignment of bridge 940 with respect to other package substrate bumps.","It is well known that solder self-alignment can enable ultimate component placement in the x and y dimensions with a positional tolerance on the order of 1 μm.","As an alternative to solder, suitable non-conductive materials that are capable of providing self-alignment based on the underlying surface tension principle (minimization of adhesion energy during bonding) could also be used.","A step 1070 of method 1000 is to attach the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.","As an example, the wirebond can be similar to wirebonds 241 that are shown in FIG.","2 or to wirebonds 841 that are shown in FIG.","8.Step 1070 may be performed, for example, in embodiments where the bridge is an active die.","It should be understood, however, that step 1070 is not necessarily performed in every embodiment of method 1000.FIG.","11A is a plan view of a multi-chip package 1100 according to an embodiment of the invention.","Cross-sectional views for two different embodiments of multi-chip package 1100, each taken at a line B-C in FIG.","11A, are shown in FIGS.","11B and 11C.","As illustrated in FIGS.","11A-11C, multi-chip package 1100 comprises a substrate 1110, an active die 1120 attached to substrate 1110 using flip-chip connections 1121 (in FIG.","11A these are visible in a portion 1125 of active die 1120 that is depicted (for illustrative purposes) as being transparent), and an active die 1130, which is attached to active die 1120 using a flip-chip connection 1131 and which is attached to substrate 1110 using wirebonds 1141.As may be seen in the figure, multi-chip package 1100 is an example of an embodiment where a satellite die assembled in a hybrid manner is attached to a single on-package (processing unit) die.","Such an arrangement allows for high-density, high-speed flip-chip connectivity between the processing unit and the satellite die and further allows for the processing unit die to utilize the functionality of the satellite die.","In cases where high-density interconnects are not needed (e.g., because of the functionality of the satellite die), the flip-chip interconnects may have a relatively coarse pitch.","Additional connections needed by the satellite die such as, but not limited to, power and ground connectivity, may be provided by wirebonds located on sides of the satellite die not obscured by the processing unit die.","In certain embodiments substrate 1110 contains a cavity in which active die 1130 is at least partially located.","Such a cavity is visible in FIG.","11B and examples may also be seen in FIGS.","6, 8, and 9.In other embodiments, (see FIG.","11C) substrate 1110 has a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side (not identified with reference numerals in FIG.","11C, but such as may form an aperture or slot as discussed above), active die 1120 is attached to the first side of substrate 1110 using flip-chip connections 1121, active die 1130 is attached to substrate 1110 using wirebonds 1141, and no portion of substrate 1110 is underneath active die 1130.These embodiments are similar to those described in connection with FIGS.","1A-1C and FIG.","2.In each of these cases, such cavities, apertures, slots, and the like that house the satellite dies may partially overlap with the bump field of the processing unit dies in order to enable flip-chip, high-speed, high-density connections between satellite die and processing unit die as described herein.","Active die 1130 has a region 1138 and a region 1139, where region 1138 is an overlap region located between active die 1130 (below) and a portion of active die 1120 (above).","As shown, the overlap region can be a partial overlap of active dies 1120 and 1130 such that the lower die is not completely underneath the upper die.","The overlap region may be the location of one or more face-to-face flip-chip connections that electrically or optically connect the active dies to each other.","Referring again to the illustrated embodiment, flip-chip connection 1131 is located in region 1138 while wirebonds 1141 are attached to active die 1130 in region 1139.In the illustrated embodiment, active die 1130 is attached to substrate 1110 using wirebonds 1141.Note that one edge of active die 1130 is shown as having a double row of wirebonds.","In some (non-illustrated) embodiments three or more wirebond rows may be fabricated.","Such multiple rows, however, may not achieve the same fine pitches that are achievable with single rows, which may be as small as a pad pitch of 35 μm (corresponding to approximately 29 bonds/mm die edge).","For power and ground connections, minimum pitch wirebond capability may not be needed and a thicker bond wire at a lower pitch may be acceptable or even favorable.","It should be understood that the illustration, like all of the illustrations referred to herein, is not intended to be limiting, and that non-illustrated embodiments may employ more or fewer double wirebond rows (including embodiments having no such rows), one or more sections having more than two wirebond rows, longer or shorter rows having more or fewer wirebonds, wirebonds along only certain sides but not all sides of the active die, or any other useful wirebond configuration.","In one embodiment, active die 1120 is a processing unit die such as a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or the like, while active die 1130 is a satellite die with functionality such as memory (including volatile memory such as fast DRAM, external SRAM, eDRAM, and the like and non-volatile memory such as flash memory and the like), graphics processing, voltage regulation for power delivery, radio frequency (RF), or the like, including useful combinations thereof.","A satellite die according to various embodiments could even be a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) chip, a sensor chip for use in a system-on-package (SoP), or a photonics die with optoelectronic functionality.","Active die 1130 is sometimes referred to herein as a satellite die because it is connected to, and may share active functionality with, active die 1120.In certain embodiments, active die 1130 may also be connected to and share active functionality with one or more other dies (not illustrated in FIGS.","11A-11C) in addition to active die 1120.In cases where the satellite die is connected to more than one active die the satellite die may or may not electrically or optically connect those active dies to each other, or in other words may or may not act as a bridge between those active dies in a manner that is explained elsewhere herein.","FIG.","12 is a plan view of active die 1130 according to an embodiment of the invention.","The scale of active die 1130 is slightly larger in FIG.","12 than it is in FIGS.","11A-11C.","As illustrated in FIG.","12, region 1138 of active die 1130 has a section 1201 and a section 1202.Section 1201 contains a plurality of flip-chip connections 1231 having a first density and section 1202 contains a plurality of flip-chip connections 1131 (first introduced in FIG.","11A) having a second density that is less than the first density.","The higher-density and lower-density connections can be used as necessary depending on the functionality of active die 1130.In the illustrated embodiment, region 1138 further comprises a section 1203 that contains a plurality of flip-chip connections 1233 having a third density that is also less than the first density and can, in one embodiment, be the same as or substantially similar to the second density.","The connections in any one or more of sections 1201, 1202, and 1203 can be used to enable active die 1120 access to the functionality of active die 1130, and vice versa.","In the embodiment of FIG.","12, section 1201 is located between section 1202 and section 1203, though other configurations are certainly also possible as will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.","For example, active die 1130 may have flip-chip connections of only a single (high) density, only a single (standard or low) density, one section of high density and another of lower density connections, with these arranged in any suitable configuration, etc.","Also, it should be noted here that any one or more of bridges 140, 540, 740, and 940, in embodiments where those bridges are active dies, could have the features, configurations, functionalities, etc.","that are described above for active die 1130.Similarly, any one or more of dies 120, 130, 520, 530, 920, and 930 can be similar to active die 1120.It was mentioned above that active die 1130 may be connected to one or more active dies in addition to active die 1120.In some embodiments, as also mentioned, active die 1130 acts as a bridge between active die 1120 and those additional active dies.","Examples of this are depicted in FIGS.","1A-1C, FIG.","2, and FIGS.","6-9 if the bridges in those figures are assumed to be active dies.","FIG.","13 further illustrates a possible configuration for an active bridge or satellite die 1330 according to an embodiment of the invention.","As illustrated in FIG.","13, active die 1330 comprises a region 1338 that is similar to region 1138.For example, in the illustrated embodiment region 1338, like region 1138, contains sections 1201, 1202, and 1203, each containing the features and components described above.","Electrically and/or optically conductive bridge traces 1370, which extend between section 1201 of region 1138 and the corresponding section of region 1338, provide an electrical or optical connection between dies that are bridged by active die 1330.These dies are not shown in FIG.","13, but would, for example, be attached to active die 1330 using flip-chip connections 1131, 1231, and 1233 in a manner similar to that described above for active die 1120.FIG.","14 is a flowchart illustrating a method 1400 of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to an embodiment of the invention.","As an example, method 1400 may result in an MCP such as that shown in FIG.","11C.","(An MCP such as that shown in FIG.","11B may be formed using a method similar to method 400 or method 1000 with the second die being omitted.)","A step 1410 of method 1400 is to provide a substrate.","As an example, the substrate can be similar to substrate 1110 as it is shown in FIG.","11C.","A step 1420 of method 1400 is to attach a first active die to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection.","As an example, the first active die and the first flip-chip connection can be similar to, respectively, active die 1120 and flip-chip connections 1121, both of which are shown in FIGS.","11A-11C.","A step 1430 of method 1400 is to attach a second active die to the first active die using a second flip-chip connection.","As an example, the second active die and the second flip-chip connection can be similar to, respectively, active die 1130 and flip-chip connections 1131, both of which are first shown in FIG.","11A.","A step 1440 of method 1400 is to attach the second active die to the substrate.","In one embodiment, the second active die is attached to the substrate using a wirebond such as wirebond 1141 that are first shown in FIG.","11A.","FIG.","15 is a plan view of a multi-chip package 1500 according to an embodiment of the invention.","As illustrated in FIG.","15, multi-chip package 1500 comprises a substrate 1510, an active die 1520 attached to substrate 1510 using flip-chip connections 1521, an active die 1530 attached to active die 1520 using flip-chip connections 1531 and to substrate 1510 using wirebonds 1541, and an active die 1550 attached to substrate 1510 using flip-chip connections 1551 and attached to active die 1530 using flip-chip connections 1552.Active die 1520 is electrically and/or optically connected to active die 1550 via electrically and/or optically conductive bridge traces 1570 located in active die 1530.Active die 1530 thus acts as a bridge connecting active dies 1520 and 1550.In the illustrated embodiment, active dies 1520 and 1550 have regions and sections the same as or similar to those described above in connection with active die 1120 and shown in FIGS.","11A-11C, with the features located in those regions and sections, and the characteristics of those features, being similar as well.","In certain embodiments substrate 1510 contains a cavity in which active die 1530 is at least partially located.","Such a cavity is not visible in FIG.","15 but examples may be seen in FIGS.","6, 8, and 9.In other embodiments, substrate 1510 has a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side (such as may form an aperture or slot as discussed above), active dies 1520 and 1550 are attached to the first side of substrate 1510, and no portion of substrate 1510 is underneath active die 1530.These embodiments are not explicitly illustrated in FIG.","15 but are similar to those described in connection with FIGS.","1A-1C and FIG.","2.In each of these cases, such cavities, apertures, slots, and the like that house the satellite dies may partially overlap with the bump field of the processing unit dies in order to enable flip-chip, high-speed, high-density connections between satellite die and processing unit die as described herein.","Some examples of MCP package geometries showing such partial overlaps are shown in FIG.","16, where the bridge/satellite die is cross-hatched and the processing unit dies are shown plain.","(Package substrates are not shown in FIG.","16.)","It will be understood that the illustrated examples represent only a fraction of the large number of possible configurations.","FIG.","17 is a flowchart illustrating a method 1700 of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to an embodiment of the invention.","As an example, method 1700 may result in an MCP such as that shown in FIG.","15.Described below is a “bridge last” process flow similar to that described by method 300.The FIG.","15 structure may also be manufactured with a substrate having a cavity similar to the substrates shown in FIG.","8 or 9.Process flows suitable to manufacture such structures may proceed along the lines of methods 400 and 1000, with a third active die as discussed below standing in for the bridge of those methods.","A step 1710 of method 1700 is to provide a substrate.","As an example, the substrate can be similar to substrate 1510 that is shown in FIG.","15.A step 1720 of method 1700 is to attach a first active die to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection.","As an example, the first active die and the first flip-chip connection can be similar to, respectively, active die 1520 and flip-chip connections 1521, both of which are shown in FIG.","15.A step 1730 of method 1700 is to attach a second active die to the substrate using a second flip-chip connection.","As an example, the second active die can be similar to active die 1550 and the second flip-chip connection can be similar to flip-chip connections 1551, both of which are shown in FIG.","15.A step 1740 of method 1700 is to attach the third active die to the first active die using a third flip-chip connection.","As an example, the third flip-chip connection can be similar to flip-chip connections 1531 that are shown in FIG.","15.A step 1750 of method 1700 is to attach the third active die to the second active die using a fourth flip-chip connection.","As an example, the fourth flip-chip connection can be similar to flip-chip connections 1552 that are shown in FIG.","15.With the third active die attached to both the first and the second active dies, and because the third active die contains electrically and/or optically conductive bridge traces as described above and shown in FIG.","15, method 1700 inherently results in the first and the second active dies being electrically and/or optically connected to each other.","Alternatively, method 1700 could include an additional step that results in such an electrical or optical connection.","A step 1760 of method 1700 is to attach the third active die to the substrate.","In one embodiment, step 1760 comprises attaching the third active die to the substrate using wirebonds.","Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.","Accordingly, the disclosure of embodiments of the invention is intended to be illustrative of the scope of the invention and is not intended to be limiting.","It is intended that the scope of the invention shall be limited only to the extent required by the appended claims.","For example, to one of ordinary skill in the art, it will be readily apparent that the multi-chip packages and the related structures and methods discussed herein may be implemented in a variety of embodiments, and that the foregoing discussion of certain of these embodiments does not necessarily represent a complete description of all possible embodiments.","Additionally, benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have been described with regard to specific embodiments.","The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element or elements that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced, however, are not to be construed as critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all of the claims.","Moreover, embodiments and limitations disclosed herein are not dedicated to the public under the doctrine of dedication if the embodiments and/or limitations: (1) are not expressly claimed in the claims; and (2) are or are potentially equivalents of express elements and/or limitations in the claims under the doctrine of equivalents."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"MULTI-CHIP PACKAGE AND METHOD OF PROVIDING DIE-TO-DIE INTERCONNECTS IN SAME\",\n \"A multi-chip package includes a substrate (110) having a first side (111), an opposing second side (112), and a third side (213) that extends from the first side to the second side, a first die (120) attached to the first side of the substrate and a second die (130) attached to the first side of the substrate, and a bridge (140) adjacent to the third side of the substrate and attached to the first die and to the second die.\",\n \"No portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge.\",\n \"The bridge creates a connection between the first die and the second die.\",\n \"Alternatively, the bridge may be disposed in a cavity (615, 915) in the substrate or between the substrate and a die layer (750).\",\n \"The bridge may constitute an active die and may be attached to the substrate using wirebonds (241, 841, 1141, 1541).\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A multi-chip package comprising: a substrate having a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side, the third side constituting a portion of an outside perimeter of the substrate; a first die attached to the first side of the substrate and a second die attached to the first side of the substrate; and a bridge adjacent to the third side of the substrate and attached to the first die and to the second die, wherein no portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge and wherein the bridge creates a connection between the first die and the second die.\",\n \"2.A method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package, the method comprising: providing a substrate having a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side; attaching a first die to the first side of the substrate such that a portion of the first die extends beyond an edge of the first side of the substrate; attaching a second die to the first side of the substrate such that a portion of the second die extends beyond the edge of the first side of the substrate; providing a bridge containing a plurality of electrically or optically conductive features; positioning the bridge adjacent to the third side of the substrate such that no portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge; and attaching the bridge to the first die and to the second die, thereby creating a connection between the first die and the second die.\",\n \"3.The method of claim 2 wherein: the bridge comprises silicon.\",\n \"4.The method of claim 3 wherein: the bridge comprises an active die that constitutes a third die of the multi-chip package; and the bridge is attached to the first die and to the second die using flip-chip connections.\",\n \"5.The method of claim 4 further comprising: attaching the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.\",\n \"6.The method of claim 3 wherein: attaching the bridge comprises using a thermocompression bonding process.\",\n \"7.The method of claim 3 wherein: attaching the bridge comprises using a solder reflow process.\",\n \"8.The method of claim 3 wherein: providing the substrate comprises forming an aperture through the substrate such that the third side constitutes a portion of an inside perimeter of the substrate.\",\n \"9.The method of claim 3 wherein: providing the substrate comprises forming a slot in the substrate such that the third side constitutes a portion of an outside perimeter of the substrate.\",\n \"10.A method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package, the method comprising: attaching a first die and a second die to a carrier; attaching a bridge to the first die and to the second die; providing a substrate; and attaching the first die and the second die to the substrate.\",\n \"11.The method of claim 10 wherein: the substrate has a cavity therein; and attaching the first die and the second die to the substrate comprises locating the bridge within the cavity.\",\n \"12.The method of claim 10 further comprising: removing the carrier.\",\n \"13.The method of claim 10 wherein: the carrier comprises a heat spreader.\",\n \"14.The method of claim 10 wherein: attaching the bridge comprises using a thermocompression bonding process.\",\n \"15.The method of claim 10 wherein: the bridge comprises silicon.\",\n \"16.The method of claim 15 wherein: the bridge comprises an active die that constitutes a third die of the multi-chip package; the bridge is attached to the first die and to the second die using flip-chip connections; and the method further comprises attaching the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.\",\n \"17.A multi-chip package comprising: a substrate containing a cavity having a plurality of pads therein; a first die attached to the substrate and a second die attached to the substrate; a bridge having a first side and an opposing second side; and a plurality of joints at the second side of the bridge, wherein: the first die and the second die are attached to the first side of the bridge; at least a portion of the bridge is located within the cavity such that the plurality of joints are aligned with the plurality of pads; and the bridge creates a connection between the first die and the second die.\",\n \"18.The multi-chip package of claim 17 wherein: the bridge comprises silicon.\",\n \"19.The multi-chip package of claim 18 wherein: the bridge is attached to the first die and to the second die using flip-chip connections; the bridge comprises an active die that constitutes a third die of the multi-chip package; and the bridge is attached to the substrate using a wirebond.\",\n \"20.The multi-chip package of claim 18 wherein: the first die has a first portion containing a first plurality of interconnect structures and a second portion containing a second plurality of interconnect structures; the second die has a third portion containing a third plurality of interconnect structures and a fourth portion containing a fourth plurality of interconnect structures; the first plurality of interconnect structures and the third plurality of interconnect structures have a first pitch; the second plurality of interconnect structures and the fourth plurality of interconnect structures have a second pitch that is different from the first pitch; and the first portion and the third portion are attached to the bridge.\",\n \"21.A method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package, the method comprising: providing a substrate having a plurality of embedded pads; forming a cavity in the substrate such that the pads are exposed at a floor of the cavity; providing a bridge having bumps thereon corresponding to the pads; placing the bridge in the cavity and aligning the bumps and the pads to each other; providing a first die and a second die; and attaching the first die and the second die to the bridge and the substrate.\",\n \"22.The method of claim 21 wherein: the bridge comprises silicon.\",\n \"23.The method of claim 22 wherein: the bridge comprises an active die that constitutes a third die of the multi-chip package; the bridge is attached to the first die and to the second die using flip-chip connections; and the method further comprises attaching the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.\",\n \"24.The method of claim 22 wherein: forming the cavity comprises using one of a laser milling and a plasma etching process.\",\n \"25.A multi-chip package comprising: a substrate; a first active die attached to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection; and a second active die, wherein the second active die is attached to the first active die using a second flip-chip connection and wherein the second active die is also attached to the substrate using a wirebond, wherein: the second active die has a first region and a second region; the first region is an overlap region located between the substrate and a portion of the first active die; and the second flip-chip connection is located in the first region of the second active die and the wirebond is attached to the second active die in the second region.\",\n \"26.The multi-chip package of claim 25 wherein: the first region of the second active die has a first section and a second section; and the first section contains a first plurality of flip-chip connections having a first density and the second section contains a second plurality of flip-chip connections having a second density less than the first density.\",\n \"27.The multi-chip package of claim 26 wherein: the first region further comprises a third section that contains a third plurality of flip-chip connections having a third density less than the first density; and the first section is located between the second section and the third section.\",\n \"28.The multi-chip package of claim 25 wherein: the substrate contains a cavity; and the second active die is at least partially located in the cavity.\",\n \"29.A method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package, the method comprising: providing a substrate; attaching a first active die to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection; attaching a second active die to the first active die using a second flip-chip connection; and attaching the second active die to the substrate.\",\n \"30.The method of claim 29 wherein: the second active die is attached to the substrate using a wirebond.\",\n \"31.A multi-chip package comprising: a substrate; a first active die attached to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection; a second active die, wherein the second active die is attached to the first active die using a second flip-chip connection and wherein the second active die is also attached to the substrate using a wirebond; and a third active die attached to the substrate using a third flip-chip connection and attached to the second active die using a fourth flip-chip connection, wherein: the second active die connects the first active die to the third active die; the second active die has a first region, a second region, and a third region; the first region is a first overlap region located between the substrate and a portion of the first active die; the third region is a second overlap region located between the substrate and a portion of the third active die; the second flip-chip connection is located in the first region of the second active die and the wirebond is attached to the second active die in the second region; and the fourth flip-chip connection is located in the third region of the second active die.\",\n \"32.The multi-chip package of claim 31 wherein: the first region of the second die has a first section and a second section; the third region of the second die has a third section and a fourth section; the first section contains a first plurality of flip-chip connections having a first density and the second section contains a second plurality of flip-chip connections having a second density less than the first density; and the third section contains a third plurality of flip-chip connections having a third density and the fourth section contains a fourth plurality of flip-chip connections having a fourth density less than the third density.\",\n \"33.The multi-chip package of claim 32 wherein: the second active die comprises electrically or optically conductive traces extending between the first section and the third section; and the electrically or optically conductive traces connect the first active die to the third active die.\",\n \"34.The multi-chip package of claim 31 wherein: the substrate contains a cavity; and the second active die is at least partially located in the cavity.\",\n \"35.A method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package, the method comprising: providing a substrate; attaching a first active die to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection; attaching a second active die to the substrate using a second flip-chip connection; attaching a third active die to the first active die using a third flip-chip connection; attaching the third active die to the second active die using a fourth flip-chip connection; and attaching the third active die to the substrate.\",\n \"36.The method of claim 35 wherein: the third active die is attached to the substrate using a wirebond.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>A continuing focus of the microelectronics industry is the enablement of computer chips (also referred to as dies) having greater density, higher performance, and lower cost.\",\n \"As part of this effort, microelectronic packages containing multiple dies have been developed.\",\n \"Such multi-chip packages (MCPs) offer the potential for increased architectural flexibility at reduced cost but to do so must provide appropriate die-to-die interconnect densities in a way that is cost-effective.\",\n \"The interconnect density is an important consideration because an insufficient number of die connections would limit the bandwidth capability for the affected die interface, and thus logic-logic and/or logic-memory communications would suffer.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>The disclosed embodiments will be better understood from a reading of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures in the drawings in which: FIGS.\",\n \"1A, 1B, and 1C are plan views of a multi-chip package according to various embodiments of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"2 is a cross-sectional view of the multi-chip package of FIG.\",\n \"1C according to an embodiment of the invention; FIGS.\",\n \"3 and 4 are flowcharts illustrating methods of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to embodiments of the invention; FIGS.\",\n \"5-8 are cross-sectional views of multi-chip packages at various particular points in their manufacturing processes according to embodiments of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"9 is a cross-sectional view of a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"11A is a plan view and FIGS.\",\n \"11B and 11C are cross-sectional views of a multi-chip package according to other embodiments of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"12 is a plan view of one of the active dies in the multi-chip package of FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"13 is a plan view of an active die according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"14 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"15 is a plan view of a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"16 illustrates some examples of multi-chip package geometries according to various embodiments of the invention; and FIG.\",\n \"17 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"detailed-description description=\\\"Detailed Description\\\" end=\\\"lead\\\"?\",\n \"For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawing figures illustrate the general manner of construction, and descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the discussion of the described embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"Additionally, elements in the drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.\",\n \"For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.\",\n \"The same reference numerals in different figures denote the same elements, while similar reference numerals may, but do not necessarily, denote similar elements.\",\n \"The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order.\",\n \"It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.\",\n \"Similarly, if a method is described herein as comprising a series of steps, the order of such steps as presented herein is not necessarily the only order in which such steps may be performed, and certain of the stated steps may possibly be omitted and/or certain other steps not described herein may possibly be added to the method.\",\n \"Furthermore, the terms “comprise,” “include,” “have,” and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.\",\n \"The terms “left,” “right,” “front,” “back,” “top,” “bottom,” “over,” “under,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions.\",\n \"It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.\",\n \"The term “coupled,” as used herein, is defined as directly or indirectly connected in an electrical or non-electrical manner.\",\n \"Objects described herein as being “adjacent to” each other may be in physical contact with each other, in close proximity to each other, or in the same general region or area as each other, as appropriate for the context in which the phrase is used.\",\n \"Occurrences of the phrase “in one embodiment” herein do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CLAIM OF PRIORITY This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/531,827 filed Jun.\",\n \"25, 2012, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"12/459,007, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,227,904, which was filed on Jun.\",\n \"24, 2009.FIELD OF THE INVENTION The disclosed embodiments of the invention relate generally to multi-chip packages, and relate more particularly to interconnect structures in such packages.\",\n \"BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A continuing focus of the microelectronics industry is the enablement of computer chips (also referred to as dies) having greater density, higher performance, and lower cost.\",\n \"As part of this effort, microelectronic packages containing multiple dies have been developed.\",\n \"Such multi-chip packages (MCPs) offer the potential for increased architectural flexibility at reduced cost but to do so must provide appropriate die-to-die interconnect densities in a way that is cost-effective.\",\n \"The interconnect density is an important consideration because an insufficient number of die connections would limit the bandwidth capability for the affected die interface, and thus logic-logic and/or logic-memory communications would suffer.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The disclosed embodiments will be better understood from a reading of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures in the drawings in which: FIGS.\",\n \"1A, 1B, and 1C are plan views of a multi-chip package according to various embodiments of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"2 is a cross-sectional view of the multi-chip package of FIG.\",\n \"1C according to an embodiment of the invention; FIGS.\",\n \"3 and 4 are flowcharts illustrating methods of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to embodiments of the invention; FIGS.\",\n \"5-8 are cross-sectional views of multi-chip packages at various particular points in their manufacturing processes according to embodiments of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"9 is a cross-sectional view of a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"11A is a plan view and FIGS.\",\n \"11B and 11C are cross-sectional views of a multi-chip package according to other embodiments of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"12 is a plan view of one of the active dies in the multi-chip package of FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"13 is a plan view of an active die according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"14 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"15 is a plan view of a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"16 illustrates some examples of multi-chip package geometries according to various embodiments of the invention; and FIG.\",\n \"17 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawing figures illustrate the general manner of construction, and descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the discussion of the described embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"Additionally, elements in the drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.\",\n \"For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.\",\n \"The same reference numerals in different figures denote the same elements, while similar reference numerals may, but do not necessarily, denote similar elements.\",\n \"The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order.\",\n \"It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.\",\n \"Similarly, if a method is described herein as comprising a series of steps, the order of such steps as presented herein is not necessarily the only order in which such steps may be performed, and certain of the stated steps may possibly be omitted and/or certain other steps not described herein may possibly be added to the method.\",\n \"Furthermore, the terms “comprise,” “include,” “have,” and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.\",\n \"The terms “left,” “right,” “front,” “back,” “top,” “bottom,” “over,” “under,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions.\",\n \"It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.\",\n \"The term “coupled,” as used herein, is defined as directly or indirectly connected in an electrical or non-electrical manner.\",\n \"Objects described herein as being “adjacent to” each other may be in physical contact with each other, in close proximity to each other, or in the same general region or area as each other, as appropriate for the context in which the phrase is used.\",\n \"Occurrences of the phrase “in one embodiment” herein do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In one embodiment of the invention, a multi-chip package comprises a substrate having a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side, a first die attached to the first side of the substrate and a second die also attached to the first side of the substrate, and a bridge adjacent to the third side of the substrate and attached to the first die and to the second die.\",\n \"No portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge.\",\n \"The bridge creates a connection between the first die and the second die.\",\n \"Alternatively, the bridge may be disposed in a cavity in the substrate or between the substrate and a die layer.\",\n \"The bridge may constitute an active die and may be attached to the substrate using wirebonds.\",\n \"Shrinking die sizes coupled with increasing die performance requirements dictate that the density of the corresponding die-to-die interconnects must be increased.\",\n \"As may be expected, several manufacturing issues must be addressed in order to accomplish this goal.\",\n \"One such issue is the difficulty inherent in fabricating interconnects within an organic substrate material.\",\n \"In order to overcome this problem, a silicon interposer sandwiched between the dies and the package substrate has been proposed.\",\n \"The use of a standard copper damascene process allows fabrication of lines and spaces of submicron dimensions.\",\n \"However, the large silicon interposer area and need for through-silicon vias (TSVs) make this approach an expensive one, thus negating the perceived MCP-derived cost benefits.\",\n \"Embodiments of the invention enable density scaling of interconnect structures that represents an accelerated improvement over existing technology generations by making use of silicon bridges (or bridges made of other materials) that are embedded in or attached to the package substrate.\",\n \"These bridges need to support only the dense die-to-die interconnect from die edge to die edge and can consequently be much smaller than a silicon interposer.\",\n \"The silicon bridge concept also eliminates the need for TSV technology.\",\n \"In addition to greatly increased communication bandwidth due to high density interconnect structures, embodiments of the invention may also enable improved assembly processes due (at least in part) to the maturity of silicon process technology.\",\n \"Certain embodiments of the invention may enable the fabrication of MCPs having unprecedented die-to-die interconnect densities that would in turn enable MCP-type cost savings, modularity, and architectural flexibility.\",\n \"Examples of such potential benefits include improved reticle and wafer utilization by die aspect ratio optimization, the ability to combine within a single package dies using different optimized silicon (or other) processes or dies incorporating differing or incompatible design methodologies, the potential to assemble non-rectangular or large “super-dies,” the ability to combine dies or die stacks with differing heights, and others.\",\n \"Embodiments of the invention also enable the precise alignment of bridges, including silicon bridges, to a package substrate.\",\n \"Such alignment may be important in the creation of an overall well-defined bump field for subsequent die attach, especially in view of the high interconnect densities targeted on the silicon bridges.\",\n \"Furthermore, an on-die type density may allow reuse of existing circuit designs with minimal modification, and many available pins at the die-package interface may enable simple protocols and good input/output (I/O) power efficiency.\",\n \"Some embodiments of the invention make use of a hybrid flip-chip/wirebond assembled active “satellite” die (or dies) where the die is flip-chip connected to at least one processing unit die and is also connected by wirebond directly to the package substrate.\",\n \"The processing unit die is assembled to the package substrate using flip-chip interconnects.\",\n \"The flip-chip interconnects between the satellite die and the processing unit die enable high-density, high-speed communication between the satellite die and the processing unit die and also (where multiple processing unit dies are involved) allow the satellite die to play the role of a high-speed silicon bridge enabling high-speed, high-density connectivity between two or more processing unit dies in addition to providing the active functionality of the satellite die to one or more of the processing unit dies.\",\n \"The wirebond connections to the satellite die allow for power delivery to that die and further allow additional I/O or control signal connectivity apart from that provided by the flip chip connections to the processing unit die(s).\",\n \"As with the embodiments described above, TSVs are avoided altogether.\",\n \"Referring now to the drawings, FIGS.\",\n \"1A, 1B, and 1C are plan views of a multi-chip package 100 according to various embodiments of the invention and FIG.\",\n \"2 is a cross-sectional view, taken at a line 2-2 in FIG.\",\n \"1C, of multi-chip package 100 according to an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"(Views of corresponding cross sections of FIGS.\",\n \"1A and 1B would be very similar or identical to the cross section depicted in FIG.\",\n \"2.)\",\n \"As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"1A-1C and FIG.\",\n \"2, multi-chip package 100 comprises a substrate 110 having a side 111, an opposing side 112, and a side 213 that extends from side 111 to side 112.Multi-chip package 100 further comprises a die 120 and a die 130, both of which are attached to side 111 of substrate 110, and a bridge 140 adjacent to side 213 of substrate 110 and attached to die 120 and to die 130.As illustrated, and as further discussed below, no portion of substrate 110 is underneath bridge 140 such that there is an unobstructed path to dies 120 and 130 through or along substrate 110 for bridge 140.Bridge 140 creates a connection (e.g., an electrical or optical connection or the like) between die 120 and die 130 by matching electrically and/or optically conductive traces running through the bridge with pads or other interconnect structures on the dies.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, as mentioned above, bridge 140 comprises silicon.\",\n \"Silicon bridges are used because silicon process technology is relatively advanced, and interconnect pitches and line widths that are achievable using existing silicon process technology are significantly smaller than what is possible using, for example, currently available technology for copper lines in polymer layers.\",\n \"Thus die-to-die interconnects may be constructed with much greater density when silicon bridges are used than when such interconnects are fabricated within typical organic substrate materials.\",\n \"Speaking generally, embodiments of the invention employ silicon bridges with high density solder bumps and fine lines, with the latter being made using traditional silicon processes.\",\n \"In some embodiments, bridge 140 can be a passive component, in that it has no functionality other than to provide a high-speed, high-density signaling pathway between dies 120 and 130.In other embodiments, bridge 140 comprises an active die, having its own functionality apart from a bridging function, that constitutes a third die (die 120 and die 130 being the first two) of multi-chip package 100.In such embodiments, bridge 140 could have a design enabled for hybrid assembly, such as having both bumps for flip-chip interconnects and pads for wirebond connections prepared on the same side (surface) of the active die.\",\n \"Furthermore, such embodiments could reduce manufacturing expenses.\",\n \"For example, a processing unit die requiring on-package external memory in addition to connectivity with another processing unit die could be served by a single bridge die having fast local memory functionality, thus eliminating the need for any additional components, as such a bridge would provide both functions.\",\n \"As an example, the active die can be an active silicon die, or the active die can comprise other semiconducting materials such as gallium arsenide (GaAs), silicon germanium (SiGe), or any other suitable semiconducting material or combination of semiconducting materials.\",\n \"Although this description will from time to time make reference to an “active silicon die,” it should be understood that active dies of any suitable semiconducting material or combination of materials are also contemplated.\",\n \"It should also be understood that what are referred to herein as active dies, no matter what material or materials they are made of, have their own functionality apart from their ability to act as a bridge and provide connections between other dies.\",\n \"In the illustrated embodiments, the intersection of side 111 and side 213 creates an edge 117.In FIG.\",\n \"1A, edge 117 is an internal substrate edge because it lies along an inside perimeter of substrate 110.In contrast, edge 117 in FIGS.\",\n \"1B and 1C is an external substrate edge because it lies along an outside perimeter of substrate 110.In the latter embodiment (FIGS.\",\n \"1B and 1C), side 213 constitutes a portion of an outside perimeter of substrate 110, i.e., a perimeter that circumscribes all of substrate 110, while in the former embodiment (FIG.\",\n \"1A) side 213 constitutes a portion of an inside perimeter of substrate 110, i.e., a perimeter that circumscribes an internal feature of substrate 110, such as an aperture 119, but does not circumscribe all of substrate 110.As illustrated, dies 120 and 130 are arranged such that they overhang an internal or an external edge of substrate 110: a portion 221 of die 120 overhangs edge 117 and, similarly, a portion 231 of die 130 overhangs edge 117.As suggested above, die overhang at an internal substrate edge implies substrate 110 has an aperture, such as aperture 119.In at least some embodiments this aperture is slightly larger than bridge 140.In cases where multiple bridges are desired multiple apertures may be provided, or smaller apertures can be combined into a larger aperture accommodating multiple bridges, depending on design requirements.\",\n \"Overhang at an external substrate edge implies that dies 120 and 130 are mounted near the package substrate periphery, as discussed above and as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1B.\",\n \"In certain cases, however, the overhang amount may be greater than desired, which can negatively impact I/O routing, power delivery, thermal management, and the like.\",\n \"These issues may possibly be overcome by using a slotted package substrate such as that shown in FIG.\",\n \"1C.\",\n \"It may be seen in FIG.\",\n \"2 that the portions of dies 120 and 130 that overhang edge 117 (and that are connected to bridge 140), i.e., portions 221 and 231, respectively, contain interconnect structures having a much smaller pitch than do the interconnect structures at the non-overhanging portions of dies 120 and 130.This is consistent with what has been said above regarding the pitches that are achievable both within and outside of bridge 140.In one embodiment, the fine-pitch interfaces (i.e., those contained in portions 221 and 231) are formed separately from the coarse-pitch interfaces at the non-overhanging portions of dies 120 and 130.Regarding these interconnect structures, it should be mentioned that those described herein as having a “fine pitch” do not necessarily all have the same pitch as each of the other “fine pitch” interconnect structures, nor do all of the “coarse pitch” interconnect structures necessarily have the same (coarser) pitch as each of the other “coarse pitch” interconnect structures.\",\n \"Rather, each of the “fine pitch” interconnect structures have, in general, a pitch that is finer than any of the “coarse pitch” interconnect structures, but individual pitch variations may exist from one interconnect structure to another.\",\n \"Electrical signaling analysis for dense die-to-die interconnects for silicon bridges has shown that signaling without repeaters is possible at relevant densities and over lengths required (e.g., up to two millimeters).\",\n \"Additionally, in at least one embodiment, some or all of these interconnect structures may comprise flip-chip or controlled collapse chip connect (C4) connections.\",\n \"(The “flip-chip” and “C4” labels are used interchangeably herein.)\",\n \"Because such connections are well known in the art the details of their structure and manufacture will not be discussed herein except to say that the manufacture is transparent to the particular technology used (whether reflow, thermocompression bonding, or some other process).\",\n \"For reasons discussed below, in some embodiments (such as, for example, where bridge 140 is an active silicon die), bridge 140 is attached to substrate 110 using wirebonds 241.\",\n \"(These wirebonds have been omitted from FIGS.\",\n \"1A-1C in order to increase the clarity of those figures.)\",\n \"Only a portion of wirebonds 241 are shown in FIG.\",\n \"2 because the perspective of that figure makes it difficult to depict the full extent of the wirebonds.\",\n \"It should be understood, however, that wirebonds 241 continue in an unbroken path from bridge 140 to substrate 110 in order to create an electrical connection between bridge 140 and substrate 110.As mentioned above, no TSVs are needed in bridge 140 or for the other bridges/satellite dies described herein.\",\n \"The satellite dies are connected to the processing unit dies using flip-chip (face-to-face) connections in order to allow for interfacing the processing unit and satellite die I/O and for providing an interface (where desired) for die-to-die bridge functionality.\",\n \"All or some of the other (slower) I/Os of the satellite die and its power and ground connects are, in certain embodiments, supplied by wirebonds.\",\n \"This represents a possible cost savings.\",\n \"An advantage of using wirebonding to supply the I/O and power and ground connections, rather than supplying such connections through a connected processing unit die, is that the processing unit dies would not then need the infrastructure required to provide power and additional I/Os that are not needed for the processing unit die itself, which additional infrastructure and associated overhead would likely increase the processing unit die area and significantly increase the processing unit cost.\",\n \"Also, if used without a satellite die this additional infrastructure in the processing unit would be wasted.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 is a flowchart illustrating a method 300 of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"As an example, method 300 may represent a portion of a manufacturing process that results in the formation of a multi-chip package that is similar to multi-chip package 100 as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"1A, 1B, 1C, and 2.Although these figures depict a single bridge connecting two dies, other embodiments of the invention may involve more than two dies and/or more than a single bridge.\",\n \"A step 310 of method 300 is to provide a substrate having a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side.\",\n \"As an example, the substrate can be similar to substrate 110, and the first side, the second side, and the third side can be similar to, respectively, side 111, side 112, and side 213 of substrate 110.Sides 111 and 112 are first shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A, and side 213 is shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.In one embodiment, step 310 comprises forming an aperture through the substrate such that the third side constitutes a portion of an inside perimeter of the substrate.\",\n \"As an example, this embodiment may result in an MCP such as that shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"In another embodiment, step 310 comprises forming a slot in the substrate such that the third side constitutes a portion of an outside perimeter of the substrate.\",\n \"As an example, this embodiment may result in an MCP such as that shown in FIG.\",\n \"1C.\",\n \"Either of these embodiments may be characterized by a lower cost than that likely required for a bridge embedded in a substrate cavity as described elsewhere herein.\",\n \"Indeed, in cases where coreless substrates or other thin substrates are to be used such embodiments may be the only viable option.\",\n \"As an example, apertures or slots such as those discussed above may be formed by mechanical or laser drilling, milling, routing, stamping, punching, etching, or the like.\",\n \"A step 320 of method 300 is to attach a first die to the first side of the substrate such that a portion of the first die extends beyond an edge of the first side of the substrate.\",\n \"As an example, the first die can be similar to die 120 that is first shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"As another example, the edge of the first side of the substrate can be similar to edge 117, and the portion of the first die that extends beyond the edge can be similar to portion 221 of die 120, which portion is first shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.A step 330 of method 300 is to attach a second die to the first side of the substrate such that a portion of the second die extends beyond the edge of the first side of the substrate.\",\n \"As an example, the second die can be similar to die 130 that is first shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"As another example, the portion of the second die that extends beyond the edge can be similar to portion 231 of die 130, which portion is first shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.In one embodiment, steps 320 and 330 may be combined into a single step.\",\n \"In the same or another embodiment the die attachment of steps 330 and 320 (or of the single step that combines the two) comprises an alignment function facilitated by solder self-alignment.\",\n \"Note that in an embodiment such solder self-alignment occurs during the coarse-pitch MCP die attach step or steps and the dies may be precisely positioned with respect to each other by virtue of a single lithographically defined solder mask pattern on the first side of the substrate.\",\n \"A step 340 of method 300 is to provide a bridge containing a plurality of electrically and/or optically conductive features.\",\n \"As an example, the bridge can be similar to bridge 140 that is first shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"Accordingly, in some embodiments the bridge can be an active silicon die.\",\n \"As another example, the electrically conductive features can be metal traces or the like as known in the art that are suitable for conducting electricity between one region and another, or one component and another, of an MCP, while the optically conductive features can be, for example, optical waveguides such as silicon nitride waveguides, rib waveguides, and the like, or optical coupling elements such as gratings, micro-mirrors, and lenses.\",\n \"A step 350 of method 300 is to position the bridge adjacent to the third side of the substrate such that no portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge.\",\n \"This arrangement allows for a mechanical decoupling of the bridge and the substrate—materials that have a large mismatch in coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE).\",\n \"Furthermore, an unconstrained bridge could offer package stress benefits because it could move without creating a bending load on the fine-pitch joints.\",\n \"Thus, method 300 may not require the use of an underfill or encapsulant to fill the space around the bride in the aperture or slot or the like.\",\n \"As an example, step 350 may be accomplished using a pick and place machine, as known in the art.\",\n \"A step 360 of method 300 is to attach the bridge to the first die and to the second die, thereby creating an electrical or optical connection between the first die and the second die.\",\n \"Accordingly, step 360 may constitute an attachment from the backside of the package, i.e., method 300 may constitute a “bridge last” process flow.\",\n \"It should be noted that because no portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge, this “bridge last” process flow may allow the use of a full-thickness bridge (unless thermomechanical considerations indicate bridge thinning to be advantageous for fine-pitch interconnect reliability, or unless thinning is needed for form factor or mechanical clearance) where other process flows would require that a thinned bridge be used.\",\n \"Also, the “bridge last” process flow enables the building of MCPs with dies or die stacks of disparate heights without any modification to the outlined assembly flow while also providing a scaleable solution that enables affordable assembly of multiple bridges in a given MCP configuration.\",\n \"In one embodiment, step 360 may be accomplished using a thermocompression bonding process.\",\n \"In another embodiment, step 360 comprises using a solder reflow process.\",\n \"As is known in the art, in thermocompression bonding temperature and pressure may be controlled; with a solder reflow process only the temperature may be controlled.\",\n \"As is also known, solder reflow is a high-throughput batch process.\",\n \"Thermocompression bonding is typically a sequential process; however, a “ganged” bonder can process several units at once.\",\n \"Thermocompression bonding may in certain embodiments be needed to achieve the fine-pitch interconnect because of its process flexibility and its better control of process parameters.\",\n \"A step 370 of method 300 is to attach the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.\",\n \"As an example, the wirebond can be similar to wirebonds 241 that are shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.Step 370 may be performed, for example, in embodiments where the bridge is an active die.\",\n \"It should be understood, however, that step 370 is not necessarily performed in every embodiment of method 300.FIG.\",\n \"4 is a flowchart illustrating a method 400 of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"Method 400 is an assembly process enabling the precise alignment of bridges to MCP dies first, followed by the attachment of bridge and dies to a package substrate.\",\n \"This subsequent attachment of bridge and dies to the package substrate may be easier in the bridge-to-dies first process because it eliminates certain issues typically caused by mixed bump, fine pitches.\",\n \"Method 400 may also be employed, for example, when a substrate with a cutout cannot be provided and when an overhang over an external substrate edge is not an option due to design considerations.\",\n \"Method 400 and a multi-chip package 500 related thereto are further illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"5-8, which are cross-sectional views of multi-chip package 500 at various particular points in its manufacturing process according to embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"As explained in further detail below, method 400 generally involves the attachment of dies to a carrier, fine pitch assembly of one or more bridges to the dies, coarse pitch assembly of the carrier, dies, and bridge(s) to a package substrate, and (optionally) de-bonding of the carrier.\",\n \"Potential advantages of this method over one or more of the other methods or embodiments described herein are that it eliminates the package substrate as a mechanical reference in the mixed-bump-pitch assembly flow, and that it forms the fine-pitch and coarser-pitch interconnects in separate steps.\",\n \"Furthermore, method 400 permits accurate bridge alignment in three dimensions.\",\n \"As stated above, accurate bridge alignment may be important in order to create an overall well-defined bump field for subsequent die attach.\",\n \"High interconnect densities accentuate this requirement.\",\n \"A step 410 of method 400 is to attach a first die and a second die to a carrier.\",\n \"When placing the dies, suitable fiducials on previously placed dies or on other components of the subassembly, such as the carrier, may be used as a reference.\",\n \"As an example, the first die and the second die can be similar to, respectively, die 120 and die 130 that are first shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"As another example, the first die and the second die can be similar to, respectively, a die 520 and a die 530 that are first shown in FIG.\",\n \"5.Attached to die 520 are fine-pitch interconnect structures 521 and coarse-pitch interconnect structures 522.Attached to die 530 are fine-pitch interconnect structures 531 and coarse-pitch interconnect structures 532.More specifically, and as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5 and subsequent figures, die 520 has a portion 526 containing interconnect structures 521 and a portion 527 containing interconnect structures 522.Similarly, die 530 has a portion 536 containing interconnect structures 531 and a portion 537 containing interconnect structures 532.As mentioned above, interconnect structures 521 and 531 have a first (fine) pitch and interconnect structures 522 and 532 have a second (coarse) pitch that is different from the first pitch.\",\n \"It may be seen that, as already mentioned elsewhere herein, portions 526 and 536 are attached to the bridge (by way of fine pitch interconnect structures 521 and 531).\",\n \"Note that interconnect structures 521 and 531 would typically be silicon to silicon structures rather than silicon to organic structures.\",\n \"As an example, this may help to forestall the problems that are typically associated with a mismatch in the CTE between the two materials.\",\n \"The carrier can be similar to a carrier 505 that is first shown in FIG.\",\n \"5.In one embodiment, the carrier comprises an integrated heat spreader (IHS).\",\n \"As an example, the heat spreader may be made of copper or the like.\",\n \"Due to the high thermal conductivity of the copper (or other) IHS, the package may be thermally enhanced.\",\n \"In the embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"5, dies 520 and 530 are attached to carrier 505 using an adhesive material 507, which may comprise a thermal interface material (TIM) or the like.\",\n \"A step 420 of method 400 is to attach a bridge to the first die and to the second die.\",\n \"Note that in this step only the fine pitch interconnect structures are attached.\",\n \"The small bump pitch may require highly accurate pick-and-place equipment.\",\n \"Again, on-die fiducials may be useful for achieving successful bonding.\",\n \"As an example, the bridge can be similar to bridge 140 that is first shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"As another example, the bridge can be similar to a bridge 540, first shown in FIG.\",\n \"5, that, like bridge 140, may be made of silicon and may, further, be an active silicon die.\",\n \"In one embodiment, step 420 comprises using a thermocompression bonding process to bond the bridge and the dies to each other.\",\n \"In other embodiments, step 420 comprises using a solder reflow process or another attachment procedure as known in the art.\",\n \"A step 430 of method 400 is to provide a substrate.\",\n \"As an example, the substrate can be similar to substrate 110 that is first shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"As another example, the substrate can be similar to a substrate 610 that is first shown in FIG.\",\n \"6.Substrate 610 contains a cavity 615 that, in the illustrated embodiment, contains bridge 540 surrounded by a protective material 612 such as an encapsulant, an underfill material, an epoxy, or the like.\",\n \"Material 612 may be compliant or flexible in order to mechanically decouple bridge 540 and substrate 610, and its presence may enable undisturbed underfilling of dies 520 and 530.As still another example, the substrate can be similar to a substrate 710 that is first shown in FIG.\",\n \"7.In the FIG.\",\n \"7 embodiment, dies 520 and 530 form, or are located in, a die layer 750 of multi-chip package 500.Substrate 710 has no cavity; a bridge 740, which is significantly thinner than bridge 540, sits on a surface of substrate 710 or is otherwise located between substrate 710 and dies 520 and 530—in other words, bridge 740 is located between die layer 750 and the surface of the substrate.\",\n \"(In other respects bridge 740 can be similar to bridges 540 and 140 and can therefore, in certain embodiments, be an active die.)\",\n \"Also in the FIG.\",\n \"7 embodiment, one or more of interconnect structures 521, 522, 531, and 532 may need to be modified in order to accommodate the reduced thickness of bridge 740.For example, interconnect structures 521 and 531 may need to be shortened while interconnect structures 522 and 532 may need to be lengthened in order to accommodate the different package geometry.\",\n \"As with other embodiments described herein, one or more of interconnect structures 521, 522, 531, and 532 may comprise flip-chip connections.\",\n \"It should be noted that bridge 740 may be thin enough that it requires its own carrier in order to facilitate handling, e.g.\",\n \"before and during step 420 of method 400.A step 440 of method 400 is to attach the first die and the second die to the substrate.\",\n \"In this step only the die bumps with a large pitch (outside the bridge area) are attached.\",\n \"Since the bump pitch is large, less expensive pick-and-place equipment can typically be used.\",\n \"The appearance of multi-chip package 500 following the performance of step 440 is illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6 for an embodiment using substrate 610 and in FIG.\",\n \"7 for an embodiment using substrate 710.In some embodiments, step 440 is followed by the removal of the carrier.\",\n \"As an example, this may be accomplished by peeling, cutting, etching away, or melting the adhesive material, or otherwise de-bonding the carrier from the dies.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 shows multi-chip package 500 following the removal of carrier 505.Carrier 505 in FIG.\",\n \"7 may also be removed (not illustrated).\",\n \"In other embodiments, such as when the carrier is a heat spreader, step 440 is not performed and the carrier is permanently left in place.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment (not illustrated), in order to accommodate dies of different thicknesses, a mix of single dies and die stacks, or die stacks of different heights, the carrier or IHS may be stepped such that before bridge-to-die attach the bumps to be interconnected by an individual bridge are coplanar.\",\n \"Suitable steps or cavities can be created by machining the carrier or IHS.\",\n \"A step 450 of method 400 is to attach the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.\",\n \"As an example, the wirebond can be similar to wirebonds 241 that are shown in FIG.\",\n \"2 or to wirebonds 841 that are shown in FIG.\",\n \"8.\",\n \"(The embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"7 may also include wirebonds, or in other words bridge 740 may also, in certain embodiments, be connected to substrate 710 using wirebonds.\",\n \"Such wirebonds are not depicted in FIG.\",\n \"7, however, because the presence in that figure of carrier 505 combined with the figure's cross-sectional nature make it difficult to illustrate the wirebonds clearly, or because the wirebonds are added after the removal of carrier 505.)\",\n \"Only a portion of wirebonds 841 are shown in FIG.\",\n \"8 because the perspective of that figure makes it difficult to depict the full extent of the wirebonds.\",\n \"It should be understood, however, that wirebonds 841 continue in an unbroken path from bridge 540 to substrate 610 in order to create an electrical connection between bridge 540 and substrate 610.Step 450 may be performed, for example, in embodiments where the bridge is an active die.\",\n \"It should be understood, however, that step 450 is not necessarily performed in every embodiment of method 400.FIG.\",\n \"9 is a cross-sectional view of a multi-chip package 900 according to an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9, multi-chip package 900 comprises a substrate 910 containing a cavity 915 having a plurality of pads 918 therein, a die 920 and a die 930 attached to substrate 910, a bridge 940 having a side 941 and an opposing side 942, and a plurality of joints 960 at side 942 of bridge 940.As an example, pads 918 and joints 960 can be electrically non-functional.\",\n \"Pads 918 may be prefabricated during conventional build-up processes and then exposed during cavity formation, for example by laser milling or the like.\",\n \"An encapsulation material 945 at least partially surrounds bridge 940 in cavity 915 in the illustrated embodiment.\",\n \"As an example, substrate 910, die 920, die 930, and bridge 940 can be similar to, respectively, substrate 110, die 120, die 130, and bridge 140, all of which are first shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"Accordingly, in certain embodiments bridge 940 can be an active die.\",\n \"As may be seen in the figure, die 920 and die 930 are attached to side 941 of bridge 940, at least a portion of bridge 940 is located within cavity 915 such that the plurality of j oints 960 are aligned with pads 918, and bridge 940 creates an electrical or optical connection between die 920 and die 930.Die 920 has a portion 926 containing a plurality of interconnect structures 921 and a portion 927 containing a plurality of interconnect structures 922.Similarly, die 930 has a portion 936 containing a plurality of interconnect structures 931 and a portion 937 containing a plurality of interconnect structures 932.Interconnect structures 921 and 931 have a first (fine) pitch and interconnect structures 922 and 932 have a second (coarse) pitch that is different from the first pitch.\",\n \"Portions 926 and 936 are attached to the bridge (by way of fine pitch interconnect structures 921 and 931).\",\n \"As has been discussed elsewhere herein, in some embodiments, such as, for example, where bridge 940 is an active die, bridge 940 is attached to substrate 910 using wirebonds.\",\n \"These wirebonds have not been depicted in FIG.\",\n \"9 because the nature of that figure makes such depiction difficult.\",\n \"It should be understood, however, that, in a manner similar to what is shown in other figures described herein, the wirebonds continue in an unbroken path from bridge 940 to substrate 910 in order to create an electrical connection between bridge 940 and substrate 910.FIG.\",\n \"10 is a flowchart illustrating a method 1000 of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"As an example, method 1000 may represent a portion of a manufacturing process that results in the formation of a multi-chip package that is similar to multi-chip package 900 as shown in FIG.\",\n \"9.As explained in further detail below, method 1000 generally involves providing a package substrate, machining or otherwise forming a cavity for a silicon or other bridge, dispensing flux onto cavity floor pads, pick and place of the bridge with backside solder bumps, solder reflow with solder self-alignment of the bridge, deflux (unless a no-clean flux or fluxless attachment process is used), encapsulation of bridge, and assembly of active dies.\",\n \"A potential advantage of this process is that it is readily scalable to multiple bridges on a package and many substrates on a panel.\",\n \"A step 1010 of method 1000 is to provide a substrate having a plurality of embedded pads.\",\n \"As an example, the substrate and the pads can be similar to, respectively, substrate 910 and pads 918 that are shown in FIG.\",\n \"9.A step 1020 of method 1000 is to form a cavity in the substrate such that the pads are exposed at a floor of the cavity.\",\n \"As an example, the cavity can be similar to cavity 915 that is shown in FIG.\",\n \"9.In one embodiment, step 1020 may be accomplished using a laser milling process, a plasma etching/reactive ion etching (RIE) process, or the like.\",\n \"As cavity 915 is formed, electrically non-functional (dummy) or other pads 918 at the cavity floor are exposed.\",\n \"In one embodiment, these were previously fabricated during the conventional substrate buildup process and were buried by one or more dielectric buildup layers.\",\n \"Pads 918 may be made of copper and present a suitable surface finish such as electroless nickel, immersion gold (ENIG), conducive to soldering.\",\n \"A minimum pad thickness of approximately 10 μm may be desirable when laser milling is used for cavity formation, with the laser operation to stop at the pad layer.\",\n \"Mating pads may be provided on the backside of bridge 940 and the bridge may be bumped ahead of time using standard metallization and bumping techniques, perhaps at the wafer level.\",\n \"A solder resist layer may also be added to the backside of bridge 940.A step 1030 of method 1000 is to provide a bridge having bumps thereon corresponding to the pads.\",\n \"(Such correspondence between bumps and pads may, but does not necessarily, mean the number of bumps and the number of pads are equal to each other; rather, the correspondence is such that the bumps match up with the pads to the degree that a reliable mechanical joining is possible.)\",\n \"As an example, the bridge can be similar to bridge 940, shown in FIG.\",\n \"9, and can thus in certain embodiments be an active die, and the joints formed can be similar to joints 960, also shown in FIG.\",\n \"9.A step 1040 of method 1000 is to place the bridge in the cavity and align the bumps and the pads to each other.\",\n \"Step 1040 attaches the bridge to the substrate.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the alignment of bumps and pads to each other is accomplished using the self-alignment of solder during reflow and joint formation.\",\n \"Solder self-alignment of electronic components where the surface tension of the liquid solder is the driving force is well known in the art.\",\n \"Careful design of a solder joint array can provide self alignment in the x and y dimensions with a positional tolerance in the order of 1 micrometer (hereinafter “micron” or “μm.”) Accurate alignment in the z dimension (height) can be achieved by control of the solder volume.\",\n \"The precisely aligned bridge may then be encapsulated, thereby locking the bridge at its precisely defined locations.\",\n \"The resulting hybrid package substrate may then be supplied to a die attach module.\",\n \"A step 1050 of method 1000 is to provide a first die and a second die.\",\n \"As an example, the first die and the second die can be similar to, respectively, die 920 and die 930, both of which are shown in FIG.\",\n \"9.A step 1060 of method 1000 is to attach the first die and the second die to the bridge and the substrate.\",\n \"In one embodiment, step 1060 comprises a flux dispense step, die pick-and-place steps, and a reflow step.\",\n \"As mentioned elsewhere herein, at very high I/O densities and very fine bridge interconnect pitches, accurate alignment becomes important in order to facilitate a successful assembly of the MCP (die attach).\",\n \"Thus, in certain embodiments, and as shown in FIG.\",\n \"9, joints 960 located at the backside (i.e., side 942) of bridge 940 are utilized to achieve precise alignment of bridge 940 with respect to other package substrate bumps.\",\n \"It is well known that solder self-alignment can enable ultimate component placement in the x and y dimensions with a positional tolerance on the order of 1 μm.\",\n \"As an alternative to solder, suitable non-conductive materials that are capable of providing self-alignment based on the underlying surface tension principle (minimization of adhesion energy during bonding) could also be used.\",\n \"A step 1070 of method 1000 is to attach the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.\",\n \"As an example, the wirebond can be similar to wirebonds 241 that are shown in FIG.\",\n \"2 or to wirebonds 841 that are shown in FIG.\",\n \"8.Step 1070 may be performed, for example, in embodiments where the bridge is an active die.\",\n \"It should be understood, however, that step 1070 is not necessarily performed in every embodiment of method 1000.FIG.\",\n \"11A is a plan view of a multi-chip package 1100 according to an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"Cross-sectional views for two different embodiments of multi-chip package 1100, each taken at a line B-C in FIG.\",\n \"11A, are shown in FIGS.\",\n \"11B and 11C.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C, multi-chip package 1100 comprises a substrate 1110, an active die 1120 attached to substrate 1110 using flip-chip connections 1121 (in FIG.\",\n \"11A these are visible in a portion 1125 of active die 1120 that is depicted (for illustrative purposes) as being transparent), and an active die 1130, which is attached to active die 1120 using a flip-chip connection 1131 and which is attached to substrate 1110 using wirebonds 1141.As may be seen in the figure, multi-chip package 1100 is an example of an embodiment where a satellite die assembled in a hybrid manner is attached to a single on-package (processing unit) die.\",\n \"Such an arrangement allows for high-density, high-speed flip-chip connectivity between the processing unit and the satellite die and further allows for the processing unit die to utilize the functionality of the satellite die.\",\n \"In cases where high-density interconnects are not needed (e.g., because of the functionality of the satellite die), the flip-chip interconnects may have a relatively coarse pitch.\",\n \"Additional connections needed by the satellite die such as, but not limited to, power and ground connectivity, may be provided by wirebonds located on sides of the satellite die not obscured by the processing unit die.\",\n \"In certain embodiments substrate 1110 contains a cavity in which active die 1130 is at least partially located.\",\n \"Such a cavity is visible in FIG.\",\n \"11B and examples may also be seen in FIGS.\",\n \"6, 8, and 9.In other embodiments, (see FIG.\",\n \"11C) substrate 1110 has a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side (not identified with reference numerals in FIG.\",\n \"11C, but such as may form an aperture or slot as discussed above), active die 1120 is attached to the first side of substrate 1110 using flip-chip connections 1121, active die 1130 is attached to substrate 1110 using wirebonds 1141, and no portion of substrate 1110 is underneath active die 1130.These embodiments are similar to those described in connection with FIGS.\",\n \"1A-1C and FIG.\",\n \"2.In each of these cases, such cavities, apertures, slots, and the like that house the satellite dies may partially overlap with the bump field of the processing unit dies in order to enable flip-chip, high-speed, high-density connections between satellite die and processing unit die as described herein.\",\n \"Active die 1130 has a region 1138 and a region 1139, where region 1138 is an overlap region located between active die 1130 (below) and a portion of active die 1120 (above).\",\n \"As shown, the overlap region can be a partial overlap of active dies 1120 and 1130 such that the lower die is not completely underneath the upper die.\",\n \"The overlap region may be the location of one or more face-to-face flip-chip connections that electrically or optically connect the active dies to each other.\",\n \"Referring again to the illustrated embodiment, flip-chip connection 1131 is located in region 1138 while wirebonds 1141 are attached to active die 1130 in region 1139.In the illustrated embodiment, active die 1130 is attached to substrate 1110 using wirebonds 1141.Note that one edge of active die 1130 is shown as having a double row of wirebonds.\",\n \"In some (non-illustrated) embodiments three or more wirebond rows may be fabricated.\",\n \"Such multiple rows, however, may not achieve the same fine pitches that are achievable with single rows, which may be as small as a pad pitch of 35 μm (corresponding to approximately 29 bonds/mm die edge).\",\n \"For power and ground connections, minimum pitch wirebond capability may not be needed and a thicker bond wire at a lower pitch may be acceptable or even favorable.\",\n \"It should be understood that the illustration, like all of the illustrations referred to herein, is not intended to be limiting, and that non-illustrated embodiments may employ more or fewer double wirebond rows (including embodiments having no such rows), one or more sections having more than two wirebond rows, longer or shorter rows having more or fewer wirebonds, wirebonds along only certain sides but not all sides of the active die, or any other useful wirebond configuration.\",\n \"In one embodiment, active die 1120 is a processing unit die such as a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or the like, while active die 1130 is a satellite die with functionality such as memory (including volatile memory such as fast DRAM, external SRAM, eDRAM, and the like and non-volatile memory such as flash memory and the like), graphics processing, voltage regulation for power delivery, radio frequency (RF), or the like, including useful combinations thereof.\",\n \"A satellite die according to various embodiments could even be a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) chip, a sensor chip for use in a system-on-package (SoP), or a photonics die with optoelectronic functionality.\",\n \"Active die 1130 is sometimes referred to herein as a satellite die because it is connected to, and may share active functionality with, active die 1120.In certain embodiments, active die 1130 may also be connected to and share active functionality with one or more other dies (not illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C) in addition to active die 1120.In cases where the satellite die is connected to more than one active die the satellite die may or may not electrically or optically connect those active dies to each other, or in other words may or may not act as a bridge between those active dies in a manner that is explained elsewhere herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 is a plan view of active die 1130 according to an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"The scale of active die 1130 is slightly larger in FIG.\",\n \"12 than it is in FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"12, region 1138 of active die 1130 has a section 1201 and a section 1202.Section 1201 contains a plurality of flip-chip connections 1231 having a first density and section 1202 contains a plurality of flip-chip connections 1131 (first introduced in FIG.\",\n \"11A) having a second density that is less than the first density.\",\n \"The higher-density and lower-density connections can be used as necessary depending on the functionality of active die 1130.In the illustrated embodiment, region 1138 further comprises a section 1203 that contains a plurality of flip-chip connections 1233 having a third density that is also less than the first density and can, in one embodiment, be the same as or substantially similar to the second density.\",\n \"The connections in any one or more of sections 1201, 1202, and 1203 can be used to enable active die 1120 access to the functionality of active die 1130, and vice versa.\",\n \"In the embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"12, section 1201 is located between section 1202 and section 1203, though other configurations are certainly also possible as will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.\",\n \"For example, active die 1130 may have flip-chip connections of only a single (high) density, only a single (standard or low) density, one section of high density and another of lower density connections, with these arranged in any suitable configuration, etc.\",\n \"Also, it should be noted here that any one or more of bridges 140, 540, 740, and 940, in embodiments where those bridges are active dies, could have the features, configurations, functionalities, etc.\",\n \"that are described above for active die 1130.Similarly, any one or more of dies 120, 130, 520, 530, 920, and 930 can be similar to active die 1120.It was mentioned above that active die 1130 may be connected to one or more active dies in addition to active die 1120.In some embodiments, as also mentioned, active die 1130 acts as a bridge between active die 1120 and those additional active dies.\",\n \"Examples of this are depicted in FIGS.\",\n \"1A-1C, FIG.\",\n \"2, and FIGS.\",\n \"6-9 if the bridges in those figures are assumed to be active dies.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 further illustrates a possible configuration for an active bridge or satellite die 1330 according to an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"13, active die 1330 comprises a region 1338 that is similar to region 1138.For example, in the illustrated embodiment region 1338, like region 1138, contains sections 1201, 1202, and 1203, each containing the features and components described above.\",\n \"Electrically and/or optically conductive bridge traces 1370, which extend between section 1201 of region 1138 and the corresponding section of region 1338, provide an electrical or optical connection between dies that are bridged by active die 1330.These dies are not shown in FIG.\",\n \"13, but would, for example, be attached to active die 1330 using flip-chip connections 1131, 1231, and 1233 in a manner similar to that described above for active die 1120.FIG.\",\n \"14 is a flowchart illustrating a method 1400 of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"As an example, method 1400 may result in an MCP such as that shown in FIG.\",\n \"11C.\",\n \"(An MCP such as that shown in FIG.\",\n \"11B may be formed using a method similar to method 400 or method 1000 with the second die being omitted.)\",\n \"A step 1410 of method 1400 is to provide a substrate.\",\n \"As an example, the substrate can be similar to substrate 1110 as it is shown in FIG.\",\n \"11C.\",\n \"A step 1420 of method 1400 is to attach a first active die to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection.\",\n \"As an example, the first active die and the first flip-chip connection can be similar to, respectively, active die 1120 and flip-chip connections 1121, both of which are shown in FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C.\",\n \"A step 1430 of method 1400 is to attach a second active die to the first active die using a second flip-chip connection.\",\n \"As an example, the second active die and the second flip-chip connection can be similar to, respectively, active die 1130 and flip-chip connections 1131, both of which are first shown in FIG.\",\n \"11A.\",\n \"A step 1440 of method 1400 is to attach the second active die to the substrate.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the second active die is attached to the substrate using a wirebond such as wirebond 1141 that are first shown in FIG.\",\n \"11A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"15 is a plan view of a multi-chip package 1500 according to an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"15, multi-chip package 1500 comprises a substrate 1510, an active die 1520 attached to substrate 1510 using flip-chip connections 1521, an active die 1530 attached to active die 1520 using flip-chip connections 1531 and to substrate 1510 using wirebonds 1541, and an active die 1550 attached to substrate 1510 using flip-chip connections 1551 and attached to active die 1530 using flip-chip connections 1552.Active die 1520 is electrically and/or optically connected to active die 1550 via electrically and/or optically conductive bridge traces 1570 located in active die 1530.Active die 1530 thus acts as a bridge connecting active dies 1520 and 1550.In the illustrated embodiment, active dies 1520 and 1550 have regions and sections the same as or similar to those described above in connection with active die 1120 and shown in FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C, with the features located in those regions and sections, and the characteristics of those features, being similar as well.\",\n \"In certain embodiments substrate 1510 contains a cavity in which active die 1530 is at least partially located.\",\n \"Such a cavity is not visible in FIG.\",\n \"15 but examples may be seen in FIGS.\",\n \"6, 8, and 9.In other embodiments, substrate 1510 has a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side (such as may form an aperture or slot as discussed above), active dies 1520 and 1550 are attached to the first side of substrate 1510, and no portion of substrate 1510 is underneath active die 1530.These embodiments are not explicitly illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"15 but are similar to those described in connection with FIGS.\",\n \"1A-1C and FIG.\",\n \"2.In each of these cases, such cavities, apertures, slots, and the like that house the satellite dies may partially overlap with the bump field of the processing unit dies in order to enable flip-chip, high-speed, high-density connections between satellite die and processing unit die as described herein.\",\n \"Some examples of MCP package geometries showing such partial overlaps are shown in FIG.\",\n \"16, where the bridge/satellite die is cross-hatched and the processing unit dies are shown plain.\",\n \"(Package substrates are not shown in FIG.\",\n \"16.)\",\n \"It will be understood that the illustrated examples represent only a fraction of the large number of possible configurations.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"17 is a flowchart illustrating a method 1700 of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"As an example, method 1700 may result in an MCP such as that shown in FIG.\",\n \"15.Described below is a “bridge last” process flow similar to that described by method 300.The FIG.\",\n \"15 structure may also be manufactured with a substrate having a cavity similar to the substrates shown in FIG.\",\n \"8 or 9.Process flows suitable to manufacture such structures may proceed along the lines of methods 400 and 1000, with a third active die as discussed below standing in for the bridge of those methods.\",\n \"A step 1710 of method 1700 is to provide a substrate.\",\n \"As an example, the substrate can be similar to substrate 1510 that is shown in FIG.\",\n \"15.A step 1720 of method 1700 is to attach a first active die to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection.\",\n \"As an example, the first active die and the first flip-chip connection can be similar to, respectively, active die 1520 and flip-chip connections 1521, both of which are shown in FIG.\",\n \"15.A step 1730 of method 1700 is to attach a second active die to the substrate using a second flip-chip connection.\",\n \"As an example, the second active die can be similar to active die 1550 and the second flip-chip connection can be similar to flip-chip connections 1551, both of which are shown in FIG.\",\n \"15.A step 1740 of method 1700 is to attach the third active die to the first active die using a third flip-chip connection.\",\n \"As an example, the third flip-chip connection can be similar to flip-chip connections 1531 that are shown in FIG.\",\n \"15.A step 1750 of method 1700 is to attach the third active die to the second active die using a fourth flip-chip connection.\",\n \"As an example, the fourth flip-chip connection can be similar to flip-chip connections 1552 that are shown in FIG.\",\n \"15.With the third active die attached to both the first and the second active dies, and because the third active die contains electrically and/or optically conductive bridge traces as described above and shown in FIG.\",\n \"15, method 1700 inherently results in the first and the second active dies being electrically and/or optically connected to each other.\",\n \"Alternatively, method 1700 could include an additional step that results in such an electrical or optical connection.\",\n \"A step 1760 of method 1700 is to attach the third active die to the substrate.\",\n \"In one embodiment, step 1760 comprises attaching the third active die to the substrate using wirebonds.\",\n \"Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.\",\n \"Accordingly, the disclosure of embodiments of the invention is intended to be illustrative of the scope of the invention and is not intended to be limiting.\",\n \"It is intended that the scope of the invention shall be limited only to the extent required by the appended claims.\",\n \"For example, to one of ordinary skill in the art, it will be readily apparent that the multi-chip packages and the related structures and methods discussed herein may be implemented in a variety of embodiments, and that the foregoing discussion of certain of these embodiments does not necessarily represent a complete description of all possible embodiments.\",\n \"Additionally, benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have been described with regard to specific embodiments.\",\n \"The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element or elements that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced, however, are not to be construed as critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all of the claims.\",\n \"Moreover, embodiments and limitations disclosed herein are not dedicated to the public under the doctrine of dedication if the embodiments and/or limitations: (1) are not expressly claimed in the claims; and (2) are or are potentially equivalents of express elements and/or limitations in the claims under the doctrine of equivalents.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876080"}}},{"rowIdx":4495073,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["SPREAD SPECTRUM CODED WAVEFORMS IN ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTICS","Techniques, systems, and devices are disclosed for ultrasound diagnostics using spread spectrum, coherent, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms.","In one aspect, a method includes synthesizing individual orthogonal coded waveforms to form a composite waveform for transmission toward a biological material of interest, in which the synthesized individual orthogonal coded waveforms correspond to distinct frequency bands and include one or both of frequency-coded or phase-coded waveforms; transmitting a composite acoustic waveform toward the biological material of interest, where the transmitting includes transducing the individual orthogonal coded waveforms into corresponding acoustic waveforms to form the composite acoustic waveform; receiving acoustic waveforms returned from at least part of the biological material of interest corresponding to at least some of the transmitted acoustic waveforms that form the composite acoustic waveform; and processing the received returned acoustic waveforms to produce an image of at least part of the biological material of interest."],["1.An acoustic imaging system, comprising: a waveform generation unit comprising one or more waveform synthesizers and amplifiers coupled to a waveform generator, wherein the waveform generation unit synthesizes a composite waveform comprising individual orthogonal coded waveforms corresponding to distinct frequency bands that are generated by the one or more waveform synthesizers according to waveform information provided by the waveform generator, wherein the individual orthogonal coded waveforms include one or both of frequency-coded or phase-coded waveforms; a transmitter array of transducer elements in communication with the waveform generation unit to transmit acoustic waveforms forming a composite acoustic waveform based on drive signals produced from the individual orthogonal coded waveforms toward a biological material, wherein the transmitter array of transducer elements is partitioned into two or more subarrays such that at least one of the two or more subarrays is individually amplitude weighted and at least one of the two or more subarrays is individually phase weighted for at least one frequency band of the frequency bands corresponding to the transmitted acoustic waveforms and combined, thereby providing enhanced cross-range resolution; a receiver array of transducer elements to receive returned acoustic waveforms returned from at least part of the biological material, wherein the received returned acoustic waveforms correspond to at least some of the transmitted acoustic waveforms of the composite acoustic waveform, wherein the receiver array of transducer elements is partitioned into two or more subarrays such that at least one of the two or more subarrays is individually amplitude weighted and at least one of the two or more subarrays is individually phase weighted for at least one frequency band of the frequency bands corresponding to the received returned acoustic waveforms and combined, thereby providing enhanced cross-range resolution; and a controller unit in communication with the waveform generation unit and the transmitter and receiver arrays, the controller unit including a processing unit to process the received returned acoustic waveforms to produce an image of at least part of the biological material.","2.The system of claim 1, further comprising: a user interface unit including a display and in communication with the controller unit to display the produced image.","3.The system of claim 2, wherein the user interface unit includes one or more user interface devices in communication with the controller unit to receive input from an operator of the system.","4.The system of claim 3, wherein the input includes a mode of operation, including: an ATS-Mode (Artificial Tissue Staining Mode) for imaging biological tissue that enables image color coding based on at least one feature of one or more measured properties that are obtained from the returned acoustic waveforms, or a CAD-Mode (Computer Aided Diagnostic Mode) for imaging biological tissue that uses one or more algorithmic classifiers to classify biological tissue types using at least one feature of one or more measured properties that are obtained from the returned acoustic waveforms.","5.The system of claim 2, wherein the display of the user interface unit is operable to display a color coded image of the biological tissue based on the classified biological tissue types.","6.The system of claim 1, further comprising: an array of analog to digital (A/D) converters in communication with the receiver array and the controller unit to convert the received returned acoustic waveforms from analog format to digital format.","7.The system of claim 2, wherein the transmitter array and the receiver array include the same transducer elements, and the system further comprises: a transmit/receive switching unit in communication with the waveform generation unit and the transmitter and receiver arrays to switch between a transmit mode to transmit the acoustic waveforms and a receive mode to receive the returned acoustic waveforms.","8.The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more amplifiers of the waveform generation unit are communicatively coupled between the transmit/receive switching unit and the one or more waveform synthesizers to modify the individual orthogonal coded waveforms of the composite waveform.","9.The system of claim 7, further comprising: an array of analog to digital (A/D) converters in communication with the receiver array and the controller unit to convert the received returned acoustic waveforms from analog format to digital format; and an array of one or more pre-amplifiers configured between the transmit/receive switching unit and the array of A/D converters that modifies the received returned acoustic waveforms.","10.The system of claim 1, wherein each of the phase-coded waveforms includes a frequency chip phase component that a pseudo-random number."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Ultrasound imaging is an imaging modality that employs the properties of sound waves traveling through a medium to render a visual image.","Ultrasound imaging has been used as an imaging modality for decades in a variety of biomedical fields to view internal structures and functions of animals and humans.","Ultrasound waves used in biomedical imaging may operate in different frequencies, e.g., between 1 and 20 MHz, or even higher frequencies.","Some factors including inadequate spatial resolution and tissue differentiation can lead to less than desirable image quality using conventional techniques of ultrasound imaging, which can limit its use for many clinical applications."],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Techniques, systems, and apparatuses are disclosed for ultrasound diagnostics using spread spectrum, coherent, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms that can exhibit wide instantaneous bandwidth.","In one aspect of the disclosed technology, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform in an acoustic imaging device includes setting a transmit/receive switch in the acoustic imaging device into a transmit mode to transmit an acoustic waveform toward a target, in transmitting the acoustic waveform, synthesizing, in one or more waveform synthesizers, a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms that form a composite waveform as the transmitted acoustic waveform toward the target, in which each waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band and the coded waveforms include at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms, setting the transmit/receive switch in the acoustic imaging device into a receive mode to receive a returned acoustic waveform that returns from at least part of the target, converting the received returned acoustic waveform from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information of the target, and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.","In another aspect, an acoustic waveform imaging system is provided to include waveform generation unit comprising one or more waveform synthesizers coupled to a waveform generator, wherein the waveform generation unit synthesizes a composite waveform comprising a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms corresponding to frequency bands that are generated by the one or more waveform synthesizers according to waveform information provided by the waveform generator, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; a transmit/receive switching unit that switches between a transmit mode and a receive mode; an array of transducer elements in communication with the transmit/receive switching unit that transmits an acoustic waveform based on the composite waveform toward a target and receives a returned acoustic waveform returned from at least part of the target; an array of analog to digital (A/D) converters to convert the received returned acoustic waveform received by the array of transducer elements from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information comprising information of the target; a controller unit in communication with the waveform generation unit and the array of A/D converters comprising a processing unit that processes the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target; and a user interface unit in communication with the controller unit.","In another aspect, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include setting a transmit/receive switch into transmit mode; selecting a mode of operation from a plurality of operating modes; synthesizing, in one or more waveform synthesizers, a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms that form a composite waveform, wherein each waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; transmitting an acoustic waveform based on the composite waveform toward a target; setting the transmit/receive switch into receive mode; receiving a returned acoustic waveform returned from at least part of the target; converting the received returned acoustic waveform from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information of the target; and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.","In another aspect, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include combining a plurality of coded waveforms corresponding to different frequency bands to produce a composite waveform comprising substantially orthogonal wave signals at the different frequency bands, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; using the composite waveform to produce an acoustic probe wave that includes the different frequency bands toward a target; receiving acoustic energy returned from at least part of the target after the acoustic probe wave is sent to the target; converting the received returned acoustic energy into a digital composite waveform comprising information of the target; and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.","In yet another aspect, a device for creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include means for combining a plurality of coded waveforms corresponding to different frequency bands to produce a composite waveform comprising substantially orthogonal wave signals at the different frequency bands, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; means for using the composite waveform to produce an acoustic probe wave that includes the different frequency bands toward a target; means for receiving acoustic energy returned from at least part of the target after the acoustic probe wave is sent to the target; means for converting the received returned acoustic energy into a digital composite waveform comprising information of the target; and means for processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.","The subject matter described in this patent document can provide one or more of the following features and be used in many applications.","For example, the disclosed technology can be used during routine primary care screenings to identify and locate early stage malignancies, as well as later stage cancers, which can potentially raise survival rates of hard to diagnose asymptomatic patients.","The disclosed technology can be used by board certified radiologists to diagnose neoplasms as benign or malignant prior to any surgical biopsy or resection intervention, which may also improve patient survival rate while reducing unnecessary biopsies.","The disclosed technology can, when integrated with a fine needle biopsy instrument, be used in medical procedures to confirm noninvasive diagnoses, which can reduce the level of invasiveness of such biopsy procedures.","The disclosed technology can, when integrated with minimally invasive surgical high definition video instrumentation, fuse optical and ultrasound images, which can further give surgeons added abilities to locate and surgically excise diseased tissue without excising excessive healthy tissue.","The disclosed technology can, when integrated with specialized surgical instrumentation, fusing ultrasound images with other data, can give surgeons added abilities to locate and manipulate anatomic areas of interest while minimizing unnecessary damage to nearby structures.","The disclosed technology can reduce the amount of time for the brachytherapy treatment of malignant neoplasms by, for example, precisely guiding the insertion of catheters and sealed radioactive sources into the proper location.","Similarly, the disclosed technology can aid insertion of high dose, localized pharmaceuticals for treatments of diseases."],["CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This patent document is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","15/236,229, filed on Aug. 12, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/604,612, filed on Jan. 23, 2015, now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,420,999, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","13/663,100, filed on Oct. 29, 2012, now U.S. Pat.","No.","8,939,909, which claims the benefit of priority of U.S.","Provisional Patent Application No.","61/553,137, filed on Oct. 28, 2011.The entire contents of the before-mentioned patent applications are incorporated by reference as part of the disclosure of this document.","TECHNICAL FIELD This patent document relates to systems and processes for ultrasound diagnostics.","BACKGROUND Ultrasound imaging is an imaging modality that employs the properties of sound waves traveling through a medium to render a visual image.","Ultrasound imaging has been used as an imaging modality for decades in a variety of biomedical fields to view internal structures and functions of animals and humans.","Ultrasound waves used in biomedical imaging may operate in different frequencies, e.g., between 1 and 20 MHz, or even higher frequencies.","Some factors including inadequate spatial resolution and tissue differentiation can lead to less than desirable image quality using conventional techniques of ultrasound imaging, which can limit its use for many clinical applications.","SUMMARY Techniques, systems, and apparatuses are disclosed for ultrasound diagnostics using spread spectrum, coherent, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms that can exhibit wide instantaneous bandwidth.","In one aspect of the disclosed technology, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform in an acoustic imaging device includes setting a transmit/receive switch in the acoustic imaging device into a transmit mode to transmit an acoustic waveform toward a target, in transmitting the acoustic waveform, synthesizing, in one or more waveform synthesizers, a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms that form a composite waveform as the transmitted acoustic waveform toward the target, in which each waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band and the coded waveforms include at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms, setting the transmit/receive switch in the acoustic imaging device into a receive mode to receive a returned acoustic waveform that returns from at least part of the target, converting the received returned acoustic waveform from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information of the target, and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.","In another aspect, an acoustic waveform imaging system is provided to include waveform generation unit comprising one or more waveform synthesizers coupled to a waveform generator, wherein the waveform generation unit synthesizes a composite waveform comprising a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms corresponding to frequency bands that are generated by the one or more waveform synthesizers according to waveform information provided by the waveform generator, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; a transmit/receive switching unit that switches between a transmit mode and a receive mode; an array of transducer elements in communication with the transmit/receive switching unit that transmits an acoustic waveform based on the composite waveform toward a target and receives a returned acoustic waveform returned from at least part of the target; an array of analog to digital (A/D) converters to convert the received returned acoustic waveform received by the array of transducer elements from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information comprising information of the target; a controller unit in communication with the waveform generation unit and the array of A/D converters comprising a processing unit that processes the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target; and a user interface unit in communication with the controller unit.","In another aspect, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include setting a transmit/receive switch into transmit mode; selecting a mode of operation from a plurality of operating modes; synthesizing, in one or more waveform synthesizers, a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms that form a composite waveform, wherein each waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; transmitting an acoustic waveform based on the composite waveform toward a target; setting the transmit/receive switch into receive mode; receiving a returned acoustic waveform returned from at least part of the target; converting the received returned acoustic waveform from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information of the target; and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.","In another aspect, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include combining a plurality of coded waveforms corresponding to different frequency bands to produce a composite waveform comprising substantially orthogonal wave signals at the different frequency bands, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; using the composite waveform to produce an acoustic probe wave that includes the different frequency bands toward a target; receiving acoustic energy returned from at least part of the target after the acoustic probe wave is sent to the target; converting the received returned acoustic energy into a digital composite waveform comprising information of the target; and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.","In yet another aspect, a device for creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include means for combining a plurality of coded waveforms corresponding to different frequency bands to produce a composite waveform comprising substantially orthogonal wave signals at the different frequency bands, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; means for using the composite waveform to produce an acoustic probe wave that includes the different frequency bands toward a target; means for receiving acoustic energy returned from at least part of the target after the acoustic probe wave is sent to the target; means for converting the received returned acoustic energy into a digital composite waveform comprising information of the target; and means for processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.","The subject matter described in this patent document can provide one or more of the following features and be used in many applications.","For example, the disclosed technology can be used during routine primary care screenings to identify and locate early stage malignancies, as well as later stage cancers, which can potentially raise survival rates of hard to diagnose asymptomatic patients.","The disclosed technology can be used by board certified radiologists to diagnose neoplasms as benign or malignant prior to any surgical biopsy or resection intervention, which may also improve patient survival rate while reducing unnecessary biopsies.","The disclosed technology can, when integrated with a fine needle biopsy instrument, be used in medical procedures to confirm noninvasive diagnoses, which can reduce the level of invasiveness of such biopsy procedures.","The disclosed technology can, when integrated with minimally invasive surgical high definition video instrumentation, fuse optical and ultrasound images, which can further give surgeons added abilities to locate and surgically excise diseased tissue without excising excessive healthy tissue.","The disclosed technology can, when integrated with specialized surgical instrumentation, fusing ultrasound images with other data, can give surgeons added abilities to locate and manipulate anatomic areas of interest while minimizing unnecessary damage to nearby structures.","The disclosed technology can reduce the amount of time for the brachytherapy treatment of malignant neoplasms by, for example, precisely guiding the insertion of catheters and sealed radioactive sources into the proper location.","Similarly, the disclosed technology can aid insertion of high dose, localized pharmaceuticals for treatments of diseases.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1A shows a block diagram of an exemplary ultrasound imaging system using spread spectrum coded waveforms.","FIG.","1B shows a chart for operation of an exemplary ultrasound imaging system using spread spectrum coded waveforms.","FIG.","2 shows a graph of an exemplary spread spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveform featuring a plurality of waveforms.","FIG.","3 shows ambiguity function characteristics of an exemplary spread spectrum coded waveform.","FIGS.","4A-4C show an exemplary diagram for beam steering, dynamic focusing, and forming.","FIG.","5 shows an exemplary block diagram for correlation processing of a spread spectrum coded waveform.","Like reference symbols and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION Techniques, systems, and apparatuses are described for generating, transmitting, receiving, and processing coherent spread spectrum frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms used in ultrasound diagnostics.","Ultrasound imaging can be performed by emitting a time-gated, single frequency or narrow instantaneous bandwidth acoustic waveform (pulse), which is partly reflected from a boundary between two mediums (e.g., biological tissue structures) and partially transmitted.","The reflection can depend on the acoustic impedance difference between the two mediums.","Ultrasound imaging by some techniques may only use amplitude information from the reflected signal.","For example, when one pulse is emitted, the reflected signal can be sampled continuously.","In biological tissue, sound velocity can be considered fairly constant, in which the time between the emission of a waveform and the reception of a reflected signal is dependent on the distance the waveform travels in that tissue structure (e.g., the depth of the reflecting structure).","Therefore, reflected signals may be sampled at multiple time intervals to receive the reflected signals being reflected from multiple depths.","Also, different tissues at the different depths can partially reflect the incident waveform with different amounts of energy, and thus the reflected signal from different mediums can have different amplitudes.","A corresponding ultrasound image can be constructed based on depth.","The time before a new waveform is emitted can therefore be dependent of the maximum depth that is desired to image.","Ultrasound imaging techniques employing pulsed monochromatic and/or narrow instantaneous bandwidth waveforms can suffer from poor resolution of image processing and production.","Yet, waveforms with spread spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth characteristics that can be coded (e.g., by frequency and/or phase) can enable real-time control of ultrasound imaging and higher quality resultant images.","FIG.","1A shows a block diagram of an exemplary ultrasound system (100) that can produce acoustic waveforms with enhanced waveform properties that include a spread-spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, coherency, pseudo-random noise characteristics, and frequency- and/or phase-coding.","System (100) can be configured in one of many system designs.","In one example, system (100) can include a Master Clock (101) for time synchronization.","The Master Clock (101) can be interfaced with a System Controller (102).","System Controller (102) can include a processing unit, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU) of RISC-based or other types of CPU architectures.","System Controller (102) can also include at least one input/output (I/O) unit(s) and/or memory unit(s), which are in communication with the processing unit, to support various functions of the System Controller (102).","For example, the processing unit can be associated with a system control bus, e.g., Data & Control Bus (103).","System Controller (102) can be implemented as one of various data processing architectures, such as a personal computer (PC), laptop, tablet, and mobile communication device architectures.","The memory unit(s) can store other information and data, such as instructions, software, values, images, and other data processed or referenced by the processing unit.","Various types of Random Access Memory (RAM) devices, Read Only Memory (ROM) devices, Flash Memory devices, and other suitable storage media can be used to implement storage functions of the memory unit(s).","The memory unit(s) can store pre-stored waveforms and coefficient data and information, which can be used in the implementation of generating a waveform, e.g., such as a spread-spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, coherent, pseudo-random noise, and frequency and/or phase-coded waveform.","The memory unit(s) can store data and information obtained from received and processed waveforms, which can be used to generate and transmit new waveforms.","The memory unit(s) can be associated with a system control bus, e.g., Data & Control Bus (103).","The I/O unit(s) can be connected to an external interface, source of data storage, and/or display device.","The I/O unit(s) can be associated with a system control bus, e.g., Data & Control Bus (103).","Various types of wired or wireless interfaces compatible with typical data communication standards, such as but not limited to Universal Serial Bus (USB), IEEE 1394 (FireWire), Bluetooth, IEEE 802.111, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN), Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN), WiMAX, IEEE 802.16 (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), and parallel interfaces, can be used to implement the I/O unit.","The I/O unit can interface with an external interface, source of data storage, or display device to retrieve and transfer data and information that can be processed by the processor unit, stored in the memory unit, or exhibited on an output unit.","System Controller (102) can control all of the modules of system (100), e.g., through connection via Data & Control Bus (103).","For example, Data & Control Bus (103) can link System Controller (102) to one or more attached digital signal processors, e.g., Digital Signal Processor (104), for processing waveforms for their functional control.","Digital Signal Processor (104) can include one or many processors, such as but not limited to ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit), FPGA (field-programmable gate array), DSP (digital signal processor), AsAP (asynchronous array of simple processors), and other types of data processing architectures.","Data & Control Bus (103) can also link System Controller (102), as well as Digital Signal Processor (104), to one or more display units with modules for user interfaces, e.g., Display (105) with a module User Interface (106) to provide information to a user or operator and to receive input/commands from the user or operator.","Display (105) can include many suitable display units, such as but not limited to cathode ray tube (CRT), light emitting diode (LED), and liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor and/or screen as a visual display.","Display (105) can also include various types of display, speaker, or printing interfaces.","In other examples, Display (105) can include other output apparatuses, such as toner, liquid inkjet, solid ink, dye sublimation, inkless (such as thermal or UV) printing apparatuses and various types of audio signal transducer apparatuses.","User Interface (106) can include many suitable interfaces including various types of keyboard, mouse, voice command, touch pad, and brain-machine interface apparatuses.","The exemplary system (100) can include Waveform Generator (107), which can be controlled by System Controller (102) for producing one or more digital waveforms.","The one or more digital waveforms can be generated as analog electronic signals (e.g., analog waveforms) by at least one element in an array of waveform synthesizers and beam controllers, e.g., represented in this example as Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108).","Waveform Generator (107) can be at least one of a function generator and an arbitrary waveform generator (AWG).","For example, Waveform Generator (107) can be configured as an AWG to generate arbitrary digital waveforms for Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) to synthesize as individual analog waveforms and/or a composite analog waveform.","Waveform Generator (107) can also include at least one memory unit(s) that can store pre-stored waveforms and coefficient data and information used in the generation of a digital waveform.","The exemplary system (100) shown in FIG.","1A includes Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) comprising I number of array elements.","In one example, Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) can be configured to include at least one waveform synthesizer element on each line of the I number of array waveform synthesizers.","In another example, Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) can include at least one beam controller element on each line of the I number of array beam controllers.","In another example, Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) can include at least one waveform synthesizer element and beam controller element on each line of the I number of array waveform synthesizers and beam controllers.","Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) can include a phase-lock loop system for generation of an electronic signal, e.g., a radio frequency (RF) waveform.","An exemplary RF waveform can be synthesized by Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) from individual waveforms generated in the array elements of Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108), e.g., one individual RF waveform can be generated in one array element substantially simultaneously to all other individual waveforms generated by the other array elements of Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108).","Each individual RF waveform can be defined for a particular frequency band, also referred to as a frequency component or ‘chip’, and the waveform properties of each individual waveform can be determined by Waveform Generator (107), which can include at least one amplitude value and at least one phase value corresponding to the chip.","Waveform Generator (107) can issue commands and send waveform data including information about each individual waveform's properties to Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) for generation of individual RF waveforms that can be composited into a composite RF waveform.","The individual RF waveforms and/or the composite RF waveform generated by Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) can be modified by Output Amplifiers (109), which includes an array of I number of amplifiers, e.g., by amplifying the gain and/or shifting the phase of a waveform.","Output Amplifiers (109) can be used as transducer drivers.","The individual RF waveforms and/or the composite RF waveform can be passed to Transmit/Receive (T/R) switch (110), e.g., an N-pole double-throw transmit/receive switch.","T/R Switch (110) that can be interfaced with a transducer module.","A generated RF waveform, e.g., the composite RF waveform and/or at least one individual RF waveform, that is to be transmitted into a target medium can be transduced into, for example, an acoustic wave by the transducer module that can include an array of transducer elements, e.g., Transducer Array (111) comprising I number of elements.","For example, the transduced acoustic wave can be emitted in the form of an acoustic waveform pulse.","Each array element of the Transducer Array (111) may generate one or more acoustic waveforms that correspond to the individual waveform chips determined by the Waveform Generator (107).","The exemplary transduced transmitted acoustic waveform can be transmitted toward a target area, e.g., biological tissue, and form a spatially combined acoustic waveform.","The transmitted waveform can propagate into the target medium, which for example, can have one or more inhomogeneous mediums that partially transmit and partially reflect the transmitted acoustic waveform.","Exemplary acoustic waveforms that are partially reflected, also referred to as returned acoustic waveforms, can be received by Transducer Array (111).","For example, each array element of I array elements of Transducer Array (111) can be configured to receive a returned acoustic waveform corresponding to the frequency chip and convert it to an analog RF waveform.","The individual received (analog) RF waveforms can be modified by Pre-Amplifier module (112), which includes an array of I number of amplifiers, e.g., by amplifying the gain and/or shifting the phase of a waveform.","The individual received waveforms can be converted from analog format to digital format by analog to digital (A/D) Converter module (113), which includes an array of I number of A/D converters.","A/D Converter module (113) can include A/D converters that have low least significant bit (LSB) jitter, spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) and waveform dependency, such that the exemplary waveforms can be adequately decoded.","The converted digital representations of the individual received waveforms can be processed by a processor, e.g., Digital Signal Processor (104), in manner that creates and forms a representative image of the target medium.","The exemplary system (100) can be operated in one of many operation modes.","In one example, Master Clock (101) can provide the time base for synchronizing the system (100), e.g., as a time base for the Waveform Synthesizers (108).","Master Clock (101) can be configured as a low phase noise clock such that the exemplary waveforms can be phase encoded.","An operator can select the mode of operation at User Interface (106).","Exemplary modes of operation provided for the user to select at the User Interface (106) include Conventional A-Mode (e.g., 1D Depth only image), Conventional B-Mode (e.g., 2D Plane image—transverse vs. depth), Conventional C-Mode (e.g., 2D Plane image at selected depth), and Conventional D-Modes (e.g., Doppler Modes).","Exemplary Doppler modes include Color Doppler (e.g.","superposition of color coded Doppler and B-mode images), Continuous Doppler (e.g., 1D Doppler profile vs. depth), Pulsed Wave Doppler (e.g., Doppler vs. time for selected volume), and Duplex/Triplex Doppler (e.g., superposition of Conventional B-Mode, Conventional C-Mode or Color Doppler, and Pulsed Wave Doppler).","Some other exemplary modes of operations can include Conventional 3D and 4D (“real time” 3D) volume renderings of the previously described modes of operations.","The exemplary system (100) can implement new modes of operation that can generate spread spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms.","For example, a user can select exemplary ATS-Modes (Artificial Tissue Staining Modes) that can comprise a B-Mode, a C-Mode, a D-Mode, or other mode combined with image color coding to aid tissue differentiation—analogous to tissue staining for microscopic histological studies; and exemplary CAD-Modes (Computer Aided Diagnostic Modes) that differentiate and identify tissue type.","ATS-Modes can employ the use of features for image color coding in image processing based on one or more of a number of measured properties that are obtained from the returned echo waveform from the target area, e.g., the returned echo from an exemplary transmitted spread spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, coded acoustic waveform.","CAD-Modes can use classifiers (algorithms) to classify, for example, tissue types based on features of the measured properties of the returned echo from the target area, e.g., the returned echo from an exemplary spread spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, coded acoustic waveforms.","The features properties can include differing impedances, amplitude reflections (as a function of wavelength), group delay, etc.","Some exemplary classifiers that can be employed using CAD-Modes can include deterministic classifiers, stochastic classifiers (e.g., Bayesian classifiers), and neural network classifiers.","FIG.","1B shows an exemplary operation process (150) for operating the system (100) for ultrasound imaging.","For each time epoch, process (150) can begin by implementing process (151) to switch system (100) in transmit mode.","For example, the System Controller (102) can command an N-pole double-throw T/R switch, e.g., T/R Switch (110), to transmit position.","Process (150) includes a process (152) to check a user-defined mode of operation.","For example, mode of operation can be selected by a user using User Interface (106), or the mode of operation can be selected by another entity or internally within system (100).","Based on the selected operation mode, System Controller (102) can command Waveform Generator (107) to issue a digital message (data) to one or more elements in Waveform Synthesizers and Beam Controllers (108) that defines the frequency, amplitude and phase of each of the frequency chips that form a desired wideband composite RF waveform commanded, e.g., implemented in a process (153).","Process (152) can occur anywhere and implemented in multiple instances during process (150).","Process (150) includes a process (153) to issue waveform data (e.g., the exemplary digital message/data) to waveform synthesizers and beam formers, such as the Waveform Synthesizers and Beam Controllers (108).","The issued waveform data can include the frequency, amplitude and phase information of the desired frequency chips that are synthesized as frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms, in which each coded waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band.","Process (150) includes a process (154) to generate individual analog RF waveforms that correspond to defined frequency chips.","For example, each element in the array of Waveform Synthesizers and Beam Controllers (108) can convert the digital message/data from the Waveform Generator (107) into individual analog waveforms that can make up a coherent analog wideband composite waveform.","Process (150) includes a process (155) to amplify the individual analog waveforms that can make up a coherent analog wideband composite waveform.","For example, each analog waveform and/or wideband composite waveform can be amplified by an array element in Output Amplifier (109).","The amplified analog wideband composite waveform can then pass through the T/R Switch (110) and excite its respective array element of the Transducer Array (111) (e.g., in an ultrasound probe).","Process (150) includes a process (156) to transduce the composite analog waveform to an acoustic waveform that can propagate throughout the scanned volume.","For example, each element of the Transducer Array (111) can provide an acoustic waveform from each of the individual analog waveform corresponding to the frequency chip generated in Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) that makes up the wideband composite acoustic waveform.","Transducer Array (111) can form the acoustic beam that propagates into the target medium, e.g., biological tissue volume under study.","At the end of process (156), process (150) can implement process (157) to switch system (100) in receive mode.","For example, the System Controller (102) can command the N-pole double-throw T/R Switch (110) to receive position.","Process (150) includes a process (158) to receive a returned acoustic waveform, which can be in the form of one or more returned acoustic waveforms (also referred to as acoustic waveform echoes).","Process (158) can also include transducing the returned acoustic waveform echo(es) into individual received analog waveforms, e.g., corresponding to the frequency chips of the generated individual waveforms.","For example, the returned acoustic waveform propagates back to and is received by Transducer Array (111).","Each element of Transducer Array (111) can convert the received acoustic waveform it receives into an analog signal (waveform).","Process (150) includes a process (159) to amplify the individual received analog waveforms.","For example, each received analog waveform can be amplified by its respective low noise pre-amplifier element in Pre-Amplifier module (112).","Process (150) includes a process (160) to convert the individual received analog waveforms into digital waveform data.","For example, each received (and amplified) analog waveform signal can be converted into a digital word by each respective A/D element in A/D Converter module (113).","The digital format data can be sent to Digital Signal Processor (104) for signal processing.","Process (150) includes a process (161) to process the digital waveform data into image frames representative of the target medium.","Process (161) can also include compositing the digital waveform data into a composite digital signal representing the individual and composite received analog waveform.","For example, Digital Signal Processor (104) can detect the amplitude and phase of each of the frequency chips that comprise the wideband composite acoustic waveform received by each of the transducer array elements.","Digital Signal Processor (104) can form the received beam and separate the amplitude and Doppler components of each resolution element of the beam, and can form an image frame associated with mode previously selected by operator.","The image frame formed by Digital Signal Processor (104) can be displayed on Display (105) to the user.","For other subsequent time epochs, System Controller (102) can repeat this exemplary process, e.g., by commanding Waveform Generator (107) to issue to each element in Waveform Synthesizers (108) another digital message that defines the amplitude and phase of each of the frequency chips that comprise the wideband composite waveform and by commanding T/R Switch (110) back to transmit position, etc.","The system (100) can be implemented to produce spread-spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth (e.g., up to 100% or more of fractional bandwidth), coherent, pseudo-random noise (PRN), frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms for ultrasound imaging.","There are limitless embodiments of such waveforms.","One example is featured in FIG.","2, which shows an exemplary plot of a generated composite waveform (200) that is comprised of a plurality of individual waveforms (e.g., frequency chips).","In some implementations, the individual waveforms of the composite waveform (200) can be PRN waveforms including a sequence of pulses for each frequency chip that repeats itself after a sequence or code period (T), e.g., such that the sequence has a very low correlation with any other sequence in the set of frequency chips, or with the same sequence at a significantly different time frame, or with narrow band interference or thermal noise.","For example, the system (100) can generate exactly the same sequences of the exemplary PRN waveforms at both the transmitter and the receiver ends, so a received signal sequence (based on the transmitted signal sequence) can exhibit a high correlation for signal processing to produce an acoustic image of the target.","As shown in FIG.","2, an exemplary individual waveform or chip (201) of the composite waveform (200) corresponds to the frequency chip fN−2 that is transmitted during a transmit period T beginning at time frame to, e.g., as described in the process (156) in FIG.","1B.","As shown in FIG.","2, following the transmit period T, a receive time interval TR is exhibited, in which returned acoustic waveform echoes are received as described in the process (158) in FIG.","1B.","The transmit period T and the receive time interval TR form a frame period Tf, which can be repeated in subsequent time frames (t1, t2, t3, .",".",".",").","The exemplary composite waveform (200) can be represented by an equation for waveform, W, which can be represented in the time domain as a complex number, given by Equation (1): W ( t ) = ∑ k ∑ n A n e j ( 2 π n f 0 t + Φ nk + C n ) U ( t - kT f ) ( 1 ) W is comprised of M individual orthogonal waveforms (e.g., orthogonal frequency chips), where j=−√{square root over (−1)}.","In Equation (1), T represents the chip duration or period of the coded sequence, and f0 represents the fundamental chip frequency, such that f0=1/NT, and in which Nf0 is the maximum frequency and (M−N+1)f0 is the minimum frequency.","n represents a sequence of positive integers from N−M+1 to N. The waveform repetition frequency is 1/Tf, with Tf being the duration of a frame or epoch, and U(x)=1 for 0≤x≤Tf.","Φnk represents the frequency chip phase term of the nth chip in the kth time epoch, and An is the amplitude of the nth chip.","The frequency chip phase term Φnk can be a pseudo-random phase term, in which a pseudo-randomly scrambled starting phase Φnk is a random number in the set {Ink2π/N}, where Ink is a sequence of random, positive integers selected without replacement from the series I=0, 1, 2, 3, .",".",".",", N, with N being a large number.","Cn, which is an additive phase term, is a number between 0 and 2π.","For example, the frequency chip phase pseudo-random values Φnk can be pre-stored in an exemplary database within a memory unit of System Controller (102) and/or Waveform Generator (107).","The composite waveform, W, can be formed by synthesizing substantially orthogonal coded waveforms (e.g., frequency chips), in which each coded waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band, and the coded waveforms includes at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms, e.g., the coded waveforms synthesized in the Waveform Synthesizers (108).","The coded waveforms can be synthesized as frequency-coded waveforms by selecting two or more frequencies that define the carrier frequencies of the frequency chips (e.g., including selecting the minimum and maximum frequency) and determining the An amplitude values of the frequency chips.","The synthesis of the frequency-coded can also include determining a time-bandwidth product (Mf0T) parameter of each waveform of the coded waveforms.","In some implementations, the amplitude for a particular frequency chip can be determined as a single value for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch and repeated in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.","In other implementations, the amplitude for a particular frequency chip can be determined as a single value for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch and assigned a different single value in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.","And in other implementations, the amplitude for a particular frequency chip can be determined to include multiple amplitude values for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch, in which the multiple values of the An can be repeated or varied in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.","The selection of the range of frequencies from the maximum frequency (Nf0) to the minimum frequency ((M-N+1)f0) plus the set of individual waveform amplitude terms (An) can utilize one of many known code sequences (e.g.","including pushing sequences, Barker Codes, etc.)","or, for example, utilize a numerical search on pseudo-random codes or any other codes for minimum ambiguity sidelobes.","The coded waveforms can additionally or alternatively be synthesized as phase-coded waveforms by determining individual waveform phase terms (Φnk) of each waveform of the coded waveforms.","For example, to provide variation of the composite waveform, W, the phase Φnk can include one or more phase values for a frequency chip within the transmit period T. In some implementations, the phase Φnk for a particular frequency chip can be determined as a single value for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch and repeated in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.","In other implementations, the phase Φnk for a particular frequency chip can be determined as a single value for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch and assigned a different single value in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.","And in other implementations, the phase Φnk for a particular frequency chip can be determined to include multiple values for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch, in which the multiple values of the Φnk can be repeated or varied in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.","For example, the waveform (201) in the first time epoch (t0) can include a first phase ΦA, for example, as its phase shift for the beginning portion of the transmit period T and a second phase ΦB, for example, as its phase shift for the latter portion of the transmit period T. The waveform (201) in the next time epoch (t1) can repeat the exemplary phases ΦA and ΦB as its beginning and latter phase shifts or include another phase shift sequence (e.g., such as ΦA, ΦB, ΦC, or such as ΦB and ΦA, or other configurations).","The synthesis of the frequency-coded can also include determining a time-bandwidth product (Mf0T) parameter of each waveform of the coded waveforms.","An exemplary transmitted waveform, W, can be comprised of the set of M individual waveforms that are orthogonal and completely span the frequency range fN−M+1 to fN, as seen in FIG.","2.The parameter N can be chosen to be a large number to give W a wide instantaneous bandwidth.","In the special case when the lowest frequency fN−M+1=1/T, then W can describe any wideband waveform that may be contained within this range of frequencies.","For any waveform among the M individual waveforms, one or more phases (e.g., Φnk) can be encoded in a single waveform during the interval T. Additionally, any waveform among the M individual waveforms can include multiple amplitudes encoded in a single waveform.","This can be implemented by amplitude weighting and phase weighting.","The family of individual waveforms described by Equation (1) can form a coherent, pseudo-random noise, frequency- and/or phase-coded, spread spectrum composite waveform.","Based on the selection of parameters, the individual waveforms can be made to be statistically orthogonal to any degree desired.","For example, the sidelobe levels of the ambiguity function, described later in Equation (2), for a given waveform represents the degree of orthogonality of that waveform.","By determining particular parameters of the waveforms, medical ultrasound image resolution can be significantly improved.","For example, parameters that affect the resolution of medical ultrasound images include the time-bandwidth product (Mf0T) parameter, which determines the inherent combined axial range (e.g., Doppler resolution) and the speckle reduction ability of the waveform, and the individual waveform phase terms (Φnk), which determine the statistical degree of orthogonality, e.g., which in turn determines the degree that the waveform can function in inhomogeneous media of biological tissues.","For example, the lower the sidelobes, the greater the orthogonality and greater the resolution (less noise).","The selection of the set of individual waveform phase terms (Φnk) can utilize one of many known code sequences (e.g.","including Barker, Frank, Golay, etc.)","or, for example, utilize a numerical search on pseudo-random codes or any other codes for minimum ambiguity sidelobes.","In some implementations, the composite waveform (200), e.g., described by Equation (1), can be a single wideband, coherent, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveform.","For example, based on the selection of parameters, the single waveform can be made to be statistically orthogonal to any other signal waveform or noise signal present in the target medium.","The parameter An, which is the amplitude of the nth chip, and Cn, which is an additive phase term, in combination can provide pre-emphasis of the analog signal that excites each individual element of Transducer Array (111) to produce a transmitted acoustic waveform that has the desired amplitude and phase characteristics over the frequency range of W. Pre-emphasis of the transmitted waveform can compensate for both the non-constant amplitude and phase response of transducer elements as a function of frequency, and the non-uniform propagation characteristics of intervening tissue layers.","For example, the pre-emphasis terms can provide an acoustic waveform that has equal amplitude chips with constant (e.g., flat) amplitude and a known phase versus frequency characteristic.","Such constant amplitude versus frequency acoustic waveforms can be referred to as ‘white’ waveforms.","Alternatively, if pre-emphasis is not provided, then the transmitted acoustic waveform can replicate the frequency response of the transducer, and such waveforms are referred to as ‘colored’ waveforms.","De-emphasis of the received waveform can permit determination of the reflection characteristic of the target medium's volume, e.g., biological tissue volume.","By inspection, single frequency modes (e.g., Conventional A-, B- and C-Mode), due to their monochromatic nature, do not need pre-emphasis.","Such single frequency waveforms may require amplitude control, for example, to ensure biologically safe sound intensity limits.","If the phase of each chip is random, the transmitted waveform, W, can have random noise-like characteristics.","If the phases (Φnk+Cn) of each chip are uniquely determined, repeatable and synchronized to the Master Clock (as shown in FIG.","1A), the transmitted waveform, W, can be classified as pseudo-random noise.","Such pseudo-random noise waveforms are coherent permitting implementation of coherent receivers.","Image processing advantages of wide instantaneous bandwidth, pseudo-random noise waveforms can include reduction, with proper waveform selection, and potential elimination of speckle, e.g., speckles/speckle patterns, which are random intensity patterns produced by the mutual interference waveforms, which are commonly associated with conventional medical ultrasound images.","This exemplary reduction in speckle can be an analogous comparison of a scene illuminated by wide band, Gaussian noise-like white light, which has no observable speckle to narrow band laser illumination with exhibits strong speckle of the same scene.","Signal processing advantages of coherent, pseudo-random noise, frequency- and phase-coded waveforms can include waveforms having very low time and Doppler sidelobes.","For example, an ambiguity function, A(τ,υ), can be a two-dimensional representation that shows the distortion of a received waveform processed by a matched filter in the receiver due to the effect of Doppler shift (υ) or propagation delay (τ).","Specifically, the exemplary ambiguity function A(τ,υ) is defined by Equation (2) and is determined solely by the waveform properties and the receiver characteristics and not by the scenario.","The ambiguity function of A(τ,υ) is defined by A ( τ , υ ) = ∫ - ∞ + ∞ X a ( t ) X b * ( t - τ ) e j 2 π υ t where X k ( t ) = 1 T e j [ 2 π f k ( t - t k ) + Φ k ] , for 0 ≤ t ≤ T , X k ( t ) = 0 otherwise .","( 2 ) For waveforms of the type described by Equation (1), the following equation can be obtained: A ( τ , υ , t , f n , Φ n , f m , Φ m , T ) = ( 1 - τ - ( Δ t ) T ) Sin [ 2 π ( Δ f ) ( T - Δ t ) ] [ 2 π ( Δ f ) ( T - Δ t ) ] e j 2 π [ Δ f ( T + Δ t ) - f n Δ t + υ t + ΔΦ ] ( 3 ) where Δt=τ−t, Δf=υ−(fn−fm), and ΔΦ=Φn−Φm, which can result in the complete ambiguity equation shown in Equation (4): x ( τ , υ ) = 1 M ∑ n ∑ m A ( τ , υ , t , f n , Φ n , f m , Φ m , T ) ( 4 ) where both n and m are a sequence of positive integers from N−M+1 to N. FIG.","3 shows exemplary ambiguity function characteristics of a pseudo-random noise, frequency-coded waveform (301), represented by an equation for waveform, W. The exemplary coded waveform (301) includes a code length of 128.As shown in FIG.","3, the sidelobes (302) of this ambiguity function are due to chip-to-chip phase interactions and have a plateau level below the peak that is a function of N2.By inspection, many waveforms (W) are possible depending on the specific random number codes (Ink) selected.","However, the sidelobe performance cannot be guaranteed for every waveform defined, and therefore only those codes which give sufficiently low sidelobes as determined by a numerical search of a set of possible codes should be used.","For example, in medical ultrasound applications, living tissue as a propagation medium is inhomogeneous.","Propagation medium inhomogeneity can introduce differential time delays, and living tissue can introduce unwanted motion induced Doppler.","Ultrasound transducer arrays also can have undesirable side lobes and grating lobes (e.g., due to physical size limitations) in the off axis portions of ultrasound beam that add unwanted time delay and Doppler returns to the returns of the main lobe.","Waveforms that exhibit low ambiguity function sidelobes can significantly improve focusing and target contrast due through the reduction interference from differential time delays, motion induced Doppler, transducer side lobe effects.","Coherent pseudo-random noise, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms can enable higher order cross range focusing techniques to be employed that can improve the lateral resolution of size limited ultrasound transducer arrays, e.g., medical ultrasound transducer arrays.","For example, each biological tissue type and each diseased tissue types may exhibit their own unique ultrasound echo return as a function of frequency and spatial morphology.","Using conventional Elastograph-Mode (E-Mode) modalities, it can be difficult to take advantage of such properties to classify tissues, e.g., due to measurement errors such as the inability to accurately characterize the ultrasound wave propagation through overlaying inhomogeneous media.","Exemplary waveforms produced by the exemplary system (100), e.g., wide instantaneous bandwidth, coherent pseudo-random noise, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms, can enable tissue differentiation by simultaneously determining the propagation delay for each acoustic ray through intervening tissue layers and accurately determining the spatial echo features of the target volume under investigation.","Classifiers, one example being Bayesian inference Classifiers among others, can be applied to the feature data obtained from the measured characteristics of the received echo to automatically classify tissue types observed in the target volume providing a Computer Aided Diagnostic-Mode (CAD-Mode).","Unlike conventional E-Modes, which inherently have significantly reduced image quality and rely on individual operator technique, the exemplary waveforms described by Equation (1) can inherently provide improved image quality while simultaneously colorizing the resultant image by tissue type in the ATS and/or CAD-Modes.","With this advantage, user technique can be mitigated and the margins of a lesion are discernible thus permitting improved diagnoses.","In addition, Waveform Synthesizers (108) positioned on transmit and Digital Signal Processor (104) positioned on receive (as shown in FIG.","1A), can also perform beam control (e.g., beam steering, dynamic beam focusing, and beam forming) functions.","FIGS.","4A-4C show the basics of these digital electronic functions by introducing a differential time delay, or equivalently a phase shift, and amplitude weighting between each of the elements of the phased array.","As can be seen in FIG.","4A, the differential phase shift can compensate for the differential change in distance (d) each acoustic ray (r1, r2, .",".",".","ri, .",".",". )","travels from ith element to the point of focus (p).","An angle (θ) is formed as the point of focus (p) is not along the z-axis direction of direct aim/alignment of the Transducer Array (111) toward a target in the target medium.","Additionally, a differential amplitude weight can be applied to each element to control the beam shape and suppress side and grating lobes.","Also, for one or more chips in an exemplary waveform, Waveform Generator (107) can pre-encode a phase delay to delay the phase of the one or more chips transmitted at each transducer element in Transducer Array (111).","An exemplary result of this feature can be seen in FIGS.","4B and 4C.","The exemplary phase delay values for the one or more chips can be communicated to Digital Signal Processor (104) and/or System Controller (102) to incorporate the phase delay values in the signal processing of the received composite waveform.","For narrow instantaneous bandwidth ultrasound devices, this function can be accomplished by introducing phase shift and amplitude attenuation on the composite analog signal driving each element.","However, for the exemplary spread-spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, frequency- and phase-coded waveforms generated by system (100), each individual chip of the waveform (Wi) is individually amplitude weighted (Bni) and phase weighted (Dni) as a function of frequency (n) for each array element (i) individually for all I elements, as indicated by Equation (5).","W i ( t ) = ∑ k ∑ n A n B ni e j ( 2 π nf 0 t + Φ nk + C n + D ni ) U ( t - kT f ) ( 5 ) On transmit, the amplitude and phase weighting required of each chip can be computed by the System Controller (102) and can be sent as an instruction to the Waveform Generator (107).","Waveform Generator (107) can then send the digital words (real and imaginary components) to the Waveform Synthesizers and Beam Controller (108) that produces the analog drive signal that is amplified by Amplifier (109) and sent to each element of the array of Transducer Array (111).","On receive, the reverse process takes place.","The A/D Converter module (113) can send the digital words that represent the amplitude and phase information of each chip for each array element to the Digital Signal Processor (104), which in turn can digitally form the receive beam for each chip.","A multitude of ways can be used to process the received waveforms, e.g., wide-bandwidth, spread-spectrum, frequency and/or phase-coded waveforms.","FIG.","5 shows an exemplary correlation processing technique.","For example, an input to the exemplary correlation processing technique can include a digitized received signal, Yi(τ,υ), which can be multiplied by the complex conjugate replica of the transmitted digital waveform, Wi*(τ).","The complex conjugate replica Wi*(τ) can be time shifted by 1·τ0 to prior to multiplication.","This multiplication operation can be repeated multiple times for multiple time shifts, e.g., J times, as seen in FIG.","5.The multiple multiplication operations for the multiple time shifts can be repeated in parallel, but for each operation the replica is shifted in time by an increment, τ0, from the previous one, as shown in the figure.","For each time step, the resultant products can be filtered with a window function, such as a Hann, Hamming, Tukey, Kaiser Bessel, Dolph-Chebyshev, Blackman-Harris window, etc., a fast Fourier Transform (FFT) integrator, and passed through a digital filter.","For example, a digital filter of a type that is dependent of the specific waveform, W, can be employed to filter and decimate the inputted signal.","The exemplary process can result in the range-Doppler return for each individual ith element of the transducer array.","The output data stream from the exemplary detection algorithm can then be processed using conventional techniques to form an image for display.","The processed range and Doppler data and/or waveforms can be further processed by partitioning the I number of transducer elements into two or more subarrays.","The processed range-Doppler return for the ith element can be weighted in amplitude and/or phase depending on which subarray that ith element belongs.","These weighted returns can then be summed and differenced.","These sum and differences can then be processed to improve the cross range image resolution of the system.","Several applications and uses of the disclosed technology can be implemented to exploit the described features of the aforementioned systems, methods, and devices.","Some examples are described for clinical use of the disclosed technology.","In one exemplary application, the resultant image quality, the ATS and CAD modes of an exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device can enable the primary care physician to incorporate this modality into a routine examination screening protocol to locate early stage malignancies (e.g., Stage 0 or 1), as well as later stage cancers.","As the result of this application, the device can potentially, for example, enhance the survival rate of hard to diagnose asymptomatic patients suffering from such malignancies such as stomach, pancreatic, bladder cancers, etc.","In another exemplary application, the resultant image quality, ATS and CAD modes of an exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device can permit board certified radiologists to diagnose neoplasms as benign or malignant prior to any surgical biopsy or resection intervention.","As a result of this application, the ability of radiologists to locate and diagnose early stage malignancies (e.g., Stage 0 or 1) can potentially improve patient survival rate.","Additionally, unnecessary biopsies can potentially be avoided, along with their attendant risk of hard to treat or even lethal complications such as, for example, methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA staph) infections.","In another exemplary application, the resultant 3D image quality of an exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device and its 4D imaging capability can be used in fine needle biopsy and other medical procedures.","For example, the exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device can be integrated into an exemplary fine needle biopsy instrument (e.g., with the device's transducer probe), which can permit the fine needle biopsy of very small, early stage (e.g., Stage 0 or 1) neoplasms to confirm noninvasive diagnoses.","As a result of this application, the ability of surgeons to avoid open biopsies and the potential for hard to treat and lethal complications that may result is clearly beneficial to the patient.","In another exemplary application, the integration of this device's spread spectrum transducer probe with minimally invasive surgical high definition video instrumentation can permit the fusing of the optical and ultrasound images.","Given the improved 3D image quality of this spread spectrum ultrasound device, its 4D imaging capability, the ATS and CAD modes, such fused video and ultrasound images can give surgeons the added ability to locate and surgically excise diseased tissue without excising excessive healthy tissue.","In another exemplary application, given the improved 3D image quality of this spread spectrum ultrasound device, its 4D imaging capability, and its ATS modes, an exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device can reduce the amount of time for the brachytherapy treatment of malignant neoplasms by precisely guiding the insertion of catheters and sealed radioactive sources into the proper location.","The application of this spread spectrum ultrasound device to brachytherapy can be especially useful for the treatment of small, hard to locate neoplasms and their margins.","In another exemplary application, given the improved 3D image quality of this spread spectrum ultrasound device, its 4D imaging capability, and its ATS modes, an exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device can enable the effective insertion of high dose, localized pharmaceutical treatments of diseases by precisely guiding the insertion of catheters and pharmaceuticals into the proper location.","The application of this spread spectrum ultrasound device to brachytherapy can be especially useful for the treatment of small, hard to locate neoplasms.","Implementations of the subject matter and the functional operations described in this specification, such as various modules, can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them.","Implementations of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented as one or more computer program products, e.g., one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a tangible and non-transitory computer readable medium for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus.","The computer readable medium can be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition of matter affecting a machine-readable propagated signal, or a combination of one or more of them.","The term “data processing apparatus” encompasses all apparatus, devices, and machines for processing data, including by way of example a programmable processor, a computer, or multiple processors or computers.","The apparatus can include, in addition to hardware, code that creates an execution environment for the computer program in question, e.g., code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database management system, an operating system, or a combination of one or more of them.","A computer program (also known as a program, software, software application, script, or code) can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as a stand alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment.","A computer program does not necessarily correspond to a file in a file system.","A program can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup language document), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules, sub programs, or portions of code).","A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are located at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.","The processes and logic flows described in this specification can be performed by one or more programmable processors executing one or more computer programs to perform functions by operating on input data and generating output.","The processes and logic flows can also be performed by, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit).","Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, such as, for example, digital signal processors (DSP), and any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer.","Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read only memory or a random access memory or both.","The essential elements of a computer are a processor for performing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data.","Generally, a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto optical disks, or optical disks.","However, a computer need not have such devices.","Computer readable media suitable for storing computer program instructions and data include all forms of non volatile memory, media and memory devices, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices.","The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.","While this patent document contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any invention or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments of particular inventions.","Certain features that are described in this patent document in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment.","Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.","Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.","Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results.","In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.","Moreover, the separation of various system components in the embodiments described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments.","Only a few implementations and examples are described and other implementations, enhancements and variations can be made based on what is described and illustrated in this patent document."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"SPREAD SPECTRUM CODED WAVEFORMS IN ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTICS\",\n \"Techniques, systems, and devices are disclosed for ultrasound diagnostics using spread spectrum, coherent, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms.\",\n \"In one aspect, a method includes synthesizing individual orthogonal coded waveforms to form a composite waveform for transmission toward a biological material of interest, in which the synthesized individual orthogonal coded waveforms correspond to distinct frequency bands and include one or both of frequency-coded or phase-coded waveforms; transmitting a composite acoustic waveform toward the biological material of interest, where the transmitting includes transducing the individual orthogonal coded waveforms into corresponding acoustic waveforms to form the composite acoustic waveform; receiving acoustic waveforms returned from at least part of the biological material of interest corresponding to at least some of the transmitted acoustic waveforms that form the composite acoustic waveform; and processing the received returned acoustic waveforms to produce an image of at least part of the biological material of interest.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.An acoustic imaging system, comprising: a waveform generation unit comprising one or more waveform synthesizers and amplifiers coupled to a waveform generator, wherein the waveform generation unit synthesizes a composite waveform comprising individual orthogonal coded waveforms corresponding to distinct frequency bands that are generated by the one or more waveform synthesizers according to waveform information provided by the waveform generator, wherein the individual orthogonal coded waveforms include one or both of frequency-coded or phase-coded waveforms; a transmitter array of transducer elements in communication with the waveform generation unit to transmit acoustic waveforms forming a composite acoustic waveform based on drive signals produced from the individual orthogonal coded waveforms toward a biological material, wherein the transmitter array of transducer elements is partitioned into two or more subarrays such that at least one of the two or more subarrays is individually amplitude weighted and at least one of the two or more subarrays is individually phase weighted for at least one frequency band of the frequency bands corresponding to the transmitted acoustic waveforms and combined, thereby providing enhanced cross-range resolution; a receiver array of transducer elements to receive returned acoustic waveforms returned from at least part of the biological material, wherein the received returned acoustic waveforms correspond to at least some of the transmitted acoustic waveforms of the composite acoustic waveform, wherein the receiver array of transducer elements is partitioned into two or more subarrays such that at least one of the two or more subarrays is individually amplitude weighted and at least one of the two or more subarrays is individually phase weighted for at least one frequency band of the frequency bands corresponding to the received returned acoustic waveforms and combined, thereby providing enhanced cross-range resolution; and a controller unit in communication with the waveform generation unit and the transmitter and receiver arrays, the controller unit including a processing unit to process the received returned acoustic waveforms to produce an image of at least part of the biological material.\",\n \"2.The system of claim 1, further comprising: a user interface unit including a display and in communication with the controller unit to display the produced image.\",\n \"3.The system of claim 2, wherein the user interface unit includes one or more user interface devices in communication with the controller unit to receive input from an operator of the system.\",\n \"4.The system of claim 3, wherein the input includes a mode of operation, including: an ATS-Mode (Artificial Tissue Staining Mode) for imaging biological tissue that enables image color coding based on at least one feature of one or more measured properties that are obtained from the returned acoustic waveforms, or a CAD-Mode (Computer Aided Diagnostic Mode) for imaging biological tissue that uses one or more algorithmic classifiers to classify biological tissue types using at least one feature of one or more measured properties that are obtained from the returned acoustic waveforms.\",\n \"5.The system of claim 2, wherein the display of the user interface unit is operable to display a color coded image of the biological tissue based on the classified biological tissue types.\",\n \"6.The system of claim 1, further comprising: an array of analog to digital (A/D) converters in communication with the receiver array and the controller unit to convert the received returned acoustic waveforms from analog format to digital format.\",\n \"7.The system of claim 2, wherein the transmitter array and the receiver array include the same transducer elements, and the system further comprises: a transmit/receive switching unit in communication with the waveform generation unit and the transmitter and receiver arrays to switch between a transmit mode to transmit the acoustic waveforms and a receive mode to receive the returned acoustic waveforms.\",\n \"8.The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more amplifiers of the waveform generation unit are communicatively coupled between the transmit/receive switching unit and the one or more waveform synthesizers to modify the individual orthogonal coded waveforms of the composite waveform.\",\n \"9.The system of claim 7, further comprising: an array of analog to digital (A/D) converters in communication with the receiver array and the controller unit to convert the received returned acoustic waveforms from analog format to digital format; and an array of one or more pre-amplifiers configured between the transmit/receive switching unit and the array of A/D converters that modifies the received returned acoustic waveforms.\",\n \"10.The system of claim 1, wherein each of the phase-coded waveforms includes a frequency chip phase component that a pseudo-random number.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Ultrasound imaging is an imaging modality that employs the properties of sound waves traveling through a medium to render a visual image.\",\n \"Ultrasound imaging has been used as an imaging modality for decades in a variety of biomedical fields to view internal structures and functions of animals and humans.\",\n \"Ultrasound waves used in biomedical imaging may operate in different frequencies, e.g., between 1 and 20 MHz, or even higher frequencies.\",\n \"Some factors including inadequate spatial resolution and tissue differentiation can lead to less than desirable image quality using conventional techniques of ultrasound imaging, which can limit its use for many clinical applications.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Techniques, systems, and apparatuses are disclosed for ultrasound diagnostics using spread spectrum, coherent, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms that can exhibit wide instantaneous bandwidth.\",\n \"In one aspect of the disclosed technology, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform in an acoustic imaging device includes setting a transmit/receive switch in the acoustic imaging device into a transmit mode to transmit an acoustic waveform toward a target, in transmitting the acoustic waveform, synthesizing, in one or more waveform synthesizers, a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms that form a composite waveform as the transmitted acoustic waveform toward the target, in which each waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band and the coded waveforms include at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms, setting the transmit/receive switch in the acoustic imaging device into a receive mode to receive a returned acoustic waveform that returns from at least part of the target, converting the received returned acoustic waveform from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information of the target, and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.\",\n \"In another aspect, an acoustic waveform imaging system is provided to include waveform generation unit comprising one or more waveform synthesizers coupled to a waveform generator, wherein the waveform generation unit synthesizes a composite waveform comprising a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms corresponding to frequency bands that are generated by the one or more waveform synthesizers according to waveform information provided by the waveform generator, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; a transmit/receive switching unit that switches between a transmit mode and a receive mode; an array of transducer elements in communication with the transmit/receive switching unit that transmits an acoustic waveform based on the composite waveform toward a target and receives a returned acoustic waveform returned from at least part of the target; an array of analog to digital (A/D) converters to convert the received returned acoustic waveform received by the array of transducer elements from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information comprising information of the target; a controller unit in communication with the waveform generation unit and the array of A/D converters comprising a processing unit that processes the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target; and a user interface unit in communication with the controller unit.\",\n \"In another aspect, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include setting a transmit/receive switch into transmit mode; selecting a mode of operation from a plurality of operating modes; synthesizing, in one or more waveform synthesizers, a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms that form a composite waveform, wherein each waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; transmitting an acoustic waveform based on the composite waveform toward a target; setting the transmit/receive switch into receive mode; receiving a returned acoustic waveform returned from at least part of the target; converting the received returned acoustic waveform from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information of the target; and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.\",\n \"In another aspect, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include combining a plurality of coded waveforms corresponding to different frequency bands to produce a composite waveform comprising substantially orthogonal wave signals at the different frequency bands, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; using the composite waveform to produce an acoustic probe wave that includes the different frequency bands toward a target; receiving acoustic energy returned from at least part of the target after the acoustic probe wave is sent to the target; converting the received returned acoustic energy into a digital composite waveform comprising information of the target; and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.\",\n \"In yet another aspect, a device for creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include means for combining a plurality of coded waveforms corresponding to different frequency bands to produce a composite waveform comprising substantially orthogonal wave signals at the different frequency bands, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; means for using the composite waveform to produce an acoustic probe wave that includes the different frequency bands toward a target; means for receiving acoustic energy returned from at least part of the target after the acoustic probe wave is sent to the target; means for converting the received returned acoustic energy into a digital composite waveform comprising information of the target; and means for processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.\",\n \"The subject matter described in this patent document can provide one or more of the following features and be used in many applications.\",\n \"For example, the disclosed technology can be used during routine primary care screenings to identify and locate early stage malignancies, as well as later stage cancers, which can potentially raise survival rates of hard to diagnose asymptomatic patients.\",\n \"The disclosed technology can be used by board certified radiologists to diagnose neoplasms as benign or malignant prior to any surgical biopsy or resection intervention, which may also improve patient survival rate while reducing unnecessary biopsies.\",\n \"The disclosed technology can, when integrated with a fine needle biopsy instrument, be used in medical procedures to confirm noninvasive diagnoses, which can reduce the level of invasiveness of such biopsy procedures.\",\n \"The disclosed technology can, when integrated with minimally invasive surgical high definition video instrumentation, fuse optical and ultrasound images, which can further give surgeons added abilities to locate and surgically excise diseased tissue without excising excessive healthy tissue.\",\n \"The disclosed technology can, when integrated with specialized surgical instrumentation, fusing ultrasound images with other data, can give surgeons added abilities to locate and manipulate anatomic areas of interest while minimizing unnecessary damage to nearby structures.\",\n \"The disclosed technology can reduce the amount of time for the brachytherapy treatment of malignant neoplasms by, for example, precisely guiding the insertion of catheters and sealed radioactive sources into the proper location.\",\n \"Similarly, the disclosed technology can aid insertion of high dose, localized pharmaceuticals for treatments of diseases.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This patent document is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/236,229, filed on Aug. 12, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/604,612, filed on Jan. 23, 2015, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,420,999, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/663,100, filed on Oct. 29, 2012, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,939,909, which claims the benefit of priority of U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Patent Application No.\",\n \"61/553,137, filed on Oct. 28, 2011.The entire contents of the before-mentioned patent applications are incorporated by reference as part of the disclosure of this document.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD This patent document relates to systems and processes for ultrasound diagnostics.\",\n \"BACKGROUND Ultrasound imaging is an imaging modality that employs the properties of sound waves traveling through a medium to render a visual image.\",\n \"Ultrasound imaging has been used as an imaging modality for decades in a variety of biomedical fields to view internal structures and functions of animals and humans.\",\n \"Ultrasound waves used in biomedical imaging may operate in different frequencies, e.g., between 1 and 20 MHz, or even higher frequencies.\",\n \"Some factors including inadequate spatial resolution and tissue differentiation can lead to less than desirable image quality using conventional techniques of ultrasound imaging, which can limit its use for many clinical applications.\",\n \"SUMMARY Techniques, systems, and apparatuses are disclosed for ultrasound diagnostics using spread spectrum, coherent, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms that can exhibit wide instantaneous bandwidth.\",\n \"In one aspect of the disclosed technology, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform in an acoustic imaging device includes setting a transmit/receive switch in the acoustic imaging device into a transmit mode to transmit an acoustic waveform toward a target, in transmitting the acoustic waveform, synthesizing, in one or more waveform synthesizers, a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms that form a composite waveform as the transmitted acoustic waveform toward the target, in which each waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band and the coded waveforms include at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms, setting the transmit/receive switch in the acoustic imaging device into a receive mode to receive a returned acoustic waveform that returns from at least part of the target, converting the received returned acoustic waveform from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information of the target, and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.\",\n \"In another aspect, an acoustic waveform imaging system is provided to include waveform generation unit comprising one or more waveform synthesizers coupled to a waveform generator, wherein the waveform generation unit synthesizes a composite waveform comprising a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms corresponding to frequency bands that are generated by the one or more waveform synthesizers according to waveform information provided by the waveform generator, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; a transmit/receive switching unit that switches between a transmit mode and a receive mode; an array of transducer elements in communication with the transmit/receive switching unit that transmits an acoustic waveform based on the composite waveform toward a target and receives a returned acoustic waveform returned from at least part of the target; an array of analog to digital (A/D) converters to convert the received returned acoustic waveform received by the array of transducer elements from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information comprising information of the target; a controller unit in communication with the waveform generation unit and the array of A/D converters comprising a processing unit that processes the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target; and a user interface unit in communication with the controller unit.\",\n \"In another aspect, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include setting a transmit/receive switch into transmit mode; selecting a mode of operation from a plurality of operating modes; synthesizing, in one or more waveform synthesizers, a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms that form a composite waveform, wherein each waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; transmitting an acoustic waveform based on the composite waveform toward a target; setting the transmit/receive switch into receive mode; receiving a returned acoustic waveform returned from at least part of the target; converting the received returned acoustic waveform from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information of the target; and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.\",\n \"In another aspect, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include combining a plurality of coded waveforms corresponding to different frequency bands to produce a composite waveform comprising substantially orthogonal wave signals at the different frequency bands, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; using the composite waveform to produce an acoustic probe wave that includes the different frequency bands toward a target; receiving acoustic energy returned from at least part of the target after the acoustic probe wave is sent to the target; converting the received returned acoustic energy into a digital composite waveform comprising information of the target; and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.\",\n \"In yet another aspect, a device for creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include means for combining a plurality of coded waveforms corresponding to different frequency bands to produce a composite waveform comprising substantially orthogonal wave signals at the different frequency bands, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; means for using the composite waveform to produce an acoustic probe wave that includes the different frequency bands toward a target; means for receiving acoustic energy returned from at least part of the target after the acoustic probe wave is sent to the target; means for converting the received returned acoustic energy into a digital composite waveform comprising information of the target; and means for processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.\",\n \"The subject matter described in this patent document can provide one or more of the following features and be used in many applications.\",\n \"For example, the disclosed technology can be used during routine primary care screenings to identify and locate early stage malignancies, as well as later stage cancers, which can potentially raise survival rates of hard to diagnose asymptomatic patients.\",\n \"The disclosed technology can be used by board certified radiologists to diagnose neoplasms as benign or malignant prior to any surgical biopsy or resection intervention, which may also improve patient survival rate while reducing unnecessary biopsies.\",\n \"The disclosed technology can, when integrated with a fine needle biopsy instrument, be used in medical procedures to confirm noninvasive diagnoses, which can reduce the level of invasiveness of such biopsy procedures.\",\n \"The disclosed technology can, when integrated with minimally invasive surgical high definition video instrumentation, fuse optical and ultrasound images, which can further give surgeons added abilities to locate and surgically excise diseased tissue without excising excessive healthy tissue.\",\n \"The disclosed technology can, when integrated with specialized surgical instrumentation, fusing ultrasound images with other data, can give surgeons added abilities to locate and manipulate anatomic areas of interest while minimizing unnecessary damage to nearby structures.\",\n \"The disclosed technology can reduce the amount of time for the brachytherapy treatment of malignant neoplasms by, for example, precisely guiding the insertion of catheters and sealed radioactive sources into the proper location.\",\n \"Similarly, the disclosed technology can aid insertion of high dose, localized pharmaceuticals for treatments of diseases.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1A shows a block diagram of an exemplary ultrasound imaging system using spread spectrum coded waveforms.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1B shows a chart for operation of an exemplary ultrasound imaging system using spread spectrum coded waveforms.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 shows a graph of an exemplary spread spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveform featuring a plurality of waveforms.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 shows ambiguity function characteristics of an exemplary spread spectrum coded waveform.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"4A-4C show an exemplary diagram for beam steering, dynamic focusing, and forming.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 shows an exemplary block diagram for correlation processing of a spread spectrum coded waveform.\",\n \"Like reference symbols and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION Techniques, systems, and apparatuses are described for generating, transmitting, receiving, and processing coherent spread spectrum frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms used in ultrasound diagnostics.\",\n \"Ultrasound imaging can be performed by emitting a time-gated, single frequency or narrow instantaneous bandwidth acoustic waveform (pulse), which is partly reflected from a boundary between two mediums (e.g., biological tissue structures) and partially transmitted.\",\n \"The reflection can depend on the acoustic impedance difference between the two mediums.\",\n \"Ultrasound imaging by some techniques may only use amplitude information from the reflected signal.\",\n \"For example, when one pulse is emitted, the reflected signal can be sampled continuously.\",\n \"In biological tissue, sound velocity can be considered fairly constant, in which the time between the emission of a waveform and the reception of a reflected signal is dependent on the distance the waveform travels in that tissue structure (e.g., the depth of the reflecting structure).\",\n \"Therefore, reflected signals may be sampled at multiple time intervals to receive the reflected signals being reflected from multiple depths.\",\n \"Also, different tissues at the different depths can partially reflect the incident waveform with different amounts of energy, and thus the reflected signal from different mediums can have different amplitudes.\",\n \"A corresponding ultrasound image can be constructed based on depth.\",\n \"The time before a new waveform is emitted can therefore be dependent of the maximum depth that is desired to image.\",\n \"Ultrasound imaging techniques employing pulsed monochromatic and/or narrow instantaneous bandwidth waveforms can suffer from poor resolution of image processing and production.\",\n \"Yet, waveforms with spread spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth characteristics that can be coded (e.g., by frequency and/or phase) can enable real-time control of ultrasound imaging and higher quality resultant images.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1A shows a block diagram of an exemplary ultrasound system (100) that can produce acoustic waveforms with enhanced waveform properties that include a spread-spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, coherency, pseudo-random noise characteristics, and frequency- and/or phase-coding.\",\n \"System (100) can be configured in one of many system designs.\",\n \"In one example, system (100) can include a Master Clock (101) for time synchronization.\",\n \"The Master Clock (101) can be interfaced with a System Controller (102).\",\n \"System Controller (102) can include a processing unit, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU) of RISC-based or other types of CPU architectures.\",\n \"System Controller (102) can also include at least one input/output (I/O) unit(s) and/or memory unit(s), which are in communication with the processing unit, to support various functions of the System Controller (102).\",\n \"For example, the processing unit can be associated with a system control bus, e.g., Data & Control Bus (103).\",\n \"System Controller (102) can be implemented as one of various data processing architectures, such as a personal computer (PC), laptop, tablet, and mobile communication device architectures.\",\n \"The memory unit(s) can store other information and data, such as instructions, software, values, images, and other data processed or referenced by the processing unit.\",\n \"Various types of Random Access Memory (RAM) devices, Read Only Memory (ROM) devices, Flash Memory devices, and other suitable storage media can be used to implement storage functions of the memory unit(s).\",\n \"The memory unit(s) can store pre-stored waveforms and coefficient data and information, which can be used in the implementation of generating a waveform, e.g., such as a spread-spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, coherent, pseudo-random noise, and frequency and/or phase-coded waveform.\",\n \"The memory unit(s) can store data and information obtained from received and processed waveforms, which can be used to generate and transmit new waveforms.\",\n \"The memory unit(s) can be associated with a system control bus, e.g., Data & Control Bus (103).\",\n \"The I/O unit(s) can be connected to an external interface, source of data storage, and/or display device.\",\n \"The I/O unit(s) can be associated with a system control bus, e.g., Data & Control Bus (103).\",\n \"Various types of wired or wireless interfaces compatible with typical data communication standards, such as but not limited to Universal Serial Bus (USB), IEEE 1394 (FireWire), Bluetooth, IEEE 802.111, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN), Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN), WiMAX, IEEE 802.16 (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), and parallel interfaces, can be used to implement the I/O unit.\",\n \"The I/O unit can interface with an external interface, source of data storage, or display device to retrieve and transfer data and information that can be processed by the processor unit, stored in the memory unit, or exhibited on an output unit.\",\n \"System Controller (102) can control all of the modules of system (100), e.g., through connection via Data & Control Bus (103).\",\n \"For example, Data & Control Bus (103) can link System Controller (102) to one or more attached digital signal processors, e.g., Digital Signal Processor (104), for processing waveforms for their functional control.\",\n \"Digital Signal Processor (104) can include one or many processors, such as but not limited to ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit), FPGA (field-programmable gate array), DSP (digital signal processor), AsAP (asynchronous array of simple processors), and other types of data processing architectures.\",\n \"Data & Control Bus (103) can also link System Controller (102), as well as Digital Signal Processor (104), to one or more display units with modules for user interfaces, e.g., Display (105) with a module User Interface (106) to provide information to a user or operator and to receive input/commands from the user or operator.\",\n \"Display (105) can include many suitable display units, such as but not limited to cathode ray tube (CRT), light emitting diode (LED), and liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor and/or screen as a visual display.\",\n \"Display (105) can also include various types of display, speaker, or printing interfaces.\",\n \"In other examples, Display (105) can include other output apparatuses, such as toner, liquid inkjet, solid ink, dye sublimation, inkless (such as thermal or UV) printing apparatuses and various types of audio signal transducer apparatuses.\",\n \"User Interface (106) can include many suitable interfaces including various types of keyboard, mouse, voice command, touch pad, and brain-machine interface apparatuses.\",\n \"The exemplary system (100) can include Waveform Generator (107), which can be controlled by System Controller (102) for producing one or more digital waveforms.\",\n \"The one or more digital waveforms can be generated as analog electronic signals (e.g., analog waveforms) by at least one element in an array of waveform synthesizers and beam controllers, e.g., represented in this example as Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108).\",\n \"Waveform Generator (107) can be at least one of a function generator and an arbitrary waveform generator (AWG).\",\n \"For example, Waveform Generator (107) can be configured as an AWG to generate arbitrary digital waveforms for Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) to synthesize as individual analog waveforms and/or a composite analog waveform.\",\n \"Waveform Generator (107) can also include at least one memory unit(s) that can store pre-stored waveforms and coefficient data and information used in the generation of a digital waveform.\",\n \"The exemplary system (100) shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A includes Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) comprising I number of array elements.\",\n \"In one example, Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) can be configured to include at least one waveform synthesizer element on each line of the I number of array waveform synthesizers.\",\n \"In another example, Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) can include at least one beam controller element on each line of the I number of array beam controllers.\",\n \"In another example, Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) can include at least one waveform synthesizer element and beam controller element on each line of the I number of array waveform synthesizers and beam controllers.\",\n \"Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) can include a phase-lock loop system for generation of an electronic signal, e.g., a radio frequency (RF) waveform.\",\n \"An exemplary RF waveform can be synthesized by Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) from individual waveforms generated in the array elements of Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108), e.g., one individual RF waveform can be generated in one array element substantially simultaneously to all other individual waveforms generated by the other array elements of Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108).\",\n \"Each individual RF waveform can be defined for a particular frequency band, also referred to as a frequency component or ‘chip’, and the waveform properties of each individual waveform can be determined by Waveform Generator (107), which can include at least one amplitude value and at least one phase value corresponding to the chip.\",\n \"Waveform Generator (107) can issue commands and send waveform data including information about each individual waveform's properties to Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) for generation of individual RF waveforms that can be composited into a composite RF waveform.\",\n \"The individual RF waveforms and/or the composite RF waveform generated by Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) can be modified by Output Amplifiers (109), which includes an array of I number of amplifiers, e.g., by amplifying the gain and/or shifting the phase of a waveform.\",\n \"Output Amplifiers (109) can be used as transducer drivers.\",\n \"The individual RF waveforms and/or the composite RF waveform can be passed to Transmit/Receive (T/R) switch (110), e.g., an N-pole double-throw transmit/receive switch.\",\n \"T/R Switch (110) that can be interfaced with a transducer module.\",\n \"A generated RF waveform, e.g., the composite RF waveform and/or at least one individual RF waveform, that is to be transmitted into a target medium can be transduced into, for example, an acoustic wave by the transducer module that can include an array of transducer elements, e.g., Transducer Array (111) comprising I number of elements.\",\n \"For example, the transduced acoustic wave can be emitted in the form of an acoustic waveform pulse.\",\n \"Each array element of the Transducer Array (111) may generate one or more acoustic waveforms that correspond to the individual waveform chips determined by the Waveform Generator (107).\",\n \"The exemplary transduced transmitted acoustic waveform can be transmitted toward a target area, e.g., biological tissue, and form a spatially combined acoustic waveform.\",\n \"The transmitted waveform can propagate into the target medium, which for example, can have one or more inhomogeneous mediums that partially transmit and partially reflect the transmitted acoustic waveform.\",\n \"Exemplary acoustic waveforms that are partially reflected, also referred to as returned acoustic waveforms, can be received by Transducer Array (111).\",\n \"For example, each array element of I array elements of Transducer Array (111) can be configured to receive a returned acoustic waveform corresponding to the frequency chip and convert it to an analog RF waveform.\",\n \"The individual received (analog) RF waveforms can be modified by Pre-Amplifier module (112), which includes an array of I number of amplifiers, e.g., by amplifying the gain and/or shifting the phase of a waveform.\",\n \"The individual received waveforms can be converted from analog format to digital format by analog to digital (A/D) Converter module (113), which includes an array of I number of A/D converters.\",\n \"A/D Converter module (113) can include A/D converters that have low least significant bit (LSB) jitter, spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) and waveform dependency, such that the exemplary waveforms can be adequately decoded.\",\n \"The converted digital representations of the individual received waveforms can be processed by a processor, e.g., Digital Signal Processor (104), in manner that creates and forms a representative image of the target medium.\",\n \"The exemplary system (100) can be operated in one of many operation modes.\",\n \"In one example, Master Clock (101) can provide the time base for synchronizing the system (100), e.g., as a time base for the Waveform Synthesizers (108).\",\n \"Master Clock (101) can be configured as a low phase noise clock such that the exemplary waveforms can be phase encoded.\",\n \"An operator can select the mode of operation at User Interface (106).\",\n \"Exemplary modes of operation provided for the user to select at the User Interface (106) include Conventional A-Mode (e.g., 1D Depth only image), Conventional B-Mode (e.g., 2D Plane image—transverse vs. depth), Conventional C-Mode (e.g., 2D Plane image at selected depth), and Conventional D-Modes (e.g., Doppler Modes).\",\n \"Exemplary Doppler modes include Color Doppler (e.g.\",\n \"superposition of color coded Doppler and B-mode images), Continuous Doppler (e.g., 1D Doppler profile vs. depth), Pulsed Wave Doppler (e.g., Doppler vs. time for selected volume), and Duplex/Triplex Doppler (e.g., superposition of Conventional B-Mode, Conventional C-Mode or Color Doppler, and Pulsed Wave Doppler).\",\n \"Some other exemplary modes of operations can include Conventional 3D and 4D (“real time” 3D) volume renderings of the previously described modes of operations.\",\n \"The exemplary system (100) can implement new modes of operation that can generate spread spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms.\",\n \"For example, a user can select exemplary ATS-Modes (Artificial Tissue Staining Modes) that can comprise a B-Mode, a C-Mode, a D-Mode, or other mode combined with image color coding to aid tissue differentiation—analogous to tissue staining for microscopic histological studies; and exemplary CAD-Modes (Computer Aided Diagnostic Modes) that differentiate and identify tissue type.\",\n \"ATS-Modes can employ the use of features for image color coding in image processing based on one or more of a number of measured properties that are obtained from the returned echo waveform from the target area, e.g., the returned echo from an exemplary transmitted spread spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, coded acoustic waveform.\",\n \"CAD-Modes can use classifiers (algorithms) to classify, for example, tissue types based on features of the measured properties of the returned echo from the target area, e.g., the returned echo from an exemplary spread spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, coded acoustic waveforms.\",\n \"The features properties can include differing impedances, amplitude reflections (as a function of wavelength), group delay, etc.\",\n \"Some exemplary classifiers that can be employed using CAD-Modes can include deterministic classifiers, stochastic classifiers (e.g., Bayesian classifiers), and neural network classifiers.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1B shows an exemplary operation process (150) for operating the system (100) for ultrasound imaging.\",\n \"For each time epoch, process (150) can begin by implementing process (151) to switch system (100) in transmit mode.\",\n \"For example, the System Controller (102) can command an N-pole double-throw T/R switch, e.g., T/R Switch (110), to transmit position.\",\n \"Process (150) includes a process (152) to check a user-defined mode of operation.\",\n \"For example, mode of operation can be selected by a user using User Interface (106), or the mode of operation can be selected by another entity or internally within system (100).\",\n \"Based on the selected operation mode, System Controller (102) can command Waveform Generator (107) to issue a digital message (data) to one or more elements in Waveform Synthesizers and Beam Controllers (108) that defines the frequency, amplitude and phase of each of the frequency chips that form a desired wideband composite RF waveform commanded, e.g., implemented in a process (153).\",\n \"Process (152) can occur anywhere and implemented in multiple instances during process (150).\",\n \"Process (150) includes a process (153) to issue waveform data (e.g., the exemplary digital message/data) to waveform synthesizers and beam formers, such as the Waveform Synthesizers and Beam Controllers (108).\",\n \"The issued waveform data can include the frequency, amplitude and phase information of the desired frequency chips that are synthesized as frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms, in which each coded waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band.\",\n \"Process (150) includes a process (154) to generate individual analog RF waveforms that correspond to defined frequency chips.\",\n \"For example, each element in the array of Waveform Synthesizers and Beam Controllers (108) can convert the digital message/data from the Waveform Generator (107) into individual analog waveforms that can make up a coherent analog wideband composite waveform.\",\n \"Process (150) includes a process (155) to amplify the individual analog waveforms that can make up a coherent analog wideband composite waveform.\",\n \"For example, each analog waveform and/or wideband composite waveform can be amplified by an array element in Output Amplifier (109).\",\n \"The amplified analog wideband composite waveform can then pass through the T/R Switch (110) and excite its respective array element of the Transducer Array (111) (e.g., in an ultrasound probe).\",\n \"Process (150) includes a process (156) to transduce the composite analog waveform to an acoustic waveform that can propagate throughout the scanned volume.\",\n \"For example, each element of the Transducer Array (111) can provide an acoustic waveform from each of the individual analog waveform corresponding to the frequency chip generated in Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) that makes up the wideband composite acoustic waveform.\",\n \"Transducer Array (111) can form the acoustic beam that propagates into the target medium, e.g., biological tissue volume under study.\",\n \"At the end of process (156), process (150) can implement process (157) to switch system (100) in receive mode.\",\n \"For example, the System Controller (102) can command the N-pole double-throw T/R Switch (110) to receive position.\",\n \"Process (150) includes a process (158) to receive a returned acoustic waveform, which can be in the form of one or more returned acoustic waveforms (also referred to as acoustic waveform echoes).\",\n \"Process (158) can also include transducing the returned acoustic waveform echo(es) into individual received analog waveforms, e.g., corresponding to the frequency chips of the generated individual waveforms.\",\n \"For example, the returned acoustic waveform propagates back to and is received by Transducer Array (111).\",\n \"Each element of Transducer Array (111) can convert the received acoustic waveform it receives into an analog signal (waveform).\",\n \"Process (150) includes a process (159) to amplify the individual received analog waveforms.\",\n \"For example, each received analog waveform can be amplified by its respective low noise pre-amplifier element in Pre-Amplifier module (112).\",\n \"Process (150) includes a process (160) to convert the individual received analog waveforms into digital waveform data.\",\n \"For example, each received (and amplified) analog waveform signal can be converted into a digital word by each respective A/D element in A/D Converter module (113).\",\n \"The digital format data can be sent to Digital Signal Processor (104) for signal processing.\",\n \"Process (150) includes a process (161) to process the digital waveform data into image frames representative of the target medium.\",\n \"Process (161) can also include compositing the digital waveform data into a composite digital signal representing the individual and composite received analog waveform.\",\n \"For example, Digital Signal Processor (104) can detect the amplitude and phase of each of the frequency chips that comprise the wideband composite acoustic waveform received by each of the transducer array elements.\",\n \"Digital Signal Processor (104) can form the received beam and separate the amplitude and Doppler components of each resolution element of the beam, and can form an image frame associated with mode previously selected by operator.\",\n \"The image frame formed by Digital Signal Processor (104) can be displayed on Display (105) to the user.\",\n \"For other subsequent time epochs, System Controller (102) can repeat this exemplary process, e.g., by commanding Waveform Generator (107) to issue to each element in Waveform Synthesizers (108) another digital message that defines the amplitude and phase of each of the frequency chips that comprise the wideband composite waveform and by commanding T/R Switch (110) back to transmit position, etc.\",\n \"The system (100) can be implemented to produce spread-spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth (e.g., up to 100% or more of fractional bandwidth), coherent, pseudo-random noise (PRN), frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms for ultrasound imaging.\",\n \"There are limitless embodiments of such waveforms.\",\n \"One example is featured in FIG.\",\n \"2, which shows an exemplary plot of a generated composite waveform (200) that is comprised of a plurality of individual waveforms (e.g., frequency chips).\",\n \"In some implementations, the individual waveforms of the composite waveform (200) can be PRN waveforms including a sequence of pulses for each frequency chip that repeats itself after a sequence or code period (T), e.g., such that the sequence has a very low correlation with any other sequence in the set of frequency chips, or with the same sequence at a significantly different time frame, or with narrow band interference or thermal noise.\",\n \"For example, the system (100) can generate exactly the same sequences of the exemplary PRN waveforms at both the transmitter and the receiver ends, so a received signal sequence (based on the transmitted signal sequence) can exhibit a high correlation for signal processing to produce an acoustic image of the target.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, an exemplary individual waveform or chip (201) of the composite waveform (200) corresponds to the frequency chip fN−2 that is transmitted during a transmit period T beginning at time frame to, e.g., as described in the process (156) in FIG.\",\n \"1B.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, following the transmit period T, a receive time interval TR is exhibited, in which returned acoustic waveform echoes are received as described in the process (158) in FIG.\",\n \"1B.\",\n \"The transmit period T and the receive time interval TR form a frame period Tf, which can be repeated in subsequent time frames (t1, t2, t3, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \").\",\n \"The exemplary composite waveform (200) can be represented by an equation for waveform, W, which can be represented in the time domain as a complex number, given by Equation (1): W ( t ) = ∑ k ∑ n A n e j ( 2 π n f 0 t + Φ nk + C n ) U ( t - kT f ) ( 1 ) W is comprised of M individual orthogonal waveforms (e.g., orthogonal frequency chips), where j=−√{square root over (−1)}.\",\n \"In Equation (1), T represents the chip duration or period of the coded sequence, and f0 represents the fundamental chip frequency, such that f0=1/NT, and in which Nf0 is the maximum frequency and (M−N+1)f0 is the minimum frequency.\",\n \"n represents a sequence of positive integers from N−M+1 to N. The waveform repetition frequency is 1/Tf, with Tf being the duration of a frame or epoch, and U(x)=1 for 0≤x≤Tf.\",\n \"Φnk represents the frequency chip phase term of the nth chip in the kth time epoch, and An is the amplitude of the nth chip.\",\n \"The frequency chip phase term Φnk can be a pseudo-random phase term, in which a pseudo-randomly scrambled starting phase Φnk is a random number in the set {Ink2π/N}, where Ink is a sequence of random, positive integers selected without replacement from the series I=0, 1, 2, 3, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", N, with N being a large number.\",\n \"Cn, which is an additive phase term, is a number between 0 and 2π.\",\n \"For example, the frequency chip phase pseudo-random values Φnk can be pre-stored in an exemplary database within a memory unit of System Controller (102) and/or Waveform Generator (107).\",\n \"The composite waveform, W, can be formed by synthesizing substantially orthogonal coded waveforms (e.g., frequency chips), in which each coded waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band, and the coded waveforms includes at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms, e.g., the coded waveforms synthesized in the Waveform Synthesizers (108).\",\n \"The coded waveforms can be synthesized as frequency-coded waveforms by selecting two or more frequencies that define the carrier frequencies of the frequency chips (e.g., including selecting the minimum and maximum frequency) and determining the An amplitude values of the frequency chips.\",\n \"The synthesis of the frequency-coded can also include determining a time-bandwidth product (Mf0T) parameter of each waveform of the coded waveforms.\",\n \"In some implementations, the amplitude for a particular frequency chip can be determined as a single value for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch and repeated in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.\",\n \"In other implementations, the amplitude for a particular frequency chip can be determined as a single value for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch and assigned a different single value in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.\",\n \"And in other implementations, the amplitude for a particular frequency chip can be determined to include multiple amplitude values for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch, in which the multiple values of the An can be repeated or varied in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.\",\n \"The selection of the range of frequencies from the maximum frequency (Nf0) to the minimum frequency ((M-N+1)f0) plus the set of individual waveform amplitude terms (An) can utilize one of many known code sequences (e.g.\",\n \"including pushing sequences, Barker Codes, etc.)\",\n \"or, for example, utilize a numerical search on pseudo-random codes or any other codes for minimum ambiguity sidelobes.\",\n \"The coded waveforms can additionally or alternatively be synthesized as phase-coded waveforms by determining individual waveform phase terms (Φnk) of each waveform of the coded waveforms.\",\n \"For example, to provide variation of the composite waveform, W, the phase Φnk can include one or more phase values for a frequency chip within the transmit period T. In some implementations, the phase Φnk for a particular frequency chip can be determined as a single value for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch and repeated in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.\",\n \"In other implementations, the phase Φnk for a particular frequency chip can be determined as a single value for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch and assigned a different single value in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.\",\n \"And in other implementations, the phase Φnk for a particular frequency chip can be determined to include multiple values for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch, in which the multiple values of the Φnk can be repeated or varied in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.\",\n \"For example, the waveform (201) in the first time epoch (t0) can include a first phase ΦA, for example, as its phase shift for the beginning portion of the transmit period T and a second phase ΦB, for example, as its phase shift for the latter portion of the transmit period T. The waveform (201) in the next time epoch (t1) can repeat the exemplary phases ΦA and ΦB as its beginning and latter phase shifts or include another phase shift sequence (e.g., such as ΦA, ΦB, ΦC, or such as ΦB and ΦA, or other configurations).\",\n \"The synthesis of the frequency-coded can also include determining a time-bandwidth product (Mf0T) parameter of each waveform of the coded waveforms.\",\n \"An exemplary transmitted waveform, W, can be comprised of the set of M individual waveforms that are orthogonal and completely span the frequency range fN−M+1 to fN, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"2.The parameter N can be chosen to be a large number to give W a wide instantaneous bandwidth.\",\n \"In the special case when the lowest frequency fN−M+1=1/T, then W can describe any wideband waveform that may be contained within this range of frequencies.\",\n \"For any waveform among the M individual waveforms, one or more phases (e.g., Φnk) can be encoded in a single waveform during the interval T. Additionally, any waveform among the M individual waveforms can include multiple amplitudes encoded in a single waveform.\",\n \"This can be implemented by amplitude weighting and phase weighting.\",\n \"The family of individual waveforms described by Equation (1) can form a coherent, pseudo-random noise, frequency- and/or phase-coded, spread spectrum composite waveform.\",\n \"Based on the selection of parameters, the individual waveforms can be made to be statistically orthogonal to any degree desired.\",\n \"For example, the sidelobe levels of the ambiguity function, described later in Equation (2), for a given waveform represents the degree of orthogonality of that waveform.\",\n \"By determining particular parameters of the waveforms, medical ultrasound image resolution can be significantly improved.\",\n \"For example, parameters that affect the resolution of medical ultrasound images include the time-bandwidth product (Mf0T) parameter, which determines the inherent combined axial range (e.g., Doppler resolution) and the speckle reduction ability of the waveform, and the individual waveform phase terms (Φnk), which determine the statistical degree of orthogonality, e.g., which in turn determines the degree that the waveform can function in inhomogeneous media of biological tissues.\",\n \"For example, the lower the sidelobes, the greater the orthogonality and greater the resolution (less noise).\",\n \"The selection of the set of individual waveform phase terms (Φnk) can utilize one of many known code sequences (e.g.\",\n \"including Barker, Frank, Golay, etc.)\",\n \"or, for example, utilize a numerical search on pseudo-random codes or any other codes for minimum ambiguity sidelobes.\",\n \"In some implementations, the composite waveform (200), e.g., described by Equation (1), can be a single wideband, coherent, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveform.\",\n \"For example, based on the selection of parameters, the single waveform can be made to be statistically orthogonal to any other signal waveform or noise signal present in the target medium.\",\n \"The parameter An, which is the amplitude of the nth chip, and Cn, which is an additive phase term, in combination can provide pre-emphasis of the analog signal that excites each individual element of Transducer Array (111) to produce a transmitted acoustic waveform that has the desired amplitude and phase characteristics over the frequency range of W. Pre-emphasis of the transmitted waveform can compensate for both the non-constant amplitude and phase response of transducer elements as a function of frequency, and the non-uniform propagation characteristics of intervening tissue layers.\",\n \"For example, the pre-emphasis terms can provide an acoustic waveform that has equal amplitude chips with constant (e.g., flat) amplitude and a known phase versus frequency characteristic.\",\n \"Such constant amplitude versus frequency acoustic waveforms can be referred to as ‘white’ waveforms.\",\n \"Alternatively, if pre-emphasis is not provided, then the transmitted acoustic waveform can replicate the frequency response of the transducer, and such waveforms are referred to as ‘colored’ waveforms.\",\n \"De-emphasis of the received waveform can permit determination of the reflection characteristic of the target medium's volume, e.g., biological tissue volume.\",\n \"By inspection, single frequency modes (e.g., Conventional A-, B- and C-Mode), due to their monochromatic nature, do not need pre-emphasis.\",\n \"Such single frequency waveforms may require amplitude control, for example, to ensure biologically safe sound intensity limits.\",\n \"If the phase of each chip is random, the transmitted waveform, W, can have random noise-like characteristics.\",\n \"If the phases (Φnk+Cn) of each chip are uniquely determined, repeatable and synchronized to the Master Clock (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A), the transmitted waveform, W, can be classified as pseudo-random noise.\",\n \"Such pseudo-random noise waveforms are coherent permitting implementation of coherent receivers.\",\n \"Image processing advantages of wide instantaneous bandwidth, pseudo-random noise waveforms can include reduction, with proper waveform selection, and potential elimination of speckle, e.g., speckles/speckle patterns, which are random intensity patterns produced by the mutual interference waveforms, which are commonly associated with conventional medical ultrasound images.\",\n \"This exemplary reduction in speckle can be an analogous comparison of a scene illuminated by wide band, Gaussian noise-like white light, which has no observable speckle to narrow band laser illumination with exhibits strong speckle of the same scene.\",\n \"Signal processing advantages of coherent, pseudo-random noise, frequency- and phase-coded waveforms can include waveforms having very low time and Doppler sidelobes.\",\n \"For example, an ambiguity function, A(τ,υ), can be a two-dimensional representation that shows the distortion of a received waveform processed by a matched filter in the receiver due to the effect of Doppler shift (υ) or propagation delay (τ).\",\n \"Specifically, the exemplary ambiguity function A(τ,υ) is defined by Equation (2) and is determined solely by the waveform properties and the receiver characteristics and not by the scenario.\",\n \"The ambiguity function of A(τ,υ) is defined by A ( τ , υ ) = ∫ - ∞ + ∞ X a ( t ) X b * ( t - τ ) e j 2 π υ t where X k ( t ) = 1 T e j [ 2 π f k ( t - t k ) + Φ k ] , for 0 ≤ t ≤ T , X k ( t ) = 0 otherwise .\",\n \"( 2 ) For waveforms of the type described by Equation (1), the following equation can be obtained: A ( τ , υ , t , f n , Φ n , f m , Φ m , T ) = ( 1 - τ - ( Δ t ) T ) Sin [ 2 π ( Δ f ) ( T - Δ t ) ] [ 2 π ( Δ f ) ( T - Δ t ) ] e j 2 π [ Δ f ( T + Δ t ) - f n Δ t + υ t + ΔΦ ] ( 3 ) where Δt=τ−t, Δf=υ−(fn−fm), and ΔΦ=Φn−Φm, which can result in the complete ambiguity equation shown in Equation (4): x ( τ , υ ) = 1 M ∑ n ∑ m A ( τ , υ , t , f n , Φ n , f m , Φ m , T ) ( 4 ) where both n and m are a sequence of positive integers from N−M+1 to N. FIG.\",\n \"3 shows exemplary ambiguity function characteristics of a pseudo-random noise, frequency-coded waveform (301), represented by an equation for waveform, W. The exemplary coded waveform (301) includes a code length of 128.As shown in FIG.\",\n \"3, the sidelobes (302) of this ambiguity function are due to chip-to-chip phase interactions and have a plateau level below the peak that is a function of N2.By inspection, many waveforms (W) are possible depending on the specific random number codes (Ink) selected.\",\n \"However, the sidelobe performance cannot be guaranteed for every waveform defined, and therefore only those codes which give sufficiently low sidelobes as determined by a numerical search of a set of possible codes should be used.\",\n \"For example, in medical ultrasound applications, living tissue as a propagation medium is inhomogeneous.\",\n \"Propagation medium inhomogeneity can introduce differential time delays, and living tissue can introduce unwanted motion induced Doppler.\",\n \"Ultrasound transducer arrays also can have undesirable side lobes and grating lobes (e.g., due to physical size limitations) in the off axis portions of ultrasound beam that add unwanted time delay and Doppler returns to the returns of the main lobe.\",\n \"Waveforms that exhibit low ambiguity function sidelobes can significantly improve focusing and target contrast due through the reduction interference from differential time delays, motion induced Doppler, transducer side lobe effects.\",\n \"Coherent pseudo-random noise, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms can enable higher order cross range focusing techniques to be employed that can improve the lateral resolution of size limited ultrasound transducer arrays, e.g., medical ultrasound transducer arrays.\",\n \"For example, each biological tissue type and each diseased tissue types may exhibit their own unique ultrasound echo return as a function of frequency and spatial morphology.\",\n \"Using conventional Elastograph-Mode (E-Mode) modalities, it can be difficult to take advantage of such properties to classify tissues, e.g., due to measurement errors such as the inability to accurately characterize the ultrasound wave propagation through overlaying inhomogeneous media.\",\n \"Exemplary waveforms produced by the exemplary system (100), e.g., wide instantaneous bandwidth, coherent pseudo-random noise, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms, can enable tissue differentiation by simultaneously determining the propagation delay for each acoustic ray through intervening tissue layers and accurately determining the spatial echo features of the target volume under investigation.\",\n \"Classifiers, one example being Bayesian inference Classifiers among others, can be applied to the feature data obtained from the measured characteristics of the received echo to automatically classify tissue types observed in the target volume providing a Computer Aided Diagnostic-Mode (CAD-Mode).\",\n \"Unlike conventional E-Modes, which inherently have significantly reduced image quality and rely on individual operator technique, the exemplary waveforms described by Equation (1) can inherently provide improved image quality while simultaneously colorizing the resultant image by tissue type in the ATS and/or CAD-Modes.\",\n \"With this advantage, user technique can be mitigated and the margins of a lesion are discernible thus permitting improved diagnoses.\",\n \"In addition, Waveform Synthesizers (108) positioned on transmit and Digital Signal Processor (104) positioned on receive (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A), can also perform beam control (e.g., beam steering, dynamic beam focusing, and beam forming) functions.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"4A-4C show the basics of these digital electronic functions by introducing a differential time delay, or equivalently a phase shift, and amplitude weighting between each of the elements of the phased array.\",\n \"As can be seen in FIG.\",\n \"4A, the differential phase shift can compensate for the differential change in distance (d) each acoustic ray (r1, r2, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"ri, .\",\n \".\",\n \". )\",\n \"travels from ith element to the point of focus (p).\",\n \"An angle (θ) is formed as the point of focus (p) is not along the z-axis direction of direct aim/alignment of the Transducer Array (111) toward a target in the target medium.\",\n \"Additionally, a differential amplitude weight can be applied to each element to control the beam shape and suppress side and grating lobes.\",\n \"Also, for one or more chips in an exemplary waveform, Waveform Generator (107) can pre-encode a phase delay to delay the phase of the one or more chips transmitted at each transducer element in Transducer Array (111).\",\n \"An exemplary result of this feature can be seen in FIGS.\",\n \"4B and 4C.\",\n \"The exemplary phase delay values for the one or more chips can be communicated to Digital Signal Processor (104) and/or System Controller (102) to incorporate the phase delay values in the signal processing of the received composite waveform.\",\n \"For narrow instantaneous bandwidth ultrasound devices, this function can be accomplished by introducing phase shift and amplitude attenuation on the composite analog signal driving each element.\",\n \"However, for the exemplary spread-spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, frequency- and phase-coded waveforms generated by system (100), each individual chip of the waveform (Wi) is individually amplitude weighted (Bni) and phase weighted (Dni) as a function of frequency (n) for each array element (i) individually for all I elements, as indicated by Equation (5).\",\n \"W i ( t ) = ∑ k ∑ n A n B ni e j ( 2 π nf 0 t + Φ nk + C n + D ni ) U ( t - kT f ) ( 5 ) On transmit, the amplitude and phase weighting required of each chip can be computed by the System Controller (102) and can be sent as an instruction to the Waveform Generator (107).\",\n \"Waveform Generator (107) can then send the digital words (real and imaginary components) to the Waveform Synthesizers and Beam Controller (108) that produces the analog drive signal that is amplified by Amplifier (109) and sent to each element of the array of Transducer Array (111).\",\n \"On receive, the reverse process takes place.\",\n \"The A/D Converter module (113) can send the digital words that represent the amplitude and phase information of each chip for each array element to the Digital Signal Processor (104), which in turn can digitally form the receive beam for each chip.\",\n \"A multitude of ways can be used to process the received waveforms, e.g., wide-bandwidth, spread-spectrum, frequency and/or phase-coded waveforms.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 shows an exemplary correlation processing technique.\",\n \"For example, an input to the exemplary correlation processing technique can include a digitized received signal, Yi(τ,υ), which can be multiplied by the complex conjugate replica of the transmitted digital waveform, Wi*(τ).\",\n \"The complex conjugate replica Wi*(τ) can be time shifted by 1·τ0 to prior to multiplication.\",\n \"This multiplication operation can be repeated multiple times for multiple time shifts, e.g., J times, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"5.The multiple multiplication operations for the multiple time shifts can be repeated in parallel, but for each operation the replica is shifted in time by an increment, τ0, from the previous one, as shown in the figure.\",\n \"For each time step, the resultant products can be filtered with a window function, such as a Hann, Hamming, Tukey, Kaiser Bessel, Dolph-Chebyshev, Blackman-Harris window, etc., a fast Fourier Transform (FFT) integrator, and passed through a digital filter.\",\n \"For example, a digital filter of a type that is dependent of the specific waveform, W, can be employed to filter and decimate the inputted signal.\",\n \"The exemplary process can result in the range-Doppler return for each individual ith element of the transducer array.\",\n \"The output data stream from the exemplary detection algorithm can then be processed using conventional techniques to form an image for display.\",\n \"The processed range and Doppler data and/or waveforms can be further processed by partitioning the I number of transducer elements into two or more subarrays.\",\n \"The processed range-Doppler return for the ith element can be weighted in amplitude and/or phase depending on which subarray that ith element belongs.\",\n \"These weighted returns can then be summed and differenced.\",\n \"These sum and differences can then be processed to improve the cross range image resolution of the system.\",\n \"Several applications and uses of the disclosed technology can be implemented to exploit the described features of the aforementioned systems, methods, and devices.\",\n \"Some examples are described for clinical use of the disclosed technology.\",\n \"In one exemplary application, the resultant image quality, the ATS and CAD modes of an exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device can enable the primary care physician to incorporate this modality into a routine examination screening protocol to locate early stage malignancies (e.g., Stage 0 or 1), as well as later stage cancers.\",\n \"As the result of this application, the device can potentially, for example, enhance the survival rate of hard to diagnose asymptomatic patients suffering from such malignancies such as stomach, pancreatic, bladder cancers, etc.\",\n \"In another exemplary application, the resultant image quality, ATS and CAD modes of an exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device can permit board certified radiologists to diagnose neoplasms as benign or malignant prior to any surgical biopsy or resection intervention.\",\n \"As a result of this application, the ability of radiologists to locate and diagnose early stage malignancies (e.g., Stage 0 or 1) can potentially improve patient survival rate.\",\n \"Additionally, unnecessary biopsies can potentially be avoided, along with their attendant risk of hard to treat or even lethal complications such as, for example, methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA staph) infections.\",\n \"In another exemplary application, the resultant 3D image quality of an exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device and its 4D imaging capability can be used in fine needle biopsy and other medical procedures.\",\n \"For example, the exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device can be integrated into an exemplary fine needle biopsy instrument (e.g., with the device's transducer probe), which can permit the fine needle biopsy of very small, early stage (e.g., Stage 0 or 1) neoplasms to confirm noninvasive diagnoses.\",\n \"As a result of this application, the ability of surgeons to avoid open biopsies and the potential for hard to treat and lethal complications that may result is clearly beneficial to the patient.\",\n \"In another exemplary application, the integration of this device's spread spectrum transducer probe with minimally invasive surgical high definition video instrumentation can permit the fusing of the optical and ultrasound images.\",\n \"Given the improved 3D image quality of this spread spectrum ultrasound device, its 4D imaging capability, the ATS and CAD modes, such fused video and ultrasound images can give surgeons the added ability to locate and surgically excise diseased tissue without excising excessive healthy tissue.\",\n \"In another exemplary application, given the improved 3D image quality of this spread spectrum ultrasound device, its 4D imaging capability, and its ATS modes, an exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device can reduce the amount of time for the brachytherapy treatment of malignant neoplasms by precisely guiding the insertion of catheters and sealed radioactive sources into the proper location.\",\n \"The application of this spread spectrum ultrasound device to brachytherapy can be especially useful for the treatment of small, hard to locate neoplasms and their margins.\",\n \"In another exemplary application, given the improved 3D image quality of this spread spectrum ultrasound device, its 4D imaging capability, and its ATS modes, an exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device can enable the effective insertion of high dose, localized pharmaceutical treatments of diseases by precisely guiding the insertion of catheters and pharmaceuticals into the proper location.\",\n \"The application of this spread spectrum ultrasound device to brachytherapy can be especially useful for the treatment of small, hard to locate neoplasms.\",\n \"Implementations of the subject matter and the functional operations described in this specification, such as various modules, can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them.\",\n \"Implementations of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented as one or more computer program products, e.g., one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a tangible and non-transitory computer readable medium for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus.\",\n \"The computer readable medium can be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition of matter affecting a machine-readable propagated signal, or a combination of one or more of them.\",\n \"The term “data processing apparatus” encompasses all apparatus, devices, and machines for processing data, including by way of example a programmable processor, a computer, or multiple processors or computers.\",\n \"The apparatus can include, in addition to hardware, code that creates an execution environment for the computer program in question, e.g., code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database management system, an operating system, or a combination of one or more of them.\",\n \"A computer program (also known as a program, software, software application, script, or code) can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as a stand alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment.\",\n \"A computer program does not necessarily correspond to a file in a file system.\",\n \"A program can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup language document), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules, sub programs, or portions of code).\",\n \"A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are located at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.\",\n \"The processes and logic flows described in this specification can be performed by one or more programmable processors executing one or more computer programs to perform functions by operating on input data and generating output.\",\n \"The processes and logic flows can also be performed by, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit).\",\n \"Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, such as, for example, digital signal processors (DSP), and any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer.\",\n \"Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read only memory or a random access memory or both.\",\n \"The essential elements of a computer are a processor for performing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data.\",\n \"Generally, a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto optical disks, or optical disks.\",\n \"However, a computer need not have such devices.\",\n \"Computer readable media suitable for storing computer program instructions and data include all forms of non volatile memory, media and memory devices, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices.\",\n \"The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.\",\n \"While this patent document contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any invention or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments of particular inventions.\",\n \"Certain features that are described in this patent document in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment.\",\n \"Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.\",\n \"Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.\",\n \"Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results.\",\n \"In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.\",\n \"Moreover, the separation of various system components in the embodiments described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments.\",\n \"Only a few implementations and examples are described and other implementations, enhancements and variations can be made based on what is described and illustrated in this patent document.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876081"}}},{"rowIdx":4495074,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["Electronic Gaming Die","An electronic gaming die includes an enclosure, a flexible substrate, a number of light emitting diodes, a sensor, a processor and a battery.","The enclosure has N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4.","The flexible substrate folds into N sides and fits into an interior of the enclosure, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N. The light emitting diodes are disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate, wherein the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.","The sensor, processor and battery are disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate."],["1.An electronic gaming die comprising: an enclosure having N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4; a flexible substrate that folds into N sides and fits into an interior of the enclosure, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N; a number of light emitting diodes disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate, wherein the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate; a sensor disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate; a processor disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes; and a battery disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.","2.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, wherein the sensor, the processor and the battery are disposed on an outer face of one or more additional sides of the flexible substrate that fold inside the N sides.","3.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, further comprising an insert disposed within an interior of the folded flexible substrate and sized to maintain a position of the flexible substrate against the interior of the enclosure.","4.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 3, wherein the insert is rigid, semi-rigid, hollow.","5.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, further comprising an adhesive or one or more connectors that attach one or more edges of the sides of the flexible substrate together to maintain a shape of the folded flexible substrate.","6.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, further comprising an expanding foam sealant disposed within an interior of the folded flexible substrate.","7.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, wherein N equals 4, 6, 8, 10 or 20.8.The electronic gaming die as recited m claim 1, wherein each light emitting diode represents a pip of the electronic gaming die.","9.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, wherein the number of light emitting diodes are greater than the number of the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes are arranged to display a numeric character corresponding to the integer.","10.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, wherein the enclosure is transparent or semi-transparent.","11-30.","(canceled) 31.A method for manufacturing an electronic gaming die comprising the steps of: fabricating a flexible substrate that folds into N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N, a number of light emitting diodes disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate, a sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate, a processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes, and a battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor; providing an enclosure having N sides; folding the flexible substrate such that the folded flexible substrate fits into an interior of the enclosure; inserting the folded flexible substrate into the interior of the enclosure; and sealing the enclosure.","32.The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the sensor, the processor and the battery are disposed on an outer face of one or more additional sides of the flexible substrate that fold inside the N sides.","33.The method as recited in claim 31, further comprising the step of placing an insert within an interior of the folded flexible substrate, wherein the insert is sized to maintain a position of the flexible substrate against the interior of the enclosure.","34.The method as recited in claim 33, wherein the insert is rigid, semi-rigid, or hollow.","35.The method as recited in claim 31, further comprising the step of attaching one or more edges of the sides of the flexible substrate together to maintain a shape of the folded flexible substrate using an adhesive or one or more connectors.","36.The method as recited in claim 31, further comprising the step of depositing an expanding foam sealant within an interior of the folded flexible substrate.","37.The method as recited in claim 31, wherein N equals 4, 6, 8, 10 or 20.38.The method as recited in claim 31, wherein each light emitting diode represents a pip of the electronic gaming die.","39.The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the number of light emitting diodes are greater than the number of the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes are arranged to display a numeric character corresponding to the integer.","40.The method as recited m claim 31, wherein the enclosure is transparent or semitransparent.","41-59.","(canceled)"],["<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with methods for manufacturing 3D objects and structures, more specifically 3D structural electronic, electromagnetic and electromechanical components and devices.","The recent introduction of MEMs-based accelerometers has enabled many new gaming and commercial electronics applications like enhanced features in cell phones and the Nintendo Wiimote.","The introduction of the accelerometry into gaming dice has only recently been made possible by this new technology.","Although a LED-lit 20 sided dice has been sold on websites like Thinkgeek, the electronics involved are basic and only involve one side (the 20) with a pressure sensor."],["<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention makes gaming dice more visually stunning and makes the dice outcome more obvious—an important feature in a color and lighting-rich environment such as a casino.","The present invention is manufactured using 3D printing of dielectric structures with conductive traces serving as electrical interconnects.","More specifically, the present invention provides an electronic gaming die that includes an enclosure, a flexible substrate, a number of light emitting diodes, a sensor, a processor and a battery.","The enclosure has N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4.The flexible substrate folds in a manner that leaves it with N sides and fits into an interior of the enclosure, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N. The light emitting diodes are disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate, wherein the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.","The sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.","The processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes.","The battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.","In addition, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing an electronic gaming die by first fabricating a flexible substrate.","The flexible substrate folds into N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N. A number of light emitting diodes disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.","A sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.","A processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes.","A battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.","Next, an enclosure having N sides is provided and the flexible substrate is folded such that the folded flexible substrate fits into an interior of the enclosure.","The folded flexible substrate is inserted into the interior of the enclosure and the enclosure is sealed.","This method can be implemented as a computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium wherein the steps are preformed using one or more code segments."],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to U.S.","Provisional Application Ser.","No.","61/845,334, filed Jul.","11, 2013, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.","STATEMENT OF FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH Not Applicable.","REFERENCE TO A SEQUENCE LISTING Not Applicable.","TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates in general to the manufacture of electronic, electromagnetic and electromechanical components and devices, and more particularly to an electronic gaming die.","BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with methods for manufacturing 3D objects and structures, more specifically 3D structural electronic, electromagnetic and electromechanical components and devices.","The recent introduction of MEMs-based accelerometers has enabled many new gaming and commercial electronics applications like enhanced features in cell phones and the Nintendo Wiimote.","The introduction of the accelerometry into gaming dice has only recently been made possible by this new technology.","Although a LED-lit 20 sided dice has been sold on websites like Thinkgeek, the electronics involved are basic and only involve one side (the 20) with a pressure sensor.","SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention makes gaming dice more visually stunning and makes the dice outcome more obvious—an important feature in a color and lighting-rich environment such as a casino.","The present invention is manufactured using 3D printing of dielectric structures with conductive traces serving as electrical interconnects.","More specifically, the present invention provides an electronic gaming die that includes an enclosure, a flexible substrate, a number of light emitting diodes, a sensor, a processor and a battery.","The enclosure has N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4.The flexible substrate folds in a manner that leaves it with N sides and fits into an interior of the enclosure, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N. The light emitting diodes are disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate, wherein the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.","The sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.","The processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes.","The battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.","In addition, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing an electronic gaming die by first fabricating a flexible substrate.","The flexible substrate folds into N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N. A number of light emitting diodes disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.","A sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.","A processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes.","A battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.","Next, an enclosure having N sides is provided and the flexible substrate is folded such that the folded flexible substrate fits into an interior of the enclosure.","The folded flexible substrate is inserted into the interior of the enclosure and the enclosure is sealed.","This method can be implemented as a computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium wherein the steps are preformed using one or more code segments.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a more complete understanding of the features and advantages of the present invention, reference is now made to the detailed description of the invention along with the accompanying figures and in which: FIGS.","1A and 1B are images showing an exploded view of an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","2 is an image showing the folds of the inner sides of a flexible substrate for an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIGS.","3A and 3B are exploded drawings of an enclosure and insert for an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIGS.","4A and 4B are images showing the outer sides and inner sides, respectively, of a flexible substrate for an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","5 is an image of an enclosure for an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIGS.","6A and 6B are images showing an assembled electronic gaming die with a transparent enclosure in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","7 is a series of images showing the assembly process for an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","8 is an image of an electronic gaming die in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention fabricated with 3D Printing; FIGS.","9A and 9B are images showing the outer sides and inner sides, respectively, of a flexible substrate for an electronic gaming die in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; FIGS.","10A and 10B are images showing the outer sides and inner sides, respectively, of a flexible substrate for an electronic gaming die in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","11 is a flow chart of a method for manufacturing an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","12 is an image of an electronic gaming die in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and FIG.","13 is an image of a wireless battery charging device with two electronic gaming dice in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION While the making and using of various embodiments of the present invention are discussed in detail below, it should be appreciated that the present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts.","The specific embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention and do not delimit the scope of the invention.","For example, the present invention is described with respect to the design of a six sided gaming die that includes a microprocessor and accelerometer in order to detect a roll, measure the direction of gravity and illuminate light emitting diodes (LED) on the upward face.","The present invention, however, is not limited to a six sided gaming die or the specific design examples described herein.","To facilitate the understanding of this invention, a number of terms are defined below.","Terms defined herein have meanings as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the areas relevant to the present invention.","Terms such as “a”, “an,” and “the” are not intended to refer to only a singular entity, but include the general class of which a specific example may be used for illustration.","The terminology herein is used to describe specific embodiments of the invention, but their usage does not delimit the invention, except as outlined in the claims.","Now referring to FIGS.","1A and 1B, images showing an exploded view of an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention are shown.","The electronic gaming die 100 includes an enclosure 102, a flexible substrate 104, light emitting diodes 106, a sensor 108, a processor 110, a battery 112 and an insert 114.The enclosure 102 (made up of main enclosure 102a and enclosure lid or cap 102b) has N sides (1021 to 102N) where N is equal to or greater than 4.In the example shown, N=6.In other embodiments of the present invention, N can equal 4, 6, 8, 10, 20 or more.","The enclosure 102 can be transparent or semi-transparent.","Likewise, a portion of the enclosure 102 proximate to the one or more light emitting diodes 106 can be transparent or semi-transparent, and the remainder of the enclosure 102 can be opaque.","The flexible substrate 104 folds into N sides (see also FIG.","2) and fits into an interior 116 of the enclosure 102.Each side of the flexible substrate 104 has an inner face (FIG.","1A; see also FIG.","4B) and an outer face (FIG.","1B; see also FIG.","4A).","The sensor 108 (preferably a three-axis accelerometer) is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate 104.The processor 110 is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate 104 and is communicably coupled to the sensor 108 and the one or more light emitting diodes 106.The sensor 108 and processor 110 detect a roll, measure a direction of gravity and illuminate the light emitting diode(s) 106 on the upward face.","The processor 108 can operate the light emitting diodes 106 is various modes, which can be user configurable.","For example, the light emitting diodes 106 can stay lit for a specified period of time, or flash to show which side of the enclosure 102 is up when the electronic gaming die 100 stops rolling, etc.","The battery 112 is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate 104 and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes 106, the sensor 108 and the processor 110.The battery 112 can be replaceable or rechargeable.","For example, an interface 118 (e.g., mini USB-A, mini USB-b, micro USB-A, micro USB-b, etc.)","can be electrically connected to the battery 112 and accessible from an exterior of the enclosure 102 to recharge the battery 112.Alternatively, a wireless battery recharging circuit (not shown) can be electrically connected to the battery 112 and disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate 104.Likewise, one or more photovoltaic cells (not shown) can be electrically connected to the battery 112 and disposed on or within the enclosure 102 or the flexible substrate 104.The electronic gaming die 100 may automatically enter a sleep mode whenever one or more sleep conditions occur and remain in the sleep mode until one or more wakeup conditions occur.","For example, the one or more sleep conditions may include the sensor 108 not detecting motion for a specified period of time, the sensor 108 detecting a specified sleep sequence, the electronic gaming die 100 remains stationary for a specified period of time, etc.","The sleep sequence can be orienting the dice for at least two seconds with the “one” side held up, followed by the “two”, followed by the “three” and so on, or any other desired sequence.","The low power mode may involve a staged power down of the electronic gaming die 100 (e.g., component-by-component starting with deactivating the light emitting diodes 106).","The one or more wakeup conditions may include the sensor 108 detecting motion after the sleep mode has been entered or a specific time period thereafter, the sensor 108 detecting a specified wakeup sequence, the electronic gaming die 100 being “rolled” after the sleep mode has been entered or a specified time period thereafter, etc.","Now also referring to FIGS.","3A and 3B, exploded drawings of an enclosure 102 and insert 114 for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention are shown.","The insert 114 is disposed within an interior 116 of the folded flexible substrate 104 and sized to maintain a position of the flexible substrate 104 against the interior of the enclosure 102.The enclosure 102 may include slots, channels, cavities, recesses, depressions or other inner surface features to accommodate the light emitting diodes 106 or other components disposed on the outer faces of the flexible substrate 104.For example, the enclosure lid or cap 102a in FIGS.","1A and 1B includes an opening to accommodate the interface 118.Alternatively, the lid or cap 102a can be removable in order to change out the battery 112.Note that that one or more inscriptions can be engraved on the enclosure 102.The insert 114 can be rigid, semi-rigid, or hollow.","Alternatively, the insert 114 can be eliminated and replace by: (1) an adhesive or one or more connectors that attach one or more edges of the sides of the flexible substrate 104 together to maintain a shape of the folded flexible substrate 104; (2) an expanding foam sealant disposed within an interior of the folded flexible substrate 104; or (3) any other suitable method of maintain a shape of the folded flexible substrate 104.Moreover, the insert 114 can be weighted to balance a weight of the die 100, or unbalance the die 100 to favor a specified orientation (i.e., a loaded die or “cheating” die).","Referring now to FIGS.","4A and 4B, images showing the outer faces (4201 to 420N) and inner faces (4401 to 440N), respectively, of a flexible substrate 104 for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention are shown.","This embodiment and the embodiment shown in FIGS.","9A and 9B have components on both the outer faces 400 and the inner faces 420 of the flexible substrate 104.In contrast, the embodiment shown in FIGS.","10A and 10B only has components on the inner faces 420 of the flexible substrate 104, which substantially reduces the manufacturing cost.","Each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 is assigned an integer from 1 to N (e.g., 4001 to 4006).","A number of light emitting diodes 106 are disposed on the outer face 420 of each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104.The number of light emitting diodes 106 equals the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 and the corresponding side of the enclosure 102.For example and as shown in FIG.","4A, the first outer face 4201 of the first side 4001 of the flexible substrate 104 has one light emitting diode D1, the second outer face 4202 of the second side 4002 of the flexible substrate 104 has two light emitting diodes D2-D3, the third outer face 4203 of the third side 4003 of the flexible substrate 104 has three light emitting diodes D4-D6, the fourth outer face 4204 of the fourth side 4004 of the flexible substrate 104 has four light emitting diodes D7-D10, the fifth outer face 4205 of the fifth side 4005 of the flexible substrate 104 has five light emitting diodes D11-D15, and the sixth outer face 4206 of the sixth side 4006 of the flexible substrate 104 has six light emitting diodes D16-D21.Each light emitting diode D1-D21 represents a pip of the electronic gaming die 100.Alternatively, the number of light emitting diodes 106 can be greater than the number of the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 such that the number of light emitting diodes 106 are arranged to display a numeric character corresponding to the integer.","As shown in FIG.","4B, the sensor 108 and processor 110 are disposed on one of the inner faces (e.g., 4401) of the flexible substrate 104.Two leads 402 are used to connect the circuit to the battery 112 (not shown).","An additional side 404 is used to mount the interface 118 (e.g., mini USB-A, mini USB-b, micro USB-A, micro USB-b, etc.)","and orient the interface 118 to be accessible via the opening 406 in side 4002.As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the circuit includes various capacitors Cx, resistors Rx, electrical traces (conductors) and other desired components.","In addition, one or more inner faces 420 or one or more outer faces 440 of the flexible substrate 104 can be coated with an ultraviolet photocurable polymer to further protect the various components and the flexible substrate 104.The flexible substrate 104 can be fabricated using traditional flexible circuit board methodologies or fabricated using 3D printing process wherein the electrical conductors that connect the various components are printed conductive traces that can traverse one or more folds of the flexible substrate 104.An example of such a 3D printing system is described in U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","13/343,651, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.","The three-dimensional printing device creates one or more layers of a three-dimensional substrate by depositing a substrate material in a layer-by-layer fashion.","The three-dimensional printing device can be a fused deposition modeling machine, a selective laser sintering machine or other suitable device.","FIG.","5 is an image of an enclosure 102 for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.","FIGS.","6A and 6B are images showing an assembled electronic gaming die 100 with a transparent enclosure 102 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","7 is a series of images showing the assembly process for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","8 is an image of an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.","As shown in FIG.","8, the electronic gaming die 100 can also be fabricated with 3D Printing technology in conjunction with micro-dispensing of conductive inks serving as electrical interconnect.","3D Printing of the structure can allow for rapid prototyping not just of the structure but also for the electronic functionality as demonstrated in FIG.","8.3D Printing can thus allow for faster evaluation of form and function at an unprecedented level.","Referring now to FIGS.","9A and 9B, images showing the outer faces (4201 to 420N) and inner faces (4401 to 440N), respectively, of a flexible substrate 104 for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention are shown.","Like FIGS.","4A and 4B, this embodiment has components on both the outer faces 400 and the inner faces 420 of the flexible substrate 104.This embodiment does, not however, show the battery leads 402 or interface 118 (e.g., mini USB-A, mini USB-b, micro USB-A, micro USB-b, etc.).","Each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 is assigned an integer from 1 to N (e.g., 4001 to 4006).","A number of light emitting diodes 106 are disposed on the outer face 420 of each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104.The number of light emitting diodes 106 equals the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 and the corresponding side of the enclosure 102.For example and as shown in FIG.","9A, the first outer face 4201 of the first side 4001 of the flexible substrate 104 has one light emitting diode D1, the second outer face 4202 of the second side 4002 of the flexible substrate 104 has two light emitting diodes D2-D3, the third outer face 4203 of the third side 4003 of the flexible substrate 104 has three light emitting diodes D4-D6, the fourth outer face 4204 of the fourth side 4004 of the flexible substrate 104 has four light emitting diodes D7-D10, the fifth outer face 4205 of the fifth side 4005 of the flexible substrate 104 has five light emitting diodes D11-D15, and the sixth outer face 4206 of the sixth side 4006 of the flexible substrate 104 has six light emitting diodes D16-D21.Each light emitting diode D1-D21 represents a pip of the electronic gaming die 100.Alternatively, the number of light emitting diodes 106 can be greater than the number of the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 such that the number of light emitting diodes 106 are arranged to display a numeric character corresponding to the integer.","As shown in FIG.","9B, the sensor 108 and processor 110 are disposed on one of the inner faces (e.g., 4401) of the flexible substrate 104.As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the circuit includes various capacitors Cx, resistors Rx, electrical traces (conductors) and other desired components.","In addition, one or more inner faces 420 or one or more outer faces 440 of the flexible substrate 104 can be coated with an ultraviolet photocurable polymer to further protect the various components and the flexible substrate 104.The flexible substrate 104 can be fabricated using traditional flexible circuit board methodologies or fabricated using 3D printing process wherein the electrical conductors that connect the various components are printed conductive traces that can traverse one or more folds of the flexible substrate 104.An example of such a 3D printing system is described in U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","13/343,651, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.","The three-dimensional printing device creates one or more layers of a three-dimensional substrate by depositing a substrate material in a layer-by-layer fashion.","The three-dimensional printing device can be a fused deposition modeling machine, a selective laser sintering machine or other suitable device.","Now referring to FIGS.","10A and 10B, images showing the outer faces (4201 to 420N) and inner faces (4401 to 440N), respectively, of a flexible substrate 104 for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention are shown.","Unlike FIGS.","4A-B and 9A-B, this embodiment has components only on the outer faces 420 of the flexible substrate 104.This embodiment uses three additional squares or sides 1002, 1004 and 1006 to mount the various components on, such that these three sides 1002, 1004 and 1006 are bent towards the back of the completed flexible substrate 104, leaving the components effectively in the back side again.","By doing this, the folded flexible substrate inserted into the inside of the cavity 116 of the dice case 102a just like the other embodiments.","This embodiment greatly reduces the manufacturing price of the flexible substrate 104 (e.g., 40% or more).","Some of these savings would be offset by the increased handling of the flexible substrate 104 during manufacture, increased time to build each part and increased risk of damaging it through handling.","Each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 is assigned an integer from 1 to N (e.g., 4001 to 4006).","A number of light emitting diodes 106 are disposed on the outer face 420 of each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104.The number of light emitting diodes 106 equals the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 and the corresponding side of the enclosure 102.For example and as shown in FIG.","10A, the first outer face 4201 of the first side 4001 of the flexible substrate 104 has one light emitting diode D1, the second outer face 4202 of the second side 4002 of the flexible substrate 104 has two light emitting diodes D2-D3, the third outer face 4203 of the third side 4003 of the flexible substrate 104 has three light emitting diodes D4-D6, the fourth outer face 4204 of the fourth side 4004 of the flexible substrate 104 has four light emitting diodes D7-D10, the fifth outer face 4205 of the fifth side 4005 of the flexible substrate 104 has five light emitting diodes D11-D15, and the sixth outer face 4206 of the sixth side 4006 of the flexible substrate 104 has six light emitting diodes D16-D21.Each light emitting diode D1-D21 represents a pip of the electronic gaming die 100.Alternatively, the number of light emitting diodes 106 can be greater than the number of the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 such that the number of light emitting diodes 106 are arranged to display a numeric character corresponding to the integer.","The sensor 108 is disposed the outer face (e.g., 4207) of one of the added sides 1002.The processor 110 is disposed on outer face (e.g., 4208) of the one of the added sides 1004.Additional components, such as resistors R4, R5, R7 and R8 are disposed on the outer face (e.g., 4209) of one of the added sides 1006.Two leads 402 are used to connect the circuit to the battery 112 (not shown).","An additional side 404 is used to mount the interface 118 (e.g., mini USB-A, mini USB-b, micro USB-A, micro USB-b, etc.)","and orient the interface 118 to be accessible via the opening 406 in side 4002.As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the circuit includes various capacitors Cx, resistors Rx, electrical traces (conductors) and other desired components.","In addition, one or more inner faces 420 or one or more outer faces 440 of the flexible substrate 104 can be coated with an ultraviolet photocurable polymer to further protect the various components and the flexible substrate 104.The flexible substrate 104 can be fabricated using traditional flexible circuit board methodologies or fabricated using 3D printing process wherein the electrical conductors that connect the various components are printed conductive traces that can traverse one or more folds of the flexible substrate 104.An example of such a 3D printing system is described in U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","13/343,651, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.","The three-dimensional printing device creates one or more layers of a three-dimensional substrate by depositing a substrate material in a layer-by-layer fashion.","The three-dimensional printing device can be a fused deposition modeling machine, a selective laser sintering machine or other suitable device.","Now referring to FIG.","11, a flow chart of a method 1100 for manufacturing an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention is shown.","A flexible substrate is fabricated in block 1102.The flexible substrate folds into N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N (e.g., equals 4, 6, 8, 10, 20, etc.).","A number of light emitting diodes disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.","A sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.","A processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes.","A battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.","An enclosure having N sides in provided in block 1104.The flexible substrate is folded in block 1106 such that the folded flexible substrate fits into an interior of the enclosure.","The folded flexible substrate is inserted into the interior of the enclosure in block 1108 and the enclosure is sealed in block 1110.As previously described, the shape of the folded flexible substrate can be maintained by: placing an insert within an interior of the folded flexible substrate; attaching one or more edges of the sides of the flexible substrate together using an adhesive or one or more connectors; or depositing an expanding foam sealant within an interior of the folded flexible substrate.","In addition, one or more inner faces or one or more outer faces of the flexible substrate can be coated with an ultraviolet photocurable polymer to further protect the various components and the flexible substrate.","Moreover, this method can be implemented as a computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium wherein the steps are preformed using one or more code segments.","As previously mentioned, the flexible substrate can be fabricated using a conductive ink micro-dispensing process wherein the electrical conductors that connect the various components are printed conductive traces that can traverse one or more folds of the flexible substrate 104.An example of such a 3D printing system is described in U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","13/343,651, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.","The three-dimensional printing device creates one or more layers of a three-dimensional substrate by depositing a substrate material in a layer-by-layer fashion.","The three-dimensional printing device can be a fused deposition modeling machine, a selective laser sintering machine or other suitable device.","Other machines may include a micro-machining machine, a CNC micro-machining machine, a micro electrical discharge machining machine, an electrochemical machining machine, a direct write proton micro-machining machine, a laser ablation machine, a radiative source, an ultrasonic cutting machine, a hot wire cutting machine, a waterjet machine, an etching machine, a deep reactive ion etching machine, a plasma etching machine, a crystal orientation dependent etching machine, a wet bulk micromachining machine, a UV-lithography or X-ray lithography (LIGA) machine, a hot embossing lithography machine, a precision mechanical sawing machine, a chemically assisted ion milling machine, a sand blasting machine or a cutting machine.","A component placement machine can be used to place and assemble the various components.","In addition, the system may include a slide, a conveyor or a robotic device that transports the components and electronic gaming die to each machine.","Note that all of the machines can be integrated into a single machine.","The substrate material can be a thermoplastic material, another polymer material, a ceramic material, a metallic material, a mineral material, a glass ceramic material, a semi-conductor material, a nanomaterial, a biomaterial, an organic material, an inorganic material or any combination thereof.","The thermoplastic material can be acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), ABSi, ABSplus, ABS-M30, ABS-M30i, polycarbonate (PC), PC-ABS, PC-ISO, polyphenylsulfone (PPSF/PPSU), ULTEM 9085 or any combination thereof.","The another polymer material can be poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polypropylene, polyolefin, LL-PE, HDPE, polyvinyl acetate, polyester, polyamides, nylon, polyimides, polyketone, polyether ethyl ketone (PEEK), polybutadiene, polylactic acid, polycaprolactone, polyethylene terephthalate, liquid crystalline polymer (LCP), polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polyfluoroethylene, polydifluoroethylene, polytetrafluoroethylene, ZEONEX RS420, Eccostock HIK-TPO, co-polymers and block co-polymers of the previous, or any combination thereof.","FIG.","12 is an image of an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","13 is an image of a wireless battery charging device 1300 with two electronic gaming dice 100a and 100b in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.","It may be understood that particular embodiments described herein are shown by way of illustration and not as limitations of the invention.","The principal features of this invention can be employed in various embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention.","Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, numerous equivalents to the specific procedures described herein.","Such equivalents are considered to be within the scope of this invention and are covered by the claims.","All publications, patents and patent applications mentioned in the specification are indicative of the level of skill of those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains.","All publications, patents and patent applications are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.","The use of the word “a” or “an” when used in conjunction with the term “comprising” in the claims and/or the specification may mean “one,” but it is also consistent with the meaning of “one or more,” “at least one,” and “one or more than one.” The use of the term “or” in the claims is used to mean “and/or” unless explicitly indicated to refer to alternatives only or the alternatives are mutually exclusive, although the disclosure supports a definition that refers to only alternatives and “and/or.” Throughout this application, the term “about” is used to indicate that a value includes the inherent variation of error for the device, the method being employed to determine the value, or the variation that exists among the study subjects.","As used in this specification and claim(s), the words “comprising” (and any form of comprising, such as “comprise” and “comprises”), “having” (and any form of having, such as “have” and “has”), “including” (and any form of including, such as “includes” and “include”) or “containing” (and any form of containing, such as “contains” and “contain”) are inclusive or open-ended and do not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps.","The term “or combinations thereof” as used herein refers to all permutations and combinations of the listed items preceding the term.","For example, “A, B, C, or combinations thereof” is intended to include at least one of: A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC, and if order is important in a particular context, also BA, CA, CB, CBA, BCA, ACB, BAC, or CAB.","Continuing with this example, expressly included are combinations that contain repeats of one or more item or term, such as BB, AAA, AB, BBC, AAABCCCC, CBBAAA, CABABB, and so forth.","The skilled artisan will understand that typically there is no limit on the number of items or terms in any combination, unless otherwise apparent from the context.","All of the compositions and/or methods disclosed and claimed herein can be made and executed without undue experimentation in light of the present disclosure.","While the compositions and methods of this invention have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, it may be apparent to those of skill in the art that variations may be applied to the compositions and/or methods and in the steps or in the sequence of steps of the method described herein without departing from the concept, spirit and scope of the invention.","All such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and concept of the invention as defined by the appended claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"Electronic Gaming Die\",\n \"An electronic gaming die includes an enclosure, a flexible substrate, a number of light emitting diodes, a sensor, a processor and a battery.\",\n \"The enclosure has N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4.\",\n \"The flexible substrate folds into N sides and fits into an interior of the enclosure, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N. The light emitting diodes are disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate, wherein the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"The sensor, processor and battery are disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.An electronic gaming die comprising: an enclosure having N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4; a flexible substrate that folds into N sides and fits into an interior of the enclosure, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N; a number of light emitting diodes disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate, wherein the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate; a sensor disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate; a processor disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes; and a battery disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.\",\n \"2.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, wherein the sensor, the processor and the battery are disposed on an outer face of one or more additional sides of the flexible substrate that fold inside the N sides.\",\n \"3.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, further comprising an insert disposed within an interior of the folded flexible substrate and sized to maintain a position of the flexible substrate against the interior of the enclosure.\",\n \"4.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 3, wherein the insert is rigid, semi-rigid, hollow.\",\n \"5.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, further comprising an adhesive or one or more connectors that attach one or more edges of the sides of the flexible substrate together to maintain a shape of the folded flexible substrate.\",\n \"6.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, further comprising an expanding foam sealant disposed within an interior of the folded flexible substrate.\",\n \"7.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, wherein N equals 4, 6, 8, 10 or 20.8.The electronic gaming die as recited m claim 1, wherein each light emitting diode represents a pip of the electronic gaming die.\",\n \"9.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, wherein the number of light emitting diodes are greater than the number of the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes are arranged to display a numeric character corresponding to the integer.\",\n \"10.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, wherein the enclosure is transparent or semi-transparent.\",\n \"11-30.\",\n \"(canceled) 31.A method for manufacturing an electronic gaming die comprising the steps of: fabricating a flexible substrate that folds into N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N, a number of light emitting diodes disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate, a sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate, a processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes, and a battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor; providing an enclosure having N sides; folding the flexible substrate such that the folded flexible substrate fits into an interior of the enclosure; inserting the folded flexible substrate into the interior of the enclosure; and sealing the enclosure.\",\n \"32.The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the sensor, the processor and the battery are disposed on an outer face of one or more additional sides of the flexible substrate that fold inside the N sides.\",\n \"33.The method as recited in claim 31, further comprising the step of placing an insert within an interior of the folded flexible substrate, wherein the insert is sized to maintain a position of the flexible substrate against the interior of the enclosure.\",\n \"34.The method as recited in claim 33, wherein the insert is rigid, semi-rigid, or hollow.\",\n \"35.The method as recited in claim 31, further comprising the step of attaching one or more edges of the sides of the flexible substrate together to maintain a shape of the folded flexible substrate using an adhesive or one or more connectors.\",\n \"36.The method as recited in claim 31, further comprising the step of depositing an expanding foam sealant within an interior of the folded flexible substrate.\",\n \"37.The method as recited in claim 31, wherein N equals 4, 6, 8, 10 or 20.38.The method as recited in claim 31, wherein each light emitting diode represents a pip of the electronic gaming die.\",\n \"39.The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the number of light emitting diodes are greater than the number of the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes are arranged to display a numeric character corresponding to the integer.\",\n \"40.The method as recited m claim 31, wherein the enclosure is transparent or semitransparent.\",\n \"41-59.\",\n \"(canceled)\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with methods for manufacturing 3D objects and structures, more specifically 3D structural electronic, electromagnetic and electromechanical components and devices.\",\n \"The recent introduction of MEMs-based accelerometers has enabled many new gaming and commercial electronics applications like enhanced features in cell phones and the Nintendo Wiimote.\",\n \"The introduction of the accelerometry into gaming dice has only recently been made possible by this new technology.\",\n \"Although a LED-lit 20 sided dice has been sold on websites like Thinkgeek, the electronics involved are basic and only involve one side (the 20) with a pressure sensor.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention makes gaming dice more visually stunning and makes the dice outcome more obvious—an important feature in a color and lighting-rich environment such as a casino.\",\n \"The present invention is manufactured using 3D printing of dielectric structures with conductive traces serving as electrical interconnects.\",\n \"More specifically, the present invention provides an electronic gaming die that includes an enclosure, a flexible substrate, a number of light emitting diodes, a sensor, a processor and a battery.\",\n \"The enclosure has N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4.The flexible substrate folds in a manner that leaves it with N sides and fits into an interior of the enclosure, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N. The light emitting diodes are disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate, wherein the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"The sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"The processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes.\",\n \"The battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.\",\n \"In addition, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing an electronic gaming die by first fabricating a flexible substrate.\",\n \"The flexible substrate folds into N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N. A number of light emitting diodes disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"A sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"A processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes.\",\n \"A battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.\",\n \"Next, an enclosure having N sides is provided and the flexible substrate is folded such that the folded flexible substrate fits into an interior of the enclosure.\",\n \"The folded flexible substrate is inserted into the interior of the enclosure and the enclosure is sealed.\",\n \"This method can be implemented as a computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium wherein the steps are preformed using one or more code segments.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"61/845,334, filed Jul.\",\n \"11, 2013, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.\",\n \"STATEMENT OF FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH Not Applicable.\",\n \"REFERENCE TO A SEQUENCE LISTING Not Applicable.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates in general to the manufacture of electronic, electromagnetic and electromechanical components and devices, and more particularly to an electronic gaming die.\",\n \"BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with methods for manufacturing 3D objects and structures, more specifically 3D structural electronic, electromagnetic and electromechanical components and devices.\",\n \"The recent introduction of MEMs-based accelerometers has enabled many new gaming and commercial electronics applications like enhanced features in cell phones and the Nintendo Wiimote.\",\n \"The introduction of the accelerometry into gaming dice has only recently been made possible by this new technology.\",\n \"Although a LED-lit 20 sided dice has been sold on websites like Thinkgeek, the electronics involved are basic and only involve one side (the 20) with a pressure sensor.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention makes gaming dice more visually stunning and makes the dice outcome more obvious—an important feature in a color and lighting-rich environment such as a casino.\",\n \"The present invention is manufactured using 3D printing of dielectric structures with conductive traces serving as electrical interconnects.\",\n \"More specifically, the present invention provides an electronic gaming die that includes an enclosure, a flexible substrate, a number of light emitting diodes, a sensor, a processor and a battery.\",\n \"The enclosure has N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4.The flexible substrate folds in a manner that leaves it with N sides and fits into an interior of the enclosure, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N. The light emitting diodes are disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate, wherein the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"The sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"The processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes.\",\n \"The battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.\",\n \"In addition, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing an electronic gaming die by first fabricating a flexible substrate.\",\n \"The flexible substrate folds into N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N. A number of light emitting diodes disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"A sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"A processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes.\",\n \"A battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.\",\n \"Next, an enclosure having N sides is provided and the flexible substrate is folded such that the folded flexible substrate fits into an interior of the enclosure.\",\n \"The folded flexible substrate is inserted into the interior of the enclosure and the enclosure is sealed.\",\n \"This method can be implemented as a computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium wherein the steps are preformed using one or more code segments.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a more complete understanding of the features and advantages of the present invention, reference is now made to the detailed description of the invention along with the accompanying figures and in which: FIGS.\",\n \"1A and 1B are images showing an exploded view of an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"2 is an image showing the folds of the inner sides of a flexible substrate for an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIGS.\",\n \"3A and 3B are exploded drawings of an enclosure and insert for an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B are images showing the outer sides and inner sides, respectively, of a flexible substrate for an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"5 is an image of an enclosure for an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIGS.\",\n \"6A and 6B are images showing an assembled electronic gaming die with a transparent enclosure in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"7 is a series of images showing the assembly process for an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"8 is an image of an electronic gaming die in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention fabricated with 3D Printing; FIGS.\",\n \"9A and 9B are images showing the outer sides and inner sides, respectively, of a flexible substrate for an electronic gaming die in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; FIGS.\",\n \"10A and 10B are images showing the outer sides and inner sides, respectively, of a flexible substrate for an electronic gaming die in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"11 is a flow chart of a method for manufacturing an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"12 is an image of an electronic gaming die in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and FIG.\",\n \"13 is an image of a wireless battery charging device with two electronic gaming dice in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION While the making and using of various embodiments of the present invention are discussed in detail below, it should be appreciated that the present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts.\",\n \"The specific embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention and do not delimit the scope of the invention.\",\n \"For example, the present invention is described with respect to the design of a six sided gaming die that includes a microprocessor and accelerometer in order to detect a roll, measure the direction of gravity and illuminate light emitting diodes (LED) on the upward face.\",\n \"The present invention, however, is not limited to a six sided gaming die or the specific design examples described herein.\",\n \"To facilitate the understanding of this invention, a number of terms are defined below.\",\n \"Terms defined herein have meanings as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the areas relevant to the present invention.\",\n \"Terms such as “a”, “an,” and “the” are not intended to refer to only a singular entity, but include the general class of which a specific example may be used for illustration.\",\n \"The terminology herein is used to describe specific embodiments of the invention, but their usage does not delimit the invention, except as outlined in the claims.\",\n \"Now referring to FIGS.\",\n \"1A and 1B, images showing an exploded view of an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention are shown.\",\n \"The electronic gaming die 100 includes an enclosure 102, a flexible substrate 104, light emitting diodes 106, a sensor 108, a processor 110, a battery 112 and an insert 114.The enclosure 102 (made up of main enclosure 102a and enclosure lid or cap 102b) has N sides (1021 to 102N) where N is equal to or greater than 4.In the example shown, N=6.In other embodiments of the present invention, N can equal 4, 6, 8, 10, 20 or more.\",\n \"The enclosure 102 can be transparent or semi-transparent.\",\n \"Likewise, a portion of the enclosure 102 proximate to the one or more light emitting diodes 106 can be transparent or semi-transparent, and the remainder of the enclosure 102 can be opaque.\",\n \"The flexible substrate 104 folds into N sides (see also FIG.\",\n \"2) and fits into an interior 116 of the enclosure 102.Each side of the flexible substrate 104 has an inner face (FIG.\",\n \"1A; see also FIG.\",\n \"4B) and an outer face (FIG.\",\n \"1B; see also FIG.\",\n \"4A).\",\n \"The sensor 108 (preferably a three-axis accelerometer) is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate 104.The processor 110 is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate 104 and is communicably coupled to the sensor 108 and the one or more light emitting diodes 106.The sensor 108 and processor 110 detect a roll, measure a direction of gravity and illuminate the light emitting diode(s) 106 on the upward face.\",\n \"The processor 108 can operate the light emitting diodes 106 is various modes, which can be user configurable.\",\n \"For example, the light emitting diodes 106 can stay lit for a specified period of time, or flash to show which side of the enclosure 102 is up when the electronic gaming die 100 stops rolling, etc.\",\n \"The battery 112 is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate 104 and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes 106, the sensor 108 and the processor 110.The battery 112 can be replaceable or rechargeable.\",\n \"For example, an interface 118 (e.g., mini USB-A, mini USB-b, micro USB-A, micro USB-b, etc.)\",\n \"can be electrically connected to the battery 112 and accessible from an exterior of the enclosure 102 to recharge the battery 112.Alternatively, a wireless battery recharging circuit (not shown) can be electrically connected to the battery 112 and disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate 104.Likewise, one or more photovoltaic cells (not shown) can be electrically connected to the battery 112 and disposed on or within the enclosure 102 or the flexible substrate 104.The electronic gaming die 100 may automatically enter a sleep mode whenever one or more sleep conditions occur and remain in the sleep mode until one or more wakeup conditions occur.\",\n \"For example, the one or more sleep conditions may include the sensor 108 not detecting motion for a specified period of time, the sensor 108 detecting a specified sleep sequence, the electronic gaming die 100 remains stationary for a specified period of time, etc.\",\n \"The sleep sequence can be orienting the dice for at least two seconds with the “one” side held up, followed by the “two”, followed by the “three” and so on, or any other desired sequence.\",\n \"The low power mode may involve a staged power down of the electronic gaming die 100 (e.g., component-by-component starting with deactivating the light emitting diodes 106).\",\n \"The one or more wakeup conditions may include the sensor 108 detecting motion after the sleep mode has been entered or a specific time period thereafter, the sensor 108 detecting a specified wakeup sequence, the electronic gaming die 100 being “rolled” after the sleep mode has been entered or a specified time period thereafter, etc.\",\n \"Now also referring to FIGS.\",\n \"3A and 3B, exploded drawings of an enclosure 102 and insert 114 for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention are shown.\",\n \"The insert 114 is disposed within an interior 116 of the folded flexible substrate 104 and sized to maintain a position of the flexible substrate 104 against the interior of the enclosure 102.The enclosure 102 may include slots, channels, cavities, recesses, depressions or other inner surface features to accommodate the light emitting diodes 106 or other components disposed on the outer faces of the flexible substrate 104.For example, the enclosure lid or cap 102a in FIGS.\",\n \"1A and 1B includes an opening to accommodate the interface 118.Alternatively, the lid or cap 102a can be removable in order to change out the battery 112.Note that that one or more inscriptions can be engraved on the enclosure 102.The insert 114 can be rigid, semi-rigid, or hollow.\",\n \"Alternatively, the insert 114 can be eliminated and replace by: (1) an adhesive or one or more connectors that attach one or more edges of the sides of the flexible substrate 104 together to maintain a shape of the folded flexible substrate 104; (2) an expanding foam sealant disposed within an interior of the folded flexible substrate 104; or (3) any other suitable method of maintain a shape of the folded flexible substrate 104.Moreover, the insert 114 can be weighted to balance a weight of the die 100, or unbalance the die 100 to favor a specified orientation (i.e., a loaded die or “cheating” die).\",\n \"Referring now to FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B, images showing the outer faces (4201 to 420N) and inner faces (4401 to 440N), respectively, of a flexible substrate 104 for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention are shown.\",\n \"This embodiment and the embodiment shown in FIGS.\",\n \"9A and 9B have components on both the outer faces 400 and the inner faces 420 of the flexible substrate 104.In contrast, the embodiment shown in FIGS.\",\n \"10A and 10B only has components on the inner faces 420 of the flexible substrate 104, which substantially reduces the manufacturing cost.\",\n \"Each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 is assigned an integer from 1 to N (e.g., 4001 to 4006).\",\n \"A number of light emitting diodes 106 are disposed on the outer face 420 of each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104.The number of light emitting diodes 106 equals the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 and the corresponding side of the enclosure 102.For example and as shown in FIG.\",\n \"4A, the first outer face 4201 of the first side 4001 of the flexible substrate 104 has one light emitting diode D1, the second outer face 4202 of the second side 4002 of the flexible substrate 104 has two light emitting diodes D2-D3, the third outer face 4203 of the third side 4003 of the flexible substrate 104 has three light emitting diodes D4-D6, the fourth outer face 4204 of the fourth side 4004 of the flexible substrate 104 has four light emitting diodes D7-D10, the fifth outer face 4205 of the fifth side 4005 of the flexible substrate 104 has five light emitting diodes D11-D15, and the sixth outer face 4206 of the sixth side 4006 of the flexible substrate 104 has six light emitting diodes D16-D21.Each light emitting diode D1-D21 represents a pip of the electronic gaming die 100.Alternatively, the number of light emitting diodes 106 can be greater than the number of the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 such that the number of light emitting diodes 106 are arranged to display a numeric character corresponding to the integer.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4B, the sensor 108 and processor 110 are disposed on one of the inner faces (e.g., 4401) of the flexible substrate 104.Two leads 402 are used to connect the circuit to the battery 112 (not shown).\",\n \"An additional side 404 is used to mount the interface 118 (e.g., mini USB-A, mini USB-b, micro USB-A, micro USB-b, etc.)\",\n \"and orient the interface 118 to be accessible via the opening 406 in side 4002.As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the circuit includes various capacitors Cx, resistors Rx, electrical traces (conductors) and other desired components.\",\n \"In addition, one or more inner faces 420 or one or more outer faces 440 of the flexible substrate 104 can be coated with an ultraviolet photocurable polymer to further protect the various components and the flexible substrate 104.The flexible substrate 104 can be fabricated using traditional flexible circuit board methodologies or fabricated using 3D printing process wherein the electrical conductors that connect the various components are printed conductive traces that can traverse one or more folds of the flexible substrate 104.An example of such a 3D printing system is described in U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/343,651, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.\",\n \"The three-dimensional printing device creates one or more layers of a three-dimensional substrate by depositing a substrate material in a layer-by-layer fashion.\",\n \"The three-dimensional printing device can be a fused deposition modeling machine, a selective laser sintering machine or other suitable device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is an image of an enclosure 102 for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"6A and 6B are images showing an assembled electronic gaming die 100 with a transparent enclosure 102 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 is a series of images showing the assembly process for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is an image of an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"8, the electronic gaming die 100 can also be fabricated with 3D Printing technology in conjunction with micro-dispensing of conductive inks serving as electrical interconnect.\",\n \"3D Printing of the structure can allow for rapid prototyping not just of the structure but also for the electronic functionality as demonstrated in FIG.\",\n \"8.3D Printing can thus allow for faster evaluation of form and function at an unprecedented level.\",\n \"Referring now to FIGS.\",\n \"9A and 9B, images showing the outer faces (4201 to 420N) and inner faces (4401 to 440N), respectively, of a flexible substrate 104 for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention are shown.\",\n \"Like FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B, this embodiment has components on both the outer faces 400 and the inner faces 420 of the flexible substrate 104.This embodiment does, not however, show the battery leads 402 or interface 118 (e.g., mini USB-A, mini USB-b, micro USB-A, micro USB-b, etc.).\",\n \"Each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 is assigned an integer from 1 to N (e.g., 4001 to 4006).\",\n \"A number of light emitting diodes 106 are disposed on the outer face 420 of each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104.The number of light emitting diodes 106 equals the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 and the corresponding side of the enclosure 102.For example and as shown in FIG.\",\n \"9A, the first outer face 4201 of the first side 4001 of the flexible substrate 104 has one light emitting diode D1, the second outer face 4202 of the second side 4002 of the flexible substrate 104 has two light emitting diodes D2-D3, the third outer face 4203 of the third side 4003 of the flexible substrate 104 has three light emitting diodes D4-D6, the fourth outer face 4204 of the fourth side 4004 of the flexible substrate 104 has four light emitting diodes D7-D10, the fifth outer face 4205 of the fifth side 4005 of the flexible substrate 104 has five light emitting diodes D11-D15, and the sixth outer face 4206 of the sixth side 4006 of the flexible substrate 104 has six light emitting diodes D16-D21.Each light emitting diode D1-D21 represents a pip of the electronic gaming die 100.Alternatively, the number of light emitting diodes 106 can be greater than the number of the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 such that the number of light emitting diodes 106 are arranged to display a numeric character corresponding to the integer.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"9B, the sensor 108 and processor 110 are disposed on one of the inner faces (e.g., 4401) of the flexible substrate 104.As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the circuit includes various capacitors Cx, resistors Rx, electrical traces (conductors) and other desired components.\",\n \"In addition, one or more inner faces 420 or one or more outer faces 440 of the flexible substrate 104 can be coated with an ultraviolet photocurable polymer to further protect the various components and the flexible substrate 104.The flexible substrate 104 can be fabricated using traditional flexible circuit board methodologies or fabricated using 3D printing process wherein the electrical conductors that connect the various components are printed conductive traces that can traverse one or more folds of the flexible substrate 104.An example of such a 3D printing system is described in U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/343,651, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.\",\n \"The three-dimensional printing device creates one or more layers of a three-dimensional substrate by depositing a substrate material in a layer-by-layer fashion.\",\n \"The three-dimensional printing device can be a fused deposition modeling machine, a selective laser sintering machine or other suitable device.\",\n \"Now referring to FIGS.\",\n \"10A and 10B, images showing the outer faces (4201 to 420N) and inner faces (4401 to 440N), respectively, of a flexible substrate 104 for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention are shown.\",\n \"Unlike FIGS.\",\n \"4A-B and 9A-B, this embodiment has components only on the outer faces 420 of the flexible substrate 104.This embodiment uses three additional squares or sides 1002, 1004 and 1006 to mount the various components on, such that these three sides 1002, 1004 and 1006 are bent towards the back of the completed flexible substrate 104, leaving the components effectively in the back side again.\",\n \"By doing this, the folded flexible substrate inserted into the inside of the cavity 116 of the dice case 102a just like the other embodiments.\",\n \"This embodiment greatly reduces the manufacturing price of the flexible substrate 104 (e.g., 40% or more).\",\n \"Some of these savings would be offset by the increased handling of the flexible substrate 104 during manufacture, increased time to build each part and increased risk of damaging it through handling.\",\n \"Each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 is assigned an integer from 1 to N (e.g., 4001 to 4006).\",\n \"A number of light emitting diodes 106 are disposed on the outer face 420 of each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104.The number of light emitting diodes 106 equals the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 and the corresponding side of the enclosure 102.For example and as shown in FIG.\",\n \"10A, the first outer face 4201 of the first side 4001 of the flexible substrate 104 has one light emitting diode D1, the second outer face 4202 of the second side 4002 of the flexible substrate 104 has two light emitting diodes D2-D3, the third outer face 4203 of the third side 4003 of the flexible substrate 104 has three light emitting diodes D4-D6, the fourth outer face 4204 of the fourth side 4004 of the flexible substrate 104 has four light emitting diodes D7-D10, the fifth outer face 4205 of the fifth side 4005 of the flexible substrate 104 has five light emitting diodes D11-D15, and the sixth outer face 4206 of the sixth side 4006 of the flexible substrate 104 has six light emitting diodes D16-D21.Each light emitting diode D1-D21 represents a pip of the electronic gaming die 100.Alternatively, the number of light emitting diodes 106 can be greater than the number of the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 such that the number of light emitting diodes 106 are arranged to display a numeric character corresponding to the integer.\",\n \"The sensor 108 is disposed the outer face (e.g., 4207) of one of the added sides 1002.The processor 110 is disposed on outer face (e.g., 4208) of the one of the added sides 1004.Additional components, such as resistors R4, R5, R7 and R8 are disposed on the outer face (e.g., 4209) of one of the added sides 1006.Two leads 402 are used to connect the circuit to the battery 112 (not shown).\",\n \"An additional side 404 is used to mount the interface 118 (e.g., mini USB-A, mini USB-b, micro USB-A, micro USB-b, etc.)\",\n \"and orient the interface 118 to be accessible via the opening 406 in side 4002.As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the circuit includes various capacitors Cx, resistors Rx, electrical traces (conductors) and other desired components.\",\n \"In addition, one or more inner faces 420 or one or more outer faces 440 of the flexible substrate 104 can be coated with an ultraviolet photocurable polymer to further protect the various components and the flexible substrate 104.The flexible substrate 104 can be fabricated using traditional flexible circuit board methodologies or fabricated using 3D printing process wherein the electrical conductors that connect the various components are printed conductive traces that can traverse one or more folds of the flexible substrate 104.An example of such a 3D printing system is described in U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/343,651, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.\",\n \"The three-dimensional printing device creates one or more layers of a three-dimensional substrate by depositing a substrate material in a layer-by-layer fashion.\",\n \"The three-dimensional printing device can be a fused deposition modeling machine, a selective laser sintering machine or other suitable device.\",\n \"Now referring to FIG.\",\n \"11, a flow chart of a method 1100 for manufacturing an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention is shown.\",\n \"A flexible substrate is fabricated in block 1102.The flexible substrate folds into N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N (e.g., equals 4, 6, 8, 10, 20, etc.).\",\n \"A number of light emitting diodes disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"A sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"A processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes.\",\n \"A battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.\",\n \"An enclosure having N sides in provided in block 1104.The flexible substrate is folded in block 1106 such that the folded flexible substrate fits into an interior of the enclosure.\",\n \"The folded flexible substrate is inserted into the interior of the enclosure in block 1108 and the enclosure is sealed in block 1110.As previously described, the shape of the folded flexible substrate can be maintained by: placing an insert within an interior of the folded flexible substrate; attaching one or more edges of the sides of the flexible substrate together using an adhesive or one or more connectors; or depositing an expanding foam sealant within an interior of the folded flexible substrate.\",\n \"In addition, one or more inner faces or one or more outer faces of the flexible substrate can be coated with an ultraviolet photocurable polymer to further protect the various components and the flexible substrate.\",\n \"Moreover, this method can be implemented as a computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium wherein the steps are preformed using one or more code segments.\",\n \"As previously mentioned, the flexible substrate can be fabricated using a conductive ink micro-dispensing process wherein the electrical conductors that connect the various components are printed conductive traces that can traverse one or more folds of the flexible substrate 104.An example of such a 3D printing system is described in U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/343,651, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.\",\n \"The three-dimensional printing device creates one or more layers of a three-dimensional substrate by depositing a substrate material in a layer-by-layer fashion.\",\n \"The three-dimensional printing device can be a fused deposition modeling machine, a selective laser sintering machine or other suitable device.\",\n \"Other machines may include a micro-machining machine, a CNC micro-machining machine, a micro electrical discharge machining machine, an electrochemical machining machine, a direct write proton micro-machining machine, a laser ablation machine, a radiative source, an ultrasonic cutting machine, a hot wire cutting machine, a waterjet machine, an etching machine, a deep reactive ion etching machine, a plasma etching machine, a crystal orientation dependent etching machine, a wet bulk micromachining machine, a UV-lithography or X-ray lithography (LIGA) machine, a hot embossing lithography machine, a precision mechanical sawing machine, a chemically assisted ion milling machine, a sand blasting machine or a cutting machine.\",\n \"A component placement machine can be used to place and assemble the various components.\",\n \"In addition, the system may include a slide, a conveyor or a robotic device that transports the components and electronic gaming die to each machine.\",\n \"Note that all of the machines can be integrated into a single machine.\",\n \"The substrate material can be a thermoplastic material, another polymer material, a ceramic material, a metallic material, a mineral material, a glass ceramic material, a semi-conductor material, a nanomaterial, a biomaterial, an organic material, an inorganic material or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The thermoplastic material can be acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), ABSi, ABSplus, ABS-M30, ABS-M30i, polycarbonate (PC), PC-ABS, PC-ISO, polyphenylsulfone (PPSF/PPSU), ULTEM 9085 or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The another polymer material can be poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polypropylene, polyolefin, LL-PE, HDPE, polyvinyl acetate, polyester, polyamides, nylon, polyimides, polyketone, polyether ethyl ketone (PEEK), polybutadiene, polylactic acid, polycaprolactone, polyethylene terephthalate, liquid crystalline polymer (LCP), polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polyfluoroethylene, polydifluoroethylene, polytetrafluoroethylene, ZEONEX RS420, Eccostock HIK-TPO, co-polymers and block co-polymers of the previous, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 is an image of an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 is an image of a wireless battery charging device 1300 with two electronic gaming dice 100a and 100b in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"It may be understood that particular embodiments described herein are shown by way of illustration and not as limitations of the invention.\",\n \"The principal features of this invention can be employed in various embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention.\",\n \"Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, numerous equivalents to the specific procedures described herein.\",\n \"Such equivalents are considered to be within the scope of this invention and are covered by the claims.\",\n \"All publications, patents and patent applications mentioned in the specification are indicative of the level of skill of those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains.\",\n \"All publications, patents and patent applications are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.\",\n \"The use of the word “a” or “an” when used in conjunction with the term “comprising” in the claims and/or the specification may mean “one,” but it is also consistent with the meaning of “one or more,” “at least one,” and “one or more than one.” The use of the term “or” in the claims is used to mean “and/or” unless explicitly indicated to refer to alternatives only or the alternatives are mutually exclusive, although the disclosure supports a definition that refers to only alternatives and “and/or.” Throughout this application, the term “about” is used to indicate that a value includes the inherent variation of error for the device, the method being employed to determine the value, or the variation that exists among the study subjects.\",\n \"As used in this specification and claim(s), the words “comprising” (and any form of comprising, such as “comprise” and “comprises”), “having” (and any form of having, such as “have” and “has”), “including” (and any form of including, such as “includes” and “include”) or “containing” (and any form of containing, such as “contains” and “contain”) are inclusive or open-ended and do not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps.\",\n \"The term “or combinations thereof” as used herein refers to all permutations and combinations of the listed items preceding the term.\",\n \"For example, “A, B, C, or combinations thereof” is intended to include at least one of: A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC, and if order is important in a particular context, also BA, CA, CB, CBA, BCA, ACB, BAC, or CAB.\",\n \"Continuing with this example, expressly included are combinations that contain repeats of one or more item or term, such as BB, AAA, AB, BBC, AAABCCCC, CBBAAA, CABABB, and so forth.\",\n \"The skilled artisan will understand that typically there is no limit on the number of items or terms in any combination, unless otherwise apparent from the context.\",\n \"All of the compositions and/or methods disclosed and claimed herein can be made and executed without undue experimentation in light of the present disclosure.\",\n \"While the compositions and methods of this invention have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, it may be apparent to those of skill in the art that variations may be applied to the compositions and/or methods and in the steps or in the sequence of steps of the method described herein without departing from the concept, spirit and scope of the invention.\",\n \"All such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and concept of the invention as defined by the appended claims.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876084"}}},{"rowIdx":4495075,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["TREATMENT OF GLYCOGEN STORAGE DISEASE TYPE II","Methods of treating glycogen storage disease type II, by administering acid α-glucosidase, are described, as are compositions for use in treatment of glycogen storage disease type II."],["1.A method of treating glycogen storage disease type II in a human individual having glycogen storage disease type II, comprising administering to the individual a therapeutically effective amount of a precursor form of human acid α-glucosidase produced in Chinese hamster ovary cell culture (CHO GAA) at a regular interval, wherein said precursor form is administered in conjunction with an immunosuppressive or immunotherapeutic regimen, and wherein said immunosuppressive or immunotherapeutic regimen is administered prior to any administration of said precursor form.","2.The method of claim 1, wherein said precursor form is administered monthly, bimonthly, weekly, twice weekly or daily.","3.The method of claim 2, wherein said precursor form is administered bimonthly.","4.The method of claim 1, wherein said precursor form is administered intravenously, intramuscularly, intrathecally or intraventricularly.","5.The method of claim 1, wherein the glycogen storage disease type II is infantile glycogen storage disease type II, juvenile glycogen storage disease type II, or adult-onset glycogen storage disease type II.","6.The method of claim 5, wherein the glycogen storage disease type II is infantile glycogen storage disease type II.","7.The method of claim 1, wherein the method comprises treating cardiomyopathy associated with glycogen storage disease type II in a human in need of such treatment.","8.The method of claim 1, wherein less than 15 mg of said precursor form per kilogram of body weight is administered.","9.The method of claim 5, wherein 1 to 10 mg of said precursor form per kilogram of body weight is administered."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Glycogen storage disease type II (GSD-II) (also known as Pompe disease or acid maltase deficiency) is a fatal genetic muscle disorder caused by a deficiency of acid α-glucosidase (GAA), a glycogen degrading lysosomal enzyme (Hirschhorn, R., “Glycogen storage disease type II: acid α-glucosidase (acid maltase) deficiency”, in Scriver, C. R. et al., (eds) The Metabolic and Molecular Basis of Inherited disease, 7 th Ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 1995, pp.","2443-2464).","The deficiency results in lysosomal glycogen accumulation in almost all tissues of the body, with cardiac and skeletal muscle being the most seriously affected.","The combined incidence of all forms of GSD-II is estimated to be 1:40,000, and the disease affects all groups without an ethnic predilection (Martiniuk, F. et al., Amer.","J. Med.","Genet.","79:69-72 (1998); Ausems, M.G.E.M.","et al., Eur.","J. Hum.","Genet.","7:713-716 (1999)).","Clinically, GSD-II encompasses a range of phenotypes differing as to age of onset, organs involved and clinical severity, generally correlating with the residual amount of GAA activity.","In its most severe presentation (infantile GSD-II, or Pompe disease, in which less than 1% of normal GAA activity is present), infants are affected by a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, generalized muscle weakness and hypotonia secondary to massive glycogen accumulation in cardiac and skeletal muscles (for review, see Hirschhorn, supra ).","The disease progresses rapidly, with death from cardiac failure usually occurring by 1 year of age.","Juvenile (1-10% of normal GAA activity) and adult-onset (10-40% of normal GAA activity) forms of the disease are characterized by lack of severe cardiac involvement, later age of onset, and slower progression, but eventual respiratory or limb muscle involvement results in significant morbidity and mortality for the affected individuals.","Drug treatment strategies, dietary manipulations, and bone marrow transplantation have been employed as means for treatment for GSD-II, without significant success (Hug, G. et al., Birth Defects Org.","Ser.","9:160-183 (1967); Slonim, A. E. et al., Neurology 33:34 (1983); Watson, J. G. et al., N. Engl.","J. Med.","314:385 (1986)).","Early attempts at enzyme replacement were also unsuccessful (Hug, G. and Schubert, W. K., J. Clin.","Invest.","46:1073 (1967); de Barsy, T. et al., Birth Defects Orig.","Art.","Ser.","9:84-190 (1973); Williams, J. C. and Murray, A. K., “Enzyme replacement in Pompe disease with an alpha glucosidase low-density lipoprotein complex”, in Desnick, R. J.","(ed), Enzyme Therapy in Genetic Diseases: 2, New York, Alan R. Liss 1980; pp.","415-423)).","A need remains for effective treatment of GSD-II."],["<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention is drawn to methods of treating glycogen storage disease type II (infantile, juvenile or adult-onset) in an individual, by administering to the individual a therapeutically effective amount of acid α-glucosidase (e.g., less than about 15 mg enzyme per kilogram of body weight, preferably about 1-10 mg enzyme per kilogram of body weight more preferably about 10 enzyme per kilogram of body weight or about 5 mg enzyme per kilogram of body weight), at a regular interval (e.g., monthly, bimonthly, weekly, twice weekly, daily).","The acid α-glucosidase is human acid, α-glucosidase, preferably recombinant human acid α-glucosidase, more preferably, precursor form of human acid α-glucosidase, and even more preferably precursor form of human acid α-glucosidase produced in Chinese hamster ovary cells.","The acid α-glucosidase is administered periodically (e.g., monthly, bimonthly, weekly, twice weekly, daily).","In preferred embodiments, the acid α-glucosidase is administered intravenously; intramuscularly; intrathecally; or intraventricularly.","The methods of the invention provide the first effective means to treat an individual with glycogen storage disease type II."],["This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","13/593,148 (published as U.S. 2013-0195834 A1), filed Aug. 23, 2012 (allowed), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","13/064,556, filed Mar.","30, 2011 (abandoned), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","12/604,267, filed Oct. 22, 2009 (abandoned), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","11/889,457, filed Aug. 13, 2007 (abandoned), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","11/039,281, filed Jan. 20, 2005 (abandoned), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","09/902,461, filed Jul.","10, 2001 (issued as U.S. Pat.","No.","7,056,712), which claims the benefit of U.S.","Provisional Application No.","60/219,237, filed Jul.","18, 2000, the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in this application.","BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Glycogen storage disease type II (GSD-II) (also known as Pompe disease or acid maltase deficiency) is a fatal genetic muscle disorder caused by a deficiency of acid α-glucosidase (GAA), a glycogen degrading lysosomal enzyme (Hirschhorn, R., “Glycogen storage disease type II: acid α-glucosidase (acid maltase) deficiency”, in Scriver, C. R. et al., (eds) The Metabolic and Molecular Basis of Inherited disease, 7th Ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 1995, pp.","2443-2464).","The deficiency results in lysosomal glycogen accumulation in almost all tissues of the body, with cardiac and skeletal muscle being the most seriously affected.","The combined incidence of all forms of GSD-II is estimated to be 1:40,000, and the disease affects all groups without an ethnic predilection (Martiniuk, F. et al., Amer.","J. Med.","Genet.","79:69-72 (1998); Ausems, M.G.E.M.","et al., Eur.","J. Hum.","Genet.","7:713-716 (1999)).","Clinically, GSD-II encompasses a range of phenotypes differing as to age of onset, organs involved and clinical severity, generally correlating with the residual amount of GAA activity.","In its most severe presentation (infantile GSD-II, or Pompe disease, in which less than 1% of normal GAA activity is present), infants are affected by a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, generalized muscle weakness and hypotonia secondary to massive glycogen accumulation in cardiac and skeletal muscles (for review, see Hirschhorn, supra).","The disease progresses rapidly, with death from cardiac failure usually occurring by 1 year of age.","Juvenile (1-10% of normal GAA activity) and adult-onset (10-40% of normal GAA activity) forms of the disease are characterized by lack of severe cardiac involvement, later age of onset, and slower progression, but eventual respiratory or limb muscle involvement results in significant morbidity and mortality for the affected individuals.","Drug treatment strategies, dietary manipulations, and bone marrow transplantation have been employed as means for treatment for GSD-II, without significant success (Hug, G. et al., Birth Defects Org.","Ser.","9:160-183 (1967); Slonim, A. E. et al., Neurology 33:34 (1983); Watson, J. G. et al., N. Engl.","J. Med.","314:385 (1986)).","Early attempts at enzyme replacement were also unsuccessful (Hug, G. and Schubert, W. K., J. Clin.","Invest.","46:1073 (1967); de Barsy, T. et al., Birth Defects Orig.","Art.","Ser.","9:84-190 (1973); Williams, J. C. and Murray, A. K., “Enzyme replacement in Pompe disease with an alpha glucosidase low-density lipoprotein complex”, in Desnick, R. J.","(ed), Enzyme Therapy in Genetic Diseases: 2, New York, Alan R. Liss 1980; pp.","415-423)).","A need remains for effective treatment of GSD-II.","SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is drawn to methods of treating glycogen storage disease type II (infantile, juvenile or adult-onset) in an individual, by administering to the individual a therapeutically effective amount of acid α-glucosidase (e.g., less than about 15 mg enzyme per kilogram of body weight, preferably about 1-10 mg enzyme per kilogram of body weight more preferably about 10 enzyme per kilogram of body weight or about 5 mg enzyme per kilogram of body weight), at a regular interval (e.g., monthly, bimonthly, weekly, twice weekly, daily).","The acid α-glucosidase is human acid, α-glucosidase, preferably recombinant human acid α-glucosidase, more preferably, precursor form of human acid α-glucosidase, and even more preferably precursor form of human acid α-glucosidase produced in Chinese hamster ovary cells.","The acid α-glucosidase is administered periodically (e.g., monthly, bimonthly, weekly, twice weekly, daily).","In preferred embodiments, the acid α-glucosidase is administered intravenously; intramuscularly; intrathecally; or intraventricularly.","The methods of the invention provide the first effective means to treat an individual with glycogen storage disease type II.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1A-1C are a series of graphic representations depicting longitudinal data (for the first 16 months of age) on motor development as assessed by Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) (closed diamonds), and titer of antibodies to recombinant human acid α-glucosidase (rhGAA) (open diamonds) in three patients (patient 1, FIG.","1A; patient 2, FIG.","1B; patient 3, FIG.","1C) with infantile Pompe disease receiving enzyme replacement therapy.","The arrow indicates when the enzyme therapy was initiated.","AIMS scores in normal patients are plotted as dotted curves against age (5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 95th percentile, from bottom to top).","FIG.","2A-2F are a series of graphic representations depicting longitudinal two-dimensional echocardiographic measurements of left ventricular volume (FIG.","2A-2C) and mass (FIG.","2D-2F) in the three infantile Pompe disease patients receiving enzyme replacement therapy (patient 1, FIG.","2A and 2D; patient 2, FIG.","2B and 2E; patient 3, FIG.","2C and 2F).","Week 0 depicts the measurements at the time of enzyme therapy initiation.","Open diamonds, end-diastolic volume measurement; closed diamonds, end-systolic volume measurement.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is drawn to methods of treating glycogen storage disease type II (GSD-II) in an individual, by administering the enzyme, acid α-glucosidase (GAA) to the individual, as well as the use of the enzyme, GAA, in the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of glycogen storage disease type II.","As described herein, Applicants have successfully treated infants suffering from GSD-II by administering GAA to the infants on a regular basis; the infants demonstrated improvement of cardiac status, pulmonary function, and neurodevelopment, as well as reduction of glycogen levels in tissue.","As a result of these findings, it is now possible for the first time to treat GSD-II, including infantile, juvenile and adult-onset GSD-II.","Although the results described herein discuss individuals with the most severe form of GSD-II (infantile GSD-II), it is expected that the methods will be equally effective in individuals affected by juvenile or adult-onset GSD-II, and may, in fact, be even more effective, as individuals with juvenile or adult-onset GSD-II have higher levels of residual GAA activity (1-10%, or 10-40%, respectively), and therefore are likely to be more immunologically tolerant of the administered GAA (e.g., they are generally cross-reactive immunoreactive material (CRIM)-positive for endogenous GAA, so that their immune systems do not perceive the GAA as a “foreign” protein, and they do not develop anti-GAA antibodies).","The enhanced efficacy in such individuals can be seen in patient 3, who was CRIM-positive and did not develop anti-GAA antibodies, and who demonstrated a normal progression of developmental milestones, in contrast with the variable course that was seen in CRIM-negative patients 1 and 2 (who did develop anti-GAA antibodies).","The terms, “treat” and “treatment,” as used herein, refer to amelioration of one or more symptoms associated with the disease, prevention or delay of the onset of one or more symptoms of the disease, and/or lessening of the severity or frequency of one or more symptoms of the disease.","For example, treatment can refer to improvement of cardiac status (e.g., increase of end-diastolic and/or end-systolic volumes, or reduction, amelioration or prevention of the progressive cardiomyopathy that is typically found in GSD-II) or of pulmonary function (e.g., increase in crying vital capacity over baseline capacity, and/or normalization of oxygen desaturation during crying); improvement in neurodevelopment and/or motor skills (e.g., increase in AIMS score); reduction of glycogen levels in tissue of the individual affected by the disease; or any combination of these effects.","In one preferred embodiment, treatment includes improvement of cardiac status, particularly in reduction or prevention of GSD-II-associated cardiomyopathy.","The terms, “improve,” “increase” or “reduce,” as used herein, indicate values that are relative to a baseline measurement, such as a measurement in the same individual prior to initiation of the treatment described herein, or a measurement in a control individual (or multiple control individuals) in the absence of the treatment described herein.","A control individual is an individual afflicted with the same form of GSD-II (either infantile, juvenile or adult-onset) as the individual being treated, who is about the same age as the individual being treated (to ensure that the stages of the disease in the treated individual and the control individual(s) are comparable).","The individual being treated is an individual (fetus, child, adolescent, or adult human) having GSD-II (i.e., either infantile GSD-II, juvenile GSD-II, or adult-onset GSD-II).","The individual can have residual GAA activity, or no measurable activity.","For example, the individual having GSD-II can have GAA activity that is less than about 1% of normal GAA activity (infantile GSD-II), GAA activity that is about 1-10% of normal GAA activity (juvenile GSD-II), or GAA activity that is about 10-40% of normal GAA activity (adult GSD-II).","The individual can be CRIM-positive or CRIM-negative for endogenous GAA.","In a preferred embodiment, the individual is CRIM-positive for endogenous GAA.","In another preferred embodiment, the individual is an individual who has been recently diagnosed with the disease.","Early treatment (treatment commencing as soon as possible after diagnosis) is important for to minimize the effects of the disease and to maximize the benefits of treatment.","In the methods of the invention, human acid α-glucosidase (GAA) is administered to the individual.","The GAA is in a form that, when administered, targets tissues such as the tissues affected by the disease (e.g., heart, muscle).","In one preferred embodiment, the human GAA is administered in its precursor form, as the precursor contains motifs which allow efficient receptor-mediated uptake of GAA.","Alternatively, a mature form of human GAA that has been modified to contain motifs to allow efficient uptake of GAA, can be administered.","In a particularly preferred embodiment, the GAA is the precursor form of recombinant human GAA.","GAA is obtainable from a variety of sources.","In a particularly preferred embodiment, recombinant human acid α-glucosidase (rhGAA) has been produced in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell cultures is used (see, e.g., Fuller, M. et al., Eur.","J. Biochem.","234:903-909 (1995); Van Hove, J. L. K. et al., Proc.","Natl.","Acad.","Sci.","USA 93:65-70 (1996); the entire teachings of these references are incorporated herein by reference).","Production of GAA in CHO cells appears to yield a product having glycosylation which allows significant and efficient uptake of GAA in the desired tissues (heart and muscle); it is assumed that the glycosylation differs from that of GAA that is produced in transgenic mouse and rabbit milk (see, e.g., Bijvoet, A. G. A. et al., Hum.","Mol.","Genet.","7:1815-1824 (1998); Bijvoet, A. G. A. et al., Hum.","Mol.","Genet.","8:2145-2153 (1999)).","The GAA has a specific enzyme activity in the range of about 1.0-3.5 μmol/min/mg protein, preferably in the range of about 2-3.5 μmol/min/mg protein.","In one preferred embodiment, the GAA has a specific enzyme activity of at least about 1.0 μmol/min/mg protein; more preferably, a specific enzyme activity of at least about 2.0 μmol/min/mg protein; even more preferably, a specific enzyme activity of at least about 2.5 μmol/min/mg protein; and still more preferably, a specific enzyme activity of at least about 2.75 μmol/min/mg protein.","GAA can be administered alone, or in compositions or medicaments comprising the GAA (e.g., in the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of the disease), as described herein.","The compositions can be formulated with a physiologically acceptable carrier or excipient to prepare a pharmaceutical composition.","The carrier and composition can be sterile.","The formulation should suit the mode of administration.","Suitable pharmaceutically acceptable carriers include but are not limited to water, salt solutions (e.g., NaCl), saline, buffered saline, alcohols, glycerol, ethanol, gum arable, vegetable oils, benzyl alcohols, polyethylene glycols, gelatin, carbohydrates such as lactose, amylose or starch, sugars such as mannitol, sucrose, or others, dextrose, magnesium stearate, talc, silicic acid, viscous paraffin, perfume oil, fatty acid esters, hydroxymethylcellulose, polyvinyl pyrolidone, etc., as well as combinations thereof.","The pharmaceutical preparations can, if desired, be mixed with auxiliary agents, e.g., lubricants, preservatives, stabilizers, wetting agents, emulsifiers, salts for influencing osmotic pressure, buffers, coloring, flavoring and/or aromatic substances and the like which do not deleteriously react with the active compounds.","In a preferred embodiment, a water-soluble carrier suitable for intravenous administration is used.","The composition or medicament, if desired, can also contain minor amounts of wetting or emulsifying agents, or pH buffering agents.","The composition can be a liquid solution, suspension, emulsion, tablet, pill, capsule, sustained release formulation, or powder.","The composition can also be formulated as a suppository, with traditional binders and carriers such as triglycerides.","Oral formulation can include standard carriers such as pharmaceutical grades of mannitol, lactose, starch, magnesium stearate, polyvinyl pyrollidone, sodium saccharine, cellulose, magnesium carbonate, etc.","The composition or medicament can be formulated in accordance with the routine procedures as a pharmaceutical composition adapted for administration to human beings.","For example, in a preferred embodiment, a composition for intravenous administration typically is a solution in sterile isotonic aqueous buffer.","Where necessary, the composition may also include a solubilizing agent and a local anesthetic to ease pain at the site of the injection.","Generally, the ingredients are supplied either separately or mixed together in unit dosage form, for example, as a dry lyophilized powder or water free concentrate in a hermetically sealed container such as an ampule or sachette indicating the quantity of active agent.","Where the composition is to be administered by infusion, it can be dispensed with an infusion bottle containing sterile pharmaceutical grade water, saline or dextrose/water.","Where the composition is administered by injection, an ampule of sterile water for injection or saline can be provided so that the ingredients may be mixed prior to administration.","The GAA can be formulated as neutral or salt forms.","Pharmaceutically acceptable salts include those formed with free amino groups such as those derived from hydrochloric, phosphoric, acetic, oxalic, tartaric acids, etc., and those formed with free carboxyl groups such as those derived from sodium, potassium, ammonium, calcium, ferric hydroxides, isopropylamine, triethylamine, 2-ethylamino ethanol, histidine, procaine, etc.","GAA (or composition or medicament containing GAA) is administered by an appropriate route.","In one embodiment, the GAA is administered intravenously.","In other embodiments, GAA is administered by direct administration to a target tissue, such as heart or muscle (e.g., intramuscular), or nervous system (e.g., direct injection into the brain; intraventricularly; intrathecally).","More than one route can be used concurrently, if desired.","GAA (or composition or medicament containing GAA) can be administered alone, or in conjunction with other agents, such as antihistamines (e.g., diphenhydramine) or immunosuppressants or other immunotherapeutic agents which counteract anti-GAA antibodies.","The term, “in conjunction with,” indicates that the agent is administered at about the same time as the GAA (or composition containing GAA).","For example, the agent can be mixed into a composition containing GAA, and thereby administered contemporaneously with the GAA; alternatively, the agent can be administered contemporaneously, without mixing (e.g., by “piggybacking” delivery of the agent on the intravenous line by which the GAA is also administered, or vice versa).","In another example, the agent can be administered separately (e.g., not admixed), but within a short time frame (e.g., within 24 hours) of administration of the GAA.","In one preferred embodiment, if the individual is CRIM-negative for endogenous GAA, GAA (or composition containing GAA) is administered in conjunction with an immunosuppressive or immunotherapeutic regimen designed to reduce amounts of, or prevent production of, anti-GAA antibodies.","For example, a protocol similar to those used in hemophilia patients (Nilsson, I. M. et al., N. Engl.","J. Med.","318:947-50 (1988)) can be used to reduce anti-GAA antibodies.","Such a regimen can also be used in individuals who are CRIM-positive for endogenous GAA but who have, or are at risk of having, anti-GAA antibodies.","In a particularly preferred embodiment, the immunosuppressive or immunotherapeutic regimen is begun prior to the first administration of GAA, in order to minimize the possibility of production of anti-GAA antibodies.","GAA (or composition or medicament containing GAA) is administered in a therapeutically effective amount (i.e., a dosage amount that, when administered at regular intervals, is sufficient to treat the disease, such as by ameliorating symptoms associated with the disease, preventing or delaying the onset of the disease, and/or also lessening the severity or frequency of symptoms of the disease, as described above).","The amount which will be therapeutically effective in the treatment the disease will depend on the nature and extent of the disease's effects, and can be determined by standard clinical techniques.","In addition, in vitro or in vivo assays may optionally be employed to help identify optimal dosage ranges.","The precise dose to be employed will also depend on the route of administration, and the seriousness of the disease, and should be decided according to the judgment of a practitioner and each patient's circumstances.","Effective doses may be extrapolated from dose-response curves derived from in vitro or animal model test systems.","In a preferred embodiment, the therapeutically effective amount is less than about 15 mg enzyme/kg body weight of the individual, preferably in the range of about 1-10 mg enzyme/kg body weight, and even more preferably about 10 mg enzyme/kg body weight or about 5 mg enzyme/kg body weight.","The effective dose for a particular individual can be varied (e.g., increased or decreased) over time, depending on the needs of the individual.","For example, in times of physical illness or stress, or if anti-GAA antibodies become present or increase, or if disease symptoms worsen, the amount can be increased.","The therapeutically effective amount of GAA (or composition or medicament containing GAA) is administered at regular intervals, depending on the nature and extent of the disease's effects, and on an ongoing basis.","Administration at a “regular interval,” as used herein, indicates that the therapeutically effective amount is administered periodically (as distinguished from a one-time dose).","The interval can be determined by standard clinical techniques.","In preferred embodiments, GAA is administered monthly, bimonthly; weekly; twice weekly; or daily.","The administration interval for a single individual need not be a fixed interval, but can be varied over time, depending on the needs of the individual.","For example, in times of physical illness or stress, if anti-GAA antibodies become present or increase, or if disease symptoms worsen, the interval between doses can be decreased.","In one preferred embodiment, a therapeutically effective amount of 10 mg enzyme/kg body weight is administered weekly.","In another preferred embodiment, a therapeutically effective amount of 5 mg enzyme/kg body weight is administered twice weekly.","The invention additionally pertains to a pharmaceutical composition comprising human acid α-glucosidase, as described herein, in a container (e.g., a vial, bottle, bag for intravenous administration, syringe, etc.)","with a label containing instructions for administration of the composition for treatment of glycogen storage disease type II, such as by the methods described herein.","The invention will be further and more specifically described by the following examples.","EXEMPLIFICATION Phase I/II Trial of Use of Recombinant Human Acid α-Glucosidase Material and Methods Patients: Inclusion criteria were infants affected with infantile GSD-II having virtually absent GAA.","activity (<1% of normal in skin fibroblasts and/or muscle biopsy) and less than one year of age.","Exclusion criteria included severe cardiorespiratory failure at baseline and/or other medical conditions likely to decrease survival.","Because of the limited life expectancy of the disease following diagnosis, no placebo control was used.","Historical control data indicated that virtually all patients died before 1 year of age (Table 1).","TABLE 1 Historical control data of infantile glycogen storage disease, type II Length of disease Onset (months) Death (months) course (months) Duke University Medical Center (n = 30)* Mean ± SD 5.1 ± 1.8 8.6 ± 2.4 3.5 ± 2.3 Range 2.4-10.3 3.3-12.4 0.0-9.0 Slonim et al.","(n = 10)** Mean ± SD 2.5 ± 1.0 7.2 ± 2.8 4.7 ± 2.4 Range 1.0-4.0 4.0-12.0 2.0-9.0 *Data from Duke University Pompe Disease Registry **Data from Slonim et al., J. Pediatr.","137: 283-285 (2000).","Three infants affected with infantile GSD-II as evidenced by reduced acid α-glucosidase activity to less than 1% of normal in skin fibroblasts and/or muscle biopsy were enrolled in the study.","At the protein level, both patients 1 and 2 had no detectable GAA protein while patient 3 had reduced levels of GAA protein detected by immunoblot analysis.","The baseline clinical data before the initiation of the therapy are summarized in Table 2.TABLE 2 Baseline Clinical Data on 3 Infantile Pompe Disease Patients Age Motor GAA Activity in Patient Ethnic rhGAA Cardiac Pulmonary Development Skin Fibroblasts CRIM* Current Number/Sex Background Started Status Function (AIMS Score) (% of normal) Status Age Patient Caucasian 4 Severe Borderline normal, <<5th % 0.84% Negative 29 1/male months cardiomyopathy; left main bronchus months states post compression due to cardiac arrest markedly enlarged heart, O2 desaturation Patient African- 3 Moderate O2 desaturation during <5th % 0.57% Negative 25 2/male American months cardiomyopathy crying months Patient Caucasian 2½ Borderline Normal <<5th % 0.69% Positive 23 3/male months cardiomyopathy months *CRIM = cross reactive immunoreactive material Patient 1 presented at 2 months of age with cardiac arrest during elective surgical repair of an inguinal hernia.","Subsequent evaluation when he was 4 months of age demonstrated evidence of severe hypotonia, with a motor development age estimated to be equivalent to that of a 3 week old.","He also had profound cardiomyopathy and severe cardiomegaly with compression of the left main bronchus resulting in partial atelectasis of the left lung, and feeding difficulties and failure to thrive.","Patients 2 and 3 were prenatally diagnosed with Pompe disease; importantly, each had a previous sibling that had died of symptoms typically attributable to the infantile GSD-II.","Both patients had evidence of motor delays; in addition patient 2 had feeding difficulty, failure to thrive and severe cardiomyopathy.","Basic Design: The study was designed as a Phase I/II, open-label, single-dose, safety and efficacy study of rhGAA administered twice weekly in the 3 patients with infantile Pompe disease.","The study was approved by the institutional review board, and parental written informed consent was obtained.","The study consisted of an initial Screening Phase, a 13-week Treatment Phase, and a Follow-up Treatment Phase.","During the Screening Phase the initial clinical status of the patients was assessed; in addition, GAA and glycogen levels were determined in skeletal muscle biopsy samples.","During the Treatment Phase, patients received intravenous infusions of rhGAA (5 mg/kg) twice weekly.","Patients were closely monitored for any adverse responses to the enzyme infusions, as well as for any impact the rhGAA administrations had on the clinical progression of infantile GSD-II.","General clinical assessments included routine physical examinations, supplemented by complete urine, hematological, and clinical chemistry analyses (electrolytes, glucose, creatinine, BUN, CO2, protein, albumin, ALT, AST, bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, CK and isozyme, uric acid).","Exhaustive neurologic and motor function evaluations included manual muscle strength testing, Denver development testing, and AIMS (Alberta Infant Motor Scale; see Piper, M. C. and Darrah, J., Motor Assessment of the Developing Infant, WB Sanders Company, Philadelphia, 1994).","Two-dimensional, M-mode and Doppler echocardiography were used to assess left ventricular mass, wall thickness and systolic as well as diastolic functions.","Additionally, a variety of pulmonary functions (crying vital capacity, trend pulse-oximetry and end tidal carbon dioxide measurement, as well as negative inspiratory force maneuver) were monitored throughout the study.","At the conclusion of the 13-week treatment phase, GAA activity, glycogen levels and histopathology of muscle biopsies obtained from the quadriceps muscles of the contra-lateral thigh of the pre-treatment biopsies were determined.","The muscle biopsies were taken 3 days after the rhGAA infusion.","Enzyme source: rhGAA purified from the culture medium of rhGAA secreting CHO cells (Van Hove, J. L. K. et al., Proc.","Natl.","Acad.","Sci.","USA 93:65-70 (1996)) was provided as a GMP-grade, sterile and colorless solution by Synpac (North Carolina), Inc., 99 Alexander Drive, Suite NW20, Research Triangle Park, N.C. 27709.rhGAA was purified primarily as the 110-kD precursor protein with specific enzyme activity of 2.77-3.02 μmol/min/mg protein.","ELISA for anti-rhGAA antibodies: The ELISA for anti-rhGAA antibodies was a standard sandwich assay performed by Phoenix International Life Sciences, Inc. (Saint-Laurent, Quebec).","Briefly, microtiter plates were coated with rhGAA at 2.0 μg/ml overnight and then blocked with bovine IgG.","Patient serum, diluted to 1:100 and then serially diluted at 1:2, was reacted with the rhGAA on the plate.","The amount of bound antibody was detected with a horseradish peroxidase conjugated goat anti-human secondary antibody and tetramethylbenzidine substrate by measuring the absorbances at 450 nm.","Positive samples were defined as having an absorbance that was higher than the negative cutoff.","This was defined as twice the A450 value of the normal human serum negative control.","Titer was defined as the dilution of the serum that still had an A450 reading above the negative cutoff value.","GAA activity, glycogen content and Western blot analysis: GAA activity was assessed by measurement of 4-methyl-umbelliferyl-α-D-glucoside cleavage at pH 4.3 as previously described (Reuser, A. J. J. et al., Am.","J. Hum.","Genet.","30:132-143 (1978)).","As an internal standard, acid-β-galactosidase activity was similarly assayed with the 4-methyl-umbilliferyl derivative as the substrate (Wenger, D. A. and Williams, C., “Screening for lysosomal disorders” in Hommes, F. A.","(ed.","), Techniques in diagnostic human biochemical genetics: a laboratory manual, Wiley-Liss, New York, 1991, pp.","587-617).","Glycogen content was determined by treatment of tissue extracts with A. niger amyloglucosidase and measurement of glucose released (Van Hove, J. L. K. et al., Proc.","Natl.","Acad.","Sci.","USA 93:65-10 (1996)).","Western blot analysis was performed with antibody raised in rabbits against purified placenta GAA (Van Hove, J. L. K. et al., supra).","Histology: One specimen of muscle was mounted on a chuck with gum tragacanth and quick-frozen in isopentane cooled by liquid nitrogen.","Five micron sections were obtained and stained with hematoxylin and eosin, modified Gomori trichrome, ATPase at pH 4.35 and 9.4, nicotinamide dehydrogenase tetrazolium blue reductase, and phosphorylase.","A second specimen was clamped in situ and placed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde.","The tissue was processed without en bloc staining with uranyl acetate in order to avoid loss of glycogen.","Semithin sections (0.5 micron) were stained with toluidine blue and thin sections stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate and mounted on a copper grid for electron microscopy.","RESULTS Patient Reaction to Treatment: The three patients with infantile Pompe disease received twice weekly intravenous infusions of rhGAA for 21-25 months.","No serious allergic reactions occurred during enzyme therapy.","However, three episodes of skin rash, accompanied by a mild fever and increased irritability occurred in two of the patients (patient 1 two episodes, patient 2 single episode).","These symptoms resolved promptly after intravenous administration of diphenhydramine.","After a second episode of skin rash, patient 1 was premedicated with oral diphenhydramine just prior to all subsequent rhGAA infusions, without further episodes.","Patient 2 was similarly premedicated with oral diphenhydramine just prior to all subsequent infusions, without further episodes.","Multiple hematological parameters, liver functions, renal functions, and urinalyses have all been in the normal range throughout the therapy period in all treated patients.","Anti-rhGAA antibodies of IgG class were detected in patients 1 and 2 as early as 3 weeks after the initiation of the enzyme therapy (FIGS.","1A-1C).","Anti-rhGAA antibody titers increased to 1:1600 by week 16 in patient 1 (FIG.","1A) and 1:6400-1:12,800 between weeks 11-19 in patient 2 (FIG.","1B).","As anti-rhGAA antibody titers increased, we noted that clinical improvements (noted early during therapy—see below) were no longer advancing.","Neither untoward effects nor anti-rhGAA antibodies have been detected in patient 3 (FIG.","1C).","Cardiac status: Prior to the initiation of the enzyme therapy, patients 1 and 2 had severe hypertrophic cardiomyopathy associated with an increased left ventricular (LV) mass, concentric thickening of the ventricular wall and a decrease in size of the ventricular cavity (FIG.","2B, the cavity in patient 2 was almost obliterated at the end of systole).","All of these features are typically seen in the untreated patient with the infantile form of Pompe disease.","Additionally patient 2 was noted to have an increased LV ejection fraction (shortening fraction, 84%) reflective of a hyperdynamic shortening.","None of the patients, however, had any evidence of obstruction of the ventricular outflow tract.","The longitudinal echocardiography data assessed in the patients during the first 3 months of rhGAA therapy are shown in FIG.","2A-2C.","During the treatment period, in both patients 1 and 2, the LV end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes (2-D measurements) progressively increased, and up to almost 2-3 fold by the end of 3 months of therapy as compared to those measured during the pre-treatment phase (FIG.","2A and 2B, respectively).","Similar increases were noted by M-mode analysis (data not show).","The two-dimensional LV mass measurements (FIG.","2D-2F) initially increased as the LV volumes increased, but then steadily decreased during therapy, to a value that was less than the pre-treatment LV mass (reduced to 60-70% of the baseline pretreatment levels).","The initial increase in mass was most likely due to an increase in the LV volume, without any changes in the LV wall thickness.","These overall improvements in cardiac parameters, were sustained through the latest follow-up evaluation, although patient 1 required an intensive daily enzyme infusion for 10 days when LV mass was further increased and cardiac function compromised at the time of viral pneumonia.","Otherwise the ventricular function in both patients had been normal and remained normal at the latest follow-up.","Thus, the progressive cardiac morbidity normally noted in untreated infantile Pompe disease was clearly averted.","Patient 3 had a Lv mass of 64 g/β2 (upper normal limits 65) but otherwise of normal baseline cardiac evaluation at the initiation of therapy, and has continued to be normal (with LV mass now of 33 g/β2) since 7 months post-therapy.","Pulmonary function: In the first 2 months of therapy, improvement of pulmonary function was evident by increases in crying vital capacity (improvements of greater than 28% and 70%, in patients 1 and 2, respectively) over baseline capacities, and normalization of O2 desaturation during crying (O2 saturation of 70% in patient 1 and 81% in patient 2 during maximal crying).","Decreased respiratory muscle strength was also evidenced in patient 1 before the therapy by a negative inspiratory force maneuver (NIFM) of −45 cm H2O.","With treatment, the NIFM increased to −55 cm H2O.","The initial improvements noted in the pulmonary functions of both patients, however, plateaued over the next 2-3 months and declined subsequently, concomitant with the rising anti-rhGAA antibodies.","Both patients have subsequently become ventilator dependent after episodes of viral pneumonia precipitated respiratory insufficiency.","Patient 3 had a normal pulmonary function at initiation of therapy and has continued to demonstrate normal pulmonary function testing at the latest follow-up.","Neurodevelopment and motor assessment: Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) was used to evaluate the motor development in these infants.","AIMS scores for all 3 patients started below the 5th percentile for age (FIG.","1A-1C).","Patient 1 remained below the 5th percentile but showed increases within that range before beginning to decline at week 13 of the therapy (FIG.","1A).","Patient 2 rose to the 25th percentile by week 5, dropped back to remain below the 5th percentile after week 7 despite increasing skills, then showed a rapid decline and loss of skills between weeks 13 and 17 (FIG.","1B).","The onset of clinical declines, again was concomitant with the rising anti-rhGAA antibodies (FIG.","1A, 1B).","Concurrently administered neurologic and Denver Developmental evaluations showed in patient 1, normal personal-social, language, and fine motor developmental domains with ongoing but improving gross motor delay until week 10 when a plateau and subsequent regression became apparent.","Importantly, gross motor skills had shown significant progress until week 10 but never reached normal.","Patient 2 showed mild developmental delay in the gross motor sphere only with attainment of normal developmental skills in the fine motor, personal-social, and language domains until weeks 14-16 when regression occurred.","Currently, both patients have normal personal-social development for age but delay in all other domains.","Patient 3 showed a steady increase of AIMS score, rising over the 10th percentile by week 11 of the therapy and rising above the 25th percentile by week 20 (FIG.","1C), and 90th percentile at latest follow-up.","At age 9 months, he maintained independent sitting, belly crawled reciprocally for mobility, and maintained standing with hands held.","Remarkably, he has been walking independently since 12 months of age and has been able to move between squatting and standing without hand use since 14 months of age.","He currently also has normal for age neurologic and Denver development evaluations in all domains.","Muscle GAA activity and glycogen content: Muscle biopsies were performed at baseline 1 week prior to the start of the rhGAA therapy except in patient 1 who had a biopsy done at the time of diagnosis which was 2 months prior to initiation of rhGAA therapy.","After 4 months of rhGAA therapy, muscle biopsies were obtained from the contra-lateral quadriceps 3 days after the enzyme infusion (trough level).","With rhGAA treatment GAA activity increased 2-3 fold over baseline pre-treatment levels in both patients 1 and 2, and 18 fold in patient 3 (Table 3).","TABLE 3 Muscle Acid α-glucosidase Activity and Glycogen Content in Infantile Pompe Disease Patients Treated with rhGAA GAA Activity Glycogen Content nmole/hr/mg Protein % Wet Weight Patient 1 Pre-therapy 0.41 5.90% Post-therapy 0.95 7.50% Patient 2 Pre-therapy 0.67 5.68% Post-therapy 1.97 4.43% Patient 3 Pre-therapy 0.1 5.13% Post-therapy 1.84 1.43% Control 23.92 +/− 8.63 0.94 +/− 0.55% (upper normal limit; 1.5%) The absolute level of GAA activity approached 8% of the GAA activity seen in normal muscles.","There were no appreciable changes in the muscle glycogen content in patients 1 and 2, but glycogen levels were reduced to within normal range in patient 3.Histology.","The pre-treatment biopsies of all the patients showed marked vacuolization of the muscle fibers in the frozen sections.","Evaluation of the semithin sections demonstrated the fibers to be expanded by glycogen with the formation of glycogen lakes.","In some fibers faint outlines of residual membranes could be discerned.","Electron microscopy confirmed the presence of glycogen both in expanded lysosomes and lying free in the cytoplasm.","The biopsy from patient 3 had more glycogen remaining within lysosomes than did the other two patients (data not shown).","The 4-month post-treatment biopsies of patients 1 and 2 were similar to the pre-treatment biopsies in terms of glycogen accumulation.","The post-treatment biopsy of patient 3, however, had a marked decrease in visible glycogen and essentially normal histology in most of the muscle fibers.","Electron microscopy showed many remaining distended lysosomes were depleted of glycogen.","Some glycogen lakes and glycogen-rich lysosomes remained.","Western Blot Analysis To investigate why anti-rhGAA antibodies developed in patients 1 and 2, but not 3, we performed a Western blot analysis specific for detection of expressed (but nonfunctional) GAA protein in fibroblasts derived from each of the patients.","No GAA protein was detected in the fibroblasts of patients 1 and 2, whereas a readily detectable precursor form of G AA protein (110 kD) was found in patient 3.These patterns were previously seen in other patients with infantile GSD-II (Van der Ploeg, A. T. et al., Am.","J. Hum.","Genet.","44:787-793 (1989)).","Normal fibroblasts as expected have GAA protein predominantly of 95 kD and 76 kD.","FURTHER STUDIES Three more patients have been enrolled in an additional study.","All three are CRIM positive.","After treatment (10 mg/kilogram body weight, weekly intravenous infusions of rhGAA) for 3-6 weeks, improvement of heart function, muscle strength, and motor development have been seen.","The teachings of all publications cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.","While this invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"TREATMENT OF GLYCOGEN STORAGE DISEASE TYPE II\",\n \"Methods of treating glycogen storage disease type II, by administering acid α-glucosidase, are described, as are compositions for use in treatment of glycogen storage disease type II.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A method of treating glycogen storage disease type II in a human individual having glycogen storage disease type II, comprising administering to the individual a therapeutically effective amount of a precursor form of human acid α-glucosidase produced in Chinese hamster ovary cell culture (CHO GAA) at a regular interval, wherein said precursor form is administered in conjunction with an immunosuppressive or immunotherapeutic regimen, and wherein said immunosuppressive or immunotherapeutic regimen is administered prior to any administration of said precursor form.\",\n \"2.The method of claim 1, wherein said precursor form is administered monthly, bimonthly, weekly, twice weekly or daily.\",\n \"3.The method of claim 2, wherein said precursor form is administered bimonthly.\",\n \"4.The method of claim 1, wherein said precursor form is administered intravenously, intramuscularly, intrathecally or intraventricularly.\",\n \"5.The method of claim 1, wherein the glycogen storage disease type II is infantile glycogen storage disease type II, juvenile glycogen storage disease type II, or adult-onset glycogen storage disease type II.\",\n \"6.The method of claim 5, wherein the glycogen storage disease type II is infantile glycogen storage disease type II.\",\n \"7.The method of claim 1, wherein the method comprises treating cardiomyopathy associated with glycogen storage disease type II in a human in need of such treatment.\",\n \"8.The method of claim 1, wherein less than 15 mg of said precursor form per kilogram of body weight is administered.\",\n \"9.The method of claim 5, wherein 1 to 10 mg of said precursor form per kilogram of body weight is administered.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Glycogen storage disease type II (GSD-II) (also known as Pompe disease or acid maltase deficiency) is a fatal genetic muscle disorder caused by a deficiency of acid α-glucosidase (GAA), a glycogen degrading lysosomal enzyme (Hirschhorn, R., “Glycogen storage disease type II: acid α-glucosidase (acid maltase) deficiency”, in Scriver, C. R. et al., (eds) The Metabolic and Molecular Basis of Inherited disease, 7 th Ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 1995, pp.\",\n \"2443-2464).\",\n \"The deficiency results in lysosomal glycogen accumulation in almost all tissues of the body, with cardiac and skeletal muscle being the most seriously affected.\",\n \"The combined incidence of all forms of GSD-II is estimated to be 1:40,000, and the disease affects all groups without an ethnic predilection (Martiniuk, F. et al., Amer.\",\n \"J. Med.\",\n \"Genet.\",\n \"79:69-72 (1998); Ausems, M.G.E.M.\",\n \"et al., Eur.\",\n \"J. Hum.\",\n \"Genet.\",\n \"7:713-716 (1999)).\",\n \"Clinically, GSD-II encompasses a range of phenotypes differing as to age of onset, organs involved and clinical severity, generally correlating with the residual amount of GAA activity.\",\n \"In its most severe presentation (infantile GSD-II, or Pompe disease, in which less than 1% of normal GAA activity is present), infants are affected by a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, generalized muscle weakness and hypotonia secondary to massive glycogen accumulation in cardiac and skeletal muscles (for review, see Hirschhorn, supra ).\",\n \"The disease progresses rapidly, with death from cardiac failure usually occurring by 1 year of age.\",\n \"Juvenile (1-10% of normal GAA activity) and adult-onset (10-40% of normal GAA activity) forms of the disease are characterized by lack of severe cardiac involvement, later age of onset, and slower progression, but eventual respiratory or limb muscle involvement results in significant morbidity and mortality for the affected individuals.\",\n \"Drug treatment strategies, dietary manipulations, and bone marrow transplantation have been employed as means for treatment for GSD-II, without significant success (Hug, G. et al., Birth Defects Org.\",\n \"Ser.\",\n \"9:160-183 (1967); Slonim, A. E. et al., Neurology 33:34 (1983); Watson, J. G. et al., N. Engl.\",\n \"J. Med.\",\n \"314:385 (1986)).\",\n \"Early attempts at enzyme replacement were also unsuccessful (Hug, G. and Schubert, W. K., J. Clin.\",\n \"Invest.\",\n \"46:1073 (1967); de Barsy, T. et al., Birth Defects Orig.\",\n \"Art.\",\n \"Ser.\",\n \"9:84-190 (1973); Williams, J. C. and Murray, A. K., “Enzyme replacement in Pompe disease with an alpha glucosidase low-density lipoprotein complex”, in Desnick, R. J.\",\n \"(ed), Enzyme Therapy in Genetic Diseases: 2, New York, Alan R. Liss 1980; pp.\",\n \"415-423)).\",\n \"A need remains for effective treatment of GSD-II.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention is drawn to methods of treating glycogen storage disease type II (infantile, juvenile or adult-onset) in an individual, by administering to the individual a therapeutically effective amount of acid α-glucosidase (e.g., less than about 15 mg enzyme per kilogram of body weight, preferably about 1-10 mg enzyme per kilogram of body weight more preferably about 10 enzyme per kilogram of body weight or about 5 mg enzyme per kilogram of body weight), at a regular interval (e.g., monthly, bimonthly, weekly, twice weekly, daily).\",\n \"The acid α-glucosidase is human acid, α-glucosidase, preferably recombinant human acid α-glucosidase, more preferably, precursor form of human acid α-glucosidase, and even more preferably precursor form of human acid α-glucosidase produced in Chinese hamster ovary cells.\",\n \"The acid α-glucosidase is administered periodically (e.g., monthly, bimonthly, weekly, twice weekly, daily).\",\n \"In preferred embodiments, the acid α-glucosidase is administered intravenously; intramuscularly; intrathecally; or intraventricularly.\",\n \"The methods of the invention provide the first effective means to treat an individual with glycogen storage disease type II.\"\n ],\n [\n \"This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/593,148 (published as U.S. 2013-0195834 A1), filed Aug. 23, 2012 (allowed), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/064,556, filed Mar.\",\n \"30, 2011 (abandoned), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"12/604,267, filed Oct. 22, 2009 (abandoned), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"11/889,457, filed Aug. 13, 2007 (abandoned), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"11/039,281, filed Jan. 20, 2005 (abandoned), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"09/902,461, filed Jul.\",\n \"10, 2001 (issued as U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"7,056,712), which claims the benefit of U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application No.\",\n \"60/219,237, filed Jul.\",\n \"18, 2000, the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in this application.\",\n \"BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Glycogen storage disease type II (GSD-II) (also known as Pompe disease or acid maltase deficiency) is a fatal genetic muscle disorder caused by a deficiency of acid α-glucosidase (GAA), a glycogen degrading lysosomal enzyme (Hirschhorn, R., “Glycogen storage disease type II: acid α-glucosidase (acid maltase) deficiency”, in Scriver, C. R. et al., (eds) The Metabolic and Molecular Basis of Inherited disease, 7th Ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 1995, pp.\",\n \"2443-2464).\",\n \"The deficiency results in lysosomal glycogen accumulation in almost all tissues of the body, with cardiac and skeletal muscle being the most seriously affected.\",\n \"The combined incidence of all forms of GSD-II is estimated to be 1:40,000, and the disease affects all groups without an ethnic predilection (Martiniuk, F. et al., Amer.\",\n \"J. Med.\",\n \"Genet.\",\n \"79:69-72 (1998); Ausems, M.G.E.M.\",\n \"et al., Eur.\",\n \"J. Hum.\",\n \"Genet.\",\n \"7:713-716 (1999)).\",\n \"Clinically, GSD-II encompasses a range of phenotypes differing as to age of onset, organs involved and clinical severity, generally correlating with the residual amount of GAA activity.\",\n \"In its most severe presentation (infantile GSD-II, or Pompe disease, in which less than 1% of normal GAA activity is present), infants are affected by a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, generalized muscle weakness and hypotonia secondary to massive glycogen accumulation in cardiac and skeletal muscles (for review, see Hirschhorn, supra).\",\n \"The disease progresses rapidly, with death from cardiac failure usually occurring by 1 year of age.\",\n \"Juvenile (1-10% of normal GAA activity) and adult-onset (10-40% of normal GAA activity) forms of the disease are characterized by lack of severe cardiac involvement, later age of onset, and slower progression, but eventual respiratory or limb muscle involvement results in significant morbidity and mortality for the affected individuals.\",\n \"Drug treatment strategies, dietary manipulations, and bone marrow transplantation have been employed as means for treatment for GSD-II, without significant success (Hug, G. et al., Birth Defects Org.\",\n \"Ser.\",\n \"9:160-183 (1967); Slonim, A. E. et al., Neurology 33:34 (1983); Watson, J. G. et al., N. Engl.\",\n \"J. Med.\",\n \"314:385 (1986)).\",\n \"Early attempts at enzyme replacement were also unsuccessful (Hug, G. and Schubert, W. K., J. Clin.\",\n \"Invest.\",\n \"46:1073 (1967); de Barsy, T. et al., Birth Defects Orig.\",\n \"Art.\",\n \"Ser.\",\n \"9:84-190 (1973); Williams, J. C. and Murray, A. K., “Enzyme replacement in Pompe disease with an alpha glucosidase low-density lipoprotein complex”, in Desnick, R. J.\",\n \"(ed), Enzyme Therapy in Genetic Diseases: 2, New York, Alan R. Liss 1980; pp.\",\n \"415-423)).\",\n \"A need remains for effective treatment of GSD-II.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is drawn to methods of treating glycogen storage disease type II (infantile, juvenile or adult-onset) in an individual, by administering to the individual a therapeutically effective amount of acid α-glucosidase (e.g., less than about 15 mg enzyme per kilogram of body weight, preferably about 1-10 mg enzyme per kilogram of body weight more preferably about 10 enzyme per kilogram of body weight or about 5 mg enzyme per kilogram of body weight), at a regular interval (e.g., monthly, bimonthly, weekly, twice weekly, daily).\",\n \"The acid α-glucosidase is human acid, α-glucosidase, preferably recombinant human acid α-glucosidase, more preferably, precursor form of human acid α-glucosidase, and even more preferably precursor form of human acid α-glucosidase produced in Chinese hamster ovary cells.\",\n \"The acid α-glucosidase is administered periodically (e.g., monthly, bimonthly, weekly, twice weekly, daily).\",\n \"In preferred embodiments, the acid α-glucosidase is administered intravenously; intramuscularly; intrathecally; or intraventricularly.\",\n \"The methods of the invention provide the first effective means to treat an individual with glycogen storage disease type II.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1A-1C are a series of graphic representations depicting longitudinal data (for the first 16 months of age) on motor development as assessed by Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) (closed diamonds), and titer of antibodies to recombinant human acid α-glucosidase (rhGAA) (open diamonds) in three patients (patient 1, FIG.\",\n \"1A; patient 2, FIG.\",\n \"1B; patient 3, FIG.\",\n \"1C) with infantile Pompe disease receiving enzyme replacement therapy.\",\n \"The arrow indicates when the enzyme therapy was initiated.\",\n \"AIMS scores in normal patients are plotted as dotted curves against age (5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 95th percentile, from bottom to top).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2A-2F are a series of graphic representations depicting longitudinal two-dimensional echocardiographic measurements of left ventricular volume (FIG.\",\n \"2A-2C) and mass (FIG.\",\n \"2D-2F) in the three infantile Pompe disease patients receiving enzyme replacement therapy (patient 1, FIG.\",\n \"2A and 2D; patient 2, FIG.\",\n \"2B and 2E; patient 3, FIG.\",\n \"2C and 2F).\",\n \"Week 0 depicts the measurements at the time of enzyme therapy initiation.\",\n \"Open diamonds, end-diastolic volume measurement; closed diamonds, end-systolic volume measurement.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is drawn to methods of treating glycogen storage disease type II (GSD-II) in an individual, by administering the enzyme, acid α-glucosidase (GAA) to the individual, as well as the use of the enzyme, GAA, in the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of glycogen storage disease type II.\",\n \"As described herein, Applicants have successfully treated infants suffering from GSD-II by administering GAA to the infants on a regular basis; the infants demonstrated improvement of cardiac status, pulmonary function, and neurodevelopment, as well as reduction of glycogen levels in tissue.\",\n \"As a result of these findings, it is now possible for the first time to treat GSD-II, including infantile, juvenile and adult-onset GSD-II.\",\n \"Although the results described herein discuss individuals with the most severe form of GSD-II (infantile GSD-II), it is expected that the methods will be equally effective in individuals affected by juvenile or adult-onset GSD-II, and may, in fact, be even more effective, as individuals with juvenile or adult-onset GSD-II have higher levels of residual GAA activity (1-10%, or 10-40%, respectively), and therefore are likely to be more immunologically tolerant of the administered GAA (e.g., they are generally cross-reactive immunoreactive material (CRIM)-positive for endogenous GAA, so that their immune systems do not perceive the GAA as a “foreign” protein, and they do not develop anti-GAA antibodies).\",\n \"The enhanced efficacy in such individuals can be seen in patient 3, who was CRIM-positive and did not develop anti-GAA antibodies, and who demonstrated a normal progression of developmental milestones, in contrast with the variable course that was seen in CRIM-negative patients 1 and 2 (who did develop anti-GAA antibodies).\",\n \"The terms, “treat” and “treatment,” as used herein, refer to amelioration of one or more symptoms associated with the disease, prevention or delay of the onset of one or more symptoms of the disease, and/or lessening of the severity or frequency of one or more symptoms of the disease.\",\n \"For example, treatment can refer to improvement of cardiac status (e.g., increase of end-diastolic and/or end-systolic volumes, or reduction, amelioration or prevention of the progressive cardiomyopathy that is typically found in GSD-II) or of pulmonary function (e.g., increase in crying vital capacity over baseline capacity, and/or normalization of oxygen desaturation during crying); improvement in neurodevelopment and/or motor skills (e.g., increase in AIMS score); reduction of glycogen levels in tissue of the individual affected by the disease; or any combination of these effects.\",\n \"In one preferred embodiment, treatment includes improvement of cardiac status, particularly in reduction or prevention of GSD-II-associated cardiomyopathy.\",\n \"The terms, “improve,” “increase” or “reduce,” as used herein, indicate values that are relative to a baseline measurement, such as a measurement in the same individual prior to initiation of the treatment described herein, or a measurement in a control individual (or multiple control individuals) in the absence of the treatment described herein.\",\n \"A control individual is an individual afflicted with the same form of GSD-II (either infantile, juvenile or adult-onset) as the individual being treated, who is about the same age as the individual being treated (to ensure that the stages of the disease in the treated individual and the control individual(s) are comparable).\",\n \"The individual being treated is an individual (fetus, child, adolescent, or adult human) having GSD-II (i.e., either infantile GSD-II, juvenile GSD-II, or adult-onset GSD-II).\",\n \"The individual can have residual GAA activity, or no measurable activity.\",\n \"For example, the individual having GSD-II can have GAA activity that is less than about 1% of normal GAA activity (infantile GSD-II), GAA activity that is about 1-10% of normal GAA activity (juvenile GSD-II), or GAA activity that is about 10-40% of normal GAA activity (adult GSD-II).\",\n \"The individual can be CRIM-positive or CRIM-negative for endogenous GAA.\",\n \"In a preferred embodiment, the individual is CRIM-positive for endogenous GAA.\",\n \"In another preferred embodiment, the individual is an individual who has been recently diagnosed with the disease.\",\n \"Early treatment (treatment commencing as soon as possible after diagnosis) is important for to minimize the effects of the disease and to maximize the benefits of treatment.\",\n \"In the methods of the invention, human acid α-glucosidase (GAA) is administered to the individual.\",\n \"The GAA is in a form that, when administered, targets tissues such as the tissues affected by the disease (e.g., heart, muscle).\",\n \"In one preferred embodiment, the human GAA is administered in its precursor form, as the precursor contains motifs which allow efficient receptor-mediated uptake of GAA.\",\n \"Alternatively, a mature form of human GAA that has been modified to contain motifs to allow efficient uptake of GAA, can be administered.\",\n \"In a particularly preferred embodiment, the GAA is the precursor form of recombinant human GAA.\",\n \"GAA is obtainable from a variety of sources.\",\n \"In a particularly preferred embodiment, recombinant human acid α-glucosidase (rhGAA) has been produced in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell cultures is used (see, e.g., Fuller, M. et al., Eur.\",\n \"J. Biochem.\",\n \"234:903-909 (1995); Van Hove, J. L. K. et al., Proc.\",\n \"Natl.\",\n \"Acad.\",\n \"Sci.\",\n \"USA 93:65-70 (1996); the entire teachings of these references are incorporated herein by reference).\",\n \"Production of GAA in CHO cells appears to yield a product having glycosylation which allows significant and efficient uptake of GAA in the desired tissues (heart and muscle); it is assumed that the glycosylation differs from that of GAA that is produced in transgenic mouse and rabbit milk (see, e.g., Bijvoet, A. G. A. et al., Hum.\",\n \"Mol.\",\n \"Genet.\",\n \"7:1815-1824 (1998); Bijvoet, A. G. A. et al., Hum.\",\n \"Mol.\",\n \"Genet.\",\n \"8:2145-2153 (1999)).\",\n \"The GAA has a specific enzyme activity in the range of about 1.0-3.5 μmol/min/mg protein, preferably in the range of about 2-3.5 μmol/min/mg protein.\",\n \"In one preferred embodiment, the GAA has a specific enzyme activity of at least about 1.0 μmol/min/mg protein; more preferably, a specific enzyme activity of at least about 2.0 μmol/min/mg protein; even more preferably, a specific enzyme activity of at least about 2.5 μmol/min/mg protein; and still more preferably, a specific enzyme activity of at least about 2.75 μmol/min/mg protein.\",\n \"GAA can be administered alone, or in compositions or medicaments comprising the GAA (e.g., in the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of the disease), as described herein.\",\n \"The compositions can be formulated with a physiologically acceptable carrier or excipient to prepare a pharmaceutical composition.\",\n \"The carrier and composition can be sterile.\",\n \"The formulation should suit the mode of administration.\",\n \"Suitable pharmaceutically acceptable carriers include but are not limited to water, salt solutions (e.g., NaCl), saline, buffered saline, alcohols, glycerol, ethanol, gum arable, vegetable oils, benzyl alcohols, polyethylene glycols, gelatin, carbohydrates such as lactose, amylose or starch, sugars such as mannitol, sucrose, or others, dextrose, magnesium stearate, talc, silicic acid, viscous paraffin, perfume oil, fatty acid esters, hydroxymethylcellulose, polyvinyl pyrolidone, etc., as well as combinations thereof.\",\n \"The pharmaceutical preparations can, if desired, be mixed with auxiliary agents, e.g., lubricants, preservatives, stabilizers, wetting agents, emulsifiers, salts for influencing osmotic pressure, buffers, coloring, flavoring and/or aromatic substances and the like which do not deleteriously react with the active compounds.\",\n \"In a preferred embodiment, a water-soluble carrier suitable for intravenous administration is used.\",\n \"The composition or medicament, if desired, can also contain minor amounts of wetting or emulsifying agents, or pH buffering agents.\",\n \"The composition can be a liquid solution, suspension, emulsion, tablet, pill, capsule, sustained release formulation, or powder.\",\n \"The composition can also be formulated as a suppository, with traditional binders and carriers such as triglycerides.\",\n \"Oral formulation can include standard carriers such as pharmaceutical grades of mannitol, lactose, starch, magnesium stearate, polyvinyl pyrollidone, sodium saccharine, cellulose, magnesium carbonate, etc.\",\n \"The composition or medicament can be formulated in accordance with the routine procedures as a pharmaceutical composition adapted for administration to human beings.\",\n \"For example, in a preferred embodiment, a composition for intravenous administration typically is a solution in sterile isotonic aqueous buffer.\",\n \"Where necessary, the composition may also include a solubilizing agent and a local anesthetic to ease pain at the site of the injection.\",\n \"Generally, the ingredients are supplied either separately or mixed together in unit dosage form, for example, as a dry lyophilized powder or water free concentrate in a hermetically sealed container such as an ampule or sachette indicating the quantity of active agent.\",\n \"Where the composition is to be administered by infusion, it can be dispensed with an infusion bottle containing sterile pharmaceutical grade water, saline or dextrose/water.\",\n \"Where the composition is administered by injection, an ampule of sterile water for injection or saline can be provided so that the ingredients may be mixed prior to administration.\",\n \"The GAA can be formulated as neutral or salt forms.\",\n \"Pharmaceutically acceptable salts include those formed with free amino groups such as those derived from hydrochloric, phosphoric, acetic, oxalic, tartaric acids, etc., and those formed with free carboxyl groups such as those derived from sodium, potassium, ammonium, calcium, ferric hydroxides, isopropylamine, triethylamine, 2-ethylamino ethanol, histidine, procaine, etc.\",\n \"GAA (or composition or medicament containing GAA) is administered by an appropriate route.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the GAA is administered intravenously.\",\n \"In other embodiments, GAA is administered by direct administration to a target tissue, such as heart or muscle (e.g., intramuscular), or nervous system (e.g., direct injection into the brain; intraventricularly; intrathecally).\",\n \"More than one route can be used concurrently, if desired.\",\n \"GAA (or composition or medicament containing GAA) can be administered alone, or in conjunction with other agents, such as antihistamines (e.g., diphenhydramine) or immunosuppressants or other immunotherapeutic agents which counteract anti-GAA antibodies.\",\n \"The term, “in conjunction with,” indicates that the agent is administered at about the same time as the GAA (or composition containing GAA).\",\n \"For example, the agent can be mixed into a composition containing GAA, and thereby administered contemporaneously with the GAA; alternatively, the agent can be administered contemporaneously, without mixing (e.g., by “piggybacking” delivery of the agent on the intravenous line by which the GAA is also administered, or vice versa).\",\n \"In another example, the agent can be administered separately (e.g., not admixed), but within a short time frame (e.g., within 24 hours) of administration of the GAA.\",\n \"In one preferred embodiment, if the individual is CRIM-negative for endogenous GAA, GAA (or composition containing GAA) is administered in conjunction with an immunosuppressive or immunotherapeutic regimen designed to reduce amounts of, or prevent production of, anti-GAA antibodies.\",\n \"For example, a protocol similar to those used in hemophilia patients (Nilsson, I. M. et al., N. Engl.\",\n \"J. Med.\",\n \"318:947-50 (1988)) can be used to reduce anti-GAA antibodies.\",\n \"Such a regimen can also be used in individuals who are CRIM-positive for endogenous GAA but who have, or are at risk of having, anti-GAA antibodies.\",\n \"In a particularly preferred embodiment, the immunosuppressive or immunotherapeutic regimen is begun prior to the first administration of GAA, in order to minimize the possibility of production of anti-GAA antibodies.\",\n \"GAA (or composition or medicament containing GAA) is administered in a therapeutically effective amount (i.e., a dosage amount that, when administered at regular intervals, is sufficient to treat the disease, such as by ameliorating symptoms associated with the disease, preventing or delaying the onset of the disease, and/or also lessening the severity or frequency of symptoms of the disease, as described above).\",\n \"The amount which will be therapeutically effective in the treatment the disease will depend on the nature and extent of the disease's effects, and can be determined by standard clinical techniques.\",\n \"In addition, in vitro or in vivo assays may optionally be employed to help identify optimal dosage ranges.\",\n \"The precise dose to be employed will also depend on the route of administration, and the seriousness of the disease, and should be decided according to the judgment of a practitioner and each patient's circumstances.\",\n \"Effective doses may be extrapolated from dose-response curves derived from in vitro or animal model test systems.\",\n \"In a preferred embodiment, the therapeutically effective amount is less than about 15 mg enzyme/kg body weight of the individual, preferably in the range of about 1-10 mg enzyme/kg body weight, and even more preferably about 10 mg enzyme/kg body weight or about 5 mg enzyme/kg body weight.\",\n \"The effective dose for a particular individual can be varied (e.g., increased or decreased) over time, depending on the needs of the individual.\",\n \"For example, in times of physical illness or stress, or if anti-GAA antibodies become present or increase, or if disease symptoms worsen, the amount can be increased.\",\n \"The therapeutically effective amount of GAA (or composition or medicament containing GAA) is administered at regular intervals, depending on the nature and extent of the disease's effects, and on an ongoing basis.\",\n \"Administration at a “regular interval,” as used herein, indicates that the therapeutically effective amount is administered periodically (as distinguished from a one-time dose).\",\n \"The interval can be determined by standard clinical techniques.\",\n \"In preferred embodiments, GAA is administered monthly, bimonthly; weekly; twice weekly; or daily.\",\n \"The administration interval for a single individual need not be a fixed interval, but can be varied over time, depending on the needs of the individual.\",\n \"For example, in times of physical illness or stress, if anti-GAA antibodies become present or increase, or if disease symptoms worsen, the interval between doses can be decreased.\",\n \"In one preferred embodiment, a therapeutically effective amount of 10 mg enzyme/kg body weight is administered weekly.\",\n \"In another preferred embodiment, a therapeutically effective amount of 5 mg enzyme/kg body weight is administered twice weekly.\",\n \"The invention additionally pertains to a pharmaceutical composition comprising human acid α-glucosidase, as described herein, in a container (e.g., a vial, bottle, bag for intravenous administration, syringe, etc.)\",\n \"with a label containing instructions for administration of the composition for treatment of glycogen storage disease type II, such as by the methods described herein.\",\n \"The invention will be further and more specifically described by the following examples.\",\n \"EXEMPLIFICATION Phase I/II Trial of Use of Recombinant Human Acid α-Glucosidase Material and Methods Patients: Inclusion criteria were infants affected with infantile GSD-II having virtually absent GAA.\",\n \"activity (<1% of normal in skin fibroblasts and/or muscle biopsy) and less than one year of age.\",\n \"Exclusion criteria included severe cardiorespiratory failure at baseline and/or other medical conditions likely to decrease survival.\",\n \"Because of the limited life expectancy of the disease following diagnosis, no placebo control was used.\",\n \"Historical control data indicated that virtually all patients died before 1 year of age (Table 1).\",\n \"TABLE 1 Historical control data of infantile glycogen storage disease, type II Length of disease Onset (months) Death (months) course (months) Duke University Medical Center (n = 30)* Mean ± SD 5.1 ± 1.8 8.6 ± 2.4 3.5 ± 2.3 Range 2.4-10.3 3.3-12.4 0.0-9.0 Slonim et al.\",\n \"(n = 10)** Mean ± SD 2.5 ± 1.0 7.2 ± 2.8 4.7 ± 2.4 Range 1.0-4.0 4.0-12.0 2.0-9.0 *Data from Duke University Pompe Disease Registry **Data from Slonim et al., J. Pediatr.\",\n \"137: 283-285 (2000).\",\n \"Three infants affected with infantile GSD-II as evidenced by reduced acid α-glucosidase activity to less than 1% of normal in skin fibroblasts and/or muscle biopsy were enrolled in the study.\",\n \"At the protein level, both patients 1 and 2 had no detectable GAA protein while patient 3 had reduced levels of GAA protein detected by immunoblot analysis.\",\n \"The baseline clinical data before the initiation of the therapy are summarized in Table 2.TABLE 2 Baseline Clinical Data on 3 Infantile Pompe Disease Patients Age Motor GAA Activity in Patient Ethnic rhGAA Cardiac Pulmonary Development Skin Fibroblasts CRIM* Current Number/Sex Background Started Status Function (AIMS Score) (% of normal) Status Age Patient Caucasian 4 Severe Borderline normal, <<5th % 0.84% Negative 29 1/male months cardiomyopathy; left main bronchus months states post compression due to cardiac arrest markedly enlarged heart, O2 desaturation Patient African- 3 Moderate O2 desaturation during <5th % 0.57% Negative 25 2/male American months cardiomyopathy crying months Patient Caucasian 2½ Borderline Normal <<5th % 0.69% Positive 23 3/male months cardiomyopathy months *CRIM = cross reactive immunoreactive material Patient 1 presented at 2 months of age with cardiac arrest during elective surgical repair of an inguinal hernia.\",\n \"Subsequent evaluation when he was 4 months of age demonstrated evidence of severe hypotonia, with a motor development age estimated to be equivalent to that of a 3 week old.\",\n \"He also had profound cardiomyopathy and severe cardiomegaly with compression of the left main bronchus resulting in partial atelectasis of the left lung, and feeding difficulties and failure to thrive.\",\n \"Patients 2 and 3 were prenatally diagnosed with Pompe disease; importantly, each had a previous sibling that had died of symptoms typically attributable to the infantile GSD-II.\",\n \"Both patients had evidence of motor delays; in addition patient 2 had feeding difficulty, failure to thrive and severe cardiomyopathy.\",\n \"Basic Design: The study was designed as a Phase I/II, open-label, single-dose, safety and efficacy study of rhGAA administered twice weekly in the 3 patients with infantile Pompe disease.\",\n \"The study was approved by the institutional review board, and parental written informed consent was obtained.\",\n \"The study consisted of an initial Screening Phase, a 13-week Treatment Phase, and a Follow-up Treatment Phase.\",\n \"During the Screening Phase the initial clinical status of the patients was assessed; in addition, GAA and glycogen levels were determined in skeletal muscle biopsy samples.\",\n \"During the Treatment Phase, patients received intravenous infusions of rhGAA (5 mg/kg) twice weekly.\",\n \"Patients were closely monitored for any adverse responses to the enzyme infusions, as well as for any impact the rhGAA administrations had on the clinical progression of infantile GSD-II.\",\n \"General clinical assessments included routine physical examinations, supplemented by complete urine, hematological, and clinical chemistry analyses (electrolytes, glucose, creatinine, BUN, CO2, protein, albumin, ALT, AST, bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, CK and isozyme, uric acid).\",\n \"Exhaustive neurologic and motor function evaluations included manual muscle strength testing, Denver development testing, and AIMS (Alberta Infant Motor Scale; see Piper, M. C. and Darrah, J., Motor Assessment of the Developing Infant, WB Sanders Company, Philadelphia, 1994).\",\n \"Two-dimensional, M-mode and Doppler echocardiography were used to assess left ventricular mass, wall thickness and systolic as well as diastolic functions.\",\n \"Additionally, a variety of pulmonary functions (crying vital capacity, trend pulse-oximetry and end tidal carbon dioxide measurement, as well as negative inspiratory force maneuver) were monitored throughout the study.\",\n \"At the conclusion of the 13-week treatment phase, GAA activity, glycogen levels and histopathology of muscle biopsies obtained from the quadriceps muscles of the contra-lateral thigh of the pre-treatment biopsies were determined.\",\n \"The muscle biopsies were taken 3 days after the rhGAA infusion.\",\n \"Enzyme source: rhGAA purified from the culture medium of rhGAA secreting CHO cells (Van Hove, J. L. K. et al., Proc.\",\n \"Natl.\",\n \"Acad.\",\n \"Sci.\",\n \"USA 93:65-70 (1996)) was provided as a GMP-grade, sterile and colorless solution by Synpac (North Carolina), Inc., 99 Alexander Drive, Suite NW20, Research Triangle Park, N.C. 27709.rhGAA was purified primarily as the 110-kD precursor protein with specific enzyme activity of 2.77-3.02 μmol/min/mg protein.\",\n \"ELISA for anti-rhGAA antibodies: The ELISA for anti-rhGAA antibodies was a standard sandwich assay performed by Phoenix International Life Sciences, Inc. (Saint-Laurent, Quebec).\",\n \"Briefly, microtiter plates were coated with rhGAA at 2.0 μg/ml overnight and then blocked with bovine IgG.\",\n \"Patient serum, diluted to 1:100 and then serially diluted at 1:2, was reacted with the rhGAA on the plate.\",\n \"The amount of bound antibody was detected with a horseradish peroxidase conjugated goat anti-human secondary antibody and tetramethylbenzidine substrate by measuring the absorbances at 450 nm.\",\n \"Positive samples were defined as having an absorbance that was higher than the negative cutoff.\",\n \"This was defined as twice the A450 value of the normal human serum negative control.\",\n \"Titer was defined as the dilution of the serum that still had an A450 reading above the negative cutoff value.\",\n \"GAA activity, glycogen content and Western blot analysis: GAA activity was assessed by measurement of 4-methyl-umbelliferyl-α-D-glucoside cleavage at pH 4.3 as previously described (Reuser, A. J. J. et al., Am.\",\n \"J. Hum.\",\n \"Genet.\",\n \"30:132-143 (1978)).\",\n \"As an internal standard, acid-β-galactosidase activity was similarly assayed with the 4-methyl-umbilliferyl derivative as the substrate (Wenger, D. A. and Williams, C., “Screening for lysosomal disorders” in Hommes, F. A.\",\n \"(ed.\",\n \"), Techniques in diagnostic human biochemical genetics: a laboratory manual, Wiley-Liss, New York, 1991, pp.\",\n \"587-617).\",\n \"Glycogen content was determined by treatment of tissue extracts with A. niger amyloglucosidase and measurement of glucose released (Van Hove, J. L. K. et al., Proc.\",\n \"Natl.\",\n \"Acad.\",\n \"Sci.\",\n \"USA 93:65-10 (1996)).\",\n \"Western blot analysis was performed with antibody raised in rabbits against purified placenta GAA (Van Hove, J. L. K. et al., supra).\",\n \"Histology: One specimen of muscle was mounted on a chuck with gum tragacanth and quick-frozen in isopentane cooled by liquid nitrogen.\",\n \"Five micron sections were obtained and stained with hematoxylin and eosin, modified Gomori trichrome, ATPase at pH 4.35 and 9.4, nicotinamide dehydrogenase tetrazolium blue reductase, and phosphorylase.\",\n \"A second specimen was clamped in situ and placed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde.\",\n \"The tissue was processed without en bloc staining with uranyl acetate in order to avoid loss of glycogen.\",\n \"Semithin sections (0.5 micron) were stained with toluidine blue and thin sections stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate and mounted on a copper grid for electron microscopy.\",\n \"RESULTS Patient Reaction to Treatment: The three patients with infantile Pompe disease received twice weekly intravenous infusions of rhGAA for 21-25 months.\",\n \"No serious allergic reactions occurred during enzyme therapy.\",\n \"However, three episodes of skin rash, accompanied by a mild fever and increased irritability occurred in two of the patients (patient 1 two episodes, patient 2 single episode).\",\n \"These symptoms resolved promptly after intravenous administration of diphenhydramine.\",\n \"After a second episode of skin rash, patient 1 was premedicated with oral diphenhydramine just prior to all subsequent rhGAA infusions, without further episodes.\",\n \"Patient 2 was similarly premedicated with oral diphenhydramine just prior to all subsequent infusions, without further episodes.\",\n \"Multiple hematological parameters, liver functions, renal functions, and urinalyses have all been in the normal range throughout the therapy period in all treated patients.\",\n \"Anti-rhGAA antibodies of IgG class were detected in patients 1 and 2 as early as 3 weeks after the initiation of the enzyme therapy (FIGS.\",\n \"1A-1C).\",\n \"Anti-rhGAA antibody titers increased to 1:1600 by week 16 in patient 1 (FIG.\",\n \"1A) and 1:6400-1:12,800 between weeks 11-19 in patient 2 (FIG.\",\n \"1B).\",\n \"As anti-rhGAA antibody titers increased, we noted that clinical improvements (noted early during therapy—see below) were no longer advancing.\",\n \"Neither untoward effects nor anti-rhGAA antibodies have been detected in patient 3 (FIG.\",\n \"1C).\",\n \"Cardiac status: Prior to the initiation of the enzyme therapy, patients 1 and 2 had severe hypertrophic cardiomyopathy associated with an increased left ventricular (LV) mass, concentric thickening of the ventricular wall and a decrease in size of the ventricular cavity (FIG.\",\n \"2B, the cavity in patient 2 was almost obliterated at the end of systole).\",\n \"All of these features are typically seen in the untreated patient with the infantile form of Pompe disease.\",\n \"Additionally patient 2 was noted to have an increased LV ejection fraction (shortening fraction, 84%) reflective of a hyperdynamic shortening.\",\n \"None of the patients, however, had any evidence of obstruction of the ventricular outflow tract.\",\n \"The longitudinal echocardiography data assessed in the patients during the first 3 months of rhGAA therapy are shown in FIG.\",\n \"2A-2C.\",\n \"During the treatment period, in both patients 1 and 2, the LV end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes (2-D measurements) progressively increased, and up to almost 2-3 fold by the end of 3 months of therapy as compared to those measured during the pre-treatment phase (FIG.\",\n \"2A and 2B, respectively).\",\n \"Similar increases were noted by M-mode analysis (data not show).\",\n \"The two-dimensional LV mass measurements (FIG.\",\n \"2D-2F) initially increased as the LV volumes increased, but then steadily decreased during therapy, to a value that was less than the pre-treatment LV mass (reduced to 60-70% of the baseline pretreatment levels).\",\n \"The initial increase in mass was most likely due to an increase in the LV volume, without any changes in the LV wall thickness.\",\n \"These overall improvements in cardiac parameters, were sustained through the latest follow-up evaluation, although patient 1 required an intensive daily enzyme infusion for 10 days when LV mass was further increased and cardiac function compromised at the time of viral pneumonia.\",\n \"Otherwise the ventricular function in both patients had been normal and remained normal at the latest follow-up.\",\n \"Thus, the progressive cardiac morbidity normally noted in untreated infantile Pompe disease was clearly averted.\",\n \"Patient 3 had a Lv mass of 64 g/β2 (upper normal limits 65) but otherwise of normal baseline cardiac evaluation at the initiation of therapy, and has continued to be normal (with LV mass now of 33 g/β2) since 7 months post-therapy.\",\n \"Pulmonary function: In the first 2 months of therapy, improvement of pulmonary function was evident by increases in crying vital capacity (improvements of greater than 28% and 70%, in patients 1 and 2, respectively) over baseline capacities, and normalization of O2 desaturation during crying (O2 saturation of 70% in patient 1 and 81% in patient 2 during maximal crying).\",\n \"Decreased respiratory muscle strength was also evidenced in patient 1 before the therapy by a negative inspiratory force maneuver (NIFM) of −45 cm H2O.\",\n \"With treatment, the NIFM increased to −55 cm H2O.\",\n \"The initial improvements noted in the pulmonary functions of both patients, however, plateaued over the next 2-3 months and declined subsequently, concomitant with the rising anti-rhGAA antibodies.\",\n \"Both patients have subsequently become ventilator dependent after episodes of viral pneumonia precipitated respiratory insufficiency.\",\n \"Patient 3 had a normal pulmonary function at initiation of therapy and has continued to demonstrate normal pulmonary function testing at the latest follow-up.\",\n \"Neurodevelopment and motor assessment: Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) was used to evaluate the motor development in these infants.\",\n \"AIMS scores for all 3 patients started below the 5th percentile for age (FIG.\",\n \"1A-1C).\",\n \"Patient 1 remained below the 5th percentile but showed increases within that range before beginning to decline at week 13 of the therapy (FIG.\",\n \"1A).\",\n \"Patient 2 rose to the 25th percentile by week 5, dropped back to remain below the 5th percentile after week 7 despite increasing skills, then showed a rapid decline and loss of skills between weeks 13 and 17 (FIG.\",\n \"1B).\",\n \"The onset of clinical declines, again was concomitant with the rising anti-rhGAA antibodies (FIG.\",\n \"1A, 1B).\",\n \"Concurrently administered neurologic and Denver Developmental evaluations showed in patient 1, normal personal-social, language, and fine motor developmental domains with ongoing but improving gross motor delay until week 10 when a plateau and subsequent regression became apparent.\",\n \"Importantly, gross motor skills had shown significant progress until week 10 but never reached normal.\",\n \"Patient 2 showed mild developmental delay in the gross motor sphere only with attainment of normal developmental skills in the fine motor, personal-social, and language domains until weeks 14-16 when regression occurred.\",\n \"Currently, both patients have normal personal-social development for age but delay in all other domains.\",\n \"Patient 3 showed a steady increase of AIMS score, rising over the 10th percentile by week 11 of the therapy and rising above the 25th percentile by week 20 (FIG.\",\n \"1C), and 90th percentile at latest follow-up.\",\n \"At age 9 months, he maintained independent sitting, belly crawled reciprocally for mobility, and maintained standing with hands held.\",\n \"Remarkably, he has been walking independently since 12 months of age and has been able to move between squatting and standing without hand use since 14 months of age.\",\n \"He currently also has normal for age neurologic and Denver development evaluations in all domains.\",\n \"Muscle GAA activity and glycogen content: Muscle biopsies were performed at baseline 1 week prior to the start of the rhGAA therapy except in patient 1 who had a biopsy done at the time of diagnosis which was 2 months prior to initiation of rhGAA therapy.\",\n \"After 4 months of rhGAA therapy, muscle biopsies were obtained from the contra-lateral quadriceps 3 days after the enzyme infusion (trough level).\",\n \"With rhGAA treatment GAA activity increased 2-3 fold over baseline pre-treatment levels in both patients 1 and 2, and 18 fold in patient 3 (Table 3).\",\n \"TABLE 3 Muscle Acid α-glucosidase Activity and Glycogen Content in Infantile Pompe Disease Patients Treated with rhGAA GAA Activity Glycogen Content nmole/hr/mg Protein % Wet Weight Patient 1 Pre-therapy 0.41 5.90% Post-therapy 0.95 7.50% Patient 2 Pre-therapy 0.67 5.68% Post-therapy 1.97 4.43% Patient 3 Pre-therapy 0.1 5.13% Post-therapy 1.84 1.43% Control 23.92 +/− 8.63 0.94 +/− 0.55% (upper normal limit; 1.5%) The absolute level of GAA activity approached 8% of the GAA activity seen in normal muscles.\",\n \"There were no appreciable changes in the muscle glycogen content in patients 1 and 2, but glycogen levels were reduced to within normal range in patient 3.Histology.\",\n \"The pre-treatment biopsies of all the patients showed marked vacuolization of the muscle fibers in the frozen sections.\",\n \"Evaluation of the semithin sections demonstrated the fibers to be expanded by glycogen with the formation of glycogen lakes.\",\n \"In some fibers faint outlines of residual membranes could be discerned.\",\n \"Electron microscopy confirmed the presence of glycogen both in expanded lysosomes and lying free in the cytoplasm.\",\n \"The biopsy from patient 3 had more glycogen remaining within lysosomes than did the other two patients (data not shown).\",\n \"The 4-month post-treatment biopsies of patients 1 and 2 were similar to the pre-treatment biopsies in terms of glycogen accumulation.\",\n \"The post-treatment biopsy of patient 3, however, had a marked decrease in visible glycogen and essentially normal histology in most of the muscle fibers.\",\n \"Electron microscopy showed many remaining distended lysosomes were depleted of glycogen.\",\n \"Some glycogen lakes and glycogen-rich lysosomes remained.\",\n \"Western Blot Analysis To investigate why anti-rhGAA antibodies developed in patients 1 and 2, but not 3, we performed a Western blot analysis specific for detection of expressed (but nonfunctional) GAA protein in fibroblasts derived from each of the patients.\",\n \"No GAA protein was detected in the fibroblasts of patients 1 and 2, whereas a readily detectable precursor form of G AA protein (110 kD) was found in patient 3.These patterns were previously seen in other patients with infantile GSD-II (Van der Ploeg, A. T. et al., Am.\",\n \"J. Hum.\",\n \"Genet.\",\n \"44:787-793 (1989)).\",\n \"Normal fibroblasts as expected have GAA protein predominantly of 95 kD and 76 kD.\",\n \"FURTHER STUDIES Three more patients have been enrolled in an additional study.\",\n \"All three are CRIM positive.\",\n \"After treatment (10 mg/kilogram body weight, weekly intravenous infusions of rhGAA) for 3-6 weeks, improvement of heart function, muscle strength, and motor development have been seen.\",\n \"The teachings of all publications cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.\",\n \"While this invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876086"}}},{"rowIdx":4495076,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["CASHBACK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM","The disclosed technology provides a cashback management system which allows extra accumulation of cashback based on a consumer ranking in a cashback.","In one aspect, the cashback management system is provided to comprise: a ranking setting module for setting a consumer ranking in the order of an amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account and adjusting the ranking according to a change in the amount of the accumulated cashback; and an accumulation module for accumulating a part of cashback generated from a purchase made by a particular consumer to one or more other consumers each with a ranking higher than a ranking of the particular consumer."],["1.A cashback management system allowing extra accumulation of cashback based on a cashback ranking, the cashback management system comprising: a ranking setting module that sets a ranking of a consumer in the order of an amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account and adjusts the ranking according to a change in the amount of the accumulated cashback; and an accumulation module that accumulates a part of cashback generated from a purchase made by a particular consumer to one or more other consumers each with a ranking higher than a ranking of the particular consumer, wherein the accumulation module is operable to accumulate the part of the cashback money to one or more other consumers each with a ranking higher than the ranking of the particular consumer by steps including: accumulating to a first ranked consumer whose ranking is in the first place a first amount that is a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by the purchase of the particular consumer; and accumulating to a second ranked consumer whose ranking is in the second place a second amount that is the predetermined ratio of an amount that is obtained by subtracting the first amount from the cashback generated by the purchase of the particular consumer, wherein the accumulation module applies the steps sequentially to all of other consumers with rankings higher than the ranking of the particular consumer and accumulates to the particular consumer a remaining amount of the cashback after the cashback is allocated to all of other consumers with rankings higher than the ranking of the particular consumer, and wherein the cashback accumulated in the consumer account further comprises an amount of money deposited by the consumer.","2.The cashback money management system according to claim 1, wherein the ranking setting module sets the ranking of the consumer in the order of a sum of the cashback accumulated in the consumer account and purchase money paid from the consumer account.","3.The cashback money management system according to claim 2, wherein the purchase money comprises a purchase amount generated by purchase of the consumer and a prepayment amount.","4.The cashback money management system according to claim 1, wherein the ranking setting module adjusts the ranking in real time according to the amount of the accumulated cashback which is changed according to the accumulation of the cashback by the accumulation module.","5.The cashback money management system according to claim 1, wherein the accumulation module deducts a cashback from the consumer account upon an use of the cashback by the consumer."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>A cashback is a type of virtual money or cyber money that is awarded to consumers on-line or off-line by companies and the like in order to induce more activities by consumers.","The cashback can be used to motivate the consumers to visit a store by allowing the consumer to use of the cashback.","A process for providing cashback generally allows a certain percentage of the purchase price to be accumulated in an account of a consumer who made a corresponding purchase, and allows the consumer to use the accumulated cashback as part of the payment for future purchases or to exchange the accumulated cashback for coupons or specific products."],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Various implementations are provided to introduce a unique manner of managing cashback which allows consumers to accumulate cashback faster and more effectively.","Some implementations of the disclosed technology set a ranking of a consumer according to the amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account.","Therefore, the more the consumer spends, the higher the ranking of the consumer becomes.","Some implementations of the disclosed technology allow to accumulate a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by activities of a particular consumer not only in the account of that particular consumer but also in the accounts of another consumer whose cashback ranking is higher than that particular consumer.","Therefore, the higher the ranking of the consumer has, the faster the accumulation of the cashback is made by the activities of other consumers, whereby a cashback management system allows extra accumulation of cashback according to an accumulated cashback ranking.","Thus, the consumer can accumulate the cashback more quickly and invest or use the accumulated cashback, which improves the satisfaction of the consumer.","Some implementation of the disclosed technology provides a cashback management system allowing extra accumulation of cashback according to an accumulated cashback ranking.","In some implementations, the cashback ranking is determined based on the sum of the amount of money deposited by the consumer and the amount of the cashback generated, whereby the consumer can increase his or her ranking by depositing the money by a suitable method and thus increase the accumulated cashback faster.","In one aspect, a cashback management system is provided to comprise: a ranking setting module for setting a ranking of a consumer based on an amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account and adjusting the ranking according to a change in the amount of the accumulated cashback; and an accumulation module for accumulating a predetermined ratio of cashback generated by activities, such as consumption or purchase, of the consumer, to one or more other consumers each with a rankings higher than a ranking of the consumer.","In another aspect, a cashback management system based on a consumer ranking associated with an accumulated cashback by a consumer is provided.","The cashback management system comprises: a ranking setting module that sets a ranking of a consumer based on an amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account and adjusts the ranking according to a change in the amount of the accumulated cashback; and an accumulation module that transfers a part of cashback generated from purchases made by a particular consumer to one or more other consumers each with a ranking higher than a ranking of the particular consumer to allow the one or other consumers with a higher ranking to accumulate additional cashback based on ranking, wherein the accumulation module is operable to further: transfer to a first ranked consumer whose ranking is in the first place among ranked consumers, a first additional amount of cashback which is computed from a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by the particular consumer; and transfer to a second ranked consumer whose ranking is in the second place among ranked consumers, a second additional amount of cashback which is an amount computed from the predetermined ratio of a remaining cashback that is obtained by subtracting the first additional amount of cashback from the cashback generated by the particular consumer, wherein the accumulation module applies the steps sequentially to all of other consumers with rankings higher than that of the particular consumer, and wherein the cashback accumulated in the consumer account further comprises an amount of money deposited by the consumer.","In some implementations, the ranking setting module sets the ranking of the consumer in the order of an amount of the cashback accumulated in the consumer account.","In some implementations, the ranking setting module sets the ranking of the consumer in the order of the sum of the cashback accumulated in the consumer account and purchase money paid from the consumer account.","In some implementations, the purchase money comprises a purchase amount generated by the consumption of the consumer and a prepayment amount.","The disclosed technology provides a cashback management system where the cashback for a particular user can be accumulated based on activities of other users than the particular user as well as activities of the particular user.","The cashback accumulated in an account of a particular user comprises the amount of cashback which is generated by the consumption of the particular consumer, and the amount of cashback which is generated by consumption of another consumer.","In some implementations, the cashback accumulated in the account of a consumer further comprises the amount of money deposited by the consumer.","According to an embodiment, the ranking setting module adjusts the ranking in real time according to the amount of the accumulated cashback which is changed according to the cashback accumulation by the accumulation module.","According to an embodiment, if a consumer whose ranking is in the Nth place takes an action to create a cashback, the accumulation module accumulates a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by the consumption of the Nth ranked consumer in accounts of other consumers whose rankings are higher than that of the Nth consumer.","Thus, the accumulation module accumulates a portion of the cashback to the first ranked consumer to the (N-1)th ranked consumer, wherein the accumulation module accumulates the predetermined ratio of the generated cashback in the first ranked consumer, and accumulates the predetermined ratio of the cashback which remains after the accumulation for the first ranked consumer to another consumer whose ranking is for example, in the (n-1)th (n is an integer equal to or greater than 2 and equal to or less than N-1).","After the accumulation for other consumers, the accumulation module accumulates the remaining cashback for the Nth ranked consumer.","According to an embodiment, the accumulation module deducts a cashback from the consumer account upon a use of the cashback by the consumer.","Some implementations of the disclosed technology provide a cashback management system which determines or sets a ranking of a consumer according to a total amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account.","Therefore, the more the consumer spends, the higher the ranking of the consumer becomes.","Since the exemplary cashback management system allows to accumulate a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by activities of the consumer in another consumer's account in a higher ranking, if the ranking of the consumer is higher, it is possible to accumulate cashback faster by using activities of others who have lower rankings.","Accordingly, the cashback management system allows the consumer to accumulate the cashback quickly and use or invest the accumulated cashback, which improves the satisfaction of the consumer.","According to the implementations of the disclosed technology, a mechanism is provided for a consumer to increase his/her ranking since the ranking is decided in consideration of money paid by a consumer (including payments made for not only current purchases but also future activities) and cashback generated by the consumer's activities.","Accordingly, the consumer can increase his or her ranking by depositing the money by a suitable method and thus make the accumulation of cashback faster."],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) This application claims priority to and the benefit of PCT Application No.","PCT/KR2016/007805 filed on Jul.","18, 2016 which claims priority to Korean Patent Application No.","10-2015-0103787 filed on Jul.","22, 2015.The above applications are all hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.","TECHNICAL FIELD Some implementations of the disclosed technology relate to a cashback management system.","For example, some implementations of the disclosed technology allow an extra accumulation of cashback.","BACKGROUND A cashback is a type of virtual money or cyber money that is awarded to consumers on-line or off-line by companies and the like in order to induce more activities by consumers.","The cashback can be used to motivate the consumers to visit a store by allowing the consumer to use of the cashback.","A process for providing cashback generally allows a certain percentage of the purchase price to be accumulated in an account of a consumer who made a corresponding purchase, and allows the consumer to use the accumulated cashback as part of the payment for future purchases or to exchange the accumulated cashback for coupons or specific products.","SUMMARY Various implementations are provided to introduce a unique manner of managing cashback which allows consumers to accumulate cashback faster and more effectively.","Some implementations of the disclosed technology set a ranking of a consumer according to the amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account.","Therefore, the more the consumer spends, the higher the ranking of the consumer becomes.","Some implementations of the disclosed technology allow to accumulate a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by activities of a particular consumer not only in the account of that particular consumer but also in the accounts of another consumer whose cashback ranking is higher than that particular consumer.","Therefore, the higher the ranking of the consumer has, the faster the accumulation of the cashback is made by the activities of other consumers, whereby a cashback management system allows extra accumulation of cashback according to an accumulated cashback ranking.","Thus, the consumer can accumulate the cashback more quickly and invest or use the accumulated cashback, which improves the satisfaction of the consumer.","Some implementation of the disclosed technology provides a cashback management system allowing extra accumulation of cashback according to an accumulated cashback ranking.","In some implementations, the cashback ranking is determined based on the sum of the amount of money deposited by the consumer and the amount of the cashback generated, whereby the consumer can increase his or her ranking by depositing the money by a suitable method and thus increase the accumulated cashback faster.","In one aspect, a cashback management system is provided to comprise: a ranking setting module for setting a ranking of a consumer based on an amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account and adjusting the ranking according to a change in the amount of the accumulated cashback; and an accumulation module for accumulating a predetermined ratio of cashback generated by activities, such as consumption or purchase, of the consumer, to one or more other consumers each with a rankings higher than a ranking of the consumer.","In another aspect, a cashback management system based on a consumer ranking associated with an accumulated cashback by a consumer is provided.","The cashback management system comprises: a ranking setting module that sets a ranking of a consumer based on an amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account and adjusts the ranking according to a change in the amount of the accumulated cashback; and an accumulation module that transfers a part of cashback generated from purchases made by a particular consumer to one or more other consumers each with a ranking higher than a ranking of the particular consumer to allow the one or other consumers with a higher ranking to accumulate additional cashback based on ranking, wherein the accumulation module is operable to further: transfer to a first ranked consumer whose ranking is in the first place among ranked consumers, a first additional amount of cashback which is computed from a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by the particular consumer; and transfer to a second ranked consumer whose ranking is in the second place among ranked consumers, a second additional amount of cashback which is an amount computed from the predetermined ratio of a remaining cashback that is obtained by subtracting the first additional amount of cashback from the cashback generated by the particular consumer, wherein the accumulation module applies the steps sequentially to all of other consumers with rankings higher than that of the particular consumer, and wherein the cashback accumulated in the consumer account further comprises an amount of money deposited by the consumer.","In some implementations, the ranking setting module sets the ranking of the consumer in the order of an amount of the cashback accumulated in the consumer account.","In some implementations, the ranking setting module sets the ranking of the consumer in the order of the sum of the cashback accumulated in the consumer account and purchase money paid from the consumer account.","In some implementations, the purchase money comprises a purchase amount generated by the consumption of the consumer and a prepayment amount.","The disclosed technology provides a cashback management system where the cashback for a particular user can be accumulated based on activities of other users than the particular user as well as activities of the particular user.","The cashback accumulated in an account of a particular user comprises the amount of cashback which is generated by the consumption of the particular consumer, and the amount of cashback which is generated by consumption of another consumer.","In some implementations, the cashback accumulated in the account of a consumer further comprises the amount of money deposited by the consumer.","According to an embodiment, the ranking setting module adjusts the ranking in real time according to the amount of the accumulated cashback which is changed according to the cashback accumulation by the accumulation module.","According to an embodiment, if a consumer whose ranking is in the Nth place takes an action to create a cashback, the accumulation module accumulates a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by the consumption of the Nth ranked consumer in accounts of other consumers whose rankings are higher than that of the Nth consumer.","Thus, the accumulation module accumulates a portion of the cashback to the first ranked consumer to the (N-1)th ranked consumer, wherein the accumulation module accumulates the predetermined ratio of the generated cashback in the first ranked consumer, and accumulates the predetermined ratio of the cashback which remains after the accumulation for the first ranked consumer to another consumer whose ranking is for example, in the (n-1)th (n is an integer equal to or greater than 2 and equal to or less than N-1).","After the accumulation for other consumers, the accumulation module accumulates the remaining cashback for the Nth ranked consumer.","According to an embodiment, the accumulation module deducts a cashback from the consumer account upon a use of the cashback by the consumer.","Some implementations of the disclosed technology provide a cashback management system which determines or sets a ranking of a consumer according to a total amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account.","Therefore, the more the consumer spends, the higher the ranking of the consumer becomes.","Since the exemplary cashback management system allows to accumulate a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by activities of the consumer in another consumer's account in a higher ranking, if the ranking of the consumer is higher, it is possible to accumulate cashback faster by using activities of others who have lower rankings.","Accordingly, the cashback management system allows the consumer to accumulate the cashback quickly and use or invest the accumulated cashback, which improves the satisfaction of the consumer.","According to the implementations of the disclosed technology, a mechanism is provided for a consumer to increase his/her ranking since the ranking is decided in consideration of money paid by a consumer (including payments made for not only current purchases but also future activities) and cashback generated by the consumer's activities.","Accordingly, the consumer can increase his or her ranking by depositing the money by a suitable method and thus make the accumulation of cashback faster.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 is an exemplary view showing a configuration of a cashback management system according to an implementation of the disclosed technology.","FIGS.","2 to 5 are exemplary views showing examples of cashback accumulations and ranking changes in a cashback management system according to an implementation of the disclosed technology.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION Techniques disclosed in this patent document provide a cashback management system.","The cashback may be referred to as different names, for example, reward points, mileages, coupons, credits, gifts, incentives, etc.","The disclosed technology would provide a system and a method for managing those offerings which are given to consumers in connection with activities occurred in an on-line/off-line market or an on-line platform.","The disclosed technology allows a consumer to accumulate cashback in a faster and more effective manner to improve consumer experience using cashback.","As cashback marketing can increase the sales revenue and attract customers, there has been an attempt to diversify ways to provide cashback, for example, by setting a high rate of cashback temporarily during an event or providing a certain amount of money as cashback when purchasing a specific product.","However, the conventional cashback managements did not make consumers satisfied or attracted to the cashback because it is difficult to accumulate the cashback and thus, there is no investment value in the cashback itself.","Accordingly, it is not that uncommon that the amount of the cashback is not even used and disappears.","The examples of the conventional cashback managements are provided: Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No.","10-2013-0062387 (Title: Reserve point management system and method for providing additional reserve point to user selecting affiliation; published on Jun.","13, 2013) and Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No.","10-2012-0048871 (Title of invention: Reserve point management system and method for determining reserve point with regard to transaction between user and advertiser using rate of reserve point determined by advertiser; published on May 16, 2012) are disclosed.","Some implementations of the disclosed technology provide a cashback management system/method which differs from the conventional cashback management systems as discussed below and can solve the problems in the conventional cashback management systems.","Hereinafter, various implementations of the disclosed technology will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present invention.","In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosed technology, a detailed description of known functions or configurations will be omitted.","The same reference numerals are used throughout the drawings for portions having similar functions and actions.","In addition, in the entire specification, when a part is referred to as being “connected” with another part, it is not only a case where it is directly connected, but also a case where it is indirectly connected with another element therebetween.","Also, “comprising” and “including” mean that other components may be included, rather than excluding other components, unless specifically stated otherwise.","FIG.","1 is an exemplary view showing a configuration of a cashback management system 10 allowing extra accumulation of cashback according to an accumulated cashback ranking, according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology.","As shown in FIG.","1, the exemplary cashback management system 10 may comprise a ranking setting module 100 and an accumulation module 200.The term “module” as used herein may include software, hardware, or a combination thereof depending on the context in which the term is used.","For example, the software may be machine code, firmware, embedded code, application software, or a combination thereof.","Also, for example, the hardware may be a circuit, a processor, a computer, an integrated circuit, integrated circuit cores, or a combination thereof.","The ranking setting module 100 and the accumulation module 200 may be implemented in one computer in some applications, or may be distributed in more than one computers or servers linked to a communication network to allow communications between the ranking setting module 100 and the accumulation module 200.According to some implementations, the ranking setting module 100 may determine or set a ranking of a consumer according to the amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account associated with the consumer.","The accumulation module 200 may accumulate in the consumer account the cashback generated from on-line/off-line activities, for example, purchasing products, by the consumer.","Therefore, the more the consumer actively makes purchases or spends money, the higher the ranking of the consumer can be placed at.","As explained above, the cashback is accumulated in the account of the consumer who made purchase or spends money.","In some implementations, a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated from on-line/off-line activities of the consumer is accumulated in not only the account of the consumer but also the account of another consumer whose ranking is placed at higher than that of the consumer.","Thus, consumers whose rankings are relatively higher can get “extra” accumulation of the cashback from the activities of others whose rankings are relative lower.","Therefore, if the consumer's raking is higher, the consumer can accumulate the cashback faster since the cashback can be accumulated from the activities of other consumers who are placed in a lower ranking.","Thus, the consumer can accumulate the cashback quickly and invest the accumulated cashback as desired.","Hereinafter, each element of the cashback management system 10 allowing extra accumulation of the cashback according to the accumulated cashback ranking, according to an implementation of the disclosed technology will be described in detail.","The ranking setting module 100 may be structured to determine or set a ranking of a consumer based on cashback accumulated in the consumer account and/or activities of the consumer.","In some implementations, the ranking setting module 100 may determine or set the ranking of the consumer according to the amount of the cashback accumulated in the consumer account and adjust the ranking according to change in the amount of the accumulated cashback.","The ranking setting module 100 may determine or set the ranking of the consumer in the order of the amount of the cashback accumulated in the consumer account.","The cashback accumulated in the consumer account may comprise the amount of the cashback which is generated by activities of the consumer, and the amount of the cashback which is generated by activities of other consumers.","The activities of the consumer to generate the cashback include making payments such as purchasing of a product.","The cashback accumulated in the consumer account may further comprise the amount of the money deposited by the consumer.","Thus, the consumer can add his or her money to the accumulated cashback by making deposits, for example, using credit cards, bank transfer, gift cards, points, coupons, etc.","The money deposited in this way may be added to the cashback which have been earned from the activities by the consumer and managed as the accumulated cashback in the account of the consumer.","Therefore, the consumer who wants to increase the ranking quickly can increase the ranking by depositing the money in the consumer account and increasing the amount of the accumulated cashback by the deposited money.","In some implementations, the ranking of the consumer may be determined or set based on both the cashback accumulated in the consumer account and the activities of the consumer.","For example, the ranking setting module 100 determines or sets the ranking in the order of the sum of the cashback accumulated in the consumer account and the purchase money paid from the consumer account.","In this case, the degree of contribution of the consumer to the purchase money by activities, for example, purchases, can be reflected in the ranking.","The degree of contribution may be different in various products depending on the types of the products.","For example, there may be a product with a relatively small accumulation amount relative to the price of the product and there may be another product with a relatively big accumulation amount relative to the price of the product.","The disclosed technology can provide the cashback money management system to minimize or avoid the feeling that the consumer is disadvantaged through the purchase of a product, and allow the consumer to be ranked more fairly.","In some implementations, the purchase money may comprise a purchase amount generated by activities of the consumer and a prepayment amount.","The consumer may make a payment in advance for the amount to be used without purchasing the product, and by including this prepayment amount in the purchase money, the actual amount spent by the consumer can be accurately reflected in the ranking.","Furthermore, the purchase money may be considered only for a predetermined period of time, such as 6 months, 1 year, 3 years, etc., which can lead the consumer to continue to create activities by, for example, spending money and provide a way for new consumers to be placed at a high ranking.","The ranking setting module 100 may adjust the ranking in real time according to the amount of the accumulated cashback which are changed according to the cashback accumulation of the accumulation module 200, which will be described in detail below.","The amount of the accumulated cashback of each consumer may be changed according to the accumulation result of the accumulation module 200, and the ranking setting module 100 may reflect the change in the amount of the accumulated cashback in the ranking in real time.","The accumulation module 200 may accumulate a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by activities of the consumer to a higher ranked consumer.","When the cashback is generated by activities of the consumer having a specific ranking set by the ranking setting module 100, a part of the generated cashback may be accumulated as well in the account of a consumer having a ranking higher than the specific ranking.","Therefore, the consumer with a higher ranking can automatically increase the accumulated cashback due to the activities of others, even if he/she is not involved with any activities.","In some implementations, the accumulation module 200 may accumulate a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by activities of a Nth ranked consumer in the accounts of consumers who have ranked the first to (N-1)th.","In accumulating a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by a Nth ranked consumer, the accumulation module 200 may be structured to provide the cashback to all of the consumers who have ranked the first to (N-1)th.","In some implementations, the accumulation module 200 may be structured to provide the cashback to only a part of the consumers among those who have ranked the first to (N-1)th.","Thus, the accumulation module 200 may first select all or a part of the consumers who have ranked the first to (N-1)th.","In some implementations, the accumulation module 200 may accumulate, in the accounts of the selected consumers among those in the first to (N-1)th places, different amounts of the generated cashback.","For example, the accumulation module 200 may accumulate the predetermined ratio of the generated cashback in the first ranked consumer.","Then, the accumulation module 200 may accumulate the predetermined ratio of the remaining cashback which remains after the accumulation for the first ranked consumer in the account of the second ranked consumer.","The accumulation module 200 may repeat the accumulation in this manner for the remaining selected consumers.","After making accumulations in the accounts of the selected consumers among those in the first to (N-1)th places, the accumulation module 200 may accumulate the remaining cashback in the account of the Nth ranked consumer.","For example, if cashback is generated by activities of the 10th ranked consumer, a predetermined ratio of the cashback is sequentially provided to the first ranked consumer to the 9th ranked consumer, and the remaining cashback is accumulated in the 10th ranked consumer.","Among the higher ranked consumers, the cashback provided to the first consumer is the greatest, the amount of the provided cashback is gradually reduced, and the cashback provided to the 9th ranked consumer is the smallest.","The cashback generated from the activities of the 10th ranked consumer is not provided to the 11th ranked consumer and the consumers having rankings lower than the 11th.","The ranking setting module 100 may adjust the ranking in real time by reflecting the accumulation result of the accumulation module 200 as described above.","Therefore, the ranking may be changed each time at the generation and accumulation of the cashback.","FIGS.","2 to 5 are exemplary views showing examples of cashback accumulations and ranking changes in the cashback management system 10 allowing extra accumulation of cashback according to the accumulated cashback ranking.","Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS.","2 to 5, a description of a ranking setting process and a cashback accumulation process of the cashback management system 10 will be given in detail.","First, as shown in FIG.","2, if the purchase money and the accumulated cashback of the consumers A, B, and C are all 0 (zero), the rankings of the consumers A, B, and C are the same.","In this situation, if the consumer A purchases a product which is priced with a price of 8,000 Korean won (KRW) and is listed as providing a cashback of 3,000 Korean won in response to the purchase, the cashback of 3,000 Korean won are all accumulated in the consumer A since there is no higher ranked consumer than the consumer A.","After the accumulation result is reflected, the ranking setting module 100 sets the consumer A (accumulated cashback of 3,000 Korean won) as the first place and the consumers B and C (accumulated cashback of 0 Korean won) as the second place, and adjusts the ranking as shown in FIG.","3.If the second ranked consumer B purchases a product with a price of 20,000 Korean won and the purchase of the product provides a cashback of 8,000 Korean won, a part of the cashback of 8,000 Korean won is accumulated to the higher ranked consumer A than the consumer B as well as the second ranked consumer B.","For example, if the predetermined ratio is 10%, the amount of 800 Korean won, which is 10% of the cashback of 8,000 Korean won, is added to the account of the higher ranked consumer A than the consumer B, and the amount of the accumulated cashback of the consumer A becomes 3,800 Korean won, and the remaining cashback of 7,200 Korean won is accumulated to the account of the consumer B.","As a result, since the amount of the accumulated cashback of the consumer B becomes greater than that of the consumer A, the ranking setting module 100 sets the ranking of the consumer B (accumulated cashback of 7,200 Korean won) as the first, the ranking of the consumer A (accumulated cashback of 3,800 Korean won) as the second, and the ranking of the consumer C (accumulated cashback of 0 Korean won) as the third.","If the third ranked consumer C purchases a product with a price of 10,000 Korean won and the purchase provides a cashback of 5,000 Korean won, the amount of 500 Korean won, which is 10% of the cashback of 5,000 Korean won, is first added to the account of the first ranked consumer B between the higher ranked consumers A and B than the consumer C, and the amount of the accumulated cashback of the consumer B becomes 7,700 Korean won.","The amount of 450 Korean won, which is 10% of the remaining cashback of 4,500 Korean won, is added to the account of the second ranked consumer A, and the amount of the accumulated cashback of the consumer A becomes 4,250 Korean won.","After the cashback accumulation for the consumers A and B, the remaining cashback of 4,050 Korean won is accumulated to the account of the consumer C. If the ranking setting module 100 determines the ranking based on the amount of the accumulated cashback only, the consumer B will be ranked first, the consumer A will be ranked second, and the consumer C will be ranked third, as shown in FIG.","5.If the ranking setting module 100 determines the ranking based on the sum of the purchase money and the accumulated cashback, the consumer B will be ranked first, the consumer C will be ranked second, and the consumer A will be ranked third.","In the latter case, the activity by the consumer C can change the rankings of the consumers A and C. If the consumer uses the accumulated cashback, the accumulation module 200 deducts the used cashback from the consumer account.","Thus, the accumulated cashback can be used as cash when purchasing a product.","If the consumer makes a settlement using the accumulated cashback, the accumulation module 200 deducts the accumulated cashback as much as the used amount.","Since the amount of the accumulated cashback of the consumer is reduced, the ranking setting module 100 adjusts the ranking in real time reflecting the subtracted accumulated cashback.","While this patent document contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any invention or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments of particular inventions.","Certain features that are described in this patent document in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment.","Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.","Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.","Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve described results.","Moreover, the separation of various system components in the embodiments described in this patent document should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments.","Only a few implementations and examples are described.","Other implementations, enhancements and variations can be made based on what is described and illustrated in this patent document.","From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, but that various modifications may be made without deviating from the scope of the invention.","Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"CASHBACK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM\",\n \"The disclosed technology provides a cashback management system which allows extra accumulation of cashback based on a consumer ranking in a cashback.\",\n \"In one aspect, the cashback management system is provided to comprise: a ranking setting module for setting a consumer ranking in the order of an amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account and adjusting the ranking according to a change in the amount of the accumulated cashback; and an accumulation module for accumulating a part of cashback generated from a purchase made by a particular consumer to one or more other consumers each with a ranking higher than a ranking of the particular consumer.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A cashback management system allowing extra accumulation of cashback based on a cashback ranking, the cashback management system comprising: a ranking setting module that sets a ranking of a consumer in the order of an amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account and adjusts the ranking according to a change in the amount of the accumulated cashback; and an accumulation module that accumulates a part of cashback generated from a purchase made by a particular consumer to one or more other consumers each with a ranking higher than a ranking of the particular consumer, wherein the accumulation module is operable to accumulate the part of the cashback money to one or more other consumers each with a ranking higher than the ranking of the particular consumer by steps including: accumulating to a first ranked consumer whose ranking is in the first place a first amount that is a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by the purchase of the particular consumer; and accumulating to a second ranked consumer whose ranking is in the second place a second amount that is the predetermined ratio of an amount that is obtained by subtracting the first amount from the cashback generated by the purchase of the particular consumer, wherein the accumulation module applies the steps sequentially to all of other consumers with rankings higher than the ranking of the particular consumer and accumulates to the particular consumer a remaining amount of the cashback after the cashback is allocated to all of other consumers with rankings higher than the ranking of the particular consumer, and wherein the cashback accumulated in the consumer account further comprises an amount of money deposited by the consumer.\",\n \"2.The cashback money management system according to claim 1, wherein the ranking setting module sets the ranking of the consumer in the order of a sum of the cashback accumulated in the consumer account and purchase money paid from the consumer account.\",\n \"3.The cashback money management system according to claim 2, wherein the purchase money comprises a purchase amount generated by purchase of the consumer and a prepayment amount.\",\n \"4.The cashback money management system according to claim 1, wherein the ranking setting module adjusts the ranking in real time according to the amount of the accumulated cashback which is changed according to the accumulation of the cashback by the accumulation module.\",\n \"5.The cashback money management system according to claim 1, wherein the accumulation module deducts a cashback from the consumer account upon an use of the cashback by the consumer.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>A cashback is a type of virtual money or cyber money that is awarded to consumers on-line or off-line by companies and the like in order to induce more activities by consumers.\",\n \"The cashback can be used to motivate the consumers to visit a store by allowing the consumer to use of the cashback.\",\n \"A process for providing cashback generally allows a certain percentage of the purchase price to be accumulated in an account of a consumer who made a corresponding purchase, and allows the consumer to use the accumulated cashback as part of the payment for future purchases or to exchange the accumulated cashback for coupons or specific products.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Various implementations are provided to introduce a unique manner of managing cashback which allows consumers to accumulate cashback faster and more effectively.\",\n \"Some implementations of the disclosed technology set a ranking of a consumer according to the amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account.\",\n \"Therefore, the more the consumer spends, the higher the ranking of the consumer becomes.\",\n \"Some implementations of the disclosed technology allow to accumulate a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by activities of a particular consumer not only in the account of that particular consumer but also in the accounts of another consumer whose cashback ranking is higher than that particular consumer.\",\n \"Therefore, the higher the ranking of the consumer has, the faster the accumulation of the cashback is made by the activities of other consumers, whereby a cashback management system allows extra accumulation of cashback according to an accumulated cashback ranking.\",\n \"Thus, the consumer can accumulate the cashback more quickly and invest or use the accumulated cashback, which improves the satisfaction of the consumer.\",\n \"Some implementation of the disclosed technology provides a cashback management system allowing extra accumulation of cashback according to an accumulated cashback ranking.\",\n \"In some implementations, the cashback ranking is determined based on the sum of the amount of money deposited by the consumer and the amount of the cashback generated, whereby the consumer can increase his or her ranking by depositing the money by a suitable method and thus increase the accumulated cashback faster.\",\n \"In one aspect, a cashback management system is provided to comprise: a ranking setting module for setting a ranking of a consumer based on an amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account and adjusting the ranking according to a change in the amount of the accumulated cashback; and an accumulation module for accumulating a predetermined ratio of cashback generated by activities, such as consumption or purchase, of the consumer, to one or more other consumers each with a rankings higher than a ranking of the consumer.\",\n \"In another aspect, a cashback management system based on a consumer ranking associated with an accumulated cashback by a consumer is provided.\",\n \"The cashback management system comprises: a ranking setting module that sets a ranking of a consumer based on an amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account and adjusts the ranking according to a change in the amount of the accumulated cashback; and an accumulation module that transfers a part of cashback generated from purchases made by a particular consumer to one or more other consumers each with a ranking higher than a ranking of the particular consumer to allow the one or other consumers with a higher ranking to accumulate additional cashback based on ranking, wherein the accumulation module is operable to further: transfer to a first ranked consumer whose ranking is in the first place among ranked consumers, a first additional amount of cashback which is computed from a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by the particular consumer; and transfer to a second ranked consumer whose ranking is in the second place among ranked consumers, a second additional amount of cashback which is an amount computed from the predetermined ratio of a remaining cashback that is obtained by subtracting the first additional amount of cashback from the cashback generated by the particular consumer, wherein the accumulation module applies the steps sequentially to all of other consumers with rankings higher than that of the particular consumer, and wherein the cashback accumulated in the consumer account further comprises an amount of money deposited by the consumer.\",\n \"In some implementations, the ranking setting module sets the ranking of the consumer in the order of an amount of the cashback accumulated in the consumer account.\",\n \"In some implementations, the ranking setting module sets the ranking of the consumer in the order of the sum of the cashback accumulated in the consumer account and purchase money paid from the consumer account.\",\n \"In some implementations, the purchase money comprises a purchase amount generated by the consumption of the consumer and a prepayment amount.\",\n \"The disclosed technology provides a cashback management system where the cashback for a particular user can be accumulated based on activities of other users than the particular user as well as activities of the particular user.\",\n \"The cashback accumulated in an account of a particular user comprises the amount of cashback which is generated by the consumption of the particular consumer, and the amount of cashback which is generated by consumption of another consumer.\",\n \"In some implementations, the cashback accumulated in the account of a consumer further comprises the amount of money deposited by the consumer.\",\n \"According to an embodiment, the ranking setting module adjusts the ranking in real time according to the amount of the accumulated cashback which is changed according to the cashback accumulation by the accumulation module.\",\n \"According to an embodiment, if a consumer whose ranking is in the Nth place takes an action to create a cashback, the accumulation module accumulates a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by the consumption of the Nth ranked consumer in accounts of other consumers whose rankings are higher than that of the Nth consumer.\",\n \"Thus, the accumulation module accumulates a portion of the cashback to the first ranked consumer to the (N-1)th ranked consumer, wherein the accumulation module accumulates the predetermined ratio of the generated cashback in the first ranked consumer, and accumulates the predetermined ratio of the cashback which remains after the accumulation for the first ranked consumer to another consumer whose ranking is for example, in the (n-1)th (n is an integer equal to or greater than 2 and equal to or less than N-1).\",\n \"After the accumulation for other consumers, the accumulation module accumulates the remaining cashback for the Nth ranked consumer.\",\n \"According to an embodiment, the accumulation module deducts a cashback from the consumer account upon a use of the cashback by the consumer.\",\n \"Some implementations of the disclosed technology provide a cashback management system which determines or sets a ranking of a consumer according to a total amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account.\",\n \"Therefore, the more the consumer spends, the higher the ranking of the consumer becomes.\",\n \"Since the exemplary cashback management system allows to accumulate a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by activities of the consumer in another consumer's account in a higher ranking, if the ranking of the consumer is higher, it is possible to accumulate cashback faster by using activities of others who have lower rankings.\",\n \"Accordingly, the cashback management system allows the consumer to accumulate the cashback quickly and use or invest the accumulated cashback, which improves the satisfaction of the consumer.\",\n \"According to the implementations of the disclosed technology, a mechanism is provided for a consumer to increase his/her ranking since the ranking is decided in consideration of money paid by a consumer (including payments made for not only current purchases but also future activities) and cashback generated by the consumer's activities.\",\n \"Accordingly, the consumer can increase his or her ranking by depositing the money by a suitable method and thus make the accumulation of cashback faster.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) This application claims priority to and the benefit of PCT Application No.\",\n \"PCT/KR2016/007805 filed on Jul.\",\n \"18, 2016 which claims priority to Korean Patent Application No.\",\n \"10-2015-0103787 filed on Jul.\",\n \"22, 2015.The above applications are all hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD Some implementations of the disclosed technology relate to a cashback management system.\",\n \"For example, some implementations of the disclosed technology allow an extra accumulation of cashback.\",\n \"BACKGROUND A cashback is a type of virtual money or cyber money that is awarded to consumers on-line or off-line by companies and the like in order to induce more activities by consumers.\",\n \"The cashback can be used to motivate the consumers to visit a store by allowing the consumer to use of the cashback.\",\n \"A process for providing cashback generally allows a certain percentage of the purchase price to be accumulated in an account of a consumer who made a corresponding purchase, and allows the consumer to use the accumulated cashback as part of the payment for future purchases or to exchange the accumulated cashback for coupons or specific products.\",\n \"SUMMARY Various implementations are provided to introduce a unique manner of managing cashback which allows consumers to accumulate cashback faster and more effectively.\",\n \"Some implementations of the disclosed technology set a ranking of a consumer according to the amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account.\",\n \"Therefore, the more the consumer spends, the higher the ranking of the consumer becomes.\",\n \"Some implementations of the disclosed technology allow to accumulate a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by activities of a particular consumer not only in the account of that particular consumer but also in the accounts of another consumer whose cashback ranking is higher than that particular consumer.\",\n \"Therefore, the higher the ranking of the consumer has, the faster the accumulation of the cashback is made by the activities of other consumers, whereby a cashback management system allows extra accumulation of cashback according to an accumulated cashback ranking.\",\n \"Thus, the consumer can accumulate the cashback more quickly and invest or use the accumulated cashback, which improves the satisfaction of the consumer.\",\n \"Some implementation of the disclosed technology provides a cashback management system allowing extra accumulation of cashback according to an accumulated cashback ranking.\",\n \"In some implementations, the cashback ranking is determined based on the sum of the amount of money deposited by the consumer and the amount of the cashback generated, whereby the consumer can increase his or her ranking by depositing the money by a suitable method and thus increase the accumulated cashback faster.\",\n \"In one aspect, a cashback management system is provided to comprise: a ranking setting module for setting a ranking of a consumer based on an amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account and adjusting the ranking according to a change in the amount of the accumulated cashback; and an accumulation module for accumulating a predetermined ratio of cashback generated by activities, such as consumption or purchase, of the consumer, to one or more other consumers each with a rankings higher than a ranking of the consumer.\",\n \"In another aspect, a cashback management system based on a consumer ranking associated with an accumulated cashback by a consumer is provided.\",\n \"The cashback management system comprises: a ranking setting module that sets a ranking of a consumer based on an amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account and adjusts the ranking according to a change in the amount of the accumulated cashback; and an accumulation module that transfers a part of cashback generated from purchases made by a particular consumer to one or more other consumers each with a ranking higher than a ranking of the particular consumer to allow the one or other consumers with a higher ranking to accumulate additional cashback based on ranking, wherein the accumulation module is operable to further: transfer to a first ranked consumer whose ranking is in the first place among ranked consumers, a first additional amount of cashback which is computed from a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by the particular consumer; and transfer to a second ranked consumer whose ranking is in the second place among ranked consumers, a second additional amount of cashback which is an amount computed from the predetermined ratio of a remaining cashback that is obtained by subtracting the first additional amount of cashback from the cashback generated by the particular consumer, wherein the accumulation module applies the steps sequentially to all of other consumers with rankings higher than that of the particular consumer, and wherein the cashback accumulated in the consumer account further comprises an amount of money deposited by the consumer.\",\n \"In some implementations, the ranking setting module sets the ranking of the consumer in the order of an amount of the cashback accumulated in the consumer account.\",\n \"In some implementations, the ranking setting module sets the ranking of the consumer in the order of the sum of the cashback accumulated in the consumer account and purchase money paid from the consumer account.\",\n \"In some implementations, the purchase money comprises a purchase amount generated by the consumption of the consumer and a prepayment amount.\",\n \"The disclosed technology provides a cashback management system where the cashback for a particular user can be accumulated based on activities of other users than the particular user as well as activities of the particular user.\",\n \"The cashback accumulated in an account of a particular user comprises the amount of cashback which is generated by the consumption of the particular consumer, and the amount of cashback which is generated by consumption of another consumer.\",\n \"In some implementations, the cashback accumulated in the account of a consumer further comprises the amount of money deposited by the consumer.\",\n \"According to an embodiment, the ranking setting module adjusts the ranking in real time according to the amount of the accumulated cashback which is changed according to the cashback accumulation by the accumulation module.\",\n \"According to an embodiment, if a consumer whose ranking is in the Nth place takes an action to create a cashback, the accumulation module accumulates a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by the consumption of the Nth ranked consumer in accounts of other consumers whose rankings are higher than that of the Nth consumer.\",\n \"Thus, the accumulation module accumulates a portion of the cashback to the first ranked consumer to the (N-1)th ranked consumer, wherein the accumulation module accumulates the predetermined ratio of the generated cashback in the first ranked consumer, and accumulates the predetermined ratio of the cashback which remains after the accumulation for the first ranked consumer to another consumer whose ranking is for example, in the (n-1)th (n is an integer equal to or greater than 2 and equal to or less than N-1).\",\n \"After the accumulation for other consumers, the accumulation module accumulates the remaining cashback for the Nth ranked consumer.\",\n \"According to an embodiment, the accumulation module deducts a cashback from the consumer account upon a use of the cashback by the consumer.\",\n \"Some implementations of the disclosed technology provide a cashback management system which determines or sets a ranking of a consumer according to a total amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account.\",\n \"Therefore, the more the consumer spends, the higher the ranking of the consumer becomes.\",\n \"Since the exemplary cashback management system allows to accumulate a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by activities of the consumer in another consumer's account in a higher ranking, if the ranking of the consumer is higher, it is possible to accumulate cashback faster by using activities of others who have lower rankings.\",\n \"Accordingly, the cashback management system allows the consumer to accumulate the cashback quickly and use or invest the accumulated cashback, which improves the satisfaction of the consumer.\",\n \"According to the implementations of the disclosed technology, a mechanism is provided for a consumer to increase his/her ranking since the ranking is decided in consideration of money paid by a consumer (including payments made for not only current purchases but also future activities) and cashback generated by the consumer's activities.\",\n \"Accordingly, the consumer can increase his or her ranking by depositing the money by a suitable method and thus make the accumulation of cashback faster.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 is an exemplary view showing a configuration of a cashback management system according to an implementation of the disclosed technology.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"2 to 5 are exemplary views showing examples of cashback accumulations and ranking changes in a cashback management system according to an implementation of the disclosed technology.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION Techniques disclosed in this patent document provide a cashback management system.\",\n \"The cashback may be referred to as different names, for example, reward points, mileages, coupons, credits, gifts, incentives, etc.\",\n \"The disclosed technology would provide a system and a method for managing those offerings which are given to consumers in connection with activities occurred in an on-line/off-line market or an on-line platform.\",\n \"The disclosed technology allows a consumer to accumulate cashback in a faster and more effective manner to improve consumer experience using cashback.\",\n \"As cashback marketing can increase the sales revenue and attract customers, there has been an attempt to diversify ways to provide cashback, for example, by setting a high rate of cashback temporarily during an event or providing a certain amount of money as cashback when purchasing a specific product.\",\n \"However, the conventional cashback managements did not make consumers satisfied or attracted to the cashback because it is difficult to accumulate the cashback and thus, there is no investment value in the cashback itself.\",\n \"Accordingly, it is not that uncommon that the amount of the cashback is not even used and disappears.\",\n \"The examples of the conventional cashback managements are provided: Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No.\",\n \"10-2013-0062387 (Title: Reserve point management system and method for providing additional reserve point to user selecting affiliation; published on Jun.\",\n \"13, 2013) and Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No.\",\n \"10-2012-0048871 (Title of invention: Reserve point management system and method for determining reserve point with regard to transaction between user and advertiser using rate of reserve point determined by advertiser; published on May 16, 2012) are disclosed.\",\n \"Some implementations of the disclosed technology provide a cashback management system/method which differs from the conventional cashback management systems as discussed below and can solve the problems in the conventional cashback management systems.\",\n \"Hereinafter, various implementations of the disclosed technology will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present invention.\",\n \"In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosed technology, a detailed description of known functions or configurations will be omitted.\",\n \"The same reference numerals are used throughout the drawings for portions having similar functions and actions.\",\n \"In addition, in the entire specification, when a part is referred to as being “connected” with another part, it is not only a case where it is directly connected, but also a case where it is indirectly connected with another element therebetween.\",\n \"Also, “comprising” and “including” mean that other components may be included, rather than excluding other components, unless specifically stated otherwise.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 is an exemplary view showing a configuration of a cashback management system 10 allowing extra accumulation of cashback according to an accumulated cashback ranking, according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"1, the exemplary cashback management system 10 may comprise a ranking setting module 100 and an accumulation module 200.The term “module” as used herein may include software, hardware, or a combination thereof depending on the context in which the term is used.\",\n \"For example, the software may be machine code, firmware, embedded code, application software, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"Also, for example, the hardware may be a circuit, a processor, a computer, an integrated circuit, integrated circuit cores, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"The ranking setting module 100 and the accumulation module 200 may be implemented in one computer in some applications, or may be distributed in more than one computers or servers linked to a communication network to allow communications between the ranking setting module 100 and the accumulation module 200.According to some implementations, the ranking setting module 100 may determine or set a ranking of a consumer according to the amount of cashback accumulated in a consumer account associated with the consumer.\",\n \"The accumulation module 200 may accumulate in the consumer account the cashback generated from on-line/off-line activities, for example, purchasing products, by the consumer.\",\n \"Therefore, the more the consumer actively makes purchases or spends money, the higher the ranking of the consumer can be placed at.\",\n \"As explained above, the cashback is accumulated in the account of the consumer who made purchase or spends money.\",\n \"In some implementations, a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated from on-line/off-line activities of the consumer is accumulated in not only the account of the consumer but also the account of another consumer whose ranking is placed at higher than that of the consumer.\",\n \"Thus, consumers whose rankings are relatively higher can get “extra” accumulation of the cashback from the activities of others whose rankings are relative lower.\",\n \"Therefore, if the consumer's raking is higher, the consumer can accumulate the cashback faster since the cashback can be accumulated from the activities of other consumers who are placed in a lower ranking.\",\n \"Thus, the consumer can accumulate the cashback quickly and invest the accumulated cashback as desired.\",\n \"Hereinafter, each element of the cashback management system 10 allowing extra accumulation of the cashback according to the accumulated cashback ranking, according to an implementation of the disclosed technology will be described in detail.\",\n \"The ranking setting module 100 may be structured to determine or set a ranking of a consumer based on cashback accumulated in the consumer account and/or activities of the consumer.\",\n \"In some implementations, the ranking setting module 100 may determine or set the ranking of the consumer according to the amount of the cashback accumulated in the consumer account and adjust the ranking according to change in the amount of the accumulated cashback.\",\n \"The ranking setting module 100 may determine or set the ranking of the consumer in the order of the amount of the cashback accumulated in the consumer account.\",\n \"The cashback accumulated in the consumer account may comprise the amount of the cashback which is generated by activities of the consumer, and the amount of the cashback which is generated by activities of other consumers.\",\n \"The activities of the consumer to generate the cashback include making payments such as purchasing of a product.\",\n \"The cashback accumulated in the consumer account may further comprise the amount of the money deposited by the consumer.\",\n \"Thus, the consumer can add his or her money to the accumulated cashback by making deposits, for example, using credit cards, bank transfer, gift cards, points, coupons, etc.\",\n \"The money deposited in this way may be added to the cashback which have been earned from the activities by the consumer and managed as the accumulated cashback in the account of the consumer.\",\n \"Therefore, the consumer who wants to increase the ranking quickly can increase the ranking by depositing the money in the consumer account and increasing the amount of the accumulated cashback by the deposited money.\",\n \"In some implementations, the ranking of the consumer may be determined or set based on both the cashback accumulated in the consumer account and the activities of the consumer.\",\n \"For example, the ranking setting module 100 determines or sets the ranking in the order of the sum of the cashback accumulated in the consumer account and the purchase money paid from the consumer account.\",\n \"In this case, the degree of contribution of the consumer to the purchase money by activities, for example, purchases, can be reflected in the ranking.\",\n \"The degree of contribution may be different in various products depending on the types of the products.\",\n \"For example, there may be a product with a relatively small accumulation amount relative to the price of the product and there may be another product with a relatively big accumulation amount relative to the price of the product.\",\n \"The disclosed technology can provide the cashback money management system to minimize or avoid the feeling that the consumer is disadvantaged through the purchase of a product, and allow the consumer to be ranked more fairly.\",\n \"In some implementations, the purchase money may comprise a purchase amount generated by activities of the consumer and a prepayment amount.\",\n \"The consumer may make a payment in advance for the amount to be used without purchasing the product, and by including this prepayment amount in the purchase money, the actual amount spent by the consumer can be accurately reflected in the ranking.\",\n \"Furthermore, the purchase money may be considered only for a predetermined period of time, such as 6 months, 1 year, 3 years, etc., which can lead the consumer to continue to create activities by, for example, spending money and provide a way for new consumers to be placed at a high ranking.\",\n \"The ranking setting module 100 may adjust the ranking in real time according to the amount of the accumulated cashback which are changed according to the cashback accumulation of the accumulation module 200, which will be described in detail below.\",\n \"The amount of the accumulated cashback of each consumer may be changed according to the accumulation result of the accumulation module 200, and the ranking setting module 100 may reflect the change in the amount of the accumulated cashback in the ranking in real time.\",\n \"The accumulation module 200 may accumulate a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by activities of the consumer to a higher ranked consumer.\",\n \"When the cashback is generated by activities of the consumer having a specific ranking set by the ranking setting module 100, a part of the generated cashback may be accumulated as well in the account of a consumer having a ranking higher than the specific ranking.\",\n \"Therefore, the consumer with a higher ranking can automatically increase the accumulated cashback due to the activities of others, even if he/she is not involved with any activities.\",\n \"In some implementations, the accumulation module 200 may accumulate a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by activities of a Nth ranked consumer in the accounts of consumers who have ranked the first to (N-1)th.\",\n \"In accumulating a predetermined ratio of the cashback generated by a Nth ranked consumer, the accumulation module 200 may be structured to provide the cashback to all of the consumers who have ranked the first to (N-1)th.\",\n \"In some implementations, the accumulation module 200 may be structured to provide the cashback to only a part of the consumers among those who have ranked the first to (N-1)th.\",\n \"Thus, the accumulation module 200 may first select all or a part of the consumers who have ranked the first to (N-1)th.\",\n \"In some implementations, the accumulation module 200 may accumulate, in the accounts of the selected consumers among those in the first to (N-1)th places, different amounts of the generated cashback.\",\n \"For example, the accumulation module 200 may accumulate the predetermined ratio of the generated cashback in the first ranked consumer.\",\n \"Then, the accumulation module 200 may accumulate the predetermined ratio of the remaining cashback which remains after the accumulation for the first ranked consumer in the account of the second ranked consumer.\",\n \"The accumulation module 200 may repeat the accumulation in this manner for the remaining selected consumers.\",\n \"After making accumulations in the accounts of the selected consumers among those in the first to (N-1)th places, the accumulation module 200 may accumulate the remaining cashback in the account of the Nth ranked consumer.\",\n \"For example, if cashback is generated by activities of the 10th ranked consumer, a predetermined ratio of the cashback is sequentially provided to the first ranked consumer to the 9th ranked consumer, and the remaining cashback is accumulated in the 10th ranked consumer.\",\n \"Among the higher ranked consumers, the cashback provided to the first consumer is the greatest, the amount of the provided cashback is gradually reduced, and the cashback provided to the 9th ranked consumer is the smallest.\",\n \"The cashback generated from the activities of the 10th ranked consumer is not provided to the 11th ranked consumer and the consumers having rankings lower than the 11th.\",\n \"The ranking setting module 100 may adjust the ranking in real time by reflecting the accumulation result of the accumulation module 200 as described above.\",\n \"Therefore, the ranking may be changed each time at the generation and accumulation of the cashback.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"2 to 5 are exemplary views showing examples of cashback accumulations and ranking changes in the cashback management system 10 allowing extra accumulation of cashback according to the accumulated cashback ranking.\",\n \"Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"2 to 5, a description of a ranking setting process and a cashback accumulation process of the cashback management system 10 will be given in detail.\",\n \"First, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, if the purchase money and the accumulated cashback of the consumers A, B, and C are all 0 (zero), the rankings of the consumers A, B, and C are the same.\",\n \"In this situation, if the consumer A purchases a product which is priced with a price of 8,000 Korean won (KRW) and is listed as providing a cashback of 3,000 Korean won in response to the purchase, the cashback of 3,000 Korean won are all accumulated in the consumer A since there is no higher ranked consumer than the consumer A.\",\n \"After the accumulation result is reflected, the ranking setting module 100 sets the consumer A (accumulated cashback of 3,000 Korean won) as the first place and the consumers B and C (accumulated cashback of 0 Korean won) as the second place, and adjusts the ranking as shown in FIG.\",\n \"3.If the second ranked consumer B purchases a product with a price of 20,000 Korean won and the purchase of the product provides a cashback of 8,000 Korean won, a part of the cashback of 8,000 Korean won is accumulated to the higher ranked consumer A than the consumer B as well as the second ranked consumer B.\",\n \"For example, if the predetermined ratio is 10%, the amount of 800 Korean won, which is 10% of the cashback of 8,000 Korean won, is added to the account of the higher ranked consumer A than the consumer B, and the amount of the accumulated cashback of the consumer A becomes 3,800 Korean won, and the remaining cashback of 7,200 Korean won is accumulated to the account of the consumer B.\",\n \"As a result, since the amount of the accumulated cashback of the consumer B becomes greater than that of the consumer A, the ranking setting module 100 sets the ranking of the consumer B (accumulated cashback of 7,200 Korean won) as the first, the ranking of the consumer A (accumulated cashback of 3,800 Korean won) as the second, and the ranking of the consumer C (accumulated cashback of 0 Korean won) as the third.\",\n \"If the third ranked consumer C purchases a product with a price of 10,000 Korean won and the purchase provides a cashback of 5,000 Korean won, the amount of 500 Korean won, which is 10% of the cashback of 5,000 Korean won, is first added to the account of the first ranked consumer B between the higher ranked consumers A and B than the consumer C, and the amount of the accumulated cashback of the consumer B becomes 7,700 Korean won.\",\n \"The amount of 450 Korean won, which is 10% of the remaining cashback of 4,500 Korean won, is added to the account of the second ranked consumer A, and the amount of the accumulated cashback of the consumer A becomes 4,250 Korean won.\",\n \"After the cashback accumulation for the consumers A and B, the remaining cashback of 4,050 Korean won is accumulated to the account of the consumer C. If the ranking setting module 100 determines the ranking based on the amount of the accumulated cashback only, the consumer B will be ranked first, the consumer A will be ranked second, and the consumer C will be ranked third, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"5.If the ranking setting module 100 determines the ranking based on the sum of the purchase money and the accumulated cashback, the consumer B will be ranked first, the consumer C will be ranked second, and the consumer A will be ranked third.\",\n \"In the latter case, the activity by the consumer C can change the rankings of the consumers A and C. If the consumer uses the accumulated cashback, the accumulation module 200 deducts the used cashback from the consumer account.\",\n \"Thus, the accumulated cashback can be used as cash when purchasing a product.\",\n \"If the consumer makes a settlement using the accumulated cashback, the accumulation module 200 deducts the accumulated cashback as much as the used amount.\",\n \"Since the amount of the accumulated cashback of the consumer is reduced, the ranking setting module 100 adjusts the ranking in real time reflecting the subtracted accumulated cashback.\",\n \"While this patent document contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any invention or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments of particular inventions.\",\n \"Certain features that are described in this patent document in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment.\",\n \"Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.\",\n \"Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.\",\n \"Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve described results.\",\n \"Moreover, the separation of various system components in the embodiments described in this patent document should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments.\",\n \"Only a few implementations and examples are described.\",\n \"Other implementations, enhancements and variations can be made based on what is described and illustrated in this patent document.\",\n \"From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, but that various modifications may be made without deviating from the scope of the invention.\",\n \"Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876089"}}},{"rowIdx":4495077,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DISPLAYING VEHICLE INFORMATION FOR ON-DEMAND SERVICES","The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for displaying vehicle information for an on-demand service.","The method may include sending a request for on-demand service to a server.","The method may further include obtaining information of a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service.","The information of the vehicle may include color information of the vehicle.","The method may further include generating, by a processor, a user interface based on the information of the vehicle.","The user interface may include at least one user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle."],["1.A system, comprising: a bus; at least one storage medium electronically connected to the bus, including a set of instructions for displaying vehicle information for an on-demand service; and logic circuits configured to communicate with the at least one storage media via the bus, wherein when executing the set of instructions, the logic circuits are directed to: send, to a server, electronic signals including a request for on-demand service; obtain electronic signals including information of a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service, the information of the vehicle comprising color information of the vehicle; and generate a user interface based on the information of the vehicle, wherein the user interface comprises at least one user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle.","2.The system of claim 1, further comprising a display configured to present the user interface.","3.The system of claim 2, wherein the display is further to: display text information of the vehicle based on the color information of the vehicle, wherein the information of the vehicle further comprises the text information of the vehicle.","4.The system of claim 2, wherein the display is further to: display logo information of the vehicle in the user interface based on the color information of the vehicle, wherein the information of the vehicle further comprises the logo information of the vehicle.","5.The system of claim 1, wherein to obtain the color information of the vehicle, the logic circuits are further directed to: obtain electronic signals including descriptive information corresponding to a color of the vehicle; and determine the color information of the vehicle based on the descriptive information.","6.The system of claim 1, wherein to obtain the electronic signals including color information of the vehicle, the logic circuits are further directed to: obtain electronic signals including image data of the vehicle; and determine the color information of the vehicle based on the image data.","7.A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium including instructions that, when accessed by logic circuits of an online on-demand service platform from a requester terminal, causes the logic circuits to: receive electronic signals including a request for on-demand service; determine a vehicle in response to the request for on-demand service; obtain electronic signals including information related to the vehicle, the information comprising color information of the vehicle; provide, to at least one requester terminal, electronic signals including the information related to the vehicle for presentation in at least one user interface; and instruct the requester terminal to display at least one user interface element in the user interface based on the color information of the vehicle.","8.The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein to obtain the color information of the vehicle, the logic circuits are further to: obtain electronic signals including descriptive information corresponding to a color of the vehicle; and determine the color information of the vehicle based on the descriptive information.","9.The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein to obtain the electronic signals including descriptive information corresponding to the color of the vehicle, the logic circuits are further to: parse the descriptive information corresponding to the color of the vehicle.","10.The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein to obtain the electronic signals including color information of the vehicle, the logic circuits are further to: obtain electronic signals including image data of the vehicle; and determine the color information of the vehicle based on the image data.","11.A method configured to display vehicle information for an on-demand service, comprising: sending, to a server, electronic signals including a request for on-demand service; obtaining electronic signals including information of a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service, the information of the vehicle comprising color information of the vehicle; generating, by a processor, a user interface based on the information of the vehicle, wherein the user interface comprises at least one user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle; and displaying the user interface.","12.The method of claim 11, further comprising: displaying text information of the vehicle in the user interface based on the color information of the vehicle, wherein the information of the vehicle further comprises the text information of the vehicle.","13.The method of claim 11, further comprising: displaying logo information of the vehicle in the user interface based on the color information of the vehicle, wherein the information of the vehicle further comprises the logo information of the vehicle.","14.The method of claim 11, wherein obtaining the electronic signals including color information of the vehicle comprises: obtaining electronic signals including descriptive information corresponding to a color of the vehicle; and determining the color information of the vehicle based on the descriptive information.","15.The method of claim 14, wherein obtaining the electronic signals including descriptive information corresponding to the color of the vehicle comprises: parsing the descriptive information corresponding to the color of the vehicle.","16.The method of claim 11, wherein obtaining the electronic signals including color information of the vehicle comprises: obtaining image data of the vehicle; and determining the color information of the vehicle based on the image data.","17-20.","(canceled) 21.The system of claim 5, wherein to determine the color information of the vehicle based on the descriptive information, the logic circuits are further directed to: parse the descriptive information corresponding to the color of the vehicle.","22.The system of claim 7, wherein the logic circuits are further to: instruct the requester terminal to display text information of the vehicle based on the color information of the vehicle, wherein the information of the vehicle further comprises the text information of the vehicle.","23.The system of claim 7, wherein the logic circuits are further to: instruct the requester terminal to display logo information of the vehicle in the user interface based on the color information of the vehicle, wherein the information of the vehicle further comprises the logo information of the vehicle.","24.The method of claim 1, wherein the user interface element is a vehicle-shaped icon."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>On-demand services, such as online ridesharing services and delivery services, have become increasingly popular because of their convenience.","A service platform that provides such services may need to process a high volume of complex data and conduct a massive amount of computation to automatically process and fulfill user requests.","To provide scalable and real-time services to millions of users, such a service platform may need to perform the processing and computation using pattern recognition techniques, machine learning techniques, data mining techniques, predictive analytics, user behavior analytics, cloud computing techniques, and other computational techniques."],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a system is provided.","The system may include at least one storage medium and at least one processor configured to communicate with the at least one storage medium.","The at least one storage medium may include a set of instructions for displaying vehicle information for an on-demand service.","When the at least one processor executing the set of instructions, the at least one processor may be directed to perform one or more of the following operations.","The at least one processor may send a request for on-demand service to a server.","The at least one processor may obtain information of a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service.","The information of the vehicle may include color information of the vehicle.","The at least one processor may generate a user interface based on the information of the vehicle.","The user interface may include at least one user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle.","In some embodiments, the system may further include a display configured to present the user interface.","In some embodiments, the information of the vehicle may further include text information and/or logo information of the vehicle.","The display may further display text information and/or logo information of the vehicle based on the color information of the vehicle.","In some embodiments, the at least one processor may be further directed to obtain descriptive information corresponding to a color of the vehicle, and to determine the color information of the vehicle based on the descriptive information.","In some embodiments, the at least one processor may be further directed to obtain image data of the vehicle, and to determine the color information of the vehicle based on the image data.","According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium may include instructions.","When the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium accessed by at least one processor of an online on-demand service platform from a requester terminal, the instructions may cause the at least one processor to perform one or more of the following operations.","The instructions may cause the at least one processor to receive a request for on-demand service.","The instructions may cause the at least one processor to determine a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service.","The instructions may cause the at least one processor to obtain information related to the vehicle.","The information may include color information of the vehicle.","The instructions may cause the at least one processor to provide the color information related to the vehicle for presentation in at least one user interface to at least one requester terminal.","The instructions may cause the at least one processor to instruct the requester terminal to display at least one user interface element in the user interface based on the color information of the vehicle.","According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided.","The method may include one or more of the following operations.","A request for on-demand service may be sent to a server.","Information of a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service may be obtained.","The information of the vehicle may include color information of the vehicle.","A user interface may be generated based on the information of the vehicle by a processor.","The user interface may include at least one user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle.","The user interface may be displayed.","According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided.","The method may include one or more of the following operations.","A vehicle related to a request for on-demand service may be determined.","Information related to the vehicle may be obtained.","The information may include color information of the vehicle.","The color information related to the vehicle may be provided to a requester terminal for presentation in a user interface.","The requester terminal may be instructed to display at least one user interface element in the user interface based on the color information of the vehicle.","Additional features will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following and the accompanying drawings or may be learned by production or operation of the examples.","The features of the present disclosure may be realized and attained by practice or use of various aspects of the methodologies, instrumentalities and combinations set forth in the detailed examples discussed below."],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a Continuation of International Application No.","PCT/CN/2017/082511, filed on Apr.","28, 2017, which claims priority of Chinese Patent Application No.201611193696.X, filed on Dec. 21, 2016, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.","TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure generally relates to online on-demand services and platforms, and in particular, to systems and methods for providing and displaying vehicle information for online on-demand services and platforms based on color information of vehicles.","BACKGROUND On-demand services, such as online ridesharing services and delivery services, have become increasingly popular because of their convenience.","A service platform that provides such services may need to process a high volume of complex data and conduct a massive amount of computation to automatically process and fulfill user requests.","To provide scalable and real-time services to millions of users, such a service platform may need to perform the processing and computation using pattern recognition techniques, machine learning techniques, data mining techniques, predictive analytics, user behavior analytics, cloud computing techniques, and other computational techniques.","SUMMARY According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a system is provided.","The system may include at least one storage medium and at least one processor configured to communicate with the at least one storage medium.","The at least one storage medium may include a set of instructions for displaying vehicle information for an on-demand service.","When the at least one processor executing the set of instructions, the at least one processor may be directed to perform one or more of the following operations.","The at least one processor may send a request for on-demand service to a server.","The at least one processor may obtain information of a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service.","The information of the vehicle may include color information of the vehicle.","The at least one processor may generate a user interface based on the information of the vehicle.","The user interface may include at least one user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle.","In some embodiments, the system may further include a display configured to present the user interface.","In some embodiments, the information of the vehicle may further include text information and/or logo information of the vehicle.","The display may further display text information and/or logo information of the vehicle based on the color information of the vehicle.","In some embodiments, the at least one processor may be further directed to obtain descriptive information corresponding to a color of the vehicle, and to determine the color information of the vehicle based on the descriptive information.","In some embodiments, the at least one processor may be further directed to obtain image data of the vehicle, and to determine the color information of the vehicle based on the image data.","According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium may include instructions.","When the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium accessed by at least one processor of an online on-demand service platform from a requester terminal, the instructions may cause the at least one processor to perform one or more of the following operations.","The instructions may cause the at least one processor to receive a request for on-demand service.","The instructions may cause the at least one processor to determine a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service.","The instructions may cause the at least one processor to obtain information related to the vehicle.","The information may include color information of the vehicle.","The instructions may cause the at least one processor to provide the color information related to the vehicle for presentation in at least one user interface to at least one requester terminal.","The instructions may cause the at least one processor to instruct the requester terminal to display at least one user interface element in the user interface based on the color information of the vehicle.","According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided.","The method may include one or more of the following operations.","A request for on-demand service may be sent to a server.","Information of a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service may be obtained.","The information of the vehicle may include color information of the vehicle.","A user interface may be generated based on the information of the vehicle by a processor.","The user interface may include at least one user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle.","The user interface may be displayed.","According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided.","The method may include one or more of the following operations.","A vehicle related to a request for on-demand service may be determined.","Information related to the vehicle may be obtained.","The information may include color information of the vehicle.","The color information related to the vehicle may be provided to a requester terminal for presentation in a user interface.","The requester terminal may be instructed to display at least one user interface element in the user interface based on the color information of the vehicle.","Additional features will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following and the accompanying drawings or may be learned by production or operation of the examples.","The features of the present disclosure may be realized and attained by practice or use of various aspects of the methodologies, instrumentalities and combinations set forth in the detailed examples discussed below.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present disclosure is further described in terms of exemplary embodiments.","These exemplary embodiments are described in detail with reference to the drawings.","These embodiments are non-limiting exemplary embodiments, in which like reference numerals represent similar structures throughout the several views of the drawings, and wherein: FIG.","1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary online on-demand service system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG.","2A is a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary hardware and/or software components of an exemplary computing device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG.","2B is a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary hardware and/or software components of an exemplary mobile device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG.","3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary requester terminal according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG.","4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary server according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG.","5 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting information about a vehicle for an on-demand service according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG.","6 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting information about a vehicle for on-demand service according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG.","7 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting information about a vehicle for on-demand service according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG.","8 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting information about a vehicle for on-demand service according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG.","9 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting vehicle information for an on-demand service according to one embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG.","10 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting vehicle information for an on-demand service according to another embodiment of the present disclosure; and FIG.","11 illustrates an exemplary user interface for presenting vehicle information relating to an online on-demand service system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the present disclosure, and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements.","Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.","Thus, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the claims.","The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting.","As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.","It will be further understood that the terms “comprise,” “comprises,” and/or “comprising,” “include,” “includes,” and/or “including,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, operations, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, operations, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.","These and other features, and characteristics of the present disclosure, as well as the methods of operation and functions of the related elements of structure and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, may become more apparent upon consideration of the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this disclosure.","It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.","It is understood that the drawings are not to scale.","The flowcharts used in the present disclosure illustrate operations that systems implement according to some embodiments in the present disclosure.","It is to be expressly understood, the operations of the flowchart may be implemented not in order.","Conversely, the operations may be implemented in inverted order, or simultaneously.","Moreover, one or more other operations may be added to the flowcharts.","One or more operations may be removed from the flowcharts.","Moreover, while the system and method in the present disclosure is described primarily in regard to allocate a set of sharable orders, it should also be understood that this is only one exemplary embodiment.","The system or method of the present disclosure may be applied to any other kind of on-demand service.","For example, the system or method of the present disclosure may be applied to transportation systems of different environments including land, ocean, aerospace, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The vehicle of the transportation systems may include a taxi, a private car, a hitch, a bus, a train, a bullet train, a high speed rail, a subway, a vessel, an aircraft, a spaceship, a hot-air balloon, a driverless vehicle, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The transportation system may also include any transportation system for management and/or distribution, for example, a system for sending and/or receiving an express.","The application of the system or method of the present disclosure may include a webpage, a plug-in of a browser, a client terminal, a custom system, an internal analysis system, an artificial intelligence robot, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The term “passenger,” “requester,” “requestor,” “service requester,” “service requestor” and “customer” in the present disclosure are used interchangeably to refer to an individual, an entity or a tool that may request or order a service.","Also, the term “driver,” “provider,” “service provider,” and “supplier” in the present disclosure are used interchangeably to refer to an individual, an entity or a tool that may provide a service or facilitate the providing of the service.","The term “user” in the present disclosure may refer to an individual, an entity or a tool that may request a service, order a service, provide a service, or facilitate the providing of the service.","For example, the user may be a passenger, a driver, an operator, or the like, or any combination thereof.","In the present disclosure, “passenger” and “passenger terminal” may be used interchangeably, and “driver” and “driver terminal” may be used interchangeably.","The term “request,” “service,” “service request,” and “order” in the present disclosure are used interchangeably to refer to a request that may be initiated by a passenger, a requester, a service requester, a customer, a driver, a provider, a service provider, a supplier, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The service request may be accepted by any one of a passenger, a requester, a service requester, a customer, a driver, a provider, a service provider, or a supplier.","The service request may be chargeable or free.","The positioning technology used in the present disclosure may be based on a global positioning system (GPS), a global navigation satellite system (GLONASS), a compass navigation system (COMPASS), a Galileo positioning system, a quasi-zenith satellite system (QZSS), a wireless fidelity (WiFi) positioning technology, or the like, or any combination thereof.","One or more of the above positioning systems may be used interchangeably in the present disclosure.","Conventionally, a service requester of an on-demand service (e.g., a rider of a ridesharing service) may have to recognize a service provider (e.g., a driver that that accepts a ride request) based on certain information related to the service provider, such as a picture of the service provider, a license plate number of a vehicle of the service provider, etc.","Such information is not visualized.","As a result, it would be time-consuming for the service requester to identify the service provider based on such information.","Thus, it may be desirable to provide mechanisms that enable the service requester to recognize the service provider in a more prompt and efficient manner.","Aspects of the present disclosure address the above-mentioned deficiencies by providing for mechanisms (e.g., systems, methods, and media) for displaying vehicle information for on-demand services.","Upon receiving a request for a service initiated by a service requester, the mechanisms can generate color information of a vehicle to be used to provide the service (e.g., a ride, delivery).","The mechanisms can then cause the color information to be presented on a user terminal (e.g., a mobile phone) associated with the service requester.","For example, the mechanisms can generate one or more user interfaces including one or more user interface elements showing a color of the vehicle.","More particularly, for example, an icon or any other visual representation of the vehicle can be displayed in the color of the vehicle.","Additionally or alternatively, text information related to the vehicle (e.g., a description of the vehicle) can be presented in the color of the vehicle.","As such, visualized information of the vehicle is presented to enable the service requester to better identify the vehicle.","It should be noted that on-demand service, such as online taxi hailing including taxi transportation services, is a new form of service rooted only in post-Internet era.","It provides technical solutions to users and service providers that could raise only in post-Internet era.","In pre-Internet era, for example, when a user hails a taxi on street, the taxi request and acceptance occur only between the passenger and one taxi driver that sees the passenger.","If the passenger hails a taxi through telephone call, the service request and acceptance may occur only between the passenger and one service provider (e.g., one taxi company or agent).","Online taxi, however, allows a user of the service to real-time and automatic distribute a service request to a vast number of individual service providers (e.g., taxi) distance away from the user.","It also allows a plurality of service providers to respond to the service request simultaneously and in real-time.","Therefore, through Internet, the online on-demand systems may provide a much more efficient transaction platform for the users and the service providers that may never met in a traditional pre-Internet transportation service system.","FIG.","1 is a block diagram of an exemplary online on-demand service system 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.","For example, the online on-demand service system 100 may be an online on-demand service platform for on-demand services such as taxi hailing service, goods delivery service, chauffeur service, express car service, carpool service, bus service, short-term driver-renting service, and shuttle service.","The online on-demand service system 100 may be an online platform including a server 110, a network 120, a requester terminal 130, a provider terminal 140, and a data storage 150.The server 110 may include a processing engine 112.The server 110 may be a single server, or a server group.","The server group may be centralized, or distributed (e.g., the server 110 may be a distributed system).","In some embodiments, the server 110 may be local or remote.","For example, the server 110 may access information and/or data stored in the requester terminal 130, the provider terminal 140, and/or the data storage 150 via the network 120.As another example, the server 110 may be directly connected to the requester terminal 130, the provider terminal 140, and/or the data storage 150 to access stored information and/or data.","In some embodiments, the server 110 may be implemented on a cloud platform.","Merely by way of example, the cloud platform may include a private cloud, a public cloud, a hybrid cloud, a community cloud, a distributed cloud, an inter-cloud, a multi-cloud, or the like, or any combination thereof.","In some embodiments, the server 110 may include a processing engine 112.The processing engine 112 may process information and/or data related to the service request to perform one or more functions described in the present disclosure.","In some embodiments, the processing engine 112 may include one or more processing engines (e.g., single-core processing engine(s) or multi-core processor(s)).","Merely by way of example, the processing engine 112 may include a central processing unit (CPU), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an application-specific instruction-set processor (ASIP), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a physics processing unit (PPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a controller, a microcontroller unit, a reduced instruction-set computer (RISC), a microprocessor, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The network 120 may facilitate exchange of information and/or data.","In some embodiments, one or more components in the online on-demand service system 100 (e.g., the server 110, the requester terminal 130, the provider terminal 140, and the data storage 150) may send information and/or data to other component(s) in the online on-demand service system 100 via the network 120.For example, the server 110 may obtain/acquire service request from the requester terminal 130 via the network 120.In some embodiments, the network 120 may be any type of wired or wireless network, or combination thereof.","Merely by way of example, the network 130 may include a cable network, a wireline network, an optical fiber network, a tele communications network, an intranet, an Internet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), a public telephone switched network (PSTN), a Bluetooth network, a ZigBee network, a near field communication (NFC) network, or the like, or any combination thereof.","In some embodiments, the network 120 may include one or more network access points.","For example, the network 120 may include wired or wireless network access points such as base stations and/or internet exchange points 120-1, 120-2, .",".",".",", through which one or more components of the online on-demand service system 100 may be connected to the network 120 to exchange data and/or information.","In some embodiments, a requester may be a user of the requester terminal 130.In some embodiments, the user of the requester terminal 130 may be someone other than the requester.","For example, a user A of the requester terminal 130 may use the requester terminal 130 to send a service request for a user B, or receive service and/or information or instructions from the server 110.In some embodiments, a provider may be a user of the provider terminal 140.In some embodiments, the user of the provider terminal 140 may be someone other than the provider.","For example, a user C of the provider terminal 140 may user the provider terminal 140 to receive a service request for a user D, and/or information or instructions from the server 110.In some embodiments, “requester” and “requester terminal” may be used interchangeably, and “provider” and “provider terminal” may be used interchangeably.","In some embodiments, the requester terminal 130 may include a mobile device 130-1, a tablet computer 130-2, a laptop computer 130-3, a built-in device in a motor vehicle 130-4, or the like, or any combination thereof.","In some embodiments, the mobile device 130-1 may include a smart home device, a wearable device, a smart mobile device, a virtual reality device, an augmented reality device, or the like, or any combination thereof.","In some embodiments, the smart home device may include a smart lighting device, a control device of an intelligent electrical apparatus, a smart monitoring device, a smart television, a smart video camera, an interphone, or the like, or any combination thereof.","In some embodiments, the wearable device may include a smart bracelet, a smart footgear, a smart glass, a smart helmet, a smart watch, a smart clothing, a smart backpack, a smart accessory, or the like, or any combination thereof.","In some embodiments, the smart mobile device may include a smartphone, a personal digital assistance (PDA), a gaming device, a navigation device, a point of sale (POS) device, or the like, or any combination thereof.","In some embodiments, the virtual reality device and/or the augmented reality device may include a virtual reality helmet, a virtual reality glass, a virtual reality patch, an augmented reality helmet, an augmented reality glass, an augmented reality patch, or the like, or any combination thereof.","For example, the virtual reality device and/or the augmented reality device may include a Google Glass, an Oculus Rift, a Hololens, a Gear VR, etc.","In some embodiments, built-in device in the motor vehicle 130-4 may include an onboard computer, an onboard television, etc.","In some embodiments, the requester terminal 130 may be a device with positioning technology for locating the position of the requester and/or the requester terminal 130.In some embodiments, the provider terminal 140 may be similar to, or the same device as the requester terminal 130.In some embodiments, the provider terminal 140 may be a device with positioning technology for locating the position of the provider and/or the provider terminal 140.In some embodiments, the requester terminal 130 and/or the provider terminal 140 may communicate with other positioning device to determine the position of the requester, the requester terminal 130, the provider, and/or the provider terminal 140.In some embodiments, the requester terminal 130 and/or the provider terminal 140 may send positioning information to the server 110.The data storage 150 may store data and/or instructions.","In some embodiments, the data storage 150 may store data obtained from the requester terminal 130 and/or the provider terminal 140.In some embodiments, the data storage 150 may store data and/or instructions that the server 110 may execute or use to perform exemplary methods described in the present disclosure.","In some embodiments, data storage 150 may include a mass storage, a removable storage, a volatile read-and-write memory, a read-only memory (ROM), or the like, or any combination thereof.","Exemplary mass storage may include a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a solid-state drives, etc.","Exemplary removable storage may include a flash drive, a floppy disk, an optical disk, a memory card, a zip disk, a magnetic tape, etc.","Exemplary volatile read-and-write memory may include a random access memory (RAM).","Exemplary RAM may include a dynamic RAM (DRAM), a double date rate synchronous dynamic RAM (DDR SDRAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a thyristor RAM (T-RAM), and a zero-capacitor RAM (Z-RAM), etc.","Exemplary ROM may include a mask ROM (MROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a compact disk ROM (CD-ROM), and a digital versatile disk ROM, etc.","In some embodiments, the data storage 150 may be implemented on a cloud platform.","Merely by way of example, the cloud platform may include a private cloud, a public cloud, a hybrid cloud, a community cloud, a distributed cloud, an inter-cloud, a multi-cloud, or the like, or any combination thereof.","In some embodiments, the data storage 150 may be connected to the network 120 to communicate with one or more components in the online on-demand service system 100 (e.g., the server 110, the requester terminal 130, the provider terminal 140, etc.).","One or more components in the online on-demand service system 100 may access the data or instructions stored in the data storage 150 via the network 120.In some embodiments, the data storage 150 may be directly connected to or communicate with one or more components in the online on-demand service system 100 (e.g., the server 110, the requester terminal 130, the provider terminal 140, etc.).","In some embodiments, the data storage 150 may be part of the server 110.In some embodiments, one or more components in the online on-demand service system 100 (e.g., the server 110, the requester terminal 130, the provider terminal 140, etc.)","may have a permission to access the data storage 150.In some embodiments, one or more components in the online on-demand service system 100 may read and/or modify information related to the requester, provider, and/or the public when one or more conditions are met.","For example, the server 110 may read and/or modify one or more users' information after a service.","As another example, the provider terminal 140 may access information related to the requester when receiving a service request from the requester terminal 130, but the provider terminal 140 may not modify the relevant information of the requester.","In some embodiments, information exchanging of one or more components in the online on-demand service system 100 may be achieved by way of requesting a service.","The object of the service request may be any product.","In some embodiments, the product may be a tangible product, or an intangible product.","The tangible product may include food, medicine, commodity, chemical product, electrical appliance, clothing, car, housing, luxury, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The intangible product may include a service product, a financial product, a knowledge product, an internet product, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The internet product may include an individual host product, a web product, a mobile internet product, a commercial host product, an embedded product, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The mobile internet product may be implemented as a software of a mobile terminal, a program, a system, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The mobile terminal may include a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistance (PDA), a smart watch, a point of sale (POS) device, an onboard computer, an onboard television, a wearable device, or the like, or any combination thereof.","For example, the product may be any software and/or application used in the computer or mobile phone.","The software and/or application may relate to socializing, shopping, transporting, entertainment, learning, investment, or the like, or any combination thereof.","In some embodiments, the software and/or application related to transporting may include a traveling software and/or application, a vehicle scheduling software and/or application, a mapping software and/or application, etc.","In the vehicle scheduling software and/or application, the vehicle may include a horse, a carriage, a rickshaw (e.g., a wheelbarrow, a bike, a tricycle, etc.","), a car (e.g., a taxi, a bus, a private car, etc.","), a train, a subway, a vessel, an aircraft (e.g., an airplane, a helicopter, a space shuttle, a rocket, a hot-air balloon, etc.","), or the like, or any combination thereof.","FIG.","2A is a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary hardware and/or software components of an exemplary computing device 200A on which the processing engine 112 may be implemented according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.","As illustrated in FIG.","2A, the computing device 200A may include a processor 201, a storage 203, an input/output (I/O) 205, and a communication port 207.The processor 201 may execute computer instructions (e.g., program code) and perform functions of the processing engine 112 in accordance with techniques described herein.","The computer instructions may include, for example, routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, procedures, modules, and functions, which perform particular functions described herein.","For example, the processor 201 may process information of a vehicle obtained from the server 110, the requester terminal 130, the provider terminal 140, the data storage 150, and/or any other component of the online on-demand service system 100.In some embodiments, the processor 201 may include one or more hardware processors, such as a microcontroller, a microprocessor, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC), an application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), an application-specific instruction-set processor (ASIP), a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a physics processing unit (PPU), a microcontroller unit, a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an advanced RISC machine (ARM), a programmable logic device (PLD), any circuit or processor capable of executing one or more functions, or the like, or any combinations thereof.","Merely for illustration, only one processor is described in the computing device 200A.","However, it should be noted that the computing device 200A in the present disclosure may also include multiple processors, thus operations and/or method operations that are performed by one processor as described in the present disclosure may also be jointly or separately performed by the multiple processors.","For example, if in the present disclosure the processor of the computing device 200A executes both operation A and operation B, it should be understood that operation A and operation B may also be performed by two or more different processors jointly or separately in the computing device 200A (e.g., a first processor executes operation A and a second processor executes operation B, or the first and second processors jointly execute operations A and B).","The storage 203 may store data/information obtained from the server 110, the requester terminal 130, the provider terminal 140, the data storage 150, and/or any other component of the online on-demand service system 100.In some embodiments, the storage 203 may include a mass storage, a removable storage, a volatile read-and-write memory, a read-only memory (ROM), or the like, or any combination thereof.","For example, the mass storage may include a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a solid-state drives, etc.","The removable storage may include a flash drive, a floppy disk, an optical disk, a memory card, a zip disk, a magnetic tape, etc.","The volatile read-and-write memory may include a random access memory (RAM).","The RAM may include a dynamic RAM (DRAM), a double date rate synchronous dynamic RAM (DDR SDRAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a thyristor RAM (T-RAM), and a zero-capacitor RAM (Z-RAM), etc.","The ROM may include a mask ROM (MROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a compact disk ROM (CD-ROM), and a digital versatile disk ROM, etc.","In some embodiments, the storage 203 may store one or more programs and/or instructions to perform exemplary methods described in the present disclosure.","For example, the storage 203 may store a program for the processing engine 112 for determining a color of a vehicle based on its image.","The I/O 205 may input and/or output signals, data, information, etc.","In some embodiments, the I/O 205 may enable a user interaction with the processing engine 112.In some embodiments, the I/O 205 may include an input device and an output device.","Examples of the input device may include a keyboard, a mouse, a touch screen, a microphone, or the like, or any combination thereof.","Examples of the output device may include a display device, a loudspeaker, a printer, a projector, or the like, or any combination thereof.","Examples of the display device may include a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light-emitting diode (LED)-based display, a flat panel display, a curved screen, a television device, a cathode ray tube (CRT), a touch screen, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The communication port 207 may be connected to a network (e.g., the network 120) to facilitate data communications.","The communication port 207 may establish connections between the processing engine 112 and the requester terminal 130, the provider terminal 140, and/or the data storage 150.The connection may be a wired connection, a wireless connection, any other communication connection that can enable data transmission and/or reception, and/or any combination of these connections.","The wired connection may include, for example, an electrical cable, an optical cable, a telephone wire, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The wireless connection may include, for example, a Bluetooth™ link, a Wi-Fi™ link, a WiMax™ link, a WLAN link, a ZigBee link, a mobile network link (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G, etc.","), or the like, or any combination thereof.","In some embodiments, the communication port 207 may be and/or include a standardized communication port, such as RS232, RS485, etc.","In some embodiments, the communication port 207 may be a specially designed communication port.","For example, the communication port 207 may be designed in accordance with the digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) protocol.","FIG.","2B is a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary hardware and/or software components of an exemplary mobile device 200B on which the requester terminal 130 may be implemented according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.","As illustrated in FIG.","2B, the mobile device 200B may include a communication platform 209, a display 213, a graphic processing unit (GPU) 215, a central processing unit (CPU) 217, an I/O 219, a memory 221, and a storage 227.In some embodiments, any other suitable component, including but not limited to a system bus or a controller (not shown), may also be included in the mobile device 200B.","In some embodiments, a mobile operating system 223 (e.g., iOS™, Android™, Windows Phone™, etc.)","and one or more applications 225 may be loaded into the memory 221 from the storage 227 in order to be executed by the CPU 217.The applications 225 may include a browser or any other suitable mobile apps for receiving and rendering information related to image processing or other information from the processing engine 112.User interactions with the information stream may be achieved via the I/O 219 and provided to the processing engine 112 and/or other components of the online on-demand service system 100 via the network 120.To implement various modules, units, and their functionalities described in the present disclosure, computer hardware platforms may be used as the hardware platform(s) for one or more of the elements described herein.","A computer with user interface elements may be used to implement a personal computer (PC) or any other type of work station or terminal device.","A computer may also act as a server if appropriately programmed.","FIG.","3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary requester terminal according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.","The requester terminal 130 may include an acquisition module 310, a determination module 320, a display module 330, and a transmitting module 340.Each module may include hardware circuitry that is designed to perform the following actions, a set of instructions stored in one or more storage media, and/or any combination of the hardware circuitry and the one or more storage media.","The acquisition module 310 may acquire request and/or information related to the online on-demand service system 100.The request may be a request of an on-demand service.","For example, the on-demand service may be a transportation service by a taxi, a private vehicle, a bus, a truck, and/or any other vehicle.","As another example, the on-demand service may be a test drive service, a designated driving service, or the like, or any combination thereof.","As still another example, the on-demand service may be an on-line delivery service, such as a meal delivery service booked on-line, a delivery service for on-line shopping, or the like, or any combination thereof.","As yet another example, the on-demand service may be a service of taking an object from one place to another in a vehicle, such as a goods delivery service.","The request of the on-demand service may include a real-time request, an appointment request, or a pending request.","For example, the real-time request may be a request that requires a service provider to immediately process and start the service, and/or a service of which the requester wishes to receive the service at the present moment or at a defined time reasonably close to the present moment for an ordinary person in the art.","For example, a request may be a real-time request if the defined time is shorter than a threshold value, such as 1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes or 20 minutes.","The appointment request may refer to a request that does not require the service provider to immediately start the service and/or the requester wishes and/or expects to receive the service at a defined time which is reasonably long from the present moment for the ordinary person in the art.","For example, a service request may be an appointment request if the defined time is longer than a threshold value, such as 20 minutes, 2 hours, 1 day, etc.","In some embodiments, the requester terminal 130 may define the real-time request or the appointment request based on a time threshold.","The time threshold may be default settings of the online on-demand service system 100, or may be adjustable depending on different situations.","For example, in a traffic peak period, the time threshold may be relatively small (e.g., 10 minutes, meaning that the requested service may be delivered within 10 minutes to qualify as a real-time service), otherwise in idle period (e.g., 10:00-12:00 am), the time threshold may be relatively great (e.g., 1 hour).","The pending request may be an on-going request which is in progress by a service provider at the present moment.","The request for on-demand service may include a start location (e.g., a current location of the service requester, an appointed pick-up location), a destination, a required service time, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The destination may be expressly defined by the requester.","Alternatively, the requester does not have to be associated with a destination.","The information related to the online on-demand service system 100 may include information of a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service.","The vehicle may include a non-motor vehicle (e.g., a bicycle or a tricycle), a motor vehicle (e.g., a car or a truck), a watercraft (e.g., a ship or a boat) and/or an aircraft.","In some embodiments, the vehicle may be self-driven.","The information of the vehicle may include color information, text information, logo information, image data, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The color information may include any information about one or more colors of the vehicle, such as descriptive information of a color of the vehicle, a category of the color, a color code, spectral coordinate information, or the like, or any combination thereof.","Descriptive information corresponding to a color may include one or more numbers, characters, symbols, and/or any other data that can be used to describe the color.","The description information may include any information related to a representation of the color.","For example, the descriptive information of the color can include a description of the color, such as “red,” “green,” or the like.","As another example, the descriptive information of the color can include one or more parameters and/or values that can be used to determine the color.","In a more particular example, the descriptive information can include parsed character data corresponding to the color.","The parsed character data may be in any suitable markup language, including but not limited to Extensible Markup Language (XML), HyperText Markup Language (HTML), and Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML).","In another more particular example, the descriptive information of the color may include color code information, such as a Red-Green-Blue (RGB) code, a Hue-Saturation-Value (HSV) code, an HTML color code, a Hex triplet code, or the like, or any combination thereof.","Each of the color code can include one or more values defining the color and/or one or more components of the color.","For example, an RGB code for “orange” may be (255, 165, 0).","In still another more particular example, the descriptive information of the color can include spectral coordinate information related to the color, such as a wavelength and/or a frequency of the color.","For example, the wavelength of red may vary from 635 nm to 700 nm.","The frequency of red may vary from 480 THz to 430 THz.","In some embodiments, the color information of a color can include a variation of a color (e.g., “red,” “orange,” “grey,” “blue,” “yellow,” “green,” or the like, or any combination thereof).","For example, variations of “orange” may include “orange,” “sun orange,” “honey orange,” “tropical orange,” “tangerine,” or the like, or any combination thereof.","In some embodiments, one or more portions of the color information of the vehicle may be provided by a service provider associated with the vehicle.","For example, the service provider may input the color of the vehicle via the provider terminal 140.In some embodiments, the server and/or the provider terminal 140 can prompt the service provider to provide color information about the vehicle when the service provider registers an account and/or the vehicle via the online on-demand service system 100 (e.g., by presenting one or more user interfaces).","In some embodiments, the color information can be determined by one or more components in the online on-demand service system 100.For example, the color information may be determined by the determination module 320 and/or the determination module 420 based on image data of the vehicle (e.g., one or more images of the vehicle), registration and/or title information of the vehicle, etc.","The text information may include route information, vehicle information, diver information, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The route information may include a start location, a destination, a mileage, a pickup time, an estimated fee, a unit price (e.g., a price per unit distance), a congested portion of the route (e.g., a congested road due to traffic peak), an estimated distance of between the vehicle and the service requester, an estimated arrival time of the vehicle, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The vehicle information may include a license plate number of the vehicle, a color of the vehicle, a brand name of the vehicle, a number of seats in a vehicle, a trunk volume, a load capacity (e.g., a weight of products that the vehicle can carry), or the like, or any combination thereof.","The service provider information may include name information (e.g., a first name, a last name, a nickname, a username), score information (e.g., a score marked by service requesters), contact information (e.g., a cell phone number, an email address), an identity code (ID), a country, a city, a gender, a date of birth, etc.","The logo information may include a brand name and/or model of vehicle, a logo image and/or a logo icon corresponding to the brand of the vehicle, or the like, or any combination thereof.","Exemplary brands of the vehicle may include Benz™, Volkswagen™, Toyota™, Hyundai™, Honda™, Ford™, etc.","The determination module 320 may determine a color of a vehicle related to a request for on-demand service.","For example, the determination module 320 may determine the color based on descriptive information corresponding to a color of the vehicle, an image of the vehicle, or the like, or any combination thereof.","For example, the determination module 320 can determine the color by performing one or more operations described in connection with FIGS.","6 and 7.The display module 330 may present one or more user interfaces related to the online on-demand service system 100.The user interfaces may include, for example, a user interface for requesting services (e.g., scheduling a ride), a user interface for presentation when a user is waiting for a ride, a user interface for presentation during a ride, etc.","Each of the user interface(s) may include one or more user interface elements related to a vehicle corresponding to a request for on-demand service.","Each of the user interface elements may be in any other color or a combination of any number of colors.","Each of the user interface elements may have any regular shape (e.g., circular, triangular, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, etc.)","or any irregular shape (e.g., an element like a vehicle, etc.).","Each of the user interface elements may include a graph, an icon, a text field, a button, a checkbox, an image, or the like, or any combination thereof.","In some embodiments, the user interface element may include an icon of the vehicle, text information of the vehicle, and a logo of the vehicle (e.g., a logo corresponding to a brand and/or model of the vehicle).","In some embodiments, the display module 330 can present a user interface 1100 as illustrated in FIG.","11.The transmitting module 340 may transmit information and/or request to one or more components in the online on-demand service system 100.For example, the transmitting module 340 may transmit a request for on-demand service to the server 110 via the network 120.As another example, the transmitting module 340 may transmit a request to the server 110 to determine color information of a vehicle.","FIG.","4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary server according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.","The server 110 may include an acquisition module 410, a determination module 420, and a transmitting module 430.Each module may include hardware circuitry that is designed to perform the following actions, a set of instructions stored in one or more storage media, and/or any combination of the hardware circuitry and the one or more storage media.","The acquisition module 410 may acquire requests and/or information related to the online on-demand service system 100.The requests may include a request for an on-demand service, a request for obtaining information, a request for processing information, or the like, or any combination thereof.","For example, the acquisition module 410 may receive a request for an on-demand service from a service requester via the requester terminal 130.As another example, the acquisition module 410 may obtain a request from the requester terminal 130 for obtaining information of a vehicle.","As still another example, the acquisition module 410 may obtain a request from the requester terminal 130 for determining a color of a vehicle.","The request and/or information related to the online on-demand service system 100 may be similar with those described in FIG.","3 and is not repeated.","The determination module 420 may determine a vehicle related to a request for on-demand service, a color of a vehicle, or the like.","The vehicle related to the request for on-demand service may be determined based on distances between available vehicles and the service requester, required time for available vehicles to pick up the service requester, score information of the service providers of the available vehicles, user preference information of the service requester, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The color of the vehicle may be determined based on descriptive information corresponding to a color of the vehicle, an image of the vehicle, or the like, or any combination thereof.","For example, the determination module 420 can determine the color by performing one or more operations described in connection with FIGS.","9, and/or 10.The transmitting module 430 may transmit information and/or request to other components in the online on-demand service system 100.For example, the transmitting module 430 may transmit color information of a vehicle to the requester terminal 130 via the network 120.As another example, the transmitting module 430 may transmit an instruction to the requester terminal 130 for displaying a user interface element in a user interface based on the color information of a vehicle.","In some embodiments, at least two components in the requester terminal 130 and server 110 may be connected to or communicate with each other and/or other components in the online on-demand service system 100 via a wired connection or a wireless connection.","The wired connection may include a metal cable, an optical cable, a hybrid cable, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The wireless connection may include a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Bluetooth, a ZigBee, a Near Field Communication (NFC), or the like, or any combination thereof.","Any two of the modules may be combined as a single module, any one of the modules may be divided into two or more units.","In some embodiments, the requester terminal 130 and/or the server 110 may include the computing device 200A as illustrated in FIG.","2A where one or more of the components may be implemented.","Merely by way of example, the acquisition module 310 and the display module 330 may be implemented on the computing device 200A that is part of the requester terminal 130, and the determination module 320 is implemented in the requester terminal 130 but not as part of computing device 200A.","It should be noted that the above descriptions of the requester terminal 130 and/or the server 110 are provided for the purposes of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.","For persons having ordinary skills in the art, various modifications and changes in the forms and details of the application of the above method and system may occur without departing from the principles in the present disclosure.","For example, the requester terminal 130 or the server 110 may include one or more other modules (e.g., a storage module to store data generated by the above modules).","As another example, one module may perform the functions of two or more modules described above.","In some embodiments, the acquisition module 310 and the transmitting module 340 may form a module to input and/or output information and request related to the online on-demand service system 100.However, those variations and modifications also fall within the scope of the present disclosure.","FIG.","5 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting information about a vehicle for an on-demand service according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.","In some embodiments, the process 500 may be executed by the online on-demand service system 100.For example, the process 500 may be implemented as a set of instructions (e.g., an application) stored in data storage 150, and/or storage 227.The requester terminal 130 and/or the CPU 217 may execute the set of instructions and may accordingly be directed to perform the process 500.The CPU 217 may be a processor of a computer server supporting an online on-demand service platform.","The platform may be an Internet-based platform that connects on-demand service providers and requesters through Internet.","In some embodiments, at least part of the process 500 may be performed by the computing device 200A shown in FIG.","2A.","In 502, a request for on-demand service may be obtained.","The on-demand service may be a delivery service, a taxi transportation service, a test drive service, a designated driving service, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The request of the on-demand service may include a real-time request, an appointment request, or a pending request, or the like.","For example, a real-time request for a transportation service may be obtained in 502.For example, the request for on-demand service may include any request as described in connection with FIG.","3.In some embodiments, 502 may be performed by the acquisition module 310.In 504, the request for on-demand service may be sent to a server.","In some embodiments, the request for on-demand service may be sent to the server 110 by the transmitting module 340 via the network 120.In 506, information of a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service may be obtained.","In some embodiments, a service provider may accept the request for on-demand service via a provider terminal (e.g., the provider terminal 140-1, etc.).","The provider terminal can send one or more messages indicative of acceptance of the request by the service provider.","In some embodiments, the server 110 may allocate the request to a provider terminal (e.g., the provider terminal 140-2, etc.).","The information of the vehicle corresponding to the provider terminal may then be sent to the requester terminal 130 via the network 120.In some embodiments, the information may be obtained by the acquisition module 310 from the data storage 150 or the server 110.The information of the vehicle related to the request for on-demand service may include color information, text information, logo information, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The color information may include descriptive information corresponding to a color of the vehicle, a category of the color, a color code, spectral coordinate information, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The text information may include basic route information, vehicle information, driver information, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The logo information may include a logo image and/or a logo icon corresponding to the brand of the vehicle.","For example, the information of the vehicle may include any information as be described in connection with FIG.","3.In some embodiments, 506 may be performed by the acquisition module 310.In 508, the requester terminal 130 may generate a user interface based on the information of the vehicle.","In some embodiments, the user interface can be generated by performing one or more operations described in connection with FIGS.","6 and 7.The user interface may include a user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle.","The user interface element corresponding to the color information may have a color that is the same as or similar to the color of the vehicle.","In some embodiments, a first color may be regarded as being a similar color of a second color when the first color and the second color belong to the same color category.","For example, “honey orange” and “sun orange” may be similar colors because they are variations of orange.","In some embodiments, the first color may be regarded as being a similar color of the second color when a similarity between the first color and the second color satisfies a particular criterion or criteria.","For example, the criterion may include that the similarity is greater than a threshold.","The similarity between the first color and the second color may be determined based on an RGB Euclidean Distance, an RGB vector angle, an HSV Euclidean Distance, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The user interface element corresponding to the color information may have any size, shape, and/or form.","The user interface element corresponding to the color information may include an icon, a graph, text information, or the like, or any combination thereof.","For example, the user interface elements may include any user interface element as described in connection with FIG.","3.In some embodiments, user interface element corresponding to the color information may include but is not limited to a vehicle-shaped icon, text information of the vehicle, and a logo of the vehicle.","The vehicle-shaped icon may have a similar shape with a vehicle.","Exemplary vehicle may include but is not limited to a horse, a carriage, a rickshaw (e.g., a wheelbarrow, a bike, or a tricycle), a car (e.g., a taxi, a bus, or a private car), a train, a subway, a vessel, and an aircraft (e.g., an airplane, a helicopter, a space shuttle, a rocket, or a hot-air balloon).","In some embodiments, the shape of the vehicle-shaped icon may be associated with the kind of on-demand service provided in the online on-demand service system 100.For example, as illustrated in FIG.","11, a vehicle-shaped icon 1101 associated with a car transportation service may have a similar shape with a car.","The user interface element of the text information of the vehicle may include text information of the vehicle (e.g., route information, vehicle information, diver information, etc.).","For example, as shown in FIG.","11, text information elements 1103-1 and 1103-2 can include text indicative of a name of the service provider, a score of the service provider, a license plate number of the vehicle, a color of the vehicle, a brand name of the vehicle, a model of the vehicle, an estimated distance between the vehicle and the service requester, an estimated required time for the vehicle to arrive at the start location, etc.","In some embodiments, the text and/or other content in the text information elements 1103-1 and 1103-2 can be presented in a color that is the same as or similar to the color of the vehicle.","The logo of the vehicle may display a logo image or a logo icon of the vehicle.","The logo may correspond to a brand of the vehicle, a model of the vehicle, etc.","As illustrated in FIG.","11, a logo 1105 displays a logo of Benz™ for a Benz™ vehicle.","In some embodiments, the logo 1105 can be presented in a color that is the same as or similar to the color of the vehicle.","In some embodiments, the user interface element corresponding to the color information may have a same or similar color with the vehicle in the whole process of the on-demand service.","For example, the vehicle-shaped icon 1101 illustrated in FIG.","11 may have a same or similar color with the vehicle from the beginning of service (e.g., when the service requester sends a request) to the ending of the service (e.g., when the vehicle arrives at the destination of the service requester).","In some embodiments, the user interface element corresponding to the color information may have a same or similar color with the vehicle in at least part of the process of the on-demand service.","For example, the vehicle-shaped icon 1101 may have a same color or similar color with the vehicle when the vehicle is on the way to pick up the service requester, and change to another color after picking up the service requester.","In 510, the user interface may be displayed.","In some embodiments, 510 may be performed by the display module 330.It should be noted that the above descriptions of the process 500 are provided for the purposes of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.","For persons having ordinary skills in the art, various modifications and changes in the forms and details of the application of the above method and system may occur without departing from the principles in the present disclosure.","In some embodiments, multiple user interface elements may be generated in the user interface in 508.At least one of the multiple user interface elements may correspond to the color information of the vehicle.","For example, all of the multiple user interface elements may have a same or similar color with the vehicle.","Alternatively, some of the multiple user interface element may have a same or similar color with the vehicle while the rest may not.","However, those variations and modifications also fall within the scope of the present disclosure.","FIG.","6 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting information about a vehicle for an on-demand service according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.","In some embodiments, at least part of the process 600 may be performed by one or more components in the requester terminal 130.In 602, descriptive information corresponding to a color of a vehicle related to a request for on-demand service may be obtained.","The descriptive information corresponding to the color of the vehicle may include a description of the color, parsed character data corresponding to the color, color code information, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The descriptive information may be obtained by the acquisition module 310 from the data storage 150 and/or the server 110.For example, the descriptive information can include any descriptive information as described in connection with FIGS.","3 and 5.In 604, the color of the vehicle may be determined based on the descriptive information.","In some embodiments, the description information corresponding to the color may be transformed to parsed character data by a parsing technology.","Exemplary parsing technology may include but is not limited to XML parsing technology, XHTML parsing technology, or HTML parsing technology.","The color of the vehicle may then be determined based on the parsed character data.","In some embodiments, 604 may be performed by the determination module 320.In 606, a user interface may be generated based on the color of the vehicle.","The user interface may include a user interface element correspond to the color of the vehicle.","The user interface element corresponding to the color may have a color that is same as or similar to the color of the vehicle.","The user interface element may be substantial similar to that described in 508 with reference to FIG.","5, and is not repeated here.","FIG.","7 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting information about a vehicle for an on-demand service according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.","In some embodiments, at least part of the process 700 may be performed by one or more components in the requester terminal 130.In 702, image data of a vehicle related to a request for on-demand service may be obtained.","The image data can include one or more still images, moving images (a sequence of video frames), and/or any other data about one or more images.","In some embodiments, the image data may be obtained by the acquisition module 310 from the data storage 150 and/or the server 110.In 704, a color of the vehicle may be determined based on the image data.","In some embodiments, the color of the vehicle may be determined by the determination module 320.In some embodiments, the determination of the color of the vehicle based on the image data may be implemented by performing one or more image processing operations.","Exemplary image processing operations may include but is not limited to image segmenting, image filtering, color identifying, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The image segmenting may be performed to segment a subarea from the image for color determination.","The segmented subarea may be an area in the body of the vehicle.","The image filtering may be performed to filter image noise, such as, a Gaussian noise, a Rayleigh noise, impulse noise, etc.","The color identifying may be performed to identify the color of the vehicle based on the image data.","For example, the color of the vehicle may be determined based on a color histogram of an image of the vehicle and a plurality of color templates.","The color histogram of the image may be determined based on a color code model (e.g., a RGB code model, a HSV code model, a CMYK code model, etc.).","Each of the plurality of color templates may include color information of the corresponding color.","The corresponding color may include common vehicle color, such as, “red,” “blue,” “green,” “white,” “black,” “silver,” “grey,” “yellow,” etc.","The color of the image may be determined by comparing the color histogram of the image and the plurality of color templates.","Alternatively, the color of the vehicle may be determined based on the plurality of color templates and a color matrix or a color vector of the image.","The color matrix and the color vector may be determined based on a color code model.","In 706, a user interface may be generated based on the color of the vehicle.","The user interface may include a user interface element corresponding to the color of the vehicle.","Steps 706 and 606 may be performed in a substantially similar manner.","It should be noted that the above descriptions of the process 700 are provided for the purposes of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.","For persons having ordinary skills in the art, various modifications and changes in the forms and details of the application of the above method and system may occur without departing from the principles in the present disclosure.","In some embodiments, the color of the image may be determined based on other related technologies, such as, a machine learning technology, a neural network technology, etc.","FIG.","8 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting information about a vehicle for an on-demand service according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.","In some embodiments, the process 800 may be executed by the online on-demand service system 100.For example, the process 800 may be implemented as a set of instructions (e.g., an application) stored in data storage 150, and/or storage 227.The server 110 and/or the CPU 217 may execute the set of instructions and may accordingly be directed to perform the process and/or method 800.The CPU 217 may be a processor of a computer server supporting an online on-demand service platform.","The platform may be an Internet-based platform that connects on-demand service providers and requesters through Internet.","In some embodiments, at least part of the process 800 may be performed by the computing device 200A shown in FIG.","2A.","In 802, a request for on-demand service may be received.","The request may correspond to a requester terminal.","The request for on-demand service may include a start location (e.g., current location of the service requester, an appointed pick-up location), a destination, a required service time, or the like, or any combination thereof.","For example, the request may be any request as described in connection with FIGS.","3 and 5.In some embodiments, 802 may be performed by the acquisition module 410.In 804, a vehicle may be determined related to the request for on-demand service.","In some embodiments, available vehicles may be determined and the vehicle may be selected from the available vehicles.","The available vehicles may be vehicles which are not providing service for other service requesters in the required service time.","The available vehicles may be ranked based on one or more ranking criteria, such as, distances between the available vehicles to the start location, required driving time to arrive at the start location, score information of the service providers, user preference information of the service requester, or the like, or any combination thereof.","The vehicle in response to the request for on-demand service may be determined based on the ranking result.","For example, a vehicle with smallest distance to the start location may be selected.","In 806, information of the vehicle may be obtained.","The information of the vehicle may include color information, text information, logo information, or the like, or any combination thereof.","In some embodiments, the information may be obtained by the acquisition module 410 from the data storage 150.For example, the information of the vehicle may include any information as described in connection with FIG.","3 and the relevant descriptions.","In 808, the information related to the vehicle may be sent to the requester terminal for presentation in a user interface.","In some embodiments, 808 may be performed by the transmitting module 430.In 810, an instruction may be sent to the requester terminal to display a user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle in the user interface.","Referring back to FIG.","5, the user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle may have a same or a similar color with the vehicle.","The user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle may have any shape, size, or form.","In some embodiments, the user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle may include but is not limited to a vehicle-shaped icon, text information of the vehicle, or a logo of the vehicle.","For example, the user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle may be described in connection with FIG.","5.In some embodiments, 810 may be performed by the transmitting module 430.It should be noted that the above descriptions of the process 800 are provided for the purposes of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.","For persons having ordinary skills in the art, various modifications and changes in the forms and details of the application of the above method and system may occur without departing from the principles in the present disclosure.","In some embodiments, the requester terminal may be instructed to display multiple user interface elements in 810.At least one of the multiple user interface elements may correspond to the color information of the vehicle.","However, those variations and modifications also fall within the scope of the present disclosure.","FIG.","9 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting vehicle information for an on-demand service according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.","In some embodiments, at least part of the process 900 may be performed by one or more components in the server 110.In 902, descriptive information corresponding to a color of a vehicle related to a request for on-demand service may be obtained.","In some embodiments, the descriptive information may be obtained by the acquisition module 410 from the data storage 150.Steps 902 and 602 may be performed in a substantially similar manner.","In 904, the color of the vehicle may be determined based on the descriptive information.","In some embodiments, 904 may be performed by the determination module 420.Steps 904 and 604 may be performed in a substantially similar manner.","In 906, the color of the vehicle may be provided to the requester terminal for presentation in a user interface.","In some embodiments, 906 may be performed by the transmitting module 430.FIG.","10 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting vehicle information for an on-demand service according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.","In some embodiments, at least part of the process 1000 may be performed by one or more components in the server 110.In 1002, image data of a vehicle related to a request for on-demand service may be obtained.","In some embodiments, 1002 may be performed by the acquisition module 410.In 1004, the color of the vehicle may be determined based on the image data.","In some embodiments, 1004 may be performed by the determination module 420.Steps 1004 and 704 may be performed in a substantially similar manner.","In 1006, a user interface may be generated based on the color of the vehicle.","The user interface may include a user interface element corresponding to the color of the vehicle.","Steps 1006 and 606 may be performed in a substantially similar manner.","FIG.","11 illustrates an exemplary user interface for presenting vehicle information relating to an online on-demand service system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.","As shown in FIG.","11, the user interface 1100 may include a map, a vehicle-shaped icon 1101, text information elements 1103-1 and 1103-2, a logo 1105, an image of a service provider 1107, a phone icon 1109 to call the service provider, a message icon 1111 to chat with the service provider, a location icon 1113 (e.g., a pickup point, a destination, etc.","), or other user interface elements related to the online on-demand service system 100.At least one of the user interface elements in user interface 1100 may have a color that is same as or similar to the color of the vehicle.","For example, the vehicle-shaped icon 1101 may be red if the vehicle is red.","It should be noted that the user interface 1100 is provided for the purposes of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.","The user interface may have any number of user interface elements and the user interface elements may be configured in any size, form, shape, and arrangement.","Having thus described the basic concepts, it may be rather apparent to those skilled in the art after reading this detailed disclosure that the foregoing detailed disclosure is intended to be presented by way of example only and is not limiting.","Various alterations, improvements, and modifications may occur and are intended to those skilled in the art, though not expressly stated herein.","These alterations, improvements, and modifications are intended to be suggested by this disclosure, and are within the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.","Moreover, certain terminology has been used to describe embodiments of the present disclosure.","For example, the terms “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” and/or “some embodiments” mean that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.","Therefore, it is emphasized and should be appreciated that two or more references to “an embodiment” or “one embodiment” or “an alternative embodiment” in various portions of this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.","Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined as suitable in one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.","Further, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present disclosure may be illustrated and described herein in any of a number of patentable classes or context including any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.","Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented entirely hardware, entirely software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.)","or combining software and hardware implementation that may all generally be referred to herein as a “unit,” “module,” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable media having computer readable program code embodied thereon.","A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave.","Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including electro-magnetic, optical, or the like, or any suitable combination thereof.","A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that may communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.","Program code embodied on a computer readable signal medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, or the like, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.","Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object-oriented programming language such as Java, Scala, Smalltalk, Eiffel, JADE, Emerald, C++, C#, VB.","NET, Python or the like, conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language, Visual Basic, Fortran 2003, Perl, COBOL 2002, PHP, ABAP, dynamic programming languages such as Python, Ruby and Groovy, or other programming languages.","The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server.","In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider) or in a cloud computing environment or offered as a service such as a Software as a Service (SaaS).","Furthermore, the recited order of processing elements or sequences, or the use of numbers, letters, or other designations therefore, is not intended to limit the claimed processes and methods to any order except as may be specified in the claims.","Although the above disclosure discusses through various examples what is currently considered to be a variety of useful embodiments of the disclosure, it is to be understood that such detail is solely for that purpose, and that the appended claims are not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, are intended to cover modifications and equivalent arrangements that are within the spirit and scope of the disclosed embodiments.","For example, although the implementation of various components described above may be embodied in a hardware device, it may also be implemented as a software only solution, e.g., an installation on an existing server or mobile device.","Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the foregoing description of embodiments of the present disclosure, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various embodiments.","This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed subject matter requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim.","Rather, claimed subject matter may lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DISPLAYING VEHICLE INFORMATION FOR ON-DEMAND SERVICES\",\n \"The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for displaying vehicle information for an on-demand service.\",\n \"The method may include sending a request for on-demand service to a server.\",\n \"The method may further include obtaining information of a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service.\",\n \"The information of the vehicle may include color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"The method may further include generating, by a processor, a user interface based on the information of the vehicle.\",\n \"The user interface may include at least one user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A system, comprising: a bus; at least one storage medium electronically connected to the bus, including a set of instructions for displaying vehicle information for an on-demand service; and logic circuits configured to communicate with the at least one storage media via the bus, wherein when executing the set of instructions, the logic circuits are directed to: send, to a server, electronic signals including a request for on-demand service; obtain electronic signals including information of a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service, the information of the vehicle comprising color information of the vehicle; and generate a user interface based on the information of the vehicle, wherein the user interface comprises at least one user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"2.The system of claim 1, further comprising a display configured to present the user interface.\",\n \"3.The system of claim 2, wherein the display is further to: display text information of the vehicle based on the color information of the vehicle, wherein the information of the vehicle further comprises the text information of the vehicle.\",\n \"4.The system of claim 2, wherein the display is further to: display logo information of the vehicle in the user interface based on the color information of the vehicle, wherein the information of the vehicle further comprises the logo information of the vehicle.\",\n \"5.The system of claim 1, wherein to obtain the color information of the vehicle, the logic circuits are further directed to: obtain electronic signals including descriptive information corresponding to a color of the vehicle; and determine the color information of the vehicle based on the descriptive information.\",\n \"6.The system of claim 1, wherein to obtain the electronic signals including color information of the vehicle, the logic circuits are further directed to: obtain electronic signals including image data of the vehicle; and determine the color information of the vehicle based on the image data.\",\n \"7.A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium including instructions that, when accessed by logic circuits of an online on-demand service platform from a requester terminal, causes the logic circuits to: receive electronic signals including a request for on-demand service; determine a vehicle in response to the request for on-demand service; obtain electronic signals including information related to the vehicle, the information comprising color information of the vehicle; provide, to at least one requester terminal, electronic signals including the information related to the vehicle for presentation in at least one user interface; and instruct the requester terminal to display at least one user interface element in the user interface based on the color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"8.The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein to obtain the color information of the vehicle, the logic circuits are further to: obtain electronic signals including descriptive information corresponding to a color of the vehicle; and determine the color information of the vehicle based on the descriptive information.\",\n \"9.The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein to obtain the electronic signals including descriptive information corresponding to the color of the vehicle, the logic circuits are further to: parse the descriptive information corresponding to the color of the vehicle.\",\n \"10.The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein to obtain the electronic signals including color information of the vehicle, the logic circuits are further to: obtain electronic signals including image data of the vehicle; and determine the color information of the vehicle based on the image data.\",\n \"11.A method configured to display vehicle information for an on-demand service, comprising: sending, to a server, electronic signals including a request for on-demand service; obtaining electronic signals including information of a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service, the information of the vehicle comprising color information of the vehicle; generating, by a processor, a user interface based on the information of the vehicle, wherein the user interface comprises at least one user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle; and displaying the user interface.\",\n \"12.The method of claim 11, further comprising: displaying text information of the vehicle in the user interface based on the color information of the vehicle, wherein the information of the vehicle further comprises the text information of the vehicle.\",\n \"13.The method of claim 11, further comprising: displaying logo information of the vehicle in the user interface based on the color information of the vehicle, wherein the information of the vehicle further comprises the logo information of the vehicle.\",\n \"14.The method of claim 11, wherein obtaining the electronic signals including color information of the vehicle comprises: obtaining electronic signals including descriptive information corresponding to a color of the vehicle; and determining the color information of the vehicle based on the descriptive information.\",\n \"15.The method of claim 14, wherein obtaining the electronic signals including descriptive information corresponding to the color of the vehicle comprises: parsing the descriptive information corresponding to the color of the vehicle.\",\n \"16.The method of claim 11, wherein obtaining the electronic signals including color information of the vehicle comprises: obtaining image data of the vehicle; and determining the color information of the vehicle based on the image data.\",\n \"17-20.\",\n \"(canceled) 21.The system of claim 5, wherein to determine the color information of the vehicle based on the descriptive information, the logic circuits are further directed to: parse the descriptive information corresponding to the color of the vehicle.\",\n \"22.The system of claim 7, wherein the logic circuits are further to: instruct the requester terminal to display text information of the vehicle based on the color information of the vehicle, wherein the information of the vehicle further comprises the text information of the vehicle.\",\n \"23.The system of claim 7, wherein the logic circuits are further to: instruct the requester terminal to display logo information of the vehicle in the user interface based on the color information of the vehicle, wherein the information of the vehicle further comprises the logo information of the vehicle.\",\n \"24.The method of claim 1, wherein the user interface element is a vehicle-shaped icon.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>On-demand services, such as online ridesharing services and delivery services, have become increasingly popular because of their convenience.\",\n \"A service platform that provides such services may need to process a high volume of complex data and conduct a massive amount of computation to automatically process and fulfill user requests.\",\n \"To provide scalable and real-time services to millions of users, such a service platform may need to perform the processing and computation using pattern recognition techniques, machine learning techniques, data mining techniques, predictive analytics, user behavior analytics, cloud computing techniques, and other computational techniques.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a system is provided.\",\n \"The system may include at least one storage medium and at least one processor configured to communicate with the at least one storage medium.\",\n \"The at least one storage medium may include a set of instructions for displaying vehicle information for an on-demand service.\",\n \"When the at least one processor executing the set of instructions, the at least one processor may be directed to perform one or more of the following operations.\",\n \"The at least one processor may send a request for on-demand service to a server.\",\n \"The at least one processor may obtain information of a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service.\",\n \"The information of the vehicle may include color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"The at least one processor may generate a user interface based on the information of the vehicle.\",\n \"The user interface may include at least one user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the system may further include a display configured to present the user interface.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the information of the vehicle may further include text information and/or logo information of the vehicle.\",\n \"The display may further display text information and/or logo information of the vehicle based on the color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the at least one processor may be further directed to obtain descriptive information corresponding to a color of the vehicle, and to determine the color information of the vehicle based on the descriptive information.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the at least one processor may be further directed to obtain image data of the vehicle, and to determine the color information of the vehicle based on the image data.\",\n \"According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium may include instructions.\",\n \"When the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium accessed by at least one processor of an online on-demand service platform from a requester terminal, the instructions may cause the at least one processor to perform one or more of the following operations.\",\n \"The instructions may cause the at least one processor to receive a request for on-demand service.\",\n \"The instructions may cause the at least one processor to determine a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service.\",\n \"The instructions may cause the at least one processor to obtain information related to the vehicle.\",\n \"The information may include color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"The instructions may cause the at least one processor to provide the color information related to the vehicle for presentation in at least one user interface to at least one requester terminal.\",\n \"The instructions may cause the at least one processor to instruct the requester terminal to display at least one user interface element in the user interface based on the color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided.\",\n \"The method may include one or more of the following operations.\",\n \"A request for on-demand service may be sent to a server.\",\n \"Information of a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service may be obtained.\",\n \"The information of the vehicle may include color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"A user interface may be generated based on the information of the vehicle by a processor.\",\n \"The user interface may include at least one user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"The user interface may be displayed.\",\n \"According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided.\",\n \"The method may include one or more of the following operations.\",\n \"A vehicle related to a request for on-demand service may be determined.\",\n \"Information related to the vehicle may be obtained.\",\n \"The information may include color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"The color information related to the vehicle may be provided to a requester terminal for presentation in a user interface.\",\n \"The requester terminal may be instructed to display at least one user interface element in the user interface based on the color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"Additional features will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following and the accompanying drawings or may be learned by production or operation of the examples.\",\n \"The features of the present disclosure may be realized and attained by practice or use of various aspects of the methodologies, instrumentalities and combinations set forth in the detailed examples discussed below.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a Continuation of International Application No.\",\n \"PCT/CN/2017/082511, filed on Apr.\",\n \"28, 2017, which claims priority of Chinese Patent Application No.201611193696.X, filed on Dec. 21, 2016, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure generally relates to online on-demand services and platforms, and in particular, to systems and methods for providing and displaying vehicle information for online on-demand services and platforms based on color information of vehicles.\",\n \"BACKGROUND On-demand services, such as online ridesharing services and delivery services, have become increasingly popular because of their convenience.\",\n \"A service platform that provides such services may need to process a high volume of complex data and conduct a massive amount of computation to automatically process and fulfill user requests.\",\n \"To provide scalable and real-time services to millions of users, such a service platform may need to perform the processing and computation using pattern recognition techniques, machine learning techniques, data mining techniques, predictive analytics, user behavior analytics, cloud computing techniques, and other computational techniques.\",\n \"SUMMARY According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a system is provided.\",\n \"The system may include at least one storage medium and at least one processor configured to communicate with the at least one storage medium.\",\n \"The at least one storage medium may include a set of instructions for displaying vehicle information for an on-demand service.\",\n \"When the at least one processor executing the set of instructions, the at least one processor may be directed to perform one or more of the following operations.\",\n \"The at least one processor may send a request for on-demand service to a server.\",\n \"The at least one processor may obtain information of a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service.\",\n \"The information of the vehicle may include color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"The at least one processor may generate a user interface based on the information of the vehicle.\",\n \"The user interface may include at least one user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the system may further include a display configured to present the user interface.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the information of the vehicle may further include text information and/or logo information of the vehicle.\",\n \"The display may further display text information and/or logo information of the vehicle based on the color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the at least one processor may be further directed to obtain descriptive information corresponding to a color of the vehicle, and to determine the color information of the vehicle based on the descriptive information.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the at least one processor may be further directed to obtain image data of the vehicle, and to determine the color information of the vehicle based on the image data.\",\n \"According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium may include instructions.\",\n \"When the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium accessed by at least one processor of an online on-demand service platform from a requester terminal, the instructions may cause the at least one processor to perform one or more of the following operations.\",\n \"The instructions may cause the at least one processor to receive a request for on-demand service.\",\n \"The instructions may cause the at least one processor to determine a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service.\",\n \"The instructions may cause the at least one processor to obtain information related to the vehicle.\",\n \"The information may include color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"The instructions may cause the at least one processor to provide the color information related to the vehicle for presentation in at least one user interface to at least one requester terminal.\",\n \"The instructions may cause the at least one processor to instruct the requester terminal to display at least one user interface element in the user interface based on the color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided.\",\n \"The method may include one or more of the following operations.\",\n \"A request for on-demand service may be sent to a server.\",\n \"Information of a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service may be obtained.\",\n \"The information of the vehicle may include color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"A user interface may be generated based on the information of the vehicle by a processor.\",\n \"The user interface may include at least one user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"The user interface may be displayed.\",\n \"According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided.\",\n \"The method may include one or more of the following operations.\",\n \"A vehicle related to a request for on-demand service may be determined.\",\n \"Information related to the vehicle may be obtained.\",\n \"The information may include color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"The color information related to the vehicle may be provided to a requester terminal for presentation in a user interface.\",\n \"The requester terminal may be instructed to display at least one user interface element in the user interface based on the color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"Additional features will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following and the accompanying drawings or may be learned by production or operation of the examples.\",\n \"The features of the present disclosure may be realized and attained by practice or use of various aspects of the methodologies, instrumentalities and combinations set forth in the detailed examples discussed below.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present disclosure is further described in terms of exemplary embodiments.\",\n \"These exemplary embodiments are described in detail with reference to the drawings.\",\n \"These embodiments are non-limiting exemplary embodiments, in which like reference numerals represent similar structures throughout the several views of the drawings, and wherein: FIG.\",\n \"1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary online on-demand service system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG.\",\n \"2A is a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary hardware and/or software components of an exemplary computing device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG.\",\n \"2B is a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary hardware and/or software components of an exemplary mobile device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG.\",\n \"3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary requester terminal according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG.\",\n \"4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary server according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG.\",\n \"5 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting information about a vehicle for an on-demand service according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG.\",\n \"6 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting information about a vehicle for on-demand service according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG.\",\n \"7 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting information about a vehicle for on-demand service according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG.\",\n \"8 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting information about a vehicle for on-demand service according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG.\",\n \"9 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting vehicle information for an on-demand service according to one embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG.\",\n \"10 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting vehicle information for an on-demand service according to another embodiment of the present disclosure; and FIG.\",\n \"11 illustrates an exemplary user interface for presenting vehicle information relating to an online on-demand service system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the present disclosure, and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements.\",\n \"Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"Thus, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the claims.\",\n \"The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting.\",\n \"As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.\",\n \"It will be further understood that the terms “comprise,” “comprises,” and/or “comprising,” “include,” “includes,” and/or “including,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, operations, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, operations, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.\",\n \"These and other features, and characteristics of the present disclosure, as well as the methods of operation and functions of the related elements of structure and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, may become more apparent upon consideration of the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this disclosure.\",\n \"It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"It is understood that the drawings are not to scale.\",\n \"The flowcharts used in the present disclosure illustrate operations that systems implement according to some embodiments in the present disclosure.\",\n \"It is to be expressly understood, the operations of the flowchart may be implemented not in order.\",\n \"Conversely, the operations may be implemented in inverted order, or simultaneously.\",\n \"Moreover, one or more other operations may be added to the flowcharts.\",\n \"One or more operations may be removed from the flowcharts.\",\n \"Moreover, while the system and method in the present disclosure is described primarily in regard to allocate a set of sharable orders, it should also be understood that this is only one exemplary embodiment.\",\n \"The system or method of the present disclosure may be applied to any other kind of on-demand service.\",\n \"For example, the system or method of the present disclosure may be applied to transportation systems of different environments including land, ocean, aerospace, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The vehicle of the transportation systems may include a taxi, a private car, a hitch, a bus, a train, a bullet train, a high speed rail, a subway, a vessel, an aircraft, a spaceship, a hot-air balloon, a driverless vehicle, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The transportation system may also include any transportation system for management and/or distribution, for example, a system for sending and/or receiving an express.\",\n \"The application of the system or method of the present disclosure may include a webpage, a plug-in of a browser, a client terminal, a custom system, an internal analysis system, an artificial intelligence robot, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The term “passenger,” “requester,” “requestor,” “service requester,” “service requestor” and “customer” in the present disclosure are used interchangeably to refer to an individual, an entity or a tool that may request or order a service.\",\n \"Also, the term “driver,” “provider,” “service provider,” and “supplier” in the present disclosure are used interchangeably to refer to an individual, an entity or a tool that may provide a service or facilitate the providing of the service.\",\n \"The term “user” in the present disclosure may refer to an individual, an entity or a tool that may request a service, order a service, provide a service, or facilitate the providing of the service.\",\n \"For example, the user may be a passenger, a driver, an operator, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"In the present disclosure, “passenger” and “passenger terminal” may be used interchangeably, and “driver” and “driver terminal” may be used interchangeably.\",\n \"The term “request,” “service,” “service request,” and “order” in the present disclosure are used interchangeably to refer to a request that may be initiated by a passenger, a requester, a service requester, a customer, a driver, a provider, a service provider, a supplier, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The service request may be accepted by any one of a passenger, a requester, a service requester, a customer, a driver, a provider, a service provider, or a supplier.\",\n \"The service request may be chargeable or free.\",\n \"The positioning technology used in the present disclosure may be based on a global positioning system (GPS), a global navigation satellite system (GLONASS), a compass navigation system (COMPASS), a Galileo positioning system, a quasi-zenith satellite system (QZSS), a wireless fidelity (WiFi) positioning technology, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"One or more of the above positioning systems may be used interchangeably in the present disclosure.\",\n \"Conventionally, a service requester of an on-demand service (e.g., a rider of a ridesharing service) may have to recognize a service provider (e.g., a driver that that accepts a ride request) based on certain information related to the service provider, such as a picture of the service provider, a license plate number of a vehicle of the service provider, etc.\",\n \"Such information is not visualized.\",\n \"As a result, it would be time-consuming for the service requester to identify the service provider based on such information.\",\n \"Thus, it may be desirable to provide mechanisms that enable the service requester to recognize the service provider in a more prompt and efficient manner.\",\n \"Aspects of the present disclosure address the above-mentioned deficiencies by providing for mechanisms (e.g., systems, methods, and media) for displaying vehicle information for on-demand services.\",\n \"Upon receiving a request for a service initiated by a service requester, the mechanisms can generate color information of a vehicle to be used to provide the service (e.g., a ride, delivery).\",\n \"The mechanisms can then cause the color information to be presented on a user terminal (e.g., a mobile phone) associated with the service requester.\",\n \"For example, the mechanisms can generate one or more user interfaces including one or more user interface elements showing a color of the vehicle.\",\n \"More particularly, for example, an icon or any other visual representation of the vehicle can be displayed in the color of the vehicle.\",\n \"Additionally or alternatively, text information related to the vehicle (e.g., a description of the vehicle) can be presented in the color of the vehicle.\",\n \"As such, visualized information of the vehicle is presented to enable the service requester to better identify the vehicle.\",\n \"It should be noted that on-demand service, such as online taxi hailing including taxi transportation services, is a new form of service rooted only in post-Internet era.\",\n \"It provides technical solutions to users and service providers that could raise only in post-Internet era.\",\n \"In pre-Internet era, for example, when a user hails a taxi on street, the taxi request and acceptance occur only between the passenger and one taxi driver that sees the passenger.\",\n \"If the passenger hails a taxi through telephone call, the service request and acceptance may occur only between the passenger and one service provider (e.g., one taxi company or agent).\",\n \"Online taxi, however, allows a user of the service to real-time and automatic distribute a service request to a vast number of individual service providers (e.g., taxi) distance away from the user.\",\n \"It also allows a plurality of service providers to respond to the service request simultaneously and in real-time.\",\n \"Therefore, through Internet, the online on-demand systems may provide a much more efficient transaction platform for the users and the service providers that may never met in a traditional pre-Internet transportation service system.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 is a block diagram of an exemplary online on-demand service system 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.\",\n \"For example, the online on-demand service system 100 may be an online on-demand service platform for on-demand services such as taxi hailing service, goods delivery service, chauffeur service, express car service, carpool service, bus service, short-term driver-renting service, and shuttle service.\",\n \"The online on-demand service system 100 may be an online platform including a server 110, a network 120, a requester terminal 130, a provider terminal 140, and a data storage 150.The server 110 may include a processing engine 112.The server 110 may be a single server, or a server group.\",\n \"The server group may be centralized, or distributed (e.g., the server 110 may be a distributed system).\",\n \"In some embodiments, the server 110 may be local or remote.\",\n \"For example, the server 110 may access information and/or data stored in the requester terminal 130, the provider terminal 140, and/or the data storage 150 via the network 120.As another example, the server 110 may be directly connected to the requester terminal 130, the provider terminal 140, and/or the data storage 150 to access stored information and/or data.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the server 110 may be implemented on a cloud platform.\",\n \"Merely by way of example, the cloud platform may include a private cloud, a public cloud, a hybrid cloud, a community cloud, a distributed cloud, an inter-cloud, a multi-cloud, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the server 110 may include a processing engine 112.The processing engine 112 may process information and/or data related to the service request to perform one or more functions described in the present disclosure.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the processing engine 112 may include one or more processing engines (e.g., single-core processing engine(s) or multi-core processor(s)).\",\n \"Merely by way of example, the processing engine 112 may include a central processing unit (CPU), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an application-specific instruction-set processor (ASIP), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a physics processing unit (PPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a controller, a microcontroller unit, a reduced instruction-set computer (RISC), a microprocessor, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The network 120 may facilitate exchange of information and/or data.\",\n \"In some embodiments, one or more components in the online on-demand service system 100 (e.g., the server 110, the requester terminal 130, the provider terminal 140, and the data storage 150) may send information and/or data to other component(s) in the online on-demand service system 100 via the network 120.For example, the server 110 may obtain/acquire service request from the requester terminal 130 via the network 120.In some embodiments, the network 120 may be any type of wired or wireless network, or combination thereof.\",\n \"Merely by way of example, the network 130 may include a cable network, a wireline network, an optical fiber network, a tele communications network, an intranet, an Internet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), a public telephone switched network (PSTN), a Bluetooth network, a ZigBee network, a near field communication (NFC) network, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the network 120 may include one or more network access points.\",\n \"For example, the network 120 may include wired or wireless network access points such as base stations and/or internet exchange points 120-1, 120-2, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", through which one or more components of the online on-demand service system 100 may be connected to the network 120 to exchange data and/or information.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a requester may be a user of the requester terminal 130.In some embodiments, the user of the requester terminal 130 may be someone other than the requester.\",\n \"For example, a user A of the requester terminal 130 may use the requester terminal 130 to send a service request for a user B, or receive service and/or information or instructions from the server 110.In some embodiments, a provider may be a user of the provider terminal 140.In some embodiments, the user of the provider terminal 140 may be someone other than the provider.\",\n \"For example, a user C of the provider terminal 140 may user the provider terminal 140 to receive a service request for a user D, and/or information or instructions from the server 110.In some embodiments, “requester” and “requester terminal” may be used interchangeably, and “provider” and “provider terminal” may be used interchangeably.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the requester terminal 130 may include a mobile device 130-1, a tablet computer 130-2, a laptop computer 130-3, a built-in device in a motor vehicle 130-4, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the mobile device 130-1 may include a smart home device, a wearable device, a smart mobile device, a virtual reality device, an augmented reality device, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the smart home device may include a smart lighting device, a control device of an intelligent electrical apparatus, a smart monitoring device, a smart television, a smart video camera, an interphone, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the wearable device may include a smart bracelet, a smart footgear, a smart glass, a smart helmet, a smart watch, a smart clothing, a smart backpack, a smart accessory, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the smart mobile device may include a smartphone, a personal digital assistance (PDA), a gaming device, a navigation device, a point of sale (POS) device, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the virtual reality device and/or the augmented reality device may include a virtual reality helmet, a virtual reality glass, a virtual reality patch, an augmented reality helmet, an augmented reality glass, an augmented reality patch, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"For example, the virtual reality device and/or the augmented reality device may include a Google Glass, an Oculus Rift, a Hololens, a Gear VR, etc.\",\n \"In some embodiments, built-in device in the motor vehicle 130-4 may include an onboard computer, an onboard television, etc.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the requester terminal 130 may be a device with positioning technology for locating the position of the requester and/or the requester terminal 130.In some embodiments, the provider terminal 140 may be similar to, or the same device as the requester terminal 130.In some embodiments, the provider terminal 140 may be a device with positioning technology for locating the position of the provider and/or the provider terminal 140.In some embodiments, the requester terminal 130 and/or the provider terminal 140 may communicate with other positioning device to determine the position of the requester, the requester terminal 130, the provider, and/or the provider terminal 140.In some embodiments, the requester terminal 130 and/or the provider terminal 140 may send positioning information to the server 110.The data storage 150 may store data and/or instructions.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the data storage 150 may store data obtained from the requester terminal 130 and/or the provider terminal 140.In some embodiments, the data storage 150 may store data and/or instructions that the server 110 may execute or use to perform exemplary methods described in the present disclosure.\",\n \"In some embodiments, data storage 150 may include a mass storage, a removable storage, a volatile read-and-write memory, a read-only memory (ROM), or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"Exemplary mass storage may include a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a solid-state drives, etc.\",\n \"Exemplary removable storage may include a flash drive, a floppy disk, an optical disk, a memory card, a zip disk, a magnetic tape, etc.\",\n \"Exemplary volatile read-and-write memory may include a random access memory (RAM).\",\n \"Exemplary RAM may include a dynamic RAM (DRAM), a double date rate synchronous dynamic RAM (DDR SDRAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a thyristor RAM (T-RAM), and a zero-capacitor RAM (Z-RAM), etc.\",\n \"Exemplary ROM may include a mask ROM (MROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a compact disk ROM (CD-ROM), and a digital versatile disk ROM, etc.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the data storage 150 may be implemented on a cloud platform.\",\n \"Merely by way of example, the cloud platform may include a private cloud, a public cloud, a hybrid cloud, a community cloud, a distributed cloud, an inter-cloud, a multi-cloud, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the data storage 150 may be connected to the network 120 to communicate with one or more components in the online on-demand service system 100 (e.g., the server 110, the requester terminal 130, the provider terminal 140, etc.).\",\n \"One or more components in the online on-demand service system 100 may access the data or instructions stored in the data storage 150 via the network 120.In some embodiments, the data storage 150 may be directly connected to or communicate with one or more components in the online on-demand service system 100 (e.g., the server 110, the requester terminal 130, the provider terminal 140, etc.).\",\n \"In some embodiments, the data storage 150 may be part of the server 110.In some embodiments, one or more components in the online on-demand service system 100 (e.g., the server 110, the requester terminal 130, the provider terminal 140, etc.)\",\n \"may have a permission to access the data storage 150.In some embodiments, one or more components in the online on-demand service system 100 may read and/or modify information related to the requester, provider, and/or the public when one or more conditions are met.\",\n \"For example, the server 110 may read and/or modify one or more users' information after a service.\",\n \"As another example, the provider terminal 140 may access information related to the requester when receiving a service request from the requester terminal 130, but the provider terminal 140 may not modify the relevant information of the requester.\",\n \"In some embodiments, information exchanging of one or more components in the online on-demand service system 100 may be achieved by way of requesting a service.\",\n \"The object of the service request may be any product.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the product may be a tangible product, or an intangible product.\",\n \"The tangible product may include food, medicine, commodity, chemical product, electrical appliance, clothing, car, housing, luxury, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The intangible product may include a service product, a financial product, a knowledge product, an internet product, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The internet product may include an individual host product, a web product, a mobile internet product, a commercial host product, an embedded product, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The mobile internet product may be implemented as a software of a mobile terminal, a program, a system, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The mobile terminal may include a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistance (PDA), a smart watch, a point of sale (POS) device, an onboard computer, an onboard television, a wearable device, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"For example, the product may be any software and/or application used in the computer or mobile phone.\",\n \"The software and/or application may relate to socializing, shopping, transporting, entertainment, learning, investment, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the software and/or application related to transporting may include a traveling software and/or application, a vehicle scheduling software and/or application, a mapping software and/or application, etc.\",\n \"In the vehicle scheduling software and/or application, the vehicle may include a horse, a carriage, a rickshaw (e.g., a wheelbarrow, a bike, a tricycle, etc.\",\n \"), a car (e.g., a taxi, a bus, a private car, etc.\",\n \"), a train, a subway, a vessel, an aircraft (e.g., an airplane, a helicopter, a space shuttle, a rocket, a hot-air balloon, etc.\",\n \"), or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2A is a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary hardware and/or software components of an exemplary computing device 200A on which the processing engine 112 may be implemented according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2A, the computing device 200A may include a processor 201, a storage 203, an input/output (I/O) 205, and a communication port 207.The processor 201 may execute computer instructions (e.g., program code) and perform functions of the processing engine 112 in accordance with techniques described herein.\",\n \"The computer instructions may include, for example, routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, procedures, modules, and functions, which perform particular functions described herein.\",\n \"For example, the processor 201 may process information of a vehicle obtained from the server 110, the requester terminal 130, the provider terminal 140, the data storage 150, and/or any other component of the online on-demand service system 100.In some embodiments, the processor 201 may include one or more hardware processors, such as a microcontroller, a microprocessor, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC), an application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), an application-specific instruction-set processor (ASIP), a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a physics processing unit (PPU), a microcontroller unit, a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an advanced RISC machine (ARM), a programmable logic device (PLD), any circuit or processor capable of executing one or more functions, or the like, or any combinations thereof.\",\n \"Merely for illustration, only one processor is described in the computing device 200A.\",\n \"However, it should be noted that the computing device 200A in the present disclosure may also include multiple processors, thus operations and/or method operations that are performed by one processor as described in the present disclosure may also be jointly or separately performed by the multiple processors.\",\n \"For example, if in the present disclosure the processor of the computing device 200A executes both operation A and operation B, it should be understood that operation A and operation B may also be performed by two or more different processors jointly or separately in the computing device 200A (e.g., a first processor executes operation A and a second processor executes operation B, or the first and second processors jointly execute operations A and B).\",\n \"The storage 203 may store data/information obtained from the server 110, the requester terminal 130, the provider terminal 140, the data storage 150, and/or any other component of the online on-demand service system 100.In some embodiments, the storage 203 may include a mass storage, a removable storage, a volatile read-and-write memory, a read-only memory (ROM), or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"For example, the mass storage may include a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a solid-state drives, etc.\",\n \"The removable storage may include a flash drive, a floppy disk, an optical disk, a memory card, a zip disk, a magnetic tape, etc.\",\n \"The volatile read-and-write memory may include a random access memory (RAM).\",\n \"The RAM may include a dynamic RAM (DRAM), a double date rate synchronous dynamic RAM (DDR SDRAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a thyristor RAM (T-RAM), and a zero-capacitor RAM (Z-RAM), etc.\",\n \"The ROM may include a mask ROM (MROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a compact disk ROM (CD-ROM), and a digital versatile disk ROM, etc.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the storage 203 may store one or more programs and/or instructions to perform exemplary methods described in the present disclosure.\",\n \"For example, the storage 203 may store a program for the processing engine 112 for determining a color of a vehicle based on its image.\",\n \"The I/O 205 may input and/or output signals, data, information, etc.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the I/O 205 may enable a user interaction with the processing engine 112.In some embodiments, the I/O 205 may include an input device and an output device.\",\n \"Examples of the input device may include a keyboard, a mouse, a touch screen, a microphone, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"Examples of the output device may include a display device, a loudspeaker, a printer, a projector, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"Examples of the display device may include a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light-emitting diode (LED)-based display, a flat panel display, a curved screen, a television device, a cathode ray tube (CRT), a touch screen, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The communication port 207 may be connected to a network (e.g., the network 120) to facilitate data communications.\",\n \"The communication port 207 may establish connections between the processing engine 112 and the requester terminal 130, the provider terminal 140, and/or the data storage 150.The connection may be a wired connection, a wireless connection, any other communication connection that can enable data transmission and/or reception, and/or any combination of these connections.\",\n \"The wired connection may include, for example, an electrical cable, an optical cable, a telephone wire, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The wireless connection may include, for example, a Bluetooth™ link, a Wi-Fi™ link, a WiMax™ link, a WLAN link, a ZigBee link, a mobile network link (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G, etc.\",\n \"), or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the communication port 207 may be and/or include a standardized communication port, such as RS232, RS485, etc.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the communication port 207 may be a specially designed communication port.\",\n \"For example, the communication port 207 may be designed in accordance with the digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) protocol.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2B is a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary hardware and/or software components of an exemplary mobile device 200B on which the requester terminal 130 may be implemented according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2B, the mobile device 200B may include a communication platform 209, a display 213, a graphic processing unit (GPU) 215, a central processing unit (CPU) 217, an I/O 219, a memory 221, and a storage 227.In some embodiments, any other suitable component, including but not limited to a system bus or a controller (not shown), may also be included in the mobile device 200B.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a mobile operating system 223 (e.g., iOS™, Android™, Windows Phone™, etc.)\",\n \"and one or more applications 225 may be loaded into the memory 221 from the storage 227 in order to be executed by the CPU 217.The applications 225 may include a browser or any other suitable mobile apps for receiving and rendering information related to image processing or other information from the processing engine 112.User interactions with the information stream may be achieved via the I/O 219 and provided to the processing engine 112 and/or other components of the online on-demand service system 100 via the network 120.To implement various modules, units, and their functionalities described in the present disclosure, computer hardware platforms may be used as the hardware platform(s) for one or more of the elements described herein.\",\n \"A computer with user interface elements may be used to implement a personal computer (PC) or any other type of work station or terminal device.\",\n \"A computer may also act as a server if appropriately programmed.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary requester terminal according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.\",\n \"The requester terminal 130 may include an acquisition module 310, a determination module 320, a display module 330, and a transmitting module 340.Each module may include hardware circuitry that is designed to perform the following actions, a set of instructions stored in one or more storage media, and/or any combination of the hardware circuitry and the one or more storage media.\",\n \"The acquisition module 310 may acquire request and/or information related to the online on-demand service system 100.The request may be a request of an on-demand service.\",\n \"For example, the on-demand service may be a transportation service by a taxi, a private vehicle, a bus, a truck, and/or any other vehicle.\",\n \"As another example, the on-demand service may be a test drive service, a designated driving service, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"As still another example, the on-demand service may be an on-line delivery service, such as a meal delivery service booked on-line, a delivery service for on-line shopping, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"As yet another example, the on-demand service may be a service of taking an object from one place to another in a vehicle, such as a goods delivery service.\",\n \"The request of the on-demand service may include a real-time request, an appointment request, or a pending request.\",\n \"For example, the real-time request may be a request that requires a service provider to immediately process and start the service, and/or a service of which the requester wishes to receive the service at the present moment or at a defined time reasonably close to the present moment for an ordinary person in the art.\",\n \"For example, a request may be a real-time request if the defined time is shorter than a threshold value, such as 1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes or 20 minutes.\",\n \"The appointment request may refer to a request that does not require the service provider to immediately start the service and/or the requester wishes and/or expects to receive the service at a defined time which is reasonably long from the present moment for the ordinary person in the art.\",\n \"For example, a service request may be an appointment request if the defined time is longer than a threshold value, such as 20 minutes, 2 hours, 1 day, etc.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the requester terminal 130 may define the real-time request or the appointment request based on a time threshold.\",\n \"The time threshold may be default settings of the online on-demand service system 100, or may be adjustable depending on different situations.\",\n \"For example, in a traffic peak period, the time threshold may be relatively small (e.g., 10 minutes, meaning that the requested service may be delivered within 10 minutes to qualify as a real-time service), otherwise in idle period (e.g., 10:00-12:00 am), the time threshold may be relatively great (e.g., 1 hour).\",\n \"The pending request may be an on-going request which is in progress by a service provider at the present moment.\",\n \"The request for on-demand service may include a start location (e.g., a current location of the service requester, an appointed pick-up location), a destination, a required service time, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The destination may be expressly defined by the requester.\",\n \"Alternatively, the requester does not have to be associated with a destination.\",\n \"The information related to the online on-demand service system 100 may include information of a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service.\",\n \"The vehicle may include a non-motor vehicle (e.g., a bicycle or a tricycle), a motor vehicle (e.g., a car or a truck), a watercraft (e.g., a ship or a boat) and/or an aircraft.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the vehicle may be self-driven.\",\n \"The information of the vehicle may include color information, text information, logo information, image data, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The color information may include any information about one or more colors of the vehicle, such as descriptive information of a color of the vehicle, a category of the color, a color code, spectral coordinate information, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"Descriptive information corresponding to a color may include one or more numbers, characters, symbols, and/or any other data that can be used to describe the color.\",\n \"The description information may include any information related to a representation of the color.\",\n \"For example, the descriptive information of the color can include a description of the color, such as “red,” “green,” or the like.\",\n \"As another example, the descriptive information of the color can include one or more parameters and/or values that can be used to determine the color.\",\n \"In a more particular example, the descriptive information can include parsed character data corresponding to the color.\",\n \"The parsed character data may be in any suitable markup language, including but not limited to Extensible Markup Language (XML), HyperText Markup Language (HTML), and Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML).\",\n \"In another more particular example, the descriptive information of the color may include color code information, such as a Red-Green-Blue (RGB) code, a Hue-Saturation-Value (HSV) code, an HTML color code, a Hex triplet code, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"Each of the color code can include one or more values defining the color and/or one or more components of the color.\",\n \"For example, an RGB code for “orange” may be (255, 165, 0).\",\n \"In still another more particular example, the descriptive information of the color can include spectral coordinate information related to the color, such as a wavelength and/or a frequency of the color.\",\n \"For example, the wavelength of red may vary from 635 nm to 700 nm.\",\n \"The frequency of red may vary from 480 THz to 430 THz.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the color information of a color can include a variation of a color (e.g., “red,” “orange,” “grey,” “blue,” “yellow,” “green,” or the like, or any combination thereof).\",\n \"For example, variations of “orange” may include “orange,” “sun orange,” “honey orange,” “tropical orange,” “tangerine,” or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"In some embodiments, one or more portions of the color information of the vehicle may be provided by a service provider associated with the vehicle.\",\n \"For example, the service provider may input the color of the vehicle via the provider terminal 140.In some embodiments, the server and/or the provider terminal 140 can prompt the service provider to provide color information about the vehicle when the service provider registers an account and/or the vehicle via the online on-demand service system 100 (e.g., by presenting one or more user interfaces).\",\n \"In some embodiments, the color information can be determined by one or more components in the online on-demand service system 100.For example, the color information may be determined by the determination module 320 and/or the determination module 420 based on image data of the vehicle (e.g., one or more images of the vehicle), registration and/or title information of the vehicle, etc.\",\n \"The text information may include route information, vehicle information, diver information, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The route information may include a start location, a destination, a mileage, a pickup time, an estimated fee, a unit price (e.g., a price per unit distance), a congested portion of the route (e.g., a congested road due to traffic peak), an estimated distance of between the vehicle and the service requester, an estimated arrival time of the vehicle, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The vehicle information may include a license plate number of the vehicle, a color of the vehicle, a brand name of the vehicle, a number of seats in a vehicle, a trunk volume, a load capacity (e.g., a weight of products that the vehicle can carry), or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The service provider information may include name information (e.g., a first name, a last name, a nickname, a username), score information (e.g., a score marked by service requesters), contact information (e.g., a cell phone number, an email address), an identity code (ID), a country, a city, a gender, a date of birth, etc.\",\n \"The logo information may include a brand name and/or model of vehicle, a logo image and/or a logo icon corresponding to the brand of the vehicle, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"Exemplary brands of the vehicle may include Benz™, Volkswagen™, Toyota™, Hyundai™, Honda™, Ford™, etc.\",\n \"The determination module 320 may determine a color of a vehicle related to a request for on-demand service.\",\n \"For example, the determination module 320 may determine the color based on descriptive information corresponding to a color of the vehicle, an image of the vehicle, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"For example, the determination module 320 can determine the color by performing one or more operations described in connection with FIGS.\",\n \"6 and 7.The display module 330 may present one or more user interfaces related to the online on-demand service system 100.The user interfaces may include, for example, a user interface for requesting services (e.g., scheduling a ride), a user interface for presentation when a user is waiting for a ride, a user interface for presentation during a ride, etc.\",\n \"Each of the user interface(s) may include one or more user interface elements related to a vehicle corresponding to a request for on-demand service.\",\n \"Each of the user interface elements may be in any other color or a combination of any number of colors.\",\n \"Each of the user interface elements may have any regular shape (e.g., circular, triangular, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, etc.)\",\n \"or any irregular shape (e.g., an element like a vehicle, etc.).\",\n \"Each of the user interface elements may include a graph, an icon, a text field, a button, a checkbox, an image, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the user interface element may include an icon of the vehicle, text information of the vehicle, and a logo of the vehicle (e.g., a logo corresponding to a brand and/or model of the vehicle).\",\n \"In some embodiments, the display module 330 can present a user interface 1100 as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"11.The transmitting module 340 may transmit information and/or request to one or more components in the online on-demand service system 100.For example, the transmitting module 340 may transmit a request for on-demand service to the server 110 via the network 120.As another example, the transmitting module 340 may transmit a request to the server 110 to determine color information of a vehicle.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary server according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.\",\n \"The server 110 may include an acquisition module 410, a determination module 420, and a transmitting module 430.Each module may include hardware circuitry that is designed to perform the following actions, a set of instructions stored in one or more storage media, and/or any combination of the hardware circuitry and the one or more storage media.\",\n \"The acquisition module 410 may acquire requests and/or information related to the online on-demand service system 100.The requests may include a request for an on-demand service, a request for obtaining information, a request for processing information, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"For example, the acquisition module 410 may receive a request for an on-demand service from a service requester via the requester terminal 130.As another example, the acquisition module 410 may obtain a request from the requester terminal 130 for obtaining information of a vehicle.\",\n \"As still another example, the acquisition module 410 may obtain a request from the requester terminal 130 for determining a color of a vehicle.\",\n \"The request and/or information related to the online on-demand service system 100 may be similar with those described in FIG.\",\n \"3 and is not repeated.\",\n \"The determination module 420 may determine a vehicle related to a request for on-demand service, a color of a vehicle, or the like.\",\n \"The vehicle related to the request for on-demand service may be determined based on distances between available vehicles and the service requester, required time for available vehicles to pick up the service requester, score information of the service providers of the available vehicles, user preference information of the service requester, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The color of the vehicle may be determined based on descriptive information corresponding to a color of the vehicle, an image of the vehicle, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"For example, the determination module 420 can determine the color by performing one or more operations described in connection with FIGS.\",\n \"9, and/or 10.The transmitting module 430 may transmit information and/or request to other components in the online on-demand service system 100.For example, the transmitting module 430 may transmit color information of a vehicle to the requester terminal 130 via the network 120.As another example, the transmitting module 430 may transmit an instruction to the requester terminal 130 for displaying a user interface element in a user interface based on the color information of a vehicle.\",\n \"In some embodiments, at least two components in the requester terminal 130 and server 110 may be connected to or communicate with each other and/or other components in the online on-demand service system 100 via a wired connection or a wireless connection.\",\n \"The wired connection may include a metal cable, an optical cable, a hybrid cable, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The wireless connection may include a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Bluetooth, a ZigBee, a Near Field Communication (NFC), or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"Any two of the modules may be combined as a single module, any one of the modules may be divided into two or more units.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the requester terminal 130 and/or the server 110 may include the computing device 200A as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2A where one or more of the components may be implemented.\",\n \"Merely by way of example, the acquisition module 310 and the display module 330 may be implemented on the computing device 200A that is part of the requester terminal 130, and the determination module 320 is implemented in the requester terminal 130 but not as part of computing device 200A.\",\n \"It should be noted that the above descriptions of the requester terminal 130 and/or the server 110 are provided for the purposes of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"For persons having ordinary skills in the art, various modifications and changes in the forms and details of the application of the above method and system may occur without departing from the principles in the present disclosure.\",\n \"For example, the requester terminal 130 or the server 110 may include one or more other modules (e.g., a storage module to store data generated by the above modules).\",\n \"As another example, one module may perform the functions of two or more modules described above.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the acquisition module 310 and the transmitting module 340 may form a module to input and/or output information and request related to the online on-demand service system 100.However, those variations and modifications also fall within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting information about a vehicle for an on-demand service according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the process 500 may be executed by the online on-demand service system 100.For example, the process 500 may be implemented as a set of instructions (e.g., an application) stored in data storage 150, and/or storage 227.The requester terminal 130 and/or the CPU 217 may execute the set of instructions and may accordingly be directed to perform the process 500.The CPU 217 may be a processor of a computer server supporting an online on-demand service platform.\",\n \"The platform may be an Internet-based platform that connects on-demand service providers and requesters through Internet.\",\n \"In some embodiments, at least part of the process 500 may be performed by the computing device 200A shown in FIG.\",\n \"2A.\",\n \"In 502, a request for on-demand service may be obtained.\",\n \"The on-demand service may be a delivery service, a taxi transportation service, a test drive service, a designated driving service, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The request of the on-demand service may include a real-time request, an appointment request, or a pending request, or the like.\",\n \"For example, a real-time request for a transportation service may be obtained in 502.For example, the request for on-demand service may include any request as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3.In some embodiments, 502 may be performed by the acquisition module 310.In 504, the request for on-demand service may be sent to a server.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the request for on-demand service may be sent to the server 110 by the transmitting module 340 via the network 120.In 506, information of a vehicle related to the request for on-demand service may be obtained.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a service provider may accept the request for on-demand service via a provider terminal (e.g., the provider terminal 140-1, etc.).\",\n \"The provider terminal can send one or more messages indicative of acceptance of the request by the service provider.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the server 110 may allocate the request to a provider terminal (e.g., the provider terminal 140-2, etc.).\",\n \"The information of the vehicle corresponding to the provider terminal may then be sent to the requester terminal 130 via the network 120.In some embodiments, the information may be obtained by the acquisition module 310 from the data storage 150 or the server 110.The information of the vehicle related to the request for on-demand service may include color information, text information, logo information, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The color information may include descriptive information corresponding to a color of the vehicle, a category of the color, a color code, spectral coordinate information, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The text information may include basic route information, vehicle information, driver information, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The logo information may include a logo image and/or a logo icon corresponding to the brand of the vehicle.\",\n \"For example, the information of the vehicle may include any information as be described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3.In some embodiments, 506 may be performed by the acquisition module 310.In 508, the requester terminal 130 may generate a user interface based on the information of the vehicle.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the user interface can be generated by performing one or more operations described in connection with FIGS.\",\n \"6 and 7.The user interface may include a user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"The user interface element corresponding to the color information may have a color that is the same as or similar to the color of the vehicle.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a first color may be regarded as being a similar color of a second color when the first color and the second color belong to the same color category.\",\n \"For example, “honey orange” and “sun orange” may be similar colors because they are variations of orange.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the first color may be regarded as being a similar color of the second color when a similarity between the first color and the second color satisfies a particular criterion or criteria.\",\n \"For example, the criterion may include that the similarity is greater than a threshold.\",\n \"The similarity between the first color and the second color may be determined based on an RGB Euclidean Distance, an RGB vector angle, an HSV Euclidean Distance, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The user interface element corresponding to the color information may have any size, shape, and/or form.\",\n \"The user interface element corresponding to the color information may include an icon, a graph, text information, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"For example, the user interface elements may include any user interface element as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3.In some embodiments, user interface element corresponding to the color information may include but is not limited to a vehicle-shaped icon, text information of the vehicle, and a logo of the vehicle.\",\n \"The vehicle-shaped icon may have a similar shape with a vehicle.\",\n \"Exemplary vehicle may include but is not limited to a horse, a carriage, a rickshaw (e.g., a wheelbarrow, a bike, or a tricycle), a car (e.g., a taxi, a bus, or a private car), a train, a subway, a vessel, and an aircraft (e.g., an airplane, a helicopter, a space shuttle, a rocket, or a hot-air balloon).\",\n \"In some embodiments, the shape of the vehicle-shaped icon may be associated with the kind of on-demand service provided in the online on-demand service system 100.For example, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"11, a vehicle-shaped icon 1101 associated with a car transportation service may have a similar shape with a car.\",\n \"The user interface element of the text information of the vehicle may include text information of the vehicle (e.g., route information, vehicle information, diver information, etc.).\",\n \"For example, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"11, text information elements 1103-1 and 1103-2 can include text indicative of a name of the service provider, a score of the service provider, a license plate number of the vehicle, a color of the vehicle, a brand name of the vehicle, a model of the vehicle, an estimated distance between the vehicle and the service requester, an estimated required time for the vehicle to arrive at the start location, etc.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the text and/or other content in the text information elements 1103-1 and 1103-2 can be presented in a color that is the same as or similar to the color of the vehicle.\",\n \"The logo of the vehicle may display a logo image or a logo icon of the vehicle.\",\n \"The logo may correspond to a brand of the vehicle, a model of the vehicle, etc.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"11, a logo 1105 displays a logo of Benz™ for a Benz™ vehicle.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the logo 1105 can be presented in a color that is the same as or similar to the color of the vehicle.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the user interface element corresponding to the color information may have a same or similar color with the vehicle in the whole process of the on-demand service.\",\n \"For example, the vehicle-shaped icon 1101 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"11 may have a same or similar color with the vehicle from the beginning of service (e.g., when the service requester sends a request) to the ending of the service (e.g., when the vehicle arrives at the destination of the service requester).\",\n \"In some embodiments, the user interface element corresponding to the color information may have a same or similar color with the vehicle in at least part of the process of the on-demand service.\",\n \"For example, the vehicle-shaped icon 1101 may have a same color or similar color with the vehicle when the vehicle is on the way to pick up the service requester, and change to another color after picking up the service requester.\",\n \"In 510, the user interface may be displayed.\",\n \"In some embodiments, 510 may be performed by the display module 330.It should be noted that the above descriptions of the process 500 are provided for the purposes of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"For persons having ordinary skills in the art, various modifications and changes in the forms and details of the application of the above method and system may occur without departing from the principles in the present disclosure.\",\n \"In some embodiments, multiple user interface elements may be generated in the user interface in 508.At least one of the multiple user interface elements may correspond to the color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"For example, all of the multiple user interface elements may have a same or similar color with the vehicle.\",\n \"Alternatively, some of the multiple user interface element may have a same or similar color with the vehicle while the rest may not.\",\n \"However, those variations and modifications also fall within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting information about a vehicle for an on-demand service according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.\",\n \"In some embodiments, at least part of the process 600 may be performed by one or more components in the requester terminal 130.In 602, descriptive information corresponding to a color of a vehicle related to a request for on-demand service may be obtained.\",\n \"The descriptive information corresponding to the color of the vehicle may include a description of the color, parsed character data corresponding to the color, color code information, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The descriptive information may be obtained by the acquisition module 310 from the data storage 150 and/or the server 110.For example, the descriptive information can include any descriptive information as described in connection with FIGS.\",\n \"3 and 5.In 604, the color of the vehicle may be determined based on the descriptive information.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the description information corresponding to the color may be transformed to parsed character data by a parsing technology.\",\n \"Exemplary parsing technology may include but is not limited to XML parsing technology, XHTML parsing technology, or HTML parsing technology.\",\n \"The color of the vehicle may then be determined based on the parsed character data.\",\n \"In some embodiments, 604 may be performed by the determination module 320.In 606, a user interface may be generated based on the color of the vehicle.\",\n \"The user interface may include a user interface element correspond to the color of the vehicle.\",\n \"The user interface element corresponding to the color may have a color that is same as or similar to the color of the vehicle.\",\n \"The user interface element may be substantial similar to that described in 508 with reference to FIG.\",\n \"5, and is not repeated here.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting information about a vehicle for an on-demand service according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.\",\n \"In some embodiments, at least part of the process 700 may be performed by one or more components in the requester terminal 130.In 702, image data of a vehicle related to a request for on-demand service may be obtained.\",\n \"The image data can include one or more still images, moving images (a sequence of video frames), and/or any other data about one or more images.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the image data may be obtained by the acquisition module 310 from the data storage 150 and/or the server 110.In 704, a color of the vehicle may be determined based on the image data.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the color of the vehicle may be determined by the determination module 320.In some embodiments, the determination of the color of the vehicle based on the image data may be implemented by performing one or more image processing operations.\",\n \"Exemplary image processing operations may include but is not limited to image segmenting, image filtering, color identifying, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The image segmenting may be performed to segment a subarea from the image for color determination.\",\n \"The segmented subarea may be an area in the body of the vehicle.\",\n \"The image filtering may be performed to filter image noise, such as, a Gaussian noise, a Rayleigh noise, impulse noise, etc.\",\n \"The color identifying may be performed to identify the color of the vehicle based on the image data.\",\n \"For example, the color of the vehicle may be determined based on a color histogram of an image of the vehicle and a plurality of color templates.\",\n \"The color histogram of the image may be determined based on a color code model (e.g., a RGB code model, a HSV code model, a CMYK code model, etc.).\",\n \"Each of the plurality of color templates may include color information of the corresponding color.\",\n \"The corresponding color may include common vehicle color, such as, “red,” “blue,” “green,” “white,” “black,” “silver,” “grey,” “yellow,” etc.\",\n \"The color of the image may be determined by comparing the color histogram of the image and the plurality of color templates.\",\n \"Alternatively, the color of the vehicle may be determined based on the plurality of color templates and a color matrix or a color vector of the image.\",\n \"The color matrix and the color vector may be determined based on a color code model.\",\n \"In 706, a user interface may be generated based on the color of the vehicle.\",\n \"The user interface may include a user interface element corresponding to the color of the vehicle.\",\n \"Steps 706 and 606 may be performed in a substantially similar manner.\",\n \"It should be noted that the above descriptions of the process 700 are provided for the purposes of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"For persons having ordinary skills in the art, various modifications and changes in the forms and details of the application of the above method and system may occur without departing from the principles in the present disclosure.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the color of the image may be determined based on other related technologies, such as, a machine learning technology, a neural network technology, etc.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting information about a vehicle for an on-demand service according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the process 800 may be executed by the online on-demand service system 100.For example, the process 800 may be implemented as a set of instructions (e.g., an application) stored in data storage 150, and/or storage 227.The server 110 and/or the CPU 217 may execute the set of instructions and may accordingly be directed to perform the process and/or method 800.The CPU 217 may be a processor of a computer server supporting an online on-demand service platform.\",\n \"The platform may be an Internet-based platform that connects on-demand service providers and requesters through Internet.\",\n \"In some embodiments, at least part of the process 800 may be performed by the computing device 200A shown in FIG.\",\n \"2A.\",\n \"In 802, a request for on-demand service may be received.\",\n \"The request may correspond to a requester terminal.\",\n \"The request for on-demand service may include a start location (e.g., current location of the service requester, an appointed pick-up location), a destination, a required service time, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"For example, the request may be any request as described in connection with FIGS.\",\n \"3 and 5.In some embodiments, 802 may be performed by the acquisition module 410.In 804, a vehicle may be determined related to the request for on-demand service.\",\n \"In some embodiments, available vehicles may be determined and the vehicle may be selected from the available vehicles.\",\n \"The available vehicles may be vehicles which are not providing service for other service requesters in the required service time.\",\n \"The available vehicles may be ranked based on one or more ranking criteria, such as, distances between the available vehicles to the start location, required driving time to arrive at the start location, score information of the service providers, user preference information of the service requester, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The vehicle in response to the request for on-demand service may be determined based on the ranking result.\",\n \"For example, a vehicle with smallest distance to the start location may be selected.\",\n \"In 806, information of the vehicle may be obtained.\",\n \"The information of the vehicle may include color information, text information, logo information, or the like, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the information may be obtained by the acquisition module 410 from the data storage 150.For example, the information of the vehicle may include any information as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 and the relevant descriptions.\",\n \"In 808, the information related to the vehicle may be sent to the requester terminal for presentation in a user interface.\",\n \"In some embodiments, 808 may be performed by the transmitting module 430.In 810, an instruction may be sent to the requester terminal to display a user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle in the user interface.\",\n \"Referring back to FIG.\",\n \"5, the user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle may have a same or a similar color with the vehicle.\",\n \"The user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle may have any shape, size, or form.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle may include but is not limited to a vehicle-shaped icon, text information of the vehicle, or a logo of the vehicle.\",\n \"For example, the user interface element corresponding to the color information of the vehicle may be described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"5.In some embodiments, 810 may be performed by the transmitting module 430.It should be noted that the above descriptions of the process 800 are provided for the purposes of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"For persons having ordinary skills in the art, various modifications and changes in the forms and details of the application of the above method and system may occur without departing from the principles in the present disclosure.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the requester terminal may be instructed to display multiple user interface elements in 810.At least one of the multiple user interface elements may correspond to the color information of the vehicle.\",\n \"However, those variations and modifications also fall within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting vehicle information for an on-demand service according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.\",\n \"In some embodiments, at least part of the process 900 may be performed by one or more components in the server 110.In 902, descriptive information corresponding to a color of a vehicle related to a request for on-demand service may be obtained.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the descriptive information may be obtained by the acquisition module 410 from the data storage 150.Steps 902 and 602 may be performed in a substantially similar manner.\",\n \"In 904, the color of the vehicle may be determined based on the descriptive information.\",\n \"In some embodiments, 904 may be performed by the determination module 420.Steps 904 and 604 may be performed in a substantially similar manner.\",\n \"In 906, the color of the vehicle may be provided to the requester terminal for presentation in a user interface.\",\n \"In some embodiments, 906 may be performed by the transmitting module 430.FIG.\",\n \"10 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for presenting vehicle information for an on-demand service according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.\",\n \"In some embodiments, at least part of the process 1000 may be performed by one or more components in the server 110.In 1002, image data of a vehicle related to a request for on-demand service may be obtained.\",\n \"In some embodiments, 1002 may be performed by the acquisition module 410.In 1004, the color of the vehicle may be determined based on the image data.\",\n \"In some embodiments, 1004 may be performed by the determination module 420.Steps 1004 and 704 may be performed in a substantially similar manner.\",\n \"In 1006, a user interface may be generated based on the color of the vehicle.\",\n \"The user interface may include a user interface element corresponding to the color of the vehicle.\",\n \"Steps 1006 and 606 may be performed in a substantially similar manner.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11 illustrates an exemplary user interface for presenting vehicle information relating to an online on-demand service system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"11, the user interface 1100 may include a map, a vehicle-shaped icon 1101, text information elements 1103-1 and 1103-2, a logo 1105, an image of a service provider 1107, a phone icon 1109 to call the service provider, a message icon 1111 to chat with the service provider, a location icon 1113 (e.g., a pickup point, a destination, etc.\",\n \"), or other user interface elements related to the online on-demand service system 100.At least one of the user interface elements in user interface 1100 may have a color that is same as or similar to the color of the vehicle.\",\n \"For example, the vehicle-shaped icon 1101 may be red if the vehicle is red.\",\n \"It should be noted that the user interface 1100 is provided for the purposes of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"The user interface may have any number of user interface elements and the user interface elements may be configured in any size, form, shape, and arrangement.\",\n \"Having thus described the basic concepts, it may be rather apparent to those skilled in the art after reading this detailed disclosure that the foregoing detailed disclosure is intended to be presented by way of example only and is not limiting.\",\n \"Various alterations, improvements, and modifications may occur and are intended to those skilled in the art, though not expressly stated herein.\",\n \"These alterations, improvements, and modifications are intended to be suggested by this disclosure, and are within the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.\",\n \"Moreover, certain terminology has been used to describe embodiments of the present disclosure.\",\n \"For example, the terms “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” and/or “some embodiments” mean that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.\",\n \"Therefore, it is emphasized and should be appreciated that two or more references to “an embodiment” or “one embodiment” or “an alternative embodiment” in various portions of this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.\",\n \"Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined as suitable in one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.\",\n \"Further, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present disclosure may be illustrated and described herein in any of a number of patentable classes or context including any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.\",\n \"Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented entirely hardware, entirely software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.)\",\n \"or combining software and hardware implementation that may all generally be referred to herein as a “unit,” “module,” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable media having computer readable program code embodied thereon.\",\n \"A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave.\",\n \"Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including electro-magnetic, optical, or the like, or any suitable combination thereof.\",\n \"A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that may communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.\",\n \"Program code embodied on a computer readable signal medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, or the like, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.\",\n \"Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object-oriented programming language such as Java, Scala, Smalltalk, Eiffel, JADE, Emerald, C++, C#, VB.\",\n \"NET, Python or the like, conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language, Visual Basic, Fortran 2003, Perl, COBOL 2002, PHP, ABAP, dynamic programming languages such as Python, Ruby and Groovy, or other programming languages.\",\n \"The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server.\",\n \"In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider) or in a cloud computing environment or offered as a service such as a Software as a Service (SaaS).\",\n \"Furthermore, the recited order of processing elements or sequences, or the use of numbers, letters, or other designations therefore, is not intended to limit the claimed processes and methods to any order except as may be specified in the claims.\",\n \"Although the above disclosure discusses through various examples what is currently considered to be a variety of useful embodiments of the disclosure, it is to be understood that such detail is solely for that purpose, and that the appended claims are not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, are intended to cover modifications and equivalent arrangements that are within the spirit and scope of the disclosed embodiments.\",\n \"For example, although the implementation of various components described above may be embodied in a hardware device, it may also be implemented as a software only solution, e.g., an installation on an existing server or mobile device.\",\n \"Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the foregoing description of embodiments of the present disclosure, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various embodiments.\",\n \"This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed subject matter requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim.\",\n \"Rather, claimed subject matter may lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876092"}}},{"rowIdx":4495078,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["MANAGING DATA TRANSFERS OVER NETWORK CONNECTIONS BASED ON PRIORITY AND A DATA USAGE PLAN","Embodiments manage use of different network connections for data transfer in view of priority information and a data usage plan identifying threshold limits associated with the different network connections.","A computing device receives data transfer requests from applications executing on the computing device.","The data transfer requests have priority information associated therewith.","The computing device compares the priority information with available network connections.","One or more of the data transfer requests are selected for initiation based on the comparison and on the threshold limits."],["1.A system for managing use of network connections for data transfer, said system comprising: a memory area associated with a computing device, said memory area storing a plurality of data transfer requests received from at least one application of a plurality of applications executing on the computing device, the memory area further storing priority information associated with the plurality of data transfer requests; and a processor programmed to: compare the priority information stored in the memory area with a plurality of available network connections; select, from the received plurality of data transfer requests, a data transfer request identified as a high priority data transfer request for initiation over a first network connection of the plurality of network connections based on the comparison; notify the application associated with the selected data transfer request, the application initiating the selected data transfer request; detect an absence of the first network connection; determine that all other available network connections have data transfer costs that are greater than a data transfer cost associated with the first network connection; based on the determination that all other available network connections have data transfer costs that are greater than a data transfer cost associated with the first network connection, determine that none of the other available network connections should be used to initiate data transfer requests unless the data transfer requests are high priority; notify the application associated with the selected data transfer request of the detected absence; and based on notifying the application associated with the selected data transfer request of the detected absence, the application executes the selected data transfer request over one or more of the available network connections.","2.The system of claim 1, wherein the selected data transfer request is operable with the first network connection and a second network connection, and wherein the application suspends performance of non-high priority data transfer requests in response to the notification to prevent performance of the non-high priority data transfer requests over the second network connection.","3.The system of claim 2, wherein a data transfer cost associated with the second network connection is greater than the data transfer cost associated with the first network connection.","4.The system of claim 1, wherein the memory area further stores a data usage plan describing threshold values associated with the first network connection.","5.The system of claim 4, wherein the processor is programmed to select one or more of the received plurality of data transfer requests by selecting the one or more of the received plurality of data transfer requests by analyzing remaining data consumption based on the threshold values.","6.The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to notify the application to reduce data transfer costs.","7.The system of claim 1, wherein determining that no other available network connection should be used to initiate the data transfer requests unless the data transfer requests are high priority is based on the priority data.","8.The system of claim 1, wherein determining that none of the other available network connection should be used to initiate the data transfer requests unless the data transfer requests are high priority is further based on a data usage plan associated with the computing device.","9.A method comprising: receiving a plurality of data transfer requests from one or more applications executing on a first computing device, the plurality of data transfer requests having priority information associated therewith; after receiving the plurality of data transfer requests, determining an amount of data that has been transferred over a first network connection from the first computing device; comparing the priority information with the first network connection; and selecting one or more of the received plurality of data transfer requests that are identified as high priority data transfer requests for initiation over the first network connection based on the comparison and based on the determined amount of data transferred over the first network connection is greater than a maximum data threshold defined by a data usage plan.","10.The method of claim 9, further comprising, for each of the received plurality of data transfer requests, determining the priority information to be one or more of the following: explicit, background, opportunistic, and predictive.","11.The method of claim 9, further comprising receiving the priority information from the one or more applications for the plurality of data transfer requests.","12.The method of claim 9, further comprising suspending all non-high priority data transfer requests of the received plurality of data transfer requests based on the determined amount of data transferred from the first computing device over the first network connection is greater than a maximum data threshold defined by a data usage plan.","13.The method of claim 9, further comprising notifying the applications associated with the selected one or more of the received plurality of data transfer requests of the selecting, wherein the notified applications initiate the data transfer requests.","14.The method of claim 9, wherein comparing further comprises comparing the tracked, cumulative amount of data to corresponding threshold values associated with the first network connection.","15.The method of claim 14, wherein the data usage plan is associated with the first computing device and a second computing device.","16.The method of claim 9, wherein the receiving, the comparing, and the selecting are performed by an operating system executing on the first computing device.","17.One or more computer storage devices embodying computer-executable components, said components comprising: an interface component that when executed causes at least one processor to receive a plurality of data transfer requests from one or more applications executing on a first computing device the plurality of data transfer requests having priority information associated therewith; a type component that when executed causes at least one processor to classify one or more network connections available to the first computing device; a priority component that when executed causes at least one processor to assign one or more of the plurality of data transfer requests as high priority data transfer requests to the classified network connections based on the priority information and a remaining quantity of data available for consumption over the classified network connections, the remaining quantity of data available for consumption being determined from a data usage plan for the first computing device; and a notification component that when executed causes at least one processor to notify the applications of the assigned data transfer requests.","18.The computer storage devices of claim 17, wherein a remaining quantity of data available for consumption being determined from a data usage plan shared between the first computing device and a second computing device is based on an accumulative amount of data sent and received by the first computing device and the second computing device.","19.The computer storage devices of claim 17, wherein the priority component is further programmed to determine the remaining quantity of data available for consumption by comparing cumulative data consumption in a billing period with threshold values defined in the data usage plan.","20.The computer storage devices of claim 17, wherein the priority component further sorts the network connections based on the classifications from the type component."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>With the increased popularity of smart telephones, tablets, and other mobile devices, there has been a similar increase in the amount of data handled by the networks of mobile operators.","To reduce the strain on network infrastructure and to reduce network transfer costs, mobile operators are shifting from offering unlimited mobile data plans to offering capped and metered plans.","With some of the capped and metered plans, the fees for exceeding the allotted data caps may be significant.","While some existing web browsers attempt to optimize data traffic, the existing systems generally lack mechanisms for balancing specific needs of each user with data transfer costs.","As a result, with the existing systems, users can unknowingly exceed the allotted data caps and experience bandwidth throttling (e.g., a reduction or limit placed upon the rate of consumption) and/or be presented with a much larger than normal monthly bill, resulting in “bill shock.” Throttling and bill shock can impact the user experience, leading to dissatisfied customers, increased customer service calls, and negative impressions of the mobile operators."],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Embodiments of the disclosure manage use of network connections for data transfer.","A first computing device receives a plurality of data transfer requests from one or more applications executing on the first computing device.","Each of the plurality of data transfer requests has priority information associated therewith.","The priority information is compared with one or more network connections between the first computing device and a second computing device.","One or more of the received plurality of data transfer requests are selected for initiation based at least on the comparison and based on a data usage plan associated with a user of the first computing device.","In other embodiments, the data transfer requests are selected for initiation based on other factors or considerations in addition to the priority information.","This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description.","This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter."],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser.","No.","13/721,066, filed Dec. 20, 2012, which claims the benefit of pending U.S.","Provisional Application No.","61/696,472, filed Sep. 4, 2012, pending U.S.","Provisional Application No.","61/591,503, filed Jan. 27, 2012, and pending U.S.","Provisional Application No.","61/591,509, filed Jan. 27, 2012.The entireties of these applications are hereby incorporated by reference herein.","This application is related to the following applications: U.S. patent application entitled “Tracking Data Usage Under a Schematized Data Usage Plan,” U.S. patent application entitled “On-Device Attribution of Network Data Usage,” U.S. patent application entitled “Predicting Network Data Consumption Relative to Data Usage Patterns,” U.S. patent application entitled “Updating Dynamic Data Usage Plans and Statistics,” U.S. patent application entitled “Data Usage Profiles for Users and Applications,” U.S. patent application entitled “Recommendations for Reducing Data Consumption Based on Data Usage Profiles,” U.S. patent application entitled “Dynamically Adjusting a Data Usage Plan Based on Data Usage Statistics,” and U.S. patent application entitled “Managing Network Data Transfers in View of Multiple Data Usage Plans.” All of these applications are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.","BACKGROUND With the increased popularity of smart telephones, tablets, and other mobile devices, there has been a similar increase in the amount of data handled by the networks of mobile operators.","To reduce the strain on network infrastructure and to reduce network transfer costs, mobile operators are shifting from offering unlimited mobile data plans to offering capped and metered plans.","With some of the capped and metered plans, the fees for exceeding the allotted data caps may be significant.","While some existing web browsers attempt to optimize data traffic, the existing systems generally lack mechanisms for balancing specific needs of each user with data transfer costs.","As a result, with the existing systems, users can unknowingly exceed the allotted data caps and experience bandwidth throttling (e.g., a reduction or limit placed upon the rate of consumption) and/or be presented with a much larger than normal monthly bill, resulting in “bill shock.” Throttling and bill shock can impact the user experience, leading to dissatisfied customers, increased customer service calls, and negative impressions of the mobile operators.","SUMMARY Embodiments of the disclosure manage use of network connections for data transfer.","A first computing device receives a plurality of data transfer requests from one or more applications executing on the first computing device.","Each of the plurality of data transfer requests has priority information associated therewith.","The priority information is compared with one or more network connections between the first computing device and a second computing device.","One or more of the received plurality of data transfer requests are selected for initiation based at least on the comparison and based on a data usage plan associated with a user of the first computing device.","In other embodiments, the data transfer requests are selected for initiation based on other factors or considerations in addition to the priority information.","This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description.","This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 is an exemplary block diagram illustrating a computing device communicating with a plurality of other devices via one or more network connections.","FIG.","2 is an exemplary flow chart illustrating operation of the computing device to map data transfer requests to detected network connections based on priority information.","FIG.","3 is an exemplary sequence diagram illustrating notification of network connection availability for initiation of data transfer requests.","FIG.","4 is an exemplary graph illustrating data consumption compared to a data usage plan.","Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to the figures, embodiments of the disclosure enable prioritizing of data transfer requests 112 to manage data consumption.","In some embodiments, a service executing on a computing device 102 allows applications 110 to define priority information 114 for each of the data transfer requests 112.The service matches available network connections 132 to the data transfer requests 112 based on the priority information 114 and, in some embodiments, on data usage statistics 120 in view of a data usage plan 116.The data usage statistics 120 are used to determine whether a user and/or computing device 102 is under track, on track, or off track for usage compared to allotted usage under the data usage plan 116.For example, the data usage plan 116 may be associated with the user 104, computing device 102, a group of users 104, a group of computing devices 102, or any combination thereof.","In some embodiments, the service notifies the selected applications 110 when the network connection 132 matching the requested priority information 114 is no longer available and/or when the data usage is predicted to exceed a billing period allotment.","In response, the application 110 is able to halt data transfers to preserve data consumption for tasks with higher priority.","Aspects of the disclosure further enable applications 110 to prioritize and balance data transfers based on user experience immediacy requirements.","For example, the applications 110 may defer lower-priority operations to non-costed network connections 132.This enables the computing device 102 to differentiate urgency of traffic to minimize the amount of data transferred over any particular network type when the device is on a free Wi-Fi connection, pay-based Wi-Fi connection, tethered connection, cellular connection, multi-SIM devices, etc.","Referring next to FIG.","1, an exemplary block diagram illustrates the computing device 102 (e.g., a first computing device) communicating with one or more other devices 130 (e.g., second computing devices) via one or more network connections 132.In the example of FIG.","1, the computing device 102 associated with the user 104 represents a system for managing use of network connections 132 for data transfer.","The computing device 102 represents any device executing instructions (e.g., as application programs, operating system functionality, or both) to implement the operations and functionality associated with the computing device 102.The computing device 102 may include a mobile computing device or any other portable device.","In some embodiments, the mobile computing device includes a mobile telephone, laptop, tablet, computing pad, netbook, gaming device, and/or portable media player.","The computing device 102 may also include less portable devices such as desktop personal computers, kiosks, and tabletop devices.","Additionally, the computing device 102 may represent a group of processing units or other computing devices.","In some embodiments, the computing device 102 has at least one processor 106, a memory area 108, and at least one user interface (e.g., a touch screen or natural user interface).","The processor 106 includes any quantity of processing units, and is programmed to execute computer-executable instructions for implementing aspects of the disclosure.","The instructions may be performed by the processor 106 or by multiple processors executing within the computing device 102, or performed by a processor external to the computing device 102.In some embodiments, the processor 106 is programmed to execute instructions such as those illustrated in the figures (e.g., FIG.","2).","In some embodiments, the processor 106 represents an implementation of analog techniques to perform the operations described herein.","For example, the operations may be performed by an analog computing device and/or a digital computing device.","The computing device 102 further has one or more computer readable media such as the memory area 108.The memory area 108 includes any quantity of media associated with or accessible by the computing device 102.The memory area 108 may be internal to the computing device 102 (as shown in FIG.","1), external to the computing device 102 (not shown), or both (not shown).","In some embodiments, the memory area 108 includes read-only memory and/or memory wired into an analog computing device.","The memory area 108 stores, among other data, one or more of the applications 110.The applications 110, when executed by the processor 106, operate to perform functionality on the computing device 102.Exemplary applications 110 include mail application programs, web browsers, calendar application programs, address book application programs, messaging programs, media applications, location-based services, search programs, and the like.","The applications 110 may communicate with counterpart applications or services such as web services accessible via one or more networks.","For example, the applications 110 may represent downloaded client-side applications that correspond to server-side services executing in a cloud.","As another example, the applications 110 may send and receive data over one or more network connections 132 to other devices 130 or services.","For example, the network connections 132 may include Wi-Fi, cellular, BLUETOOTH brand communication, near-field communication (NFC), and other types or configurations of one or more of the networks.","The memory area 108 further stores a plurality of data transfer requests 112 received from one or more of the applications 110.The data transfer requests 112 represent requests by the applications 110 for use of at least one of the network connections 132.In some embodiments, each data transfer request 112 has priority information 114 associated therewith.","The priority information 114 indicates a priority for association with the data transfer request 112, such as a level, degree, type, or other relative or absolute ordering information in a hierarchy of priorities.","The priority information 114 for a particular data transfer request 112 may be provided by the application 110 providing the particular data transfer request 112.In other embodiments, the priority information 114 may be linked to characteristics or type of data transfer requests 112 or applications 110 providing the data transfer requests 112.For example, the priority information 114 associated with data transfer requests 112 from a mail application program may indicate a higher priority than priority information 114 associated with data transfer requests 112 from a social networking application program.","Exemplary priority information 114 includes priorities such as Explicit, Background, Opportunistic, and Predictive, as described in Table 1 below.","Aspects of the disclosure, however, are not limited to the following exemplary priorities or descriptions.","TABLE 1 Exemplary Priority Information.","Priority Description Priority Explicit user This priority is associated with a data 1 (P1) operation transfer request resulting from an action the user has taken, either directly through the user interface or via a settings page.","The action may be a single or recurring operation that the user expects to be initiated, invoked, and/or completed based on time or event.","The data transfer request is known or expected to consume data, and the data transfer request should not be deferred.","Priority Background (e.g., This priority is associated with a data 2 (P2) explicit intent/ transfer request resulting from a user action implicit core that does not directly request to consume experience) data.","If the data transfer request is not completed immediately, or at a specified time, the user experience will not be impacted negatively, but may lead to visible, noticeable, and/or perceptible differences in the user experience.","Priority Opportunistic This priority is associated with a data 3 (P3) operation (e.g., transfer request that, if not completed at a deferred specified time, will not impact the user operation) experience negatively.","The data transfer request may be scheduled when there is a low or very low risk of exceeding the threshold values under the data usage plan.","Priority Predictive This priority is associated with a data 4 (P4) operation transfer request that does not have a specific target completion time, but should rather be performed upon detecting appropriate opportunities based on heuristics.","An example of a P4 data transfer request may be sent by one of the applications 110 that determines that the user 104 is leaving for Vancouver soon (e.g., based on an analysis of an electronic calendar of the user 104).","The application 110 generates the data transfer request with priority P4 to download relevant navigation map tiles opportunistically before the trip, such as while on a free or reduced cost connection (e.g., Wi-Fi rather than cellular).","When the trip begins, the computing device 102 may then already have the navigation map tiles thereby reducing data usage on a cellular or roaming network connection 132.The memory area 108 further stores the data usage plan 116.The data usage plan 116 represents, for example, the mobile data plan agreement between the user and the mobile operator.","The data usage plan 116 defines the usage limits associated with data transfer to/from the computing device 102, and/or usage limits associated with other devices of the user (e.g., mobile device, tablet, and laptop).","The usage limits may also be associated with a group of users 104 or group of devices 102 (such as in a shared plan embodiment).","In some embodiments, the data usage plan 116 describes threshold values 118 associated with at least one of the network connections 132.For example, the data usage plan 116 may indicate that two megabytes per month of data transfer over a digital cellular network connection 132 is available, while there is unlimited data transfer available over a Wi-Fi network connection 132.The computing device 102 monitors data transfer usage by the applications 110, and generates data usage statistics 120.The data usage statistics 120 represent an amount of network data consumed by the computing device 102 under the data usage plan.","The data usage statistics 120 identify, to a granularity of time (e.g., per minute) or data (e.g., per kilobyte), how much data has been sent and/or received by the computing device 102, the time and date of usage (e.g., start and end times), the location of usage, network interface used (e.g., over which network connections), roaming state, data usage plan information, the subscriber identity module (SIM) or other user identity module used for dual SIM scenarios, the international mobile station equipment identity (IMEI) or other device identifier for multi-device scenarios, the Internet protocol (IP) address or other address of the access point used for Wi-Fi scenarios, the IP address or other address of a target computer (e.g., for whitelist/blacklists in data usage), the application responsible for the data transfer, and the like.","In a further example, information relating to text messages, data, voice calls, minutes used, voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) usage, and any other element of usage consumed by, or that impacts, the computing device 102 is collected to produce the data usage statistics 120.Other data usage statistics 120 are also contemplated.","The memory area 108 further stores one or more computer-executable components.","Exemplary components include an interface component 122, a type component 124, a priority component 126, and a notification component 128.Operation of these components, when executed, is described below with reference to FIG.","2.Referring next to FIG.","2, an exemplary flow chart illustrates operation of the computing device 102 to map data transfer requests 112 to detected network connections 132 based on priority information 114.While the operations illustrated in FIG.","2 are performed by a mobile computing device in some embodiments, one or more of the operations may be performed by other devices, including any computing device local to, or remote from, the user 104.For example, the operations may be performed by a proxy device in communication with the mobile computing device.","Further, in some embodiments, the operations illustrated in FIG.","2 are performed by an operating system executing on the mobile computing device.","At 202, the computing device 102 detects, or is informed of, available network connections 132 between the computing device 102 (e.g., a first computing device) and one or more other computing devices (e.g., second computing devices).","For example, the computing device 102 may determine whether the network connection 132 has been established and/or has not expired.","As another example, the computing device 102 may actually send a test packet (e.g., a ping) over each open network connection 132 to confirm the availability of each network connection 132.In some embodiments, the computing device 102 may further classify each of the detected network connections 132.For example, the network connections 132 may be classified according to type, speed, cost, and/or other factors or criteria.","The computing device 102 accesses at least one of the data transfer requests 112 from the applications 110.For example, the computing device 102 may access the memory area 108 to retrieve or obtain the data transfer requests 112 that have been stored there by the applications 110, or the computing device 102 may receive the data transfer requests 112 from the applications 110 directly.","The computing device 102 determines the priority information 114 associated with each of the data transfer requests 112.For example, the priority information 114 for one or more of the data transfer requests 112 may be specified by the requesting applications 110 or by a software vendor associated with the requesting applications 110.For those data transfer requests 112 lacking the priority information 114, the computing device 102 may assign default priority information 114.At 204, the priority information 114 for each of the accessed data transfer requests 112 is compared with the detected network connections 132 (and possibly the classifications associated therewith).","In some embodiments, the priority information for one or more of the data transfer requests 112 includes a quality of service (QoS) requirement or request associated with the data transfer requests 112.The QoS requirements may be expressed by the applications 110.In some embodiments, other factors or considerations are contemplated.","The other factors include a battery level (e.g., power remaining) for the computing device 102, which may be compared against the amount of power anticipated to be consumed by initiating the data transfer requests 112 over the network connections 132.At 206, the computing device 102 selects one or more of the accessed data transfer requests 112 for initiation based on the comparison, resulting in assignments between the one or more accessed data transfer requests 112 and the detected network connections 132.The relationship between the selected data transfer requests 112 and the network connections 132 may be stored, for example, in a file, table, database, or other data structure.","In some embodiments, the computing device 102 attempts to match the requested priority information 114 with the available network connections 132.For example, using the exemplary priority information 114 described above in Table 1, priority P1 data transfer requests may be matched to any cellular or Wi-Fi network connections 132, priority P2 data transfer requests may be matched to any cellular or Wi-Fi network connections 132 when the computing device 102 is not roaming, priority P3 data transfer requests may be matched to any Wi-Fi network connections 132, and priority P4 data transfer requests may be matched only to free or otherwise non-costed Wi-Fi network connections 132.Selection of the accessed data transfer requests 112 may further include analyzing the data usage plan 116 associated with the user 104 and/or computing device 102.For example, the computing device 102 may track a cumulative amount of data transfers occurring over each of the network connections 132.The computing device 102 compares the tracked, cumulative amounts to the corresponding threshold values 118 associated with each of the network connections 132.Alternatively or in addition, the computing device 102 compares a projection of the tracked, cumulative amounts (e.g.","associated with the end of the billing cycle) to the corresponding threshold values 118 associated with each of the network connections 132.The computing device 102 selects one or more of the data transfer requests 112 based on the comparison.","For example, the computing device 102 determines whether the tracked, cumulative amounts of the available network connections 132 are less than the corresponding threshold values 118.If the computing device 102 determines that there is remaining data consumption available over particular, available network connections 132 (e.g., the cumulative amounts are less than the threshold values 118), the computing device 102 proceeds to match the data transfer requests 112 to those network connections 132.For the network connections 132 over which no further data consumption is available, the computing device 102 removes those network connections 132 from consideration when assignment data transfer requests 112 to network connections 132.The threshold values 118 may be obtained from the data usage plan 116.For example, the computing device 102 may correlate the detected network connections 132 with current consumption under the data usage plan 116 to determine which of the network connections 132 are available to the applications 110 as shown in Table 2 below.","Table 2 below continues use of the example priorities provided in Table 1 above.","TABLE 2 Exemplary Match Criteria for Relative Consumption Under Data Usage Plan.","Priority Match Criteria Priority Explicit user For a data transfer request having priority 1 (P1) operation P1, match to any network connection when the user is Off Track, On Track, or Under Track Priority Background (e.g., For a data transfer request having priority 2 (P2) explicit intent/ P2, match to any network connection only implicit core when the user is On Track or Under Track, experience) or on an unlimited plan (e.g., no threshold values or limits).","Priority Opportunistic For a data transfer request having priority 3 (P3) operation (e.g., P3, match to any network connection only deferred when the user is Under Track, or on an operation) unlimited plan (e.g., no threshold values or limits).","Priority Predictive For a data transfer request having priority 4 (P4) operation P4, match to any network connection only when the user is on an unlimited plan (e.g., no threshold values or limits).","If multiple network connections 132 are available, the computing device 102 may sort the network connections 132 when notifying the applications 110.For example, the network connections 132 may be sorted from free to expensive, and/or fast to slow.","The computing device 102 initiates the selected data transfer requests 112 or may notify, at 208, the associated applications 110 of the selection to enable those applications 110 to initiate at least one of their corresponding, selected data transfer requests 112.After analyzing the network connections 132 at 202, the computing device 102 may conclude that one of the network connections 132 previously detected is no longer available, or is about to be no longer available.","If the computing device 102 detects such an absence or anticipated absence of one or more of the previously detected network connections 132 at 210, the computing device 102 identifies the application(s) 110 that may be attempting to perform data transfers with the now-absent network connection 132.For example, the computing device 102 may analyze the previous mappings or assignments between data transfer requests 112 and network connections 132.At 212, the computing device 102 notifies those applications 110 of the detected absence of the network connections 132.In response, the notified applications 110 may suspend or postpone performance of their data transfer requests 112 over the now-absent, or soon-to-be-absent, network connections 132.The notified applications 110 may then initiate one or more of the suspended or postponed data transfers over a different network connection 132 that is available.","For example, if the computing device 102 detects that a first network connection 132 is no longer available, the applications 110 may suspend performance over the first network connection 132 and resume or initiate performance over a second network connection 132.In embodiments in which a data transfer cost associated with the second network connection 132 is greater (or more expensive) than a data transfer cost associated with the first network connection 132, or based on the data usage statistics 120, the applications 110 (and/or the priority component 126) may choose to not use the second network connection 132.Instead, the applications 110 may attempt to prevent performance of the data transfer requests 112 over the second network connection 132 to prevent incurring higher network transfer costs for the user 104.In some embodiments, one or more of the operations illustrated in FIG.","2 are performed by the computer-executable components illustrated in FIG.","1.For example, the interface component 122, when executed by the processor 106 of the computing device 102, causes the processor 106 to receive a plurality of the data transfer requests 112 from one or more of the applications 110 executing on the computing device 102.The type component 124, when executed by the processor 106 of the computing device 102, causes the processor 106 to classify one or more of the network connections 132 detected between the computing device 102 and at least one other computing device.","The priority component 126, when executed by the processor 106 of the computing device 102, causes the processor 106 to assign one or more of the data transfer requests 112 to the classified network connections 132 based on the priority information 114 and remaining bandwidth (e.g., remaining data consumption) associated with the classified network connections 132.The data consumption remaining may be determined from the data usage plan 116 and/or the data usage statistics 120.In some embodiments, the priority component 126 sorts the network connections 132 based on the classifications from the type component 124.The notification component 128, when executed by the processor 106 of the computing device 102, causes the processor 106 to notify the applications 110 of the assigned data transfer requests 112.Referring next to FIG.","3, an exemplary sequence diagram illustrates notification of network connection 132 availability for initiation of the data transfer requests 112.One or more of the applications 110 register with an event scheduler 302, or other component executing on the computing device 102 for assignments between the data transfer requests 112 and the network connections 132.One or more of the registered applications 110 requests use of at least one of the network connections 132 to initiate a data transfer (e.g., send or receive).","Those applications 110 may also provide the priority information 114 associated with the data transfer requests 112.A core networking component 304 executes on the computing device 102 to detect the network connections 132 available to the computing device 102.The core networking component 304 may analyze each of the network connections 132 continuously (e.g., without interruption) or continually (e.g., periodically), such as every minute.","In other embodiments, the core networking component 304 analyzes each of the network connections 132 upon receiving a request for use of at least one of the network connections 132 from at least one of the applications 110.Further, the core networking component 304 may have different schedules for checking different network connections 132.For example, the core networking component 304 may check the availability of a Wi-Fi connection less frequently than the availability of a roaming cellular connection.","In addition to checking the presence or absence of the networking connections, the core networking component 304 (or another component executing on the computing device 102) may check the data usage statistics 120 when determining whether a particular networking connection is available for use by the applications 110.If the user 104 and/or device has exceeded, or is about to exceed, the threshold values 118 for a particular network connection 132, the core networking component 304 may determine that the particular network connection 132 is not “available” to avoid incurring extra charges under the data usage plan 116.The core networking component 304 notifies the event scheduler 302 of the presence and/or absence of the network connections 132.Upon receipt of this notification, the event scheduler 302 maps or matches the queued data transfer requests 112 to the available network connections 132.For example, if the notification from the core networking component 304 indicates that a network connection 132 with priority X is available, the event scheduler 302 identifies the registered applications 110 that have sent or queued data transfer requests 112 having priority information 114 specifying priority X.","Referring next to FIG.","4, an exemplary graph illustrates data consumption compared to an exemplary data usage plan 116.In the example of FIG.","4, the exemplary data usage plan 116 indicates that 200 megabytes (MB) is the threshold values 118 for a particular network connection 132 type (e.g., cellular) each month.","Other threshold values 118 (e.g., other than 200 MB) and other billing periods (e.g., other than one month) are contemplated.","The line in the graph in FIG.","4 reflects the linear usage of the 200 MB over the course of the month.","However, other data usage patterns such as non-linear patterns are also contemplated.","In general, the shape of the usage curve is fit to, or otherwise dependent on, the pattern of the usage (e.g., the data usage pattern).","For example, the data usage patterns may be based on the historical network data consumption of the user 104 and/or other users 104.The computing device 102 and/or the mobile operator track the data consumption by the user 104 and/or computing device 102 to generate the data usage statistics 120.The circles in the graph indicate the approximate areas where the user 104 and/or computing device 102 is Off Track (e.g., usage greater than the data usage pattern, the user 104 is on track to exceed 200 MB of data consumption before the end of the month), On Track (e.g., usage approximately equal to the data usage pattern, the user 104 is on track to consume 200 MB around the end of the month), and Under Track (e.g., usage less than the data usage pattern, the user 104 is not on track to consume the full 200 MB before the end of the month).","In some embodiments, Off Track may be defined as the user 104 being on or above the projected limit (e.g., the value of the curve) given the day of the billing cycle and the current or up-to-date data consumption for the billing period.","For example, given the day of the billing cycle and the current or up-to-date data consumption for the billing period, an extrapolation or projection is performed to predict the consumption associated with the end of the billing cycle.","Similarly, On Track may be defined as the user 104 being at least 5% below the projected limit given the day of the billing cycle and the current or up-to-date data consumption for the billing period.","Under Track may be defined as the user 104 being at least 20% below the projected limit given the day of the billing cycle and the current or up-to-date data consumption for the billing period.","In some further embodiments, a notification is sent to the user 104 and/or applications 110 if the data usage is within 10% of the limit for a particular network connection 132 at any point during the billing period.","The computing device 102 may then halt priority P3 data transfer requests using that network connection 132.Some embodiments contemplate an “Over Limit” category that allows users to opt out of data consumption by background transfers unless the background transfer are user-initiated or deemed critical.","Additional Examples At least a portion of the functionality of the various elements in FIG.","1 may be performed by other elements in FIG.","1, or an entity (e.g., processor, web service, server, application program, computing device, etc.)","not shown in FIG.","1.In some embodiments, the operations illustrated in FIG.","2 and FIG.","3 may be implemented as software instructions encoded on a computer readable medium, in hardware programmed or designed to perform the operations, or both.","For example, aspects of the disclosure may be implemented as a system on a chip or other circuitry including a plurality of interconnected, electrically conductive elements.","The term “roaming” as used herein refers, in some embodiments, to connectivity provided outside a subscriber's home zone that may be subject to additional tariffs, fees, or constraints.","Roaming service may or may not be provided by the same mobile operator 111.The term “tethered” as used herein refers, in some embodiments, to situations where one device acts as an access point for another device for network access.","A tethered connection may occur over a wired connection or a wireless connection.","The term “Wi-Fi” as used herein refers, in some embodiments, to a wireless local area network using high frequency radio signals for the transmission of data.","The term “BLUETOOTH” as used herein refers, in some embodiments, to a wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances using short wavelength radio transmission.","The term “cellular” as used herein refers, in some embodiments, to a wireless communication system using short-range radio stations that, when joined together, enable the transmission of data over a wide geographic area.","The term “NFC” as used herein refers, in some embodiments, to a short-range high frequency wireless communication technology for the exchange of data over short distances.","Embodiments have been described with reference to data monitored and/or collected from users 104.In some embodiments, notice may be provided to the users 104 of the collection of the data (e.g., via a dialog box or preference setting) and users 104 are given the opportunity to give or deny consent for the monitoring and/or collection.","The consent may take the form of opt-in consent or opt-out consent.","Exemplary Operating Environment Aspects of the disclosure are capable of operation and/or display on any computing device or screen.","For example, the user 104 may move between a mobile device, a gaming console, an in-vehicle computing system (e.g., entertainment and/or navigation), a portable media player, and a laptop.","Exemplary computer readable media include flash memory drives, digital versatile discs (DVDs), compact discs (CDs), floppy disks, and tape cassettes.","By way of example and not limitation, computer readable media comprise computer storage media and communication media.","Computer storage media include volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data.","Computer storage media are tangible and are mutually exclusive to communication media.","In some embodiments, computer storage media are implemented in hardware.","Exemplary computer storage media include hard disks, flash drives, and other solid-state memory.","In contrast, communication media typically embody computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and include any information delivery media.","Although described in connection with an exemplary computing system environment, embodiments of the disclosure are capable of implementation with numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing system environments, configurations, or devices.","Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with aspects of the invention include, but are not limited to, mobile computing devices, personal computers, server computers, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, gaming consoles, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, mobile telephones, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices, and the like.","Such systems or devices may accept input from the user 104 in any way, including from input devices such as a keyboard or pointing device, via gesture input, and/or via voice input.","Embodiments of the invention may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices.","The computer-executable instructions may be organized into one or more computer-executable components or modules.","Generally, program modules include, but are not limited to, routines, programs, objects, components, and data structures that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types.","Aspects of the invention may be implemented with any number and organization of such components or modules.","For example, aspects of the invention are not limited to the specific computer-executable instructions or the specific components or modules illustrated in the figures and described herein.","Other embodiments of the invention may include different computer-executable instructions or components having more or less functionality than illustrated and described herein.","Aspects of the invention transform a general-purpose computer into a special-purpose computing device when configured to execute the instructions described herein.","The embodiments illustrated and described herein as well as embodiments not specifically described herein but within the scope of aspects of the invention constitute exemplary means for reducing data transfer costs by opportunistic use of the network connections 132 based on the priority information 114.The order of execution or performance of the operations in embodiments of the invention illustrated and described herein is not essential, unless otherwise specified.","That is, the operations may be performed in any order, unless otherwise specified, and embodiments of the invention may include additional or fewer operations than those disclosed herein.","For example, it is contemplated that executing or performing a particular operation before, contemporaneously with, or after another operation is within the scope of aspects of the invention.","When introducing elements of aspects of the invention or the embodiments thereof, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements.","The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements.","The term “exemplary” is intended to mean “an example of” The phrase “one or more of the following: A, B, and C” means “at least one of A and/or at least one of B and/or at least one of C.” Having described aspects of the invention in detail, it will be apparent that modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of aspects of the invention as defined in the appended claims.","As various changes could be made in the above constructions, products, and methods without departing from the scope of aspects of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"MANAGING DATA TRANSFERS OVER NETWORK CONNECTIONS BASED ON PRIORITY AND A DATA USAGE PLAN\",\n \"Embodiments manage use of different network connections for data transfer in view of priority information and a data usage plan identifying threshold limits associated with the different network connections.\",\n \"A computing device receives data transfer requests from applications executing on the computing device.\",\n \"The data transfer requests have priority information associated therewith.\",\n \"The computing device compares the priority information with available network connections.\",\n \"One or more of the data transfer requests are selected for initiation based on the comparison and on the threshold limits.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A system for managing use of network connections for data transfer, said system comprising: a memory area associated with a computing device, said memory area storing a plurality of data transfer requests received from at least one application of a plurality of applications executing on the computing device, the memory area further storing priority information associated with the plurality of data transfer requests; and a processor programmed to: compare the priority information stored in the memory area with a plurality of available network connections; select, from the received plurality of data transfer requests, a data transfer request identified as a high priority data transfer request for initiation over a first network connection of the plurality of network connections based on the comparison; notify the application associated with the selected data transfer request, the application initiating the selected data transfer request; detect an absence of the first network connection; determine that all other available network connections have data transfer costs that are greater than a data transfer cost associated with the first network connection; based on the determination that all other available network connections have data transfer costs that are greater than a data transfer cost associated with the first network connection, determine that none of the other available network connections should be used to initiate data transfer requests unless the data transfer requests are high priority; notify the application associated with the selected data transfer request of the detected absence; and based on notifying the application associated with the selected data transfer request of the detected absence, the application executes the selected data transfer request over one or more of the available network connections.\",\n \"2.The system of claim 1, wherein the selected data transfer request is operable with the first network connection and a second network connection, and wherein the application suspends performance of non-high priority data transfer requests in response to the notification to prevent performance of the non-high priority data transfer requests over the second network connection.\",\n \"3.The system of claim 2, wherein a data transfer cost associated with the second network connection is greater than the data transfer cost associated with the first network connection.\",\n \"4.The system of claim 1, wherein the memory area further stores a data usage plan describing threshold values associated with the first network connection.\",\n \"5.The system of claim 4, wherein the processor is programmed to select one or more of the received plurality of data transfer requests by selecting the one or more of the received plurality of data transfer requests by analyzing remaining data consumption based on the threshold values.\",\n \"6.The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to notify the application to reduce data transfer costs.\",\n \"7.The system of claim 1, wherein determining that no other available network connection should be used to initiate the data transfer requests unless the data transfer requests are high priority is based on the priority data.\",\n \"8.The system of claim 1, wherein determining that none of the other available network connection should be used to initiate the data transfer requests unless the data transfer requests are high priority is further based on a data usage plan associated with the computing device.\",\n \"9.A method comprising: receiving a plurality of data transfer requests from one or more applications executing on a first computing device, the plurality of data transfer requests having priority information associated therewith; after receiving the plurality of data transfer requests, determining an amount of data that has been transferred over a first network connection from the first computing device; comparing the priority information with the first network connection; and selecting one or more of the received plurality of data transfer requests that are identified as high priority data transfer requests for initiation over the first network connection based on the comparison and based on the determined amount of data transferred over the first network connection is greater than a maximum data threshold defined by a data usage plan.\",\n \"10.The method of claim 9, further comprising, for each of the received plurality of data transfer requests, determining the priority information to be one or more of the following: explicit, background, opportunistic, and predictive.\",\n \"11.The method of claim 9, further comprising receiving the priority information from the one or more applications for the plurality of data transfer requests.\",\n \"12.The method of claim 9, further comprising suspending all non-high priority data transfer requests of the received plurality of data transfer requests based on the determined amount of data transferred from the first computing device over the first network connection is greater than a maximum data threshold defined by a data usage plan.\",\n \"13.The method of claim 9, further comprising notifying the applications associated with the selected one or more of the received plurality of data transfer requests of the selecting, wherein the notified applications initiate the data transfer requests.\",\n \"14.The method of claim 9, wherein comparing further comprises comparing the tracked, cumulative amount of data to corresponding threshold values associated with the first network connection.\",\n \"15.The method of claim 14, wherein the data usage plan is associated with the first computing device and a second computing device.\",\n \"16.The method of claim 9, wherein the receiving, the comparing, and the selecting are performed by an operating system executing on the first computing device.\",\n \"17.One or more computer storage devices embodying computer-executable components, said components comprising: an interface component that when executed causes at least one processor to receive a plurality of data transfer requests from one or more applications executing on a first computing device the plurality of data transfer requests having priority information associated therewith; a type component that when executed causes at least one processor to classify one or more network connections available to the first computing device; a priority component that when executed causes at least one processor to assign one or more of the plurality of data transfer requests as high priority data transfer requests to the classified network connections based on the priority information and a remaining quantity of data available for consumption over the classified network connections, the remaining quantity of data available for consumption being determined from a data usage plan for the first computing device; and a notification component that when executed causes at least one processor to notify the applications of the assigned data transfer requests.\",\n \"18.The computer storage devices of claim 17, wherein a remaining quantity of data available for consumption being determined from a data usage plan shared between the first computing device and a second computing device is based on an accumulative amount of data sent and received by the first computing device and the second computing device.\",\n \"19.The computer storage devices of claim 17, wherein the priority component is further programmed to determine the remaining quantity of data available for consumption by comparing cumulative data consumption in a billing period with threshold values defined in the data usage plan.\",\n \"20.The computer storage devices of claim 17, wherein the priority component further sorts the network connections based on the classifications from the type component.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>With the increased popularity of smart telephones, tablets, and other mobile devices, there has been a similar increase in the amount of data handled by the networks of mobile operators.\",\n \"To reduce the strain on network infrastructure and to reduce network transfer costs, mobile operators are shifting from offering unlimited mobile data plans to offering capped and metered plans.\",\n \"With some of the capped and metered plans, the fees for exceeding the allotted data caps may be significant.\",\n \"While some existing web browsers attempt to optimize data traffic, the existing systems generally lack mechanisms for balancing specific needs of each user with data transfer costs.\",\n \"As a result, with the existing systems, users can unknowingly exceed the allotted data caps and experience bandwidth throttling (e.g., a reduction or limit placed upon the rate of consumption) and/or be presented with a much larger than normal monthly bill, resulting in “bill shock.” Throttling and bill shock can impact the user experience, leading to dissatisfied customers, increased customer service calls, and negative impressions of the mobile operators.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Embodiments of the disclosure manage use of network connections for data transfer.\",\n \"A first computing device receives a plurality of data transfer requests from one or more applications executing on the first computing device.\",\n \"Each of the plurality of data transfer requests has priority information associated therewith.\",\n \"The priority information is compared with one or more network connections between the first computing device and a second computing device.\",\n \"One or more of the received plurality of data transfer requests are selected for initiation based at least on the comparison and based on a data usage plan associated with a user of the first computing device.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the data transfer requests are selected for initiation based on other factors or considerations in addition to the priority information.\",\n \"This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description.\",\n \"This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/721,066, filed Dec. 20, 2012, which claims the benefit of pending U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application No.\",\n \"61/696,472, filed Sep. 4, 2012, pending U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application No.\",\n \"61/591,503, filed Jan. 27, 2012, and pending U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application No.\",\n \"61/591,509, filed Jan. 27, 2012.The entireties of these applications are hereby incorporated by reference herein.\",\n \"This application is related to the following applications: U.S. patent application entitled “Tracking Data Usage Under a Schematized Data Usage Plan,” U.S. patent application entitled “On-Device Attribution of Network Data Usage,” U.S. patent application entitled “Predicting Network Data Consumption Relative to Data Usage Patterns,” U.S. patent application entitled “Updating Dynamic Data Usage Plans and Statistics,” U.S. patent application entitled “Data Usage Profiles for Users and Applications,” U.S. patent application entitled “Recommendations for Reducing Data Consumption Based on Data Usage Profiles,” U.S. patent application entitled “Dynamically Adjusting a Data Usage Plan Based on Data Usage Statistics,” and U.S. patent application entitled “Managing Network Data Transfers in View of Multiple Data Usage Plans.” All of these applications are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.\",\n \"BACKGROUND With the increased popularity of smart telephones, tablets, and other mobile devices, there has been a similar increase in the amount of data handled by the networks of mobile operators.\",\n \"To reduce the strain on network infrastructure and to reduce network transfer costs, mobile operators are shifting from offering unlimited mobile data plans to offering capped and metered plans.\",\n \"With some of the capped and metered plans, the fees for exceeding the allotted data caps may be significant.\",\n \"While some existing web browsers attempt to optimize data traffic, the existing systems generally lack mechanisms for balancing specific needs of each user with data transfer costs.\",\n \"As a result, with the existing systems, users can unknowingly exceed the allotted data caps and experience bandwidth throttling (e.g., a reduction or limit placed upon the rate of consumption) and/or be presented with a much larger than normal monthly bill, resulting in “bill shock.” Throttling and bill shock can impact the user experience, leading to dissatisfied customers, increased customer service calls, and negative impressions of the mobile operators.\",\n \"SUMMARY Embodiments of the disclosure manage use of network connections for data transfer.\",\n \"A first computing device receives a plurality of data transfer requests from one or more applications executing on the first computing device.\",\n \"Each of the plurality of data transfer requests has priority information associated therewith.\",\n \"The priority information is compared with one or more network connections between the first computing device and a second computing device.\",\n \"One or more of the received plurality of data transfer requests are selected for initiation based at least on the comparison and based on a data usage plan associated with a user of the first computing device.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the data transfer requests are selected for initiation based on other factors or considerations in addition to the priority information.\",\n \"This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description.\",\n \"This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 is an exemplary block diagram illustrating a computing device communicating with a plurality of other devices via one or more network connections.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 is an exemplary flow chart illustrating operation of the computing device to map data transfer requests to detected network connections based on priority information.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 is an exemplary sequence diagram illustrating notification of network connection availability for initiation of data transfer requests.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 is an exemplary graph illustrating data consumption compared to a data usage plan.\",\n \"Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to the figures, embodiments of the disclosure enable prioritizing of data transfer requests 112 to manage data consumption.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a service executing on a computing device 102 allows applications 110 to define priority information 114 for each of the data transfer requests 112.The service matches available network connections 132 to the data transfer requests 112 based on the priority information 114 and, in some embodiments, on data usage statistics 120 in view of a data usage plan 116.The data usage statistics 120 are used to determine whether a user and/or computing device 102 is under track, on track, or off track for usage compared to allotted usage under the data usage plan 116.For example, the data usage plan 116 may be associated with the user 104, computing device 102, a group of users 104, a group of computing devices 102, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the service notifies the selected applications 110 when the network connection 132 matching the requested priority information 114 is no longer available and/or when the data usage is predicted to exceed a billing period allotment.\",\n \"In response, the application 110 is able to halt data transfers to preserve data consumption for tasks with higher priority.\",\n \"Aspects of the disclosure further enable applications 110 to prioritize and balance data transfers based on user experience immediacy requirements.\",\n \"For example, the applications 110 may defer lower-priority operations to non-costed network connections 132.This enables the computing device 102 to differentiate urgency of traffic to minimize the amount of data transferred over any particular network type when the device is on a free Wi-Fi connection, pay-based Wi-Fi connection, tethered connection, cellular connection, multi-SIM devices, etc.\",\n \"Referring next to FIG.\",\n \"1, an exemplary block diagram illustrates the computing device 102 (e.g., a first computing device) communicating with one or more other devices 130 (e.g., second computing devices) via one or more network connections 132.In the example of FIG.\",\n \"1, the computing device 102 associated with the user 104 represents a system for managing use of network connections 132 for data transfer.\",\n \"The computing device 102 represents any device executing instructions (e.g., as application programs, operating system functionality, or both) to implement the operations and functionality associated with the computing device 102.The computing device 102 may include a mobile computing device or any other portable device.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the mobile computing device includes a mobile telephone, laptop, tablet, computing pad, netbook, gaming device, and/or portable media player.\",\n \"The computing device 102 may also include less portable devices such as desktop personal computers, kiosks, and tabletop devices.\",\n \"Additionally, the computing device 102 may represent a group of processing units or other computing devices.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the computing device 102 has at least one processor 106, a memory area 108, and at least one user interface (e.g., a touch screen or natural user interface).\",\n \"The processor 106 includes any quantity of processing units, and is programmed to execute computer-executable instructions for implementing aspects of the disclosure.\",\n \"The instructions may be performed by the processor 106 or by multiple processors executing within the computing device 102, or performed by a processor external to the computing device 102.In some embodiments, the processor 106 is programmed to execute instructions such as those illustrated in the figures (e.g., FIG.\",\n \"2).\",\n \"In some embodiments, the processor 106 represents an implementation of analog techniques to perform the operations described herein.\",\n \"For example, the operations may be performed by an analog computing device and/or a digital computing device.\",\n \"The computing device 102 further has one or more computer readable media such as the memory area 108.The memory area 108 includes any quantity of media associated with or accessible by the computing device 102.The memory area 108 may be internal to the computing device 102 (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"1), external to the computing device 102 (not shown), or both (not shown).\",\n \"In some embodiments, the memory area 108 includes read-only memory and/or memory wired into an analog computing device.\",\n \"The memory area 108 stores, among other data, one or more of the applications 110.The applications 110, when executed by the processor 106, operate to perform functionality on the computing device 102.Exemplary applications 110 include mail application programs, web browsers, calendar application programs, address book application programs, messaging programs, media applications, location-based services, search programs, and the like.\",\n \"The applications 110 may communicate with counterpart applications or services such as web services accessible via one or more networks.\",\n \"For example, the applications 110 may represent downloaded client-side applications that correspond to server-side services executing in a cloud.\",\n \"As another example, the applications 110 may send and receive data over one or more network connections 132 to other devices 130 or services.\",\n \"For example, the network connections 132 may include Wi-Fi, cellular, BLUETOOTH brand communication, near-field communication (NFC), and other types or configurations of one or more of the networks.\",\n \"The memory area 108 further stores a plurality of data transfer requests 112 received from one or more of the applications 110.The data transfer requests 112 represent requests by the applications 110 for use of at least one of the network connections 132.In some embodiments, each data transfer request 112 has priority information 114 associated therewith.\",\n \"The priority information 114 indicates a priority for association with the data transfer request 112, such as a level, degree, type, or other relative or absolute ordering information in a hierarchy of priorities.\",\n \"The priority information 114 for a particular data transfer request 112 may be provided by the application 110 providing the particular data transfer request 112.In other embodiments, the priority information 114 may be linked to characteristics or type of data transfer requests 112 or applications 110 providing the data transfer requests 112.For example, the priority information 114 associated with data transfer requests 112 from a mail application program may indicate a higher priority than priority information 114 associated with data transfer requests 112 from a social networking application program.\",\n \"Exemplary priority information 114 includes priorities such as Explicit, Background, Opportunistic, and Predictive, as described in Table 1 below.\",\n \"Aspects of the disclosure, however, are not limited to the following exemplary priorities or descriptions.\",\n \"TABLE 1 Exemplary Priority Information.\",\n \"Priority Description Priority Explicit user This priority is associated with a data 1 (P1) operation transfer request resulting from an action the user has taken, either directly through the user interface or via a settings page.\",\n \"The action may be a single or recurring operation that the user expects to be initiated, invoked, and/or completed based on time or event.\",\n \"The data transfer request is known or expected to consume data, and the data transfer request should not be deferred.\",\n \"Priority Background (e.g., This priority is associated with a data 2 (P2) explicit intent/ transfer request resulting from a user action implicit core that does not directly request to consume experience) data.\",\n \"If the data transfer request is not completed immediately, or at a specified time, the user experience will not be impacted negatively, but may lead to visible, noticeable, and/or perceptible differences in the user experience.\",\n \"Priority Opportunistic This priority is associated with a data 3 (P3) operation (e.g., transfer request that, if not completed at a deferred specified time, will not impact the user operation) experience negatively.\",\n \"The data transfer request may be scheduled when there is a low or very low risk of exceeding the threshold values under the data usage plan.\",\n \"Priority Predictive This priority is associated with a data 4 (P4) operation transfer request that does not have a specific target completion time, but should rather be performed upon detecting appropriate opportunities based on heuristics.\",\n \"An example of a P4 data transfer request may be sent by one of the applications 110 that determines that the user 104 is leaving for Vancouver soon (e.g., based on an analysis of an electronic calendar of the user 104).\",\n \"The application 110 generates the data transfer request with priority P4 to download relevant navigation map tiles opportunistically before the trip, such as while on a free or reduced cost connection (e.g., Wi-Fi rather than cellular).\",\n \"When the trip begins, the computing device 102 may then already have the navigation map tiles thereby reducing data usage on a cellular or roaming network connection 132.The memory area 108 further stores the data usage plan 116.The data usage plan 116 represents, for example, the mobile data plan agreement between the user and the mobile operator.\",\n \"The data usage plan 116 defines the usage limits associated with data transfer to/from the computing device 102, and/or usage limits associated with other devices of the user (e.g., mobile device, tablet, and laptop).\",\n \"The usage limits may also be associated with a group of users 104 or group of devices 102 (such as in a shared plan embodiment).\",\n \"In some embodiments, the data usage plan 116 describes threshold values 118 associated with at least one of the network connections 132.For example, the data usage plan 116 may indicate that two megabytes per month of data transfer over a digital cellular network connection 132 is available, while there is unlimited data transfer available over a Wi-Fi network connection 132.The computing device 102 monitors data transfer usage by the applications 110, and generates data usage statistics 120.The data usage statistics 120 represent an amount of network data consumed by the computing device 102 under the data usage plan.\",\n \"The data usage statistics 120 identify, to a granularity of time (e.g., per minute) or data (e.g., per kilobyte), how much data has been sent and/or received by the computing device 102, the time and date of usage (e.g., start and end times), the location of usage, network interface used (e.g., over which network connections), roaming state, data usage plan information, the subscriber identity module (SIM) or other user identity module used for dual SIM scenarios, the international mobile station equipment identity (IMEI) or other device identifier for multi-device scenarios, the Internet protocol (IP) address or other address of the access point used for Wi-Fi scenarios, the IP address or other address of a target computer (e.g., for whitelist/blacklists in data usage), the application responsible for the data transfer, and the like.\",\n \"In a further example, information relating to text messages, data, voice calls, minutes used, voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) usage, and any other element of usage consumed by, or that impacts, the computing device 102 is collected to produce the data usage statistics 120.Other data usage statistics 120 are also contemplated.\",\n \"The memory area 108 further stores one or more computer-executable components.\",\n \"Exemplary components include an interface component 122, a type component 124, a priority component 126, and a notification component 128.Operation of these components, when executed, is described below with reference to FIG.\",\n \"2.Referring next to FIG.\",\n \"2, an exemplary flow chart illustrates operation of the computing device 102 to map data transfer requests 112 to detected network connections 132 based on priority information 114.While the operations illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2 are performed by a mobile computing device in some embodiments, one or more of the operations may be performed by other devices, including any computing device local to, or remote from, the user 104.For example, the operations may be performed by a proxy device in communication with the mobile computing device.\",\n \"Further, in some embodiments, the operations illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2 are performed by an operating system executing on the mobile computing device.\",\n \"At 202, the computing device 102 detects, or is informed of, available network connections 132 between the computing device 102 (e.g., a first computing device) and one or more other computing devices (e.g., second computing devices).\",\n \"For example, the computing device 102 may determine whether the network connection 132 has been established and/or has not expired.\",\n \"As another example, the computing device 102 may actually send a test packet (e.g., a ping) over each open network connection 132 to confirm the availability of each network connection 132.In some embodiments, the computing device 102 may further classify each of the detected network connections 132.For example, the network connections 132 may be classified according to type, speed, cost, and/or other factors or criteria.\",\n \"The computing device 102 accesses at least one of the data transfer requests 112 from the applications 110.For example, the computing device 102 may access the memory area 108 to retrieve or obtain the data transfer requests 112 that have been stored there by the applications 110, or the computing device 102 may receive the data transfer requests 112 from the applications 110 directly.\",\n \"The computing device 102 determines the priority information 114 associated with each of the data transfer requests 112.For example, the priority information 114 for one or more of the data transfer requests 112 may be specified by the requesting applications 110 or by a software vendor associated with the requesting applications 110.For those data transfer requests 112 lacking the priority information 114, the computing device 102 may assign default priority information 114.At 204, the priority information 114 for each of the accessed data transfer requests 112 is compared with the detected network connections 132 (and possibly the classifications associated therewith).\",\n \"In some embodiments, the priority information for one or more of the data transfer requests 112 includes a quality of service (QoS) requirement or request associated with the data transfer requests 112.The QoS requirements may be expressed by the applications 110.In some embodiments, other factors or considerations are contemplated.\",\n \"The other factors include a battery level (e.g., power remaining) for the computing device 102, which may be compared against the amount of power anticipated to be consumed by initiating the data transfer requests 112 over the network connections 132.At 206, the computing device 102 selects one or more of the accessed data transfer requests 112 for initiation based on the comparison, resulting in assignments between the one or more accessed data transfer requests 112 and the detected network connections 132.The relationship between the selected data transfer requests 112 and the network connections 132 may be stored, for example, in a file, table, database, or other data structure.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the computing device 102 attempts to match the requested priority information 114 with the available network connections 132.For example, using the exemplary priority information 114 described above in Table 1, priority P1 data transfer requests may be matched to any cellular or Wi-Fi network connections 132, priority P2 data transfer requests may be matched to any cellular or Wi-Fi network connections 132 when the computing device 102 is not roaming, priority P3 data transfer requests may be matched to any Wi-Fi network connections 132, and priority P4 data transfer requests may be matched only to free or otherwise non-costed Wi-Fi network connections 132.Selection of the accessed data transfer requests 112 may further include analyzing the data usage plan 116 associated with the user 104 and/or computing device 102.For example, the computing device 102 may track a cumulative amount of data transfers occurring over each of the network connections 132.The computing device 102 compares the tracked, cumulative amounts to the corresponding threshold values 118 associated with each of the network connections 132.Alternatively or in addition, the computing device 102 compares a projection of the tracked, cumulative amounts (e.g.\",\n \"associated with the end of the billing cycle) to the corresponding threshold values 118 associated with each of the network connections 132.The computing device 102 selects one or more of the data transfer requests 112 based on the comparison.\",\n \"For example, the computing device 102 determines whether the tracked, cumulative amounts of the available network connections 132 are less than the corresponding threshold values 118.If the computing device 102 determines that there is remaining data consumption available over particular, available network connections 132 (e.g., the cumulative amounts are less than the threshold values 118), the computing device 102 proceeds to match the data transfer requests 112 to those network connections 132.For the network connections 132 over which no further data consumption is available, the computing device 102 removes those network connections 132 from consideration when assignment data transfer requests 112 to network connections 132.The threshold values 118 may be obtained from the data usage plan 116.For example, the computing device 102 may correlate the detected network connections 132 with current consumption under the data usage plan 116 to determine which of the network connections 132 are available to the applications 110 as shown in Table 2 below.\",\n \"Table 2 below continues use of the example priorities provided in Table 1 above.\",\n \"TABLE 2 Exemplary Match Criteria for Relative Consumption Under Data Usage Plan.\",\n \"Priority Match Criteria Priority Explicit user For a data transfer request having priority 1 (P1) operation P1, match to any network connection when the user is Off Track, On Track, or Under Track Priority Background (e.g., For a data transfer request having priority 2 (P2) explicit intent/ P2, match to any network connection only implicit core when the user is On Track or Under Track, experience) or on an unlimited plan (e.g., no threshold values or limits).\",\n \"Priority Opportunistic For a data transfer request having priority 3 (P3) operation (e.g., P3, match to any network connection only deferred when the user is Under Track, or on an operation) unlimited plan (e.g., no threshold values or limits).\",\n \"Priority Predictive For a data transfer request having priority 4 (P4) operation P4, match to any network connection only when the user is on an unlimited plan (e.g., no threshold values or limits).\",\n \"If multiple network connections 132 are available, the computing device 102 may sort the network connections 132 when notifying the applications 110.For example, the network connections 132 may be sorted from free to expensive, and/or fast to slow.\",\n \"The computing device 102 initiates the selected data transfer requests 112 or may notify, at 208, the associated applications 110 of the selection to enable those applications 110 to initiate at least one of their corresponding, selected data transfer requests 112.After analyzing the network connections 132 at 202, the computing device 102 may conclude that one of the network connections 132 previously detected is no longer available, or is about to be no longer available.\",\n \"If the computing device 102 detects such an absence or anticipated absence of one or more of the previously detected network connections 132 at 210, the computing device 102 identifies the application(s) 110 that may be attempting to perform data transfers with the now-absent network connection 132.For example, the computing device 102 may analyze the previous mappings or assignments between data transfer requests 112 and network connections 132.At 212, the computing device 102 notifies those applications 110 of the detected absence of the network connections 132.In response, the notified applications 110 may suspend or postpone performance of their data transfer requests 112 over the now-absent, or soon-to-be-absent, network connections 132.The notified applications 110 may then initiate one or more of the suspended or postponed data transfers over a different network connection 132 that is available.\",\n \"For example, if the computing device 102 detects that a first network connection 132 is no longer available, the applications 110 may suspend performance over the first network connection 132 and resume or initiate performance over a second network connection 132.In embodiments in which a data transfer cost associated with the second network connection 132 is greater (or more expensive) than a data transfer cost associated with the first network connection 132, or based on the data usage statistics 120, the applications 110 (and/or the priority component 126) may choose to not use the second network connection 132.Instead, the applications 110 may attempt to prevent performance of the data transfer requests 112 over the second network connection 132 to prevent incurring higher network transfer costs for the user 104.In some embodiments, one or more of the operations illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2 are performed by the computer-executable components illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1.For example, the interface component 122, when executed by the processor 106 of the computing device 102, causes the processor 106 to receive a plurality of the data transfer requests 112 from one or more of the applications 110 executing on the computing device 102.The type component 124, when executed by the processor 106 of the computing device 102, causes the processor 106 to classify one or more of the network connections 132 detected between the computing device 102 and at least one other computing device.\",\n \"The priority component 126, when executed by the processor 106 of the computing device 102, causes the processor 106 to assign one or more of the data transfer requests 112 to the classified network connections 132 based on the priority information 114 and remaining bandwidth (e.g., remaining data consumption) associated with the classified network connections 132.The data consumption remaining may be determined from the data usage plan 116 and/or the data usage statistics 120.In some embodiments, the priority component 126 sorts the network connections 132 based on the classifications from the type component 124.The notification component 128, when executed by the processor 106 of the computing device 102, causes the processor 106 to notify the applications 110 of the assigned data transfer requests 112.Referring next to FIG.\",\n \"3, an exemplary sequence diagram illustrates notification of network connection 132 availability for initiation of the data transfer requests 112.One or more of the applications 110 register with an event scheduler 302, or other component executing on the computing device 102 for assignments between the data transfer requests 112 and the network connections 132.One or more of the registered applications 110 requests use of at least one of the network connections 132 to initiate a data transfer (e.g., send or receive).\",\n \"Those applications 110 may also provide the priority information 114 associated with the data transfer requests 112.A core networking component 304 executes on the computing device 102 to detect the network connections 132 available to the computing device 102.The core networking component 304 may analyze each of the network connections 132 continuously (e.g., without interruption) or continually (e.g., periodically), such as every minute.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the core networking component 304 analyzes each of the network connections 132 upon receiving a request for use of at least one of the network connections 132 from at least one of the applications 110.Further, the core networking component 304 may have different schedules for checking different network connections 132.For example, the core networking component 304 may check the availability of a Wi-Fi connection less frequently than the availability of a roaming cellular connection.\",\n \"In addition to checking the presence or absence of the networking connections, the core networking component 304 (or another component executing on the computing device 102) may check the data usage statistics 120 when determining whether a particular networking connection is available for use by the applications 110.If the user 104 and/or device has exceeded, or is about to exceed, the threshold values 118 for a particular network connection 132, the core networking component 304 may determine that the particular network connection 132 is not “available” to avoid incurring extra charges under the data usage plan 116.The core networking component 304 notifies the event scheduler 302 of the presence and/or absence of the network connections 132.Upon receipt of this notification, the event scheduler 302 maps or matches the queued data transfer requests 112 to the available network connections 132.For example, if the notification from the core networking component 304 indicates that a network connection 132 with priority X is available, the event scheduler 302 identifies the registered applications 110 that have sent or queued data transfer requests 112 having priority information 114 specifying priority X.\",\n \"Referring next to FIG.\",\n \"4, an exemplary graph illustrates data consumption compared to an exemplary data usage plan 116.In the example of FIG.\",\n \"4, the exemplary data usage plan 116 indicates that 200 megabytes (MB) is the threshold values 118 for a particular network connection 132 type (e.g., cellular) each month.\",\n \"Other threshold values 118 (e.g., other than 200 MB) and other billing periods (e.g., other than one month) are contemplated.\",\n \"The line in the graph in FIG.\",\n \"4 reflects the linear usage of the 200 MB over the course of the month.\",\n \"However, other data usage patterns such as non-linear patterns are also contemplated.\",\n \"In general, the shape of the usage curve is fit to, or otherwise dependent on, the pattern of the usage (e.g., the data usage pattern).\",\n \"For example, the data usage patterns may be based on the historical network data consumption of the user 104 and/or other users 104.The computing device 102 and/or the mobile operator track the data consumption by the user 104 and/or computing device 102 to generate the data usage statistics 120.The circles in the graph indicate the approximate areas where the user 104 and/or computing device 102 is Off Track (e.g., usage greater than the data usage pattern, the user 104 is on track to exceed 200 MB of data consumption before the end of the month), On Track (e.g., usage approximately equal to the data usage pattern, the user 104 is on track to consume 200 MB around the end of the month), and Under Track (e.g., usage less than the data usage pattern, the user 104 is not on track to consume the full 200 MB before the end of the month).\",\n \"In some embodiments, Off Track may be defined as the user 104 being on or above the projected limit (e.g., the value of the curve) given the day of the billing cycle and the current or up-to-date data consumption for the billing period.\",\n \"For example, given the day of the billing cycle and the current or up-to-date data consumption for the billing period, an extrapolation or projection is performed to predict the consumption associated with the end of the billing cycle.\",\n \"Similarly, On Track may be defined as the user 104 being at least 5% below the projected limit given the day of the billing cycle and the current or up-to-date data consumption for the billing period.\",\n \"Under Track may be defined as the user 104 being at least 20% below the projected limit given the day of the billing cycle and the current or up-to-date data consumption for the billing period.\",\n \"In some further embodiments, a notification is sent to the user 104 and/or applications 110 if the data usage is within 10% of the limit for a particular network connection 132 at any point during the billing period.\",\n \"The computing device 102 may then halt priority P3 data transfer requests using that network connection 132.Some embodiments contemplate an “Over Limit” category that allows users to opt out of data consumption by background transfers unless the background transfer are user-initiated or deemed critical.\",\n \"Additional Examples At least a portion of the functionality of the various elements in FIG.\",\n \"1 may be performed by other elements in FIG.\",\n \"1, or an entity (e.g., processor, web service, server, application program, computing device, etc.)\",\n \"not shown in FIG.\",\n \"1.In some embodiments, the operations illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2 and FIG.\",\n \"3 may be implemented as software instructions encoded on a computer readable medium, in hardware programmed or designed to perform the operations, or both.\",\n \"For example, aspects of the disclosure may be implemented as a system on a chip or other circuitry including a plurality of interconnected, electrically conductive elements.\",\n \"The term “roaming” as used herein refers, in some embodiments, to connectivity provided outside a subscriber's home zone that may be subject to additional tariffs, fees, or constraints.\",\n \"Roaming service may or may not be provided by the same mobile operator 111.The term “tethered” as used herein refers, in some embodiments, to situations where one device acts as an access point for another device for network access.\",\n \"A tethered connection may occur over a wired connection or a wireless connection.\",\n \"The term “Wi-Fi” as used herein refers, in some embodiments, to a wireless local area network using high frequency radio signals for the transmission of data.\",\n \"The term “BLUETOOTH” as used herein refers, in some embodiments, to a wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances using short wavelength radio transmission.\",\n \"The term “cellular” as used herein refers, in some embodiments, to a wireless communication system using short-range radio stations that, when joined together, enable the transmission of data over a wide geographic area.\",\n \"The term “NFC” as used herein refers, in some embodiments, to a short-range high frequency wireless communication technology for the exchange of data over short distances.\",\n \"Embodiments have been described with reference to data monitored and/or collected from users 104.In some embodiments, notice may be provided to the users 104 of the collection of the data (e.g., via a dialog box or preference setting) and users 104 are given the opportunity to give or deny consent for the monitoring and/or collection.\",\n \"The consent may take the form of opt-in consent or opt-out consent.\",\n \"Exemplary Operating Environment Aspects of the disclosure are capable of operation and/or display on any computing device or screen.\",\n \"For example, the user 104 may move between a mobile device, a gaming console, an in-vehicle computing system (e.g., entertainment and/or navigation), a portable media player, and a laptop.\",\n \"Exemplary computer readable media include flash memory drives, digital versatile discs (DVDs), compact discs (CDs), floppy disks, and tape cassettes.\",\n \"By way of example and not limitation, computer readable media comprise computer storage media and communication media.\",\n \"Computer storage media include volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data.\",\n \"Computer storage media are tangible and are mutually exclusive to communication media.\",\n \"In some embodiments, computer storage media are implemented in hardware.\",\n \"Exemplary computer storage media include hard disks, flash drives, and other solid-state memory.\",\n \"In contrast, communication media typically embody computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and include any information delivery media.\",\n \"Although described in connection with an exemplary computing system environment, embodiments of the disclosure are capable of implementation with numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing system environments, configurations, or devices.\",\n \"Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with aspects of the invention include, but are not limited to, mobile computing devices, personal computers, server computers, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, gaming consoles, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, mobile telephones, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices, and the like.\",\n \"Such systems or devices may accept input from the user 104 in any way, including from input devices such as a keyboard or pointing device, via gesture input, and/or via voice input.\",\n \"Embodiments of the invention may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices.\",\n \"The computer-executable instructions may be organized into one or more computer-executable components or modules.\",\n \"Generally, program modules include, but are not limited to, routines, programs, objects, components, and data structures that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types.\",\n \"Aspects of the invention may be implemented with any number and organization of such components or modules.\",\n \"For example, aspects of the invention are not limited to the specific computer-executable instructions or the specific components or modules illustrated in the figures and described herein.\",\n \"Other embodiments of the invention may include different computer-executable instructions or components having more or less functionality than illustrated and described herein.\",\n \"Aspects of the invention transform a general-purpose computer into a special-purpose computing device when configured to execute the instructions described herein.\",\n \"The embodiments illustrated and described herein as well as embodiments not specifically described herein but within the scope of aspects of the invention constitute exemplary means for reducing data transfer costs by opportunistic use of the network connections 132 based on the priority information 114.The order of execution or performance of the operations in embodiments of the invention illustrated and described herein is not essential, unless otherwise specified.\",\n \"That is, the operations may be performed in any order, unless otherwise specified, and embodiments of the invention may include additional or fewer operations than those disclosed herein.\",\n \"For example, it is contemplated that executing or performing a particular operation before, contemporaneously with, or after another operation is within the scope of aspects of the invention.\",\n \"When introducing elements of aspects of the invention or the embodiments thereof, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements.\",\n \"The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements.\",\n \"The term “exemplary” is intended to mean “an example of” The phrase “one or more of the following: A, B, and C” means “at least one of A and/or at least one of B and/or at least one of C.” Having described aspects of the invention in detail, it will be apparent that modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of aspects of the invention as defined in the appended claims.\",\n \"As various changes could be made in the above constructions, products, and methods without departing from the scope of aspects of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876094"}}},{"rowIdx":4495079,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["Portable Intermediary Trusted Device","In one embodiment, an intermediary gaming trusted electronic device for use with an untrusted PED may include a position sensor configured to acquire position information, a memory configured to store at least game session data, and a processor configured to at least: securely communicate with a gaming apparatus via the wireless transceiver; securely communicate with the associated untrusted PED; determine whether a gaming session is permitted based on the position information; receive gaming data from the gaming apparatus if it is determined that the gaming session is permitted; transmit presentation data to the associated untrusted PED for presentation on a display of the associated PED, wherein the intermediary gaming trusted device is able to support interaction between the gaming apparatus and the associated untrusted PED so that the associated untrusted PED, when coupled to the intermediary gaming trusted device, can execute a gaming software."],["1.A portable intermediary gaming trusted device for use with an associated untrusted portable electronic device (FED), the device comprising: a position sensor configured to acquire position information of the associated untrusted PED; a memory configured to store at least game session data; a wireless transceiver; and a processor configured to at least: securely communicate with a gaming apparatus, the gaming apparatus able to receive or process a wager to play a game of chance; securely communicate with the associated untrusted PED; determine whether a gaming session for one or more games of chance is permitted based on the position information; receive gaming data from the gaming apparatus if it is determined that the gaming session is permitted; and enable the associated untrusted PED to display presentation data on a display of the associated untrusted PED, the presentation data being associated with the received gaming data, wherein the associated untrusted PED changes to a trusted device to display presentation data so long as the portable intermediary gaming trusted device is operatively coupled to the associated untrusted PED.","2.A system for playing a wagering game of chance, the system supporting a portable electronic device (FED) having a display to display presentation data associated with gaming data based on the wagering game of chance, the system comprising: a portable intermediary gaming trusted device configured to securely communicate with the PED via a physical connection or a short-range wireless network; and a gaming server configured to securely communicate with the portable intermediary gaming trusted device to determine whether the PED is permitted to participate in a gaming session pertaining to a wager-based game of chance; and transmit gaming data to the PED so long as the PED is permitted to participate in the gaming session pertaining to a wager-based game of chance, wherein the portable intermediary gaming trusted device must remain at least periodically in communication with the gaming server in order for the PED to remain permitted to participate in the gaming session pertaining to a wager-based game of chance.","3.A system for playing a wagering game of chance, the system supporting a portable electronic device (PED) having a display to display presentation data associated with gaming data based on the wagering game of chance, the system comprising: a portable intermediary gaming trusted device configured to securely communicate with the PED via a physical connection or a short-range wireless network; and a gaming apparatus configured to securely communicate with the portable intermediary gaming trusted device to determine whether the PED is permitted to participate in a gaming session pertaining to a wager-based game of chance; and transmit gaming data to the PED so long as the PED is permitted to participate in the gaming session pertaining to a wager-based game of chance, wherein the portable intermediary gaming trusted device must remain at least periodically in communication with the gaming apparatus in order for the PED to remain permitted to participate in the gaming session pertaining to a wager-based game of chance."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Gaming establishments continually try new methods to keep patrons in its establishment in order to increase profits.","With more and more patrons using PEDs, mobile gaming is one way to increase profits.","However, games of chance may not be played on unknown and untrusted PEDs."],["<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more example embodiments and, together with the description of example embodiments, serve to explain the principles and implementations.","In the drawings: FIG.","1 illustrates an example block diagram of a network-based gaming system.","FIGS.","2A-2C illustrate example embodiments of an intermediary trusted gaming device.","FIGS.","3A and 3B illustrate example uses of the intermediary trusted gaming device.","FIG.","4 illustrates an example block diagram of an intermediary trusted gaming device.","FIGS.","5A and 5B illustrate example methods for playing games of chance using an intermediary gaming trusted device.","FIG.","6 illustrates an example method for playing a game of chance on a portable electronic device.","FIG.","7 illustrates an example method for playing a game of chance on a portable electronic device.","detailed-description description=\"Detailed Description\" end=\"lead\"?"],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","15/400,840, filed Jan. 6, 2017, and entitled “PORTABLE INTERMEDIARY TRUSTED DEVICE”, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes, and which in turn is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","13/833,116, filed Mar.","15, 2013, and entitled “PORTABLE INTERMEDIARY TRUSTED DEVICE”, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.","This application is also related to U.S. application Ser.","No.","13/833,953 [Att.Dkt.No.",": 902-P007], filed Mar.","15, 2013, and entitled “GAMING DEVICE DOCKING STATION,” which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety for all purposes.","BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Gaming establishments continually try new methods to keep patrons in its establishment in order to increase profits.","With more and more patrons using PEDs, mobile gaming is one way to increase profits.","However, games of chance may not be played on unknown and untrusted PEDs.","OVERVIEW A network-based gaming system may support interaction between intermediary gaming trusted devices and PEDs and/or gaming machines so that games of chance are able to be securely presented to the user(s).","The intermediary gaming trusted device is able to support a secure and controlled interaction between a gaming apparatus and an associated unknown, untrusted PED so that the associated untrusted PED, when coupled to the intermediary gaming trusted device, becomes a trusted PED and can execute gaming software.","In one embodiment, an intermediary gaming trusted electronic device for use with an associated untrusted PED may include a position sensor configured to acquire position information of the untrusted PED, a memory configured to store at least game session data, a wireless transceiver, and a processor configured to at least: (i) securely communicate with a gaming apparatus via the wireless transceiver; (ii) securely communicate with the associated untrusted PED; (iii) determine whether a gaming session is permitted based on the position information; (iv) receive gaming data from the gaming apparatus if it is determined that the gaming session is permitted; and (v) transmit presentation data to the associated untrusted PED for presentation on a display of the associated PED, the presentation data associated with the received gaming data, wherein the intermediary gaming trusted device is able to support interaction between the gaming apparatus and the associated untrusted PED so that the associated untrusted PED, when coupled to the intermediary gaming trusted device, can execute a gaming software.","In another embodiment, an intermediary gaming trusted device for use with an associated untrusted portable electronic device (PED), the device including a position sensor configured to acquire position information of the PED, a memory configured to store at least game session data, a wireless transceiver, and a processor configured to at least: (i) securely communicate with the gaming apparatus via the wireless transceiver; (ii) securely communicate with the associated untrusted PED; (iii) determine whether a gaming session is permitted based on the position information; (iv) receive gaming data from the gaming apparatus if it is determined that the gaming session is permitted; and (v) transmit presentation data to the associated untrusted PED for presentation on a display of the associated PED, the presentation data being associated with the received gaming data, wherein the associated untrusted PED can be trusted to display presentation data so long as the intermediary gaming trusted device is coupled thereto.","In one embodiment, a system for playing a wagering game includes a portable electronic device (PED) having a display to display presentation data associated with gaming data, an intermediary gaming trusted device configured to securely communicate with the PED via a physical or wireless means, and a gaming apparatus configured to securely communicate with the intermediary gaming trusted device to transmit the gaming data to the intermediary gaming trusted device, wherein the intermediary gaming trusted device is configured to transmit the presentation data to the PED to allow a user of the PED to execute gaming software.","The present invention provides other hardware configured to perform the methods of the invention, as well as software stored in a machine-readable medium (e.g., a tangible storage medium) to control devices to perform these methods.","These and other features will be presented in more detail in the following detailed description of the invention and the associated figures.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more example embodiments and, together with the description of example embodiments, serve to explain the principles and implementations.","In the drawings: FIG.","1 illustrates an example block diagram of a network-based gaming system.","FIGS.","2A-2C illustrate example embodiments of an intermediary trusted gaming device.","FIGS.","3A and 3B illustrate example uses of the intermediary trusted gaming device.","FIG.","4 illustrates an example block diagram of an intermediary trusted gaming device.","FIGS.","5A and 5B illustrate example methods for playing games of chance using an intermediary gaming trusted device.","FIG.","6 illustrates an example method for playing a game of chance on a portable electronic device.","FIG.","7 illustrates an example method for playing a game of chance on a portable electronic device.","DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS The present disclosure relates generally to gaming systems.","More particularly, the present disclosure relates to use of a portable electronic device (PED) in a gaming system and even more particularly use of a PED in a gaming system with an intermediary trusted device.","Embodiments are described herein in the context of a portable intermediary trusted device.","The following detailed description is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting.","Other embodiments will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit of this disclosure.","Reference will now be made in detail to implementations as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.","The same reference indicators will be used throughout the drawings and the following detailed description to refer to the same or like parts.","In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations described herein are shown and described.","It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with application- and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another.","Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.","In accordance with the present invention, the components, process steps, and/or data structures may be implemented using various types of operating systems, computing platforms, computer programs, and/or general purpose machines.","In addition, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that devices of a less general purpose nature, such as hardwired devices, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or the like, may also be used without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventive concepts disclosed herein.","FIG.","1 illustrates an example block diagram of a network-based gaming system.","The network-based gaming system 100 may support interaction between intermediary gaming trusted devices and one or more unknown, untrusted PEDs and/or gaming machines so that games of chance are able to be securely presented to the user(s).","Initially, PEDs are untrusted devices and are supported or capable to play games of chance.","However, once connected to an intermediary gaming trusted device, a PED becomes or is otherwise transformed into a trusted PED and is able to be used to execute gaming software.","The network-based gaming system 100 may include at least one intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n (where n is an integer).","The intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n may be associated with a PED 112a-n via a physical or wireless connection.","Although each intermediary gaming trusted device is illustrated as connecting to one PED, the intermediary gaming trusted device may connect to more than one PED and thus acts as a trusted connection hub for multiple PED's.","The PED 112a-n may be any portable device having a display such as, for example, portable telephones, laptops, computers, notebooks, tablets, media players, and the like.","Wireless connections may be any known wireless methods such as a 3G wireless technology, 4G wireless technology, Bluetooth, wireless universal serial bus, near-field magnetic or communication sensor, Fire Wire, WiMax, IEEE 802.11x technology, radio frequency, narrow-beam infrared (IR) sensor, RFID tag, WiFi, vibration sensor or any other known wireless methods.","Wired connections may be any known connection using a wire.","The connection between the intermediary gaming trusted device and PED creates a secured pairing environment.","Once paired, either a short-range (e.g.","Bluetooth) or a long-range (e.g.","WiFi) wireless communication tether (e.g.","wireless leash) may be established and maintained during the wireless communication session.","The intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n may be configured to communicate with a gaming server 102 via a network 106 through a wired or wireless connection.","In the same or another embodiment, the intermediary gaming trusted device 118 associated with the PED 120 may also be configured to communicate with a gaming machine 104 through a wired or wireless connection.","The gaming machine 104 may then connect to the gaming server 102 via network 106 also through a wired or wireless connection.","Wireless connections may be any known wireless methods such as a 3G wireless technology, 4G wireless technology, Bluetooth, wireless universal serial bus, near-field magnetic, Fire Wire, WiMax, IEEE 802.11 technology, radio frequency, or any other known wireless methods.","Wired connections may be any known connection using a wire.","The gaming server 102 may be configured to communicate with a player tracking server 108, location server 120, and an authentication server 116.The player tracking server 108 may communicate with a player tracking database 110 to obtain tracked player information such as player preferences, games of chance the player likes to play, entertainment the player enjoys, accumulated and used points, number of wins and losses, and any other similar player information.","The authentication sever 116 may be used to authenticate and/or verify the player, the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118, the PED 112a-n, 120, the gaming machine 104, or perform any other authentication or verification functions.","Any known authentication method may be used, such as public-private key authentication algorithms, random number generators, authentication keys, location authentication, and the like.","Each intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 120 may be assigned to at least one PED 112a-n, 118.Although each intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 is illustrated as being associated with one PED 112a-n, 120, this is not meant to be limiting as the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may be assigned to more than one PED 112a-n, 120 and acts as a trusted gaming hub.","Initially, PEDs are unknown and untrusted devices not capable of playing games of chance.","However, once connected to an intermediary gaming trusted device, the PED becomes or is otherwise transformed into a trusted PED and is able to be used to play games of chance.","Each intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may have a connector to connect to the PED 112a-n, 120.The connector is further illustrated and described in detail with reference to FIGS.","2A-C and 3, however, example connectors may be a universal serial bus, male connector, wire, or any other connector able to connect the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 with the PED 112a-n, 120 to transmit and receive data.","The intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may be configured to communicate with the authentication server 116.The intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may then, in turn, authenticate or verify the user of PED 112a-n, 120.The user of the PED 112a-n, 120 may be authenticated and/or verified though any known authentication and verification methods such as, for example, biometric verification (i.e.","voice recognition, retinal scan, fingerprint verification, and the like), username, password, account number, and the like.","Authentication of the user may also include authentication via a web-application associated with the gaming establishment and/or uploading authentication software from the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 to the PED 112a-n, 120.In another embodiment, the user of the PED 112a-n, 120 may also obtain the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 from a gaming establishment personnel.","The gaming establishment personnel may then authenticate and/or verify the user as well as associate the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 to the PED 112a-n, 120.Once authenticated, the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may receive gaming data from the gaming server 102.The gaming data may include gaming information or gaming establishment information.","Gaming information may include, for example, player tracking information, gaming options, data to play a game of chance, funding information or options in order to play the games of chance, pay tables, and the like.","The gaming establishment information may include, for example, advertisements (e.g.","buffet coupons, movie trailers, and the like), tournament information, room booking information, entertainment information, and the like.","The intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may control and review the communication between the PED and the gaming server 102.The intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may be configured to determine if the communication meets any desired rules or regulations.","For example, if the user selects a “Cash Out” option on the PED 112a-n, 120 for $100,000.00, but the maximum amount to be cashed out is $2,000, the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may prevent the user from cashing out.","The intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may transmit the gaming data to the PED 114a-n, 120 or to the gaming machine 104.The intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may enable the PED 112a-n, 120 or the gaming machine 104 to display the gaming data.","For example, if the gaming data is to play a game of chance, the game of chance may be displayed on a display of the PED 112a-n, 120 or the gaming machine 104.The game of chance may be, for example, poker, black jack, roulette, bingo, keno, video slot machine games, or any other game of chance.","The intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may be configured to receive data from the PED 114a-n, 120 or the gaming machine 104 that is inputted by the user.","The received data may then be transmitted from the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 to the gaming server 102 via the network 106 for processing.","The received data may be transmitted to the gaming server 102 dynamically or periodically.","In other words, the received data may be transmitted to the gaming server 102 dynamically or in real-time as it is received by the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118.Alternatively, the received data may be buffered and transmitted to the gaming server 102 periodically such as every minute, ten (10) minutes, hour, or any other pre-defined time period.","The gaming server 102 may then process and store the gaming data received from the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118.The stored gaming data may be used in case of a power outage, weak or lost signals, or any other loss of gaming data.","Once the received gaming data is processed, the gaming server 102 may transmit additional gaming data in response to the processed gaming data.","The additional gaming data may be transmitted, in real-time on an as needed basis or in a bulk transfer mode for batch operations, to the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 for display on the PED 114a-n, 120 or the gaming machine 104 so that the player can continue to play the game of chance or receive additional gaming information.","For instance, a video poker game on the gaming machine 104 may receive one card at a time, or five cards at a time, or ten cards at a time.","In another example, a 5-reel slot game may receive one random number seed at a time, or 100 random number seeds for the next 20 games.","Player input may include a selection of one of a plurality of games of chance, player preference options, selection of advertisement information, or the like.","The gaming server 102 may be configured to determine the location of the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 using location server 120.Any known position or location methods may be used to determine the location of the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 such as cellular positioning, triangulation, global positioning systems, or any other location or positioning determining method.","The position or location of the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may be obtained periodically or at any pre-defined time period.","For example, the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may be pinged every thirty (30) seconds, minute, ten minutes, hour, or any periodic time interval for its location.","A user may be prevented from playing a game or using the intermediary trusted gaming device 114a-n, 118 due to location, time, establishment rules, government rules, or any other restrictions the gaming establishment may have or impose.","For example, if the user decides to leave the gaming establishment and the location server 120 determines that the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 is outside the gaming establishment, the gaming server 102 may cause to the intermediary gaming trusted device to cease performing any gaming activities.","In another embodiment, if the intermediary trusted gaming device 114a-n, 118 is in a restricted location such as the kids club, the intermediary trusted gaming device 114a-n may cease performing any gaming activities.","In still another example, if the player has played or lost a certain amount of money, the intermediary trusted gaming device 114a-n may cease performing any gaming activities.","FIGS.","2A-3C illustrate example embodiments of an intermediary trusted gaming device.","The intermediary trusted gaming device may be a portable electronic device that a user may carry around.","The intermediary trusted gaming device may be any size, but is preferably sized to fit in a pocket, purse, or the like.","FIG.","2A illustrates one example of an intermediary trusted gaming device.","The intermediary trusted gaming device 200 may include a housing 210.The housing 210 may have at least a status indicator, such as one light emitting diode (LED) 204.The LED 204 may be any color and any shape.","The LED 204 may be configured to turn on or off to inform the user of its activities.","For example, a green LED 204 may inform the user that the intermediary trusted gaming device 200 is properly connected to a PED, such as PED 112a-n, 118 illustrated in FIG.","1.In another example, a red LED 204 may inform the user that the intermediary trusted gaming device 200 is low on battery or is not properly connected to the PED, such as PED 112a-n, 118 illustrated in FIG.","1.In still another example, the LED 204 may flash to inform the user that the intermediary trusted gaming device 200 is receiving information either from the PED and/or gaming server, such as gaming server 102 illustrated in FIG.","1.Although the LED 204 is illustrated as being positioned on side 212 of the intermediary trusted gaming device 200, this is not intended to be limiting as the LED 204 may located anywhere on housing 210.Although the status indicator is described as a simple LED indicator, it maybe implemented as a LCD display for user-friendly text or graphical information.","Intermediary trusted gaming device 200 may have connector 206 configured to connect to a PED, such as PED 112a-n, 118 illustrated in FIG.","1.Connector 206 may be configured to receive or transmit signals or data from/to the PED.","As illustrated, connector 206 may be a USB connector.","Although illustrated as being positioned on side 202 of the intermediary trusted gaming device 200, this is not intended to be limiting as the connector 206 may located anywhere on housing 210.FIG.","2B illustrates another example intermediary trusted gaming device.","The intermediary trusted gaming device 220 may include a housing 230, display 224, microphone 228, buttons 226a-n, and connector 222.Connector 222, similar to connector 206 illustrated in FIG.","2A, may be configured to connect to a PED.","Display 224 positioned on the housing may be used to display any desired information.","For example, the display may display a request for a username and/or password, inform the user that the intermediary trusted gaming device 220 is properly connected to the PED, such as PED 112a-n, 118 illustrated in FIG.","1, or any other desired information.","In one embodiment, display 224 may be a projector.","For example, if the image on the display of the PED is too small, the player may want to view a larger image to play the game of chance.","The display may be configured to project the game of chance in a larger image and allow the player to play the game of chance.","The image may be projected on a table, wall, or any other surface or non-surface.","The microphone 228 may be configured to receive audio input, such as, for example, voice input.","For example, if the user is unable to input his password on the PED, for any reason, the user may speak his password into the microphone.","In another example, the microphone 228 may be used to receive the user's voice to authenticate the user.","Instead of the microphone 228, other biometric sensors such as a camera or a fingerprint sensor may also be used for authenticating the user of the PED.","Buttons 226a-n may be used for any desired purpose or reason.","For example, buttons 226a-n may be used to turn the intermediary trusted gaming device 220 on or off.","In another example, button 226a-n may be used to signal a gaming establishment personnel that the player would like to order a drink.","In another embodiment, buttons 226a-n maybe a numeric keypad, or an alphanumeric keypad, or a directional keypad, and the like.","FIG.","2C illustrates still another example of an intermediary trusted gaming device.","Intermediary trusted gaming device 240 is similar to intermediary trusted gaming device 220 illustrated in FIG.","2B, except that intermediary trusted gaming device 240 includes a camera 244.Camera 244 may be used for any desired purpose or reason.","For example, camera 244 may be used to authenticate the player (e.g.","facial recognition, compare a picture of the player stored in the player tracking database to a picture taken by the intermediary trusted gaming device 240, and the like).","In another example, camera 244 may be used to allow a player to take a picture for upload to the player's player tracking account.","In still another example, camera 244 may be configured to recognize player gestures to allow the player to play the games of chance as opposed to using the PED to input data.","Although intermediary trusted gaming device 200, 220, 240 is illustrated as having a rectangular shape, this is for illustrating purposes and is not intended to be limiting.","Intermediary trusted gaming device 200, 220, 240 may be formed of any desired shape such as a circle, triangle, star, shape of the gaming establishment's logo, and the like.","Additionally, indicia may be printed anywhere on the housing of intermediary trusted gaming device 200, 220, 240.For example, the intermediary trusted gaming device 200, 220, 240 may be personalized for the player.","In another example, the intermediary trusted gaming device 200, 220, 240 may include indicia of any sponsor, the gaming establishment, or any other desired indicia.","FIGS.","3A and 3B illustrate example uses of the intermediary trusted gaming device.","Referring to FIG.","3A, the intermediary trusted gaming device 310 may have a connector 306 configured to connect into any input/output (I/O) port 308 of the PED 300 via arrow A.","When connected properly, PED 300 may have a display 302 to display gaming data received from the intermediary trusted gaming device 310.Although illustrated with the use of a connector 306, this is for illustrative purposes only and not meant to be limiting as the intermediary trusted gaming device 310 may also be configured to communicate with the PED 300 via any known wireless methods.","In other words, intermediary trusted gaming device 310 need not be physically connected to the PED 300 to communicate with the PED 300.Referring now to FIG.","3B, intermediary trusted gaming device 310 may connect to a gaming machine 320.In one embodiment, intermediary trusted gaming device 310 may be coupled to a PED 300 and be configured to communicate with the gaming device 310 wirelessly.","For example, the player may want to play the game of chance at the sports bar while watching a basketball game.","However, after the basketball game ends, the player may then want to sit and continue to play the game of chance on gaming machine 320.In another embodiment, intermediary trusted gaming device 310 may be coupled to the gaming machine 320 itself at I/O port 324.For example, the PED 300 may be low on batteries but the player would like to continue to play his game of chance.","Thus, the intermediary trusted gaming device 310 may be coupled to the gaming machine 320 at I/O port 324.Although the I/O port is illustrated on housing 326 of gaming machine 320, this is for illustrative purposes only and not meant to be limiting.","For example, I/O port 324 may also be positioned on a player tracking device 322 or in any other position on housing 326.Whether connected to the PED 300 or gaming machine 320, intermediary trusted gaming device 310 may transmit or receive gaming data to or from gaming server 325 via any known wireless methods.","If the intermediary trusted gaming device 310 is connected to the PED 300, the gaming data may be displayed on display 302 of the PED 300.If the intermediary trusted gaming device 310 is connected to the gaming machine 320, the gaming data may be displayed on display 328 or secondary display 330.FIG.","4 illustrates an example block diagram of an intermediary trusted gaming device.","The intermediary trusted gaming device 400 may have a processor 402 configured to communicate with connector 404.Processor 402 may be configured to receive and transmit gaming information via connector 404 from and to the PED.","Processor 402 may also be configured to communicate with a camera 408, microphone 410, LED 416, display 414, and buttons or switches 420.As stated above with reference to FIG.","2B, camera 408 may be used to authenticate or verify the user.","Once a picture of the player is taken using camera 408, processor 402 may process the picture to authenticate or verify the player.","Additionally, processor 402 may process the input associated with selected buttons 420 or display the desired message or indicia on display 414.As stated above with reference to FIG.","2C, microphone 410 may also be used to authenticate or verify the user.","Once the player's voice is captured by the intermediary trusted gaming device 400 via microphone 410, processor 402 may process the player's voice to authenticate or verify the player.","Additionally, processor 402 may be configured to control LED 416 as described above with reference to FIG.","2A.","Intermediary trusted gaming device 400 may also have at least one transceiver 412.In one embodiment, the intermediary trusted gaming device 400 may have a long-range transceiver, short-range transceiver, or both.","The transceiver 412 may be designed to locate the position of the intermediary trusted gaming device 400 through use of any known positioning methods as discussed in detail above.","As stated above, intermediary trusted gaming device 400 may communicate wirelessly and therefore may have a wireless sensor 422.Intermediary trusted gaming device 400 may have at least one memory 406.The memory 406 may be any type of memory configured to store gaming applications, game logic, game session data, authentication software, and the like.","For example, the memory may be a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), flash memory, dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”)), and the like.","The intermediary trusted gaming device 400 may have a power source 424.The power source 424 may be any known power source such as a battery and may be powered through any known means.","For example, the power source 424 may be powered when physically connected to a PED or plugged into a power outlet.","When the power source 424 is an internal battery, it maybe recharged when connected to an external power source such as a power outlet.","Having an internal battery onboard the intermediary trusted device 400 may maintain communication to another device in the network such as a location server or a game server even when the PED is not powered on.","In one embodiment, the intermediary trusted device 400's connection to the location server persists so that its location can be accounted for at all time.","In one embodiment, intermediary trusted gaming device 400 may also have a cryptographic module 418 to decrypt communication received from a gaming server and/or PED and to encrypt communication transmitted to the PED and/or gaming server.","FIGS.","5A and 5B illustrate example methods for playing games of chance using an intermediary gaming trusted device.","Referring to FIG.","5A, the method 500 initially begins with associating an intermediary gaming trusted device with an untrusted PED at 502.The association may occur through any known association methods.","For example, the gaming establishment personnel may manually associate the intermediary gaming trusted device with the untrusted PED.","In another example, the intermediary gaming trusted device may be physically coupled to the untrusted PED.","The associated untrusted PED may be detected at 504 by the intermediary gaming trusted device.","If physically coupled to the untrusted PED, detection of the untrusted PED may occur when the intermediary gaming trusted device is coupled to the PED via the connector of the intermediary gaming trusted device.","If communication of the untrusted PED is wireless, detection may occur when the intermediary gaming trusted device connects wirelessly with the untrusted PED.","A determination of whether the user of the untrusted PED is authenticated is made at 506.If the user is not authenticated, the method 500 may end.","Authentication and/or verification of the user may be through any known authentication and verification methods such as, for example, biometric verification (i.e.","voice recognition, retinal scan, fingerprint verification, and the like), username, password, account number, and the like.","Authentication of the user may also include authentication via a web-application associated with the gaming establishment and/or uploading authentication software from the intermediary gaming trusted device to the untrusted PED.","In another embodiment, the user of the untrusted PED may also obtain the intermediary gaming trusted device from a gaming establishment personnel.","The gaming establishment personnel may then authenticate and/or verify the user as well as associate the intermediary gaming trusted device to the untrusted PED.","If the user of the untrusted PED is authenticated, the intermediary gaming trusted device may be authenticated at 508.If the intermediary gaming trusted device is not authenticated, the method 500 may end.","Authentication of the intermediary gaming trusted device may be made by any known means.","For example, a unique identifier of the intermediary gaming trusted device may be compared to identifiers stored at a gaming server.","In one embodiment, the intermediary gaming trusted device may automatically connect to the gaming server and authenticate itself when turned on or powered up.","If the intermediary gaming trusted device is authenticated at 508, the intermediary gaming trusted device may receive gaming data at 510 from a gaming server.","The gaming data may include a plurality of options.","The gaming data may include gaming information or gaming establishment information.","Gaming information may include, for example, player tracking information, gaming options, data to play a game of chance, funding information or options in order to play the games of chance, pay tables, and the like.","The gaming establishment information may include, for example, advertisements (e.g.","buffet coupons, movie trailers, and the like), tournament information, room booking information, entertainment information, and the like.","The untrusted PED becomes or is otherwise transformed into a trusted PED and the gaming data may then be transmitted to the associated trusted PED.","As stated above, the gaming data may include a plurality of gaming options, such as, for example, a list of games of chance the user may select to play.","The games of chance may be any game of chance such as blackjack, poker, roulette, craps, bingo, keno, video slot machines, and the like.","Each list may also include a logo or any other indicia with each option, a summary of what the option is, a number of times the player has played each game of chance, the last time the selection was made by the player, or any other desired information.","A selection of one of the gaming options may be detected at 514.For example, the player may want and select to play a game of black jack.","In one embodiment, selection of one of the gaming options may be executed by the user on the trusted PED.","In another embodiment, selection of one of the gaming options may be selected on the intermediary gaming trusted device.","Once a selection has been made, the intermediary gaming trusted device may transmit the selected gaming option to the gaming server at 516.Referring now to FIG.","5B, gaming data associated with the selected gaming option may be received at 518 by the intermediary gaming trusted device.","For example, gaming data to play black jack may be received if the black jack option was selected.","The gaming data may then be transmitted to the associated trusted PED for display on a display of the associated trusted PED at 520.Once displayed, any input associated with the displayed data may be detected at 522.For example, if the data displayed was to play a game of chance, inputs associated with playing the game of chance may be detected such as a wagering amount, spin, hold, and the like.","In another example, if the data displayed was a poker tournament, the input may be to register for the tournament.","In still another example, if the displayed data was a coupon to the buffet, the input may be to add the coupon to the player tracking account, print the coupon, or a cancel the coupon.","The user input may be detected from the PED or the intermediary gaming trusted device.","If the displayed data was to play a game of chance, the gaming session data may be generated at 524.In one embodiment, the intermediary gaming trusted device may generate the gaming session data at 524.For instance, the number of games played, by whom, where and when, and the aggregate amount of wager since the start of the game session maybe calculated and recorded by the intermediary gaming trusted device.","In still another embodiment, the gaming session data may be generated from the gaming server and transmitted to the intermediary gaming trusted device.","For instance, a random bonus amount and the associated triggering event maybe generated by the gaming server and sent to the intermediary gaming trusted device.","In yet another embodiment, the gaming session data maybe generated from the user's inputs at the PED during the gaming session.","Gaming session data may include any information the user inputs while playing a game, number of wins or losses, amount of funds remaining or added, clicking on advertisements, and any other gaming information generated during the game session.","The gaming session data may be stored at 526.The gaming session data may be stored on the intermediary gaming trusted device periodically or dynamically in real-time.","For example, the gaming session data may be stored or saved at predefined intervals such as every minute, every hour, every ten (10) seconds, and the like.","In another example, the gaming session data may be stored dynamically as the gaming session data is generated.","The gaming session data may be transmitted to the gaming server at 528.The gaming session data may be transmitted to the gaming server periodically or dynamically in real-time.","For example, the gaming session data may be buffered and transmitted at predefined intervals such as every minute, every hour, every ten (10) seconds, and the like.","In another example, the gaming session data may be transmitted dynamically in real-time as the gaming session data is generated.","A determination of whether the gaming session is still permitted is made at 530.Gaming sessions may be permitted based on various factors such as location of the intermediary gaming trusted device, duration of play, time of day, user information, gaming regulations, amount played, and the like.","For example, if the intermediary gaming trusted device is determined to be in the parking lot where playing games of chance are not permitted, the gaming session will end and the intermediary gaming trusted device may cease to perform any gaming activities.","In another example, if gaming regulations prohibit game play after the loss of $500 within a 24-hr period, the gaming session will end and the intermediary gaming trusted device may cease to perform any gaming activities.","If the gaming session is permitted at 530, a determination of whether gaming information is requested is made at 532.If a request for gaming information is detected at 532, the intermediary gaming trusted device may transmit the request to the gaming server and the method 500 may continue at step 512 of FIG.","5A.","If a request for gaming information is not detected or not permitted at 532, a determination of whether the gaming session ends is made at 534.For example, if a cash-out input was detected, the gaming session may end.","In another example, if the PED has been determined to have been moved out of the allowed area, the gaming session may also end.","In yet another example, if there are no credits to play the game of chance, the gaming session may end.","If the gaming session did not end at 534, the method may continue at step 522.If the gaming session is determined to end at 534, the gaming session data may be transmitted to the gaming server at 536.Once the gaming session data is transmitted to the gaming server at 536, all gaming session data, gaming data, gaming software, and any other gaming related information and data are deleted from the associated trusted PED at 538.All gaming related information and data are deleted from the associated trusted PED to prevent fraud, hacking, and the like.","FIG.","6 illustrates an example method for playing a game of chance on a portable electronic device.","The PED may be connected to an intermediary gaming trusted device to convert or otherwise transform an untrusted PED to a trusted PED to play games of chance and/or receive gaming related information.","The method 600 initially begins with detection of the intermediary gaming trusted electronic device at 602.If physically coupled to the untrusted PED, detection of the intermediary gaming trusted device occurs when it is coupled to the PED via a connector, wire, or any other means.","If communication with the intermediary gaming trusted device is wireless, detection may occur when the untrusted PED connects wirelessly with the intermediary gaming trusted device.","An authentication and/or verification request may be received at 604.The untrusted PED may receive the authentication request form detected intermediary gaming trusted electronic device.","Authentication and/or verification of the user may be through any known authentication and verification methods such as, for example, biometric verification (i.e.","voice recognition, retinal scan, fingerprint verification, and the like), username, password, account number, and the like.","Authentication of the user may also include authentication via a web-application associated with the gaming establishment and/or uploading authentication software from the intermediary gaming trusted device to the untrusted PED.","In another embodiment, the user of the untrusted PED may also obtain the intermediary gaming trusted device from a gaming establishment personnel.","The gaming establishment personnel may then authenticate and/or verify the user as well as associate the intermediary gaming trusted device to the untrusted PED.","In still another embodiment, the authentication request may require the untrusted PED to download software or an authentication application.","The software may request the user of the untrusted PED to input authentication and/or verification information to authenticate and/or verify the user.","If the untrusted PED is not authenticated at 606, the intermediary gaming trusted device will cease to perform any tasks and the method 600 may end.","If the untrusted PED is authenticated at 606, the untrusted PED then becomes or is otherwise converted to a trusted PED.","The trusted PED may then receive gaming data from the intermediary gaming trusted electronic device at 608.The gaming data may have a plurality of gaming options.","The gaming data may include gaming information or gaming establishment information.","Gaming information may include, for example, player tracking information, gaming options, data to play a game of chance, funding information or options in order to play the games of chance, pay tables, and the like.","The gaming establishment information may include, for example, advertisements (e.g.","buffet coupons, movie trailers, and the like), tournament information, room booking information, entertainment information, and the like.","The gaming options may include a list of games of chance the player may like to play such as, blackjack, poker, video slot machines, video games, keno, and the like.","Each list may also include a logo or any other indicia with each option, a summary of what the option is, a number of times the player has played each game of chance, the last time the selection was made by the player, or any other desired information.","The gaming data may then be displayed on a display of the trusted PED at 610.The user of the trusted PED may select an option associated with the displayed gaming data which is then transmitted to the intermediary gaming trusted device at 612.The selection may be made using the trusted PED and/or the intermediary gaming trusted device.","For example, if the gaming data was a list of games of chance the play may play, the list may be displayed on the display of the trusted PED and the use may select one of the games of chance to play.","The selected game of chance may be transmitted to the intermediary gaming trusted device.","In another example, if the gaming data was a coupon for the buffet, the option may be to accept or decline the coupon which the user may select.","The selection may then be transmitted to the intermediary gaming trusted device.","If the user selected a game of chance to play using the trusted PED, gaming data may be received at 614 to start a gaming session for the player.","The gaming data may be associated with the selected game of chance.","For example, gaming data to play black jack may be received if the black jack option was selected.","The gaming data may then be transmitted to the associated trusted PED for display on a display of the associated trusted PED at 616.Once displayed, any input associated with the displayed gaming data may be detected and transmitted to the intermediary gaming trusted device at 618.For example, if the data displayed was to play a game of chance, inputs associated with playing the game of chance may be detected such as a wagering amount, spin, hold, and the like.","In another example, if the data displayed was a poker tournament, the input may be to register for the tournament.","In still another example, if the displayed data was a coupon to the buffet, the input may be to add the coupon to the player tracking account, print the coupon, or a cancel the coupon.","The user input may be detected from the PED or the intermediary gaming trusted device.","A determination of whether the gaming session is permitted is made at 620.Gaming sessions may be permitted based on various factors such as location of the intermediary gaming trusted device, duration of play, time of day, user information, gaming regulations, amount played, and the like.","For example, if the intermediary gaming trusted device is determined to be in the parking lot where playing games of chance are not permitted, the gaming session will end and the intermediary gaming trusted device may cease to perform any gaming activities.","In another example, if gaming regulations prohibit game play after the loss of $500 within a 24-hr period, the gaming session will end and the intermediary gaming trusted device may cease to perform any gaming activities.","If the gaming session is permitted at 620, a determination of whether the gaming session should end is made at 622.For example, if a cash-out input was detected, the gaming session may end.","In another example, if the PED has been determined to have been moved out of the allowed area, the gaming session may also end.","In yet another example, if there are no credits to play the game of chance, the gaming session may end.","If the gaming session did not end at 622, the method may continue at step 608.If the gaming session is determined to end at 622, the gaming session data may be transmitted to the intermediary gaming trusted device at 624.Once the gaming session data is transmitted to the intermediary gaming trusted device at 624, all gaming session data, gaming data, gaming software, and any other gaming related information and data are deleted from the associated trusted PED at 626.All gaming related information and data are deleted from the associated trusted PED to prevent fraud, hacking, and the like.","FIG.","7 illustrates an example method for playing a game of chance on a portable electronic device.","The PED may be configured to communicate with an intermediary gaming trusted device which is configured to communicate with a server.","Use of the intermediary gaming trusted device converts an unknown and untrusted PED to a trusted PED to create a controlled and secure environment where a player may play games of chance or obtain gaming data.","The method 700 initially begins when a gaming server receives an authentication request from the intermediary gaming trusted device at 702.The request may be to authenticate the unknown and untrusted PED and/or authenticate the intermediary gaming trusted device.","If neither the untrusted PED and/or intermediary gaming trusted device are authenticated at 704, the method 700 may end.","Authentication and/or verification of the untrusted PED may be through any known authentication and verification methods such as, for example, biometric verification (i.e.","voice recognition, retinal scan, fingerprint verification, and the like) of the user, username, password, account number, device identifier, digital signature of the operating system and/or the software application, and the like.","Authentication of the untrusted PED may also include authentication via a web-application associated with the gaming establishment and/or uploading authentication software from the intermediary gaming trusted device to the untrusted PED.","The information received by the gaming server may be authenticated with information stored in a database, such as, for example, a player tracking base 110 illustrated in FIG.","1.Similarly, the intermediary gaming trusted device may have a unique identifier that may be compared to identifiers stored at the gaming server.","Once authenticated at 704, gaming data may be sent to the intermediary gaming trusted device at 706.The gaming data may include gaming information or gaming establishment information.","Gaming information may include, for example, player tracking information, gaming options, data to play a game of chance, funding information or options in order to play the games of chance, pay tables, and the like.","The gaming establishment information may include, for example, advertisements (e.g.","buffet coupons, movie trailers, and the like), tournament information, room booking information, entertainment information, and the like.","The gaming data may include a plurality of gaming options, such as, for example, a list of games of chance the user may select to play.","The games of chance may be any game of chance such as blackjack, poker, roulette, craps, sicbo, bingo, keno, video slot machines, and the like.","Each list may also include a logo or any other indicia with each option, a summary of what the option is, a number of times the player has played each game of chance, the last time the selection was made by the player, or any other desired information.","A selected gaming option may be received at 708 from the intermediary gaming trusted device.","Gaming data associated with the received selected gaming option may be transmitted at 710 to the intermediary gaming trusted device.","For example, if the received selected gaming option is to play black jack, the transmitted gaming data may be associated with black jack.","In another example, if the selected gaming option is to obtain movie tickets, the gaming data may be a list of movies playing at the theater.","The gaming server may periodically or dynamically receive gaming session data at 712 from the intermediary gaming trusted device.","Gaming session data may be any session data resulting from playing a game of chance such as number of wins or losses, amount of funds remaining or added, clicking on advertisements, and any other gaming information generated during the game session.","The gaming session data may be received periodically or dynamically in real-time.","For example, the gaming session data may be received at predefined intervals such as every minute, every hour, every ten (10) seconds, and the like.","In another example, the gaming session data may be received dynamically in real-time as the gaming session data is generated.","A determination of whether the gaming session is permitted is made at 714.Gaming sessions may be permitted based on various factors such as location of the intermediary gaming trusted device, duration of play, time of day, user information, gaming regulations, amount played, and the like.","For example, if the intermediary gaming trusted device is determined to be in the parking lot where playing games of chance are not permitted, the gaming session will end and the intermediary gaming trusted device may cease to perform any gaming activities.","In another example, if gaming regulations prohibit game play after the loss of $500 within a 24-hr period, the gaming session will end and the intermediary gaming trusted device may cease to perform any gaming activities.","In no gaming session is permitted at 714, the method 700 may end.","If the gaming session is permitted at 714, a determination of whether gaming information is requested is made at 716.If a request for gaming information is detected at 716, the method may return to step 706.If a request for gaming information is not detected at 716, the method 700 may end.","While embodiments and applications of this invention have been shown and described, it would be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure that many more modifications than mentioned above are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"Portable Intermediary Trusted Device\",\n \"In one embodiment, an intermediary gaming trusted electronic device for use with an untrusted PED may include a position sensor configured to acquire position information, a memory configured to store at least game session data, and a processor configured to at least: securely communicate with a gaming apparatus via the wireless transceiver; securely communicate with the associated untrusted PED; determine whether a gaming session is permitted based on the position information; receive gaming data from the gaming apparatus if it is determined that the gaming session is permitted; transmit presentation data to the associated untrusted PED for presentation on a display of the associated PED, wherein the intermediary gaming trusted device is able to support interaction between the gaming apparatus and the associated untrusted PED so that the associated untrusted PED, when coupled to the intermediary gaming trusted device, can execute a gaming software.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A portable intermediary gaming trusted device for use with an associated untrusted portable electronic device (FED), the device comprising: a position sensor configured to acquire position information of the associated untrusted PED; a memory configured to store at least game session data; a wireless transceiver; and a processor configured to at least: securely communicate with a gaming apparatus, the gaming apparatus able to receive or process a wager to play a game of chance; securely communicate with the associated untrusted PED; determine whether a gaming session for one or more games of chance is permitted based on the position information; receive gaming data from the gaming apparatus if it is determined that the gaming session is permitted; and enable the associated untrusted PED to display presentation data on a display of the associated untrusted PED, the presentation data being associated with the received gaming data, wherein the associated untrusted PED changes to a trusted device to display presentation data so long as the portable intermediary gaming trusted device is operatively coupled to the associated untrusted PED.\",\n \"2.A system for playing a wagering game of chance, the system supporting a portable electronic device (FED) having a display to display presentation data associated with gaming data based on the wagering game of chance, the system comprising: a portable intermediary gaming trusted device configured to securely communicate with the PED via a physical connection or a short-range wireless network; and a gaming server configured to securely communicate with the portable intermediary gaming trusted device to determine whether the PED is permitted to participate in a gaming session pertaining to a wager-based game of chance; and transmit gaming data to the PED so long as the PED is permitted to participate in the gaming session pertaining to a wager-based game of chance, wherein the portable intermediary gaming trusted device must remain at least periodically in communication with the gaming server in order for the PED to remain permitted to participate in the gaming session pertaining to a wager-based game of chance.\",\n \"3.A system for playing a wagering game of chance, the system supporting a portable electronic device (PED) having a display to display presentation data associated with gaming data based on the wagering game of chance, the system comprising: a portable intermediary gaming trusted device configured to securely communicate with the PED via a physical connection or a short-range wireless network; and a gaming apparatus configured to securely communicate with the portable intermediary gaming trusted device to determine whether the PED is permitted to participate in a gaming session pertaining to a wager-based game of chance; and transmit gaming data to the PED so long as the PED is permitted to participate in the gaming session pertaining to a wager-based game of chance, wherein the portable intermediary gaming trusted device must remain at least periodically in communication with the gaming apparatus in order for the PED to remain permitted to participate in the gaming session pertaining to a wager-based game of chance.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>Gaming establishments continually try new methods to keep patrons in its establishment in order to increase profits.\",\n \"With more and more patrons using PEDs, mobile gaming is one way to increase profits.\",\n \"However, games of chance may not be played on unknown and untrusted PEDs.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more example embodiments and, together with the description of example embodiments, serve to explain the principles and implementations.\",\n \"In the drawings: FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an example block diagram of a network-based gaming system.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"2A-2C illustrate example embodiments of an intermediary trusted gaming device.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"3A and 3B illustrate example uses of the intermediary trusted gaming device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an example block diagram of an intermediary trusted gaming device.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"5A and 5B illustrate example methods for playing games of chance using an intermediary gaming trusted device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an example method for playing a game of chance on a portable electronic device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an example method for playing a game of chance on a portable electronic device.\",\n \"detailed-description description=\\\"Detailed Description\\\" end=\\\"lead\\\"?\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/400,840, filed Jan. 6, 2017, and entitled “PORTABLE INTERMEDIARY TRUSTED DEVICE”, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes, and which in turn is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/833,116, filed Mar.\",\n \"15, 2013, and entitled “PORTABLE INTERMEDIARY TRUSTED DEVICE”, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.\",\n \"This application is also related to U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/833,953 [Att.Dkt.No.\",\n \": 902-P007], filed Mar.\",\n \"15, 2013, and entitled “GAMING DEVICE DOCKING STATION,” which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety for all purposes.\",\n \"BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Gaming establishments continually try new methods to keep patrons in its establishment in order to increase profits.\",\n \"With more and more patrons using PEDs, mobile gaming is one way to increase profits.\",\n \"However, games of chance may not be played on unknown and untrusted PEDs.\",\n \"OVERVIEW A network-based gaming system may support interaction between intermediary gaming trusted devices and PEDs and/or gaming machines so that games of chance are able to be securely presented to the user(s).\",\n \"The intermediary gaming trusted device is able to support a secure and controlled interaction between a gaming apparatus and an associated unknown, untrusted PED so that the associated untrusted PED, when coupled to the intermediary gaming trusted device, becomes a trusted PED and can execute gaming software.\",\n \"In one embodiment, an intermediary gaming trusted electronic device for use with an associated untrusted PED may include a position sensor configured to acquire position information of the untrusted PED, a memory configured to store at least game session data, a wireless transceiver, and a processor configured to at least: (i) securely communicate with a gaming apparatus via the wireless transceiver; (ii) securely communicate with the associated untrusted PED; (iii) determine whether a gaming session is permitted based on the position information; (iv) receive gaming data from the gaming apparatus if it is determined that the gaming session is permitted; and (v) transmit presentation data to the associated untrusted PED for presentation on a display of the associated PED, the presentation data associated with the received gaming data, wherein the intermediary gaming trusted device is able to support interaction between the gaming apparatus and the associated untrusted PED so that the associated untrusted PED, when coupled to the intermediary gaming trusted device, can execute a gaming software.\",\n \"In another embodiment, an intermediary gaming trusted device for use with an associated untrusted portable electronic device (PED), the device including a position sensor configured to acquire position information of the PED, a memory configured to store at least game session data, a wireless transceiver, and a processor configured to at least: (i) securely communicate with the gaming apparatus via the wireless transceiver; (ii) securely communicate with the associated untrusted PED; (iii) determine whether a gaming session is permitted based on the position information; (iv) receive gaming data from the gaming apparatus if it is determined that the gaming session is permitted; and (v) transmit presentation data to the associated untrusted PED for presentation on a display of the associated PED, the presentation data being associated with the received gaming data, wherein the associated untrusted PED can be trusted to display presentation data so long as the intermediary gaming trusted device is coupled thereto.\",\n \"In one embodiment, a system for playing a wagering game includes a portable electronic device (PED) having a display to display presentation data associated with gaming data, an intermediary gaming trusted device configured to securely communicate with the PED via a physical or wireless means, and a gaming apparatus configured to securely communicate with the intermediary gaming trusted device to transmit the gaming data to the intermediary gaming trusted device, wherein the intermediary gaming trusted device is configured to transmit the presentation data to the PED to allow a user of the PED to execute gaming software.\",\n \"The present invention provides other hardware configured to perform the methods of the invention, as well as software stored in a machine-readable medium (e.g., a tangible storage medium) to control devices to perform these methods.\",\n \"These and other features will be presented in more detail in the following detailed description of the invention and the associated figures.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more example embodiments and, together with the description of example embodiments, serve to explain the principles and implementations.\",\n \"In the drawings: FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an example block diagram of a network-based gaming system.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"2A-2C illustrate example embodiments of an intermediary trusted gaming device.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"3A and 3B illustrate example uses of the intermediary trusted gaming device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an example block diagram of an intermediary trusted gaming device.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"5A and 5B illustrate example methods for playing games of chance using an intermediary gaming trusted device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an example method for playing a game of chance on a portable electronic device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an example method for playing a game of chance on a portable electronic device.\",\n \"DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS The present disclosure relates generally to gaming systems.\",\n \"More particularly, the present disclosure relates to use of a portable electronic device (PED) in a gaming system and even more particularly use of a PED in a gaming system with an intermediary trusted device.\",\n \"Embodiments are described herein in the context of a portable intermediary trusted device.\",\n \"The following detailed description is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting.\",\n \"Other embodiments will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit of this disclosure.\",\n \"Reference will now be made in detail to implementations as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.\",\n \"The same reference indicators will be used throughout the drawings and the following detailed description to refer to the same or like parts.\",\n \"In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations described herein are shown and described.\",\n \"It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with application- and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another.\",\n \"Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.\",\n \"In accordance with the present invention, the components, process steps, and/or data structures may be implemented using various types of operating systems, computing platforms, computer programs, and/or general purpose machines.\",\n \"In addition, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that devices of a less general purpose nature, such as hardwired devices, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or the like, may also be used without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventive concepts disclosed herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an example block diagram of a network-based gaming system.\",\n \"The network-based gaming system 100 may support interaction between intermediary gaming trusted devices and one or more unknown, untrusted PEDs and/or gaming machines so that games of chance are able to be securely presented to the user(s).\",\n \"Initially, PEDs are untrusted devices and are supported or capable to play games of chance.\",\n \"However, once connected to an intermediary gaming trusted device, a PED becomes or is otherwise transformed into a trusted PED and is able to be used to execute gaming software.\",\n \"The network-based gaming system 100 may include at least one intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n (where n is an integer).\",\n \"The intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n may be associated with a PED 112a-n via a physical or wireless connection.\",\n \"Although each intermediary gaming trusted device is illustrated as connecting to one PED, the intermediary gaming trusted device may connect to more than one PED and thus acts as a trusted connection hub for multiple PED's.\",\n \"The PED 112a-n may be any portable device having a display such as, for example, portable telephones, laptops, computers, notebooks, tablets, media players, and the like.\",\n \"Wireless connections may be any known wireless methods such as a 3G wireless technology, 4G wireless technology, Bluetooth, wireless universal serial bus, near-field magnetic or communication sensor, Fire Wire, WiMax, IEEE 802.11x technology, radio frequency, narrow-beam infrared (IR) sensor, RFID tag, WiFi, vibration sensor or any other known wireless methods.\",\n \"Wired connections may be any known connection using a wire.\",\n \"The connection between the intermediary gaming trusted device and PED creates a secured pairing environment.\",\n \"Once paired, either a short-range (e.g.\",\n \"Bluetooth) or a long-range (e.g.\",\n \"WiFi) wireless communication tether (e.g.\",\n \"wireless leash) may be established and maintained during the wireless communication session.\",\n \"The intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n may be configured to communicate with a gaming server 102 via a network 106 through a wired or wireless connection.\",\n \"In the same or another embodiment, the intermediary gaming trusted device 118 associated with the PED 120 may also be configured to communicate with a gaming machine 104 through a wired or wireless connection.\",\n \"The gaming machine 104 may then connect to the gaming server 102 via network 106 also through a wired or wireless connection.\",\n \"Wireless connections may be any known wireless methods such as a 3G wireless technology, 4G wireless technology, Bluetooth, wireless universal serial bus, near-field magnetic, Fire Wire, WiMax, IEEE 802.11 technology, radio frequency, or any other known wireless methods.\",\n \"Wired connections may be any known connection using a wire.\",\n \"The gaming server 102 may be configured to communicate with a player tracking server 108, location server 120, and an authentication server 116.The player tracking server 108 may communicate with a player tracking database 110 to obtain tracked player information such as player preferences, games of chance the player likes to play, entertainment the player enjoys, accumulated and used points, number of wins and losses, and any other similar player information.\",\n \"The authentication sever 116 may be used to authenticate and/or verify the player, the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118, the PED 112a-n, 120, the gaming machine 104, or perform any other authentication or verification functions.\",\n \"Any known authentication method may be used, such as public-private key authentication algorithms, random number generators, authentication keys, location authentication, and the like.\",\n \"Each intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 120 may be assigned to at least one PED 112a-n, 118.Although each intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 is illustrated as being associated with one PED 112a-n, 120, this is not meant to be limiting as the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may be assigned to more than one PED 112a-n, 120 and acts as a trusted gaming hub.\",\n \"Initially, PEDs are unknown and untrusted devices not capable of playing games of chance.\",\n \"However, once connected to an intermediary gaming trusted device, the PED becomes or is otherwise transformed into a trusted PED and is able to be used to play games of chance.\",\n \"Each intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may have a connector to connect to the PED 112a-n, 120.The connector is further illustrated and described in detail with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"2A-C and 3, however, example connectors may be a universal serial bus, male connector, wire, or any other connector able to connect the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 with the PED 112a-n, 120 to transmit and receive data.\",\n \"The intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may be configured to communicate with the authentication server 116.The intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may then, in turn, authenticate or verify the user of PED 112a-n, 120.The user of the PED 112a-n, 120 may be authenticated and/or verified though any known authentication and verification methods such as, for example, biometric verification (i.e.\",\n \"voice recognition, retinal scan, fingerprint verification, and the like), username, password, account number, and the like.\",\n \"Authentication of the user may also include authentication via a web-application associated with the gaming establishment and/or uploading authentication software from the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 to the PED 112a-n, 120.In another embodiment, the user of the PED 112a-n, 120 may also obtain the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 from a gaming establishment personnel.\",\n \"The gaming establishment personnel may then authenticate and/or verify the user as well as associate the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 to the PED 112a-n, 120.Once authenticated, the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may receive gaming data from the gaming server 102.The gaming data may include gaming information or gaming establishment information.\",\n \"Gaming information may include, for example, player tracking information, gaming options, data to play a game of chance, funding information or options in order to play the games of chance, pay tables, and the like.\",\n \"The gaming establishment information may include, for example, advertisements (e.g.\",\n \"buffet coupons, movie trailers, and the like), tournament information, room booking information, entertainment information, and the like.\",\n \"The intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may control and review the communication between the PED and the gaming server 102.The intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may be configured to determine if the communication meets any desired rules or regulations.\",\n \"For example, if the user selects a “Cash Out” option on the PED 112a-n, 120 for $100,000.00, but the maximum amount to be cashed out is $2,000, the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may prevent the user from cashing out.\",\n \"The intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may transmit the gaming data to the PED 114a-n, 120 or to the gaming machine 104.The intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may enable the PED 112a-n, 120 or the gaming machine 104 to display the gaming data.\",\n \"For example, if the gaming data is to play a game of chance, the game of chance may be displayed on a display of the PED 112a-n, 120 or the gaming machine 104.The game of chance may be, for example, poker, black jack, roulette, bingo, keno, video slot machine games, or any other game of chance.\",\n \"The intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may be configured to receive data from the PED 114a-n, 120 or the gaming machine 104 that is inputted by the user.\",\n \"The received data may then be transmitted from the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 to the gaming server 102 via the network 106 for processing.\",\n \"The received data may be transmitted to the gaming server 102 dynamically or periodically.\",\n \"In other words, the received data may be transmitted to the gaming server 102 dynamically or in real-time as it is received by the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118.Alternatively, the received data may be buffered and transmitted to the gaming server 102 periodically such as every minute, ten (10) minutes, hour, or any other pre-defined time period.\",\n \"The gaming server 102 may then process and store the gaming data received from the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118.The stored gaming data may be used in case of a power outage, weak or lost signals, or any other loss of gaming data.\",\n \"Once the received gaming data is processed, the gaming server 102 may transmit additional gaming data in response to the processed gaming data.\",\n \"The additional gaming data may be transmitted, in real-time on an as needed basis or in a bulk transfer mode for batch operations, to the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 for display on the PED 114a-n, 120 or the gaming machine 104 so that the player can continue to play the game of chance or receive additional gaming information.\",\n \"For instance, a video poker game on the gaming machine 104 may receive one card at a time, or five cards at a time, or ten cards at a time.\",\n \"In another example, a 5-reel slot game may receive one random number seed at a time, or 100 random number seeds for the next 20 games.\",\n \"Player input may include a selection of one of a plurality of games of chance, player preference options, selection of advertisement information, or the like.\",\n \"The gaming server 102 may be configured to determine the location of the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 using location server 120.Any known position or location methods may be used to determine the location of the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 such as cellular positioning, triangulation, global positioning systems, or any other location or positioning determining method.\",\n \"The position or location of the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may be obtained periodically or at any pre-defined time period.\",\n \"For example, the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 may be pinged every thirty (30) seconds, minute, ten minutes, hour, or any periodic time interval for its location.\",\n \"A user may be prevented from playing a game or using the intermediary trusted gaming device 114a-n, 118 due to location, time, establishment rules, government rules, or any other restrictions the gaming establishment may have or impose.\",\n \"For example, if the user decides to leave the gaming establishment and the location server 120 determines that the intermediary gaming trusted device 114a-n, 118 is outside the gaming establishment, the gaming server 102 may cause to the intermediary gaming trusted device to cease performing any gaming activities.\",\n \"In another embodiment, if the intermediary trusted gaming device 114a-n, 118 is in a restricted location such as the kids club, the intermediary trusted gaming device 114a-n may cease performing any gaming activities.\",\n \"In still another example, if the player has played or lost a certain amount of money, the intermediary trusted gaming device 114a-n may cease performing any gaming activities.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"2A-3C illustrate example embodiments of an intermediary trusted gaming device.\",\n \"The intermediary trusted gaming device may be a portable electronic device that a user may carry around.\",\n \"The intermediary trusted gaming device may be any size, but is preferably sized to fit in a pocket, purse, or the like.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2A illustrates one example of an intermediary trusted gaming device.\",\n \"The intermediary trusted gaming device 200 may include a housing 210.The housing 210 may have at least a status indicator, such as one light emitting diode (LED) 204.The LED 204 may be any color and any shape.\",\n \"The LED 204 may be configured to turn on or off to inform the user of its activities.\",\n \"For example, a green LED 204 may inform the user that the intermediary trusted gaming device 200 is properly connected to a PED, such as PED 112a-n, 118 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1.In another example, a red LED 204 may inform the user that the intermediary trusted gaming device 200 is low on battery or is not properly connected to the PED, such as PED 112a-n, 118 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1.In still another example, the LED 204 may flash to inform the user that the intermediary trusted gaming device 200 is receiving information either from the PED and/or gaming server, such as gaming server 102 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1.Although the LED 204 is illustrated as being positioned on side 212 of the intermediary trusted gaming device 200, this is not intended to be limiting as the LED 204 may located anywhere on housing 210.Although the status indicator is described as a simple LED indicator, it maybe implemented as a LCD display for user-friendly text or graphical information.\",\n \"Intermediary trusted gaming device 200 may have connector 206 configured to connect to a PED, such as PED 112a-n, 118 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1.Connector 206 may be configured to receive or transmit signals or data from/to the PED.\",\n \"As illustrated, connector 206 may be a USB connector.\",\n \"Although illustrated as being positioned on side 202 of the intermediary trusted gaming device 200, this is not intended to be limiting as the connector 206 may located anywhere on housing 210.FIG.\",\n \"2B illustrates another example intermediary trusted gaming device.\",\n \"The intermediary trusted gaming device 220 may include a housing 230, display 224, microphone 228, buttons 226a-n, and connector 222.Connector 222, similar to connector 206 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2A, may be configured to connect to a PED.\",\n \"Display 224 positioned on the housing may be used to display any desired information.\",\n \"For example, the display may display a request for a username and/or password, inform the user that the intermediary trusted gaming device 220 is properly connected to the PED, such as PED 112a-n, 118 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1, or any other desired information.\",\n \"In one embodiment, display 224 may be a projector.\",\n \"For example, if the image on the display of the PED is too small, the player may want to view a larger image to play the game of chance.\",\n \"The display may be configured to project the game of chance in a larger image and allow the player to play the game of chance.\",\n \"The image may be projected on a table, wall, or any other surface or non-surface.\",\n \"The microphone 228 may be configured to receive audio input, such as, for example, voice input.\",\n \"For example, if the user is unable to input his password on the PED, for any reason, the user may speak his password into the microphone.\",\n \"In another example, the microphone 228 may be used to receive the user's voice to authenticate the user.\",\n \"Instead of the microphone 228, other biometric sensors such as a camera or a fingerprint sensor may also be used for authenticating the user of the PED.\",\n \"Buttons 226a-n may be used for any desired purpose or reason.\",\n \"For example, buttons 226a-n may be used to turn the intermediary trusted gaming device 220 on or off.\",\n \"In another example, button 226a-n may be used to signal a gaming establishment personnel that the player would like to order a drink.\",\n \"In another embodiment, buttons 226a-n maybe a numeric keypad, or an alphanumeric keypad, or a directional keypad, and the like.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2C illustrates still another example of an intermediary trusted gaming device.\",\n \"Intermediary trusted gaming device 240 is similar to intermediary trusted gaming device 220 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2B, except that intermediary trusted gaming device 240 includes a camera 244.Camera 244 may be used for any desired purpose or reason.\",\n \"For example, camera 244 may be used to authenticate the player (e.g.\",\n \"facial recognition, compare a picture of the player stored in the player tracking database to a picture taken by the intermediary trusted gaming device 240, and the like).\",\n \"In another example, camera 244 may be used to allow a player to take a picture for upload to the player's player tracking account.\",\n \"In still another example, camera 244 may be configured to recognize player gestures to allow the player to play the games of chance as opposed to using the PED to input data.\",\n \"Although intermediary trusted gaming device 200, 220, 240 is illustrated as having a rectangular shape, this is for illustrating purposes and is not intended to be limiting.\",\n \"Intermediary trusted gaming device 200, 220, 240 may be formed of any desired shape such as a circle, triangle, star, shape of the gaming establishment's logo, and the like.\",\n \"Additionally, indicia may be printed anywhere on the housing of intermediary trusted gaming device 200, 220, 240.For example, the intermediary trusted gaming device 200, 220, 240 may be personalized for the player.\",\n \"In another example, the intermediary trusted gaming device 200, 220, 240 may include indicia of any sponsor, the gaming establishment, or any other desired indicia.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"3A and 3B illustrate example uses of the intermediary trusted gaming device.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"3A, the intermediary trusted gaming device 310 may have a connector 306 configured to connect into any input/output (I/O) port 308 of the PED 300 via arrow A.\",\n \"When connected properly, PED 300 may have a display 302 to display gaming data received from the intermediary trusted gaming device 310.Although illustrated with the use of a connector 306, this is for illustrative purposes only and not meant to be limiting as the intermediary trusted gaming device 310 may also be configured to communicate with the PED 300 via any known wireless methods.\",\n \"In other words, intermediary trusted gaming device 310 need not be physically connected to the PED 300 to communicate with the PED 300.Referring now to FIG.\",\n \"3B, intermediary trusted gaming device 310 may connect to a gaming machine 320.In one embodiment, intermediary trusted gaming device 310 may be coupled to a PED 300 and be configured to communicate with the gaming device 310 wirelessly.\",\n \"For example, the player may want to play the game of chance at the sports bar while watching a basketball game.\",\n \"However, after the basketball game ends, the player may then want to sit and continue to play the game of chance on gaming machine 320.In another embodiment, intermediary trusted gaming device 310 may be coupled to the gaming machine 320 itself at I/O port 324.For example, the PED 300 may be low on batteries but the player would like to continue to play his game of chance.\",\n \"Thus, the intermediary trusted gaming device 310 may be coupled to the gaming machine 320 at I/O port 324.Although the I/O port is illustrated on housing 326 of gaming machine 320, this is for illustrative purposes only and not meant to be limiting.\",\n \"For example, I/O port 324 may also be positioned on a player tracking device 322 or in any other position on housing 326.Whether connected to the PED 300 or gaming machine 320, intermediary trusted gaming device 310 may transmit or receive gaming data to or from gaming server 325 via any known wireless methods.\",\n \"If the intermediary trusted gaming device 310 is connected to the PED 300, the gaming data may be displayed on display 302 of the PED 300.If the intermediary trusted gaming device 310 is connected to the gaming machine 320, the gaming data may be displayed on display 328 or secondary display 330.FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an example block diagram of an intermediary trusted gaming device.\",\n \"The intermediary trusted gaming device 400 may have a processor 402 configured to communicate with connector 404.Processor 402 may be configured to receive and transmit gaming information via connector 404 from and to the PED.\",\n \"Processor 402 may also be configured to communicate with a camera 408, microphone 410, LED 416, display 414, and buttons or switches 420.As stated above with reference to FIG.\",\n \"2B, camera 408 may be used to authenticate or verify the user.\",\n \"Once a picture of the player is taken using camera 408, processor 402 may process the picture to authenticate or verify the player.\",\n \"Additionally, processor 402 may process the input associated with selected buttons 420 or display the desired message or indicia on display 414.As stated above with reference to FIG.\",\n \"2C, microphone 410 may also be used to authenticate or verify the user.\",\n \"Once the player's voice is captured by the intermediary trusted gaming device 400 via microphone 410, processor 402 may process the player's voice to authenticate or verify the player.\",\n \"Additionally, processor 402 may be configured to control LED 416 as described above with reference to FIG.\",\n \"2A.\",\n \"Intermediary trusted gaming device 400 may also have at least one transceiver 412.In one embodiment, the intermediary trusted gaming device 400 may have a long-range transceiver, short-range transceiver, or both.\",\n \"The transceiver 412 may be designed to locate the position of the intermediary trusted gaming device 400 through use of any known positioning methods as discussed in detail above.\",\n \"As stated above, intermediary trusted gaming device 400 may communicate wirelessly and therefore may have a wireless sensor 422.Intermediary trusted gaming device 400 may have at least one memory 406.The memory 406 may be any type of memory configured to store gaming applications, game logic, game session data, authentication software, and the like.\",\n \"For example, the memory may be a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), flash memory, dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”)), and the like.\",\n \"The intermediary trusted gaming device 400 may have a power source 424.The power source 424 may be any known power source such as a battery and may be powered through any known means.\",\n \"For example, the power source 424 may be powered when physically connected to a PED or plugged into a power outlet.\",\n \"When the power source 424 is an internal battery, it maybe recharged when connected to an external power source such as a power outlet.\",\n \"Having an internal battery onboard the intermediary trusted device 400 may maintain communication to another device in the network such as a location server or a game server even when the PED is not powered on.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the intermediary trusted device 400's connection to the location server persists so that its location can be accounted for at all time.\",\n \"In one embodiment, intermediary trusted gaming device 400 may also have a cryptographic module 418 to decrypt communication received from a gaming server and/or PED and to encrypt communication transmitted to the PED and/or gaming server.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"5A and 5B illustrate example methods for playing games of chance using an intermediary gaming trusted device.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"5A, the method 500 initially begins with associating an intermediary gaming trusted device with an untrusted PED at 502.The association may occur through any known association methods.\",\n \"For example, the gaming establishment personnel may manually associate the intermediary gaming trusted device with the untrusted PED.\",\n \"In another example, the intermediary gaming trusted device may be physically coupled to the untrusted PED.\",\n \"The associated untrusted PED may be detected at 504 by the intermediary gaming trusted device.\",\n \"If physically coupled to the untrusted PED, detection of the untrusted PED may occur when the intermediary gaming trusted device is coupled to the PED via the connector of the intermediary gaming trusted device.\",\n \"If communication of the untrusted PED is wireless, detection may occur when the intermediary gaming trusted device connects wirelessly with the untrusted PED.\",\n \"A determination of whether the user of the untrusted PED is authenticated is made at 506.If the user is not authenticated, the method 500 may end.\",\n \"Authentication and/or verification of the user may be through any known authentication and verification methods such as, for example, biometric verification (i.e.\",\n \"voice recognition, retinal scan, fingerprint verification, and the like), username, password, account number, and the like.\",\n \"Authentication of the user may also include authentication via a web-application associated with the gaming establishment and/or uploading authentication software from the intermediary gaming trusted device to the untrusted PED.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the user of the untrusted PED may also obtain the intermediary gaming trusted device from a gaming establishment personnel.\",\n \"The gaming establishment personnel may then authenticate and/or verify the user as well as associate the intermediary gaming trusted device to the untrusted PED.\",\n \"If the user of the untrusted PED is authenticated, the intermediary gaming trusted device may be authenticated at 508.If the intermediary gaming trusted device is not authenticated, the method 500 may end.\",\n \"Authentication of the intermediary gaming trusted device may be made by any known means.\",\n \"For example, a unique identifier of the intermediary gaming trusted device may be compared to identifiers stored at a gaming server.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the intermediary gaming trusted device may automatically connect to the gaming server and authenticate itself when turned on or powered up.\",\n \"If the intermediary gaming trusted device is authenticated at 508, the intermediary gaming trusted device may receive gaming data at 510 from a gaming server.\",\n \"The gaming data may include a plurality of options.\",\n \"The gaming data may include gaming information or gaming establishment information.\",\n \"Gaming information may include, for example, player tracking information, gaming options, data to play a game of chance, funding information or options in order to play the games of chance, pay tables, and the like.\",\n \"The gaming establishment information may include, for example, advertisements (e.g.\",\n \"buffet coupons, movie trailers, and the like), tournament information, room booking information, entertainment information, and the like.\",\n \"The untrusted PED becomes or is otherwise transformed into a trusted PED and the gaming data may then be transmitted to the associated trusted PED.\",\n \"As stated above, the gaming data may include a plurality of gaming options, such as, for example, a list of games of chance the user may select to play.\",\n \"The games of chance may be any game of chance such as blackjack, poker, roulette, craps, bingo, keno, video slot machines, and the like.\",\n \"Each list may also include a logo or any other indicia with each option, a summary of what the option is, a number of times the player has played each game of chance, the last time the selection was made by the player, or any other desired information.\",\n \"A selection of one of the gaming options may be detected at 514.For example, the player may want and select to play a game of black jack.\",\n \"In one embodiment, selection of one of the gaming options may be executed by the user on the trusted PED.\",\n \"In another embodiment, selection of one of the gaming options may be selected on the intermediary gaming trusted device.\",\n \"Once a selection has been made, the intermediary gaming trusted device may transmit the selected gaming option to the gaming server at 516.Referring now to FIG.\",\n \"5B, gaming data associated with the selected gaming option may be received at 518 by the intermediary gaming trusted device.\",\n \"For example, gaming data to play black jack may be received if the black jack option was selected.\",\n \"The gaming data may then be transmitted to the associated trusted PED for display on a display of the associated trusted PED at 520.Once displayed, any input associated with the displayed data may be detected at 522.For example, if the data displayed was to play a game of chance, inputs associated with playing the game of chance may be detected such as a wagering amount, spin, hold, and the like.\",\n \"In another example, if the data displayed was a poker tournament, the input may be to register for the tournament.\",\n \"In still another example, if the displayed data was a coupon to the buffet, the input may be to add the coupon to the player tracking account, print the coupon, or a cancel the coupon.\",\n \"The user input may be detected from the PED or the intermediary gaming trusted device.\",\n \"If the displayed data was to play a game of chance, the gaming session data may be generated at 524.In one embodiment, the intermediary gaming trusted device may generate the gaming session data at 524.For instance, the number of games played, by whom, where and when, and the aggregate amount of wager since the start of the game session maybe calculated and recorded by the intermediary gaming trusted device.\",\n \"In still another embodiment, the gaming session data may be generated from the gaming server and transmitted to the intermediary gaming trusted device.\",\n \"For instance, a random bonus amount and the associated triggering event maybe generated by the gaming server and sent to the intermediary gaming trusted device.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment, the gaming session data maybe generated from the user's inputs at the PED during the gaming session.\",\n \"Gaming session data may include any information the user inputs while playing a game, number of wins or losses, amount of funds remaining or added, clicking on advertisements, and any other gaming information generated during the game session.\",\n \"The gaming session data may be stored at 526.The gaming session data may be stored on the intermediary gaming trusted device periodically or dynamically in real-time.\",\n \"For example, the gaming session data may be stored or saved at predefined intervals such as every minute, every hour, every ten (10) seconds, and the like.\",\n \"In another example, the gaming session data may be stored dynamically as the gaming session data is generated.\",\n \"The gaming session data may be transmitted to the gaming server at 528.The gaming session data may be transmitted to the gaming server periodically or dynamically in real-time.\",\n \"For example, the gaming session data may be buffered and transmitted at predefined intervals such as every minute, every hour, every ten (10) seconds, and the like.\",\n \"In another example, the gaming session data may be transmitted dynamically in real-time as the gaming session data is generated.\",\n \"A determination of whether the gaming session is still permitted is made at 530.Gaming sessions may be permitted based on various factors such as location of the intermediary gaming trusted device, duration of play, time of day, user information, gaming regulations, amount played, and the like.\",\n \"For example, if the intermediary gaming trusted device is determined to be in the parking lot where playing games of chance are not permitted, the gaming session will end and the intermediary gaming trusted device may cease to perform any gaming activities.\",\n \"In another example, if gaming regulations prohibit game play after the loss of $500 within a 24-hr period, the gaming session will end and the intermediary gaming trusted device may cease to perform any gaming activities.\",\n \"If the gaming session is permitted at 530, a determination of whether gaming information is requested is made at 532.If a request for gaming information is detected at 532, the intermediary gaming trusted device may transmit the request to the gaming server and the method 500 may continue at step 512 of FIG.\",\n \"5A.\",\n \"If a request for gaming information is not detected or not permitted at 532, a determination of whether the gaming session ends is made at 534.For example, if a cash-out input was detected, the gaming session may end.\",\n \"In another example, if the PED has been determined to have been moved out of the allowed area, the gaming session may also end.\",\n \"In yet another example, if there are no credits to play the game of chance, the gaming session may end.\",\n \"If the gaming session did not end at 534, the method may continue at step 522.If the gaming session is determined to end at 534, the gaming session data may be transmitted to the gaming server at 536.Once the gaming session data is transmitted to the gaming server at 536, all gaming session data, gaming data, gaming software, and any other gaming related information and data are deleted from the associated trusted PED at 538.All gaming related information and data are deleted from the associated trusted PED to prevent fraud, hacking, and the like.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an example method for playing a game of chance on a portable electronic device.\",\n \"The PED may be connected to an intermediary gaming trusted device to convert or otherwise transform an untrusted PED to a trusted PED to play games of chance and/or receive gaming related information.\",\n \"The method 600 initially begins with detection of the intermediary gaming trusted electronic device at 602.If physically coupled to the untrusted PED, detection of the intermediary gaming trusted device occurs when it is coupled to the PED via a connector, wire, or any other means.\",\n \"If communication with the intermediary gaming trusted device is wireless, detection may occur when the untrusted PED connects wirelessly with the intermediary gaming trusted device.\",\n \"An authentication and/or verification request may be received at 604.The untrusted PED may receive the authentication request form detected intermediary gaming trusted electronic device.\",\n \"Authentication and/or verification of the user may be through any known authentication and verification methods such as, for example, biometric verification (i.e.\",\n \"voice recognition, retinal scan, fingerprint verification, and the like), username, password, account number, and the like.\",\n \"Authentication of the user may also include authentication via a web-application associated with the gaming establishment and/or uploading authentication software from the intermediary gaming trusted device to the untrusted PED.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the user of the untrusted PED may also obtain the intermediary gaming trusted device from a gaming establishment personnel.\",\n \"The gaming establishment personnel may then authenticate and/or verify the user as well as associate the intermediary gaming trusted device to the untrusted PED.\",\n \"In still another embodiment, the authentication request may require the untrusted PED to download software or an authentication application.\",\n \"The software may request the user of the untrusted PED to input authentication and/or verification information to authenticate and/or verify the user.\",\n \"If the untrusted PED is not authenticated at 606, the intermediary gaming trusted device will cease to perform any tasks and the method 600 may end.\",\n \"If the untrusted PED is authenticated at 606, the untrusted PED then becomes or is otherwise converted to a trusted PED.\",\n \"The trusted PED may then receive gaming data from the intermediary gaming trusted electronic device at 608.The gaming data may have a plurality of gaming options.\",\n \"The gaming data may include gaming information or gaming establishment information.\",\n \"Gaming information may include, for example, player tracking information, gaming options, data to play a game of chance, funding information or options in order to play the games of chance, pay tables, and the like.\",\n \"The gaming establishment information may include, for example, advertisements (e.g.\",\n \"buffet coupons, movie trailers, and the like), tournament information, room booking information, entertainment information, and the like.\",\n \"The gaming options may include a list of games of chance the player may like to play such as, blackjack, poker, video slot machines, video games, keno, and the like.\",\n \"Each list may also include a logo or any other indicia with each option, a summary of what the option is, a number of times the player has played each game of chance, the last time the selection was made by the player, or any other desired information.\",\n \"The gaming data may then be displayed on a display of the trusted PED at 610.The user of the trusted PED may select an option associated with the displayed gaming data which is then transmitted to the intermediary gaming trusted device at 612.The selection may be made using the trusted PED and/or the intermediary gaming trusted device.\",\n \"For example, if the gaming data was a list of games of chance the play may play, the list may be displayed on the display of the trusted PED and the use may select one of the games of chance to play.\",\n \"The selected game of chance may be transmitted to the intermediary gaming trusted device.\",\n \"In another example, if the gaming data was a coupon for the buffet, the option may be to accept or decline the coupon which the user may select.\",\n \"The selection may then be transmitted to the intermediary gaming trusted device.\",\n \"If the user selected a game of chance to play using the trusted PED, gaming data may be received at 614 to start a gaming session for the player.\",\n \"The gaming data may be associated with the selected game of chance.\",\n \"For example, gaming data to play black jack may be received if the black jack option was selected.\",\n \"The gaming data may then be transmitted to the associated trusted PED for display on a display of the associated trusted PED at 616.Once displayed, any input associated with the displayed gaming data may be detected and transmitted to the intermediary gaming trusted device at 618.For example, if the data displayed was to play a game of chance, inputs associated with playing the game of chance may be detected such as a wagering amount, spin, hold, and the like.\",\n \"In another example, if the data displayed was a poker tournament, the input may be to register for the tournament.\",\n \"In still another example, if the displayed data was a coupon to the buffet, the input may be to add the coupon to the player tracking account, print the coupon, or a cancel the coupon.\",\n \"The user input may be detected from the PED or the intermediary gaming trusted device.\",\n \"A determination of whether the gaming session is permitted is made at 620.Gaming sessions may be permitted based on various factors such as location of the intermediary gaming trusted device, duration of play, time of day, user information, gaming regulations, amount played, and the like.\",\n \"For example, if the intermediary gaming trusted device is determined to be in the parking lot where playing games of chance are not permitted, the gaming session will end and the intermediary gaming trusted device may cease to perform any gaming activities.\",\n \"In another example, if gaming regulations prohibit game play after the loss of $500 within a 24-hr period, the gaming session will end and the intermediary gaming trusted device may cease to perform any gaming activities.\",\n \"If the gaming session is permitted at 620, a determination of whether the gaming session should end is made at 622.For example, if a cash-out input was detected, the gaming session may end.\",\n \"In another example, if the PED has been determined to have been moved out of the allowed area, the gaming session may also end.\",\n \"In yet another example, if there are no credits to play the game of chance, the gaming session may end.\",\n \"If the gaming session did not end at 622, the method may continue at step 608.If the gaming session is determined to end at 622, the gaming session data may be transmitted to the intermediary gaming trusted device at 624.Once the gaming session data is transmitted to the intermediary gaming trusted device at 624, all gaming session data, gaming data, gaming software, and any other gaming related information and data are deleted from the associated trusted PED at 626.All gaming related information and data are deleted from the associated trusted PED to prevent fraud, hacking, and the like.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an example method for playing a game of chance on a portable electronic device.\",\n \"The PED may be configured to communicate with an intermediary gaming trusted device which is configured to communicate with a server.\",\n \"Use of the intermediary gaming trusted device converts an unknown and untrusted PED to a trusted PED to create a controlled and secure environment where a player may play games of chance or obtain gaming data.\",\n \"The method 700 initially begins when a gaming server receives an authentication request from the intermediary gaming trusted device at 702.The request may be to authenticate the unknown and untrusted PED and/or authenticate the intermediary gaming trusted device.\",\n \"If neither the untrusted PED and/or intermediary gaming trusted device are authenticated at 704, the method 700 may end.\",\n \"Authentication and/or verification of the untrusted PED may be through any known authentication and verification methods such as, for example, biometric verification (i.e.\",\n \"voice recognition, retinal scan, fingerprint verification, and the like) of the user, username, password, account number, device identifier, digital signature of the operating system and/or the software application, and the like.\",\n \"Authentication of the untrusted PED may also include authentication via a web-application associated with the gaming establishment and/or uploading authentication software from the intermediary gaming trusted device to the untrusted PED.\",\n \"The information received by the gaming server may be authenticated with information stored in a database, such as, for example, a player tracking base 110 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1.Similarly, the intermediary gaming trusted device may have a unique identifier that may be compared to identifiers stored at the gaming server.\",\n \"Once authenticated at 704, gaming data may be sent to the intermediary gaming trusted device at 706.The gaming data may include gaming information or gaming establishment information.\",\n \"Gaming information may include, for example, player tracking information, gaming options, data to play a game of chance, funding information or options in order to play the games of chance, pay tables, and the like.\",\n \"The gaming establishment information may include, for example, advertisements (e.g.\",\n \"buffet coupons, movie trailers, and the like), tournament information, room booking information, entertainment information, and the like.\",\n \"The gaming data may include a plurality of gaming options, such as, for example, a list of games of chance the user may select to play.\",\n \"The games of chance may be any game of chance such as blackjack, poker, roulette, craps, sicbo, bingo, keno, video slot machines, and the like.\",\n \"Each list may also include a logo or any other indicia with each option, a summary of what the option is, a number of times the player has played each game of chance, the last time the selection was made by the player, or any other desired information.\",\n \"A selected gaming option may be received at 708 from the intermediary gaming trusted device.\",\n \"Gaming data associated with the received selected gaming option may be transmitted at 710 to the intermediary gaming trusted device.\",\n \"For example, if the received selected gaming option is to play black jack, the transmitted gaming data may be associated with black jack.\",\n \"In another example, if the selected gaming option is to obtain movie tickets, the gaming data may be a list of movies playing at the theater.\",\n \"The gaming server may periodically or dynamically receive gaming session data at 712 from the intermediary gaming trusted device.\",\n \"Gaming session data may be any session data resulting from playing a game of chance such as number of wins or losses, amount of funds remaining or added, clicking on advertisements, and any other gaming information generated during the game session.\",\n \"The gaming session data may be received periodically or dynamically in real-time.\",\n \"For example, the gaming session data may be received at predefined intervals such as every minute, every hour, every ten (10) seconds, and the like.\",\n \"In another example, the gaming session data may be received dynamically in real-time as the gaming session data is generated.\",\n \"A determination of whether the gaming session is permitted is made at 714.Gaming sessions may be permitted based on various factors such as location of the intermediary gaming trusted device, duration of play, time of day, user information, gaming regulations, amount played, and the like.\",\n \"For example, if the intermediary gaming trusted device is determined to be in the parking lot where playing games of chance are not permitted, the gaming session will end and the intermediary gaming trusted device may cease to perform any gaming activities.\",\n \"In another example, if gaming regulations prohibit game play after the loss of $500 within a 24-hr period, the gaming session will end and the intermediary gaming trusted device may cease to perform any gaming activities.\",\n \"In no gaming session is permitted at 714, the method 700 may end.\",\n \"If the gaming session is permitted at 714, a determination of whether gaming information is requested is made at 716.If a request for gaming information is detected at 716, the method may return to step 706.If a request for gaming information is not detected at 716, the method 700 may end.\",\n \"While embodiments and applications of this invention have been shown and described, it would be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure that many more modifications than mentioned above are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876095"}}},{"rowIdx":4495080,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["ENHANCED ON-DEMAND SERVICE FUNCTIONALITY IMPLEMENTED IN CASINO GAMING NETWORKS","Various aspects described or referenced herein are directed to different methods, systems, and computer program products for implementing On Demand Services in Casino gaming establishments utilizing a Communications Network."],["1.A computer implemented system, deployed at a casino establishment, for providing On Demand Services via a casino gaming network, the casino establishment including a first electronic gaming device (“first EGD”) and a second electronic gaming device (“second EGD”), the first and second electronic gaming devices being communicatively coupled to the casino gaming network, the first electronic gaming device being configured to enable a first patron to engage in first wager-based game at the first electronic gaming device, the first electronic gaming device including a first display and a first input interface, the second electronic gaming device being configured to enable a second patron to engage in second wager-based game at the second electronic gaming device, the second electronic gaming device including a second display and a second input interface, the system comprising: at least one processor; memory; an ODS database configured to store menu item data relating to a plurality of ODS menu items, including a first menu item and a second menu item; the at least one processor being operable to execute a plurality of instructions stored in the memory to: detect that the first patron is engaged in a wager-based gaming activities at the first EGD; track wagering activities performed by the first patron during a first time interval; display a first ODS Menu GUI at the first display of the first EGD, the first ODS Menu GUI being configurable to display selected menu item content representing products and/or services which are available to be ordered via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a first set of criteria; if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the first set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to: (i) display, at the first EGD display, a first portion of content representing the first menu item, (ii) enable the first patron to submit to the system, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI, a first ODS order which includes the first menu item, and (iii) cause at least one component of the system to generate and send a first set of information relating to the first ODS order to a first casino entity for handling fulfillment of the first OD S order, the first casino entity being located at the casino establishment; and if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities does not satisfy the first set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first OD S Menu GUI to inhibit display of the first menu item at the first EGD display to thereby prevent the first patron from being able to order the first menu item via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.","2.The computer implemented system of claim 1 wherein the system is further operable to cause the at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions stored in the memory to: analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a second set of criteria; if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the second set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to: (i) display, at the first EGD display, a second portion of content representing the second menu item, (ii) enable the first patron to submit to the system, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI, a second ODS order which includes the second menu item, and (iii) cause at least one component of the system to generate and send a second set of information relating to the second ODS order to a second casino entity for handling fulfillment of the second OD S order, the second casino entity being located at the casino establishment; and if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities does not satisfy the second set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first OD S Menu GUI to inhibit display of the second menu item at the first EGD display to thereby prevent the first patron from being able to order the second menu item via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.","3.The computer implemented system of claim 1 wherein the system is further operable to cause the at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions stored in the memory to: track, after the first ODS order has been submitted to the system, additional wagering activities performed by the first patron during a subsequent time interval; analyze the first patron's tracked additional wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked additional wagering activities satisfy the first set of criteria; and if it is determined that the first patron's tracked additional wagering activities does not satisfy the first set of criteria, automatically cause at least one component of the system to cancel the first OD S order.","4.The computer implemented system of claim 1 wherein the system is further operable to cause the at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions stored in the memory to: analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a second set of criteria; if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the second set of criteria, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a first purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the first purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the first purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; and analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a third set of criteria; and if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the third set of criteria, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a second purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the second purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the second purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.","5.The computer implemented system of claim 1: wherein the first menu item corresponds to a first beverage item; and wherein the first casino entity corresponds to a first bar at the casino establishment.","6.The computer implemented system of claim 1: wherein the first menu item corresponds to a first food item; and wherein the first casino entity corresponds to a first restaurant at the casino establishment.","7.The computer implemented system of claim 1: wherein the first menu item corresponds to a first service item; and wherein the first casino entity corresponds to a first service provider at the casino establishment.","8.The computer implemented system of claim 1, wherein the first EGD includes a first EGD processor and first EGD memory for storing a first plurality of instructions, the first EGD further including a validator component operable to accept indicia of credit, the system being further operable to cause the first EGD processor to execute the first plurality of instructions for: receive, via the validator component, a first indicia of credit provided by the first patron, the first indicia of credit having a monetary value associated therewith; use monetary value of the first indicia to update a credit balance at the first EGM; and use a first portion of the credit balance to fund payment of the first ODS order.","9.A computer implemented system, deployed at a casino establishment, for providing On Demand Services via a casino gaming network, the casino establishment including a first electronic gaming device (“first EGD”) and a second electronic gaming device (“second EGD”), the first and second electronic gaming devices being communicatively coupled to the casino gaming network, the first electronic gaming device being configured to enable a first patron to engage in first wager-based game at the first electronic gaming device, the first electronic gaming device including a first display and a first input interface, the second electronic gaming device being configured to enable a second patron to engage in second wager-based game at the second electronic gaming device, the second electronic gaming device including a second display and a second input interface, the system comprising: at least one processor; memory; an ODS database configured to store menu item data relating to a plurality of ODS menu items, including a first menu item and a second menu item; the at least one processor being operable to execute a plurality of instructions stored in the memory to: detect that the first patron is engaged in a wager-based gaming activities at the first EGD; display a first ODS Menu GUI at the first display of the first EGD, the first ODS Menu GUI being configurable to display selected menu item content representing products and/or services which are available to be ordered via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; determine if the first patron is a VIP patron or a non-VIP patron; if it is determined that the first patron is a VIP patron, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to: (i) display, at the first EGD display, a first portion of content representing the first menu item, (ii) enable the first patron to submit to the system, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI, a first ODS order which includes the first menu item, and (iii) cause at least one component of the system to generate and send a first set of information relating to the first ODS order to a first casino entity for handling fulfillment of the first ODS order, the first casino entity being located at the casino establishment; and if it is determined that the first patron is a non-VIP patron, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to inhibit display of the first menu item at the first EGD display to thereby prevent the first patron from being able to order the first menu item via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.","10.The computer implemented system of claim 9 wherein the system is further operable to cause the at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions stored in the memory to: if it is determined that the first patron is a VIP patron, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a first purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the first purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the first purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; and if it is determined that the first patron is a non-VIP patron, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a second purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the second purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the second purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.","11.The computer implemented system of claim 9: wherein the first menu item corresponds to a first beverage item; and wherein the first casino entity corresponds to a first bar at the casino establishment.","12.The computer implemented system of claim 9: wherein the first menu item corresponds to a first food item; and wherein the first casino entity corresponds to a first restaurant at the casino establishment.","13.The computer implemented system of claim 9: wherein the first menu item corresponds to a first service item; and wherein the first casino entity corresponds to a first service provider at the casino establishment.","14.The computer implemented system of claim 9, wherein the first EGD includes a first EGD processor and first EGD memory for storing a first plurality of instructions, the first EGD further including a validator component operable to accept indicia of credit, the system being further operable to cause the first EGD processor to execute the first plurality of instructions for: receive, via the validator component, a first indicia of credit provided by the first patron, the first indicia of credit having a monetary value associated therewith; use monetary value of the first indicia to update a credit balance at the first EGM; and use a first portion of the credit balance to fund payment of the first ODS order.","15.A computer implemented method, deployed at a casino establishment, for providing On Demand Services via a casino gaming network, the casino establishment including a first electronic gaming device (“first EGD”) and a second electronic gaming device (“second EGD”), the first and second electronic gaming devices being communicatively coupled to the casino gaming network, the first electronic gaming device being configured to enable a first patron to engage in first wager-based game at the first electronic gaming device, the first electronic gaming device including a first display and a first input interface, the second electronic gaming device being configured to enable a second patron to engage in second wager-based game at the second electronic gaming device, the second electronic gaming device including a second display and a second input interface; the system including an ODS database configured to store menu item data relating to a plurality of ODS menu items, including a first menu item and a second menu item; the system further including at least one processor, and a memory storing a plurality of instructions, the method comprising causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored in the memory to: detect that the first patron is engaged in a wager-based gaming activities at the first EGD; track wagering activities performed by the first patron during a first time interval; display a first ODS Menu GUI at the first display of the first EGD, the first ODS Menu GUI being configurable to display selected menu item content representing products and/or services which are available to be ordered via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a first set of criteria; in response to determining that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the first set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to: (i) display, at the first EGD display, a first portion of content representing the first menu item, (ii) enable the first patron to submit to the system, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI, a first ODS order which includes the first menu item, and (iii) cause at least one component of the system to generate and send a first set of information relating to the first ODS order to a first casino entity for handling fulfillment of the first OD S order, the first casino entity being located at the casino establishment; and in response to determining that the first patron's tracked wagering activities does not satisfy the first set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first OD S Menu GUI to inhibit display of the first menu item at the first EGD display to thereby prevent the first patron from being able to order the first menu item via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.","16.The computer implemented method of claim 15 further comprising causing the at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions stored in the memory to: analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a second set of criteria; in response to determining that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the second set of criteria, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a first purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the first purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the first purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; and analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a third set of criteria; and in response to determining that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the third set of criteria, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a second purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the second purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the second purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.","17.A computer implemented method, deployed at a casino establishment, for providing On Demand Services via a casino gaming network, the casino establishment including a first electronic gaming device (“first EGD”) and a second electronic gaming device (“second EGD”), the first and second electronic gaming devices being communicatively coupled to the casino gaming network, the first electronic gaming device being configured to enable a first patron to engage in first wager-based game at the first electronic gaming device, the first electronic gaming device including a first display and a first input interface, the second electronic gaming device being configured to enable a second patron to engage in second wager-based game at the second electronic gaming device, the second electronic gaming device including a second display and a second input interface; the system including an ODS database configured to store menu item data relating to a plurality of ODS menu items, including a first menu item and a second menu item; the system further including at least one processor, and a memory storing a plurality of instructions, the method comprising causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored in the memory to: detect that the first patron is engaged in a wager-based gaming activities at the first EGD; display a first ODS Menu GUI at the first display of the first EGD, the first ODS Menu GUI being configurable to display selected menu item content representing products and/or services which are available to be ordered via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; determine if the first patron is a VIP patron or a non-VIP patron; in response to determining that the first patron is a VIP patron, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to: (i) display, at the first EGD display, a first portion of content representing the first menu item, (ii) enable the first patron to submit to the system, via interaction with the first OD S Menu GUI, a first ODS order which includes the first menu item, and (iii) cause at least one component of the system to generate and send a first set of information relating to the first ODS order to a first casino entity for handling fulfillment of the first ODS order, the first casino entity being located at the casino establishment; and in response to determining that the first patron is a non-VIP patron, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to inhibit display of the first menu item at the first EGD display to thereby prevent the first patron from being able to order the first menu item via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.","18.The computer implemented system of claim 9 further comprising causing the at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions stored in the memory to: in response to determining that the first patron is a VIP patron, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a first purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the first purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the first purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; and in response to determining that the first patron is a non-VIP patron, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a second purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the second purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the second purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>The present disclosure generally relates to business transactions and services conducted at casino gaming establishments.","More particularly, the present disclosure relates to techniques for implementing enhanced on-demand service functionality in casino gaming networks."],["<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>FIG.","1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a specific example embodiment of a Casino Network 100 which may be configured or designed to implement various On Demand Service(s) and feature(s) described and/or referenced herein.","FIG.","2 shows an example block diagram of an electronic gaming system 200 in accordance with a specific embodiment.","FIG.","3 shows a perspective view of an example gaming machine 302 in accordance with a specific embodiment.","FIG.","4 shows a block diagram of electronic gaming device 400 , in accordance with a specific embodiment.","FIG.","5 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary intelligent electronic gaming system 500 in accordance with a specific embodiment.","FIG.","6 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary mobile gaming device 600 in accordance with a specific embodiment.","FIG.","7 illustrates an example embodiment of a System Server 780 which may be used for implementing various aspects/features described herein.","FIG.","8 illustrates an example of a functional block diagram of a Gaming System Server in accordance with a specific embodiment.","FIG.","9 shows a block diagram illustrating components of a gaming system 900 which may be used for implementing various aspects of example embodiments.","FIGS.","10-64 illustrate various system diagrams, procedural flows, GUIs, and screenshots relating to various aspects of the On Demand Services techniques described herein.","detailed-description description=\"Detailed Description\" end=\"lead\"?"],["RELATED APPLICATION DATA The present application claims benefit, pursuant to the provisions of 35 U.S.C.","§ 119, of U.S.","Provisional Application Ser.","No.","62/116,726 (Attorney Docket No.","SYNBP002P), titled “ENHANCED PLAYER SUITE FUNCTIONALITY IMPLEMENTED IN CASINO GAMING NETWORKS”, naming Washington et al.","as inventors, and filed 16 Feb. 2015, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.","This application is a continuation application, pursuant to the provisions of 35 U.S.C.","§ 120, of prior U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","15/045,234 (Attorney Docket No.","SYNBP002US) titled “ENHANCED ON-DEMAND SERVICE FUNCTIONALITY IMPLEMENTED IN CASINO GAMING NETWORKS” by Washington et al., filed on 16 Feb. 2016, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.","BACKGROUND The present disclosure generally relates to business transactions and services conducted at casino gaming establishments.","More particularly, the present disclosure relates to techniques for implementing enhanced on-demand service functionality in casino gaming networks.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a specific example embodiment of a Casino Network 100 which may be configured or designed to implement various On Demand Service(s) and feature(s) described and/or referenced herein.","FIG.","2 shows an example block diagram of an electronic gaming system 200 in accordance with a specific embodiment.","FIG.","3 shows a perspective view of an example gaming machine 302 in accordance with a specific embodiment.","FIG.","4 shows a block diagram of electronic gaming device 400, in accordance with a specific embodiment.","FIG.","5 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary intelligent electronic gaming system 500 in accordance with a specific embodiment.","FIG.","6 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary mobile gaming device 600 in accordance with a specific embodiment.","FIG.","7 illustrates an example embodiment of a System Server 780 which may be used for implementing various aspects/features described herein.","FIG.","8 illustrates an example of a functional block diagram of a Gaming System Server in accordance with a specific embodiment.","FIG.","9 shows a block diagram illustrating components of a gaming system 900 which may be used for implementing various aspects of example embodiments.","FIGS.","10-64 illustrate various system diagrams, procedural flows, GUIs, and screenshots relating to various aspects of the On Demand Services techniques described herein.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS Overview Various aspects described or referenced herein are directed to different methods, systems, and computer program products for implementing On Demand Services in Casino gaming establishments utilizing a Communications Network.","One aspect disclosed herein is directed to different methods, systems, and computer program products for implementing On Demand Services in a casino gaming network, the casino gaming network including a first electronic gaming device communicatively coupled to the casino gaming network, the first electronic gaming being configured to enable a first patron to engage in first wager-based game at the first electronic gaming device, the first electronic gaming device including a first display and a first input interface.","In at least one embodiment, an On-Demand Services System (“ODS System”) may be communicatively coupled to the first electronic gaming device via the casino gaming network.","In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be operable to cause at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions for: causing a first On-Demand Services graphical user interface (“ODS GUI”) to be displayed at the first display of the first EGM; the first ODS GUI being configured or designed to enable the first patron to interact with the first ODS GUI via the first input interface; the first ODS GUI being configured or designed to enable the first patron to access a first set of On Demand Services via interaction with the first ODS GUI; the first ODS GUI being configured or designed to enable the first patron to submit to the OD S System, via interaction with the first OD S GUI, a first OD S order relating to a first On Demand Service; causing at least one component of the ODS System to generate and send a first set of information relating to the first ODS order to a first casino entity for handling fulfillment of the first ODS order; causing at least one component of the ODS System to automatically track a current status of the first ODS order; and causing at least one component of the ODS System to provide user access to real-time status information relating to the current status of the first OD S order.","In at least one embodiment, the first set of On Demand Services includes: Beverage On Demand (BOD) Service; Host On Demand (HOD) Service; Valet On Demand (VOD) Service; Security On Demand (SOD) Service; and Weather On Demand (WOD) Service.","In at least one embodiment, the first On Demand Service corresponds to a Beverage On Demand (BOD) Service; the first ODS order includes an order for a first beverage item; and the first casino entity corresponds to a first bar of the casino.","In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions for: causing at least one component of the ODS System to automatically monitor a current status of ODS orders assigned to be handled by the first bar; and causing at least one component of the ODS System to provide user access to real-time status information relating to the current status of selected ODS orders assigned to be handled by the first bar.","In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions for: causing at least one component of the ODS System to determine a current location of the first patron; causing at least one component of the ODS System to identify of a first casino waitstaff who has been assigned to deliver the first OD S order to the first patron; and causing at least one component of the ODS System to automatically notify the identified casino waitstaff of the current location of the first patron.","In at least one embodiment, the first On Demand Service corresponds to a Beverage On Demand (BOD) Service; the first ODS order includes an order for a first beverage item; and the first casino entity corresponds to a first bar of the casino.","In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions for: causing at least one component of the ODS System to determine a current location of the first patron; causing at least one component of the ODS System to identify of a first casino waitstaff who has been assigned to deliver the first ODS order to the first patron; and causing at least one component of the OD S System to automatically notify the identified casino waitstaff of the current location of the first patron.","In at least one embodiment, the first On Demand Service corresponds to a Beverage On Demand (BOD) Service; the first ODS order includes an order for a first food item; and the first casino entity corresponds to a first restaurant of the casino.","In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions for: causing at least one component of the ODS System to automatically monitor a current status of ODS orders assigned to be handled by the first restaurant; and causing at least one component of the ODS System to provide user access to real-time status information relating to the current status of selected ODS orders assigned to be handled by the first restaurant.","In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions for: causing at least one component of the ODS System to automatically monitor a current status of multiple different ODS orders assigned to be handled by the first casino entity; and causing at least one component of the ODS System to provide user access to real-time status information relating to the current status of selected ODS orders assigned to be handled by the first casino entity.","In at least one embodiment, the On Demand Services System may include functionality for enabling authorized personnel to fully customize and configure On Demand Services menus, sub-menus, and related GUIs.","In at least one embodiment, the ODS Menu Manager Application enables authorized users (such as, for example, Casino Management and/or Food & Beverage Directors) to access, edit, customize, and/or modify selected On Demand Service application(s) menus, sub-menus and GUIs (e.g., BOD, HOD, SOD, VOD, WOD, Reports, etc.).","In at least one embodiment, such authorized personnel may use the ODS Menu Manager Application to implement desired configurable updates and/or changes to one or more of the On Demand Service application(s) menus, sub-menus and GUIs, to thereby fully customize the services, features, and content provided by the On Demand Services System in a manner which conforms with the specific needs and/or desires of each individual property (e.g., casino property).","Unlike many of today's Casino-based POS systems, the On Demand Services System of the present application may be configured or designed to provide functionality for allowing Casino managers (e.g., Food/Beverage managers, Valet managers, Host managers, Security managers, etc.)","to continuously and/or periodically monitor, update, rearrange, remove, export, import, sort, itemize, track, date, locate, and/or deploy their entire menu system in a matter of seconds (e.g., in real-time).","Additionally, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to enable On Demand Services menus to be dynamically populated, configured and/or modified on the fly (e.g., in real-time), without having to bring down or halt the gambling system/slot machine interface(s).","Another unique and advantageous feature of the presently described On Demand Services System relates to the system's ability to automatically track (e.g., in real-time) orders which have been submitted to the On Demand Services System, and to provide real-time status updates about the current status of all (or selected) orders which have been submitted to the On Demand Services System.","Another advantageous feature is the system's ability to provide casino personnel (and/or other authorized personnel) with access to real-time status information relating to specific orders and/or specific types of orders (e.g., pending orders, new orders, delivered orders, canceled orders, delayed orders, complementary orders, etc.).","Another aspect disclosed herein is directed to different methods, systems, and computer program products for providing On Demand Services via a casino gaming network.","In at least one embodiment, the casino establishment may include a first electronic gaming device (“first EGD”) and a second electronic gaming device (“second EGD”), the first and second electronic gaming devices being communicatively coupled to the casino gaming network.","In at least one embodiment, the first electronic gaming device is configured to enable a first patron to engage in first wager-based game at the first electronic gaming device, the first electronic gaming device including a first display and a first input interface.","In at least one embodiment, the second electronic gaming device is configured to enable a second patron to engage in second wager-based game at the second electronic gaming device, the second electronic gaming device including a second display and a second input interface.","In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be operable to cause at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions to: detect that the first patron is engaged in a wager-based gaming activities at the first EGD; track wagering activities performed by the first patron during a first time interval; display a first OD S Menu GUI at the first display of the first EGD, the first OD S Menu GUI being configurable to display selected menu item content representing products and/or services which are available to be ordered via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a first set of criteria; if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the first set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to: (i) display, at the first EGD display, a first portion of content representing the first menu item, (ii) enable the first patron to submit to the system, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI, a first ODS order which includes the first menu item, and (iii) cause at least one component of the system to generate and send a first set of information relating to the first OD S order to a first casino entity for handling fulfillment of the first OD S order, the first casino entity being located at the casino establishment; and if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities does not satisfy the first set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to inhibit display of the first menu item at the first EGD display to thereby prevent the first patron from being able to order the first menu item via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.","In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions to: analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a second set of criteria; if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the second set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to: (i) display, at the first EGD display, a second portion of content representing the second menu item, (ii) enable the first patron to submit to the system, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI, a second ODS order which includes the second menu item, and (iii) cause at least one component of the system to generate and send a second set of information relating to the second ODS order to a second casino entity for handling fulfillment of the second ODS order, the second casino entity being located at the casino establishment; and if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities does not satisfy the second set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to inhibit display of the second menu item at the first EGD display to thereby prevent the first patron from being able to order the second menu item via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.","In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions to: track, after the first ODS order has been submitted to the system, additional wagering activities performed by the first patron during a subsequent time interval; analyze the first patron's tracked additional wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked additional wagering activities satisfy the first set of criteria; and if it is determined that the first patron's tracked additional wagering activities does not satisfy the first set of criteria, automatically cause at least one component of the system to cancel the first ODS order.","In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions to: analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a second set of criteria; if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the second set of criteria, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a first purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first OD S Menu GUI, the first purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an OD S order to purchase the first menu item at the first purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; and analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a third set of criteria; and if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the third set of criteria, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a second purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the second purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the second purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.","In at least one embodiment, the first menu item corresponds to a first beverage item; and the first casino entity corresponds to a first bar at the casino establishment.","In at least one embodiment, the first menu item corresponds to a first food item; and the first casino entity corresponds to a first restaurant at the casino establishment.","In at least one embodiment, the first menu item corresponds to a first service item; and the first casino entity corresponds to a first service provider at the casino establishment.","In at least one embodiment, the first EGD includes a first EGD processor and first EGD memory for storing a first plurality of instructions, the first EGD further including a validator component operable to accept indicia of credit, the system being further operable to cause the first EGD processor to execute the first plurality of instructions to: receive, via the validator component, a first indicia of credit provided by the first patron, the first indicia of credit having a monetary value associated therewith; use monetary value of the first indicia to update a credit balance at the first EGM; and use a first portion of the credit balance to fund payment of the first ODS order.","Another aspect disclosed herein is directed to different methods, systems, and computer program products for providing On Demand Services via a casino gaming network.","In at least one embodiment, the casino establishment may include a first electronic gaming device (“first EGD”) and a second electronic gaming device (“second EGD”), the first and second electronic gaming devices being communicatively coupled to the casino gaming network.","In at least one embodiment, the first electronic gaming device is configured to enable a first patron to engage in first wager-based game at the first electronic gaming device, the first electronic gaming device including a first display and a first input interface.","In at least one embodiment, the second electronic gaming device is configured to enable a second patron to engage in second wager-based game at the second electronic gaming device, the second electronic gaming device including a second display and a second input interface.","In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be operable to cause at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions to: detect that the first patron is engaged in a wager-based gaming activities at the first EGD; display a first ODS Menu GUI at the first display of the first EGD, the first ODS Menu GUI being configurable to display selected menu item content representing products and/or services which are available to be ordered via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; determine if the first patron is a VIP patron or a non-VIP patron; if it is determined that the first patron is a VIP patron, automatically and dynamically configure the first OD S Menu GUI to: (i) display, at the first EGD display, a first portion of content representing the first menu item, (ii) enable the first patron to submit to the system, via interaction with the first OD S Menu GUI, a first OD S order which includes the first menu item, and (iii) cause at least one component of the system to generate and send a first set of information relating to the first ODS order to a first casino entity for handling fulfillment of the first ODS order, the first casino entity being located at the casino establishment; and if it is determined that the first patron is a non-VIP patron, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to inhibit display of the first menu item at the first EGD display to thereby prevent the first patron from being able to order the first menu item via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.","In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions to: if it is determined that the first patron is a VIP patron, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a first purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the first purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the first purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; and if it is determined that the first patron is a non-VIP patron, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a second purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first OD S Menu GUI, the second purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the second purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.","Another aspect disclosed herein is directed to different methods, systems, and computer program products for providing On Demand Services via a casino gaming network, the casino establishment including a first electronic gaming device (“first EGD”) and a second electronic gaming device (“second EGD”), the first and second electronic gaming devices being communicatively coupled to the casino gaming network.","In at least one embodiment, the first electronic gaming device is configured to enable a first patron to engage in first wager-based game at the first electronic gaming device, the first electronic gaming device including a first display and a first input interface.","In at least one embodiment, the second electronic gaming device is configured to enable a second patron to engage in second wager-based game at the second electronic gaming device, the second electronic gaming device including a second display and a second input interface.","In at least one embodiment, an ODS database is provided which is configured to store menu item data relating to a plurality of ODS menu items, including a first menu item and a second menu item.","In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be operable to cause at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions to: detect that the first patron is engaged in a wager-based gaming activities at the first EGD; track wagering activities performed by the first patron during a first time interval; display a first ODS Menu GUI at the first display of the first EGD, the first ODS Menu GUI being configurable to display selected menu item content representing products and/or services which are available to be ordered via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a first set of criteria; in response to determining that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the first set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to: (i) display, at the first EGD display, a first portion of content representing the first menu item, (ii) enable the first patron to submit to the system, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI, a first ODS order which includes the first menu item, and (iii) cause at least one component of the system to generate and send a first set of information relating to the first ODS order to a first casino entity for handling fulfillment of the first OD S order, the first casino entity being located at the casino establishment; and in response to determining that the first patron's tracked wagering activities does not satisfy the first set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to inhibit display of the first menu item at the first EGD display to thereby prevent the first patron from being able to order the first menu item via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.","In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be operable to cause at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions to: analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a second set of criteria; in response to determining that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the second set of criteria, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a first purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first OD S Menu GUI, the first purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an OD S order to purchase the first menu item at the first purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; and analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a third set of criteria; and in response to determining that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the third set of criteria, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a second purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the second purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an OD S order to purchase the first menu item at the second purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.","Another aspect disclosed herein is directed to different methods, systems, and computer program products for providing On Demand Services via a casino gaming network, the casino establishment including a first electronic gaming device (“first EGD”) and a second electronic gaming device (“second EGD”), the first and second electronic gaming devices being communicatively coupled to the casino gaming network.","In at least one embodiment, the first electronic gaming device is configured to enable a first patron to engage in first wager-based game at the first electronic gaming device, the first electronic gaming device including a first display and a first input interface.","In at least one embodiment, the second electronic gaming device is configured to enable a second patron to engage in second wager-based game at the second electronic gaming device, the second electronic gaming device including a second display and a second input interface.","In at least one embodiment, an ODS database is provided which is configured to store menu item data relating to a plurality of OD S menu items, including a first menu item and a second menu item.","In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be operable to cause at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions to: detect that the first patron is engaged in a wager-based gaming activities at the first EGD; display a first ODS Menu GUI at the first display of the first EGD, the first ODS Menu GUI being configurable to display selected menu item content representing products and/or services which are available to be ordered via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; determine if the first patron is a VIP patron or a non-VIP patron; in response to determining that the first patron is a VIP patron, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to: (i) display, at the first EGD display, a first portion of content representing the first menu item, (ii) enable the first patron to submit to the system, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI, a first ODS order which includes the first menu item, and (iii) cause at least one component of the system to generate and send a first set of information relating to the first ODS order to a first casino entity for handling fulfillment of the first ODS order, the first casino entity being located at the casino establishment; and in response to determining that the first patron is a non-VIP patron, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to inhibit display of the first menu item at the first EGD display to thereby prevent the first patron from being able to order the first menu item via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.","In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be operable to cause at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions to: in response to determining that the first patron is a VIP patron, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a first purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the first purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the first purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; and in response to determining that the first patron is a non-VIP patron, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a second purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the second purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an OD S order to purchase the first menu item at the second purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.","Various objects, features and advantages of the various aspects described or referenced herein will become apparent from the following descriptions of its example embodiments, which descriptions should be taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.","SPECIFIC EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS Various techniques will now be described in detail with reference to a few example embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.","In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of one or more aspects and/or features described or reference herein.","It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more aspects and/or features described or reference herein may be practiced without some or all of these specific details.","In other instances, well known process steps and/or structures have not been described in detail in order to not obscure some of the aspects and/or features described or reference herein.","One or more different inventions may be described in the present application.","Further, for one or more of the invention(s) described herein, numerous embodiments may be described in this patent application, and are presented for illustrative purposes only.","The described embodiments are not intended to be limiting in any sense.","One or more of the invention(s) may be widely applicable to numerous embodiments, as is readily apparent from the disclosure.","These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice one or more of the invention(s), and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural, logical, software, electrical and other changes may be made without departing from the scope of the one or more of the invention(s).","Accordingly, those skilled in the art will recognize that the one or more of the invention(s) may be practiced with various modifications and alterations.","Particular features of one or more of the invention(s) may be described with reference to one or more particular embodiments or figures that form a part of the present disclosure, and in which are shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments of one or more of the invention(s).","It should be understood, however, that such features are not limited to usage in the one or more particular embodiments or figures with reference to which they are described.","The present disclosure is neither a literal description of all embodiments of one or more of the invention(s) nor a listing of features of one or more of the invention(s) that must be present in all embodiments.","Headings of sections provided in this patent application and the title of this patent application are for convenience only, and are not to be taken as limiting the disclosure in any way.","Devices that are in communication with each other need not be in continuous communication with each other, unless expressly specified otherwise.","In addition, devices that are in communication with each other may communicate directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries.","A description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required.","To the contrary, a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of one or more of the invention(s).","Further, although process steps, method steps, algorithms or the like may be described in a sequential order, such processes, methods and algorithms may be configured to work in alternate orders.","In other words, any sequence or order of steps that may be described in this patent application does not, in and of itself, indicate a requirement that the steps be performed in that order.","The steps of described processes may be performed in any order practical.","Further, some steps may be performed simultaneously despite being described or implied as occurring non-simultaneously (e.g., because one step is described after the other step).","Moreover, the illustration of a process by its depiction in a drawing does not imply that the illustrated process is exclusive of other variations and modifications thereto, does not imply that the illustrated process or any of its steps are necessary to one or more of the invention(s), and does not imply that the illustrated process is preferred.","When a single device or article is described, it will be readily apparent that more than one device/article (whether or not they cooperate) may be used in place of a single device/article.","Similarly, where more than one device or article is described (whether or not they cooperate), it will be readily apparent that a single device/article may be used in place of the more than one device or article.","The functionality and/or the features of a device may be alternatively embodied by one or more other devices that are not explicitly described as having such functionality/features.","Thus, other embodiments of one or more of the invention(s) need not include the device itself.","Techniques and mechanisms described or reference herein will sometimes be described in singular form for clarity.","However, it should be noted that particular embodiments include multiple iterations of a technique or multiple instantiations of a mechanism unless noted otherwise.","Casino's and gambling are a proven billion dollar industry.","The waitstaff alone bring in millions of dollars annually.","However, with all this success and money coming in the doors, there still remain significant untapped market opportunities that may bring in even more revenue for the casino.","For example, one such untapped market opportunity relates to patrons seated at gaming machines who are “looking for the drink girl.” In today's fast paced world, patrons of gaming establishments tend to be impatient, and generally dislike having to wait for a server to “hopefully stroll by.” They want their needs/desires attended to, and in an expeditious and timely manner.","However, given the casinos limited resources, it is generally difficult for casino patrons to obtain timely service.","This issue is particularly problematic in specific areas of the casino such as, for example, the low-wager play zones of the casino.","For example, a lone gambler occupying a seat at a gaming machine in a low-wager play zone may be forced to wait an undesirably long time for a server to come by and attend to the patron's order.","Moreover, other types casino services (such as, for example, security, valet, medical aid, etc.)","are neither easily accessible nor timely available to such patrons.","In an effort to address at least some of these issues, various On-Demand Service (ODS) techniques and features are described herein for providing casino patrons with instant, real-time access to selected casino services via use of the casino's electronic gaming machine display(s) and interface(s).","For example, as described in greater detail herein, a casino network may be communicatively coupled to an On Demand (ODS) System which is configured or designed to provide various types of On Demand Services such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Beverage On Demand (BOD) service(s) (e.g., which may include services for food and/or beverages), Host On Demand (HOD) service(s), Security On Demand (SOD) service(s), Valet On Demand (VOD) service(s), Weather On Demand (WOD) service(s), Menu Manager (MMR) service(s), AppSite service(s), etc.","According to different embodiments, such On Demand Services may be implemented at Casino establishments and/or other wager-based (and/or non-wager based) gaming establishments via one or more communications networks.","Unlike many of today's Casino-based POS systems, the On Demand Services System of the present application may be configured or designed to provide functionality for allowing Casino managers (e.g., Food/Beverage managers, Valet managers, Host managers, Security managers, etc.)","to continuously and/or periodically monitor, update, rearrange, remove, export, import, sort, itemize, track, date, locate, and/or deploy their entire menu system in a matter of seconds (e.g., in real-time).","Additionally, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to enable On Demand Services menus to be dynamically populated, configured and/or modified on the fly (e.g., in real-time), without having to bring down or halt the gambling system/slot machine interface(s).","By way of example, an On Demand Services System may be integrated into an existing casino gaming network such as, for example, The Cosmopolitan Casino in Las Vegas, Nev.","In this particular example, it may be assumed that “Lobster Appetizer” may be a food item which is occasionally offered as part of the Beverage On Demand (BOD) service.","However, in this particular example, it may initially be assumed that the “Lobster Appetizer” is currently unavailable at the Casino due to lack of inventory/supply.","Consequently, in at least one embodiment, the On Demand Services System may dynamically detect this current lack of inventory/supply of lobster, and may automatically and dynamically respond by updating the BOD service menu(s) to show that the Lobster Appetizer is currently unavailable.","In some embodiments, a Food/Beverage manager may elect to access the BOD service menu configuration interface to manually update the BOD service menu(s) to show that the Lobster Appetizer is currently unavailable.","Subsequently, a delivery of lobster may arrive at the Casino and the details of the lobster delivery (e.g., quantity, weight, price, etc.)","may be entered (e.g., either automatically or manually) into the Casino's inventory system.","In one embodiment, the On Demand Services System may automatically detect the updated availability of lobster in the inventory system, and in response, may automatically and dynamically update the BOD service menu(s) to show that the Lobster Appetizer is currently available.","Accordingly, within a matter of moments from detecting the availability of lobster in the Casino inventory, the Lobster Appetizer menu item may be made available for ordering by a patron, for example, via a BOD Service Menu GUI (e.g., 1024, FIG.","10; 1124, FIG.","11) of an electronic gaming machine (EGM).","Moreover, in at least some embodiments, this may be accomplished without having to interrupt, halt, or otherwise interfere with the EGM's current operation(s)/activitie(s).","Next, let's assume that the lobster delivery was a small shipment, and that the entirety of available lobster supply is sold out within twenty minutes.","Just as quickly and seamlessly as the Lobster Appetizer was added (or made available for ordering) as BOD Service Menu item, this menu item may be dynamically removed (or made unavailable for ordering) via the On Demand Services System in response to detecting that the identified menu item (or at least one ingredient of the identified menu item, such as lobster) is no longer available.","In some embodiments, the On Demand Services System may automatically analyze the details of the currently available supply of lobster, dynamically determine or estimate the quantity of available Lobster Appetizers which may be available for order (e.g., based on current supply and existing orders in queue), and dynamically track and update the BOD service menu(s) to show the estimated number of Lobster Appetizers which are currently available to be ordered.","In some embodiments, if a food or beverage item is determined to be in short supply, the On Demand Services System may automatically and dynamically impose ordering restrictions on such identified items (such as, for example, by limiting a patron to a maximum of 2 orders of a given food/beverage item which is in short supply).","On Demand Services Components, Systems, Sub-Systems FIGS.","10-64 illustrate various system diagrams, procedural flows, GUIs, and screenshots relating to various aspects of the On Demand Services described herein.","FIG.","10 shows an example portion of a casino network 1010 which includes an electronic gaming machine (EGM 1022) deployed at the casino floor 1020 (e.g., serving as a front-end system for providing On Demand Services to casino patrons), and including one or more backend displays 1032 deployed at the Casino's backend system 1030.In the specific example embodiment of FIG.","10, the EGM 1022 is configured or designed to display vertical-oriented On Demand Service window menu GUIs (e.g., 1024), which are configured or designed to provide players/patrons with access to various types of On Demand Services.","Examples of different vertical-oriented On Demand Service window menu GUIs which may be displayed via the EGM's display are illustrated in FIGS.","12-16.Additionally, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","10 the backend system display 1032 is shown displaying a Menu Manager GUI such as that illustrated and described in greater detail with respect to FIG.","17.FIG.","11 shows an example portion of a casino network 1010 which includes an electronic gaming machine (EGM 1122) deployed at the casino floor 1120 (e.g., serving as a front-end system for providing On Demand Services to casino patrons), and including one or more backend displays 1132 deployed at the Casino's backend system 1130.In the specific example embodiment of FIG.","11, the EGM 1122 is configured or designed to display horizontal-oriented On Demand Service window menu GUIs (e.g., 1124), which are configured or designed to provide players/patrons with access to various types of On Demand Services.","According to different embodiments, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to host a plurality of different interfaces (e.g., electronic menus, GUIs, applications, etc., some or all of which may be individually enabled/disabled) that provide a dynamic and fully configurable patron services suite.","Examples of some of the various interfaces/applications may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Beverage On Demand® (BOD) Service menu(s)/interface(s), as illustrated, for example, in FIGS.","12, 30-49, 55-59.Host On Demand® (HOD) Service menu(s)/interface(s), as illustrated, for example, in FIGS.","13, 19-21.Security On Demand® (SOD) Service menu(s)/interface(s), as illustrated, for example, in FIGS.","14, 22-25.Valet On Demand® (VOD) Service menu(s)/interface(s), as illustrated, for example, in FIGS.","15, 26-28.Weather On Demand® (WOD) Service menu(s)/interface(s), as illustrated, for example, in FIGS.","16, 29.Reports & Data Analytics Application(s), as illustrated, for example, in FIGS.","50-54.On-Demand Service Application Configuration and Menu Management Application(s), as illustrated, for example, in FIGS.","17, 18.Windows Services.","Etc.","In at least one embodiment, the On-Demand Service Application Configuration and Menu Management Application (also referred to herein as the “ODS Menu Manager” Application or the “AppSite” Application) may be configured or designed to include functionality for enabling authorized personnel to fully customize and configure On Demand Services menus, sub-menus, and related GUIs.","In at least one embodiment, the ODS Menu Manager Application enables authorized users (such as, for example, Casino Management and/or Food & Beverage Directors) to access, edit, customize, and/or modify selected On Demand Service application(s) menus, sub-menus and GUIs (e.g., BOD, HOD, SOD, VOD, WOD, Reports, etc.).","In at least one embodiment, such authorized personnel may use the ODS Menu Manager Application to implement desired configurable updates and/or changes to one or more of the On Demand Service application(s) menus, sub-menus and GUIs, to thereby fully customize the services, features, and content provided by the On Demand Services System in a manner which conforms with the specific needs and/or desires of each individual property (e.g., casino property).","According to different embodiments, the ODS Menu Manager Application may be configured or designed to run as a local application, a remote application, and/or as a website or webpage based interface that ties into present day gambling/player management systems.","FIG.","18 shows an example embodiment illustrating of a portion of an On Demand Services System architecture, illustrating how the ODS Menu Manager Application may be configured or designed to function as an admin management hub for managing On Demand products and services.","As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","18, an On Demand Services Menu Manager 1802 may be implemented at server (e.g., a backend casino server of the casino's gaming network), and may be configured or designed to interface with various On Demand Services Manager components (e.g., BOD Menu Manager 1808, Report Menu Manager 1810, WOD Menu Manager 1812, VOD Menu Manager 1814, HDD Menu Manager 1816, SOD Menu Manager 1818, etc.","), each of which may be configured or designed to include functionality for enabling a user (e.g., authorized administrators, Casino Management personnel, ODS Directors, etc.)","to configure, access, edit, customize, and/or modify selected On Demand Service application(s) menus, sub-menus, GUIs, and/or related content (e.g., 1840).","FIG.","17 shows an example screenshot of a ODS Menu Manager Application GUI 1700 which has been configured or designed to provide authorized users with access to various On Demand applications, services, products, and their related menu interfaces, content, and features, including, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): BOD—“Beverage On Demand®” 1702 applications, services, products, and related settings, menu interfaces, content, and features.","In at least one embodiment, the BOD Services Application may be configured or designed to provide functionality for enabling a patron to order selected items of food, beverages, and/or merchandise via interaction with one or more ODS interfaces which are presented to the patron via an EGM display.","In at least one embodiment, the BOD Services Application may also be configured or designed to provide functionality for enabling the patron to pay for ordered items of food, beverages, and/or merchandise via interaction with one or more ODS interfaces which are presented to the patron via the EGM display.","HOD—“Host On Demand®” 1706 applications, services, products, and related settings, menu interfaces, content, and features.","In at least one embodiment, the HOD Services Application may be configured or designed to provide functionality for enabling a patron to contact a Casino host, and/or to request/order selected Host Service(s)/Product(s) via interaction with one or more ODS interfaces which are presented to the patron via an EGM display.","Such functionality provides a more personalized approach as compared to the patron pressing a generic “attendant” button.","In at least one embodiment, the patron's EGM location/information is sent to a designated host, VIP host and/or concierge via a set of configurable rules, attributes and/or criteria setup via the ODS Menu Manager Application.","SOD—“Security On Demand®” 1704 applications, services, products, and related settings, menu interfaces, content, and features.","In at least one embodiment, the SOD Services may be configured or designed to provide functionality for enabling a patron to contact a security official and/or a medical aid representative.","the patron's EGM location/information is sent to a designated security and/or medical advisor via a set of configurable rules, attributes and/or criteria setup within the ODS Menu Manager Application.","VOD—“Valet On Demand®” applications, services, products, and related settings, menu interfaces, content, and features.","In at least one embodiment, the VOD Services may be configured or designed to provide functionality for enabling a patron to contact the valet services and notify of an estimated arrival time to have one's vehicle ready before they arrive at the vehicle pickup location.","WOD—“Weather On Demand®” 1710 applications, services, products, and related settings, menu interfaces, content, and features.","Reports & Data Analytics 1712 applications, services, products, and related settings, menu interfaces, content, and features.","ODS Menu Manager Application settings 1714 and related menu interfaces, content, and features.","Etc.","In at least some embodiments, the On Demand Services System may be implemented as a secure network that may be comprised of numerous devices, cables, and software packages that manage information tracking between gaming machines and house/backend servers/player management/storage locations.","In some embodiments, the On Demand Services System may display data to the patron, and receive input from the patron, via a gaming device (or mobile device) display and input interface.","In at least one embodiment, the On Demand Services System sends received user input (as well as other data) to the backend systems via regulated messaging protocols (e.g., S2S).","For example, in one embodiment, a patron may submit an order via an interactive button of the BOD Service menu, which, in turn, sends the order data to the backend system, whereupon one or more automated processes may process and deploy the order data to the appropriate bar/grill/location to be handled by the waitstaff.","Aspects of the On Demand Services functionality may be implemented as an enhanced “Intelligent” Point Of Sale (POS) system that is specifically configured or designed for implementation/use at casino (or wager-based) gaming machines and/or mobile device(s) located at the casino property.","In some embodiments, one or more of the On Demand Service menu GUI(s) may be configured or designed to be presented at an EGM via the EGM's primary display (e.g., 1022, FIG.","10), and/or one or more auxiliary displays (e.g., 1124, FIG.","11).","In some embodiments, one or more of the On Demand Service menu GUI(s) may be configured or designed to be presented at an EGM via use of PIP “picture in picture” technology (e.g., NexGen, Service Window etc.","), as found, for example, in some of IGT's, Bally's, Aristocrat, and Leap Forward Gaming's (iView/displayManager) gaming machines.","As described in greater detail herein, the various features and functions of the On Demand Services technology provides powerful and unmatched POS flexibility for any casino environment that may be manipulated in real time (e.g., via automated processes, and/or via manual processes) while enabling one to modify the usability and layout of selected EGM interface(s) from the backend system and to upload such modifications to the floor EGMs nearly instantaneously (e.g., in real-time), all of which may be implemented without having to interrupt, halt, or otherwise interfere with the current operation(s)/activitie(s) at the floor EGMs.","Additionally, by incorporating flexible design, the POS functionality of the On Demand Services System may function on any resolution screen across multiple brands of devices.","Further, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to seamlessly integrate with existing Casino networks and systems.","For example, in at least one embodiment, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to seamlessly integrate with existing casino food & beverage systems (e.g., Infogenesis, Micros), and may be configured or designed to include automated functionality for rapidly and efficiently importing existing/current/pre-built menu's into the On Demand Services System's own database system.","In at least some embodiments, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to include or provide additional features/functionality such as, for example: Remembering patrons' favorite orders.","Tracking player locations (e.g., via player tracking card in/card out).","Notifying waitstaff of patron relocation (e.g., in real-time).","Tracking, analyzing, generating detailed analytics and reports (e.g., promotional orders, how many clicks, how long viewed, how many ordered, real-time order status tracking, etc.).","Generating desired heat maps.","Providing mobile device compatibility.","Dynamically managing, modifying, monitoring, and configuring various aspects of On Demand Service(s) such as, for example, serving periods, bar locations, printer ports, default and preferred locations for both printers and bars, waitstaff monitoring, closed loop functionality, On Demand Service menu(s) (Admin/Backend side, EGM side, Mobile, etc.","), etc.","Etc.","Thus, in at least one embodiment, the On Demand Services System provides an unprecedented trackable overview of casino/patron/staff interactions, transactions, and analytics.","Moreover, some or all of these features (as well as others not listed) may be implemented in a manner which avoids (or does not require) interrupting patron gameplay and/or wagering events.","Thus, for example, in at least one embodiment, a patron may literally be gambling with one hand and ordering and/or requesting services with the other hand.","As described in greater detail herein, the various On Demand features and functionality may provide a number of advantages and/or benefits which, for example, may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): No more waiting to get what you want while at a gaming machine.","No more “having to sit in a populated zone” to get service.","No more waiting in the valet line.","Live like a VIP, and have your car ready when you step out the casino doors.","Enjoy the comfort of knowing security and/or medical personnel may be available at the touch of a button.","BOD, HOD, SOD, VOD, and/or WOD services are easily available and accessible via casino gaming machines and/or other devices.","Can't see outside—how's the weather?","No worries, you don't have to wait to find that out either.","Simply access desired weather information at the gaming machine via the WOD Service.","The On Demand Services technology described herein provides the new age & technological foundation that may turn the “demographic tables” in a positive and more prosperous direction by allowing players to access current amenities that are found throughout some or all of the latest and greatest websites and applications familiar in common day to day lifestyles.","And/or other benefits, features, and advantages described and/or referenced herein.","FIGS.","12-16 illustrate example screenshots of various OD S graphical user interfaces (herein referred to as “Patron ODS Menu GUIs”) which may be presented to patrons via EGM displays (and/or mobile device displays), and configured or designed to enable the patron to access and/or initiate orders/requests for selected On Demand Services and/or products.","In at least one embodiment, the example Patron ODS Menu GUIs illustrated in FIGS.","12-16 represent examples of interactive ODS menus which may be accessed by casino patrons via a portion of an EGM display such as, for example, EGM display portion 1024 of FIG.","10.While the example Patron ODS Menu GUIs of FIGS.","12-16 are configured or designed to be displayed in a vertical (e.g., portrait) orientation, in other embodiment, one or more Patron ODS Menu GUIs may be configured or designed to be displayed in a horizontal (e.g., landscape) orientation, as shown, for example, at 1124 of FIG.","11.In at least some embodiments, the On Demand Services may initially be accessed by patron interaction with a “Service” button commonly found on most gaming machines.","In one embodiment, pressing the “Service” button causes an interactive ODS Menu GUI to be displayed (e.g., at a PIP region of the primary EGM display, as illustrated, for example, at 1024, FIG.","10).","According to different embodiments, the interactive OD S Menu GUI may be configured or designed to be compatible with multiple resolutions to accommodate a plurality of gaming machines and their unique resolutions and PIP configurations.","In some embodiments, the one or more ODS Services Menu GUIs may be displayed via one or more secondary display devices at the EGM (such as, for example, NexGen, NexGenII, iView, & displayManager), thereby allowing the ODS Services Menu GUIs to be concurrently displayed at the EGM without interfering with or otherwise affecting the patron's game play (or other content) presented on the primary EGM display.","By way of illustration, FIGS.","55-59 illustrate example screenshots of various BOD Menu GUIs which may be presented to a given patron via an EGM display (and/or mobile device display) for enabling the patron to access and/or initiate orders/requests for selected food items, beverage items, and/or other items of merchandise.","In at least one embodiment, the interactive ODS Menu GUI may be configured or designed to enable the user (e.g., a patron) to navigate through the various ODS services/products offered by the casino, and to access desired On Demand Services.","Once the user has accessed the desired ODS service and has selected items/services to “order” (e.g., via ODS menu navigation, GUI interaction, swipe screens, search options, etc.","), the user may interact with the “Submit Order” button (e.g., 5530, FIG.","55; 5630, FIG.","56; 5730, FIG.","57; 5830, FIG.","58; 5930, FIG.","59) to cause the user's order to be submitted to the On Demand Services System for processing.","During the processing of the submitted order, the On Demand Services System may access one or more sets of conditions/criteria which may influence or determine where the order is to be routed or delivered for further processing and/or fulfillment by casino staff.","For example, according to different embodiments, the determination as to where a particular OD S order is to be routed for fulfillment may depend upon various criteria such as, for example, jurisdiction, regulations, house preference, patron location, time of day, day of week, availability of waitstaff, and the like.","In some embodiments, the order data may be automatically and/or dynamically routed/outputted (e.g., in real-time) (e.g., electronically displayed and/or printed out) at a predetermined bar and/or location (e.g., in accordance with the setup/configuration implemented via the On Demand Services System's backend functionality), where the order may then be filled by servers and/or waitstaff.","Once the order is fulfilled and ready for delivery, it may be physically up to the waitstaff to deliver the items to the identified patron who submitted the order.","In at least some embodiments, the On Demand Services System may include functionality for dynamically tracking player locations (e.g., in real-time) and for notifying waitstaff of patron relocation.","Thus, for example, if, while the order is being filled, the patron who ordered decides to leave the current EGM, the On Demand Services System may automatically detect this activity, and may automatically respond by initiating one or more procedures/operations such as, for example, automatically generating and sending a notification to the ODS service station (where the order is being filled) that the patron has departed from location/EGM X.","According to different embodiments, the system may automatically determine that the player has departed from a given location/EGM in response to detecting one or more event(s) and/or conditions such as, for example: a “card out” event (e.g., where the player's player tracking card is removed from the EGM), a “ticket out” event (e.g., where the EGM generates and delivers a cash voucher to the player to zero out the EGM credit meter), a “cash out” event, etc.","Thereafter, if the system subsequently detects that the player has carded in at location/EGM Y, the system may respond by automatically generating and sending a notification to the ODS service station (where the order is being filled) that the patron has been detected as carding in at location/EGM Y at a specific time.","Additionally, based on the detected player movement/relocation activities, the On Demand Services System may include functionality for identifying the specific waitstaff assigned to deliver the order to the patron, and for automatically generating and sending a notification to the identified waitstaff of the patron's movement(s)/relocation.","Thus, for example, in one embodiment, if the waitstaff is in the process of delivering the ordered drink/item to the patron, and is on the floor in route for delivery, the system may be configured or designed to automatically detect these conditions, and may automatically and dynamically initiate appropriate actions for notifying the identified waitstaff via mobile device (e.g., via text message, phone call, etc.)","of the player's new location.","In specific situations it may happen that an ordered ODS item is unable to be delivered to the patron (e.g., because the patron has left the EGM, because the ordered item is unavailable, etc.).","To address such situations, the On Demand Services System may provide a time out/cancellation feature which may be configured or designed to automatically cancel the order in response to detecting the occurrence of one or more predefined set(s) of event(s)/condition(s) such as, for example: Card-out/cash-out/ticket-out event detected at EGM where OD S order originated.","Location of patron who ordered item cannot be detected, verified and/or determined.","Ordered item unavailable.","Condition(s) for allowing fulfillment of order no longer met/satisfied.","Player no longer wagering at required minimum allowable wager amount/level for receiving ordered item.","And/or other set(s) of event(s)/condition(s) as may be configured/defined by the casino.","In addition to automatically canceling the order, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to identify and notify appropriate casino personnel (e.g., staff assigned to handle the order) that the identified ODS order has been cancelled.","In at least some embodiments, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to include functionality for enabling waitstaff personnel to submit orders on behalf of the patron via a mobile device, smartphone and/or tablet running ODS application(s).","In at least some embodiments, the mobile ODS applications/GUIs may be configured or designed to include functionality similar to that of the OD S Service menu GUIs described herein.","Additionally, in at least some embodiments, similar triggering events/conditions/criteria may be applied to ODS orders placed by waitstaff on behalf of casino patrons.","On Demand Service Menu GUI Configuration One of the beneficial aspects of the On Demand Services technology described herein relates to the flexible nature of the On Demand Service menu GUI configuration and layout.","For example, in at least one embodiment, a casino property may configure different On Demand Service menu GUIs to offer different items in different ways.","By way of illustration, to order a cup of coffee, an On Demand Service menu GUI may be configured to display (e.g., via the EGM display interface) a “Coffee” button.","When the player selects the Coffee Button, the system may display a list of condiments (e.g., cream, sugar, Splenda, etc.)","to the player, and request that the user select the specific condiments which the player would like to have included with the order.","Alternatively, one or more On Demand Service menu GUI(s) may be configured or designed to include multiple different “Coffee” buttons such as, for example: “Coffee—black”, “Coffee—with cream”, “Coffee—with cream and sugar”, etc.","The customization, layouts, configurations, and content of the On Demand Service menu GUI(s) may be controlled and managed by the casino property.","Additionally, in at least some embodiments, the On Demand Services System may include functionality for enabling the On Demand Service menu GUI(s) to automatically and/or dynamically modified based on feedback from the customers/patrons, thereby allowing for instant changes to fully maximize player services and comfort.","As described in greater detail herein, the On Demand Services System may include a Front End subsystem (e.g., enabled at EGMs, and Mobile Platform(s), for use by customers, patrons, waitstaff, etc.)","and a Back End subsystem (e.g., implemented at a Casino server, accessible by authorized casino personnel).","Examples of various types of Frontend activities which a casino patron (and/or waitstaff) may perform by interacting with one or more of the ODS Menu GUIs presented via an EGM (or mobile device) display may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Beverage On Demand Services, such as, for example: Order items Leave comments Select favorites Select promotional items Move to different EGM's while order is in process (Player Tracking Card In/Card Out) Play EGM and order items simultaneously Security On Demand Services, such as, for example: Contact Security personnel Contact Medical personnel Contact Property personnel Play EGM and contact personnel simultaneously Host On Demand Services, such as, for example: Contact Host and/or VIP Host Contact Concierge Play EGM and contact personnel simultaneously Valet On Demand Services, such as, for example: Notify Valet Personnel on expected vehicle pickup Inform Valet Personnel on estimated time of arrival Supply Valet Coupon and/or ticket number for ease of use Play EGM and contact personnel simultaneously Weather On Demand Services, such as, for example: Stay up to date with current (local) weather and predicted forecasts Find global weather and forecasts via search engine Play EGM and be informed and/or search simultaneously Examples of various types of data and/or information which may be accessed, monitored, and/or modified by casino employees (and/or other authorized users) interacting with one or more of the On Demand Service window GUIs presented via a backend system display may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Central access to individual On Demand applications and functionality thereof (e.g., AppSite) Menu Management interface system (Beverage On Demand), which, for example, may provide access to various types of Beverage On Demand related information such as, for example: Primary Categories Sub Categories Items Category Condiment & Condiment Group categories Custom Item images Custom Language setup Limit Tags, Limit Item Amounts & Limit Patrons Serving Periods, Bars & Printer locations Receipt formats Ads, Pop-up ads, and Banner Ads Discounts, promotions (based on tier, age, gender, birthday, other) Waitstaff management Tiered functionality Micros Integration Infogenesis Integration Analytics Player Tracking (Card In/Card Out) Heat Maps Intelligent Favorites Enable/Disable patron order comments Report management Export Database Closed Loop System Security Management interface system (Security On Demand), which, for example, may provide access to various types of Security On Demand related information such as, for example: General Setup Security Setup Medical Setup Reports Host Management interface system (Host On Demand), which, for example, may provide access to various types of Host On Demand related information such as, for example: General Setup Host Setup Reports Valet Management interface system (Valet On Demand), which, for example, may provide access to various types of Valet On Demand related information such as, for example: General Setup Valet Setup Reports Weather Management interface system (Weather On Demand), which, for example, may provide access to various types of Weather On Demand related information such as, for example: General Setup Report Management interface system (Report Management), which, for example, may provide access to various types of Report Management related information such as, for example: Order Tracking Delete Orders Generate Report Location Date Items Player Saving Examples of various types of Backend activities which casino employees (and/or other authorized users) may initiate and/or perform by interacting with one or more of the On Demand Service window GUIs presented via a backend system display may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Central access to individual On Demand applications and functionality thereof (AppSite).","Menu Management interface system (Beverage On Demand), which, for example, may provide access to various types of BOD related features, functions, operations such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Configurable drag & drop Primary Categories Configurable drag & drop Sub Categories Configurable drag & drop Items Category Configurable drag & drop Condiment & Condiment Group categories Configurable custom Item images Configurable Limit Tags, Limit Item Amounts & Limit Patrons Configurable Serving Periods, Bars & Printer locations Configurable Receipt formats Configurable Ads, Pop-up ads, and Banner Ads Configurable discounts, promotions based on tier, age, gender, birthday, other Configurable Waitstaff management (with pin number for closed loop system) Tiered functionality (based through multiple sections) Micros Integration (menu database import) Infogenesis Integration (menu database import) Analytics (viewing and printing) Heat Maps (viewing and printing) Enable/Disable patron order comments Report management (viewing and printing).","Security Management interface system (Security On Demand), which, for example, may provide access to various types of SOD related features, functions, operations such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): General Setup email port alert port SMTP server username account password protection language select Security Setup Email SMS Printer Email receiver Phone number receiver Phone service provider Add service provider Printer receiver Medical Setup Email SMS Printer Email receiver Phone number receiver Phone service provider Add service provider Printer receiver Reports Call type Report type Host Management interface system (Host On Demand), which, for example, may provide access to various types of HOD related features, functions, operations such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): General Setup email port alert port SMTP server password protection language select Host Setup Email SMS Printer Reports Report type Date setup Filter Reports Valet Management interface system (Valet On Demand), which, for example, may provide access to various types of VOD related features, functions, operations such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): General Setup email port alert port SMTP server username account password protection language select Valet Setup Email SMS Printer Email receiver Phone number receiver Phone service provider Add service provider Printer receiver Reports Report type Date setup Filter Reports Weather Management interface system (Weather On Demand), which, for example, may provide access to various types of WOD related features, functions, operations such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): General Setup Default Language Favored Country Default Location Measurement System API Key Report Management interface system (Report Management), which, for example, may provide access to various types of Report Management related features, functions, operations such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Order Tracking Delete Orders Generate Report Location Date Items Player Saving In at least some embodiments, each of the different types of On Demand Services may have associated therewith a respective set of management GUIs for enabling casino staff, administrators and/or other authorized personnel to access, configure, monitor, modify, analyze, and report various types of On Demand related activities, events, data, and/or other information.","Moreover, in at least some embodiments, these activities may be performed or accessed in real-time (e.g., on the fly), without causing or requiring any disruption to any concurrent or existing gaming-related and/or wagering-related activities being conducted via the casino gaming network, and without requiring that the On Demand Services System be brought off-line.","It will be appreciated that On Demand Services techniques have been configured or designed to overcome various technological issues and limitations which have existed with respect to many of today's on-demand service systems which are currently deployed at casino properties.","For example, the customized features and content of many on-demand service systems which are currently deployed at one or more casino properties are typically implemented via use of hardcoded software which has been specifically customized and configured to accommodate the individual requirements of each separate casino.","In order to modify or change the features, content, or GUIs of such hardcoded on-demand systems, it is typically necessary to require that the systems running the on-demand services be brought off-line in order to implement the desired modifications.","This may also cause or result in a disruption of gaming-related and/or wagering-related activities being conducted via the casino gaming network.","In contrast, embodiments of the On Demand Services System described herein are specifically configured or designed to be implemented using flexible-based software coding techniques which provide functionality for enabling the features, content, and/or GUIs of On Demand Services System(s) to be dynamically configured, re-configured, or otherwise modified in real-time (e.g., on the fly), without causing or requiring any disruption to any concurrent or existing gaming-related and/or wagering-related activities being conducted via the casino gaming network, and without requiring that the On Demand Services System be brought off-line in order to implement such changes/modifications.","Example Beverage on Demand (BOD) Services Features and Management FIGS.","12, 55-59 illustrate example screenshots of various BOD Service Menu GUIs which may be accessed via the frontend system by patrons and/or waitstaff (e.g., via EGM device and/or mobile device).","The example screenshots of BOD Service Menu GUIs illustrated in FIGS.","12, 55-59 have been specifically configured for vertical-oriented presentation on a portion of an EGM display, as illustrated, for example, at 1024 of FIG.","10.In other embodiments (not shown) the BOD Service Menu GUIs for horizontal-oriented presentation, and/or may be configured for presentation on other types of displays such as, for example, mobile devices, smart phones, PDAs, kiosk displays, etc.","As described in greater detail herein, the Beverage On Demand® (BOD) Menu GUIs may be configured or designed to enable patron and/or waitstaff to browse the catalog of available items which may be ordered via the casino's BOD Service, select desired item(s) to be ordered, and submit an order for the selected items to the casino's BOD Service.","In at least some embodiments, the BOD Service System may also be configured or designed to enable the patron to pay for the BOD Service order via one or more different types of funding sources such as, for example, credit cards, ATM cards, PayPal™, bitcoins, casino credits, casino vouchers, coupons, cash, room charge, etc.","According to the preferences of the casino, the BOD Service Menu GUI(s) may be configured or designed to offer a variety of different items for ordering, including, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): food items, beverage items, novelty items, gift shop accessories, etc.","However, for purposes of illustration and ease of explanation, the BOD Service Menu GUI(s) illustrated and described with respect to FIGS.","12, 30-49, and 55-59, focus primarily on beverage items which may be available for ordering via the BOD Service Menu GUI(s).","According to different embodiments, some of items offered via the BOD Service Menu GUI(s) may be available for purchase, while other items offered via the BOD Service Menu GUI(s) may be available for complimentary ordering (e.g., for a given patron).","For example, in some embodiments the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to include functionality for automatically monitoring casino patron gaming/wagering activities, and for automatically “comping” food, beverages, and/or other items ordered by a given patron via the BOD Service in response to determining that specific predefined conditions, events, and/or criteria have been satisfied.","According to different embodiments, at least a portion of such predefined conditions, events, and/or criteria may be based on one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Player Identity.","Gaming history of that player at the player's current EGM.","Gaming history of that player over a designated time interval.","Wagering history of that player at the player's current EGM.","Wagering history of that player over a designated time interval.","Current physical location of the player.","Historical physical location of player over one or more time intervals (e.g., player must be physically located on the gaming floor for at least 15 consecutive minutes in order to receive a free comp drink).","And/or other desired criteria as may be configured/defined by the casino.","By way of illustration, the casino may configure the On Demand Services System to allow a player at an EGM to order (via BOD Service Menu GUI) a complementary “top shelf” mixed drink once every 15 minutes, provided that the player initiates at least 10 wagers at the EGM each 15 minutes, and provided that each wager is a minimum of $1.In one embodiment, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to not allow the player to place an order for a complementary “top shelf” mixed drink until all required conditions/events are satisfied.","In another embodiment, the player may start a gaming session at the EGM and specify a wager/bet amount of $1.Before the 15 minutes has elapsed, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to permit the player to place submit a “top shelf” mixed drink order before all required conditions/events are satisfied, but may continue to proactively monitor the player's wagering activities, and may take appropriate action to automatically cancel the order if the system subsequently detects that the player has switched to a $0.50 wager/bet amount, for example.","FIG.","12 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Main Menu GUI 1200, in accordance with one embodiment.","As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","12, the BOD Main Menu GUI includes a first portion of interactive content 1210, which is configured or designed to enable the user (e.g., casino patron) to browse through a catalog of various types of beverages (e.g., beer, mixed drinks, nonalcohol beverages, wine, etc.)","which are available to be ordered via the casino's BOD Service.","The BOD Main Menu GUI may also include additional interactive content (e.g., 1220) which may be configured or designed to include functionality for enabling the patron to perform additional tasks relating to the BOD Service, such as, for example for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): View/order/purchase special offers and/or promotions.","Submit an order.","Review items in the electronic shopping cart.","Navigate to other menus of the BOD Service.","Access other On Demand Services.","Request a casino attendant.","Request a server (e.g., waiter/waitress).","Check on the status of a pending BOD order.","Cancel a submitted BOD order.","Modify a BOD order which has been submitted.","Select/change default language of BOD Menu GUI(s).","Initiate a keyword search for specific items.","Minimize the BOD Service Menu.","Close the BOD Service Menu.","And/or other types of activities illustrated or described herein.","FIG.","55 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Menu GUI 5500, illustrating an example embodiment of a promotional offer (e.g., Budweiser Beer) being displayed via a pop-up window or overlay layer 5510.In one embodiment, the user may add the promotional item to the user's electronic shopping cart (e.g., by tapping on “+” icon 5511, and/or may order the promotional item by sliding the virtual “slide” button 5530 in the direction indicated.","FIG.","56 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Main Menu GUI 5600 which has been configured or designed to display promotional offer content 5620 (e.g., daiquiri mixed drink $5.99).","In one embodiment, the user may add the promotional item to the user's electronic shopping cart, and/or may directly submit an order for the promotional item via interaction with “Submit Order” GUI portion 5630.Additionally, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","56, the BOD Main Menu GUI may include interactive content 5610 for enabling the user to access one or more BOD submenus relating to the different types of of beverages (e.g., beer, mixed drinks, nonalcohol beverages, wine, etc.)","which are available to be ordered via the casino's BOD Service.","FIG.","57 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Submenu GUI 5700, in accordance with one embodiment.","As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","57, the BOD Submenu GUI 5700 has been configured to represent a BOD Beer Menu which displays information (e.g., 5720) about various types of beer (e.g., light beers, dark beers, wheat bears, pale ales, etc.","), brands of beer (e.g., Budweiser, Coors, Stella, etc.","), and/or items of beer (e.g., 12 oz can of Coors, 10 oz bottle of Budweiser, etc.)","that are available for ordering via the BOD Service.","Additionally, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","57, BOD Submenu GUI 5700 has been configured or designed to display promotional offer content 5720 (e.g., Margarita mixed drink $5.99).","In one embodiment, the user may add one or more of the offered items to the user's electronic shopping cart, and/or may directly submit an order for the promotional item via interaction with “Submit Order” GUI portion 5730.In at least one embodiment, the user may access the BOD Beer Menu of FIG.","57 by tapping or selecting the “Beer” line item (e.g., 5612) of the BOD Main Menu GUI of FIG.","56.FIG.","58 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Submenu GUI 5800, in accordance with one embodiment.","As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","58, the BOD Submenu GUI 5800 has been configured to represent a BOD Item Menu which displays additional information (e.g., 5810) about one or more specific BOD items (e.g., can of Stella beer).","In at least one embodiment, the user may add (e.g., 5811) one or more of the offered items to the user's electronic shopping cart, and/or may directly submit an order for the promotional item via interaction with “Submit Order” GUI portion 5830.In at least one embodiment, the user may access the BOD Item Menu of FIG.","58 by tapping or selecting the “STELLA” line item (e.g., 5712) of the BOD Beer Menu of FIG.","57.FIG.","59 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Shopping Cart GUI 5900, in accordance with one embodiment.","As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","59, the BOD Shopping Cart GUI 5900 has been configured to provide the user with access to various types of information and features relating to the selected BOD items which the user has added to his electronic shopping cart via interaction with one or more BOD Menu GUI(s).","By way of illustration, examples of such information/features may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Listing of individual items (e.g., 5912, 5914) which have been added to the user's electronic shopping cart.","Item pricing information.","Tax-related information.","(e.g., 5916) Functionality for enabling the user to dynamically add/subtract/modify/remove quantities of selected items to/from the user's shopping cart.","Functionality for enabling the user to add special request(s) relating to one or more items in the user's shopping cart.","Functionality 5918 for enabling the user to add one or more comment(s) to the BOD order.","Functionality 5930 for enabling the user to submit the BOD order.","Functionality for enabling the user to pay for the BOD order.","Functionality for enabling the user to apply comps, coupons, discounts to the BOD order.","And/or other types of information and/or functionality described herein.","Real-Time BOD/ODS Tracking Functionality It is noted that many of today's on-demand service systems which are currently deployed at casino properties are not configured or designed to provide casino management with access to real-time tracking of orders which have been submitted to their on-demand service systems.","Some reasons why such functionality has typically not been provided by such prior on-demand service systems relate to the complex and proprietary nature of the casinos networks.","Additionally, since the customized features and content of many currently deployed on-demand service systems are typically implemented via use of hardcoded software, such systems inherently lack the dynamic customization/configuration flexibility which may be required for implementing real-time tracking of on-demand service orders.","Accordingly, as described in greater detail herein, it may be appreciated that some of the unique and advantageous features of the presently described On Demand Services System relate to the system's ability to automatically track (e.g., in real-time) the current status of all BOD orders (and/or other types of ODS orders) which have been submitted to the On Demand Services System, and to the system's ability to provide casino personnel (and/or other authorized personnel) with access to real-time status information relating to specific orders and/or specific types of orders (e.g., pending orders, new orders, delivered orders, canceled orders, delayed orders, complementary orders, etc.).","FIGS.","60-64 illustrate example screenshots of various BOD Service Tracking GUIs which may be used for accessing real-time BOD tracking functionality relating to BOD Services and other related information/features, including, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Real-time tracking of pending BOD Service orders.","(e.g., FIG.","61) Real-time tracking of delivered BOD Service orders.","(e.g., FIG.","62) Real-time tracking of canceled BOD Service orders.","(e.g., FIG.","63) Configuration of features and default settings relating to the BOD Service.","(e.g., FIG.","64) Etc.","In at least one embodiment, at least a portion of the BOD tracking functionality may be provided by a BOD Tracking System, which, for example, may be implemented as a component or subsystem of the On Demand Services System.","In the specific example embodiments of FIGS.","60-64, the example BOD Service Tracking GUIs have been configured for presentation on a computer system display (such as, for example, a desktop computer, laptop computer, mobile device, etc.","), and may be accessed via use of a web browser application.","In other embodiments (not shown) the one or more of the BOD Service Tracking GUIs may be accessed via a client application running on a remote system.","FIG.","60 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Login GUI 6000 which may be used by authorized persons for accessing tracking functionality for the BOD Service.","In order to access the main contents of the tracking system, a secure pin pad login may be required.","The pin may be setup through the ODS System.","FIG.","61 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Order Tracking GUI 6100 which may be configured or designed to include functionality for enabling authorized personnel to access real-time BOD tracking of the various BOD orders which have been submitted to the BOD System, including, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Pending or open BOD orders (e.g., 6112).","New and/or recent BOD orders.","Delivered BOD orders (e.g., 6114).","Canceled BOD orders (e.g., 6116).","Delayed BOD orders.","Etc.","In the example embodiment of FIG.","61, the BOD Order Tracking GUI 6100 has been configured to display pending BOD orders, which may be accessed by tapping or selecting the “Pending Orders” (6112) display option.","As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","61, two BOD orders (e.g., 6122, 6124) are currently pending.","Display of various different icons (e.g., 6121, 6123, 6125, 6127) may be used to denote (e.g., via quick visual observation) aspects about each order such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): new order not yet viewed before; order which has been previously viewed; whether the player is currently seated/carded out/carded in; player VIP status; and/or other aspects and/or information about a given order.","In one embodiment, each order that comes in may be displayed within its own respective window and/or frame (e.g., 6122, 6124) of the BOD Order Tracking GUI, and within each configurable window/frame, information about that specific order is displayed such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): player id; player name; time when order placed; elapsed time since order was placed; item description(s); order number; zone; location; EGM bank; pricing information; payment method; etc.","In one embodiment, if the population of the orders expands beyond the screen display resolution limits, a scroll bar may automatically appear, allowing the user to scroll through the order list.","As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","61, a Bar/Section Selection Icon 6102 may be displayed for enabling the user to switch between different bars, restaurants, zones/sections, and/or other locations where BOD orders may be processed, filled, or prepared.","Additionally, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","61, the BOD Order Tracking GUI may include a printer icon (e.g., 6106) for enabling the user to send print outs of selected orders to one or more selected printer locations at the casino property.","In at least one embodiment, the BOD Order Tracking GUI(s) may be configured or designed to include keyword searching functionality (e.g., 6108) and grouping functionality for enabling users to view real-time status details relating to one or more sets of orders which match user-defined search criteria such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Employee ID, Player ID, EGM ID, zone, EGM location, Player location, Bar/Restaurant ID, BOD item, BOD order ID, time-based criteria (e.g., range of time, range of day(s), range of date(s), etc.)","and/or other types of searchable or filterable criteria.","For example, in the specific example embodiment of FIG.","61, the BOD Order Tracking GUI 6100 displays status details of pending BOD (e.g., 6120) orders which have been assigned to a specifically identified employee (e.g., Emp: #112244) (6104).","In at least one embodiment, this grouping functionality may be used to help keep orders in their respective server zones and associated with their respective servers.","FIG.","62 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Order Tracking GUI 6200 which has been configured or designed to provide user access to real-time BOD tracking information relating to delivered BOD orders.","In the specific example embodiment of FIG.","62, the BOD Order Tracking GUI 6200 displays status details of a set of delivered BOD orders (e.g., 6220) which are associated with a specifically identified employee (e.g., Emp: #112244).","FIG.","63 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Order Tracking GUI 6300 which has been configured or designed to provide user access to real-time BOD tracking information relating to canceled BOD orders.","In the specific example embodiment of FIG.","63, the BOD Order Tracking GUI 6300 displays status details of a set of canceled BOD orders (e.g., 6320) which are associated with a specifically identified employee (e.g., Emp: #112244).","In at least one embodiment, the On Demand Services System may include functionality for populating and maintaining an ODS Order Database for storing all (or selected) details of all (or selected) historical ODS orders, status updates, and related transactions.","In one embodiment, the ODS Order Database may provide searchable access to archive-based lists of ODS orders, status updates, and related transactions which may be utilized by the BOD Tracking System (and/or other components/systems) for providing various aspects of the real-time BOD tracking and reporting functionalities described herein.","Any order that is cancelled and/or delivered will populate these tabs.","FIG.","64 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Tracking Configuration GUI 6400 which may be configured or designed to include functionality for enabling authorized personnel to configure and/or modify various aspects/features relating to the BOD Tracking System functionality and/or BOD Order Tracking GUI(s).","In at least one embodiment, one or more BOD Tracking Configuration GUI(s) may be configured or designed to enable authorized user(s) to selectively and/or dynamically set and/or modify configuration parameters of the BOD Tracking System such as, for example: the automated closing of orders (e.g., 6410); default settings (e.g., 6420), etc.","For example, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","64, a user may check the box in the “Close Orders When Printed” configuration GUI 6410 to configure the BOD Tracking System to automatically close an identified order in the BOD system after the order has been printed from the BOD Order Tracking GUI.","Alternatively, a user may check the box in the “Close Orders When Printed” configuration GUI 6410 to configure the BOD Tracking System to prevent a printed order from being automatically closed.","In this latter configuration, the order may need to be closed using the Service Window of the carded patron (or using the Mobile Close Loop screen when using Intelligent BOD).","Additionally, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","64, as shown at 6420, a user may selectively configure a selected bar of the casino (e.g., Bar_T1) as the “Default Bar” parameter of one or more BOD Order Tracking GUI(s).","In at least one embodiment, different BOD Tracking System terminals may each be separately configured to have a respective Default Bar parameter assigned thereto.","In at least some embodiments, the default bar parameter assigned to a first BOD Tracking System terminal may differ from another default bar parameter assigned to a second BOD Tracking System terminal.","Thus, for example, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","64, the casino bar identified as “Bar_T1” may be configured as the Default Bar for the BOD Tracking System terminal which is displaying the BOD Tracking Configuration GUI 6400.BOD Menu Management and Configuration One of the beneficial aspects of the On Demand Services technology described herein relates to the flexible nature of the ODS Menu GUI configurations and layouts, which provide functionality for enabling the features, content, and/or GUIs of On Demand Services System(s) to be dynamically configured, re-configured, or otherwise modified in real-time (e.g., on the fly), without causing or requiring any disruption to any concurrent or existing gaming-related and/or wagering-related activities being conducted via the casino gaming network, and without requiring that the On Demand Services System be brought off-line in order to implement such changes/modifications.","In at least one embodiment, such functionality may be implemented via use of a Menu Manager (MM) System, which may be configured or designed to enable authorized users to dynamically configure and/or modify selected features, content, and/or GUIs of On Demand Services System(s).","In at least one embodiment, the Menu Manager System may be implemented as an application, component or subsystem of the On Demand Services System.","In some embodiments, the Menu Manager System may be implemented as a separate system which is configured or designed to provide ODS Menu Management functionality via remote access to the On Demand Services System.","FIGS.","30-49, and 60-64 illustrate example screenshots of BOD Menu Manager GUIs which may be accessible by authorized casino staff or other authorized entities.","More specifically, FIGS.","30-49 illustrate example screenshots of various backend BOD Service GUIs which may be used for accessing, enabling, initiating, and/or performing one or more of the following operation(s), action(s), and/or feature(s) (or combinations thereof): Configuring the features, content and other aspects of the frontend BOD Service Menu GUIs Configuring the features, content and other aspects of the backend BOD Service GUIs Configuring the features, content and other aspects of the BOD Service Accessing the BOD Reporting and Tracking features of the BOD Service Accessing specific features of the BOD Service System which are available for use by approved administrators and/or managers.","Etc.","As described previously with respect to FIGS.","17 and 18, the On Demand Services System may include a Menu Manager application which is configured or designed to provide functionality for enabling authorized personnel to fully customize and configure On Demand Services menus, sub-menus, and related GUIs.","In at least one embodiment, the ODS Menu Manager Application enables authorized users (such as, for example, Casino Management and/or Food & Beverage Directors) to access, edit, customize, and/or modify selected On Demand Service application(s) menus, sub-menus and GUIs (e.g., BOD, HOD, SOD, VOD, WOD, Reports, etc.).","In at least one embodiment, such authorized personnel may use the OD S Menu Manager Application to implement desired configurable updates and/or changes to one or more of the On Demand Service application(s) menus, sub-menus and GUIs, to thereby fully customize the services, features, and content provided by the On Demand Services System in a manner which conforms with the specific needs and/or desires of each individual property (e.g., casino property).","FIG.","18 shows an example embodiment illustrating how the ODS Menu Manager Application may be configured or designed to function as an admin management hub for managing On Demand products and services.","FIG.","17 shows an example screenshot of an ODS Menu Manager Application GUI 1700 which has been configured or designed to provide authorized users with access to various On Demand applications, services, products, and their related menu interfaces, content, and features.","FIG.","30 illustrates an example screenshot of a BOD Menu Manager-Main Menu GUI which may be configured or designed to function as an admin management hub for managing and/or configuring BOD Service features and/or BOD Menu GUIs.","As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","30, the BOD Menu Manager-Main Menu GUI may be divided into multiple sections or “panels.” (e.g., 3050, 3060, 3080, 3090, etc.)","On the left is the “Navigation Panel” 3050 that is configured to display a plurality of user selectable “BOD Navigation” buttons (e.g., 3001, 3002, 3004, 3006, 3008, 3010, 3012, 3014, 3016, 3018, 3020, etc.)","that enable the user to navigate, select and/or configure various aspects, features, and/or content of BOD Service Menu GUI(s), including, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): BOD Service Menu features/parameters/content 3001; Promotion features/parameters/content 3002; Bars features/parameters/content 3004; Serving Period features/parameters/content 3006; Waitstaff features/parameters/content 3008; EGM's features/parameters/content 3010; Ads features/parameters/content 3012; Tax features/parameters/content 3014; Limits features/parameters/content 3016; Configure features/parameters/content 3018; Reports features/parameters/content; Export features/parameters/content 3020; Etc.","The Content Panel GUI portion 3040 shows the various configurable options that are available in connection with each BOD Navigation button of the Navigation Panel 3050.In at least one embodiment, the panel sections may be configured or designed to provide a familiar user interface where the BOD navigation elements (e.g., 3050) remain in their same (or similar) relative locations (e.g., throughout configuration use), and where the Content Panel GUI portion 3040 is where the dynamically changeable configurations are implemented by the user.","In this way, the user quickly becomes familiarized with the layout and functionality of the Menu Manager Application GUI(s).","By way of illustration, referring to FIG.","30, as the user selects different BOD navigation buttons of the Navigation Panel 3050, the content displayed in the Content Panel GUI portion 3040 automatically and dynamically changes in accordance with the currently selected BOD navigation button.","For example, in the specific example embodiment of FIG.","30, it is assumed that the MENU navigation button 3001 is currently selected.","Accordingly, the MM Application may respond by dynamically displaying (at the Content Panel GUI portion 3040) configurable aspects/parameters relating to the BOD Service Menu GUI(s), such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Primary Menu Categories 3011; Sub Menu Categories 3013; BOD Menu Items 3015; Condiment Items 3070; Condiment Groups 3080 (e.g., which may be associated with respective BOD Menu Categories, Sub-categories and/or items); Main Menu GUI layout/features/content 3090; Sub Menu GUI layout/features/content; Item Menu GUI layout/features/content; And/or other aspects/features of the BOD Service described or referenced herein.","Moreover, because the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to provide dynamically configurable/updatable inventory and interface management features using easy “drag and drop” work flow functionality, the system is able to offer levels of flexibility and adaptability which may conform with the needs/desires of most any type of business (e.g., casino property), theme, marketing campaign, etc.","Menu Content Panel GUI 3040 may be configured or designed to provide configurable access for some or all of the Condiment Groups, Condiments, Categories, Sub Categories, and/or orderable Items of the BOD Service.","In at least one embodiment, the MM Application may also provide a “Preview Menu” feature that offers how the menu may look when displayed at an EGM.","The Content Panel section herein provides the means necessary to create, configure and/or modify the BOD Menu GUIs that are to be used by the BOD Service.","Menu Condiment Groups GUI portion 3080 may be configured or designed to enable a user to define, configure, and/or modify different groups of condiments and associated parameters.","In at least one embodiment, condiment groups are a way to categorize various condiment items that may accompany different types of BOD menu items.","For example, a condiment group named “Burgers” may be created and associated with all Burger-type items of the BOD menu.","In one embodiment, the Burger condiment group may be configured to include selected condiment items such as, for example: ketchup, mustard, pickles, lettuce, onions, etc.","In at least one embodiment, individual condiment items may be defined, configured, and/or modified via the Condiment Item GUI portion 3070.In at least one embodiment, the Menu Condiment Groups GUI portion 3080 and/or Condiment Item GUI portion 3070 may be configured or designed to include functionality for enabling a user to: add/create/modify/delete one or more condiment group(s) (e.g., 3081); add/create/modify/delete one or more condiment item(s) (e.g., 3071); assign selected condiment item(s) to one or more condiment group(s); edit/modify/add/delete associations between condiment item(s) and condiment group(s); configure specific condiment item(s) and/or condiment group(s) as being required (e.g., “R”), optional (e.g., “O”), and/or additional (e.g., “A”) edit/modify/add/delete descriptions of selected condiment item(s) and/or condiment group(s); and/or other functionality described and/or referenced herein.","As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","30, edit icons (e.g., 3063, 3073, 3083, etc.)","may be displayed in connection with various menu items and/or groups for enabling a user to selectively modify/re-configure (e.g., individually and/or in batch) desired aspects, features, and/or content associated therewith.","FIG.","31 illustrates an example screenshot of a BOD New Condiment Group GUI 3100 which may be configured or designed to facilitate the user in creating and configuring a new condiment group.","In at least one embodiment, different types of condiment groups may be respectively defined and configured based on different types of food categories/items.","For example, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","31, it is assumed that the user is creating a new condiment named “French Fries” 3112.In this particular couple, it is further assumed that at least two specific condiment items (e.g., ketchup 3122, vinegar 3124) have been assigned to the French Fries condiment group as a required condiment to be included with all French Fry orders serviced by the BOD System.","In one embodiment, when casino patron orders a “Basked of French Fries” via an EGM's BOD Service Menu GUI, the BOD System may automatically and dynamically determine that the “French Fries” condiment group is associated with the BOD menu item: “Basked of Fries”, and may respond by automatically and dynamically offering (e.g., via the EGM On-Demand Service GUI) the patron the option of adding ketchup and/or vinegar as condiments the “Basked of French Fries” order.","Alternatively, the system may respond by taking appropriate action to automatically and dynamically add or append the “French Fries” condiment group items (e.g., ketchup, vinegar) to the “Basket of Fries” BOD order.","In at least one embodiment, the identified condiments of ketchup and vinegar may be listed on the BOD order ticket (e.g., which may be used by the entity preparing the BOD order and/or may be used by the waitstaff delivering the order) as condiment items which are required to be included with the Basket of Fries order.","Additionally, in some embodiments, the system may automatically identify the waitstaff who is assigned to deliver the order to the patron, and may automatically notify the identified waitstaff (e.g., via mobile device, printout, workstation display) to supply ketchup and vinegar as condiments when serving the Basket of Fries order.","In one embodiment, menu item and group names may be allowed to have (up to) 32 characters each.","In some embodiments, errors may be displayed if multiple items and/or groups share the same name.","In at least some embodiments, additional fields may be provided in one or more BOD Menu GUIs for use in displaying items/content of the BOD Menu GUIs in other languages.","In at least some embodiments, the MM Application may be configured or designed to provide “drag & drop” functionality for facilitating configuration of one or more BOD Service Menu(s).","Illustrative examples of such “drag & drop” functionality are illustrated and described, for example, with respect to FIGS.","32, and 37-39.FIG.","32 illustrates an example screenshot of a BOD Condiment Group Configuration GUI 3200 which may be configured or designed to facilitate a user in configuring associations between various condiment items and condiment groups.","For example, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","32, the Condiment Group Configuration GUI includes a Condiment Item GUI portion 3220 which may be populated with various types of BOD condiment items (e.g., Ice 3222).","Additionally, the Condiment Group Configuration GUI also includes a Condiment Group GUI portion 3210 which may be populated with various types of BOD condiment groups (e.g., Non-Alcoholic Beverages 3122).","As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","32, the Condiment Group Configuration GUI may be configured or designed to provide “drag & drop” functionality (e.g., as illustrated within the outlined region 3240) for facilitating a user in configuring associations between various condiment items and condiment groups.","In this particular example, it is assumed that a user is using the GUI's “drag & drop” functionality to add the selected condiment item: ICE to the condiment group: NON-ALCOHOL BEV.","In at least one embodiment, this may be achieved by selecting and holding the displayed “ICE” object 3222 (e.g., using computer mouse or touchscreen display), dragging a representation of the “ICE” object until it is positioned over the “NON-ALCOHOL BEV” object 3212, and “dropping” the “ICE” object into the “NON-ALCOHOL BEV” object (e.g., by releasing the hold of the “ICE” object), thereby creating an association between nonalcoholic beverages and ice.","In some embodiments, the BOD System may be configured or designed to interpret this ICE/NON-ALCOHOL BEV association as indicating that all nonalcoholic beverages are to be served with ice.","In other embodiments, the BOD System may be configured or designed to interpret this ICE/NON-ALCOHOL BEV association as indicating that patrons are to be automatically offered an option of adding ice to their drink when ordering nonalcoholic beverages via the frontend BOD Service Menu GUI(s).","For example, in at least one embodiment, similar “drag & drop” functionality may also be provided in one or more frontend BOD Service Menu GUIs displayed to patrons (e.g., via EGM display).","For example, in one embodiment, when a patron orders a nonalcoholic beverage via the BOD Service Menu interface at an EGM display, the BOD System may automatically respond by displaying a list of condiment items (e.g., ice, lemon, lime, etc.)","which may be individually selected by the patron and added to the beverage order.","According to different embodiments, the BOD Service Menu GUIs may be configured or designed to enable patrons to request various types of condiment items to be added to one or more menu items ordered via BOD system.","Examples of typical complementary condiment may include, but are not limited to: ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, etc.","Other types of condiment item requests may be more detailed and/or complex, such as, for example, adding bacon to an order of ice cream, or requesting no ice in your water.","In at least some embodiments, the condiment functionality of the BOD System may also be utilized for indicating various types of patron preferences which may be associated with one or more ordered items.","For example, in at least one embodiment, the BOD System may be configured to include a “Hamburger Cooking Preference” condiment group which has been configured to include a plurality of different “condiment items” corresponding to Rare, Medium Rare, Medium, Medium Well, and Well Done.","When a patron orders a hamburger via the BOD System, the system may identify the “Hamburger Cooking Preference” condiment group, may display the list of “condiment items” (e.g., Rare, Medium Rare, Medium, Medium Well, or Well Done) to the patron, and prompt the patron to indicate how they would like their burger cooked by selecting one of the displayed options.","In one embodiment, the user's selection (e.g., Medium Rare) may be processed by the system as if it were a condiment item to be added to the hamburger order.","FIG.","33 illustrates an example screenshot of a BOD Menu Configuration GUI 3300 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and content relating to: One or more BOD menu primary categories (such as, for example, “Beverages/Drinks”, “Food”, “Merchandise”, “Attendant Services”, and the like).","One or more BOD menu subcategories (such as, for example, “Beer”, “Liquor”, “Soda”, “Alcoholic Beverages”, “Non-Alcoholic Beverages”, “Appetizers”, “Clothing”, and the like).","One or more BOD menu items (such as, for example, “Budweiser”, “Coors”, “Basket of French Fries”, “Margarita”, “Baseball Cap”, and the like).","Etc.","For example, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","33, a BOD Sub-Category Menu may be configured or designed to display a plurality of BOD menu subcategories, including, for example, Beer 3302, Liquor 3304, Soda 3306, Wine 3308.In at least one embodiment, this list of BOD menu subcategories may be associated with a BOD menu primary category such as, for example, “Beverages/Drinks”.","Features, attributes and/or content associated with an identified BOD category (e.g., Beer 3302) may be modified/re-configured via user interaction with an Edit Icon (e.g., 3303) which may be displayed in association with the identified BOD category.","Additional subcategories may be added via “Add Primary Category” GUI portion 3061.As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","33, the BOD Primary Categories Configuration GUI 3300 may also include navigation tabs (e.g., 3011, 3013, 3015) to facilitate the user in navigating to other BOD Menu Configuration GUIs which may be used for configuring and/or modifying BOD menu primary categories, BOD menu items, etc.","FIG.","34 illustrates an example screenshot of an alternate embodiment of a BOD Menu Configuration GUI 3400 which, as illustrated in this particular example, may be used for configuring the list and layout of BOD subcategories which are to be included in connection with an identified BOD Sub-Category Menu.","FIG.","35 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Menu Configuration GUI 3500 which, as illustrated in this particular example, may be used for configuring the list and layout of BOD menu items which are to be included in connection with an identified BOD Item Selection Menu.","In at least one embodiment, the list of displayed BOD menu items 3510 may be configured or designed to be dynamically sortable by the end user (e.g., on EGM GUI) according to desired sorting criteria such as, for example: Type (Light Beer/Dark Beer) Price Bottle/Tap Popularity and/or other properties associated with the BOD menu items.","FIG.","36 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Menu Item Configuration GUI 3600 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various properties relating to one or more BOD menu item.","For example, in at least one embodiment, the BOD Menu Item Configuration GUI 3600 may be accessed by a casino administrator or manager for adding a new BOD Menu item to the BOD Menu item catalog/database.","As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","36, the BOD Menu Item Configuration GUI may be configured or designed to enable the user to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various properties relating to a selected BOD menu item, such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): BOD Menu Item Name 3610 (e.g., in one or more languages).","BOD Item Ticket Name 3620.In one embodiment, the ticket name may correspond to the name of the BOD Menu Item that may appear on a ticket that prints at the bar.","For example, the BOD Menu Item Name could be “Bacon Cheeseburger”, while the BOD Item Ticket Name would be “Ben Chzbrgr.” BOD Item Description 3630.In one embodiment, the BOD Item Description may include a short description to describe the Item.","In some embodiments, the BOD Item Description may include images, drawings, and/or icons representing the Item.","In some embodiments, the BOD Item Description may be displayed to the patron via the EGM display.","BOD Item required Condiment Groups 3640.In at least one embodiment, Required Condiment Group(s) may require the patron to provide additional input before the patron is allowed to add the selected Item to their order.","For example, a BOD Menu Item may have an associated a Required Condiment Group called ‘Drink Flavor’.","The ‘Drink Flavor’ Condiment Group may include three “Condiments” corresponding to different flavor choices: ‘Cherry’, ‘Grape’, and ‘Lemon/Lime’.","When the patron adds this BOD Menu Item to their order, the system may automatically prompt the user to choose one of the three condiments flavors to go along with this Item.","It will be appreciated that these features help simplify the display of the BOD Menu Items by eliminating the need to display three of the same Items at the same price with the only difference being the flavor of the drink.","During configuration of the BOD Item, in order to add a Required Condiment Group to the Item, a user may click on an “Add New Required Condiment Group” button to cause a dropdown menu to be displayed containing some or all of the BOD Condiment Groups that may be added to this Item as a Required Condiment Group.","BOD Item available Condiment Groups 3650.In at least one embodiment, Available Condiment Groups may include Condiments that are allowed to be added to the Item.","During configuration of the BOD Item, in order to add an Available Condiment Group to the Item, a user may click on an “Add New Available Condiment Group” button to cause a dropdown menu to be displayed containing some or all of the BOD Condiment Groups that may be added to this Item as an Available Condiment Group.","BOD Item limitations/restrictions.","For example, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","36, the BOD Menu Item Configuration GUI 3600 may include a “New Item Limit Tag” GUI portion 3660 which may be configured or designed to enable a user to assign various ordering restrictions and/or limitations relating to this Item.","In the specific example, the “New Item Limit Tag” GUI portion 3660 includes user configurable fields for imposing limits for Alcoholic and/or Non-Alcoholic Items.","This means that the patron may only order a certain amount of Alcoholic or Non-Alcoholic Items.","Once that limit has been reached the patron may no longer be able to add an Item with that type to their order.","To assign a Limit Tag to the Item, check the radio button next to the Limit Tag name.","BOD Item pricing 3670.As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","36, the BOD Item may be configured to have multiple different prices, which may be automatically and dynamically adjusted/updated based on predefined criteria.","A first price may correspond to a Normal Price Level.","This is the default price for the Item.","If no other price point is available for this Item this is the price the system may use.","One or more additional price points may be added to the Item.","This may cause the Item have a different price during different Serving Periods.","In order to add a different price to the Item, a user may click on a new price point button.","When the user clicks this button a dropdown menu may appear filled with some or all of the Serving Periods that have currently been created.","Select a Serving Period to continue.","After a Serving Period has been selected the user may then fill out the price the user want the Item to be during this period.","The user may also delete one or more existing price points, if desired.","BOD Item Tax Properties 3680.FIG.","37 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Menu Layout Configuration GUI 3700 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and content relating to the layouts, appearances, features, and/or contents of one or more BOD Menu GUIs.","For example, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","37, a BOD Main Menu GUI may be configured or designed to display a plurality of BOD Menu Primary Categories, Subcategories and/or BOD Menu Items.","As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","37, the BOD Menu Layout Configuration GUI may be configured or designed to provide “drag & drop” functionality similar to that described with respect to FIG.","32.In the specific example embodiment of FIG.","37, it is assumed that a user is using the GUI's “drag & drop” functionality to select the “Beer” Menu Category 3712 from a list of BOD Menu Primary Categories 3710, and add the selected “Beer” Menu Category as an item of a BOD Main Menu GUI 3720 (e.g., that is intended for presentation via BOD interface of EGM display).","As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","37, the BOD Menu Layout Configuration GUI may also include navigation tabs (e.g., 3711, 3713, 3715) to facilitate the user in navigating to other BOD Menu Layout Configuration GUIs which may be used for configuring and/or modifying other BOD Menu GUIs.","For example, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","38, the BOD Menu Layout Configuration GUI 3800 a user may use the GUI's “drag & drop” functionality to select the “LIGHT” Menu Category 3812 from a list of BOD Subcategories (e.g., 3810), and add the selected “LIGHT” Menu Category as an item of a BOD Beer Menu GUI 3820 (e.g., that is intended for presentation via BOD interface of EGM display).","Similarly, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","39, the BOD Menu Layout Configuration GUI 3900, a user may use the GUI's “drag & drop” functionality to select the “BUDWEISER” Menu Item 3922 from a list of BOD Menu Items (e.g., 3910), and add the selected “BUDWEISER” Menu Item as an item of a BOD Beer Menu GUI 3920 (e.g., that is intended for presentation via BOD interface of EGM display).","In at least one embodiment, the final section of the Menu screen is the EGM preview.","This is the area where some or all of the Primary Categories, Sub Categories, and Items get “tied together.” One would start by setting up the Main Menu (Primary Categories).","The user may then continue by adding Sub Categories to the Primary Categories, and finish off by adding Items to the Sub Categories.","When the user first loads up MM Application, the EGM preview may be blank.","At that moment, if one were to export the BOD menu to the floor, a patron would not see any items to select from.","The Main Menu section may only include Primary Categories.","To start building the EGM menu, one would navigate to the Primary Categories tab.","This may display a scrollable list of some or all the Primary Categories created.","The scrollable list appears adjacent to the EGM view.","In order to add a Primary Category to the EGM preview, simply click and hold on the desired Primary Category and drag it over to the EGM preview.","Once the user lets go of the mouse the user may drop the Primary Category inside the Main Menu on the EGM preview.","The user may continue doing so until some or all of the desired Primary Categories are in the Main Menu.","The Primary Categories that the user sees in the Main Menu of the EGM preview may be the categories that the patron sees when they load up BOD® on the EGM.","They may appear in the exact order that is displayed on the EGM preview.","To change the order that the Primary Categories appear in, click and hold on a Primary Category inside the EGM preview.","As the user moves the Primary Category up and down the user may see the other categories move accordingly.","Once the user is satisfied with the position of the Primary Category release the mouse to drop it back into the Main Menu.","If desired, the user may also remove a Primary Category from the Main Menu without removing it completely from the database.","By doing so, this may remove that Primary Category from the Main Menu and update the position of the others.","After the Main Menu is set up, it's time to start adding Sub Categories to the Primary Categories.","The steps to do this are very similar to adding Primary Categories to the Main Menu.","Configuration of BOD Promotions According to different embodiments, the Content Panel for the Promotion tab may setup the current Promotion which the casino wants to display.","In at least some embodiments, the Content Panel looks differently in comparison to the Menu view.","Instead of multiple sections containing scrollable content, the Promotion Content Panel displays a selectable tab (or bar) that displays a promotion name and provides an edit button (similar to the category and item tabs/buttons in the Menu section).","The Item that is selected for the promotion may be displayed to the player when BOD is loaded to the EGM display.","When the user loads up the Promotion screen, the user may see the Item that is currently being promoted.","In order to set the Promotion, navigate to the Promotion Screen and click on the edit icon of the current Promotion.","This may bring up the Promotion Edit Panel.","From here the user may select the Item that the user wants to be the new promotion.","If the user no longer wants any promotion appearing set the current Promotion to ‘None’.","Configuration of BOD Bar Parameters FIG.","40 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Bar Configuration GUI 4000 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and parameters relating to one or more casino bars, and associated peripherals/resources such as, for example: printers (e.g., receipt printer, order printer), waitstaff, tablets/mobile devices, etc.","In at least some embodiments, Content Panel for the Bars tab may look similar to the Promotions Content panel (displays a selectable tab (or bar) that displays a name and provides an edit button).","The Content Panel for the Bars tab may bring up the list of current Bars.","If there are no bars available, the Content Panel may be empty.","The bars are where the receipts may be printed when a customer submits their order from the EGM.","The user may create different bars so that the EGM may print to the bar closest to it.","In order to add a bar, the user first need to click the “+” Add New Bar button.","Clicking this button may bring up the New Bar Edit Panel.","This is where the user may fill out the required information needed to create a new bar.","FIG.","41 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Bar Edit Panel 4100 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and content relating to one or more casino bars.","By way of illustration, in one embodiment, there are three sections in the bar Edit Panel: New Bar Name, Set Hours of Operation, and Printer.","The first section is the New Bar Name.","The name of the Bar may be something that is easily recognizable to what Bar in the casino it belongs to.","In the example Bar shown, the Bar is named “South Bar”.","This indicates that the Bar to be printed to is located on the south side of the casino.","The next section to fill out is Set Hours of Operation.","In this section the user may define the open and close time of the Bar.","These boxes are based on a 24 hour clock (4 am=4:00, 4 pm=16:00).","The first three boxes indicate the open time.","The first box is for hour and the second is for minutes.","The third box is for seconds but that is defaulted to 0.The last three boxes indicate the close time for the Bar.","The first box is for hours and the second box is for minutes.","The third box is for seconds but that is defaulted to 59.If the bar never closes, the user may set the open time to 00:00:00 and the close time to 23:59:59.The final section to fill out is the Printer section.","This is where the user defines the printer that the Bar may print at.","There are two dropdown menus in this section.","The first menu is for what printer the Bar uses when it's open.","When the user opens this menu the user may see a list of printers that are accessible to the server.","Choose the printer that this Bar uses.","The second dropdown menu is for the printer the Bar may use if it's closed.","For example: if all Bars in the casino closes except for one, the user may select the printer of the Bar that is still open in this menu.","This may allow the EGMs that are tied to a closed bar to still be able to use BOD® on the EGM.","If the user wants the EGMs that are tied to this bar to close down with the bar, select ‘None’ as the printer for the closed hours.","This may cause a message saying that the bar is closed to appear on the EGM.","This message is customizable from the Configure Screen (discussed later).","If the dropdown menu for the printers is empty or not up to date, the user may need to click the “Update Printer List” button.","It may take a second for the printer list to load.","Once it does the user may select a printer from the dropdown list.","In at least one embodiment, the BOD System supports network POS printers.","A ‘Test Printer’ button is available to make sure that BOD may print to the selected printers.","Pressing this button may print out a small test page on the printers selected in the dropdown menus.","NOTES: The BOD service may be running in order to use the “Update Printer List” button.","Also, the server may have access to the printer on the network in order to print to it.","Also, the BOD service may be running to use the “Test Printer” button.","When the user is finished filling out the sections, click on the save icon to create the Bar.","In order to edit a Bar, click on the edit icon.","Clicking this icon may bring up the Bar Edit Panel.","From here the user may change any of the information that was set when creating the Bar.","In order to delete a bar, click on the “Delete Bar” button.","Configuration of BOD Serving Period Parameters FIG.","42 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Serving Period Configuration GUI 4200 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and parameters relating to various BOD Item serving periods.","In at least one embodiment, a Serving Period describes the time of day when certain items appear and at what price.","According to different embodiments, aspects relating to Item pricing and availability may be configured or designed to dynamically vary depending on different conditions/criteria such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Time of Day; Patron/Customer ID (e.g., high rollers may be allowed to order breakfast 24/7); Availability; Relative level of traffic/customers at bar/restaurant location (real-time); Relative real-time demand of services/orders (e.g., prices may increase if the number of orders currently in queue exceeds some predefined threshold); Etc.","In some embodiments, the Content Panel of the Serving Period screen may show some or all of the Serving Periods that have currently been created.","In one embodiment, all times under a Serving Period are define in a 24 hour format (e.g.","4 pm=16:00).","Serving Periods are directly related to pricing levels.","When a Serving Period is created a new price level may appear in the dropdown menu when creating/editing an item.","In order to create a Serving Period the user may first click on the “+” Add New Serving Period button.","Clicking on this button may display the Serving Period Edit Panel.","This is where the user may fill in the required information needed to create a new serving period.","In one embodiment, the Serving Period Edit Panel has two sections.","The first section is New Serving Period Name.","The name of the Serving Period may be something that is easily recognizable to what time the serving period represents.","Examples of serving period names would be: Breakfast, Lunch, Happy Hour, or Dinner.","The next section to fill out is the New Serving Period Time.","In this section the user may define the time of the serving period.","The input boxes are based on a 24 hour clock (e.g.","4 am=4:00, 4 pm=16:00).","The first three boxes indicate the start time.","The first box is for hours, the second box is for minutes, and the third box is for seconds (which is default to 0).","The last three boxes indicate the end time of the serving period.","The first box is for hours, the second box is for minutes, and the third box is for seconds (which is default to 59).","It's important to note that serving periods cannot overlap.","If a serving period falls in the middle of another they may be separate.","For example: Let's say Dinner starts at 3 pm (15:00) and ends at lam (01:00).","However, in the middle of dinner there is a Happy Hour that lasts from 4 pm (16:00) to 6 pm (18:00).","In order to accomplish this, the user may break up dinner into 2 different serving periods.","The end result would look like this: Dinner (Part 1): 15:00:00-15:59:59, Happy Hour: 16:00:00-17:59:59, Dinner (Part 2): 18:00:00-00:59:59.When the user is finished filling out the sections, click on the save icon to create the Serving Period.","In order to edit a Serving Period, click on the edit icon.","Clicking this icon may display the Serving Period Edit Panel.","From here the user may change any of the information that was set when creating the Serving Period.","In order to delete a serving period, click on the “Delete Serving Period” button.","Configuration of BOD Waitstaff Parameters FIG.","43 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Waitstaff Configuration GUI 4300 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and parameters relating to one or more Waitstaff.","In at least one embodiment, the Content Panel for Waitstaff displays the pin that is currently being used to close out orders.","When a player has submitted an order, they may see a pin pad displayed on the EGM (whenever they open/re-open BOD).","To close out an order as “delivered” the waitress/waiter may put in the pin number.","The user may change the pin number used to close out orders by clicking on the edit icon.","Clicking on this icon may display the Waitstaff Edit Panel.","From here, the user may set the pin to be any 4-8 digit number.","When the user is finished setting up the pin, click the save icon to save any changes.","Configuration of BOD EGM Parameters FIG.","44 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD EGM Configuration GUI 4400 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and parameters relating to one or more EGMs.","In at least one embodiment, the Content Panel for the EGM's may display a list of some or all the EGM locations currently created.","The EGM location comprises of the zone and bank of the EGM.","The user may use these created EGM locations to assign the EGM's on the floor to a bar.","In order to create an EGM location the user first clicks on the “+” Add EGM Location button.","Clicking on this button may display the EGM location Edit Panel.","This is where the user may fill in the required information needed to create a new EGM location.","From here the user may need to fill out three sections: New EGM Zone, New EGM Bank, and Associated Bar.","The first section is the New EGM Zone.","The user may need to put in the zone that the EGM is located at.","The second section is the New EGM Bank.","The user may need to put in the EGM's bank number here.","The third section is the Associated Bar.","This may display a list of some or all the bars that have been created.","Selecting a bar from the list may assign this EGM to that bar.","Each order that is placed on this EGM may print based on that bar's information.","In order to edit an EGM location, click on the edit icon.","Clicking this icon may display the EGM Location Edit Panel.","From here the user may change any of the information that was setup when creating the EGM locations.","In order to delete an EGM location, click on the “Delete EGM Location” button.","Configuration of BOD Ad Parameters FIG.","45 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Ad Configuration GUI 4500 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and parameters relating to one or more ads to be presented via the BOD System.","In at least one embodiment, the Content Panel for Ads may display some or all of the items that are set to be inside the Ad section of the skin (i.e., graphical interface displayed on the EGM).","The Ad section of the skin may rotate between these items.","This may allow a patron to have quick access to some or all of these items.","In order to add an Ad to the rotation, click the “+” Add Ad button.","Clicking this button may display the Add New Ad Edit Panel.","From here the user may have a dropdown menu listing some or all the items that have currently been created.","Select the item the user wants to add from the menu.","Once the user has selected your item, click save to add it to the rotation.","In order to remove an Ad from the rotation, click on the “Delete from Ad” button.","Configuration of BOD Item Tax Parameters In at least one embodiment, the Content Panel of Tax may display the current tax percentage.","This percent may be applied to some or all items in the patrons order.","In order to set the current tax, click on the edit icon.","Clicking this button may display the Tax Edit Panel.","From here the user may set the current tax percentage.","When the user is finished filling out the tax percentage, click the save icon.","Configuration of BOD Item Limits/Restrictions Parameters FIG.","46 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Limits Configuration GUI 4600 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and parameters relating to one or more limits and/or restrictions (herein “Limits”) which may be assigned to various BOD Menu items.","According to different embodiments, different Limits may be defined/configured based on specifically defined conditions/criteria such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Per order Per person Per EGM Per menu item Per time period And/or other criteria By way of illustration, in some embodiments, the Content Panel for Limits may display some or all of the Limit Tags that have been created, as well as their amounts.","Limit Tags are something the user may attach to an Item.","At least one Limit Tag may have an amount associated with it.","The amount associated with the Limit Tag may determine how many of those Items the player may add to their order.","For example: We may create a Limit Tag called ‘Alcoholic’ and set it's amount to 2.This means that the player may only add 2 Items with the ‘Alcoholic’ Limit Tag.","These Items could be the same ones or different ones, but either way only 2 Items with this tag may be added to the order.","When the player has reached the limit for those Items, the “add to order button” for any Item with that tag may be grayed out.","In order to create a limit tag, click on the “+” Add Limit Tag button.","Clicking on this button may display the New Limit Tag Edit Panel.","This is where the user may fill in the required information needed for creating a new Limit Tag.","There are two sections to fill out: New Limit Name and New Limit Amount.","The first section is New Limit Name.","This is where the user may assign the Limit Tag a name.","The name may be something easily recognizable to the items it may be attached to.","NOTE: An item may only have ONE Limit Tag attached to it.","The second section is New Limit Amount.","This is where the user assigns the amount of items with this Limit Tag the player may be allowed to add to their order.","In order to edit a Limit Tag, click on the edit icon.","Clicking on this icon may display the Limit Tag Edit Panel.","From here the user may change any of the information that was set when creating the Limit Tag.","When the user is finished filling out the Limit Tag information, click the save icon to save any changes.","In order to delete a Limit Tag, click on the “Delete Limit Tag” button.","Configuration of Other BOD Parameters FIG.","47 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Parameter Configuration GUI 4700 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and parameters associated with the BOD System.","In at least one embodiment, the Content Panel for the BOD Parameter Configuration GUI (herein “Configure”) may display various sections dedicated to configuring the basic information for the BOD System.","The Database Information section is where the user may change how to access the database.","In order to access this information, click on the edit icon.","Clicking on this icon may display the Database Information Edit Panel.","The Database Information section contains four parts: Change username, Change Password, Change Database, and Change Server.","The first section is Change Username.","This is where the user may put the username needed to access the database.","The second section is Change Password.","This is where the user may change the password to access the database.","Enter the old password that was used in the first field, and then enter the new password the user want into the second field.","The last field is to verify the new password.","The third section is Change Database.","This is where the user may change the database the Menu Manager may use to display the Menu information.","The final section is Change Server.","In this section the user may set the server that the BOD® database is located on.","When the user is finished filling out the Database Information, click the save icon to save any changes.","The Language section is where the user may set what languages are available for the player to access inside the Beverage On Demand® skin on the Service Window.","This section may determine some or all of the input boxes for Name and Description that appear when creating a Primary Category, Sub Category, or Item.","This is where the user may fill out the required information for creating a new Language.","The Language Edit Panel comprises of four sections: New Language Name, Language Abbreviation, Default Language, and Supported Language.","The first section is New Language Name.","This is where the user may fill out the name of the language.","This is the name that may display on the EGM when the player presses the Language button.","The second section is Language Abbreviation.","This is a short abbreviation for the language.","The next section is Default Language.","The user may check this box if the user want to use this language as the default language.","Setting a language as default may make the BOD® skin (displayed on the EGM) load up that language.","The final section is Supported Languages.","Checking this box may cause this language to appear when the player selects a language from the BOD® skin on the EGM.","When the user is finished filling out the section for New Language, click the save icon to create the language.","In order to edit a language, click on the edit icon.","Clicking on this button may display the Language Edit Panel.","From here the user may change any of the information that was set when creating the language.","Use the dropdown menu under “Choose Language” to change the language the user want to edit.","When the user is finished filling out the language information, click on the save icon the save your changes.","In order to delete a language, click on the “Delete Language” button.","After the user has created languages, the user may configure which language is default and which languages are supported by clicking the edit icon.","Clicking this icon may display the Language Edit Panel.","This dialog has two sections, Default Language and Supported Languages.","The first section is Default Language.","This section displays a dropdown menu of the languages that have been created.","The user may select a different default language here.","The second section is Supported Languages.","This section may allow the user to add and remove supported languages.","When the user is finished changing the language information, click the save icon to save any changes.","The EGM Translation section is where the user may change some or all of the phrases that appear on the BOD® skin.","Selecting the edit icon may display the EGM Translation Edit Panel.","The EGM Translation Edit Panel comprises of two sections: Language to translate and Phrases.","The first section is Language to Translate.","This section contains a dropdown menu filled with the languages that have been created.","Here the user may select what languages the user wants to start translating.","The second section is Phrases.","Here is a list of phrases with their description above them.","The user may edit these phrases to fit the language the user is translating.","When the user is finished translating the phrases, click the save icon to save any changes.","The Currency section may allow the user to setup how the currency is formatted.","Clicking on the edit icon may display the Currency Edit Panel.","The Currency Edit Panel comprises of three sections: Currency Symbol, Currency Delimiter, and Currency Decimal.","The first section is Currency Symbol.","Here the user may change the symbol to use in front of any price.","The second section is Currency Delimiter.","Here is where the user may setup the character that appears when a price enters the thousands (e.g.","1,000 the“,” character is the delimiter).","The last section is Currency Decimal.","Here the user may be able to set the character that may appear before the cents in a price (e.g.","3.99 the “.” Character is the decimal).","When the user is finished setting the Currency information, click the save icon to save any changes.","The Item Limit Per Order section may allow the user to set how many items the player is allowed to place in one order.","This is not to be confused with Limit Tags.","Limit Tags only apply to items with the same tag whereas Item Limit Per Order is applied to all (or selected) items in the menu.","In one embodiment, the Item Limit Per Order may override any Limit Tags that are set.","Example: if the user set the Limit Tag of “Alcoholic” to be 5 and the Item Limit Per Order to be 2, the player may only be able to order 2 items total.","Clicking on the edit icon may display the Item Limit Per Order Edit Panel.","This Edit Panel only has one section: Limit of Items per Order.","In this section the user may define how many items the player is allowed to add to their order.","When the user is finished setting the Item Limit, click the save icon to save any changes.","The Time Limit Between Orders section allows the user to set up how much time may pass before the player may place another order.","Clicking on the edit icon may display the Time Limit Between Orders Edit Panel.","This dialog only has one section: Time Limit Between Orders.","The user may set how long (in minutes) the player may wait before placing another order.","When the user is finished setting the time limit, click the save icon to save any changes.","The Order Time Out section allows the user to set how long to wait before a player pulls their card from the machine before automatically cancelling the order.","When a player pulls their card out of the machine a message informing the staff may print at the bar associated with that machine.","The player then has a certain amount of time to put their card into another (or same) machine before their order is automatically cancelled.","This is where the user may define that time.","In some embodiments, if the player inserts their card into another machine before the time limit expires, a message informing the staff may print out at the bar associated with the original machine.","Clicking on the edit icon may display the Order Time Out Edit Panel.","This dialog has one section: Time After Card out.","In this section the user may put the amount of time (in minutes) that may pass, after the player has pulled their card, before the order is automatically cancelled.","When the user is finished setting up the time out limit, click the save icon to save any changes.","The Comments section is where the user may define if the player is allowed to add comments to their order.","If this is enabled when a player is viewing their order, they may see an “Add Comments” button.","Clicking this button may bring up a keyboard where they may type additional information to the staff members.","Comments could allow the player to inform the staff to “Bring 2 straws” or “Extra napkins.” Clicking on the edit icon may display the Comments Edit Panel.","This dialog has only one section: player Comments.","This section may let the user enable or disable player comments.","When the user is finished setting the comments, click the save icon to save any changes.","The Receipt section may allow the user to customize the look of the receipt that prints out at the bar.","Clicking on the edit icon may display the Receipt Edit Panel.","FIG.","48 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Receipt Configuration GUI 4700 (referred to as “Receipt Edit Panel”) which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and parameters associated with the BOD transactions and receipts.","In at least one embodiment, the Receipt Edit Panel may include seven sections: Header Line 1, Header Line 2, Header Line 3, Patron Information Options, EGM Information Options, Footer Line 1, and Footer Line 2.The first three sections have to do with the header of the Receipt.","For Header Line 1, Header Line 2, and Header Line 3 the user may fill out any information that the user would like displayed at the top of the Receipt.","The forth section is Patron Information Options.","In this section the user may turn on/off some or all portions of the information about the patron that the user want to appear on the Receipt.","The fifth section is EGM Information Options.","This is where the user may turn on/off some or all portions of the information about the EGM that the user want to appear on the Receipt.","The last two sections have to do with the footer of the Receipt.","For Footer Line 1 and Footer Line 2 the user may fill out any information that the user would like displayed at the bottom of the Receipt.","When the user is finished filling out the information about the Receipt, click the save icon to save any changes.","An example of the Receipt that may be printed at the Bar is illustrated in FIG.","49.In at least one embodiment, The Receipt Translation may allow the user to translate any of the phrases that appear on the Receipt (ex: Player Name, Machine Number).","Click on the edit icon to open the Receipt Translation pop up dialog.","The Receipt Translation pop up dialog has one section: Phrases.","Here is where the user may change the translation of the phrases that appear on the Receipt.","When the user is finished translating the phrases for the Receipt, click the save icon to save any changes.","FIG.","49 shows an example embodiment of “BOD Order Ticket” which may be automatically displayed or printed out at a designated BOD fulfillment station (e.g., specifically selected bar/restaurant) in connection with a BOD order submitted by a specific patron at a specific EGM.","In at least one embodiment, the BOD Order Ticket may also serve as the customer's (e.g., patron's) receipt.","According to different embodiments, the BOD Order Ticket (or other type of ODS Order Ticket) may include various information such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Information relating to the identity and location of the casino.","Information 4902 relating to the order date, time, day, order number, etc.","Information 4904 relating to the player/patron identity, player/patron location, EGM ID, EGM location (e.g., bank, zone), etc.","Information 4906 identifying each ordered item and associated condiments to be included with each ordered item, price of each ordered item, etc.","Pricing Information 4908 relating to subtotal amount(s), food total amount(s), bar total amount(s), tax amount(s), order total amount, etc.","Payment information relating to payments, coupons, comps, and/or discounts applied to the order.","Comment information 4910 which may include notes or comments provided by the patron to be taken into consideration when processing the order.","And/or other types of information described and/or referenced herein.","BOD Reporting Functionality FIGS.","50-54 illustrate example screenshot embodiments of various BOD Report GUIs which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to generate various types of reports relating to selected aspects of the BOD System.","In some embodiments, the BOD Report GUIs also may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to access, monitor, track, and/or manage real-time status information relating to the BOD orders, inventory, personnel, etc.","By way of illustration, in one embodiment, the Content panel for the Reports Screen (FIG.","50) may allow the user to view some or all of the transactions that have occurred using the Beverage On Demand® System.","Here the user may be able to view some or all the orders that have been placed, as well as view the receipt and generate reports.","The Reports Screen comprises of three tabs: Order Tracking, Delete Orders, and Generate Reports.","Clicking on the Order Tracking tab 5003 may give the user a list of some or all of the orders that have been placed on the selected day.","The right section of the screen may show the full order for the one selected on the left.","The user may select a different day to view from the ‘Select Date’ dropdown menu.","Clicking on the Delete Orders tab 5005 may allow the user to remove old transactions from the system's database.","To delete old transactions select the date that the user would like to delete up to and click the ‘Delete Transactions’ button.","When selecting a date keep in mind that it may delete some or all of the transactions that have taken place on AND before the selected date.","The Generate Reports tab 5007 may allow the user to generate reports based on different criteria.","When the user first loads up the Reports tab the user may need to select which type of report the user want, the start date and end date, and then press the ‘Apply Filter’ button.","NOTE: If the user leaves the start and end date alone the user may get all of the orders regardless of the date.","There are a total of four different reports to choose from: Location, Date, Items, and Player.","The Location report (e.g., FIG.","51) may group some or all of the transactions by the location the transaction came from.","In this report the user may see the location the transactions came from, the number of sales that took place in that location, the total amount the sales add up to, and the average price of at least one.","The Date report (e.g., FIG.","52) may group some or all of the transactions by the date they took place.","In this report the user may see the date the transactions took place, the number of orders that occurred on that date, the total amount the sales add up to, and the average price per sale.","The Items report (e.g., FIG.","53) may group the transactions by the items that have been ordered.","Here the user may see how many of at least one item has been sold, the name of the item, and the total amount of sales made from that item.","The Player report (e.g., FIG.","54) may group the transactions by player.","In this report the user may see the player's ID, the player's name, the number of orders they have placed, the total amount of sales from that player, and the average price of at least one sale.","After the user has chosen a report (and a filter if wanted), the user is given the option to save the report.","In order to save the report click the ‘Save Report’ button at the bottom of the Reports tab.","This may create a CSV file on the BOD™ server.","The user may choose to save this file anywhere, however, backup report files are automatically saved on the BOD™ server.","The Content Panel for the Export Screen may export the database for use on the EGM.","Any changes saved to the database may not appear on the EGM until the database has been exported.","If there are any problems with items missing on the EGM this is the first thing that may be checked.","The Export Screen may have one row with the name “EXPORT”.","In order to export the database for use on the EGM click on the edit icon.","Clicking on this icon may bring up the Export pop up dialog.","To confirm export to the database, click on the edit icon inside the pop up dialog.","If the BOD™ service is running, the new menu may appear on the EGM instantly.","Otherwise the menu may be updated the next time the BOD™ service is started.","According to different embodiments, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to provide alternative and/or additional BOD-related features and functionality such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): 30 day trial with serial activation Closed loop system Patron ability to cancel their order Robust user interface (smartphone inspired) Robust back-end interface (drag and drop functionality) Limit the amount of total items a patron may order at once Limit the amount of alcoholic items a patron may order at once Limit the amount of orders a patron may order during a given time period Enable/disable patron's ability to add comments to their order Configure the order of Categories/Items via the backend system (drag and drop) Configurable pop-up ad before BOD starts Configurable ad banner on the BOD patron skin (EGM patron interface) Configurable receipt information (first name, last name, tier, is birthday) Custom item images may be uploaded (through IGT's Media Manager) Card In/Card Out detection (tells waitstaff if patron has left EGM and what new EGM they're at) Patron notifies of form of payment Micros integration Infogenesis integration Configurable pop-ups (based on age/gender/time/location/birthday/etc.)","Patron favorites (displays top 3 based on starred and/or most ordered) Configurable drink pop-up for one-time redemption (patron's birthday etc.)","Allow free drinks for different patron tiers Analytics (tracks how often patron's look at Categories/Items, how often they select said items, and how long they look at promotional ads) Heat Map generation (shows hot and cold areas of the gaming floor to maximize wager potentials) Ability to apply X % discount based on gender/age/tier/time/location/etc.","Mobile app (for waitstaff closed loop and ordering) Limit and/or ban specific patrons (responsible gaming/person systems) BYOD Set up (Bring Your Own Device) may allow for players to utilize their own devices by logging into a secure local/in-house system Host on Demand (HOD) Services Features and Management In at least one embodiment, “Host On Demand®” allows a patron to contact a host and/or a VIP host via an EGM interface.","A more personalized method than pressing the attendant button.","Patron machine location/information is sent to a host, VIP host and/or concierge via a “plurality” of configurable means setup within the ODS Menu Manager Application.","In at least some embodiments, different features of the HOD Services may be offered or provided for different hosts/services offered by the casino, such as, for example, concierges, bellhops, VIP services, business-related services, etc.","FIG.","13 shows an example screenshot of a HOD Menu GUI 1300, in accordance with one embodiment.","The example HOD Menu GUI illustrated in FIG.","13 is configured as a frontend GUI which may be displayed and/or accessed by patrons via one or more EGM interfaces.","FIGS.","19-21 illustrate example screenshot embodiments of various Host On Demand (HOD) Manager GUIs which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to access, manage, configure and/or modify various aspects, features, and parameters relating to the HOD Service(s).","In some embodiments, one or more HOD Manager GUIs also may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to access, monitor, track, and/or manage real-time status information relating to various aspects of the HOD Service.","In one embodiment, the HOD Manager is where the user may setup the information needed to send alerts.","Here, the user may enter the email address from which the user may send alerts as well as indicate whether the user wish to receive the alerts via email, a short message service (SMS), or a printer.","In order to access the Manager, navigate to the server on which it is installed.","From here, open Internet Explorer®.","By default, the homepage may be set to the Synergy Blue AppSite page.","If for some reason the home page has changed, the AppSite page may be found at: localhost/appsite.","Once the user has loaded up the AppSite, the user may need to click on the Host On Demand® button.","In at least one embodiment, the Manager interface comprises of two sections: Tab Bar and Info Panel.","The Tab Bar is where the user may navigate between the different tabs of the HOD® Manager.","The three tabs are: General Setup 1902, Host Setup 1904, and Reports 1906.The Info Panel provides some or all the information for the selected tab.","Use the Info Panel to view and edit the information needed for at least one tab.","The General Setup tab (e.g., FIG.","19) is where the user may input some or all the information for the sender's email.","This is the email that the alerts may come from.","The HOD service may be running in order to access the General Setup tab.","After loading up the HOD Manager site, the General Setup tab may automatically be selected.","The user may now begin filling out the General Setup fields.","The first field to fill out is the port number.","This is the port that is used to send emails.","The default port is 587.This may not need to be changed.","The second field to fill out is the actual email address of the sender.","Example: myusername@email.com.","The third field to fill out is the SMTP server address.","This may be the address of the SMTP server the email address from the second filed uses to send emails.","Example: smtp.email.com.","The fourth field to fill out is the username for the email account.","This is the username needed to log into the email address provided in field two.","The fifth and sixth field needed to fill out is the password for the email account.","This is the password needed to log into the email address provided in field two.","The fifth and sixth field may match in order to submit changes.","The last thing needed to fill out is a dropdown box.","This may be the default language HOD may use when loaded onto the EGM.","After the user has filled out some or all of the fields press the “Save” button to save the changes.","The HOD service may be running in order to access the Host Setup tab (e.g., FIG.","20).","The Host Setup tab is where the user may choose how the user wants to receive alerts.","The HOD™ system is able to send alerts in three different ways: to an email address, to a cell phone using a short message service (SMS), or to a printer.","After loading the HOD Manager site, click the Host Setup tab.","This may load some or all of the information needed in the Info Panel.","From here, the user may select how the user would like to receive alerts.","The user may choose at least one; however, if desired, the user may select some or all three options.","If the user chooses all three, the user may receive an email, an SMS text, and a printed ticket when a customer uses the when someone uses HOD™ option.","Checking the Email check box may activate the email field.","In this field, type the email address that is to receive the alerts.","Selecting the SMS check box activates three fields: the phone number field, the service provider drop-down menu, and the add a provider field.","In the phone field enter the phone number to which the SMS texts may be sent.","In the service provider dropdown menu, select the appropriate service provider.","To remove a service provider from the list, select that provider in the dropdown list and click the Remove Provider button.","The final field may allow the user to add a provider to the dropdown list.","The user may need to check with your service provider to find out the correct SMS gateway to use.","Make sure the user include everything needed in the SMS gateway that follows the “@” symbol, including the “@” symbol itself at the beginning (e.g.","@txt.att.net).","After entering the SMS gateway into the provider field, click the Add Provider button to add the provider to the dropdown menu.","Selecting the printer check box may activate the printer dropdown menu.","From here, select the printer that is to print your alerts.","If printer selections do not appear, or the list is out of date, click the Update Printer List button to access the list of printers.","After setting up how the user would like to receive alerts, press the Save button to save any changes.","The Reports tab (e.g., FIG.","21) is where the user may be able to access or view (e.g., in real-time) some or all of the calls made by the HOD system.","In one embodiment, there are four different types of reports to view: Bank, Calls, Machine Number, and Player.","The Bank Report lists how many calls at least one Bank ID has made.","The Calls Report lists some or all of the individual calls made.","The Machine Number Report lists how many calls at least one machine has made.","The Player Report lists how many calls at least one player made.","After loading the HOD® Manager site, click the Reports tab.","From the dropdown menu, select the type of calls on which to report.","From the second dropdown menu, select the appropriate type of report.","The system displays the requested call data.","The user may filter the reports by selecting a start date and by clicking the Filter Report button.","The system lists some or all of the calls that have occurred during that time period.","The user may return to the non-filtered view by clicking the Reset Filter button.","The user may save a report by clicking the Save Report button.","This creates a report from the information that is currently being displayed.","After the report is created, the system displays a Save window, which may allow the user to save the file locally.","Security on Demand (SOD) Enhanced Services Features and Management In at least one embodiment, “Security On Demand®” (SOD) Service allows a patron to contact a security official and/or a medical aid representative.","Patron machine location/information is sent to security and/or medical advisor via a “plurality” of configurable means setup within the ODS Menu Manager Application.","FIG.","14 shows an example screenshot of a SOD Menu GUI 1400, in accordance with one embodiment.","The example SOD Menu GUI illustrated in FIG.","14 is configured as a frontend GUI which may be displayed and/or accessed by patrons via one or more EGM interfaces.","FIGS.","22-25 illustrate example screenshot embodiments of various Security On Demand (SOD) Manager GUIs which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to access, manage, configure and/or modify various aspects, features, and parameters relating to the SOD Service(s).","In some embodiments, one or more SOD Manager GUIs also may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to access, monitor, track, and/or manage real-time status information relating to various aspects of the SOD Service.","In at least one embodiment, the Security On Demand™ Manager is where the user may setup the information needed to send security and medical alerts.","Here the user may enter what email to send alerts from, as well as whether to receive the alerts through email, SMS, or printer.","In order to access the Manager, navigate to the server that it was installed on.","From here, the user may need to open up Internet Explorer.","By default the homepage may be set to the Synergy Blue Apps page.","Once the user has loaded up the app site the user may need to click on the ‘Security On Demand™’ button.","This may take the user to the Manager interface.","The Menu Manager interface comprises of two sections: Tab Bar, and Info Panel.","The Tab Bar is where the user may navigate between the different tabs of the Security On Demand™ Manager.","The four tabs are: General Setup, Security Setup, Medical Setup, and Reports.","The Info Panel provides some or all the information for the selected tab.","The info panel may be used to view and edit the information needed for at least one tab.","The General Setup tab (e.g., FIG.","22) is where the user may input some or all the information for the sender's email.","This is the email that the security/medical alerts may come from.","The SOD service may be running in order to access the General Setup tab.","After loading up the Security On Demand™ Manager site the General Setup tab may automatically be selected.","The user may now begin filling out the General Setup fields.","The first field to fill out is the port number.","This is the port that is used to send emails.","The default port is 587.This may not need to be changed.","The second field to fill out is the actual email address of the sender.","Example: myusername@email.com.","The third field to fill out is the SMTP server address.","This may be the address of the SMTP server the email address from the second field uses to send emails.","Example: smtp.email.com.","The fourth field to fill out is the username for the email account.","This is the username needed to log into the email address provided in field two.","The fifth and sixth field needed to fill out is the password for the email account.","This is the password needed to log into the email address provided in field two.","The fifth and sixth field may match in order to submit changes.","The last thing needed to fill out is a dropdown box.","This may be the default language Security On Demand™ may use when loaded onto the EGM.","After the user has filled out some or all of the fields press the ‘Save’ button to save the changes.","The Security Setup tab (e.g., FIG.","23) is where the user may choose how the user wants to receive security alerts.","The Security On Demand™ system is able to send alerts in three different ways: Email, SMS Message, and Printer.","The SOD service may be running in order to access the Security Setup tab.","After loading up the Security On Demand™ Manager site, click on the Security Setup tab.","This may load some or all of the information needed in the Info Panel.","From here the user may select how the user would like to receive security alerts.","The user may choose at least one, however, the user may have some or all three selected if the user want.","If the user chooses some or all three when someone uses Security On Demand™ the user may get an email, SMS Message, and printed ticket.","Checking the Email checkbox may bring up the email field.","In this field the user may put the address of the email that the user would like to use to receive security alerts.","Checking the SMS checkbox may bring up three fields: the phone number field, the service provider dropdown box, and add a provider field.","In the phone number field the user may put the phone number where the user would like to receive security alerts via SMS messages.","In the service provider dropdown box, find the service provider for the number provided in the phone number field.","To remove a service provider from the list select that provider in the dropdown list and click the ‘Remove Provider’ button.","The final field may allow the user to add a provider to the dropdown list.","Make sure the user include everything needed in the Mail to SMS gateway that follows the ‘@’ symbol, including the ‘@’ symbol itself at the beginning (example: @txt.att.net).","Checking the Printer checkbox may bring up the printer dropdown box.","Here the user may select a printer that the user would like security alerts to print to.","If no printers appear, or the list is out of date, click the ‘Update Printer List’ button to get the list of printers.","After setting up how the user would like to receive security alerts, the user may press the ‘Save’ button to save any changes.","The Medical Setup tab (e.g., FIG.","24) is where the user may choose how the user wants to receive medical alerts.","The Security On Demand™ system is able to send alerts in three different ways: Email, SMS Message, and Printer.","The SOD service may be running in order to access the Medical Setup tab.","After loading up the Security On Demand™ Manager site, click on the Medical Setup tab.","This may load some or all of the information needed in the Info Panel.","From here the user may select how the user would like to receive medical alerts.","The user may choose at least one, however, the user may have some or all three selected if the user want.","If the user chooses some or all three when someone uses Security On Demand™ the user may get an email, SMS Message, and printed ticket.","Checking the Email checkbox may bring up the email field.","In this field the user may put the address of the email that the user would like to use to receive medical alerts.","Checking the SMS checkbox may bring up two fields: the phone number field, and the service provider dropdown box.","In the phone number field the user may put the phone number where the user would like to receive medical alerts via SMS messages.","In the service provider dropdown box, find the service provider for the number provided in the phone number field.","To remove a service provider from the list select that provider in the dropdown list and click the ‘Remove Provider’ button.","The final field may allow the user to add a provider to the dropdown list.","Make sure the user include everything needed in the Mail to SMS gateway that follows the ‘@’ symbol, including the ‘@’ symbol itself at the beginning (example: @txt.att.net).","Checking the Printer checkbox may bring up the printer dropdown box.","Here the user may select a printer that the user would like medical alerts to print to.","If no printers appear, click the ‘Update Printer List’ button to get the list of printers.","After setting up how the user would like to receive medical alerts, the user may press the ‘Save’ button to save any changes.","After loading the Security On Demand™ Manager site, click on the Reports tab (e.g., FIG.","25).","The user may choose the type of call the user want to display from the first dropdown menu.","The second dropdown menu may allow the user to choose the type of report the user want.","The user may filter the reports by selecting a start date and end date and clicking the ‘Filter Report’ button.","This may list some or all of the calls that have occurred during that time.","The user may clear out the filter by clicking the ‘Reset Filter’ button.","The user may save a report by clicking the ‘Save Report’ button.","This may create a report from the information that is currently displayed, taking into account the type of call, the type of report, and any filters applied.","After the report is created a save dialog box may appear.","This may allow the user to save the file locally.","Valet on Demand (VOD) Enhanced Services Features and Management In at least one embodiment, “Valet On Demand®” (VOD) Service allows a patron to contact the valet services and notify of an estimated arrival time to have ones vehicle ready before they arrive in the vehicle pickup location.","In at least some embodiments, the VOD service may also provide access to other casino services such as, for example: car service, transportation service, luggage service, air transportation service, tour service, etc.","FIG.","15 shows an example screenshot of a VOD Menu GUI 1500, in accordance with one embodiment.","The example VOD Menu GUI illustrated in FIG.","15 is configured as a frontend GUI which may be displayed and/or accessed by patrons via one or more EGM interfaces.","FIGS.","26-28 illustrate example screenshot embodiments of various Valet On Demand (VOD) Manager GUIs which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to access, manage, configure and/or modify various aspects, features, and parameters relating to the VOD Service(s).","In some embodiments, one or more VOD Manager GUIs also may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to access, monitor, track, and/or manage real-time status information relating to various aspects of the VOD Service.","In at least one embodiment, the Valet On Demand™ Manager is where the user may setup the information needed to send alerts.","Here the user may enter what email to send valet alerts from, as well as whether to receive the alerts through email, SMS, or printer.","In order to access the Manager, navigate to the server that it was installed on.","From here, the user may need to open up Internet Explorer.","By default the homepage may be set to the Synergy Blue Apps page.","If for some reason the home page has changed the apps page may be found at: localhost/appsite.","Once the user has loaded up the app site the user may need to click on the ‘Valet On Demand™’ button.","The Manager interface comprises of two sections: Tab Bar and Info Panel.","The Tab Bar is where the user may navigate between the different tabs of the Valet On Demand™ Manager.","The three tabs are: General Setup, Valet Setup, and Reports.","The Info Panel provides some or all the information for the selected tab.","The info panel may be used to view and edit information needed for at least one tab.","The General Setup tab is where the user may input some or all the information for the sender's email.","This is the email that the valet alerts may come from.","The VOD service may be running in order to access the General Setup tab.","After loading up the VOD™ Manager site the General Setup tab (e.g., FIG.","26) may automatically be selected.","The user may now begin filling out the General Setup fields.","The first field to fill out is the port number.","This is the port that is used to send emails.","The default port is 587.This may not need to be changed.","The second field to fill out is the actual email address of the sender.","Example: myusername@email.com.","The third field to fill out is the SMTP server address.","This may be the address of the SMTP server the email address from the second field uses to send emails.","Example: smtp.email.com.","The fourth field to fill out is the username for the email account.","This is the username needed to log into the email address provided in field two.","The fifth and sixth field needed to fill out is the password for the email account.","This is the password needed to log into the email address provided in field two.","The fifth and sixth field may match in order to submit changes.","The last thing needed to fill out is a dropdown box.","This may be the default language Valet On Demand™ may use when loaded onto the EGM.","After the user has filled out some or all of the fields press the ‘Save’ button to save the changes.","The Valet Setup tab (e.g., FIG.","27) is where the user may choose how the user wants to receive valet alerts.","The Valet On Demand™ system is able to send alerts in three different ways: Email, SMS Message, and Printer.","The VOD service may be running in order to access the Valet Setup tab.","After loading up the Valet On Demand™ Manager site, click on the Valet Setup tab.","This may load some or all of the information needed in the Info Panel.","From here the user may select how the user would like to receive alerts.","The user may choose one, however, the user may have some or all three selected if the user want.","If the user chooses some or all three when someone uses Valet On Demand™ the user may get an email, SMS Message, and printed ticket.","Checking the Email checkbox may bring up the email field.","In this field the user may put the address of the email that the user would like to use to receive Valet alerts.","Checking the SMS checkbox may bring up two fields: the phone number field, and the service provider dropdown box.","In the phone number field the user may put the phone number where the user would like to receive valet alerts via SMS messages.","In the service provider dropdown box, find the service provider for the number provided in the phone number field.","To remove a service provider from the list select that provider in the dropdown list and click the ‘Remove Provider’ button.","The final field may allow the user to add a provider to the dropdown list.","Make sure the user include everything needed in the Mail to SMS gateway that follows the ‘@’ symbol, including the ‘@’ symbol itself at the beginning (example: @txt.att.net).","Checking the Printer checkbox may bring up the printer dropdown box.","Here the user may select a printer that the user would like valet alerts to print to.","If no printers appear, or the list is out of date, click the ‘Update Printer List’ button to get the list of printers.","After setting up how the user would like to receive valet alerts, the user may press the ‘Submit’ button to save any changes.","The Reports tab (e.g., FIG.","28) is where the user may be able to view some or all of the calls made by the Valet On Demand™ system.","There are four different types of reports to view: Bank, Calls, Machine Number, and Player.","The Bank Report may list how many calls at least one Bank ID has made.","The Calls Report may list some or all of the individual calls made.","The Machine Number Report may list how many calls at least one machine has made.","The Player Report may list how many calls at least one player has made.","After loading the Valet On Demand™ Manager site, click on the Reports tab.","The user may choose the type of report the user want from the dropdown menu.","The user may filter the reports by selecting a start date and end date and clicking the ‘Filter Report’ button.","This may list some or all of the valet calls that have occurred during that time.","The user may clear out the filter by clicking the ‘Reset Filter’ button.","The user may save a report by clicking the ‘Save Report’ button.","This may create a report from the information that is currently displayed, taking into account the type of report and any filters applied.","Weather on Demand (WOD) Enhanced Services Features and Management In at least one embodiment, “Weather On Demand®” (WOD) Service allows a patron to view local weather (same day as well as multi day forecast) as well as world weather (which is searchable via a provided touch interface input panel).","FIG.","16 shows an example screenshot of a WOD Menu GUI 1600, in accordance with one embodiment.","The example WOD Menu GUI illustrated in FIG.","16 is configured as a frontend GUI which may be displayed and/or accessed by patrons via one or more EGM interfaces.","FIG.","29 illustrates an example screenshot embodiment of a Weather On Demand (WOD) Manager GUI which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to access, manage, configure and/or modify various aspects, features, and parameters relating to the WOD Service.","In at least one embodiment, Weather On Demand has a Menu Manager similar to the rest of the On Demand applications and may be accessed through the AppSite interface.","The Weather On Demand Manager interface layout comprises of two sections: Tab Bar and Info Panel.","In some embodiments, the only tab for the WOD™ Manager is: General Setup (e.g., FIG.","29).","The Info Panel may provide some or all the information for the General Setup tab.","The Info Panel may be used to view and edit the information of the General Setup tab.","The General Setup tab is where the default information that is displayed on the EGM is configured.","To configure the General Setup, there may be (5) sections to fill out: Default Language, Favored Country, Default Location, Measurement System, and API Key.","The first field to fill out is Default Language.","A dropdown menu is provided to select from the available list of supported languages.","The second section is the Favored Country Setup.","Select the desired favored country from the dropdown menu.","The third section is Default Location.","By typing the desired location into the input field, the website may automatically provide suggestions for default locations.","Clicking the desired location suggestion may fill out the text field automatically.","The fourth section is Default Measurement System.","This may allow the user to configure the temperature and wind speed measurement display (F or C, mph or kph).","To do so, click the radio button next to the desired measurement system.","The fifth section is the API Key.","This key is used to access World Weather Online™ weather API service.","Type in the API key that the user received from registering World Weather Online™ into the API input field.","Some or all changes may be saved before navigating away from the WOD™ Manager, to save any changes, click on the save button.","The system may display a message indicating whether the save was successful or not.","Other Features/Benefits/Advantages In at least some embodiments, the On Demand Services System may be configured, designed, and/or operable to provide, enable and/or facilitate one or more of the following features, functionalities, benefits and/or advantages (or combinations thereof): In some embodiments the ODS will run automated processes in which information from one (and/or multiple) database(s) such as, for example Infogenesis, Micros, etc.","gets transferred to another.","During these processes data is intelligently sorted and structured to run within the ODS framework.","Allows current pre-existing property databases to be easily imported which in turn reduces down-time and seamlessly creates a unique dynamic property system using ODS.","In some embodiments the ODS will not run automated processes and data may be entered and/or configured manually (if there is no pre-existing database and/or new content is being added).","In such highly regulated systems as casinos, security is a number one priority.","ODS utilizes secure networking with data encryption, password protection, serial number activation, etc.","ODS complies with regulations and is tested and approved.","as well as numerous formats where it can be implemented, formats include but are not limited to, pc's, tablets, smartphones, Google Glass, Windows Hololens, pit tables (terminals), G2S/S2S floors, Class 2/Class 3 machines, web-based systems, etc.","Uses multiple code languages such as java, C++, HTML5, flash, C#, JSON, etc.","which allows for deployment on nearly any platform.","In some embodiments the “intelligence” of the system may be configured to monitor patron play and display custom offerings to help make the player feel special, unique, thought-of and involved.","For example, in some current bonusing applications, the patron may receive an award/prize based on player card session points earned through play.","In doing so, the patron is “enticed” to stay and play longer in order to get another bonus.","With the ODS the possibility exists where the player could be prompted with custom messages that may “unlock” different items during different times, Or a different example, If a player is only betting minimum and based on the player card and tracking analytics, the system “knows” they are ordering beverages (and usually do so between x & y times) the system could display messaging that may state: “Max Bet Bar Bash!","If you Max Bet within happy hour x, bar x offers top shelf drinks to ODS users .",".",".","” The player doesn't have to max bet, nor are they required to.","In some embodiments players, waitstaff, directors etc.","can view order progress.","From the player point of view, they may be allowed to track their order progress; see when its being delivered etc.","Waitstaff can continually monitor their zones checking new, pending, delivered, player location change, etc.","Directors can track waitstaff efficiency, times/averages of orders, etc.","Closed loop functionality.","Regardless if a patron decides to leave the property after ordering a drink, ODS tracks, and delivers real-time updates of card in/out events, order complete, order canceled, pre-defined time-outs etc.","All of which are accounted for within the system and can be tracked and viewed at later times.","Also the closed loop functionality provides ways wherein the waitstaff does not need to interfere with the patrons gaming screen, they can confirm order delivery with their mobile devices.","The robust and dynamically flexible menu system allows a property to display items to the patrons exactly how they want.","For example, Coffee could be offered multiple ways, one way would be to setup individual coffee setups, coffee/black, coffee/decaf, coffee/wCream, coffee/wCream&Sugar allowing the patron to select from a pre-defined list of options.","Another way may be creating “condiment groups” based on food/drink/item/etc.","categories which creates a different user experience, selecting coffee may then display all the available options that “belong” to coffee, such as, cream, sugar, amaretto, and by doing so, the patron gets to choose what they want.","Pairing this with the systems “intelligent” features, ODS keeps track of the players custom drinks and allow easy/quick access to order the same in the future.","If the ODS system is configured to work in an uncarded environment, some of its features may not be readily available (i.e.","player card data) however the order process may be configured to send out SMS, email, messages that can notify waitstaff assigned to that zone of machines to locate the exact machine the request was sent from.","The ODS system may be configured to work with tiered players, offering different items, pricing, etc.","based on specific tier.","In some embodiments ODS may be configured to display/track certain menu items.","For example, foods in short supply and/or subject to market availability may have quantity numbers associated with them letting the patron know of the supply and demand of said items.","Furthermore the OD S system can be configured to “auto-remove” said items should their quantity reach 0 and the system may also “auto-add” said item if it gets checked in by food & beverage director etc.","As with any ordering system, orders can be canceled by both players and waitstaff etc.","Configurable timers can be setup as well to automate the process, messaging may be displayed to inform the user(s) of order status.","Patron able to access status update of ODS order via ODS GUI.","In some embodiments an “order from your own device” option is available to patrons.","Onsite players may login to a property website (onsite only) and order directly from there (i.e.","if they are at a location that doesn't have a service window and/or kiosk).","Geo-location and device tracking methods allow the waitstaff to pinpoint order locations.","The features and dynamic framework of ODS is unmatched in the current casino industry.","There exists a need for a single complete system that houses all of the players, employees and administrator's needs.","OD S provides multiple solutions which are dynamic, flexible, robust and allows for complete customization no matter what the property may choose.","Another feature of ODS is the customization freedom.","A property can add their own branding, logos, colors, themes, sounds, ads, anything they desire in order to make ODS a seamless property system that matches their surroundings.","In some embodiments ODS system allows for multiple versions of payments for items, cash, card (credit/debit), comp, coupons, Apple Pay, Google Wallet, etc.","The On Demand Service techniques described herein enable casino patrons/customers to remain in their comfortable seat, wagering on their favorite game, and being able order food, drink, shirts, novelties.","Whatever the casino decides to make available to the patron, also get security, weather, valet, medical assistance, and VIP host services without a hassle; on demand.","Different embodiments of the On Demand Service techniques described herein may be adapted and implemented in a variety of environments.","For example, the On Demand Service techniques described herein are particularly well suited for deployment in any business establishments that house wager-based gaming devices (e.g., class 3 and/or class 2).","Additionally, the On Demand Service techniques described herein may appeal to younger gamblers/garners who enjoy playing arcade-style video games, middle aged gamblers/gamers who may have played some video games, and possibly even veteran gamblers who may be bored with existing wager-based video gaming technology.","The On Demand Service techniques described herein provide the ability for patrons of casinos and other gaming establishments to experience new and exciting ways of engaging in wager-based video game play with minimized learning curve and intimidation factors.","Additionally, using the On Demand Service techniques described herein, casinos and other gaming establishments hosting such On Demand Service devices may increase their revenue by ensuring that the number of wager-based gaming event(s) occurring in an On Demand (e.g., during specified time period) meet minimum specified threshold criteria.","FIG.","1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a specific example embodiment of Casino Network 100 which may be configured or designed to implement one or more On Demand Services features described herein.","As described in greater detail herein, different embodiments of Casino Networks may be configured, designed, and/or operable to provide various different types of operations, functionalities, and/or features generally relating to On Demand Services technology.","According to different embodiments, at least some Casino Network(s) may be configured, designed, and/or operable to provide a number of different advantages and/or benefits and/or may be operable to initiate, and/or enable various different types of operations, functionalities, and/or features, such as, for example, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.","According to different embodiments, at least a portion of the various functions, actions, operations, and activities performed by one or more component(s) of the Casino Network may be initiated in response to detection of one or more conditions, events, and/or other criteria satisfying one or more different types of minimum threshold criteria, such as, for example, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.","According to different embodiments, at least a portion of the various types of functions, operations, actions, and/or other features provided by the Casino Network may be implemented at one or more mobile device(s), electronic gaming device(s), client systems(s), system servers(s), and/or combinations thereof.","According to different embodiments, the Casino Network 100 may include a plurality of different types of components, devices, modules, processes, systems, etc., which, for example, may be implemented and/or instantiated via the use of hardware and/or combinations of hardware and software.","For example, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","1, the Casino Network may include one or more of the following types of systems, components, devices, processes, etc.","(or combinations thereof): Display System Server(s) 104.In at least one embodiment, the Display System Server(s) may be configured or designed to implement and/or facilitate management of content (e.g., graphics, images, text, video fees, etc.)","to be displayed and/or presented at one or more EGDs (or at one or more groups of EGDs), dealer displays, administrator displays, etc.","EGD Multimedia System Server(s) 105.In at least one embodiment, the Table Multimedia System Server(s) may be configured or designed to generate, implement and/or facilitate management of content (e.g., graphics, images, text, video fees, audio feeds, etc.","), which, for example, is to be streamed or provided to one or more EGDs (or to one or more groups of EGDs).","Messaging System Server(s) 106.In at least one embodiment, the Messaging System Server(s) may be configured or designed to implement and/or facilitate management of messaging and/or other communications among and between the various systems, components, devices, EGDs, players, dealers, and administrators of the gaming network.","Mobile System Server(s) 108.In at least one embodiment, the Mobile System Server(s) may be configured or designed to implement and/or facilitate management of communications and/or data exchanged with various types of mobile devices, including for example: player-managed mobile devices (e.g., smart phones, PDAs, tablets, mobile computers), casino-managed mobile devices (e.g., mobile gaming devices), etc.","Financial System Server(s) 112.In at least one embodiment, the Financial System Server(s) may be configured or designed to implement and/or facilitate tracking, management, reporting, and storage of financial data and financial transactions relating to one or more On Demand sessions.","For example, at least some Financial System Server(s) may be configured or designed to track financial transactions relating to On Demand Service(s) requested by or performed for different casino patrons (or other persons).","Player Tracking System Server(s) 114.In at least one embodiment, the Player Tracking System Server(s) may be configured or designed to implement and/or facilitate management and exchange of player tracking information associated with one or more EGDs, On Demand sessions, etc.","In at least one embodiment, a Player Tracking System Server may include at least one database that tracks at least one player's hands, wins/losses, bet amounts, player preferences, etc., in the network.","In at least one embodiment, the presenting and/or awarding of promotions, bonuses, rewards, achievements, etc., may be based on a player's play patterns, time, games selected, bet amount for at least one game type, etc.","A Player Tracking System Server may also help establish a player's preferences, which assists the casino in their promotional efforts to: award player comps (loyalty points); decide which promotion(s) are appropriate; generate bonuses; etc.","Data Tracking & Analysis System(s) 118.In at least one embodiment, the Data Tracking & Analysis System(s) may be configured or designed to implement and/or facilitate management and analysis of game data.","Additionally, the Data Tracking & Analysis System(s) may be configured or designed to track and analyze different transactions relating to different On Demand Service(s) requested by or performed for different casino patrons (or other persons).","On Demand Services System 120.In at least one embodiment, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to implement and/or facilitate implementation, configuration, management, analysis, and reporting of On Demand Services including, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Beverage On Demand Service(s); Host On Demand Service(s); Security On Demand Service(s); Valet On Demand Service(s); Weather On Demand Service(s); Reporting service(s); and/or other aspects of On Demand Services described and/or referenced herein.","Gaming System Server(s) (122).","In at least one embodiment, different game servers may be configured or designed to be dedicated to one or more specifically designated type(s) of game(s).","At least one game server has game logic to host one of more On Demand Services sessions.","Jurisdictional/Regulatory Monitoring & Enforcement System(s) 150.In at least one embodiment, the Jurisdictional/Regulatory Monitoring & Enforcement System(s) may be configured or designed to handle tracking, monitoring, reporting, and enforcement of specific regulatory requirements relating to wager-based gameplay activities in one or more jurisdictions.","Authentication & Validation System(s) 152.According to different embodiments, the Authentication & Validation System(s) may be configured or designed to determine and/or authenticate the identity of the current player at a given EGD.","For example, in one embodiment, the current player may be required to perform a log in process at the EGD in order to access one or more features.","Alternatively, the EGD may be adapted to automatically determine the identity of the current player based upon one or more external signals such as, for example, scanning of a barcode of a player tracking card, an RFID tag or badge worn by the current player which provides a wireless signal to the EGD for determining the identity of the current player.","In at least one implementation, various security features may be incorporated into the EGD to prevent unauthorized players from engaging in certain types of activities at the EGD.","In some embodiments, the Authentication & Validation System(s) may be configured or designed to authenticate and/or validate various types of hardware and/or software components, such as, for example, hardware/software components residing at a remote EGDs, game play information, wager information, player information and/or identity, etc.","Examples of various authentication and/or validation components are described in U.S. Pat.","No.","6,620,047, titled, “ELECTRONIC GAMING APPARATUS HAVING AUTHENTICATION DATA SETS,” incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for one or more purposes.","Casino Venues.","In at least one embodiment, at least one casino venue may correspond to a real-world, physical casino which is located at a particular geographic location.","In some embodiments, a portion of the multiple different casino venues may be affiliated with at least one other (e.g., Harrah's Las Vegas, Harrah's London).","In other embodiments, at least a portion of the multiple different casino venues do not share any affiliation with at least one other.","In at least some embodiments, the Casino Network may span across multiple different Casino Venues.","Remote Services.","In at least some embodiments, remote services (e.g., provided by third parties) may be provided for implementing, facilitating, configuring, monitoring, updating, and/or reporting one or more On Demand Service(s)/feature(s).","For example, in one embodiment, a third party may be provided access by a Casino establishment to remotely configure one or more On Demand Service(s)/feature(s) implemented at the Casino establishment's network.","Electronic gaming devices (EGDs) 132.As described in greater detail herein, the EGDs may be configured or designed to facilitate and enable players to participate in wager-based gaming sessions.","Additionally, the EGDs may be configured or designed to enable players to access one or more On Demand Services features.","In some embodiments, the EGDs may be configured or designed to display one or more On Demand GUIs for facilitating patrons in accessing desired On Demand Services features.","In some embodiments, different EGDs may be physically located in one or more different casino venues, and may be connected via a communication network.","In some embodiments, EGDs may be implemented as stationary machines (as illustrated, for example, in FIG.","10).","In some embodiments, at least some EGDs may be implemented using mobile devices (e.g., tablets, smartphones, laptops, PC's, and the like).","Electronic Gaming Tables 134.In at least some embodiments, the Electronic Gaming Tables may be configured or designed to enable players to access one or more On Demand Services features.","Mobile Gaming Devices 136.In at least some embodiments, the Mobile Gaming Devices may be configured or designed to enable players to access one or more On Demand Services features.","Data Network 110, which, for example, may include one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Internet Network(s), Cellular Network(s), WAN Network(s), LAN Network(s), and/or other types of communication networks.","Game History Server(s) 164.In at least one embodiment, the Game History Server(s) may be configured or designed to track one or more (or selected) game types and game play history for one or more (or selected) On Demands In some embodiments, a Game History Server may also assist the casino manager in case of disputes between players and the casino by, for example, providing the ability to “replay” (e.g., by virtually recreating the game events) the game in dispute, step by step, based on previously stored game states.","Such dispute resolution capability is a desirable feature in On Demand environments.","Remote Database System(s) which, for example, may be operable to store and provide access to various types of information and data described herein.","Remote System Server(s)/Service(s), which, for example, may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Content provider servers/services Media Streaming servers/services Database storage/access/query servers/services Financial transaction servers/services Payment gateway servers/services Electronic commerce servers/services Event management/scheduling servers/services Etc.","In at least one embodiment, the Casino Network may be operable to utilize and/or generate various different types of data and/or other types of information when performing specific tasks and/or operations.","This may include, for example, input data/information and/or output data/information.","For example, in at least one embodiment, the Casino Network may be operable to access, process, and/or otherwise utilize information from one or more different types of sources, such as, for example, one or more local and/or remote memories, devices and/or systems.","Additionally, in at least one embodiment, the Casino Network may be operable to generate one or more different types of output data/information, which, for example, may be stored in memory of one or more local and/or remote devices and/or systems.","Examples of different types of input data/information and/or output data/information which may be accessed and/or utilized by the Casino Network may include, but are not limited to, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.","According to specific embodiments, multiple instances or threads of the On Demand Service(s) may be concurrently implemented and/or initiated via the use of one or more processors and/or other combinations of hardware and/or hardware and software.","For example, in at least some embodiments, various aspects, features, and/or functionalities of the On Demand Service(s) may be performed, implemented and/or initiated by one or more of the various systems, components, systems, devices, procedures, processes, etc., described and/or referenced herein.","In at least one embodiment, a given instance of the Casino Network may access and/or utilize information from one or more associated databases.","In at least one embodiment, at least a portion of the database information may be accessed via communication with one or more local and/or remote memory devices.","Examples of different types of data which may be accessed by the Casino Network may include, but are not limited to, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.","According to different embodiments, various different types of encryption/decryption techniques may be used to facilitate secure communications between various devices, components and/or systems of the Casino Network(s).","Examples of the various types of security techniques which may be used may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): random number generators, SHA-1 (Secured Hashing Algorithm), MD2, MD5, DES (Digital Encryption Standard), 3DES (Triple DES), RC4 (Rivest Cipher), ARC4 (related to RC4), TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol, uses RC4), AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), RSA, DSA, DH, NTRU, and ECC (elliptic curve cryptography), PKA (Private Key Authentication), Device-Unique Secret Key and other cryptographic key data, SSL, etc.","Other security features contemplated may include use of well-known hardware-based and/or software-based security components, and/or any other known or yet to be devised security and/or hardware and encryption/decryption processes implemented in hardware and/or software.","According to different embodiments, one or more different instances or threads of the On Demand Service(s) may be initiated in response to detection of one or more conditions or events satisfying one or more different types of minimum threshold criteria for triggering initiation of at least one instance of the Casino Network.","Various examples of conditions or events which may trigger initiation and/or implementation of one or more different threads or instances of the instances or threads of the On Demand Service(s) may include, but are not limited to, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.","It may be appreciated that the Casino Network of FIG.","1 is but one example from a wide range of Casino Network embodiments which may be implemented.","Other embodiments of the Casino Network (not shown) may include additional, fewer and/or different components/features that those illustrated in the example Casino Network embodiment of FIG.","1.Generally, the instances or threads of the On Demand Service(s) described herein may be implemented in hardware and/or hardware+software.","For example, they may be implemented in an operating system kernel, in a separate user process, in a library package bound into network applications, on a specially constructed machine, or on a network interface card.","In a specific embodiment, various aspects described herein may be implemented in software such as an operating system or in an application running on an operating system.","Hardware and/or software+hardware hybrid embodiments of the instances or threads of the On Demand Service(s) techniques described herein may be implemented on a general-purpose programmable machine selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in memory.","Such programmable machine may include, for example, mobile or handheld computing systems, PDA, smart phones, notebook computers, tablets, netbooks, desktop computing systems, system servers, cloud computing systems, network devices, etc.","FIG.","1 illustrates a network diagram of an example embodiment of a Casino Network 100 which may be configured or designed to implement various instances or threads of the On Demand Service(s) techniques described and/or referenced herein.","As described in greater detail herein, different embodiments of instances or threads of the On Demand Service(s) may be configured, designed, and/or operable to provide various different types of operations, functionalities, and/or features generally relating to On Demand Services technology.","Further, as described in greater detail herein, many of the various operations, functionalities, and/or features of the instances or threads of the On Demand Service(s) disclosed herein may provide may enable or provide different types of advantages and/or benefits to different entities interacting with the Casino Network(s).","According to specific embodiments, a variety of different game states may be used to characterize the state of current and/or past events which are occurring (or have occurred) at a given EGD.","For example, in one embodiment, at any given time in a game, a valid current game state may be used to characterize the state of game play (and/or other related events, such as, for example, mode of operation of the EGD, etc.)","at that particular time.","In at least one embodiment, multiple different states may be used to characterize different states or events which occur at the EGD at any given time.","In one embodiment, when faced with ambiguity of game state, a single state embodiment forces a decision such that one valid current game state is chosen.","In a multiple state embodiment, multiple possible game states may exist simultaneously at any given time in a game, and at the end of the game or at any point in the middle of the game, the EGD may analyze the different game states and select one of them based on certain criteria.","Thus, for example, when faced with ambiguity of game state, the multiple state embodiment(s) allow one or more potential game states to exist and move forward, thus deferring the decision of choosing one game state to a later point in the game.","The multiple game state embodiment(s) may also be more effective in handling ambiguous data or game state scenarios.","According to specific embodiments, a variety of different entities may be used (e.g., either singly or in combination) to track the progress of game states which occur at a given gaming EGD.","Examples of such entities may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combination thereof): master controller system, display system, gaming system, local game tracking component(s), remote game tracking component(s), etc.","Examples of various game tracking components may include, but are not limited to: automated sensors, manually operated sensors, video cameras, intelligent playing card shoes, RFID readers/writers, RFID tagged chips, objects displaying machine readable code/patterns, etc.","According to a specific embodiment, local game tracking components at the EGD may be operable to automatically monitor game play activities at the EGD, and/or to automatically identify key events which may trigger a transition of game state from one state to another as a game progresses.","FIG.","2 shows an example block diagram of an alternate embodiment of a Casino Network 200 in accordance with a specific embodiment.","As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","2, Casino Network 200 may include: A first plurality of device(s), component(s), system(s), which may function as part of the Casino Network's Backend System 280.In at least one embodiment, access to Casino Network's Backend System may be intended for (or restricted to) authorized personnel such as, for example, Casino staff, Casino Employees, security personnel, authorized users, authorized remote users, authorized remote systems, etc.","A second plurality of device(s), component(s), system(s), which may function as part of the Casino Network's Frontend System.","In at least one embodiment, access to Casino Network's Frontend System may be intended for casino patrons, players, hotel guests, end users, etc.","In at least one embodiment, the Frontend System may include electronic gaming devices 132, electronic gaming tables 134 and/or mobile gaming devices 136 which are located in one or more of the Casino's gaming floors/regions.","In at least some embodiments, the electronic gaming machines and other devices on the casino gaming floor may be used by authorized personnel to remotely access one or more device(s), component(s), system(s) of the Backend System.","In at least some embodiments, other device(s), component(s), system(s) of the casino network (e.g., such as mobile devices, laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc.)","may function as either a Frontend System device or a Backend System device, depending upon the user, and functionality being accessed.","For example, a casino patron may use his or her smartphone in various regions of the casino (including, for example, non-gaming regions such as the pool, hotel room, restaurant, etc.)","to access the Frontend of the On Demand Services System.","In other embodiments, a casino employee (such as a hostess or waitress) may use his or her smartphone to access the Backend of the On Demand Services System.","According to different embodiments, the Casino Network 200 may include a plurality of different types of components, devices, modules, processes, systems, etc., which, for example, may be implemented and/or instantiated via the use of hardware and/or combinations of hardware and software.","For example, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","2, the Casino Network may include one or more of the following types of systems, components, devices, processes, etc.","(or combinations thereof): Electronic gaming devices 132; Electronic gaming tables 134; Mobile gaming devices 136; Network links 210; Network 205, which, for example, may include WANs and/or LANs; Accounting/transaction server 220 may compile, track, store, and/or monitor cash flows, voucher transactions, winning vouchers, losing vouchers, and/or other transaction data for the casino operator and for the players.","Transaction data may include the number of wagers, the size of these wagers, the date and time for these wagers, the identity of the players making these wagers, and the frequency of the wagers.","Accounting/transaction server 220 may generate tax information relating to these wagers.","Accounting/transaction server 220 may generate profit/loss reports for predetermined gaming options, contingent gaming options, predetermined betting structures, and/or outcome categories.","Gaming server 225 may generate gaming options based on predetermined betting structures and/or outcome categories.","These gaming options may be predetermined gaming options, contingent gaming options, and/or any other gaming option disclosed in this disclosure.","Authentication server 230 may determine the validity of vouchers, players' identity, and/or an outcome for a gaming event.","Player tracking server 235 may track a player's betting activity, a player's preferences (e.g., language, drinks, font, sound level, etc.).","Based on data obtained by player tracking server 235, a player may be eligible for gaming rewards (e.g.","free play), promotions, and/or other awards (e.g., complimentary food, drinks, lodging, concerts, etc.).","Voucher server 240 may generate a voucher, which may include data relating to gaming options.","For example, data relating to the structure may be generated.","If there is a time deadline, that information may be generated by voucher server 240.Vouchers may be physical (e.g., paper) or digital.","Searching server 242 may implement a search on one or more gaming devices to obtain gaming data.","Searching server 242 may implement a messaging function, which may transmit a message to a third party (e.g., a player) relating to a search, a search status update, a game status update, a wager status update, a confirmation of a wager, a confirmation of a money transfer, and/or any other data relating to the player's account.","The message may take the form of a text display on the gaming device, a pop up window, a text message, an email, a voice message, a video message and the like.","Searching server 242 may implement a wagering function, which may be an automatic wagering mechanism.","These functions of searching server 242 may be integrated into one or more servers.","Searching server 242 may include one or more searching structures, one or more searching algorithms, and/or any other searching mechanisms.","In general, the search structures may cover which Gaming Devices paid out the most money during a time period, which Gaming Devices kept the most money from players during a time period, which Gaming Devices are most popular (top games), which Gaming Devices are least popular, which Gaming Devices have the most amount of money wager during a period, which Gaming Devices have the highest wager volume, which Gaming Devices are more volatile (volatility, or deviation from the statistical norms, of wager volume, wager amount, pay out, etc.)","during a time period, and the like.","Search may also be associated with location queries, time queries, and/or people queries.","The searching structures may be predetermined searching structures.","For example, the method may start searching a first device, then a second device, then a third device, up to an Nth device based on one or more searching parameters (e.g., triggering event).","In one example, the search may end once one or more triggering events are determined.","In another example, the search may end once data has been received from a predetermined number (e.g., one, two, ten, one hundred, one or more) of the devices.","In another example, the search may be based on a predetermined number of devices to be searched in combination with a predetermined number of search results to be obtained.","In this example, the search structure may be a minimum of ten devices to be searched, along with a minimum of five gaming options to be determined.","In another example, the searching structures may be based on one or more specific game types and/or themes (e.g., first person shooter types, first person rail types, TV themes, Movie themes, multiplayer types, etc.).","Searching structure may search one or more of these games.","In another example, the searching structure may be based on a player's preferences, past transactional history, player input, a particular game, a particular EGD, a particular casino, a particular location within a casino, game outcomes over a time period, payout over a time period, and/or any other criteria.","Searching algorithms may be dynamic searching programs, which may be modified based on one or more past results.","In one example, the search algorithm may determine that a specific triggering event occurs with a ninety percent success rate on a first EGD, a ten percent success rate on a second EGD, a fifty percent success rate on a third EGD, and a seventy percent success rate on a fourth EGD.","The search algorithm may generate a search priority based on the probability of success, which may lead to the first EGD being searched first, the fourth EGD being searched second, the third EGD being searched third, and the second EGD being searched fourth.","Search algorithm may utilize any dynamic feedback procedure to enhance current and/or future searching results FIG.","3 shows a perspective view of an example gaming machine 302 in accordance with a specific embodiment.","As illustrated in the example of FIG.","3, device 302 includes a main cabinet or housing 304, which generally surrounds the device interior and is viewable by users.","The main cabinet includes an access door 308, which opens to provide access to the interior of the device.","In particular embodiments, the gaming machine may be controlled by software executed by a master gaming controller 346 in conjunction with software executed by a remote logic device (e.g., a remote host, a central server or a central controller) in communication with the gaming machine.","The master gaming controller may execute externally-controlled interface (ECI) processes which, for example, may enable content generated and managed on the remote host to be output on the gaming machine.","The gaming machine may receive and send events to the remote host that may affect the content output by one or more ECI processes as well as enable an ECI process to be initiated on the gaming machine.","In one embodiment, attached to the main door is at least one payment acceptor 328 and a bill validator 330, and a coin tray 338.In one embodiment, the payment acceptor may include a coin slot and a payment, note or bill acceptor, where the player inserts money, coins or tokens.","The player can place coins in the coin slot or paper money, a ticket or voucher into the payment, note or bill acceptor.","In other embodiments, devices such as readers or validators for credit cards, debit cards or credit slips may accept payment.","In one embodiment, a player may insert an identification card into a card reader of the gaming machine.","In one embodiment, the identification card is a smart card having a programmed microchip or a magnetic strip coded with a player's identification, credit totals (or related data) and other relevant information.","In another embodiment, a player may carry a portable device, such as a cell phone, a radio frequency identification tag or any other suitable wireless device, which communicates a player's identification, credit totals (or related data) and other relevant information to the gaming machine.","In one embodiment, money may be transferred to a gaming machine through electronic funds transfer.","When a player funds the gaming machine, the master gaming controller 346 or another logic device coupled to the gaming machine determines the amount of funds entered and displays the corresponding amount on the credit or other suitable display as described above.","In one embodiment attached to the main door are a plurality of player-input switches or buttons 332.The input switches can include any suitable devices which enables the player to produce an input signal which is received by the processor.","In one embodiment, after appropriate funding of the gaming machine, the input switch is a game activation device, such as a pull arm or a play button which is used by the player to start any primary game or sequence of events in the gaming machine.","The play button can be any suitable play activator such as a bet one button, a max bet button or a repeat the bet button.","In one embodiment, upon appropriate funding, the gaming machine may begin the game play automatically.","In another embodiment, upon the player engaging one of the play buttons, the gaming machine may automatically activate game play.","In one embodiment, one input switch is a bet one button.","The player places a bet by pushing the bet one button.","The player can increase the bet by one credit each time the player pushes the bet one button.","When the player pushes the bet one button, the number of credits shown in the credit display preferably decreases by one, and the number of credits shown in the bet display preferably increases by one.","In another embodiment, one input switch is a bet max button (not shown), which enables the player to bet the maximum wager permitted for a game of the gaming machine.","In one embodiment, one input switch is a cash-out button.","The player may push the cash-out button and cash out to receive a cash payment or other suitable form of payment corresponding to the number of remaining credits.","In one embodiment, when the player cashes out, the player may receive the coins or tokens in a coin payout tray.","In one embodiment, when the player cashes out, the player may receive other payout mechanisms such as tickets or credit slips redeemable by a cashier (or other suitable redemption system) or funding to the player's electronically recordable identification card.","Details of ticketing or voucher system that may be utilized with at least one embodiment described herein are described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","10/406,911, filed Apr.","2, 2003, by Rowe, et al., and entitled, “Cashless Transaction Clearinghouse,” which is incorporated herein by reference and for all purposes.","In one embodiment, one input switch is a touch-screen coupled with a touch-screen controller, or some other touch-sensitive display overlay to enable for player interaction with the images on the display.","The touch-screen and the touch-screen controller may be connected to a video controller.","A player may make decisions and input signals into the gaming machine by touching touch-screen at the appropriate places.","One such input switch is a touch-screen button panel.","In one embodiment, the gaming machine may further include a plurality of communication ports for enabling communication of the gaming machine processor with external peripherals, such as external video sources, expansion buses, game or other displays, an SCSI port or a key pad.","According to different embodiments, the gaming machine may be configured or designed to present one or more On Demand GUIs (e.g., via the gaming machine display(s), see, e.g., FIGS.","10-21) to thereby enable players or patrons to access one or more On Demand Service(s)/feature(s) such as those described herein.","As seen in FIG.","3, viewable through the main door is a video display monitor 334 and an information panel 336.The display monitor 334 will typically be a cathode ray tube, high resolution flat-panel LCD, OLED based-display, plasma display, a television display, a display based on light emitting diodes (LED), a display based on polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs), a display including a projected and/or reflected image or any other suitable electronic device or display.","The information panel 336 or belly-glass 340 may be a static back-lit, silk screened glass panel with lettering to indicate general game information including, for example, a game denomination (e.g.","$0.25 or $1) or a dynamic display, such as an LCD, an OLED or E-INK display.","In another embodiment, at least one display device may be a mobile display device, such as a PDA or tablet PC, that enables play of at least a portion of the primary or secondary game at a location remote from the gaming machine.","The display devices may be of any suitable size and configuration, such as a square, rectangle elongated rectangle.","The display devices of the gaming machine are configured to display at least one and preferably a plurality of game or other suitable images, symbols and indicia such as any visual representation or exhibition of the movement of objects such as mechanical, virtual or video reels and wheels, dynamic lighting, video images, images of people, characters, places, things and faces of cards, and the like.","In one alternative embodiment, the symbols, images and indicia displayed on or of the display device may be in mechanical form.","That is, the display device may include any electromechanical device, such as one or more mechanical objects, such as one or more rotatable wheels, reels or dice, configured to display at least one or a plurality of game or other suitable images, symbols or indicia.","In another embodiment, the display device may include an electromechanical device adjacent to a video display, such as a video display positioned in front of a mechanical reel.","In another embodiment, the display device may include dual layered video displays which co-act to generate one or more images.","The bill validator 330, player-input switches 332, video display monitor 334, and information panel are gaming machines that may be used to play a game on the game device 302.Also, these devices may be utilized as part of an ECI provided on the gaming machine.","According to a specific embodiment, the devices may be controlled by code executed by a master gaming controller 346 housed inside the main cabinet 304 of the device 302.The master gaming controller may include one or more processors including general purpose and specialized processors, such as graphics cards, and one or more memory devices including volatile and non-volatile memory.","The master gaming controller 346 may periodically configure and/or authenticate the code executed on the gaming machine.","In one embodiment, the gaming machine may include a sound generating device coupled to one or more sounds cards.","In one embodiment, the sound generating device includes at least one and preferably a plurality of speakers or other sound generating hardware and/or software for generating sounds, such as playing music for the primary and/or secondary game or for other modes of the gaming machine, such as an attract mode.","In one embodiment, the gaming machine provides dynamic sounds coupled with attractive multimedia images displayed on one or more of the display devices to provide an audio-visual representation or to otherwise display full-motion video with sound to attract players to the gaming machine.","During idle periods, the gaming machine may display a sequence of audio and/or visual attraction messages to attract potential players to the gaming machine.","The videos may also be customized for or to provide any appropriate information.","In one embodiment, the gaming machine may include a sensor, such as a camera that is selectively positioned to acquire an image of a player actively using the gaming machine and/or the surrounding area of the gaming machine.","In one embodiment, the camera may be configured to selectively acquire still or moving (e.g., video) images and may be configured to acquire the images in either an analog, digital or other suitable format.","The display devices may be configured to display the image acquired by the camera as well as display the visible manifestation of the game in split screen or picture-in-picture fashion.","For example, the camera may acquire an image of the player and the processor may incorporate that image into the primary and/or secondary game as a game image, symbol or indicia.","In another embodiment, the gaming machines on the gaming machine may be controlled by code executed by the master gaming controller 346 (or another logic device coupled to or in communication with the gaming machine, such as a player tracking controller) in conjunction with code executed by a remote logic device in communication with the master gaming controller 346.In at least one embodiment, the master gaming controller 346 may execute ECI processes that enable content generated and managed on a remote host to be output on the gaming machine.","The gaming machine may receive and send events to a remote host that may affect the content output on an instantiation of a particular ECI.","The master gaming controller 346 may be configured to limit the resources that can be utilized by the ECI processes executing on the gaming machine at any given time and may constantly monitor resources utilized by the ECI processes to ensure that gaming experience on the gaming machine is optimal Games Played Many different types of wager-based games, including mechanical slot games, video slot games, video poker, video black jack, video pachinko, lottery, etc., may be played via the use of one or more gaming devices and/or gaming systems described or referenced herein.","In particular, the gaming machine 302 may be operable to provide a play of many different games of chance.","The games may be differentiated according to themes, sounds, graphics, type of game (e.g., slot game vs. card game), denomination, number of paylines, maximum jackpot, progressive or non-progressive, bonus games, etc.","In one embodiment, the gaming machine 302 may be operable to enable a player to select a game of chance to play from a plurality of different games available on the gaming machine.","For example, the gaming machine may provide a menu with a list of the different games that are available for play on the gaming machine and a player may be able to select from the list a first game of chance that they wish to play.","In one such embodiment, a In particular embodiments, the master gaming controller 346 may provide information to a remote host providing content to an ECI on the gaming machine 302 that enables the remote host to select graphical and audio themes for the ECI content that matches the theme of the game graphics and game sounds currently played on the gaming machine 302.In one embodiment, the various games available for play on the gaming machine 302 may be stored as game software on a mass storage device in the gaming machine.","In one such embodiment, the memory device of the gaming machine stores program codes and instructions, executable by the gaming machine processor, to control the games available for play on the gaming machine.","The memory device also stores other data such as image data, event data, player input data, random or pseudo-random number generators, pay-table data or information and applicable game rules that relate to the play of the gaming machine.","In another embodiment, the games available for play on the gaming machine may be generated on a remote gaming machine but then displayed on the gaming machine.","In one embodiment, the gaming machine 302 may execute game software, such as but not limited to video streaming software that enables the game to be displayed on the gaming machine.","When a game is stored on the gaming machine 302, it may be loaded from the mass storage device into a RAM for execution.","In some cases, after a selection of a game, the game software that enables the selected game to be generated may be downloaded from a remote gaming machine, such as another gaming machine.","As illustrated in the example of FIG.","3, the gaming machine 302 includes a top box 306, which sits on top of the main cabinet 304.The top box 306 houses a number of devices, which may be used to add features to a game being played on the gaming machine 302, including speakers 310, 312, 314, a ticket printer 318 which prints bar-coded tickets 320, a key pad 322 for entering player tracking information, a display 316 (e.g., a video LCD display) for displaying player tracking information, a card reader 324 for entering a magnetic striped card containing player tracking information, and a video display screen 35.The ticket printer 318 may be used to print tickets for a cashless ticketing system.","Further, the top box 306 may house different or additional devices not illustrated in FIG.","3.For example, the top box may include a bonus wheel or a back-lit silk screened panel which may be used to add bonus features to the game being played on the gaming machine.","As another example, the top box may include a display for a progressive jackpot offered on the gaming machine.","During a game, these devices are controlled and powered, in part, by circuitry (e.g.","a master gaming controller 346) housed within the main cabinet 304 of the device 302.It will be appreciated that gaming machine 302 is but one example from a wide range of gaming machine designs on which at least one embodiment described herein may be implemented.","For example, not all suitable gaming machines have top boxes or player tracking features.","Further, some gaming machines have only a single game display—mechanical or video, while others may have multiple displays.","Networks In various embodiments, the remote gaming machine may be connected to the host computer via a network of some type such as a local area network, a wide area network, an intranet or the Internet.","In one such embodiment, a plurality of the gaming machines may be capable of being connected together through a data network.","In one embodiment, the data network is a local area network (LAN), in which one or more of the gaming machines are substantially proximate to each other and an on-site remote host as in, for example, a gaming establishment or a portion of a gaming establishment.","In another embodiment, the data network is a wide area network (WAN) in which one or more of the gaming machines are in communication with at least one off-site remote host.","In this embodiment, the plurality of gaming machines may be located in a different part of the gaming establishment or within a different gaming establishment than the off-site remote host.","Thus, the WAN may include an off-site remote host and an off-site gaming machine located within gaming establishments in the same geographic area, such as a city or state.","The WAN gaming system may be substantially identical to the LAN gaming system described above, although the number of gaming machines in each system may vary relative to each other.","In another embodiment, the data network is an internet or intranet.","In this embodiment, the operation of the gaming machine can be viewed at the gaming machine with at least one internet browser.","In this embodiment, operation of the gaming machine and accumulation of credits may be accomplished with only a connection to the central server or controller (the internet/intranet server) through a conventional phone or other data transmission line, digital line (DSL), T-1 line, coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, or other suitable connection.","In this embodiment, players may access an internet game page from any location where an internet connection and computer, or other internet facilitator is available.","The expansion in the number of computers and number and speed of internet connections in recent years increases opportunities for players to play from an ever-increasing number of remote sites.","It should be appreciated that enhanced bandwidth of digital wireless communications may render such technology suitable for some or all communications, particularly if such communications are encrypted.","Higher data transmission speeds may be useful for enhancing the sophistication and response of the display and interaction with the player.","In another embodiment, the remote gaming machine may be a portable gaming machine such as but not limited to a cell phone, a personal digital assistant, and a wireless game player Images rendered from 3-D gaming environments may be displayed on portable gaming machines that are used to play a game of chance.","Further a gaming machine or server may include gaming logic for commanding a remote gaming machine to render an image from a virtual camera in a 3-D gaming environments stored on the remote gaming machine and to display the rendered image on a display located on the remote gaming machine.","In addition, various combinations of gaming machines are possible on the gaming machine.","For example, some gaming machine only accept cash, cashless vouchers or electronic fund transfers and do not include coin acceptors or coin hoppers.","Thus, those of skill in the art will understand that at least one embodiment described herein, as described below, can be deployed on most any gaming machine now available or hereafter developed.","In another embodiment, the gaming machine disclosed herein is operable over a wireless network, such as part of a wireless gaming system.","In this embodiment, the gaming machine may be a hand held device, a mobile device or any other suitable wireless device that enables a player to play any suitable game at a variety of different locations.","It should be appreciated that a gaming machine as disclosed herein may be a device that has obtained approval from a regulatory gaming commission or a device that has not obtained approval from a regulatory gaming commission.","In at least one embodiment, some wager-based gaming systems may enable functionality relating to other game play concepts/features such as, for example: tournament play with multiple tables; head to head play on and/or between tables; etc.","This is in addition to the simple social factor of allowing people to play together on a table, versus playing against each other or against a dealer.","Also, it opens the door for traditional types of player input and/or real-time object recognition.","For example, players can simply gesture to make something happen, versus pressing a button.","For example, in one embodiment, a game of blackjack may be played on an intelligent multi-player electronic gaming system, and a player may be able to split their hand (e.g., of paired 8's) by simply placing their fingers over the virtual cards and spreading their cards out to cause the computer to recognize the split action.","According to different embodiments, a wager-based gaming system may be operable as a stand alone device, and/or it can be operable as a server-based device.","It can also plug into multi-player platforms.","In at least one embodiment, some wager-based gaming systems support industry standard software development with WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation), Expressions Blend (for the artists), and Microsoft's XNA, which is used to make PC and XBox games.","It will be appreciated that the various wager-based gaming systems described herein are but some examples from a wide range of wager-based gaming systems designs on which various aspects and/or techniques described herein may be implemented.","For example, not all wager-based gaming systems have electronic displays or player tracking features.","Further, some wager-based gaming systems may include a single display, while others may include multiple displays.","Other wager-based gaming systems may not include any displays.","As another example, a game may be generated on a host computer and may be displayed on a remote terminal or a remote gaming device.","The remote gaming device may be connected to the host computer via a network of some type such as a local area network, a wide area network, an intranet or the Internet.","The remote gaming device may be a portable gaming device such as but not limited to a cell phone, a personal digital assistant, and a wireless game player.","Images rendered from gaming environments may be displayed on portable gaming devices that are used to facilitate game play activities at the wager-based gaming system.","Further a wager-based gaming system or server may include gaming logic for commanding a remote gaming device to render an image from a virtual camera in 2-D or 3-D gaming environments stored on the remote gaming device and to display the rendered image on a display located on the remote gaming device.","Thus, those of skill in the art will understand that the various example embodiments described herein may be deployed on most any wager-based gaming system now available or hereafter developed.","Gaming device vs.","General-Purpose Computer Some preferred wager-based gaming devices of the present assignee are implemented with special features and/or additional circuitry that differentiates them from general-purpose computers (e.g., desktop PC's and laptops).","In at least one embodiment, a wager-based gaming device may be defined to include any type of device, machine, apparatus, and/or system which has been configured or designed for use in conducting wager-based game play activities at the wager-based gaming device.","Example of such wager-based gaming device may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): mechanical gaming machines, electronic gaming machines, slot-type gaming machines, gaming tables, mobile or portable wager-based gaming devices, etc.","Wager-based gaming devices are highly regulated to ensure fairness and, in some cases, wager-based gaming devices are operable to dispense monetary awards of multiple millions of dollars.","Therefore, to satisfy security and regulatory requirements in a gaming environment, hardware and software architectures may be implemented in wager-based gaming devices that differ significantly from those of general-purpose computers.","A description of wager-based gaming devices relative to general-purpose computing devices and some examples of the additional (or different) components and features found in wager-based gaming devices are described below.","At first glance, one might think that adapting PC technologies to the gaming industry would be a simple proposition because both PCs and wager-based gaming devices employ microprocessors that control a variety of devices.","However, because of such reasons as 1) the regulatory requirements that are placed upon wager-based gaming devices, 2) the harsh environment in which wager-based gaming devices operate, 3) security requirements and 4) fault tolerance requirements, adapting PC technologies to a wager-based gaming device can be quite difficult.","Further, techniques and methods for solving a problem in the PC industry, such as device compatibility and connectivity issues, might not be adequate in the gaming environment.","For instance, a fault or a weakness tolerated in a PC, such as security holes in software or frequent crashes, may not be tolerated in a wager-based gaming device because in a wager-based gaming device these faults can lead to a direct loss of funds from the wager-based gaming device, such as stolen cash or loss of revenue when the wager-based gaming device is not operating properly.","For the purposes of illustration, a few differences between PC systems and wager-based gaming devices/systems will be described.","A first difference between wager-based gaming devices and common PC based computers systems is that wager-based gaming devices are designed to be state-based systems.","In a state-based system, the system stores and maintains its current state in a non-volatile memory, such that, in the event of a power failure or other malfunction the wager-based gaming device will return to its current state when the power is restored.","For instance, if a player was shown an award for a wager-based game (e.g., of chance, skill and/or some combination thereof) and, before the award could be provided to the player the power failed, the wager-based gaming device, upon the restoration of power, would return to the state where the award is indicated.","As anyone who has used a PC, knows, PCs are not state devices and a majority of data is usually lost when a malfunction occurs.","This requirement affects the software and hardware design on a wager-based gaming device.","A second important difference between wager-based gaming devices and common PC based computer systems is that for regulation purposes, the software on the wager-based gaming device used to generate the wager-based game and operate the wager-based gaming device has been designed to be static and monolithic to prevent cheating by the operator of wager-based gaming device.","For instance, one solution that has been employed in the gaming industry to prevent cheating and satisfy regulatory requirements has been to manufacture a wager-based gaming device that can use a proprietary processor running instructions to generate the wager-based game play activities from an EPROM or other form of non-volatile memory.","The coding instructions on the EPROM are static (non-changeable) and must be approved by a gaming regulators in a particular jurisdiction and installed in the presence of a person representing the gaming jurisdiction.","Any changes to any part of the software required to generate the wager-based game play activities, such as adding a new device driver used by the master gaming controller to operate a device during generation of the wager-based game can require a new EPROM to be burnt, approved by the gaming jurisdiction and reinstalled on the wager-based gaming device in the presence of a gaming regulator.","Regardless of whether the EPROM solution is used, to gain approval in most gaming jurisdictions, a wager-based gaming device must demonstrate sufficient safeguards that prevent an operator or player of a wager-based gaming device from manipulating hardware and software in a manner that gives them an unfair and some cases an illegal advantage.","The wager-based gaming device should have a means to determine if the code it will execute is valid.","If the code is not valid, the wager-based gaming device must have a means to prevent the code from being executed.","The code validation requirements in the gaming industry affect both hardware and software designs on wager-based gaming devices.","A third important difference between wager-based gaming devices and common PC based computer systems is the number and kinds of peripheral devices used on a wager-based gaming device are not as great as on PC based computer systems.","Traditionally, in the gaming industry, wager-based gaming devices have been relatively simple in the sense that the number of peripheral devices and the number of functions the wager-based gaming device has been limited.","Further, in operation, the functionality of wager-based gaming devices were relatively constant once the wager-based gaming device was deployed, i.e., new peripherals devices and new gaming software were infrequently added to the wager-based gaming device.","This differs from a PC where users will go out and buy different combinations of devices and software from different manufacturers and connect them to a PC to suit their needs depending on a desired application.","Therefore, the types of devices connected to a PC may vary greatly from user to user depending in their individual requirements and may vary significantly over time.","Although the variety of devices available for a PC may be greater than on a wager-based gaming device, wager-based gaming devices still have unique device requirements that differ from a PC, such as device security requirements not usually addressed by PCs.","For instance, monetary devices, such as coin dispensers, bill validators and ticket printers and computing devices that are used to govern the input and output of cash to a wager-based gaming device have security requirements that are not typically addressed in PCs.","Therefore, many PC techniques and methods developed to facilitate device connectivity and device compatibility do not address the emphasis placed on security in the gaming industry.","To address some of the issues described above, a number of hardware/software components and architectures are utilized in wager-based gaming devices that are not typically found in general purpose computing devices, such as PCs.","These hardware/software components and architectures, as described below in more detail, include but are not limited to watchdog timers, voltage monitoring systems, state-based software architecture and supporting hardware, specialized communication interfaces, security monitoring and trusted memory.","For example, a watchdog timer may be used in International Game Technology (IGT) wager-based gaming devices to provide a software failure detection mechanism In a normally operating system, the operating software periodically accesses control registers in the watchdog timer subsystem to “re-trigger” the watchdog.","Should the operating software fail to access the control registers within a preset timeframe, the watchdog timer will timeout and generate a system reset.","Typical watchdog timer circuits include a loadable timeout counter register to enable the operating software to set the timeout interval within a certain range of time.","A differentiating feature of the some preferred circuits is that the operating software cannot completely disable the function of the watchdog timer.","In other words, the watchdog timer always functions from the time power is applied to the board.","IGT gaming computer platforms preferably use several power supply voltages to operate portions of the computer circuitry.","These can be generated in a central power supply or locally on the computer board.","If any of these voltages falls out of the tolerance limits of the circuitry they power, unpredictable operation of the computer may result.","Though most modern general-purpose computers include voltage monitoring circuitry, these types of circuits only report voltage status to the operating software.","Out of tolerance voltages can cause software malfunction, creating a potential uncontrolled condition in the gaming computer.","Wager-based gaming devices of the present assignee typically have power supplies with tighter voltage margins than that required by the operating circuitry.","In addition, the voltage monitoring circuitry implemented in IGT gaming computers typically has two thresholds of control.","The first threshold generates a software event that can be detected by the operating software and an error condition generated.","This threshold is triggered when a power supply voltage falls out of the tolerance range of the power supply, but is still within the operating range of the circuitry.","The second threshold is set when a power supply voltage falls out of the operating tolerance of the circuitry.","In this case, the circuitry generates a reset, halting operation of the computer.","One standard method of operation for IGT slot device game software is to use a state device.","Different functions of the game (bet, play, result, points in the graphical presentation, etc.)","may be defined as a state.","When a game moves from one state to another, critical data regarding the game software is stored in a custom non-volatile memory subsystem.","This is critical to ensure the player's wager and credits are preserved and to minimize potential disputes in the event of a malfunction on the wager-based gaming device.","In general, the wager-based gaming device does not advance from a first state to a second state until critical information that allows the first state to be reconstructed has been stored.","This feature allows the game to recover operation to the current state of play in the event of a malfunction, loss of power, etc.","that occurred just prior to the malfunction.","In at least one embodiment, the wager-based gaming device is configured or designed to store such critical information using atomic transactions.","Generally, an atomic operation in computer science refers to a set of operations that can be combined so that they appear to the rest of the system to be a single operation with only two possible outcomes: success or failure.","As related to data storage, an atomic transaction may be characterized as series of database operations which either all occur, or all do not occur.","A guarantee of atomicity prevents updates to the database occurring only partially, which can result in data corruption.","In order to ensure the success of atomic transactions relating to critical information to be stored in the wager-based gaming device memory before a failure event (e.g., malfunction, loss of power, etc.","), it is preferable that memory be used which includes one or more of the following criteria: direct memory access capability; data read/write capability which meets or exceeds minimum read/write access characteristics (such as, for example, at least 5.08 Mbytes/sec (Read) and/or at least 38.0 Mbytes/sec (Write)).","Devices which meet or exceed the above criteria may be referred to as “fault-tolerant” memory devices, whereas it is which the above criteria may be referred to as “fault non-tolerant” memory devices.","Typically, battery backed RAM devices may be configured or designed to function as fault-tolerant devices according to the above criteria, whereas flash RAM and/or disk drive memory are typically not configurable to function as fault-tolerant devices according to the above criteria.","Accordingly, battery backed RAM devices are typically used to preserve wager-based gaming device critical data, although other types of non-volatile memory devices may be employed.","These memory devices are typically not used in typical general-purpose computers.","Thus, in at least one embodiment, the wager-based gaming device is configured or designed to store critical information in fault-tolerant memory (e.g., battery backed RAM devices) using atomic transactions.","Further, in at least one embodiment, the fault-tolerant memory is able to successfully complete all desired atomic transactions (e.g., relating to the storage of wager-based gaming device critical information) within a time period of 200 milliseconds (ms) or less.","In at least one embodiment, the time period of 200 mSec represents a maximum amount of time for which sufficient power may be available to the various wager-based gaming device components after a power outage event has occurred at the wager-based gaming device.","As described previously, the wager-based gaming device may not advance from a first state to a second state until critical information that allows the first state to be reconstructed has been atomically stored.","This feature allows the game to recover operation to the current state of play in the event of a malfunction, loss of power, etc.","that occurred just prior to the malfunction.","After the state of the wager-based gaming device is restored during the play of a wager-based game, game play may resume and the game may be completed in a manner that is no different than if the malfunction had not occurred.","Thus, for example, when a malfunction occurs during a wager-based game, the wager-based gaming device may be restored to a state in the wager-based game just prior to when the malfunction occurred.","The restored state may include metering information and graphical information that was displayed on the wager-based gaming device in the state prior to the malfunction.","For example, when the malfunction occurs during the play of a card game after the cards have been dealt, the wager-based gaming device may be restored with the cards that were previously displayed as part of the card game.","As another example, a bonus game may be triggered during the play of a wager-based game where a player is required to make a number of selections on a video display screen.","When a malfunction has occurred after the player has made one or more selections, the wager-based gaming device may be restored to a state that shows the graphical presentation at the just prior to the malfunction including an indication of selections that have already been made by the player.","In general, the wager-based gaming device may be restored to any state in a plurality of states that occur in the wager-based game that occurs while the wager-based game is played or to states that occur between the play of a wager-based game.","Game history information regarding previous games played such as an amount wagered, the outcome of the game and so forth may also be stored in a non-volatile memory device.","The information stored in the non-volatile memory may be detailed enough to reconstruct a portion of the graphical presentation that was previously presented on the wager-based gaming device and the state of the wager-based gaming device (e.g., credits) at the time the wager-based game was played.","The game history information may be utilized in the event of a dispute.","For example, a player may decide that in a previous wager-based game that they did not receive credit for an award that they believed they won.","The game history information may be used to reconstruct the state of the wager-based gaming device prior, during and/or after the disputed game to demonstrate whether the player was correct or not in their assertion.","Further details of a state based gaming system, recovery from malfunctions and game history are described in U.S. Pat.","No.","6,804,763, titled “High Performance Battery Backed RAM Interface”, U.S. Pat.","No.","6,863,608, titled “Frame Capture of Actual Game Play,” U.S. application Ser.","No.","10/243,104, titled, “Dynamic NV-RAM,” and U.S. application Ser.","No.","10/758,828, titled, “Frame Capture of Actual Game Play,” each of which is incorporated by reference and for all purposes.","Another feature of wager-based gaming devices, such as IGT gaming computers, is that they often include unique interfaces, including serial interfaces, to connect to specific subsystems internal and external to the wager-based gaming device.","The serial devices may have electrical interface requirements that differ from the “standard” EIA 232 serial interfaces provided by general-purpose computers.","These interfaces may include EIA 485, EIA 422, Fiber Optic Serial, optically coupled serial interfaces, current loop style serial interfaces, etc.","In addition, to conserve serial interfaces internally in the wager-based gaming device, serial devices may be connected in a shared, daisy-chain fashion where multiple peripheral devices are connected to a single serial channel.","The serial interfaces may be used to transmit information using communication protocols that are unique to the gaming industry.","For example, IGT's Netplex is a proprietary communication protocol used for serial communication between wager-based gaming devices.","As another example, SAS is a communication protocol used to transmit information, such as metering information, from a wager-based gaming device to a remote device.","Often SAS is used in conjunction with a player tracking system.","IGT wager-based gaming devices may alternatively be treated as peripheral devices to a casino communication controller and connected in a shared daisy chain fashion to a single serial interface.","In both cases, the peripheral devices are preferably assigned device addresses.","If so, the serial controller circuitry must implement a method to generate or detect unique device addresses.","General-purpose computer serial ports are not able to do this.","Security monitoring circuits detect intrusion into an IGT wager-based gaming device by monitoring security switches attached to access doors in the wager-based gaming device cabinet.","Preferably, access violations result in suspension of game play and can trigger additional security operations to preserve the current state of game play.","These circuits also function when power is off by use of a battery backup.","In power-off operation, these circuits continue to monitor the access doors of the wager-based gaming device.","When power is restored, the wager-based gaming device can determine whether any security violations occurred while power was off, e.g., via software for reading status registers.","This can trigger event log entries and further data authentication operations by the wager-based gaming device software.","Trusted memory devices and/or trusted memory sources are preferably included in an IGT wager-based gaming device computer to ensure the authenticity of the software that may be stored on less secure memory subsystems, such as mass storage devices.","Trusted memory devices and controlling circuitry are typically designed to not enable modification of the code and data stored in the memory device while the memory device is installed in the wager-based gaming device.","The code and data stored in these devices may include authentication algorithms, random number generators, authentication keys, operating system kernels, etc.","The purpose of these trusted memory devices is to provide gaming regulatory authorities a root trusted authority within the computing environment of the wager-based gaming device that can be tracked and verified as original.","This may be accomplished via removal of the trusted memory device from the wager-based gaming device computer and verification of the secure memory device contents is a separate third party verification device.","Once the trusted memory device is verified as authentic, and based on the approval of the verification algorithms included in the trusted device, the wager-based gaming device is enabled to verify the authenticity of additional code and data that may be located in the gaming computer assembly, such as code and data stored on hard disk drives.","A few details related to trusted memory devices that may be used in at least one embodiment described herein are described in U.S. Pat.","No.","6,685,567 (U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","09/925,098), filed Aug. 8, 2001 and titled “Process Verification,” and U.S. Pat.","No.","3,221,314, filed Sep. 6, 2005, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and for all purposes.","In at least one embodiment, at least a portion of the trusted memory devices/sources may correspond to memory which cannot easily be altered (e.g., “unalterable memory”) such as, for example, EPROMS, PROMS, Bios, Extended Bios, and/or other memory sources which are able to be configured, verified, and/or authenticated (e.g., for authenticity) in a secure and controlled manner.","According to a specific implementation, when a trusted information source is in communication with a remote device via a network, the remote device may employ a verification scheme to verify the identity of the trusted information source.","For example, the trusted information source and the remote device may exchange information using public and private encryption keys to verify each other's identities.","In another embodiment of at least one embodiment described herein, the remote device and the trusted information source may engage in methods using zero knowledge proofs to authenticate each of their respective identities.","Details of zero knowledge proofs that may be used with the present invention are described in US publication no.","2003/0203756, by Jackson, filed on Apr.","25, 2002 and entitled, “Authentication in a Secure Computerized Gaming System”, which is incorporated herein in its entirety and for all purposes.","Wager-based gaming devices storing trusted information may utilize apparatus or methods to detect and prevent tampering.","For instance, trusted information stored in a trusted memory device may be encrypted to prevent its misuse.","In addition, the trusted memory device may be secured behind a locked door.","Further, one or more sensors may be coupled to the memory device to detect tampering with the memory device and provide some record of the tampering.","In yet another example, the memory device storing trusted information might be designed to detect tampering attempts and clear or erase itself when an attempt at tampering has been detected.","Additional details relating to trusted memory devices/sources are described in U.S. Pat.","No.","3,078,966, entitled “Secured Virtual Network in a Gaming Environment”, naming Nguyen et al.","as inventors, filed on Mar.","10, 2005, herein incorporated in its entirety and for all purposes.","Mass storage devices used in a general purpose computer typically enable code and data to be read from and written to the mass storage device.","In a wager-based gaming system environment, modification of the gaming code stored on a mass storage device is strictly controlled and would only be enabled under specific maintenance type events with electronic and physical enablers required.","Though this level of security could be provided by software, IGT gaming computers that include mass storage devices preferably include hardware level mass storage data protection circuitry that operates at the circuit level to monitor attempts to modify data on the mass storage device and will generate both software and hardware error triggers should a data modification be attempted without the proper electronic and physical enablers being present.","Details using a mass storage device that may be used with at least one embodiment described herein are described, for example, in U.S. Pat.","No.","6,149,522, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.","FIG.","4 shows a block diagram 400 of electronic gaming device 400, in accordance with a specific embodiment.","Electronic gaming device 400 may include a processor 402, a memory 404, a network interface 422, input devices 428, and a display 426.Processor 402 may generate gaming options based on predetermined betting structures and/or outcome categories.","Predetermined betting structures may utilize more than one outcome category to generate via processor 402 gaming options.","Predetermined betting structures may combine any outcome category with any other outcome category to gaming options.","Processor 402 may offer a gaming option which is structured so that the gaming option relates to more than one EGD.","Processor 402 may generate contingent gaming options 108 and/or predetermined gaming options 106.Contingent gaming options 108 may be structures such that when a triggering event occurs over one or more than one gaming event, racing event, and/or sporting event, the wager is activated.","Network interface 422 may allow electronic gaming device 400 to communicate with video/multimedia server 215, accounting/transaction server 220, gaming server 225, authentication server 230, player tracking server 235, voucher server 240, and gaming table 260.Input devices 428 may be mechanical buttons, electronic buttons, a touchscreen, a microphone, cameras, an optical scanner, or any combination thereof.","Input devices 428 may be utilized to make a wager, to make an offer to buy or sell a voucher, to determine a voucher's worth, to cash in a voucher, to modify (e.g., change sound level, configuration, font, language, etc.)","electronic gaming device 400, to select a movie or music, to select type of content to be displayed on main and/or auxiliary screen(s) of EGD, or any combination thereof.","Display 426 may show video streams from one or more gaming tables 260, gaming objects from one or more gaming tables 260, computer generated graphics, predetermined gaming options 106, and/or contingent gaming options 108.Memory 404 may include various memory modules 440.Memory 404 via various memory modules 440 may include a future betting module 406, a predetermined game options module 408, a contingent game options module 410, a confirmation module 412, a validation module 414, a voucher module 416, a reporting module 418, a maintenance module 420, a player tracking preferences module 424, a searching module 430, and an account module 432.Future betting module 406 may store data relating to the predetermined betting structure.","Processor 402 may utilize data in future betting module 406 to generate predetermined gaming options 106 and contingent gaming options 108.Any other processor (e.g., gaming server 225, any virtualized gaming server, etc.)","may implement these functions of processor 402.Predetermined game options module 408 may store data relating to predetermined gaming options 106, which may be offered to a player.","Contingent game options module 410 may store data relating to continent gaming options 108, which may be offered to a player.","Confirmation module 412 may utilize data received from a voucher, the transaction history of the voucher (e.g., the voucher changed hands in a secondary market), and/or the identity of the player to confirm the value of the voucher.","In another example, confirmation module 412 may utilize game event data, along with voucher data to confirm the value of the voucher.","Validation module 414 may utilize data received from a voucher to confirm the validity of the voucher.","Voucher module 416 may store data relating to generated vouchers, redeemed vouchers, bought vouchers, and/or sold vouchers.","Reporting module 418 may generate reports related to a performance of electronic gaming device 400, electronic gaming system 200, On Demand 260, video streams, gaming objects, credit device 112, and/or identification device 114.In one implementation, reporting module 418 may reside on a central server and may aggregate and generate real time statistics on betting activities at one or more gaming device(s) at one or more participating casino's.","The aggregate betting statistics may include trends (e.g., aggregate daily wager volume and wager amount by game types, by casinos, and the like), top games with the most payouts, top tables with the most payouts, top search structures used by players, most popular gaming device(s) by wager volume, most searched for game, gaming device(s) with least payouts, weekly trends, monthly trends, and other statistics related to game plays, wagers, people, location, and searches.","The information and statistics generated by the server-based reporting module 418 may be displayed publicly or privately.","For example, popular trending and statistical information on wager volume and wager amount for the top ten gaming device(s) may be publicly displayed in a casino display system so that players may study and decide what game to play, where, when, etc.","Such a public display of general statistics may also be posted on the Internet, sent out as a text, an email, or multimedia message to the player's smart phones, tablets, desktop computer, etc.","In another example, the trending and statistical information may also be distributed privately to privileged players such as casino club members.","Maintenance module 420 may track any maintenance that is implemented on electronic gaming device 400 and/or electronic gaming system 200.Maintenance module 420 may schedule preventative maintenance and/or request a service call based on a device error.","Player tracking preferences module 424 may compile and track data associated with a players preferences.","Searching module 430 may include one or more searching structures, one or more searching algorithms, and/or any other searching mechanisms.","The searching structures may be predetermined searching structures.","For example, the method may start searching a first device, then a second device, then a third device, up to an Nth device based on one or more searching parameters (e.g., triggering event).","In one example, the search may end once one or more triggering events are determined.","In another example, the search may end once data has been received from a predetermined number (e.g., one, two, ten, one hundred, one or more) of the devices.","In another example, the search may be based on a predetermined number of devices to be searched in combination with a predetermined number of search results to be obtained.","In this example, the search structure may be a minimum of ten devices to be searched, along with a minimum of five gaming options to be determined.","In another example, the searching structures may be based on one or more specific games (e.g., baccarat tables, roulette tables, blackjack tables, poker tables, craps tables, Sic Bo tables, etc.).","Searching structure may search one or more of these games.","In another example, the searching structure may be based on a player's preferences, past transactional history, player input, a particular gaming device or game type, a particular EGD, a particular casino, a particular location within a casino, game outcomes over a time period, payout over a time period, and/or any other criteria.","Searching algorithms may be dynamic searching programs, which may be modified based on one or more past results, as described previously.","In another example, the search algorithm may generate a search priority based on the probability of success various events and/or conditions, as described previously.","In some embodiments, the search algorithm may utilize any dynamic feedback procedure to enhance current and/or future searching results.","Account module 432 may include data relating to an account balance, a wager limit, a number of wagers placed, credit limits, any other player information, and/or any other account information.","Data from account module 432 may be utilized to determine whether a wager may be accepted.","For example, when a search has determined a triggering event, the device and/or system may determine whether to allow this wager based on one or more of a wager amount, a number of wagers, a wager limit, an account balance, and/or any other criteria.","In at least one embodiment, the On Demand Module 434 may be configured or designed to implement and/or facilitate access to one or more On Demand Service(s)/feature(s) including, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Beverage On Demand Service(s); Host On Demand Service(s); Security On Demand Service(s); Valet On Demand Service(s); Weather On Demand Service(s); Reporting service(s); and/or other aspects of On Demand Services described and/or referenced herein.","In at least one embodiment, at least a portion of the modules discussed in block diagram 400 may reside locally in gaming terminal 400.However, in at least some embodiments, the functions performed by these modules may be implemented in one or more remote servers.","For instance, modules 406-420, 424, 434, etc.","may be implemented on a remote server, communicating with gaming terminal 400 via a network interface such as Ethernet in a local or a wide area network topology.","In some implementations, these servers may be physical servers in a data center.","In some other implementations, these servers may be virtualized.","In yet some other implementations, the functions performed by these modules may be implemented as web services.","For example, the predetermined game options module 408 may be implemented in software as a web service provider.","Gaming terminal 400 would make service requests over the web for the available predetermined wager options to be displayed.","Regardless of how the modules and their respective functions are implemented, the interoperability with the gaming terminal 400 is seamless.","FIG.","5 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary intelligent multi-player electronic gaming system 500 in accordance with a specific embodiment.","In some embodiments, gaming system by hundred may be implemented as a gaming server.","In other embodiments, gaming system 500 may be implemented as an electronic gaming machine (EGM) or electronic gaming device (EGD).","As illustrated in the embodiment of FIG.","5, gaming system 500 includes at least one processor 510, at least one interface 506, and memory 516.Additionally, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.","5, gaming system 500 includes at least one master gaming controller 512, a multi-touch sensor and display system 590, a plurality of peripheral device components 550, and various other components, devices, systems such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Candle control system 569 which, for example, may include functionality for determining and/or controlling the appearances of one or more candles, etc.","; Transponders 554; Wireless communication components 556; Gaming chip/wager token tracking components 570; Games state tracking components 574; Motion/gesture analysis and interpretation components 584; Audio/video processors 583 which, for example, may include functionality for detecting, analyzing and/or managing various types of audio and/or video information relating to various activities at the gaming system.","Various interfaces 506b (e.g., for communicating with other devices, components, systems, etc.","); Tournament manager 575; On Demand Component(s) 576; Sensors 560; One or more cameras 562; One or more microphones 563; Secondary display(s) 535a; Input devices 530a; Motion/gesture detection components 551; Peripheral Devices 550; One or more cameras (e.g., 562) may be used to monitor, stream and/or record image content and/or video content relating to persons or objects within at least one camera's view.","For example, in at least one embodiment where the gaming system is implemented as an EGD, camera 562 may be used to generate a live, real-time video feed of a player (or other person) who is currently interacting with the EGD.","In some embodiments, camera 562 may be used to verify a user's identity (e.g., by authenticating detected facial features), and/or may be used to monitor or tract facial expressions and/or eye movements of a user or player who is interacting with the gaming system.","In at least one embodiment, display system 590 may include one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): EGD controllers 591; Multipoint sensing device(s) (e.g., multi-touch surface sensors/components); Display device(s) 595; Input/touch surface 596; Etc.","According to various embodiments, display surface(s) 595 may include one or more display screens utilizing various types of display technologies such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): LCDs (Liquid Crystal Display), Plasma, OLEDs (Organic Light Emitting Display), TOLED (Transparent Organic Light Emitting Display), Flexible (F)OLEDs, Active matrix (AM) OLED, Passive matrix (PM) OLED, Phosphor-escent (PH) OLEDs, SEDs (surface-conduction electron-emitter display), EPD (ElectroPhoretic display), FEDs (Field Emission Displays) and/or other suitable display technology.","EPD displays may be provided by E-ink of Cambridge, Mass.","OLED displays of the type list above may be provided by Universal Display Corporation, Ewing, N.J.","In at least one embodiment, master gaming controller 512 may include one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Authentication/validation components 544; Device drivers 542; Logic devices 513, which may include one or more processors 510; Memory 516, which may include one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): configuration software 514, non-volatile memory 515, EPROMS 508, RAM 509, associations 518 between indicia and configuration software, etc.","; Interfaces 506; Etc.","In at least one embodiment, Peripheral Devices 550 may include one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Power distribution components 558; Non-volatile memory 519a (and/or other types of memory); Bill acceptor 553; Ticket I/O 555; Player tracking I/O 557; Meters 559 (e.g., hard and/or soft meters); Meter detect circuitry 559a; Processor(s) 510a; Interface(s) 506a; Display(s) 535; Independent security system 561; Door detect switches 567; Candles, etc.","571; Input devices 530; Etc.","In at least one embodiment, the On Demand Component(s) 576 may be configured or designed to implement and/or facilitate access to one or more On Demand Service(s)/feature(s) including, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Beverage On Demand Service(s); Host On Demand Service(s); Security On Demand Service(s); Valet On Demand Service(s); Weather On Demand Service(s); Reporting service(s); and/or other aspects of On Demand Services described and/or referenced herein.","In one implementation, processor 510 and master gaming controller 512 are included in a logic device 513 enclosed in a logic device housing.","The processor 510 may include any conventional processor or logic device configured to execute software allowing various configuration and reconfiguration tasks such as, for example: a) communicating with a remote source via communication interface 506, such as a server that stores authentication information or games; b) converting signals read by an interface to a format corresponding to that used by software or memory in the gaming system; c) accessing memory to configure or reconfigure game parameters in the memory according to indicia read from the device; d) communicating with interfaces, various peripheral devices and/or I/O devices; e) operating peripheral devices such as, for example, card readers, paper ticket readers, etc.","; f) operating various I/O devices such as, for example, displays 535, input devices 530; etc.","For instance, the processor 510 may send messages including game play information to the displays 535 to inform players of game play/event information, wagering information, and/or other desired information.","In at least one implementation, the gaming system may include card readers such as used with credit cards, or other identification code reading devices to allow or may require player identification in connection with play of the card game and associated recording of game action.","Such a player identification interface may be implemented in the form of a variety of magnetic card readers commercially available for reading a player-specific identification information.","The player-specific information may be provided on specially constructed magnetic cards issued by a casino, or magnetically coded credit cards or debit cards frequently used with national credit organizations such as VISA, MASTERCARD, AMERICAN EXPRESS, or banks and other institutions.","The gaming system may include other types of participant identification mechanisms which may use a fingerprint image, eye blood vessel image reader, or other suitable biological information to confirm identity of the player.","Such personalized identification information could also be used to confirm credit use of a smart card, transponder, and/or player's personal player input device (UID).","The gaming system 500 also includes memory 516 which may include, for example, volatile memory (e.g., RAM 509), non-volatile memory 519 (e.g., disk memory, FLASH memory, EPROMs, etc.","), unalterable memory (e.g., EPROMs 508), etc.","The memory may be configured or designed to store, for example: 1) configuration software 514 such as one or more the parameters and settings for a game playable on the gaming system; 2) associations 518 between configuration indicia read from a device with one or more parameters and settings; 3) communication protocols allowing the processor 510 to communicate with peripheral devices and I/O devices 511; 5) a secondary memory storage device 515 such as a non-volatile memory device, configured to store gaming software related information (the gaming software related information and memory may be used to store various audio files and games not currently being used and invoked in a configuration or reconfiguration); 5) communication transport protocols (such as, for example, TCP/IP, USB, Firewire, IEEE1394, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11x (IEEE 802.11 standards), hiperlan/2, HomeRF, etc.)","for allowing the gaming system to communicate with local and non-local devices using such protocols; etc.","In one implementation, the master gaming controller 512 communicates using a serial communication protocol.","A few examples of serial communication protocols that may be used to communicate with the master gaming controller include but are not limited to USB, RS-232 and Netplex (a proprietary protocol developed by IGT, Reno, Nev.).","A plurality of device drivers 542 may be stored in memory 516.Example of different types of device drivers may include device drivers for gaming system components, device drivers for gaming system components, etc.","Typically, the device drivers 542 utilize a communication protocol of some type that enables communication with a particular physical device.","The device driver abstracts the hardware implementation of a device.","For example, a device drive may be written for at least one type of card reader that may be potentially connected to the gaming system.","Examples of communication protocols used to implement the device drivers include Netplex, USB, Serial, Ethernet 575, Firewire, I/O debouncer, direct memory map, serial, PCI, parallel, RF, Bluetooth™, near-field communications (e.g., using near-field magnetics), 802.11 (WiFi), etc.","Netplex is a proprietary IGT standard while the others are open standards.","According to a specific embodiment, when one type of a particular device is exchanged for another type of the particular device, a new device driver may be loaded from the memory 516 by the processor 510 to allow communication with the device.","For instance, one type of card reader in gaming system 500 may be replaced with a second type of card reader where device drivers for both card readers are stored in the memory 516.In some embodiments, the software units stored in the memory 516 may be upgraded as needed.","For instance, when the memory 516 is a hard drive, new games, game options, various new parameters, new settings for existing parameters, new settings for new parameters, device drivers, and new communication protocols may be uploaded to the memory from the master gaming controller 512 or from some other external device.","As another example, when the memory 516 includes a CD/DVD drive including a CD/DVD designed or configured to store game options, parameters, and settings, the software stored in the memory may be upgraded by replacing a first CD/DVD with a second CD/DVD.","In yet another example, when the memory 516 uses one or more flash memory 519 or EPROM 508 units designed or configured to store games, game options, parameters, settings, the software stored in the flash and/or EPROM memory units may be upgraded by replacing one or more memory units with new memory units which include the upgraded software.","In another embodiment, one or more of the memory devices, such as the hard-drive, may be employed in a game software download process from a remote software server.","In some embodiments, the gaming system 500 may also include various authentication and/or validation components 544 which may be used for authenticating/validating specified gaming system components such as, for example, hardware components, software components, firmware components, information stored in the gaming system memory 516, etc.","Examples of various authentication and/or validation components are described in U.S. Pat.","No.","6,620,047, entitled, “ELECTRONIC GAMING APPARATUS HAVING AUTHENTICATION DATA SETS,” incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for one or more purposes.","Sensors 560 may include, for example, optical sensors, pressure sensors, RF sensors, Infrared sensors, motion sensors, audio sensors, image sensors, thermal sensors, biometric sensors, etc.","As mentioned previously, such sensors may be used for a variety of functions such as, for example: detecting the presence and/or monetary amount of gaming chips which have been placed within a player's wagering zone; detecting (e.g., in real time) the presence and/or monetary amount of gaming chips which are within the player's personal space; etc.","In one implementation, at least a portion of the sensors 560 and/or input devices 530 may be implemented in the form of touch keys selected from a wide variety of commercially available touch keys used to provide electrical control signals.","Alternatively, some of the touch keys may be implemented in another form which are touch sensors such as those provided by a touchscreen display.","For example, in at least one implementation, the gaming system player may include input functionality for enabling players to provide their game play decisions/instructions (and/or other input) to the EGD using the touch keys and/or other player control sensors/buttons.","Additionally, such input functionality may also be used for allowing players to provide input to other devices in the casino gaming network (such as, for example, player tracking systems, side wagering systems, etc.)","Wireless communication components 556 may include one or more communication interfaces having different architectures and utilizing a variety of protocols such as, for example, 802.11 (WiFi), 802.15 (including Bluetooth™), 802.16 (WiMax), 802.22, Cellular standards such as CDMA, CDMA2000, WCDMA, Radio Frequency (e.g., RFID), Infrared, Near Field Magnetic communication protocols, etc.","The communication links may transmit electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals which carry digital data streams or analog signals representing various types of information.","An example of a near-field communication protocol is the ECMA-340 “Near Field Communication—Interface and Protocol (NFCIP-1)”, published by ECMA International (www.ecma-international.org), herein incorporated by reference in its entirety for one or more purposes.","It may be appreciated that other types of Near Field Communication protocols may be used including, for example, near field magnetic communication protocols, near field RF communication protocols, and/or other wireless protocols which provide the ability to control with relative precision (e.g., on the order of centimeters, inches, feet, meters, etc.)","the allowable radius of communication between at least 5 devices using such wireless communication protocols.","Power distribution components 558 may include, for example, components or devices which are operable for providing wireless power to other devices.","For example, in one implementation, the power distribution components 558 may include a magnetic induction system which is adapted to provide wireless power to one or more portable UIDs at the gaming system.","In one implementation, a UID docking region may include a power distribution component which is able to recharge a UID placed within the UID docking region without requiring metal-to-metal contact.","In at least one embodiment, motion/gesture detection component(s) 551 may be configured or designed to detect player movements and/or gestures and/or other input data from the player.","In some embodiments, at least one gaming system may have its own respective motion/gesture detection component(s).","In other embodiments, motion/gesture detection component(s) 551 may be implemented as a separate sub-system of the gaming system which is not associated with any one specific gaming system or device.","FIG.","6 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary mobile gaming device 600 in accordance with a specific embodiment.","In at least one embodiment, one or more players may participate in a wager-based, arcade-style video game session using mobile gaming devices.","In at least some embodiments, the mobile gaming device may be configured or designed to include or provide functionality which is similar to that of an electronic gaming device (EGD) such as that described, for example, in FIG.","4.As illustrated in the example of FIG.","6, mobile gaming device 600 may include a variety of components, modules and/or systems for providing various functionality.","For example, as illustrated in FIG.","6, mobile gaming device 600 may include Mobile Device Application components (e.g., 660), which, for example, may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): UI Components 662 such as those illustrated, described, and/or referenced herein.","Database Components 664 such as those illustrated, described, and/or referenced herein.","Processing Components 666 such as those illustrated, described, and/or referenced herein.","On Demand Application(s) 676 such as those illustrated, described, and/or referenced herein.","Other Components 668 which, for example, may include components for facilitating and/or enabling the mobile gaming device to perform and/or initiate various types of operations, activities, functions such as those described herein.","In at least one embodiment, the mobile gaming device may include Mobile Device App Component(s) which have been configured or designed to provide functionality for enabling or implementing at least a portion of the various On Demand Service(s) at the mobile gaming device.","According to specific embodiments, various aspects, features, and/or functionalities of the mobile gaming device may be performed, implemented and/or initiated by one or more of the following types of systems, components, systems, devices, procedures, processes, etc.","(or combinations thereof): Processor(s) 610 Device Drivers 642 Memory 616 Interface(s) 606 Power Source(s)/Distribution 643 Geolocation module 646 Display(s) 635 I/O Devices 630 Audio/Video devices(s) 639 Peripheral Devices 631 Motion Detection module 640 User Identification/Authentication module 647 Client App Component(s) 660 Other Component(s) 668 UI Component(s) 662 Database Component(s) 664 Processing Component(s) 666 Software/Hardware Authentication/Validation 644 Wireless communication module(s) 645 Information Filtering module(s) 649 Operating mode selection component 648 Speech Processing module 654 Scanner/Camera 652 OCR Processing Engine 656 etc.","FIG.","7 illustrates an example embodiment of a system server 780 which may be used for implementing various aspects/features described herein.","In at least one embodiment, the system server 780 includes at least one network device 760, and at least one storage device 770 (such as, for example, a direct attached storage device).","In one embodiment, system server 780 may be suitable for implementing at least some of the On Demand Service(s)/feature(s) described herein.","In according to one embodiment, network device 760 may include a master central processing unit (CPU) 762, interfaces 768, and a bus 767 (e.g., a PCI bus).","When acting under the control of appropriate software or firmware, the CPU 762 may be responsible for implementing specific functions associated with the functions of a desired network device.","For example, when configured as a server, the CPU 762 may be responsible for analyzing packets; encapsulating packets; forwarding packets to appropriate network devices; instantiating various types of virtual machines, virtual interfaces, virtual storage volumes, virtual appliances; etc.","The CPU 762 preferably accomplishes at least a portion of these functions under the control of software including an operating system (e.g.","Linux), and any appropriate system software (such as, for example, AppLogic™™ software).","CPU 762 may include one or more processors 763 such as, for example, one or more processors from the AMD, Motorola, Intel and/or MIPS families of microprocessors.","In an alternative embodiment, processor 763 may be specially designed hardware for controlling the operations of system server 780.In a specific embodiment, a memory 761 (such as non-volatile RAM and/or ROM) also forms part of CPU 762.However, there may be many different ways in which memory could be coupled to the system.","Memory block 761 may be used for a variety of purposes such as, for example, caching and/or storing data, programming instructions, etc.","The interfaces 768 may be typically provided as interface cards (sometimes referred to as “line cards”).","Alternatively, one or more of the interfaces 768 may be provided as on-board interface controllers built into the system motherboard.","Generally, they control the sending and receiving of data packets over the network and sometimes support other peripherals used with the system server 780.Among the interfaces that may be provided may be FC interfaces, Ethernet interfaces, frame relay interfaces, cable interfaces, DSL interfaces, token ring interfaces, Infiniband interfaces, and the like.","In addition, various very high-speed interfaces may be provided, such as fast Ethernet interfaces, Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, ATM interfaces, HSSI interfaces, POS interfaces, FDDI interfaces, ASI interfaces, DHEI interfaces and the like.","Other interfaces may include one or more wireless interfaces such as, for example, 802.11 (WiFi) interfaces, 802.15 interfaces (including Bluetooth™), 802.16 (WiMax) interfaces, 802.22 interfaces, Cellular standards such as CDMA interfaces, CDMA2000 interfaces, WCDMA interfaces, TDMA interfaces, Cellular 3G interfaces, etc.","Generally, one or more interfaces may include ports appropriate for communication with the appropriate media.","In some cases, they may also include an independent processor and, in some instances, volatile RAM.","The independent processors may control such communications intensive tasks as packet switching, media control and management.","By providing separate processors for the communications intensive tasks, these interfaces allow the master microprocessor 762 to efficiently perform routing computations, network diagnostics, security functions, etc.","In at least one embodiment, some interfaces may be configured or designed to allow the system server 780 to communicate with other network devices associated with various local area network (LANs) and/or wide area networks (WANs).","Other interfaces may be configured or designed to allow network device 760 to communicate with one or more direct attached storage device(s) 770.Although the system shown in FIG.","7 illustrates one specific network device described herein, it is by no means the only network device architecture on which one or more embodiments may be implemented.","For example, an architecture having a single processor that handles communications as well as routing computations, etc.","may be used.","Further, other types of interfaces and media could also be used with the network device.","Regardless of network device's configuration, it may employ one or more memories or memory modules (such as, for example, memory block 765, which, for example, may include random access memory (RAM)) configured to store data, program instructions for the general-purpose network operations and/or other information relating to the functionality of the various On Demand Service(s)/feature(s) described herein.","The program instructions may control the operation of an operating system and/or one or more applications, for example.","The memory or memories may also be configured to store data structures, and/or other specific non-program information described herein.","Because such information and program instructions may be employed to implement the systems/methods described herein, one or more embodiments relates to machine readable media that include program instructions, state information, etc.","for performing various operations described herein.","Examples of machine-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROM disks; magneto-optical media such as floptical disks; and hardware devices that may be specially configured to store and perform program instructions, such as read-only memory devices (ROM) and random access memory (RAM).","Some embodiments may also be embodied in transmission media such as, for example, a carrier wave travelling over an appropriate medium such as airwaves, optical lines, electric lines, etc.","Examples of program instructions include both machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher level code that may be executed by the computer using an interpreter.","FIG.","8 illustrates an example of a functional block diagram of a Gaming System Server in accordance with a specific embodiment.","In at least one embodiment, the Virtual Live electronic gaming device System Server may be operable to perform and/or implement various types of functions, operations, actions, and/or other features, such as, for example, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.","In at least one embodiment, the Gaming System Server may include a plurality of components operable to perform and/or implement various types of functions, operations, actions, and/or other features such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Context Interpreter (e.g., 802) which, for example, may be operable to automatically and/or dynamically analyze contextual criteria relating to a detected set of event(s) and/or condition(s), and automatically determine or identify one or more contextually appropriate response(s) based on the contextual interpretation of the detected event(s)/condition(s).","According to different embodiments, examples of contextual criteria which may be analyzed may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): location-based criteria (e.g., geolocation of mobile gaming device, geolocation of EGD, etc.)","time-based criteria identity of user(s) user profile information transaction history information recent user activities etc.","Time Synchronization Engine (e.g., 804) which, for example, may be operable to manages universal time synchronization (e.g., via NTP and/or GPS) Search Engine (e.g., 828) which, for example, may be operable to search for transactions, logs, game history information, player information, On Demand information, etc., which may be accessed from one or more local and/or remote databases.","Configuration Engine (e.g., 832) which, for example, may be operable to determine and handle configuration of various customized configuration parameters for one or more devices, component(s), system(s), process(es), etc.","Time Interpreter (e.g., 818) which, for example, may be operable to automatically and/or dynamically modify or change identifier activation and expiration time(s) based on various criteria such as, for example, time, location, transaction status, etc.","Authentication/Validation Component(s) (e.g., 847) (password, software/hardware info, SSL certificates) which, for example, may be operable to perform various types of authentication/validation tasks such as one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.","Transaction Processing Engine (e.g., 822) which, for example, may be operable to handle various types of transaction processing tasks such as, for example, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.","OCR Processing Engine (e.g., 834) which, for example, may be operable to perform image processing and optical character recognition of images such as those captured by a gaming device camera, for example.","Database Manager (e.g., 826) which, for example, may be operable to handle various types of tasks relating to database updating, database management, database access, etc.","In at least one embodiment, the Database Manager may be operable to manage game history databases, player tracking databases, etc.","Log Component(s) (e.g., 810) which, for example, may be operable to generate and manage transactions history logs, system errors, connections from APIs, etc.","Status Tracking Component(s) (e.g., 812) which, for example, may be operable to automatically and/or dynamically determine, assign, and/or report updated transaction status information based, for example, on the state of the transaction.","Gateway Component(s) (e.g., 814) which, for example, may be operable to facilitate and manage communications and transactions with external Payment Gateways.","Web Interface Component(s) (e.g., 808) which, for example, may be operable to facilitate and manage communications and transactions with virtual live electronic gaming device web portal(s).","API Interface(s) to Gaming System Server(s) (e.g., 846) which, for example, may be operable to facilitate and manage communications and transactions with API Interface(s) to Gaming System Server(s) API Interface(s) to 3rd Party System Server(s) (e.g., 848) which, for example, may be operable to facilitate and manage communications and transactions with API Interface(s) to 3rd Party System Server(s) At least one processor 810.In at least one embodiment, the processor(s) 810 may include one or more commonly known CPUs which are deployed in many of today's consumer electronic devices, such as, for example, CPUs or processors from the Motorola or Intel family of microprocessors, etc.","In an alternative embodiment, at least one processor may be specially designed hardware for controlling the operations of a gaming system.","In a specific embodiment, a memory (such as non-volatile RAM and/or ROM) also forms part of CPU.","When acting under the control of appropriate software or firmware, the CPU may be responsible for implementing specific functions associated with the functions of a desired network device.","The CPU preferably accomplishes one or more these functions under the control of software including an operating system, and any appropriate applications software.","Memory 816, which, for example, may include volatile memory (e.g., RAM), non-volatile memory (e.g., disk memory, FLASH memory, EPROMs, etc.","), unalterable memory, and/or other types of memory.","In at least one implementation, the memory 816 may include functionality similar to at least a portion of functionality implemented by one or more commonly known memory devices such as those described herein and/or generally known to one having ordinary skill in the art.","According to different embodiments, one or more memories or memory modules (e.g., memory blocks) may be configured or designed to store data, program instructions for the functional operations of the mobile gaming system and/or other information relating to the functionality of the various Mobile Transaction techniques described herein.","The program instructions may control the operation of an operating system and/or one or more applications, for example.","The memory or memories may also be configured to store data structures, metadata, identifier information/images, and/or information/data relating to other features/functions described herein.","Interface(s) 806 which, for example, may include wired interfaces and/or wireless interfaces.","In at least one implementation, the interface(s) 806 may include functionality similar to at least a portion of functionality implemented by one or more computer system interfaces such as those described herein and/or generally known to one having ordinary skill in the art.","Device driver(s) 842.In at least one implementation, the device driver(s) 842 may include functionality similar to at least a portion of functionality implemented by one or more computer system driver devices such as those described herein and/or generally known to one having ordinary skill in the art.","One or more display(s) 835.Messaging Server Component(s) 836, which, for example, may be configured or designed to provide various functions and operations relating to messaging activities and communications.","Network Server Component(s) 837, which, for example, may be configured or designed to provide various functions and operations relating to network server activities and communications.","On Demand Services System Components (Backend) 876.In at least one embodiment, the Backend On Demand Services System Components may include the ODS Menu Management System, and may be configured or designed to implement and/or facilitate implementation, configuration, management, analysis, and reporting of On Demand Services including, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Beverage On Demand Service(s); Host On Demand Service(s); Security On Demand Service(s); Valet On Demand Service(s); Weather On Demand Service(s); Reporting service(s); and/or other aspects of On Demand Services described and/or referenced herein.","Etc.","FIG.","9 shows a block diagram illustrating components of a gaming system 900 which may be used for implementing various aspects of example embodiments.","In FIG.","9, the components of a gaming system 900 for providing game software licensing and downloads are described functionally.","The described functions may be instantiated in hardware, firmware and/or software and executed on a suitable device.","In the system 900, there may be many instances of the same function, such as multiple game play interfaces 911.Nevertheless, in FIG.","9, only one instance of at least one function is shown.","The functions of the components may be combined.","For example, a single device may comprise the game play interface 911 and include trusted memory devices or sources 909.The gaming system 900 may receive inputs from different groups/entities and output various services and or information to these groups/entities.","For example, game players 925 primarily input cash or indicia of credit into the system, make game selections that trigger software downloads, and receive entertainment in exchange for their inputs.","Game software content providers provide game software for the system and may receive compensation for the content they provide based on licensing agreements with the gaming machine operators.","Gaming machine operators select game software for distribution, distribute the game software on the gaming devices in the system 900, receive revenue for the use of their software and compensate the gaming machine operators.","The gaming regulators 930 may provide rules and regulations that may be applied to the gaming system and may receive reports and other information confirming that rules are being obeyed.","In the following paragraphs, details of at least one component and some of the interactions between the components are described with respect to FIG.","9.The game software license host 901 may be a server connected to a number of remote gaming devices that provides licensing services to the remote gaming devices.","For example, in other embodiments, the license host 901 may 1) receive token requests for tokens used to activate software executed on the remote gaming devices, 9) send tokens to the remote gaming devices, 3) track token usage and 4) grant and/or renew software licenses for software executed on the remote gaming devices.","The token usage may be used in utility based licensing schemes, such as a pay-per-use scheme.","In another embodiment, a game usage-tracking host 915 may track the usage of game software on a plurality of devices in communication with the host.","The game usage-tracking host 915 may be in communication with a plurality of game play hosts and gaming machines.","From the game play hosts and gaming machines, the game usage tracking host 915 may receive updates of an amount that at least one game available for play on the devices has been played and on amount that has been wagered per game.","This information may be stored in a database and used for billing according to methods described in a utility based licensing agreement.","The game software host 902 may provide game software downloads, such as downloads of game software or game firmware, to various devious in the game system 900.For example, when the software to generate the game is not available on the game play interface 911, the game software host 902 may download software to generate a selected game of chance played on the game play interface.","Further, the game software host 902 may download new game content to a plurality of gaming machines via a request from a gaming machine operator.","In one embodiment, the game software host 902 may also be a game software configuration-tracking host 913.The function of the game software configuration-tracking host is to keep records of software configurations and/or hardware configurations for a plurality of devices in communication with the host (e.g., denominations, number of paylines, paytables, max/min wagers).","Details of a game software host and a game software configuration host that may be used with example embodiments are described in co-pending U.S. Pat.","No.","6,645,077, by Rowe, titled, “Gaming Terminal Data Repository and Information System,” filed Dec. 21, 2000, which is incorporated herein in its entirety and for one or more purposes.","A game play host device 903 may be a host server connected to a plurality of remote clients that generates games of chance that are displayed on a plurality of remote game play interfaces 911.For example, the game play host device 903 may be a server that provides central determination for a bingo game play played on a plurality of connected game play interfaces 911.As another example, the game play host device 903 may generate games of chance, such as slot games or video card games, for display on a remote client.","A game player using the remote client may be able to select from a number of games that are provided on the client by the host device 903.The game play host device 903 may receive game software management services, such as receiving downloads of new game software, from the game software host 902 and may receive game software licensing services, such as the granting or renewing of software licenses for software executed on the device 903, from the game license host 901.In particular embodiments, the game play interfaces or other gaming devices in the gaming system 900 may be portable devices, such as electronic tokens, cell phones, smart cards, tablet PC's and PDA's.","The portable devices may support wireless communications and thus, may be referred to as wireless mobile devices.","The network hardware architecture 916 may be enabled to support communications between wireless mobile devices and other gaming devices in gaming system.","In one embodiment, the wireless mobile devices may be used to play games of chance.","The gaming system 900 may use a number of trusted information sources.","Trusted information sources 904 may be devices, such as servers, that provide information used to authenticate/activate other pieces of information.","CRC values used to authenticate software, license tokens used to allow the use of software or product activation codes used to activate to software are examples of trusted information that might be provided from a trusted information source 904.Trusted information sources may be a memory device, such as an EPROM, that includes trusted information used to authenticate other information.","For example, a game play interface 911 may store a private encryption key in a trusted memory device that is used in a private key-public key encryption scheme to authenticate information from another gaming device.","When a trusted information source 904 is in communication with a remote device via a network, the remote device may employ a verification scheme to verify the identity of the trusted information source.","For example, the trusted information source and the remote device may exchange information using public and private encryption keys to verify at least one other's identities.","In another example of an embodiment, the remote device and the trusted information source may engage in methods using zero knowledge proofs to authenticate at least one of their respective identities.","Details of zero knowledge proofs that may be used with example embodiments are described in US publication no.","9003/0203756, by Jackson, filed on Apr.","25, 2002 and titled, “Authentication in a Secure Computerized Gaming System, which is incorporated herein in its entirety and for one or more purposes.","Gaming devices storing trusted information might utilize apparatus or methods to detect and prevent tampering.","For instance, trusted information stored in a trusted memory device may be encrypted to prevent its misuse.","In addition, the trusted memory device may be secured behind a locked door.","Further, one or more sensors may be coupled to the memory device to detect tampering with the memory device and provide some record of the tampering.","In yet another example, the memory device storing trusted information might be designed to detect tampering attempts and clear or erase itself when an attempt at tampering has been detected.","The gaming system 900 of example embodiments may include devices 906 that provide authorization to download software from a first device to a second device and devices 907 that provide activation codes or information that allow downloaded software to be activated.","The devices, 906 and 907, may be remote servers and may also be trusted information sources.","One example of a method of providing product activation codes that may be used with example embodiments is describes in previously incorporated U.S. Pat.","No.","6,264,561.A device 906 that monitors a plurality of gaming devices to determine adherence of the devices to gaming jurisdictional rules 908 may be included in the system 900.In one embodiment, a gaming jurisdictional rule server may scan software and the configurations of the software on a number of gaming devices in communication with the gaming rule server to determine whether the software on the gaming devices is valid for use in the gaming jurisdiction where the gaming device is located.","For example, the gaming rule server may request a digital signature, such as CRC's, of particular software components and compare them with an approved digital signature value stored on the gaming jurisdictional rule server.","Further, the gaming jurisdictional rule server may scan the remote gaming device to determine whether the software is configured in a manner that is acceptable to the gaming jurisdiction where the gaming device is located.","For example, a maximum wager limit may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and the rule enforcement server may scan a gaming device to determine its current software configuration and its location and then compare the configuration on the gaming device with approved parameters for its location.","A gaming jurisdiction may include rules that describe how game software may be downloaded and licensed.","The gaming jurisdictional rule server may scan download transaction records and licensing records on a gaming device to determine whether the download and licensing was carried out in a manner that is acceptable to the gaming jurisdiction in which the gaming device is located.","In general, the game jurisdictional rule server may be utilized to confirm compliance to any gaming rules passed by a gaming jurisdiction when the information needed to determine rule compliance is remotely accessible to the server.","Game software, firmware or hardware residing a particular gaming device may also be used to check for compliance with local gaming jurisdictional rules.","In one embodiment, when a gaming device is installed in a particular gaming jurisdiction, a software program including jurisdiction rule information may be downloaded to a secure memory location on a gaming machine or the jurisdiction rule information may be downloaded as data and utilized by a program on the gaming machine.","The software program and/or jurisdiction rule information may check the gaming device software and software configurations for compliance with local gaming jurisdictional rules.","In another embodiment, the software program for ensuring compliance and jurisdictional information may be installed in the gaming machine prior to its shipping, such as at the factory where the gaming machine is manufactured.","The gaming devices in game system 900 may utilize trusted software and/or trusted firmware.","Trusted firmware/software is trusted in the sense that is used with the assumption that it has not been tampered with.","For instance, trusted software/firmware may be used to authenticate other game software or processes executing on a gaming device.","As an example, trusted encryption programs and authentication programs may be stored on an EPROM on the gaming machine or encoded into a specialized encryption chip.","As another example, trusted game software, e.g., game software approved for use on gaming devices by a local gaming jurisdiction may be required on gaming devices on the gaming machine.","In example embodiments, the devices may be connected by a network 916 with different types of hardware using different hardware architectures.","Game software may be quite large and frequent downloads may place a significant burden on a network, which may slow information transfer speeds on the network.","For game-on-demand services that may require frequent downloads of game software in a network, efficient downloading is desirable for the service to viable.","Thus, in example embodiments, network efficient devices 910 may be used to actively monitor and maintain network efficiency.","For instance, software locators may be used to locate nearby locations of game software for peer-to-peer transfers of game software.","In another example, network traffic may be monitored and downloads may be actively rerouted to maintain network efficiency.","One or more devices in example embodiments may provide game software and game licensing related auditing, billing and reconciliation reports to server 912.For example, a software licensing billing server may generate a bill for a gaming device operator based upon a usage of games over a time period on the gaming devices owned by the operator.","In another example, a software auditing server may provide reports on game software downloads to various gaming devices in the gaming system 900 and current configurations of the game software on these gaming devices.","At particular time intervals, the software auditing server 912 may also request software configurations from a number of gaming devices in the gaming system.","The server may then reconcile the software configuration on at least one gaming device.","In one embodiment, the software auditing server 912 may store a record of software configurations on at least one gaming device at particular times and a record of software download transactions that have occurred on the device.","By applying at least one of the recorded game software download transactions since a selected time to the software configuration recorded at the selected time, a software configuration is obtained.","The software auditing server may compare the software configuration derived from applying these transactions on a gaming device with a current software configuration obtained from the gaming device.","After the comparison, the software-auditing server may generate a reconciliation report that confirms that the download transaction records are compriseent with the current software configuration on the device.","The report may also identify any incompriseencies.","In another embodiment, both the gaming device and the software auditing server may store a record of the download transactions that have occurred on the gaming device and the software auditing server may reconcile these records.","There are many possible interactions between the components described with respect to FIG.","9.Many of the interactions are coupled.","For example, methods used for game licensing may affect methods used for game downloading and vice versa.","For the purposes of explanation, details of a few possible interactions between the components of the system 900 relating to software licensing and software downloads have been described.","The descriptions are selected to illustrate particular interactions in the game system 900.These descriptions are provided for the purposes of explanation only and are not intended to limit the scope of example embodiments described herein.","Example Procedures and Flow Diagrams According to different embodiments, at least a portion of the various types of functions, operations, actions, and/or other features provided by the On Demand Procedures described herein may be implemented at one or more client systems(s), at one or more System Servers(s), and/or combinations thereof.","In at least one embodiment, one or more of the On Demand procedures may be operable to utilize and/or generate various different types of data and/or other types of information when performing specific tasks and/or operations.","This may include, for example, input data/information and/or output data/information.","For example, in at least one embodiment, the On Demand procedures may be operable to access, process, and/or otherwise utilize information from one or more different types of sources, such as, for example, one or more local and/or remote memories, devices and/or systems.","Additionally, in at least one embodiment, the On Demand procedures may be operable to generate one or more different types of output data/information, which, for example, may be stored in memory of one or more local and/or remote devices and/or systems.","Examples of different types of input data/information and/or output data/information which may be accessed and/or utilized by the On Demand procedures may include, but are not limited to, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.","In at least one embodiment, a given instance of the On Demand procedures may access and/or utilize information from one or more associated databases.","In at least one embodiment, at least a portion of the database information may be accessed via communication with one or more local and/or remote memory devices.","Examples of different types of data which may be accessed by the On Demand procedures may include, but are not limited to, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.","According to specific embodiments, multiple instances or threads of the On Demand procedures may be concurrently implemented and/or initiated via the use of one or more processors and/or other combinations of hardware and/or hardware and software.","For example, in at least some embodiments, various aspects, features, and/or functionalities of the On Demand procedures may be performed, implemented and/or initiated by one or more of the various systems, components, systems, devices, procedures, processes, etc., described and/or referenced herein.","According to different embodiments, one or more different threads or instances of the On Demand procedures may be initiated in response to detection of one or more conditions or events satisfying one or more different types of minimum threshold criteria for triggering initiation of at least one instance of the On Demand procedures.","Various examples of conditions or events which may trigger initiation and/or implementation of one or more different threads or instances of the On Demand procedures may include, but are not limited to, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.","According to different embodiments, one or more different threads or instances of the On Demand procedures may be initiated and/or implemented manually, automatically, statically, dynamically, concurrently, and/or combinations thereof.","Additionally, different instances and/or embodiments of the On Demand procedures may be initiated at one or more different time intervals (e.g., during a specific time interval, at regular periodic intervals, at irregular periodic intervals, upon demand, etc.).","In at least one embodiment, initial configuration of a given instance of the On Demand procedures may be performed using one or more different types of initialization parameters.","In at least one embodiment, at least a portion of the initialization parameters may be accessed via communication with one or more local and/or remote memory devices.","In at least one embodiment, at least a portion of the initialization parameters provided to an instance of the On Demand procedures may correspond to and/or may be derived from the input data/information.","Although several example embodiments of one or more aspects and/or features have been described in detail herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that aspects and/or features are not limited to these precise embodiments, and that various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of spirit of the On Demand Services System(s) as defined, for example, in the appended claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"ENHANCED ON-DEMAND SERVICE FUNCTIONALITY IMPLEMENTED IN CASINO GAMING NETWORKS\",\n \"Various aspects described or referenced herein are directed to different methods, systems, and computer program products for implementing On Demand Services in Casino gaming establishments utilizing a Communications Network.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A computer implemented system, deployed at a casino establishment, for providing On Demand Services via a casino gaming network, the casino establishment including a first electronic gaming device (“first EGD”) and a second electronic gaming device (“second EGD”), the first and second electronic gaming devices being communicatively coupled to the casino gaming network, the first electronic gaming device being configured to enable a first patron to engage in first wager-based game at the first electronic gaming device, the first electronic gaming device including a first display and a first input interface, the second electronic gaming device being configured to enable a second patron to engage in second wager-based game at the second electronic gaming device, the second electronic gaming device including a second display and a second input interface, the system comprising: at least one processor; memory; an ODS database configured to store menu item data relating to a plurality of ODS menu items, including a first menu item and a second menu item; the at least one processor being operable to execute a plurality of instructions stored in the memory to: detect that the first patron is engaged in a wager-based gaming activities at the first EGD; track wagering activities performed by the first patron during a first time interval; display a first ODS Menu GUI at the first display of the first EGD, the first ODS Menu GUI being configurable to display selected menu item content representing products and/or services which are available to be ordered via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a first set of criteria; if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the first set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to: (i) display, at the first EGD display, a first portion of content representing the first menu item, (ii) enable the first patron to submit to the system, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI, a first ODS order which includes the first menu item, and (iii) cause at least one component of the system to generate and send a first set of information relating to the first ODS order to a first casino entity for handling fulfillment of the first OD S order, the first casino entity being located at the casino establishment; and if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities does not satisfy the first set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first OD S Menu GUI to inhibit display of the first menu item at the first EGD display to thereby prevent the first patron from being able to order the first menu item via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.\",\n \"2.The computer implemented system of claim 1 wherein the system is further operable to cause the at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions stored in the memory to: analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a second set of criteria; if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the second set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to: (i) display, at the first EGD display, a second portion of content representing the second menu item, (ii) enable the first patron to submit to the system, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI, a second ODS order which includes the second menu item, and (iii) cause at least one component of the system to generate and send a second set of information relating to the second ODS order to a second casino entity for handling fulfillment of the second OD S order, the second casino entity being located at the casino establishment; and if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities does not satisfy the second set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first OD S Menu GUI to inhibit display of the second menu item at the first EGD display to thereby prevent the first patron from being able to order the second menu item via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.\",\n \"3.The computer implemented system of claim 1 wherein the system is further operable to cause the at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions stored in the memory to: track, after the first ODS order has been submitted to the system, additional wagering activities performed by the first patron during a subsequent time interval; analyze the first patron's tracked additional wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked additional wagering activities satisfy the first set of criteria; and if it is determined that the first patron's tracked additional wagering activities does not satisfy the first set of criteria, automatically cause at least one component of the system to cancel the first OD S order.\",\n \"4.The computer implemented system of claim 1 wherein the system is further operable to cause the at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions stored in the memory to: analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a second set of criteria; if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the second set of criteria, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a first purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the first purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the first purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; and analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a third set of criteria; and if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the third set of criteria, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a second purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the second purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the second purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.\",\n \"5.The computer implemented system of claim 1: wherein the first menu item corresponds to a first beverage item; and wherein the first casino entity corresponds to a first bar at the casino establishment.\",\n \"6.The computer implemented system of claim 1: wherein the first menu item corresponds to a first food item; and wherein the first casino entity corresponds to a first restaurant at the casino establishment.\",\n \"7.The computer implemented system of claim 1: wherein the first menu item corresponds to a first service item; and wherein the first casino entity corresponds to a first service provider at the casino establishment.\",\n \"8.The computer implemented system of claim 1, wherein the first EGD includes a first EGD processor and first EGD memory for storing a first plurality of instructions, the first EGD further including a validator component operable to accept indicia of credit, the system being further operable to cause the first EGD processor to execute the first plurality of instructions for: receive, via the validator component, a first indicia of credit provided by the first patron, the first indicia of credit having a monetary value associated therewith; use monetary value of the first indicia to update a credit balance at the first EGM; and use a first portion of the credit balance to fund payment of the first ODS order.\",\n \"9.A computer implemented system, deployed at a casino establishment, for providing On Demand Services via a casino gaming network, the casino establishment including a first electronic gaming device (“first EGD”) and a second electronic gaming device (“second EGD”), the first and second electronic gaming devices being communicatively coupled to the casino gaming network, the first electronic gaming device being configured to enable a first patron to engage in first wager-based game at the first electronic gaming device, the first electronic gaming device including a first display and a first input interface, the second electronic gaming device being configured to enable a second patron to engage in second wager-based game at the second electronic gaming device, the second electronic gaming device including a second display and a second input interface, the system comprising: at least one processor; memory; an ODS database configured to store menu item data relating to a plurality of ODS menu items, including a first menu item and a second menu item; the at least one processor being operable to execute a plurality of instructions stored in the memory to: detect that the first patron is engaged in a wager-based gaming activities at the first EGD; display a first ODS Menu GUI at the first display of the first EGD, the first ODS Menu GUI being configurable to display selected menu item content representing products and/or services which are available to be ordered via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; determine if the first patron is a VIP patron or a non-VIP patron; if it is determined that the first patron is a VIP patron, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to: (i) display, at the first EGD display, a first portion of content representing the first menu item, (ii) enable the first patron to submit to the system, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI, a first ODS order which includes the first menu item, and (iii) cause at least one component of the system to generate and send a first set of information relating to the first ODS order to a first casino entity for handling fulfillment of the first ODS order, the first casino entity being located at the casino establishment; and if it is determined that the first patron is a non-VIP patron, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to inhibit display of the first menu item at the first EGD display to thereby prevent the first patron from being able to order the first menu item via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.\",\n \"10.The computer implemented system of claim 9 wherein the system is further operable to cause the at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions stored in the memory to: if it is determined that the first patron is a VIP patron, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a first purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the first purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the first purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; and if it is determined that the first patron is a non-VIP patron, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a second purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the second purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the second purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.\",\n \"11.The computer implemented system of claim 9: wherein the first menu item corresponds to a first beverage item; and wherein the first casino entity corresponds to a first bar at the casino establishment.\",\n \"12.The computer implemented system of claim 9: wherein the first menu item corresponds to a first food item; and wherein the first casino entity corresponds to a first restaurant at the casino establishment.\",\n \"13.The computer implemented system of claim 9: wherein the first menu item corresponds to a first service item; and wherein the first casino entity corresponds to a first service provider at the casino establishment.\",\n \"14.The computer implemented system of claim 9, wherein the first EGD includes a first EGD processor and first EGD memory for storing a first plurality of instructions, the first EGD further including a validator component operable to accept indicia of credit, the system being further operable to cause the first EGD processor to execute the first plurality of instructions for: receive, via the validator component, a first indicia of credit provided by the first patron, the first indicia of credit having a monetary value associated therewith; use monetary value of the first indicia to update a credit balance at the first EGM; and use a first portion of the credit balance to fund payment of the first ODS order.\",\n \"15.A computer implemented method, deployed at a casino establishment, for providing On Demand Services via a casino gaming network, the casino establishment including a first electronic gaming device (“first EGD”) and a second electronic gaming device (“second EGD”), the first and second electronic gaming devices being communicatively coupled to the casino gaming network, the first electronic gaming device being configured to enable a first patron to engage in first wager-based game at the first electronic gaming device, the first electronic gaming device including a first display and a first input interface, the second electronic gaming device being configured to enable a second patron to engage in second wager-based game at the second electronic gaming device, the second electronic gaming device including a second display and a second input interface; the system including an ODS database configured to store menu item data relating to a plurality of ODS menu items, including a first menu item and a second menu item; the system further including at least one processor, and a memory storing a plurality of instructions, the method comprising causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored in the memory to: detect that the first patron is engaged in a wager-based gaming activities at the first EGD; track wagering activities performed by the first patron during a first time interval; display a first ODS Menu GUI at the first display of the first EGD, the first ODS Menu GUI being configurable to display selected menu item content representing products and/or services which are available to be ordered via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a first set of criteria; in response to determining that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the first set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to: (i) display, at the first EGD display, a first portion of content representing the first menu item, (ii) enable the first patron to submit to the system, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI, a first ODS order which includes the first menu item, and (iii) cause at least one component of the system to generate and send a first set of information relating to the first ODS order to a first casino entity for handling fulfillment of the first OD S order, the first casino entity being located at the casino establishment; and in response to determining that the first patron's tracked wagering activities does not satisfy the first set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first OD S Menu GUI to inhibit display of the first menu item at the first EGD display to thereby prevent the first patron from being able to order the first menu item via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.\",\n \"16.The computer implemented method of claim 15 further comprising causing the at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions stored in the memory to: analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a second set of criteria; in response to determining that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the second set of criteria, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a first purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the first purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the first purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; and analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a third set of criteria; and in response to determining that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the third set of criteria, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a second purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the second purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the second purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.\",\n \"17.A computer implemented method, deployed at a casino establishment, for providing On Demand Services via a casino gaming network, the casino establishment including a first electronic gaming device (“first EGD”) and a second electronic gaming device (“second EGD”), the first and second electronic gaming devices being communicatively coupled to the casino gaming network, the first electronic gaming device being configured to enable a first patron to engage in first wager-based game at the first electronic gaming device, the first electronic gaming device including a first display and a first input interface, the second electronic gaming device being configured to enable a second patron to engage in second wager-based game at the second electronic gaming device, the second electronic gaming device including a second display and a second input interface; the system including an ODS database configured to store menu item data relating to a plurality of ODS menu items, including a first menu item and a second menu item; the system further including at least one processor, and a memory storing a plurality of instructions, the method comprising causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions stored in the memory to: detect that the first patron is engaged in a wager-based gaming activities at the first EGD; display a first ODS Menu GUI at the first display of the first EGD, the first ODS Menu GUI being configurable to display selected menu item content representing products and/or services which are available to be ordered via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; determine if the first patron is a VIP patron or a non-VIP patron; in response to determining that the first patron is a VIP patron, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to: (i) display, at the first EGD display, a first portion of content representing the first menu item, (ii) enable the first patron to submit to the system, via interaction with the first OD S Menu GUI, a first ODS order which includes the first menu item, and (iii) cause at least one component of the system to generate and send a first set of information relating to the first ODS order to a first casino entity for handling fulfillment of the first ODS order, the first casino entity being located at the casino establishment; and in response to determining that the first patron is a non-VIP patron, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to inhibit display of the first menu item at the first EGD display to thereby prevent the first patron from being able to order the first menu item via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.\",\n \"18.The computer implemented system of claim 9 further comprising causing the at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions stored in the memory to: in response to determining that the first patron is a VIP patron, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a first purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the first purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the first purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; and in response to determining that the first patron is a non-VIP patron, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a second purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the second purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the second purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>The present disclosure generally relates to business transactions and services conducted at casino gaming establishments.\",\n \"More particularly, the present disclosure relates to techniques for implementing enhanced on-demand service functionality in casino gaming networks.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a specific example embodiment of a Casino Network 100 which may be configured or designed to implement various On Demand Service(s) and feature(s) described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 shows an example block diagram of an electronic gaming system 200 in accordance with a specific embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 shows a perspective view of an example gaming machine 302 in accordance with a specific embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 shows a block diagram of electronic gaming device 400 , in accordance with a specific embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary intelligent electronic gaming system 500 in accordance with a specific embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary mobile gaming device 600 in accordance with a specific embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an example embodiment of a System Server 780 which may be used for implementing various aspects/features described herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates an example of a functional block diagram of a Gaming System Server in accordance with a specific embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 shows a block diagram illustrating components of a gaming system 900 which may be used for implementing various aspects of example embodiments.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"10-64 illustrate various system diagrams, procedural flows, GUIs, and screenshots relating to various aspects of the On Demand Services techniques described herein.\",\n \"detailed-description description=\\\"Detailed Description\\\" end=\\\"lead\\\"?\"\n ],\n [\n \"RELATED APPLICATION DATA The present application claims benefit, pursuant to the provisions of 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"§ 119, of U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/116,726 (Attorney Docket No.\",\n \"SYNBP002P), titled “ENHANCED PLAYER SUITE FUNCTIONALITY IMPLEMENTED IN CASINO GAMING NETWORKS”, naming Washington et al.\",\n \"as inventors, and filed 16 Feb. 2015, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.\",\n \"This application is a continuation application, pursuant to the provisions of 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"§ 120, of prior U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/045,234 (Attorney Docket No.\",\n \"SYNBP002US) titled “ENHANCED ON-DEMAND SERVICE FUNCTIONALITY IMPLEMENTED IN CASINO GAMING NETWORKS” by Washington et al., filed on 16 Feb. 2016, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.\",\n \"BACKGROUND The present disclosure generally relates to business transactions and services conducted at casino gaming establishments.\",\n \"More particularly, the present disclosure relates to techniques for implementing enhanced on-demand service functionality in casino gaming networks.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a specific example embodiment of a Casino Network 100 which may be configured or designed to implement various On Demand Service(s) and feature(s) described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 shows an example block diagram of an electronic gaming system 200 in accordance with a specific embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 shows a perspective view of an example gaming machine 302 in accordance with a specific embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 shows a block diagram of electronic gaming device 400, in accordance with a specific embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary intelligent electronic gaming system 500 in accordance with a specific embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary mobile gaming device 600 in accordance with a specific embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an example embodiment of a System Server 780 which may be used for implementing various aspects/features described herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates an example of a functional block diagram of a Gaming System Server in accordance with a specific embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 shows a block diagram illustrating components of a gaming system 900 which may be used for implementing various aspects of example embodiments.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"10-64 illustrate various system diagrams, procedural flows, GUIs, and screenshots relating to various aspects of the On Demand Services techniques described herein.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS Overview Various aspects described or referenced herein are directed to different methods, systems, and computer program products for implementing On Demand Services in Casino gaming establishments utilizing a Communications Network.\",\n \"One aspect disclosed herein is directed to different methods, systems, and computer program products for implementing On Demand Services in a casino gaming network, the casino gaming network including a first electronic gaming device communicatively coupled to the casino gaming network, the first electronic gaming being configured to enable a first patron to engage in first wager-based game at the first electronic gaming device, the first electronic gaming device including a first display and a first input interface.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, an On-Demand Services System (“ODS System”) may be communicatively coupled to the first electronic gaming device via the casino gaming network.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be operable to cause at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions for: causing a first On-Demand Services graphical user interface (“ODS GUI”) to be displayed at the first display of the first EGM; the first ODS GUI being configured or designed to enable the first patron to interact with the first ODS GUI via the first input interface; the first ODS GUI being configured or designed to enable the first patron to access a first set of On Demand Services via interaction with the first ODS GUI; the first ODS GUI being configured or designed to enable the first patron to submit to the OD S System, via interaction with the first OD S GUI, a first OD S order relating to a first On Demand Service; causing at least one component of the ODS System to generate and send a first set of information relating to the first ODS order to a first casino entity for handling fulfillment of the first ODS order; causing at least one component of the ODS System to automatically track a current status of the first ODS order; and causing at least one component of the ODS System to provide user access to real-time status information relating to the current status of the first OD S order.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the first set of On Demand Services includes: Beverage On Demand (BOD) Service; Host On Demand (HOD) Service; Valet On Demand (VOD) Service; Security On Demand (SOD) Service; and Weather On Demand (WOD) Service.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the first On Demand Service corresponds to a Beverage On Demand (BOD) Service; the first ODS order includes an order for a first beverage item; and the first casino entity corresponds to a first bar of the casino.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions for: causing at least one component of the ODS System to automatically monitor a current status of ODS orders assigned to be handled by the first bar; and causing at least one component of the ODS System to provide user access to real-time status information relating to the current status of selected ODS orders assigned to be handled by the first bar.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions for: causing at least one component of the ODS System to determine a current location of the first patron; causing at least one component of the ODS System to identify of a first casino waitstaff who has been assigned to deliver the first OD S order to the first patron; and causing at least one component of the ODS System to automatically notify the identified casino waitstaff of the current location of the first patron.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the first On Demand Service corresponds to a Beverage On Demand (BOD) Service; the first ODS order includes an order for a first beverage item; and the first casino entity corresponds to a first bar of the casino.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions for: causing at least one component of the ODS System to determine a current location of the first patron; causing at least one component of the ODS System to identify of a first casino waitstaff who has been assigned to deliver the first ODS order to the first patron; and causing at least one component of the OD S System to automatically notify the identified casino waitstaff of the current location of the first patron.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the first On Demand Service corresponds to a Beverage On Demand (BOD) Service; the first ODS order includes an order for a first food item; and the first casino entity corresponds to a first restaurant of the casino.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions for: causing at least one component of the ODS System to automatically monitor a current status of ODS orders assigned to be handled by the first restaurant; and causing at least one component of the ODS System to provide user access to real-time status information relating to the current status of selected ODS orders assigned to be handled by the first restaurant.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions for: causing at least one component of the ODS System to automatically monitor a current status of multiple different ODS orders assigned to be handled by the first casino entity; and causing at least one component of the ODS System to provide user access to real-time status information relating to the current status of selected ODS orders assigned to be handled by the first casino entity.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the On Demand Services System may include functionality for enabling authorized personnel to fully customize and configure On Demand Services menus, sub-menus, and related GUIs.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the ODS Menu Manager Application enables authorized users (such as, for example, Casino Management and/or Food & Beverage Directors) to access, edit, customize, and/or modify selected On Demand Service application(s) menus, sub-menus and GUIs (e.g., BOD, HOD, SOD, VOD, WOD, Reports, etc.).\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, such authorized personnel may use the ODS Menu Manager Application to implement desired configurable updates and/or changes to one or more of the On Demand Service application(s) menus, sub-menus and GUIs, to thereby fully customize the services, features, and content provided by the On Demand Services System in a manner which conforms with the specific needs and/or desires of each individual property (e.g., casino property).\",\n \"Unlike many of today's Casino-based POS systems, the On Demand Services System of the present application may be configured or designed to provide functionality for allowing Casino managers (e.g., Food/Beverage managers, Valet managers, Host managers, Security managers, etc.)\",\n \"to continuously and/or periodically monitor, update, rearrange, remove, export, import, sort, itemize, track, date, locate, and/or deploy their entire menu system in a matter of seconds (e.g., in real-time).\",\n \"Additionally, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to enable On Demand Services menus to be dynamically populated, configured and/or modified on the fly (e.g., in real-time), without having to bring down or halt the gambling system/slot machine interface(s).\",\n \"Another unique and advantageous feature of the presently described On Demand Services System relates to the system's ability to automatically track (e.g., in real-time) orders which have been submitted to the On Demand Services System, and to provide real-time status updates about the current status of all (or selected) orders which have been submitted to the On Demand Services System.\",\n \"Another advantageous feature is the system's ability to provide casino personnel (and/or other authorized personnel) with access to real-time status information relating to specific orders and/or specific types of orders (e.g., pending orders, new orders, delivered orders, canceled orders, delayed orders, complementary orders, etc.).\",\n \"Another aspect disclosed herein is directed to different methods, systems, and computer program products for providing On Demand Services via a casino gaming network.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the casino establishment may include a first electronic gaming device (“first EGD”) and a second electronic gaming device (“second EGD”), the first and second electronic gaming devices being communicatively coupled to the casino gaming network.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the first electronic gaming device is configured to enable a first patron to engage in first wager-based game at the first electronic gaming device, the first electronic gaming device including a first display and a first input interface.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the second electronic gaming device is configured to enable a second patron to engage in second wager-based game at the second electronic gaming device, the second electronic gaming device including a second display and a second input interface.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be operable to cause at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions to: detect that the first patron is engaged in a wager-based gaming activities at the first EGD; track wagering activities performed by the first patron during a first time interval; display a first OD S Menu GUI at the first display of the first EGD, the first OD S Menu GUI being configurable to display selected menu item content representing products and/or services which are available to be ordered via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a first set of criteria; if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the first set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to: (i) display, at the first EGD display, a first portion of content representing the first menu item, (ii) enable the first patron to submit to the system, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI, a first ODS order which includes the first menu item, and (iii) cause at least one component of the system to generate and send a first set of information relating to the first OD S order to a first casino entity for handling fulfillment of the first OD S order, the first casino entity being located at the casino establishment; and if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities does not satisfy the first set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to inhibit display of the first menu item at the first EGD display to thereby prevent the first patron from being able to order the first menu item via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions to: analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a second set of criteria; if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the second set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to: (i) display, at the first EGD display, a second portion of content representing the second menu item, (ii) enable the first patron to submit to the system, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI, a second ODS order which includes the second menu item, and (iii) cause at least one component of the system to generate and send a second set of information relating to the second ODS order to a second casino entity for handling fulfillment of the second ODS order, the second casino entity being located at the casino establishment; and if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities does not satisfy the second set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to inhibit display of the second menu item at the first EGD display to thereby prevent the first patron from being able to order the second menu item via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions to: track, after the first ODS order has been submitted to the system, additional wagering activities performed by the first patron during a subsequent time interval; analyze the first patron's tracked additional wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked additional wagering activities satisfy the first set of criteria; and if it is determined that the first patron's tracked additional wagering activities does not satisfy the first set of criteria, automatically cause at least one component of the system to cancel the first ODS order.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions to: analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a second set of criteria; if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the second set of criteria, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a first purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first OD S Menu GUI, the first purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an OD S order to purchase the first menu item at the first purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; and analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a third set of criteria; and if it is determined that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the third set of criteria, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a second purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the second purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the second purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the first menu item corresponds to a first beverage item; and the first casino entity corresponds to a first bar at the casino establishment.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the first menu item corresponds to a first food item; and the first casino entity corresponds to a first restaurant at the casino establishment.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the first menu item corresponds to a first service item; and the first casino entity corresponds to a first service provider at the casino establishment.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the first EGD includes a first EGD processor and first EGD memory for storing a first plurality of instructions, the first EGD further including a validator component operable to accept indicia of credit, the system being further operable to cause the first EGD processor to execute the first plurality of instructions to: receive, via the validator component, a first indicia of credit provided by the first patron, the first indicia of credit having a monetary value associated therewith; use monetary value of the first indicia to update a credit balance at the first EGM; and use a first portion of the credit balance to fund payment of the first ODS order.\",\n \"Another aspect disclosed herein is directed to different methods, systems, and computer program products for providing On Demand Services via a casino gaming network.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the casino establishment may include a first electronic gaming device (“first EGD”) and a second electronic gaming device (“second EGD”), the first and second electronic gaming devices being communicatively coupled to the casino gaming network.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the first electronic gaming device is configured to enable a first patron to engage in first wager-based game at the first electronic gaming device, the first electronic gaming device including a first display and a first input interface.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the second electronic gaming device is configured to enable a second patron to engage in second wager-based game at the second electronic gaming device, the second electronic gaming device including a second display and a second input interface.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be operable to cause at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions to: detect that the first patron is engaged in a wager-based gaming activities at the first EGD; display a first ODS Menu GUI at the first display of the first EGD, the first ODS Menu GUI being configurable to display selected menu item content representing products and/or services which are available to be ordered via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; determine if the first patron is a VIP patron or a non-VIP patron; if it is determined that the first patron is a VIP patron, automatically and dynamically configure the first OD S Menu GUI to: (i) display, at the first EGD display, a first portion of content representing the first menu item, (ii) enable the first patron to submit to the system, via interaction with the first OD S Menu GUI, a first OD S order which includes the first menu item, and (iii) cause at least one component of the system to generate and send a first set of information relating to the first ODS order to a first casino entity for handling fulfillment of the first ODS order, the first casino entity being located at the casino establishment; and if it is determined that the first patron is a non-VIP patron, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to inhibit display of the first menu item at the first EGD display to thereby prevent the first patron from being able to order the first menu item via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be further operable to cause at least one processor to execute additional instructions to: if it is determined that the first patron is a VIP patron, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a first purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the first purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the first purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; and if it is determined that the first patron is a non-VIP patron, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a second purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first OD S Menu GUI, the second purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the second purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.\",\n \"Another aspect disclosed herein is directed to different methods, systems, and computer program products for providing On Demand Services via a casino gaming network, the casino establishment including a first electronic gaming device (“first EGD”) and a second electronic gaming device (“second EGD”), the first and second electronic gaming devices being communicatively coupled to the casino gaming network.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the first electronic gaming device is configured to enable a first patron to engage in first wager-based game at the first electronic gaming device, the first electronic gaming device including a first display and a first input interface.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the second electronic gaming device is configured to enable a second patron to engage in second wager-based game at the second electronic gaming device, the second electronic gaming device including a second display and a second input interface.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, an ODS database is provided which is configured to store menu item data relating to a plurality of ODS menu items, including a first menu item and a second menu item.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be operable to cause at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions to: detect that the first patron is engaged in a wager-based gaming activities at the first EGD; track wagering activities performed by the first patron during a first time interval; display a first ODS Menu GUI at the first display of the first EGD, the first ODS Menu GUI being configurable to display selected menu item content representing products and/or services which are available to be ordered via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a first set of criteria; in response to determining that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the first set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to: (i) display, at the first EGD display, a first portion of content representing the first menu item, (ii) enable the first patron to submit to the system, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI, a first ODS order which includes the first menu item, and (iii) cause at least one component of the system to generate and send a first set of information relating to the first ODS order to a first casino entity for handling fulfillment of the first OD S order, the first casino entity being located at the casino establishment; and in response to determining that the first patron's tracked wagering activities does not satisfy the first set of criteria, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to inhibit display of the first menu item at the first EGD display to thereby prevent the first patron from being able to order the first menu item via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be operable to cause at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions to: analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a second set of criteria; in response to determining that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the second set of criteria, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a first purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first OD S Menu GUI, the first purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an OD S order to purchase the first menu item at the first purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; and analyze the first patron's tracked wagering activities to determine if the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy a third set of criteria; and in response to determining that the first patron's tracked wagering activities satisfy the third set of criteria, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a second purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the second purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an OD S order to purchase the first menu item at the second purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.\",\n \"Another aspect disclosed herein is directed to different methods, systems, and computer program products for providing On Demand Services via a casino gaming network, the casino establishment including a first electronic gaming device (“first EGD”) and a second electronic gaming device (“second EGD”), the first and second electronic gaming devices being communicatively coupled to the casino gaming network.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the first electronic gaming device is configured to enable a first patron to engage in first wager-based game at the first electronic gaming device, the first electronic gaming device including a first display and a first input interface.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the second electronic gaming device is configured to enable a second patron to engage in second wager-based game at the second electronic gaming device, the second electronic gaming device including a second display and a second input interface.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, an ODS database is provided which is configured to store menu item data relating to a plurality of OD S menu items, including a first menu item and a second menu item.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be operable to cause at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions to: detect that the first patron is engaged in a wager-based gaming activities at the first EGD; display a first ODS Menu GUI at the first display of the first EGD, the first ODS Menu GUI being configurable to display selected menu item content representing products and/or services which are available to be ordered via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; determine if the first patron is a VIP patron or a non-VIP patron; in response to determining that the first patron is a VIP patron, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to: (i) display, at the first EGD display, a first portion of content representing the first menu item, (ii) enable the first patron to submit to the system, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI, a first ODS order which includes the first menu item, and (iii) cause at least one component of the system to generate and send a first set of information relating to the first ODS order to a first casino entity for handling fulfillment of the first ODS order, the first casino entity being located at the casino establishment; and in response to determining that the first patron is a non-VIP patron, automatically and dynamically configure the first ODS Menu GUI to inhibit display of the first menu item at the first EGD display to thereby prevent the first patron from being able to order the first menu item via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, various method(s), system(s) and/or computer program product(s) may be operable to cause at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions to: in response to determining that the first patron is a VIP patron, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a first purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the first purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an ODS order to purchase the first menu item at the first purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI; and in response to determining that the first patron is a non-VIP patron, automatically and dynamically: (i) determine a second purchase price of the first menu item; (ii) display, at the first ODS Menu GUI, the second purchase price of the first menu item, and (iii) enable the first patron to place an OD S order to purchase the first menu item at the second purchase price, via interaction with the first ODS Menu GUI.\",\n \"Various objects, features and advantages of the various aspects described or referenced herein will become apparent from the following descriptions of its example embodiments, which descriptions should be taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.\",\n \"SPECIFIC EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS Various techniques will now be described in detail with reference to a few example embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.\",\n \"In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of one or more aspects and/or features described or reference herein.\",\n \"It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more aspects and/or features described or reference herein may be practiced without some or all of these specific details.\",\n \"In other instances, well known process steps and/or structures have not been described in detail in order to not obscure some of the aspects and/or features described or reference herein.\",\n \"One or more different inventions may be described in the present application.\",\n \"Further, for one or more of the invention(s) described herein, numerous embodiments may be described in this patent application, and are presented for illustrative purposes only.\",\n \"The described embodiments are not intended to be limiting in any sense.\",\n \"One or more of the invention(s) may be widely applicable to numerous embodiments, as is readily apparent from the disclosure.\",\n \"These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice one or more of the invention(s), and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural, logical, software, electrical and other changes may be made without departing from the scope of the one or more of the invention(s).\",\n \"Accordingly, those skilled in the art will recognize that the one or more of the invention(s) may be practiced with various modifications and alterations.\",\n \"Particular features of one or more of the invention(s) may be described with reference to one or more particular embodiments or figures that form a part of the present disclosure, and in which are shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments of one or more of the invention(s).\",\n \"It should be understood, however, that such features are not limited to usage in the one or more particular embodiments or figures with reference to which they are described.\",\n \"The present disclosure is neither a literal description of all embodiments of one or more of the invention(s) nor a listing of features of one or more of the invention(s) that must be present in all embodiments.\",\n \"Headings of sections provided in this patent application and the title of this patent application are for convenience only, and are not to be taken as limiting the disclosure in any way.\",\n \"Devices that are in communication with each other need not be in continuous communication with each other, unless expressly specified otherwise.\",\n \"In addition, devices that are in communication with each other may communicate directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries.\",\n \"A description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required.\",\n \"To the contrary, a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of one or more of the invention(s).\",\n \"Further, although process steps, method steps, algorithms or the like may be described in a sequential order, such processes, methods and algorithms may be configured to work in alternate orders.\",\n \"In other words, any sequence or order of steps that may be described in this patent application does not, in and of itself, indicate a requirement that the steps be performed in that order.\",\n \"The steps of described processes may be performed in any order practical.\",\n \"Further, some steps may be performed simultaneously despite being described or implied as occurring non-simultaneously (e.g., because one step is described after the other step).\",\n \"Moreover, the illustration of a process by its depiction in a drawing does not imply that the illustrated process is exclusive of other variations and modifications thereto, does not imply that the illustrated process or any of its steps are necessary to one or more of the invention(s), and does not imply that the illustrated process is preferred.\",\n \"When a single device or article is described, it will be readily apparent that more than one device/article (whether or not they cooperate) may be used in place of a single device/article.\",\n \"Similarly, where more than one device or article is described (whether or not they cooperate), it will be readily apparent that a single device/article may be used in place of the more than one device or article.\",\n \"The functionality and/or the features of a device may be alternatively embodied by one or more other devices that are not explicitly described as having such functionality/features.\",\n \"Thus, other embodiments of one or more of the invention(s) need not include the device itself.\",\n \"Techniques and mechanisms described or reference herein will sometimes be described in singular form for clarity.\",\n \"However, it should be noted that particular embodiments include multiple iterations of a technique or multiple instantiations of a mechanism unless noted otherwise.\",\n \"Casino's and gambling are a proven billion dollar industry.\",\n \"The waitstaff alone bring in millions of dollars annually.\",\n \"However, with all this success and money coming in the doors, there still remain significant untapped market opportunities that may bring in even more revenue for the casino.\",\n \"For example, one such untapped market opportunity relates to patrons seated at gaming machines who are “looking for the drink girl.” In today's fast paced world, patrons of gaming establishments tend to be impatient, and generally dislike having to wait for a server to “hopefully stroll by.” They want their needs/desires attended to, and in an expeditious and timely manner.\",\n \"However, given the casinos limited resources, it is generally difficult for casino patrons to obtain timely service.\",\n \"This issue is particularly problematic in specific areas of the casino such as, for example, the low-wager play zones of the casino.\",\n \"For example, a lone gambler occupying a seat at a gaming machine in a low-wager play zone may be forced to wait an undesirably long time for a server to come by and attend to the patron's order.\",\n \"Moreover, other types casino services (such as, for example, security, valet, medical aid, etc.)\",\n \"are neither easily accessible nor timely available to such patrons.\",\n \"In an effort to address at least some of these issues, various On-Demand Service (ODS) techniques and features are described herein for providing casino patrons with instant, real-time access to selected casino services via use of the casino's electronic gaming machine display(s) and interface(s).\",\n \"For example, as described in greater detail herein, a casino network may be communicatively coupled to an On Demand (ODS) System which is configured or designed to provide various types of On Demand Services such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Beverage On Demand (BOD) service(s) (e.g., which may include services for food and/or beverages), Host On Demand (HOD) service(s), Security On Demand (SOD) service(s), Valet On Demand (VOD) service(s), Weather On Demand (WOD) service(s), Menu Manager (MMR) service(s), AppSite service(s), etc.\",\n \"According to different embodiments, such On Demand Services may be implemented at Casino establishments and/or other wager-based (and/or non-wager based) gaming establishments via one or more communications networks.\",\n \"Unlike many of today's Casino-based POS systems, the On Demand Services System of the present application may be configured or designed to provide functionality for allowing Casino managers (e.g., Food/Beverage managers, Valet managers, Host managers, Security managers, etc.)\",\n \"to continuously and/or periodically monitor, update, rearrange, remove, export, import, sort, itemize, track, date, locate, and/or deploy their entire menu system in a matter of seconds (e.g., in real-time).\",\n \"Additionally, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to enable On Demand Services menus to be dynamically populated, configured and/or modified on the fly (e.g., in real-time), without having to bring down or halt the gambling system/slot machine interface(s).\",\n \"By way of example, an On Demand Services System may be integrated into an existing casino gaming network such as, for example, The Cosmopolitan Casino in Las Vegas, Nev.\",\n \"In this particular example, it may be assumed that “Lobster Appetizer” may be a food item which is occasionally offered as part of the Beverage On Demand (BOD) service.\",\n \"However, in this particular example, it may initially be assumed that the “Lobster Appetizer” is currently unavailable at the Casino due to lack of inventory/supply.\",\n \"Consequently, in at least one embodiment, the On Demand Services System may dynamically detect this current lack of inventory/supply of lobster, and may automatically and dynamically respond by updating the BOD service menu(s) to show that the Lobster Appetizer is currently unavailable.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a Food/Beverage manager may elect to access the BOD service menu configuration interface to manually update the BOD service menu(s) to show that the Lobster Appetizer is currently unavailable.\",\n \"Subsequently, a delivery of lobster may arrive at the Casino and the details of the lobster delivery (e.g., quantity, weight, price, etc.)\",\n \"may be entered (e.g., either automatically or manually) into the Casino's inventory system.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the On Demand Services System may automatically detect the updated availability of lobster in the inventory system, and in response, may automatically and dynamically update the BOD service menu(s) to show that the Lobster Appetizer is currently available.\",\n \"Accordingly, within a matter of moments from detecting the availability of lobster in the Casino inventory, the Lobster Appetizer menu item may be made available for ordering by a patron, for example, via a BOD Service Menu GUI (e.g., 1024, FIG.\",\n \"10; 1124, FIG.\",\n \"11) of an electronic gaming machine (EGM).\",\n \"Moreover, in at least some embodiments, this may be accomplished without having to interrupt, halt, or otherwise interfere with the EGM's current operation(s)/activitie(s).\",\n \"Next, let's assume that the lobster delivery was a small shipment, and that the entirety of available lobster supply is sold out within twenty minutes.\",\n \"Just as quickly and seamlessly as the Lobster Appetizer was added (or made available for ordering) as BOD Service Menu item, this menu item may be dynamically removed (or made unavailable for ordering) via the On Demand Services System in response to detecting that the identified menu item (or at least one ingredient of the identified menu item, such as lobster) is no longer available.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the On Demand Services System may automatically analyze the details of the currently available supply of lobster, dynamically determine or estimate the quantity of available Lobster Appetizers which may be available for order (e.g., based on current supply and existing orders in queue), and dynamically track and update the BOD service menu(s) to show the estimated number of Lobster Appetizers which are currently available to be ordered.\",\n \"In some embodiments, if a food or beverage item is determined to be in short supply, the On Demand Services System may automatically and dynamically impose ordering restrictions on such identified items (such as, for example, by limiting a patron to a maximum of 2 orders of a given food/beverage item which is in short supply).\",\n \"On Demand Services Components, Systems, Sub-Systems FIGS.\",\n \"10-64 illustrate various system diagrams, procedural flows, GUIs, and screenshots relating to various aspects of the On Demand Services described herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 shows an example portion of a casino network 1010 which includes an electronic gaming machine (EGM 1022) deployed at the casino floor 1020 (e.g., serving as a front-end system for providing On Demand Services to casino patrons), and including one or more backend displays 1032 deployed at the Casino's backend system 1030.In the specific example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"10, the EGM 1022 is configured or designed to display vertical-oriented On Demand Service window menu GUIs (e.g., 1024), which are configured or designed to provide players/patrons with access to various types of On Demand Services.\",\n \"Examples of different vertical-oriented On Demand Service window menu GUIs which may be displayed via the EGM's display are illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"12-16.Additionally, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"10 the backend system display 1032 is shown displaying a Menu Manager GUI such as that illustrated and described in greater detail with respect to FIG.\",\n \"17.FIG.\",\n \"11 shows an example portion of a casino network 1010 which includes an electronic gaming machine (EGM 1122) deployed at the casino floor 1120 (e.g., serving as a front-end system for providing On Demand Services to casino patrons), and including one or more backend displays 1132 deployed at the Casino's backend system 1130.In the specific example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"11, the EGM 1122 is configured or designed to display horizontal-oriented On Demand Service window menu GUIs (e.g., 1124), which are configured or designed to provide players/patrons with access to various types of On Demand Services.\",\n \"According to different embodiments, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to host a plurality of different interfaces (e.g., electronic menus, GUIs, applications, etc., some or all of which may be individually enabled/disabled) that provide a dynamic and fully configurable patron services suite.\",\n \"Examples of some of the various interfaces/applications may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Beverage On Demand® (BOD) Service menu(s)/interface(s), as illustrated, for example, in FIGS.\",\n \"12, 30-49, 55-59.Host On Demand® (HOD) Service menu(s)/interface(s), as illustrated, for example, in FIGS.\",\n \"13, 19-21.Security On Demand® (SOD) Service menu(s)/interface(s), as illustrated, for example, in FIGS.\",\n \"14, 22-25.Valet On Demand® (VOD) Service menu(s)/interface(s), as illustrated, for example, in FIGS.\",\n \"15, 26-28.Weather On Demand® (WOD) Service menu(s)/interface(s), as illustrated, for example, in FIGS.\",\n \"16, 29.Reports & Data Analytics Application(s), as illustrated, for example, in FIGS.\",\n \"50-54.On-Demand Service Application Configuration and Menu Management Application(s), as illustrated, for example, in FIGS.\",\n \"17, 18.Windows Services.\",\n \"Etc.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the On-Demand Service Application Configuration and Menu Management Application (also referred to herein as the “ODS Menu Manager” Application or the “AppSite” Application) may be configured or designed to include functionality for enabling authorized personnel to fully customize and configure On Demand Services menus, sub-menus, and related GUIs.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the ODS Menu Manager Application enables authorized users (such as, for example, Casino Management and/or Food & Beverage Directors) to access, edit, customize, and/or modify selected On Demand Service application(s) menus, sub-menus and GUIs (e.g., BOD, HOD, SOD, VOD, WOD, Reports, etc.).\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, such authorized personnel may use the ODS Menu Manager Application to implement desired configurable updates and/or changes to one or more of the On Demand Service application(s) menus, sub-menus and GUIs, to thereby fully customize the services, features, and content provided by the On Demand Services System in a manner which conforms with the specific needs and/or desires of each individual property (e.g., casino property).\",\n \"According to different embodiments, the ODS Menu Manager Application may be configured or designed to run as a local application, a remote application, and/or as a website or webpage based interface that ties into present day gambling/player management systems.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"18 shows an example embodiment illustrating of a portion of an On Demand Services System architecture, illustrating how the ODS Menu Manager Application may be configured or designed to function as an admin management hub for managing On Demand products and services.\",\n \"As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"18, an On Demand Services Menu Manager 1802 may be implemented at server (e.g., a backend casino server of the casino's gaming network), and may be configured or designed to interface with various On Demand Services Manager components (e.g., BOD Menu Manager 1808, Report Menu Manager 1810, WOD Menu Manager 1812, VOD Menu Manager 1814, HDD Menu Manager 1816, SOD Menu Manager 1818, etc.\",\n \"), each of which may be configured or designed to include functionality for enabling a user (e.g., authorized administrators, Casino Management personnel, ODS Directors, etc.)\",\n \"to configure, access, edit, customize, and/or modify selected On Demand Service application(s) menus, sub-menus, GUIs, and/or related content (e.g., 1840).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"17 shows an example screenshot of a ODS Menu Manager Application GUI 1700 which has been configured or designed to provide authorized users with access to various On Demand applications, services, products, and their related menu interfaces, content, and features, including, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): BOD—“Beverage On Demand®” 1702 applications, services, products, and related settings, menu interfaces, content, and features.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the BOD Services Application may be configured or designed to provide functionality for enabling a patron to order selected items of food, beverages, and/or merchandise via interaction with one or more ODS interfaces which are presented to the patron via an EGM display.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the BOD Services Application may also be configured or designed to provide functionality for enabling the patron to pay for ordered items of food, beverages, and/or merchandise via interaction with one or more ODS interfaces which are presented to the patron via the EGM display.\",\n \"HOD—“Host On Demand®” 1706 applications, services, products, and related settings, menu interfaces, content, and features.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the HOD Services Application may be configured or designed to provide functionality for enabling a patron to contact a Casino host, and/or to request/order selected Host Service(s)/Product(s) via interaction with one or more ODS interfaces which are presented to the patron via an EGM display.\",\n \"Such functionality provides a more personalized approach as compared to the patron pressing a generic “attendant” button.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the patron's EGM location/information is sent to a designated host, VIP host and/or concierge via a set of configurable rules, attributes and/or criteria setup via the ODS Menu Manager Application.\",\n \"SOD—“Security On Demand®” 1704 applications, services, products, and related settings, menu interfaces, content, and features.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the SOD Services may be configured or designed to provide functionality for enabling a patron to contact a security official and/or a medical aid representative.\",\n \"the patron's EGM location/information is sent to a designated security and/or medical advisor via a set of configurable rules, attributes and/or criteria setup within the ODS Menu Manager Application.\",\n \"VOD—“Valet On Demand®” applications, services, products, and related settings, menu interfaces, content, and features.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the VOD Services may be configured or designed to provide functionality for enabling a patron to contact the valet services and notify of an estimated arrival time to have one's vehicle ready before they arrive at the vehicle pickup location.\",\n \"WOD—“Weather On Demand®” 1710 applications, services, products, and related settings, menu interfaces, content, and features.\",\n \"Reports & Data Analytics 1712 applications, services, products, and related settings, menu interfaces, content, and features.\",\n \"ODS Menu Manager Application settings 1714 and related menu interfaces, content, and features.\",\n \"Etc.\",\n \"In at least some embodiments, the On Demand Services System may be implemented as a secure network that may be comprised of numerous devices, cables, and software packages that manage information tracking between gaming machines and house/backend servers/player management/storage locations.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the On Demand Services System may display data to the patron, and receive input from the patron, via a gaming device (or mobile device) display and input interface.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the On Demand Services System sends received user input (as well as other data) to the backend systems via regulated messaging protocols (e.g., S2S).\",\n \"For example, in one embodiment, a patron may submit an order via an interactive button of the BOD Service menu, which, in turn, sends the order data to the backend system, whereupon one or more automated processes may process and deploy the order data to the appropriate bar/grill/location to be handled by the waitstaff.\",\n \"Aspects of the On Demand Services functionality may be implemented as an enhanced “Intelligent” Point Of Sale (POS) system that is specifically configured or designed for implementation/use at casino (or wager-based) gaming machines and/or mobile device(s) located at the casino property.\",\n \"In some embodiments, one or more of the On Demand Service menu GUI(s) may be configured or designed to be presented at an EGM via the EGM's primary display (e.g., 1022, FIG.\",\n \"10), and/or one or more auxiliary displays (e.g., 1124, FIG.\",\n \"11).\",\n \"In some embodiments, one or more of the On Demand Service menu GUI(s) may be configured or designed to be presented at an EGM via use of PIP “picture in picture” technology (e.g., NexGen, Service Window etc.\",\n \"), as found, for example, in some of IGT's, Bally's, Aristocrat, and Leap Forward Gaming's (iView/displayManager) gaming machines.\",\n \"As described in greater detail herein, the various features and functions of the On Demand Services technology provides powerful and unmatched POS flexibility for any casino environment that may be manipulated in real time (e.g., via automated processes, and/or via manual processes) while enabling one to modify the usability and layout of selected EGM interface(s) from the backend system and to upload such modifications to the floor EGMs nearly instantaneously (e.g., in real-time), all of which may be implemented without having to interrupt, halt, or otherwise interfere with the current operation(s)/activitie(s) at the floor EGMs.\",\n \"Additionally, by incorporating flexible design, the POS functionality of the On Demand Services System may function on any resolution screen across multiple brands of devices.\",\n \"Further, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to seamlessly integrate with existing Casino networks and systems.\",\n \"For example, in at least one embodiment, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to seamlessly integrate with existing casino food & beverage systems (e.g., Infogenesis, Micros), and may be configured or designed to include automated functionality for rapidly and efficiently importing existing/current/pre-built menu's into the On Demand Services System's own database system.\",\n \"In at least some embodiments, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to include or provide additional features/functionality such as, for example: Remembering patrons' favorite orders.\",\n \"Tracking player locations (e.g., via player tracking card in/card out).\",\n \"Notifying waitstaff of patron relocation (e.g., in real-time).\",\n \"Tracking, analyzing, generating detailed analytics and reports (e.g., promotional orders, how many clicks, how long viewed, how many ordered, real-time order status tracking, etc.).\",\n \"Generating desired heat maps.\",\n \"Providing mobile device compatibility.\",\n \"Dynamically managing, modifying, monitoring, and configuring various aspects of On Demand Service(s) such as, for example, serving periods, bar locations, printer ports, default and preferred locations for both printers and bars, waitstaff monitoring, closed loop functionality, On Demand Service menu(s) (Admin/Backend side, EGM side, Mobile, etc.\",\n \"), etc.\",\n \"Etc.\",\n \"Thus, in at least one embodiment, the On Demand Services System provides an unprecedented trackable overview of casino/patron/staff interactions, transactions, and analytics.\",\n \"Moreover, some or all of these features (as well as others not listed) may be implemented in a manner which avoids (or does not require) interrupting patron gameplay and/or wagering events.\",\n \"Thus, for example, in at least one embodiment, a patron may literally be gambling with one hand and ordering and/or requesting services with the other hand.\",\n \"As described in greater detail herein, the various On Demand features and functionality may provide a number of advantages and/or benefits which, for example, may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): No more waiting to get what you want while at a gaming machine.\",\n \"No more “having to sit in a populated zone” to get service.\",\n \"No more waiting in the valet line.\",\n \"Live like a VIP, and have your car ready when you step out the casino doors.\",\n \"Enjoy the comfort of knowing security and/or medical personnel may be available at the touch of a button.\",\n \"BOD, HOD, SOD, VOD, and/or WOD services are easily available and accessible via casino gaming machines and/or other devices.\",\n \"Can't see outside—how's the weather?\",\n \"No worries, you don't have to wait to find that out either.\",\n \"Simply access desired weather information at the gaming machine via the WOD Service.\",\n \"The On Demand Services technology described herein provides the new age & technological foundation that may turn the “demographic tables” in a positive and more prosperous direction by allowing players to access current amenities that are found throughout some or all of the latest and greatest websites and applications familiar in common day to day lifestyles.\",\n \"And/or other benefits, features, and advantages described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"12-16 illustrate example screenshots of various OD S graphical user interfaces (herein referred to as “Patron ODS Menu GUIs”) which may be presented to patrons via EGM displays (and/or mobile device displays), and configured or designed to enable the patron to access and/or initiate orders/requests for selected On Demand Services and/or products.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the example Patron ODS Menu GUIs illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"12-16 represent examples of interactive ODS menus which may be accessed by casino patrons via a portion of an EGM display such as, for example, EGM display portion 1024 of FIG.\",\n \"10.While the example Patron ODS Menu GUIs of FIGS.\",\n \"12-16 are configured or designed to be displayed in a vertical (e.g., portrait) orientation, in other embodiment, one or more Patron ODS Menu GUIs may be configured or designed to be displayed in a horizontal (e.g., landscape) orientation, as shown, for example, at 1124 of FIG.\",\n \"11.In at least some embodiments, the On Demand Services may initially be accessed by patron interaction with a “Service” button commonly found on most gaming machines.\",\n \"In one embodiment, pressing the “Service” button causes an interactive ODS Menu GUI to be displayed (e.g., at a PIP region of the primary EGM display, as illustrated, for example, at 1024, FIG.\",\n \"10).\",\n \"According to different embodiments, the interactive OD S Menu GUI may be configured or designed to be compatible with multiple resolutions to accommodate a plurality of gaming machines and their unique resolutions and PIP configurations.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the one or more ODS Services Menu GUIs may be displayed via one or more secondary display devices at the EGM (such as, for example, NexGen, NexGenII, iView, & displayManager), thereby allowing the ODS Services Menu GUIs to be concurrently displayed at the EGM without interfering with or otherwise affecting the patron's game play (or other content) presented on the primary EGM display.\",\n \"By way of illustration, FIGS.\",\n \"55-59 illustrate example screenshots of various BOD Menu GUIs which may be presented to a given patron via an EGM display (and/or mobile device display) for enabling the patron to access and/or initiate orders/requests for selected food items, beverage items, and/or other items of merchandise.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the interactive ODS Menu GUI may be configured or designed to enable the user (e.g., a patron) to navigate through the various ODS services/products offered by the casino, and to access desired On Demand Services.\",\n \"Once the user has accessed the desired ODS service and has selected items/services to “order” (e.g., via ODS menu navigation, GUI interaction, swipe screens, search options, etc.\",\n \"), the user may interact with the “Submit Order” button (e.g., 5530, FIG.\",\n \"55; 5630, FIG.\",\n \"56; 5730, FIG.\",\n \"57; 5830, FIG.\",\n \"58; 5930, FIG.\",\n \"59) to cause the user's order to be submitted to the On Demand Services System for processing.\",\n \"During the processing of the submitted order, the On Demand Services System may access one or more sets of conditions/criteria which may influence or determine where the order is to be routed or delivered for further processing and/or fulfillment by casino staff.\",\n \"For example, according to different embodiments, the determination as to where a particular OD S order is to be routed for fulfillment may depend upon various criteria such as, for example, jurisdiction, regulations, house preference, patron location, time of day, day of week, availability of waitstaff, and the like.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the order data may be automatically and/or dynamically routed/outputted (e.g., in real-time) (e.g., electronically displayed and/or printed out) at a predetermined bar and/or location (e.g., in accordance with the setup/configuration implemented via the On Demand Services System's backend functionality), where the order may then be filled by servers and/or waitstaff.\",\n \"Once the order is fulfilled and ready for delivery, it may be physically up to the waitstaff to deliver the items to the identified patron who submitted the order.\",\n \"In at least some embodiments, the On Demand Services System may include functionality for dynamically tracking player locations (e.g., in real-time) and for notifying waitstaff of patron relocation.\",\n \"Thus, for example, if, while the order is being filled, the patron who ordered decides to leave the current EGM, the On Demand Services System may automatically detect this activity, and may automatically respond by initiating one or more procedures/operations such as, for example, automatically generating and sending a notification to the ODS service station (where the order is being filled) that the patron has departed from location/EGM X.\",\n \"According to different embodiments, the system may automatically determine that the player has departed from a given location/EGM in response to detecting one or more event(s) and/or conditions such as, for example: a “card out” event (e.g., where the player's player tracking card is removed from the EGM), a “ticket out” event (e.g., where the EGM generates and delivers a cash voucher to the player to zero out the EGM credit meter), a “cash out” event, etc.\",\n \"Thereafter, if the system subsequently detects that the player has carded in at location/EGM Y, the system may respond by automatically generating and sending a notification to the ODS service station (where the order is being filled) that the patron has been detected as carding in at location/EGM Y at a specific time.\",\n \"Additionally, based on the detected player movement/relocation activities, the On Demand Services System may include functionality for identifying the specific waitstaff assigned to deliver the order to the patron, and for automatically generating and sending a notification to the identified waitstaff of the patron's movement(s)/relocation.\",\n \"Thus, for example, in one embodiment, if the waitstaff is in the process of delivering the ordered drink/item to the patron, and is on the floor in route for delivery, the system may be configured or designed to automatically detect these conditions, and may automatically and dynamically initiate appropriate actions for notifying the identified waitstaff via mobile device (e.g., via text message, phone call, etc.)\",\n \"of the player's new location.\",\n \"In specific situations it may happen that an ordered ODS item is unable to be delivered to the patron (e.g., because the patron has left the EGM, because the ordered item is unavailable, etc.).\",\n \"To address such situations, the On Demand Services System may provide a time out/cancellation feature which may be configured or designed to automatically cancel the order in response to detecting the occurrence of one or more predefined set(s) of event(s)/condition(s) such as, for example: Card-out/cash-out/ticket-out event detected at EGM where OD S order originated.\",\n \"Location of patron who ordered item cannot be detected, verified and/or determined.\",\n \"Ordered item unavailable.\",\n \"Condition(s) for allowing fulfillment of order no longer met/satisfied.\",\n \"Player no longer wagering at required minimum allowable wager amount/level for receiving ordered item.\",\n \"And/or other set(s) of event(s)/condition(s) as may be configured/defined by the casino.\",\n \"In addition to automatically canceling the order, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to identify and notify appropriate casino personnel (e.g., staff assigned to handle the order) that the identified ODS order has been cancelled.\",\n \"In at least some embodiments, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to include functionality for enabling waitstaff personnel to submit orders on behalf of the patron via a mobile device, smartphone and/or tablet running ODS application(s).\",\n \"In at least some embodiments, the mobile ODS applications/GUIs may be configured or designed to include functionality similar to that of the OD S Service menu GUIs described herein.\",\n \"Additionally, in at least some embodiments, similar triggering events/conditions/criteria may be applied to ODS orders placed by waitstaff on behalf of casino patrons.\",\n \"On Demand Service Menu GUI Configuration One of the beneficial aspects of the On Demand Services technology described herein relates to the flexible nature of the On Demand Service menu GUI configuration and layout.\",\n \"For example, in at least one embodiment, a casino property may configure different On Demand Service menu GUIs to offer different items in different ways.\",\n \"By way of illustration, to order a cup of coffee, an On Demand Service menu GUI may be configured to display (e.g., via the EGM display interface) a “Coffee” button.\",\n \"When the player selects the Coffee Button, the system may display a list of condiments (e.g., cream, sugar, Splenda, etc.)\",\n \"to the player, and request that the user select the specific condiments which the player would like to have included with the order.\",\n \"Alternatively, one or more On Demand Service menu GUI(s) may be configured or designed to include multiple different “Coffee” buttons such as, for example: “Coffee—black”, “Coffee—with cream”, “Coffee—with cream and sugar”, etc.\",\n \"The customization, layouts, configurations, and content of the On Demand Service menu GUI(s) may be controlled and managed by the casino property.\",\n \"Additionally, in at least some embodiments, the On Demand Services System may include functionality for enabling the On Demand Service menu GUI(s) to automatically and/or dynamically modified based on feedback from the customers/patrons, thereby allowing for instant changes to fully maximize player services and comfort.\",\n \"As described in greater detail herein, the On Demand Services System may include a Front End subsystem (e.g., enabled at EGMs, and Mobile Platform(s), for use by customers, patrons, waitstaff, etc.)\",\n \"and a Back End subsystem (e.g., implemented at a Casino server, accessible by authorized casino personnel).\",\n \"Examples of various types of Frontend activities which a casino patron (and/or waitstaff) may perform by interacting with one or more of the ODS Menu GUIs presented via an EGM (or mobile device) display may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Beverage On Demand Services, such as, for example: Order items Leave comments Select favorites Select promotional items Move to different EGM's while order is in process (Player Tracking Card In/Card Out) Play EGM and order items simultaneously Security On Demand Services, such as, for example: Contact Security personnel Contact Medical personnel Contact Property personnel Play EGM and contact personnel simultaneously Host On Demand Services, such as, for example: Contact Host and/or VIP Host Contact Concierge Play EGM and contact personnel simultaneously Valet On Demand Services, such as, for example: Notify Valet Personnel on expected vehicle pickup Inform Valet Personnel on estimated time of arrival Supply Valet Coupon and/or ticket number for ease of use Play EGM and contact personnel simultaneously Weather On Demand Services, such as, for example: Stay up to date with current (local) weather and predicted forecasts Find global weather and forecasts via search engine Play EGM and be informed and/or search simultaneously Examples of various types of data and/or information which may be accessed, monitored, and/or modified by casino employees (and/or other authorized users) interacting with one or more of the On Demand Service window GUIs presented via a backend system display may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Central access to individual On Demand applications and functionality thereof (e.g., AppSite) Menu Management interface system (Beverage On Demand), which, for example, may provide access to various types of Beverage On Demand related information such as, for example: Primary Categories Sub Categories Items Category Condiment & Condiment Group categories Custom Item images Custom Language setup Limit Tags, Limit Item Amounts & Limit Patrons Serving Periods, Bars & Printer locations Receipt formats Ads, Pop-up ads, and Banner Ads Discounts, promotions (based on tier, age, gender, birthday, other) Waitstaff management Tiered functionality Micros Integration Infogenesis Integration Analytics Player Tracking (Card In/Card Out) Heat Maps Intelligent Favorites Enable/Disable patron order comments Report management Export Database Closed Loop System Security Management interface system (Security On Demand), which, for example, may provide access to various types of Security On Demand related information such as, for example: General Setup Security Setup Medical Setup Reports Host Management interface system (Host On Demand), which, for example, may provide access to various types of Host On Demand related information such as, for example: General Setup Host Setup Reports Valet Management interface system (Valet On Demand), which, for example, may provide access to various types of Valet On Demand related information such as, for example: General Setup Valet Setup Reports Weather Management interface system (Weather On Demand), which, for example, may provide access to various types of Weather On Demand related information such as, for example: General Setup Report Management interface system (Report Management), which, for example, may provide access to various types of Report Management related information such as, for example: Order Tracking Delete Orders Generate Report Location Date Items Player Saving Examples of various types of Backend activities which casino employees (and/or other authorized users) may initiate and/or perform by interacting with one or more of the On Demand Service window GUIs presented via a backend system display may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Central access to individual On Demand applications and functionality thereof (AppSite).\",\n \"Menu Management interface system (Beverage On Demand), which, for example, may provide access to various types of BOD related features, functions, operations such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Configurable drag & drop Primary Categories Configurable drag & drop Sub Categories Configurable drag & drop Items Category Configurable drag & drop Condiment & Condiment Group categories Configurable custom Item images Configurable Limit Tags, Limit Item Amounts & Limit Patrons Configurable Serving Periods, Bars & Printer locations Configurable Receipt formats Configurable Ads, Pop-up ads, and Banner Ads Configurable discounts, promotions based on tier, age, gender, birthday, other Configurable Waitstaff management (with pin number for closed loop system) Tiered functionality (based through multiple sections) Micros Integration (menu database import) Infogenesis Integration (menu database import) Analytics (viewing and printing) Heat Maps (viewing and printing) Enable/Disable patron order comments Report management (viewing and printing).\",\n \"Security Management interface system (Security On Demand), which, for example, may provide access to various types of SOD related features, functions, operations such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): General Setup email port alert port SMTP server username account password protection language select Security Setup Email SMS Printer Email receiver Phone number receiver Phone service provider Add service provider Printer receiver Medical Setup Email SMS Printer Email receiver Phone number receiver Phone service provider Add service provider Printer receiver Reports Call type Report type Host Management interface system (Host On Demand), which, for example, may provide access to various types of HOD related features, functions, operations such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): General Setup email port alert port SMTP server password protection language select Host Setup Email SMS Printer Reports Report type Date setup Filter Reports Valet Management interface system (Valet On Demand), which, for example, may provide access to various types of VOD related features, functions, operations such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): General Setup email port alert port SMTP server username account password protection language select Valet Setup Email SMS Printer Email receiver Phone number receiver Phone service provider Add service provider Printer receiver Reports Report type Date setup Filter Reports Weather Management interface system (Weather On Demand), which, for example, may provide access to various types of WOD related features, functions, operations such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): General Setup Default Language Favored Country Default Location Measurement System API Key Report Management interface system (Report Management), which, for example, may provide access to various types of Report Management related features, functions, operations such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Order Tracking Delete Orders Generate Report Location Date Items Player Saving In at least some embodiments, each of the different types of On Demand Services may have associated therewith a respective set of management GUIs for enabling casino staff, administrators and/or other authorized personnel to access, configure, monitor, modify, analyze, and report various types of On Demand related activities, events, data, and/or other information.\",\n \"Moreover, in at least some embodiments, these activities may be performed or accessed in real-time (e.g., on the fly), without causing or requiring any disruption to any concurrent or existing gaming-related and/or wagering-related activities being conducted via the casino gaming network, and without requiring that the On Demand Services System be brought off-line.\",\n \"It will be appreciated that On Demand Services techniques have been configured or designed to overcome various technological issues and limitations which have existed with respect to many of today's on-demand service systems which are currently deployed at casino properties.\",\n \"For example, the customized features and content of many on-demand service systems which are currently deployed at one or more casino properties are typically implemented via use of hardcoded software which has been specifically customized and configured to accommodate the individual requirements of each separate casino.\",\n \"In order to modify or change the features, content, or GUIs of such hardcoded on-demand systems, it is typically necessary to require that the systems running the on-demand services be brought off-line in order to implement the desired modifications.\",\n \"This may also cause or result in a disruption of gaming-related and/or wagering-related activities being conducted via the casino gaming network.\",\n \"In contrast, embodiments of the On Demand Services System described herein are specifically configured or designed to be implemented using flexible-based software coding techniques which provide functionality for enabling the features, content, and/or GUIs of On Demand Services System(s) to be dynamically configured, re-configured, or otherwise modified in real-time (e.g., on the fly), without causing or requiring any disruption to any concurrent or existing gaming-related and/or wagering-related activities being conducted via the casino gaming network, and without requiring that the On Demand Services System be brought off-line in order to implement such changes/modifications.\",\n \"Example Beverage on Demand (BOD) Services Features and Management FIGS.\",\n \"12, 55-59 illustrate example screenshots of various BOD Service Menu GUIs which may be accessed via the frontend system by patrons and/or waitstaff (e.g., via EGM device and/or mobile device).\",\n \"The example screenshots of BOD Service Menu GUIs illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"12, 55-59 have been specifically configured for vertical-oriented presentation on a portion of an EGM display, as illustrated, for example, at 1024 of FIG.\",\n \"10.In other embodiments (not shown) the BOD Service Menu GUIs for horizontal-oriented presentation, and/or may be configured for presentation on other types of displays such as, for example, mobile devices, smart phones, PDAs, kiosk displays, etc.\",\n \"As described in greater detail herein, the Beverage On Demand® (BOD) Menu GUIs may be configured or designed to enable patron and/or waitstaff to browse the catalog of available items which may be ordered via the casino's BOD Service, select desired item(s) to be ordered, and submit an order for the selected items to the casino's BOD Service.\",\n \"In at least some embodiments, the BOD Service System may also be configured or designed to enable the patron to pay for the BOD Service order via one or more different types of funding sources such as, for example, credit cards, ATM cards, PayPal™, bitcoins, casino credits, casino vouchers, coupons, cash, room charge, etc.\",\n \"According to the preferences of the casino, the BOD Service Menu GUI(s) may be configured or designed to offer a variety of different items for ordering, including, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): food items, beverage items, novelty items, gift shop accessories, etc.\",\n \"However, for purposes of illustration and ease of explanation, the BOD Service Menu GUI(s) illustrated and described with respect to FIGS.\",\n \"12, 30-49, and 55-59, focus primarily on beverage items which may be available for ordering via the BOD Service Menu GUI(s).\",\n \"According to different embodiments, some of items offered via the BOD Service Menu GUI(s) may be available for purchase, while other items offered via the BOD Service Menu GUI(s) may be available for complimentary ordering (e.g., for a given patron).\",\n \"For example, in some embodiments the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to include functionality for automatically monitoring casino patron gaming/wagering activities, and for automatically “comping” food, beverages, and/or other items ordered by a given patron via the BOD Service in response to determining that specific predefined conditions, events, and/or criteria have been satisfied.\",\n \"According to different embodiments, at least a portion of such predefined conditions, events, and/or criteria may be based on one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Player Identity.\",\n \"Gaming history of that player at the player's current EGM.\",\n \"Gaming history of that player over a designated time interval.\",\n \"Wagering history of that player at the player's current EGM.\",\n \"Wagering history of that player over a designated time interval.\",\n \"Current physical location of the player.\",\n \"Historical physical location of player over one or more time intervals (e.g., player must be physically located on the gaming floor for at least 15 consecutive minutes in order to receive a free comp drink).\",\n \"And/or other desired criteria as may be configured/defined by the casino.\",\n \"By way of illustration, the casino may configure the On Demand Services System to allow a player at an EGM to order (via BOD Service Menu GUI) a complementary “top shelf” mixed drink once every 15 minutes, provided that the player initiates at least 10 wagers at the EGM each 15 minutes, and provided that each wager is a minimum of $1.In one embodiment, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to not allow the player to place an order for a complementary “top shelf” mixed drink until all required conditions/events are satisfied.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the player may start a gaming session at the EGM and specify a wager/bet amount of $1.Before the 15 minutes has elapsed, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to permit the player to place submit a “top shelf” mixed drink order before all required conditions/events are satisfied, but may continue to proactively monitor the player's wagering activities, and may take appropriate action to automatically cancel the order if the system subsequently detects that the player has switched to a $0.50 wager/bet amount, for example.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Main Menu GUI 1200, in accordance with one embodiment.\",\n \"As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"12, the BOD Main Menu GUI includes a first portion of interactive content 1210, which is configured or designed to enable the user (e.g., casino patron) to browse through a catalog of various types of beverages (e.g., beer, mixed drinks, nonalcohol beverages, wine, etc.)\",\n \"which are available to be ordered via the casino's BOD Service.\",\n \"The BOD Main Menu GUI may also include additional interactive content (e.g., 1220) which may be configured or designed to include functionality for enabling the patron to perform additional tasks relating to the BOD Service, such as, for example for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): View/order/purchase special offers and/or promotions.\",\n \"Submit an order.\",\n \"Review items in the electronic shopping cart.\",\n \"Navigate to other menus of the BOD Service.\",\n \"Access other On Demand Services.\",\n \"Request a casino attendant.\",\n \"Request a server (e.g., waiter/waitress).\",\n \"Check on the status of a pending BOD order.\",\n \"Cancel a submitted BOD order.\",\n \"Modify a BOD order which has been submitted.\",\n \"Select/change default language of BOD Menu GUI(s).\",\n \"Initiate a keyword search for specific items.\",\n \"Minimize the BOD Service Menu.\",\n \"Close the BOD Service Menu.\",\n \"And/or other types of activities illustrated or described herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"55 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Menu GUI 5500, illustrating an example embodiment of a promotional offer (e.g., Budweiser Beer) being displayed via a pop-up window or overlay layer 5510.In one embodiment, the user may add the promotional item to the user's electronic shopping cart (e.g., by tapping on “+” icon 5511, and/or may order the promotional item by sliding the virtual “slide” button 5530 in the direction indicated.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"56 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Main Menu GUI 5600 which has been configured or designed to display promotional offer content 5620 (e.g., daiquiri mixed drink $5.99).\",\n \"In one embodiment, the user may add the promotional item to the user's electronic shopping cart, and/or may directly submit an order for the promotional item via interaction with “Submit Order” GUI portion 5630.Additionally, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"56, the BOD Main Menu GUI may include interactive content 5610 for enabling the user to access one or more BOD submenus relating to the different types of of beverages (e.g., beer, mixed drinks, nonalcohol beverages, wine, etc.)\",\n \"which are available to be ordered via the casino's BOD Service.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"57 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Submenu GUI 5700, in accordance with one embodiment.\",\n \"As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"57, the BOD Submenu GUI 5700 has been configured to represent a BOD Beer Menu which displays information (e.g., 5720) about various types of beer (e.g., light beers, dark beers, wheat bears, pale ales, etc.\",\n \"), brands of beer (e.g., Budweiser, Coors, Stella, etc.\",\n \"), and/or items of beer (e.g., 12 oz can of Coors, 10 oz bottle of Budweiser, etc.)\",\n \"that are available for ordering via the BOD Service.\",\n \"Additionally, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"57, BOD Submenu GUI 5700 has been configured or designed to display promotional offer content 5720 (e.g., Margarita mixed drink $5.99).\",\n \"In one embodiment, the user may add one or more of the offered items to the user's electronic shopping cart, and/or may directly submit an order for the promotional item via interaction with “Submit Order” GUI portion 5730.In at least one embodiment, the user may access the BOD Beer Menu of FIG.\",\n \"57 by tapping or selecting the “Beer” line item (e.g., 5612) of the BOD Main Menu GUI of FIG.\",\n \"56.FIG.\",\n \"58 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Submenu GUI 5800, in accordance with one embodiment.\",\n \"As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"58, the BOD Submenu GUI 5800 has been configured to represent a BOD Item Menu which displays additional information (e.g., 5810) about one or more specific BOD items (e.g., can of Stella beer).\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the user may add (e.g., 5811) one or more of the offered items to the user's electronic shopping cart, and/or may directly submit an order for the promotional item via interaction with “Submit Order” GUI portion 5830.In at least one embodiment, the user may access the BOD Item Menu of FIG.\",\n \"58 by tapping or selecting the “STELLA” line item (e.g., 5712) of the BOD Beer Menu of FIG.\",\n \"57.FIG.\",\n \"59 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Shopping Cart GUI 5900, in accordance with one embodiment.\",\n \"As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"59, the BOD Shopping Cart GUI 5900 has been configured to provide the user with access to various types of information and features relating to the selected BOD items which the user has added to his electronic shopping cart via interaction with one or more BOD Menu GUI(s).\",\n \"By way of illustration, examples of such information/features may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Listing of individual items (e.g., 5912, 5914) which have been added to the user's electronic shopping cart.\",\n \"Item pricing information.\",\n \"Tax-related information.\",\n \"(e.g., 5916) Functionality for enabling the user to dynamically add/subtract/modify/remove quantities of selected items to/from the user's shopping cart.\",\n \"Functionality for enabling the user to add special request(s) relating to one or more items in the user's shopping cart.\",\n \"Functionality 5918 for enabling the user to add one or more comment(s) to the BOD order.\",\n \"Functionality 5930 for enabling the user to submit the BOD order.\",\n \"Functionality for enabling the user to pay for the BOD order.\",\n \"Functionality for enabling the user to apply comps, coupons, discounts to the BOD order.\",\n \"And/or other types of information and/or functionality described herein.\",\n \"Real-Time BOD/ODS Tracking Functionality It is noted that many of today's on-demand service systems which are currently deployed at casino properties are not configured or designed to provide casino management with access to real-time tracking of orders which have been submitted to their on-demand service systems.\",\n \"Some reasons why such functionality has typically not been provided by such prior on-demand service systems relate to the complex and proprietary nature of the casinos networks.\",\n \"Additionally, since the customized features and content of many currently deployed on-demand service systems are typically implemented via use of hardcoded software, such systems inherently lack the dynamic customization/configuration flexibility which may be required for implementing real-time tracking of on-demand service orders.\",\n \"Accordingly, as described in greater detail herein, it may be appreciated that some of the unique and advantageous features of the presently described On Demand Services System relate to the system's ability to automatically track (e.g., in real-time) the current status of all BOD orders (and/or other types of ODS orders) which have been submitted to the On Demand Services System, and to the system's ability to provide casino personnel (and/or other authorized personnel) with access to real-time status information relating to specific orders and/or specific types of orders (e.g., pending orders, new orders, delivered orders, canceled orders, delayed orders, complementary orders, etc.).\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"60-64 illustrate example screenshots of various BOD Service Tracking GUIs which may be used for accessing real-time BOD tracking functionality relating to BOD Services and other related information/features, including, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Real-time tracking of pending BOD Service orders.\",\n \"(e.g., FIG.\",\n \"61) Real-time tracking of delivered BOD Service orders.\",\n \"(e.g., FIG.\",\n \"62) Real-time tracking of canceled BOD Service orders.\",\n \"(e.g., FIG.\",\n \"63) Configuration of features and default settings relating to the BOD Service.\",\n \"(e.g., FIG.\",\n \"64) Etc.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, at least a portion of the BOD tracking functionality may be provided by a BOD Tracking System, which, for example, may be implemented as a component or subsystem of the On Demand Services System.\",\n \"In the specific example embodiments of FIGS.\",\n \"60-64, the example BOD Service Tracking GUIs have been configured for presentation on a computer system display (such as, for example, a desktop computer, laptop computer, mobile device, etc.\",\n \"), and may be accessed via use of a web browser application.\",\n \"In other embodiments (not shown) the one or more of the BOD Service Tracking GUIs may be accessed via a client application running on a remote system.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"60 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Login GUI 6000 which may be used by authorized persons for accessing tracking functionality for the BOD Service.\",\n \"In order to access the main contents of the tracking system, a secure pin pad login may be required.\",\n \"The pin may be setup through the ODS System.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"61 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Order Tracking GUI 6100 which may be configured or designed to include functionality for enabling authorized personnel to access real-time BOD tracking of the various BOD orders which have been submitted to the BOD System, including, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Pending or open BOD orders (e.g., 6112).\",\n \"New and/or recent BOD orders.\",\n \"Delivered BOD orders (e.g., 6114).\",\n \"Canceled BOD orders (e.g., 6116).\",\n \"Delayed BOD orders.\",\n \"Etc.\",\n \"In the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"61, the BOD Order Tracking GUI 6100 has been configured to display pending BOD orders, which may be accessed by tapping or selecting the “Pending Orders” (6112) display option.\",\n \"As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"61, two BOD orders (e.g., 6122, 6124) are currently pending.\",\n \"Display of various different icons (e.g., 6121, 6123, 6125, 6127) may be used to denote (e.g., via quick visual observation) aspects about each order such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): new order not yet viewed before; order which has been previously viewed; whether the player is currently seated/carded out/carded in; player VIP status; and/or other aspects and/or information about a given order.\",\n \"In one embodiment, each order that comes in may be displayed within its own respective window and/or frame (e.g., 6122, 6124) of the BOD Order Tracking GUI, and within each configurable window/frame, information about that specific order is displayed such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): player id; player name; time when order placed; elapsed time since order was placed; item description(s); order number; zone; location; EGM bank; pricing information; payment method; etc.\",\n \"In one embodiment, if the population of the orders expands beyond the screen display resolution limits, a scroll bar may automatically appear, allowing the user to scroll through the order list.\",\n \"As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"61, a Bar/Section Selection Icon 6102 may be displayed for enabling the user to switch between different bars, restaurants, zones/sections, and/or other locations where BOD orders may be processed, filled, or prepared.\",\n \"Additionally, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"61, the BOD Order Tracking GUI may include a printer icon (e.g., 6106) for enabling the user to send print outs of selected orders to one or more selected printer locations at the casino property.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the BOD Order Tracking GUI(s) may be configured or designed to include keyword searching functionality (e.g., 6108) and grouping functionality for enabling users to view real-time status details relating to one or more sets of orders which match user-defined search criteria such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Employee ID, Player ID, EGM ID, zone, EGM location, Player location, Bar/Restaurant ID, BOD item, BOD order ID, time-based criteria (e.g., range of time, range of day(s), range of date(s), etc.)\",\n \"and/or other types of searchable or filterable criteria.\",\n \"For example, in the specific example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"61, the BOD Order Tracking GUI 6100 displays status details of pending BOD (e.g., 6120) orders which have been assigned to a specifically identified employee (e.g., Emp: #112244) (6104).\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, this grouping functionality may be used to help keep orders in their respective server zones and associated with their respective servers.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"62 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Order Tracking GUI 6200 which has been configured or designed to provide user access to real-time BOD tracking information relating to delivered BOD orders.\",\n \"In the specific example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"62, the BOD Order Tracking GUI 6200 displays status details of a set of delivered BOD orders (e.g., 6220) which are associated with a specifically identified employee (e.g., Emp: #112244).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"63 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Order Tracking GUI 6300 which has been configured or designed to provide user access to real-time BOD tracking information relating to canceled BOD orders.\",\n \"In the specific example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"63, the BOD Order Tracking GUI 6300 displays status details of a set of canceled BOD orders (e.g., 6320) which are associated with a specifically identified employee (e.g., Emp: #112244).\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the On Demand Services System may include functionality for populating and maintaining an ODS Order Database for storing all (or selected) details of all (or selected) historical ODS orders, status updates, and related transactions.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the ODS Order Database may provide searchable access to archive-based lists of ODS orders, status updates, and related transactions which may be utilized by the BOD Tracking System (and/or other components/systems) for providing various aspects of the real-time BOD tracking and reporting functionalities described herein.\",\n \"Any order that is cancelled and/or delivered will populate these tabs.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"64 shows an example screenshot of a BOD Tracking Configuration GUI 6400 which may be configured or designed to include functionality for enabling authorized personnel to configure and/or modify various aspects/features relating to the BOD Tracking System functionality and/or BOD Order Tracking GUI(s).\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, one or more BOD Tracking Configuration GUI(s) may be configured or designed to enable authorized user(s) to selectively and/or dynamically set and/or modify configuration parameters of the BOD Tracking System such as, for example: the automated closing of orders (e.g., 6410); default settings (e.g., 6420), etc.\",\n \"For example, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"64, a user may check the box in the “Close Orders When Printed” configuration GUI 6410 to configure the BOD Tracking System to automatically close an identified order in the BOD system after the order has been printed from the BOD Order Tracking GUI.\",\n \"Alternatively, a user may check the box in the “Close Orders When Printed” configuration GUI 6410 to configure the BOD Tracking System to prevent a printed order from being automatically closed.\",\n \"In this latter configuration, the order may need to be closed using the Service Window of the carded patron (or using the Mobile Close Loop screen when using Intelligent BOD).\",\n \"Additionally, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"64, as shown at 6420, a user may selectively configure a selected bar of the casino (e.g., Bar_T1) as the “Default Bar” parameter of one or more BOD Order Tracking GUI(s).\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, different BOD Tracking System terminals may each be separately configured to have a respective Default Bar parameter assigned thereto.\",\n \"In at least some embodiments, the default bar parameter assigned to a first BOD Tracking System terminal may differ from another default bar parameter assigned to a second BOD Tracking System terminal.\",\n \"Thus, for example, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"64, the casino bar identified as “Bar_T1” may be configured as the Default Bar for the BOD Tracking System terminal which is displaying the BOD Tracking Configuration GUI 6400.BOD Menu Management and Configuration One of the beneficial aspects of the On Demand Services technology described herein relates to the flexible nature of the ODS Menu GUI configurations and layouts, which provide functionality for enabling the features, content, and/or GUIs of On Demand Services System(s) to be dynamically configured, re-configured, or otherwise modified in real-time (e.g., on the fly), without causing or requiring any disruption to any concurrent or existing gaming-related and/or wagering-related activities being conducted via the casino gaming network, and without requiring that the On Demand Services System be brought off-line in order to implement such changes/modifications.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, such functionality may be implemented via use of a Menu Manager (MM) System, which may be configured or designed to enable authorized users to dynamically configure and/or modify selected features, content, and/or GUIs of On Demand Services System(s).\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the Menu Manager System may be implemented as an application, component or subsystem of the On Demand Services System.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the Menu Manager System may be implemented as a separate system which is configured or designed to provide ODS Menu Management functionality via remote access to the On Demand Services System.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"30-49, and 60-64 illustrate example screenshots of BOD Menu Manager GUIs which may be accessible by authorized casino staff or other authorized entities.\",\n \"More specifically, FIGS.\",\n \"30-49 illustrate example screenshots of various backend BOD Service GUIs which may be used for accessing, enabling, initiating, and/or performing one or more of the following operation(s), action(s), and/or feature(s) (or combinations thereof): Configuring the features, content and other aspects of the frontend BOD Service Menu GUIs Configuring the features, content and other aspects of the backend BOD Service GUIs Configuring the features, content and other aspects of the BOD Service Accessing the BOD Reporting and Tracking features of the BOD Service Accessing specific features of the BOD Service System which are available for use by approved administrators and/or managers.\",\n \"Etc.\",\n \"As described previously with respect to FIGS.\",\n \"17 and 18, the On Demand Services System may include a Menu Manager application which is configured or designed to provide functionality for enabling authorized personnel to fully customize and configure On Demand Services menus, sub-menus, and related GUIs.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the ODS Menu Manager Application enables authorized users (such as, for example, Casino Management and/or Food & Beverage Directors) to access, edit, customize, and/or modify selected On Demand Service application(s) menus, sub-menus and GUIs (e.g., BOD, HOD, SOD, VOD, WOD, Reports, etc.).\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, such authorized personnel may use the OD S Menu Manager Application to implement desired configurable updates and/or changes to one or more of the On Demand Service application(s) menus, sub-menus and GUIs, to thereby fully customize the services, features, and content provided by the On Demand Services System in a manner which conforms with the specific needs and/or desires of each individual property (e.g., casino property).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"18 shows an example embodiment illustrating how the ODS Menu Manager Application may be configured or designed to function as an admin management hub for managing On Demand products and services.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"17 shows an example screenshot of an ODS Menu Manager Application GUI 1700 which has been configured or designed to provide authorized users with access to various On Demand applications, services, products, and their related menu interfaces, content, and features.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"30 illustrates an example screenshot of a BOD Menu Manager-Main Menu GUI which may be configured or designed to function as an admin management hub for managing and/or configuring BOD Service features and/or BOD Menu GUIs.\",\n \"As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"30, the BOD Menu Manager-Main Menu GUI may be divided into multiple sections or “panels.” (e.g., 3050, 3060, 3080, 3090, etc.)\",\n \"On the left is the “Navigation Panel” 3050 that is configured to display a plurality of user selectable “BOD Navigation” buttons (e.g., 3001, 3002, 3004, 3006, 3008, 3010, 3012, 3014, 3016, 3018, 3020, etc.)\",\n \"that enable the user to navigate, select and/or configure various aspects, features, and/or content of BOD Service Menu GUI(s), including, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): BOD Service Menu features/parameters/content 3001; Promotion features/parameters/content 3002; Bars features/parameters/content 3004; Serving Period features/parameters/content 3006; Waitstaff features/parameters/content 3008; EGM's features/parameters/content 3010; Ads features/parameters/content 3012; Tax features/parameters/content 3014; Limits features/parameters/content 3016; Configure features/parameters/content 3018; Reports features/parameters/content; Export features/parameters/content 3020; Etc.\",\n \"The Content Panel GUI portion 3040 shows the various configurable options that are available in connection with each BOD Navigation button of the Navigation Panel 3050.In at least one embodiment, the panel sections may be configured or designed to provide a familiar user interface where the BOD navigation elements (e.g., 3050) remain in their same (or similar) relative locations (e.g., throughout configuration use), and where the Content Panel GUI portion 3040 is where the dynamically changeable configurations are implemented by the user.\",\n \"In this way, the user quickly becomes familiarized with the layout and functionality of the Menu Manager Application GUI(s).\",\n \"By way of illustration, referring to FIG.\",\n \"30, as the user selects different BOD navigation buttons of the Navigation Panel 3050, the content displayed in the Content Panel GUI portion 3040 automatically and dynamically changes in accordance with the currently selected BOD navigation button.\",\n \"For example, in the specific example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"30, it is assumed that the MENU navigation button 3001 is currently selected.\",\n \"Accordingly, the MM Application may respond by dynamically displaying (at the Content Panel GUI portion 3040) configurable aspects/parameters relating to the BOD Service Menu GUI(s), such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Primary Menu Categories 3011; Sub Menu Categories 3013; BOD Menu Items 3015; Condiment Items 3070; Condiment Groups 3080 (e.g., which may be associated with respective BOD Menu Categories, Sub-categories and/or items); Main Menu GUI layout/features/content 3090; Sub Menu GUI layout/features/content; Item Menu GUI layout/features/content; And/or other aspects/features of the BOD Service described or referenced herein.\",\n \"Moreover, because the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to provide dynamically configurable/updatable inventory and interface management features using easy “drag and drop” work flow functionality, the system is able to offer levels of flexibility and adaptability which may conform with the needs/desires of most any type of business (e.g., casino property), theme, marketing campaign, etc.\",\n \"Menu Content Panel GUI 3040 may be configured or designed to provide configurable access for some or all of the Condiment Groups, Condiments, Categories, Sub Categories, and/or orderable Items of the BOD Service.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the MM Application may also provide a “Preview Menu” feature that offers how the menu may look when displayed at an EGM.\",\n \"The Content Panel section herein provides the means necessary to create, configure and/or modify the BOD Menu GUIs that are to be used by the BOD Service.\",\n \"Menu Condiment Groups GUI portion 3080 may be configured or designed to enable a user to define, configure, and/or modify different groups of condiments and associated parameters.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, condiment groups are a way to categorize various condiment items that may accompany different types of BOD menu items.\",\n \"For example, a condiment group named “Burgers” may be created and associated with all Burger-type items of the BOD menu.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the Burger condiment group may be configured to include selected condiment items such as, for example: ketchup, mustard, pickles, lettuce, onions, etc.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, individual condiment items may be defined, configured, and/or modified via the Condiment Item GUI portion 3070.In at least one embodiment, the Menu Condiment Groups GUI portion 3080 and/or Condiment Item GUI portion 3070 may be configured or designed to include functionality for enabling a user to: add/create/modify/delete one or more condiment group(s) (e.g., 3081); add/create/modify/delete one or more condiment item(s) (e.g., 3071); assign selected condiment item(s) to one or more condiment group(s); edit/modify/add/delete associations between condiment item(s) and condiment group(s); configure specific condiment item(s) and/or condiment group(s) as being required (e.g., “R”), optional (e.g., “O”), and/or additional (e.g., “A”) edit/modify/add/delete descriptions of selected condiment item(s) and/or condiment group(s); and/or other functionality described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"30, edit icons (e.g., 3063, 3073, 3083, etc.)\",\n \"may be displayed in connection with various menu items and/or groups for enabling a user to selectively modify/re-configure (e.g., individually and/or in batch) desired aspects, features, and/or content associated therewith.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"31 illustrates an example screenshot of a BOD New Condiment Group GUI 3100 which may be configured or designed to facilitate the user in creating and configuring a new condiment group.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, different types of condiment groups may be respectively defined and configured based on different types of food categories/items.\",\n \"For example, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"31, it is assumed that the user is creating a new condiment named “French Fries” 3112.In this particular couple, it is further assumed that at least two specific condiment items (e.g., ketchup 3122, vinegar 3124) have been assigned to the French Fries condiment group as a required condiment to be included with all French Fry orders serviced by the BOD System.\",\n \"In one embodiment, when casino patron orders a “Basked of French Fries” via an EGM's BOD Service Menu GUI, the BOD System may automatically and dynamically determine that the “French Fries” condiment group is associated with the BOD menu item: “Basked of Fries”, and may respond by automatically and dynamically offering (e.g., via the EGM On-Demand Service GUI) the patron the option of adding ketchup and/or vinegar as condiments the “Basked of French Fries” order.\",\n \"Alternatively, the system may respond by taking appropriate action to automatically and dynamically add or append the “French Fries” condiment group items (e.g., ketchup, vinegar) to the “Basket of Fries” BOD order.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the identified condiments of ketchup and vinegar may be listed on the BOD order ticket (e.g., which may be used by the entity preparing the BOD order and/or may be used by the waitstaff delivering the order) as condiment items which are required to be included with the Basket of Fries order.\",\n \"Additionally, in some embodiments, the system may automatically identify the waitstaff who is assigned to deliver the order to the patron, and may automatically notify the identified waitstaff (e.g., via mobile device, printout, workstation display) to supply ketchup and vinegar as condiments when serving the Basket of Fries order.\",\n \"In one embodiment, menu item and group names may be allowed to have (up to) 32 characters each.\",\n \"In some embodiments, errors may be displayed if multiple items and/or groups share the same name.\",\n \"In at least some embodiments, additional fields may be provided in one or more BOD Menu GUIs for use in displaying items/content of the BOD Menu GUIs in other languages.\",\n \"In at least some embodiments, the MM Application may be configured or designed to provide “drag & drop” functionality for facilitating configuration of one or more BOD Service Menu(s).\",\n \"Illustrative examples of such “drag & drop” functionality are illustrated and described, for example, with respect to FIGS.\",\n \"32, and 37-39.FIG.\",\n \"32 illustrates an example screenshot of a BOD Condiment Group Configuration GUI 3200 which may be configured or designed to facilitate a user in configuring associations between various condiment items and condiment groups.\",\n \"For example, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"32, the Condiment Group Configuration GUI includes a Condiment Item GUI portion 3220 which may be populated with various types of BOD condiment items (e.g., Ice 3222).\",\n \"Additionally, the Condiment Group Configuration GUI also includes a Condiment Group GUI portion 3210 which may be populated with various types of BOD condiment groups (e.g., Non-Alcoholic Beverages 3122).\",\n \"As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"32, the Condiment Group Configuration GUI may be configured or designed to provide “drag & drop” functionality (e.g., as illustrated within the outlined region 3240) for facilitating a user in configuring associations between various condiment items and condiment groups.\",\n \"In this particular example, it is assumed that a user is using the GUI's “drag & drop” functionality to add the selected condiment item: ICE to the condiment group: NON-ALCOHOL BEV.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, this may be achieved by selecting and holding the displayed “ICE” object 3222 (e.g., using computer mouse or touchscreen display), dragging a representation of the “ICE” object until it is positioned over the “NON-ALCOHOL BEV” object 3212, and “dropping” the “ICE” object into the “NON-ALCOHOL BEV” object (e.g., by releasing the hold of the “ICE” object), thereby creating an association between nonalcoholic beverages and ice.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the BOD System may be configured or designed to interpret this ICE/NON-ALCOHOL BEV association as indicating that all nonalcoholic beverages are to be served with ice.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the BOD System may be configured or designed to interpret this ICE/NON-ALCOHOL BEV association as indicating that patrons are to be automatically offered an option of adding ice to their drink when ordering nonalcoholic beverages via the frontend BOD Service Menu GUI(s).\",\n \"For example, in at least one embodiment, similar “drag & drop” functionality may also be provided in one or more frontend BOD Service Menu GUIs displayed to patrons (e.g., via EGM display).\",\n \"For example, in one embodiment, when a patron orders a nonalcoholic beverage via the BOD Service Menu interface at an EGM display, the BOD System may automatically respond by displaying a list of condiment items (e.g., ice, lemon, lime, etc.)\",\n \"which may be individually selected by the patron and added to the beverage order.\",\n \"According to different embodiments, the BOD Service Menu GUIs may be configured or designed to enable patrons to request various types of condiment items to be added to one or more menu items ordered via BOD system.\",\n \"Examples of typical complementary condiment may include, but are not limited to: ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, etc.\",\n \"Other types of condiment item requests may be more detailed and/or complex, such as, for example, adding bacon to an order of ice cream, or requesting no ice in your water.\",\n \"In at least some embodiments, the condiment functionality of the BOD System may also be utilized for indicating various types of patron preferences which may be associated with one or more ordered items.\",\n \"For example, in at least one embodiment, the BOD System may be configured to include a “Hamburger Cooking Preference” condiment group which has been configured to include a plurality of different “condiment items” corresponding to Rare, Medium Rare, Medium, Medium Well, and Well Done.\",\n \"When a patron orders a hamburger via the BOD System, the system may identify the “Hamburger Cooking Preference” condiment group, may display the list of “condiment items” (e.g., Rare, Medium Rare, Medium, Medium Well, or Well Done) to the patron, and prompt the patron to indicate how they would like their burger cooked by selecting one of the displayed options.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the user's selection (e.g., Medium Rare) may be processed by the system as if it were a condiment item to be added to the hamburger order.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"33 illustrates an example screenshot of a BOD Menu Configuration GUI 3300 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and content relating to: One or more BOD menu primary categories (such as, for example, “Beverages/Drinks”, “Food”, “Merchandise”, “Attendant Services”, and the like).\",\n \"One or more BOD menu subcategories (such as, for example, “Beer”, “Liquor”, “Soda”, “Alcoholic Beverages”, “Non-Alcoholic Beverages”, “Appetizers”, “Clothing”, and the like).\",\n \"One or more BOD menu items (such as, for example, “Budweiser”, “Coors”, “Basket of French Fries”, “Margarita”, “Baseball Cap”, and the like).\",\n \"Etc.\",\n \"For example, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"33, a BOD Sub-Category Menu may be configured or designed to display a plurality of BOD menu subcategories, including, for example, Beer 3302, Liquor 3304, Soda 3306, Wine 3308.In at least one embodiment, this list of BOD menu subcategories may be associated with a BOD menu primary category such as, for example, “Beverages/Drinks”.\",\n \"Features, attributes and/or content associated with an identified BOD category (e.g., Beer 3302) may be modified/re-configured via user interaction with an Edit Icon (e.g., 3303) which may be displayed in association with the identified BOD category.\",\n \"Additional subcategories may be added via “Add Primary Category” GUI portion 3061.As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"33, the BOD Primary Categories Configuration GUI 3300 may also include navigation tabs (e.g., 3011, 3013, 3015) to facilitate the user in navigating to other BOD Menu Configuration GUIs which may be used for configuring and/or modifying BOD menu primary categories, BOD menu items, etc.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"34 illustrates an example screenshot of an alternate embodiment of a BOD Menu Configuration GUI 3400 which, as illustrated in this particular example, may be used for configuring the list and layout of BOD subcategories which are to be included in connection with an identified BOD Sub-Category Menu.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"35 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Menu Configuration GUI 3500 which, as illustrated in this particular example, may be used for configuring the list and layout of BOD menu items which are to be included in connection with an identified BOD Item Selection Menu.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the list of displayed BOD menu items 3510 may be configured or designed to be dynamically sortable by the end user (e.g., on EGM GUI) according to desired sorting criteria such as, for example: Type (Light Beer/Dark Beer) Price Bottle/Tap Popularity and/or other properties associated with the BOD menu items.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"36 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Menu Item Configuration GUI 3600 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various properties relating to one or more BOD menu item.\",\n \"For example, in at least one embodiment, the BOD Menu Item Configuration GUI 3600 may be accessed by a casino administrator or manager for adding a new BOD Menu item to the BOD Menu item catalog/database.\",\n \"As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"36, the BOD Menu Item Configuration GUI may be configured or designed to enable the user to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various properties relating to a selected BOD menu item, such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): BOD Menu Item Name 3610 (e.g., in one or more languages).\",\n \"BOD Item Ticket Name 3620.In one embodiment, the ticket name may correspond to the name of the BOD Menu Item that may appear on a ticket that prints at the bar.\",\n \"For example, the BOD Menu Item Name could be “Bacon Cheeseburger”, while the BOD Item Ticket Name would be “Ben Chzbrgr.” BOD Item Description 3630.In one embodiment, the BOD Item Description may include a short description to describe the Item.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the BOD Item Description may include images, drawings, and/or icons representing the Item.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the BOD Item Description may be displayed to the patron via the EGM display.\",\n \"BOD Item required Condiment Groups 3640.In at least one embodiment, Required Condiment Group(s) may require the patron to provide additional input before the patron is allowed to add the selected Item to their order.\",\n \"For example, a BOD Menu Item may have an associated a Required Condiment Group called ‘Drink Flavor’.\",\n \"The ‘Drink Flavor’ Condiment Group may include three “Condiments” corresponding to different flavor choices: ‘Cherry’, ‘Grape’, and ‘Lemon/Lime’.\",\n \"When the patron adds this BOD Menu Item to their order, the system may automatically prompt the user to choose one of the three condiments flavors to go along with this Item.\",\n \"It will be appreciated that these features help simplify the display of the BOD Menu Items by eliminating the need to display three of the same Items at the same price with the only difference being the flavor of the drink.\",\n \"During configuration of the BOD Item, in order to add a Required Condiment Group to the Item, a user may click on an “Add New Required Condiment Group” button to cause a dropdown menu to be displayed containing some or all of the BOD Condiment Groups that may be added to this Item as a Required Condiment Group.\",\n \"BOD Item available Condiment Groups 3650.In at least one embodiment, Available Condiment Groups may include Condiments that are allowed to be added to the Item.\",\n \"During configuration of the BOD Item, in order to add an Available Condiment Group to the Item, a user may click on an “Add New Available Condiment Group” button to cause a dropdown menu to be displayed containing some or all of the BOD Condiment Groups that may be added to this Item as an Available Condiment Group.\",\n \"BOD Item limitations/restrictions.\",\n \"For example, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"36, the BOD Menu Item Configuration GUI 3600 may include a “New Item Limit Tag” GUI portion 3660 which may be configured or designed to enable a user to assign various ordering restrictions and/or limitations relating to this Item.\",\n \"In the specific example, the “New Item Limit Tag” GUI portion 3660 includes user configurable fields for imposing limits for Alcoholic and/or Non-Alcoholic Items.\",\n \"This means that the patron may only order a certain amount of Alcoholic or Non-Alcoholic Items.\",\n \"Once that limit has been reached the patron may no longer be able to add an Item with that type to their order.\",\n \"To assign a Limit Tag to the Item, check the radio button next to the Limit Tag name.\",\n \"BOD Item pricing 3670.As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"36, the BOD Item may be configured to have multiple different prices, which may be automatically and dynamically adjusted/updated based on predefined criteria.\",\n \"A first price may correspond to a Normal Price Level.\",\n \"This is the default price for the Item.\",\n \"If no other price point is available for this Item this is the price the system may use.\",\n \"One or more additional price points may be added to the Item.\",\n \"This may cause the Item have a different price during different Serving Periods.\",\n \"In order to add a different price to the Item, a user may click on a new price point button.\",\n \"When the user clicks this button a dropdown menu may appear filled with some or all of the Serving Periods that have currently been created.\",\n \"Select a Serving Period to continue.\",\n \"After a Serving Period has been selected the user may then fill out the price the user want the Item to be during this period.\",\n \"The user may also delete one or more existing price points, if desired.\",\n \"BOD Item Tax Properties 3680.FIG.\",\n \"37 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Menu Layout Configuration GUI 3700 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and content relating to the layouts, appearances, features, and/or contents of one or more BOD Menu GUIs.\",\n \"For example, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"37, a BOD Main Menu GUI may be configured or designed to display a plurality of BOD Menu Primary Categories, Subcategories and/or BOD Menu Items.\",\n \"As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"37, the BOD Menu Layout Configuration GUI may be configured or designed to provide “drag & drop” functionality similar to that described with respect to FIG.\",\n \"32.In the specific example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"37, it is assumed that a user is using the GUI's “drag & drop” functionality to select the “Beer” Menu Category 3712 from a list of BOD Menu Primary Categories 3710, and add the selected “Beer” Menu Category as an item of a BOD Main Menu GUI 3720 (e.g., that is intended for presentation via BOD interface of EGM display).\",\n \"As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"37, the BOD Menu Layout Configuration GUI may also include navigation tabs (e.g., 3711, 3713, 3715) to facilitate the user in navigating to other BOD Menu Layout Configuration GUIs which may be used for configuring and/or modifying other BOD Menu GUIs.\",\n \"For example, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"38, the BOD Menu Layout Configuration GUI 3800 a user may use the GUI's “drag & drop” functionality to select the “LIGHT” Menu Category 3812 from a list of BOD Subcategories (e.g., 3810), and add the selected “LIGHT” Menu Category as an item of a BOD Beer Menu GUI 3820 (e.g., that is intended for presentation via BOD interface of EGM display).\",\n \"Similarly, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"39, the BOD Menu Layout Configuration GUI 3900, a user may use the GUI's “drag & drop” functionality to select the “BUDWEISER” Menu Item 3922 from a list of BOD Menu Items (e.g., 3910), and add the selected “BUDWEISER” Menu Item as an item of a BOD Beer Menu GUI 3920 (e.g., that is intended for presentation via BOD interface of EGM display).\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the final section of the Menu screen is the EGM preview.\",\n \"This is the area where some or all of the Primary Categories, Sub Categories, and Items get “tied together.” One would start by setting up the Main Menu (Primary Categories).\",\n \"The user may then continue by adding Sub Categories to the Primary Categories, and finish off by adding Items to the Sub Categories.\",\n \"When the user first loads up MM Application, the EGM preview may be blank.\",\n \"At that moment, if one were to export the BOD menu to the floor, a patron would not see any items to select from.\",\n \"The Main Menu section may only include Primary Categories.\",\n \"To start building the EGM menu, one would navigate to the Primary Categories tab.\",\n \"This may display a scrollable list of some or all the Primary Categories created.\",\n \"The scrollable list appears adjacent to the EGM view.\",\n \"In order to add a Primary Category to the EGM preview, simply click and hold on the desired Primary Category and drag it over to the EGM preview.\",\n \"Once the user lets go of the mouse the user may drop the Primary Category inside the Main Menu on the EGM preview.\",\n \"The user may continue doing so until some or all of the desired Primary Categories are in the Main Menu.\",\n \"The Primary Categories that the user sees in the Main Menu of the EGM preview may be the categories that the patron sees when they load up BOD® on the EGM.\",\n \"They may appear in the exact order that is displayed on the EGM preview.\",\n \"To change the order that the Primary Categories appear in, click and hold on a Primary Category inside the EGM preview.\",\n \"As the user moves the Primary Category up and down the user may see the other categories move accordingly.\",\n \"Once the user is satisfied with the position of the Primary Category release the mouse to drop it back into the Main Menu.\",\n \"If desired, the user may also remove a Primary Category from the Main Menu without removing it completely from the database.\",\n \"By doing so, this may remove that Primary Category from the Main Menu and update the position of the others.\",\n \"After the Main Menu is set up, it's time to start adding Sub Categories to the Primary Categories.\",\n \"The steps to do this are very similar to adding Primary Categories to the Main Menu.\",\n \"Configuration of BOD Promotions According to different embodiments, the Content Panel for the Promotion tab may setup the current Promotion which the casino wants to display.\",\n \"In at least some embodiments, the Content Panel looks differently in comparison to the Menu view.\",\n \"Instead of multiple sections containing scrollable content, the Promotion Content Panel displays a selectable tab (or bar) that displays a promotion name and provides an edit button (similar to the category and item tabs/buttons in the Menu section).\",\n \"The Item that is selected for the promotion may be displayed to the player when BOD is loaded to the EGM display.\",\n \"When the user loads up the Promotion screen, the user may see the Item that is currently being promoted.\",\n \"In order to set the Promotion, navigate to the Promotion Screen and click on the edit icon of the current Promotion.\",\n \"This may bring up the Promotion Edit Panel.\",\n \"From here the user may select the Item that the user wants to be the new promotion.\",\n \"If the user no longer wants any promotion appearing set the current Promotion to ‘None’.\",\n \"Configuration of BOD Bar Parameters FIG.\",\n \"40 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Bar Configuration GUI 4000 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and parameters relating to one or more casino bars, and associated peripherals/resources such as, for example: printers (e.g., receipt printer, order printer), waitstaff, tablets/mobile devices, etc.\",\n \"In at least some embodiments, Content Panel for the Bars tab may look similar to the Promotions Content panel (displays a selectable tab (or bar) that displays a name and provides an edit button).\",\n \"The Content Panel for the Bars tab may bring up the list of current Bars.\",\n \"If there are no bars available, the Content Panel may be empty.\",\n \"The bars are where the receipts may be printed when a customer submits their order from the EGM.\",\n \"The user may create different bars so that the EGM may print to the bar closest to it.\",\n \"In order to add a bar, the user first need to click the “+” Add New Bar button.\",\n \"Clicking this button may bring up the New Bar Edit Panel.\",\n \"This is where the user may fill out the required information needed to create a new bar.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"41 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Bar Edit Panel 4100 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and content relating to one or more casino bars.\",\n \"By way of illustration, in one embodiment, there are three sections in the bar Edit Panel: New Bar Name, Set Hours of Operation, and Printer.\",\n \"The first section is the New Bar Name.\",\n \"The name of the Bar may be something that is easily recognizable to what Bar in the casino it belongs to.\",\n \"In the example Bar shown, the Bar is named “South Bar”.\",\n \"This indicates that the Bar to be printed to is located on the south side of the casino.\",\n \"The next section to fill out is Set Hours of Operation.\",\n \"In this section the user may define the open and close time of the Bar.\",\n \"These boxes are based on a 24 hour clock (4 am=4:00, 4 pm=16:00).\",\n \"The first three boxes indicate the open time.\",\n \"The first box is for hour and the second is for minutes.\",\n \"The third box is for seconds but that is defaulted to 0.The last three boxes indicate the close time for the Bar.\",\n \"The first box is for hours and the second box is for minutes.\",\n \"The third box is for seconds but that is defaulted to 59.If the bar never closes, the user may set the open time to 00:00:00 and the close time to 23:59:59.The final section to fill out is the Printer section.\",\n \"This is where the user defines the printer that the Bar may print at.\",\n \"There are two dropdown menus in this section.\",\n \"The first menu is for what printer the Bar uses when it's open.\",\n \"When the user opens this menu the user may see a list of printers that are accessible to the server.\",\n \"Choose the printer that this Bar uses.\",\n \"The second dropdown menu is for the printer the Bar may use if it's closed.\",\n \"For example: if all Bars in the casino closes except for one, the user may select the printer of the Bar that is still open in this menu.\",\n \"This may allow the EGMs that are tied to a closed bar to still be able to use BOD® on the EGM.\",\n \"If the user wants the EGMs that are tied to this bar to close down with the bar, select ‘None’ as the printer for the closed hours.\",\n \"This may cause a message saying that the bar is closed to appear on the EGM.\",\n \"This message is customizable from the Configure Screen (discussed later).\",\n \"If the dropdown menu for the printers is empty or not up to date, the user may need to click the “Update Printer List” button.\",\n \"It may take a second for the printer list to load.\",\n \"Once it does the user may select a printer from the dropdown list.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the BOD System supports network POS printers.\",\n \"A ‘Test Printer’ button is available to make sure that BOD may print to the selected printers.\",\n \"Pressing this button may print out a small test page on the printers selected in the dropdown menus.\",\n \"NOTES: The BOD service may be running in order to use the “Update Printer List” button.\",\n \"Also, the server may have access to the printer on the network in order to print to it.\",\n \"Also, the BOD service may be running to use the “Test Printer” button.\",\n \"When the user is finished filling out the sections, click on the save icon to create the Bar.\",\n \"In order to edit a Bar, click on the edit icon.\",\n \"Clicking this icon may bring up the Bar Edit Panel.\",\n \"From here the user may change any of the information that was set when creating the Bar.\",\n \"In order to delete a bar, click on the “Delete Bar” button.\",\n \"Configuration of BOD Serving Period Parameters FIG.\",\n \"42 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Serving Period Configuration GUI 4200 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and parameters relating to various BOD Item serving periods.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, a Serving Period describes the time of day when certain items appear and at what price.\",\n \"According to different embodiments, aspects relating to Item pricing and availability may be configured or designed to dynamically vary depending on different conditions/criteria such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Time of Day; Patron/Customer ID (e.g., high rollers may be allowed to order breakfast 24/7); Availability; Relative level of traffic/customers at bar/restaurant location (real-time); Relative real-time demand of services/orders (e.g., prices may increase if the number of orders currently in queue exceeds some predefined threshold); Etc.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the Content Panel of the Serving Period screen may show some or all of the Serving Periods that have currently been created.\",\n \"In one embodiment, all times under a Serving Period are define in a 24 hour format (e.g.\",\n \"4 pm=16:00).\",\n \"Serving Periods are directly related to pricing levels.\",\n \"When a Serving Period is created a new price level may appear in the dropdown menu when creating/editing an item.\",\n \"In order to create a Serving Period the user may first click on the “+” Add New Serving Period button.\",\n \"Clicking on this button may display the Serving Period Edit Panel.\",\n \"This is where the user may fill in the required information needed to create a new serving period.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the Serving Period Edit Panel has two sections.\",\n \"The first section is New Serving Period Name.\",\n \"The name of the Serving Period may be something that is easily recognizable to what time the serving period represents.\",\n \"Examples of serving period names would be: Breakfast, Lunch, Happy Hour, or Dinner.\",\n \"The next section to fill out is the New Serving Period Time.\",\n \"In this section the user may define the time of the serving period.\",\n \"The input boxes are based on a 24 hour clock (e.g.\",\n \"4 am=4:00, 4 pm=16:00).\",\n \"The first three boxes indicate the start time.\",\n \"The first box is for hours, the second box is for minutes, and the third box is for seconds (which is default to 0).\",\n \"The last three boxes indicate the end time of the serving period.\",\n \"The first box is for hours, the second box is for minutes, and the third box is for seconds (which is default to 59).\",\n \"It's important to note that serving periods cannot overlap.\",\n \"If a serving period falls in the middle of another they may be separate.\",\n \"For example: Let's say Dinner starts at 3 pm (15:00) and ends at lam (01:00).\",\n \"However, in the middle of dinner there is a Happy Hour that lasts from 4 pm (16:00) to 6 pm (18:00).\",\n \"In order to accomplish this, the user may break up dinner into 2 different serving periods.\",\n \"The end result would look like this: Dinner (Part 1): 15:00:00-15:59:59, Happy Hour: 16:00:00-17:59:59, Dinner (Part 2): 18:00:00-00:59:59.When the user is finished filling out the sections, click on the save icon to create the Serving Period.\",\n \"In order to edit a Serving Period, click on the edit icon.\",\n \"Clicking this icon may display the Serving Period Edit Panel.\",\n \"From here the user may change any of the information that was set when creating the Serving Period.\",\n \"In order to delete a serving period, click on the “Delete Serving Period” button.\",\n \"Configuration of BOD Waitstaff Parameters FIG.\",\n \"43 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Waitstaff Configuration GUI 4300 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and parameters relating to one or more Waitstaff.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the Content Panel for Waitstaff displays the pin that is currently being used to close out orders.\",\n \"When a player has submitted an order, they may see a pin pad displayed on the EGM (whenever they open/re-open BOD).\",\n \"To close out an order as “delivered” the waitress/waiter may put in the pin number.\",\n \"The user may change the pin number used to close out orders by clicking on the edit icon.\",\n \"Clicking on this icon may display the Waitstaff Edit Panel.\",\n \"From here, the user may set the pin to be any 4-8 digit number.\",\n \"When the user is finished setting up the pin, click the save icon to save any changes.\",\n \"Configuration of BOD EGM Parameters FIG.\",\n \"44 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD EGM Configuration GUI 4400 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and parameters relating to one or more EGMs.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the Content Panel for the EGM's may display a list of some or all the EGM locations currently created.\",\n \"The EGM location comprises of the zone and bank of the EGM.\",\n \"The user may use these created EGM locations to assign the EGM's on the floor to a bar.\",\n \"In order to create an EGM location the user first clicks on the “+” Add EGM Location button.\",\n \"Clicking on this button may display the EGM location Edit Panel.\",\n \"This is where the user may fill in the required information needed to create a new EGM location.\",\n \"From here the user may need to fill out three sections: New EGM Zone, New EGM Bank, and Associated Bar.\",\n \"The first section is the New EGM Zone.\",\n \"The user may need to put in the zone that the EGM is located at.\",\n \"The second section is the New EGM Bank.\",\n \"The user may need to put in the EGM's bank number here.\",\n \"The third section is the Associated Bar.\",\n \"This may display a list of some or all the bars that have been created.\",\n \"Selecting a bar from the list may assign this EGM to that bar.\",\n \"Each order that is placed on this EGM may print based on that bar's information.\",\n \"In order to edit an EGM location, click on the edit icon.\",\n \"Clicking this icon may display the EGM Location Edit Panel.\",\n \"From here the user may change any of the information that was setup when creating the EGM locations.\",\n \"In order to delete an EGM location, click on the “Delete EGM Location” button.\",\n \"Configuration of BOD Ad Parameters FIG.\",\n \"45 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Ad Configuration GUI 4500 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and parameters relating to one or more ads to be presented via the BOD System.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the Content Panel for Ads may display some or all of the items that are set to be inside the Ad section of the skin (i.e., graphical interface displayed on the EGM).\",\n \"The Ad section of the skin may rotate between these items.\",\n \"This may allow a patron to have quick access to some or all of these items.\",\n \"In order to add an Ad to the rotation, click the “+” Add Ad button.\",\n \"Clicking this button may display the Add New Ad Edit Panel.\",\n \"From here the user may have a dropdown menu listing some or all the items that have currently been created.\",\n \"Select the item the user wants to add from the menu.\",\n \"Once the user has selected your item, click save to add it to the rotation.\",\n \"In order to remove an Ad from the rotation, click on the “Delete from Ad” button.\",\n \"Configuration of BOD Item Tax Parameters In at least one embodiment, the Content Panel of Tax may display the current tax percentage.\",\n \"This percent may be applied to some or all items in the patrons order.\",\n \"In order to set the current tax, click on the edit icon.\",\n \"Clicking this button may display the Tax Edit Panel.\",\n \"From here the user may set the current tax percentage.\",\n \"When the user is finished filling out the tax percentage, click the save icon.\",\n \"Configuration of BOD Item Limits/Restrictions Parameters FIG.\",\n \"46 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Limits Configuration GUI 4600 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and parameters relating to one or more limits and/or restrictions (herein “Limits”) which may be assigned to various BOD Menu items.\",\n \"According to different embodiments, different Limits may be defined/configured based on specifically defined conditions/criteria such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Per order Per person Per EGM Per menu item Per time period And/or other criteria By way of illustration, in some embodiments, the Content Panel for Limits may display some or all of the Limit Tags that have been created, as well as their amounts.\",\n \"Limit Tags are something the user may attach to an Item.\",\n \"At least one Limit Tag may have an amount associated with it.\",\n \"The amount associated with the Limit Tag may determine how many of those Items the player may add to their order.\",\n \"For example: We may create a Limit Tag called ‘Alcoholic’ and set it's amount to 2.This means that the player may only add 2 Items with the ‘Alcoholic’ Limit Tag.\",\n \"These Items could be the same ones or different ones, but either way only 2 Items with this tag may be added to the order.\",\n \"When the player has reached the limit for those Items, the “add to order button” for any Item with that tag may be grayed out.\",\n \"In order to create a limit tag, click on the “+” Add Limit Tag button.\",\n \"Clicking on this button may display the New Limit Tag Edit Panel.\",\n \"This is where the user may fill in the required information needed for creating a new Limit Tag.\",\n \"There are two sections to fill out: New Limit Name and New Limit Amount.\",\n \"The first section is New Limit Name.\",\n \"This is where the user may assign the Limit Tag a name.\",\n \"The name may be something easily recognizable to the items it may be attached to.\",\n \"NOTE: An item may only have ONE Limit Tag attached to it.\",\n \"The second section is New Limit Amount.\",\n \"This is where the user assigns the amount of items with this Limit Tag the player may be allowed to add to their order.\",\n \"In order to edit a Limit Tag, click on the edit icon.\",\n \"Clicking on this icon may display the Limit Tag Edit Panel.\",\n \"From here the user may change any of the information that was set when creating the Limit Tag.\",\n \"When the user is finished filling out the Limit Tag information, click the save icon to save any changes.\",\n \"In order to delete a Limit Tag, click on the “Delete Limit Tag” button.\",\n \"Configuration of Other BOD Parameters FIG.\",\n \"47 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Parameter Configuration GUI 4700 which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and parameters associated with the BOD System.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the Content Panel for the BOD Parameter Configuration GUI (herein “Configure”) may display various sections dedicated to configuring the basic information for the BOD System.\",\n \"The Database Information section is where the user may change how to access the database.\",\n \"In order to access this information, click on the edit icon.\",\n \"Clicking on this icon may display the Database Information Edit Panel.\",\n \"The Database Information section contains four parts: Change username, Change Password, Change Database, and Change Server.\",\n \"The first section is Change Username.\",\n \"This is where the user may put the username needed to access the database.\",\n \"The second section is Change Password.\",\n \"This is where the user may change the password to access the database.\",\n \"Enter the old password that was used in the first field, and then enter the new password the user want into the second field.\",\n \"The last field is to verify the new password.\",\n \"The third section is Change Database.\",\n \"This is where the user may change the database the Menu Manager may use to display the Menu information.\",\n \"The final section is Change Server.\",\n \"In this section the user may set the server that the BOD® database is located on.\",\n \"When the user is finished filling out the Database Information, click the save icon to save any changes.\",\n \"The Language section is where the user may set what languages are available for the player to access inside the Beverage On Demand® skin on the Service Window.\",\n \"This section may determine some or all of the input boxes for Name and Description that appear when creating a Primary Category, Sub Category, or Item.\",\n \"This is where the user may fill out the required information for creating a new Language.\",\n \"The Language Edit Panel comprises of four sections: New Language Name, Language Abbreviation, Default Language, and Supported Language.\",\n \"The first section is New Language Name.\",\n \"This is where the user may fill out the name of the language.\",\n \"This is the name that may display on the EGM when the player presses the Language button.\",\n \"The second section is Language Abbreviation.\",\n \"This is a short abbreviation for the language.\",\n \"The next section is Default Language.\",\n \"The user may check this box if the user want to use this language as the default language.\",\n \"Setting a language as default may make the BOD® skin (displayed on the EGM) load up that language.\",\n \"The final section is Supported Languages.\",\n \"Checking this box may cause this language to appear when the player selects a language from the BOD® skin on the EGM.\",\n \"When the user is finished filling out the section for New Language, click the save icon to create the language.\",\n \"In order to edit a language, click on the edit icon.\",\n \"Clicking on this button may display the Language Edit Panel.\",\n \"From here the user may change any of the information that was set when creating the language.\",\n \"Use the dropdown menu under “Choose Language” to change the language the user want to edit.\",\n \"When the user is finished filling out the language information, click on the save icon the save your changes.\",\n \"In order to delete a language, click on the “Delete Language” button.\",\n \"After the user has created languages, the user may configure which language is default and which languages are supported by clicking the edit icon.\",\n \"Clicking this icon may display the Language Edit Panel.\",\n \"This dialog has two sections, Default Language and Supported Languages.\",\n \"The first section is Default Language.\",\n \"This section displays a dropdown menu of the languages that have been created.\",\n \"The user may select a different default language here.\",\n \"The second section is Supported Languages.\",\n \"This section may allow the user to add and remove supported languages.\",\n \"When the user is finished changing the language information, click the save icon to save any changes.\",\n \"The EGM Translation section is where the user may change some or all of the phrases that appear on the BOD® skin.\",\n \"Selecting the edit icon may display the EGM Translation Edit Panel.\",\n \"The EGM Translation Edit Panel comprises of two sections: Language to translate and Phrases.\",\n \"The first section is Language to Translate.\",\n \"This section contains a dropdown menu filled with the languages that have been created.\",\n \"Here the user may select what languages the user wants to start translating.\",\n \"The second section is Phrases.\",\n \"Here is a list of phrases with their description above them.\",\n \"The user may edit these phrases to fit the language the user is translating.\",\n \"When the user is finished translating the phrases, click the save icon to save any changes.\",\n \"The Currency section may allow the user to setup how the currency is formatted.\",\n \"Clicking on the edit icon may display the Currency Edit Panel.\",\n \"The Currency Edit Panel comprises of three sections: Currency Symbol, Currency Delimiter, and Currency Decimal.\",\n \"The first section is Currency Symbol.\",\n \"Here the user may change the symbol to use in front of any price.\",\n \"The second section is Currency Delimiter.\",\n \"Here is where the user may setup the character that appears when a price enters the thousands (e.g.\",\n \"1,000 the“,” character is the delimiter).\",\n \"The last section is Currency Decimal.\",\n \"Here the user may be able to set the character that may appear before the cents in a price (e.g.\",\n \"3.99 the “.” Character is the decimal).\",\n \"When the user is finished setting the Currency information, click the save icon to save any changes.\",\n \"The Item Limit Per Order section may allow the user to set how many items the player is allowed to place in one order.\",\n \"This is not to be confused with Limit Tags.\",\n \"Limit Tags only apply to items with the same tag whereas Item Limit Per Order is applied to all (or selected) items in the menu.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the Item Limit Per Order may override any Limit Tags that are set.\",\n \"Example: if the user set the Limit Tag of “Alcoholic” to be 5 and the Item Limit Per Order to be 2, the player may only be able to order 2 items total.\",\n \"Clicking on the edit icon may display the Item Limit Per Order Edit Panel.\",\n \"This Edit Panel only has one section: Limit of Items per Order.\",\n \"In this section the user may define how many items the player is allowed to add to their order.\",\n \"When the user is finished setting the Item Limit, click the save icon to save any changes.\",\n \"The Time Limit Between Orders section allows the user to set up how much time may pass before the player may place another order.\",\n \"Clicking on the edit icon may display the Time Limit Between Orders Edit Panel.\",\n \"This dialog only has one section: Time Limit Between Orders.\",\n \"The user may set how long (in minutes) the player may wait before placing another order.\",\n \"When the user is finished setting the time limit, click the save icon to save any changes.\",\n \"The Order Time Out section allows the user to set how long to wait before a player pulls their card from the machine before automatically cancelling the order.\",\n \"When a player pulls their card out of the machine a message informing the staff may print at the bar associated with that machine.\",\n \"The player then has a certain amount of time to put their card into another (or same) machine before their order is automatically cancelled.\",\n \"This is where the user may define that time.\",\n \"In some embodiments, if the player inserts their card into another machine before the time limit expires, a message informing the staff may print out at the bar associated with the original machine.\",\n \"Clicking on the edit icon may display the Order Time Out Edit Panel.\",\n \"This dialog has one section: Time After Card out.\",\n \"In this section the user may put the amount of time (in minutes) that may pass, after the player has pulled their card, before the order is automatically cancelled.\",\n \"When the user is finished setting up the time out limit, click the save icon to save any changes.\",\n \"The Comments section is where the user may define if the player is allowed to add comments to their order.\",\n \"If this is enabled when a player is viewing their order, they may see an “Add Comments” button.\",\n \"Clicking this button may bring up a keyboard where they may type additional information to the staff members.\",\n \"Comments could allow the player to inform the staff to “Bring 2 straws” or “Extra napkins.” Clicking on the edit icon may display the Comments Edit Panel.\",\n \"This dialog has only one section: player Comments.\",\n \"This section may let the user enable or disable player comments.\",\n \"When the user is finished setting the comments, click the save icon to save any changes.\",\n \"The Receipt section may allow the user to customize the look of the receipt that prints out at the bar.\",\n \"Clicking on the edit icon may display the Receipt Edit Panel.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"48 illustrates an example screenshot of an embodiment of a BOD Receipt Configuration GUI 4700 (referred to as “Receipt Edit Panel”) which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to configure, add, create, modify, and/or delete various aspects and parameters associated with the BOD transactions and receipts.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the Receipt Edit Panel may include seven sections: Header Line 1, Header Line 2, Header Line 3, Patron Information Options, EGM Information Options, Footer Line 1, and Footer Line 2.The first three sections have to do with the header of the Receipt.\",\n \"For Header Line 1, Header Line 2, and Header Line 3 the user may fill out any information that the user would like displayed at the top of the Receipt.\",\n \"The forth section is Patron Information Options.\",\n \"In this section the user may turn on/off some or all portions of the information about the patron that the user want to appear on the Receipt.\",\n \"The fifth section is EGM Information Options.\",\n \"This is where the user may turn on/off some or all portions of the information about the EGM that the user want to appear on the Receipt.\",\n \"The last two sections have to do with the footer of the Receipt.\",\n \"For Footer Line 1 and Footer Line 2 the user may fill out any information that the user would like displayed at the bottom of the Receipt.\",\n \"When the user is finished filling out the information about the Receipt, click the save icon to save any changes.\",\n \"An example of the Receipt that may be printed at the Bar is illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"49.In at least one embodiment, The Receipt Translation may allow the user to translate any of the phrases that appear on the Receipt (ex: Player Name, Machine Number).\",\n \"Click on the edit icon to open the Receipt Translation pop up dialog.\",\n \"The Receipt Translation pop up dialog has one section: Phrases.\",\n \"Here is where the user may change the translation of the phrases that appear on the Receipt.\",\n \"When the user is finished translating the phrases for the Receipt, click the save icon to save any changes.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"49 shows an example embodiment of “BOD Order Ticket” which may be automatically displayed or printed out at a designated BOD fulfillment station (e.g., specifically selected bar/restaurant) in connection with a BOD order submitted by a specific patron at a specific EGM.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the BOD Order Ticket may also serve as the customer's (e.g., patron's) receipt.\",\n \"According to different embodiments, the BOD Order Ticket (or other type of ODS Order Ticket) may include various information such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Information relating to the identity and location of the casino.\",\n \"Information 4902 relating to the order date, time, day, order number, etc.\",\n \"Information 4904 relating to the player/patron identity, player/patron location, EGM ID, EGM location (e.g., bank, zone), etc.\",\n \"Information 4906 identifying each ordered item and associated condiments to be included with each ordered item, price of each ordered item, etc.\",\n \"Pricing Information 4908 relating to subtotal amount(s), food total amount(s), bar total amount(s), tax amount(s), order total amount, etc.\",\n \"Payment information relating to payments, coupons, comps, and/or discounts applied to the order.\",\n \"Comment information 4910 which may include notes or comments provided by the patron to be taken into consideration when processing the order.\",\n \"And/or other types of information described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"BOD Reporting Functionality FIGS.\",\n \"50-54 illustrate example screenshot embodiments of various BOD Report GUIs which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to generate various types of reports relating to selected aspects of the BOD System.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the BOD Report GUIs also may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to access, monitor, track, and/or manage real-time status information relating to the BOD orders, inventory, personnel, etc.\",\n \"By way of illustration, in one embodiment, the Content panel for the Reports Screen (FIG.\",\n \"50) may allow the user to view some or all of the transactions that have occurred using the Beverage On Demand® System.\",\n \"Here the user may be able to view some or all the orders that have been placed, as well as view the receipt and generate reports.\",\n \"The Reports Screen comprises of three tabs: Order Tracking, Delete Orders, and Generate Reports.\",\n \"Clicking on the Order Tracking tab 5003 may give the user a list of some or all of the orders that have been placed on the selected day.\",\n \"The right section of the screen may show the full order for the one selected on the left.\",\n \"The user may select a different day to view from the ‘Select Date’ dropdown menu.\",\n \"Clicking on the Delete Orders tab 5005 may allow the user to remove old transactions from the system's database.\",\n \"To delete old transactions select the date that the user would like to delete up to and click the ‘Delete Transactions’ button.\",\n \"When selecting a date keep in mind that it may delete some or all of the transactions that have taken place on AND before the selected date.\",\n \"The Generate Reports tab 5007 may allow the user to generate reports based on different criteria.\",\n \"When the user first loads up the Reports tab the user may need to select which type of report the user want, the start date and end date, and then press the ‘Apply Filter’ button.\",\n \"NOTE: If the user leaves the start and end date alone the user may get all of the orders regardless of the date.\",\n \"There are a total of four different reports to choose from: Location, Date, Items, and Player.\",\n \"The Location report (e.g., FIG.\",\n \"51) may group some or all of the transactions by the location the transaction came from.\",\n \"In this report the user may see the location the transactions came from, the number of sales that took place in that location, the total amount the sales add up to, and the average price of at least one.\",\n \"The Date report (e.g., FIG.\",\n \"52) may group some or all of the transactions by the date they took place.\",\n \"In this report the user may see the date the transactions took place, the number of orders that occurred on that date, the total amount the sales add up to, and the average price per sale.\",\n \"The Items report (e.g., FIG.\",\n \"53) may group the transactions by the items that have been ordered.\",\n \"Here the user may see how many of at least one item has been sold, the name of the item, and the total amount of sales made from that item.\",\n \"The Player report (e.g., FIG.\",\n \"54) may group the transactions by player.\",\n \"In this report the user may see the player's ID, the player's name, the number of orders they have placed, the total amount of sales from that player, and the average price of at least one sale.\",\n \"After the user has chosen a report (and a filter if wanted), the user is given the option to save the report.\",\n \"In order to save the report click the ‘Save Report’ button at the bottom of the Reports tab.\",\n \"This may create a CSV file on the BOD™ server.\",\n \"The user may choose to save this file anywhere, however, backup report files are automatically saved on the BOD™ server.\",\n \"The Content Panel for the Export Screen may export the database for use on the EGM.\",\n \"Any changes saved to the database may not appear on the EGM until the database has been exported.\",\n \"If there are any problems with items missing on the EGM this is the first thing that may be checked.\",\n \"The Export Screen may have one row with the name “EXPORT”.\",\n \"In order to export the database for use on the EGM click on the edit icon.\",\n \"Clicking on this icon may bring up the Export pop up dialog.\",\n \"To confirm export to the database, click on the edit icon inside the pop up dialog.\",\n \"If the BOD™ service is running, the new menu may appear on the EGM instantly.\",\n \"Otherwise the menu may be updated the next time the BOD™ service is started.\",\n \"According to different embodiments, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to provide alternative and/or additional BOD-related features and functionality such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): 30 day trial with serial activation Closed loop system Patron ability to cancel their order Robust user interface (smartphone inspired) Robust back-end interface (drag and drop functionality) Limit the amount of total items a patron may order at once Limit the amount of alcoholic items a patron may order at once Limit the amount of orders a patron may order during a given time period Enable/disable patron's ability to add comments to their order Configure the order of Categories/Items via the backend system (drag and drop) Configurable pop-up ad before BOD starts Configurable ad banner on the BOD patron skin (EGM patron interface) Configurable receipt information (first name, last name, tier, is birthday) Custom item images may be uploaded (through IGT's Media Manager) Card In/Card Out detection (tells waitstaff if patron has left EGM and what new EGM they're at) Patron notifies of form of payment Micros integration Infogenesis integration Configurable pop-ups (based on age/gender/time/location/birthday/etc.)\",\n \"Patron favorites (displays top 3 based on starred and/or most ordered) Configurable drink pop-up for one-time redemption (patron's birthday etc.)\",\n \"Allow free drinks for different patron tiers Analytics (tracks how often patron's look at Categories/Items, how often they select said items, and how long they look at promotional ads) Heat Map generation (shows hot and cold areas of the gaming floor to maximize wager potentials) Ability to apply X % discount based on gender/age/tier/time/location/etc.\",\n \"Mobile app (for waitstaff closed loop and ordering) Limit and/or ban specific patrons (responsible gaming/person systems) BYOD Set up (Bring Your Own Device) may allow for players to utilize their own devices by logging into a secure local/in-house system Host on Demand (HOD) Services Features and Management In at least one embodiment, “Host On Demand®” allows a patron to contact a host and/or a VIP host via an EGM interface.\",\n \"A more personalized method than pressing the attendant button.\",\n \"Patron machine location/information is sent to a host, VIP host and/or concierge via a “plurality” of configurable means setup within the ODS Menu Manager Application.\",\n \"In at least some embodiments, different features of the HOD Services may be offered or provided for different hosts/services offered by the casino, such as, for example, concierges, bellhops, VIP services, business-related services, etc.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 shows an example screenshot of a HOD Menu GUI 1300, in accordance with one embodiment.\",\n \"The example HOD Menu GUI illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"13 is configured as a frontend GUI which may be displayed and/or accessed by patrons via one or more EGM interfaces.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"19-21 illustrate example screenshot embodiments of various Host On Demand (HOD) Manager GUIs which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to access, manage, configure and/or modify various aspects, features, and parameters relating to the HOD Service(s).\",\n \"In some embodiments, one or more HOD Manager GUIs also may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to access, monitor, track, and/or manage real-time status information relating to various aspects of the HOD Service.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the HOD Manager is where the user may setup the information needed to send alerts.\",\n \"Here, the user may enter the email address from which the user may send alerts as well as indicate whether the user wish to receive the alerts via email, a short message service (SMS), or a printer.\",\n \"In order to access the Manager, navigate to the server on which it is installed.\",\n \"From here, open Internet Explorer®.\",\n \"By default, the homepage may be set to the Synergy Blue AppSite page.\",\n \"If for some reason the home page has changed, the AppSite page may be found at: localhost/appsite.\",\n \"Once the user has loaded up the AppSite, the user may need to click on the Host On Demand® button.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the Manager interface comprises of two sections: Tab Bar and Info Panel.\",\n \"The Tab Bar is where the user may navigate between the different tabs of the HOD® Manager.\",\n \"The three tabs are: General Setup 1902, Host Setup 1904, and Reports 1906.The Info Panel provides some or all the information for the selected tab.\",\n \"Use the Info Panel to view and edit the information needed for at least one tab.\",\n \"The General Setup tab (e.g., FIG.\",\n \"19) is where the user may input some or all the information for the sender's email.\",\n \"This is the email that the alerts may come from.\",\n \"The HOD service may be running in order to access the General Setup tab.\",\n \"After loading up the HOD Manager site, the General Setup tab may automatically be selected.\",\n \"The user may now begin filling out the General Setup fields.\",\n \"The first field to fill out is the port number.\",\n \"This is the port that is used to send emails.\",\n \"The default port is 587.This may not need to be changed.\",\n \"The second field to fill out is the actual email address of the sender.\",\n \"Example: myusername@email.com.\",\n \"The third field to fill out is the SMTP server address.\",\n \"This may be the address of the SMTP server the email address from the second filed uses to send emails.\",\n \"Example: smtp.email.com.\",\n \"The fourth field to fill out is the username for the email account.\",\n \"This is the username needed to log into the email address provided in field two.\",\n \"The fifth and sixth field needed to fill out is the password for the email account.\",\n \"This is the password needed to log into the email address provided in field two.\",\n \"The fifth and sixth field may match in order to submit changes.\",\n \"The last thing needed to fill out is a dropdown box.\",\n \"This may be the default language HOD may use when loaded onto the EGM.\",\n \"After the user has filled out some or all of the fields press the “Save” button to save the changes.\",\n \"The HOD service may be running in order to access the Host Setup tab (e.g., FIG.\",\n \"20).\",\n \"The Host Setup tab is where the user may choose how the user wants to receive alerts.\",\n \"The HOD™ system is able to send alerts in three different ways: to an email address, to a cell phone using a short message service (SMS), or to a printer.\",\n \"After loading the HOD Manager site, click the Host Setup tab.\",\n \"This may load some or all of the information needed in the Info Panel.\",\n \"From here, the user may select how the user would like to receive alerts.\",\n \"The user may choose at least one; however, if desired, the user may select some or all three options.\",\n \"If the user chooses all three, the user may receive an email, an SMS text, and a printed ticket when a customer uses the when someone uses HOD™ option.\",\n \"Checking the Email check box may activate the email field.\",\n \"In this field, type the email address that is to receive the alerts.\",\n \"Selecting the SMS check box activates three fields: the phone number field, the service provider drop-down menu, and the add a provider field.\",\n \"In the phone field enter the phone number to which the SMS texts may be sent.\",\n \"In the service provider dropdown menu, select the appropriate service provider.\",\n \"To remove a service provider from the list, select that provider in the dropdown list and click the Remove Provider button.\",\n \"The final field may allow the user to add a provider to the dropdown list.\",\n \"The user may need to check with your service provider to find out the correct SMS gateway to use.\",\n \"Make sure the user include everything needed in the SMS gateway that follows the “@” symbol, including the “@” symbol itself at the beginning (e.g.\",\n \"@txt.att.net).\",\n \"After entering the SMS gateway into the provider field, click the Add Provider button to add the provider to the dropdown menu.\",\n \"Selecting the printer check box may activate the printer dropdown menu.\",\n \"From here, select the printer that is to print your alerts.\",\n \"If printer selections do not appear, or the list is out of date, click the Update Printer List button to access the list of printers.\",\n \"After setting up how the user would like to receive alerts, press the Save button to save any changes.\",\n \"The Reports tab (e.g., FIG.\",\n \"21) is where the user may be able to access or view (e.g., in real-time) some or all of the calls made by the HOD system.\",\n \"In one embodiment, there are four different types of reports to view: Bank, Calls, Machine Number, and Player.\",\n \"The Bank Report lists how many calls at least one Bank ID has made.\",\n \"The Calls Report lists some or all of the individual calls made.\",\n \"The Machine Number Report lists how many calls at least one machine has made.\",\n \"The Player Report lists how many calls at least one player made.\",\n \"After loading the HOD® Manager site, click the Reports tab.\",\n \"From the dropdown menu, select the type of calls on which to report.\",\n \"From the second dropdown menu, select the appropriate type of report.\",\n \"The system displays the requested call data.\",\n \"The user may filter the reports by selecting a start date and by clicking the Filter Report button.\",\n \"The system lists some or all of the calls that have occurred during that time period.\",\n \"The user may return to the non-filtered view by clicking the Reset Filter button.\",\n \"The user may save a report by clicking the Save Report button.\",\n \"This creates a report from the information that is currently being displayed.\",\n \"After the report is created, the system displays a Save window, which may allow the user to save the file locally.\",\n \"Security on Demand (SOD) Enhanced Services Features and Management In at least one embodiment, “Security On Demand®” (SOD) Service allows a patron to contact a security official and/or a medical aid representative.\",\n \"Patron machine location/information is sent to security and/or medical advisor via a “plurality” of configurable means setup within the ODS Menu Manager Application.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14 shows an example screenshot of a SOD Menu GUI 1400, in accordance with one embodiment.\",\n \"The example SOD Menu GUI illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"14 is configured as a frontend GUI which may be displayed and/or accessed by patrons via one or more EGM interfaces.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"22-25 illustrate example screenshot embodiments of various Security On Demand (SOD) Manager GUIs which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to access, manage, configure and/or modify various aspects, features, and parameters relating to the SOD Service(s).\",\n \"In some embodiments, one or more SOD Manager GUIs also may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to access, monitor, track, and/or manage real-time status information relating to various aspects of the SOD Service.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the Security On Demand™ Manager is where the user may setup the information needed to send security and medical alerts.\",\n \"Here the user may enter what email to send alerts from, as well as whether to receive the alerts through email, SMS, or printer.\",\n \"In order to access the Manager, navigate to the server that it was installed on.\",\n \"From here, the user may need to open up Internet Explorer.\",\n \"By default the homepage may be set to the Synergy Blue Apps page.\",\n \"Once the user has loaded up the app site the user may need to click on the ‘Security On Demand™’ button.\",\n \"This may take the user to the Manager interface.\",\n \"The Menu Manager interface comprises of two sections: Tab Bar, and Info Panel.\",\n \"The Tab Bar is where the user may navigate between the different tabs of the Security On Demand™ Manager.\",\n \"The four tabs are: General Setup, Security Setup, Medical Setup, and Reports.\",\n \"The Info Panel provides some or all the information for the selected tab.\",\n \"The info panel may be used to view and edit the information needed for at least one tab.\",\n \"The General Setup tab (e.g., FIG.\",\n \"22) is where the user may input some or all the information for the sender's email.\",\n \"This is the email that the security/medical alerts may come from.\",\n \"The SOD service may be running in order to access the General Setup tab.\",\n \"After loading up the Security On Demand™ Manager site the General Setup tab may automatically be selected.\",\n \"The user may now begin filling out the General Setup fields.\",\n \"The first field to fill out is the port number.\",\n \"This is the port that is used to send emails.\",\n \"The default port is 587.This may not need to be changed.\",\n \"The second field to fill out is the actual email address of the sender.\",\n \"Example: myusername@email.com.\",\n \"The third field to fill out is the SMTP server address.\",\n \"This may be the address of the SMTP server the email address from the second field uses to send emails.\",\n \"Example: smtp.email.com.\",\n \"The fourth field to fill out is the username for the email account.\",\n \"This is the username needed to log into the email address provided in field two.\",\n \"The fifth and sixth field needed to fill out is the password for the email account.\",\n \"This is the password needed to log into the email address provided in field two.\",\n \"The fifth and sixth field may match in order to submit changes.\",\n \"The last thing needed to fill out is a dropdown box.\",\n \"This may be the default language Security On Demand™ may use when loaded onto the EGM.\",\n \"After the user has filled out some or all of the fields press the ‘Save’ button to save the changes.\",\n \"The Security Setup tab (e.g., FIG.\",\n \"23) is where the user may choose how the user wants to receive security alerts.\",\n \"The Security On Demand™ system is able to send alerts in three different ways: Email, SMS Message, and Printer.\",\n \"The SOD service may be running in order to access the Security Setup tab.\",\n \"After loading up the Security On Demand™ Manager site, click on the Security Setup tab.\",\n \"This may load some or all of the information needed in the Info Panel.\",\n \"From here the user may select how the user would like to receive security alerts.\",\n \"The user may choose at least one, however, the user may have some or all three selected if the user want.\",\n \"If the user chooses some or all three when someone uses Security On Demand™ the user may get an email, SMS Message, and printed ticket.\",\n \"Checking the Email checkbox may bring up the email field.\",\n \"In this field the user may put the address of the email that the user would like to use to receive security alerts.\",\n \"Checking the SMS checkbox may bring up three fields: the phone number field, the service provider dropdown box, and add a provider field.\",\n \"In the phone number field the user may put the phone number where the user would like to receive security alerts via SMS messages.\",\n \"In the service provider dropdown box, find the service provider for the number provided in the phone number field.\",\n \"To remove a service provider from the list select that provider in the dropdown list and click the ‘Remove Provider’ button.\",\n \"The final field may allow the user to add a provider to the dropdown list.\",\n \"Make sure the user include everything needed in the Mail to SMS gateway that follows the ‘@’ symbol, including the ‘@’ symbol itself at the beginning (example: @txt.att.net).\",\n \"Checking the Printer checkbox may bring up the printer dropdown box.\",\n \"Here the user may select a printer that the user would like security alerts to print to.\",\n \"If no printers appear, or the list is out of date, click the ‘Update Printer List’ button to get the list of printers.\",\n \"After setting up how the user would like to receive security alerts, the user may press the ‘Save’ button to save any changes.\",\n \"The Medical Setup tab (e.g., FIG.\",\n \"24) is where the user may choose how the user wants to receive medical alerts.\",\n \"The Security On Demand™ system is able to send alerts in three different ways: Email, SMS Message, and Printer.\",\n \"The SOD service may be running in order to access the Medical Setup tab.\",\n \"After loading up the Security On Demand™ Manager site, click on the Medical Setup tab.\",\n \"This may load some or all of the information needed in the Info Panel.\",\n \"From here the user may select how the user would like to receive medical alerts.\",\n \"The user may choose at least one, however, the user may have some or all three selected if the user want.\",\n \"If the user chooses some or all three when someone uses Security On Demand™ the user may get an email, SMS Message, and printed ticket.\",\n \"Checking the Email checkbox may bring up the email field.\",\n \"In this field the user may put the address of the email that the user would like to use to receive medical alerts.\",\n \"Checking the SMS checkbox may bring up two fields: the phone number field, and the service provider dropdown box.\",\n \"In the phone number field the user may put the phone number where the user would like to receive medical alerts via SMS messages.\",\n \"In the service provider dropdown box, find the service provider for the number provided in the phone number field.\",\n \"To remove a service provider from the list select that provider in the dropdown list and click the ‘Remove Provider’ button.\",\n \"The final field may allow the user to add a provider to the dropdown list.\",\n \"Make sure the user include everything needed in the Mail to SMS gateway that follows the ‘@’ symbol, including the ‘@’ symbol itself at the beginning (example: @txt.att.net).\",\n \"Checking the Printer checkbox may bring up the printer dropdown box.\",\n \"Here the user may select a printer that the user would like medical alerts to print to.\",\n \"If no printers appear, click the ‘Update Printer List’ button to get the list of printers.\",\n \"After setting up how the user would like to receive medical alerts, the user may press the ‘Save’ button to save any changes.\",\n \"After loading the Security On Demand™ Manager site, click on the Reports tab (e.g., FIG.\",\n \"25).\",\n \"The user may choose the type of call the user want to display from the first dropdown menu.\",\n \"The second dropdown menu may allow the user to choose the type of report the user want.\",\n \"The user may filter the reports by selecting a start date and end date and clicking the ‘Filter Report’ button.\",\n \"This may list some or all of the calls that have occurred during that time.\",\n \"The user may clear out the filter by clicking the ‘Reset Filter’ button.\",\n \"The user may save a report by clicking the ‘Save Report’ button.\",\n \"This may create a report from the information that is currently displayed, taking into account the type of call, the type of report, and any filters applied.\",\n \"After the report is created a save dialog box may appear.\",\n \"This may allow the user to save the file locally.\",\n \"Valet on Demand (VOD) Enhanced Services Features and Management In at least one embodiment, “Valet On Demand®” (VOD) Service allows a patron to contact the valet services and notify of an estimated arrival time to have ones vehicle ready before they arrive in the vehicle pickup location.\",\n \"In at least some embodiments, the VOD service may also provide access to other casino services such as, for example: car service, transportation service, luggage service, air transportation service, tour service, etc.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"15 shows an example screenshot of a VOD Menu GUI 1500, in accordance with one embodiment.\",\n \"The example VOD Menu GUI illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"15 is configured as a frontend GUI which may be displayed and/or accessed by patrons via one or more EGM interfaces.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"26-28 illustrate example screenshot embodiments of various Valet On Demand (VOD) Manager GUIs which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to access, manage, configure and/or modify various aspects, features, and parameters relating to the VOD Service(s).\",\n \"In some embodiments, one or more VOD Manager GUIs also may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to access, monitor, track, and/or manage real-time status information relating to various aspects of the VOD Service.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the Valet On Demand™ Manager is where the user may setup the information needed to send alerts.\",\n \"Here the user may enter what email to send valet alerts from, as well as whether to receive the alerts through email, SMS, or printer.\",\n \"In order to access the Manager, navigate to the server that it was installed on.\",\n \"From here, the user may need to open up Internet Explorer.\",\n \"By default the homepage may be set to the Synergy Blue Apps page.\",\n \"If for some reason the home page has changed the apps page may be found at: localhost/appsite.\",\n \"Once the user has loaded up the app site the user may need to click on the ‘Valet On Demand™’ button.\",\n \"The Manager interface comprises of two sections: Tab Bar and Info Panel.\",\n \"The Tab Bar is where the user may navigate between the different tabs of the Valet On Demand™ Manager.\",\n \"The three tabs are: General Setup, Valet Setup, and Reports.\",\n \"The Info Panel provides some or all the information for the selected tab.\",\n \"The info panel may be used to view and edit information needed for at least one tab.\",\n \"The General Setup tab is where the user may input some or all the information for the sender's email.\",\n \"This is the email that the valet alerts may come from.\",\n \"The VOD service may be running in order to access the General Setup tab.\",\n \"After loading up the VOD™ Manager site the General Setup tab (e.g., FIG.\",\n \"26) may automatically be selected.\",\n \"The user may now begin filling out the General Setup fields.\",\n \"The first field to fill out is the port number.\",\n \"This is the port that is used to send emails.\",\n \"The default port is 587.This may not need to be changed.\",\n \"The second field to fill out is the actual email address of the sender.\",\n \"Example: myusername@email.com.\",\n \"The third field to fill out is the SMTP server address.\",\n \"This may be the address of the SMTP server the email address from the second field uses to send emails.\",\n \"Example: smtp.email.com.\",\n \"The fourth field to fill out is the username for the email account.\",\n \"This is the username needed to log into the email address provided in field two.\",\n \"The fifth and sixth field needed to fill out is the password for the email account.\",\n \"This is the password needed to log into the email address provided in field two.\",\n \"The fifth and sixth field may match in order to submit changes.\",\n \"The last thing needed to fill out is a dropdown box.\",\n \"This may be the default language Valet On Demand™ may use when loaded onto the EGM.\",\n \"After the user has filled out some or all of the fields press the ‘Save’ button to save the changes.\",\n \"The Valet Setup tab (e.g., FIG.\",\n \"27) is where the user may choose how the user wants to receive valet alerts.\",\n \"The Valet On Demand™ system is able to send alerts in three different ways: Email, SMS Message, and Printer.\",\n \"The VOD service may be running in order to access the Valet Setup tab.\",\n \"After loading up the Valet On Demand™ Manager site, click on the Valet Setup tab.\",\n \"This may load some or all of the information needed in the Info Panel.\",\n \"From here the user may select how the user would like to receive alerts.\",\n \"The user may choose one, however, the user may have some or all three selected if the user want.\",\n \"If the user chooses some or all three when someone uses Valet On Demand™ the user may get an email, SMS Message, and printed ticket.\",\n \"Checking the Email checkbox may bring up the email field.\",\n \"In this field the user may put the address of the email that the user would like to use to receive Valet alerts.\",\n \"Checking the SMS checkbox may bring up two fields: the phone number field, and the service provider dropdown box.\",\n \"In the phone number field the user may put the phone number where the user would like to receive valet alerts via SMS messages.\",\n \"In the service provider dropdown box, find the service provider for the number provided in the phone number field.\",\n \"To remove a service provider from the list select that provider in the dropdown list and click the ‘Remove Provider’ button.\",\n \"The final field may allow the user to add a provider to the dropdown list.\",\n \"Make sure the user include everything needed in the Mail to SMS gateway that follows the ‘@’ symbol, including the ‘@’ symbol itself at the beginning (example: @txt.att.net).\",\n \"Checking the Printer checkbox may bring up the printer dropdown box.\",\n \"Here the user may select a printer that the user would like valet alerts to print to.\",\n \"If no printers appear, or the list is out of date, click the ‘Update Printer List’ button to get the list of printers.\",\n \"After setting up how the user would like to receive valet alerts, the user may press the ‘Submit’ button to save any changes.\",\n \"The Reports tab (e.g., FIG.\",\n \"28) is where the user may be able to view some or all of the calls made by the Valet On Demand™ system.\",\n \"There are four different types of reports to view: Bank, Calls, Machine Number, and Player.\",\n \"The Bank Report may list how many calls at least one Bank ID has made.\",\n \"The Calls Report may list some or all of the individual calls made.\",\n \"The Machine Number Report may list how many calls at least one machine has made.\",\n \"The Player Report may list how many calls at least one player has made.\",\n \"After loading the Valet On Demand™ Manager site, click on the Reports tab.\",\n \"The user may choose the type of report the user want from the dropdown menu.\",\n \"The user may filter the reports by selecting a start date and end date and clicking the ‘Filter Report’ button.\",\n \"This may list some or all of the valet calls that have occurred during that time.\",\n \"The user may clear out the filter by clicking the ‘Reset Filter’ button.\",\n \"The user may save a report by clicking the ‘Save Report’ button.\",\n \"This may create a report from the information that is currently displayed, taking into account the type of report and any filters applied.\",\n \"Weather on Demand (WOD) Enhanced Services Features and Management In at least one embodiment, “Weather On Demand®” (WOD) Service allows a patron to view local weather (same day as well as multi day forecast) as well as world weather (which is searchable via a provided touch interface input panel).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16 shows an example screenshot of a WOD Menu GUI 1600, in accordance with one embodiment.\",\n \"The example WOD Menu GUI illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"16 is configured as a frontend GUI which may be displayed and/or accessed by patrons via one or more EGM interfaces.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"29 illustrates an example screenshot embodiment of a Weather On Demand (WOD) Manager GUI which may be configured or designed to enable a user (e.g., casino admin or manager) to access, manage, configure and/or modify various aspects, features, and parameters relating to the WOD Service.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, Weather On Demand has a Menu Manager similar to the rest of the On Demand applications and may be accessed through the AppSite interface.\",\n \"The Weather On Demand Manager interface layout comprises of two sections: Tab Bar and Info Panel.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the only tab for the WOD™ Manager is: General Setup (e.g., FIG.\",\n \"29).\",\n \"The Info Panel may provide some or all the information for the General Setup tab.\",\n \"The Info Panel may be used to view and edit the information of the General Setup tab.\",\n \"The General Setup tab is where the default information that is displayed on the EGM is configured.\",\n \"To configure the General Setup, there may be (5) sections to fill out: Default Language, Favored Country, Default Location, Measurement System, and API Key.\",\n \"The first field to fill out is Default Language.\",\n \"A dropdown menu is provided to select from the available list of supported languages.\",\n \"The second section is the Favored Country Setup.\",\n \"Select the desired favored country from the dropdown menu.\",\n \"The third section is Default Location.\",\n \"By typing the desired location into the input field, the website may automatically provide suggestions for default locations.\",\n \"Clicking the desired location suggestion may fill out the text field automatically.\",\n \"The fourth section is Default Measurement System.\",\n \"This may allow the user to configure the temperature and wind speed measurement display (F or C, mph or kph).\",\n \"To do so, click the radio button next to the desired measurement system.\",\n \"The fifth section is the API Key.\",\n \"This key is used to access World Weather Online™ weather API service.\",\n \"Type in the API key that the user received from registering World Weather Online™ into the API input field.\",\n \"Some or all changes may be saved before navigating away from the WOD™ Manager, to save any changes, click on the save button.\",\n \"The system may display a message indicating whether the save was successful or not.\",\n \"Other Features/Benefits/Advantages In at least some embodiments, the On Demand Services System may be configured, designed, and/or operable to provide, enable and/or facilitate one or more of the following features, functionalities, benefits and/or advantages (or combinations thereof): In some embodiments the ODS will run automated processes in which information from one (and/or multiple) database(s) such as, for example Infogenesis, Micros, etc.\",\n \"gets transferred to another.\",\n \"During these processes data is intelligently sorted and structured to run within the ODS framework.\",\n \"Allows current pre-existing property databases to be easily imported which in turn reduces down-time and seamlessly creates a unique dynamic property system using ODS.\",\n \"In some embodiments the ODS will not run automated processes and data may be entered and/or configured manually (if there is no pre-existing database and/or new content is being added).\",\n \"In such highly regulated systems as casinos, security is a number one priority.\",\n \"ODS utilizes secure networking with data encryption, password protection, serial number activation, etc.\",\n \"ODS complies with regulations and is tested and approved.\",\n \"as well as numerous formats where it can be implemented, formats include but are not limited to, pc's, tablets, smartphones, Google Glass, Windows Hololens, pit tables (terminals), G2S/S2S floors, Class 2/Class 3 machines, web-based systems, etc.\",\n \"Uses multiple code languages such as java, C++, HTML5, flash, C#, JSON, etc.\",\n \"which allows for deployment on nearly any platform.\",\n \"In some embodiments the “intelligence” of the system may be configured to monitor patron play and display custom offerings to help make the player feel special, unique, thought-of and involved.\",\n \"For example, in some current bonusing applications, the patron may receive an award/prize based on player card session points earned through play.\",\n \"In doing so, the patron is “enticed” to stay and play longer in order to get another bonus.\",\n \"With the ODS the possibility exists where the player could be prompted with custom messages that may “unlock” different items during different times, Or a different example, If a player is only betting minimum and based on the player card and tracking analytics, the system “knows” they are ordering beverages (and usually do so between x & y times) the system could display messaging that may state: “Max Bet Bar Bash!\",\n \"If you Max Bet within happy hour x, bar x offers top shelf drinks to ODS users .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"” The player doesn't have to max bet, nor are they required to.\",\n \"In some embodiments players, waitstaff, directors etc.\",\n \"can view order progress.\",\n \"From the player point of view, they may be allowed to track their order progress; see when its being delivered etc.\",\n \"Waitstaff can continually monitor their zones checking new, pending, delivered, player location change, etc.\",\n \"Directors can track waitstaff efficiency, times/averages of orders, etc.\",\n \"Closed loop functionality.\",\n \"Regardless if a patron decides to leave the property after ordering a drink, ODS tracks, and delivers real-time updates of card in/out events, order complete, order canceled, pre-defined time-outs etc.\",\n \"All of which are accounted for within the system and can be tracked and viewed at later times.\",\n \"Also the closed loop functionality provides ways wherein the waitstaff does not need to interfere with the patrons gaming screen, they can confirm order delivery with their mobile devices.\",\n \"The robust and dynamically flexible menu system allows a property to display items to the patrons exactly how they want.\",\n \"For example, Coffee could be offered multiple ways, one way would be to setup individual coffee setups, coffee/black, coffee/decaf, coffee/wCream, coffee/wCream&Sugar allowing the patron to select from a pre-defined list of options.\",\n \"Another way may be creating “condiment groups” based on food/drink/item/etc.\",\n \"categories which creates a different user experience, selecting coffee may then display all the available options that “belong” to coffee, such as, cream, sugar, amaretto, and by doing so, the patron gets to choose what they want.\",\n \"Pairing this with the systems “intelligent” features, ODS keeps track of the players custom drinks and allow easy/quick access to order the same in the future.\",\n \"If the ODS system is configured to work in an uncarded environment, some of its features may not be readily available (i.e.\",\n \"player card data) however the order process may be configured to send out SMS, email, messages that can notify waitstaff assigned to that zone of machines to locate the exact machine the request was sent from.\",\n \"The ODS system may be configured to work with tiered players, offering different items, pricing, etc.\",\n \"based on specific tier.\",\n \"In some embodiments ODS may be configured to display/track certain menu items.\",\n \"For example, foods in short supply and/or subject to market availability may have quantity numbers associated with them letting the patron know of the supply and demand of said items.\",\n \"Furthermore the OD S system can be configured to “auto-remove” said items should their quantity reach 0 and the system may also “auto-add” said item if it gets checked in by food & beverage director etc.\",\n \"As with any ordering system, orders can be canceled by both players and waitstaff etc.\",\n \"Configurable timers can be setup as well to automate the process, messaging may be displayed to inform the user(s) of order status.\",\n \"Patron able to access status update of ODS order via ODS GUI.\",\n \"In some embodiments an “order from your own device” option is available to patrons.\",\n \"Onsite players may login to a property website (onsite only) and order directly from there (i.e.\",\n \"if they are at a location that doesn't have a service window and/or kiosk).\",\n \"Geo-location and device tracking methods allow the waitstaff to pinpoint order locations.\",\n \"The features and dynamic framework of ODS is unmatched in the current casino industry.\",\n \"There exists a need for a single complete system that houses all of the players, employees and administrator's needs.\",\n \"OD S provides multiple solutions which are dynamic, flexible, robust and allows for complete customization no matter what the property may choose.\",\n \"Another feature of ODS is the customization freedom.\",\n \"A property can add their own branding, logos, colors, themes, sounds, ads, anything they desire in order to make ODS a seamless property system that matches their surroundings.\",\n \"In some embodiments ODS system allows for multiple versions of payments for items, cash, card (credit/debit), comp, coupons, Apple Pay, Google Wallet, etc.\",\n \"The On Demand Service techniques described herein enable casino patrons/customers to remain in their comfortable seat, wagering on their favorite game, and being able order food, drink, shirts, novelties.\",\n \"Whatever the casino decides to make available to the patron, also get security, weather, valet, medical assistance, and VIP host services without a hassle; on demand.\",\n \"Different embodiments of the On Demand Service techniques described herein may be adapted and implemented in a variety of environments.\",\n \"For example, the On Demand Service techniques described herein are particularly well suited for deployment in any business establishments that house wager-based gaming devices (e.g., class 3 and/or class 2).\",\n \"Additionally, the On Demand Service techniques described herein may appeal to younger gamblers/garners who enjoy playing arcade-style video games, middle aged gamblers/gamers who may have played some video games, and possibly even veteran gamblers who may be bored with existing wager-based video gaming technology.\",\n \"The On Demand Service techniques described herein provide the ability for patrons of casinos and other gaming establishments to experience new and exciting ways of engaging in wager-based video game play with minimized learning curve and intimidation factors.\",\n \"Additionally, using the On Demand Service techniques described herein, casinos and other gaming establishments hosting such On Demand Service devices may increase their revenue by ensuring that the number of wager-based gaming event(s) occurring in an On Demand (e.g., during specified time period) meet minimum specified threshold criteria.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a specific example embodiment of Casino Network 100 which may be configured or designed to implement one or more On Demand Services features described herein.\",\n \"As described in greater detail herein, different embodiments of Casino Networks may be configured, designed, and/or operable to provide various different types of operations, functionalities, and/or features generally relating to On Demand Services technology.\",\n \"According to different embodiments, at least some Casino Network(s) may be configured, designed, and/or operable to provide a number of different advantages and/or benefits and/or may be operable to initiate, and/or enable various different types of operations, functionalities, and/or features, such as, for example, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"According to different embodiments, at least a portion of the various functions, actions, operations, and activities performed by one or more component(s) of the Casino Network may be initiated in response to detection of one or more conditions, events, and/or other criteria satisfying one or more different types of minimum threshold criteria, such as, for example, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"According to different embodiments, at least a portion of the various types of functions, operations, actions, and/or other features provided by the Casino Network may be implemented at one or more mobile device(s), electronic gaming device(s), client systems(s), system servers(s), and/or combinations thereof.\",\n \"According to different embodiments, the Casino Network 100 may include a plurality of different types of components, devices, modules, processes, systems, etc., which, for example, may be implemented and/or instantiated via the use of hardware and/or combinations of hardware and software.\",\n \"For example, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"1, the Casino Network may include one or more of the following types of systems, components, devices, processes, etc.\",\n \"(or combinations thereof): Display System Server(s) 104.In at least one embodiment, the Display System Server(s) may be configured or designed to implement and/or facilitate management of content (e.g., graphics, images, text, video fees, etc.)\",\n \"to be displayed and/or presented at one or more EGDs (or at one or more groups of EGDs), dealer displays, administrator displays, etc.\",\n \"EGD Multimedia System Server(s) 105.In at least one embodiment, the Table Multimedia System Server(s) may be configured or designed to generate, implement and/or facilitate management of content (e.g., graphics, images, text, video fees, audio feeds, etc.\",\n \"), which, for example, is to be streamed or provided to one or more EGDs (or to one or more groups of EGDs).\",\n \"Messaging System Server(s) 106.In at least one embodiment, the Messaging System Server(s) may be configured or designed to implement and/or facilitate management of messaging and/or other communications among and between the various systems, components, devices, EGDs, players, dealers, and administrators of the gaming network.\",\n \"Mobile System Server(s) 108.In at least one embodiment, the Mobile System Server(s) may be configured or designed to implement and/or facilitate management of communications and/or data exchanged with various types of mobile devices, including for example: player-managed mobile devices (e.g., smart phones, PDAs, tablets, mobile computers), casino-managed mobile devices (e.g., mobile gaming devices), etc.\",\n \"Financial System Server(s) 112.In at least one embodiment, the Financial System Server(s) may be configured or designed to implement and/or facilitate tracking, management, reporting, and storage of financial data and financial transactions relating to one or more On Demand sessions.\",\n \"For example, at least some Financial System Server(s) may be configured or designed to track financial transactions relating to On Demand Service(s) requested by or performed for different casino patrons (or other persons).\",\n \"Player Tracking System Server(s) 114.In at least one embodiment, the Player Tracking System Server(s) may be configured or designed to implement and/or facilitate management and exchange of player tracking information associated with one or more EGDs, On Demand sessions, etc.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, a Player Tracking System Server may include at least one database that tracks at least one player's hands, wins/losses, bet amounts, player preferences, etc., in the network.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the presenting and/or awarding of promotions, bonuses, rewards, achievements, etc., may be based on a player's play patterns, time, games selected, bet amount for at least one game type, etc.\",\n \"A Player Tracking System Server may also help establish a player's preferences, which assists the casino in their promotional efforts to: award player comps (loyalty points); decide which promotion(s) are appropriate; generate bonuses; etc.\",\n \"Data Tracking & Analysis System(s) 118.In at least one embodiment, the Data Tracking & Analysis System(s) may be configured or designed to implement and/or facilitate management and analysis of game data.\",\n \"Additionally, the Data Tracking & Analysis System(s) may be configured or designed to track and analyze different transactions relating to different On Demand Service(s) requested by or performed for different casino patrons (or other persons).\",\n \"On Demand Services System 120.In at least one embodiment, the On Demand Services System may be configured or designed to implement and/or facilitate implementation, configuration, management, analysis, and reporting of On Demand Services including, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Beverage On Demand Service(s); Host On Demand Service(s); Security On Demand Service(s); Valet On Demand Service(s); Weather On Demand Service(s); Reporting service(s); and/or other aspects of On Demand Services described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"Gaming System Server(s) (122).\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, different game servers may be configured or designed to be dedicated to one or more specifically designated type(s) of game(s).\",\n \"At least one game server has game logic to host one of more On Demand Services sessions.\",\n \"Jurisdictional/Regulatory Monitoring & Enforcement System(s) 150.In at least one embodiment, the Jurisdictional/Regulatory Monitoring & Enforcement System(s) may be configured or designed to handle tracking, monitoring, reporting, and enforcement of specific regulatory requirements relating to wager-based gameplay activities in one or more jurisdictions.\",\n \"Authentication & Validation System(s) 152.According to different embodiments, the Authentication & Validation System(s) may be configured or designed to determine and/or authenticate the identity of the current player at a given EGD.\",\n \"For example, in one embodiment, the current player may be required to perform a log in process at the EGD in order to access one or more features.\",\n \"Alternatively, the EGD may be adapted to automatically determine the identity of the current player based upon one or more external signals such as, for example, scanning of a barcode of a player tracking card, an RFID tag or badge worn by the current player which provides a wireless signal to the EGD for determining the identity of the current player.\",\n \"In at least one implementation, various security features may be incorporated into the EGD to prevent unauthorized players from engaging in certain types of activities at the EGD.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the Authentication & Validation System(s) may be configured or designed to authenticate and/or validate various types of hardware and/or software components, such as, for example, hardware/software components residing at a remote EGDs, game play information, wager information, player information and/or identity, etc.\",\n \"Examples of various authentication and/or validation components are described in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,620,047, titled, “ELECTRONIC GAMING APPARATUS HAVING AUTHENTICATION DATA SETS,” incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for one or more purposes.\",\n \"Casino Venues.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, at least one casino venue may correspond to a real-world, physical casino which is located at a particular geographic location.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a portion of the multiple different casino venues may be affiliated with at least one other (e.g., Harrah's Las Vegas, Harrah's London).\",\n \"In other embodiments, at least a portion of the multiple different casino venues do not share any affiliation with at least one other.\",\n \"In at least some embodiments, the Casino Network may span across multiple different Casino Venues.\",\n \"Remote Services.\",\n \"In at least some embodiments, remote services (e.g., provided by third parties) may be provided for implementing, facilitating, configuring, monitoring, updating, and/or reporting one or more On Demand Service(s)/feature(s).\",\n \"For example, in one embodiment, a third party may be provided access by a Casino establishment to remotely configure one or more On Demand Service(s)/feature(s) implemented at the Casino establishment's network.\",\n \"Electronic gaming devices (EGDs) 132.As described in greater detail herein, the EGDs may be configured or designed to facilitate and enable players to participate in wager-based gaming sessions.\",\n \"Additionally, the EGDs may be configured or designed to enable players to access one or more On Demand Services features.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the EGDs may be configured or designed to display one or more On Demand GUIs for facilitating patrons in accessing desired On Demand Services features.\",\n \"In some embodiments, different EGDs may be physically located in one or more different casino venues, and may be connected via a communication network.\",\n \"In some embodiments, EGDs may be implemented as stationary machines (as illustrated, for example, in FIG.\",\n \"10).\",\n \"In some embodiments, at least some EGDs may be implemented using mobile devices (e.g., tablets, smartphones, laptops, PC's, and the like).\",\n \"Electronic Gaming Tables 134.In at least some embodiments, the Electronic Gaming Tables may be configured or designed to enable players to access one or more On Demand Services features.\",\n \"Mobile Gaming Devices 136.In at least some embodiments, the Mobile Gaming Devices may be configured or designed to enable players to access one or more On Demand Services features.\",\n \"Data Network 110, which, for example, may include one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Internet Network(s), Cellular Network(s), WAN Network(s), LAN Network(s), and/or other types of communication networks.\",\n \"Game History Server(s) 164.In at least one embodiment, the Game History Server(s) may be configured or designed to track one or more (or selected) game types and game play history for one or more (or selected) On Demands In some embodiments, a Game History Server may also assist the casino manager in case of disputes between players and the casino by, for example, providing the ability to “replay” (e.g., by virtually recreating the game events) the game in dispute, step by step, based on previously stored game states.\",\n \"Such dispute resolution capability is a desirable feature in On Demand environments.\",\n \"Remote Database System(s) which, for example, may be operable to store and provide access to various types of information and data described herein.\",\n \"Remote System Server(s)/Service(s), which, for example, may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Content provider servers/services Media Streaming servers/services Database storage/access/query servers/services Financial transaction servers/services Payment gateway servers/services Electronic commerce servers/services Event management/scheduling servers/services Etc.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the Casino Network may be operable to utilize and/or generate various different types of data and/or other types of information when performing specific tasks and/or operations.\",\n \"This may include, for example, input data/information and/or output data/information.\",\n \"For example, in at least one embodiment, the Casino Network may be operable to access, process, and/or otherwise utilize information from one or more different types of sources, such as, for example, one or more local and/or remote memories, devices and/or systems.\",\n \"Additionally, in at least one embodiment, the Casino Network may be operable to generate one or more different types of output data/information, which, for example, may be stored in memory of one or more local and/or remote devices and/or systems.\",\n \"Examples of different types of input data/information and/or output data/information which may be accessed and/or utilized by the Casino Network may include, but are not limited to, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"According to specific embodiments, multiple instances or threads of the On Demand Service(s) may be concurrently implemented and/or initiated via the use of one or more processors and/or other combinations of hardware and/or hardware and software.\",\n \"For example, in at least some embodiments, various aspects, features, and/or functionalities of the On Demand Service(s) may be performed, implemented and/or initiated by one or more of the various systems, components, systems, devices, procedures, processes, etc., described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, a given instance of the Casino Network may access and/or utilize information from one or more associated databases.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, at least a portion of the database information may be accessed via communication with one or more local and/or remote memory devices.\",\n \"Examples of different types of data which may be accessed by the Casino Network may include, but are not limited to, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"According to different embodiments, various different types of encryption/decryption techniques may be used to facilitate secure communications between various devices, components and/or systems of the Casino Network(s).\",\n \"Examples of the various types of security techniques which may be used may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): random number generators, SHA-1 (Secured Hashing Algorithm), MD2, MD5, DES (Digital Encryption Standard), 3DES (Triple DES), RC4 (Rivest Cipher), ARC4 (related to RC4), TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol, uses RC4), AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), RSA, DSA, DH, NTRU, and ECC (elliptic curve cryptography), PKA (Private Key Authentication), Device-Unique Secret Key and other cryptographic key data, SSL, etc.\",\n \"Other security features contemplated may include use of well-known hardware-based and/or software-based security components, and/or any other known or yet to be devised security and/or hardware and encryption/decryption processes implemented in hardware and/or software.\",\n \"According to different embodiments, one or more different instances or threads of the On Demand Service(s) may be initiated in response to detection of one or more conditions or events satisfying one or more different types of minimum threshold criteria for triggering initiation of at least one instance of the Casino Network.\",\n \"Various examples of conditions or events which may trigger initiation and/or implementation of one or more different threads or instances of the instances or threads of the On Demand Service(s) may include, but are not limited to, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"It may be appreciated that the Casino Network of FIG.\",\n \"1 is but one example from a wide range of Casino Network embodiments which may be implemented.\",\n \"Other embodiments of the Casino Network (not shown) may include additional, fewer and/or different components/features that those illustrated in the example Casino Network embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"1.Generally, the instances or threads of the On Demand Service(s) described herein may be implemented in hardware and/or hardware+software.\",\n \"For example, they may be implemented in an operating system kernel, in a separate user process, in a library package bound into network applications, on a specially constructed machine, or on a network interface card.\",\n \"In a specific embodiment, various aspects described herein may be implemented in software such as an operating system or in an application running on an operating system.\",\n \"Hardware and/or software+hardware hybrid embodiments of the instances or threads of the On Demand Service(s) techniques described herein may be implemented on a general-purpose programmable machine selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in memory.\",\n \"Such programmable machine may include, for example, mobile or handheld computing systems, PDA, smart phones, notebook computers, tablets, netbooks, desktop computing systems, system servers, cloud computing systems, network devices, etc.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates a network diagram of an example embodiment of a Casino Network 100 which may be configured or designed to implement various instances or threads of the On Demand Service(s) techniques described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"As described in greater detail herein, different embodiments of instances or threads of the On Demand Service(s) may be configured, designed, and/or operable to provide various different types of operations, functionalities, and/or features generally relating to On Demand Services technology.\",\n \"Further, as described in greater detail herein, many of the various operations, functionalities, and/or features of the instances or threads of the On Demand Service(s) disclosed herein may provide may enable or provide different types of advantages and/or benefits to different entities interacting with the Casino Network(s).\",\n \"According to specific embodiments, a variety of different game states may be used to characterize the state of current and/or past events which are occurring (or have occurred) at a given EGD.\",\n \"For example, in one embodiment, at any given time in a game, a valid current game state may be used to characterize the state of game play (and/or other related events, such as, for example, mode of operation of the EGD, etc.)\",\n \"at that particular time.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, multiple different states may be used to characterize different states or events which occur at the EGD at any given time.\",\n \"In one embodiment, when faced with ambiguity of game state, a single state embodiment forces a decision such that one valid current game state is chosen.\",\n \"In a multiple state embodiment, multiple possible game states may exist simultaneously at any given time in a game, and at the end of the game or at any point in the middle of the game, the EGD may analyze the different game states and select one of them based on certain criteria.\",\n \"Thus, for example, when faced with ambiguity of game state, the multiple state embodiment(s) allow one or more potential game states to exist and move forward, thus deferring the decision of choosing one game state to a later point in the game.\",\n \"The multiple game state embodiment(s) may also be more effective in handling ambiguous data or game state scenarios.\",\n \"According to specific embodiments, a variety of different entities may be used (e.g., either singly or in combination) to track the progress of game states which occur at a given gaming EGD.\",\n \"Examples of such entities may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combination thereof): master controller system, display system, gaming system, local game tracking component(s), remote game tracking component(s), etc.\",\n \"Examples of various game tracking components may include, but are not limited to: automated sensors, manually operated sensors, video cameras, intelligent playing card shoes, RFID readers/writers, RFID tagged chips, objects displaying machine readable code/patterns, etc.\",\n \"According to a specific embodiment, local game tracking components at the EGD may be operable to automatically monitor game play activities at the EGD, and/or to automatically identify key events which may trigger a transition of game state from one state to another as a game progresses.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 shows an example block diagram of an alternate embodiment of a Casino Network 200 in accordance with a specific embodiment.\",\n \"As illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"2, Casino Network 200 may include: A first plurality of device(s), component(s), system(s), which may function as part of the Casino Network's Backend System 280.In at least one embodiment, access to Casino Network's Backend System may be intended for (or restricted to) authorized personnel such as, for example, Casino staff, Casino Employees, security personnel, authorized users, authorized remote users, authorized remote systems, etc.\",\n \"A second plurality of device(s), component(s), system(s), which may function as part of the Casino Network's Frontend System.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, access to Casino Network's Frontend System may be intended for casino patrons, players, hotel guests, end users, etc.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the Frontend System may include electronic gaming devices 132, electronic gaming tables 134 and/or mobile gaming devices 136 which are located in one or more of the Casino's gaming floors/regions.\",\n \"In at least some embodiments, the electronic gaming machines and other devices on the casino gaming floor may be used by authorized personnel to remotely access one or more device(s), component(s), system(s) of the Backend System.\",\n \"In at least some embodiments, other device(s), component(s), system(s) of the casino network (e.g., such as mobile devices, laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc.)\",\n \"may function as either a Frontend System device or a Backend System device, depending upon the user, and functionality being accessed.\",\n \"For example, a casino patron may use his or her smartphone in various regions of the casino (including, for example, non-gaming regions such as the pool, hotel room, restaurant, etc.)\",\n \"to access the Frontend of the On Demand Services System.\",\n \"In other embodiments, a casino employee (such as a hostess or waitress) may use his or her smartphone to access the Backend of the On Demand Services System.\",\n \"According to different embodiments, the Casino Network 200 may include a plurality of different types of components, devices, modules, processes, systems, etc., which, for example, may be implemented and/or instantiated via the use of hardware and/or combinations of hardware and software.\",\n \"For example, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"2, the Casino Network may include one or more of the following types of systems, components, devices, processes, etc.\",\n \"(or combinations thereof): Electronic gaming devices 132; Electronic gaming tables 134; Mobile gaming devices 136; Network links 210; Network 205, which, for example, may include WANs and/or LANs; Accounting/transaction server 220 may compile, track, store, and/or monitor cash flows, voucher transactions, winning vouchers, losing vouchers, and/or other transaction data for the casino operator and for the players.\",\n \"Transaction data may include the number of wagers, the size of these wagers, the date and time for these wagers, the identity of the players making these wagers, and the frequency of the wagers.\",\n \"Accounting/transaction server 220 may generate tax information relating to these wagers.\",\n \"Accounting/transaction server 220 may generate profit/loss reports for predetermined gaming options, contingent gaming options, predetermined betting structures, and/or outcome categories.\",\n \"Gaming server 225 may generate gaming options based on predetermined betting structures and/or outcome categories.\",\n \"These gaming options may be predetermined gaming options, contingent gaming options, and/or any other gaming option disclosed in this disclosure.\",\n \"Authentication server 230 may determine the validity of vouchers, players' identity, and/or an outcome for a gaming event.\",\n \"Player tracking server 235 may track a player's betting activity, a player's preferences (e.g., language, drinks, font, sound level, etc.).\",\n \"Based on data obtained by player tracking server 235, a player may be eligible for gaming rewards (e.g.\",\n \"free play), promotions, and/or other awards (e.g., complimentary food, drinks, lodging, concerts, etc.).\",\n \"Voucher server 240 may generate a voucher, which may include data relating to gaming options.\",\n \"For example, data relating to the structure may be generated.\",\n \"If there is a time deadline, that information may be generated by voucher server 240.Vouchers may be physical (e.g., paper) or digital.\",\n \"Searching server 242 may implement a search on one or more gaming devices to obtain gaming data.\",\n \"Searching server 242 may implement a messaging function, which may transmit a message to a third party (e.g., a player) relating to a search, a search status update, a game status update, a wager status update, a confirmation of a wager, a confirmation of a money transfer, and/or any other data relating to the player's account.\",\n \"The message may take the form of a text display on the gaming device, a pop up window, a text message, an email, a voice message, a video message and the like.\",\n \"Searching server 242 may implement a wagering function, which may be an automatic wagering mechanism.\",\n \"These functions of searching server 242 may be integrated into one or more servers.\",\n \"Searching server 242 may include one or more searching structures, one or more searching algorithms, and/or any other searching mechanisms.\",\n \"In general, the search structures may cover which Gaming Devices paid out the most money during a time period, which Gaming Devices kept the most money from players during a time period, which Gaming Devices are most popular (top games), which Gaming Devices are least popular, which Gaming Devices have the most amount of money wager during a period, which Gaming Devices have the highest wager volume, which Gaming Devices are more volatile (volatility, or deviation from the statistical norms, of wager volume, wager amount, pay out, etc.)\",\n \"during a time period, and the like.\",\n \"Search may also be associated with location queries, time queries, and/or people queries.\",\n \"The searching structures may be predetermined searching structures.\",\n \"For example, the method may start searching a first device, then a second device, then a third device, up to an Nth device based on one or more searching parameters (e.g., triggering event).\",\n \"In one example, the search may end once one or more triggering events are determined.\",\n \"In another example, the search may end once data has been received from a predetermined number (e.g., one, two, ten, one hundred, one or more) of the devices.\",\n \"In another example, the search may be based on a predetermined number of devices to be searched in combination with a predetermined number of search results to be obtained.\",\n \"In this example, the search structure may be a minimum of ten devices to be searched, along with a minimum of five gaming options to be determined.\",\n \"In another example, the searching structures may be based on one or more specific game types and/or themes (e.g., first person shooter types, first person rail types, TV themes, Movie themes, multiplayer types, etc.).\",\n \"Searching structure may search one or more of these games.\",\n \"In another example, the searching structure may be based on a player's preferences, past transactional history, player input, a particular game, a particular EGD, a particular casino, a particular location within a casino, game outcomes over a time period, payout over a time period, and/or any other criteria.\",\n \"Searching algorithms may be dynamic searching programs, which may be modified based on one or more past results.\",\n \"In one example, the search algorithm may determine that a specific triggering event occurs with a ninety percent success rate on a first EGD, a ten percent success rate on a second EGD, a fifty percent success rate on a third EGD, and a seventy percent success rate on a fourth EGD.\",\n \"The search algorithm may generate a search priority based on the probability of success, which may lead to the first EGD being searched first, the fourth EGD being searched second, the third EGD being searched third, and the second EGD being searched fourth.\",\n \"Search algorithm may utilize any dynamic feedback procedure to enhance current and/or future searching results FIG.\",\n \"3 shows a perspective view of an example gaming machine 302 in accordance with a specific embodiment.\",\n \"As illustrated in the example of FIG.\",\n \"3, device 302 includes a main cabinet or housing 304, which generally surrounds the device interior and is viewable by users.\",\n \"The main cabinet includes an access door 308, which opens to provide access to the interior of the device.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, the gaming machine may be controlled by software executed by a master gaming controller 346 in conjunction with software executed by a remote logic device (e.g., a remote host, a central server or a central controller) in communication with the gaming machine.\",\n \"The master gaming controller may execute externally-controlled interface (ECI) processes which, for example, may enable content generated and managed on the remote host to be output on the gaming machine.\",\n \"The gaming machine may receive and send events to the remote host that may affect the content output by one or more ECI processes as well as enable an ECI process to be initiated on the gaming machine.\",\n \"In one embodiment, attached to the main door is at least one payment acceptor 328 and a bill validator 330, and a coin tray 338.In one embodiment, the payment acceptor may include a coin slot and a payment, note or bill acceptor, where the player inserts money, coins or tokens.\",\n \"The player can place coins in the coin slot or paper money, a ticket or voucher into the payment, note or bill acceptor.\",\n \"In other embodiments, devices such as readers or validators for credit cards, debit cards or credit slips may accept payment.\",\n \"In one embodiment, a player may insert an identification card into a card reader of the gaming machine.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the identification card is a smart card having a programmed microchip or a magnetic strip coded with a player's identification, credit totals (or related data) and other relevant information.\",\n \"In another embodiment, a player may carry a portable device, such as a cell phone, a radio frequency identification tag or any other suitable wireless device, which communicates a player's identification, credit totals (or related data) and other relevant information to the gaming machine.\",\n \"In one embodiment, money may be transferred to a gaming machine through electronic funds transfer.\",\n \"When a player funds the gaming machine, the master gaming controller 346 or another logic device coupled to the gaming machine determines the amount of funds entered and displays the corresponding amount on the credit or other suitable display as described above.\",\n \"In one embodiment attached to the main door are a plurality of player-input switches or buttons 332.The input switches can include any suitable devices which enables the player to produce an input signal which is received by the processor.\",\n \"In one embodiment, after appropriate funding of the gaming machine, the input switch is a game activation device, such as a pull arm or a play button which is used by the player to start any primary game or sequence of events in the gaming machine.\",\n \"The play button can be any suitable play activator such as a bet one button, a max bet button or a repeat the bet button.\",\n \"In one embodiment, upon appropriate funding, the gaming machine may begin the game play automatically.\",\n \"In another embodiment, upon the player engaging one of the play buttons, the gaming machine may automatically activate game play.\",\n \"In one embodiment, one input switch is a bet one button.\",\n \"The player places a bet by pushing the bet one button.\",\n \"The player can increase the bet by one credit each time the player pushes the bet one button.\",\n \"When the player pushes the bet one button, the number of credits shown in the credit display preferably decreases by one, and the number of credits shown in the bet display preferably increases by one.\",\n \"In another embodiment, one input switch is a bet max button (not shown), which enables the player to bet the maximum wager permitted for a game of the gaming machine.\",\n \"In one embodiment, one input switch is a cash-out button.\",\n \"The player may push the cash-out button and cash out to receive a cash payment or other suitable form of payment corresponding to the number of remaining credits.\",\n \"In one embodiment, when the player cashes out, the player may receive the coins or tokens in a coin payout tray.\",\n \"In one embodiment, when the player cashes out, the player may receive other payout mechanisms such as tickets or credit slips redeemable by a cashier (or other suitable redemption system) or funding to the player's electronically recordable identification card.\",\n \"Details of ticketing or voucher system that may be utilized with at least one embodiment described herein are described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"10/406,911, filed Apr.\",\n \"2, 2003, by Rowe, et al., and entitled, “Cashless Transaction Clearinghouse,” which is incorporated herein by reference and for all purposes.\",\n \"In one embodiment, one input switch is a touch-screen coupled with a touch-screen controller, or some other touch-sensitive display overlay to enable for player interaction with the images on the display.\",\n \"The touch-screen and the touch-screen controller may be connected to a video controller.\",\n \"A player may make decisions and input signals into the gaming machine by touching touch-screen at the appropriate places.\",\n \"One such input switch is a touch-screen button panel.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the gaming machine may further include a plurality of communication ports for enabling communication of the gaming machine processor with external peripherals, such as external video sources, expansion buses, game or other displays, an SCSI port or a key pad.\",\n \"According to different embodiments, the gaming machine may be configured or designed to present one or more On Demand GUIs (e.g., via the gaming machine display(s), see, e.g., FIGS.\",\n \"10-21) to thereby enable players or patrons to access one or more On Demand Service(s)/feature(s) such as those described herein.\",\n \"As seen in FIG.\",\n \"3, viewable through the main door is a video display monitor 334 and an information panel 336.The display monitor 334 will typically be a cathode ray tube, high resolution flat-panel LCD, OLED based-display, plasma display, a television display, a display based on light emitting diodes (LED), a display based on polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs), a display including a projected and/or reflected image or any other suitable electronic device or display.\",\n \"The information panel 336 or belly-glass 340 may be a static back-lit, silk screened glass panel with lettering to indicate general game information including, for example, a game denomination (e.g.\",\n \"$0.25 or $1) or a dynamic display, such as an LCD, an OLED or E-INK display.\",\n \"In another embodiment, at least one display device may be a mobile display device, such as a PDA or tablet PC, that enables play of at least a portion of the primary or secondary game at a location remote from the gaming machine.\",\n \"The display devices may be of any suitable size and configuration, such as a square, rectangle elongated rectangle.\",\n \"The display devices of the gaming machine are configured to display at least one and preferably a plurality of game or other suitable images, symbols and indicia such as any visual representation or exhibition of the movement of objects such as mechanical, virtual or video reels and wheels, dynamic lighting, video images, images of people, characters, places, things and faces of cards, and the like.\",\n \"In one alternative embodiment, the symbols, images and indicia displayed on or of the display device may be in mechanical form.\",\n \"That is, the display device may include any electromechanical device, such as one or more mechanical objects, such as one or more rotatable wheels, reels or dice, configured to display at least one or a plurality of game or other suitable images, symbols or indicia.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the display device may include an electromechanical device adjacent to a video display, such as a video display positioned in front of a mechanical reel.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the display device may include dual layered video displays which co-act to generate one or more images.\",\n \"The bill validator 330, player-input switches 332, video display monitor 334, and information panel are gaming machines that may be used to play a game on the game device 302.Also, these devices may be utilized as part of an ECI provided on the gaming machine.\",\n \"According to a specific embodiment, the devices may be controlled by code executed by a master gaming controller 346 housed inside the main cabinet 304 of the device 302.The master gaming controller may include one or more processors including general purpose and specialized processors, such as graphics cards, and one or more memory devices including volatile and non-volatile memory.\",\n \"The master gaming controller 346 may periodically configure and/or authenticate the code executed on the gaming machine.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the gaming machine may include a sound generating device coupled to one or more sounds cards.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the sound generating device includes at least one and preferably a plurality of speakers or other sound generating hardware and/or software for generating sounds, such as playing music for the primary and/or secondary game or for other modes of the gaming machine, such as an attract mode.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the gaming machine provides dynamic sounds coupled with attractive multimedia images displayed on one or more of the display devices to provide an audio-visual representation or to otherwise display full-motion video with sound to attract players to the gaming machine.\",\n \"During idle periods, the gaming machine may display a sequence of audio and/or visual attraction messages to attract potential players to the gaming machine.\",\n \"The videos may also be customized for or to provide any appropriate information.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the gaming machine may include a sensor, such as a camera that is selectively positioned to acquire an image of a player actively using the gaming machine and/or the surrounding area of the gaming machine.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the camera may be configured to selectively acquire still or moving (e.g., video) images and may be configured to acquire the images in either an analog, digital or other suitable format.\",\n \"The display devices may be configured to display the image acquired by the camera as well as display the visible manifestation of the game in split screen or picture-in-picture fashion.\",\n \"For example, the camera may acquire an image of the player and the processor may incorporate that image into the primary and/or secondary game as a game image, symbol or indicia.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the gaming machines on the gaming machine may be controlled by code executed by the master gaming controller 346 (or another logic device coupled to or in communication with the gaming machine, such as a player tracking controller) in conjunction with code executed by a remote logic device in communication with the master gaming controller 346.In at least one embodiment, the master gaming controller 346 may execute ECI processes that enable content generated and managed on a remote host to be output on the gaming machine.\",\n \"The gaming machine may receive and send events to a remote host that may affect the content output on an instantiation of a particular ECI.\",\n \"The master gaming controller 346 may be configured to limit the resources that can be utilized by the ECI processes executing on the gaming machine at any given time and may constantly monitor resources utilized by the ECI processes to ensure that gaming experience on the gaming machine is optimal Games Played Many different types of wager-based games, including mechanical slot games, video slot games, video poker, video black jack, video pachinko, lottery, etc., may be played via the use of one or more gaming devices and/or gaming systems described or referenced herein.\",\n \"In particular, the gaming machine 302 may be operable to provide a play of many different games of chance.\",\n \"The games may be differentiated according to themes, sounds, graphics, type of game (e.g., slot game vs. card game), denomination, number of paylines, maximum jackpot, progressive or non-progressive, bonus games, etc.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the gaming machine 302 may be operable to enable a player to select a game of chance to play from a plurality of different games available on the gaming machine.\",\n \"For example, the gaming machine may provide a menu with a list of the different games that are available for play on the gaming machine and a player may be able to select from the list a first game of chance that they wish to play.\",\n \"In one such embodiment, a In particular embodiments, the master gaming controller 346 may provide information to a remote host providing content to an ECI on the gaming machine 302 that enables the remote host to select graphical and audio themes for the ECI content that matches the theme of the game graphics and game sounds currently played on the gaming machine 302.In one embodiment, the various games available for play on the gaming machine 302 may be stored as game software on a mass storage device in the gaming machine.\",\n \"In one such embodiment, the memory device of the gaming machine stores program codes and instructions, executable by the gaming machine processor, to control the games available for play on the gaming machine.\",\n \"The memory device also stores other data such as image data, event data, player input data, random or pseudo-random number generators, pay-table data or information and applicable game rules that relate to the play of the gaming machine.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the games available for play on the gaming machine may be generated on a remote gaming machine but then displayed on the gaming machine.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the gaming machine 302 may execute game software, such as but not limited to video streaming software that enables the game to be displayed on the gaming machine.\",\n \"When a game is stored on the gaming machine 302, it may be loaded from the mass storage device into a RAM for execution.\",\n \"In some cases, after a selection of a game, the game software that enables the selected game to be generated may be downloaded from a remote gaming machine, such as another gaming machine.\",\n \"As illustrated in the example of FIG.\",\n \"3, the gaming machine 302 includes a top box 306, which sits on top of the main cabinet 304.The top box 306 houses a number of devices, which may be used to add features to a game being played on the gaming machine 302, including speakers 310, 312, 314, a ticket printer 318 which prints bar-coded tickets 320, a key pad 322 for entering player tracking information, a display 316 (e.g., a video LCD display) for displaying player tracking information, a card reader 324 for entering a magnetic striped card containing player tracking information, and a video display screen 35.The ticket printer 318 may be used to print tickets for a cashless ticketing system.\",\n \"Further, the top box 306 may house different or additional devices not illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3.For example, the top box may include a bonus wheel or a back-lit silk screened panel which may be used to add bonus features to the game being played on the gaming machine.\",\n \"As another example, the top box may include a display for a progressive jackpot offered on the gaming machine.\",\n \"During a game, these devices are controlled and powered, in part, by circuitry (e.g.\",\n \"a master gaming controller 346) housed within the main cabinet 304 of the device 302.It will be appreciated that gaming machine 302 is but one example from a wide range of gaming machine designs on which at least one embodiment described herein may be implemented.\",\n \"For example, not all suitable gaming machines have top boxes or player tracking features.\",\n \"Further, some gaming machines have only a single game display—mechanical or video, while others may have multiple displays.\",\n \"Networks In various embodiments, the remote gaming machine may be connected to the host computer via a network of some type such as a local area network, a wide area network, an intranet or the Internet.\",\n \"In one such embodiment, a plurality of the gaming machines may be capable of being connected together through a data network.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the data network is a local area network (LAN), in which one or more of the gaming machines are substantially proximate to each other and an on-site remote host as in, for example, a gaming establishment or a portion of a gaming establishment.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the data network is a wide area network (WAN) in which one or more of the gaming machines are in communication with at least one off-site remote host.\",\n \"In this embodiment, the plurality of gaming machines may be located in a different part of the gaming establishment or within a different gaming establishment than the off-site remote host.\",\n \"Thus, the WAN may include an off-site remote host and an off-site gaming machine located within gaming establishments in the same geographic area, such as a city or state.\",\n \"The WAN gaming system may be substantially identical to the LAN gaming system described above, although the number of gaming machines in each system may vary relative to each other.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the data network is an internet or intranet.\",\n \"In this embodiment, the operation of the gaming machine can be viewed at the gaming machine with at least one internet browser.\",\n \"In this embodiment, operation of the gaming machine and accumulation of credits may be accomplished with only a connection to the central server or controller (the internet/intranet server) through a conventional phone or other data transmission line, digital line (DSL), T-1 line, coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, or other suitable connection.\",\n \"In this embodiment, players may access an internet game page from any location where an internet connection and computer, or other internet facilitator is available.\",\n \"The expansion in the number of computers and number and speed of internet connections in recent years increases opportunities for players to play from an ever-increasing number of remote sites.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that enhanced bandwidth of digital wireless communications may render such technology suitable for some or all communications, particularly if such communications are encrypted.\",\n \"Higher data transmission speeds may be useful for enhancing the sophistication and response of the display and interaction with the player.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the remote gaming machine may be a portable gaming machine such as but not limited to a cell phone, a personal digital assistant, and a wireless game player Images rendered from 3-D gaming environments may be displayed on portable gaming machines that are used to play a game of chance.\",\n \"Further a gaming machine or server may include gaming logic for commanding a remote gaming machine to render an image from a virtual camera in a 3-D gaming environments stored on the remote gaming machine and to display the rendered image on a display located on the remote gaming machine.\",\n \"In addition, various combinations of gaming machines are possible on the gaming machine.\",\n \"For example, some gaming machine only accept cash, cashless vouchers or electronic fund transfers and do not include coin acceptors or coin hoppers.\",\n \"Thus, those of skill in the art will understand that at least one embodiment described herein, as described below, can be deployed on most any gaming machine now available or hereafter developed.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the gaming machine disclosed herein is operable over a wireless network, such as part of a wireless gaming system.\",\n \"In this embodiment, the gaming machine may be a hand held device, a mobile device or any other suitable wireless device that enables a player to play any suitable game at a variety of different locations.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that a gaming machine as disclosed herein may be a device that has obtained approval from a regulatory gaming commission or a device that has not obtained approval from a regulatory gaming commission.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, some wager-based gaming systems may enable functionality relating to other game play concepts/features such as, for example: tournament play with multiple tables; head to head play on and/or between tables; etc.\",\n \"This is in addition to the simple social factor of allowing people to play together on a table, versus playing against each other or against a dealer.\",\n \"Also, it opens the door for traditional types of player input and/or real-time object recognition.\",\n \"For example, players can simply gesture to make something happen, versus pressing a button.\",\n \"For example, in one embodiment, a game of blackjack may be played on an intelligent multi-player electronic gaming system, and a player may be able to split their hand (e.g., of paired 8's) by simply placing their fingers over the virtual cards and spreading their cards out to cause the computer to recognize the split action.\",\n \"According to different embodiments, a wager-based gaming system may be operable as a stand alone device, and/or it can be operable as a server-based device.\",\n \"It can also plug into multi-player platforms.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, some wager-based gaming systems support industry standard software development with WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation), Expressions Blend (for the artists), and Microsoft's XNA, which is used to make PC and XBox games.\",\n \"It will be appreciated that the various wager-based gaming systems described herein are but some examples from a wide range of wager-based gaming systems designs on which various aspects and/or techniques described herein may be implemented.\",\n \"For example, not all wager-based gaming systems have electronic displays or player tracking features.\",\n \"Further, some wager-based gaming systems may include a single display, while others may include multiple displays.\",\n \"Other wager-based gaming systems may not include any displays.\",\n \"As another example, a game may be generated on a host computer and may be displayed on a remote terminal or a remote gaming device.\",\n \"The remote gaming device may be connected to the host computer via a network of some type such as a local area network, a wide area network, an intranet or the Internet.\",\n \"The remote gaming device may be a portable gaming device such as but not limited to a cell phone, a personal digital assistant, and a wireless game player.\",\n \"Images rendered from gaming environments may be displayed on portable gaming devices that are used to facilitate game play activities at the wager-based gaming system.\",\n \"Further a wager-based gaming system or server may include gaming logic for commanding a remote gaming device to render an image from a virtual camera in 2-D or 3-D gaming environments stored on the remote gaming device and to display the rendered image on a display located on the remote gaming device.\",\n \"Thus, those of skill in the art will understand that the various example embodiments described herein may be deployed on most any wager-based gaming system now available or hereafter developed.\",\n \"Gaming device vs.\",\n \"General-Purpose Computer Some preferred wager-based gaming devices of the present assignee are implemented with special features and/or additional circuitry that differentiates them from general-purpose computers (e.g., desktop PC's and laptops).\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, a wager-based gaming device may be defined to include any type of device, machine, apparatus, and/or system which has been configured or designed for use in conducting wager-based game play activities at the wager-based gaming device.\",\n \"Example of such wager-based gaming device may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): mechanical gaming machines, electronic gaming machines, slot-type gaming machines, gaming tables, mobile or portable wager-based gaming devices, etc.\",\n \"Wager-based gaming devices are highly regulated to ensure fairness and, in some cases, wager-based gaming devices are operable to dispense monetary awards of multiple millions of dollars.\",\n \"Therefore, to satisfy security and regulatory requirements in a gaming environment, hardware and software architectures may be implemented in wager-based gaming devices that differ significantly from those of general-purpose computers.\",\n \"A description of wager-based gaming devices relative to general-purpose computing devices and some examples of the additional (or different) components and features found in wager-based gaming devices are described below.\",\n \"At first glance, one might think that adapting PC technologies to the gaming industry would be a simple proposition because both PCs and wager-based gaming devices employ microprocessors that control a variety of devices.\",\n \"However, because of such reasons as 1) the regulatory requirements that are placed upon wager-based gaming devices, 2) the harsh environment in which wager-based gaming devices operate, 3) security requirements and 4) fault tolerance requirements, adapting PC technologies to a wager-based gaming device can be quite difficult.\",\n \"Further, techniques and methods for solving a problem in the PC industry, such as device compatibility and connectivity issues, might not be adequate in the gaming environment.\",\n \"For instance, a fault or a weakness tolerated in a PC, such as security holes in software or frequent crashes, may not be tolerated in a wager-based gaming device because in a wager-based gaming device these faults can lead to a direct loss of funds from the wager-based gaming device, such as stolen cash or loss of revenue when the wager-based gaming device is not operating properly.\",\n \"For the purposes of illustration, a few differences between PC systems and wager-based gaming devices/systems will be described.\",\n \"A first difference between wager-based gaming devices and common PC based computers systems is that wager-based gaming devices are designed to be state-based systems.\",\n \"In a state-based system, the system stores and maintains its current state in a non-volatile memory, such that, in the event of a power failure or other malfunction the wager-based gaming device will return to its current state when the power is restored.\",\n \"For instance, if a player was shown an award for a wager-based game (e.g., of chance, skill and/or some combination thereof) and, before the award could be provided to the player the power failed, the wager-based gaming device, upon the restoration of power, would return to the state where the award is indicated.\",\n \"As anyone who has used a PC, knows, PCs are not state devices and a majority of data is usually lost when a malfunction occurs.\",\n \"This requirement affects the software and hardware design on a wager-based gaming device.\",\n \"A second important difference between wager-based gaming devices and common PC based computer systems is that for regulation purposes, the software on the wager-based gaming device used to generate the wager-based game and operate the wager-based gaming device has been designed to be static and monolithic to prevent cheating by the operator of wager-based gaming device.\",\n \"For instance, one solution that has been employed in the gaming industry to prevent cheating and satisfy regulatory requirements has been to manufacture a wager-based gaming device that can use a proprietary processor running instructions to generate the wager-based game play activities from an EPROM or other form of non-volatile memory.\",\n \"The coding instructions on the EPROM are static (non-changeable) and must be approved by a gaming regulators in a particular jurisdiction and installed in the presence of a person representing the gaming jurisdiction.\",\n \"Any changes to any part of the software required to generate the wager-based game play activities, such as adding a new device driver used by the master gaming controller to operate a device during generation of the wager-based game can require a new EPROM to be burnt, approved by the gaming jurisdiction and reinstalled on the wager-based gaming device in the presence of a gaming regulator.\",\n \"Regardless of whether the EPROM solution is used, to gain approval in most gaming jurisdictions, a wager-based gaming device must demonstrate sufficient safeguards that prevent an operator or player of a wager-based gaming device from manipulating hardware and software in a manner that gives them an unfair and some cases an illegal advantage.\",\n \"The wager-based gaming device should have a means to determine if the code it will execute is valid.\",\n \"If the code is not valid, the wager-based gaming device must have a means to prevent the code from being executed.\",\n \"The code validation requirements in the gaming industry affect both hardware and software designs on wager-based gaming devices.\",\n \"A third important difference between wager-based gaming devices and common PC based computer systems is the number and kinds of peripheral devices used on a wager-based gaming device are not as great as on PC based computer systems.\",\n \"Traditionally, in the gaming industry, wager-based gaming devices have been relatively simple in the sense that the number of peripheral devices and the number of functions the wager-based gaming device has been limited.\",\n \"Further, in operation, the functionality of wager-based gaming devices were relatively constant once the wager-based gaming device was deployed, i.e., new peripherals devices and new gaming software were infrequently added to the wager-based gaming device.\",\n \"This differs from a PC where users will go out and buy different combinations of devices and software from different manufacturers and connect them to a PC to suit their needs depending on a desired application.\",\n \"Therefore, the types of devices connected to a PC may vary greatly from user to user depending in their individual requirements and may vary significantly over time.\",\n \"Although the variety of devices available for a PC may be greater than on a wager-based gaming device, wager-based gaming devices still have unique device requirements that differ from a PC, such as device security requirements not usually addressed by PCs.\",\n \"For instance, monetary devices, such as coin dispensers, bill validators and ticket printers and computing devices that are used to govern the input and output of cash to a wager-based gaming device have security requirements that are not typically addressed in PCs.\",\n \"Therefore, many PC techniques and methods developed to facilitate device connectivity and device compatibility do not address the emphasis placed on security in the gaming industry.\",\n \"To address some of the issues described above, a number of hardware/software components and architectures are utilized in wager-based gaming devices that are not typically found in general purpose computing devices, such as PCs.\",\n \"These hardware/software components and architectures, as described below in more detail, include but are not limited to watchdog timers, voltage monitoring systems, state-based software architecture and supporting hardware, specialized communication interfaces, security monitoring and trusted memory.\",\n \"For example, a watchdog timer may be used in International Game Technology (IGT) wager-based gaming devices to provide a software failure detection mechanism In a normally operating system, the operating software periodically accesses control registers in the watchdog timer subsystem to “re-trigger” the watchdog.\",\n \"Should the operating software fail to access the control registers within a preset timeframe, the watchdog timer will timeout and generate a system reset.\",\n \"Typical watchdog timer circuits include a loadable timeout counter register to enable the operating software to set the timeout interval within a certain range of time.\",\n \"A differentiating feature of the some preferred circuits is that the operating software cannot completely disable the function of the watchdog timer.\",\n \"In other words, the watchdog timer always functions from the time power is applied to the board.\",\n \"IGT gaming computer platforms preferably use several power supply voltages to operate portions of the computer circuitry.\",\n \"These can be generated in a central power supply or locally on the computer board.\",\n \"If any of these voltages falls out of the tolerance limits of the circuitry they power, unpredictable operation of the computer may result.\",\n \"Though most modern general-purpose computers include voltage monitoring circuitry, these types of circuits only report voltage status to the operating software.\",\n \"Out of tolerance voltages can cause software malfunction, creating a potential uncontrolled condition in the gaming computer.\",\n \"Wager-based gaming devices of the present assignee typically have power supplies with tighter voltage margins than that required by the operating circuitry.\",\n \"In addition, the voltage monitoring circuitry implemented in IGT gaming computers typically has two thresholds of control.\",\n \"The first threshold generates a software event that can be detected by the operating software and an error condition generated.\",\n \"This threshold is triggered when a power supply voltage falls out of the tolerance range of the power supply, but is still within the operating range of the circuitry.\",\n \"The second threshold is set when a power supply voltage falls out of the operating tolerance of the circuitry.\",\n \"In this case, the circuitry generates a reset, halting operation of the computer.\",\n \"One standard method of operation for IGT slot device game software is to use a state device.\",\n \"Different functions of the game (bet, play, result, points in the graphical presentation, etc.)\",\n \"may be defined as a state.\",\n \"When a game moves from one state to another, critical data regarding the game software is stored in a custom non-volatile memory subsystem.\",\n \"This is critical to ensure the player's wager and credits are preserved and to minimize potential disputes in the event of a malfunction on the wager-based gaming device.\",\n \"In general, the wager-based gaming device does not advance from a first state to a second state until critical information that allows the first state to be reconstructed has been stored.\",\n \"This feature allows the game to recover operation to the current state of play in the event of a malfunction, loss of power, etc.\",\n \"that occurred just prior to the malfunction.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the wager-based gaming device is configured or designed to store such critical information using atomic transactions.\",\n \"Generally, an atomic operation in computer science refers to a set of operations that can be combined so that they appear to the rest of the system to be a single operation with only two possible outcomes: success or failure.\",\n \"As related to data storage, an atomic transaction may be characterized as series of database operations which either all occur, or all do not occur.\",\n \"A guarantee of atomicity prevents updates to the database occurring only partially, which can result in data corruption.\",\n \"In order to ensure the success of atomic transactions relating to critical information to be stored in the wager-based gaming device memory before a failure event (e.g., malfunction, loss of power, etc.\",\n \"), it is preferable that memory be used which includes one or more of the following criteria: direct memory access capability; data read/write capability which meets or exceeds minimum read/write access characteristics (such as, for example, at least 5.08 Mbytes/sec (Read) and/or at least 38.0 Mbytes/sec (Write)).\",\n \"Devices which meet or exceed the above criteria may be referred to as “fault-tolerant” memory devices, whereas it is which the above criteria may be referred to as “fault non-tolerant” memory devices.\",\n \"Typically, battery backed RAM devices may be configured or designed to function as fault-tolerant devices according to the above criteria, whereas flash RAM and/or disk drive memory are typically not configurable to function as fault-tolerant devices according to the above criteria.\",\n \"Accordingly, battery backed RAM devices are typically used to preserve wager-based gaming device critical data, although other types of non-volatile memory devices may be employed.\",\n \"These memory devices are typically not used in typical general-purpose computers.\",\n \"Thus, in at least one embodiment, the wager-based gaming device is configured or designed to store critical information in fault-tolerant memory (e.g., battery backed RAM devices) using atomic transactions.\",\n \"Further, in at least one embodiment, the fault-tolerant memory is able to successfully complete all desired atomic transactions (e.g., relating to the storage of wager-based gaming device critical information) within a time period of 200 milliseconds (ms) or less.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the time period of 200 mSec represents a maximum amount of time for which sufficient power may be available to the various wager-based gaming device components after a power outage event has occurred at the wager-based gaming device.\",\n \"As described previously, the wager-based gaming device may not advance from a first state to a second state until critical information that allows the first state to be reconstructed has been atomically stored.\",\n \"This feature allows the game to recover operation to the current state of play in the event of a malfunction, loss of power, etc.\",\n \"that occurred just prior to the malfunction.\",\n \"After the state of the wager-based gaming device is restored during the play of a wager-based game, game play may resume and the game may be completed in a manner that is no different than if the malfunction had not occurred.\",\n \"Thus, for example, when a malfunction occurs during a wager-based game, the wager-based gaming device may be restored to a state in the wager-based game just prior to when the malfunction occurred.\",\n \"The restored state may include metering information and graphical information that was displayed on the wager-based gaming device in the state prior to the malfunction.\",\n \"For example, when the malfunction occurs during the play of a card game after the cards have been dealt, the wager-based gaming device may be restored with the cards that were previously displayed as part of the card game.\",\n \"As another example, a bonus game may be triggered during the play of a wager-based game where a player is required to make a number of selections on a video display screen.\",\n \"When a malfunction has occurred after the player has made one or more selections, the wager-based gaming device may be restored to a state that shows the graphical presentation at the just prior to the malfunction including an indication of selections that have already been made by the player.\",\n \"In general, the wager-based gaming device may be restored to any state in a plurality of states that occur in the wager-based game that occurs while the wager-based game is played or to states that occur between the play of a wager-based game.\",\n \"Game history information regarding previous games played such as an amount wagered, the outcome of the game and so forth may also be stored in a non-volatile memory device.\",\n \"The information stored in the non-volatile memory may be detailed enough to reconstruct a portion of the graphical presentation that was previously presented on the wager-based gaming device and the state of the wager-based gaming device (e.g., credits) at the time the wager-based game was played.\",\n \"The game history information may be utilized in the event of a dispute.\",\n \"For example, a player may decide that in a previous wager-based game that they did not receive credit for an award that they believed they won.\",\n \"The game history information may be used to reconstruct the state of the wager-based gaming device prior, during and/or after the disputed game to demonstrate whether the player was correct or not in their assertion.\",\n \"Further details of a state based gaming system, recovery from malfunctions and game history are described in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,804,763, titled “High Performance Battery Backed RAM Interface”, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,863,608, titled “Frame Capture of Actual Game Play,” U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"10/243,104, titled, “Dynamic NV-RAM,” and U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"10/758,828, titled, “Frame Capture of Actual Game Play,” each of which is incorporated by reference and for all purposes.\",\n \"Another feature of wager-based gaming devices, such as IGT gaming computers, is that they often include unique interfaces, including serial interfaces, to connect to specific subsystems internal and external to the wager-based gaming device.\",\n \"The serial devices may have electrical interface requirements that differ from the “standard” EIA 232 serial interfaces provided by general-purpose computers.\",\n \"These interfaces may include EIA 485, EIA 422, Fiber Optic Serial, optically coupled serial interfaces, current loop style serial interfaces, etc.\",\n \"In addition, to conserve serial interfaces internally in the wager-based gaming device, serial devices may be connected in a shared, daisy-chain fashion where multiple peripheral devices are connected to a single serial channel.\",\n \"The serial interfaces may be used to transmit information using communication protocols that are unique to the gaming industry.\",\n \"For example, IGT's Netplex is a proprietary communication protocol used for serial communication between wager-based gaming devices.\",\n \"As another example, SAS is a communication protocol used to transmit information, such as metering information, from a wager-based gaming device to a remote device.\",\n \"Often SAS is used in conjunction with a player tracking system.\",\n \"IGT wager-based gaming devices may alternatively be treated as peripheral devices to a casino communication controller and connected in a shared daisy chain fashion to a single serial interface.\",\n \"In both cases, the peripheral devices are preferably assigned device addresses.\",\n \"If so, the serial controller circuitry must implement a method to generate or detect unique device addresses.\",\n \"General-purpose computer serial ports are not able to do this.\",\n \"Security monitoring circuits detect intrusion into an IGT wager-based gaming device by monitoring security switches attached to access doors in the wager-based gaming device cabinet.\",\n \"Preferably, access violations result in suspension of game play and can trigger additional security operations to preserve the current state of game play.\",\n \"These circuits also function when power is off by use of a battery backup.\",\n \"In power-off operation, these circuits continue to monitor the access doors of the wager-based gaming device.\",\n \"When power is restored, the wager-based gaming device can determine whether any security violations occurred while power was off, e.g., via software for reading status registers.\",\n \"This can trigger event log entries and further data authentication operations by the wager-based gaming device software.\",\n \"Trusted memory devices and/or trusted memory sources are preferably included in an IGT wager-based gaming device computer to ensure the authenticity of the software that may be stored on less secure memory subsystems, such as mass storage devices.\",\n \"Trusted memory devices and controlling circuitry are typically designed to not enable modification of the code and data stored in the memory device while the memory device is installed in the wager-based gaming device.\",\n \"The code and data stored in these devices may include authentication algorithms, random number generators, authentication keys, operating system kernels, etc.\",\n \"The purpose of these trusted memory devices is to provide gaming regulatory authorities a root trusted authority within the computing environment of the wager-based gaming device that can be tracked and verified as original.\",\n \"This may be accomplished via removal of the trusted memory device from the wager-based gaming device computer and verification of the secure memory device contents is a separate third party verification device.\",\n \"Once the trusted memory device is verified as authentic, and based on the approval of the verification algorithms included in the trusted device, the wager-based gaming device is enabled to verify the authenticity of additional code and data that may be located in the gaming computer assembly, such as code and data stored on hard disk drives.\",\n \"A few details related to trusted memory devices that may be used in at least one embodiment described herein are described in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,685,567 (U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"09/925,098), filed Aug. 8, 2001 and titled “Process Verification,” and U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,221,314, filed Sep. 6, 2005, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and for all purposes.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, at least a portion of the trusted memory devices/sources may correspond to memory which cannot easily be altered (e.g., “unalterable memory”) such as, for example, EPROMS, PROMS, Bios, Extended Bios, and/or other memory sources which are able to be configured, verified, and/or authenticated (e.g., for authenticity) in a secure and controlled manner.\",\n \"According to a specific implementation, when a trusted information source is in communication with a remote device via a network, the remote device may employ a verification scheme to verify the identity of the trusted information source.\",\n \"For example, the trusted information source and the remote device may exchange information using public and private encryption keys to verify each other's identities.\",\n \"In another embodiment of at least one embodiment described herein, the remote device and the trusted information source may engage in methods using zero knowledge proofs to authenticate each of their respective identities.\",\n \"Details of zero knowledge proofs that may be used with the present invention are described in US publication no.\",\n \"2003/0203756, by Jackson, filed on Apr.\",\n \"25, 2002 and entitled, “Authentication in a Secure Computerized Gaming System”, which is incorporated herein in its entirety and for all purposes.\",\n \"Wager-based gaming devices storing trusted information may utilize apparatus or methods to detect and prevent tampering.\",\n \"For instance, trusted information stored in a trusted memory device may be encrypted to prevent its misuse.\",\n \"In addition, the trusted memory device may be secured behind a locked door.\",\n \"Further, one or more sensors may be coupled to the memory device to detect tampering with the memory device and provide some record of the tampering.\",\n \"In yet another example, the memory device storing trusted information might be designed to detect tampering attempts and clear or erase itself when an attempt at tampering has been detected.\",\n \"Additional details relating to trusted memory devices/sources are described in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,078,966, entitled “Secured Virtual Network in a Gaming Environment”, naming Nguyen et al.\",\n \"as inventors, filed on Mar.\",\n \"10, 2005, herein incorporated in its entirety and for all purposes.\",\n \"Mass storage devices used in a general purpose computer typically enable code and data to be read from and written to the mass storage device.\",\n \"In a wager-based gaming system environment, modification of the gaming code stored on a mass storage device is strictly controlled and would only be enabled under specific maintenance type events with electronic and physical enablers required.\",\n \"Though this level of security could be provided by software, IGT gaming computers that include mass storage devices preferably include hardware level mass storage data protection circuitry that operates at the circuit level to monitor attempts to modify data on the mass storage device and will generate both software and hardware error triggers should a data modification be attempted without the proper electronic and physical enablers being present.\",\n \"Details using a mass storage device that may be used with at least one embodiment described herein are described, for example, in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,149,522, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 shows a block diagram 400 of electronic gaming device 400, in accordance with a specific embodiment.\",\n \"Electronic gaming device 400 may include a processor 402, a memory 404, a network interface 422, input devices 428, and a display 426.Processor 402 may generate gaming options based on predetermined betting structures and/or outcome categories.\",\n \"Predetermined betting structures may utilize more than one outcome category to generate via processor 402 gaming options.\",\n \"Predetermined betting structures may combine any outcome category with any other outcome category to gaming options.\",\n \"Processor 402 may offer a gaming option which is structured so that the gaming option relates to more than one EGD.\",\n \"Processor 402 may generate contingent gaming options 108 and/or predetermined gaming options 106.Contingent gaming options 108 may be structures such that when a triggering event occurs over one or more than one gaming event, racing event, and/or sporting event, the wager is activated.\",\n \"Network interface 422 may allow electronic gaming device 400 to communicate with video/multimedia server 215, accounting/transaction server 220, gaming server 225, authentication server 230, player tracking server 235, voucher server 240, and gaming table 260.Input devices 428 may be mechanical buttons, electronic buttons, a touchscreen, a microphone, cameras, an optical scanner, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"Input devices 428 may be utilized to make a wager, to make an offer to buy or sell a voucher, to determine a voucher's worth, to cash in a voucher, to modify (e.g., change sound level, configuration, font, language, etc.)\",\n \"electronic gaming device 400, to select a movie or music, to select type of content to be displayed on main and/or auxiliary screen(s) of EGD, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"Display 426 may show video streams from one or more gaming tables 260, gaming objects from one or more gaming tables 260, computer generated graphics, predetermined gaming options 106, and/or contingent gaming options 108.Memory 404 may include various memory modules 440.Memory 404 via various memory modules 440 may include a future betting module 406, a predetermined game options module 408, a contingent game options module 410, a confirmation module 412, a validation module 414, a voucher module 416, a reporting module 418, a maintenance module 420, a player tracking preferences module 424, a searching module 430, and an account module 432.Future betting module 406 may store data relating to the predetermined betting structure.\",\n \"Processor 402 may utilize data in future betting module 406 to generate predetermined gaming options 106 and contingent gaming options 108.Any other processor (e.g., gaming server 225, any virtualized gaming server, etc.)\",\n \"may implement these functions of processor 402.Predetermined game options module 408 may store data relating to predetermined gaming options 106, which may be offered to a player.\",\n \"Contingent game options module 410 may store data relating to continent gaming options 108, which may be offered to a player.\",\n \"Confirmation module 412 may utilize data received from a voucher, the transaction history of the voucher (e.g., the voucher changed hands in a secondary market), and/or the identity of the player to confirm the value of the voucher.\",\n \"In another example, confirmation module 412 may utilize game event data, along with voucher data to confirm the value of the voucher.\",\n \"Validation module 414 may utilize data received from a voucher to confirm the validity of the voucher.\",\n \"Voucher module 416 may store data relating to generated vouchers, redeemed vouchers, bought vouchers, and/or sold vouchers.\",\n \"Reporting module 418 may generate reports related to a performance of electronic gaming device 400, electronic gaming system 200, On Demand 260, video streams, gaming objects, credit device 112, and/or identification device 114.In one implementation, reporting module 418 may reside on a central server and may aggregate and generate real time statistics on betting activities at one or more gaming device(s) at one or more participating casino's.\",\n \"The aggregate betting statistics may include trends (e.g., aggregate daily wager volume and wager amount by game types, by casinos, and the like), top games with the most payouts, top tables with the most payouts, top search structures used by players, most popular gaming device(s) by wager volume, most searched for game, gaming device(s) with least payouts, weekly trends, monthly trends, and other statistics related to game plays, wagers, people, location, and searches.\",\n \"The information and statistics generated by the server-based reporting module 418 may be displayed publicly or privately.\",\n \"For example, popular trending and statistical information on wager volume and wager amount for the top ten gaming device(s) may be publicly displayed in a casino display system so that players may study and decide what game to play, where, when, etc.\",\n \"Such a public display of general statistics may also be posted on the Internet, sent out as a text, an email, or multimedia message to the player's smart phones, tablets, desktop computer, etc.\",\n \"In another example, the trending and statistical information may also be distributed privately to privileged players such as casino club members.\",\n \"Maintenance module 420 may track any maintenance that is implemented on electronic gaming device 400 and/or electronic gaming system 200.Maintenance module 420 may schedule preventative maintenance and/or request a service call based on a device error.\",\n \"Player tracking preferences module 424 may compile and track data associated with a players preferences.\",\n \"Searching module 430 may include one or more searching structures, one or more searching algorithms, and/or any other searching mechanisms.\",\n \"The searching structures may be predetermined searching structures.\",\n \"For example, the method may start searching a first device, then a second device, then a third device, up to an Nth device based on one or more searching parameters (e.g., triggering event).\",\n \"In one example, the search may end once one or more triggering events are determined.\",\n \"In another example, the search may end once data has been received from a predetermined number (e.g., one, two, ten, one hundred, one or more) of the devices.\",\n \"In another example, the search may be based on a predetermined number of devices to be searched in combination with a predetermined number of search results to be obtained.\",\n \"In this example, the search structure may be a minimum of ten devices to be searched, along with a minimum of five gaming options to be determined.\",\n \"In another example, the searching structures may be based on one or more specific games (e.g., baccarat tables, roulette tables, blackjack tables, poker tables, craps tables, Sic Bo tables, etc.).\",\n \"Searching structure may search one or more of these games.\",\n \"In another example, the searching structure may be based on a player's preferences, past transactional history, player input, a particular gaming device or game type, a particular EGD, a particular casino, a particular location within a casino, game outcomes over a time period, payout over a time period, and/or any other criteria.\",\n \"Searching algorithms may be dynamic searching programs, which may be modified based on one or more past results, as described previously.\",\n \"In another example, the search algorithm may generate a search priority based on the probability of success various events and/or conditions, as described previously.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the search algorithm may utilize any dynamic feedback procedure to enhance current and/or future searching results.\",\n \"Account module 432 may include data relating to an account balance, a wager limit, a number of wagers placed, credit limits, any other player information, and/or any other account information.\",\n \"Data from account module 432 may be utilized to determine whether a wager may be accepted.\",\n \"For example, when a search has determined a triggering event, the device and/or system may determine whether to allow this wager based on one or more of a wager amount, a number of wagers, a wager limit, an account balance, and/or any other criteria.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the On Demand Module 434 may be configured or designed to implement and/or facilitate access to one or more On Demand Service(s)/feature(s) including, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Beverage On Demand Service(s); Host On Demand Service(s); Security On Demand Service(s); Valet On Demand Service(s); Weather On Demand Service(s); Reporting service(s); and/or other aspects of On Demand Services described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, at least a portion of the modules discussed in block diagram 400 may reside locally in gaming terminal 400.However, in at least some embodiments, the functions performed by these modules may be implemented in one or more remote servers.\",\n \"For instance, modules 406-420, 424, 434, etc.\",\n \"may be implemented on a remote server, communicating with gaming terminal 400 via a network interface such as Ethernet in a local or a wide area network topology.\",\n \"In some implementations, these servers may be physical servers in a data center.\",\n \"In some other implementations, these servers may be virtualized.\",\n \"In yet some other implementations, the functions performed by these modules may be implemented as web services.\",\n \"For example, the predetermined game options module 408 may be implemented in software as a web service provider.\",\n \"Gaming terminal 400 would make service requests over the web for the available predetermined wager options to be displayed.\",\n \"Regardless of how the modules and their respective functions are implemented, the interoperability with the gaming terminal 400 is seamless.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary intelligent multi-player electronic gaming system 500 in accordance with a specific embodiment.\",\n \"In some embodiments, gaming system by hundred may be implemented as a gaming server.\",\n \"In other embodiments, gaming system 500 may be implemented as an electronic gaming machine (EGM) or electronic gaming device (EGD).\",\n \"As illustrated in the embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"5, gaming system 500 includes at least one processor 510, at least one interface 506, and memory 516.Additionally, as illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"5, gaming system 500 includes at least one master gaming controller 512, a multi-touch sensor and display system 590, a plurality of peripheral device components 550, and various other components, devices, systems such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Candle control system 569 which, for example, may include functionality for determining and/or controlling the appearances of one or more candles, etc.\",\n \"; Transponders 554; Wireless communication components 556; Gaming chip/wager token tracking components 570; Games state tracking components 574; Motion/gesture analysis and interpretation components 584; Audio/video processors 583 which, for example, may include functionality for detecting, analyzing and/or managing various types of audio and/or video information relating to various activities at the gaming system.\",\n \"Various interfaces 506b (e.g., for communicating with other devices, components, systems, etc.\",\n \"); Tournament manager 575; On Demand Component(s) 576; Sensors 560; One or more cameras 562; One or more microphones 563; Secondary display(s) 535a; Input devices 530a; Motion/gesture detection components 551; Peripheral Devices 550; One or more cameras (e.g., 562) may be used to monitor, stream and/or record image content and/or video content relating to persons or objects within at least one camera's view.\",\n \"For example, in at least one embodiment where the gaming system is implemented as an EGD, camera 562 may be used to generate a live, real-time video feed of a player (or other person) who is currently interacting with the EGD.\",\n \"In some embodiments, camera 562 may be used to verify a user's identity (e.g., by authenticating detected facial features), and/or may be used to monitor or tract facial expressions and/or eye movements of a user or player who is interacting with the gaming system.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, display system 590 may include one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): EGD controllers 591; Multipoint sensing device(s) (e.g., multi-touch surface sensors/components); Display device(s) 595; Input/touch surface 596; Etc.\",\n \"According to various embodiments, display surface(s) 595 may include one or more display screens utilizing various types of display technologies such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): LCDs (Liquid Crystal Display), Plasma, OLEDs (Organic Light Emitting Display), TOLED (Transparent Organic Light Emitting Display), Flexible (F)OLEDs, Active matrix (AM) OLED, Passive matrix (PM) OLED, Phosphor-escent (PH) OLEDs, SEDs (surface-conduction electron-emitter display), EPD (ElectroPhoretic display), FEDs (Field Emission Displays) and/or other suitable display technology.\",\n \"EPD displays may be provided by E-ink of Cambridge, Mass.\",\n \"OLED displays of the type list above may be provided by Universal Display Corporation, Ewing, N.J.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, master gaming controller 512 may include one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Authentication/validation components 544; Device drivers 542; Logic devices 513, which may include one or more processors 510; Memory 516, which may include one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): configuration software 514, non-volatile memory 515, EPROMS 508, RAM 509, associations 518 between indicia and configuration software, etc.\",\n \"; Interfaces 506; Etc.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, Peripheral Devices 550 may include one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Power distribution components 558; Non-volatile memory 519a (and/or other types of memory); Bill acceptor 553; Ticket I/O 555; Player tracking I/O 557; Meters 559 (e.g., hard and/or soft meters); Meter detect circuitry 559a; Processor(s) 510a; Interface(s) 506a; Display(s) 535; Independent security system 561; Door detect switches 567; Candles, etc.\",\n \"571; Input devices 530; Etc.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the On Demand Component(s) 576 may be configured or designed to implement and/or facilitate access to one or more On Demand Service(s)/feature(s) including, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Beverage On Demand Service(s); Host On Demand Service(s); Security On Demand Service(s); Valet On Demand Service(s); Weather On Demand Service(s); Reporting service(s); and/or other aspects of On Demand Services described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"In one implementation, processor 510 and master gaming controller 512 are included in a logic device 513 enclosed in a logic device housing.\",\n \"The processor 510 may include any conventional processor or logic device configured to execute software allowing various configuration and reconfiguration tasks such as, for example: a) communicating with a remote source via communication interface 506, such as a server that stores authentication information or games; b) converting signals read by an interface to a format corresponding to that used by software or memory in the gaming system; c) accessing memory to configure or reconfigure game parameters in the memory according to indicia read from the device; d) communicating with interfaces, various peripheral devices and/or I/O devices; e) operating peripheral devices such as, for example, card readers, paper ticket readers, etc.\",\n \"; f) operating various I/O devices such as, for example, displays 535, input devices 530; etc.\",\n \"For instance, the processor 510 may send messages including game play information to the displays 535 to inform players of game play/event information, wagering information, and/or other desired information.\",\n \"In at least one implementation, the gaming system may include card readers such as used with credit cards, or other identification code reading devices to allow or may require player identification in connection with play of the card game and associated recording of game action.\",\n \"Such a player identification interface may be implemented in the form of a variety of magnetic card readers commercially available for reading a player-specific identification information.\",\n \"The player-specific information may be provided on specially constructed magnetic cards issued by a casino, or magnetically coded credit cards or debit cards frequently used with national credit organizations such as VISA, MASTERCARD, AMERICAN EXPRESS, or banks and other institutions.\",\n \"The gaming system may include other types of participant identification mechanisms which may use a fingerprint image, eye blood vessel image reader, or other suitable biological information to confirm identity of the player.\",\n \"Such personalized identification information could also be used to confirm credit use of a smart card, transponder, and/or player's personal player input device (UID).\",\n \"The gaming system 500 also includes memory 516 which may include, for example, volatile memory (e.g., RAM 509), non-volatile memory 519 (e.g., disk memory, FLASH memory, EPROMs, etc.\",\n \"), unalterable memory (e.g., EPROMs 508), etc.\",\n \"The memory may be configured or designed to store, for example: 1) configuration software 514 such as one or more the parameters and settings for a game playable on the gaming system; 2) associations 518 between configuration indicia read from a device with one or more parameters and settings; 3) communication protocols allowing the processor 510 to communicate with peripheral devices and I/O devices 511; 5) a secondary memory storage device 515 such as a non-volatile memory device, configured to store gaming software related information (the gaming software related information and memory may be used to store various audio files and games not currently being used and invoked in a configuration or reconfiguration); 5) communication transport protocols (such as, for example, TCP/IP, USB, Firewire, IEEE1394, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11x (IEEE 802.11 standards), hiperlan/2, HomeRF, etc.)\",\n \"for allowing the gaming system to communicate with local and non-local devices using such protocols; etc.\",\n \"In one implementation, the master gaming controller 512 communicates using a serial communication protocol.\",\n \"A few examples of serial communication protocols that may be used to communicate with the master gaming controller include but are not limited to USB, RS-232 and Netplex (a proprietary protocol developed by IGT, Reno, Nev.).\",\n \"A plurality of device drivers 542 may be stored in memory 516.Example of different types of device drivers may include device drivers for gaming system components, device drivers for gaming system components, etc.\",\n \"Typically, the device drivers 542 utilize a communication protocol of some type that enables communication with a particular physical device.\",\n \"The device driver abstracts the hardware implementation of a device.\",\n \"For example, a device drive may be written for at least one type of card reader that may be potentially connected to the gaming system.\",\n \"Examples of communication protocols used to implement the device drivers include Netplex, USB, Serial, Ethernet 575, Firewire, I/O debouncer, direct memory map, serial, PCI, parallel, RF, Bluetooth™, near-field communications (e.g., using near-field magnetics), 802.11 (WiFi), etc.\",\n \"Netplex is a proprietary IGT standard while the others are open standards.\",\n \"According to a specific embodiment, when one type of a particular device is exchanged for another type of the particular device, a new device driver may be loaded from the memory 516 by the processor 510 to allow communication with the device.\",\n \"For instance, one type of card reader in gaming system 500 may be replaced with a second type of card reader where device drivers for both card readers are stored in the memory 516.In some embodiments, the software units stored in the memory 516 may be upgraded as needed.\",\n \"For instance, when the memory 516 is a hard drive, new games, game options, various new parameters, new settings for existing parameters, new settings for new parameters, device drivers, and new communication protocols may be uploaded to the memory from the master gaming controller 512 or from some other external device.\",\n \"As another example, when the memory 516 includes a CD/DVD drive including a CD/DVD designed or configured to store game options, parameters, and settings, the software stored in the memory may be upgraded by replacing a first CD/DVD with a second CD/DVD.\",\n \"In yet another example, when the memory 516 uses one or more flash memory 519 or EPROM 508 units designed or configured to store games, game options, parameters, settings, the software stored in the flash and/or EPROM memory units may be upgraded by replacing one or more memory units with new memory units which include the upgraded software.\",\n \"In another embodiment, one or more of the memory devices, such as the hard-drive, may be employed in a game software download process from a remote software server.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the gaming system 500 may also include various authentication and/or validation components 544 which may be used for authenticating/validating specified gaming system components such as, for example, hardware components, software components, firmware components, information stored in the gaming system memory 516, etc.\",\n \"Examples of various authentication and/or validation components are described in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,620,047, entitled, “ELECTRONIC GAMING APPARATUS HAVING AUTHENTICATION DATA SETS,” incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for one or more purposes.\",\n \"Sensors 560 may include, for example, optical sensors, pressure sensors, RF sensors, Infrared sensors, motion sensors, audio sensors, image sensors, thermal sensors, biometric sensors, etc.\",\n \"As mentioned previously, such sensors may be used for a variety of functions such as, for example: detecting the presence and/or monetary amount of gaming chips which have been placed within a player's wagering zone; detecting (e.g., in real time) the presence and/or monetary amount of gaming chips which are within the player's personal space; etc.\",\n \"In one implementation, at least a portion of the sensors 560 and/or input devices 530 may be implemented in the form of touch keys selected from a wide variety of commercially available touch keys used to provide electrical control signals.\",\n \"Alternatively, some of the touch keys may be implemented in another form which are touch sensors such as those provided by a touchscreen display.\",\n \"For example, in at least one implementation, the gaming system player may include input functionality for enabling players to provide their game play decisions/instructions (and/or other input) to the EGD using the touch keys and/or other player control sensors/buttons.\",\n \"Additionally, such input functionality may also be used for allowing players to provide input to other devices in the casino gaming network (such as, for example, player tracking systems, side wagering systems, etc.)\",\n \"Wireless communication components 556 may include one or more communication interfaces having different architectures and utilizing a variety of protocols such as, for example, 802.11 (WiFi), 802.15 (including Bluetooth™), 802.16 (WiMax), 802.22, Cellular standards such as CDMA, CDMA2000, WCDMA, Radio Frequency (e.g., RFID), Infrared, Near Field Magnetic communication protocols, etc.\",\n \"The communication links may transmit electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals which carry digital data streams or analog signals representing various types of information.\",\n \"An example of a near-field communication protocol is the ECMA-340 “Near Field Communication—Interface and Protocol (NFCIP-1)”, published by ECMA International (www.ecma-international.org), herein incorporated by reference in its entirety for one or more purposes.\",\n \"It may be appreciated that other types of Near Field Communication protocols may be used including, for example, near field magnetic communication protocols, near field RF communication protocols, and/or other wireless protocols which provide the ability to control with relative precision (e.g., on the order of centimeters, inches, feet, meters, etc.)\",\n \"the allowable radius of communication between at least 5 devices using such wireless communication protocols.\",\n \"Power distribution components 558 may include, for example, components or devices which are operable for providing wireless power to other devices.\",\n \"For example, in one implementation, the power distribution components 558 may include a magnetic induction system which is adapted to provide wireless power to one or more portable UIDs at the gaming system.\",\n \"In one implementation, a UID docking region may include a power distribution component which is able to recharge a UID placed within the UID docking region without requiring metal-to-metal contact.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, motion/gesture detection component(s) 551 may be configured or designed to detect player movements and/or gestures and/or other input data from the player.\",\n \"In some embodiments, at least one gaming system may have its own respective motion/gesture detection component(s).\",\n \"In other embodiments, motion/gesture detection component(s) 551 may be implemented as a separate sub-system of the gaming system which is not associated with any one specific gaming system or device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary mobile gaming device 600 in accordance with a specific embodiment.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, one or more players may participate in a wager-based, arcade-style video game session using mobile gaming devices.\",\n \"In at least some embodiments, the mobile gaming device may be configured or designed to include or provide functionality which is similar to that of an electronic gaming device (EGD) such as that described, for example, in FIG.\",\n \"4.As illustrated in the example of FIG.\",\n \"6, mobile gaming device 600 may include a variety of components, modules and/or systems for providing various functionality.\",\n \"For example, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6, mobile gaming device 600 may include Mobile Device Application components (e.g., 660), which, for example, may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): UI Components 662 such as those illustrated, described, and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"Database Components 664 such as those illustrated, described, and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"Processing Components 666 such as those illustrated, described, and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"On Demand Application(s) 676 such as those illustrated, described, and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"Other Components 668 which, for example, may include components for facilitating and/or enabling the mobile gaming device to perform and/or initiate various types of operations, activities, functions such as those described herein.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the mobile gaming device may include Mobile Device App Component(s) which have been configured or designed to provide functionality for enabling or implementing at least a portion of the various On Demand Service(s) at the mobile gaming device.\",\n \"According to specific embodiments, various aspects, features, and/or functionalities of the mobile gaming device may be performed, implemented and/or initiated by one or more of the following types of systems, components, systems, devices, procedures, processes, etc.\",\n \"(or combinations thereof): Processor(s) 610 Device Drivers 642 Memory 616 Interface(s) 606 Power Source(s)/Distribution 643 Geolocation module 646 Display(s) 635 I/O Devices 630 Audio/Video devices(s) 639 Peripheral Devices 631 Motion Detection module 640 User Identification/Authentication module 647 Client App Component(s) 660 Other Component(s) 668 UI Component(s) 662 Database Component(s) 664 Processing Component(s) 666 Software/Hardware Authentication/Validation 644 Wireless communication module(s) 645 Information Filtering module(s) 649 Operating mode selection component 648 Speech Processing module 654 Scanner/Camera 652 OCR Processing Engine 656 etc.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an example embodiment of a system server 780 which may be used for implementing various aspects/features described herein.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the system server 780 includes at least one network device 760, and at least one storage device 770 (such as, for example, a direct attached storage device).\",\n \"In one embodiment, system server 780 may be suitable for implementing at least some of the On Demand Service(s)/feature(s) described herein.\",\n \"In according to one embodiment, network device 760 may include a master central processing unit (CPU) 762, interfaces 768, and a bus 767 (e.g., a PCI bus).\",\n \"When acting under the control of appropriate software or firmware, the CPU 762 may be responsible for implementing specific functions associated with the functions of a desired network device.\",\n \"For example, when configured as a server, the CPU 762 may be responsible for analyzing packets; encapsulating packets; forwarding packets to appropriate network devices; instantiating various types of virtual machines, virtual interfaces, virtual storage volumes, virtual appliances; etc.\",\n \"The CPU 762 preferably accomplishes at least a portion of these functions under the control of software including an operating system (e.g.\",\n \"Linux), and any appropriate system software (such as, for example, AppLogic™™ software).\",\n \"CPU 762 may include one or more processors 763 such as, for example, one or more processors from the AMD, Motorola, Intel and/or MIPS families of microprocessors.\",\n \"In an alternative embodiment, processor 763 may be specially designed hardware for controlling the operations of system server 780.In a specific embodiment, a memory 761 (such as non-volatile RAM and/or ROM) also forms part of CPU 762.However, there may be many different ways in which memory could be coupled to the system.\",\n \"Memory block 761 may be used for a variety of purposes such as, for example, caching and/or storing data, programming instructions, etc.\",\n \"The interfaces 768 may be typically provided as interface cards (sometimes referred to as “line cards”).\",\n \"Alternatively, one or more of the interfaces 768 may be provided as on-board interface controllers built into the system motherboard.\",\n \"Generally, they control the sending and receiving of data packets over the network and sometimes support other peripherals used with the system server 780.Among the interfaces that may be provided may be FC interfaces, Ethernet interfaces, frame relay interfaces, cable interfaces, DSL interfaces, token ring interfaces, Infiniband interfaces, and the like.\",\n \"In addition, various very high-speed interfaces may be provided, such as fast Ethernet interfaces, Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, ATM interfaces, HSSI interfaces, POS interfaces, FDDI interfaces, ASI interfaces, DHEI interfaces and the like.\",\n \"Other interfaces may include one or more wireless interfaces such as, for example, 802.11 (WiFi) interfaces, 802.15 interfaces (including Bluetooth™), 802.16 (WiMax) interfaces, 802.22 interfaces, Cellular standards such as CDMA interfaces, CDMA2000 interfaces, WCDMA interfaces, TDMA interfaces, Cellular 3G interfaces, etc.\",\n \"Generally, one or more interfaces may include ports appropriate for communication with the appropriate media.\",\n \"In some cases, they may also include an independent processor and, in some instances, volatile RAM.\",\n \"The independent processors may control such communications intensive tasks as packet switching, media control and management.\",\n \"By providing separate processors for the communications intensive tasks, these interfaces allow the master microprocessor 762 to efficiently perform routing computations, network diagnostics, security functions, etc.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, some interfaces may be configured or designed to allow the system server 780 to communicate with other network devices associated with various local area network (LANs) and/or wide area networks (WANs).\",\n \"Other interfaces may be configured or designed to allow network device 760 to communicate with one or more direct attached storage device(s) 770.Although the system shown in FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates one specific network device described herein, it is by no means the only network device architecture on which one or more embodiments may be implemented.\",\n \"For example, an architecture having a single processor that handles communications as well as routing computations, etc.\",\n \"may be used.\",\n \"Further, other types of interfaces and media could also be used with the network device.\",\n \"Regardless of network device's configuration, it may employ one or more memories or memory modules (such as, for example, memory block 765, which, for example, may include random access memory (RAM)) configured to store data, program instructions for the general-purpose network operations and/or other information relating to the functionality of the various On Demand Service(s)/feature(s) described herein.\",\n \"The program instructions may control the operation of an operating system and/or one or more applications, for example.\",\n \"The memory or memories may also be configured to store data structures, and/or other specific non-program information described herein.\",\n \"Because such information and program instructions may be employed to implement the systems/methods described herein, one or more embodiments relates to machine readable media that include program instructions, state information, etc.\",\n \"for performing various operations described herein.\",\n \"Examples of machine-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROM disks; magneto-optical media such as floptical disks; and hardware devices that may be specially configured to store and perform program instructions, such as read-only memory devices (ROM) and random access memory (RAM).\",\n \"Some embodiments may also be embodied in transmission media such as, for example, a carrier wave travelling over an appropriate medium such as airwaves, optical lines, electric lines, etc.\",\n \"Examples of program instructions include both machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher level code that may be executed by the computer using an interpreter.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates an example of a functional block diagram of a Gaming System Server in accordance with a specific embodiment.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the Virtual Live electronic gaming device System Server may be operable to perform and/or implement various types of functions, operations, actions, and/or other features, such as, for example, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the Gaming System Server may include a plurality of components operable to perform and/or implement various types of functions, operations, actions, and/or other features such as, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Context Interpreter (e.g., 802) which, for example, may be operable to automatically and/or dynamically analyze contextual criteria relating to a detected set of event(s) and/or condition(s), and automatically determine or identify one or more contextually appropriate response(s) based on the contextual interpretation of the detected event(s)/condition(s).\",\n \"According to different embodiments, examples of contextual criteria which may be analyzed may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): location-based criteria (e.g., geolocation of mobile gaming device, geolocation of EGD, etc.)\",\n \"time-based criteria identity of user(s) user profile information transaction history information recent user activities etc.\",\n \"Time Synchronization Engine (e.g., 804) which, for example, may be operable to manages universal time synchronization (e.g., via NTP and/or GPS) Search Engine (e.g., 828) which, for example, may be operable to search for transactions, logs, game history information, player information, On Demand information, etc., which may be accessed from one or more local and/or remote databases.\",\n \"Configuration Engine (e.g., 832) which, for example, may be operable to determine and handle configuration of various customized configuration parameters for one or more devices, component(s), system(s), process(es), etc.\",\n \"Time Interpreter (e.g., 818) which, for example, may be operable to automatically and/or dynamically modify or change identifier activation and expiration time(s) based on various criteria such as, for example, time, location, transaction status, etc.\",\n \"Authentication/Validation Component(s) (e.g., 847) (password, software/hardware info, SSL certificates) which, for example, may be operable to perform various types of authentication/validation tasks such as one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"Transaction Processing Engine (e.g., 822) which, for example, may be operable to handle various types of transaction processing tasks such as, for example, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"OCR Processing Engine (e.g., 834) which, for example, may be operable to perform image processing and optical character recognition of images such as those captured by a gaming device camera, for example.\",\n \"Database Manager (e.g., 826) which, for example, may be operable to handle various types of tasks relating to database updating, database management, database access, etc.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the Database Manager may be operable to manage game history databases, player tracking databases, etc.\",\n \"Log Component(s) (e.g., 810) which, for example, may be operable to generate and manage transactions history logs, system errors, connections from APIs, etc.\",\n \"Status Tracking Component(s) (e.g., 812) which, for example, may be operable to automatically and/or dynamically determine, assign, and/or report updated transaction status information based, for example, on the state of the transaction.\",\n \"Gateway Component(s) (e.g., 814) which, for example, may be operable to facilitate and manage communications and transactions with external Payment Gateways.\",\n \"Web Interface Component(s) (e.g., 808) which, for example, may be operable to facilitate and manage communications and transactions with virtual live electronic gaming device web portal(s).\",\n \"API Interface(s) to Gaming System Server(s) (e.g., 846) which, for example, may be operable to facilitate and manage communications and transactions with API Interface(s) to Gaming System Server(s) API Interface(s) to 3rd Party System Server(s) (e.g., 848) which, for example, may be operable to facilitate and manage communications and transactions with API Interface(s) to 3rd Party System Server(s) At least one processor 810.In at least one embodiment, the processor(s) 810 may include one or more commonly known CPUs which are deployed in many of today's consumer electronic devices, such as, for example, CPUs or processors from the Motorola or Intel family of microprocessors, etc.\",\n \"In an alternative embodiment, at least one processor may be specially designed hardware for controlling the operations of a gaming system.\",\n \"In a specific embodiment, a memory (such as non-volatile RAM and/or ROM) also forms part of CPU.\",\n \"When acting under the control of appropriate software or firmware, the CPU may be responsible for implementing specific functions associated with the functions of a desired network device.\",\n \"The CPU preferably accomplishes one or more these functions under the control of software including an operating system, and any appropriate applications software.\",\n \"Memory 816, which, for example, may include volatile memory (e.g., RAM), non-volatile memory (e.g., disk memory, FLASH memory, EPROMs, etc.\",\n \"), unalterable memory, and/or other types of memory.\",\n \"In at least one implementation, the memory 816 may include functionality similar to at least a portion of functionality implemented by one or more commonly known memory devices such as those described herein and/or generally known to one having ordinary skill in the art.\",\n \"According to different embodiments, one or more memories or memory modules (e.g., memory blocks) may be configured or designed to store data, program instructions for the functional operations of the mobile gaming system and/or other information relating to the functionality of the various Mobile Transaction techniques described herein.\",\n \"The program instructions may control the operation of an operating system and/or one or more applications, for example.\",\n \"The memory or memories may also be configured to store data structures, metadata, identifier information/images, and/or information/data relating to other features/functions described herein.\",\n \"Interface(s) 806 which, for example, may include wired interfaces and/or wireless interfaces.\",\n \"In at least one implementation, the interface(s) 806 may include functionality similar to at least a portion of functionality implemented by one or more computer system interfaces such as those described herein and/or generally known to one having ordinary skill in the art.\",\n \"Device driver(s) 842.In at least one implementation, the device driver(s) 842 may include functionality similar to at least a portion of functionality implemented by one or more computer system driver devices such as those described herein and/or generally known to one having ordinary skill in the art.\",\n \"One or more display(s) 835.Messaging Server Component(s) 836, which, for example, may be configured or designed to provide various functions and operations relating to messaging activities and communications.\",\n \"Network Server Component(s) 837, which, for example, may be configured or designed to provide various functions and operations relating to network server activities and communications.\",\n \"On Demand Services System Components (Backend) 876.In at least one embodiment, the Backend On Demand Services System Components may include the ODS Menu Management System, and may be configured or designed to implement and/or facilitate implementation, configuration, management, analysis, and reporting of On Demand Services including, for example, one or more of the following (or combinations thereof): Beverage On Demand Service(s); Host On Demand Service(s); Security On Demand Service(s); Valet On Demand Service(s); Weather On Demand Service(s); Reporting service(s); and/or other aspects of On Demand Services described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"Etc.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 shows a block diagram illustrating components of a gaming system 900 which may be used for implementing various aspects of example embodiments.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"9, the components of a gaming system 900 for providing game software licensing and downloads are described functionally.\",\n \"The described functions may be instantiated in hardware, firmware and/or software and executed on a suitable device.\",\n \"In the system 900, there may be many instances of the same function, such as multiple game play interfaces 911.Nevertheless, in FIG.\",\n \"9, only one instance of at least one function is shown.\",\n \"The functions of the components may be combined.\",\n \"For example, a single device may comprise the game play interface 911 and include trusted memory devices or sources 909.The gaming system 900 may receive inputs from different groups/entities and output various services and or information to these groups/entities.\",\n \"For example, game players 925 primarily input cash or indicia of credit into the system, make game selections that trigger software downloads, and receive entertainment in exchange for their inputs.\",\n \"Game software content providers provide game software for the system and may receive compensation for the content they provide based on licensing agreements with the gaming machine operators.\",\n \"Gaming machine operators select game software for distribution, distribute the game software on the gaming devices in the system 900, receive revenue for the use of their software and compensate the gaming machine operators.\",\n \"The gaming regulators 930 may provide rules and regulations that may be applied to the gaming system and may receive reports and other information confirming that rules are being obeyed.\",\n \"In the following paragraphs, details of at least one component and some of the interactions between the components are described with respect to FIG.\",\n \"9.The game software license host 901 may be a server connected to a number of remote gaming devices that provides licensing services to the remote gaming devices.\",\n \"For example, in other embodiments, the license host 901 may 1) receive token requests for tokens used to activate software executed on the remote gaming devices, 9) send tokens to the remote gaming devices, 3) track token usage and 4) grant and/or renew software licenses for software executed on the remote gaming devices.\",\n \"The token usage may be used in utility based licensing schemes, such as a pay-per-use scheme.\",\n \"In another embodiment, a game usage-tracking host 915 may track the usage of game software on a plurality of devices in communication with the host.\",\n \"The game usage-tracking host 915 may be in communication with a plurality of game play hosts and gaming machines.\",\n \"From the game play hosts and gaming machines, the game usage tracking host 915 may receive updates of an amount that at least one game available for play on the devices has been played and on amount that has been wagered per game.\",\n \"This information may be stored in a database and used for billing according to methods described in a utility based licensing agreement.\",\n \"The game software host 902 may provide game software downloads, such as downloads of game software or game firmware, to various devious in the game system 900.For example, when the software to generate the game is not available on the game play interface 911, the game software host 902 may download software to generate a selected game of chance played on the game play interface.\",\n \"Further, the game software host 902 may download new game content to a plurality of gaming machines via a request from a gaming machine operator.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the game software host 902 may also be a game software configuration-tracking host 913.The function of the game software configuration-tracking host is to keep records of software configurations and/or hardware configurations for a plurality of devices in communication with the host (e.g., denominations, number of paylines, paytables, max/min wagers).\",\n \"Details of a game software host and a game software configuration host that may be used with example embodiments are described in co-pending U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,645,077, by Rowe, titled, “Gaming Terminal Data Repository and Information System,” filed Dec. 21, 2000, which is incorporated herein in its entirety and for one or more purposes.\",\n \"A game play host device 903 may be a host server connected to a plurality of remote clients that generates games of chance that are displayed on a plurality of remote game play interfaces 911.For example, the game play host device 903 may be a server that provides central determination for a bingo game play played on a plurality of connected game play interfaces 911.As another example, the game play host device 903 may generate games of chance, such as slot games or video card games, for display on a remote client.\",\n \"A game player using the remote client may be able to select from a number of games that are provided on the client by the host device 903.The game play host device 903 may receive game software management services, such as receiving downloads of new game software, from the game software host 902 and may receive game software licensing services, such as the granting or renewing of software licenses for software executed on the device 903, from the game license host 901.In particular embodiments, the game play interfaces or other gaming devices in the gaming system 900 may be portable devices, such as electronic tokens, cell phones, smart cards, tablet PC's and PDA's.\",\n \"The portable devices may support wireless communications and thus, may be referred to as wireless mobile devices.\",\n \"The network hardware architecture 916 may be enabled to support communications between wireless mobile devices and other gaming devices in gaming system.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the wireless mobile devices may be used to play games of chance.\",\n \"The gaming system 900 may use a number of trusted information sources.\",\n \"Trusted information sources 904 may be devices, such as servers, that provide information used to authenticate/activate other pieces of information.\",\n \"CRC values used to authenticate software, license tokens used to allow the use of software or product activation codes used to activate to software are examples of trusted information that might be provided from a trusted information source 904.Trusted information sources may be a memory device, such as an EPROM, that includes trusted information used to authenticate other information.\",\n \"For example, a game play interface 911 may store a private encryption key in a trusted memory device that is used in a private key-public key encryption scheme to authenticate information from another gaming device.\",\n \"When a trusted information source 904 is in communication with a remote device via a network, the remote device may employ a verification scheme to verify the identity of the trusted information source.\",\n \"For example, the trusted information source and the remote device may exchange information using public and private encryption keys to verify at least one other's identities.\",\n \"In another example of an embodiment, the remote device and the trusted information source may engage in methods using zero knowledge proofs to authenticate at least one of their respective identities.\",\n \"Details of zero knowledge proofs that may be used with example embodiments are described in US publication no.\",\n \"9003/0203756, by Jackson, filed on Apr.\",\n \"25, 2002 and titled, “Authentication in a Secure Computerized Gaming System, which is incorporated herein in its entirety and for one or more purposes.\",\n \"Gaming devices storing trusted information might utilize apparatus or methods to detect and prevent tampering.\",\n \"For instance, trusted information stored in a trusted memory device may be encrypted to prevent its misuse.\",\n \"In addition, the trusted memory device may be secured behind a locked door.\",\n \"Further, one or more sensors may be coupled to the memory device to detect tampering with the memory device and provide some record of the tampering.\",\n \"In yet another example, the memory device storing trusted information might be designed to detect tampering attempts and clear or erase itself when an attempt at tampering has been detected.\",\n \"The gaming system 900 of example embodiments may include devices 906 that provide authorization to download software from a first device to a second device and devices 907 that provide activation codes or information that allow downloaded software to be activated.\",\n \"The devices, 906 and 907, may be remote servers and may also be trusted information sources.\",\n \"One example of a method of providing product activation codes that may be used with example embodiments is describes in previously incorporated U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,264,561.A device 906 that monitors a plurality of gaming devices to determine adherence of the devices to gaming jurisdictional rules 908 may be included in the system 900.In one embodiment, a gaming jurisdictional rule server may scan software and the configurations of the software on a number of gaming devices in communication with the gaming rule server to determine whether the software on the gaming devices is valid for use in the gaming jurisdiction where the gaming device is located.\",\n \"For example, the gaming rule server may request a digital signature, such as CRC's, of particular software components and compare them with an approved digital signature value stored on the gaming jurisdictional rule server.\",\n \"Further, the gaming jurisdictional rule server may scan the remote gaming device to determine whether the software is configured in a manner that is acceptable to the gaming jurisdiction where the gaming device is located.\",\n \"For example, a maximum wager limit may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and the rule enforcement server may scan a gaming device to determine its current software configuration and its location and then compare the configuration on the gaming device with approved parameters for its location.\",\n \"A gaming jurisdiction may include rules that describe how game software may be downloaded and licensed.\",\n \"The gaming jurisdictional rule server may scan download transaction records and licensing records on a gaming device to determine whether the download and licensing was carried out in a manner that is acceptable to the gaming jurisdiction in which the gaming device is located.\",\n \"In general, the game jurisdictional rule server may be utilized to confirm compliance to any gaming rules passed by a gaming jurisdiction when the information needed to determine rule compliance is remotely accessible to the server.\",\n \"Game software, firmware or hardware residing a particular gaming device may also be used to check for compliance with local gaming jurisdictional rules.\",\n \"In one embodiment, when a gaming device is installed in a particular gaming jurisdiction, a software program including jurisdiction rule information may be downloaded to a secure memory location on a gaming machine or the jurisdiction rule information may be downloaded as data and utilized by a program on the gaming machine.\",\n \"The software program and/or jurisdiction rule information may check the gaming device software and software configurations for compliance with local gaming jurisdictional rules.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the software program for ensuring compliance and jurisdictional information may be installed in the gaming machine prior to its shipping, such as at the factory where the gaming machine is manufactured.\",\n \"The gaming devices in game system 900 may utilize trusted software and/or trusted firmware.\",\n \"Trusted firmware/software is trusted in the sense that is used with the assumption that it has not been tampered with.\",\n \"For instance, trusted software/firmware may be used to authenticate other game software or processes executing on a gaming device.\",\n \"As an example, trusted encryption programs and authentication programs may be stored on an EPROM on the gaming machine or encoded into a specialized encryption chip.\",\n \"As another example, trusted game software, e.g., game software approved for use on gaming devices by a local gaming jurisdiction may be required on gaming devices on the gaming machine.\",\n \"In example embodiments, the devices may be connected by a network 916 with different types of hardware using different hardware architectures.\",\n \"Game software may be quite large and frequent downloads may place a significant burden on a network, which may slow information transfer speeds on the network.\",\n \"For game-on-demand services that may require frequent downloads of game software in a network, efficient downloading is desirable for the service to viable.\",\n \"Thus, in example embodiments, network efficient devices 910 may be used to actively monitor and maintain network efficiency.\",\n \"For instance, software locators may be used to locate nearby locations of game software for peer-to-peer transfers of game software.\",\n \"In another example, network traffic may be monitored and downloads may be actively rerouted to maintain network efficiency.\",\n \"One or more devices in example embodiments may provide game software and game licensing related auditing, billing and reconciliation reports to server 912.For example, a software licensing billing server may generate a bill for a gaming device operator based upon a usage of games over a time period on the gaming devices owned by the operator.\",\n \"In another example, a software auditing server may provide reports on game software downloads to various gaming devices in the gaming system 900 and current configurations of the game software on these gaming devices.\",\n \"At particular time intervals, the software auditing server 912 may also request software configurations from a number of gaming devices in the gaming system.\",\n \"The server may then reconcile the software configuration on at least one gaming device.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the software auditing server 912 may store a record of software configurations on at least one gaming device at particular times and a record of software download transactions that have occurred on the device.\",\n \"By applying at least one of the recorded game software download transactions since a selected time to the software configuration recorded at the selected time, a software configuration is obtained.\",\n \"The software auditing server may compare the software configuration derived from applying these transactions on a gaming device with a current software configuration obtained from the gaming device.\",\n \"After the comparison, the software-auditing server may generate a reconciliation report that confirms that the download transaction records are compriseent with the current software configuration on the device.\",\n \"The report may also identify any incompriseencies.\",\n \"In another embodiment, both the gaming device and the software auditing server may store a record of the download transactions that have occurred on the gaming device and the software auditing server may reconcile these records.\",\n \"There are many possible interactions between the components described with respect to FIG.\",\n \"9.Many of the interactions are coupled.\",\n \"For example, methods used for game licensing may affect methods used for game downloading and vice versa.\",\n \"For the purposes of explanation, details of a few possible interactions between the components of the system 900 relating to software licensing and software downloads have been described.\",\n \"The descriptions are selected to illustrate particular interactions in the game system 900.These descriptions are provided for the purposes of explanation only and are not intended to limit the scope of example embodiments described herein.\",\n \"Example Procedures and Flow Diagrams According to different embodiments, at least a portion of the various types of functions, operations, actions, and/or other features provided by the On Demand Procedures described herein may be implemented at one or more client systems(s), at one or more System Servers(s), and/or combinations thereof.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, one or more of the On Demand procedures may be operable to utilize and/or generate various different types of data and/or other types of information when performing specific tasks and/or operations.\",\n \"This may include, for example, input data/information and/or output data/information.\",\n \"For example, in at least one embodiment, the On Demand procedures may be operable to access, process, and/or otherwise utilize information from one or more different types of sources, such as, for example, one or more local and/or remote memories, devices and/or systems.\",\n \"Additionally, in at least one embodiment, the On Demand procedures may be operable to generate one or more different types of output data/information, which, for example, may be stored in memory of one or more local and/or remote devices and/or systems.\",\n \"Examples of different types of input data/information and/or output data/information which may be accessed and/or utilized by the On Demand procedures may include, but are not limited to, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, a given instance of the On Demand procedures may access and/or utilize information from one or more associated databases.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, at least a portion of the database information may be accessed via communication with one or more local and/or remote memory devices.\",\n \"Examples of different types of data which may be accessed by the On Demand procedures may include, but are not limited to, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"According to specific embodiments, multiple instances or threads of the On Demand procedures may be concurrently implemented and/or initiated via the use of one or more processors and/or other combinations of hardware and/or hardware and software.\",\n \"For example, in at least some embodiments, various aspects, features, and/or functionalities of the On Demand procedures may be performed, implemented and/or initiated by one or more of the various systems, components, systems, devices, procedures, processes, etc., described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"According to different embodiments, one or more different threads or instances of the On Demand procedures may be initiated in response to detection of one or more conditions or events satisfying one or more different types of minimum threshold criteria for triggering initiation of at least one instance of the On Demand procedures.\",\n \"Various examples of conditions or events which may trigger initiation and/or implementation of one or more different threads or instances of the On Demand procedures may include, but are not limited to, one or more of those described and/or referenced herein.\",\n \"According to different embodiments, one or more different threads or instances of the On Demand procedures may be initiated and/or implemented manually, automatically, statically, dynamically, concurrently, and/or combinations thereof.\",\n \"Additionally, different instances and/or embodiments of the On Demand procedures may be initiated at one or more different time intervals (e.g., during a specific time interval, at regular periodic intervals, at irregular periodic intervals, upon demand, etc.).\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, initial configuration of a given instance of the On Demand procedures may be performed using one or more different types of initialization parameters.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, at least a portion of the initialization parameters may be accessed via communication with one or more local and/or remote memory devices.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, at least a portion of the initialization parameters provided to an instance of the On Demand procedures may correspond to and/or may be derived from the input data/information.\",\n \"Although several example embodiments of one or more aspects and/or features have been described in detail herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that aspects and/or features are not limited to these precise embodiments, and that various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of spirit of the On Demand Services System(s) as defined, for example, in the appended claims.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876097"}}},{"rowIdx":4495081,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["METHODS OF TREATMENT OF, AND FORMULATIONS FOR TREATMENT OF ANORECTAL AND GENITOURINARY CONDITIONS","This invention relates to a novel method of treating various inflammation-related anorectal and genitourinary conditions using various related, novel formulations.","The formulations comprise, at a minimum, a corticosteroid, an antidepressant agent(s) with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties and a cooling/soothing agent(s).","Selection of specific ingredients depends on the nature of the target tissues, the etiologies of inflammation and the severity of symptoms.","To maximize its efficacy, each of the formulations has a unique combination of several active ingredients, and each of these ingredients exerts its anti-inflammatory effect at various phases of the inflammatory cascade, resulting in a synergistic effect of pain relief and healing.","To minimize the side effects, the current multi-active ingredient formulations allow each of these ingredients to exist at a lower concentration than the existing single-active ingredient formulations, thus minimizing the likelihood for side effects due to systemic absorption and toxicity.","The formulations are highly versatile in that the composition of the ingredients can be varied and adjusted to treat a wide array of anorectal and genitourinary conditions."],["1.A topically-administered composition for treating inflammation-related medical conditions, the composition consisting of active ingredients and inactive ingredients, the active ingredients consisting of: (a) a corticosteroid ingredient, or salt thereof, selected from the group consisting of alclometasone dipropionate, amcinonide, beclomethasone, betamethasone benzoate, betamethasone dipropionate, betamethasone propionate, betamethasone valerate, budesonide, clobetasol propionate, clobetasone butyrate, clocortolone pivolate, cortisone, desonide, desoximetasone, dexamethasone, diflorasone diacetate, flumethasone pivolate, flunisolide, fluocinolone acetonide, fluocinonide, flurandrenolide, fluticasone propionate, halobetasol propionate, halocinonide, hydrocortisone, hydrocortisone acetate, hydrocortisone butyrate, hydrocortisone probutate, hydrocortisone propionate, hydrocortisone valerate, methylprednisolone, mometasone furoate, prednicarbate, prednisolone, prednisone acetate, prednisone valerate, triamcinolone acetonide, and triamcinolone hexacetonide; (b) an anti-depressant agent(s) ingredient, or salt thereof, selected from the group consisting of agomelatine, amitryptiline, amoxapine, bupropion, buspirone, carbamazepine, citalopram, clomipramine, desipramine, desvenlafaxine, dexmethylphenidate, dextromethorphan, dosulepin, doxepin, duloxetine, escitalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, imipramine, isocarboxazid, lamotrigine, lisdexamfetamine, lofepramine, maprotiline, methylphenidate, mianserin, milnacipran, mirtazapine, moclobemide, nefazodone, nortriptyline, opipramol, paroxetine, phenelzine, pirlindole, protriptyline, reboxetine, selegiline, sertraline, sibutramine, tandospirone, tianeptine, tramadol, tranylcypromine, trazodone, trimipramine, valproic acid, venlafaxine, and viloxazine; (c) a cooling/soothing agent(s) ingredient(s), or salt(s) or oil(s) thereof, selected from the group consisting of camphor, camphor oil, cinnamon oil, citronella oil, cornmint oil, eucalyptus oil, menthol, methyl salicylate, and peppermint oil, and combinations thereof; wherein said corticosteroid agent(s) is present in an amount of from about 0.0005% to about 10% by weight, said anti-depressant agent(s) is present in an amount of from about 0.005% to about 20% by weight, and said cooling/soothing agent(s) are present in an amount of from about 0.001% to about 15% by weight; and wherein the inactive ingredients consist of a commercially accessible cream base.","2.The composition according to claim 1 wherein said corticosteroid agent(s) is a low-mid to mid-potency corticosteroid, or salt thereof, selected from the group consisting of alclometasone dipropionate, clobetasone butyrate, clocortolone pivolate, cortisone, desoximetasone, dexamethasone, hydrocortisone, hydrocortisone acetate, hydrocortisone butyrate, hydrocortisone propionate, hydrocortisone probutate, hydrocortisone valerate, methylprednisolone, prednisolone, prednisone acetate, prednisone valerate, triamcinolone acetonide, and triamcinolone hexacetonide.","3.The composition according to claim 1 wherein said corticosteroid is a mid- to high-potency corticosteroid, or salt thereof, selected from the group consisting of amcinonide, beclomethasone, betamethasone benzoate, betamethasone dipropionate, betamethasone propionate, betamethasone valerate, budesonide, clobetasol propionate, desonide, diflorasone diacetate, flumethasone pivolate, flunisolide, fluocinolone acetonide, fluocinonide, flurandrenolide, fluticasone propionate, halobetasol propionate, halocinonide, mometasone furoate, and prednicarbate.","4.A method of treatment of inflammation-related anorectal medical conditions by delivering a composition according to claim 1, 2 or 3 comprising the steps of: (a) diagnosing one or more of said anorectal conditions in a patient; (b) formulating said composition by dispersing the four major active ingredients into a commercially accessible cream base; and (c) delivering an effective amount of said formulation topically to the affected areas of a patient in need thereof by way of bare finger, gloved finger, pad, swab, cloth, applicator, or patch; wherein said anorectal conditions comprise anal fissures, anal fistulas, anal itch, hemorrhoids, inflammatory bowel diseases, radiation colitis, radiation proctitis, and anorectal infections including bacterial infections, fungal infections, viral infections, and warts/condyomata, and said affected areas comprise the skin, the anus, rectum, anal verge, peri-anal areas, and perineum, and said patient is a human.","5.A method of treatment of inflammation-related genitourinary medical conditions by delivering a composition according to claim 1, 2 or 3 comprising the steps of: (a) diagnosing one or more of said genitourinary conditions in a patient; (b) formulating said composition by dispersing the three major active ingredients into a commercially accessible base; and (c) delivering an effective amount of said formulation topically to the affected areas of a patient in need thereof by way of bare finger, gloved finger, pad, swab, cloth, applicator, or patch; wherein said genitourinary conditions comprise acute, chronic or recurrent prostatitis, bacterial or non-bacterial prostatitis, prostadynia, balanitis, balanoposthitis, balanitis xerotica obliterans, groin itch, scrotal itch, radiation cystitis, radiation vaginitis, radiation prostatitis, radiation urethritis, infectious and non-infectious urethritis, peri- and post-menopausal urethritis, peri- and post-menopausal vaginitis, atrophic urethritis, urethral syndrome, peri- and post-menopausal vaginitis, infectious and non-infectious vulvovaginitis, atrophic vaginitis, vaginal dryness, non-specific vaginal symptoms, pre- and post-coital discomfort and dyspareunia, vaginismus, vulvodynia, radiation vaginitis, and genitourinary infections including bacterial infections, fungal infections, viral infections, genital herpes, and warts/condyomata, and said affected areas comprise the skin, anus, rectum, external genitalia, scrotum, penis, vagina, labia, urethral meatus, peri-urethral area, peri-vaginal area, and perineum, and said patient is a human.","6.The composition according to claims 1, 4 and 5 wherein said commercially accessible cream base may contain ingredients selected from the group consisting of mineral oil, petrolatum, paraffin, white wax, emulsifying wax, alcohol, glycerin, glycerol, glyceryl stearate, glyceryl triacetate, glycol, glycol stearate, alkyl benzoate, benzoic acid, benzyl alcohol, ceresin, cetearyl alcohol, cetostearyl alcohol, cetyl alcohol, cetyl ester, sodium cetostearyl sulphate, isopropyl myristate, isopropyl palmitate, lactic acid, lanolin, lanolin alcohol, methylchloroisothiazolinone, methylisothiazolinone, polydextrose, sorbic acid, sorbitan, stearate, stearic acid, stearyl alcohol, polysorbate, sodium hydroxide, parabens, phenoxyethanol, triethanolamine, sodium sulphite, sodium metabisulfite, propylene glycol, polyethylene glycol stearate, chlorocresol, sodium citrate, citric acid, sorbitol, maltitol, titanium dioxide, glyceryl polymethacrylate, polyethylene glycol glyceryl stearate, dimethiconol, dimethicone, ether, polyoxy stearate, polyethylene fatty acid ester, and combinations thereof, with its/their composition comprising about 0.001% to about 35% by weight of such an agent(s) and/or its salt(s), and with water comprising about 5% to about 65% by weight."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>"],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a novel method of treating various inflammation-related medical conditions comprising anorectal, genitourinary, musculoskeletal and dermatological conditions using various related, novel formulations.","In exemplary embodiments, a topically-administered composition for treating inflammation-related medical conditions may include active ingredients and inactive ingredients, the active ingredients that may include (a) a corticosteroid ingredient, or salt thereof, selected from the group consisting of alclometasone dipropionate, amcinonide, beclomethasone, betamethasone benzoate, betamethasone dipropionate, betamethasone propionate, betamethasone valerate, budesonide, clobetasol propionate, clobetasone butyrate, clocortolone pivolate, cortisone, desonide, desoximetasone, dexamethasone, diflorasone diacetate, flumethasone pivolate, flunisolide, fluocinolone acetonide, fluocinonide, flurandrenolide, fluticasone propionate, halobetasol propionate, halocinonide, hydrocortisone, hydrocortisone acetate, hydrocortisone butyrate, hydrocortisone probutate, hydrocortisone propionate, hydrocortisone valerate, methylprednisolone, mometasone furoate, prednicarbate, prednisolone, prednisone acetate, prednisone valerate, triamcinolone acetonide, and triamcinolone hexaceto.","detailed-description description=\"Detailed Description\" end=\"lead\"?"],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","12/927,845, filed Nov. 26, 2010, entitled “Methods of treatment of, and formulations for treatment of inflammation-related medical conditions,” and claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser.","No.","61/283,665, filed Dec. 7, 2009, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.","BACKGROUND Field of the Invention This invention relates to a novel method of treating various inflammation-related medical conditions comprising anorectal, genitourinary, musculoskeletal and dermatological conditions using various related, novel formulations.","Consumers and caregivers are often frustrated over.","SUMMARY Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a novel method of treating various inflammation-related medical conditions comprising anorectal, genitourinary, musculoskeletal and dermatological conditions using various related, novel formulations.","In exemplary embodiments, a topically-administered composition for treating inflammation-related medical conditions may include active ingredients and inactive ingredients, the active ingredients that may include (a) a corticosteroid ingredient, or salt thereof, selected from the group consisting of alclometasone dipropionate, amcinonide, beclomethasone, betamethasone benzoate, betamethasone dipropionate, betamethasone propionate, betamethasone valerate, budesonide, clobetasol propionate, clobetasone butyrate, clocortolone pivolate, cortisone, desonide, desoximetasone, dexamethasone, diflorasone diacetate, flumethasone pivolate, flunisolide, fluocinolone acetonide, fluocinonide, flurandrenolide, fluticasone propionate, halobetasol propionate, halocinonide, hydrocortisone, hydrocortisone acetate, hydrocortisone butyrate, hydrocortisone probutate, hydrocortisone propionate, hydrocortisone valerate, methylprednisolone, mometasone furoate, prednicarbate, prednisolone, prednisone acetate, prednisone valerate, triamcinolone acetonide, and triamcinolone hexaceto.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION This invention relates to a novel method of treating various inflammation-related medical conditions including anorectal and genitourinary conditions using various related, novel formulations.","Consumers and caregivers are often frustrated over the relative lack of effective topical medical products in treating certain inflammatory medical conditions.","Frequently, even after the acute infections or local traumas have subsided, with or without the use of anti-microbial agents, the inflammatory cascade lingers on, thus leading to chronic or recurrent inflammatory conditions.","Symptoms attributable to such local inflammatory cascades may not respond to systematic treatments, which are often costly and morbid in the long run.","Conversely, existing topical formulations are often limited by their suboptimal efficacy and slow relief of symptoms.","This invention is a method of utilizing various combinations of topical preparations aiming at providing rapid relief and healing of acute, chronic and recurrent inflammatory anorectal and genitourinary conditions while minimizing the side effects of each of the individual ingredients.","The formulations are highly versatile in that the composition of the ingredients can be varied and adjusted to treat a wide array of inflammatory conditions in these organ systems.","Each of the formulations has a unique combination of several active ingredients, and each of these ingredients exerts its anti-inflammatory effects at various phases of the inflammatory cascade resulting in a synergistic effect of pain relief and healing.","The first major active ingredient in the current formulations is selected from a member of the low-, mid-, or high-potency corticosteroids, which are known for their potent anti-inflammatory effects against a wide range of inflammations.","Its anti-inflammatory mechanism is mediated through inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis and leukocyte response.","Topical corticosteroid preparations, when applied in small quantities, have the advantage of modulating local immune response at the target sites while avoiding systemic side effects and drug interactions.","The second major active ingredient described herein is an antidepressant agent(s) with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties which can counteract the propagation of the inflammatory cascade through anti-histaminic, serotonin and/or neuronal pathways.","The third major active ingredient, a cooling/soothing agent(s), is crucial in providing immediate relaxation and soothing of the inflamed tissues such as the epithelial, sub-epithelial, mucosal tissues and nerve endings, and in aiding tissue penetration of other active ingredients, thus resulting in an instant relief of symptoms at the target sites.","All these ingredients are combined in a commercially accessible cream base, with the overall efficacy resulting from the synergistic effect achieved via combining all or some of the above ingredients are superior to that of the individual ingredient alone.","The antidepressant agents described herein specifically comprise antidepressants with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties, which can counteract the propagation of the inflammatory cascade through anti-histaminic, serotonin and/or neuronal pathways.","They are intended to synergistically augment the anti-inflammatory potency of the corticosteroids and the anti-histaminic agents.","Certain oral antidepressants have been implicated by some researchers as being capable of providing anti-allergic relief, presumably through anti-histaminic, serotonin and/or neuronal pathways (Hoffer, A., Journal of Orthomolecular Psychiatry, 1980, 9(3):164-170, http://www.orthomed.org/resources/papers/hofdepr.htm).","For dermatological applications, the use of oral antidepressants following topical corticosteroid administration in treating lichen simplex chronicus has been found to be superior to conventional oral anti-histamines (Sanjana, V. D. & Fernandez, R. J., Indian J. Dermatol.","Venereol.","Leprol., 1992, 58:384-387).","It follows that antidepressants, when added to other anti-inflammatory ingredients in various formulations of topical preparations as described herein, may enhance the overall safety margins while lessening the overall sedative side effects, thus achieving superior anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic and anti-itch effects.","U.S. Pat.","No.","6,890,544 to McCadden discloses a gel composition for the topical treatment of poison ivy and other forms of contact dermatitis.","The formulations included a corticosteroid, two drying agents consisting of calamine and zinc oxide, water and an anti-itch agent(s) selected from the group consisting of menthol, camphor, phenol, benzocaine, diphenylhydramine and pramoxine.","The current invention differs substantially from the above cited patent in several ways including the fact that this invention contains a major active ingredient comprising an antidepressant with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties.","For anorectal and genitourinary applications, while there is an abundance of formulations comprising corticosteroids and/or pramoxine, the use of a cooling agent(s) for treating such conditions for such organ systems is a rare application.","For example, a non-prescriptive, mentholated herbal cream received good testimonials for multi-organ usages, including anorectal and genitourinary applications (Shaklee's Green Cream: www.barefoot-sun.com/2006/06/whats-in-your-medicine-cabinet.html).","The addition of an anti-depressant with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties and a cooling or soothing agent(s) to a corticosteroid and an emollient/moisturizing agent(s) for the treatment of anorectal and genitourinary conditions is unknown in the prior art.","By way of example, the addition of a cooling agent(s) to a topical analgesic was demonstrated to facilitate the penetration of the latter, thus enhancing its efficacy, by effecting changes in the epidermal ultra structure (Liu, Y., et al, International J. Pharmaceutics, 2005, 305(1-2):31-36).","In another study, a cooling agent(s), when added to a cetylated fatty acid topical cream, was shown to reduce pain and improve the functional performance in individuals with arthritis (Kraemer, W., et al, J.","Strength and Conditioning Research, 2005, 19(2):475-480).","In summary, while there is an abundance of patents and literature on the various combinations of active ingredients in treating various inflammation-related medical conditions, the addition of an anti-depressant with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties described herein to the other two major active ingredients comprising a corticosteroid and a cooling or soothing agent(s) in treating various anorectal and genitourinary conditions has not been described in the prior art.","The invention relates to novel methods of treatment of various inflammation-related anorectal and genitourinary conditions using various related, novel formulations containing the selected active ingredients, which are dispersed in commercially accessible base formulations such as a cream.","The invention also relates to novel methods of treatment of various anorectal and genitourinary conditions using various novel formulations containing the three major ingredients as described above.","Specific compositions of the three major active ingredients are selected depending on the nature of the target tissues, the etiologies of inflammation and the severity of symptoms.","Taken altogether, the multi-active ingredient formulations described herein allow each of these ingredients to exist at a lower concentration than existing single-active ingredient formulations, thus minimizing the likelihood for side effects due to systemic absorption and toxicity.","The latter has been the major concern for oral or parenteral administrations of pharmaceutical agents.","Such symptoms, in the case of prolonged corticosteroid use, may include reversible hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis suppression, manifestations of Cushing's syndrome, hyperglycemia and glucosuria, and in the case of excessive application of an anti-histaminic/anti-allergic, anti-itch agent(s), may include drowsiness and sedation.","On the contrary, systemic absorption leading to clinical symptoms is a rare occurrence using the formulations described for anorectal and genitourinary administrations wherein only a small amount of the formulated product is applied, for example, on the tip of a finger, pad, swab, cloth or an applicator, and then transferred to the target sites.","Alternatively, formulations may be delivered via a patch, providing immediate or controlled release of the formulation.","The formulations of this invention contain lower amounts of each of the multiple active ingredients in lieu of a formulation that contains a larger concentration of a single active ingredient.","This is because in the latter preparation, the single active ingredient will have to exist in a much larger quantity in order to achieve the comparable clinical efficacy as the multi-active ingredient formulations.","For example, the concern for local untoward side effects such as atrophic changes, telangiectasia and depigmentation of the skin, the mucosal/epithelial linings, the anal verge and vaginal introitus following long-term use of topical steroids at a high concentration can be effectively lessened.","The idea leading to the current formulation development parallels the concept of utilizing the multi-drug approach in developing modern chemotherapeutic regimens, i.e., delivering a higher overall efficacy with a wider safety margin and fewer complications when compared to the single-drug regimens.","This invention relates to novel methods of treatment of various inflammation-related anorectal and genitourinary conditions using various novel formulations containing the three major ingredients as described above comprising a corticosteroid, an antidepressant agent(s) with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties and a cooling/soothing agent(s).","As further described, the above selected active ingredients are dispersed in commercially accessible cream base formulations.","Specific ingredients are selected depending on the nature of the target tissues, the etiologies of inflammation and the severity of symptoms.","The invention consists of a method of utilizing various combinations of topical preparations aiming at providing rapid relief and healing of acute, chronic and recurrent inflammatory anorectal and genitourinary conditions while minimizing the side effects of each of the individual ingredients.","The formulations are highly versatile in that the composition of the ingredients can be varied and adjusted to treat a wide array of inflammatory conditions in these organ systems.","To maximize its efficacy, each of the formulations has a unique combination of several active ingredients, and each of these ingredients exerts its anti-inflammatory effect at various phases of the inflammatory cascade, resulting in a synergistic effect of pain relief and healing.","To minimize the side effects, the current multi-active ingredient formulations allow each of these ingredients to exist at a lower concentration than the existing single-active ingredient formulations, thus minimizing the likelihood for side effects due to systemic absorption and toxicity.","Over the years as a practicing urologist, I have observed how some patients suffered from untoward systemic side effects of various hormonally based vaginal creams/gels/lotions, etc., including gynecomastia, flushing, skin irritations, vulvar ulcerations, etc.","These topical preparations are often administered in large quantities (e.g., with a vaginal syringe applicator) in order to elicit adequate clinical response.","However, such a conventional administration of a high quantity of a single drug locally can often cause significant local symptoms and even irreversible skin changes.","Similar observations were made on my patients who were given long-term, full-strength corticosteroid creams/gels/lotions, etc.","for various dermatological conditions, and subsequently developed severe atrophic dermatitis, skin thinning, hypopigmentation, easy bruisibility, skin cracking and bleeding, etc.","The various components in specific combinations can raise the thresholds for toxicities and side effects of each of their individual components, while achieving a superior outcome due to their synergistic effects, e.g., relieving the inflammatory dermatological conditions while avoiding skin thinning and other side effects associated with long-term corticosteroid use.","In order to maximize efficacy, the claimed compositions have unique combinations of several active ingredients, and each of these ingredients exerts its anti-inflammatory effect at various phases of the inflammatory cascade, resulting in a synergistic effect of pain relief and healing.","In order to minimize side effects, the current claimed multi-active ingredient compositions allow each of these ingredients to exist at a lower concentration than the existing single-active ingredient compositions, thus minimizing the likelihood for side effects due to systemic absorption and toxicity.","A method of treatment of and formulations for treatment of anorectal conditions.","The pathophysiology of symptoms related to various anorectal conditions shares the final common inflammatory pathway of pain and swelling of the tissues involved, such as the anal verge, perineum, hemorrhoidal tissues/veins, anal ulcerations, fissure and fistula formation and anal, peri-anal, rectal and peri-rectal mucosal and epithelial linings, leading to venous congestion/thrombosis, mucosal and submucosal edema/inflammation, etc.","All treatment options aim at relief of tissue swelling and inflammation, the leading cause of pain and discomfort.","Current topical preparations for treatments of anorectal conditions, either prescriptive or non-prescriptive formulations, have been mostly developed for the treatments of hemorrhoids and anal fissures, and have been limited to products containing one or two active ingredients comprising pramoxine, decongestants, corticosteroids, analgesics.","The method of treatment for the anorectal conditions using the formulations described herein is novel, unique and different from any methods of treatment using any of the existing patented prescriptive and non-prescriptive formulations including those indicated for use in various anorectal conditions such as anal fissures, anal fistulas, anal itch, hemorrhoids, inflammatory bowel diseases, radiation colitis, radiation proctitis, and anorectal infections including bacterial infections, fungal infections, viral infections, and warts/condyomata.","Each of the formulations has a unique combination of several active ingredients as described in the claims, and each of these ingredients exerts its anti-inflammatory effects at various phases of the inflammatory cascade resulting in a synergistic effect of pain relief and healing.","The first major active ingredient in the anorectal formulations described herein is selected from a member of the low-, mid-, or high-potency corticosteroids, which are known for their potent anti-inflammatory effects against a wide range of inflammations.","Its anti-inflammatory mechanism is mediated through inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis and leukocyte response.","Topical corticosteroid preparations, when applied in small quantities, have the advantage of modulating local immune response at the target sites while avoiding systemic side effects and drug interactions.","The second major active ingredient in the anorectal formulations described herein is an antidepressant agent(s) with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties which can counteract the propagation of the inflammatory cascade through anti-histaminic, serotonin and/or neuronal pathways.","The third major active ingredient in the anorectal formulations described herein is a cooling/soothing agent(s), which is crucial in providing immediate relaxation and soothing of the inflamed tissues such as the epithelial, sub-epithelial, mucosal tissues and nerve endings, and in aiding tissue penetration of other active ingredients, thus resulting in an instant relief of symptoms at the target sites.","All these ingredients are combined in a commercially accessible cream base, with the overall efficacy resulting from the synergistic effect achieved via combining all or some of the above ingredients are superior to that of the individual ingredient alone.","The novel method of treatment of various anorectal conditions using various novel formulations containing the above three major ingredients are dispersed as an admixture in a commercially accessible cream base formulation.","Taken altogether, the current multi-active ingredient in the anorectal formulations described herein allow each of these ingredients to exist at a lower concentration than the existing single-active ingredient formulations, thus minimizing the likelihood for side effects due to systemic absorption and toxicity.","The latter has been the major concern for oral or parenteral administrations of pharmaceutical agents.","Such symptoms, in the case of prolonged corticosteroid use, may include reversible hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis suppression, manifestations of Cushing's syndrome, hyperglycemia and glucosuria, and in the case of excessive application of an anti-histaminic/anti-allergic, anti-itch agent(s), may include drowsiness and sedation.","On the contrary, systemic absorption leading to clinical symptoms is a rare phenomenon using the formulations as described herein for anorectal administrations, wherein only a small amount of the formulated product is applied on the tip of a finger, pad, swab, cloth or an applicator and then transferred to the target sites comprising the skin, the anus, rectum, anal verge, peri-anal areas, and perineum.","To further enhance its safety margin and efficacy, the anorectal formulations of this invention described herein use lower amounts of each of the multiple active ingredients in lieu of a formulation that contains a larger concentration of a single active ingredient.","This is because in the latter preparation, the single active ingredient will have to exist in a much larger quantity in order to achieve the comparable clinical efficacy as the multi-active ingredient formulations.","For example, the concern for local untoward side effects such as atrophic changes and telangiectasia in the mucosal/epithelial linings and the anal verge following long-term use of topical steroids at a high concentration can be effectively lessened.","The idea leading to the current formulation development parallels the concept of utilizing the multi-drug approach in developing modern chemotherapeutic regimens, i.e., delivering a higher overall efficacy with fewer complications when compared to the single-drug regimens.","The formulations for treatment of anorectal conditions described herein comprise the following selected active ingredients, which are dispersed as an admixture in commercially accessible base formulations.","Specifically, the formulations comprise a low-, mid-, or high-potency corticosteroid selected from a listing comprising the following agents/ingredients and/or their salts: alclometasone dipropionate, amcinonide, beclomethasone, betamethasone benzoate, betamethasone dipropionate, betamethasone propionate, betamethasone valerate, budesonide, clobetasol propionate, clobetasone butyrate, clocortolone pivolate, cortisone, desonide, desoximetasone, dexamethasone, diflorasone diacetate, flumethasone pivolate, flunisolide, fluocinolone acetonide, fluocinonide, flurandrenolide, fluticasone propionate, halobetasol propionate, halocinonide, hydrocortisone, hydrocortisone acetate, hydrocortisone butyrate, hydrocortisone probutate, hydrocortisone propionate, hydrocortisone valerate, methylprednisolone, mometasone furoate, prednicarbate, prednisolone, prednisone acetate, prednisone valerate, triamcinolone acetonide, and triamcinolone hexacetonide, with its composition comprising about 0.0005% to about 10% by weight of such an agent(s).","More specifically, the low-mid to mid-potency corticosteroids are selected from a listing comprising the following agents/ingredients and/or their salts: alclometasone dipropionate, clobetasone butyrate, clocortolone pivolate, cortisone, desoximetasone, dexamethasone, hydrocortisone, hydrocortisone acetate, hydrocortisone butyrate, hydrocortisone propionate, hydrocortisone probutate, hydrocortisone valerate, methylprednisolone, prednisolone, prednisone acetate, prednisone valerate, triamcinolone acetonide, and triamcinolone hexacetonide, with its composition comprising about 0.005% to about 10%, preferably about 0.01% to about 5%, and more preferably from about 0.05% to about 2.5% by weight of such an agent(s).","When mid- to high-potency corticosteroids are used, they are selected from a listing comprising the following agents/ingredients and/or their salts: amcinonide, beclomethasone, betamethasone benzoate, betamethasone dipropionate, betamethasone propionate, betamethasone valerate, budesonide, clobetasol propionate, desonide, diflorasone diacetate, flumethasone pivolate, flunisolide, fluocinolone acetonide, fluocinonide, flurandrenolide, fluticasone propionate, halobetasol propionate, halocinonide, mometasone furoate, and prednicarbate, with its composition comprising about 0.0005% to about 5%, preferably about 0.01% to about 3%, and more preferably from about 0.05% to about 1% by weight of such an agent(s).","The formulations for treatment of anorectal conditions also contain an antidepressant agent(s) with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties which is selected from a listing comprising the following agents/ingredients and/or their salts: agomelatine, amitryptiline, amoxapine, bupropion, buspirone, carbamazepine, citalopram, clomipramine, desipramine, desvenlafaxine, dexmethylphenidate, dextromethorphan, dosulepin, doxepin, duloxetine, escitalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, imipramine, isocarboxazid, lamotrigine, lisdexamfetamine, lofepramine, maprotiline, methylphenidate, mianserin, milnacipran, mirtazapine, moclobemide, nefazodone, nortriptyline, opipramol, paroxetine, phenelzine, pirlindole, protriptyline, reboxetine, selegiline, sertraline, sibutramine, tandospirone, tianeptine, tramadol, tranylcypromine, trazodone, trimipramine, valproic acid, venlafaxine, and viloxazine, with its composition comprising about 0.005% to about 20%, preferably about 0.1% to about 10%, and more preferably from about 0.2% to about 5% by weight of such an agent(s).","The formulations for treatment of anorectal conditions also comprise a cooling/soothing agent(s) which is/are selected from a listing comprising the following agents/ingredients and/or their salts/oils: camphor, camphor oil, cinnamon oil, citronella oil, cornmint oil, eucalyptus oil, menthol, methyl salicylate, peppermint oil, and combinations thereof, with its/their composition comprising about 0.001% to about 15%, preferably about 0.1% to about 7.5%, and more preferably from about 0.2% to about 5% by weight of such an agent(s).","2.A method of treatment of and formulations of treatment of genitourinary conditions.","The pathophysiology of symptoms related to various genitourinary conditions shares the final common inflammatory pathway of pain and swelling of the tissues involved, such as the urethral, peri-urethral, vaginal mucosa, labial, vulvar, peri-vaginal, perineal, penile and scrotal epithelia, leading to mucosal and submucosal edema/inflammation, etc.","All treatment options aim at relief of tissue swelling and inflammation—the leading cause of pain and discomfort.","Current topical preparations for treatments of genitourinary conditions, either prescriptive or non-prescriptive formulations, have been mostly developed for the treatments of post-menopausal atrophic vaginal changes, and often contain one or two active ingredients comprising female sex hormone derivatives, corticosteroids, etc.","The method of treatment for the genitourinary conditions using the formulations described herein is novel, unique and different from any methods of treatment using any of the existing patented formulations including prescriptive and non-prescriptive formulations currently indicated for use in various genitourinary conditions such as acute, chronic or recurrent prostatitis, bacterial or non-bacterial prostatitis, prostadynia, balanitis, balanoposthitis, balanitis xerotica obliterans, groin itch, scrotal itch, radiation cystitis, radiation vaginitis, radiation prostatitis, radiation urethritis, infectious and non-infectious urethritis, peri- and post-menopausal urethritis, peri- and post-menopausal vaginitis, atrophic urethritis, urethral syndrome, peri- and post-menopausal vaginitis, infectious and non-infectious vulvovaginitis, atrophic vaginitis, vaginal dryness, non-specific vaginal symptoms, pre- and post-coital discomfort and dyspareunia, vaginismus, vulvodynia, radiation vaginitis, and genitourinary infections including bacterial infections, fungal infections, viral infections, genital herpes, and warts/condyomata.","Each of the formulations for treatment of genitourinary conditions has a unique combination of several active ingredients, and each of these ingredients exerts its anti-inflammatory effects at various phases of the inflammatory cascade resulting in a synergistic effect of pain relief and healing.","The first major active ingredient in the current formulations is selected from a member of the low-, mid-, or high-potency corticosteroids, which are known for their potent anti-inflammatory effects against a wide range of inflammations.","Its anti-inflammatory mechanism is mediated through inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis and leukocyte response.","Topical corticosteroid preparations, when applied in small quantities, have the advantage of modulating local immune response at the target sites while avoiding systemic side effects and drug interactions.","The second major active ingredient described herein is an antidepressant agent(s) with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties which can counteract the propagation of the inflammatory cascade through anti-histaminic, serotonin and/or neuronal pathways.","The third major active ingredient, a cooling or soothing agent(s), is crucial in providing immediate relaxation and soothing of the inflamed tissues such as the epithelial, sub-epithelial, mucosal tissues and nerve endings, and in aiding tissue penetration of other active ingredients, thus resulting in an instant relief of symptoms at the target sites.","All these ingredients are combined in a commercially accessible cream base, with the overall efficacy resulting from the synergistic effect achieved via combining all or some of the above ingredients are superior to that of the individual ingredient alone.","The novel method of treatment of various genitourinary conditions using various novel formulations containing the above four major ingredients are dispersed as an admixture in a commercially accessible cream base formulation.","Taken altogether, the current multi-active ingredient formulations allow each of these ingredients to exist at a lower concentration than the existing single-active ingredient formulations, thus minimizing the likelihood for side effects due to systemic absorption and toxicity.","The latter has been the major concern for oral or parenteral administrations of pharmaceutical agents.","Such symptoms, in the case of prolonged corticosteroid use, may include reversible hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis suppression, manifestations of Cushing's syndrome, hyperglycemia and glucosuria, and in the case of excessive application of an anti-histaminic/anti-allergic, anti-itch agent(s), may include drowsiness and sedation.","On the contrary, systemic absorption leading to clinical symptoms is a rare phenomenon using the formulations as described herein for genitourinary administrations, wherein only a small amount of the formulated product is applied on the tip of a finger, pad, swab, cloth or an applicator and then transferred to the target sites comprising the skin, anus, rectum, external genitalia, scrotum, penis, vagina, labia, urethral meatus, peri-urethral area, peri-vaginal area, and perineum.","To further enhance its safety margin and efficacy, these formulations consist of smaller amounts of each of the multiple active ingredients in lieu of a formulation that contains a larger concentration of a single active ingredient.","This is because in the latter preparation, the single active ingredient will have to exist in a much larger quantity in order to achieve the comparable clinical efficacy as the multi-active ingredient formulations.","For example, the concern for local untoward side effects such as atrophic changes and telangiectasia in the skin or mucosal/epithelial linings following long-term use of topical steroids at a high concentration can be effectively lessened.","The idea leading to the current formulation development parallels the concept of utilizing the multi-drug approach in developing modern chemotherapeutic regimens, i.e., delivering a higher overall efficacy with fewer complications when compared to the single-drug regimens.","The formulations for treatment of genitourinary conditions described herein comprise the following selected active ingredients, which are dispersed as an admixture in commercially accessible base formulations.","Specifically, the formulations comprise a low-, mid-, or high-potency corticosteroid selected from a listing comprising the following agents/ingredients and/or their salts: alclometasone dipropionate, amcinonide, beclomethasone, betamethasone benzoate, betamethasone dipropionate, betamethasone propionate, betamethasone valerate, budesonide, clobetasol propionate, clobetasone butyrate, clocortolone pivolate, cortisone, desonide, desoximetasone, dexamethasone, diflorasone diacetate, flumethasone pivolate, flunisolide, fluocinolone acetonide, fluocinonide, flurandrenolide, fluticasone propionate, halobetasol propionate, halocinonide, hydrocortisone, hydrocortisone acetate, hydrocortisone butyrate, hydrocortisone probutate, hydrocortisone propionate, hydrocortisone valerate, methylprednisolone, mometasone furoate, prednicarbate, prednisolone, prednisone acetate, prednisone valerate, triamcinolone acetonide, and triamcinolone hexacetonide, with its composition comprising about 0.0005% to about 10% by weight of such an agent(s).","More specifically, the low-mid to mid-potency corticosteroids are selected from a listing comprising the following agents/ingredients and/or their salts: alclometasone dipropionate, clobetasone butyrate, clocortolone pivolate, cortisone, desoximetasone, dexamethasone, hydrocortisone, hydrocortisone acetate, hydrocortisone butyrate, hydrocortisone propionate, hydrocortisone probutate, hydrocortisone valerate, methylprednisolone, prednisolone, prednisone acetate, prednisone valerate, triamcinolone acetonide, and triamcinolone hexacetonide, with its composition comprising about 0.005% to about 10%, preferably about 0.01% to about 5%, and more preferably from about 0.05% to about 2.5% by weight of such an agent(s).","When mid- to high-potency corticosteroids are used, they are selected from a listing comprising the following agents/ingredients and/or their salts: amcinonide, beclomethasone, betamethasone benzoate, betamethasone dipropionate, betamethasone propionate, betamethasone valerate, budesonide, clobetasol propionate, desonide, diflorasone diacetate, flumethasone pivolate, flunisolide, fluocinolone acetonide, fluocinonide, flurandrenolide, fluticasone propionate, halobetasol propionate, halocinonide, mometasone furoate, and prednicarbate, with its composition comprising about 0.0005% to about 5%, preferably about 0.01% to about 3%, and more preferably from about 0.05% to about 1% by weight of such an agent(s).","The formulations for treatment of genitourinary conditions also contain an antidepressant agent(s) with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties which is selected from a listing comprising the following agents/ingredients and/or their salts: agomelatine, amitryptiline, amoxapine, bupropion, buspirone, carbamazepine, citalopram, clomipramine, desipramine, desvenlafaxine, dexmethylphenidate, dextromethorphan, dosulepin, doxepin, duloxetine, escitalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, imipramine, isocarboxazid, lamotrigine, lisdexamfetamine, lofepramine, maprotiline, methylphenidate, mianserin, milnacipran, mirtazapine, moclobemide, nefazodone, nortriptyline, opipramol, paroxetine, phenelzine, pirlindole, protriptyline, reboxetine, selegiline, sertraline, sibutramine, tandospirone, tianeptine, tramadol, tranylcypromine, trazodone, trimipramine, valproic acid, venlafaxine, and viloxazine, with its composition comprising about 0.005% to about 20%, preferably about 0.1% to about 10%, and more preferably from about 0.2% to about 5% by weight of such an agent(s).","The formulations for treatment of genitourinary conditions also comprise a cooling/soothing agent(s) which is/are selected from a listing comprising the following agents/ingredients and/or their salts/oils: camphor, camphor oil, cinnamon oil, citronella oil, cornmint oil, eucalyptus oil, menthol, methyl salicylate, peppermint oil, and combinations thereof, with its/their composition comprising about 0.001% to about 15%, preferably about 0.1% to about 7.5%, and more preferably from about 0.2% to about 5% by weight of such an agent(s).","It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure are merely possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure.","Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment(s) of the disclosure without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the disclosure.","All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and the present disclosure and protected by the following claims.","While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof.","For example, although numerous embodiments having various features have been described herein, combinations of such various features in other combinations not discussed herein are contemplated within the scope of embodiments of the present invention."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"METHODS OF TREATMENT OF, AND FORMULATIONS FOR TREATMENT OF ANORECTAL AND GENITOURINARY CONDITIONS\",\n \"This invention relates to a novel method of treating various inflammation-related anorectal and genitourinary conditions using various related, novel formulations.\",\n \"The formulations comprise, at a minimum, a corticosteroid, an antidepressant agent(s) with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties and a cooling/soothing agent(s).\",\n \"Selection of specific ingredients depends on the nature of the target tissues, the etiologies of inflammation and the severity of symptoms.\",\n \"To maximize its efficacy, each of the formulations has a unique combination of several active ingredients, and each of these ingredients exerts its anti-inflammatory effect at various phases of the inflammatory cascade, resulting in a synergistic effect of pain relief and healing.\",\n \"To minimize the side effects, the current multi-active ingredient formulations allow each of these ingredients to exist at a lower concentration than the existing single-active ingredient formulations, thus minimizing the likelihood for side effects due to systemic absorption and toxicity.\",\n \"The formulations are highly versatile in that the composition of the ingredients can be varied and adjusted to treat a wide array of anorectal and genitourinary conditions.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A topically-administered composition for treating inflammation-related medical conditions, the composition consisting of active ingredients and inactive ingredients, the active ingredients consisting of: (a) a corticosteroid ingredient, or salt thereof, selected from the group consisting of alclometasone dipropionate, amcinonide, beclomethasone, betamethasone benzoate, betamethasone dipropionate, betamethasone propionate, betamethasone valerate, budesonide, clobetasol propionate, clobetasone butyrate, clocortolone pivolate, cortisone, desonide, desoximetasone, dexamethasone, diflorasone diacetate, flumethasone pivolate, flunisolide, fluocinolone acetonide, fluocinonide, flurandrenolide, fluticasone propionate, halobetasol propionate, halocinonide, hydrocortisone, hydrocortisone acetate, hydrocortisone butyrate, hydrocortisone probutate, hydrocortisone propionate, hydrocortisone valerate, methylprednisolone, mometasone furoate, prednicarbate, prednisolone, prednisone acetate, prednisone valerate, triamcinolone acetonide, and triamcinolone hexacetonide; (b) an anti-depressant agent(s) ingredient, or salt thereof, selected from the group consisting of agomelatine, amitryptiline, amoxapine, bupropion, buspirone, carbamazepine, citalopram, clomipramine, desipramine, desvenlafaxine, dexmethylphenidate, dextromethorphan, dosulepin, doxepin, duloxetine, escitalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, imipramine, isocarboxazid, lamotrigine, lisdexamfetamine, lofepramine, maprotiline, methylphenidate, mianserin, milnacipran, mirtazapine, moclobemide, nefazodone, nortriptyline, opipramol, paroxetine, phenelzine, pirlindole, protriptyline, reboxetine, selegiline, sertraline, sibutramine, tandospirone, tianeptine, tramadol, tranylcypromine, trazodone, trimipramine, valproic acid, venlafaxine, and viloxazine; (c) a cooling/soothing agent(s) ingredient(s), or salt(s) or oil(s) thereof, selected from the group consisting of camphor, camphor oil, cinnamon oil, citronella oil, cornmint oil, eucalyptus oil, menthol, methyl salicylate, and peppermint oil, and combinations thereof; wherein said corticosteroid agent(s) is present in an amount of from about 0.0005% to about 10% by weight, said anti-depressant agent(s) is present in an amount of from about 0.005% to about 20% by weight, and said cooling/soothing agent(s) are present in an amount of from about 0.001% to about 15% by weight; and wherein the inactive ingredients consist of a commercially accessible cream base.\",\n \"2.The composition according to claim 1 wherein said corticosteroid agent(s) is a low-mid to mid-potency corticosteroid, or salt thereof, selected from the group consisting of alclometasone dipropionate, clobetasone butyrate, clocortolone pivolate, cortisone, desoximetasone, dexamethasone, hydrocortisone, hydrocortisone acetate, hydrocortisone butyrate, hydrocortisone propionate, hydrocortisone probutate, hydrocortisone valerate, methylprednisolone, prednisolone, prednisone acetate, prednisone valerate, triamcinolone acetonide, and triamcinolone hexacetonide.\",\n \"3.The composition according to claim 1 wherein said corticosteroid is a mid- to high-potency corticosteroid, or salt thereof, selected from the group consisting of amcinonide, beclomethasone, betamethasone benzoate, betamethasone dipropionate, betamethasone propionate, betamethasone valerate, budesonide, clobetasol propionate, desonide, diflorasone diacetate, flumethasone pivolate, flunisolide, fluocinolone acetonide, fluocinonide, flurandrenolide, fluticasone propionate, halobetasol propionate, halocinonide, mometasone furoate, and prednicarbate.\",\n \"4.A method of treatment of inflammation-related anorectal medical conditions by delivering a composition according to claim 1, 2 or 3 comprising the steps of: (a) diagnosing one or more of said anorectal conditions in a patient; (b) formulating said composition by dispersing the four major active ingredients into a commercially accessible cream base; and (c) delivering an effective amount of said formulation topically to the affected areas of a patient in need thereof by way of bare finger, gloved finger, pad, swab, cloth, applicator, or patch; wherein said anorectal conditions comprise anal fissures, anal fistulas, anal itch, hemorrhoids, inflammatory bowel diseases, radiation colitis, radiation proctitis, and anorectal infections including bacterial infections, fungal infections, viral infections, and warts/condyomata, and said affected areas comprise the skin, the anus, rectum, anal verge, peri-anal areas, and perineum, and said patient is a human.\",\n \"5.A method of treatment of inflammation-related genitourinary medical conditions by delivering a composition according to claim 1, 2 or 3 comprising the steps of: (a) diagnosing one or more of said genitourinary conditions in a patient; (b) formulating said composition by dispersing the three major active ingredients into a commercially accessible base; and (c) delivering an effective amount of said formulation topically to the affected areas of a patient in need thereof by way of bare finger, gloved finger, pad, swab, cloth, applicator, or patch; wherein said genitourinary conditions comprise acute, chronic or recurrent prostatitis, bacterial or non-bacterial prostatitis, prostadynia, balanitis, balanoposthitis, balanitis xerotica obliterans, groin itch, scrotal itch, radiation cystitis, radiation vaginitis, radiation prostatitis, radiation urethritis, infectious and non-infectious urethritis, peri- and post-menopausal urethritis, peri- and post-menopausal vaginitis, atrophic urethritis, urethral syndrome, peri- and post-menopausal vaginitis, infectious and non-infectious vulvovaginitis, atrophic vaginitis, vaginal dryness, non-specific vaginal symptoms, pre- and post-coital discomfort and dyspareunia, vaginismus, vulvodynia, radiation vaginitis, and genitourinary infections including bacterial infections, fungal infections, viral infections, genital herpes, and warts/condyomata, and said affected areas comprise the skin, anus, rectum, external genitalia, scrotum, penis, vagina, labia, urethral meatus, peri-urethral area, peri-vaginal area, and perineum, and said patient is a human.\",\n \"6.The composition according to claims 1, 4 and 5 wherein said commercially accessible cream base may contain ingredients selected from the group consisting of mineral oil, petrolatum, paraffin, white wax, emulsifying wax, alcohol, glycerin, glycerol, glyceryl stearate, glyceryl triacetate, glycol, glycol stearate, alkyl benzoate, benzoic acid, benzyl alcohol, ceresin, cetearyl alcohol, cetostearyl alcohol, cetyl alcohol, cetyl ester, sodium cetostearyl sulphate, isopropyl myristate, isopropyl palmitate, lactic acid, lanolin, lanolin alcohol, methylchloroisothiazolinone, methylisothiazolinone, polydextrose, sorbic acid, sorbitan, stearate, stearic acid, stearyl alcohol, polysorbate, sodium hydroxide, parabens, phenoxyethanol, triethanolamine, sodium sulphite, sodium metabisulfite, propylene glycol, polyethylene glycol stearate, chlorocresol, sodium citrate, citric acid, sorbitol, maltitol, titanium dioxide, glyceryl polymethacrylate, polyethylene glycol glyceryl stearate, dimethiconol, dimethicone, ether, polyoxy stearate, polyethylene fatty acid ester, and combinations thereof, with its/their composition comprising about 0.001% to about 35% by weight of such an agent(s) and/or its salt(s), and with water comprising about 5% to about 65% by weight.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a novel method of treating various inflammation-related medical conditions comprising anorectal, genitourinary, musculoskeletal and dermatological conditions using various related, novel formulations.\",\n \"In exemplary embodiments, a topically-administered composition for treating inflammation-related medical conditions may include active ingredients and inactive ingredients, the active ingredients that may include (a) a corticosteroid ingredient, or salt thereof, selected from the group consisting of alclometasone dipropionate, amcinonide, beclomethasone, betamethasone benzoate, betamethasone dipropionate, betamethasone propionate, betamethasone valerate, budesonide, clobetasol propionate, clobetasone butyrate, clocortolone pivolate, cortisone, desonide, desoximetasone, dexamethasone, diflorasone diacetate, flumethasone pivolate, flunisolide, fluocinolone acetonide, fluocinonide, flurandrenolide, fluticasone propionate, halobetasol propionate, halocinonide, hydrocortisone, hydrocortisone acetate, hydrocortisone butyrate, hydrocortisone probutate, hydrocortisone propionate, hydrocortisone valerate, methylprednisolone, mometasone furoate, prednicarbate, prednisolone, prednisone acetate, prednisone valerate, triamcinolone acetonide, and triamcinolone hexaceto.\",\n \"detailed-description description=\\\"Detailed Description\\\" end=\\\"lead\\\"?\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"12/927,845, filed Nov. 26, 2010, entitled “Methods of treatment of, and formulations for treatment of inflammation-related medical conditions,” and claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"61/283,665, filed Dec. 7, 2009, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.\",\n \"BACKGROUND Field of the Invention This invention relates to a novel method of treating various inflammation-related medical conditions comprising anorectal, genitourinary, musculoskeletal and dermatological conditions using various related, novel formulations.\",\n \"Consumers and caregivers are often frustrated over.\",\n \"SUMMARY Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a novel method of treating various inflammation-related medical conditions comprising anorectal, genitourinary, musculoskeletal and dermatological conditions using various related, novel formulations.\",\n \"In exemplary embodiments, a topically-administered composition for treating inflammation-related medical conditions may include active ingredients and inactive ingredients, the active ingredients that may include (a) a corticosteroid ingredient, or salt thereof, selected from the group consisting of alclometasone dipropionate, amcinonide, beclomethasone, betamethasone benzoate, betamethasone dipropionate, betamethasone propionate, betamethasone valerate, budesonide, clobetasol propionate, clobetasone butyrate, clocortolone pivolate, cortisone, desonide, desoximetasone, dexamethasone, diflorasone diacetate, flumethasone pivolate, flunisolide, fluocinolone acetonide, fluocinonide, flurandrenolide, fluticasone propionate, halobetasol propionate, halocinonide, hydrocortisone, hydrocortisone acetate, hydrocortisone butyrate, hydrocortisone probutate, hydrocortisone propionate, hydrocortisone valerate, methylprednisolone, mometasone furoate, prednicarbate, prednisolone, prednisone acetate, prednisone valerate, triamcinolone acetonide, and triamcinolone hexaceto.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION This invention relates to a novel method of treating various inflammation-related medical conditions including anorectal and genitourinary conditions using various related, novel formulations.\",\n \"Consumers and caregivers are often frustrated over the relative lack of effective topical medical products in treating certain inflammatory medical conditions.\",\n \"Frequently, even after the acute infections or local traumas have subsided, with or without the use of anti-microbial agents, the inflammatory cascade lingers on, thus leading to chronic or recurrent inflammatory conditions.\",\n \"Symptoms attributable to such local inflammatory cascades may not respond to systematic treatments, which are often costly and morbid in the long run.\",\n \"Conversely, existing topical formulations are often limited by their suboptimal efficacy and slow relief of symptoms.\",\n \"This invention is a method of utilizing various combinations of topical preparations aiming at providing rapid relief and healing of acute, chronic and recurrent inflammatory anorectal and genitourinary conditions while minimizing the side effects of each of the individual ingredients.\",\n \"The formulations are highly versatile in that the composition of the ingredients can be varied and adjusted to treat a wide array of inflammatory conditions in these organ systems.\",\n \"Each of the formulations has a unique combination of several active ingredients, and each of these ingredients exerts its anti-inflammatory effects at various phases of the inflammatory cascade resulting in a synergistic effect of pain relief and healing.\",\n \"The first major active ingredient in the current formulations is selected from a member of the low-, mid-, or high-potency corticosteroids, which are known for their potent anti-inflammatory effects against a wide range of inflammations.\",\n \"Its anti-inflammatory mechanism is mediated through inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis and leukocyte response.\",\n \"Topical corticosteroid preparations, when applied in small quantities, have the advantage of modulating local immune response at the target sites while avoiding systemic side effects and drug interactions.\",\n \"The second major active ingredient described herein is an antidepressant agent(s) with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties which can counteract the propagation of the inflammatory cascade through anti-histaminic, serotonin and/or neuronal pathways.\",\n \"The third major active ingredient, a cooling/soothing agent(s), is crucial in providing immediate relaxation and soothing of the inflamed tissues such as the epithelial, sub-epithelial, mucosal tissues and nerve endings, and in aiding tissue penetration of other active ingredients, thus resulting in an instant relief of symptoms at the target sites.\",\n \"All these ingredients are combined in a commercially accessible cream base, with the overall efficacy resulting from the synergistic effect achieved via combining all or some of the above ingredients are superior to that of the individual ingredient alone.\",\n \"The antidepressant agents described herein specifically comprise antidepressants with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties, which can counteract the propagation of the inflammatory cascade through anti-histaminic, serotonin and/or neuronal pathways.\",\n \"They are intended to synergistically augment the anti-inflammatory potency of the corticosteroids and the anti-histaminic agents.\",\n \"Certain oral antidepressants have been implicated by some researchers as being capable of providing anti-allergic relief, presumably through anti-histaminic, serotonin and/or neuronal pathways (Hoffer, A., Journal of Orthomolecular Psychiatry, 1980, 9(3):164-170, http://www.orthomed.org/resources/papers/hofdepr.htm).\",\n \"For dermatological applications, the use of oral antidepressants following topical corticosteroid administration in treating lichen simplex chronicus has been found to be superior to conventional oral anti-histamines (Sanjana, V. D. & Fernandez, R. J., Indian J. Dermatol.\",\n \"Venereol.\",\n \"Leprol., 1992, 58:384-387).\",\n \"It follows that antidepressants, when added to other anti-inflammatory ingredients in various formulations of topical preparations as described herein, may enhance the overall safety margins while lessening the overall sedative side effects, thus achieving superior anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic and anti-itch effects.\",\n \"U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,890,544 to McCadden discloses a gel composition for the topical treatment of poison ivy and other forms of contact dermatitis.\",\n \"The formulations included a corticosteroid, two drying agents consisting of calamine and zinc oxide, water and an anti-itch agent(s) selected from the group consisting of menthol, camphor, phenol, benzocaine, diphenylhydramine and pramoxine.\",\n \"The current invention differs substantially from the above cited patent in several ways including the fact that this invention contains a major active ingredient comprising an antidepressant with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties.\",\n \"For anorectal and genitourinary applications, while there is an abundance of formulations comprising corticosteroids and/or pramoxine, the use of a cooling agent(s) for treating such conditions for such organ systems is a rare application.\",\n \"For example, a non-prescriptive, mentholated herbal cream received good testimonials for multi-organ usages, including anorectal and genitourinary applications (Shaklee's Green Cream: www.barefoot-sun.com/2006/06/whats-in-your-medicine-cabinet.html).\",\n \"The addition of an anti-depressant with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties and a cooling or soothing agent(s) to a corticosteroid and an emollient/moisturizing agent(s) for the treatment of anorectal and genitourinary conditions is unknown in the prior art.\",\n \"By way of example, the addition of a cooling agent(s) to a topical analgesic was demonstrated to facilitate the penetration of the latter, thus enhancing its efficacy, by effecting changes in the epidermal ultra structure (Liu, Y., et al, International J. Pharmaceutics, 2005, 305(1-2):31-36).\",\n \"In another study, a cooling agent(s), when added to a cetylated fatty acid topical cream, was shown to reduce pain and improve the functional performance in individuals with arthritis (Kraemer, W., et al, J.\",\n \"Strength and Conditioning Research, 2005, 19(2):475-480).\",\n \"In summary, while there is an abundance of patents and literature on the various combinations of active ingredients in treating various inflammation-related medical conditions, the addition of an anti-depressant with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties described herein to the other two major active ingredients comprising a corticosteroid and a cooling or soothing agent(s) in treating various anorectal and genitourinary conditions has not been described in the prior art.\",\n \"The invention relates to novel methods of treatment of various inflammation-related anorectal and genitourinary conditions using various related, novel formulations containing the selected active ingredients, which are dispersed in commercially accessible base formulations such as a cream.\",\n \"The invention also relates to novel methods of treatment of various anorectal and genitourinary conditions using various novel formulations containing the three major ingredients as described above.\",\n \"Specific compositions of the three major active ingredients are selected depending on the nature of the target tissues, the etiologies of inflammation and the severity of symptoms.\",\n \"Taken altogether, the multi-active ingredient formulations described herein allow each of these ingredients to exist at a lower concentration than existing single-active ingredient formulations, thus minimizing the likelihood for side effects due to systemic absorption and toxicity.\",\n \"The latter has been the major concern for oral or parenteral administrations of pharmaceutical agents.\",\n \"Such symptoms, in the case of prolonged corticosteroid use, may include reversible hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis suppression, manifestations of Cushing's syndrome, hyperglycemia and glucosuria, and in the case of excessive application of an anti-histaminic/anti-allergic, anti-itch agent(s), may include drowsiness and sedation.\",\n \"On the contrary, systemic absorption leading to clinical symptoms is a rare occurrence using the formulations described for anorectal and genitourinary administrations wherein only a small amount of the formulated product is applied, for example, on the tip of a finger, pad, swab, cloth or an applicator, and then transferred to the target sites.\",\n \"Alternatively, formulations may be delivered via a patch, providing immediate or controlled release of the formulation.\",\n \"The formulations of this invention contain lower amounts of each of the multiple active ingredients in lieu of a formulation that contains a larger concentration of a single active ingredient.\",\n \"This is because in the latter preparation, the single active ingredient will have to exist in a much larger quantity in order to achieve the comparable clinical efficacy as the multi-active ingredient formulations.\",\n \"For example, the concern for local untoward side effects such as atrophic changes, telangiectasia and depigmentation of the skin, the mucosal/epithelial linings, the anal verge and vaginal introitus following long-term use of topical steroids at a high concentration can be effectively lessened.\",\n \"The idea leading to the current formulation development parallels the concept of utilizing the multi-drug approach in developing modern chemotherapeutic regimens, i.e., delivering a higher overall efficacy with a wider safety margin and fewer complications when compared to the single-drug regimens.\",\n \"This invention relates to novel methods of treatment of various inflammation-related anorectal and genitourinary conditions using various novel formulations containing the three major ingredients as described above comprising a corticosteroid, an antidepressant agent(s) with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties and a cooling/soothing agent(s).\",\n \"As further described, the above selected active ingredients are dispersed in commercially accessible cream base formulations.\",\n \"Specific ingredients are selected depending on the nature of the target tissues, the etiologies of inflammation and the severity of symptoms.\",\n \"The invention consists of a method of utilizing various combinations of topical preparations aiming at providing rapid relief and healing of acute, chronic and recurrent inflammatory anorectal and genitourinary conditions while minimizing the side effects of each of the individual ingredients.\",\n \"The formulations are highly versatile in that the composition of the ingredients can be varied and adjusted to treat a wide array of inflammatory conditions in these organ systems.\",\n \"To maximize its efficacy, each of the formulations has a unique combination of several active ingredients, and each of these ingredients exerts its anti-inflammatory effect at various phases of the inflammatory cascade, resulting in a synergistic effect of pain relief and healing.\",\n \"To minimize the side effects, the current multi-active ingredient formulations allow each of these ingredients to exist at a lower concentration than the existing single-active ingredient formulations, thus minimizing the likelihood for side effects due to systemic absorption and toxicity.\",\n \"Over the years as a practicing urologist, I have observed how some patients suffered from untoward systemic side effects of various hormonally based vaginal creams/gels/lotions, etc., including gynecomastia, flushing, skin irritations, vulvar ulcerations, etc.\",\n \"These topical preparations are often administered in large quantities (e.g., with a vaginal syringe applicator) in order to elicit adequate clinical response.\",\n \"However, such a conventional administration of a high quantity of a single drug locally can often cause significant local symptoms and even irreversible skin changes.\",\n \"Similar observations were made on my patients who were given long-term, full-strength corticosteroid creams/gels/lotions, etc.\",\n \"for various dermatological conditions, and subsequently developed severe atrophic dermatitis, skin thinning, hypopigmentation, easy bruisibility, skin cracking and bleeding, etc.\",\n \"The various components in specific combinations can raise the thresholds for toxicities and side effects of each of their individual components, while achieving a superior outcome due to their synergistic effects, e.g., relieving the inflammatory dermatological conditions while avoiding skin thinning and other side effects associated with long-term corticosteroid use.\",\n \"In order to maximize efficacy, the claimed compositions have unique combinations of several active ingredients, and each of these ingredients exerts its anti-inflammatory effect at various phases of the inflammatory cascade, resulting in a synergistic effect of pain relief and healing.\",\n \"In order to minimize side effects, the current claimed multi-active ingredient compositions allow each of these ingredients to exist at a lower concentration than the existing single-active ingredient compositions, thus minimizing the likelihood for side effects due to systemic absorption and toxicity.\",\n \"A method of treatment of and formulations for treatment of anorectal conditions.\",\n \"The pathophysiology of symptoms related to various anorectal conditions shares the final common inflammatory pathway of pain and swelling of the tissues involved, such as the anal verge, perineum, hemorrhoidal tissues/veins, anal ulcerations, fissure and fistula formation and anal, peri-anal, rectal and peri-rectal mucosal and epithelial linings, leading to venous congestion/thrombosis, mucosal and submucosal edema/inflammation, etc.\",\n \"All treatment options aim at relief of tissue swelling and inflammation, the leading cause of pain and discomfort.\",\n \"Current topical preparations for treatments of anorectal conditions, either prescriptive or non-prescriptive formulations, have been mostly developed for the treatments of hemorrhoids and anal fissures, and have been limited to products containing one or two active ingredients comprising pramoxine, decongestants, corticosteroids, analgesics.\",\n \"The method of treatment for the anorectal conditions using the formulations described herein is novel, unique and different from any methods of treatment using any of the existing patented prescriptive and non-prescriptive formulations including those indicated for use in various anorectal conditions such as anal fissures, anal fistulas, anal itch, hemorrhoids, inflammatory bowel diseases, radiation colitis, radiation proctitis, and anorectal infections including bacterial infections, fungal infections, viral infections, and warts/condyomata.\",\n \"Each of the formulations has a unique combination of several active ingredients as described in the claims, and each of these ingredients exerts its anti-inflammatory effects at various phases of the inflammatory cascade resulting in a synergistic effect of pain relief and healing.\",\n \"The first major active ingredient in the anorectal formulations described herein is selected from a member of the low-, mid-, or high-potency corticosteroids, which are known for their potent anti-inflammatory effects against a wide range of inflammations.\",\n \"Its anti-inflammatory mechanism is mediated through inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis and leukocyte response.\",\n \"Topical corticosteroid preparations, when applied in small quantities, have the advantage of modulating local immune response at the target sites while avoiding systemic side effects and drug interactions.\",\n \"The second major active ingredient in the anorectal formulations described herein is an antidepressant agent(s) with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties which can counteract the propagation of the inflammatory cascade through anti-histaminic, serotonin and/or neuronal pathways.\",\n \"The third major active ingredient in the anorectal formulations described herein is a cooling/soothing agent(s), which is crucial in providing immediate relaxation and soothing of the inflamed tissues such as the epithelial, sub-epithelial, mucosal tissues and nerve endings, and in aiding tissue penetration of other active ingredients, thus resulting in an instant relief of symptoms at the target sites.\",\n \"All these ingredients are combined in a commercially accessible cream base, with the overall efficacy resulting from the synergistic effect achieved via combining all or some of the above ingredients are superior to that of the individual ingredient alone.\",\n \"The novel method of treatment of various anorectal conditions using various novel formulations containing the above three major ingredients are dispersed as an admixture in a commercially accessible cream base formulation.\",\n \"Taken altogether, the current multi-active ingredient in the anorectal formulations described herein allow each of these ingredients to exist at a lower concentration than the existing single-active ingredient formulations, thus minimizing the likelihood for side effects due to systemic absorption and toxicity.\",\n \"The latter has been the major concern for oral or parenteral administrations of pharmaceutical agents.\",\n \"Such symptoms, in the case of prolonged corticosteroid use, may include reversible hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis suppression, manifestations of Cushing's syndrome, hyperglycemia and glucosuria, and in the case of excessive application of an anti-histaminic/anti-allergic, anti-itch agent(s), may include drowsiness and sedation.\",\n \"On the contrary, systemic absorption leading to clinical symptoms is a rare phenomenon using the formulations as described herein for anorectal administrations, wherein only a small amount of the formulated product is applied on the tip of a finger, pad, swab, cloth or an applicator and then transferred to the target sites comprising the skin, the anus, rectum, anal verge, peri-anal areas, and perineum.\",\n \"To further enhance its safety margin and efficacy, the anorectal formulations of this invention described herein use lower amounts of each of the multiple active ingredients in lieu of a formulation that contains a larger concentration of a single active ingredient.\",\n \"This is because in the latter preparation, the single active ingredient will have to exist in a much larger quantity in order to achieve the comparable clinical efficacy as the multi-active ingredient formulations.\",\n \"For example, the concern for local untoward side effects such as atrophic changes and telangiectasia in the mucosal/epithelial linings and the anal verge following long-term use of topical steroids at a high concentration can be effectively lessened.\",\n \"The idea leading to the current formulation development parallels the concept of utilizing the multi-drug approach in developing modern chemotherapeutic regimens, i.e., delivering a higher overall efficacy with fewer complications when compared to the single-drug regimens.\",\n \"The formulations for treatment of anorectal conditions described herein comprise the following selected active ingredients, which are dispersed as an admixture in commercially accessible base formulations.\",\n \"Specifically, the formulations comprise a low-, mid-, or high-potency corticosteroid selected from a listing comprising the following agents/ingredients and/or their salts: alclometasone dipropionate, amcinonide, beclomethasone, betamethasone benzoate, betamethasone dipropionate, betamethasone propionate, betamethasone valerate, budesonide, clobetasol propionate, clobetasone butyrate, clocortolone pivolate, cortisone, desonide, desoximetasone, dexamethasone, diflorasone diacetate, flumethasone pivolate, flunisolide, fluocinolone acetonide, fluocinonide, flurandrenolide, fluticasone propionate, halobetasol propionate, halocinonide, hydrocortisone, hydrocortisone acetate, hydrocortisone butyrate, hydrocortisone probutate, hydrocortisone propionate, hydrocortisone valerate, methylprednisolone, mometasone furoate, prednicarbate, prednisolone, prednisone acetate, prednisone valerate, triamcinolone acetonide, and triamcinolone hexacetonide, with its composition comprising about 0.0005% to about 10% by weight of such an agent(s).\",\n \"More specifically, the low-mid to mid-potency corticosteroids are selected from a listing comprising the following agents/ingredients and/or their salts: alclometasone dipropionate, clobetasone butyrate, clocortolone pivolate, cortisone, desoximetasone, dexamethasone, hydrocortisone, hydrocortisone acetate, hydrocortisone butyrate, hydrocortisone propionate, hydrocortisone probutate, hydrocortisone valerate, methylprednisolone, prednisolone, prednisone acetate, prednisone valerate, triamcinolone acetonide, and triamcinolone hexacetonide, with its composition comprising about 0.005% to about 10%, preferably about 0.01% to about 5%, and more preferably from about 0.05% to about 2.5% by weight of such an agent(s).\",\n \"When mid- to high-potency corticosteroids are used, they are selected from a listing comprising the following agents/ingredients and/or their salts: amcinonide, beclomethasone, betamethasone benzoate, betamethasone dipropionate, betamethasone propionate, betamethasone valerate, budesonide, clobetasol propionate, desonide, diflorasone diacetate, flumethasone pivolate, flunisolide, fluocinolone acetonide, fluocinonide, flurandrenolide, fluticasone propionate, halobetasol propionate, halocinonide, mometasone furoate, and prednicarbate, with its composition comprising about 0.0005% to about 5%, preferably about 0.01% to about 3%, and more preferably from about 0.05% to about 1% by weight of such an agent(s).\",\n \"The formulations for treatment of anorectal conditions also contain an antidepressant agent(s) with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties which is selected from a listing comprising the following agents/ingredients and/or their salts: agomelatine, amitryptiline, amoxapine, bupropion, buspirone, carbamazepine, citalopram, clomipramine, desipramine, desvenlafaxine, dexmethylphenidate, dextromethorphan, dosulepin, doxepin, duloxetine, escitalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, imipramine, isocarboxazid, lamotrigine, lisdexamfetamine, lofepramine, maprotiline, methylphenidate, mianserin, milnacipran, mirtazapine, moclobemide, nefazodone, nortriptyline, opipramol, paroxetine, phenelzine, pirlindole, protriptyline, reboxetine, selegiline, sertraline, sibutramine, tandospirone, tianeptine, tramadol, tranylcypromine, trazodone, trimipramine, valproic acid, venlafaxine, and viloxazine, with its composition comprising about 0.005% to about 20%, preferably about 0.1% to about 10%, and more preferably from about 0.2% to about 5% by weight of such an agent(s).\",\n \"The formulations for treatment of anorectal conditions also comprise a cooling/soothing agent(s) which is/are selected from a listing comprising the following agents/ingredients and/or their salts/oils: camphor, camphor oil, cinnamon oil, citronella oil, cornmint oil, eucalyptus oil, menthol, methyl salicylate, peppermint oil, and combinations thereof, with its/their composition comprising about 0.001% to about 15%, preferably about 0.1% to about 7.5%, and more preferably from about 0.2% to about 5% by weight of such an agent(s).\",\n \"2.A method of treatment of and formulations of treatment of genitourinary conditions.\",\n \"The pathophysiology of symptoms related to various genitourinary conditions shares the final common inflammatory pathway of pain and swelling of the tissues involved, such as the urethral, peri-urethral, vaginal mucosa, labial, vulvar, peri-vaginal, perineal, penile and scrotal epithelia, leading to mucosal and submucosal edema/inflammation, etc.\",\n \"All treatment options aim at relief of tissue swelling and inflammation—the leading cause of pain and discomfort.\",\n \"Current topical preparations for treatments of genitourinary conditions, either prescriptive or non-prescriptive formulations, have been mostly developed for the treatments of post-menopausal atrophic vaginal changes, and often contain one or two active ingredients comprising female sex hormone derivatives, corticosteroids, etc.\",\n \"The method of treatment for the genitourinary conditions using the formulations described herein is novel, unique and different from any methods of treatment using any of the existing patented formulations including prescriptive and non-prescriptive formulations currently indicated for use in various genitourinary conditions such as acute, chronic or recurrent prostatitis, bacterial or non-bacterial prostatitis, prostadynia, balanitis, balanoposthitis, balanitis xerotica obliterans, groin itch, scrotal itch, radiation cystitis, radiation vaginitis, radiation prostatitis, radiation urethritis, infectious and non-infectious urethritis, peri- and post-menopausal urethritis, peri- and post-menopausal vaginitis, atrophic urethritis, urethral syndrome, peri- and post-menopausal vaginitis, infectious and non-infectious vulvovaginitis, atrophic vaginitis, vaginal dryness, non-specific vaginal symptoms, pre- and post-coital discomfort and dyspareunia, vaginismus, vulvodynia, radiation vaginitis, and genitourinary infections including bacterial infections, fungal infections, viral infections, genital herpes, and warts/condyomata.\",\n \"Each of the formulations for treatment of genitourinary conditions has a unique combination of several active ingredients, and each of these ingredients exerts its anti-inflammatory effects at various phases of the inflammatory cascade resulting in a synergistic effect of pain relief and healing.\",\n \"The first major active ingredient in the current formulations is selected from a member of the low-, mid-, or high-potency corticosteroids, which are known for their potent anti-inflammatory effects against a wide range of inflammations.\",\n \"Its anti-inflammatory mechanism is mediated through inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis and leukocyte response.\",\n \"Topical corticosteroid preparations, when applied in small quantities, have the advantage of modulating local immune response at the target sites while avoiding systemic side effects and drug interactions.\",\n \"The second major active ingredient described herein is an antidepressant agent(s) with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties which can counteract the propagation of the inflammatory cascade through anti-histaminic, serotonin and/or neuronal pathways.\",\n \"The third major active ingredient, a cooling or soothing agent(s), is crucial in providing immediate relaxation and soothing of the inflamed tissues such as the epithelial, sub-epithelial, mucosal tissues and nerve endings, and in aiding tissue penetration of other active ingredients, thus resulting in an instant relief of symptoms at the target sites.\",\n \"All these ingredients are combined in a commercially accessible cream base, with the overall efficacy resulting from the synergistic effect achieved via combining all or some of the above ingredients are superior to that of the individual ingredient alone.\",\n \"The novel method of treatment of various genitourinary conditions using various novel formulations containing the above four major ingredients are dispersed as an admixture in a commercially accessible cream base formulation.\",\n \"Taken altogether, the current multi-active ingredient formulations allow each of these ingredients to exist at a lower concentration than the existing single-active ingredient formulations, thus minimizing the likelihood for side effects due to systemic absorption and toxicity.\",\n \"The latter has been the major concern for oral or parenteral administrations of pharmaceutical agents.\",\n \"Such symptoms, in the case of prolonged corticosteroid use, may include reversible hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis suppression, manifestations of Cushing's syndrome, hyperglycemia and glucosuria, and in the case of excessive application of an anti-histaminic/anti-allergic, anti-itch agent(s), may include drowsiness and sedation.\",\n \"On the contrary, systemic absorption leading to clinical symptoms is a rare phenomenon using the formulations as described herein for genitourinary administrations, wherein only a small amount of the formulated product is applied on the tip of a finger, pad, swab, cloth or an applicator and then transferred to the target sites comprising the skin, anus, rectum, external genitalia, scrotum, penis, vagina, labia, urethral meatus, peri-urethral area, peri-vaginal area, and perineum.\",\n \"To further enhance its safety margin and efficacy, these formulations consist of smaller amounts of each of the multiple active ingredients in lieu of a formulation that contains a larger concentration of a single active ingredient.\",\n \"This is because in the latter preparation, the single active ingredient will have to exist in a much larger quantity in order to achieve the comparable clinical efficacy as the multi-active ingredient formulations.\",\n \"For example, the concern for local untoward side effects such as atrophic changes and telangiectasia in the skin or mucosal/epithelial linings following long-term use of topical steroids at a high concentration can be effectively lessened.\",\n \"The idea leading to the current formulation development parallels the concept of utilizing the multi-drug approach in developing modern chemotherapeutic regimens, i.e., delivering a higher overall efficacy with fewer complications when compared to the single-drug regimens.\",\n \"The formulations for treatment of genitourinary conditions described herein comprise the following selected active ingredients, which are dispersed as an admixture in commercially accessible base formulations.\",\n \"Specifically, the formulations comprise a low-, mid-, or high-potency corticosteroid selected from a listing comprising the following agents/ingredients and/or their salts: alclometasone dipropionate, amcinonide, beclomethasone, betamethasone benzoate, betamethasone dipropionate, betamethasone propionate, betamethasone valerate, budesonide, clobetasol propionate, clobetasone butyrate, clocortolone pivolate, cortisone, desonide, desoximetasone, dexamethasone, diflorasone diacetate, flumethasone pivolate, flunisolide, fluocinolone acetonide, fluocinonide, flurandrenolide, fluticasone propionate, halobetasol propionate, halocinonide, hydrocortisone, hydrocortisone acetate, hydrocortisone butyrate, hydrocortisone probutate, hydrocortisone propionate, hydrocortisone valerate, methylprednisolone, mometasone furoate, prednicarbate, prednisolone, prednisone acetate, prednisone valerate, triamcinolone acetonide, and triamcinolone hexacetonide, with its composition comprising about 0.0005% to about 10% by weight of such an agent(s).\",\n \"More specifically, the low-mid to mid-potency corticosteroids are selected from a listing comprising the following agents/ingredients and/or their salts: alclometasone dipropionate, clobetasone butyrate, clocortolone pivolate, cortisone, desoximetasone, dexamethasone, hydrocortisone, hydrocortisone acetate, hydrocortisone butyrate, hydrocortisone propionate, hydrocortisone probutate, hydrocortisone valerate, methylprednisolone, prednisolone, prednisone acetate, prednisone valerate, triamcinolone acetonide, and triamcinolone hexacetonide, with its composition comprising about 0.005% to about 10%, preferably about 0.01% to about 5%, and more preferably from about 0.05% to about 2.5% by weight of such an agent(s).\",\n \"When mid- to high-potency corticosteroids are used, they are selected from a listing comprising the following agents/ingredients and/or their salts: amcinonide, beclomethasone, betamethasone benzoate, betamethasone dipropionate, betamethasone propionate, betamethasone valerate, budesonide, clobetasol propionate, desonide, diflorasone diacetate, flumethasone pivolate, flunisolide, fluocinolone acetonide, fluocinonide, flurandrenolide, fluticasone propionate, halobetasol propionate, halocinonide, mometasone furoate, and prednicarbate, with its composition comprising about 0.0005% to about 5%, preferably about 0.01% to about 3%, and more preferably from about 0.05% to about 1% by weight of such an agent(s).\",\n \"The formulations for treatment of genitourinary conditions also contain an antidepressant agent(s) with anti-allergic and/or anti-itch properties which is selected from a listing comprising the following agents/ingredients and/or their salts: agomelatine, amitryptiline, amoxapine, bupropion, buspirone, carbamazepine, citalopram, clomipramine, desipramine, desvenlafaxine, dexmethylphenidate, dextromethorphan, dosulepin, doxepin, duloxetine, escitalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, imipramine, isocarboxazid, lamotrigine, lisdexamfetamine, lofepramine, maprotiline, methylphenidate, mianserin, milnacipran, mirtazapine, moclobemide, nefazodone, nortriptyline, opipramol, paroxetine, phenelzine, pirlindole, protriptyline, reboxetine, selegiline, sertraline, sibutramine, tandospirone, tianeptine, tramadol, tranylcypromine, trazodone, trimipramine, valproic acid, venlafaxine, and viloxazine, with its composition comprising about 0.005% to about 20%, preferably about 0.1% to about 10%, and more preferably from about 0.2% to about 5% by weight of such an agent(s).\",\n \"The formulations for treatment of genitourinary conditions also comprise a cooling/soothing agent(s) which is/are selected from a listing comprising the following agents/ingredients and/or their salts/oils: camphor, camphor oil, cinnamon oil, citronella oil, cornmint oil, eucalyptus oil, menthol, methyl salicylate, peppermint oil, and combinations thereof, with its/their composition comprising about 0.001% to about 15%, preferably about 0.1% to about 7.5%, and more preferably from about 0.2% to about 5% by weight of such an agent(s).\",\n \"It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure are merely possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure.\",\n \"Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment(s) of the disclosure without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the disclosure.\",\n \"All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and the present disclosure and protected by the following claims.\",\n \"While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof.\",\n \"For example, although numerous embodiments having various features have been described herein, combinations of such various features in other combinations not discussed herein are contemplated within the scope of embodiments of the present invention.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876101"}}},{"rowIdx":4495082,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["NOVEL PRESSURELESS IRRIGATION DEVICE","The present disclosure belongs to the technical field of farm irrigation, and particularly relates to a novel pressureless irrigation device.","The novel pressureless irrigation device of the present disclosure uniformly conveys irrigation water to crop plant root systems on the basis of a “connector” principle; and the size of a flow cross-section necessarily satisfies the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in a static pressure dominant operating state, thereby eliminating a problem of irrigator blockage which accompanies energy dissipation.","Water enters the atmosphere via transpiration of crop plants, and a water supply water level control pool at a head portion is triggered to replenish the water.","The water consumption and water replenishment are adaptive, and human intervention and additional energy are not required, thereby realizing low-cost and “fool-proof” automatic irrigation and true sense of uniform irrigation."],["1.A novel pressureless irrigation device, comprising a novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device, wherein the novel irrigator comprises an equal-diameter downstream tee joint (1), a horizontal water inlet end (1-1) of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a horizontal water outlet end (1-2) of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a vertical water inlet end (1-3) of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a connecting pipe (2), a reducer pipe (3), a soil saturated water layer forming pipe (4), a porous water-permeable plate (5), a sandstone inverted filter layer (6) and backfill soil (7); the equal-diameter downstream tee joint (1) is connected to underground capillary pipes in series; the horizontal water inlet end (1-1) of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a head end direction of one capillary pipe; the horizontal water outlet end (1-2) of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a rear end direction of the capillary pipe; head ends of all capillary pipes are communicated with water supply water level control pool (201) by water supply branch pipes and water supply main pipes; rear ends of all the capillary pipes are connected with capillary pipe flushing valves by drainage branch pipes and drainage main pipes; the water supply branch pipes, the drainage branch pipes, the drainage main pipes and all the capillary pipes are located on a same horizontal plane; when noncapillary pipes perform flushing operation, the flushing valves are in a closed state; the vertical water inlet end (1-3) of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a small head of the reducer pipe (3) by the connecting pipe (2); a lower end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe (4) is vertically inserted into a large head of the reducer pipe (3); the porous water-permeable plate (5) is placed at the bottom of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe (4) and on one side of the large head of a diameter reducing position of the reducer pipe (3); the sandstone inverted filter layer (6) is placed on the porous water-permeable plates (5); the backfill soil (7) is placed on the sandstone inverted filter layer (6); a distance between a top end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe (4) and a soil surface of an irrigated farmland is 40-45 cm; a height adjustment range of a soil saturated water layer is from the bottom of the backfill soil (7) in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe (4) to a top of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe (4); and a height of the soil saturated water layer is adjusted by adjusting a water level of a corresponding water level control pool for water supply (201).","2.The novel pressureless irrigation device according to claim 1, further comprising a floating ball water level control device having a water level adjustment control mechanism and a gauge, wherein a water inlet pipe (202) of the water supply water level control pool (201) horizontally penetrates through a side wall of the water supply water level control pool (201) from right to left and enters the water supply water level control pool (201); the water inlet pipe is connected with a port at right side of an equal-diameter tee (203), and the port is perpendicular to an upper port and a lower port of the equal-diameter tee (203); a lower end of an upper connecting pipe (204) is connected with the upper port of the equal-diameter tee (203); an upper end of the upper connecting pipe (204) is connected with the lower end of a female adapter (205); a square plug (206) is mounted at the upper end of the female adapter (205); the upper end of a lower connecting pipe (207) is connected with the lower port of the equal-diameter tee (203); the lower end of the lower connecting pipe (207) is connected with the upper port of a ball valve (208); the lower port of the ball valve (208) is connected with the upper end of a water distribution pipe (209); the water distribution pipe (209) has a suspended lower end and a downward pipe port; a horizontal head-on surface of a valve rod (210) of the ball valve (208) is inward, is perpendicular to a plane on which the upper connecting pipe (204), the lower connecting pipe (207) and the water inlet pipes (202) in the water supply water level control pool (201) are located; perpendicular to the plane, a right upper shaft (211) is fixed inwards and horizontal to the head-on surface at an upper portion of the upper connecting pipe (204); a right end of the upper connecting rod (212) is sleeved on a right upper shaft (211) after being drilled, and then the upper connecting rod (212) is equipped with a circular gasket and a gasket fixing plug pin; the upper connecting rod (212) is rotatable about the right upper shaft (211) in the plane perpendicular to the right upper shaft (211); a right end of the lower connecting rod (213) is fixed to the valve rod (210); when a left end and a right end of the lower connecting rod (213) are located on a same horizontal plane, the ball valve (208) is in a closed state; when the left end of the lower connecting rod (213) is separated from the horizontal plane and moves downwards, the valve rod (210) is drivable to rotate to open the closed ball valve (208); a left lower shaft (215) is fixed inwards to a head-on surface of the valve rod (210) parallel to the valve rod (210) at a lower end of a sleeve (214); the left end of the lower connecting rod (213) is sleeved on the left lower shaft (215) after being drilled and then is equipped with a circular gasket and a gasket fixing plug pin; a left upper shaft (216) is fixed inwards and horizontal to the head-on surface and parallel to the right upper shaft (211) on the sleeve (214) at a position with a distance equal to a distance between the valve rod (210) and the right upper shaft (211) above the left lower shaft (215); the left end of the upper connecting rod (212) is sleeved on the left upper shaft (216) after drilled and then is equipped with a circular gasket and a gasket fixing plug pin; a distance between the right upper shaft (211) and the left upper shaft (216) is equal to a distance between the valve rod (210) and the left lower shaft (215); a pull ring (218) is fixed at a upper end of a floating box connecting rod (217); a water-level control gauge (219) is arranged on a upper portion of the floating box connecting rod (217) and on the floating box connecting rod (217) below the pull ring (218); a lower end of the floating box connecting rod (217) penetrating through the sleeve (214) is fixed to a floating box (221) by a fixing nut (220) on the floating box (221); a control water level positioning pin (222) is mounted on an upward extended section of the sleeve (214) and on the sleeve (214) at a height higher than an upper cover plate of the water supply water level control pool (201) and convenient to operate above the left upper shaft (216); the upper connecting rod (212) and the lower connecting rod (213) move in the same plane perpendicular to the valve rod (210), the right upper shaft (211), the left lower shaft (215) and the left upper shaft (216); a pipe port at one end of the water outlet pipe (223) of the water supply water level control pool (201) penetrates through a side wall of the water supply water level control pool (201), and the pipe port is located at the bottom of the water supply water level control pool (201) with 20-25 cm higher than a bottom surface of the water supply water level control pool (201); and the other end of the water outlet pipe (223) of the water supply water level control pool (201) is connected with a water supply main pipe in the novel irrigator of the novel pressureless irrigation device.","3.The novel pressureless irrigation device according to claim 1, further comprising a photovoltaic water supply system for the novel irrigator of the novel pressureless irrigation device; the photovoltaic water supply system comprises a photovoltaic water pumping portion, a water reservoir and the water supply water level control pool (201); the photovoltaic water pumping portion is composed of a solar battery array, a photovoltaic water pumping invertor and a water pump; the solar battery array is configured on the water reservoir; the water pump is configured at a bottom in a water source well; a water pump water outlet pipe is mounted on a water outlet of the water pump; the pipe port at the other end of the water pump water outlet pipe is located above the water reservoir and the mouth of the pipe port is downward; an overflow pipe is arranged on an upper portion of the water reservoir; a water inlet pipe port of the overflow pipe is configured on a side wall of the water reservoir; the pipe port is located in the water reservoir and the port pipe is 10-15 cm lower than an upper edge of the side wall of the water reservoir; the other end of the overflow pipe is located outside the water reservoir and has the water outlet pipe port placed in a water source well; one end of the water inlet pipe (202) of the water supply water level control pool (201) is connected with the water reservoir; the pipe port at one end of the water inlet pipe (202) connected with the water reservoir penetrates through the side wall of the water reservoir, and the pipe port is located in the water reservoir with 15-20 cm higher than the bottom surface of the water reservoir; the other end of the water inlet pipe (202) of the water supply water level control pool (201) horizontally penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool (201) from right to left and enters the water supply water level control pool (201); the water inlet pipe is connected with a port at right side of the equal-diameter tee (203), and the port is perpendicular to an upper port and a lower port of the equal-diameter tee (203); the lower end of the upper connecting pipe (204) is connected with the upper port of the equal-diameter tee (203); the upper end of the upper connecting pipe (204) is connected with the lower end of the female adapter (205); the square plug (206) is mounted at the upper end of the female adapter (205); the upper end of the lower connecting pipe (207) is connected with the lower port of the equal-diameter tee (203); the lower end of the lower connecting pipe (207) is connected with the upper port of the ball valve (208); the lower port of the ball valve (208) is connected with the upper end of the water distribution pipe (209); the water distribution pipe (209) has the suspended lower end and the downward pipe port; the valve rod (210) of the ball valve (208) is facing inward and horizontal to the head-on surface, and the valve rod is perpendicular to the plane on which the upper connecting pipe (204), the lower connecting pipe (207) and the water inlet pipes (202) in the water supply water level control pool (201) are located; perpendicular to the plane, the right upper shaft (211) is fixed inwards and horizontal to the head-on surface at the upper portion of the upper connecting pipe (204); the right end of the upper connecting rod (212) is sleeved on the right upper shaft (211) after being drilled, and then the upper connecting rod is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin; the upper connecting rod (212) is rotatable about the right upper shaft (211) in the plane perpendicular to the right upper shaft (211); the right end of the lower connecting rod (213) is fixed to the valve rod (210); when the left end and the right end of the lower connecting rod (213) are located on the same horizontal plane, the ball valve (208) is in the closed state; when the left end of the lower connecting rod (213) is separated from the horizontal plane and moves downwards, the valve rod (210) is drivable to rotate to open the closed ball valve (208); the left lower shaft (215) is fixed inwards and parallel to the head-on surface of the valve rod (210) at the lower end of the sleeve (214); the left end of the lower connecting rod (213) is sleeved on the left lower shaft (215) after being drilled and then the lower connecting rod (213) is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin; the left upper shaft (216) is fixed inwards, horizontal to the head-on surface and parallel to the right upper shaft (211) on the sleeve (214) at a position with a distance equal to a distance between the valve rod (210) and the right upper shaft (211) above the left lower shaft (215); the left end of the upper connecting rod (212) is sleeved on the left upper shaft (216) after being drilled and then the upper connecting rod (212) is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin; the distance between the right upper shaft (211) and the left upper shaft (216) is equal to the distance between the valve rod (210) and the left lower shaft (215); the pull ring (218) is fixed at the upper end of the floating box connecting rod (217); the control level gauge (219) is arranged on the upper portion of the floating box connecting rod (217) and the floating box connecting rod (217) below the pull ring (218); the lower end of the floating box connecting rod (217) penetrating through the sleeve (214) is fixed to the floating box (221) by the fixing nut (210) on the floating box (221); the control water level positioning pin (222) is mounted on the upward extended section of the sleeve (214) and on the sleeve (214) at the height higher than an upper cover plate of the water supply water level control pool (201) and convenient to operate above the left upper shaft (216); the upper connecting rod (212) and the lower connecting rod (213) move in the same plane perpendicular to the valve rod (210), the right upper shaft (211), the left lower shaft (215) and the left upper shaft (216); the pipe port at one end of the water outlet pipe (223) of the water supply water level control pool (201) penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool (201), and the pipe port is located in the water supply water level control pool (201), with 20-25 cm higher than the bottom surface of the water supply water level control pool (201); and the other end of the water outlet pipes (223) of the water supply water level control pool (201) is connected with the water supply main pipe in the novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device.","4.The novel pressureless irrigation device according to claim 3, wherein the water reservoir and the photovoltaic water pumping portion are replaced with a water source with a minimum dynamic water level higher than a water level of the water supply water level control pool (201); and one end of the water inlet pipe (202) of the water supply water level control pool (201) is connected with the water sources.","5.The novel pressureless irrigation device according to claim 3, wherein the novel irrigator and the novel water supply system for the novel irrigator uniformly convey the irrigation water to the crop plant root systems; the novel irrigator and the water supply water level control pool (201) are based on the “connector” principle; and a size of the flow cross-section satisfies extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in a static pressure dominant operating state.","6.The novel pressureless irrigation device according to claim 1, wherein a distance between the top end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe (4) and the soil surface of the irrigated farmland is 5-10 cm greater than a maximum tractor-ploughing depth of the irrigated farmland.","7.The novel pressureless irrigation device according to claim 1, wherein a height adjustment range of the soil saturated water layer is from the bottom of the backfill soil (7) in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe (4) to the top of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe (4) and the height is 3-4 cm lower than the upper edge.","8.The novel pressureless irrigation device according to claim 5, wherein the height of the soil saturated water layer is controlled and adjusted by controlling and adjusting the water level of the corresponding water supply water level control pool (201) based on the “connector” principle.","9.The novel pressureless irrigation device according to claim 1, wherein the porous water-permeable plates (5) are sphere-shaped plates having convex surfaces placed upwards."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>The concept of pressureless irrigation has been first proposed by an authorized patent “a novel pressureless irrigation device” with a publication number of CN102160518A.","Pressureless irrigation is an irrigation method in which an elevation of an irrigation water source is equal to that of an irrigator, which is derived from a definition of “negative pressure irrigation”.","The patent CN102160518A is invented to provide a novel pressureless irrigation device which is as efficient as the negative pressure irrigation, more convenient to use, more durable and highly reliable.","A patent literature with the publication number of CN102160518A discloses a novel pressureless irrigation device which includes a water supply tank, a water level control pool, a water conveying main pipe, a confluence pipe and a plurality of irrigators (referring to a patent specification of CN102160518A).","The patent of a novel pressureless irrigation device with the publication number of CN102160518A adopts the irrigator (referring to the patent specification of CN 102160518 A) using a U-shaped concrete trough as a basic structure, and has the following defects.","Firstly, high-precision concrete pouring molding equipment is required in on-site construction; a series of technical problems exist such as expansion joint anti-seepage treatment and the like; input is large and construction is difficult.","Secondly, the U-shaped concrete trough made of brittle material is easy to be damaged by frost-heaving, uneven subsidence, tillage machine operation and the like; most importantly, the height of a soil saturated water layer cannot be adjusted for supplying water to a crop root system layer by rising of soil capillary water.","When water consumption for crop transpiration is not high, and when the soil water continues to rise to a soil surface to form soil evaporation between plants and to cause accumulation of salt in the surface soil, the problem cannot be solved by reducing the height of the soil saturated water layer.","Similarly, a common problem of irregular seedling emergence caused by inadequate water supply of the surface soil at a seedling stage after underground irrigation sowing also cannot be solved by a method of raising the height of the soil saturated water layer.","The patent of a novel pressureless irrigation device with the publication number of CN102160518A adopts a water supply tank type water level adjustment and water supply device which has the following defects.","Firstly, a special control water level adjustment mechanism and control water level gauge are not provided so that the control water level is very difficult to be adjusted accurately, and requirement of accurately and conveniently adjusting the control water level at any time of a novel irrigator of the novel pressureless irrigation device of the present cannot be satisfied.","Secondly, a water supply tank of the water supply tank type water level adjustment and water supply device needs to operate in a closed state (referring to the patent specification of CN 102160518 A), which cannot be filled with water at any time, and is inconvenient to adopt a photovoltaic water pumping mode."],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Aims of the present disclosure are to provide a novel pressureless irrigation device capable of overcoming the above defects, to eliminate a problem of irrigator blockage of a “traditional irrigation operation mode” in a brand-new irrigation operation mode, and to realize low-cost and “fool-proof” automatic irrigation and true sense of uniform irrigation.","The aims of the present disclosure are achieved by follows.","The novel pressureless irrigation device includes a novel irrigator and a novel water supply system, which uniformly convey irrigation water to crop plant root systems, wherein the novel irrigator and a water supply water level control pool of the novel water supply system are based on a “connector” principle; and the size of a flow cross-section satisfies the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in a static pressure dominant operating state.","The novel pressureless irrigation device includes a novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device, wherein the novel irrigator includes an equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a horizontal water inlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a horizontal water outlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a vertical water inlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a connecting pipe, a reducer pipe, a soil saturated water layer forming pipe, porous water-permeable plates, sandstone inverted filters and backfill soil.","The equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected to underground capillary pipes in series.","The horizontal water inlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a head end direction of one capillary pipe.","The horizontal water outlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a rear end direction of the capillary pipe.","Head ends of all the capillary pipes are communicated with water supply water level control pool by water supply branch pipes and water supply main pipes.","rear ends of all the capillary pipes are connected with capillary pipe flushing valves by drainage branch pipes and drainage main pipes.","The water supply branch pipes, the drainage branch pipes, the drainage main pipes and all the capillary pipes are located on a same horizontal plane.","When noncapillary pipes perform flushing operation, the flushing valves are in a closed state.","The vertical water inlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a small head of the reducer pipe by the connecting pipe.","A lower end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe is vertically inserted into a large head of the reducer pipe.","The porous water-permeable plates are placed at the bottom of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe and on one side of the large head of a diameter reducing position of the reducer pipe.","The sandstone inverted filters are placed on the porous water-permeable plates.","The backfill soil is placed on the sandstone inverted filters.","A distance between a top end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe and a soil surface of an irrigated farmland is 40-45 cm.","A height adjustment range of a soil saturated water layer is from the bottom of the backfill soil in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe to the top of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe.","The height of the soil saturated water layer is adjusted by adjusting a water level of a corresponding water supply water level control pool.","The novel pressureless irrigation device further includes a floating ball water level control device having a control water level adjustment mechanism and a gauge, wherein water inlet pipes of the water supply water level control pool horizontally penetrate through side walls of the water supply water level control pool from the right to the left and enter the water supply water level control pool.","Ports connected to an equal-diameter tee face the right.","A lower end of an upper connecting pipe is connected with the upper port of the equal-diameter tee above ports perpendicular to an upper port and a lower port of the equal-diameter tee.","An upper end of the upper connecting pipe is connected with the lower end of a female adapter.","A square plug is mounted at the upper end of the female adapter.","The upper end of a lower connecting pipe is connected with the lower port of the equal-diameter tee.","The lower end of the lower connecting pipe is connected with the upper port of a ball valve.","The lower port of the ball valve is connected with the upper end of a water distribution pipe.","The water distribution pipe has a suspended lower end and a downward pipe port.","A horizontal head-on surface of a valve rod of the ball valve is inward, and is perpendicular to a plane on which the upper connecting pipe, the lower connecting pipe and the water inlet pipes in the water supply water level control pool are located, and is perpendicular to the plane.","A right upper shaft is fixed inwards to the horizontal head-on surface at an upper portion of the upper connecting pipe.","A right end of the upper connecting rod is sleeved on a right upper shaft after being drilled, and then is equipped with a circular gasket and a gasket fixing plug pin.","The upper connecting rod can rotate about the shaft in the plane perpendicular to the shaft; the right end of the lower connecting rod is fixed to the valve rod.","When a left end and a right end of the lower connecting rod are located on the same horizontal plane, the ball valve is in a closed state.","When the left end of the lower connecting rod is separated from the horizontal plane and moves downwards, the valve rod can be driven to rotate to open the closed ball valve.","A left lower shaft is fixed inwards parallel to the head-on surface of the valve rod at the lower end of a sleeve.","The left end of the lower connecting rod is sleeved on the left lower shaft after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.","A left upper shaft is fixed inwards and horizontal to the head-on surface and parallel to the right upper shaft on the sleeve at a position with a distance equal to a distance between the valve rod and the right upper shaft above the left lower shaft.","The left end of the upper connecting rod is sleeved on the left upper shaft after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.","The distance between the right upper shaft and the left upper shaft is equal to the distance between the valve rod and the left lower shaft.","A pull ring is fixed at the upper end of a floating box connecting rod.","Control level gauges are arranged on the upper portion of the floating box connecting rod and the floating box connecting rod below the pull ring.","The lower end of the floating box connecting rod penetrating through the sleeve is fixed to a floating box by a fixing nut on the floating box.","Control water level positioning pins are mounted on an upward extended section of the sleeve and on the sleeve at a height higher than an upper cover plate of the water supply water level control pool and convenient to operate above the left upper shaft.","The upper connecting rod and the lower connecting rod move in the same plane perpendicular to the valve rod, the right upper shaft, the left lower shaft and the left upper shaft.","The pipe port at one end of the water outlet pipe of each water supply water level control pool penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool, and is located at the bottom of the water supply water level control pool, and is 20-25 cm higher than a bottom surface of the water supply water level control pool.","The other ends of the water outlet pipes of the water supply water level control pool are connected with the water supply main pipes in the novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device.","The novel pressureless irrigation device further includes a photovoltaic water supply system for the novel irrigator of the novel pressureless irrigation device.","The photovoltaic water supply system includes a photovoltaic water pumping portion, a water reservoir and the water supply water level control pool.","The photovoltaic water pumping portion is composed of a solar battery array, a photovoltaic water pumping invertor and a water pump.","The solar battery array is placed on the water reservoir.","The water pump is placed at the bottom in a water source well.","A water pump water outlet pipe is mounted on a water outlet of the water pump.","The pipe port at the other end of the water pump water outlet pipe is located above the water reservoir and is downward An overflow pipe is arranged on an upper portion of the water reservoir.","A water inlet pipe port of the overflow pipe is formed in a side wall of the water reservoir.","The pipe port is located in the water reservoir and is 10-15 cm lower than an upper edge of the side wall of the water reservoir.","The other end of the overflow pipe is located outside the water reservoir and has the water outlet pipe port placed in a water source well.","One end of the water inlet pipe of each water supply water level control pool is connected with the water reservoir.","The pipe port at the end penetrates through the side wall of the water reservoir, and is located in the water reservoir and is 15-20 cm higher than the bottom surface of the water reservoir.","The other end of the water inlet pipe of each water supply water level control pool horizontally penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool from right to left and enters the water supply water level control pool.","The ports are connected to an equal-diameter tee face the right.","The lower end of the upper connecting pipe is connected with the upper port of the equal-diameter tee above the ports perpendicular to the upper port and the lower port of the equal-diameter tee.","The upper end of the upper connecting pipe is connected with the lower end of the female adapter.","The square plug is mounted at the upper end of the female adapter.","The upper end of the lower connecting pipe is connected with the lower port of the equal-diameter tee.","The lower end of the lower connecting pipe is connected with the upper port of the ball valve.","The lower port of the ball valve is connected with the upper end of the water distribution pipe.","The water distribution pipe has the suspended lower end and the downward pipe port.","The horizontal head-on surface of the valve rod of the ball valve is inward, and is perpendicular to the plane on which the upper connecting pipe.","The lower connecting pipe and the water inlet pipes in the water supply water level control pool are located, and is perpendicular to the plane.","The right upper shaft is fixed inwards and horizontal to head-on surface at the upper portion of the upper connecting pipe.","The right end of the upper connecting rod is sleeved on the right upper shaft after being drilled, and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.","The upper connecting rod can rotate about the shaft in the plane perpendicular to the shaft.","The right end of the lower connecting rod is fixed to the valve rod.","When the left end and the right end of the lower connecting rod are located on the same horizontal plane, the ball valve is in the closed state.","When the left end of the lower connecting rod is separated from the horizontal plane and moves downwards, the valve rod can be driven to rotate to open the closed ball valve.","The left lower shaft is fixed inwards parallel to the head-on surface of the valve rod at the lower end of the sleeve.","The left end of the lower connecting rod is sleeved on the left lower shaft after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.","The left upper shaft is fixed inwards and horizontal to the head-on surface and parallel to the right upper shaft on the sleeve at a position with a distance equal to a distance between the valve rod and the right upper shaft above the left lower shaft.","The left end of the upper connecting rod is sleeved on the left upper shaft after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.","The distance between the right upper shaft and the left upper shaft is equal to the distance between the valve rod and the left lower shaft.","The pull ring is fixed at the upper end of the floating box connecting rod.","The control level gauges are arranged on the upper portion of the floating box connecting rod and the floating box connecting rod below the pull ring.","The lower end of the floating box connecting rod penetrating through the sleeve is fixed to the floating box by the fixing nut on the floating box.","The control water level positioning pins are mounted on the upward extended section of the sleeve and on the sleeve at the height higher than an upper cover plate of the water supply water level control pool and convenient to operate above the left upper shaft.","The upper connecting rod and the lower connecting rod move in the same plane perpendicular to the valve rod, the right upper shaft, the left lower shaft and the left upper shaft.","The pipe port at one end of the water outlet pipe of each water supply water level control pool penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool, is located in the water supply water level control pool, and is 20-25 cm higher than the bottom surface of the water supply water level control pool.","The other ends of the water outlet pipes of the water supply water level control pool are connected with the water supply main pipes in the novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device.","Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, one end of the water inlet pipe of each water supply water level control pool is connected with the water reservoir.","The water reservoir can supply water in other modes besides the photovoltaic water pumping mode; or the water reservoir and the photovoltaic water pumping portion are replaced with other water sources with a minimum dynamic water level higher than that of the water supply water level control pool.","Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, the novel irrigator and the novel water supply system uniformly convey the irrigation water to the crop plant root systems.","The novel irrigator and the water supply water level control pool of the novel water supply system are based on the “connector” principle.","The size of the flow cross-section satisfies the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in the static pressure dominant operating state.","Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, the distance between the top end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe and the soil surface of the irrigated farmland is 5-10 cm greater than a maximum tractor-ploughing depth of the irrigated farmland.","Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, the height adjustment range of the soil saturated water layer is from the bottom of the backfill soil in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe to the top of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe and is 3-4 cm lower than the upper edge.","Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, the height of the soil saturated water layer is controlled and adjusted by controlling and adjusting the water level of the corresponding water supply water level control pool based on the “connector” principle.","Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, the porous water-permeable plates are sphere-shaped plates having convex surfaces placed upwards.","The present disclosure has the following technical features and positive effects.","For a long time, in order to uniformly convey the irrigation water to the crop plant root systems, an irrigation operation mode of dissipating energy is realized via the irrigator after pressurization, referred to as a “traditional irrigation operation mode” in the present description.","Theoretically, in the “traditional irrigation operation mode”, the irrigator blockage takes place along with energy dissipation of the irrigator.","The energy dissipation of the irrigator provides conditions for the irrigator blockage.","The irrigator blockage is difficult to be eliminated as long as the irrigator still can perform an energy dissipation function.","Long-term scientific research and production practice also prove that elimination of the irrigator blockage under the “traditional irrigation operation mode” with a premise, such as an environment-friendly non-chemical method, which seems to be an impossible task, and deserves a name of worldwide problem.","The novel pressureless irrigation device of the present disclosure uniformly conveys the irrigation water to the crop plant root systems on the basis of the “connector” principle.","The novel pressureless irrigation device of the present disclosure does not need to pressurize, and adopts “lossless conveyance”, with a driving force from a capillary force of the soil and a water potential energy difference of the soil, the plants and the atmosphere which consume solar energy.","It is a brand-new irrigation operation mode substantially different from the “traditional irrigation operation mode”, and has a necessary and sufficient condition of the “lossless conveyance” in the static pressure dominant operating state based on the “connector” principle.","Because of soil capillary force as well as the water potential energy difference between the soil, the plants and the atmosphere, the water of the soil saturated water layer in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe rises to a crop plant system layer in a form of soil capillary water, and then is conveyed to the atmosphere via transpiration of the crop plant.","The transpiration of the crop plant consumes the water of the soil saturated water layer in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe, so that the height of the soil saturated water layer in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe falls.","On the basis of the “connector” principle, the water supply water level control pool at a head portion is triggered to replenish the water.","The replenished water is as much as the water consumed by crops.","The volume of replenished water is increased or reduced with water consumption adaptively without human intervention and additional energy, so that low-cost and “fool-proof” automatic irrigation and true sense of uniform irrigation are realized.","For the “traditional irrigation operation mode”, the irrigation quantity is set artificially.","The soil is irrigated with the same volume of water without considering spatial difference of own water conditions of the soil.","In fact, the volume of water may be appropriate for one portion of a field and may be excessive or insufficient to the other portion, thereby affecting the growth of the crops.","In other words, in the “traditional irrigation operation mode”, even if the volume of water flowing from each irrigator is identical, it is not uniform irrigation in true sense.","Following the “connector” principle, only when the size of the flow cross-section necessarily satisfies the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in the static pressure dominant operating state, the irrigation water can be uniformly conveyed to the crop plant root systems.","Otherwise, the greater the distance from the water supply water level control pool at the head portion is, the lower the height of the soil saturated water layer in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe is.","The purpose of uniformly conveying the irrigation water to the crop plant root systems cannot be achieved.","The so-called “lossless conveyance” refers to “lossless conveyance” with relative significance when the height of the soil saturated water layer in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe at a maximum distance from the water supply water level control pool at the head portion falls due to conveyance loss, the water supply uniformity and costs are taken into account, and the maximum falling magnitude (appearing at a maximum replenished water flow corresponding to the maximum water consumption) is in an allowable range.","The “lossless conveyance” can be realized only when an area of the flow cross-section is increased and an on-way resistance of conveyance is reduced in a manner of reducing the flow speed, i.e., the so-called the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in the static pressure dominant operating state.","Certainly, the area of a soil pore channel is increased by increasing a pipe diameter of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe of the novel irrigator.","The pipe diameter of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe must be greater than that of the capillary pipe at the same flow and flow speed.","Because of “adaptive irrigation”, the water is saved to the largest degree.","The conveyed flow rate is far less than that in the “traditional irrigation operation mode”.","The investment of the area of the flow cross-section increased to satisfy the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in the static pressure dominant operating state of the “connector” is not great.","Compared with the “traditional irrigation operation mode”, the adaptive irrigation is cost-effective, economical and completely acceptable.","Specific pipes and sizes used by the flow cross-section are shown in embodiments of the novel irrigator of the present disclosure.","Certainly, when the extremely-low flowing speed requirement with “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in the static pressure dominant operating state is satisfied, other combinations of the pipes and the sizes except embodiments of the novel irrigator of the present disclosure can also be adopted as required.","For example, based on an actual situation that the on-way water flow rate of the capillary pipes is gradually reduced, the on-way reducing thick-to-fine capillary pipes are adopted to achieve the purpose of being more economical and enhancing the flushing effect of the capillary pipes (the capillary pipe flushing valves are opened).","The extremely-low flowing speed greatly weakens the entrainment capability to solid particles in the irrigation water, and in combination with a precipitation effect of gravity, the solid particles in the irrigation water cannot be moved to the soil pore channel of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe located at a high altitude to form blockage, thereby eliminating a root cause of the irrigator blockage.","Therefore, an excellent anti-blockage performance is realized without any filtering device.","The solid particles precipitated in the capillary pipes located at a low altitude can be flushed out by opening the capillary pipe flushing valves.","Because we irrigate non-aquatic crops, a situation that the crop root systems invade into the soil saturated water layer forming pipe does not appear.","Even if invasion exists, the soil saturated water layer forming pipe with a large pipe diameter cannot be blocked, thereby eliminating the problem of irrigator blockage when the irrigator performs the energy dissipation function in the “traditional irrigation operation mode”.","According to a fundamental law of fluid mechanics, the resistance (water head loss) is in direct proportion to the square of the flow speed.","The flow speed is very low and almost no conveyance loss exists, so that the volume of supplied water is large and the water supply is sufficient, and thus the volume of an unsaturated wetting body in the soil formed under action of the capillary pipes of the soil is maximum and the irrigators can be laid under a tractor-ploughing layer slightly farther from the crop plant root systems, thereby overcoming major defects that the other “adaptive irrigation” method-“negative pressure irrigation” cannot satisfy water demands of the crops when the conveying resistance (stroke) of the soil is increased since the driving force is excessively consumed when resisting the conveying resistance of the “negative pressure irrigation” system, causing that the irrigators for the “negative pressure irrigation” cannot be laid under the tractor-ploughing layer slightly farther from the crop plant root systems, thereby affecting the tractor-ploughing operation and requiring frequently laying the underground irrigators and the capillary pipes for the “negative pressure irrigation”.","The novel pressureless irrigation device of the present disclosure is sturdy and durable and can accurately adjust the control water level of the underground water supply water level control pool by the over ground control water level gauge and positioning pin.","The height of the soil saturated water layer for supplying water to the crop root system layer by raising the water in the soil capillary pipe can be controlled and adjusted conveniently and accurately since the “lossless conveyance” based on the “connector” principle does not consume the driving force, a spared space for controlling and adjusting the height of the soil saturated water layer is large enough, and an optimum strategy for controlling and adjusting the height of the soil saturated water layer for supplying water to the crop root system layer by raising the water in the soil capillary pipe still can be adopted in the case of shallow or deep crop root systems, high or low water consumption and the like in different growth periods of the crops when the irrigators are laid under the tractor-ploughing layer.","For example, the height of the soil saturated water layer is reduced to avoid the occurrence of accumulation of salt in the surface soil when the water consumption for crop transpiration is not high and the soil water continues to rise to the soil surface to form soil evaporation between plants.","For another example, the height of the soil saturated water layer is increased to avoid affecting seedling emergence and the like since the water supply of the surface soil is insufficient at a seedling stage after sowing, so that the crops are always in an optimum (for example, when evaporation exists between the plants, the height of the soil saturated water layer is reduced) or not the optimum but the most reasonable (for example, the height of the soil saturated water layer is increased at the seedling stage after sowing) irrigation state.","In the present disclosure, the water is supplied upwards in an infiltration manner based on the “connector” principle, so that the soil is loose and not hardened.","The higher the soil is, the lower the wetting degree is.","The evaporation of the upper soil is less, and the growth of weeds can be effectively inhibited.","The “lossless conveyance” based on the “connector” principle almost has no water supply resistance, so that the volume of the unsaturated wetting body in the soil formed under action of the soil capillary pipe is maximum.","Compared with the other “adaptive irrigation” method-“negative pressure irrigation” which has large water supply resistance and too small soil wetting range, when the same irrigation uniformity is achieved, a distribution density of the irrigators can be reduced, and a line spacing is increased to reduce the investment and achieve ideal effects of large volume of supplied water, sufficient water supply, no deep seepage and the irrigators being optimally deeply buried under the tractor-ploughing layer.","The wide wetting range in the soil is further beneficial for uniform distribution of water and fertilizer, which can create greater growth space for the root systems, and reduces salt damage.","A non-intermittent continuous irrigation mode of the present disclosure based on the “connector” principle enables the size of the soil wetting body and a water and fertilizer distribution gradient to be relatively stable, and is beneficial for the plant root systems to grow to an optimum soil water and fertilizer position, and gives full play to an optimum physiological regulation function of the plant root systems so that the root system layer cannot be subjected to soil water saturation due to irrigation, sequentially reduces the humidity of the soil from bottom to top.","So that the air permeability of the soil is the best and the temperature is risen rapidly.","It is not only superior to the intermittent ground water supply irrigation capable of forming a soil water saturation situation on the upper layers of the root systems, but also superior to various positive pressure difference irrigations capable of directly supplying water to partial crop root systems partially forming the soil water saturation situation on the root system layer, and has a crop growth environment, i.e., water and fertilizer gas-heating conditions, better than any one of previous irrigation modes and methods."],["TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure belongs to the technical field of farmland irrigation, and particularly relates to a novel pressureless irrigation device.","BACKGROUND The concept of pressureless irrigation has been first proposed by an authorized patent “a novel pressureless irrigation device” with a publication number of CN102160518A.","Pressureless irrigation is an irrigation method in which an elevation of an irrigation water source is equal to that of an irrigator, which is derived from a definition of “negative pressure irrigation”.","The patent CN102160518A is invented to provide a novel pressureless irrigation device which is as efficient as the negative pressure irrigation, more convenient to use, more durable and highly reliable.","A patent literature with the publication number of CN102160518A discloses a novel pressureless irrigation device which includes a water supply tank, a water level control pool, a water conveying main pipe, a confluence pipe and a plurality of irrigators (referring to a patent specification of CN102160518A).","The patent of a novel pressureless irrigation device with the publication number of CN102160518A adopts the irrigator (referring to the patent specification of CN 102160518 A) using a U-shaped concrete trough as a basic structure, and has the following defects.","Firstly, high-precision concrete pouring molding equipment is required in on-site construction; a series of technical problems exist such as expansion joint anti-seepage treatment and the like; input is large and construction is difficult.","Secondly, the U-shaped concrete trough made of brittle material is easy to be damaged by frost-heaving, uneven subsidence, tillage machine operation and the like; most importantly, the height of a soil saturated water layer cannot be adjusted for supplying water to a crop root system layer by rising of soil capillary water.","When water consumption for crop transpiration is not high, and when the soil water continues to rise to a soil surface to form soil evaporation between plants and to cause accumulation of salt in the surface soil, the problem cannot be solved by reducing the height of the soil saturated water layer.","Similarly, a common problem of irregular seedling emergence caused by inadequate water supply of the surface soil at a seedling stage after underground irrigation sowing also cannot be solved by a method of raising the height of the soil saturated water layer.","The patent of a novel pressureless irrigation device with the publication number of CN102160518A adopts a water supply tank type water level adjustment and water supply device which has the following defects.","Firstly, a special control water level adjustment mechanism and control water level gauge are not provided so that the control water level is very difficult to be adjusted accurately, and requirement of accurately and conveniently adjusting the control water level at any time of a novel irrigator of the novel pressureless irrigation device of the present cannot be satisfied.","Secondly, a water supply tank of the water supply tank type water level adjustment and water supply device needs to operate in a closed state (referring to the patent specification of CN 102160518 A), which cannot be filled with water at any time, and is inconvenient to adopt a photovoltaic water pumping mode.","SUMMARY Aims of the present disclosure are to provide a novel pressureless irrigation device capable of overcoming the above defects, to eliminate a problem of irrigator blockage of a “traditional irrigation operation mode” in a brand-new irrigation operation mode, and to realize low-cost and “fool-proof” automatic irrigation and true sense of uniform irrigation.","The aims of the present disclosure are achieved by follows.","The novel pressureless irrigation device includes a novel irrigator and a novel water supply system, which uniformly convey irrigation water to crop plant root systems, wherein the novel irrigator and a water supply water level control pool of the novel water supply system are based on a “connector” principle; and the size of a flow cross-section satisfies the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in a static pressure dominant operating state.","The novel pressureless irrigation device includes a novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device, wherein the novel irrigator includes an equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a horizontal water inlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a horizontal water outlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a vertical water inlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a connecting pipe, a reducer pipe, a soil saturated water layer forming pipe, porous water-permeable plates, sandstone inverted filters and backfill soil.","The equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected to underground capillary pipes in series.","The horizontal water inlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a head end direction of one capillary pipe.","The horizontal water outlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a rear end direction of the capillary pipe.","Head ends of all the capillary pipes are communicated with water supply water level control pool by water supply branch pipes and water supply main pipes.","rear ends of all the capillary pipes are connected with capillary pipe flushing valves by drainage branch pipes and drainage main pipes.","The water supply branch pipes, the drainage branch pipes, the drainage main pipes and all the capillary pipes are located on a same horizontal plane.","When noncapillary pipes perform flushing operation, the flushing valves are in a closed state.","The vertical water inlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a small head of the reducer pipe by the connecting pipe.","A lower end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe is vertically inserted into a large head of the reducer pipe.","The porous water-permeable plates are placed at the bottom of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe and on one side of the large head of a diameter reducing position of the reducer pipe.","The sandstone inverted filters are placed on the porous water-permeable plates.","The backfill soil is placed on the sandstone inverted filters.","A distance between a top end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe and a soil surface of an irrigated farmland is 40-45 cm.","A height adjustment range of a soil saturated water layer is from the bottom of the backfill soil in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe to the top of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe.","The height of the soil saturated water layer is adjusted by adjusting a water level of a corresponding water supply water level control pool.","The novel pressureless irrigation device further includes a floating ball water level control device having a control water level adjustment mechanism and a gauge, wherein water inlet pipes of the water supply water level control pool horizontally penetrate through side walls of the water supply water level control pool from the right to the left and enter the water supply water level control pool.","Ports connected to an equal-diameter tee face the right.","A lower end of an upper connecting pipe is connected with the upper port of the equal-diameter tee above ports perpendicular to an upper port and a lower port of the equal-diameter tee.","An upper end of the upper connecting pipe is connected with the lower end of a female adapter.","A square plug is mounted at the upper end of the female adapter.","The upper end of a lower connecting pipe is connected with the lower port of the equal-diameter tee.","The lower end of the lower connecting pipe is connected with the upper port of a ball valve.","The lower port of the ball valve is connected with the upper end of a water distribution pipe.","The water distribution pipe has a suspended lower end and a downward pipe port.","A horizontal head-on surface of a valve rod of the ball valve is inward, and is perpendicular to a plane on which the upper connecting pipe, the lower connecting pipe and the water inlet pipes in the water supply water level control pool are located, and is perpendicular to the plane.","A right upper shaft is fixed inwards to the horizontal head-on surface at an upper portion of the upper connecting pipe.","A right end of the upper connecting rod is sleeved on a right upper shaft after being drilled, and then is equipped with a circular gasket and a gasket fixing plug pin.","The upper connecting rod can rotate about the shaft in the plane perpendicular to the shaft; the right end of the lower connecting rod is fixed to the valve rod.","When a left end and a right end of the lower connecting rod are located on the same horizontal plane, the ball valve is in a closed state.","When the left end of the lower connecting rod is separated from the horizontal plane and moves downwards, the valve rod can be driven to rotate to open the closed ball valve.","A left lower shaft is fixed inwards parallel to the head-on surface of the valve rod at the lower end of a sleeve.","The left end of the lower connecting rod is sleeved on the left lower shaft after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.","A left upper shaft is fixed inwards and horizontal to the head-on surface and parallel to the right upper shaft on the sleeve at a position with a distance equal to a distance between the valve rod and the right upper shaft above the left lower shaft.","The left end of the upper connecting rod is sleeved on the left upper shaft after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.","The distance between the right upper shaft and the left upper shaft is equal to the distance between the valve rod and the left lower shaft.","A pull ring is fixed at the upper end of a floating box connecting rod.","Control level gauges are arranged on the upper portion of the floating box connecting rod and the floating box connecting rod below the pull ring.","The lower end of the floating box connecting rod penetrating through the sleeve is fixed to a floating box by a fixing nut on the floating box.","Control water level positioning pins are mounted on an upward extended section of the sleeve and on the sleeve at a height higher than an upper cover plate of the water supply water level control pool and convenient to operate above the left upper shaft.","The upper connecting rod and the lower connecting rod move in the same plane perpendicular to the valve rod, the right upper shaft, the left lower shaft and the left upper shaft.","The pipe port at one end of the water outlet pipe of each water supply water level control pool penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool, and is located at the bottom of the water supply water level control pool, and is 20-25 cm higher than a bottom surface of the water supply water level control pool.","The other ends of the water outlet pipes of the water supply water level control pool are connected with the water supply main pipes in the novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device.","The novel pressureless irrigation device further includes a photovoltaic water supply system for the novel irrigator of the novel pressureless irrigation device.","The photovoltaic water supply system includes a photovoltaic water pumping portion, a water reservoir and the water supply water level control pool.","The photovoltaic water pumping portion is composed of a solar battery array, a photovoltaic water pumping invertor and a water pump.","The solar battery array is placed on the water reservoir.","The water pump is placed at the bottom in a water source well.","A water pump water outlet pipe is mounted on a water outlet of the water pump.","The pipe port at the other end of the water pump water outlet pipe is located above the water reservoir and is downward An overflow pipe is arranged on an upper portion of the water reservoir.","A water inlet pipe port of the overflow pipe is formed in a side wall of the water reservoir.","The pipe port is located in the water reservoir and is 10-15 cm lower than an upper edge of the side wall of the water reservoir.","The other end of the overflow pipe is located outside the water reservoir and has the water outlet pipe port placed in a water source well.","One end of the water inlet pipe of each water supply water level control pool is connected with the water reservoir.","The pipe port at the end penetrates through the side wall of the water reservoir, and is located in the water reservoir and is 15-20 cm higher than the bottom surface of the water reservoir.","The other end of the water inlet pipe of each water supply water level control pool horizontally penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool from right to left and enters the water supply water level control pool.","The ports are connected to an equal-diameter tee face the right.","The lower end of the upper connecting pipe is connected with the upper port of the equal-diameter tee above the ports perpendicular to the upper port and the lower port of the equal-diameter tee.","The upper end of the upper connecting pipe is connected with the lower end of the female adapter.","The square plug is mounted at the upper end of the female adapter.","The upper end of the lower connecting pipe is connected with the lower port of the equal-diameter tee.","The lower end of the lower connecting pipe is connected with the upper port of the ball valve.","The lower port of the ball valve is connected with the upper end of the water distribution pipe.","The water distribution pipe has the suspended lower end and the downward pipe port.","The horizontal head-on surface of the valve rod of the ball valve is inward, and is perpendicular to the plane on which the upper connecting pipe.","The lower connecting pipe and the water inlet pipes in the water supply water level control pool are located, and is perpendicular to the plane.","The right upper shaft is fixed inwards and horizontal to head-on surface at the upper portion of the upper connecting pipe.","The right end of the upper connecting rod is sleeved on the right upper shaft after being drilled, and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.","The upper connecting rod can rotate about the shaft in the plane perpendicular to the shaft.","The right end of the lower connecting rod is fixed to the valve rod.","When the left end and the right end of the lower connecting rod are located on the same horizontal plane, the ball valve is in the closed state.","When the left end of the lower connecting rod is separated from the horizontal plane and moves downwards, the valve rod can be driven to rotate to open the closed ball valve.","The left lower shaft is fixed inwards parallel to the head-on surface of the valve rod at the lower end of the sleeve.","The left end of the lower connecting rod is sleeved on the left lower shaft after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.","The left upper shaft is fixed inwards and horizontal to the head-on surface and parallel to the right upper shaft on the sleeve at a position with a distance equal to a distance between the valve rod and the right upper shaft above the left lower shaft.","The left end of the upper connecting rod is sleeved on the left upper shaft after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.","The distance between the right upper shaft and the left upper shaft is equal to the distance between the valve rod and the left lower shaft.","The pull ring is fixed at the upper end of the floating box connecting rod.","The control level gauges are arranged on the upper portion of the floating box connecting rod and the floating box connecting rod below the pull ring.","The lower end of the floating box connecting rod penetrating through the sleeve is fixed to the floating box by the fixing nut on the floating box.","The control water level positioning pins are mounted on the upward extended section of the sleeve and on the sleeve at the height higher than an upper cover plate of the water supply water level control pool and convenient to operate above the left upper shaft.","The upper connecting rod and the lower connecting rod move in the same plane perpendicular to the valve rod, the right upper shaft, the left lower shaft and the left upper shaft.","The pipe port at one end of the water outlet pipe of each water supply water level control pool penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool, is located in the water supply water level control pool, and is 20-25 cm higher than the bottom surface of the water supply water level control pool.","The other ends of the water outlet pipes of the water supply water level control pool are connected with the water supply main pipes in the novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device.","Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, one end of the water inlet pipe of each water supply water level control pool is connected with the water reservoir.","The water reservoir can supply water in other modes besides the photovoltaic water pumping mode; or the water reservoir and the photovoltaic water pumping portion are replaced with other water sources with a minimum dynamic water level higher than that of the water supply water level control pool.","Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, the novel irrigator and the novel water supply system uniformly convey the irrigation water to the crop plant root systems.","The novel irrigator and the water supply water level control pool of the novel water supply system are based on the “connector” principle.","The size of the flow cross-section satisfies the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in the static pressure dominant operating state.","Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, the distance between the top end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe and the soil surface of the irrigated farmland is 5-10 cm greater than a maximum tractor-ploughing depth of the irrigated farmland.","Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, the height adjustment range of the soil saturated water layer is from the bottom of the backfill soil in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe to the top of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe and is 3-4 cm lower than the upper edge.","Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, the height of the soil saturated water layer is controlled and adjusted by controlling and adjusting the water level of the corresponding water supply water level control pool based on the “connector” principle.","Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, the porous water-permeable plates are sphere-shaped plates having convex surfaces placed upwards.","The present disclosure has the following technical features and positive effects.","For a long time, in order to uniformly convey the irrigation water to the crop plant root systems, an irrigation operation mode of dissipating energy is realized via the irrigator after pressurization, referred to as a “traditional irrigation operation mode” in the present description.","Theoretically, in the “traditional irrigation operation mode”, the irrigator blockage takes place along with energy dissipation of the irrigator.","The energy dissipation of the irrigator provides conditions for the irrigator blockage.","The irrigator blockage is difficult to be eliminated as long as the irrigator still can perform an energy dissipation function.","Long-term scientific research and production practice also prove that elimination of the irrigator blockage under the “traditional irrigation operation mode” with a premise, such as an environment-friendly non-chemical method, which seems to be an impossible task, and deserves a name of worldwide problem.","The novel pressureless irrigation device of the present disclosure uniformly conveys the irrigation water to the crop plant root systems on the basis of the “connector” principle.","The novel pressureless irrigation device of the present disclosure does not need to pressurize, and adopts “lossless conveyance”, with a driving force from a capillary force of the soil and a water potential energy difference of the soil, the plants and the atmosphere which consume solar energy.","It is a brand-new irrigation operation mode substantially different from the “traditional irrigation operation mode”, and has a necessary and sufficient condition of the “lossless conveyance” in the static pressure dominant operating state based on the “connector” principle.","Because of soil capillary force as well as the water potential energy difference between the soil, the plants and the atmosphere, the water of the soil saturated water layer in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe rises to a crop plant system layer in a form of soil capillary water, and then is conveyed to the atmosphere via transpiration of the crop plant.","The transpiration of the crop plant consumes the water of the soil saturated water layer in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe, so that the height of the soil saturated water layer in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe falls.","On the basis of the “connector” principle, the water supply water level control pool at a head portion is triggered to replenish the water.","The replenished water is as much as the water consumed by crops.","The volume of replenished water is increased or reduced with water consumption adaptively without human intervention and additional energy, so that low-cost and “fool-proof” automatic irrigation and true sense of uniform irrigation are realized.","For the “traditional irrigation operation mode”, the irrigation quantity is set artificially.","The soil is irrigated with the same volume of water without considering spatial difference of own water conditions of the soil.","In fact, the volume of water may be appropriate for one portion of a field and may be excessive or insufficient to the other portion, thereby affecting the growth of the crops.","In other words, in the “traditional irrigation operation mode”, even if the volume of water flowing from each irrigator is identical, it is not uniform irrigation in true sense.","Following the “connector” principle, only when the size of the flow cross-section necessarily satisfies the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in the static pressure dominant operating state, the irrigation water can be uniformly conveyed to the crop plant root systems.","Otherwise, the greater the distance from the water supply water level control pool at the head portion is, the lower the height of the soil saturated water layer in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe is.","The purpose of uniformly conveying the irrigation water to the crop plant root systems cannot be achieved.","The so-called “lossless conveyance” refers to “lossless conveyance” with relative significance when the height of the soil saturated water layer in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe at a maximum distance from the water supply water level control pool at the head portion falls due to conveyance loss, the water supply uniformity and costs are taken into account, and the maximum falling magnitude (appearing at a maximum replenished water flow corresponding to the maximum water consumption) is in an allowable range.","The “lossless conveyance” can be realized only when an area of the flow cross-section is increased and an on-way resistance of conveyance is reduced in a manner of reducing the flow speed, i.e., the so-called the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in the static pressure dominant operating state.","Certainly, the area of a soil pore channel is increased by increasing a pipe diameter of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe of the novel irrigator.","The pipe diameter of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe must be greater than that of the capillary pipe at the same flow and flow speed.","Because of “adaptive irrigation”, the water is saved to the largest degree.","The conveyed flow rate is far less than that in the “traditional irrigation operation mode”.","The investment of the area of the flow cross-section increased to satisfy the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in the static pressure dominant operating state of the “connector” is not great.","Compared with the “traditional irrigation operation mode”, the adaptive irrigation is cost-effective, economical and completely acceptable.","Specific pipes and sizes used by the flow cross-section are shown in embodiments of the novel irrigator of the present disclosure.","Certainly, when the extremely-low flowing speed requirement with “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in the static pressure dominant operating state is satisfied, other combinations of the pipes and the sizes except embodiments of the novel irrigator of the present disclosure can also be adopted as required.","For example, based on an actual situation that the on-way water flow rate of the capillary pipes is gradually reduced, the on-way reducing thick-to-fine capillary pipes are adopted to achieve the purpose of being more economical and enhancing the flushing effect of the capillary pipes (the capillary pipe flushing valves are opened).","The extremely-low flowing speed greatly weakens the entrainment capability to solid particles in the irrigation water, and in combination with a precipitation effect of gravity, the solid particles in the irrigation water cannot be moved to the soil pore channel of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe located at a high altitude to form blockage, thereby eliminating a root cause of the irrigator blockage.","Therefore, an excellent anti-blockage performance is realized without any filtering device.","The solid particles precipitated in the capillary pipes located at a low altitude can be flushed out by opening the capillary pipe flushing valves.","Because we irrigate non-aquatic crops, a situation that the crop root systems invade into the soil saturated water layer forming pipe does not appear.","Even if invasion exists, the soil saturated water layer forming pipe with a large pipe diameter cannot be blocked, thereby eliminating the problem of irrigator blockage when the irrigator performs the energy dissipation function in the “traditional irrigation operation mode”.","According to a fundamental law of fluid mechanics, the resistance (water head loss) is in direct proportion to the square of the flow speed.","The flow speed is very low and almost no conveyance loss exists, so that the volume of supplied water is large and the water supply is sufficient, and thus the volume of an unsaturated wetting body in the soil formed under action of the capillary pipes of the soil is maximum and the irrigators can be laid under a tractor-ploughing layer slightly farther from the crop plant root systems, thereby overcoming major defects that the other “adaptive irrigation” method-“negative pressure irrigation” cannot satisfy water demands of the crops when the conveying resistance (stroke) of the soil is increased since the driving force is excessively consumed when resisting the conveying resistance of the “negative pressure irrigation” system, causing that the irrigators for the “negative pressure irrigation” cannot be laid under the tractor-ploughing layer slightly farther from the crop plant root systems, thereby affecting the tractor-ploughing operation and requiring frequently laying the underground irrigators and the capillary pipes for the “negative pressure irrigation”.","The novel pressureless irrigation device of the present disclosure is sturdy and durable and can accurately adjust the control water level of the underground water supply water level control pool by the over ground control water level gauge and positioning pin.","The height of the soil saturated water layer for supplying water to the crop root system layer by raising the water in the soil capillary pipe can be controlled and adjusted conveniently and accurately since the “lossless conveyance” based on the “connector” principle does not consume the driving force, a spared space for controlling and adjusting the height of the soil saturated water layer is large enough, and an optimum strategy for controlling and adjusting the height of the soil saturated water layer for supplying water to the crop root system layer by raising the water in the soil capillary pipe still can be adopted in the case of shallow or deep crop root systems, high or low water consumption and the like in different growth periods of the crops when the irrigators are laid under the tractor-ploughing layer.","For example, the height of the soil saturated water layer is reduced to avoid the occurrence of accumulation of salt in the surface soil when the water consumption for crop transpiration is not high and the soil water continues to rise to the soil surface to form soil evaporation between plants.","For another example, the height of the soil saturated water layer is increased to avoid affecting seedling emergence and the like since the water supply of the surface soil is insufficient at a seedling stage after sowing, so that the crops are always in an optimum (for example, when evaporation exists between the plants, the height of the soil saturated water layer is reduced) or not the optimum but the most reasonable (for example, the height of the soil saturated water layer is increased at the seedling stage after sowing) irrigation state.","In the present disclosure, the water is supplied upwards in an infiltration manner based on the “connector” principle, so that the soil is loose and not hardened.","The higher the soil is, the lower the wetting degree is.","The evaporation of the upper soil is less, and the growth of weeds can be effectively inhibited.","The “lossless conveyance” based on the “connector” principle almost has no water supply resistance, so that the volume of the unsaturated wetting body in the soil formed under action of the soil capillary pipe is maximum.","Compared with the other “adaptive irrigation” method-“negative pressure irrigation” which has large water supply resistance and too small soil wetting range, when the same irrigation uniformity is achieved, a distribution density of the irrigators can be reduced, and a line spacing is increased to reduce the investment and achieve ideal effects of large volume of supplied water, sufficient water supply, no deep seepage and the irrigators being optimally deeply buried under the tractor-ploughing layer.","The wide wetting range in the soil is further beneficial for uniform distribution of water and fertilizer, which can create greater growth space for the root systems, and reduces salt damage.","A non-intermittent continuous irrigation mode of the present disclosure based on the “connector” principle enables the size of the soil wetting body and a water and fertilizer distribution gradient to be relatively stable, and is beneficial for the plant root systems to grow to an optimum soil water and fertilizer position, and gives full play to an optimum physiological regulation function of the plant root systems so that the root system layer cannot be subjected to soil water saturation due to irrigation, sequentially reduces the humidity of the soil from bottom to top.","So that the air permeability of the soil is the best and the temperature is risen rapidly.","It is not only superior to the intermittent ground water supply irrigation capable of forming a soil water saturation situation on the upper layers of the root systems, but also superior to various positive pressure difference irrigations capable of directly supplying water to partial crop root systems partially forming the soil water saturation situation on the root system layer, and has a crop growth environment, i.e., water and fertilizer gas-heating conditions, better than any one of previous irrigation modes and methods.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other features, natures and advantages of the present disclosure become apparent with descriptions to drawings and embodiments below, wherein FIG.","1 is a schematic diagram of a novel irrigator of a novel pressureless irrigation device of the present disclosure.","FIG.","2 is a schematic diagram of a water level control pool for water supply of a novel water supply system of a novel pressureless irrigation device of the present disclosure.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure is further described below with specific embodiments and drawings.","More derears are illustrated in the following descriptions in order to fully understand the present disclosure.","However, the present disclosure can be apparently implemented in many other manners different from those described herein.","Those skilled in the art can make similar promotions and deductions according to actual application situations without departing from connotations of the present disclosure.","Therefore, a protection scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by contents of the specific embodiments.","It should be noted that FIG.","1 to FIG.","2 are only taken as examples, and are not drawn at an equal proportion, and should not be used for limiting the protection scope actually demanded by the present disclosure.","The novel pressureless irrigation device includes a novel irrigator and a novel water supply system, which uniformly convey irrigation water to crop plant root systems, wherein the novel irrigator and a water supply water level control pool 201 of the novel water supply system are based on a “connector” principle; and the size of a flow cross-section satisfies very extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in a static pressure dominant operating state.","As shown in FIG.","1, the novel pressureless irrigation device includes a novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device, wherein the novel irrigator includes an equal-diameter downstream tee joint 1, a horizontal water inlet end 1-1 of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a horizontal water outlet end 1-2 of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a vertical water inlet end 1-3 of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a connecting pipe 2, a reducer pipe 3, a soil saturated water layer forming pipe 4, porous water-permeable plates 5, sandstone inverted filters 6 and backfill soil 7.The equal-diameter downstream tee joint 1 is connected to underground capillary pipes in series.","The horizontal water inlet end 1-1 of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a head end direction of one capillary pipe.","The horizontal water outlet end 1-2 of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a rear end direction of the capillary pipe.","Head ends of all the capillary pipes are communicated with the water supply water level control pool 201 by water supply branch pipes and water supply main pipes.","rear ends of all the capillary pipes are connected with capillary pipe flushing valves by drainage branch pipes and drainage main pipes.","The water supply branch pipes, the drainage branch pipes, the drainage main pipes and all the capillary pipes are located on a same horizontal plane.","When noncapillary pipes perform flushing operation, the flushing valves are in a closed state.","The vertical water inlet end 1-3 of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a small head of the reducer pipe 3 by the connecting pipe 2.A lower end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe 4 is vertically inserted into a large head of the reducer pipe 3.The porous water-permeable plates 5 are placed at the bottom of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe 4 and on one side of the large head of a diameter reducing position of the reducer pipe 3.The sandstone inverted filters 6 are placed on the porous water-permeable plates 5.The backfill soil 7 is placed on the sandstone inverted filters 6.A distance between a top end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe 4 and a soil surface of a irrigated farmland is 40-45 cm.","A height adjustment range of a soil saturated water layer is from the bottom of the backfill soil 7 in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe 4 to the top of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe 4.The height of the soil saturated water layer is adjusted by adjusting a water level of a corresponding water supply water level control pool 201.If the water level control device adopted by the novel pressureless irrigation device disclosed in the patent literature with a publication number of CN102160518A is adopted, only the height of a pipe port of an intake pipe of a water supply tank corresponding to the height of the soil saturated water layer needs to be adjusted.","In embodiments of the novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device, the equal-diameter downstream tee joint 1 is a commercially available equal-diameter downstream tee joint with Φ50 made of a hard PVC material for drainage; the reducer pipe 3 is a commercially available reducer pipe with Φ50/Φ110 made of the hard PVC material for drainage; and the connecting pipe 2 is a commercially available pipe with Φ50 made of the hard PVC material for drainage.","As shown in FIG.","2, the novel pressureless irrigation device further includes a floating ball water level control device having a control water level adjustment mechanism and a gauge, wherein water inlet pipes 202 of the water supply water level control pool 201 horizontally penetrate through side walls of the water supply water level control pool 201 from right to left and enter the water supply water level control pool 201.Ports connected to an equal-diameter tee 203 face the right.","A lower end of an upper connecting pipe 204 is connected with the upper port of the equal-diameter tee 203 above ports perpendicular to an upper port and a lower port of the equal-diameter tee 203.An upper end of the upper connecting pipe 204 is connected with the lower end of a female adapter 205.A square plug 206 is mounted at the upper end of the female adapter 205.The upper end of a lower connecting pipe 207 is connected with the lower port of the equal-diameter tee 203.The lower end of the lower connecting pipe 207 is connected with the upper port of a ball valve 208.The lower port of the ball valve 208 is connected with the upper end of a water distribution pipe 209.The water distribution pipe 209 has a suspended lower end and a downward pipe port.","A horizontal head-on surface of a valve rod 210 of the ball valve 208 is inward, and is perpendicular to a plane on which the upper connecting pipe 204, the lower connecting pipe 207 and the water inlet pipes 202 in the water supply water level control pool 201 are located, and is perpendicular to the plane.","A right upper shaft 211 is fixed inwards on the horizontal head-on surface at an upper portion of the upper connecting pipe 204.A right end of the upper connecting rod 212 is sleeved on a right upper shaft 211 after being drilled, and then is equipped with a circular gasket and a gasket fixing plug pin The upper connecting rod 212 can rotate about the shaft in the plane perpendicular to the shaft The right end of the lower connecting rod 213 is fixed to the valve rod 210.When a left end and a right end of the lower connecting rod 213 are located on the same horizontal plane, the ball valve 208 is in a closed state; when the left end of the lower connecting rod 213 is separated from the horizontal plane and moves downwards, the valve rod 210 can be driven to rotate to open the closed ball valve 208.A left lower shaft 215 is fixed inwards to the head-on surface parallel to the valve rod 210 at the lower end of a sleeve 214.The left end of the lower connecting rod 213 is sleeved on the left lower shaft 215 after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.","A left upper shaft 216 is fixed inwards and horizontal to the head-on surface and parallel to the right upper shaft 211 on the sleeve 214 at a position with a distance equal to a distance between the valve rod 210 and the right upper shaft 211 above the left lower shaft 215 The left end of the upper connecting rod 212 is sleeved on the left upper shaft 216 after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin; the distance between the right upper shaft 211 and the left upper shaft 216 is equal to the distance between the valve rod 210 and the left lower shaft 215.A pull ring 218 is fixed at the upper end of a floating box connecting rod 217.Control level gauges 219 are arranged on the upper portion of the floating box connecting rod 217 and the floating box connecting rod 217 below the pull ring 218; the lower end of the floating box connecting rod 217 penetrating through the sleeve 214 is fixed to a floating box 221 by a fixing nut 220 on the floating box 221.Control water level positioning pins 222 are mounted on an upward extended section of the sleeve 214 and on the sleeve 214 at a height higher than an upper cover plate of the water supply water level control pool 201 and convenient to operate above the left upper shaft 216.The upper connecting rod 212 and the lower connecting rod 213 move in the same plane perpendicular to the valve rod 210, the right upper shaft 211, the left lower shaft 215 and the left upper shaft 216.The pipe port of the water outlet pipe 223 of each water supply water level control pool 201 penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool 201, and is located at the bottom in the water supply water level control pool 201, and is 20-25 cm higher than a bottom surface of the water supply water level control pool 201.The other ends of the water outlet pipes 223 of the water supply water level control pool 201 are connected with the water supply main pipes in the novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device.","As shown in FIG.","2, the novel pressureless irrigation device further includes a photovoltaic water supply system for the novel irrigator of the novel pressureless irrigation device.","The photovoltaic water supply system includes a photovoltaic water pumping portion, a water reservoir and the water supply water level control pool 201.The photovoltaic water pumping portion is composed of a solar battery array, a photovoltaic water pumping invertor and a water pump.","The solar battery array is placed on the water reservoir.","The water pump is placed at the bottom in a water source well.","A water outlet pipe of the water pump is mounted on a water outlet of the water pump.","The pipe port at the other end of the water outlet pipe of the water pump is located above the water reservoir and is downward.","An overflow pipe is arranged on an upper portion of the water reservoir.","A water inlet pipe port of the overflow pipe is formed in a side wall of the water reservoir.","The pipe port is located in the water reservoir and is 10-15 cm lower than an upper edge of the side wall of the water reservoir.","The other end of the overflow pipe is located outside the water reservoir and has the water outlet pipe port placed in the water source well.","One end of the water inlet pipe 202 of each water supply water level control pool 201 is connected with the water reservoir.","The pipe port at the end penetrates through the side wall of the water reservoir, and is located in the water reservoir and is 15-20 cm higher than the bottom surface of the water reservoir.","The other end of the water inlet pipe 202 of each water supply water level control pool 201 horizontally penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool 201 from right to left and enters the water supply water level control pool 201.The ports connected to the equal-diameter tee 203 face the right.","The lower end of the upper connecting pipe 204 is connected with the upper port of the equal-diameter tee 203 above the ports perpendicular to the upper port and the lower port of the equal-diameter tee 203.The upper end of the upper connecting pipe 204 is connected with the lower end of the female adapter 205.The square plug 206 is mounted at the upper end of the female adapter 205.The upper end of the lower connecting pipe 207 is connected with the lower port of the equal-diameter tee 203.The lower end of the lower connecting pipe 207 is connected with the upper port of the ball valve 208.The lower port of the ball valve 208 is connected with the upper end of the water distribution pipe 209.The water distribution pipe 209 has the suspended lower end and the downward pipe port.","The horizontal head-on surface of the valve rod 210 of the ball valve 208 is inward, and is perpendicular to the plane on which the upper connecting pipe 204.The lower connecting pipe 207 and the water inlet pipes 202 in the water supply water level control pool 201 are located, and is perpendicular to the plane.","The right upper shaft 211 is fixed inward on the horizontal head-on surface at the upper portion of the upper connecting pipe 204.The right end of the upper connecting rod 212 is sleeved on the right upper shaft 211 after being drilled, and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin; the upper connecting rod 212 can rotate about the shaft in the plane perpendicular to the shaft.","The right end of the lower connecting rod 213 is fixed to the valve rod 210.When the left end and the right end of the lower connecting rod 213 are located on the same horizontal plane, the ball valve 208 is in the closed state.","When the left end of the lower connecting rod 213 is separated from the horizontal plane and moves downwards, the valve rod 210 can be driven to rotate to open the closed ball valve 208.The left lower shaft 215 is fixed inwards parallel to the head-on surface of the valve rod 210 at the lower end of the sleeve 214.The left end of the lower connecting rod 213 is sleeved on the left lower shaft 215 after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.","The left upper shaft 216 is fixed inwards and horizontal to the head-on surface and parallel to the right upper shaft 211 on the sleeve 214 at a position with a distance equal to a distance between the valve rod 210 and the right upper shaft 211 above the left lower shaft 215.The left end of the upper connecting rod 212 is sleeved on the left upper shaft 216 after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.","The distance between the right upper shaft 211 and the left upper shaft 216 is equal to the distance between the valve rod 210 and the left lower shaft 215.The pull ring 218 is fixed at the upper end of the floating box connecting rod 217.The control level gauges 219 are arranged on the upper portion of the floating box connecting rod 217 and the floating box connecting rod 217 below the pull ring 218.The lower end of the floating box connecting rod 217 penetrating through the sleeve 214 is fixed to the floating box 221 by the fixing nut 220 on the floating box 221.The control water level positioning pins 222 are mounted on the upward extended section of the sleeve 214 and on the sleeve 214 at the height higher than an upper cover plate of the water supply water level control pool 201 and convenient to operate above the left upper shaft 216.The upper connecting rod 212 and the lower connecting rod 213 move in the same plane perpendicular to the valve rod 210, the right upper shaft 211, the left lower shaft 215 and the left upper shaft 216.The pipe port at one end of the water outlet pipe 223 of each water supply water level control pool 201 penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool 201, and is located in the water supply water level control pool 201, and is 20-25 cm higher than the bottom surface of the water supply water level control pool 201.The other ends of the water outlet pipes 223 of the water supply water level control pool 201 are connected with the water supply main pipes in the novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device.","Preferably, the distance between the top end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe 4 and the soil surface of the irrigated farmland is 5-10 cm greater than a maximum tractor-ploughing depth of the irrigated farmland.","Preferably, the height adjustment range of the soil saturated water layer is from the bottom of the backfill soil 7 in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe 4 to the top of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe 4 and is 3-4 cm lower than the upper edge.","Preferably, the height of the soil saturated water layer is controlled and adjusted by controlling and adjusting the water level of the corresponding water supply water level control pool 201 based on the “connector” principle.","Preferably, the porous water-permeable plates 5 are sphere-shaped plates having convex surfaces placed upwards.","In embodiments of the novel irrigator of the novel pressureless irrigation device constituted by the novel irrigator and the novel water supply system, the equal-diameter downstream tee joint 1 is the commercially available equal-diameter downstream tee joint with Φ50 made of the hard PVC material for drainage; the capillary pipe is the commercially available pipe with Φ50 made of the hard PVC material for drainage.","The reducer pipe 3 is the commercially available reducer pipe with Φ50/Φ110 made of the hard PVC material for drainage.","The connecting pipe 2 is a commercially available pipe with Φ50 made of the hard PVC material for drainage.","The soil saturated water layer forming pipe 4 is a commercially available pipe with Φ110 made of the hard PVC material for drainage and has a length of 40 cm.","The porous water-permeable plate 5 is a 15 mm thick sphere-shaped plate injection-molded by the hard PVC material, and has 6 mm-wide ribs on the plate and 8 mm-wide gaps, and has the convex surface placed upwards.","Although the present disclosure is disclosed above by preferred embodiments, the preferred embodiments are not used to limit the present disclosure.","Any one of those skilled in the art can make possible changes and amendments without departing from spirits and scope of the present disclosure.","Any amendment, equivalent change and modification made to the above embodiments according to a technical essence of the present disclosure without departing from contents of technical solutions of the present disclosure fall within the protection scope defined by claims of the present disclosure."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"NOVEL PRESSURELESS IRRIGATION DEVICE\",\n \"The present disclosure belongs to the technical field of farm irrigation, and particularly relates to a novel pressureless irrigation device.\",\n \"The novel pressureless irrigation device of the present disclosure uniformly conveys irrigation water to crop plant root systems on the basis of a “connector” principle; and the size of a flow cross-section necessarily satisfies the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in a static pressure dominant operating state, thereby eliminating a problem of irrigator blockage which accompanies energy dissipation.\",\n \"Water enters the atmosphere via transpiration of crop plants, and a water supply water level control pool at a head portion is triggered to replenish the water.\",\n \"The water consumption and water replenishment are adaptive, and human intervention and additional energy are not required, thereby realizing low-cost and “fool-proof” automatic irrigation and true sense of uniform irrigation.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A novel pressureless irrigation device, comprising a novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device, wherein the novel irrigator comprises an equal-diameter downstream tee joint (1), a horizontal water inlet end (1-1) of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a horizontal water outlet end (1-2) of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a vertical water inlet end (1-3) of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a connecting pipe (2), a reducer pipe (3), a soil saturated water layer forming pipe (4), a porous water-permeable plate (5), a sandstone inverted filter layer (6) and backfill soil (7); the equal-diameter downstream tee joint (1) is connected to underground capillary pipes in series; the horizontal water inlet end (1-1) of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a head end direction of one capillary pipe; the horizontal water outlet end (1-2) of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a rear end direction of the capillary pipe; head ends of all capillary pipes are communicated with water supply water level control pool (201) by water supply branch pipes and water supply main pipes; rear ends of all the capillary pipes are connected with capillary pipe flushing valves by drainage branch pipes and drainage main pipes; the water supply branch pipes, the drainage branch pipes, the drainage main pipes and all the capillary pipes are located on a same horizontal plane; when noncapillary pipes perform flushing operation, the flushing valves are in a closed state; the vertical water inlet end (1-3) of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a small head of the reducer pipe (3) by the connecting pipe (2); a lower end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe (4) is vertically inserted into a large head of the reducer pipe (3); the porous water-permeable plate (5) is placed at the bottom of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe (4) and on one side of the large head of a diameter reducing position of the reducer pipe (3); the sandstone inverted filter layer (6) is placed on the porous water-permeable plates (5); the backfill soil (7) is placed on the sandstone inverted filter layer (6); a distance between a top end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe (4) and a soil surface of an irrigated farmland is 40-45 cm; a height adjustment range of a soil saturated water layer is from the bottom of the backfill soil (7) in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe (4) to a top of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe (4); and a height of the soil saturated water layer is adjusted by adjusting a water level of a corresponding water level control pool for water supply (201).\",\n \"2.The novel pressureless irrigation device according to claim 1, further comprising a floating ball water level control device having a water level adjustment control mechanism and a gauge, wherein a water inlet pipe (202) of the water supply water level control pool (201) horizontally penetrates through a side wall of the water supply water level control pool (201) from right to left and enters the water supply water level control pool (201); the water inlet pipe is connected with a port at right side of an equal-diameter tee (203), and the port is perpendicular to an upper port and a lower port of the equal-diameter tee (203); a lower end of an upper connecting pipe (204) is connected with the upper port of the equal-diameter tee (203); an upper end of the upper connecting pipe (204) is connected with the lower end of a female adapter (205); a square plug (206) is mounted at the upper end of the female adapter (205); the upper end of a lower connecting pipe (207) is connected with the lower port of the equal-diameter tee (203); the lower end of the lower connecting pipe (207) is connected with the upper port of a ball valve (208); the lower port of the ball valve (208) is connected with the upper end of a water distribution pipe (209); the water distribution pipe (209) has a suspended lower end and a downward pipe port; a horizontal head-on surface of a valve rod (210) of the ball valve (208) is inward, is perpendicular to a plane on which the upper connecting pipe (204), the lower connecting pipe (207) and the water inlet pipes (202) in the water supply water level control pool (201) are located; perpendicular to the plane, a right upper shaft (211) is fixed inwards and horizontal to the head-on surface at an upper portion of the upper connecting pipe (204); a right end of the upper connecting rod (212) is sleeved on a right upper shaft (211) after being drilled, and then the upper connecting rod (212) is equipped with a circular gasket and a gasket fixing plug pin; the upper connecting rod (212) is rotatable about the right upper shaft (211) in the plane perpendicular to the right upper shaft (211); a right end of the lower connecting rod (213) is fixed to the valve rod (210); when a left end and a right end of the lower connecting rod (213) are located on a same horizontal plane, the ball valve (208) is in a closed state; when the left end of the lower connecting rod (213) is separated from the horizontal plane and moves downwards, the valve rod (210) is drivable to rotate to open the closed ball valve (208); a left lower shaft (215) is fixed inwards to a head-on surface of the valve rod (210) parallel to the valve rod (210) at a lower end of a sleeve (214); the left end of the lower connecting rod (213) is sleeved on the left lower shaft (215) after being drilled and then is equipped with a circular gasket and a gasket fixing plug pin; a left upper shaft (216) is fixed inwards and horizontal to the head-on surface and parallel to the right upper shaft (211) on the sleeve (214) at a position with a distance equal to a distance between the valve rod (210) and the right upper shaft (211) above the left lower shaft (215); the left end of the upper connecting rod (212) is sleeved on the left upper shaft (216) after drilled and then is equipped with a circular gasket and a gasket fixing plug pin; a distance between the right upper shaft (211) and the left upper shaft (216) is equal to a distance between the valve rod (210) and the left lower shaft (215); a pull ring (218) is fixed at a upper end of a floating box connecting rod (217); a water-level control gauge (219) is arranged on a upper portion of the floating box connecting rod (217) and on the floating box connecting rod (217) below the pull ring (218); a lower end of the floating box connecting rod (217) penetrating through the sleeve (214) is fixed to a floating box (221) by a fixing nut (220) on the floating box (221); a control water level positioning pin (222) is mounted on an upward extended section of the sleeve (214) and on the sleeve (214) at a height higher than an upper cover plate of the water supply water level control pool (201) and convenient to operate above the left upper shaft (216); the upper connecting rod (212) and the lower connecting rod (213) move in the same plane perpendicular to the valve rod (210), the right upper shaft (211), the left lower shaft (215) and the left upper shaft (216); a pipe port at one end of the water outlet pipe (223) of the water supply water level control pool (201) penetrates through a side wall of the water supply water level control pool (201), and the pipe port is located at the bottom of the water supply water level control pool (201) with 20-25 cm higher than a bottom surface of the water supply water level control pool (201); and the other end of the water outlet pipe (223) of the water supply water level control pool (201) is connected with a water supply main pipe in the novel irrigator of the novel pressureless irrigation device.\",\n \"3.The novel pressureless irrigation device according to claim 1, further comprising a photovoltaic water supply system for the novel irrigator of the novel pressureless irrigation device; the photovoltaic water supply system comprises a photovoltaic water pumping portion, a water reservoir and the water supply water level control pool (201); the photovoltaic water pumping portion is composed of a solar battery array, a photovoltaic water pumping invertor and a water pump; the solar battery array is configured on the water reservoir; the water pump is configured at a bottom in a water source well; a water pump water outlet pipe is mounted on a water outlet of the water pump; the pipe port at the other end of the water pump water outlet pipe is located above the water reservoir and the mouth of the pipe port is downward; an overflow pipe is arranged on an upper portion of the water reservoir; a water inlet pipe port of the overflow pipe is configured on a side wall of the water reservoir; the pipe port is located in the water reservoir and the port pipe is 10-15 cm lower than an upper edge of the side wall of the water reservoir; the other end of the overflow pipe is located outside the water reservoir and has the water outlet pipe port placed in a water source well; one end of the water inlet pipe (202) of the water supply water level control pool (201) is connected with the water reservoir; the pipe port at one end of the water inlet pipe (202) connected with the water reservoir penetrates through the side wall of the water reservoir, and the pipe port is located in the water reservoir with 15-20 cm higher than the bottom surface of the water reservoir; the other end of the water inlet pipe (202) of the water supply water level control pool (201) horizontally penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool (201) from right to left and enters the water supply water level control pool (201); the water inlet pipe is connected with a port at right side of the equal-diameter tee (203), and the port is perpendicular to an upper port and a lower port of the equal-diameter tee (203); the lower end of the upper connecting pipe (204) is connected with the upper port of the equal-diameter tee (203); the upper end of the upper connecting pipe (204) is connected with the lower end of the female adapter (205); the square plug (206) is mounted at the upper end of the female adapter (205); the upper end of the lower connecting pipe (207) is connected with the lower port of the equal-diameter tee (203); the lower end of the lower connecting pipe (207) is connected with the upper port of the ball valve (208); the lower port of the ball valve (208) is connected with the upper end of the water distribution pipe (209); the water distribution pipe (209) has the suspended lower end and the downward pipe port; the valve rod (210) of the ball valve (208) is facing inward and horizontal to the head-on surface, and the valve rod is perpendicular to the plane on which the upper connecting pipe (204), the lower connecting pipe (207) and the water inlet pipes (202) in the water supply water level control pool (201) are located; perpendicular to the plane, the right upper shaft (211) is fixed inwards and horizontal to the head-on surface at the upper portion of the upper connecting pipe (204); the right end of the upper connecting rod (212) is sleeved on the right upper shaft (211) after being drilled, and then the upper connecting rod is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin; the upper connecting rod (212) is rotatable about the right upper shaft (211) in the plane perpendicular to the right upper shaft (211); the right end of the lower connecting rod (213) is fixed to the valve rod (210); when the left end and the right end of the lower connecting rod (213) are located on the same horizontal plane, the ball valve (208) is in the closed state; when the left end of the lower connecting rod (213) is separated from the horizontal plane and moves downwards, the valve rod (210) is drivable to rotate to open the closed ball valve (208); the left lower shaft (215) is fixed inwards and parallel to the head-on surface of the valve rod (210) at the lower end of the sleeve (214); the left end of the lower connecting rod (213) is sleeved on the left lower shaft (215) after being drilled and then the lower connecting rod (213) is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin; the left upper shaft (216) is fixed inwards, horizontal to the head-on surface and parallel to the right upper shaft (211) on the sleeve (214) at a position with a distance equal to a distance between the valve rod (210) and the right upper shaft (211) above the left lower shaft (215); the left end of the upper connecting rod (212) is sleeved on the left upper shaft (216) after being drilled and then the upper connecting rod (212) is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin; the distance between the right upper shaft (211) and the left upper shaft (216) is equal to the distance between the valve rod (210) and the left lower shaft (215); the pull ring (218) is fixed at the upper end of the floating box connecting rod (217); the control level gauge (219) is arranged on the upper portion of the floating box connecting rod (217) and the floating box connecting rod (217) below the pull ring (218); the lower end of the floating box connecting rod (217) penetrating through the sleeve (214) is fixed to the floating box (221) by the fixing nut (210) on the floating box (221); the control water level positioning pin (222) is mounted on the upward extended section of the sleeve (214) and on the sleeve (214) at the height higher than an upper cover plate of the water supply water level control pool (201) and convenient to operate above the left upper shaft (216); the upper connecting rod (212) and the lower connecting rod (213) move in the same plane perpendicular to the valve rod (210), the right upper shaft (211), the left lower shaft (215) and the left upper shaft (216); the pipe port at one end of the water outlet pipe (223) of the water supply water level control pool (201) penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool (201), and the pipe port is located in the water supply water level control pool (201), with 20-25 cm higher than the bottom surface of the water supply water level control pool (201); and the other end of the water outlet pipes (223) of the water supply water level control pool (201) is connected with the water supply main pipe in the novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device.\",\n \"4.The novel pressureless irrigation device according to claim 3, wherein the water reservoir and the photovoltaic water pumping portion are replaced with a water source with a minimum dynamic water level higher than a water level of the water supply water level control pool (201); and one end of the water inlet pipe (202) of the water supply water level control pool (201) is connected with the water sources.\",\n \"5.The novel pressureless irrigation device according to claim 3, wherein the novel irrigator and the novel water supply system for the novel irrigator uniformly convey the irrigation water to the crop plant root systems; the novel irrigator and the water supply water level control pool (201) are based on the “connector” principle; and a size of the flow cross-section satisfies extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in a static pressure dominant operating state.\",\n \"6.The novel pressureless irrigation device according to claim 1, wherein a distance between the top end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe (4) and the soil surface of the irrigated farmland is 5-10 cm greater than a maximum tractor-ploughing depth of the irrigated farmland.\",\n \"7.The novel pressureless irrigation device according to claim 1, wherein a height adjustment range of the soil saturated water layer is from the bottom of the backfill soil (7) in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe (4) to the top of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe (4) and the height is 3-4 cm lower than the upper edge.\",\n \"8.The novel pressureless irrigation device according to claim 5, wherein the height of the soil saturated water layer is controlled and adjusted by controlling and adjusting the water level of the corresponding water supply water level control pool (201) based on the “connector” principle.\",\n \"9.The novel pressureless irrigation device according to claim 1, wherein the porous water-permeable plates (5) are sphere-shaped plates having convex surfaces placed upwards.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>The concept of pressureless irrigation has been first proposed by an authorized patent “a novel pressureless irrigation device” with a publication number of CN102160518A.\",\n \"Pressureless irrigation is an irrigation method in which an elevation of an irrigation water source is equal to that of an irrigator, which is derived from a definition of “negative pressure irrigation”.\",\n \"The patent CN102160518A is invented to provide a novel pressureless irrigation device which is as efficient as the negative pressure irrigation, more convenient to use, more durable and highly reliable.\",\n \"A patent literature with the publication number of CN102160518A discloses a novel pressureless irrigation device which includes a water supply tank, a water level control pool, a water conveying main pipe, a confluence pipe and a plurality of irrigators (referring to a patent specification of CN102160518A).\",\n \"The patent of a novel pressureless irrigation device with the publication number of CN102160518A adopts the irrigator (referring to the patent specification of CN 102160518 A) using a U-shaped concrete trough as a basic structure, and has the following defects.\",\n \"Firstly, high-precision concrete pouring molding equipment is required in on-site construction; a series of technical problems exist such as expansion joint anti-seepage treatment and the like; input is large and construction is difficult.\",\n \"Secondly, the U-shaped concrete trough made of brittle material is easy to be damaged by frost-heaving, uneven subsidence, tillage machine operation and the like; most importantly, the height of a soil saturated water layer cannot be adjusted for supplying water to a crop root system layer by rising of soil capillary water.\",\n \"When water consumption for crop transpiration is not high, and when the soil water continues to rise to a soil surface to form soil evaporation between plants and to cause accumulation of salt in the surface soil, the problem cannot be solved by reducing the height of the soil saturated water layer.\",\n \"Similarly, a common problem of irregular seedling emergence caused by inadequate water supply of the surface soil at a seedling stage after underground irrigation sowing also cannot be solved by a method of raising the height of the soil saturated water layer.\",\n \"The patent of a novel pressureless irrigation device with the publication number of CN102160518A adopts a water supply tank type water level adjustment and water supply device which has the following defects.\",\n \"Firstly, a special control water level adjustment mechanism and control water level gauge are not provided so that the control water level is very difficult to be adjusted accurately, and requirement of accurately and conveniently adjusting the control water level at any time of a novel irrigator of the novel pressureless irrigation device of the present cannot be satisfied.\",\n \"Secondly, a water supply tank of the water supply tank type water level adjustment and water supply device needs to operate in a closed state (referring to the patent specification of CN 102160518 A), which cannot be filled with water at any time, and is inconvenient to adopt a photovoltaic water pumping mode.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Aims of the present disclosure are to provide a novel pressureless irrigation device capable of overcoming the above defects, to eliminate a problem of irrigator blockage of a “traditional irrigation operation mode” in a brand-new irrigation operation mode, and to realize low-cost and “fool-proof” automatic irrigation and true sense of uniform irrigation.\",\n \"The aims of the present disclosure are achieved by follows.\",\n \"The novel pressureless irrigation device includes a novel irrigator and a novel water supply system, which uniformly convey irrigation water to crop plant root systems, wherein the novel irrigator and a water supply water level control pool of the novel water supply system are based on a “connector” principle; and the size of a flow cross-section satisfies the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in a static pressure dominant operating state.\",\n \"The novel pressureless irrigation device includes a novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device, wherein the novel irrigator includes an equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a horizontal water inlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a horizontal water outlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a vertical water inlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a connecting pipe, a reducer pipe, a soil saturated water layer forming pipe, porous water-permeable plates, sandstone inverted filters and backfill soil.\",\n \"The equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected to underground capillary pipes in series.\",\n \"The horizontal water inlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a head end direction of one capillary pipe.\",\n \"The horizontal water outlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a rear end direction of the capillary pipe.\",\n \"Head ends of all the capillary pipes are communicated with water supply water level control pool by water supply branch pipes and water supply main pipes.\",\n \"rear ends of all the capillary pipes are connected with capillary pipe flushing valves by drainage branch pipes and drainage main pipes.\",\n \"The water supply branch pipes, the drainage branch pipes, the drainage main pipes and all the capillary pipes are located on a same horizontal plane.\",\n \"When noncapillary pipes perform flushing operation, the flushing valves are in a closed state.\",\n \"The vertical water inlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a small head of the reducer pipe by the connecting pipe.\",\n \"A lower end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe is vertically inserted into a large head of the reducer pipe.\",\n \"The porous water-permeable plates are placed at the bottom of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe and on one side of the large head of a diameter reducing position of the reducer pipe.\",\n \"The sandstone inverted filters are placed on the porous water-permeable plates.\",\n \"The backfill soil is placed on the sandstone inverted filters.\",\n \"A distance between a top end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe and a soil surface of an irrigated farmland is 40-45 cm.\",\n \"A height adjustment range of a soil saturated water layer is from the bottom of the backfill soil in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe to the top of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe.\",\n \"The height of the soil saturated water layer is adjusted by adjusting a water level of a corresponding water supply water level control pool.\",\n \"The novel pressureless irrigation device further includes a floating ball water level control device having a control water level adjustment mechanism and a gauge, wherein water inlet pipes of the water supply water level control pool horizontally penetrate through side walls of the water supply water level control pool from the right to the left and enter the water supply water level control pool.\",\n \"Ports connected to an equal-diameter tee face the right.\",\n \"A lower end of an upper connecting pipe is connected with the upper port of the equal-diameter tee above ports perpendicular to an upper port and a lower port of the equal-diameter tee.\",\n \"An upper end of the upper connecting pipe is connected with the lower end of a female adapter.\",\n \"A square plug is mounted at the upper end of the female adapter.\",\n \"The upper end of a lower connecting pipe is connected with the lower port of the equal-diameter tee.\",\n \"The lower end of the lower connecting pipe is connected with the upper port of a ball valve.\",\n \"The lower port of the ball valve is connected with the upper end of a water distribution pipe.\",\n \"The water distribution pipe has a suspended lower end and a downward pipe port.\",\n \"A horizontal head-on surface of a valve rod of the ball valve is inward, and is perpendicular to a plane on which the upper connecting pipe, the lower connecting pipe and the water inlet pipes in the water supply water level control pool are located, and is perpendicular to the plane.\",\n \"A right upper shaft is fixed inwards to the horizontal head-on surface at an upper portion of the upper connecting pipe.\",\n \"A right end of the upper connecting rod is sleeved on a right upper shaft after being drilled, and then is equipped with a circular gasket and a gasket fixing plug pin.\",\n \"The upper connecting rod can rotate about the shaft in the plane perpendicular to the shaft; the right end of the lower connecting rod is fixed to the valve rod.\",\n \"When a left end and a right end of the lower connecting rod are located on the same horizontal plane, the ball valve is in a closed state.\",\n \"When the left end of the lower connecting rod is separated from the horizontal plane and moves downwards, the valve rod can be driven to rotate to open the closed ball valve.\",\n \"A left lower shaft is fixed inwards parallel to the head-on surface of the valve rod at the lower end of a sleeve.\",\n \"The left end of the lower connecting rod is sleeved on the left lower shaft after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.\",\n \"A left upper shaft is fixed inwards and horizontal to the head-on surface and parallel to the right upper shaft on the sleeve at a position with a distance equal to a distance between the valve rod and the right upper shaft above the left lower shaft.\",\n \"The left end of the upper connecting rod is sleeved on the left upper shaft after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.\",\n \"The distance between the right upper shaft and the left upper shaft is equal to the distance between the valve rod and the left lower shaft.\",\n \"A pull ring is fixed at the upper end of a floating box connecting rod.\",\n \"Control level gauges are arranged on the upper portion of the floating box connecting rod and the floating box connecting rod below the pull ring.\",\n \"The lower end of the floating box connecting rod penetrating through the sleeve is fixed to a floating box by a fixing nut on the floating box.\",\n \"Control water level positioning pins are mounted on an upward extended section of the sleeve and on the sleeve at a height higher than an upper cover plate of the water supply water level control pool and convenient to operate above the left upper shaft.\",\n \"The upper connecting rod and the lower connecting rod move in the same plane perpendicular to the valve rod, the right upper shaft, the left lower shaft and the left upper shaft.\",\n \"The pipe port at one end of the water outlet pipe of each water supply water level control pool penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool, and is located at the bottom of the water supply water level control pool, and is 20-25 cm higher than a bottom surface of the water supply water level control pool.\",\n \"The other ends of the water outlet pipes of the water supply water level control pool are connected with the water supply main pipes in the novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device.\",\n \"The novel pressureless irrigation device further includes a photovoltaic water supply system for the novel irrigator of the novel pressureless irrigation device.\",\n \"The photovoltaic water supply system includes a photovoltaic water pumping portion, a water reservoir and the water supply water level control pool.\",\n \"The photovoltaic water pumping portion is composed of a solar battery array, a photovoltaic water pumping invertor and a water pump.\",\n \"The solar battery array is placed on the water reservoir.\",\n \"The water pump is placed at the bottom in a water source well.\",\n \"A water pump water outlet pipe is mounted on a water outlet of the water pump.\",\n \"The pipe port at the other end of the water pump water outlet pipe is located above the water reservoir and is downward An overflow pipe is arranged on an upper portion of the water reservoir.\",\n \"A water inlet pipe port of the overflow pipe is formed in a side wall of the water reservoir.\",\n \"The pipe port is located in the water reservoir and is 10-15 cm lower than an upper edge of the side wall of the water reservoir.\",\n \"The other end of the overflow pipe is located outside the water reservoir and has the water outlet pipe port placed in a water source well.\",\n \"One end of the water inlet pipe of each water supply water level control pool is connected with the water reservoir.\",\n \"The pipe port at the end penetrates through the side wall of the water reservoir, and is located in the water reservoir and is 15-20 cm higher than the bottom surface of the water reservoir.\",\n \"The other end of the water inlet pipe of each water supply water level control pool horizontally penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool from right to left and enters the water supply water level control pool.\",\n \"The ports are connected to an equal-diameter tee face the right.\",\n \"The lower end of the upper connecting pipe is connected with the upper port of the equal-diameter tee above the ports perpendicular to the upper port and the lower port of the equal-diameter tee.\",\n \"The upper end of the upper connecting pipe is connected with the lower end of the female adapter.\",\n \"The square plug is mounted at the upper end of the female adapter.\",\n \"The upper end of the lower connecting pipe is connected with the lower port of the equal-diameter tee.\",\n \"The lower end of the lower connecting pipe is connected with the upper port of the ball valve.\",\n \"The lower port of the ball valve is connected with the upper end of the water distribution pipe.\",\n \"The water distribution pipe has the suspended lower end and the downward pipe port.\",\n \"The horizontal head-on surface of the valve rod of the ball valve is inward, and is perpendicular to the plane on which the upper connecting pipe.\",\n \"The lower connecting pipe and the water inlet pipes in the water supply water level control pool are located, and is perpendicular to the plane.\",\n \"The right upper shaft is fixed inwards and horizontal to head-on surface at the upper portion of the upper connecting pipe.\",\n \"The right end of the upper connecting rod is sleeved on the right upper shaft after being drilled, and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.\",\n \"The upper connecting rod can rotate about the shaft in the plane perpendicular to the shaft.\",\n \"The right end of the lower connecting rod is fixed to the valve rod.\",\n \"When the left end and the right end of the lower connecting rod are located on the same horizontal plane, the ball valve is in the closed state.\",\n \"When the left end of the lower connecting rod is separated from the horizontal plane and moves downwards, the valve rod can be driven to rotate to open the closed ball valve.\",\n \"The left lower shaft is fixed inwards parallel to the head-on surface of the valve rod at the lower end of the sleeve.\",\n \"The left end of the lower connecting rod is sleeved on the left lower shaft after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.\",\n \"The left upper shaft is fixed inwards and horizontal to the head-on surface and parallel to the right upper shaft on the sleeve at a position with a distance equal to a distance between the valve rod and the right upper shaft above the left lower shaft.\",\n \"The left end of the upper connecting rod is sleeved on the left upper shaft after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.\",\n \"The distance between the right upper shaft and the left upper shaft is equal to the distance between the valve rod and the left lower shaft.\",\n \"The pull ring is fixed at the upper end of the floating box connecting rod.\",\n \"The control level gauges are arranged on the upper portion of the floating box connecting rod and the floating box connecting rod below the pull ring.\",\n \"The lower end of the floating box connecting rod penetrating through the sleeve is fixed to the floating box by the fixing nut on the floating box.\",\n \"The control water level positioning pins are mounted on the upward extended section of the sleeve and on the sleeve at the height higher than an upper cover plate of the water supply water level control pool and convenient to operate above the left upper shaft.\",\n \"The upper connecting rod and the lower connecting rod move in the same plane perpendicular to the valve rod, the right upper shaft, the left lower shaft and the left upper shaft.\",\n \"The pipe port at one end of the water outlet pipe of each water supply water level control pool penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool, is located in the water supply water level control pool, and is 20-25 cm higher than the bottom surface of the water supply water level control pool.\",\n \"The other ends of the water outlet pipes of the water supply water level control pool are connected with the water supply main pipes in the novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device.\",\n \"Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, one end of the water inlet pipe of each water supply water level control pool is connected with the water reservoir.\",\n \"The water reservoir can supply water in other modes besides the photovoltaic water pumping mode; or the water reservoir and the photovoltaic water pumping portion are replaced with other water sources with a minimum dynamic water level higher than that of the water supply water level control pool.\",\n \"Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, the novel irrigator and the novel water supply system uniformly convey the irrigation water to the crop plant root systems.\",\n \"The novel irrigator and the water supply water level control pool of the novel water supply system are based on the “connector” principle.\",\n \"The size of the flow cross-section satisfies the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in the static pressure dominant operating state.\",\n \"Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, the distance between the top end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe and the soil surface of the irrigated farmland is 5-10 cm greater than a maximum tractor-ploughing depth of the irrigated farmland.\",\n \"Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, the height adjustment range of the soil saturated water layer is from the bottom of the backfill soil in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe to the top of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe and is 3-4 cm lower than the upper edge.\",\n \"Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, the height of the soil saturated water layer is controlled and adjusted by controlling and adjusting the water level of the corresponding water supply water level control pool based on the “connector” principle.\",\n \"Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, the porous water-permeable plates are sphere-shaped plates having convex surfaces placed upwards.\",\n \"The present disclosure has the following technical features and positive effects.\",\n \"For a long time, in order to uniformly convey the irrigation water to the crop plant root systems, an irrigation operation mode of dissipating energy is realized via the irrigator after pressurization, referred to as a “traditional irrigation operation mode” in the present description.\",\n \"Theoretically, in the “traditional irrigation operation mode”, the irrigator blockage takes place along with energy dissipation of the irrigator.\",\n \"The energy dissipation of the irrigator provides conditions for the irrigator blockage.\",\n \"The irrigator blockage is difficult to be eliminated as long as the irrigator still can perform an energy dissipation function.\",\n \"Long-term scientific research and production practice also prove that elimination of the irrigator blockage under the “traditional irrigation operation mode” with a premise, such as an environment-friendly non-chemical method, which seems to be an impossible task, and deserves a name of worldwide problem.\",\n \"The novel pressureless irrigation device of the present disclosure uniformly conveys the irrigation water to the crop plant root systems on the basis of the “connector” principle.\",\n \"The novel pressureless irrigation device of the present disclosure does not need to pressurize, and adopts “lossless conveyance”, with a driving force from a capillary force of the soil and a water potential energy difference of the soil, the plants and the atmosphere which consume solar energy.\",\n \"It is a brand-new irrigation operation mode substantially different from the “traditional irrigation operation mode”, and has a necessary and sufficient condition of the “lossless conveyance” in the static pressure dominant operating state based on the “connector” principle.\",\n \"Because of soil capillary force as well as the water potential energy difference between the soil, the plants and the atmosphere, the water of the soil saturated water layer in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe rises to a crop plant system layer in a form of soil capillary water, and then is conveyed to the atmosphere via transpiration of the crop plant.\",\n \"The transpiration of the crop plant consumes the water of the soil saturated water layer in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe, so that the height of the soil saturated water layer in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe falls.\",\n \"On the basis of the “connector” principle, the water supply water level control pool at a head portion is triggered to replenish the water.\",\n \"The replenished water is as much as the water consumed by crops.\",\n \"The volume of replenished water is increased or reduced with water consumption adaptively without human intervention and additional energy, so that low-cost and “fool-proof” automatic irrigation and true sense of uniform irrigation are realized.\",\n \"For the “traditional irrigation operation mode”, the irrigation quantity is set artificially.\",\n \"The soil is irrigated with the same volume of water without considering spatial difference of own water conditions of the soil.\",\n \"In fact, the volume of water may be appropriate for one portion of a field and may be excessive or insufficient to the other portion, thereby affecting the growth of the crops.\",\n \"In other words, in the “traditional irrigation operation mode”, even if the volume of water flowing from each irrigator is identical, it is not uniform irrigation in true sense.\",\n \"Following the “connector” principle, only when the size of the flow cross-section necessarily satisfies the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in the static pressure dominant operating state, the irrigation water can be uniformly conveyed to the crop plant root systems.\",\n \"Otherwise, the greater the distance from the water supply water level control pool at the head portion is, the lower the height of the soil saturated water layer in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe is.\",\n \"The purpose of uniformly conveying the irrigation water to the crop plant root systems cannot be achieved.\",\n \"The so-called “lossless conveyance” refers to “lossless conveyance” with relative significance when the height of the soil saturated water layer in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe at a maximum distance from the water supply water level control pool at the head portion falls due to conveyance loss, the water supply uniformity and costs are taken into account, and the maximum falling magnitude (appearing at a maximum replenished water flow corresponding to the maximum water consumption) is in an allowable range.\",\n \"The “lossless conveyance” can be realized only when an area of the flow cross-section is increased and an on-way resistance of conveyance is reduced in a manner of reducing the flow speed, i.e., the so-called the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in the static pressure dominant operating state.\",\n \"Certainly, the area of a soil pore channel is increased by increasing a pipe diameter of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe of the novel irrigator.\",\n \"The pipe diameter of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe must be greater than that of the capillary pipe at the same flow and flow speed.\",\n \"Because of “adaptive irrigation”, the water is saved to the largest degree.\",\n \"The conveyed flow rate is far less than that in the “traditional irrigation operation mode”.\",\n \"The investment of the area of the flow cross-section increased to satisfy the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in the static pressure dominant operating state of the “connector” is not great.\",\n \"Compared with the “traditional irrigation operation mode”, the adaptive irrigation is cost-effective, economical and completely acceptable.\",\n \"Specific pipes and sizes used by the flow cross-section are shown in embodiments of the novel irrigator of the present disclosure.\",\n \"Certainly, when the extremely-low flowing speed requirement with “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in the static pressure dominant operating state is satisfied, other combinations of the pipes and the sizes except embodiments of the novel irrigator of the present disclosure can also be adopted as required.\",\n \"For example, based on an actual situation that the on-way water flow rate of the capillary pipes is gradually reduced, the on-way reducing thick-to-fine capillary pipes are adopted to achieve the purpose of being more economical and enhancing the flushing effect of the capillary pipes (the capillary pipe flushing valves are opened).\",\n \"The extremely-low flowing speed greatly weakens the entrainment capability to solid particles in the irrigation water, and in combination with a precipitation effect of gravity, the solid particles in the irrigation water cannot be moved to the soil pore channel of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe located at a high altitude to form blockage, thereby eliminating a root cause of the irrigator blockage.\",\n \"Therefore, an excellent anti-blockage performance is realized without any filtering device.\",\n \"The solid particles precipitated in the capillary pipes located at a low altitude can be flushed out by opening the capillary pipe flushing valves.\",\n \"Because we irrigate non-aquatic crops, a situation that the crop root systems invade into the soil saturated water layer forming pipe does not appear.\",\n \"Even if invasion exists, the soil saturated water layer forming pipe with a large pipe diameter cannot be blocked, thereby eliminating the problem of irrigator blockage when the irrigator performs the energy dissipation function in the “traditional irrigation operation mode”.\",\n \"According to a fundamental law of fluid mechanics, the resistance (water head loss) is in direct proportion to the square of the flow speed.\",\n \"The flow speed is very low and almost no conveyance loss exists, so that the volume of supplied water is large and the water supply is sufficient, and thus the volume of an unsaturated wetting body in the soil formed under action of the capillary pipes of the soil is maximum and the irrigators can be laid under a tractor-ploughing layer slightly farther from the crop plant root systems, thereby overcoming major defects that the other “adaptive irrigation” method-“negative pressure irrigation” cannot satisfy water demands of the crops when the conveying resistance (stroke) of the soil is increased since the driving force is excessively consumed when resisting the conveying resistance of the “negative pressure irrigation” system, causing that the irrigators for the “negative pressure irrigation” cannot be laid under the tractor-ploughing layer slightly farther from the crop plant root systems, thereby affecting the tractor-ploughing operation and requiring frequently laying the underground irrigators and the capillary pipes for the “negative pressure irrigation”.\",\n \"The novel pressureless irrigation device of the present disclosure is sturdy and durable and can accurately adjust the control water level of the underground water supply water level control pool by the over ground control water level gauge and positioning pin.\",\n \"The height of the soil saturated water layer for supplying water to the crop root system layer by raising the water in the soil capillary pipe can be controlled and adjusted conveniently and accurately since the “lossless conveyance” based on the “connector” principle does not consume the driving force, a spared space for controlling and adjusting the height of the soil saturated water layer is large enough, and an optimum strategy for controlling and adjusting the height of the soil saturated water layer for supplying water to the crop root system layer by raising the water in the soil capillary pipe still can be adopted in the case of shallow or deep crop root systems, high or low water consumption and the like in different growth periods of the crops when the irrigators are laid under the tractor-ploughing layer.\",\n \"For example, the height of the soil saturated water layer is reduced to avoid the occurrence of accumulation of salt in the surface soil when the water consumption for crop transpiration is not high and the soil water continues to rise to the soil surface to form soil evaporation between plants.\",\n \"For another example, the height of the soil saturated water layer is increased to avoid affecting seedling emergence and the like since the water supply of the surface soil is insufficient at a seedling stage after sowing, so that the crops are always in an optimum (for example, when evaporation exists between the plants, the height of the soil saturated water layer is reduced) or not the optimum but the most reasonable (for example, the height of the soil saturated water layer is increased at the seedling stage after sowing) irrigation state.\",\n \"In the present disclosure, the water is supplied upwards in an infiltration manner based on the “connector” principle, so that the soil is loose and not hardened.\",\n \"The higher the soil is, the lower the wetting degree is.\",\n \"The evaporation of the upper soil is less, and the growth of weeds can be effectively inhibited.\",\n \"The “lossless conveyance” based on the “connector” principle almost has no water supply resistance, so that the volume of the unsaturated wetting body in the soil formed under action of the soil capillary pipe is maximum.\",\n \"Compared with the other “adaptive irrigation” method-“negative pressure irrigation” which has large water supply resistance and too small soil wetting range, when the same irrigation uniformity is achieved, a distribution density of the irrigators can be reduced, and a line spacing is increased to reduce the investment and achieve ideal effects of large volume of supplied water, sufficient water supply, no deep seepage and the irrigators being optimally deeply buried under the tractor-ploughing layer.\",\n \"The wide wetting range in the soil is further beneficial for uniform distribution of water and fertilizer, which can create greater growth space for the root systems, and reduces salt damage.\",\n \"A non-intermittent continuous irrigation mode of the present disclosure based on the “connector” principle enables the size of the soil wetting body and a water and fertilizer distribution gradient to be relatively stable, and is beneficial for the plant root systems to grow to an optimum soil water and fertilizer position, and gives full play to an optimum physiological regulation function of the plant root systems so that the root system layer cannot be subjected to soil water saturation due to irrigation, sequentially reduces the humidity of the soil from bottom to top.\",\n \"So that the air permeability of the soil is the best and the temperature is risen rapidly.\",\n \"It is not only superior to the intermittent ground water supply irrigation capable of forming a soil water saturation situation on the upper layers of the root systems, but also superior to various positive pressure difference irrigations capable of directly supplying water to partial crop root systems partially forming the soil water saturation situation on the root system layer, and has a crop growth environment, i.e., water and fertilizer gas-heating conditions, better than any one of previous irrigation modes and methods.\"\n ],\n [\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure belongs to the technical field of farmland irrigation, and particularly relates to a novel pressureless irrigation device.\",\n \"BACKGROUND The concept of pressureless irrigation has been first proposed by an authorized patent “a novel pressureless irrigation device” with a publication number of CN102160518A.\",\n \"Pressureless irrigation is an irrigation method in which an elevation of an irrigation water source is equal to that of an irrigator, which is derived from a definition of “negative pressure irrigation”.\",\n \"The patent CN102160518A is invented to provide a novel pressureless irrigation device which is as efficient as the negative pressure irrigation, more convenient to use, more durable and highly reliable.\",\n \"A patent literature with the publication number of CN102160518A discloses a novel pressureless irrigation device which includes a water supply tank, a water level control pool, a water conveying main pipe, a confluence pipe and a plurality of irrigators (referring to a patent specification of CN102160518A).\",\n \"The patent of a novel pressureless irrigation device with the publication number of CN102160518A adopts the irrigator (referring to the patent specification of CN 102160518 A) using a U-shaped concrete trough as a basic structure, and has the following defects.\",\n \"Firstly, high-precision concrete pouring molding equipment is required in on-site construction; a series of technical problems exist such as expansion joint anti-seepage treatment and the like; input is large and construction is difficult.\",\n \"Secondly, the U-shaped concrete trough made of brittle material is easy to be damaged by frost-heaving, uneven subsidence, tillage machine operation and the like; most importantly, the height of a soil saturated water layer cannot be adjusted for supplying water to a crop root system layer by rising of soil capillary water.\",\n \"When water consumption for crop transpiration is not high, and when the soil water continues to rise to a soil surface to form soil evaporation between plants and to cause accumulation of salt in the surface soil, the problem cannot be solved by reducing the height of the soil saturated water layer.\",\n \"Similarly, a common problem of irregular seedling emergence caused by inadequate water supply of the surface soil at a seedling stage after underground irrigation sowing also cannot be solved by a method of raising the height of the soil saturated water layer.\",\n \"The patent of a novel pressureless irrigation device with the publication number of CN102160518A adopts a water supply tank type water level adjustment and water supply device which has the following defects.\",\n \"Firstly, a special control water level adjustment mechanism and control water level gauge are not provided so that the control water level is very difficult to be adjusted accurately, and requirement of accurately and conveniently adjusting the control water level at any time of a novel irrigator of the novel pressureless irrigation device of the present cannot be satisfied.\",\n \"Secondly, a water supply tank of the water supply tank type water level adjustment and water supply device needs to operate in a closed state (referring to the patent specification of CN 102160518 A), which cannot be filled with water at any time, and is inconvenient to adopt a photovoltaic water pumping mode.\",\n \"SUMMARY Aims of the present disclosure are to provide a novel pressureless irrigation device capable of overcoming the above defects, to eliminate a problem of irrigator blockage of a “traditional irrigation operation mode” in a brand-new irrigation operation mode, and to realize low-cost and “fool-proof” automatic irrigation and true sense of uniform irrigation.\",\n \"The aims of the present disclosure are achieved by follows.\",\n \"The novel pressureless irrigation device includes a novel irrigator and a novel water supply system, which uniformly convey irrigation water to crop plant root systems, wherein the novel irrigator and a water supply water level control pool of the novel water supply system are based on a “connector” principle; and the size of a flow cross-section satisfies the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in a static pressure dominant operating state.\",\n \"The novel pressureless irrigation device includes a novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device, wherein the novel irrigator includes an equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a horizontal water inlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a horizontal water outlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a vertical water inlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a connecting pipe, a reducer pipe, a soil saturated water layer forming pipe, porous water-permeable plates, sandstone inverted filters and backfill soil.\",\n \"The equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected to underground capillary pipes in series.\",\n \"The horizontal water inlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a head end direction of one capillary pipe.\",\n \"The horizontal water outlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a rear end direction of the capillary pipe.\",\n \"Head ends of all the capillary pipes are communicated with water supply water level control pool by water supply branch pipes and water supply main pipes.\",\n \"rear ends of all the capillary pipes are connected with capillary pipe flushing valves by drainage branch pipes and drainage main pipes.\",\n \"The water supply branch pipes, the drainage branch pipes, the drainage main pipes and all the capillary pipes are located on a same horizontal plane.\",\n \"When noncapillary pipes perform flushing operation, the flushing valves are in a closed state.\",\n \"The vertical water inlet end of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a small head of the reducer pipe by the connecting pipe.\",\n \"A lower end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe is vertically inserted into a large head of the reducer pipe.\",\n \"The porous water-permeable plates are placed at the bottom of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe and on one side of the large head of a diameter reducing position of the reducer pipe.\",\n \"The sandstone inverted filters are placed on the porous water-permeable plates.\",\n \"The backfill soil is placed on the sandstone inverted filters.\",\n \"A distance between a top end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe and a soil surface of an irrigated farmland is 40-45 cm.\",\n \"A height adjustment range of a soil saturated water layer is from the bottom of the backfill soil in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe to the top of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe.\",\n \"The height of the soil saturated water layer is adjusted by adjusting a water level of a corresponding water supply water level control pool.\",\n \"The novel pressureless irrigation device further includes a floating ball water level control device having a control water level adjustment mechanism and a gauge, wherein water inlet pipes of the water supply water level control pool horizontally penetrate through side walls of the water supply water level control pool from the right to the left and enter the water supply water level control pool.\",\n \"Ports connected to an equal-diameter tee face the right.\",\n \"A lower end of an upper connecting pipe is connected with the upper port of the equal-diameter tee above ports perpendicular to an upper port and a lower port of the equal-diameter tee.\",\n \"An upper end of the upper connecting pipe is connected with the lower end of a female adapter.\",\n \"A square plug is mounted at the upper end of the female adapter.\",\n \"The upper end of a lower connecting pipe is connected with the lower port of the equal-diameter tee.\",\n \"The lower end of the lower connecting pipe is connected with the upper port of a ball valve.\",\n \"The lower port of the ball valve is connected with the upper end of a water distribution pipe.\",\n \"The water distribution pipe has a suspended lower end and a downward pipe port.\",\n \"A horizontal head-on surface of a valve rod of the ball valve is inward, and is perpendicular to a plane on which the upper connecting pipe, the lower connecting pipe and the water inlet pipes in the water supply water level control pool are located, and is perpendicular to the plane.\",\n \"A right upper shaft is fixed inwards to the horizontal head-on surface at an upper portion of the upper connecting pipe.\",\n \"A right end of the upper connecting rod is sleeved on a right upper shaft after being drilled, and then is equipped with a circular gasket and a gasket fixing plug pin.\",\n \"The upper connecting rod can rotate about the shaft in the plane perpendicular to the shaft; the right end of the lower connecting rod is fixed to the valve rod.\",\n \"When a left end and a right end of the lower connecting rod are located on the same horizontal plane, the ball valve is in a closed state.\",\n \"When the left end of the lower connecting rod is separated from the horizontal plane and moves downwards, the valve rod can be driven to rotate to open the closed ball valve.\",\n \"A left lower shaft is fixed inwards parallel to the head-on surface of the valve rod at the lower end of a sleeve.\",\n \"The left end of the lower connecting rod is sleeved on the left lower shaft after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.\",\n \"A left upper shaft is fixed inwards and horizontal to the head-on surface and parallel to the right upper shaft on the sleeve at a position with a distance equal to a distance between the valve rod and the right upper shaft above the left lower shaft.\",\n \"The left end of the upper connecting rod is sleeved on the left upper shaft after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.\",\n \"The distance between the right upper shaft and the left upper shaft is equal to the distance between the valve rod and the left lower shaft.\",\n \"A pull ring is fixed at the upper end of a floating box connecting rod.\",\n \"Control level gauges are arranged on the upper portion of the floating box connecting rod and the floating box connecting rod below the pull ring.\",\n \"The lower end of the floating box connecting rod penetrating through the sleeve is fixed to a floating box by a fixing nut on the floating box.\",\n \"Control water level positioning pins are mounted on an upward extended section of the sleeve and on the sleeve at a height higher than an upper cover plate of the water supply water level control pool and convenient to operate above the left upper shaft.\",\n \"The upper connecting rod and the lower connecting rod move in the same plane perpendicular to the valve rod, the right upper shaft, the left lower shaft and the left upper shaft.\",\n \"The pipe port at one end of the water outlet pipe of each water supply water level control pool penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool, and is located at the bottom of the water supply water level control pool, and is 20-25 cm higher than a bottom surface of the water supply water level control pool.\",\n \"The other ends of the water outlet pipes of the water supply water level control pool are connected with the water supply main pipes in the novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device.\",\n \"The novel pressureless irrigation device further includes a photovoltaic water supply system for the novel irrigator of the novel pressureless irrigation device.\",\n \"The photovoltaic water supply system includes a photovoltaic water pumping portion, a water reservoir and the water supply water level control pool.\",\n \"The photovoltaic water pumping portion is composed of a solar battery array, a photovoltaic water pumping invertor and a water pump.\",\n \"The solar battery array is placed on the water reservoir.\",\n \"The water pump is placed at the bottom in a water source well.\",\n \"A water pump water outlet pipe is mounted on a water outlet of the water pump.\",\n \"The pipe port at the other end of the water pump water outlet pipe is located above the water reservoir and is downward An overflow pipe is arranged on an upper portion of the water reservoir.\",\n \"A water inlet pipe port of the overflow pipe is formed in a side wall of the water reservoir.\",\n \"The pipe port is located in the water reservoir and is 10-15 cm lower than an upper edge of the side wall of the water reservoir.\",\n \"The other end of the overflow pipe is located outside the water reservoir and has the water outlet pipe port placed in a water source well.\",\n \"One end of the water inlet pipe of each water supply water level control pool is connected with the water reservoir.\",\n \"The pipe port at the end penetrates through the side wall of the water reservoir, and is located in the water reservoir and is 15-20 cm higher than the bottom surface of the water reservoir.\",\n \"The other end of the water inlet pipe of each water supply water level control pool horizontally penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool from right to left and enters the water supply water level control pool.\",\n \"The ports are connected to an equal-diameter tee face the right.\",\n \"The lower end of the upper connecting pipe is connected with the upper port of the equal-diameter tee above the ports perpendicular to the upper port and the lower port of the equal-diameter tee.\",\n \"The upper end of the upper connecting pipe is connected with the lower end of the female adapter.\",\n \"The square plug is mounted at the upper end of the female adapter.\",\n \"The upper end of the lower connecting pipe is connected with the lower port of the equal-diameter tee.\",\n \"The lower end of the lower connecting pipe is connected with the upper port of the ball valve.\",\n \"The lower port of the ball valve is connected with the upper end of the water distribution pipe.\",\n \"The water distribution pipe has the suspended lower end and the downward pipe port.\",\n \"The horizontal head-on surface of the valve rod of the ball valve is inward, and is perpendicular to the plane on which the upper connecting pipe.\",\n \"The lower connecting pipe and the water inlet pipes in the water supply water level control pool are located, and is perpendicular to the plane.\",\n \"The right upper shaft is fixed inwards and horizontal to head-on surface at the upper portion of the upper connecting pipe.\",\n \"The right end of the upper connecting rod is sleeved on the right upper shaft after being drilled, and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.\",\n \"The upper connecting rod can rotate about the shaft in the plane perpendicular to the shaft.\",\n \"The right end of the lower connecting rod is fixed to the valve rod.\",\n \"When the left end and the right end of the lower connecting rod are located on the same horizontal plane, the ball valve is in the closed state.\",\n \"When the left end of the lower connecting rod is separated from the horizontal plane and moves downwards, the valve rod can be driven to rotate to open the closed ball valve.\",\n \"The left lower shaft is fixed inwards parallel to the head-on surface of the valve rod at the lower end of the sleeve.\",\n \"The left end of the lower connecting rod is sleeved on the left lower shaft after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.\",\n \"The left upper shaft is fixed inwards and horizontal to the head-on surface and parallel to the right upper shaft on the sleeve at a position with a distance equal to a distance between the valve rod and the right upper shaft above the left lower shaft.\",\n \"The left end of the upper connecting rod is sleeved on the left upper shaft after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.\",\n \"The distance between the right upper shaft and the left upper shaft is equal to the distance between the valve rod and the left lower shaft.\",\n \"The pull ring is fixed at the upper end of the floating box connecting rod.\",\n \"The control level gauges are arranged on the upper portion of the floating box connecting rod and the floating box connecting rod below the pull ring.\",\n \"The lower end of the floating box connecting rod penetrating through the sleeve is fixed to the floating box by the fixing nut on the floating box.\",\n \"The control water level positioning pins are mounted on the upward extended section of the sleeve and on the sleeve at the height higher than an upper cover plate of the water supply water level control pool and convenient to operate above the left upper shaft.\",\n \"The upper connecting rod and the lower connecting rod move in the same plane perpendicular to the valve rod, the right upper shaft, the left lower shaft and the left upper shaft.\",\n \"The pipe port at one end of the water outlet pipe of each water supply water level control pool penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool, is located in the water supply water level control pool, and is 20-25 cm higher than the bottom surface of the water supply water level control pool.\",\n \"The other ends of the water outlet pipes of the water supply water level control pool are connected with the water supply main pipes in the novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device.\",\n \"Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, one end of the water inlet pipe of each water supply water level control pool is connected with the water reservoir.\",\n \"The water reservoir can supply water in other modes besides the photovoltaic water pumping mode; or the water reservoir and the photovoltaic water pumping portion are replaced with other water sources with a minimum dynamic water level higher than that of the water supply water level control pool.\",\n \"Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, the novel irrigator and the novel water supply system uniformly convey the irrigation water to the crop plant root systems.\",\n \"The novel irrigator and the water supply water level control pool of the novel water supply system are based on the “connector” principle.\",\n \"The size of the flow cross-section satisfies the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in the static pressure dominant operating state.\",\n \"Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, the distance between the top end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe and the soil surface of the irrigated farmland is 5-10 cm greater than a maximum tractor-ploughing depth of the irrigated farmland.\",\n \"Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, the height adjustment range of the soil saturated water layer is from the bottom of the backfill soil in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe to the top of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe and is 3-4 cm lower than the upper edge.\",\n \"Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, the height of the soil saturated water layer is controlled and adjusted by controlling and adjusting the water level of the corresponding water supply water level control pool based on the “connector” principle.\",\n \"Further, regarding to the novel pressureless irrigation device, the porous water-permeable plates are sphere-shaped plates having convex surfaces placed upwards.\",\n \"The present disclosure has the following technical features and positive effects.\",\n \"For a long time, in order to uniformly convey the irrigation water to the crop plant root systems, an irrigation operation mode of dissipating energy is realized via the irrigator after pressurization, referred to as a “traditional irrigation operation mode” in the present description.\",\n \"Theoretically, in the “traditional irrigation operation mode”, the irrigator blockage takes place along with energy dissipation of the irrigator.\",\n \"The energy dissipation of the irrigator provides conditions for the irrigator blockage.\",\n \"The irrigator blockage is difficult to be eliminated as long as the irrigator still can perform an energy dissipation function.\",\n \"Long-term scientific research and production practice also prove that elimination of the irrigator blockage under the “traditional irrigation operation mode” with a premise, such as an environment-friendly non-chemical method, which seems to be an impossible task, and deserves a name of worldwide problem.\",\n \"The novel pressureless irrigation device of the present disclosure uniformly conveys the irrigation water to the crop plant root systems on the basis of the “connector” principle.\",\n \"The novel pressureless irrigation device of the present disclosure does not need to pressurize, and adopts “lossless conveyance”, with a driving force from a capillary force of the soil and a water potential energy difference of the soil, the plants and the atmosphere which consume solar energy.\",\n \"It is a brand-new irrigation operation mode substantially different from the “traditional irrigation operation mode”, and has a necessary and sufficient condition of the “lossless conveyance” in the static pressure dominant operating state based on the “connector” principle.\",\n \"Because of soil capillary force as well as the water potential energy difference between the soil, the plants and the atmosphere, the water of the soil saturated water layer in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe rises to a crop plant system layer in a form of soil capillary water, and then is conveyed to the atmosphere via transpiration of the crop plant.\",\n \"The transpiration of the crop plant consumes the water of the soil saturated water layer in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe, so that the height of the soil saturated water layer in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe falls.\",\n \"On the basis of the “connector” principle, the water supply water level control pool at a head portion is triggered to replenish the water.\",\n \"The replenished water is as much as the water consumed by crops.\",\n \"The volume of replenished water is increased or reduced with water consumption adaptively without human intervention and additional energy, so that low-cost and “fool-proof” automatic irrigation and true sense of uniform irrigation are realized.\",\n \"For the “traditional irrigation operation mode”, the irrigation quantity is set artificially.\",\n \"The soil is irrigated with the same volume of water without considering spatial difference of own water conditions of the soil.\",\n \"In fact, the volume of water may be appropriate for one portion of a field and may be excessive or insufficient to the other portion, thereby affecting the growth of the crops.\",\n \"In other words, in the “traditional irrigation operation mode”, even if the volume of water flowing from each irrigator is identical, it is not uniform irrigation in true sense.\",\n \"Following the “connector” principle, only when the size of the flow cross-section necessarily satisfies the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in the static pressure dominant operating state, the irrigation water can be uniformly conveyed to the crop plant root systems.\",\n \"Otherwise, the greater the distance from the water supply water level control pool at the head portion is, the lower the height of the soil saturated water layer in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe is.\",\n \"The purpose of uniformly conveying the irrigation water to the crop plant root systems cannot be achieved.\",\n \"The so-called “lossless conveyance” refers to “lossless conveyance” with relative significance when the height of the soil saturated water layer in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe at a maximum distance from the water supply water level control pool at the head portion falls due to conveyance loss, the water supply uniformity and costs are taken into account, and the maximum falling magnitude (appearing at a maximum replenished water flow corresponding to the maximum water consumption) is in an allowable range.\",\n \"The “lossless conveyance” can be realized only when an area of the flow cross-section is increased and an on-way resistance of conveyance is reduced in a manner of reducing the flow speed, i.e., the so-called the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in the static pressure dominant operating state.\",\n \"Certainly, the area of a soil pore channel is increased by increasing a pipe diameter of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe of the novel irrigator.\",\n \"The pipe diameter of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe must be greater than that of the capillary pipe at the same flow and flow speed.\",\n \"Because of “adaptive irrigation”, the water is saved to the largest degree.\",\n \"The conveyed flow rate is far less than that in the “traditional irrigation operation mode”.\",\n \"The investment of the area of the flow cross-section increased to satisfy the extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in the static pressure dominant operating state of the “connector” is not great.\",\n \"Compared with the “traditional irrigation operation mode”, the adaptive irrigation is cost-effective, economical and completely acceptable.\",\n \"Specific pipes and sizes used by the flow cross-section are shown in embodiments of the novel irrigator of the present disclosure.\",\n \"Certainly, when the extremely-low flowing speed requirement with “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in the static pressure dominant operating state is satisfied, other combinations of the pipes and the sizes except embodiments of the novel irrigator of the present disclosure can also be adopted as required.\",\n \"For example, based on an actual situation that the on-way water flow rate of the capillary pipes is gradually reduced, the on-way reducing thick-to-fine capillary pipes are adopted to achieve the purpose of being more economical and enhancing the flushing effect of the capillary pipes (the capillary pipe flushing valves are opened).\",\n \"The extremely-low flowing speed greatly weakens the entrainment capability to solid particles in the irrigation water, and in combination with a precipitation effect of gravity, the solid particles in the irrigation water cannot be moved to the soil pore channel of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe located at a high altitude to form blockage, thereby eliminating a root cause of the irrigator blockage.\",\n \"Therefore, an excellent anti-blockage performance is realized without any filtering device.\",\n \"The solid particles precipitated in the capillary pipes located at a low altitude can be flushed out by opening the capillary pipe flushing valves.\",\n \"Because we irrigate non-aquatic crops, a situation that the crop root systems invade into the soil saturated water layer forming pipe does not appear.\",\n \"Even if invasion exists, the soil saturated water layer forming pipe with a large pipe diameter cannot be blocked, thereby eliminating the problem of irrigator blockage when the irrigator performs the energy dissipation function in the “traditional irrigation operation mode”.\",\n \"According to a fundamental law of fluid mechanics, the resistance (water head loss) is in direct proportion to the square of the flow speed.\",\n \"The flow speed is very low and almost no conveyance loss exists, so that the volume of supplied water is large and the water supply is sufficient, and thus the volume of an unsaturated wetting body in the soil formed under action of the capillary pipes of the soil is maximum and the irrigators can be laid under a tractor-ploughing layer slightly farther from the crop plant root systems, thereby overcoming major defects that the other “adaptive irrigation” method-“negative pressure irrigation” cannot satisfy water demands of the crops when the conveying resistance (stroke) of the soil is increased since the driving force is excessively consumed when resisting the conveying resistance of the “negative pressure irrigation” system, causing that the irrigators for the “negative pressure irrigation” cannot be laid under the tractor-ploughing layer slightly farther from the crop plant root systems, thereby affecting the tractor-ploughing operation and requiring frequently laying the underground irrigators and the capillary pipes for the “negative pressure irrigation”.\",\n \"The novel pressureless irrigation device of the present disclosure is sturdy and durable and can accurately adjust the control water level of the underground water supply water level control pool by the over ground control water level gauge and positioning pin.\",\n \"The height of the soil saturated water layer for supplying water to the crop root system layer by raising the water in the soil capillary pipe can be controlled and adjusted conveniently and accurately since the “lossless conveyance” based on the “connector” principle does not consume the driving force, a spared space for controlling and adjusting the height of the soil saturated water layer is large enough, and an optimum strategy for controlling and adjusting the height of the soil saturated water layer for supplying water to the crop root system layer by raising the water in the soil capillary pipe still can be adopted in the case of shallow or deep crop root systems, high or low water consumption and the like in different growth periods of the crops when the irrigators are laid under the tractor-ploughing layer.\",\n \"For example, the height of the soil saturated water layer is reduced to avoid the occurrence of accumulation of salt in the surface soil when the water consumption for crop transpiration is not high and the soil water continues to rise to the soil surface to form soil evaporation between plants.\",\n \"For another example, the height of the soil saturated water layer is increased to avoid affecting seedling emergence and the like since the water supply of the surface soil is insufficient at a seedling stage after sowing, so that the crops are always in an optimum (for example, when evaporation exists between the plants, the height of the soil saturated water layer is reduced) or not the optimum but the most reasonable (for example, the height of the soil saturated water layer is increased at the seedling stage after sowing) irrigation state.\",\n \"In the present disclosure, the water is supplied upwards in an infiltration manner based on the “connector” principle, so that the soil is loose and not hardened.\",\n \"The higher the soil is, the lower the wetting degree is.\",\n \"The evaporation of the upper soil is less, and the growth of weeds can be effectively inhibited.\",\n \"The “lossless conveyance” based on the “connector” principle almost has no water supply resistance, so that the volume of the unsaturated wetting body in the soil formed under action of the soil capillary pipe is maximum.\",\n \"Compared with the other “adaptive irrigation” method-“negative pressure irrigation” which has large water supply resistance and too small soil wetting range, when the same irrigation uniformity is achieved, a distribution density of the irrigators can be reduced, and a line spacing is increased to reduce the investment and achieve ideal effects of large volume of supplied water, sufficient water supply, no deep seepage and the irrigators being optimally deeply buried under the tractor-ploughing layer.\",\n \"The wide wetting range in the soil is further beneficial for uniform distribution of water and fertilizer, which can create greater growth space for the root systems, and reduces salt damage.\",\n \"A non-intermittent continuous irrigation mode of the present disclosure based on the “connector” principle enables the size of the soil wetting body and a water and fertilizer distribution gradient to be relatively stable, and is beneficial for the plant root systems to grow to an optimum soil water and fertilizer position, and gives full play to an optimum physiological regulation function of the plant root systems so that the root system layer cannot be subjected to soil water saturation due to irrigation, sequentially reduces the humidity of the soil from bottom to top.\",\n \"So that the air permeability of the soil is the best and the temperature is risen rapidly.\",\n \"It is not only superior to the intermittent ground water supply irrigation capable of forming a soil water saturation situation on the upper layers of the root systems, but also superior to various positive pressure difference irrigations capable of directly supplying water to partial crop root systems partially forming the soil water saturation situation on the root system layer, and has a crop growth environment, i.e., water and fertilizer gas-heating conditions, better than any one of previous irrigation modes and methods.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other features, natures and advantages of the present disclosure become apparent with descriptions to drawings and embodiments below, wherein FIG.\",\n \"1 is a schematic diagram of a novel irrigator of a novel pressureless irrigation device of the present disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 is a schematic diagram of a water level control pool for water supply of a novel water supply system of a novel pressureless irrigation device of the present disclosure.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure is further described below with specific embodiments and drawings.\",\n \"More derears are illustrated in the following descriptions in order to fully understand the present disclosure.\",\n \"However, the present disclosure can be apparently implemented in many other manners different from those described herein.\",\n \"Those skilled in the art can make similar promotions and deductions according to actual application situations without departing from connotations of the present disclosure.\",\n \"Therefore, a protection scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by contents of the specific embodiments.\",\n \"It should be noted that FIG.\",\n \"1 to FIG.\",\n \"2 are only taken as examples, and are not drawn at an equal proportion, and should not be used for limiting the protection scope actually demanded by the present disclosure.\",\n \"The novel pressureless irrigation device includes a novel irrigator and a novel water supply system, which uniformly convey irrigation water to crop plant root systems, wherein the novel irrigator and a water supply water level control pool 201 of the novel water supply system are based on a “connector” principle; and the size of a flow cross-section satisfies very extremely-low flowing speed requirement of “lossless conveyance” for the “connector” in a static pressure dominant operating state.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"1, the novel pressureless irrigation device includes a novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device, wherein the novel irrigator includes an equal-diameter downstream tee joint 1, a horizontal water inlet end 1-1 of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a horizontal water outlet end 1-2 of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a vertical water inlet end 1-3 of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint, a connecting pipe 2, a reducer pipe 3, a soil saturated water layer forming pipe 4, porous water-permeable plates 5, sandstone inverted filters 6 and backfill soil 7.The equal-diameter downstream tee joint 1 is connected to underground capillary pipes in series.\",\n \"The horizontal water inlet end 1-1 of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a head end direction of one capillary pipe.\",\n \"The horizontal water outlet end 1-2 of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a rear end direction of the capillary pipe.\",\n \"Head ends of all the capillary pipes are communicated with the water supply water level control pool 201 by water supply branch pipes and water supply main pipes.\",\n \"rear ends of all the capillary pipes are connected with capillary pipe flushing valves by drainage branch pipes and drainage main pipes.\",\n \"The water supply branch pipes, the drainage branch pipes, the drainage main pipes and all the capillary pipes are located on a same horizontal plane.\",\n \"When noncapillary pipes perform flushing operation, the flushing valves are in a closed state.\",\n \"The vertical water inlet end 1-3 of the equal-diameter downstream tee joint is connected with a small head of the reducer pipe 3 by the connecting pipe 2.A lower end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe 4 is vertically inserted into a large head of the reducer pipe 3.The porous water-permeable plates 5 are placed at the bottom of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe 4 and on one side of the large head of a diameter reducing position of the reducer pipe 3.The sandstone inverted filters 6 are placed on the porous water-permeable plates 5.The backfill soil 7 is placed on the sandstone inverted filters 6.A distance between a top end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe 4 and a soil surface of a irrigated farmland is 40-45 cm.\",\n \"A height adjustment range of a soil saturated water layer is from the bottom of the backfill soil 7 in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe 4 to the top of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe 4.The height of the soil saturated water layer is adjusted by adjusting a water level of a corresponding water supply water level control pool 201.If the water level control device adopted by the novel pressureless irrigation device disclosed in the patent literature with a publication number of CN102160518A is adopted, only the height of a pipe port of an intake pipe of a water supply tank corresponding to the height of the soil saturated water layer needs to be adjusted.\",\n \"In embodiments of the novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device, the equal-diameter downstream tee joint 1 is a commercially available equal-diameter downstream tee joint with Φ50 made of a hard PVC material for drainage; the reducer pipe 3 is a commercially available reducer pipe with Φ50/Φ110 made of the hard PVC material for drainage; and the connecting pipe 2 is a commercially available pipe with Φ50 made of the hard PVC material for drainage.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, the novel pressureless irrigation device further includes a floating ball water level control device having a control water level adjustment mechanism and a gauge, wherein water inlet pipes 202 of the water supply water level control pool 201 horizontally penetrate through side walls of the water supply water level control pool 201 from right to left and enter the water supply water level control pool 201.Ports connected to an equal-diameter tee 203 face the right.\",\n \"A lower end of an upper connecting pipe 204 is connected with the upper port of the equal-diameter tee 203 above ports perpendicular to an upper port and a lower port of the equal-diameter tee 203.An upper end of the upper connecting pipe 204 is connected with the lower end of a female adapter 205.A square plug 206 is mounted at the upper end of the female adapter 205.The upper end of a lower connecting pipe 207 is connected with the lower port of the equal-diameter tee 203.The lower end of the lower connecting pipe 207 is connected with the upper port of a ball valve 208.The lower port of the ball valve 208 is connected with the upper end of a water distribution pipe 209.The water distribution pipe 209 has a suspended lower end and a downward pipe port.\",\n \"A horizontal head-on surface of a valve rod 210 of the ball valve 208 is inward, and is perpendicular to a plane on which the upper connecting pipe 204, the lower connecting pipe 207 and the water inlet pipes 202 in the water supply water level control pool 201 are located, and is perpendicular to the plane.\",\n \"A right upper shaft 211 is fixed inwards on the horizontal head-on surface at an upper portion of the upper connecting pipe 204.A right end of the upper connecting rod 212 is sleeved on a right upper shaft 211 after being drilled, and then is equipped with a circular gasket and a gasket fixing plug pin The upper connecting rod 212 can rotate about the shaft in the plane perpendicular to the shaft The right end of the lower connecting rod 213 is fixed to the valve rod 210.When a left end and a right end of the lower connecting rod 213 are located on the same horizontal plane, the ball valve 208 is in a closed state; when the left end of the lower connecting rod 213 is separated from the horizontal plane and moves downwards, the valve rod 210 can be driven to rotate to open the closed ball valve 208.A left lower shaft 215 is fixed inwards to the head-on surface parallel to the valve rod 210 at the lower end of a sleeve 214.The left end of the lower connecting rod 213 is sleeved on the left lower shaft 215 after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.\",\n \"A left upper shaft 216 is fixed inwards and horizontal to the head-on surface and parallel to the right upper shaft 211 on the sleeve 214 at a position with a distance equal to a distance between the valve rod 210 and the right upper shaft 211 above the left lower shaft 215 The left end of the upper connecting rod 212 is sleeved on the left upper shaft 216 after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin; the distance between the right upper shaft 211 and the left upper shaft 216 is equal to the distance between the valve rod 210 and the left lower shaft 215.A pull ring 218 is fixed at the upper end of a floating box connecting rod 217.Control level gauges 219 are arranged on the upper portion of the floating box connecting rod 217 and the floating box connecting rod 217 below the pull ring 218; the lower end of the floating box connecting rod 217 penetrating through the sleeve 214 is fixed to a floating box 221 by a fixing nut 220 on the floating box 221.Control water level positioning pins 222 are mounted on an upward extended section of the sleeve 214 and on the sleeve 214 at a height higher than an upper cover plate of the water supply water level control pool 201 and convenient to operate above the left upper shaft 216.The upper connecting rod 212 and the lower connecting rod 213 move in the same plane perpendicular to the valve rod 210, the right upper shaft 211, the left lower shaft 215 and the left upper shaft 216.The pipe port of the water outlet pipe 223 of each water supply water level control pool 201 penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool 201, and is located at the bottom in the water supply water level control pool 201, and is 20-25 cm higher than a bottom surface of the water supply water level control pool 201.The other ends of the water outlet pipes 223 of the water supply water level control pool 201 are connected with the water supply main pipes in the novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, the novel pressureless irrigation device further includes a photovoltaic water supply system for the novel irrigator of the novel pressureless irrigation device.\",\n \"The photovoltaic water supply system includes a photovoltaic water pumping portion, a water reservoir and the water supply water level control pool 201.The photovoltaic water pumping portion is composed of a solar battery array, a photovoltaic water pumping invertor and a water pump.\",\n \"The solar battery array is placed on the water reservoir.\",\n \"The water pump is placed at the bottom in a water source well.\",\n \"A water outlet pipe of the water pump is mounted on a water outlet of the water pump.\",\n \"The pipe port at the other end of the water outlet pipe of the water pump is located above the water reservoir and is downward.\",\n \"An overflow pipe is arranged on an upper portion of the water reservoir.\",\n \"A water inlet pipe port of the overflow pipe is formed in a side wall of the water reservoir.\",\n \"The pipe port is located in the water reservoir and is 10-15 cm lower than an upper edge of the side wall of the water reservoir.\",\n \"The other end of the overflow pipe is located outside the water reservoir and has the water outlet pipe port placed in the water source well.\",\n \"One end of the water inlet pipe 202 of each water supply water level control pool 201 is connected with the water reservoir.\",\n \"The pipe port at the end penetrates through the side wall of the water reservoir, and is located in the water reservoir and is 15-20 cm higher than the bottom surface of the water reservoir.\",\n \"The other end of the water inlet pipe 202 of each water supply water level control pool 201 horizontally penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool 201 from right to left and enters the water supply water level control pool 201.The ports connected to the equal-diameter tee 203 face the right.\",\n \"The lower end of the upper connecting pipe 204 is connected with the upper port of the equal-diameter tee 203 above the ports perpendicular to the upper port and the lower port of the equal-diameter tee 203.The upper end of the upper connecting pipe 204 is connected with the lower end of the female adapter 205.The square plug 206 is mounted at the upper end of the female adapter 205.The upper end of the lower connecting pipe 207 is connected with the lower port of the equal-diameter tee 203.The lower end of the lower connecting pipe 207 is connected with the upper port of the ball valve 208.The lower port of the ball valve 208 is connected with the upper end of the water distribution pipe 209.The water distribution pipe 209 has the suspended lower end and the downward pipe port.\",\n \"The horizontal head-on surface of the valve rod 210 of the ball valve 208 is inward, and is perpendicular to the plane on which the upper connecting pipe 204.The lower connecting pipe 207 and the water inlet pipes 202 in the water supply water level control pool 201 are located, and is perpendicular to the plane.\",\n \"The right upper shaft 211 is fixed inward on the horizontal head-on surface at the upper portion of the upper connecting pipe 204.The right end of the upper connecting rod 212 is sleeved on the right upper shaft 211 after being drilled, and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin; the upper connecting rod 212 can rotate about the shaft in the plane perpendicular to the shaft.\",\n \"The right end of the lower connecting rod 213 is fixed to the valve rod 210.When the left end and the right end of the lower connecting rod 213 are located on the same horizontal plane, the ball valve 208 is in the closed state.\",\n \"When the left end of the lower connecting rod 213 is separated from the horizontal plane and moves downwards, the valve rod 210 can be driven to rotate to open the closed ball valve 208.The left lower shaft 215 is fixed inwards parallel to the head-on surface of the valve rod 210 at the lower end of the sleeve 214.The left end of the lower connecting rod 213 is sleeved on the left lower shaft 215 after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.\",\n \"The left upper shaft 216 is fixed inwards and horizontal to the head-on surface and parallel to the right upper shaft 211 on the sleeve 214 at a position with a distance equal to a distance between the valve rod 210 and the right upper shaft 211 above the left lower shaft 215.The left end of the upper connecting rod 212 is sleeved on the left upper shaft 216 after being drilled and then is equipped with the circular gasket and the gasket fixing plug pin.\",\n \"The distance between the right upper shaft 211 and the left upper shaft 216 is equal to the distance between the valve rod 210 and the left lower shaft 215.The pull ring 218 is fixed at the upper end of the floating box connecting rod 217.The control level gauges 219 are arranged on the upper portion of the floating box connecting rod 217 and the floating box connecting rod 217 below the pull ring 218.The lower end of the floating box connecting rod 217 penetrating through the sleeve 214 is fixed to the floating box 221 by the fixing nut 220 on the floating box 221.The control water level positioning pins 222 are mounted on the upward extended section of the sleeve 214 and on the sleeve 214 at the height higher than an upper cover plate of the water supply water level control pool 201 and convenient to operate above the left upper shaft 216.The upper connecting rod 212 and the lower connecting rod 213 move in the same plane perpendicular to the valve rod 210, the right upper shaft 211, the left lower shaft 215 and the left upper shaft 216.The pipe port at one end of the water outlet pipe 223 of each water supply water level control pool 201 penetrates through the side wall of the water supply water level control pool 201, and is located in the water supply water level control pool 201, and is 20-25 cm higher than the bottom surface of the water supply water level control pool 201.The other ends of the water outlet pipes 223 of the water supply water level control pool 201 are connected with the water supply main pipes in the novel irrigator for the novel pressureless irrigation device.\",\n \"Preferably, the distance between the top end of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe 4 and the soil surface of the irrigated farmland is 5-10 cm greater than a maximum tractor-ploughing depth of the irrigated farmland.\",\n \"Preferably, the height adjustment range of the soil saturated water layer is from the bottom of the backfill soil 7 in the soil saturated water layer forming pipe 4 to the top of the soil saturated water layer forming pipe 4 and is 3-4 cm lower than the upper edge.\",\n \"Preferably, the height of the soil saturated water layer is controlled and adjusted by controlling and adjusting the water level of the corresponding water supply water level control pool 201 based on the “connector” principle.\",\n \"Preferably, the porous water-permeable plates 5 are sphere-shaped plates having convex surfaces placed upwards.\",\n \"In embodiments of the novel irrigator of the novel pressureless irrigation device constituted by the novel irrigator and the novel water supply system, the equal-diameter downstream tee joint 1 is the commercially available equal-diameter downstream tee joint with Φ50 made of the hard PVC material for drainage; the capillary pipe is the commercially available pipe with Φ50 made of the hard PVC material for drainage.\",\n \"The reducer pipe 3 is the commercially available reducer pipe with Φ50/Φ110 made of the hard PVC material for drainage.\",\n \"The connecting pipe 2 is a commercially available pipe with Φ50 made of the hard PVC material for drainage.\",\n \"The soil saturated water layer forming pipe 4 is a commercially available pipe with Φ110 made of the hard PVC material for drainage and has a length of 40 cm.\",\n \"The porous water-permeable plate 5 is a 15 mm thick sphere-shaped plate injection-molded by the hard PVC material, and has 6 mm-wide ribs on the plate and 8 mm-wide gaps, and has the convex surface placed upwards.\",\n \"Although the present disclosure is disclosed above by preferred embodiments, the preferred embodiments are not used to limit the present disclosure.\",\n \"Any one of those skilled in the art can make possible changes and amendments without departing from spirits and scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"Any amendment, equivalent change and modification made to the above embodiments according to a technical essence of the present disclosure without departing from contents of technical solutions of the present disclosure fall within the protection scope defined by claims of the present disclosure.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876108"}}},{"rowIdx":4495083,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["MEMORY DIE TEMPERATURE ADJUSTMENT BASED ON A POWER CONDITION","A device includes a memory device and a controller.","The controller is coupled to the memory device.","The controller is configured to, in response to receiving a request to perform a memory access at the memory device, determine that the memory device has a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing.","The controller is also configured to, in response to determining that the memory device has the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing, determine that the memory device satisfies an availability criterion.","The controller is further configured to, in response to determining that the memory device satisfies the availability criterion, increase a temperature of the memory device by performing memory operations on the memory device until detecting a condition related to the temperature."],["1.A data storage device, comprising: a memory device; and a controller coupled to the memory device, the controller including: a temperature crossing engine, wherein the temperature crossing engine is configured to reduce a bit-error rate associated with reading data; an interface; and memory.","2.The data storage device of claim 1, wherein the temperature crossing engine is configured to perform memory operations.","3.The data storage device of claim 2, wherein the temperature crossing engine is configured to determine whether a temperature of the memory device is less than a first temperature threshold.","4.The data storage device of claim 3, wherein the temperature crossing engine further includes an availability detector.","5.The data storage device of claim 4, wherein availability detector is configured to determine whether the memory device satisfies an availability condition.","6.The data storage device of claim 5, wherein the availability detector is configured to determine an availability metric.","7.The data storage device of claim 6, wherein the availability metric is an indication of power demand.","8.The data storage device of claim 6, wherein the availability metric is an indication of a number of concurrent read or write operations.","9.The data storage device of claim 6, wherein the availability metric is an indication of a number of inactive dies of the memory device.","10.The data storage device of claim 1, wherein the temperature crossing engine is configured to heat the memory device.","11.A method, comprising: checking a die temperature; determining that a temperature crossing condition is met; determining that an availability criteria is met; and performing a memory operation.","12.The method of claim 11, wherein performing a memory operation includes heating a memory device.","13.The method of claim 11, wherein determining that an availability criteria is met includes determining that a power demand is less than a power threshold.","14.The method of claim 11, wherein determining that an availability criteria is met includes determining that a number of inactive dies is greater than an active die threshold.","15.The method of claim 11, wherein determining that an availability criteria is met includes determining that an activity level is less than an activity threshold.","16.A data storage device, comprises: a memory device; and a controller coupled to the memory device, the controller including: means to reduce a bit-error rate associated with reading data.","17.The data storage device of claim 16, further comprising means to heat a memory die.","18.The data storage device of claim 17, further comprising: means to determine that a power demand is less than a power threshold; means to determine that a number of inactive dies is greater than an active die threshold; and means to determine that an activity level is less than an activity threshold.","19.The data storage device of claim 16, further comprising: means to determine whether a temperature of the memory device is less than a first temperature threshold.","20.The data storage device of claim 16, further comprising means to determine whether the memory device satisfies an availability condition."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Storage devices enable users to store and retrieve data.","Examples of storage devices include volatile memory devices and non-volatile memory devices.","Storage devices often include memory dies with program/erase cycles that degrade over time.","For example, a storage device may include a memory die having a plurality of storage elements.","A number of traps (e.g., oxide traps, interface traps, or both) may increase in the storage elements over time.","A higher number of traps may increase a number of program pulses to program a storage element, a number of erase pulses to erase the storage element, or both.","A memory die may be marked as erroneous and unavailable for use in response to determining that a number of program pulses to program storage elements of the memory die is greater than a program threshold, that a number of erase pulses to erase the storage elements is greater than an erase threshold, or both.","A storage capacity of the storage device may be reduced over time as a number of memory dies marked as erroneous in the storage device increases."],["<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>FIG.","1 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of a system that includes a device, such as a data storage device.","FIG.","2 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of components that may be included in the device of FIG.","1 .","FIG.","3 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of a method of operation of the device of FIG.","1 ; FIG.","4 is a diagram of another particular illustrative example of a method of operation of the device of FIG.","1 ; FIG.","5 is a diagram of another illustrative example of a system that includes a device, such as a data storage device; FIG.","6 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of conditions detected by the device of FIG.","5 ; FIG.","7 is a diagram of another illustrative example of conditions detected by the device of FIG.","5 ; FIG.","8 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of a method of operation of the device of FIG.","5 ; FIG.","9 is a diagram of another illustrative example of a method of operation of the device of FIG.","5 ; FIG.","10 is a diagram of another illustrative example of a system that includes a device, such as a data storage device; and FIG.","11 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of a method of operation of the device of FIG.","10 .","detailed-description description=\"Detailed Description\" end=\"lead\"?"],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser.","No.","15/225,884, filed Aug. 2, 2016, which is a continuation-in-part of and claims priority to U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser.","No.","15/061,702, filed Mar.","4, 2016, which is a continuation-in-part of and claims priority to U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser No.","14/867,999, filed Sep. 28, 2015, the contents of each of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.","FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure is generally related to electronic devices and more particularly to memory die temperature adjustment based on a power condition, an aging condition, or both.","BACKGROUND Storage devices enable users to store and retrieve data.","Examples of storage devices include volatile memory devices and non-volatile memory devices.","Storage devices often include memory dies with program/erase cycles that degrade over time.","For example, a storage device may include a memory die having a plurality of storage elements.","A number of traps (e.g., oxide traps, interface traps, or both) may increase in the storage elements over time.","A higher number of traps may increase a number of program pulses to program a storage element, a number of erase pulses to erase the storage element, or both.","A memory die may be marked as erroneous and unavailable for use in response to determining that a number of program pulses to program storage elements of the memory die is greater than a program threshold, that a number of erase pulses to erase the storage elements is greater than an erase threshold, or both.","A storage capacity of the storage device may be reduced over time as a number of memory dies marked as erroneous in the storage device increases.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of a system that includes a device, such as a data storage device.","FIG.","2 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of components that may be included in the device of FIG.","1.FIG.","3 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of a method of operation of the device of FIG.","1; FIG.","4 is a diagram of another particular illustrative example of a method of operation of the device of FIG.","1; FIG.","5 is a diagram of another illustrative example of a system that includes a device, such as a data storage device; FIG.","6 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of conditions detected by the device of FIG.","5; FIG.","7 is a diagram of another illustrative example of conditions detected by the device of FIG.","5; FIG.","8 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of a method of operation of the device of FIG.","5; FIG.","9 is a diagram of another illustrative example of a method of operation of the device of FIG.","5; FIG.","10 is a diagram of another illustrative example of a system that includes a device, such as a data storage device; and FIG.","11 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of a method of operation of the device of FIG.","10.DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present disclosure describes systems and methods of controlling memory die temperature based on detecting a characteristic indicative of an aging condition.","For example, the aging condition may correspond to an increase in a number of traps (e.g., oxide traps, interface traps, or both) in storage elements of a memory die over time.","A high number of traps may increase a number of program pulses to program the storage elements, a number of erase pulses to erase the storage elements, or both.","A controller may perform a memory die healing process that includes a temperature adjustment.","The temperature adjustment may decrease the number of traps in the storage elements of the memory die.","Performing the memory die healing process may limit a loss of storage capacity of the memory die due to a high number of traps in the storage elements.","In a particular aspect, a controller may determine that at least one storage element of a first die of a plurality of memory dies of a memory device has a characteristic indicative of an aging condition.","For example, the controller may determine that a storage element of the first die has the characteristic in response to determining that a number of program pulses to change a state of the storage element fails to satisfy (e.g., is greater than) a program threshold, that a number of erase pulses to erase the storage element fails to satisfy (e.g., is greater than) an erase threshold, or both.","The controller may, in response to determining that the at least one storage element of the first die has the characteristic indicative of the aging condition, perform a healing process by performing memory operations on the first die.","For example, the controller may increase the temperature of the first die by performing the memory operations until detecting a temperature condition related to the temperature of the first die.","As an example, detecting the temperature condition may include detecting that the temperature of the first die exceeds a first temperature threshold.","As another example, detecting the temperature condition may include detecting expiration of a time period during which the temperature of the first die is maintained above a second temperature threshold.","Performing the memory operations may include sending a request to the memory device to initiate a sequence of memory operations.","Read/write circuitry of the memory device may be configured to perform a plurality of read operations on the first die in response to receiving the request.","As another example, performing the memory operations may include sending a plurality of read requests to the memory device.","The read/write circuitry may be configured to perform a read operation on the first die in response to receiving each read request of the plurality of read requests.","Each read operation may raise a temperature of the first die.","The controller may determine that the healing process is successful in response to determining that the at least one storage element of the first die no longer has the characteristic indicative of the aging condition.","For example, subsequent to performance of the memory operations of the healing process, the number of program pulses to change the state of the storage element of the first die may decrease, the number of erase pulses to erase the storage element may decrease, or both.","As a result, the storage element may no longer have the characteristic indicative of the aging condition.","For example, the healing process may at least partially reverse the effects of aging on the first die by reducing the number of program pulses to erase the storage element, the number of erase pulses to erase the storage element, or both.","To illustrate, the storage element may include a transistor having an insulating oxide layer between a gate and a substrate.","During a process of writing to the storage element, electrons may be forced in one direction through the oxide layer.","During a process of erasing the storage element, the electrons may be forced in another direction through the oxide layer.","The oxide layer may build charge traps due to repetitive electron tunneling from writing and erasing the storage element.","The charge traps may cause current degradation in the storage element.","For example, the trapped charge may act as a barrier to a flow of current.","The charge traps may increase a number of program pulses to change a state of the storage element, the number of erase pulses to erase the storage element, or both.","The healing process may reverse the effects of aging by heating the storage element to detrap the trapped electrons from the oxide layer.","Performing the healing process on memory dies of the storage device may limit a number of memory dies that are marked as erroneous and may maintain a storage capacity of the storage device over time.","Particular aspects of the disclosure are described below with reference to the drawings.","In the description, common or similar features or components may be designated by common reference numbers.","As used herein, “exemplary” may indicate an example, an implementation, and/or an aspect, and should not be construed as indicating a preference or a preferred implementation.","Referring to FIG.","1, a particular illustrative example of a system is depicted and generally designated 100.The system 100 includes a device 102.In some implementations, the device 102 corresponds to a data storage device, such as a solid state drive (SSD) data storage device that is configured to be embedded within a device (e.g., a host device, a test device, or an access device) or a removable flash memory data storage device that is configured to be removed from a device (e.g., the host device, the test device, or the access device).","In other implementations, the device 102 corresponds to another device, such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a system-on-chip (SoC) device, as illustrative examples.","The device 102 includes a memory device 103.The memory device 103 includes one or more memory dies 190 (e.g., one memory die, two memory dies, sixty-four memory dies, or another number of memory dies).","For example, the memory dies 190 may include a first memory die 104, one or more backup memory dies 106, one or more secondary memory dies 124, one or more other memory dies, or a combination thereof.","The memory device 103 includes read/write (R/W) circuitry 116 and a temperature sensor 108.The first memory die 104 includes a memory 160, such as an array of storage elements (e.g., non-volatile storage elements).","For example, the array of storage elements may include a first storage element 110, a second storage element 112, one or more other storage elements, or a combination thereof.","The memory 160 may include a flash memory (e.g., a NAND flash memory) or a resistive memory, such as a resistive random access memory (ReRAM), as illustrative examples.","The memory 160 may have a three-dimensional (3D) memory configuration.","As used herein, a 3D memory device may include multiple physical levels of storage elements (instead of having a single physical level of storage elements, as in a planar memory device).","As an example, the memory 160 may have a 3D vertical bit line (VBL) configuration.","In a particular implementation, the memory 160 is a non-volatile memory having a 3D memory array configuration that is monolithically formed in one or more physical levels of arrays of memory cells having an active area disposed above a silicon substrate.","Alternatively, the memory 160 may have another configuration, such as a two-dimensional (2D) memory configuration or a non-monolithic 3D memory configuration (e.g., a stacked die 3D memory configuration).","The device 102 may further include a controller 120 coupled to the memory device 103.In some implementations, the controller 120 corresponds to a semiconductor die that includes components of the controller 120.The controller 120 may include an interface 118 (e.g., a memory interface) to the memory device 103.The controller 120 may include a healing engine 122, memory 140 (e.g., random access memory (RAM)), or both.","The healing engine 122 may be implemented by software (e.g., instructions) executable by a processor to perform operations described herein.","Alternatively, the healing engine 122 may include hardware configured to perform operations described herein.","The healing engine 122 may be configured to heal (e.g., reduce a number of traps in) a memory die (e.g., the first memory die 104) by performing memory operations on the first memory die 104, as described herein.","The memory 140 may be configured to store one or more instructions 162.In a particular implementation, the instructions 162, when executed by a processor, enable the processor to perform operations described herein.","The system 100 may correspond to a solid state drive (SSD), such as found in computing devices, such as laptop computers and tablet computers.","In some implementations, the system 100, the device 102, the memory device 103, or the memory 160 may be integrated within a network-accessible data storage system, such as an enterprise data system, a network-attached storage (NAS) system, or a cloud data storage system, as illustrative examples.","During operation, the healing engine 122 may determine whether at least one storage element of the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of an aging condition 128.For example, the healing engine 122 may determine that the first storage element 110 has a characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128 based on a number of program pulses 152 to change a state of the first storage element 110, a number of erase pulses 154 to erase the first storage element 110, or both.","In a particular implementation, the R/W circuitry 116 may determine the number of program pulses 152 used to change a state of a particular storage element.","For example, the R/W circuitry 116 may perform a read operation to determine that the first storage element 110 has a first state.","To illustrate, a threshold voltage of the first storage element 110 may indicate the first state.","The first state may indicate an n-bit value when the first storage element 110 stores n bits.","For example, the first state may indicate a 1-bit value (e.g., “0”) when the first storage element 110 stores 1 bit.","Alternatively, the first state may indicate a 3-bit value (e.g., “010”) when the first storage element 110 stores 3 bits.","The R/W circuitry 116 may apply program pulses to the first storage element 110 to change the state of the first storage element 110 to a second state.","For example, the R/W circuitry 116 may write with the program pulses and then perform a read/verify operation to detect that the first storage element 110 has the second state, where the second state indicates a second n-bit value (e.g., “1” or “001”).","The R/W circuitry 116 may set the number of program pulses 152 to a default value (e.g., 1) prior to applying the program pulses to the first storage element 110.The R/W circuitry 116 may increment the number of program pulses 152 subsequent to (or prior to) applying each of the program pulses to the first storage element 110.Thus, the number of program pulses 152 indicates how many program pulses are used to change the state of the first storage element 110.Additionally, or in the alternative, the R/W circuitry 116 may determine the number of erase pulses 154 to erase a particular storage element.","For example, the R/W circuitry 116 may perform a read operation to determine that the first storage element 110 has a first state.","To illustrate, a threshold voltage of the first storage element 110 may indicate the first state.","The R/W circuitry 116 may apply erase pulses to the first storage element 110 change the state the first storage element 110 to an erase state.","For example, the R/W circuitry 116 may erase the first storage element 110 with the erase pulses and then perform a read/verify operation to detect that the first storage element 110 is erased.","A particular threshold voltage of the first storage element 110 may indicate the erase state.","The R/W circuitry 116 may set the number of erase pulses 154 to a default value (e.g., 1) prior to applying the erase pulses to the first storage element 110.The R/W circuitry 116 may increment the number of erase pulses 154 subsequent to (or prior to) applying each of the erase pulses to the first storage element 110.Thus, the number of erase pulses 154 indicates how many erase pulses are used to erase the first storage element 110.The R/W circuitry 116 may send the number of program pulses 152, the number of erase pulses 154, or both, to the controller 120.The controller 120 may receive the number of program pulses 152, the number of erase pulses 154, or both, via the interface 118.Due to repeated use, a number of traps (e.g., oxide traps, interface traps, or both) in storage elements (e.g., the first storage element 110) may increase over time.","A higher number of traps may increase a number of program pulses to program the first storage element 110, a number of erase pulses to erase the first storage element 110, or both.","Thus, the number of program pulses 152, the number of erase pulses 154, or both, may indicate an age (or a level of use) of the first memory die 104.The healing engine 122 may determine that the first storage element 110 has a characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128 in response to determining that the number of program pulses 152 is greater than a program threshold 142, that the number of erase pulses 154 is greater than an erase threshold 144, or both.","For example, the healing engine 122 may determine that the first storage element 110 has the characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128 in response to determining that the number of program pulses 152 is greater than the program threshold 142, that the number of erase pulses 154 is greater than the erase threshold 144, or both.","At least one storage element having the characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128 may indicate that the first memory die 104 has a sufficient number of traps to initiate a healing process.","The healing engine 122 may, in response to determining that the at least one storage element (e.g., the first storage element 110) of the first memory die 104 has the characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128, perform a healing process.","The healing process may include performing memory operations 166 (e.g., read operations, write operations, or both) on the first memory die 104 within a relatively short period of time to increase a temperature of the first memory die 104.For example, performing the memory operations 166 may include sending a sequence request 136, via the interface 118, to the memory device 103 to initiate a sequence of memory operations.","The sequence of memory operations may include one or more read operations, one or more write operations, or a combination thereof.","The sequence of memory operations may be performed on the first storage element 110, another storage element (e.g., the second storage element 112), or both.","The R/W circuitry 116 may be configured to perform the sequence of memory operations on the first memory die 104 in response to receiving the sequence request 136.For example, the sequence request 136 may indicate that at least one storage element (e.g., the first storage element 110) of a memory die (e.g., the first memory die 104) has a characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128.To illustrate, the sequence request 136 may identify the first memory die 104, the first storage element 110, or both.","The R/W circuitry 116 may perform the sequence of memory operations on the first memory die 104 in response to determining that the sequence request 136 identifies the first memory die 104.In a particular implementation, the R/W circuitry 116 may perform at least a portion of the sequence of memory operations on the first storage element 110 in response to determining that the sequence request 136 identifies the first storage element 110.As another example, performing the memory operations 166 may include sending a plurality of operation requests 134, via the interface 118, to the memory device 103.The operation requests 134 may include one or more read requests, one or more write requests, or a combination thereof.","The R/W circuitry 116 may be configured to perform a memory operation on the first memory die 104 in response to receiving each operation request of the operation requests 134.For example, the R/W circuitry 116 may be configured to perform a read operation on the first memory die 104 in response to receiving each read request of the one or more read requests.","The read operation may be performed on the first storage element 110 or another storage element (e.g., the second storage element 112) of the first memory die 104.As another example, the R/W circuitry 116 may be configured to perform a write operation on the first memory die 104 in response to receiving each write request of the one or more write requests.","The write operation may be performed on the first storage element 110 or another storage element (e.g., the second storage element 112) of the first memory die 104.Execution of each memory operation (e.g., read operation or write operation) raises a temperature of the first memory die 104.Thus, the first memory die 104 can be self-heating by performing multiple memory operations in a relative short period of time.","The healing engine 122 may cause the memory operations 166 to be performed until a temperature condition 126 related to a temperature of the first memory die 104 is detected.","The temperature sensor 108 may generate a signal or data based on a temperature of the memory device 103.An output of the temperature sensor 108 may be provided to the controller 120 as sensor input 156.The temperature sensor 108 may be included within the first memory die 104 or located proximate to the first memory die 104.The sensor input 156 indicates a temperature 158 of the memory device 103 at or proximate to the first memory die 104.The controller 120 may receive the sensor input 156 via the interface 118.The healing engine 122 may determine the temperature 158 indicated by the sensor input 156.In a particular aspect, detecting the temperature condition 126 may include detecting that the temperature 158 exceeds a first temperature threshold 146.For example, the temperature 158 may exceed the first temperature threshold 146 for a relatively short duration (e.g., five minutes).","In an alternate aspect, detecting the temperature condition 126 may include detecting expiration of a time period 150 during which the temperature 158 of the first memory die 104 is maintained above a second temperature threshold 176.For example, the temperature 158 may exceed the second temperature threshold 176 for a relatively long duration (e.g., 19 hours-3 weeks).","The memory 140 may include time period data 148 indicating the time period 150.The first temperature threshold 146 may be greater than or equal to the second temperature threshold 176.The healing engine 122 may perform a first subset of the memory operations 166 to increase the temperature 158 of the first memory die 104 above the first temperature threshold 146.The healing engine 122 may, subsequent to performing the first subset of the memory operations 166, receive the sensor input 156 at a first time.","The sensor input 156 may indicate the temperature 158.The healing engine 122 may determine that the temperature 158 exceeds the first temperature threshold 146.In a particular example, the healing engine 122 may detect the temperature condition 126 in response to determining that the temperature 158 exceeds the first temperature threshold 146.The temperature of the first memory die 104 may decrease over time due to heat dissipation.","The healing engine 122 may receive, at a second time, a second sensor input that indicates a second temperature.","The second temperature may be less than the first temperature threshold 146.The healing engine 122 may perform a second subset of the memory operations 166 to bring the temperature of the first memory die 104 above the first temperature threshold 146.For example, the healing engine 122 may, in response to determining that the second temperature is less than the first temperature threshold 146, perform the second subset of the memory operations 166.The healing engine 122 may, subsequent to performing the second subset of the memory operations 166, receive a third sensor input.","The third sensor input may indicate a third temperature.","The third temperature may exceed the first temperature threshold 146.Performing a subset of the memory operations 166 may temporarily increase the temperature of the first memory die 104.The temperature of the first memory die 104 may fall subsequent to performance of the subset of the memory operations 166 due to heat dissipation.","The temperature of the first memory die 104 may be maintained above the second temperature threshold 176 by performing a second subset of memory operations 166 in response to detecting that the temperature of the first memory die 104 has fallen to within a range (e.g., within 5 degrees) of the second temperature threshold 176.In a particular implementation, the first temperature threshold 146 (e.g., 120 degrees Celsius) may be higher than the second temperature threshold 176 (e.g., 115 degrees Celsius).","The difference (e.g., 5 degrees Celsius) between the first temperature threshold 146 and the second temperature threshold 176 may correspond to the range of temperatures (e.g., 115 degrees Celsius-120 degrees Celsius) that trigger a subsequent subset of the memory operations 166.The temperature of the first memory die 104, as measured by the temperature sensor 108, may be approximately equal to the first temperature threshold 146 from the first time to a heating end time.","For example, the temperature of the first memory die 104 may vary between a first temperature (e.g., 115 degrees Celsius) and a second temperature (e.g., 125 degrees Celsius) from the first time to the heating end time.","The first temperature and the second temperature may be proximate to the first temperature threshold 146.The temperature of the first memory die 104 may exceed the second temperature threshold 176 from the first time to the heating end time.","The healing engine 122 may detect the temperature condition 126 in response to expiration of the time period 150.For example, the healing engine 122 may detect the temperature condition 126 in response to determining, at the heating end time, that a difference between the first time and the heating end time is greater than or equal to the time period 150.Maintaining the temperature of the first memory die 104 above the second temperature threshold 176 during the time period 150 (e.g., by causing multiple memory operations to be performed) may heal the first memory die 104.For example, subsequent to the time period 150, the number of program pulses to change the state of the first storage element 110 may decrease, the number of erase pulses to erase the first storage element 110 may decrease, or both.","To illustrate, the R/W circuitry 116 may determine a second number of program pulses to change the state of the first storage element 110, a second number of erase pulses to erase the first storage element 110, or both.","The second number of program pulses may be less than the number of program pulses 152.The second number of erase pulses may be less than the number of erase pulses 154.The R/W circuitry 116 may provide the second number of program pulses, the second number of erase pulses, or both, to the controller 120.The healing engine 122 may determine whether the at least one storage element (e.g., the first storage element 110) of the first memory die 104 has the characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128 based on the second number of program pulses, the second number of erase pulses, or both.","The healing engine 122 may, in response to determining that the first storage element 110 continues to have the characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128, perform a subset (e.g., a third subset) of the memory operations 166 until the temperature condition 126 is detected.","For example, the healing engine 122 may, in response to determining that the first storage element 110 continues to have the characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128, repeat (one or more times) the process of increasing the temperature of the first memory die 104 until the temperature condition 126 is detected.","The healing engine 122 may, alternatively, determine that the healing process is successful in response to determining that the at least one storage element (e.g., the first storage element 110) of the first memory die 104 no longer has the characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128.In a particular implementation, the healing engine 122 may determine that the healing process is complete in response to determining that the healing process is successful or in response to determining that a healing time period has expired.","The healing time period may begin at a begin time that the healing engine 122 starts performing the memory operations 166.The healing engine 122 may determine, at an end time, that the healing time period has expired in response to determining that a difference between the begin time and the end time satisfies (e.g., is greater than or equal to) a healing time threshold.","The healing engine 122 may designate the first memory die 104 as erroneous in response to determining that the healing process is not successful and the healing time period has expired.","For example, the healing engine 122 may designate the first memory die 104 as erroneous in response to determining that the at least one storage element (e.g., the first storage element 110) of the first memory die 104 continues to have the characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128 after expiration of the healing time period.","In a particular implementation, performing the memory operations 166 on the first memory die 104 may raise a temperature of the secondary memory dies 124.For example, the secondary memory dies 124 may be proximate to the first memory die 104.In this example, the healing engine 122 may identify a particular secondary memory die of the secondary memory dies 124 in response to determining that the particular secondary memory die is within a first memory die distance from the first memory die 104.In a particular aspect, the healing engine 122 may identify the particular secondary memory die in response to determining that the particular secondary memory die is adjacent to the first memory die 104 in a first direction (e.g., a horizontal direction, a vertical direction, or a diagonal direction).","The healing engine 122 may, prior to performing the memory operations 166, copy first data from the first memory die 104, second data from the secondary memory dies 124, or a combination thereof, to the backup memory dies 106.The healing engine 122 may copy the first data from the backup memory dies 106 to the first memory die 104, may copy the second data from the backup memory dies 106 to the secondary memory dies 124, or a combination thereof, subsequent to performing the memory operations 166.The first data may be copied to a first subset of the secondary memory dies 124.The second data may be copied to a second subset of the secondary memory dies 124.The first subset may be distinct from the second subset.","In a particular aspect, the first subset may overlap the second subset.","The first memory die 104, the secondary memory dies 124, or a combination thereof, may lose data during the healing process.","For example, heating storage elements of the first memory die 104, the secondary memory dies 124, or a combination thereof, may cause the storage elements to change state.","Copies of the first data, the second data, or both, may be preserved prior to performing the healing process by copying the first data, the second data, or both, to the backup memory dies 106.Subsequent to performing the healing process, the first data, the second data, or both, may be restored from the backup memory dies 106 to the first memory die 104, the secondary memory dies 124, or a combination thereof.","In a particular implementation, the healing process may be performed in the background.","For example, during the healing process, the first data, the second data, or both, may be accessed from the backup memory dies 106.Updates to the first data, the second data, or both, may be written to the backup memory dies 106 during the healing process.","Subsequent to the healing process, the first data (e.g., the updated first data), the second data (e.g., the updated second data), or both, may be copied from the backup memory dies 106 to the first memory die 104, the secondary memory dies 124, or a combination thereof.","At least one of the program threshold 142, the erase threshold 144, the first temperature threshold 146, or the time period data 148 may include a default value.","In a particular implementation, the controller 120 may receive the program threshold 142, the erase threshold 144, the first temperature threshold 146, the time period data 148, or a combination thereof, from another device (e.g., a host device, a test device, or an access device).","The program threshold 142, the erase threshold 144, first temperature threshold 146, the time period data 148, or a combination thereof, may be stored in the memory 140.Advantageously, a number of program pulses to change a state of a storage element of the first memory die 104, a number of erase pulses to erase the storage element of the first memory die 104, or both, may decrease due to the healing process.","Thus, the first storage element 110 may not have the characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128 subsequent to performance of the healing process.","Performing the healing process on the memory dies 190 of the device 102 may limit a number of memory dies that are marked as erroneous and may maintain a storage capacity of the device 102 over time.","Referring to FIG.","2, illustrative aspects of the memory dies 190 are shown.","The memory dies 190 may include the first memory die 104, a secondary memory die 220, a memory die 222, a secondary memory die 224, a secondary memory die 226, a memory die 228, a memory die 230, a secondary memory die 232, or a combination thereof.","In a particular aspect, the secondary memory dies 124 may include the secondary memory die 220, the secondary memory die 224, the secondary memory die 226, the secondary memory die 232, or a combination thereof.","The healing engine 122 of FIG.","1 may perform healing processes on the memory dies 190 by performing memory operations on a first subset of dies of the memory dies 190 based on a pattern (e.g., a checkerboard pattern).","For example, the memory dies 190 may include the first subset of dies and a second subset of dies.","The first subset of dies may include the first memory die 104, the memory die 222, the memory die 228, the memory die 230, or a combination thereof.","The second subset of dies may include the secondary memory die 220, the secondary memory die 224, the secondary memory die 226, the secondary memory die 232, or a combination thereof.","The first subset of dies and the second subset of dies may be interleaved.","For example, the first subset of dies and the second subset of dies may include alternating dies.","To illustrate, the first memory die 104 may be positioned between the secondary memory die 220 and the secondary memory die 226.The healing engine 122 may select the first subset of dies of the memory dies 190 for performing the memory operations 166 of FIG.","1.The healing engine 122 may select the first subset of dies based on the pattern.","For example, the healing engine 122 may select alternating dies of the memory dies 190.The healing engine 122 may generate a list indicating the selected dies.","The first subset of dies may include the first memory die 104.The healing engine 122 may perform memory operations on the selected dies (e.g., the first subset of dies).","For example, the healing engine 122 may maintain a counter indicating a next entry of the list.","The healing engine 122 may perform memory operations on a next die corresponding to the next entry and update (e.g., increment by 1) the counter.","Performing memory operations on the first memory die 104 may raise a temperature of one or more secondary dies (e.g., the secondary memory die 220 and the secondary memory die 226) of the second subset of dies that are proximate to the first memory die 104.Raising the temperature of the secondary dies (e.g., the secondary memory die 220 and the secondary memory die 226) may heal the secondary dies.","For example, subsequent to performance of the memory operations 166 of FIG.","1 on the first memory die 104, a number of program pulses to change a state of a storage element of the secondary dies (e.g., the secondary memory die 220 and the secondary memory die 226) may decrease, a number of erase pulses to erase the storage element of the secondary dies may decrease, or both.","Similarly, subsequent to performance of memory operations 166 on the memory die 228, a number of program pulses to change a state of a storage element of secondary dies (e.g., the secondary memory die 224, the secondary memory die 226, and the secondary memory die 232) may decrease, a number of erase pulses to erase the storage element of the secondary dies may decrease, or both.","The healing engine 122 may thus heal each of the memory dies 190 by performing memory operations on fewer than all of the memory dies 190, thereby conserving power.","Referring to FIG.","3, an illustrative example of a method is depicted and generally designated 300.The method 300 may be performed by the device 102, the controller 120, R/W circuitry 116, the healing engine 122 of FIG.","1, or a combination thereof.","The method 300 includes die age determination, at 302.For example, the healing engine 122 of FIG.","1 may perform a die age determination of the first memory die 104 by determining the number of erase pulses 154, the number of program pulses 152, or both.","For example, the healing engine 122 may receive the number of erase pulses 154, the number of program pulses 152, or both, from the R/W circuitry 116, as described with reference to FIG.","1.The method 300 also includes determining whether an age threshold is crossed, at 304.For example, the healing engine 122 of FIG.","1 may determine whether the age threshold is crossed by determining whether at least one storage element (e.g., the first storage element 110) of the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128.To illustrate, the healing engine 122 may determine that the age threshold is crossed in response to determining that the number of erase pulses 154 is greater than the erase threshold 144, that the number of program pulses 152 is greater than the program threshold 142, or both, as described with reference to FIG.","1.The method 300 further includes initiating a self-healing mechanism, at 306.For example, the healing engine 122 of FIG.","1 may cause a self-healing mechanism (e.g., a healing process) to be performed.","The self-healing mechanism may perform the memory operations 166, as described with reference to FIG.","1.The method 300 also includes continuing to be available for allocation, at 308.For example, the healing engine 122 of FIG.","1 may, subsequent to performing the memory operations 166, determine that the first memory die 104 continues to be available for allocation in response to determining that the healing process is successful, as described with reference to FIG.","1.To illustrate, the healing engine 122 may not mark the first memory die 104 as erroneous in response to determining that, subsequent to performing the healing process, a number of program pulses to change a state of the first storage element 110 is less than or equal to the program threshold 142, a number of erase pulses to erase the first storage element 110 is less than or equal to the erase threshold 144, or both.","The method 300 may limit a number of memory dies of a storage device that are marked as erroneous and may enable a storage capacity of the storage device to be maintained over time.","Referring to FIG.","4, an illustrative example of a method is depicted and generally designated 400.The method 400 may be performed by the device 102, the controller 120, the healing engine 122 of FIG.","1, or a combination thereof.","The method 400 includes determining that at least one storage element of a first die of the plurality of memory dies has a characteristic indicative of an aging condition, at 402.For example, the healing engine 122 of FIG.","1 may determine that the first storage element 110 of the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128, as described with reference to FIG.","1.The method 400 also includes increasing the temperature of the first die by performing memory operations on the first die until detecting a condition related to the temperature, at 404.For example, the healing engine 122 of FIG.","1 may increase the temperature of the first memory die 104 by performing the memory operations 166 on the first memory die 104 until detecting the temperature condition 126, as described with reference to FIG.","1.The temperature condition 126 is related to the temperature of the first memory die 104.The method 400 may enable healing of the first memory die 104 by raising the temperature of the first memory die 104 using multiple memory operations.","Healing the first memory die 104 may enable the first memory die 104 to be available for allocation and may enable a storage capacity of the device 100 of FIG.","1 to be maintained over time.","Referring to FIG.","5, a particular illustrative example of a system is depicted and generally designated 500.The system 500 includes an implementation of the device 102 of FIG.","1 that includes a temperature crossing engine 522.The device 102 may be coupled to, attached to, or embedded within one or more access devices (e.g., a device 504), such as within a housing of the device 504.The device 504 may correspond to a testing device, a host device, or both.","The temperature crossing engine 522 may be implemented by software (e.g., instructions) executable by a processor to perform operations described herein.","Alternatively, the temperature crossing engine 522 may include hardware configured to perform operations described herein.","The temperature crossing engine 522 may be configured to reduce a bit-error rate associated with reading data by performing memory operations on the memory device 103, as described herein.","The memory operations may be performed, prior to a memory access (e.g., a write access or a read access) to heat up a die of the memory device 103.For example, the memory operations may be performed in response to receiving a request to perform the memory access.","When a read temperature corresponding to data (e.g., a temperature of the memory die when the data is read from the memory die) is similar to a write temperature corresponding to the data (e.g., a temperature of the memory die when the data is written to the memory die), bit-error rates may be reduced.","As used herein, a “temperature crossing” refers to a difference between a read temperature and a write temperature that is likely to cause bit-errors.","For example, a temperature crossing may refer to a situation where the read temperature is less than a first threshold and the write temperature is greater than a second threshold.","Prior to a memory access, the temperature crossing engine 522 may detect a condition indicative of a temperature crossing, as described herein.","For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 may detect the condition in response to receiving a request to perform the memory access.","The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 to heat up a die of the memory device 103 in response to detecting the condition.","During operation, the temperature crossing engine 522 may determine that a memory access (e.g., a write request 534) is to be performed on the memory device 103.In a particular aspect, the device 102 may receive a write request 532 from the device 504.The temperature crossing engine 522 may determine that the write request 534 is to be performed in response to receiving the write request 532.The temperature crossing engine 522 may, prior to performing the write request 534, determine whether the memory device 103 has a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing, as described herein.","The write request 534 may correspond to a request to write data at one or more storage elements (e.g., the first storage element 110, the second storage element 112, or both) of the first memory die 104.An output of the temperature sensor 108 may be provided to the controller 120 as the sensor input 156.In a particular aspect, the controller 120 may be configured to detect (e.g., receive) the sensor input 156 in response to determining that the write request 534 is to be performed, in response to receiving the write request 532, or both.","The sensor input 156 may indicate a temperature 158 of the memory device 103 at or proximate to the first memory die 104.The temperature crossing engine 522 may determine a write temperature 546 based on the temperature 158 indicated by the sensor input 156.For example, the write temperature 546 may indicate the temperature 158.The temperature crossing engine 522 may determine, based on the write temperature 546, whether the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing condition 528, as further described with reference to FIG.","6.For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the write temperature 546 satisfies (e.g., is less than) a first temperature (temp.)","threshold 542, determine that the first memory die 104 has the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.As another example, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the write temperature 546 fails to satisfy (e.g., is greater than or equal to) the first temperature threshold 542, determine that the first memory die 104 does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the first memory die 104 does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528, determine that the memory device 103 does not have the characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing.","The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the write request 534 in response to determining that the memory device 103 does not have the characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing.","For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 may provide data to the R/W circuitry 116.The R/W circuitry 116 may write the data to the first storage element 110, the second storage element 112, or both, of the first memory die 104.Alternatively, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the first memory die 104 has the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528, determine that the memory device 103 has the characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing.","The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the memory device 103 has the characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing, increase a temperature of the memory device 103 (e.g., the first memory die 104) by performing the memory operations 166 (e.g., read operations, write operations, or both) on the first memory die 104 within a relatively short period of time, as described with reference to FIG.","1.Performing the memory operations 166 may include sending an instruction (e.g., the sequence request 136), via the interface 118, to the memory device 103 to initiate a sequence of memory operations, as described with reference to FIG.","1.The sequence of memory operations may be performed on the first storage element 110, another storage element (e.g., the second storage element 112), or both.","The R/W circuitry 116 may be configured to perform the sequence of memory operations on the first memory die 104 in response to receiving the sequence request 136, as described with reference to FIG.","1.For example, the sequence request 136 may indicate that at least one storage element (e.g., the first storage element 110) of a memory die (e.g., the first memory die 104) has a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.To illustrate, the sequence request 136 may include an instruction that identifies the first memory die 104, the first storage element 110, or both.","The R/W circuitry 116 may perform the sequence of memory operations on the first memory die 104 in response to determining that the sequence request 136 identifies the first memory die 104.In a particular implementation, the R/W circuitry 116 may perform at least a portion of the sequence of memory operations on the first storage element 110 in response to determining that the sequence request 136 identifies the first storage element 110.As another example, performing the memory operations 166 may include sending a plurality of instructions (e.g., the plurality of operation requests 134), via the interface 118, to the memory device 103, as described with reference to FIG.","1.The R/W circuitry 116 may be configured to perform a memory operation (e.g., a read operation or a write operation) on the first memory die 104 in response to receiving each operation request (e.g., instruction) of the operation requests 134.The memory operation may be performed on the first storage element 110 or another storage element (e.g., the second storage element 112) of the first memory die 104.Execution of each memory operation (e.g., read operation or write operation) raises a temperature of the first memory die 104, as described with reference to FIG.","1.The temperature crossing engine 522 may cause the memory operations 166 to be performed until a temperature condition 526 related to a temperature of the first memory die 104 is detected.","The controller 120 may, subsequent to performance of at least a subset of the memory operations 166, receive the sensor input 156 indicating the temperature 158 at or proximate to the first memory die 104.In a particular aspect, detecting the temperature condition 526 may include detecting that the temperature 158 is greater than or equal to a first temperature (temp.)","threshold 542.The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the temperature 158 is less than the first temperature threshold 542, perform another subset of the memory operations 166.The controller 120 may perform the write request 534 in response to detecting the temperature condition 526.For example, detecting the temperature condition 526 may include receiving the sensor input 156 indicating the temperature 158 and determining that the temperature 158 satisfies (e.g., is greater than) the first temperature threshold 542.In a particular implementation, the write temperature 546 may represent a temperature corresponding to the first memory die 104 prior to performing the write request 534.A temperature at which data is written to the first memory die 104 may be greater than the write temperature 546 when the memory operations 166 are performed subsequent to determining the write temperature 546 and prior to performing the write request 534.In an alternate implementation, the temperature crossing engine 522 may update the write temperature 546 subsequent to performing the memory operations 166.For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 may update the write temperature 546 to indicate the temperature 158 in response to determining that the temperature 158 satisfies (e.g., is greater than) the first temperature threshold 542.The temperature crossing engine 522 may store the write temperature 546 in the memory 140 of the controller 120.In a particular aspect, the temperature crossing engine 522 may store the write temperature 546 in the memory 140 in response to determining that the write temperature 546 satisfies (e.g., is greater than) a second temperature threshold 544.The temperature crossing engine 522 may refrain from storing the write temperature 546 in the memory 140 in response to determining that the write temperature 546 fails to satisfy (e.g., is less than or equal to) the second temperature threshold 544.The write temperature 546 may be associated with the data stored at the first storage element 110, the second storage element 112, or both.","For example, the write temperature 546 may be associated with a memory address of the data.","To illustrate, the write temperature 546 may be stored in the memory 140 with a reference (e.g., the memory address) to a memory location of the data.","In a particular aspect, the temperature crossing engine 522 may determine that a read request 538 is to be performed on the memory device 103.For example, the device 102 may, in response to receiving a read request 536 from the device 504, determine that the read request 538 (e.g., a memory access) is to be performed.","The temperature crossing engine 522 may, prior to performing the read request 538, determine whether the memory device 103 has a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing, as described herein.","For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to receiving the read request 536, determine whether the memory device 103 has a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing.","The read request 538 may correspond to a request to read data stored at one or more storage elements (e.g., the first storage element 110, the second storage element 112, or both) of the first memory die 104.The controller 120 may receive the sensor input 156 indicating the temperature 158 of the memory device 103 at or proximate to the first memory die 104.For example, the controller 120 may receive the sensor input 156 subsequent to determining that the read request 538 is to be performed.","In a particular aspect, the controller 120 may be configured to detect (e.g., receive) the sensor input 156 in response to determining that the read request 538 is to be performed, in response to receiving the read request 536, or both.","The temperature crossing engine 522 may determine a read temperature 548 based on the temperature 158 indicated by the sensor input 156.For example, the read temperature 548 may indicate the temperature 158.The temperature crossing engine 522 may determine, based on the read temperature 548, the write temperature 546, or both, whether the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528, as further described with reference to FIG.","7.The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the first memory die 104 does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528, determine that the memory device 103 does not have the characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing.","The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the read request 538 in response to determining that the memory device 103 does not have the characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing.","For example, the controller 120 may send the read request 538 to the R/W circuitry 116.The R/W circuitry 116 may read data from the first storage element 110, the second storage element 112, or both, of the first memory die 104.The R/W circuitry 116 may provide the data to the controller 120, and the controller 120 may provide the data to the device 504.Alternatively, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the first memory die 104 has the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528, determine that the memory device 103 has the characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing.","The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the memory device 103 has the characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing, increase a temperature of the memory device 103 (e.g., the first memory die 104) by performing the memory operations 166 on the first memory die 104 within a relatively short period of time, as described herein.","The temperature crossing engine 522 may cause the memory operations 166 to be performed until a temperature condition 526 related to a temperature of the first memory die 104 is detected.","The controller 120 may, subsequent to performance of at least a subset of the memory operations 166, receive the sensor input 156 indicating the temperature 158 at or proximate to the first memory die 104.In a particular aspect, detecting the temperature condition 526 may include detecting that the temperature 158 is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 (or the second temperature threshold 544), as further described with reference to FIG.","7.The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the temperature 158 is less than the first temperature threshold 542 (or the second temperature threshold 544), perform another subset of the memory operations 166.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the read request 538 in response to detecting the temperature condition 526.The read temperature 548 may thus represent a temperature corresponding to the first memory die 104 prior to performing the read request 538.A temperature at which data is read from the first memory die 104 may be greater than the read temperature 548 when the memory operations 166 are performed subsequent to determining the read temperature 548 and prior to performing the read request 538.In a particular implementation, performing the memory operations 166 on the first memory die 104 may raise a temperature of the secondary memory dies 124, as described with reference to FIG.","1.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform subsequent writes on one or more of the secondary memory dies 124.For example, the controller 120 may receive a second request from the device 504 to perform a write access at the memory device 103.The controller 120 may, in response to receiving the second request, perform the write access at a second die of the secondary memory dies 124 subsequent to performing the memory operations 166 on the first memory die 104.In a particular aspect, the second die may be heated by the memory operations 166 performed on the first memory die 104 and the temperature crossing engine 522 may perform fewer (e.g., no) memory operations prior to performing the write access on the second die.","For example, a write temperature of the second die may be closer to the first temperature threshold 542 subsequent to performance of the memory operations 166 on the first memory die 104 and fewer memory operations may be used to raise the temperature of the second die to at least the first temperature threshold 542.In a particular aspect, the write temperature of the second die may be greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 subsequent to performance of the memory operations 166 on the first memory die 104 and the write access to the second die may be performed without prior performance of memory operations to increase the temperature of the second die.","In a particular aspect, the temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 on a second memory die of the secondary memory dies 124 to raise a temperature of the first memory die 104.For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the request (e.g., the write request 532 or the read request 536) corresponds to the first memory die 104, identify a second memory die of the second memory dies 124.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 on the second memory die to increase a temperature of the first memory die 104.For example, the memory operations 166 may be performed on the second memory die to raise the temperature of the first memory die 104 in response to determining that temperatures of multiple memory dies including the first memory die 104 are to be raised.","To illustrate, the second memory die may correspond to the secondary memory die 224 of FIG.","2 and the temperature crossing engine 522 may determine that temperatures of the first memory die 104, the memory die 222, and the memory 228 of FIG.","2 are to be raised, as described herein.","Performing the memory operations 166 on the secondary memory die 224 to raise the temperature of the multiple memory dies (e.g., the first memory die 104, the memory die 222, and the memory die 228) may result in fewer memory operations being performed than performing memory operations on each of the multiple memory dies (e.g., the first memory die 104, the memory die 222, and the memory die 228).","For example, performing memory operations on the first memory die 104 may not increase a temperature of the memory die 222 or the memory die 228 as much as performing the memory operations 166 on the secondary memory die 224 because the memory die 222 and the memory die 228 are closer to the secondary memory die 224 than to the first memory die 104.Performing the memory operations on the first memory die 104 to raise a temperature of the first memory die 104 to at least the first temperature threshold 542 may result in additional memory operations being performed on the memory die 222 and on the memory die 228 to raise the temperatures of the memory die 222 and the memory die 228 to at least the first temperature threshold 542.For example, a first number of memory operations may be performed to raise a temperature of the first memory die 104 to at least the first temperature threshold 542, a second number of memory operations may be performed to raise a temperature of the memory die 222 to at least the first temperature threshold 542, and a third number of memory operations may be performed to raise a temperature of the memory die 228 to at least the first temperature threshold 542.A sum of the first number, the second number, and the third number may be greater than a count of the memory operations 166 performed on the secondary memory die 224 to raise the temperature of each of the first memory die 104, the memory die 222, and the memory die 228 to at least the first temperature threshold 542.The temperature crossing engine 522 may thus reduce a number of memory operations performed to heat multiple dies.","As described above, in some implementations, the controller 120 delays writing data to the memory device 103 until the temperature of the first memory die 104 meets the temperature condition 526 (e.g., is greater than the first temperature threshold 542).","In other implementations, where the first memory die 104 includes multi-level cell (MLC) and single-level cell (SLC) storage elements, the controller 120 may write the data to the SLC storage elements prior to heating up the first memory die 104.Writing the data to the SLC storage elements prior to performing the memory operations 166 may reduce a latency associated with the write request 534 because the controller 120 may signal to the device 504 that the data is stored upon writing to the SLC storage elements.","After the temperature of the first memory die 104 satisfies (e.g., is greater than) the first temperature threshold 542, the controller 120 may copy or ‘fold’ data from the SLC storage elements to the MLC storage elements.","For example, the first storage element 110 may, according to an MLC scheme, indicate multiple (e.g., three) values.","In a particular implementation, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the memory device 103 has the characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing, write data of the write request 534 to one or more SLC storage elements of the memory device 103.Each of the one or more SLC storage elements may, according to a SLC scheme, indicate a single value.","A portion of the first memory die 104 may include the one or more SLC storage elements.","The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to detecting the temperature condition 526, copy the data from the one or more SLC storage elements to MLC storage elements (e.g., the first storage element 110).","At least one of the first temperature threshold 542 or the second temperature threshold 544 may include a default value.","In a particular implementation, the controller 120 may receive the first temperature threshold 542, the second temperature threshold 544, or both, from the device 504 (e.g., a host device, a test device, or an access device).","The first temperature threshold 542, the second temperature threshold 544, or both, may be stored in the memory 140.Advantageously, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, prior to performing a memory access, raise a temperature of the first memory die 104 to increase a likelihood that a write temperature of data that is written to the first memory die 104 is substantially similar to a temperature at which data is read from the first memory die 104, as further described with reference to FIGS.","6-7.When the write temperature is substantially similar to the read temperature, a number of bit errors associated with data reads at the memory device 103 may be reduced.","Referring to FIG.","6, a diagram 600 includes a particular illustrative example of conditions that may be detected by the device 102, the controller 120 of FIG.","1, the temperature crossing engine 522, the system 500 of FIG.","5, or a combination thereof.","The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the write request 534 is to be performed, determine whether the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528 based on the write temperature 546.The diagram 600 illustrates a first case 602, a second case 604, and a third case 606.It should be understood that the first case 602, the second case 604, and the third case 606 are provided as illustrative, non-limiting examples.","In some implementations, the temperature crossing engine 522 may use other cases to determine whether the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.In the first case 602, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the write temperature 546 is less than the first temperature threshold 542, determine that the first memory die 104 has the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 until detecting that the temperature 158 at or proximate to the first memory die 104 is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542, as described with reference to FIG.","5.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the write request 534 subsequent to detecting that the temperature 158 is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542.In the second case 604, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the write temperature 546 is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 and less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544, determine that the first memory die 104 does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the write request 534 in response to detecting that the first memory die 104 does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.In the third case 606, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the write temperature 546 is greater than the second temperature threshold 544, determine that the first memory die 104 does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the write request 534 and, in response to determining that the write temperature 546 is greater than the second temperature threshold 544, store the write temperature 546 in the memory 140.Referring to FIG.","7, a diagram 700 includes a particular illustrative example of conditions that may be detected by the device 102, the controller 120 of FIG.","1, the temperature crossing engine 522, the system 500 of FIG.","5, or a combination thereof.","The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the read request 538 is to be performed, determine whether the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528 based on the write temperature 546, the read temperature 548, or both.","The diagram 700 includes a first case 702, a second case 704, a third case 706, and a fourth case 708.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 on the memory device 103 to heat the memory device 103 to at least the first temperature threshold 542 prior to performing the write request 534, as described with reference to FIG.","6.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 on the memory device 103 to heat the memory device 103 to a second temperature (e.g., greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 or greater than the second temperature threshold 544) prior to performing the read request 538, as described herein.","The second temperature may be based on the write temperature 546.The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the read temperature 548 fails to satisfy (e.g., is less than) the first temperature threshold 542, perform the memory operations 166 to heat the memory device 103 to a temperature that satisfies (e.g., is greater than) the first temperature threshold 542.In a particular aspect, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the read temperature 548 fails to satisfy (e.g., is less than or equal to) the second temperature threshold 544 and that the write temperature 546 satisfies (e.g., is greater than) the second temperature threshold 544, perform the memory operations 166 to heat the memory device 103 to a temperature that satisfies (e.g., is greater than) the second temperature threshold 544.In the first case 702, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the read temperature 548 is less than the first temperature threshold 542 and that the write temperature 546 is either not stored in the memory 140 or is less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544, determine that the first memory die 104 has the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 until detecting that the temperature 158 at or proximate to the first memory die 104 is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542, as described with reference to FIG.","5.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the read request 538 subsequent to detecting that the temperature 158 is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542.In the second case 704, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the write temperature 546 is not stored in the memory 140 or that the write temperature 546 is less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544, and that the read temperature 548 is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542, determine that the first memory die 104 does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing condition 528 may correspond to a condition where performing the memory operations 166 may reduce bit-errors caused by a temperature crossing.","In a particular aspect, a temperature (e.g., warm) of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed may be substantially the same as the read temperature 548 (e.g., warm) and the temperature crossing engine 522 may determine that the first memory die 104 does not indicate a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing and thus does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.In another aspect, the read temperature 548 (e.g., hot) may be greater than the temperature (e.g., warm) of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 was performed.","Performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the read request 538 may raise the temperature of the first memory die 104 thereby causing more bit-errors by increasing a difference between the temperature (e.g., warm) of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 was performed and a temperature (e.g., hotter) of the first memory die 104 when the read request 538 is performed.","The temperature crossing engine 522 may determine that the first memory die 104 indicates a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing.","The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that performing the memory operations 166 will not reduce bit-errors, determine that the first memory die 104 does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the read request 538 without using the memory operations 166 to heat the first memory die 104.In the third case 706, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the write temperature 546 is stored in the memory 140, that the write temperature 546 is greater than the second temperature threshold 544, or both, and that the read temperature 548 is less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544, determine that the first memory die 104 has the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 until detecting that the temperature 158 at or proximate to the first memory die 104 is greater than the second temperature threshold 544, as described with reference to FIG.","5.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the read request 538 subsequent to detecting that the temperature 158 is greater than the second temperature threshold 544.In the fourth case 708, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the write temperature 546 is stored in the memory 140, that the write temperature 546 is greater than the second temperature threshold 544, or both, and that the read temperature 548 is greater than the second temperature threshold 544, determine that the first memory die 104 does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the read request 538 in response to detecting that the first memory die 104 does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the read request 538 without using the memory operations 166 to heat the first memory die 104.In the first case 702, the temperature crossing engine 522 may reduce a bit-error rate associated with data reads at the memory device 103 by performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the read request 538.In the first case 702, the write temperature 546 and the read temperature 548 may both be less than the first temperature threshold 542 (e.g., cold).","The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534 and also prior to performing the read request 538 such that a temperature (e.g., warm) of the first memory die 104 when the read request 538 is performed is substantially similar to a temperature (e.g., warm) of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed.","Alternatively, in the first case 702, the write temperature 546 (e.g., warm) may be greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 and less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544.The temperature crossing engine 522 may refrain from performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534.The read temperature 548 (e.g., cold) may be less than the first temperature threshold 542.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 prior to performing the read request 538 such that a temperature (e.g., warm) of the first memory die 104 when the read request 538 is performed is substantially similar to a temperature (e.g., warm) of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed.","In the second case 704, in a particular aspect, the read temperature 548 (e.g., warm) may be substantially similar to a temperature of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed and the temperature crossing engine 522 may refrain from performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the read request 538.For example, the write temperature 546 (e.g., warm) may be greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 and less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544.The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the write temperature 546 (e.g., warm) is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 and less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544, determine that the first memory die 104 does not have a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the first memory die 104 does not have a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528, refrain from performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534.The read temperature 548 may be unknown at the time of performing the write request 534.A first likelihood that the read temperature 548 is less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544 may be higher than a second likelihood that the read temperature 548 is greater than the second temperature threshold 544.When the first likelihood is greater than the second likelihood, refraining from performing the memory operations 166 in response to determining that the write temperature 546 (e.g., warm) is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 and less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544 may reduce an overall number of memory operations performed.","For example, refraining from performing the memory operations 166 to raise a temperature of the first memory die 104 above the second temperature threshold 544 prior to performing the write request 534 may result in fewer memory operations being performed to raise a temperature of the first memory die 104 to at least the first temperature threshold 542 when the read temperature 548 is less than the first temperature threshold 542.As another example, when the read temperature 548 is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 and less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544, refraining from performing the memory operations 166 to raise a temperature of the first memory die 104 above the second temperature threshold 544 prior to performing the write request 534 may result in no memory operations being performed prior to performing the read request 538.When the read temperature 548 has a greater likelihood of being less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544, refraining from performing the memory operations 166 to raise a temperature of the first memory die 104 above the second temperature threshold 544 prior to performing the write request 534 may result in fewer memory operations being performed prior to performing the read request 538.As another example, the write temperature 546 (e.g., cold) may be less than the first temperature threshold 542 and the temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534.The read temperature 548 (e.g., warm) may be greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 and less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544.Performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534 may cause a temperature of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed to be substantially the same as the read temperature 548.A temperature (e.g., warm) of the first memory die 104 when the read request 538 is performed may be substantially similar to a temperature (e.g., warm) of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed.","Performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534 may result in the first memory die 104 not having a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing prior to performing the read request 538.Bit-errors associated with a temperature crossing may thus be reduced (e.g., eliminated).","In the second case 704, in an alternate aspect, the read temperature 548 (e.g., hot) may be higher than a temperature of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed.","The write temperature 546 (e.g., cold) may be less than the first temperature threshold 542 and the temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534, thereby at least reducing the difference between the temperature (e.g., warm) at which the write request 534 is performed and the temperature (e.g., hot) at which the read request 538 is performed.","A temperature crossing corresponding to a lower difference between the temperature (e.g., warm) at which the write request 534 is performed and the temperature (e.g., hot) at which the read request 538 is performed may result in fewer bit-errors than a temperature crossing corresponding to a higher difference between the temperature (e.g., cold) at which the write request 534 is performed and the temperature (e.g., hot) at which the read request 538 is performed.","Performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534 may thus reduce bit-errors associated with a temperature crossing.","Alternatively, the write temperature 546 (e.g., warm) may be greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 and less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544.The temperature crossing engine 522 may refrain from performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534 because the read temperature 548 (e.g., hot) is unknown at the time of performing the write request 534.For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 may refrain from performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534 to reduce a number of overall memory operations when a first likelihood that the read temperature 548 is less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544 is greater than a second likelihood that the read temperature 548 is greater than the second temperature threshold 544.The temperature crossing engine 522 may refrain from performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the read request 538 because raising the temperature of the first memory die 104 would further increase a difference between a temperature (e.g., warm) at which the write request 534 was performed and a temperature (e.g., hot) at which the read request 538 is performed.","In the third case 706, the temperature crossing engine 522 may reduce a bit-error rate associated with data reads at the memory device 103 by performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the read request 538.In the third case 706, the write temperature 546 (e.g., hot) may be greater than the second temperature threshold 544 and the read temperature 548 (e.g., cold or warm) may be less than the second temperature threshold 544.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 prior to performing the read request 538 such that a temperature (e.g., hot) of the first memory die 104 when the read request 538 is performed is substantially similar to a temperature (e.g., hot) of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed.","As a result of performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the read request 538, the first memory die 104 may not have a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing.","Bit-errors associated with a temperature crossing may thus be reduced (e.g., eliminated).","In the fourth case 708, the read temperature 548 may be substantially similar to a temperature of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed and the temperature crossing engine 522 may refrain from performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the read request 538.In the fourth case 708, the write temperature 546 (e.g., hot) and the read temperature 548 (e.g., hot) may both be greater than the second temperature threshold 544.The temperature crossing engine 522 may refrain from performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534 and may also refrain from performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the read request 538.A temperature (e.g., hot) of the first memory die 104 when the read request 538 is performed may be substantially similar to a temperature (e.g., hot) of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed without performing the memory operations 166.The temperature crossing engine 522 may reduce a bit-error rate in at least one of the first case 702, the second case 704, or the third case 706 by performing the memory operations 166 prior to the write request 534, performing the memory operations 166 prior to the read request 538, or both.","It should be understood that the first case 702, the second case 704, the third case 706, and the fourth case 708 are provided as illustrative, non-limiting examples.","In some implementations, the temperature crossing engine 522 may use other cases to determine whether the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, prior to performing the write request 534, determine that the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528 in response to determining that the write temperature 546 is less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544.In this example, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, prior to performing the read request 538, determine that the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528 in response to determining that the read temperature 548 is less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544.In this example, a temperature (e.g., hot) of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed may be substantially similar to a temperature (e.g., hot) of the first memory die 104 when the read request 538 is performed.","The temperature crossing engine 522 may reduce a bit-error rate by performing the memory operations 166 prior to the write request 534, performing the memory operations 166 prior to the read request 538, or both.","Referring to FIG.","8, an illustrative example of a method is depicted and generally designated 800.The method 800 may be performed by the device 102, the controller 120 of FIG.","1, the temperature crossing engine 522, the system 500 of FIG.","5, or a combination thereof.","The method 800 includes checking die temperature, at 802.For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 of FIG.","5 may determine the write temperature 546 based on the sensor input 156, as described with reference to FIG.","5.The sensor input 156 may indicate the temperature 158 at or proximate to the first memory die 104.The method 800 also includes determining whether a temperature crossing condition is met, at 804.For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 of FIG.","5 may determine whether the temperature crossing condition 528 is detected, as described with reference to FIGS.","5-7.The method 800 includes, in response to determining that the temperature crossing condition is met, at 804, applying a temperature crossing mitigation operation, at 806.For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 of FIG.","5 may, in response to detecting the temperature crossing condition 528, perform the memory operations 166 until the temperature condition 526 is detected, as further described with reference to FIGS.","5-6.The method 800 includes, in response to determining that the temperature crossing condition is not met, at 804, proceeding to 808.The method 800 also includes performing one or more memory access operations while the temperature crossing condition is not met (e.g., after performing the 806).","For example, the method 800 may include writing to a die, at 808.For example, the controller 120 may perform the write request 534 at the first memory die 104, as described with reference to FIG.","5.As another example, the method 800 may include reading from the die, at 810.For example, the controller 120 may perform the read request 538 at the first memory die 104, as described with reference to FIG.","5.The method 800 may, by heating the first memory die 104 prior to writing the data, prior to reading the data, or both, reduce a difference between a first temperature at which data is read from the first memory die 104 and a second temperature at which data is written to the first memory die 104.For example, the first temperature may be substantially similar (e.g., warm) to the second temperature.","The reduction in (e.g., elimination of) the temperature difference may reduce a bit-error rate associated with performing data reads at the memory device 103.Referring to FIG.","9, an illustrative example of a method is depicted and generally designated 900.The method 900 may be performed by the device 102, the controller 120 of FIG.","1, the temperature crossing engine 522, the system 500 of FIG.","5, or a combination thereof.","The method 900 includes, in response to receiving a request to perform a memory access at a memory device, determining that the memory device has a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing, at 902.For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 of FIG.","5 may, in response to receiving a request (e.g., the read request 536 or the write request 532) to perform a memory access (e.g., the write request 534 or the read request 538), determine that the memory device 103 has a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing, as described with reference to FIGS.","5-7.The method 900 also includes, in response to the determination, increasing a temperature of the memory device by performing memory operations on the memory device until detecting a condition related to the temperature, at 904.For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 of FIG.","5 may, in response to determining that the memory device 103 has a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing, perform the memory operations 166 until detecting the temperature condition 526, as further described with reference to FIGS.","5-7.The method 900 may correspond to one or more of the cases of FIGS.","6-7.The method 900 may, by heating the first memory die 104 prior to a data write, prior to a data read, or both, reduce a difference between a first temperature at which data is read from the first memory die 104 and a second temperature at which data is written to the first memory die 104.For example, the first temperature may be substantially similar to the second temperature.","The reduction in (e.g., elimination of) the temperature difference may reduce a bit-error rate associated with performing data reads at the memory device 103.Referring to FIG.","10, a particular illustrative example of a system is depicted and generally designated 1000.The system 1000 includes an implementation of the device 102 of FIG.","1 that includes a temperature crossing engine 1022.The device 102 may be coupled to, attached to, or embedded within one or more access devices (e.g., a device 1004), such as within a housing of the device 1004.The device 1004 may correspond to a testing device, a host device, or both.","The temperature crossing engine 1022 may be implemented by software (e.g., instructions) executable by a processor to perform operations described herein.","Alternatively, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may include hardware configured to perform operations described herein.","In a particular implementation, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may include or correspond to the temperature crossing engine 522 of FIG.","5.In this implementation, the temperature crossing engine 1022 includes the features and functions described with reference to FIG.","5 and includes an availability detector 1050, as described further below.","In other implementations, the temperature crossing engine 1022 includes the availability detector 1050 and omits one or more of the features or functions of the temperature crossing engine 522 of FIG.","5.The temperature crossing engine 1022 may be configured to reduce a bit-error rate associated with reading data by heating the memory device 103, as described herein.","When a read temperature corresponding to data (e.g., a temperature of the memory die when the data is read from the memory die) is similar to a write temperature corresponding to the data (e.g., a temperature of the memory die when the data is written to the memory die), bit-error rates may be reduced.","As used herein, a “temperature crossing” refers to a difference between a read temperature and a write temperature that is likely to cause bit-errors.","To mitigate the risk of errors due to temperature crossing, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may perform memory operations to heat the memory device 103 when a temperature of the memory device 103 is below a threshold and when the memory operations are unlikely to interfere with performing operations requested by the device 1004.For example, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may detect a condition indicating that a temperature of the memory device 103 is less than a first threshold (e.g., a first temperature threshold 1042) and that an availability metric 1052 satisfies an availability criterion 1054.The temperature crossing engine 1022 may perform the memory operations 166 to heat up a die of the memory device 103 in response to detecting the condition.","During operation, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may determine whether a temperature of the memory device is less than the first temperature threshold 1042.For example, an output of the temperature sensor 108 may be provided to the controller 120 as the sensor input 156.The sensor input 156 may indicate a temperature 158 of the memory device 103 or a temperature of a portion of the memory device 103, such as a temperature of the first memory die 104.The temperature crossing engine 1022 may compare the temperature 158 to the first temperature threshold 1042.If the temperature 158 fails to satisfy (e.g., is less than) the first temperature threshold 1042, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may determine whether the memory device 103 satisfies an availability criterion 1054.For example, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may include an availability detector 1050 configured to determine or monitor an availability metric 1052.The availability metric 1052 may be indicative of demand, usage, or activity at the memory device 103.To illustrate, the availability metric 1052 may include or correspond to a measure or indication of power demand at the memory device 103 (or at the device 102), may include or correspond to a measure or indication of number of inactive dies at the memory device 103, may include or correspond to a measure or indication of an activity level (e.g., a number of concurrent read or write operations) at the memory device 103, another indication of demand, usage, or activity at the memory device 103, or a combination thereof.","As a specific example, power available to the device 102 may be limited by a power supply (not shown) of the device 102 or external to the device 102.In this example, the availability metric 1052 may include a power metric indicating power demand at the device 102 or a portion (e.g., a percentage) of available power being used by the device 102.The temperature crossing engine 1022 may compare the availability metric 1052 to the availability criterion 1054 to determine whether the memory device 103 satisfies the availability criterion 1054.For example, when the availability metric 1052 indicates an activity level at the memory device 103 (e.g., a number of concurrent memory operations), the availability criterion 1054 may be satisfied if the activity level is less than an activity threshold.","To illustrate, the memory device 103 may include multiple memory dies 190, and the number of concurrent memory operations that can be performed at the multiple memory dies 190 may be limited due to power constraints, bus constraints, or other constraints.","In this example, the availability criterion 1054 may limit the activity level sufficiently that if the device 1004 issues an access request, such as the write request 532 or the read request 536, the memory device 103 has sufficient capacity to perform operations associated with the access request.","As another example, when the availability metric 1052 indicates power demand at the memory device 103, the availability criterion 1054 may be satisfied if the power demand is less than a power threshold.","To illustrate, performing multiple concurrent read or write operations at the memory device 103 may use a first portion of power available to the memory device 103.In this example, the availability criterion 1054 may limit the power demand sufficiently that if the device 1004 issues an access request, such as the write request 532 or the read request 536, the memory device 103 has sufficient additional power capacity to perform operations associated with the access request.","As another example, the availability metric 1052 may indicate a number of inactive dies of the memory device 103 or a number of active dies of the memory device 103.In this example, the availability criterion 1054 may be satisfied if the number of inactive dies is greater than an active die threshold, or if the number of active dies is less than or equal to the active die threshold.","In this context, an active die refers to a memory die that is performing memory access operations at a particular time, and an inactive die refers to memory die that is not performing memory access operations at the particular time.","Alternatively, in some implementations, an active die refers to a memory die that is marked (e.g., in a table or other data structure in the memory 140) as available for use at a particular time, and an inactive die refers to a memory die that is marked (e.g., in the table or other data structure in the memory 140) as not available for use at the particular time.","In this example, the availability criterion 1054 may limit the number of active dies sufficiently that if the device 1004 issues an access request, such as the write request 532 or the read request 536, the memory device 103 has at least one memory die available to perform operations associated with the access request.","If the memory device 103 satisfies the availability criterion 1054, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may increase the temperature of the memory device 103.For example, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may perform a set of memory operations at the memory device 103 until detecting a condition related to the temperature of the memory device 103.The condition related to the temperature of the memory device 103 may include or correspond to the temperature 158 indicated by the sensor input 156 satisfying (e.g., being greater than or equal to) a second temperature threshold 1044.The set of memory operations may include read operations, write operations, or both, that are performed within a relatively short period of time, as described with reference to FIG.","1.Performing the set of memory operations may include sending an instruction (e.g., the sequence request 136), via the interface 118, to the memory device 103 to initiate the set (e.g., a sequence) of memory operations, as described with reference to FIG.","1.The set of memory operations may be performed on the first storage element 110, another storage element (e.g., the second storage element 112), or both.","The R/W circuitry 116 may be configured to perform the set of memory operations in response to receiving the sequence request 136, as described with reference to FIG.","1.For example, the sequence request 136 may indicate that at least one storage element (e.g., the first storage element 110) of a memory die (e.g., the first memory die 104) on which the set of memory operations are to be performed.","In this example, the R/W circuitry 116 performs the set of memory operations on the first memory die 104 in response to determining that the sequence request 136 identifies the first memory die 104.In a particular implementation, the R/W circuitry 116 may perform at least a portion of the set of memory operations on the first storage element 110 in response to determining that the sequence request 136 identifies the first storage element 110.As another example, performing the set of memory operations may include sending a plurality of instructions (e.g., the plurality of operation requests 134), via the interface 118, to the memory device 103, as described with reference to FIG.","1.The R/W circuitry 116 may be configured to perform a memory operation (e.g., a read operation or a write operation) on the first memory die 104 in response to receiving each operation request (e.g., instruction) of the operation requests 134.The memory operation may be performed on the first storage element 110 or another storage element (e.g., the second storage element 112) of the first memory die 104.Execution of each memory operation (e.g., read operation or write operation) raises a temperature of the first memory die 104, as described with reference to FIG.","1.The temperature crossing engine 1022 may cause the memory operations of the set of memory operations to be performed until a temperature condition 1026 related to a temperature of the first memory die 104 is detected.","For example, the memory operations may be performed until the temperature 158 of the memory device 103 satisfies (e.g., is greater than or equal to) the second temperature threshold 1044.In this example, when temperature crossing engine 1022 detects that the temperature 158 of the memory device 103 satisfies the second temperature threshold 1044, the controller 120 may cease sending the operations requests 134 or may instruct the memory device 103 to cease performing the memory operations associated with the sequence request 136.In some implementations, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may cause the memory operations to cease in response to detecting that the availability metric 1052 has ceased to satisfy the availability criterion 1054.To illustrate, during a period of low activity (e.g., when few requests are received from the device 1004, the temperature 158 of the memory device 103 may drop below the first temperature threshold 1042.The temperature crossing engine 1022 may cause the memory operations to be performed at the memory device 103 to increase the temperature toward the second temperature threshold 1044.While the temperature crossing engine 1022 is attempting to increase the temperature 158 of the memory device 103, the period of inactivity of the device 1004 may cease and the device 1004 may issue a number of memory access requests.","The availability detector 1050 may detect the increase in activity associated with the device 1004, and the temperature crossing engine 1022 may cause the memory operations (that are performed to increase the temperature 158 of the memory device 103) to cease responsive to the availability metric 1052 failing to satisfy the availability criterion 1054.In a particular implementation, performing the memory operations on the first memory die 104 may raise a temperature of the secondary memory dies 124, as described with reference to FIG.","1.Thus, a second die of the secondary memory dies 124 may be heated by the memory operations performed on the first memory die 104.Conversely, the temperature of the first memory die 104 may be increased by performing memory operations at one or more of the secondary memory dies 124.In a particular aspect, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may perform the memory operations on a second memory die of the secondary memory dies 124 to raise a temperature of the first memory die 104.For example, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may determine that the first memory die is an active die and that a temperature sensor on or near the first memory die 104 indicates a temperature that is less than the first temperature threshold 1042.In this example, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may cause memory operations to be performed at one or more inactive memory dies of the secondary memory dies 124 to heat the first memory die 104.To illustrate, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may select particular set of one or memory dies (of the secondary memory dies 124) to perform the memory operation based on proximity of the set of one or more memory dies to the first memory die 104.In an alternative implementation, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may select a set of memory dies that are distributed among the memory dies 190 to perform the memory operation.","In this implementation, the set of memory dies may be selected (e.g., randomly or pseudo-randomly) such that the memory dies performing the memory operations are scattered (or distributed) among the memory dies 190 of the memory device 103 to facilitate relatively even heating of the memory device 103.As described above, in some implementations, the controller 120 delays writing data to the memory device 103 until the temperature of the first memory die 104 meets a temperature condition 1026 (e.g., is greater than the first temperature threshold 1042).","In other implementations, where the first memory die 104 includes multi-level cell (MLC) and single-level cell (SLC) storage elements, the controller 120 may write the data to the SLC storage elements until the temperature of the first memory die 104 satisfies the temperature condition 1026.Writing the data to the SLC storage elements until the temperature of the first memory die 104 satisfies the temperature condition 1026 may reduce a latency associated with the write request 534 because the controller 120 may signal to the device 1004 that the data is stored upon writing to the SLC storage elements.","After the temperature of the first memory die 104 satisfies (e.g., is greater than) the first temperature threshold 1042, the controller 120 may copy or ‘fold’ data from the SLC storage elements to the MLC storage elements.","For example, the first storage element 110 may, according to an MLC scheme, indicate multiple (e.g., three) values.","At least one of the first temperature threshold 1042 or the second temperature threshold 1044 may include a default value.","In a particular implementation, the controller 120 may receive the first temperature threshold 1042, the second temperature threshold 1044, or both, from the device 1004 (e.g., a host device, a test device, or an access device).","The first temperature threshold 1042, the second temperature threshold 1044, or both, may be stored in the memory 140.Additionally, the availability criterion 1054 may include a default value, such as a power threshold set according to a power specification.","In some implementation, the availability criterion 1054 may include a value based on user input or based on information provided by the device 1004.To illustrate, a user or the device 1004 may provide an indication that is associated with a power limit (e.g., an indication that the device 1004 is operating on battery power) or performance limit (e.g., an indication that a particular performance requirement is to be satisfied).","In such implementations, the availability criterion 1054 may be set or modified based on the value based on user input or based on information provided by the device 1004.To illustrate, if a power limit is specified, the controller 120 may modify the availability criterion 1054 based on a decrease in available power indicated by the power limit.","Advantageously, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may raise a temperature of the first memory die 104 during periods of low activity (e.g., when the availability criterion 1054 is satisfied) to increase a likelihood that a write temperature of data that is written to the first memory die 104 is substantially similar to a temperature at which data is read from the first memory die 104 without decreasing performance associated with access requests received from the device 1004.When the write temperature is substantially similar to the read temperature, a number of bit errors associated with data reads at the memory device 103 may be reduced.","Referring to FIG.","11, an illustrative example of a method is depicted and generally designated 1100.The method 1100 may be performed by the device 102, the controller 120 of FIG.","1, the temperature crossing engine 522 of FIG.","5, the system 500 of FIG.","5, the temperature crossing engine 1022 of FIG.","10, the system 1000 of FIG.","10, or a combination thereof.","The method 1100 includes checking die temperature, at 1102.For example, the temperature crossing engine 1022 of FIG.","10 may determine the temperature 158 based on the sensor input 156, as described with reference to FIG.","10.The sensor input 156 may indicate the temperature 158 at or proximate to the first memory die 104.The method 1100 also includes determining whether a temperature condition is met, at 1104.For example, the temperature crossing engine 1022 of FIG.","10 may determine whether the temperature condition 1026 is satisfied.","The temperature condition 1026 may be satisfied when the temperature 158 is greater than the first temperature threshold 1042, as described with reference to FIG.","10.The method 1100 includes, in response to determining that the temperature condition is met, at 1104, determining whether an availability criterion is met, at 1106.For example, the temperature crossing engine 1022 of FIG.","10 may determine whether the availability criterion 1054 is satisfied based on the availability metric 1052, as described with reference to FIG.","10.The method 1100 includes, in response to determining that availability criterion is met, performing one or more memory operations, at 1108.The memory operations may include read operations, write operations, or both.","For example, performing the memory operations may include performing the memory operation indicated by the sequence request 136 of FIG.","10.As another example, performing the memory operations may include performing a number of distinct memory operations responsive to the operation requests 134 of FIG.","10.After one or more memory operation have been performed, the method 1100 may return to 1102 to check the temperature of the die.","For example, the temperature crossing engine 1022 of FIG.","10 may, in response to detecting that the temperature condition 1026 is met and in the availability metric 1052 satisfies the availability criterion 1054, perform the memory operations 166 until the temperature 158 satisfies the second temperature threshold 1044.The method 1100 includes, in response to determining that the temperature condition is not met, at 1104, or in response to determining that the availability condition is not met, at 1106, returning to 1102.Thus, the method 1100 may heat the memory die during periods of low activity (e.g., when the availability criterion is satisfied).","Heating the die may reduce temperature crossing associated with read and write operations of the die.","For example, by heating the die, a temperature difference between a first temperature at which data is written and a second temperature at which the data is read may be reduced.","The reduction in (e.g., elimination of) the temperature difference may reduce a bit-error rate associated with performing data reads at the memory device 103.In some implementations, a computer-readable medium stores instructions executable by a processing module to perform operations.","For example, the computer-readable medium may correspond to the memory 140, the instructions may correspond to the instructions 162, and the processing module may correspond to the healing engine 122, the temperature crossing engine 522, the temperature crossing engine 1022, or a combination thereof.","The operations include performing memory operations (e.g., the memory operations 166) to increase a temperature of a memory die (e.g., the first memory die 104) until detecting a condition (e.g., the temperature condition 126) related to the temperature of the memory die (e.g., the first memory die 104).","The memory operations may be performed responsive to determining that at least one storage element (e.g., the first storage element 110) of a memory die (e.g., the first memory die 104) has a characteristic indicative of an aging condition (e.g., the aging condition 128) during execution of the instructions by the processing module.","Alternatively, or in addition, the memory operations may be performed responsive to determining that a temperature of the memory device is less than a first threshold and that the memory device satisfies the availability criterion.","In a particular aspect, the operations include, prior to performing a memory access (e.g., the write request 534 or the read request 538) at a memory device (e.g., the memory device 103), determining that the memory device (e.g., the memory device 103) has a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing (e.g., the temperature crossing condition 528).","The operations also include, in response to the determination, increasing a temperature (e.g., the temperature 158) of the memory device (e.g., the memory device 103) by performing memory operations (e.g., the memory operations 166) at the memory device (e.g., the memory device 103) until detecting a condition related to the temperature (e.g., the temperature condition 526).","In another particular aspect, the operations include in response to determining that a temperature of the memory device is less than a threshold, determining that the memory device satisfies an availability criterion.","The operations also include in response to determining that the memory device satisfies the availability criterion, increasing the temperature of the memory device by performing memory operations at the memory device until detecting a condition related to the temperature.","In this aspect, performing the memory operations may include sending an instruction to the memory device to initiate a set of memory operations.","In a particular example, the operations may also include determining, based on the availability criterion, a number of memory operations of the set of memory operations.","In this example, the number of memory operations of the set of memory operations may be determined such that a request to access the memory device that is received from a host device during performance of the memory operations can be satisfied.","In yet another particular aspect, a device include a memory device and a controller.","The controller is configured to perform memory operations on the memory device to heat the memory device to at least a threshold temperature when power demand of the memory device is less than a power threshold.","In this particular aspect, heating the memory device may include performing a set of memory operations at the memory device, where a number of operations of the set of memory operations is determined based on the power threshold.","The power threshold may be set such that a host request, received at the controller at a first time, can be satisfied when the power demand at the first time is less than or equal to the power threshold.","In a particular example, the memory device may include a plurality of memory dies, and the power demand may be associated with a number of active dies of the plurality of memory dies.","In this example, heating the memory device includes performing a set of memory operations at one or more idle memory dies of the plurality of memory dies.","Although various components depicted herein are illustrated as block components and described in general terms, such components may include one or more microprocessors, state machines, or other circuits configured to enable such components to perform one or more operations described herein.","For example, the temperature condition 126, the aging condition 128, or both, may represent physical components, such as hardware controllers, state machines, logic circuits, or other structures, to enable the healing engine 122 to detect the temperature condition 126, the aging condition 128, or both.","As another example, the healing engine 122 may represent physical components, such as hardware controllers, state machines, logic circuits, or other structures, to enable the controller 120 to increase a temperature of a memory die (e.g., a first memory die 104) until the temperature condition 126 is detected.","The temperature of the first memory die 104 may be increased responsive to determining that at least one storage element has a characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128.In a particular aspect, the temperature condition 526, the temperature crossing condition 528, or both, may represent physical components, such as hardware controllers, state machines, logic circuits, or other structures, to enable the temperature crossing engine 522 to detect the temperature condition 526, the temperature crossing condition 528, or both.","In a particular aspect, the temperature crossing engine 522 may represent physical components, such as hardware controllers, state machines, logic circuits, or other structures, to enable the controller 120 to increase a temperature of a memory die (e.g., a first memory die 104) until the temperature condition 526 is detected.","The temperature of the first memory die 104 may be increased, prior to performing a memory access (e.g., the write request 534 or the read request 538), responsive to determining that the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.Alternatively or in addition, one or more components described herein may be implemented using a microprocessor or microcontroller programmed to perform operations, such as one or more operations of the method 300 of FIG.","3, the method 400 of FIG.","4, the method 800 of FIG.","8, the method 900 of FIG.","9, or a combination thereof.","Instructions executed by the healing engine 122, the temperature crossing engine 522, the controller 120 and/or the device 102 may be retrieved from the memory 140 or from a separate memory location that is not part of the memory 140, such as from a read-only memory (ROM).","In conjunction with one or more of the described aspects of FIGS.","1-9, an apparatus includes means for communicating with a memory device that includes a plurality of memory dies.","For example, the means for communicating may include or correspond to the interface 118 of FIG.","1, one or more other structures, devices, circuits, modules, or a combination thereof.","The apparatus also includes means for increasing the temperature of a first die of the plurality of memory dies by performing memory operations on the first die until detecting a condition related to the temperature.","The means for increasing the temperature of the first die may include the healing engine 122 of FIG.","1, one or more other structures, devices, circuits, modules, instructions for increasing the temperature of the first die, or a combination thereof.","The temperature may be increased responsive to determining that at least one storage element of the first die has a characteristic indicative of an aging condition.","The device 102 may be coupled to, attached to, or embedded within one or more access devices, such as within a housing of the device 504.For example, the device 102 may be embedded within the device 504 in accordance with a Joint Electron Devices Engineering Council (JEDEC) Solid State Technology Association Universal Flash Storage (UFS) configuration.","To further illustrate, the device 102 may be integrated within an electronic device, such as a mobile telephone, a computer (e.g., a laptop, a tablet, or a notebook computer), a music player, a video player, a gaming device or console, a component of a vehicle (e.g., a vehicle console), an electronic book reader, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable navigation device, or other device that uses internal non-volatile memory.","In one or more other implementations, the device 102 may be implemented in a portable device configured to be selectively coupled to one or more external devices, such as a host device (e.g., the device 504).","For example, the device 102 may be removable from the device 504 (i.e., “removably” coupled to the device 504).","As an example, the device 102 may be removably coupled to the device 504 in accordance with a removable universal serial bus (USB) configuration.","In some implementations, the system 100, the system 500, the device 102, or the memory 140 may be integrated within a network-accessible data storage system, such as an enterprise data system, an NAS system, or a cloud data storage system, as illustrative examples.","In some implementations, the device 102 may include a solid state drive (SSD).","The device 102 may function as an embedded storage drive (e.g., an embedded SSD drive of a mobile device), an enterprise storage drive (ESD), a cloud storage device, a network-attached storage (NAS) device, or a client storage device, as illustrative, non-limiting examples.","In some implementations, the device 102 may be coupled to another device (e.g., the device 504) via a network.","For example, the network may include a data center storage system network, an enterprise storage system network, a storage area network, a cloud storage network, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), the Internet, and/or another network.","To further illustrate, the device 102 may be configured to be coupled to another device (e.g., the device 504) as embedded memory, such as in connection with an embedded MultiMedia Card (eMMC®) (trademark of JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, Arlington, Va.) configuration, as an illustrative example.","The device 102 may correspond to an eMMC device.","As another example, the device 102 may correspond to a memory card, such as a Secure Digital (SD®) card, a microSD® card, a miniSD™ card (trademarks of SD-3C LLC, Wilmington, Del.","), a MultiMediaCard™ (MMC™) card (trademark of JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, Arlington, Va.), or a CompactFlash® (CF) card (trademark of SanDisk Corporation, Milpitas, Calif.).","The device 102 may operate in compliance with a JEDEC industry specification.","For example, the device 102 may operate in compliance with a JEDEC eMMC specification, a JEDEC Universal Flash Storage (UFS) specification, one or more other specifications, or a combination thereof.","The memory 140 may include a resistive random access memory (ReRAM), a flash memory (e.g., a NAND memory, a NOR memory, a SLC flash memory, a MLC flash memory, a divided bit-line NOR (DINOR) memory, an AND memory, a high capacitive coupling ratio (HiCR) device, an asymmetrical contactless transistor (ACT) device, or another flash memory), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically-erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a read-only memory (ROM), a one-time programmable memory (OTP), another type of memory, or a combination thereof.","In a particular embodiment, the device 102 is indirectly coupled to an access device via a network.","For example, the device 102 may be a network-attached storage (NAS) device or a component (e.g., a solid-state drive (SSD) component) of a data center storage system, an enterprise storage system, or a storage area network.","The memory 140 may include a semiconductor memory device.","Semiconductor memory devices include volatile memory devices, such as dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) or static random access memory (“SRAM”) devices, non-volatile memory devices, such as resistive random access memory (“ReRAM”), magnetoresistive random access memory (“MRAM”), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (“EEPROM”), flash memory (which can also be considered a subset of EEPROM), ferroelectric random access memory (“FRAM”), and other semiconductor elements capable of storing information.","Each type of memory device may have different configurations.","For example, flash memory devices may be configured in a NAND or a NOR configuration.","The memory devices can be formed from passive and/or active elements, in any combinations.","By way of non-limiting example, passive semiconductor memory elements include ReRAM device elements, which in some embodiments include a resistivity switching storage element, such as an anti-fuse, phase change material, etc., and optionally a steering element, such as a diode, etc.","Further by way of non-limiting example, active semiconductor memory elements include EEPROM and flash memory device elements, which in some embodiments include elements containing a charge region, such as a floating gate, conductive nanoparticles, or a charge storage dielectric material.","Multiple memory elements may be configured so that they are connected in series or so that each element is individually accessible.","By way of non-limiting example, flash memory devices in a NAND configuration (NAND memory) typically contain memory elements connected in series.","A NAND memory array may be configured so that the array is composed of multiple strings of memory in which a string is composed of multiple memory elements sharing a single bit line and accessed as a group.","Alternatively, memory elements may be configured so that each element is individually accessible, e.g., a NOR memory array.","NAND and NOR memory configurations are exemplary, and memory elements may be otherwise configured.","The semiconductor memory elements located within and/or over a substrate may be arranged in two or three dimensions, such as a two dimensional memory structure or a three dimensional memory structure.","In a two dimensional memory structure, the semiconductor memory elements are arranged in a single plane or a single memory device level.","Typically, in a two dimensional memory structure, memory elements are arranged in a plane (e.g., in an x-z direction plane) which extends substantially parallel to a major surface of a substrate that supports the memory elements.","The substrate may be a wafer over or in which the layer of the memory elements are formed or it may be a carrier substrate which is attached to the memory elements after they are formed.","As a non-limiting example, the substrate may include a semiconductor such as silicon.","The memory elements may be arranged in the single memory device level in an ordered array, such as in a plurality of rows and/or columns.","However, the memory elements may be arrayed in non-regular or non-orthogonal configurations.","The memory elements may each have two or more electrodes or contact lines, such as bit lines and word lines.","A three dimensional memory array is arranged so that memory elements occupy multiple planes or multiple memory device levels, thereby forming a structure in three dimensions (i.e., in the x, y and z directions, where they direction is substantially perpendicular and the x and z directions are substantially parallel to the major surface of the substrate).","As a non-limiting example, a three dimensional memory structure may be vertically arranged as a stack of multiple two dimensional memory device levels.","As another non-limiting example, a three dimensional memory array may be arranged as multiple vertical columns (e.g., columns extending substantially perpendicular to the major surface of the substrate, i.e., in they direction) with each column having multiple memory elements in each column.","The columns may be arranged in a two dimensional configuration, e.g., in an x-z plane, resulting in a three dimensional arrangement of memory elements with elements on multiple vertically stacked memory planes.","Other configurations of memory elements in three dimensions can also constitute a three dimensional memory array.","By way of non-limiting example, in a three dimensional NAND memory array, the memory elements may be coupled together to form a NAND string within a single horizontal (e.g., x-z) memory device levels.","Alternatively, the memory elements may be coupled together to form a vertical NAND string that traverses across multiple horizontal memory device levels.","Other three dimensional configurations can be envisioned wherein some NAND strings contain memory elements in a single memory level while other strings contain memory elements which span through multiple memory levels.","Three dimensional memory arrays may also be designed in a NOR configuration and in a ReRAM configuration.","Typically, in a monolithic three dimensional memory array, one or more memory device levels are formed above a single substrate.","Optionally, the monolithic three dimensional memory array may also have one or more memory layers at least partially within the single substrate.","As a non-limiting example, the substrate may include a semiconductor such as silicon.","In a monolithic three dimensional array, the layers constituting each memory device level of the array are typically formed on the layers of the underlying memory device levels of the array.","However, layers of adjacent memory device levels of a monolithic three dimensional memory array may be shared or have intervening layers between memory device levels.","Alternatively, two dimensional arrays may be formed separately and then packaged together to form a non-monolithic memory device having multiple layers of memory.","For example, non-monolithic stacked memories can be constructed by forming memory levels on separate substrates and then stacking the memory levels atop each other.","The substrates may be thinned or removed from the memory device levels before stacking, but as the memory device levels are initially formed over separate substrates, the resulting memory arrays are not monolithic three dimensional memory arrays.","Further, multiple two dimensional memory arrays or three dimensional memory arrays (monolithic or non-monolithic) may be formed on separate chips and then packaged together to form a stacked-chip memory device.","Associated circuitry is typically used for operation of the memory elements and for communication with the memory elements.","As non-limiting examples, memory devices may have circuitry used for controlling and driving memory elements to accomplish functions such as programming and reading.","This associated circuitry may be on the same substrate as the memory elements and/or on a separate substrate.","For example, a controller for memory read-write operations may be located on a separate controller chip and/or on the same substrate as the memory elements.","One of skill in the art will recognize that this disclosure is not limited to the two dimensional and three dimensional exemplary structures described but cover all relevant memory structures within the spirit and scope of the disclosure as described herein and as understood by one of skill in the art.","The illustrations of the embodiments described herein are intended to provide a general understanding of the various embodiments.","Other embodiments may be utilized and derived from the disclosure, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure.","This disclosure is intended to cover any and all subsequent adaptations or variations of various embodiments.","Those of skill in the art will recognize that such modifications are within the scope of the present disclosure.","The above-disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, and not restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and other embodiments, that fall within the scope of the present disclosure.","Thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope of the present disclosure is to be determined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the following claims and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"MEMORY DIE TEMPERATURE ADJUSTMENT BASED ON A POWER CONDITION\",\n \"A device includes a memory device and a controller.\",\n \"The controller is coupled to the memory device.\",\n \"The controller is configured to, in response to receiving a request to perform a memory access at the memory device, determine that the memory device has a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing.\",\n \"The controller is also configured to, in response to determining that the memory device has the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing, determine that the memory device satisfies an availability criterion.\",\n \"The controller is further configured to, in response to determining that the memory device satisfies the availability criterion, increase a temperature of the memory device by performing memory operations on the memory device until detecting a condition related to the temperature.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A data storage device, comprising: a memory device; and a controller coupled to the memory device, the controller including: a temperature crossing engine, wherein the temperature crossing engine is configured to reduce a bit-error rate associated with reading data; an interface; and memory.\",\n \"2.The data storage device of claim 1, wherein the temperature crossing engine is configured to perform memory operations.\",\n \"3.The data storage device of claim 2, wherein the temperature crossing engine is configured to determine whether a temperature of the memory device is less than a first temperature threshold.\",\n \"4.The data storage device of claim 3, wherein the temperature crossing engine further includes an availability detector.\",\n \"5.The data storage device of claim 4, wherein availability detector is configured to determine whether the memory device satisfies an availability condition.\",\n \"6.The data storage device of claim 5, wherein the availability detector is configured to determine an availability metric.\",\n \"7.The data storage device of claim 6, wherein the availability metric is an indication of power demand.\",\n \"8.The data storage device of claim 6, wherein the availability metric is an indication of a number of concurrent read or write operations.\",\n \"9.The data storage device of claim 6, wherein the availability metric is an indication of a number of inactive dies of the memory device.\",\n \"10.The data storage device of claim 1, wherein the temperature crossing engine is configured to heat the memory device.\",\n \"11.A method, comprising: checking a die temperature; determining that a temperature crossing condition is met; determining that an availability criteria is met; and performing a memory operation.\",\n \"12.The method of claim 11, wherein performing a memory operation includes heating a memory device.\",\n \"13.The method of claim 11, wherein determining that an availability criteria is met includes determining that a power demand is less than a power threshold.\",\n \"14.The method of claim 11, wherein determining that an availability criteria is met includes determining that a number of inactive dies is greater than an active die threshold.\",\n \"15.The method of claim 11, wherein determining that an availability criteria is met includes determining that an activity level is less than an activity threshold.\",\n \"16.A data storage device, comprises: a memory device; and a controller coupled to the memory device, the controller including: means to reduce a bit-error rate associated with reading data.\",\n \"17.The data storage device of claim 16, further comprising means to heat a memory die.\",\n \"18.The data storage device of claim 17, further comprising: means to determine that a power demand is less than a power threshold; means to determine that a number of inactive dies is greater than an active die threshold; and means to determine that an activity level is less than an activity threshold.\",\n \"19.The data storage device of claim 16, further comprising: means to determine whether a temperature of the memory device is less than a first temperature threshold.\",\n \"20.The data storage device of claim 16, further comprising means to determine whether the memory device satisfies an availability condition.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Storage devices enable users to store and retrieve data.\",\n \"Examples of storage devices include volatile memory devices and non-volatile memory devices.\",\n \"Storage devices often include memory dies with program/erase cycles that degrade over time.\",\n \"For example, a storage device may include a memory die having a plurality of storage elements.\",\n \"A number of traps (e.g., oxide traps, interface traps, or both) may increase in the storage elements over time.\",\n \"A higher number of traps may increase a number of program pulses to program a storage element, a number of erase pulses to erase the storage element, or both.\",\n \"A memory die may be marked as erroneous and unavailable for use in response to determining that a number of program pulses to program storage elements of the memory die is greater than a program threshold, that a number of erase pulses to erase the storage elements is greater than an erase threshold, or both.\",\n \"A storage capacity of the storage device may be reduced over time as a number of memory dies marked as erroneous in the storage device increases.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>FIG.\",\n \"1 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of a system that includes a device, such as a data storage device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of components that may be included in the device of FIG.\",\n \"1 .\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of a method of operation of the device of FIG.\",\n \"1 ; FIG.\",\n \"4 is a diagram of another particular illustrative example of a method of operation of the device of FIG.\",\n \"1 ; FIG.\",\n \"5 is a diagram of another illustrative example of a system that includes a device, such as a data storage device; FIG.\",\n \"6 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of conditions detected by the device of FIG.\",\n \"5 ; FIG.\",\n \"7 is a diagram of another illustrative example of conditions detected by the device of FIG.\",\n \"5 ; FIG.\",\n \"8 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of a method of operation of the device of FIG.\",\n \"5 ; FIG.\",\n \"9 is a diagram of another illustrative example of a method of operation of the device of FIG.\",\n \"5 ; FIG.\",\n \"10 is a diagram of another illustrative example of a system that includes a device, such as a data storage device; and FIG.\",\n \"11 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of a method of operation of the device of FIG.\",\n \"10 .\",\n \"detailed-description description=\\\"Detailed Description\\\" end=\\\"lead\\\"?\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/225,884, filed Aug. 2, 2016, which is a continuation-in-part of and claims priority to U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/061,702, filed Mar.\",\n \"4, 2016, which is a continuation-in-part of and claims priority to U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser No.\",\n \"14/867,999, filed Sep. 28, 2015, the contents of each of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.\",\n \"FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure is generally related to electronic devices and more particularly to memory die temperature adjustment based on a power condition, an aging condition, or both.\",\n \"BACKGROUND Storage devices enable users to store and retrieve data.\",\n \"Examples of storage devices include volatile memory devices and non-volatile memory devices.\",\n \"Storage devices often include memory dies with program/erase cycles that degrade over time.\",\n \"For example, a storage device may include a memory die having a plurality of storage elements.\",\n \"A number of traps (e.g., oxide traps, interface traps, or both) may increase in the storage elements over time.\",\n \"A higher number of traps may increase a number of program pulses to program a storage element, a number of erase pulses to erase the storage element, or both.\",\n \"A memory die may be marked as erroneous and unavailable for use in response to determining that a number of program pulses to program storage elements of the memory die is greater than a program threshold, that a number of erase pulses to erase the storage elements is greater than an erase threshold, or both.\",\n \"A storage capacity of the storage device may be reduced over time as a number of memory dies marked as erroneous in the storage device increases.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of a system that includes a device, such as a data storage device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of components that may be included in the device of FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"3 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of a method of operation of the device of FIG.\",\n \"1; FIG.\",\n \"4 is a diagram of another particular illustrative example of a method of operation of the device of FIG.\",\n \"1; FIG.\",\n \"5 is a diagram of another illustrative example of a system that includes a device, such as a data storage device; FIG.\",\n \"6 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of conditions detected by the device of FIG.\",\n \"5; FIG.\",\n \"7 is a diagram of another illustrative example of conditions detected by the device of FIG.\",\n \"5; FIG.\",\n \"8 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of a method of operation of the device of FIG.\",\n \"5; FIG.\",\n \"9 is a diagram of another illustrative example of a method of operation of the device of FIG.\",\n \"5; FIG.\",\n \"10 is a diagram of another illustrative example of a system that includes a device, such as a data storage device; and FIG.\",\n \"11 is a diagram of a particular illustrative example of a method of operation of the device of FIG.\",\n \"10.DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present disclosure describes systems and methods of controlling memory die temperature based on detecting a characteristic indicative of an aging condition.\",\n \"For example, the aging condition may correspond to an increase in a number of traps (e.g., oxide traps, interface traps, or both) in storage elements of a memory die over time.\",\n \"A high number of traps may increase a number of program pulses to program the storage elements, a number of erase pulses to erase the storage elements, or both.\",\n \"A controller may perform a memory die healing process that includes a temperature adjustment.\",\n \"The temperature adjustment may decrease the number of traps in the storage elements of the memory die.\",\n \"Performing the memory die healing process may limit a loss of storage capacity of the memory die due to a high number of traps in the storage elements.\",\n \"In a particular aspect, a controller may determine that at least one storage element of a first die of a plurality of memory dies of a memory device has a characteristic indicative of an aging condition.\",\n \"For example, the controller may determine that a storage element of the first die has the characteristic in response to determining that a number of program pulses to change a state of the storage element fails to satisfy (e.g., is greater than) a program threshold, that a number of erase pulses to erase the storage element fails to satisfy (e.g., is greater than) an erase threshold, or both.\",\n \"The controller may, in response to determining that the at least one storage element of the first die has the characteristic indicative of the aging condition, perform a healing process by performing memory operations on the first die.\",\n \"For example, the controller may increase the temperature of the first die by performing the memory operations until detecting a temperature condition related to the temperature of the first die.\",\n \"As an example, detecting the temperature condition may include detecting that the temperature of the first die exceeds a first temperature threshold.\",\n \"As another example, detecting the temperature condition may include detecting expiration of a time period during which the temperature of the first die is maintained above a second temperature threshold.\",\n \"Performing the memory operations may include sending a request to the memory device to initiate a sequence of memory operations.\",\n \"Read/write circuitry of the memory device may be configured to perform a plurality of read operations on the first die in response to receiving the request.\",\n \"As another example, performing the memory operations may include sending a plurality of read requests to the memory device.\",\n \"The read/write circuitry may be configured to perform a read operation on the first die in response to receiving each read request of the plurality of read requests.\",\n \"Each read operation may raise a temperature of the first die.\",\n \"The controller may determine that the healing process is successful in response to determining that the at least one storage element of the first die no longer has the characteristic indicative of the aging condition.\",\n \"For example, subsequent to performance of the memory operations of the healing process, the number of program pulses to change the state of the storage element of the first die may decrease, the number of erase pulses to erase the storage element may decrease, or both.\",\n \"As a result, the storage element may no longer have the characteristic indicative of the aging condition.\",\n \"For example, the healing process may at least partially reverse the effects of aging on the first die by reducing the number of program pulses to erase the storage element, the number of erase pulses to erase the storage element, or both.\",\n \"To illustrate, the storage element may include a transistor having an insulating oxide layer between a gate and a substrate.\",\n \"During a process of writing to the storage element, electrons may be forced in one direction through the oxide layer.\",\n \"During a process of erasing the storage element, the electrons may be forced in another direction through the oxide layer.\",\n \"The oxide layer may build charge traps due to repetitive electron tunneling from writing and erasing the storage element.\",\n \"The charge traps may cause current degradation in the storage element.\",\n \"For example, the trapped charge may act as a barrier to a flow of current.\",\n \"The charge traps may increase a number of program pulses to change a state of the storage element, the number of erase pulses to erase the storage element, or both.\",\n \"The healing process may reverse the effects of aging by heating the storage element to detrap the trapped electrons from the oxide layer.\",\n \"Performing the healing process on memory dies of the storage device may limit a number of memory dies that are marked as erroneous and may maintain a storage capacity of the storage device over time.\",\n \"Particular aspects of the disclosure are described below with reference to the drawings.\",\n \"In the description, common or similar features or components may be designated by common reference numbers.\",\n \"As used herein, “exemplary” may indicate an example, an implementation, and/or an aspect, and should not be construed as indicating a preference or a preferred implementation.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"1, a particular illustrative example of a system is depicted and generally designated 100.The system 100 includes a device 102.In some implementations, the device 102 corresponds to a data storage device, such as a solid state drive (SSD) data storage device that is configured to be embedded within a device (e.g., a host device, a test device, or an access device) or a removable flash memory data storage device that is configured to be removed from a device (e.g., the host device, the test device, or the access device).\",\n \"In other implementations, the device 102 corresponds to another device, such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a system-on-chip (SoC) device, as illustrative examples.\",\n \"The device 102 includes a memory device 103.The memory device 103 includes one or more memory dies 190 (e.g., one memory die, two memory dies, sixty-four memory dies, or another number of memory dies).\",\n \"For example, the memory dies 190 may include a first memory die 104, one or more backup memory dies 106, one or more secondary memory dies 124, one or more other memory dies, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"The memory device 103 includes read/write (R/W) circuitry 116 and a temperature sensor 108.The first memory die 104 includes a memory 160, such as an array of storage elements (e.g., non-volatile storage elements).\",\n \"For example, the array of storage elements may include a first storage element 110, a second storage element 112, one or more other storage elements, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"The memory 160 may include a flash memory (e.g., a NAND flash memory) or a resistive memory, such as a resistive random access memory (ReRAM), as illustrative examples.\",\n \"The memory 160 may have a three-dimensional (3D) memory configuration.\",\n \"As used herein, a 3D memory device may include multiple physical levels of storage elements (instead of having a single physical level of storage elements, as in a planar memory device).\",\n \"As an example, the memory 160 may have a 3D vertical bit line (VBL) configuration.\",\n \"In a particular implementation, the memory 160 is a non-volatile memory having a 3D memory array configuration that is monolithically formed in one or more physical levels of arrays of memory cells having an active area disposed above a silicon substrate.\",\n \"Alternatively, the memory 160 may have another configuration, such as a two-dimensional (2D) memory configuration or a non-monolithic 3D memory configuration (e.g., a stacked die 3D memory configuration).\",\n \"The device 102 may further include a controller 120 coupled to the memory device 103.In some implementations, the controller 120 corresponds to a semiconductor die that includes components of the controller 120.The controller 120 may include an interface 118 (e.g., a memory interface) to the memory device 103.The controller 120 may include a healing engine 122, memory 140 (e.g., random access memory (RAM)), or both.\",\n \"The healing engine 122 may be implemented by software (e.g., instructions) executable by a processor to perform operations described herein.\",\n \"Alternatively, the healing engine 122 may include hardware configured to perform operations described herein.\",\n \"The healing engine 122 may be configured to heal (e.g., reduce a number of traps in) a memory die (e.g., the first memory die 104) by performing memory operations on the first memory die 104, as described herein.\",\n \"The memory 140 may be configured to store one or more instructions 162.In a particular implementation, the instructions 162, when executed by a processor, enable the processor to perform operations described herein.\",\n \"The system 100 may correspond to a solid state drive (SSD), such as found in computing devices, such as laptop computers and tablet computers.\",\n \"In some implementations, the system 100, the device 102, the memory device 103, or the memory 160 may be integrated within a network-accessible data storage system, such as an enterprise data system, a network-attached storage (NAS) system, or a cloud data storage system, as illustrative examples.\",\n \"During operation, the healing engine 122 may determine whether at least one storage element of the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of an aging condition 128.For example, the healing engine 122 may determine that the first storage element 110 has a characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128 based on a number of program pulses 152 to change a state of the first storage element 110, a number of erase pulses 154 to erase the first storage element 110, or both.\",\n \"In a particular implementation, the R/W circuitry 116 may determine the number of program pulses 152 used to change a state of a particular storage element.\",\n \"For example, the R/W circuitry 116 may perform a read operation to determine that the first storage element 110 has a first state.\",\n \"To illustrate, a threshold voltage of the first storage element 110 may indicate the first state.\",\n \"The first state may indicate an n-bit value when the first storage element 110 stores n bits.\",\n \"For example, the first state may indicate a 1-bit value (e.g., “0”) when the first storage element 110 stores 1 bit.\",\n \"Alternatively, the first state may indicate a 3-bit value (e.g., “010”) when the first storage element 110 stores 3 bits.\",\n \"The R/W circuitry 116 may apply program pulses to the first storage element 110 to change the state of the first storage element 110 to a second state.\",\n \"For example, the R/W circuitry 116 may write with the program pulses and then perform a read/verify operation to detect that the first storage element 110 has the second state, where the second state indicates a second n-bit value (e.g., “1” or “001”).\",\n \"The R/W circuitry 116 may set the number of program pulses 152 to a default value (e.g., 1) prior to applying the program pulses to the first storage element 110.The R/W circuitry 116 may increment the number of program pulses 152 subsequent to (or prior to) applying each of the program pulses to the first storage element 110.Thus, the number of program pulses 152 indicates how many program pulses are used to change the state of the first storage element 110.Additionally, or in the alternative, the R/W circuitry 116 may determine the number of erase pulses 154 to erase a particular storage element.\",\n \"For example, the R/W circuitry 116 may perform a read operation to determine that the first storage element 110 has a first state.\",\n \"To illustrate, a threshold voltage of the first storage element 110 may indicate the first state.\",\n \"The R/W circuitry 116 may apply erase pulses to the first storage element 110 change the state the first storage element 110 to an erase state.\",\n \"For example, the R/W circuitry 116 may erase the first storage element 110 with the erase pulses and then perform a read/verify operation to detect that the first storage element 110 is erased.\",\n \"A particular threshold voltage of the first storage element 110 may indicate the erase state.\",\n \"The R/W circuitry 116 may set the number of erase pulses 154 to a default value (e.g., 1) prior to applying the erase pulses to the first storage element 110.The R/W circuitry 116 may increment the number of erase pulses 154 subsequent to (or prior to) applying each of the erase pulses to the first storage element 110.Thus, the number of erase pulses 154 indicates how many erase pulses are used to erase the first storage element 110.The R/W circuitry 116 may send the number of program pulses 152, the number of erase pulses 154, or both, to the controller 120.The controller 120 may receive the number of program pulses 152, the number of erase pulses 154, or both, via the interface 118.Due to repeated use, a number of traps (e.g., oxide traps, interface traps, or both) in storage elements (e.g., the first storage element 110) may increase over time.\",\n \"A higher number of traps may increase a number of program pulses to program the first storage element 110, a number of erase pulses to erase the first storage element 110, or both.\",\n \"Thus, the number of program pulses 152, the number of erase pulses 154, or both, may indicate an age (or a level of use) of the first memory die 104.The healing engine 122 may determine that the first storage element 110 has a characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128 in response to determining that the number of program pulses 152 is greater than a program threshold 142, that the number of erase pulses 154 is greater than an erase threshold 144, or both.\",\n \"For example, the healing engine 122 may determine that the first storage element 110 has the characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128 in response to determining that the number of program pulses 152 is greater than the program threshold 142, that the number of erase pulses 154 is greater than the erase threshold 144, or both.\",\n \"At least one storage element having the characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128 may indicate that the first memory die 104 has a sufficient number of traps to initiate a healing process.\",\n \"The healing engine 122 may, in response to determining that the at least one storage element (e.g., the first storage element 110) of the first memory die 104 has the characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128, perform a healing process.\",\n \"The healing process may include performing memory operations 166 (e.g., read operations, write operations, or both) on the first memory die 104 within a relatively short period of time to increase a temperature of the first memory die 104.For example, performing the memory operations 166 may include sending a sequence request 136, via the interface 118, to the memory device 103 to initiate a sequence of memory operations.\",\n \"The sequence of memory operations may include one or more read operations, one or more write operations, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"The sequence of memory operations may be performed on the first storage element 110, another storage element (e.g., the second storage element 112), or both.\",\n \"The R/W circuitry 116 may be configured to perform the sequence of memory operations on the first memory die 104 in response to receiving the sequence request 136.For example, the sequence request 136 may indicate that at least one storage element (e.g., the first storage element 110) of a memory die (e.g., the first memory die 104) has a characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128.To illustrate, the sequence request 136 may identify the first memory die 104, the first storage element 110, or both.\",\n \"The R/W circuitry 116 may perform the sequence of memory operations on the first memory die 104 in response to determining that the sequence request 136 identifies the first memory die 104.In a particular implementation, the R/W circuitry 116 may perform at least a portion of the sequence of memory operations on the first storage element 110 in response to determining that the sequence request 136 identifies the first storage element 110.As another example, performing the memory operations 166 may include sending a plurality of operation requests 134, via the interface 118, to the memory device 103.The operation requests 134 may include one or more read requests, one or more write requests, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"The R/W circuitry 116 may be configured to perform a memory operation on the first memory die 104 in response to receiving each operation request of the operation requests 134.For example, the R/W circuitry 116 may be configured to perform a read operation on the first memory die 104 in response to receiving each read request of the one or more read requests.\",\n \"The read operation may be performed on the first storage element 110 or another storage element (e.g., the second storage element 112) of the first memory die 104.As another example, the R/W circuitry 116 may be configured to perform a write operation on the first memory die 104 in response to receiving each write request of the one or more write requests.\",\n \"The write operation may be performed on the first storage element 110 or another storage element (e.g., the second storage element 112) of the first memory die 104.Execution of each memory operation (e.g., read operation or write operation) raises a temperature of the first memory die 104.Thus, the first memory die 104 can be self-heating by performing multiple memory operations in a relative short period of time.\",\n \"The healing engine 122 may cause the memory operations 166 to be performed until a temperature condition 126 related to a temperature of the first memory die 104 is detected.\",\n \"The temperature sensor 108 may generate a signal or data based on a temperature of the memory device 103.An output of the temperature sensor 108 may be provided to the controller 120 as sensor input 156.The temperature sensor 108 may be included within the first memory die 104 or located proximate to the first memory die 104.The sensor input 156 indicates a temperature 158 of the memory device 103 at or proximate to the first memory die 104.The controller 120 may receive the sensor input 156 via the interface 118.The healing engine 122 may determine the temperature 158 indicated by the sensor input 156.In a particular aspect, detecting the temperature condition 126 may include detecting that the temperature 158 exceeds a first temperature threshold 146.For example, the temperature 158 may exceed the first temperature threshold 146 for a relatively short duration (e.g., five minutes).\",\n \"In an alternate aspect, detecting the temperature condition 126 may include detecting expiration of a time period 150 during which the temperature 158 of the first memory die 104 is maintained above a second temperature threshold 176.For example, the temperature 158 may exceed the second temperature threshold 176 for a relatively long duration (e.g., 19 hours-3 weeks).\",\n \"The memory 140 may include time period data 148 indicating the time period 150.The first temperature threshold 146 may be greater than or equal to the second temperature threshold 176.The healing engine 122 may perform a first subset of the memory operations 166 to increase the temperature 158 of the first memory die 104 above the first temperature threshold 146.The healing engine 122 may, subsequent to performing the first subset of the memory operations 166, receive the sensor input 156 at a first time.\",\n \"The sensor input 156 may indicate the temperature 158.The healing engine 122 may determine that the temperature 158 exceeds the first temperature threshold 146.In a particular example, the healing engine 122 may detect the temperature condition 126 in response to determining that the temperature 158 exceeds the first temperature threshold 146.The temperature of the first memory die 104 may decrease over time due to heat dissipation.\",\n \"The healing engine 122 may receive, at a second time, a second sensor input that indicates a second temperature.\",\n \"The second temperature may be less than the first temperature threshold 146.The healing engine 122 may perform a second subset of the memory operations 166 to bring the temperature of the first memory die 104 above the first temperature threshold 146.For example, the healing engine 122 may, in response to determining that the second temperature is less than the first temperature threshold 146, perform the second subset of the memory operations 166.The healing engine 122 may, subsequent to performing the second subset of the memory operations 166, receive a third sensor input.\",\n \"The third sensor input may indicate a third temperature.\",\n \"The third temperature may exceed the first temperature threshold 146.Performing a subset of the memory operations 166 may temporarily increase the temperature of the first memory die 104.The temperature of the first memory die 104 may fall subsequent to performance of the subset of the memory operations 166 due to heat dissipation.\",\n \"The temperature of the first memory die 104 may be maintained above the second temperature threshold 176 by performing a second subset of memory operations 166 in response to detecting that the temperature of the first memory die 104 has fallen to within a range (e.g., within 5 degrees) of the second temperature threshold 176.In a particular implementation, the first temperature threshold 146 (e.g., 120 degrees Celsius) may be higher than the second temperature threshold 176 (e.g., 115 degrees Celsius).\",\n \"The difference (e.g., 5 degrees Celsius) between the first temperature threshold 146 and the second temperature threshold 176 may correspond to the range of temperatures (e.g., 115 degrees Celsius-120 degrees Celsius) that trigger a subsequent subset of the memory operations 166.The temperature of the first memory die 104, as measured by the temperature sensor 108, may be approximately equal to the first temperature threshold 146 from the first time to a heating end time.\",\n \"For example, the temperature of the first memory die 104 may vary between a first temperature (e.g., 115 degrees Celsius) and a second temperature (e.g., 125 degrees Celsius) from the first time to the heating end time.\",\n \"The first temperature and the second temperature may be proximate to the first temperature threshold 146.The temperature of the first memory die 104 may exceed the second temperature threshold 176 from the first time to the heating end time.\",\n \"The healing engine 122 may detect the temperature condition 126 in response to expiration of the time period 150.For example, the healing engine 122 may detect the temperature condition 126 in response to determining, at the heating end time, that a difference between the first time and the heating end time is greater than or equal to the time period 150.Maintaining the temperature of the first memory die 104 above the second temperature threshold 176 during the time period 150 (e.g., by causing multiple memory operations to be performed) may heal the first memory die 104.For example, subsequent to the time period 150, the number of program pulses to change the state of the first storage element 110 may decrease, the number of erase pulses to erase the first storage element 110 may decrease, or both.\",\n \"To illustrate, the R/W circuitry 116 may determine a second number of program pulses to change the state of the first storage element 110, a second number of erase pulses to erase the first storage element 110, or both.\",\n \"The second number of program pulses may be less than the number of program pulses 152.The second number of erase pulses may be less than the number of erase pulses 154.The R/W circuitry 116 may provide the second number of program pulses, the second number of erase pulses, or both, to the controller 120.The healing engine 122 may determine whether the at least one storage element (e.g., the first storage element 110) of the first memory die 104 has the characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128 based on the second number of program pulses, the second number of erase pulses, or both.\",\n \"The healing engine 122 may, in response to determining that the first storage element 110 continues to have the characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128, perform a subset (e.g., a third subset) of the memory operations 166 until the temperature condition 126 is detected.\",\n \"For example, the healing engine 122 may, in response to determining that the first storage element 110 continues to have the characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128, repeat (one or more times) the process of increasing the temperature of the first memory die 104 until the temperature condition 126 is detected.\",\n \"The healing engine 122 may, alternatively, determine that the healing process is successful in response to determining that the at least one storage element (e.g., the first storage element 110) of the first memory die 104 no longer has the characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128.In a particular implementation, the healing engine 122 may determine that the healing process is complete in response to determining that the healing process is successful or in response to determining that a healing time period has expired.\",\n \"The healing time period may begin at a begin time that the healing engine 122 starts performing the memory operations 166.The healing engine 122 may determine, at an end time, that the healing time period has expired in response to determining that a difference between the begin time and the end time satisfies (e.g., is greater than or equal to) a healing time threshold.\",\n \"The healing engine 122 may designate the first memory die 104 as erroneous in response to determining that the healing process is not successful and the healing time period has expired.\",\n \"For example, the healing engine 122 may designate the first memory die 104 as erroneous in response to determining that the at least one storage element (e.g., the first storage element 110) of the first memory die 104 continues to have the characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128 after expiration of the healing time period.\",\n \"In a particular implementation, performing the memory operations 166 on the first memory die 104 may raise a temperature of the secondary memory dies 124.For example, the secondary memory dies 124 may be proximate to the first memory die 104.In this example, the healing engine 122 may identify a particular secondary memory die of the secondary memory dies 124 in response to determining that the particular secondary memory die is within a first memory die distance from the first memory die 104.In a particular aspect, the healing engine 122 may identify the particular secondary memory die in response to determining that the particular secondary memory die is adjacent to the first memory die 104 in a first direction (e.g., a horizontal direction, a vertical direction, or a diagonal direction).\",\n \"The healing engine 122 may, prior to performing the memory operations 166, copy first data from the first memory die 104, second data from the secondary memory dies 124, or a combination thereof, to the backup memory dies 106.The healing engine 122 may copy the first data from the backup memory dies 106 to the first memory die 104, may copy the second data from the backup memory dies 106 to the secondary memory dies 124, or a combination thereof, subsequent to performing the memory operations 166.The first data may be copied to a first subset of the secondary memory dies 124.The second data may be copied to a second subset of the secondary memory dies 124.The first subset may be distinct from the second subset.\",\n \"In a particular aspect, the first subset may overlap the second subset.\",\n \"The first memory die 104, the secondary memory dies 124, or a combination thereof, may lose data during the healing process.\",\n \"For example, heating storage elements of the first memory die 104, the secondary memory dies 124, or a combination thereof, may cause the storage elements to change state.\",\n \"Copies of the first data, the second data, or both, may be preserved prior to performing the healing process by copying the first data, the second data, or both, to the backup memory dies 106.Subsequent to performing the healing process, the first data, the second data, or both, may be restored from the backup memory dies 106 to the first memory die 104, the secondary memory dies 124, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"In a particular implementation, the healing process may be performed in the background.\",\n \"For example, during the healing process, the first data, the second data, or both, may be accessed from the backup memory dies 106.Updates to the first data, the second data, or both, may be written to the backup memory dies 106 during the healing process.\",\n \"Subsequent to the healing process, the first data (e.g., the updated first data), the second data (e.g., the updated second data), or both, may be copied from the backup memory dies 106 to the first memory die 104, the secondary memory dies 124, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"At least one of the program threshold 142, the erase threshold 144, the first temperature threshold 146, or the time period data 148 may include a default value.\",\n \"In a particular implementation, the controller 120 may receive the program threshold 142, the erase threshold 144, the first temperature threshold 146, the time period data 148, or a combination thereof, from another device (e.g., a host device, a test device, or an access device).\",\n \"The program threshold 142, the erase threshold 144, first temperature threshold 146, the time period data 148, or a combination thereof, may be stored in the memory 140.Advantageously, a number of program pulses to change a state of a storage element of the first memory die 104, a number of erase pulses to erase the storage element of the first memory die 104, or both, may decrease due to the healing process.\",\n \"Thus, the first storage element 110 may not have the characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128 subsequent to performance of the healing process.\",\n \"Performing the healing process on the memory dies 190 of the device 102 may limit a number of memory dies that are marked as erroneous and may maintain a storage capacity of the device 102 over time.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"2, illustrative aspects of the memory dies 190 are shown.\",\n \"The memory dies 190 may include the first memory die 104, a secondary memory die 220, a memory die 222, a secondary memory die 224, a secondary memory die 226, a memory die 228, a memory die 230, a secondary memory die 232, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"In a particular aspect, the secondary memory dies 124 may include the secondary memory die 220, the secondary memory die 224, the secondary memory die 226, the secondary memory die 232, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"The healing engine 122 of FIG.\",\n \"1 may perform healing processes on the memory dies 190 by performing memory operations on a first subset of dies of the memory dies 190 based on a pattern (e.g., a checkerboard pattern).\",\n \"For example, the memory dies 190 may include the first subset of dies and a second subset of dies.\",\n \"The first subset of dies may include the first memory die 104, the memory die 222, the memory die 228, the memory die 230, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"The second subset of dies may include the secondary memory die 220, the secondary memory die 224, the secondary memory die 226, the secondary memory die 232, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"The first subset of dies and the second subset of dies may be interleaved.\",\n \"For example, the first subset of dies and the second subset of dies may include alternating dies.\",\n \"To illustrate, the first memory die 104 may be positioned between the secondary memory die 220 and the secondary memory die 226.The healing engine 122 may select the first subset of dies of the memory dies 190 for performing the memory operations 166 of FIG.\",\n \"1.The healing engine 122 may select the first subset of dies based on the pattern.\",\n \"For example, the healing engine 122 may select alternating dies of the memory dies 190.The healing engine 122 may generate a list indicating the selected dies.\",\n \"The first subset of dies may include the first memory die 104.The healing engine 122 may perform memory operations on the selected dies (e.g., the first subset of dies).\",\n \"For example, the healing engine 122 may maintain a counter indicating a next entry of the list.\",\n \"The healing engine 122 may perform memory operations on a next die corresponding to the next entry and update (e.g., increment by 1) the counter.\",\n \"Performing memory operations on the first memory die 104 may raise a temperature of one or more secondary dies (e.g., the secondary memory die 220 and the secondary memory die 226) of the second subset of dies that are proximate to the first memory die 104.Raising the temperature of the secondary dies (e.g., the secondary memory die 220 and the secondary memory die 226) may heal the secondary dies.\",\n \"For example, subsequent to performance of the memory operations 166 of FIG.\",\n \"1 on the first memory die 104, a number of program pulses to change a state of a storage element of the secondary dies (e.g., the secondary memory die 220 and the secondary memory die 226) may decrease, a number of erase pulses to erase the storage element of the secondary dies may decrease, or both.\",\n \"Similarly, subsequent to performance of memory operations 166 on the memory die 228, a number of program pulses to change a state of a storage element of secondary dies (e.g., the secondary memory die 224, the secondary memory die 226, and the secondary memory die 232) may decrease, a number of erase pulses to erase the storage element of the secondary dies may decrease, or both.\",\n \"The healing engine 122 may thus heal each of the memory dies 190 by performing memory operations on fewer than all of the memory dies 190, thereby conserving power.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"3, an illustrative example of a method is depicted and generally designated 300.The method 300 may be performed by the device 102, the controller 120, R/W circuitry 116, the healing engine 122 of FIG.\",\n \"1, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"The method 300 includes die age determination, at 302.For example, the healing engine 122 of FIG.\",\n \"1 may perform a die age determination of the first memory die 104 by determining the number of erase pulses 154, the number of program pulses 152, or both.\",\n \"For example, the healing engine 122 may receive the number of erase pulses 154, the number of program pulses 152, or both, from the R/W circuitry 116, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1.The method 300 also includes determining whether an age threshold is crossed, at 304.For example, the healing engine 122 of FIG.\",\n \"1 may determine whether the age threshold is crossed by determining whether at least one storage element (e.g., the first storage element 110) of the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128.To illustrate, the healing engine 122 may determine that the age threshold is crossed in response to determining that the number of erase pulses 154 is greater than the erase threshold 144, that the number of program pulses 152 is greater than the program threshold 142, or both, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1.The method 300 further includes initiating a self-healing mechanism, at 306.For example, the healing engine 122 of FIG.\",\n \"1 may cause a self-healing mechanism (e.g., a healing process) to be performed.\",\n \"The self-healing mechanism may perform the memory operations 166, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1.The method 300 also includes continuing to be available for allocation, at 308.For example, the healing engine 122 of FIG.\",\n \"1 may, subsequent to performing the memory operations 166, determine that the first memory die 104 continues to be available for allocation in response to determining that the healing process is successful, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1.To illustrate, the healing engine 122 may not mark the first memory die 104 as erroneous in response to determining that, subsequent to performing the healing process, a number of program pulses to change a state of the first storage element 110 is less than or equal to the program threshold 142, a number of erase pulses to erase the first storage element 110 is less than or equal to the erase threshold 144, or both.\",\n \"The method 300 may limit a number of memory dies of a storage device that are marked as erroneous and may enable a storage capacity of the storage device to be maintained over time.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"4, an illustrative example of a method is depicted and generally designated 400.The method 400 may be performed by the device 102, the controller 120, the healing engine 122 of FIG.\",\n \"1, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"The method 400 includes determining that at least one storage element of a first die of the plurality of memory dies has a characteristic indicative of an aging condition, at 402.For example, the healing engine 122 of FIG.\",\n \"1 may determine that the first storage element 110 of the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1.The method 400 also includes increasing the temperature of the first die by performing memory operations on the first die until detecting a condition related to the temperature, at 404.For example, the healing engine 122 of FIG.\",\n \"1 may increase the temperature of the first memory die 104 by performing the memory operations 166 on the first memory die 104 until detecting the temperature condition 126, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1.The temperature condition 126 is related to the temperature of the first memory die 104.The method 400 may enable healing of the first memory die 104 by raising the temperature of the first memory die 104 using multiple memory operations.\",\n \"Healing the first memory die 104 may enable the first memory die 104 to be available for allocation and may enable a storage capacity of the device 100 of FIG.\",\n \"1 to be maintained over time.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"5, a particular illustrative example of a system is depicted and generally designated 500.The system 500 includes an implementation of the device 102 of FIG.\",\n \"1 that includes a temperature crossing engine 522.The device 102 may be coupled to, attached to, or embedded within one or more access devices (e.g., a device 504), such as within a housing of the device 504.The device 504 may correspond to a testing device, a host device, or both.\",\n \"The temperature crossing engine 522 may be implemented by software (e.g., instructions) executable by a processor to perform operations described herein.\",\n \"Alternatively, the temperature crossing engine 522 may include hardware configured to perform operations described herein.\",\n \"The temperature crossing engine 522 may be configured to reduce a bit-error rate associated with reading data by performing memory operations on the memory device 103, as described herein.\",\n \"The memory operations may be performed, prior to a memory access (e.g., a write access or a read access) to heat up a die of the memory device 103.For example, the memory operations may be performed in response to receiving a request to perform the memory access.\",\n \"When a read temperature corresponding to data (e.g., a temperature of the memory die when the data is read from the memory die) is similar to a write temperature corresponding to the data (e.g., a temperature of the memory die when the data is written to the memory die), bit-error rates may be reduced.\",\n \"As used herein, a “temperature crossing” refers to a difference between a read temperature and a write temperature that is likely to cause bit-errors.\",\n \"For example, a temperature crossing may refer to a situation where the read temperature is less than a first threshold and the write temperature is greater than a second threshold.\",\n \"Prior to a memory access, the temperature crossing engine 522 may detect a condition indicative of a temperature crossing, as described herein.\",\n \"For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 may detect the condition in response to receiving a request to perform the memory access.\",\n \"The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 to heat up a die of the memory device 103 in response to detecting the condition.\",\n \"During operation, the temperature crossing engine 522 may determine that a memory access (e.g., a write request 534) is to be performed on the memory device 103.In a particular aspect, the device 102 may receive a write request 532 from the device 504.The temperature crossing engine 522 may determine that the write request 534 is to be performed in response to receiving the write request 532.The temperature crossing engine 522 may, prior to performing the write request 534, determine whether the memory device 103 has a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing, as described herein.\",\n \"The write request 534 may correspond to a request to write data at one or more storage elements (e.g., the first storage element 110, the second storage element 112, or both) of the first memory die 104.An output of the temperature sensor 108 may be provided to the controller 120 as the sensor input 156.In a particular aspect, the controller 120 may be configured to detect (e.g., receive) the sensor input 156 in response to determining that the write request 534 is to be performed, in response to receiving the write request 532, or both.\",\n \"The sensor input 156 may indicate a temperature 158 of the memory device 103 at or proximate to the first memory die 104.The temperature crossing engine 522 may determine a write temperature 546 based on the temperature 158 indicated by the sensor input 156.For example, the write temperature 546 may indicate the temperature 158.The temperature crossing engine 522 may determine, based on the write temperature 546, whether the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing condition 528, as further described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"6.For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the write temperature 546 satisfies (e.g., is less than) a first temperature (temp.)\",\n \"threshold 542, determine that the first memory die 104 has the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.As another example, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the write temperature 546 fails to satisfy (e.g., is greater than or equal to) the first temperature threshold 542, determine that the first memory die 104 does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the first memory die 104 does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528, determine that the memory device 103 does not have the characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing.\",\n \"The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the write request 534 in response to determining that the memory device 103 does not have the characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing.\",\n \"For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 may provide data to the R/W circuitry 116.The R/W circuitry 116 may write the data to the first storage element 110, the second storage element 112, or both, of the first memory die 104.Alternatively, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the first memory die 104 has the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528, determine that the memory device 103 has the characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing.\",\n \"The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the memory device 103 has the characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing, increase a temperature of the memory device 103 (e.g., the first memory die 104) by performing the memory operations 166 (e.g., read operations, write operations, or both) on the first memory die 104 within a relatively short period of time, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1.Performing the memory operations 166 may include sending an instruction (e.g., the sequence request 136), via the interface 118, to the memory device 103 to initiate a sequence of memory operations, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1.The sequence of memory operations may be performed on the first storage element 110, another storage element (e.g., the second storage element 112), or both.\",\n \"The R/W circuitry 116 may be configured to perform the sequence of memory operations on the first memory die 104 in response to receiving the sequence request 136, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1.For example, the sequence request 136 may indicate that at least one storage element (e.g., the first storage element 110) of a memory die (e.g., the first memory die 104) has a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.To illustrate, the sequence request 136 may include an instruction that identifies the first memory die 104, the first storage element 110, or both.\",\n \"The R/W circuitry 116 may perform the sequence of memory operations on the first memory die 104 in response to determining that the sequence request 136 identifies the first memory die 104.In a particular implementation, the R/W circuitry 116 may perform at least a portion of the sequence of memory operations on the first storage element 110 in response to determining that the sequence request 136 identifies the first storage element 110.As another example, performing the memory operations 166 may include sending a plurality of instructions (e.g., the plurality of operation requests 134), via the interface 118, to the memory device 103, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1.The R/W circuitry 116 may be configured to perform a memory operation (e.g., a read operation or a write operation) on the first memory die 104 in response to receiving each operation request (e.g., instruction) of the operation requests 134.The memory operation may be performed on the first storage element 110 or another storage element (e.g., the second storage element 112) of the first memory die 104.Execution of each memory operation (e.g., read operation or write operation) raises a temperature of the first memory die 104, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1.The temperature crossing engine 522 may cause the memory operations 166 to be performed until a temperature condition 526 related to a temperature of the first memory die 104 is detected.\",\n \"The controller 120 may, subsequent to performance of at least a subset of the memory operations 166, receive the sensor input 156 indicating the temperature 158 at or proximate to the first memory die 104.In a particular aspect, detecting the temperature condition 526 may include detecting that the temperature 158 is greater than or equal to a first temperature (temp.)\",\n \"threshold 542.The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the temperature 158 is less than the first temperature threshold 542, perform another subset of the memory operations 166.The controller 120 may perform the write request 534 in response to detecting the temperature condition 526.For example, detecting the temperature condition 526 may include receiving the sensor input 156 indicating the temperature 158 and determining that the temperature 158 satisfies (e.g., is greater than) the first temperature threshold 542.In a particular implementation, the write temperature 546 may represent a temperature corresponding to the first memory die 104 prior to performing the write request 534.A temperature at which data is written to the first memory die 104 may be greater than the write temperature 546 when the memory operations 166 are performed subsequent to determining the write temperature 546 and prior to performing the write request 534.In an alternate implementation, the temperature crossing engine 522 may update the write temperature 546 subsequent to performing the memory operations 166.For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 may update the write temperature 546 to indicate the temperature 158 in response to determining that the temperature 158 satisfies (e.g., is greater than) the first temperature threshold 542.The temperature crossing engine 522 may store the write temperature 546 in the memory 140 of the controller 120.In a particular aspect, the temperature crossing engine 522 may store the write temperature 546 in the memory 140 in response to determining that the write temperature 546 satisfies (e.g., is greater than) a second temperature threshold 544.The temperature crossing engine 522 may refrain from storing the write temperature 546 in the memory 140 in response to determining that the write temperature 546 fails to satisfy (e.g., is less than or equal to) the second temperature threshold 544.The write temperature 546 may be associated with the data stored at the first storage element 110, the second storage element 112, or both.\",\n \"For example, the write temperature 546 may be associated with a memory address of the data.\",\n \"To illustrate, the write temperature 546 may be stored in the memory 140 with a reference (e.g., the memory address) to a memory location of the data.\",\n \"In a particular aspect, the temperature crossing engine 522 may determine that a read request 538 is to be performed on the memory device 103.For example, the device 102 may, in response to receiving a read request 536 from the device 504, determine that the read request 538 (e.g., a memory access) is to be performed.\",\n \"The temperature crossing engine 522 may, prior to performing the read request 538, determine whether the memory device 103 has a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing, as described herein.\",\n \"For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to receiving the read request 536, determine whether the memory device 103 has a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing.\",\n \"The read request 538 may correspond to a request to read data stored at one or more storage elements (e.g., the first storage element 110, the second storage element 112, or both) of the first memory die 104.The controller 120 may receive the sensor input 156 indicating the temperature 158 of the memory device 103 at or proximate to the first memory die 104.For example, the controller 120 may receive the sensor input 156 subsequent to determining that the read request 538 is to be performed.\",\n \"In a particular aspect, the controller 120 may be configured to detect (e.g., receive) the sensor input 156 in response to determining that the read request 538 is to be performed, in response to receiving the read request 536, or both.\",\n \"The temperature crossing engine 522 may determine a read temperature 548 based on the temperature 158 indicated by the sensor input 156.For example, the read temperature 548 may indicate the temperature 158.The temperature crossing engine 522 may determine, based on the read temperature 548, the write temperature 546, or both, whether the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528, as further described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"7.The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the first memory die 104 does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528, determine that the memory device 103 does not have the characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing.\",\n \"The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the read request 538 in response to determining that the memory device 103 does not have the characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing.\",\n \"For example, the controller 120 may send the read request 538 to the R/W circuitry 116.The R/W circuitry 116 may read data from the first storage element 110, the second storage element 112, or both, of the first memory die 104.The R/W circuitry 116 may provide the data to the controller 120, and the controller 120 may provide the data to the device 504.Alternatively, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the first memory die 104 has the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528, determine that the memory device 103 has the characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing.\",\n \"The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the memory device 103 has the characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing, increase a temperature of the memory device 103 (e.g., the first memory die 104) by performing the memory operations 166 on the first memory die 104 within a relatively short period of time, as described herein.\",\n \"The temperature crossing engine 522 may cause the memory operations 166 to be performed until a temperature condition 526 related to a temperature of the first memory die 104 is detected.\",\n \"The controller 120 may, subsequent to performance of at least a subset of the memory operations 166, receive the sensor input 156 indicating the temperature 158 at or proximate to the first memory die 104.In a particular aspect, detecting the temperature condition 526 may include detecting that the temperature 158 is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 (or the second temperature threshold 544), as further described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"7.The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the temperature 158 is less than the first temperature threshold 542 (or the second temperature threshold 544), perform another subset of the memory operations 166.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the read request 538 in response to detecting the temperature condition 526.The read temperature 548 may thus represent a temperature corresponding to the first memory die 104 prior to performing the read request 538.A temperature at which data is read from the first memory die 104 may be greater than the read temperature 548 when the memory operations 166 are performed subsequent to determining the read temperature 548 and prior to performing the read request 538.In a particular implementation, performing the memory operations 166 on the first memory die 104 may raise a temperature of the secondary memory dies 124, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform subsequent writes on one or more of the secondary memory dies 124.For example, the controller 120 may receive a second request from the device 504 to perform a write access at the memory device 103.The controller 120 may, in response to receiving the second request, perform the write access at a second die of the secondary memory dies 124 subsequent to performing the memory operations 166 on the first memory die 104.In a particular aspect, the second die may be heated by the memory operations 166 performed on the first memory die 104 and the temperature crossing engine 522 may perform fewer (e.g., no) memory operations prior to performing the write access on the second die.\",\n \"For example, a write temperature of the second die may be closer to the first temperature threshold 542 subsequent to performance of the memory operations 166 on the first memory die 104 and fewer memory operations may be used to raise the temperature of the second die to at least the first temperature threshold 542.In a particular aspect, the write temperature of the second die may be greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 subsequent to performance of the memory operations 166 on the first memory die 104 and the write access to the second die may be performed without prior performance of memory operations to increase the temperature of the second die.\",\n \"In a particular aspect, the temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 on a second memory die of the secondary memory dies 124 to raise a temperature of the first memory die 104.For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the request (e.g., the write request 532 or the read request 536) corresponds to the first memory die 104, identify a second memory die of the second memory dies 124.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 on the second memory die to increase a temperature of the first memory die 104.For example, the memory operations 166 may be performed on the second memory die to raise the temperature of the first memory die 104 in response to determining that temperatures of multiple memory dies including the first memory die 104 are to be raised.\",\n \"To illustrate, the second memory die may correspond to the secondary memory die 224 of FIG.\",\n \"2 and the temperature crossing engine 522 may determine that temperatures of the first memory die 104, the memory die 222, and the memory 228 of FIG.\",\n \"2 are to be raised, as described herein.\",\n \"Performing the memory operations 166 on the secondary memory die 224 to raise the temperature of the multiple memory dies (e.g., the first memory die 104, the memory die 222, and the memory die 228) may result in fewer memory operations being performed than performing memory operations on each of the multiple memory dies (e.g., the first memory die 104, the memory die 222, and the memory die 228).\",\n \"For example, performing memory operations on the first memory die 104 may not increase a temperature of the memory die 222 or the memory die 228 as much as performing the memory operations 166 on the secondary memory die 224 because the memory die 222 and the memory die 228 are closer to the secondary memory die 224 than to the first memory die 104.Performing the memory operations on the first memory die 104 to raise a temperature of the first memory die 104 to at least the first temperature threshold 542 may result in additional memory operations being performed on the memory die 222 and on the memory die 228 to raise the temperatures of the memory die 222 and the memory die 228 to at least the first temperature threshold 542.For example, a first number of memory operations may be performed to raise a temperature of the first memory die 104 to at least the first temperature threshold 542, a second number of memory operations may be performed to raise a temperature of the memory die 222 to at least the first temperature threshold 542, and a third number of memory operations may be performed to raise a temperature of the memory die 228 to at least the first temperature threshold 542.A sum of the first number, the second number, and the third number may be greater than a count of the memory operations 166 performed on the secondary memory die 224 to raise the temperature of each of the first memory die 104, the memory die 222, and the memory die 228 to at least the first temperature threshold 542.The temperature crossing engine 522 may thus reduce a number of memory operations performed to heat multiple dies.\",\n \"As described above, in some implementations, the controller 120 delays writing data to the memory device 103 until the temperature of the first memory die 104 meets the temperature condition 526 (e.g., is greater than the first temperature threshold 542).\",\n \"In other implementations, where the first memory die 104 includes multi-level cell (MLC) and single-level cell (SLC) storage elements, the controller 120 may write the data to the SLC storage elements prior to heating up the first memory die 104.Writing the data to the SLC storage elements prior to performing the memory operations 166 may reduce a latency associated with the write request 534 because the controller 120 may signal to the device 504 that the data is stored upon writing to the SLC storage elements.\",\n \"After the temperature of the first memory die 104 satisfies (e.g., is greater than) the first temperature threshold 542, the controller 120 may copy or ‘fold’ data from the SLC storage elements to the MLC storage elements.\",\n \"For example, the first storage element 110 may, according to an MLC scheme, indicate multiple (e.g., three) values.\",\n \"In a particular implementation, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the memory device 103 has the characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing, write data of the write request 534 to one or more SLC storage elements of the memory device 103.Each of the one or more SLC storage elements may, according to a SLC scheme, indicate a single value.\",\n \"A portion of the first memory die 104 may include the one or more SLC storage elements.\",\n \"The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to detecting the temperature condition 526, copy the data from the one or more SLC storage elements to MLC storage elements (e.g., the first storage element 110).\",\n \"At least one of the first temperature threshold 542 or the second temperature threshold 544 may include a default value.\",\n \"In a particular implementation, the controller 120 may receive the first temperature threshold 542, the second temperature threshold 544, or both, from the device 504 (e.g., a host device, a test device, or an access device).\",\n \"The first temperature threshold 542, the second temperature threshold 544, or both, may be stored in the memory 140.Advantageously, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, prior to performing a memory access, raise a temperature of the first memory die 104 to increase a likelihood that a write temperature of data that is written to the first memory die 104 is substantially similar to a temperature at which data is read from the first memory die 104, as further described with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"6-7.When the write temperature is substantially similar to the read temperature, a number of bit errors associated with data reads at the memory device 103 may be reduced.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"6, a diagram 600 includes a particular illustrative example of conditions that may be detected by the device 102, the controller 120 of FIG.\",\n \"1, the temperature crossing engine 522, the system 500 of FIG.\",\n \"5, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the write request 534 is to be performed, determine whether the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528 based on the write temperature 546.The diagram 600 illustrates a first case 602, a second case 604, and a third case 606.It should be understood that the first case 602, the second case 604, and the third case 606 are provided as illustrative, non-limiting examples.\",\n \"In some implementations, the temperature crossing engine 522 may use other cases to determine whether the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.In the first case 602, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the write temperature 546 is less than the first temperature threshold 542, determine that the first memory die 104 has the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 until detecting that the temperature 158 at or proximate to the first memory die 104 is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"5.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the write request 534 subsequent to detecting that the temperature 158 is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542.In the second case 604, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the write temperature 546 is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 and less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544, determine that the first memory die 104 does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the write request 534 in response to detecting that the first memory die 104 does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.In the third case 606, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the write temperature 546 is greater than the second temperature threshold 544, determine that the first memory die 104 does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the write request 534 and, in response to determining that the write temperature 546 is greater than the second temperature threshold 544, store the write temperature 546 in the memory 140.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"7, a diagram 700 includes a particular illustrative example of conditions that may be detected by the device 102, the controller 120 of FIG.\",\n \"1, the temperature crossing engine 522, the system 500 of FIG.\",\n \"5, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the read request 538 is to be performed, determine whether the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528 based on the write temperature 546, the read temperature 548, or both.\",\n \"The diagram 700 includes a first case 702, a second case 704, a third case 706, and a fourth case 708.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 on the memory device 103 to heat the memory device 103 to at least the first temperature threshold 542 prior to performing the write request 534, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"6.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 on the memory device 103 to heat the memory device 103 to a second temperature (e.g., greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 or greater than the second temperature threshold 544) prior to performing the read request 538, as described herein.\",\n \"The second temperature may be based on the write temperature 546.The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the read temperature 548 fails to satisfy (e.g., is less than) the first temperature threshold 542, perform the memory operations 166 to heat the memory device 103 to a temperature that satisfies (e.g., is greater than) the first temperature threshold 542.In a particular aspect, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the read temperature 548 fails to satisfy (e.g., is less than or equal to) the second temperature threshold 544 and that the write temperature 546 satisfies (e.g., is greater than) the second temperature threshold 544, perform the memory operations 166 to heat the memory device 103 to a temperature that satisfies (e.g., is greater than) the second temperature threshold 544.In the first case 702, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the read temperature 548 is less than the first temperature threshold 542 and that the write temperature 546 is either not stored in the memory 140 or is less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544, determine that the first memory die 104 has the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 until detecting that the temperature 158 at or proximate to the first memory die 104 is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"5.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the read request 538 subsequent to detecting that the temperature 158 is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542.In the second case 704, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the write temperature 546 is not stored in the memory 140 or that the write temperature 546 is less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544, and that the read temperature 548 is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542, determine that the first memory die 104 does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing condition 528 may correspond to a condition where performing the memory operations 166 may reduce bit-errors caused by a temperature crossing.\",\n \"In a particular aspect, a temperature (e.g., warm) of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed may be substantially the same as the read temperature 548 (e.g., warm) and the temperature crossing engine 522 may determine that the first memory die 104 does not indicate a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing and thus does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.In another aspect, the read temperature 548 (e.g., hot) may be greater than the temperature (e.g., warm) of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 was performed.\",\n \"Performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the read request 538 may raise the temperature of the first memory die 104 thereby causing more bit-errors by increasing a difference between the temperature (e.g., warm) of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 was performed and a temperature (e.g., hotter) of the first memory die 104 when the read request 538 is performed.\",\n \"The temperature crossing engine 522 may determine that the first memory die 104 indicates a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing.\",\n \"The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that performing the memory operations 166 will not reduce bit-errors, determine that the first memory die 104 does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the read request 538 without using the memory operations 166 to heat the first memory die 104.In the third case 706, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the write temperature 546 is stored in the memory 140, that the write temperature 546 is greater than the second temperature threshold 544, or both, and that the read temperature 548 is less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544, determine that the first memory die 104 has the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 until detecting that the temperature 158 at or proximate to the first memory die 104 is greater than the second temperature threshold 544, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"5.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the read request 538 subsequent to detecting that the temperature 158 is greater than the second temperature threshold 544.In the fourth case 708, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the write temperature 546 is stored in the memory 140, that the write temperature 546 is greater than the second temperature threshold 544, or both, and that the read temperature 548 is greater than the second temperature threshold 544, determine that the first memory die 104 does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the read request 538 in response to detecting that the first memory die 104 does not have the characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the read request 538 without using the memory operations 166 to heat the first memory die 104.In the first case 702, the temperature crossing engine 522 may reduce a bit-error rate associated with data reads at the memory device 103 by performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the read request 538.In the first case 702, the write temperature 546 and the read temperature 548 may both be less than the first temperature threshold 542 (e.g., cold).\",\n \"The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534 and also prior to performing the read request 538 such that a temperature (e.g., warm) of the first memory die 104 when the read request 538 is performed is substantially similar to a temperature (e.g., warm) of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed.\",\n \"Alternatively, in the first case 702, the write temperature 546 (e.g., warm) may be greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 and less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544.The temperature crossing engine 522 may refrain from performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534.The read temperature 548 (e.g., cold) may be less than the first temperature threshold 542.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 prior to performing the read request 538 such that a temperature (e.g., warm) of the first memory die 104 when the read request 538 is performed is substantially similar to a temperature (e.g., warm) of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed.\",\n \"In the second case 704, in a particular aspect, the read temperature 548 (e.g., warm) may be substantially similar to a temperature of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed and the temperature crossing engine 522 may refrain from performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the read request 538.For example, the write temperature 546 (e.g., warm) may be greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 and less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544.The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the write temperature 546 (e.g., warm) is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 and less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544, determine that the first memory die 104 does not have a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.The temperature crossing engine 522 may, in response to determining that the first memory die 104 does not have a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528, refrain from performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534.The read temperature 548 may be unknown at the time of performing the write request 534.A first likelihood that the read temperature 548 is less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544 may be higher than a second likelihood that the read temperature 548 is greater than the second temperature threshold 544.When the first likelihood is greater than the second likelihood, refraining from performing the memory operations 166 in response to determining that the write temperature 546 (e.g., warm) is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 and less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544 may reduce an overall number of memory operations performed.\",\n \"For example, refraining from performing the memory operations 166 to raise a temperature of the first memory die 104 above the second temperature threshold 544 prior to performing the write request 534 may result in fewer memory operations being performed to raise a temperature of the first memory die 104 to at least the first temperature threshold 542 when the read temperature 548 is less than the first temperature threshold 542.As another example, when the read temperature 548 is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 and less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544, refraining from performing the memory operations 166 to raise a temperature of the first memory die 104 above the second temperature threshold 544 prior to performing the write request 534 may result in no memory operations being performed prior to performing the read request 538.When the read temperature 548 has a greater likelihood of being less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544, refraining from performing the memory operations 166 to raise a temperature of the first memory die 104 above the second temperature threshold 544 prior to performing the write request 534 may result in fewer memory operations being performed prior to performing the read request 538.As another example, the write temperature 546 (e.g., cold) may be less than the first temperature threshold 542 and the temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534.The read temperature 548 (e.g., warm) may be greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 and less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544.Performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534 may cause a temperature of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed to be substantially the same as the read temperature 548.A temperature (e.g., warm) of the first memory die 104 when the read request 538 is performed may be substantially similar to a temperature (e.g., warm) of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed.\",\n \"Performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534 may result in the first memory die 104 not having a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing prior to performing the read request 538.Bit-errors associated with a temperature crossing may thus be reduced (e.g., eliminated).\",\n \"In the second case 704, in an alternate aspect, the read temperature 548 (e.g., hot) may be higher than a temperature of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed.\",\n \"The write temperature 546 (e.g., cold) may be less than the first temperature threshold 542 and the temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534, thereby at least reducing the difference between the temperature (e.g., warm) at which the write request 534 is performed and the temperature (e.g., hot) at which the read request 538 is performed.\",\n \"A temperature crossing corresponding to a lower difference between the temperature (e.g., warm) at which the write request 534 is performed and the temperature (e.g., hot) at which the read request 538 is performed may result in fewer bit-errors than a temperature crossing corresponding to a higher difference between the temperature (e.g., cold) at which the write request 534 is performed and the temperature (e.g., hot) at which the read request 538 is performed.\",\n \"Performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534 may thus reduce bit-errors associated with a temperature crossing.\",\n \"Alternatively, the write temperature 546 (e.g., warm) may be greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold 542 and less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544.The temperature crossing engine 522 may refrain from performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534 because the read temperature 548 (e.g., hot) is unknown at the time of performing the write request 534.For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 may refrain from performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534 to reduce a number of overall memory operations when a first likelihood that the read temperature 548 is less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544 is greater than a second likelihood that the read temperature 548 is greater than the second temperature threshold 544.The temperature crossing engine 522 may refrain from performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the read request 538 because raising the temperature of the first memory die 104 would further increase a difference between a temperature (e.g., warm) at which the write request 534 was performed and a temperature (e.g., hot) at which the read request 538 is performed.\",\n \"In the third case 706, the temperature crossing engine 522 may reduce a bit-error rate associated with data reads at the memory device 103 by performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the read request 538.In the third case 706, the write temperature 546 (e.g., hot) may be greater than the second temperature threshold 544 and the read temperature 548 (e.g., cold or warm) may be less than the second temperature threshold 544.The temperature crossing engine 522 may perform the memory operations 166 prior to performing the read request 538 such that a temperature (e.g., hot) of the first memory die 104 when the read request 538 is performed is substantially similar to a temperature (e.g., hot) of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed.\",\n \"As a result of performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the read request 538, the first memory die 104 may not have a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing.\",\n \"Bit-errors associated with a temperature crossing may thus be reduced (e.g., eliminated).\",\n \"In the fourth case 708, the read temperature 548 may be substantially similar to a temperature of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed and the temperature crossing engine 522 may refrain from performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the read request 538.In the fourth case 708, the write temperature 546 (e.g., hot) and the read temperature 548 (e.g., hot) may both be greater than the second temperature threshold 544.The temperature crossing engine 522 may refrain from performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the write request 534 and may also refrain from performing the memory operations 166 prior to performing the read request 538.A temperature (e.g., hot) of the first memory die 104 when the read request 538 is performed may be substantially similar to a temperature (e.g., hot) of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed without performing the memory operations 166.The temperature crossing engine 522 may reduce a bit-error rate in at least one of the first case 702, the second case 704, or the third case 706 by performing the memory operations 166 prior to the write request 534, performing the memory operations 166 prior to the read request 538, or both.\",\n \"It should be understood that the first case 702, the second case 704, the third case 706, and the fourth case 708 are provided as illustrative, non-limiting examples.\",\n \"In some implementations, the temperature crossing engine 522 may use other cases to determine whether the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, prior to performing the write request 534, determine that the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528 in response to determining that the write temperature 546 is less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544.In this example, the temperature crossing engine 522 may, prior to performing the read request 538, determine that the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528 in response to determining that the read temperature 548 is less than or equal to the second temperature threshold 544.In this example, a temperature (e.g., hot) of the first memory die 104 when the write request 534 is performed may be substantially similar to a temperature (e.g., hot) of the first memory die 104 when the read request 538 is performed.\",\n \"The temperature crossing engine 522 may reduce a bit-error rate by performing the memory operations 166 prior to the write request 534, performing the memory operations 166 prior to the read request 538, or both.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"8, an illustrative example of a method is depicted and generally designated 800.The method 800 may be performed by the device 102, the controller 120 of FIG.\",\n \"1, the temperature crossing engine 522, the system 500 of FIG.\",\n \"5, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"The method 800 includes checking die temperature, at 802.For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 of FIG.\",\n \"5 may determine the write temperature 546 based on the sensor input 156, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"5.The sensor input 156 may indicate the temperature 158 at or proximate to the first memory die 104.The method 800 also includes determining whether a temperature crossing condition is met, at 804.For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 of FIG.\",\n \"5 may determine whether the temperature crossing condition 528 is detected, as described with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"5-7.The method 800 includes, in response to determining that the temperature crossing condition is met, at 804, applying a temperature crossing mitigation operation, at 806.For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 of FIG.\",\n \"5 may, in response to detecting the temperature crossing condition 528, perform the memory operations 166 until the temperature condition 526 is detected, as further described with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"5-6.The method 800 includes, in response to determining that the temperature crossing condition is not met, at 804, proceeding to 808.The method 800 also includes performing one or more memory access operations while the temperature crossing condition is not met (e.g., after performing the 806).\",\n \"For example, the method 800 may include writing to a die, at 808.For example, the controller 120 may perform the write request 534 at the first memory die 104, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"5.As another example, the method 800 may include reading from the die, at 810.For example, the controller 120 may perform the read request 538 at the first memory die 104, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"5.The method 800 may, by heating the first memory die 104 prior to writing the data, prior to reading the data, or both, reduce a difference between a first temperature at which data is read from the first memory die 104 and a second temperature at which data is written to the first memory die 104.For example, the first temperature may be substantially similar (e.g., warm) to the second temperature.\",\n \"The reduction in (e.g., elimination of) the temperature difference may reduce a bit-error rate associated with performing data reads at the memory device 103.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"9, an illustrative example of a method is depicted and generally designated 900.The method 900 may be performed by the device 102, the controller 120 of FIG.\",\n \"1, the temperature crossing engine 522, the system 500 of FIG.\",\n \"5, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"The method 900 includes, in response to receiving a request to perform a memory access at a memory device, determining that the memory device has a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing, at 902.For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 of FIG.\",\n \"5 may, in response to receiving a request (e.g., the read request 536 or the write request 532) to perform a memory access (e.g., the write request 534 or the read request 538), determine that the memory device 103 has a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing, as described with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"5-7.The method 900 also includes, in response to the determination, increasing a temperature of the memory device by performing memory operations on the memory device until detecting a condition related to the temperature, at 904.For example, the temperature crossing engine 522 of FIG.\",\n \"5 may, in response to determining that the memory device 103 has a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing, perform the memory operations 166 until detecting the temperature condition 526, as further described with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"5-7.The method 900 may correspond to one or more of the cases of FIGS.\",\n \"6-7.The method 900 may, by heating the first memory die 104 prior to a data write, prior to a data read, or both, reduce a difference between a first temperature at which data is read from the first memory die 104 and a second temperature at which data is written to the first memory die 104.For example, the first temperature may be substantially similar to the second temperature.\",\n \"The reduction in (e.g., elimination of) the temperature difference may reduce a bit-error rate associated with performing data reads at the memory device 103.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"10, a particular illustrative example of a system is depicted and generally designated 1000.The system 1000 includes an implementation of the device 102 of FIG.\",\n \"1 that includes a temperature crossing engine 1022.The device 102 may be coupled to, attached to, or embedded within one or more access devices (e.g., a device 1004), such as within a housing of the device 1004.The device 1004 may correspond to a testing device, a host device, or both.\",\n \"The temperature crossing engine 1022 may be implemented by software (e.g., instructions) executable by a processor to perform operations described herein.\",\n \"Alternatively, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may include hardware configured to perform operations described herein.\",\n \"In a particular implementation, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may include or correspond to the temperature crossing engine 522 of FIG.\",\n \"5.In this implementation, the temperature crossing engine 1022 includes the features and functions described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"5 and includes an availability detector 1050, as described further below.\",\n \"In other implementations, the temperature crossing engine 1022 includes the availability detector 1050 and omits one or more of the features or functions of the temperature crossing engine 522 of FIG.\",\n \"5.The temperature crossing engine 1022 may be configured to reduce a bit-error rate associated with reading data by heating the memory device 103, as described herein.\",\n \"When a read temperature corresponding to data (e.g., a temperature of the memory die when the data is read from the memory die) is similar to a write temperature corresponding to the data (e.g., a temperature of the memory die when the data is written to the memory die), bit-error rates may be reduced.\",\n \"As used herein, a “temperature crossing” refers to a difference between a read temperature and a write temperature that is likely to cause bit-errors.\",\n \"To mitigate the risk of errors due to temperature crossing, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may perform memory operations to heat the memory device 103 when a temperature of the memory device 103 is below a threshold and when the memory operations are unlikely to interfere with performing operations requested by the device 1004.For example, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may detect a condition indicating that a temperature of the memory device 103 is less than a first threshold (e.g., a first temperature threshold 1042) and that an availability metric 1052 satisfies an availability criterion 1054.The temperature crossing engine 1022 may perform the memory operations 166 to heat up a die of the memory device 103 in response to detecting the condition.\",\n \"During operation, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may determine whether a temperature of the memory device is less than the first temperature threshold 1042.For example, an output of the temperature sensor 108 may be provided to the controller 120 as the sensor input 156.The sensor input 156 may indicate a temperature 158 of the memory device 103 or a temperature of a portion of the memory device 103, such as a temperature of the first memory die 104.The temperature crossing engine 1022 may compare the temperature 158 to the first temperature threshold 1042.If the temperature 158 fails to satisfy (e.g., is less than) the first temperature threshold 1042, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may determine whether the memory device 103 satisfies an availability criterion 1054.For example, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may include an availability detector 1050 configured to determine or monitor an availability metric 1052.The availability metric 1052 may be indicative of demand, usage, or activity at the memory device 103.To illustrate, the availability metric 1052 may include or correspond to a measure or indication of power demand at the memory device 103 (or at the device 102), may include or correspond to a measure or indication of number of inactive dies at the memory device 103, may include or correspond to a measure or indication of an activity level (e.g., a number of concurrent read or write operations) at the memory device 103, another indication of demand, usage, or activity at the memory device 103, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"As a specific example, power available to the device 102 may be limited by a power supply (not shown) of the device 102 or external to the device 102.In this example, the availability metric 1052 may include a power metric indicating power demand at the device 102 or a portion (e.g., a percentage) of available power being used by the device 102.The temperature crossing engine 1022 may compare the availability metric 1052 to the availability criterion 1054 to determine whether the memory device 103 satisfies the availability criterion 1054.For example, when the availability metric 1052 indicates an activity level at the memory device 103 (e.g., a number of concurrent memory operations), the availability criterion 1054 may be satisfied if the activity level is less than an activity threshold.\",\n \"To illustrate, the memory device 103 may include multiple memory dies 190, and the number of concurrent memory operations that can be performed at the multiple memory dies 190 may be limited due to power constraints, bus constraints, or other constraints.\",\n \"In this example, the availability criterion 1054 may limit the activity level sufficiently that if the device 1004 issues an access request, such as the write request 532 or the read request 536, the memory device 103 has sufficient capacity to perform operations associated with the access request.\",\n \"As another example, when the availability metric 1052 indicates power demand at the memory device 103, the availability criterion 1054 may be satisfied if the power demand is less than a power threshold.\",\n \"To illustrate, performing multiple concurrent read or write operations at the memory device 103 may use a first portion of power available to the memory device 103.In this example, the availability criterion 1054 may limit the power demand sufficiently that if the device 1004 issues an access request, such as the write request 532 or the read request 536, the memory device 103 has sufficient additional power capacity to perform operations associated with the access request.\",\n \"As another example, the availability metric 1052 may indicate a number of inactive dies of the memory device 103 or a number of active dies of the memory device 103.In this example, the availability criterion 1054 may be satisfied if the number of inactive dies is greater than an active die threshold, or if the number of active dies is less than or equal to the active die threshold.\",\n \"In this context, an active die refers to a memory die that is performing memory access operations at a particular time, and an inactive die refers to memory die that is not performing memory access operations at the particular time.\",\n \"Alternatively, in some implementations, an active die refers to a memory die that is marked (e.g., in a table or other data structure in the memory 140) as available for use at a particular time, and an inactive die refers to a memory die that is marked (e.g., in the table or other data structure in the memory 140) as not available for use at the particular time.\",\n \"In this example, the availability criterion 1054 may limit the number of active dies sufficiently that if the device 1004 issues an access request, such as the write request 532 or the read request 536, the memory device 103 has at least one memory die available to perform operations associated with the access request.\",\n \"If the memory device 103 satisfies the availability criterion 1054, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may increase the temperature of the memory device 103.For example, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may perform a set of memory operations at the memory device 103 until detecting a condition related to the temperature of the memory device 103.The condition related to the temperature of the memory device 103 may include or correspond to the temperature 158 indicated by the sensor input 156 satisfying (e.g., being greater than or equal to) a second temperature threshold 1044.The set of memory operations may include read operations, write operations, or both, that are performed within a relatively short period of time, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1.Performing the set of memory operations may include sending an instruction (e.g., the sequence request 136), via the interface 118, to the memory device 103 to initiate the set (e.g., a sequence) of memory operations, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1.The set of memory operations may be performed on the first storage element 110, another storage element (e.g., the second storage element 112), or both.\",\n \"The R/W circuitry 116 may be configured to perform the set of memory operations in response to receiving the sequence request 136, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1.For example, the sequence request 136 may indicate that at least one storage element (e.g., the first storage element 110) of a memory die (e.g., the first memory die 104) on which the set of memory operations are to be performed.\",\n \"In this example, the R/W circuitry 116 performs the set of memory operations on the first memory die 104 in response to determining that the sequence request 136 identifies the first memory die 104.In a particular implementation, the R/W circuitry 116 may perform at least a portion of the set of memory operations on the first storage element 110 in response to determining that the sequence request 136 identifies the first storage element 110.As another example, performing the set of memory operations may include sending a plurality of instructions (e.g., the plurality of operation requests 134), via the interface 118, to the memory device 103, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1.The R/W circuitry 116 may be configured to perform a memory operation (e.g., a read operation or a write operation) on the first memory die 104 in response to receiving each operation request (e.g., instruction) of the operation requests 134.The memory operation may be performed on the first storage element 110 or another storage element (e.g., the second storage element 112) of the first memory die 104.Execution of each memory operation (e.g., read operation or write operation) raises a temperature of the first memory die 104, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1.The temperature crossing engine 1022 may cause the memory operations of the set of memory operations to be performed until a temperature condition 1026 related to a temperature of the first memory die 104 is detected.\",\n \"For example, the memory operations may be performed until the temperature 158 of the memory device 103 satisfies (e.g., is greater than or equal to) the second temperature threshold 1044.In this example, when temperature crossing engine 1022 detects that the temperature 158 of the memory device 103 satisfies the second temperature threshold 1044, the controller 120 may cease sending the operations requests 134 or may instruct the memory device 103 to cease performing the memory operations associated with the sequence request 136.In some implementations, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may cause the memory operations to cease in response to detecting that the availability metric 1052 has ceased to satisfy the availability criterion 1054.To illustrate, during a period of low activity (e.g., when few requests are received from the device 1004, the temperature 158 of the memory device 103 may drop below the first temperature threshold 1042.The temperature crossing engine 1022 may cause the memory operations to be performed at the memory device 103 to increase the temperature toward the second temperature threshold 1044.While the temperature crossing engine 1022 is attempting to increase the temperature 158 of the memory device 103, the period of inactivity of the device 1004 may cease and the device 1004 may issue a number of memory access requests.\",\n \"The availability detector 1050 may detect the increase in activity associated with the device 1004, and the temperature crossing engine 1022 may cause the memory operations (that are performed to increase the temperature 158 of the memory device 103) to cease responsive to the availability metric 1052 failing to satisfy the availability criterion 1054.In a particular implementation, performing the memory operations on the first memory die 104 may raise a temperature of the secondary memory dies 124, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1.Thus, a second die of the secondary memory dies 124 may be heated by the memory operations performed on the first memory die 104.Conversely, the temperature of the first memory die 104 may be increased by performing memory operations at one or more of the secondary memory dies 124.In a particular aspect, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may perform the memory operations on a second memory die of the secondary memory dies 124 to raise a temperature of the first memory die 104.For example, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may determine that the first memory die is an active die and that a temperature sensor on or near the first memory die 104 indicates a temperature that is less than the first temperature threshold 1042.In this example, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may cause memory operations to be performed at one or more inactive memory dies of the secondary memory dies 124 to heat the first memory die 104.To illustrate, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may select particular set of one or memory dies (of the secondary memory dies 124) to perform the memory operation based on proximity of the set of one or more memory dies to the first memory die 104.In an alternative implementation, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may select a set of memory dies that are distributed among the memory dies 190 to perform the memory operation.\",\n \"In this implementation, the set of memory dies may be selected (e.g., randomly or pseudo-randomly) such that the memory dies performing the memory operations are scattered (or distributed) among the memory dies 190 of the memory device 103 to facilitate relatively even heating of the memory device 103.As described above, in some implementations, the controller 120 delays writing data to the memory device 103 until the temperature of the first memory die 104 meets a temperature condition 1026 (e.g., is greater than the first temperature threshold 1042).\",\n \"In other implementations, where the first memory die 104 includes multi-level cell (MLC) and single-level cell (SLC) storage elements, the controller 120 may write the data to the SLC storage elements until the temperature of the first memory die 104 satisfies the temperature condition 1026.Writing the data to the SLC storage elements until the temperature of the first memory die 104 satisfies the temperature condition 1026 may reduce a latency associated with the write request 534 because the controller 120 may signal to the device 1004 that the data is stored upon writing to the SLC storage elements.\",\n \"After the temperature of the first memory die 104 satisfies (e.g., is greater than) the first temperature threshold 1042, the controller 120 may copy or ‘fold’ data from the SLC storage elements to the MLC storage elements.\",\n \"For example, the first storage element 110 may, according to an MLC scheme, indicate multiple (e.g., three) values.\",\n \"At least one of the first temperature threshold 1042 or the second temperature threshold 1044 may include a default value.\",\n \"In a particular implementation, the controller 120 may receive the first temperature threshold 1042, the second temperature threshold 1044, or both, from the device 1004 (e.g., a host device, a test device, or an access device).\",\n \"The first temperature threshold 1042, the second temperature threshold 1044, or both, may be stored in the memory 140.Additionally, the availability criterion 1054 may include a default value, such as a power threshold set according to a power specification.\",\n \"In some implementation, the availability criterion 1054 may include a value based on user input or based on information provided by the device 1004.To illustrate, a user or the device 1004 may provide an indication that is associated with a power limit (e.g., an indication that the device 1004 is operating on battery power) or performance limit (e.g., an indication that a particular performance requirement is to be satisfied).\",\n \"In such implementations, the availability criterion 1054 may be set or modified based on the value based on user input or based on information provided by the device 1004.To illustrate, if a power limit is specified, the controller 120 may modify the availability criterion 1054 based on a decrease in available power indicated by the power limit.\",\n \"Advantageously, the temperature crossing engine 1022 may raise a temperature of the first memory die 104 during periods of low activity (e.g., when the availability criterion 1054 is satisfied) to increase a likelihood that a write temperature of data that is written to the first memory die 104 is substantially similar to a temperature at which data is read from the first memory die 104 without decreasing performance associated with access requests received from the device 1004.When the write temperature is substantially similar to the read temperature, a number of bit errors associated with data reads at the memory device 103 may be reduced.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"11, an illustrative example of a method is depicted and generally designated 1100.The method 1100 may be performed by the device 102, the controller 120 of FIG.\",\n \"1, the temperature crossing engine 522 of FIG.\",\n \"5, the system 500 of FIG.\",\n \"5, the temperature crossing engine 1022 of FIG.\",\n \"10, the system 1000 of FIG.\",\n \"10, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"The method 1100 includes checking die temperature, at 1102.For example, the temperature crossing engine 1022 of FIG.\",\n \"10 may determine the temperature 158 based on the sensor input 156, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"10.The sensor input 156 may indicate the temperature 158 at or proximate to the first memory die 104.The method 1100 also includes determining whether a temperature condition is met, at 1104.For example, the temperature crossing engine 1022 of FIG.\",\n \"10 may determine whether the temperature condition 1026 is satisfied.\",\n \"The temperature condition 1026 may be satisfied when the temperature 158 is greater than the first temperature threshold 1042, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"10.The method 1100 includes, in response to determining that the temperature condition is met, at 1104, determining whether an availability criterion is met, at 1106.For example, the temperature crossing engine 1022 of FIG.\",\n \"10 may determine whether the availability criterion 1054 is satisfied based on the availability metric 1052, as described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"10.The method 1100 includes, in response to determining that availability criterion is met, performing one or more memory operations, at 1108.The memory operations may include read operations, write operations, or both.\",\n \"For example, performing the memory operations may include performing the memory operation indicated by the sequence request 136 of FIG.\",\n \"10.As another example, performing the memory operations may include performing a number of distinct memory operations responsive to the operation requests 134 of FIG.\",\n \"10.After one or more memory operation have been performed, the method 1100 may return to 1102 to check the temperature of the die.\",\n \"For example, the temperature crossing engine 1022 of FIG.\",\n \"10 may, in response to detecting that the temperature condition 1026 is met and in the availability metric 1052 satisfies the availability criterion 1054, perform the memory operations 166 until the temperature 158 satisfies the second temperature threshold 1044.The method 1100 includes, in response to determining that the temperature condition is not met, at 1104, or in response to determining that the availability condition is not met, at 1106, returning to 1102.Thus, the method 1100 may heat the memory die during periods of low activity (e.g., when the availability criterion is satisfied).\",\n \"Heating the die may reduce temperature crossing associated with read and write operations of the die.\",\n \"For example, by heating the die, a temperature difference between a first temperature at which data is written and a second temperature at which the data is read may be reduced.\",\n \"The reduction in (e.g., elimination of) the temperature difference may reduce a bit-error rate associated with performing data reads at the memory device 103.In some implementations, a computer-readable medium stores instructions executable by a processing module to perform operations.\",\n \"For example, the computer-readable medium may correspond to the memory 140, the instructions may correspond to the instructions 162, and the processing module may correspond to the healing engine 122, the temperature crossing engine 522, the temperature crossing engine 1022, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"The operations include performing memory operations (e.g., the memory operations 166) to increase a temperature of a memory die (e.g., the first memory die 104) until detecting a condition (e.g., the temperature condition 126) related to the temperature of the memory die (e.g., the first memory die 104).\",\n \"The memory operations may be performed responsive to determining that at least one storage element (e.g., the first storage element 110) of a memory die (e.g., the first memory die 104) has a characteristic indicative of an aging condition (e.g., the aging condition 128) during execution of the instructions by the processing module.\",\n \"Alternatively, or in addition, the memory operations may be performed responsive to determining that a temperature of the memory device is less than a first threshold and that the memory device satisfies the availability criterion.\",\n \"In a particular aspect, the operations include, prior to performing a memory access (e.g., the write request 534 or the read request 538) at a memory device (e.g., the memory device 103), determining that the memory device (e.g., the memory device 103) has a characteristic indicative of a temperature crossing (e.g., the temperature crossing condition 528).\",\n \"The operations also include, in response to the determination, increasing a temperature (e.g., the temperature 158) of the memory device (e.g., the memory device 103) by performing memory operations (e.g., the memory operations 166) at the memory device (e.g., the memory device 103) until detecting a condition related to the temperature (e.g., the temperature condition 526).\",\n \"In another particular aspect, the operations include in response to determining that a temperature of the memory device is less than a threshold, determining that the memory device satisfies an availability criterion.\",\n \"The operations also include in response to determining that the memory device satisfies the availability criterion, increasing the temperature of the memory device by performing memory operations at the memory device until detecting a condition related to the temperature.\",\n \"In this aspect, performing the memory operations may include sending an instruction to the memory device to initiate a set of memory operations.\",\n \"In a particular example, the operations may also include determining, based on the availability criterion, a number of memory operations of the set of memory operations.\",\n \"In this example, the number of memory operations of the set of memory operations may be determined such that a request to access the memory device that is received from a host device during performance of the memory operations can be satisfied.\",\n \"In yet another particular aspect, a device include a memory device and a controller.\",\n \"The controller is configured to perform memory operations on the memory device to heat the memory device to at least a threshold temperature when power demand of the memory device is less than a power threshold.\",\n \"In this particular aspect, heating the memory device may include performing a set of memory operations at the memory device, where a number of operations of the set of memory operations is determined based on the power threshold.\",\n \"The power threshold may be set such that a host request, received at the controller at a first time, can be satisfied when the power demand at the first time is less than or equal to the power threshold.\",\n \"In a particular example, the memory device may include a plurality of memory dies, and the power demand may be associated with a number of active dies of the plurality of memory dies.\",\n \"In this example, heating the memory device includes performing a set of memory operations at one or more idle memory dies of the plurality of memory dies.\",\n \"Although various components depicted herein are illustrated as block components and described in general terms, such components may include one or more microprocessors, state machines, or other circuits configured to enable such components to perform one or more operations described herein.\",\n \"For example, the temperature condition 126, the aging condition 128, or both, may represent physical components, such as hardware controllers, state machines, logic circuits, or other structures, to enable the healing engine 122 to detect the temperature condition 126, the aging condition 128, or both.\",\n \"As another example, the healing engine 122 may represent physical components, such as hardware controllers, state machines, logic circuits, or other structures, to enable the controller 120 to increase a temperature of a memory die (e.g., a first memory die 104) until the temperature condition 126 is detected.\",\n \"The temperature of the first memory die 104 may be increased responsive to determining that at least one storage element has a characteristic indicative of the aging condition 128.In a particular aspect, the temperature condition 526, the temperature crossing condition 528, or both, may represent physical components, such as hardware controllers, state machines, logic circuits, or other structures, to enable the temperature crossing engine 522 to detect the temperature condition 526, the temperature crossing condition 528, or both.\",\n \"In a particular aspect, the temperature crossing engine 522 may represent physical components, such as hardware controllers, state machines, logic circuits, or other structures, to enable the controller 120 to increase a temperature of a memory die (e.g., a first memory die 104) until the temperature condition 526 is detected.\",\n \"The temperature of the first memory die 104 may be increased, prior to performing a memory access (e.g., the write request 534 or the read request 538), responsive to determining that the first memory die 104 has a characteristic indicative of the temperature crossing condition 528.Alternatively or in addition, one or more components described herein may be implemented using a microprocessor or microcontroller programmed to perform operations, such as one or more operations of the method 300 of FIG.\",\n \"3, the method 400 of FIG.\",\n \"4, the method 800 of FIG.\",\n \"8, the method 900 of FIG.\",\n \"9, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"Instructions executed by the healing engine 122, the temperature crossing engine 522, the controller 120 and/or the device 102 may be retrieved from the memory 140 or from a separate memory location that is not part of the memory 140, such as from a read-only memory (ROM).\",\n \"In conjunction with one or more of the described aspects of FIGS.\",\n \"1-9, an apparatus includes means for communicating with a memory device that includes a plurality of memory dies.\",\n \"For example, the means for communicating may include or correspond to the interface 118 of FIG.\",\n \"1, one or more other structures, devices, circuits, modules, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"The apparatus also includes means for increasing the temperature of a first die of the plurality of memory dies by performing memory operations on the first die until detecting a condition related to the temperature.\",\n \"The means for increasing the temperature of the first die may include the healing engine 122 of FIG.\",\n \"1, one or more other structures, devices, circuits, modules, instructions for increasing the temperature of the first die, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"The temperature may be increased responsive to determining that at least one storage element of the first die has a characteristic indicative of an aging condition.\",\n \"The device 102 may be coupled to, attached to, or embedded within one or more access devices, such as within a housing of the device 504.For example, the device 102 may be embedded within the device 504 in accordance with a Joint Electron Devices Engineering Council (JEDEC) Solid State Technology Association Universal Flash Storage (UFS) configuration.\",\n \"To further illustrate, the device 102 may be integrated within an electronic device, such as a mobile telephone, a computer (e.g., a laptop, a tablet, or a notebook computer), a music player, a video player, a gaming device or console, a component of a vehicle (e.g., a vehicle console), an electronic book reader, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable navigation device, or other device that uses internal non-volatile memory.\",\n \"In one or more other implementations, the device 102 may be implemented in a portable device configured to be selectively coupled to one or more external devices, such as a host device (e.g., the device 504).\",\n \"For example, the device 102 may be removable from the device 504 (i.e., “removably” coupled to the device 504).\",\n \"As an example, the device 102 may be removably coupled to the device 504 in accordance with a removable universal serial bus (USB) configuration.\",\n \"In some implementations, the system 100, the system 500, the device 102, or the memory 140 may be integrated within a network-accessible data storage system, such as an enterprise data system, an NAS system, or a cloud data storage system, as illustrative examples.\",\n \"In some implementations, the device 102 may include a solid state drive (SSD).\",\n \"The device 102 may function as an embedded storage drive (e.g., an embedded SSD drive of a mobile device), an enterprise storage drive (ESD), a cloud storage device, a network-attached storage (NAS) device, or a client storage device, as illustrative, non-limiting examples.\",\n \"In some implementations, the device 102 may be coupled to another device (e.g., the device 504) via a network.\",\n \"For example, the network may include a data center storage system network, an enterprise storage system network, a storage area network, a cloud storage network, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), the Internet, and/or another network.\",\n \"To further illustrate, the device 102 may be configured to be coupled to another device (e.g., the device 504) as embedded memory, such as in connection with an embedded MultiMedia Card (eMMC®) (trademark of JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, Arlington, Va.) configuration, as an illustrative example.\",\n \"The device 102 may correspond to an eMMC device.\",\n \"As another example, the device 102 may correspond to a memory card, such as a Secure Digital (SD®) card, a microSD® card, a miniSD™ card (trademarks of SD-3C LLC, Wilmington, Del.\",\n \"), a MultiMediaCard™ (MMC™) card (trademark of JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, Arlington, Va.), or a CompactFlash® (CF) card (trademark of SanDisk Corporation, Milpitas, Calif.).\",\n \"The device 102 may operate in compliance with a JEDEC industry specification.\",\n \"For example, the device 102 may operate in compliance with a JEDEC eMMC specification, a JEDEC Universal Flash Storage (UFS) specification, one or more other specifications, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"The memory 140 may include a resistive random access memory (ReRAM), a flash memory (e.g., a NAND memory, a NOR memory, a SLC flash memory, a MLC flash memory, a divided bit-line NOR (DINOR) memory, an AND memory, a high capacitive coupling ratio (HiCR) device, an asymmetrical contactless transistor (ACT) device, or another flash memory), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically-erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a read-only memory (ROM), a one-time programmable memory (OTP), another type of memory, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"In a particular embodiment, the device 102 is indirectly coupled to an access device via a network.\",\n \"For example, the device 102 may be a network-attached storage (NAS) device or a component (e.g., a solid-state drive (SSD) component) of a data center storage system, an enterprise storage system, or a storage area network.\",\n \"The memory 140 may include a semiconductor memory device.\",\n \"Semiconductor memory devices include volatile memory devices, such as dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) or static random access memory (“SRAM”) devices, non-volatile memory devices, such as resistive random access memory (“ReRAM”), magnetoresistive random access memory (“MRAM”), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (“EEPROM”), flash memory (which can also be considered a subset of EEPROM), ferroelectric random access memory (“FRAM”), and other semiconductor elements capable of storing information.\",\n \"Each type of memory device may have different configurations.\",\n \"For example, flash memory devices may be configured in a NAND or a NOR configuration.\",\n \"The memory devices can be formed from passive and/or active elements, in any combinations.\",\n \"By way of non-limiting example, passive semiconductor memory elements include ReRAM device elements, which in some embodiments include a resistivity switching storage element, such as an anti-fuse, phase change material, etc., and optionally a steering element, such as a diode, etc.\",\n \"Further by way of non-limiting example, active semiconductor memory elements include EEPROM and flash memory device elements, which in some embodiments include elements containing a charge region, such as a floating gate, conductive nanoparticles, or a charge storage dielectric material.\",\n \"Multiple memory elements may be configured so that they are connected in series or so that each element is individually accessible.\",\n \"By way of non-limiting example, flash memory devices in a NAND configuration (NAND memory) typically contain memory elements connected in series.\",\n \"A NAND memory array may be configured so that the array is composed of multiple strings of memory in which a string is composed of multiple memory elements sharing a single bit line and accessed as a group.\",\n \"Alternatively, memory elements may be configured so that each element is individually accessible, e.g., a NOR memory array.\",\n \"NAND and NOR memory configurations are exemplary, and memory elements may be otherwise configured.\",\n \"The semiconductor memory elements located within and/or over a substrate may be arranged in two or three dimensions, such as a two dimensional memory structure or a three dimensional memory structure.\",\n \"In a two dimensional memory structure, the semiconductor memory elements are arranged in a single plane or a single memory device level.\",\n \"Typically, in a two dimensional memory structure, memory elements are arranged in a plane (e.g., in an x-z direction plane) which extends substantially parallel to a major surface of a substrate that supports the memory elements.\",\n \"The substrate may be a wafer over or in which the layer of the memory elements are formed or it may be a carrier substrate which is attached to the memory elements after they are formed.\",\n \"As a non-limiting example, the substrate may include a semiconductor such as silicon.\",\n \"The memory elements may be arranged in the single memory device level in an ordered array, such as in a plurality of rows and/or columns.\",\n \"However, the memory elements may be arrayed in non-regular or non-orthogonal configurations.\",\n \"The memory elements may each have two or more electrodes or contact lines, such as bit lines and word lines.\",\n \"A three dimensional memory array is arranged so that memory elements occupy multiple planes or multiple memory device levels, thereby forming a structure in three dimensions (i.e., in the x, y and z directions, where they direction is substantially perpendicular and the x and z directions are substantially parallel to the major surface of the substrate).\",\n \"As a non-limiting example, a three dimensional memory structure may be vertically arranged as a stack of multiple two dimensional memory device levels.\",\n \"As another non-limiting example, a three dimensional memory array may be arranged as multiple vertical columns (e.g., columns extending substantially perpendicular to the major surface of the substrate, i.e., in they direction) with each column having multiple memory elements in each column.\",\n \"The columns may be arranged in a two dimensional configuration, e.g., in an x-z plane, resulting in a three dimensional arrangement of memory elements with elements on multiple vertically stacked memory planes.\",\n \"Other configurations of memory elements in three dimensions can also constitute a three dimensional memory array.\",\n \"By way of non-limiting example, in a three dimensional NAND memory array, the memory elements may be coupled together to form a NAND string within a single horizontal (e.g., x-z) memory device levels.\",\n \"Alternatively, the memory elements may be coupled together to form a vertical NAND string that traverses across multiple horizontal memory device levels.\",\n \"Other three dimensional configurations can be envisioned wherein some NAND strings contain memory elements in a single memory level while other strings contain memory elements which span through multiple memory levels.\",\n \"Three dimensional memory arrays may also be designed in a NOR configuration and in a ReRAM configuration.\",\n \"Typically, in a monolithic three dimensional memory array, one or more memory device levels are formed above a single substrate.\",\n \"Optionally, the monolithic three dimensional memory array may also have one or more memory layers at least partially within the single substrate.\",\n \"As a non-limiting example, the substrate may include a semiconductor such as silicon.\",\n \"In a monolithic three dimensional array, the layers constituting each memory device level of the array are typically formed on the layers of the underlying memory device levels of the array.\",\n \"However, layers of adjacent memory device levels of a monolithic three dimensional memory array may be shared or have intervening layers between memory device levels.\",\n \"Alternatively, two dimensional arrays may be formed separately and then packaged together to form a non-monolithic memory device having multiple layers of memory.\",\n \"For example, non-monolithic stacked memories can be constructed by forming memory levels on separate substrates and then stacking the memory levels atop each other.\",\n \"The substrates may be thinned or removed from the memory device levels before stacking, but as the memory device levels are initially formed over separate substrates, the resulting memory arrays are not monolithic three dimensional memory arrays.\",\n \"Further, multiple two dimensional memory arrays or three dimensional memory arrays (monolithic or non-monolithic) may be formed on separate chips and then packaged together to form a stacked-chip memory device.\",\n \"Associated circuitry is typically used for operation of the memory elements and for communication with the memory elements.\",\n \"As non-limiting examples, memory devices may have circuitry used for controlling and driving memory elements to accomplish functions such as programming and reading.\",\n \"This associated circuitry may be on the same substrate as the memory elements and/or on a separate substrate.\",\n \"For example, a controller for memory read-write operations may be located on a separate controller chip and/or on the same substrate as the memory elements.\",\n \"One of skill in the art will recognize that this disclosure is not limited to the two dimensional and three dimensional exemplary structures described but cover all relevant memory structures within the spirit and scope of the disclosure as described herein and as understood by one of skill in the art.\",\n \"The illustrations of the embodiments described herein are intended to provide a general understanding of the various embodiments.\",\n \"Other embodiments may be utilized and derived from the disclosure, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"This disclosure is intended to cover any and all subsequent adaptations or variations of various embodiments.\",\n \"Those of skill in the art will recognize that such modifications are within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"The above-disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, and not restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and other embodiments, that fall within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"Thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope of the present disclosure is to be determined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the following claims and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876119"}}},{"rowIdx":4495084,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["COMPOSITION OF MATTER AND USE THEREOF","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a composition of matter having a matrix, a thickener, a strengthener, and a soluble medium.","The matrix may be about 100 parts by weight of a low viscosity cycloaliphatic epoxy resin with an anhydride curing agent.","The thickener may be about 10-20 parts by weight of an additive comprising a clay.","The strengthener may be about 5-10 parts by weight of a glass.","The soluble medium may be about 20-30 parts by weight of a water-soluble fiber."],["1.A composition of matter comprising: an epoxy system comprising an epoxy resin and a hardener; an additive comprising a clay; a soluble medium; and a glass.","2.The composition of claim 1, wherein the soluble medium comprises a plurality of soluble fibers, wherein the clay comprises modified montmorillonite, wherein the glass comprises high-strength, hollow glass microspheres with an average diameter of about 20 to about 25 microns, and wherein the hardener comprises an anhydride.","3.The composition of claim 2, wherein the plurality of soluble fibers comprises sodium polyacrylate fibers, and the length is in the range of about 0.5 mm to about 2 mm.","4.The composition of claim 1, wherein the epoxy system comprises about 100 parts by weight, wherein the epoxy resin comprises a low viscosity cycloaliphatic epoxy resin, wherein the hardener comprises an anhydride curing agent, wherein the additive comprises about 10-20 parts by weight, wherein the soluble medium comprises about 20-30 parts by weight, and further comprises a plurality of water-soluble fibers, wherein the glass comprises about 5-10 parts by weight, and wherein the glass comprises hollow glass spheres.","5.The composition of claim 4, wherein the clay comprises modified montmorillonite, wherein the hollow glass microspheres comprise an average diameter of about 20 to about 25 microns, wherein the plurality of soluble fibers comprises sodium polyacrylate fibers, and the length is in the range of about 0.5 mm to about 2 mm.","6.A composition of matter comprising: 100 parts by weight of a low viscosity cycloaliphatic epoxy resin with an anhydride curing agent; 10-20 parts by weight of an additive comprising a clay; 20-30 parts by weight of a plurality of water-soluble fibers; and 5-10 parts by weight of a glass.","6.The composition of claim 5, wherein the clay comprises montmorillonite, wherein the glass comprises hollow-glass microspheres, and wherein the plurality of soluble fibers comprise a fiber length of less than 6 mm 7.The composition of claim 6, wherein the plurality of soluble fibers comprises sodium polyacrylate fibers.","8.The composition of claim 5, wherein the clay comprises montmorillonite, wherein the glass comprises high-strength, hollow glass microspheres with an average diameter of about 20 to about 25 microns, wherein the plurality of soluble fibers comprises sodium polyacrylate fibers, and a length of each of the plurality of soluble fibers is in the range of about 0.5 mm to about 2 mm.","9.A method of curing a composition, the method comprising: heating an oven to an inner oven temperature in the range of about 70° F. to about 100° F.; placing the composition into the oven; heating the oven with a ramp up about 0.2-2° F./min to a next inner oven temperature in a first predetermined range of about 120° F. to about 200° F.; holding the oven in the first predetermined range for a first predetermined amount of soak time of about 30 minutes to about 120 minutes; heating the oven with a ramp up about 0.2-2° F./min to a second inner oven temperature in a second predetermined range of about 160° F. to about 250° F.; heating the oven with a ramp up about 1-4° F./min to a third inner oven temperature in a third predetermined range of about 250° F. to about 350° F.; holding the oven in the third predetermined range for about 30 minutes to about 120 minutes; and cooling the oven with a ramp down at a rate of about 0.2-2° F./min to a temperature in the range of about 70° F. to about 100° F. 10.The method of claim 9, wherein the composition comprises: an epoxy system comprising an epoxy resin and a hardener; an additive comprising a clay; a soluble medium; and a glass.","11.The method of claim 9, wherein the method comprises: 100 parts by weight of a low viscosity cycloaliphatic epoxy resin with an anhydride curing agent; about 10-20 parts by weight of an additive comprising clay; about 20-30 parts by weight of a water-soluble fiber; and about 5-10 parts by weight of a glass.","12.A composition of matter comprising: 100 parts by weight of a low viscosity cycloaliphatic epoxy resin with an anhydride curing agent; about 10-20 parts by weight of an additive comprising a clay; about 20-30 parts by weight of a water-soluble fiber; and about 5-10 parts by weight of a glass.","13.The composition of claim 12, wherein the water-soluble fiber comprises sodium polyacrylate fibers having a fiber length in the range of about 0.5 to about 6 mm.","14.The composition of claim 13, wherein the glass comprises high-strength, hollow-glass spheres of an average diameter of 22 microns.","15.The composition of claim 12, wherein the clay comprises montmorillonite, wherein the glass comprises hollow-glass microspheres, and wherein the water-soluble fiber comprises sodium polyacrylate fibers having a fiber length in the range of about 0.5 to about 6 mm.","16.The composition of claim 12, wherein the clay comprises montmorillonite, wherein the glass comprises high-strength, hollow glass microspheres with an average diameter of about 20 to about 25 microns, wherein the water-soluble fiber comprises sodium polyacrylate fibers, and a length of each of the plurality of soluble fibers is in the range of about 0.5 mm to about 2 mm."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>"],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a composition of matter that may include in the range of: about 100 parts by weight of a resin system; about 10-20 parts by weight of a clay; about 20-30 parts by weight of a fiber; and about 5-10 parts by weight of a glass.","The resin system may include a low viscosity cycloaliphatic epoxy resin with an anhydride curing agent.","The clay may include or be bentonite.","The clay may include or be montmorillonite.","The clay may be modified montmorillonite.","The glass may include or be glass spheres.","The composition may include at least one of organic hemp fiber, glass fiber, and combinations thereof.","The composition may include a water-soluble material.","In aspects, the water-soluble material may include or be one of a salt, a sugar, and combinations thereof.","The glass may include or be high-strength, hollow-glass spheres of an average diameter of 22 microns.","The composition may include a water-soluble fiber.","In aspects, the water-soluble fiber may include or be sodium polyacrylate.","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a device that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein.","The device may be selected from one of a downhole tool, a component of the downhole tool, and a frac ball.","The device may be made from a cured composition.","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a device for use in a downhole environment that may have (or being made from a material, including cured material, that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein.","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to an apparatus that may have (or being made from a material, including cured material, that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein.","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a downhole tool with one or more components that may have (or being made from a material, including cured material, that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein.","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a frac ball that may have (or being made from a material, including cured material, that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein.","The material may include a composition of an anhydride-based cure resin and a flexibilizer comprising clay.","The material may include a composition of an anhydride epoxy resin system and a thixotropic rheology modifier comprising clay.","The material may degrade at 0.24-17 g/hr at various temperatures.","The material may degrade within 24 hours of activation.","The clay may include a nano-clay and/or clay particles The material may include polyglycolic acid.","Any number of devices, tools, and other components may be made of materials disclosed herein.","The material may be or result in a cured material, whereby one or more of the original constituents undergo some amount of change The material may include a sugar-based epoxy.","A downhole tool made of a material of the present disclosure.","A downhole tool configured with one or more components made of a material of the present disclosure, or a cured byproduct thereof.","A device made of a material of the present disclosure, or a cured byproduct thereof.","A frac ball made of a material of the present disclosure, or a cured byproduct thereof.","A composition as disclosed herein further including a sugar-based epoxy.","The material may include a resin.","The resin may be an anhydride-cured epoxy resin material.","It may be possible to use sodium polyacrylate fiber in conjunction therewith, although any fiber that has dissolvable properties associated with it may be used.","Resins described herein may include a flexibilizer distributed therewith.","A flexibilizer may include clay(s), hygroscopic clay, nano-clay, bentonite, or any other material that is easily distributable within the resin and reduces brittleness of the resin.","Carbon nano-tubes may also add strength but promote capillary water flow through the resin matrix.","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a device that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein, or a cured byproduct thereof.","The device may be selected from the group consisting of a downhole tool, a component of the downhole tool, and a frac ball.","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a device for use in a downhole environment that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein, or a cured byproduct thereof.","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to an apparatus that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein, or a cured byproduct thereof.","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a downhole tool with one or more components that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein, or a cured byproduct thereof.","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a frac ball that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein, or a cured byproduct thereof.","These and other embodiments, features and advantages will be apparent in the following detailed description and drawings."],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a ‘bypass’ continuation of PCT Application Ser.","No.","PCT/US17/40611, filed on Jul.","3, 2017, which claims priority to: U.S.","Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","62/439,085, filed on Dec. 26, 2016, and U.S.","Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","62/358,230, filed on Jul.","5, 2016.The disclosure of each application is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.","STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT Not applicable.","BACKGROUND Field of the Disclosure This disclosure generally relates to systems and related tools used in oil and gas wellbores.","Certain embodiments pertain to a composition of matter useable with systems, related tools, and parts thereof.","Particular embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a breakable, dissolvable, disassociatable, and/or degradable material.","Some embodiments include a material(s) having a composition of about 100 parts by weight of a resin system that includes an epoxy resin with an anhydride hardener; about 10-20 parts by weight of an additive that may be a clay-based constituent; about 20-30 parts by weight of a fiber; and about 5-10 parts by weight of a glass.","The epoxy resin may be a low viscosity cycloaliphatic epoxy resin.","Background of the Disclosure An oil or gas well includes a wellbore extending into a subterranean formation at some depth below a surface (e.g., Earth's surface), and is usually lined with a tubular, such as casing, to add strength to the well.","Many commercially viable hydrocarbon sources are found in “tight” reservoirs, which means the target hydrocarbon product may not be easily extracted.","The surrounding formation (e.g., shale) to these reservoirs typically has low permeability, and it is uneconomical to produce the hydrocarbons (i.e., gas, oil, etc.)","in commercial quantities from this formation without the use of drilling accompanied with additional operations.","Fracing is common in the industry and includes the use of a plug set in the wellbore below or beyond the respective target zone, followed by pumping or injecting high pressure frac fluid into the zone.","A frac plug and accompanying operation may be such as described or otherwise disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","8,955,605, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety for all purposes.","Still, downhole operations may include the use of any number of other devices, tools, etc.","(or collectively in general a “tool” or “tools”) including drill bits, flow controllers, packers, plugs, sliding sleeves, related tubing, and more.","Some tools may be characterized as having complex mechanical designs, and often require remote control or actuation from the surface via wirelines, hydraulic control lines, coil tubings, and so forth.","Other methods of actuation include pressurization, which may occur by sliding a sleeve or dropping a ball in order to block or otherwise obstruct an orifice in the tool.","Downhole tools typically have multiple components constructed of steel, cast iron, aluminum, or other alloyed metals.","Additionally, or alternatively, tool components may include composite or rubber materials.","It is naturally desirable to “flow back,” i.e., from the formation to the surface, the injected fluid, or the formation fluid(s); however, this is not possible until the previously set tool or its blockage is removed.","Removal of tools (or blockage) usually requires a well-intervention service for retrieval or drill-through, which is time consuming, costly, and adds a potential risk of wellbore damage.","The more metal parts used in the tool, the longer the drill-through operation takes.","Because metallic components are harder to drill, such an operation may require additional trips into and out of the wellbore to replace worn out drill bits.","In the interest of cost-saving, materials that react under certain downhole conditions have been the subject of significant research in view of the potential offered to the oilfield industry.","For example, such an advanced material that has an ability to degrade by mere response to a change in its surrounding is desirable because no, or limited, intervention would be necessary for removal or actuation to occur.","Such a material, essentially self-actuated by changes in its surrounding (e.g., the presence a specific fluid, a change in temperature, and/or a change in pressure, etc.)","may potentially replace costly and complicated designs and may be most advantageous in situations where accessibility is limited or even considered to be impossible, which is the case in a downhole (subterranean) environment.","It is highly desirable and economically advantageous to have controls that do not rely on lengthy and costly wirelines, hydraulic control lines, or coil tubings.","Furthermore, in countless situations, a subterranean piece of equipment may need to be actuated only once, after which it may no longer present any usefulness, and may even become disadvantageous when for instance the equipment must be retrieved by risky and costly interventions.","In some instances, it may be advantageous to have a device (ball, tool, component, etc.)","made of a material (of composition of matter) characterized by properties where the device is mechanically strong (hard) under some conditions (such as at the surface or at ambient conditions), but degrades, dissolves, breaks, etc.","under specific conditions, such as in the presence of water-containing fluids like fresh water, seawater, formation fluid, additives, brines, acids and bases, or changes in pressure and/or temperature.","Thus, after a predetermined amount of time, and after the desired operation(s) is complete, the formation fluid is ultimately allowed to flow toward the surface.","It would be advantageous to configure a device (or a related activation device, such as a frac ball, or other component(s)) to utilize materials that alleviate or reduce the need for an intervention service.","This would save a considerable amount of time and expense.","Therefore, there is a need in the art for tools, devices, components, etc.","to be of a nature that does not involve or otherwise require a drill-through process.","Environmental- or bio-friendly materials are further desirous.","The ability to save operational time (and those saving operational costs) leads to considerable competition in the marketplace.","Achieving any ability to save time, or ultimately cost, leads to an immediate competitive advantage.","SUMMARY Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a composition of matter that may include in the range of: about 100 parts by weight of a resin system; about 10-20 parts by weight of a clay; about 20-30 parts by weight of a fiber; and about 5-10 parts by weight of a glass.","The resin system may include a low viscosity cycloaliphatic epoxy resin with an anhydride curing agent.","The clay may include or be bentonite.","The clay may include or be montmorillonite.","The clay may be modified montmorillonite.","The glass may include or be glass spheres.","The composition may include at least one of organic hemp fiber, glass fiber, and combinations thereof.","The composition may include a water-soluble material.","In aspects, the water-soluble material may include or be one of a salt, a sugar, and combinations thereof.","The glass may include or be high-strength, hollow-glass spheres of an average diameter of 22 microns.","The composition may include a water-soluble fiber.","In aspects, the water-soluble fiber may include or be sodium polyacrylate.","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a device that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein.","The device may be selected from one of a downhole tool, a component of the downhole tool, and a frac ball.","The device may be made from a cured composition.","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a device for use in a downhole environment that may have (or being made from a material, including cured material, that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein.","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to an apparatus that may have (or being made from a material, including cured material, that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein.","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a downhole tool with one or more components that may have (or being made from a material, including cured material, that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein.","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a frac ball that may have (or being made from a material, including cured material, that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein.","The material may include a composition of an anhydride-based cure resin and a flexibilizer comprising clay.","The material may include a composition of an anhydride epoxy resin system and a thixotropic rheology modifier comprising clay.","The material may degrade at 0.24-17 g/hr at various temperatures.","The material may degrade within 24 hours of activation.","The clay may include a nano-clay and/or clay particles The material may include polyglycolic acid.","Any number of devices, tools, and other components may be made of materials disclosed herein.","The material may be or result in a cured material, whereby one or more of the original constituents undergo some amount of change The material may include a sugar-based epoxy.","A downhole tool made of a material of the present disclosure.","A downhole tool configured with one or more components made of a material of the present disclosure, or a cured byproduct thereof.","A device made of a material of the present disclosure, or a cured byproduct thereof.","A frac ball made of a material of the present disclosure, or a cured byproduct thereof.","A composition as disclosed herein further including a sugar-based epoxy.","The material may include a resin.","The resin may be an anhydride-cured epoxy resin material.","It may be possible to use sodium polyacrylate fiber in conjunction therewith, although any fiber that has dissolvable properties associated with it may be used.","Resins described herein may include a flexibilizer distributed therewith.","A flexibilizer may include clay(s), hygroscopic clay, nano-clay, bentonite, or any other material that is easily distributable within the resin and reduces brittleness of the resin.","Carbon nano-tubes may also add strength but promote capillary water flow through the resin matrix.","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a device that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein, or a cured byproduct thereof.","The device may be selected from the group consisting of a downhole tool, a component of the downhole tool, and a frac ball.","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a device for use in a downhole environment that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein, or a cured byproduct thereof.","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to an apparatus that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein, or a cured byproduct thereof.","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a downhole tool with one or more components that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein, or a cured byproduct thereof.","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a frac ball that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein, or a cured byproduct thereof.","These and other embodiments, features and advantages will be apparent in the following detailed description and drawings.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a more detailed description of the present disclosure, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG.","1 is a side view of a process diagram of a conventional plugging system; FIG.","2A shows an isometric view of a system having a downhole tool, according to embodiments of the disclosure; FIG.","2B shows an isometric view of the downhole tool of FIG.","2A positioned within a tubular, according to embodiments of the disclosure; FIG.","2C shows a side longitudinal view of a downhole tool according to embodiments of the disclosure; FIG.","2D shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a downhole tool according to embodiments of the disclosure; FIG.","2E shows an isometric component break-out view of a downhole tool according to embodiments of the disclosure; FIG.","3A shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a downhole tool with a hybrid sleeve according to embodiments of the disclosure; FIG.","3B shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the tool of FIG.","3A with a dissolved sleeve insert according to embodiments of the disclosure; FIG.","3C shows an isometric component breakout view of a downhole tool with a hybrid sleeve according to embodiments of the disclosure; and FIG.","3D shows an isometric component breakout view of a system using a downhole tool with a hybrid sleeve according to embodiments of the disclosure.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION Herein disclosed are novel compositions of matter useable with apparatuses, systems, and methods that pertain to downhole tools for wellbore operations, details of which are described herein.","Embodiments herein may pertain to a downhole tool suitable for use in a wellbore that may include a mandrel sleeve; and a sleeve insert disposed within the mandrel sleeve.","The tool may have a first slip disposed about the mandrel sleeve.","There may be a second slip disposed about the mandrel sleeve.","The second slip may be proximate to a conical surface.","There may be a lower sleeve engaged with the second slip.","The mandrel sleeve may include a set of threads.","At least one of the first slip and the second slip may have a one-piece configuration with at least partial connectivity around the entirety of a circular slip body.","Either of the slips may be made of a composite material.","Either of the slips may be made of metal.","Either of the slips may be surface hardened.","The downhole tool may include a seal element.","The tool may include a composite member disposed about the mandrel.","The composite member may be in engagement with the seal element.","The composite member may be made of a first material and comprises a first portion and a second portion.","The first material may be a composite material, such as filament wound material.","The first portion may be a deformable portion.","The second portion may be a resilient portion.","The tool may include a seal element positioned on the mandrel sleeve and in between a first cone and a second cone.","The first cone may be proximate to the first slip, and/or the second cone may be proximate to the second slip.","There may be a bearing plate disposed around the mandrel sleeve.","In aspects, the set of threads may be one of shear threads and rounded threads.","In aspects, the mandrel sleeve may be made of non-dissolvable composite material.","In aspects, the sleeve insert may be made of dissolvable material.","In other aspects, the sleeve insert may be configured to dissolve or have some other change in physical characteristic within 24 hours of setting the downhole tool.","The sleeve insert may be made of, or otherwise include, an anhydride cure resin.","Embodiments herein pertain to a downhole tool for use in a wellbore that may include a mandrel sleeve having at least one set of threads; and a sleeve insert threadingly engaged with the mandrel sleeve.","The tool may further include a first slip disposed about the mandrel, the first slip further comprising a circular slip body; a second slip disposed about the mandrel; a lower sleeve engaged with the second slip; a seal element; and a bearing plate.","Either of the slips may have a one-piece configuration with at least partial connectivity around the entirety of a respective circular slip body, and at least two grooves disposed therein.","In aspects, the sleeve insert may be made of, or otherwise include, a dissolvable resin.","The sleeve insert may be made of, or otherwise include, a resin comprising a flexibilizer.","The flexibilizer may be or otherwise include clay.","The flexibilizer may be or otherwise include nanoclay.","The flexibilizer may be or otherwise include clay particles.","The sleeve insert may be made of or otherwise include bentonite.","In aspects, the sleeve insert may be made of, or otherwise include, a dissolvable resin.","The sleeve insert may be made of, or otherwise include, a resin comprising a thixotropic rheology modifier.","The thixotropic rheology modifier may be or otherwise include clay.","Terms Composition of matter: as used herein may refer to one or more ingredients or constituents that make up a material (or material of construction).","For example, a material may have a composition of matter.","Similarly, a device may be made of a material having a composition of matter, or a cured byproduct thereof.","Degradable Material: as used herein may refer to a composition of matter (including a cured byproduct thereof) having properties and/or characteristics that, while subject to change over time and/or under certain conditions, lead to a change in the integrity of the material.","As one example, the material may initially be hard, rigid, and strong at ambient or surface conditions, but over time (such as within about 12-36 hours) and under certain conditions (such as wellbore conditions), the material softens.","Dissolvable Material: analogous to degradable material; as used herein may refer to a composition of matter (including a cured byproduct thereof) having properties and/or characteristics that, while subject to change over time and/or under certain conditions, lead to a change in the integrity of the material, including to the point of degrading, or partial or complete dissolution.","As one example, the material may initially be hard, rigid, and strong at ambient or surface conditions, but over time (such as within about 12-36 hours) and under certain conditions (such as wellbore conditions), the material softens.","As another example, the material may initially be hard, rigid, and strong at ambient or surface conditions, but over time (such as within about 12-36 hours) and under certain conditions (such as wellbore conditions), the material dissolves at least partially, and may dissolve completely.","Breakable Material: as used herein may refer to a composition of matter (including a cured byproduct thereof) having properties and/or characteristics that, while subject to change over time and/or under certain conditions, lead to brittleness.","As one example, the material may be hard, rigid, and strong at ambient or surface conditions, but over time and under certain conditions, becomes brittle.","The breakable material may experience breakage into multiple pieces, but not necessarily dissolution.","Disassociatable Material: as used herein may refer to a composition of matter (including a cured byproduct thereof) having properties and/or characteristics that, while subject to change over time and/or under certain conditions, lead to a change in the integrity of the material, including to the point of changing from a solid structure to a powdered material.","As one example, the material may initially be hard, rigid, and strong at ambient or surface conditions, but over time (such as within about 12-36 hours) and under certain conditions (such as wellbore conditions), the material changes (disassociates) to a powder.","For some embodiments, the material of construction may include a composition of matter (including a cured byproduct thereof) designed or otherwise having the inherent characteristic to change integrity or other physical attribute when exposed to certain wellbore conditions, such as a change in time, temperature, water, heat, pressure, solution, combinations thereof, etc.","Heat may be present due to the temperature increase attributed to the natural temperature gradient of the earth, and water may already be present in existing wellbore fluids.","The change in integrity may occur in a predetermined time period, which may vary from several minutes to several weeks.","In aspects, the time period may be about 12 to about 36 hours.","In some embodiments, the material may degrade to the point of ‘mush’ or disassociate to a powder, while in other embodiments, the material may dissolve or otherwise disintegrate and be carried away by fluid flowing in the wellbore.","The temperature of the downhole fluid may affect the rate change in integrity.","The material need not form a solution when it dissolves in the aqueous phase.","For example, the material may dissolve, break, or otherwise disassociate into sufficiently small particles (i.e., a colloid), that may be removed by the fluid as it circulates in the well.","In embodiments, the material may become degradable, but not dissolvable.","In other embodiments, the material may become degradable, and subsequently dissolvable.","In still other embodiments, the material may become breakable (or brittle), but not dissolvable.","In yet other embodiments, the material may become breakable, and subsequently dissolvable.","In still yet other embodiments, the material may disassociate.","Referring now to FIGS.","2A and 2B together, isometric views of a system 200 having a downhole tool 202 illustrative of embodiments disclosed herein, are shown.","FIG.","2B depicts a wellbore 206 formed in a subterranean formation 210 with a tubular 208 disposed therein.","In an embodiment, the tubular 208 may be casing (e.g., casing, hung casing, casing string, etc.)","(which may be cemented).","A workstring 212 (which may include a part 217 of a setting tool coupled with adapter 252) may be used to position or run the downhole tool 202 into and through the wellbore 206 to a desired location.","In accordance with embodiments of the disclosure, the tool 202 may be configured as a plugging tool, which may be set within the tubular 208 in such a manner that the tool 202 forms a fluid-tight seal against the inner surface 207 of the tubular 208.In an embodiment, the downhole tool 202 may be configured as a bridge plug, whereby flow from one section of the wellbore 213 to another (e.g., above and below the tool 202) is controlled.","In other embodiments, the downhole tool 202 may be configured as a frac plug, where flow into one section 213 of the wellbore 206 may be blocked and otherwise diverted into the surrounding formation or reservoir 210.In yet other embodiments, the downhole tool 202 may also be configured as a ball-drop tool.","In this aspect, a ball may be dropped into the wellbore 206 and flowed into the tool 202 and come to rest in a corresponding ball seat at the end of the mandrel 214.The seating of the ball may provide a seal within the tool 202 resulting in a plugged condition, whereby a pressure differential across the tool 202 may result.","The ball seat may include a radius or curvature.","In other embodiments, the downhole tool 202 may be a ball-check plug, whereby the tool 202 is configured with a ball already in place when the tool 202 runs into the wellbore.","The tool 202 may then act as a check valve, and provide one-way flow capability.","Fluid may be directed from the wellbore 206 to the formation with any of these configurations.","Once the tool 202 reaches the set position within the tubular, the setting mechanism or workstring 212 may be detached from the tool 202 by various methods, resulting in the tool 202 left in the surrounding tubular and one or more sections of the wellbore isolated.","In an embodiment, once the tool 202 is set, tension may be applied to the adapter 252 until the threaded connection between the adapter 252 and the mandrel 214 is broken.","For example, the mating threads on the adapter 252 and the mandrel 214 (256 and 216, respectively as shown in FIG.","2D) may be designed to shear, and thus may be pulled and sheared accordingly in a manner known in the art.","The amount of load applied to the adapter 252 may be in the range of about, for example, 20,000 to 40,000 pounds force.","In other applications, the load may be in the range of less than about 10,000 pounds force.","Accordingly, the adapter 252 may separate or detach from the mandrel 214, resulting in the workstring 212 being able to separate from the tool 202, which may be at a predetermined moment.","The loads provided herein are non-limiting and are merely exemplary.","The setting force may be determined by specifically designing the interacting surfaces of the tool and the respective tool surface angles.","The tool 202 may also be configured with a predetermined failure point (not shown) configured to fail or break.","For example, the failure point may break at a predetermined axial force greater than the force required to set the tool but less than the force required to part the body of the tool.","Operation of the downhole tool 202 may allow for fast run in of the tool 202 to isolate one or more sections of the wellbore 206, as well as quick and simple drill-through to destroy or remove the tool 202.Drill-through of the tool 202 may be facilitated by components and sub-components of tool 202 made of drillable material that is less damaging to a drill bit than those found in conventional plugs.","In an embodiment, the downhole tool 202 and/or its components may be a drillable tool made from drillable composite material(s), such as glass fiber/epoxy, carbon fiber/epoxy, glass fiber/PEEK, carbon fiber/PEEK, etc.","Other resins may include phenolic, polyamidic, etc.","All mating surfaces of the downhole tool 202 may be configured with an angle, such that corresponding components may be placed under compression instead of shear.","Referring now to FIGS.","2C-2E together, a longitudinal view, a longitudinal cross-sectional view, and an isometric component break-out view, respectively, of downhole tool 202 useable with system (200, FIG.","2A) and illustrative of embodiments disclosed herein, are shown.","The downhole tool 202 may include a mandrel 214 that extends through the tool (or tool body) 202.The mandrel 214 may be a solid body.","In other aspects, the mandrel 214 may include a flowpath or bore 250 formed therein (e.g., an axial bore).","The bore 250 may extend partially or for a short distance through the mandrel 214, as shown in FIG.","2E.","Alternatively, the bore 250 may extend through the entire mandrel 214, with an opening at its proximate end 248 and oppositely at its distal end 246 (near downhole end of the tool 202), as illustrated by FIG.","2D.","The presence of the bore 250 or other flowpath through the mandrel 214 may indirectly be dictated by operating conditions.","That is, in most instances the tool 202 may be large enough in diameter (e.g., 4-¾ inches) that the bore 250 may be correspondingly large enough (e.g., 1-¼ inches) so that debris and junk can pass or flow through the bore 250 without plugging concerns.","However, with the use of a smaller diameter tool 202, the size of the bore 250 may need to be correspondingly smaller, which may result in the tool 202 being prone to plugging.","Accordingly, the mandrel may be made solid to alleviate the potential of plugging within the tool 202.With the presence of the bore 250, the mandrel 214 may have an inner bore surface 247, which may include one or more threaded surfaces formed thereon.","As such, there may be a first set of threads 216 configured for coupling the mandrel 214 with corresponding threads 256 of a setting adapter 252.The coupling of the threads, which may be shear threads, may facilitate detachable connection of the tool 202 and the setting adapter 252 and/or workstring (212, FIG.","2B) at the threads.","It is within the scope of the disclosure that the tool 202 may also have one or more predetermined failure points (not shown) configured to fail or break separately from any threaded connection.","The failure point may fail or shear at a predetermined axial force greater than the force required to set the tool 202.The adapter 252 may include a stud 253 configured with the threads 256 thereon.","In an embodiment, the stud 253 has external (male) threads 256 and the mandrel 214 has internal (female) threads; however, type or configuration of threads is not meant to be limited, and could be, for example, a vice versa female-male connection, respectively.","The downhole tool 202 may be run into wellbore (206, FIG.","2A) to a desired depth or position by way of the workstring (212, FIG.","2A) that may be configured with the setting device or mechanism.","The workstring 212 and setting sleeve 254 may be part of the plugging tool system 200 utilized to run the downhole tool 202 into the wellbore, and activate the tool 202 to move from an unset to set position.","The set position may include seal element 222 and/or slips 234, 242 engaged with the tubular (208, FIG.","2B).","In an embodiment, the setting sleeve 254 (that may be configured as part of the setting mechanism or workstring) may be utilized to force or urge compression of the seal element 222, as well as swelling of the seal element 222 into sealing engagement with the surrounding tubular.","The setting device(s) and components of the downhole tool 202 may be coupled with, and axially and/or longitudinally movable along mandrel 214.When the setting sequence begins, the mandrel 214 may be pulled into tension while the setting sleeve 254 remains stationary.","The lower sleeve 260 may be pulled as well because of its attachment to the mandrel 214 by virtue of the coupling of threads 218 and threads 262.As shown in the embodiment of FIGS.","2C and 2D, the lower sleeve 260 and the mandrel 214 may have matched or aligned holes 281A and 281B, respectively, whereby one or more anchor pins 211 or the like may be disposed or securely positioned therein.","In embodiments, brass set screws may be used.","Pins (or screws, etc.)","211 may prevent shearing or spin-off during drilling or run-in.","As the lower sleeve 260 is pulled in the direction of Arrow A, the components disposed about mandrel 214 between the lower sleeve 260 and the setting sleeve 254 may begin to compress against one another.","This force and resultant movement causes compression and expansion of seal element 222.The lower sleeve 260 may also have an angled sleeve end 263 in engagement with the slip 234, and as the lower sleeve 260 is pulled further in the direction of Arrow A, the end 263 compresses against the slip 234.As a result, slip(s) 234 may move along a tapered or angled surface 228 of a composite member 220, and eventually radially outward into engagement with the surrounding tubular (208, FIG.","2B).","Serrated outer surfaces or teeth 298 of the slip(s) 234 may be configured such that the surfaces 298 prevent the slip 234 (or tool) from moving (e.g., axially or longitudinally) within the surrounding tubular, whereas otherwise the tool 202 may inadvertently release or move from its position.","Although slip 234 is illustrated with teeth 298, it is within the scope of the disclosure that slip 234 may be configured with other gripping features, such as buttons or inserts.","Initially, the seal element 222 may swell into contact with the tubular, followed by further tension in the tool 202 that may result in the seal element 222 and composite member 220 being compressed together, such that surface 289 acts on the interior surface 288.The ability to “flower,” unwind, and/or expand may allow the composite member 220 to extend completely into engagement with the inner surface of the surrounding tubular.","Additional tension or load may be applied to the tool 202 that results in movement of cone 236, which may be disposed around the mandrel 214 in a manner with at least one surface 237 angled (or sloped, tapered, etc.)","inwardly of second slip 242.The second slip 242 may reside adjacent or proximate to collar or cone 236.As such, the seal element 222 forces the cone 236 against the slip 242, moving the slip 242 radially outwardly into contact or gripping engagement with the tubular.","Accordingly, the one or more slips 234, 242 may be urged radially outward and into engagement with the tubular (208, FIG.","2B).","In an embodiment, cone 236 may be slidingly engaged and disposed around the mandrel 214.As shown, the first slip 234 may be at or near distal end 246, and the second slip 242 may be disposed around the mandrel 214 at or near the proximate end 248.It is within the scope of the disclosure that the position of the slips 234 and 242 may be interchanged.","Moreover, slip 234 may be interchanged with a slip comparable to slip 242, and vice versa.","Because the sleeve 254 is held rigidly in place, the sleeve 254 may engage against a bearing plate 283 that may result in the transfer load through the rest of the tool 202.The setting sleeve 254 may have a sleeve end 255 that abuts against the bearing plate end 284.As tension increases through the tool 202, an end of the cone 236, such as second end 240, compresses against slip 242, which may be held in place by the bearing plate 283.As a result of cone 236 having freedom of movement and its conical surface 237, the cone 236 may move to the underside beneath the slip 242, forcing the slip 242 outward and into engagement with the surrounding tubular (208, FIG.","2B).","The second slip 242 may include one or more, gripping elements, such as buttons or inserts 278, which may be configured to provide additional grip with the tubular.","The inserts 278 may have an edge or corner 279 suitable to provide additional bite into the tubular surface.","In an embodiment, the inserts 278 may be mild steel, such as 1018 heat treated steel.","The use of mild steel may result in reduced or eliminated casing damage from slip engagement and reduced drill string and equipment damage from abrasion.","In an embodiment, slip 242 may be a one-piece slip, whereby the slip 242 has at least partial connectivity across its entire circumference.","Meaning, while the slip 242 itself may have one or more grooves (or notches, undulations, etc.)","244 configured therein, the slip 242 itself has no initial circumferential separation point.","In an embodiment, the grooves 244 may be equidistantly spaced or disposed in the second slip 242.In other embodiments, the grooves 244 may have an alternatingly arranged configuration.","That is, one groove 244A may be proximate to slip end 241, the next groove 244B may be proximate to an opposite slip end 243, and so forth.","The tool 202 may be configured with ball-plug, check-valve assembly that includes a ball seat 286.The assembly may be removably or integrally formed therein.","In an embodiment, the bore 250 of the mandrel 214 may be configured with the ball seat 286 formed or removably disposed therein.","In some embodiments, the ball seat 286 may be integrally formed within the bore 250 of the mandrel 214.In other embodiments, the ball seat 286 may be separately or optionally installed within the mandrel 214, as may be desired.","The ball seat 286 may be configured in a manner so that a ball 285 seats or rests therein, whereby the flowpath through the mandrel 214 may be closed off (e.g., flow through the bore 250 is restricted or controlled by the presence of the ball 285).","For example, fluid flow from one direction may urge and hold the ball 285 against the seat 286, whereas fluid flow from the opposite direction may urge the ball 285 off or away from the seat 286.As such, the ball 285 and the check valve assembly may be used to prevent or otherwise control fluid flow through the tool 202.The ball 285 may be conventionally made of a composite material, phenolic resin, etc., whereby the ball 285 may be capable of holding maximum pressures experienced during downhole operations (e.g., fracing).","By utilization of retainer pin 287, the ball 285 and ball seat 286 may be configured as a retained ball plug.","As such, the ball 285 may be adapted to serve as a check valve by sealing pressure from one direction, but allowing fluids to pass in the opposite direction.","The tool 202 may be configured as a drop-ball plug, such that a drop ball may be flowed to a drop ball seat 259.The drop ball may be much larger diameter than the ball of the ball check.","In an embodiment, end 248 may be configured with a drop ball seat surface 259 such that the drop ball may come to rest and seat at in the seat proximate end 248.As applicable, the drop ball (not shown here) may be lowered into the wellbore (206, FIG.","2A) and flowed toward the drop ball seat 259 formed within the tool 202.The ball seat may be formed with a radius 259A (i.e., circumferential rounded edge or surface).","In other aspects, the tool 202 may be configured as a bridge plug, which once set in the wellbore, may prevent or allow flow in either direction (e.g., upwardly/downwardly, etc.)","through tool 202.Accordingly, it should be apparent to one of skill in the art that the tool 202 of the present disclosure may be configurable as a frac plug, a drop ball plug, bridge plug, etc.","simply by utilizing one of a plurality of adapters or other optional components.","In any configuration, once the tool 202 is properly set, fluid pressure may be increased in the wellbore, such that further downhole operations, such as fracture in a target zone, may commence.","The tool 202 may include an anti-rotation assembly that includes an anti-rotation device or mechanism 282, which may be a spring, a mechanically spring-energized composite tubular member, and so forth.","The device 282 may be configured and usable for the prevention of undesired or inadvertent movement or unwinding of the tool 202 components.","As shown, the device 282 may reside in cavity 294 of the sleeve (or housing) 254.During assembly, the device 282 may be held in place with the use of a lock ring 296.In other aspects, pins may be used to hold the device 282 in place.","FIG.","2D shows the lock ring 296 may be disposed around a part 217 of a setting tool coupled with the workstring 212.The lock ring 296 may be securely held in place with screws inserted through the sleeve 254.The lock ring 296 may include a guide hole or groove 295, whereby an end 282A of the device 282 may slidingly engage therewith.","Protrusions or dogs 295A may be configured such that during assembly, the mandrel 214 and respective tool components may ratchet and rotate in one direction against the device 282; however, the engagement of the protrusions 295A with device end 282B may prevent back-up or loosening in the opposite direction.","The anti-rotation mechanism may provide additional safety for the tool and operators in the sense that it may help prevent inoperability of tool in situations where the tool is inadvertently used in the wrong application.","For example, if the tool is used in the wrong temperature application, components of the tool may be prone to melt, whereby the device 282 and lock ring 296 may aid in keeping the rest of the tool together.","As such, the device 282 may prevent tool components from loosening and/or unscrewing, as well as prevent tool 202 unscrewing or falling off the workstring 212.Drill-through of the tool 202 may be facilitated by the fact that the mandrel 214, the slips 234, 242, the cone(s) 236, the composite member 220, etc.","may be made of drillable material that is less damaging to a drill bit than those found in conventional plugs.","The drill bit will continue to move through the tool 202 until the downhole slip 234 and/or 242 are drilled sufficiently that such slip loses its engagement with the well bore.","When that occurs, the remainder of the tools, which generally would include lower sleeve 260 and any portion of mandrel 214 within the lower sleeve 260 falls into the well.","If additional tool(s) 202 exist in the well bore beneath the tool 202 that is being drilled through, then the falling away portion will rest atop the tool 202 located further in the well bore and will be drilled through in connection with the drill through operations related to the tool 202 located further in the well bore.","Accordingly, the tool 202 may be sufficiently removed, which may result in opening the tubular 208.Accordingly, components of tool 202 may be made of non-dissolvable materials (e.g., materials suitable for and are known to withstand downhole environments [including extreme pressure, temperature, fluid properties, etc.]","for an extended period of time (predetermined or otherwise) as may be desired).","Just the same, one or more components of a tool of embodiments disclosed herein may be made of dissolvable materials (e.g., materials suitable for and are known to dissolve in downhole environments [including extreme pressure, temperature, fluid properties, etc.]","after a brief or limited period of time (predetermined or otherwise) as may be desired).","In an embodiment, a component made of a dissolvable material may begin to dissolve within about 3 to about 48 hours after setting of the downhole tool 202.In other embodiments, components may be made of a material that may have brittle characteristics under certain conditions.","In yet other embodiments, components may be made of a material that may have disassociatable characteristics under certain conditions.","One of skill in the art would appreciate that the material may be the same material and have the same composition, but that the physical characteristic of the material may change, and thus depend on variables such as curing procedures or downhole conditions.","The material (including a cured byproduct thereof) may be or include a resin.","The resin may be an anhydride-cured epoxy material.","It may be possible to use sodium polyacrylate fiber in conjunction therewith, although any fiber that has dissolvable properties associated with it Some resins may be too brittle (or have too low Tg) for certain downhole conditions.","Accordingly, resins described herein may include a flexibilizer distributed therewith.","A flexibilizer may include clay(s), hygroscopic clay, nanoclay, bentonite, or any other material that is easily distributable within the resin and reduces brittleness of the resin.","Carbon nano-tubes may also add strength but promote capillary water flow through the resin matrix.","Of note, smectic clay minerals, including montmorillonite and bentonite, are known to have dramatic shrink-swell capacity.","Bentonite is known to have super high affinity for water, which may provide a synergistic effect.","That is, bentonite may reduce the brittleness of the tool component, but at the same time induce an additional fracture stress to the tool component so that it dissolves more readily (as upon exposure to water, the volume of the bentonite within the tool component may expand up to about approximately 8× from its original state).","Embodiments herein provide for one or more components of a downhole tool (or other downhole devices) to be made of a material of construction that may include a composition of matter (including a cured byproduct thereof) designed or otherwise having the inherent characteristic to change integrity or other physical attribute when exposed to certain wellbore conditions, such as a change in time, temperature, water, heat, pressure, solution, combinations thereof, etc.","Heat may be present due to the temperature increase attributed to the natural temperature gradient of the earth, and water may already be present in the existing wellbore fluids.","The change in integrity may occur in a predetermined time period, which may vary from several minutes to several weeks.","In some embodiments, the material may degrade to the point of ‘mush,’ while in other embodiments, the material may dissolve or otherwise disintegrate and be carried away by fluid flowing in the wellbore.","The material may disassociate in some embodiments.","The temperature of the downhole fluid may affect the rate change in integrity.","The material need not form a solution when it dissolves in the aqueous phase.","For example, the material may dissolve, break, or otherwise disassociate into sufficiently small particles (i.e., a colloid), that may be removed by the fluid as it circulates in the well.","In embodiments, the material may become degradable, but not dissolvable.","In other embodiments, the material may become degradable, and subsequently dissolvable.","In still other embodiments, the material may become breakable (or brittle), but not dissolvable.","In yet other embodiments, the material may become breakable, and subsequently dissolvable.","In accordance with the disclosure, any unlimited number of devices, apparatuses, tools, etc.","may utilize one or more components made of a material having a composition of matter according to embodiments herein.","One such device may be a “frac ball” or “drop ball”.","As such, for some embodiments there may be a frac ball constructed of a material described herein.","A downhole tool may also be configured with a “ball in place” (caged ball, etc.)","that is similarly construct of a material described herein.","In an operation utilizing one or more components made of a material of embodiments of the disclosure, the material may be differentiated in a manner that leads to different rates in physical change.","The frac ball of the present disclosure may be constructed of a suitable water-soluble material so that after a predetermined amount of time (presumably after the fracing is done), the frac ball may degrade or otherwise undergo physical change to provide an unobstructed flow path through a tool whereby production fluid may flow to surface.","Conventionally, downhole dissolvables fall into two groups: 1) a dissolving thermoplastic with a characteristic of hotter temperature, faster dissolve rate; and 2) dissolving metals, typically alloy-based often with other trace metals with a characteristic of being very expensive and cost prohibitive.","The examples to follow illustrate innovation around the prior art and conventional groups of dissolvables.","For example, embodiments herein provide for use of constituents that in their own form do not dissolve, e.g., a clay material will ‘swell’ and/or somewhat solidify.","Other constituents add differing performance characteristics.","A soluble fiber(s), for example, may provide a ‘pathway’ (s) (in various, including random, direction) for fluid to flow therethrough and more readily attack other constituents.","Thus, it has been discovered that a dissolving fiber is beneficial (over dissolving powder) because in forming the component or device, ‘pathways’ are formed.","The pathways remain once the fiber dissolves, and allows fluid to much more readily move into surrounding contact with the other constituents.","It has been further discovered that upon curing of the initial constituents, the material may be characterized as being dissolvable, disassociatable, degradable, and/or breakable, depending upon the composition, curing process, and/or depending upon the surrounding activation conditions Percentages of constituents and length of fibers can be optimized to yield a desired physical characteristic known to occur in certain conditions.","Care is needed to avoid temperature conditions that avoid ‘swelling’ the clay and closing of the pathways.","Accordingly, embodiments herein provide for a material that may include four primary constituents: 1) a matrix or adhesive; 2) a plasticizer or thickener; 3) strengthener; and 4) a soluble medium.","The matrix (or the adhesive) may be the resin or resin system.","Among other things the matrix acts to combine and hold other constituents thereto.","The resin may be an epoxy based resin system.","In aspects, the resin system may be an epoxy resin with an anhydride hardener.","The matrix may be an anhydride epoxy, or an epoxy resin hardened with an anhydride, like that of U.S. Pat.","No.","5,629,379, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.","The plasticizer (or thickener) is suitable to ‘thicken’ the resin.","The resin may be that which has a low viscosity, whereby other constituents may not be able to properly distribute uniformly therein.","The plasticizer helps in uniform distribution of constituents.","The plasticizer may be clay-based, including montmorillonite or modified montmorillonite (such as CLAYTONE APA.","The strengthener may be suitable to increase mechanical properties of the material.","In aspects, it may be desirable to want high compressive strength.","An example strengthener includes glass bubbles.","The glass does not increase tensile strength, but may increase plasticity—thus dramatically increasing compressive strength of, for example, a frac ball.","Normally, a frac ball is brittle, as the compressive strength is not very high.","Glass (e.g., glass microspheres) may be added.","If not added, the resulting material may not have high compressive strength.","The soluble medium is suitable to provide pathways within the cured material.","Once the material is subjected to its activation environment, the medium dissolves, and the surrounding fluid can easily and readily infiltrate and reach other constituents via the pathways.","The resultant cured material has a synergistic benefit of having a specific gravity of close to one, which of significance is substantially equivalent to most wellbore fluids (which are often predominantly water).","Accordingly, the material may be naturally buoyant in the presence of frac fluid, whereby the material may be readily flowed back.","This may be the case whether the material is in its original state, such as a solid frac ball, or the material has undergone a physical/chemical change (e.g., solid to dissolved).","In some aspects, it may be preferable or desired to flow back a ball.","In other aspects, it is undesirable to flow a ball back, and instead preferred to keep materials downhole.","Embodiments herein provide for the ability to form a composition useable as a material for a device that can be customized for a specific customer need (e.g., material that is readily flowed back; or material that is not readily flowed back).","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a composition of matter prior to curing that may include in the range of: about 100 parts by weight of an epoxy resin with an anhydride curing agent; about 10-20 parts by weight of a clay; about 20-30 parts by weight of a fiber; and about 5-10 parts by weight of a glass.","Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a composition of matter prior to curing that may be: a.","100 parts by weight of an epoxy resin with an anhydride curing agent; b. about 10-20 parts by weight of a clay; c. about 20-30 parts by weight of a fiber; and d. about 5-10 parts by weight of a glass.","One of skill in the art would appreciate subjecting a material having a composition of matter in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure to a curing process.","The physical properties of the resultant cured material may dependent in a manner of significance to the selected constituents and/or curing process.","The curing process may include two aspects, first pertaining to a curing device, such as an oven, and secondly pertaining to what happens to the material in the oven, with the latter being dependent on the form.","Because of the insulating properties of the material, there may be ‘soak’ (i.e., a held temperature) for a period of time to ensure the core reaches desired temp.","The constituents may be mixed together in a powered mixer of suitable HP and volume.","The mixed material may then be transferred into a mold suitable for the curing process.","The mold may be the shape of the desired cured-material device.","For example, the mold may be spherical in shape to produce a spherical ball.","Just the same, the mold may produce a resultant product that may then be subjected to a finishing process such as grinding or machining in order to produce the desired cured-material device.","The curing process may include operating a curing device to start within an initial curing temperature in the range of about 70° F. to about 100° F. The material may then be placed therein, and the device closed in a manner to maintain heat.","The curing device may then be heated a ramp up rate of about 0.2-2° F./min to a temperature in the range of about 120° F. to about 200° F. The device may be held at a temperature of 120° F. to about 200° F. for a predetermined amount of soak time of about 30 minutes to about 120 minutes.","The curing device may then be heated a ramp up rate of about 0.2-2° F./min to a temperature in the range of about 160° F. to about 250° F. The curing device may then be heated a ramp up rate of about 1-4° F./min to a temperature in the range of about 250° F. to about 350° F. The device may be held at a temperature of 250° F. to about 350° F. for a predetermined amount of soak time of about 30 minutes to about 120 minutes.","The curing device may then be ramped down at a rate of about 0.2-2° F./min to a temperature in the range of about 70° F. to about 100° F. The forgoing curing process operation may yield a material that experiences a starting material temperature in the range of about 70° F. to about 100° F. The material experiences a temperature ramp up 12-120° F./hr to a temperature in the range of about 300° F. to about 400° F. The material may have a higher material temperature than the curing device as a result of a thermal reaction from the activity of the selected constituents.","The device may be operated to hold the material at a material temperature of about 300° F. to about 400° F. for a predetermined amount of time in the range of about 30 minutes to about 120 minutes.","The material may then have its temperature ramped down at a rate of 12-120° F./hr to a temperature in the range of about 70° F. to about 100° F. MATERIAL OF CONSTRUCTION—COMPOSITION—EXAMPLE 1 The composition prior to curing of Example 1 may include a base epoxy system that comprises an epoxy resin with an anhydride curing agent (100 parts by wt.).","The base resin system may be desirably prone to break down in high temp/high pressure water.","The composition may include about 10 to about 20 parts modified montmorillonite clay.","The composition may include about 5-10 parts by weight high-strength (8 ksi collapse), glass spheres.","The spheres may be hollow.","The spheres may have a diameter of about 1 to about 1000 microns.","The spheres may have an average diameter of about 15 to about 25 microns.","The composition may include a water-soluble fiber, such as sodium polyacrylate.","The material of the present disclosure may include a composition of matter that includes one or more of an epoxy resin with an anhydride curing agent; a clay; a water-soluble fiber; and a glass.","Accordingly, embodiments of the disclosure pertain to the composition having a clay comprises modified montmorillonite, and glass that includes high-strength, hollow-glass microspheres.","In aspects, the clay may include or be modified montmorillonite; and/or the glass may include or be high-strength hollow glass microspheres.","The composition may include a water-soluble material.","In aspects, the water-soluble material may include or be sodium polyacrylate.","The resin system may be an anhydride-cured epoxy material.","The composition is subjected to curing in order to yield a finalized (i.e., cured) product.","A device of the disclosure may be formed during the curing process, or subsequently thereafter.","The composition may be cured with a curing process of the present disclosure.","COMPOSITION—EXAMPLE 2 The composition prior to curing of Example 2 may include a base resin system that comprises an epoxy with an anhydride-based curing agent (˜100 parts by wt.).","The base resin system may be desirably prone to break down in high temp/high pressure water.","The composition may include about 0 to about 30 parts of a clay-based material.","The composition may include about 25 to about 30 parts by weight desiccated bentonite (swelling clay).","The composition may include about 5 to about 10 parts Montmorillonite (non-swelling/water-conducting) clay.","The composition may include about 0 to about 10 parts by weight of a glass material.","In aspects, the glass material may be glass microspheres, typically being between 1 and 1000 micrometers in diameter.","In aspects, the glass material may be a low-pressure (˜800 psi collapse) hollow glass nanospheres.","The composition may include an organic fiber (such as hemp or comparable) or glass fiber.","The composition may include a small or trace amount (by weight) of a water-soluble material, such as salt or sugar (or both).","The presence of the water-soluble material may contribute to the material being ‘mushy’ (in contrast to brittle) under certain conditions.","The material of the present disclosure may include a composition of matter that includes one or more of an epoxy with an anhydride-based hardener; a swelling clay; a non-swelling clay; and a glass.","Accordingly, embodiments of the disclosure pertain to the composition that may have swelling clay that includes bentonite, non-swelling clay that includes montmorillonite, and glass that includes glass spheres.","In aspects, the swelling clay may include or be bentonite; the non-swelling clay may include or be montmorillonite; and/or the glass may include or be low pressure hollow glass nanospheres.","The composition may include at least one of organic hemp fiber, glass fiber, and combinations thereof.","The composition may include a water-soluble material.","In aspects, the water-soluble material may include or be one of a salt, a sugar, and combinations thereof.","The resin system may be made from or include polyglycolic acid (PGA).","The resin system may be an anhydride-cured epoxy material.","The resin system may be cast or molded pure resin or may be reinforced with short chopped glass, carbon or natural fiber hemp, canvas or silk.","It may be possible to use PGA fiber in conjunction therewith, although any resin that may have dissolvable properties associated therewith may be used.","Some resins may be too brittle (or have too low Tg) for certain downhole conditions.","Accordingly, resins described herein may include a flexibilizer distributed therewith.","A flexibilizer may include clay(s), hygroscopic clay, nanoclay, bentonite, or any other material that is easily distributable within the resin and reduces brittleness of the resin.","Carbon nano-tubes may also add strength but promote capillary water flow through the resin matrix.","The composition is subjected to curing in order to yield a finalized product.","A device of the disclosure may be formed during the curing process, or subsequently thereafter.","The composition may be cured with a curing process of the present disclosure.","EXAMPLE 3 The composition of Example 3 prior to curing may include about 100 parts by weight base resin system that comprises an epoxy with a curing agent (or ‘hardener’).","The base resin may be desirably prone to break down in a high temp and/or high pressure aqueous environment.","The epoxy may be a cycloaliphatic epoxy resin with a low viscosity and a high glass transition temperature.","The epoxy may be characterized by having high adhesability with fibers.","As an example, the epoxy may be 3,4-epoxycyclohexylmethyl-3′,4′-epoxycyclohexane-carboxylate.","The hardener may be an anhydride, i.e., anhydride-based.","For example, the curing agent may be a methyl carboxylic, such as methyl-5-norborene-2, 3-dicarboxylic anhydride.","The hardener may include, and be pre-catalyzed with, an accelerator.","The accelerator may be imidazole-based.","The accelerator may help in saving or reducing the curing time.","The ratio of epoxy to curing agent may be in the range of about 0.5 to about 1.5.In more particular aspects, the ratio may be about 0.9 to about 1.0.Processing conditions of the base resin system may include multiple stages of curing.","The composition may include an additive comprising a clay.","The additive may be a solid in granular or powder form.","The additive may be about 0 to about 30 parts by weight of the composition of a montmorillonite-based clay.","In aspects, the clay may be about 0 to about 20 parts by weight of the composition.","The additive may be an organophilic clay.","An example of a suitable clay additive may be CLAYTONE® APA by BYK Additives, Inc.","The composition may include a glass, such as glass bubbles or spheres (including microspheres and/or nanospheres).","The glass may be about 0 to about 20 parts by weight of the composition.","In aspects, the glass may be about 5 to about 15 parts by weight of the composition.","An example of a suitable glass may be 3M Glass Bubbles 342XHS by 3M.","The composition may include a fiber.","The fiber may be organic.","The fiber may be a water-soluble fiber.","The fiber may be in the range of about 0 to about 30 parts by weight of the composition.","In aspects, the fiber may be in the range of about 15 to about 25 parts by weight.","The fiber may be made of a sodium polyacrylate-based material.","The fiber may resemble a thread or string shape.","In aspects, the fiber may have a fiber length in the range of about 0.1 mm to about 2 mm.","The fiber length may be in the range of about 0.5 mm to about 1 mm.","The fiber length may be in the range of substantially 0 mm to about 6 mm.","The fiber may be a soluble fiber like EVANESCE™ water soluble fiber from Technical Absorbents Ltd.","The composition is subjected to curing in order to yield a finalized product.","A device of the disclosure may be formed during the curing process, or subsequently thereafter.","The composition may be cured with a curing process of the present disclosure.","EXAMPLE 4 The composition of Example 4 may be characterized as a material that includes a polyester and aluminosilicate clay.","The composition may include an ester-based component, a base resin, and an additive characterized by the ability to become acidic in an aqueous environment.","The additive may be Halloysite like that provided by Applied Materials, which may be in the form of a nano-tube.","The nano-tube may be made by rolling a sheet of aluminosilicate clay.","The additive may become acidic in aqueous environments and suitable to attack plastic, especially thermoplastics having ester groups, like polyethylene terephthalate (PET).","The additive may increase the strength of the material.","The additive may be suitable for aggressively attacking polyester in aqueous environments.","Halloysite may be characterized as an aluminosilicate mineral with the same chemistry as kaolinite but instead of the flatsheets typical of kaolinite, the sheets having been rolled up into tubes by a natural hydrothermal process.","The composition may include a modified Halloysite/PLLA (poly (L-lactic acid)/glass fiber.","The composition is subjected to curing in order to yield a finalized product.","A device of the disclosure may be formed during the curing process, or subsequently thereafter.","The composition may be cured with a curing process of the present disclosure.","Referring now to FIGS.","3A and 3B together, a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a downhole tool with a hybrid sleeve, in accordance with embodiments disclosed herein, are shown.","Downhole tool 2102 may be run, set, and operated as described herein and in other embodiments (such as in System 200), and as otherwise understood to one of skill in the art.","Components of the downhole tool 2102 may be arranged and disposed about a mandrel or mandrel sleeve 2114, as described herein and in other embodiments, and as otherwise understood to one of skill in the art.","Thus, downhole tool 2102 may be comparable or identical in aspects, function, operation, components, etc.","as that of other tool embodiments, and redundant discussion is limited for sake of brevity.","On occasion, it may be necessary or otherwise desired to produce a fluid from the formation while leaving a set plug in place.","However, an inner diameter (ID) of a bore (e.g., 250, FIG.","2D) in a mandrel (214) may be too narrow to effectively and efficiently produce the fluid—thus in embodiments it may be desirous to have an oversized ID 2131 through the tool 2102.The ID of the bore is normally adequate to allow drop balls to pass therethrough, but may be inadequate for production.","In order to produce desired fluid flow, it often becomes necessary to drill out a set tool—this requires a stop in operations, rig time, drill time, and related operator and equipment costs.","On the other hand, the presence of the oversized ID 2131 of bore 2151, and thus a larger cross-sectional area as compared to bore 2150, provides effective and efficient production capability through the tool 2102 without the need to resort to drilling of the tool.","However, a reduced wall thickness 2127 of mandrel sleeve 2114 may be problematic to the characteristics of the tool 2102, especially during the setting sequence.","Accordingly, a sleeve insert (or liner, reinforcing member, etc.)","2153 may be used to provide an effective wall thickness of the mandrel 2114 during the run-in and setting sequence comparable to other embodiments disclosed herein.","Referring briefly to FIGS.","3C and 3D together, an isometric component breakout view of a downhole tool with a hybrid sleeve according to embodiments of the disclosure, and an isometric component breakout view of a system using a downhole tool with a hybrid sleeve, respectively, in accordance with embodiments disclosed herein, are shown.","FIG.","3D depicts a wellbore 2106 formed in a subterranean formation (210) with a tubular 2108 disposed therein.","A workstring 2112 (which may include a part 2117 of a setting tool coupled with adapter 2152) may be used to position or run the downhole tool 2102 into and through the wellbore 2106 to a desired location.","In accordance with embodiments of the disclosure, the tool 2102 may be configured as a plugging tool, which may be set within the tubular 2108 in such a manner that the tool 2102 forms a fluid-tight seal against the inner surface 2107 of the tubular 2108.In an embodiment, the downhole tool 2102 may be configured as a frac plug, where flow into one section of the wellbore 2106 may be blocked and otherwise diverted into the surrounding formation or reservoir.","Once the tool 2102 reaches the set position within the tubular, the setting mechanism or workstring 2112 may be detached from the tool 2102 by various methods, resulting in the tool 2102 left in the surrounding tubular and one or more sections of the wellbore isolated.","In an embodiment, once the tool 2102 is set, tension may be applied to the adapter 2152 until the threaded connection between the adapter 2152 and the mandrel 2114 (or insert 2153) is broken.","For example, the mating threads on the adapter 2152 and the insert 2153 (2156 and 2116, FIG.","22A) may be designed to shear, and thus may be pulled and sheared accordingly in a manner known in the art.","In an embodiment, the downhole tool 2102 and/or its components may be a drillable tool made from drillable composite material(s), such as glass fiber/epoxy, carbon fiber/epoxy, glass fiber/PEEK, carbon fiber/PEEK, etc.","Other resins may include phenolic, polyamide, etc.","One or more mating surfaces of the downhole tool 2102 may be configured with an angle, such that corresponding components may be placed under compression instead of shear.","In accordance with the disclosure, components of tool 2102 may be made of non-dissolvable materials (e.g., materials suitable for and are known to withstand downhole environments [including extreme pressure, temperature, fluid properties, etc.]","for an extended period of time (predetermined or otherwise) as may be desired).","In accordance with the disclosure, components of tool 2102 may be made of dissolvable materials (e.g., materials suitable for and are known to dissolve in downhole environments [including extreme pressure, temperature, fluid properties, etc.]","after a brief or limited period of time (predetermined or otherwise) as may be desired).","In an embodiment, a component made of a dissolvable material may begin to dissolve within about 3 to about 48 hours after setting of the downhole tool.","In aspects, the insert 2153 may be made of a composition of material described herein.","The insert 2153 may be made of a material that is adequate to provide durability and strength to the tool 2102 for a sufficient amount of time that includes run-in, setting and frac, but then begins to change (i.e., degrade, dissolve, etc.).","shortly thereafter.","The outer sleeve 2114 may be machined from metal, including such as aluminum or dissolvable aluminum alloy.","Alternatively, the sleeve 2114 may be formed from a material (or its cured byproduct) having a clay, glass bubble, water-soluble fiber material further mixed with a dissolving resin.","The downhole tool 2102 may include the mandrel sleeve 2114 that extends through the tool (or tool body) 2102.The mandrel sleeve 2114 may include a flowpath or bore 2151 formed therein (e.g., an axial bore).","The bore 2151 may extend partially or for a short distance through the mandrel 2114, or the bore 2151 may extend through the entire mandrel sleeve 2114, with an opening at its proximate end 2148 and oppositely at its distal end 2146.The presence of the bore or other flowpath through the mandrel sleeve 2114 may indirectly be dictated by operating conditions.","That is, in most instances the tool 2102 may be large enough in diameter (e.g., in a range of about 4-5 inches) that the bore 2151 may be correspondingly large enough (e.g., 3 inches) so that fluid may be produced therethrough.","The tool OD should probably not exceed 5.5 inches for standard operation.","The small ID should be around 1″.","The dissolved ID is preferably 3″.","With the presence of the bore 2151, the mandrel sleeve 2114 may have an inner bore surface (2147, FIG.","22B), which may include one or more threaded surfaces formed thereon.","As such, there may be a first set of threads 2117 configured for coupling the mandrel sleeve 2114 with corresponding threads 2155 of the sleeve insert 2153.The setting device(s) and components of the downhole tool 2102 may be as described and disclosed with other embodiments herein.","The tool 2102 may include a lower sleeve 2160 engaged with the mandrel sleeve 2114.The mandrel sleeve 2114 and the lower sleeve 2160 may be threadingly engaged via mated threaded connection 2118.Accordingly, during setting, as the lower sleeve 2160 is pulled, the components disposed about the mandrel sleeve 2114 between the lower sleeve 2160 and the setting sleeve 2154 may begin to compress against one another.","This force and resultant movement causes compression and expansion of seal element 2122.Slip(s) 234 may move or otherwise be urged eventually radially outward into engagement with the surrounding tubular 2108.Serrated outer surfaces or teeth 2198 of the slip(s) 2134 may be configured such that the surfaces 298 prevent the slip 2134 (or tool) from moving (e.g., axially or longitudinally) within the surrounding tubular, whereas otherwise the tool 2102 may inadvertently release or move from its position.","Although slip 2134 is illustrated with teeth 2198, it is within the scope of the disclosure that slip 2134 may be configured with other gripping features, such as buttons or inserts.","Because the sleeve 2154 is held rigidly in place, the sleeve 2154 may engage against a bearing plate 2183 that may result in the transfer load through the rest of the tool 2102.The setting sleeve 2154 may have a sleeve end 2155 that abuts against the bearing plate end 284.The second slip 2134a may include one or more, gripping elements, which may be configured to provide additional grip with the tubular 2108.A ball seat 2186 may be configured in a manner so that a ball 2185 seats or rests therein, whereby the flowpath through the mandrel sleeve 2114 (or sleeve insert 2153) may be closed off (e.g., flow through the bore 2150 is restricted or controlled by the presence of the ball 2185).","For example, fluid flow from one direction may urge and hold the ball 2185 against the seat 2186.Ball 2185 may be made of a material of composition of embodiments disclosed herein.","It should be apparent to one of skill in the art that the tool 2102 of the present disclosure may be configurable as a frac plug, a drop ball plug, bridge plug, etc.","simply by utilizing one of a plurality of adapters or other optional components.","In any configuration, once the tool 2102 is properly set, fluid pressure may be increased in the wellbore, such that further downhole operations, such as fracture in a target zone, may commence.","The tool 2102 may include an anti-rotation assembly that includes an anti-rotation device or mechanism 2182, which may be a spring, a mechanically spring-energized composite tubular member, and so forth.","The device 2182 may be configured and usable for the prevention of undesired or inadvertent movement or unwinding of the tool 2102 components.","As shown, the device 2182 may reside in cavity 2194 of the sleeve (or housing) 2154.During assembly, the device 2182 may be held in place with the use of a lock ring 2196.In other aspects, pins may be used to hold the device 2182 in place.","The anti-rotation mechanism may provide additional safety for the tool and operators in the sense it may help prevent inoperability of tool in situations where the tool is inadvertently used in the wrong application.","As such, the device 2182 may prevent tool components from loosening and/or unscrewing, as well as prevent tool 2102 unscrewing or falling off the workstring 2112.Drill-through of the tool 2102 may be facilitated by the fact that the mandrel sleeve 2114 and other components, etc.","may be made of drillable material that is less damaging to a drill bit than those found in conventional plugs.","The drill bit will continue to move through the tool 2102 until the slips are drilled sufficiently that such slip loses its engagement with the well bore.","Remaining components may fall into the well or onto another tool positioned therebelow.","Accordingly, the tool 2102 may be sufficiently removed, which may result in opening the tubular 208.Components, such as the slip 2134 may be prefilled or prefitted with a reactant that aids in destruction of the slip and other tool components once the reactant is exposed to the downhole environment.","The reactant may be, for example, anionic, salt-based, caustic, sulfur, sodium polyacrylate, or other suitable material that becomes highly reactive upon wetness or exposure to an aqueous fluid.","Advantages The composition(s) of matter disclosed or claimed herein are not limited in utility to downhole conditions or operations (and related tools, devices, etc.","), but instead may find utility in many applications in which initial hardness (strength) or durability, and subsequent degradability, dissolvability, breakage, dissociation, etc., is desired.","Yet other advantages may be recognized during post-frac, where downhole fluids can flow without intervention of a drilling rig to remove the tool.","In certain embodiments, the component or device degrades or undergoes other physical change, reducing hydraulic restriction and allows valuable fluids to be recovered and/or flow back frac water and potentially start oil/gas production.","Faster is better.","Advantageously this can be done with just a hose and tank truck.","While example embodiments of the disclosure have been shown and described, modifications thereof can be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and teachings of the disclosure.","These embodiments are exemplary only and not limiting.","Many variations and modifications of the disclosure disclosed herein are possible and are within the scope of the disclosure.","Where numerical ranges or limitations are expressly stated, such express ranges or limitations should be understood to include iterative ranges or limitations of like magnitude falling within the expressly stated ranges or limitations.","The use of the term “optionally” with respect to any element of a claim is intended to mean that the subject element is required, or alternatively, is not required.","Both alternatives are intended to be within the scope of the claim.","Use of broader terms such as comprises, includes, having, etc.","should be understood to provide support for narrower terms such as consisting of, consisting essentially of, comprised substantially of, and the like.","Accordingly, the scope of protection is not limited by the description set out above but is only limited by the claims which follow, that scope including all equivalents of the subject matter of the claims.","Each and every claim is incorporated into the specification as an embodiment of the present disclosure.","Thus, the claims are a further description and are an addition to the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure.","The inclusion or discussion of a reference is not an admission that it is prior art to the present disclosure, especially any reference that may have a publication date after the priority date of this application.","The disclosures of all patents, patent applications, and publications cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference, to the extent they provide background knowledge; or exemplary, procedural or other details supplementary to those set forth herein."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"COMPOSITION OF MATTER AND USE THEREOF\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a composition of matter having a matrix, a thickener, a strengthener, and a soluble medium.\",\n \"The matrix may be about 100 parts by weight of a low viscosity cycloaliphatic epoxy resin with an anhydride curing agent.\",\n \"The thickener may be about 10-20 parts by weight of an additive comprising a clay.\",\n \"The strengthener may be about 5-10 parts by weight of a glass.\",\n \"The soluble medium may be about 20-30 parts by weight of a water-soluble fiber.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A composition of matter comprising: an epoxy system comprising an epoxy resin and a hardener; an additive comprising a clay; a soluble medium; and a glass.\",\n \"2.The composition of claim 1, wherein the soluble medium comprises a plurality of soluble fibers, wherein the clay comprises modified montmorillonite, wherein the glass comprises high-strength, hollow glass microspheres with an average diameter of about 20 to about 25 microns, and wherein the hardener comprises an anhydride.\",\n \"3.The composition of claim 2, wherein the plurality of soluble fibers comprises sodium polyacrylate fibers, and the length is in the range of about 0.5 mm to about 2 mm.\",\n \"4.The composition of claim 1, wherein the epoxy system comprises about 100 parts by weight, wherein the epoxy resin comprises a low viscosity cycloaliphatic epoxy resin, wherein the hardener comprises an anhydride curing agent, wherein the additive comprises about 10-20 parts by weight, wherein the soluble medium comprises about 20-30 parts by weight, and further comprises a plurality of water-soluble fibers, wherein the glass comprises about 5-10 parts by weight, and wherein the glass comprises hollow glass spheres.\",\n \"5.The composition of claim 4, wherein the clay comprises modified montmorillonite, wherein the hollow glass microspheres comprise an average diameter of about 20 to about 25 microns, wherein the plurality of soluble fibers comprises sodium polyacrylate fibers, and the length is in the range of about 0.5 mm to about 2 mm.\",\n \"6.A composition of matter comprising: 100 parts by weight of a low viscosity cycloaliphatic epoxy resin with an anhydride curing agent; 10-20 parts by weight of an additive comprising a clay; 20-30 parts by weight of a plurality of water-soluble fibers; and 5-10 parts by weight of a glass.\",\n \"6.The composition of claim 5, wherein the clay comprises montmorillonite, wherein the glass comprises hollow-glass microspheres, and wherein the plurality of soluble fibers comprise a fiber length of less than 6 mm 7.The composition of claim 6, wherein the plurality of soluble fibers comprises sodium polyacrylate fibers.\",\n \"8.The composition of claim 5, wherein the clay comprises montmorillonite, wherein the glass comprises high-strength, hollow glass microspheres with an average diameter of about 20 to about 25 microns, wherein the plurality of soluble fibers comprises sodium polyacrylate fibers, and a length of each of the plurality of soluble fibers is in the range of about 0.5 mm to about 2 mm.\",\n \"9.A method of curing a composition, the method comprising: heating an oven to an inner oven temperature in the range of about 70° F. to about 100° F.; placing the composition into the oven; heating the oven with a ramp up about 0.2-2° F./min to a next inner oven temperature in a first predetermined range of about 120° F. to about 200° F.; holding the oven in the first predetermined range for a first predetermined amount of soak time of about 30 minutes to about 120 minutes; heating the oven with a ramp up about 0.2-2° F./min to a second inner oven temperature in a second predetermined range of about 160° F. to about 250° F.; heating the oven with a ramp up about 1-4° F./min to a third inner oven temperature in a third predetermined range of about 250° F. to about 350° F.; holding the oven in the third predetermined range for about 30 minutes to about 120 minutes; and cooling the oven with a ramp down at a rate of about 0.2-2° F./min to a temperature in the range of about 70° F. to about 100° F. 10.The method of claim 9, wherein the composition comprises: an epoxy system comprising an epoxy resin and a hardener; an additive comprising a clay; a soluble medium; and a glass.\",\n \"11.The method of claim 9, wherein the method comprises: 100 parts by weight of a low viscosity cycloaliphatic epoxy resin with an anhydride curing agent; about 10-20 parts by weight of an additive comprising clay; about 20-30 parts by weight of a water-soluble fiber; and about 5-10 parts by weight of a glass.\",\n \"12.A composition of matter comprising: 100 parts by weight of a low viscosity cycloaliphatic epoxy resin with an anhydride curing agent; about 10-20 parts by weight of an additive comprising a clay; about 20-30 parts by weight of a water-soluble fiber; and about 5-10 parts by weight of a glass.\",\n \"13.The composition of claim 12, wherein the water-soluble fiber comprises sodium polyacrylate fibers having a fiber length in the range of about 0.5 to about 6 mm.\",\n \"14.The composition of claim 13, wherein the glass comprises high-strength, hollow-glass spheres of an average diameter of 22 microns.\",\n \"15.The composition of claim 12, wherein the clay comprises montmorillonite, wherein the glass comprises hollow-glass microspheres, and wherein the water-soluble fiber comprises sodium polyacrylate fibers having a fiber length in the range of about 0.5 to about 6 mm.\",\n \"16.The composition of claim 12, wherein the clay comprises montmorillonite, wherein the glass comprises high-strength, hollow glass microspheres with an average diameter of about 20 to about 25 microns, wherein the water-soluble fiber comprises sodium polyacrylate fibers, and a length of each of the plurality of soluble fibers is in the range of about 0.5 mm to about 2 mm.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a composition of matter that may include in the range of: about 100 parts by weight of a resin system; about 10-20 parts by weight of a clay; about 20-30 parts by weight of a fiber; and about 5-10 parts by weight of a glass.\",\n \"The resin system may include a low viscosity cycloaliphatic epoxy resin with an anhydride curing agent.\",\n \"The clay may include or be bentonite.\",\n \"The clay may include or be montmorillonite.\",\n \"The clay may be modified montmorillonite.\",\n \"The glass may include or be glass spheres.\",\n \"The composition may include at least one of organic hemp fiber, glass fiber, and combinations thereof.\",\n \"The composition may include a water-soluble material.\",\n \"In aspects, the water-soluble material may include or be one of a salt, a sugar, and combinations thereof.\",\n \"The glass may include or be high-strength, hollow-glass spheres of an average diameter of 22 microns.\",\n \"The composition may include a water-soluble fiber.\",\n \"In aspects, the water-soluble fiber may include or be sodium polyacrylate.\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a device that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein.\",\n \"The device may be selected from one of a downhole tool, a component of the downhole tool, and a frac ball.\",\n \"The device may be made from a cured composition.\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a device for use in a downhole environment that may have (or being made from a material, including cured material, that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein.\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to an apparatus that may have (or being made from a material, including cured material, that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein.\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a downhole tool with one or more components that may have (or being made from a material, including cured material, that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein.\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a frac ball that may have (or being made from a material, including cured material, that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein.\",\n \"The material may include a composition of an anhydride-based cure resin and a flexibilizer comprising clay.\",\n \"The material may include a composition of an anhydride epoxy resin system and a thixotropic rheology modifier comprising clay.\",\n \"The material may degrade at 0.24-17 g/hr at various temperatures.\",\n \"The material may degrade within 24 hours of activation.\",\n \"The clay may include a nano-clay and/or clay particles The material may include polyglycolic acid.\",\n \"Any number of devices, tools, and other components may be made of materials disclosed herein.\",\n \"The material may be or result in a cured material, whereby one or more of the original constituents undergo some amount of change The material may include a sugar-based epoxy.\",\n \"A downhole tool made of a material of the present disclosure.\",\n \"A downhole tool configured with one or more components made of a material of the present disclosure, or a cured byproduct thereof.\",\n \"A device made of a material of the present disclosure, or a cured byproduct thereof.\",\n \"A frac ball made of a material of the present disclosure, or a cured byproduct thereof.\",\n \"A composition as disclosed herein further including a sugar-based epoxy.\",\n \"The material may include a resin.\",\n \"The resin may be an anhydride-cured epoxy resin material.\",\n \"It may be possible to use sodium polyacrylate fiber in conjunction therewith, although any fiber that has dissolvable properties associated with it may be used.\",\n \"Resins described herein may include a flexibilizer distributed therewith.\",\n \"A flexibilizer may include clay(s), hygroscopic clay, nano-clay, bentonite, or any other material that is easily distributable within the resin and reduces brittleness of the resin.\",\n \"Carbon nano-tubes may also add strength but promote capillary water flow through the resin matrix.\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a device that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein, or a cured byproduct thereof.\",\n \"The device may be selected from the group consisting of a downhole tool, a component of the downhole tool, and a frac ball.\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a device for use in a downhole environment that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein, or a cured byproduct thereof.\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to an apparatus that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein, or a cured byproduct thereof.\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a downhole tool with one or more components that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein, or a cured byproduct thereof.\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a frac ball that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein, or a cured byproduct thereof.\",\n \"These and other embodiments, features and advantages will be apparent in the following detailed description and drawings.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a ‘bypass’ continuation of PCT Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"PCT/US17/40611, filed on Jul.\",\n \"3, 2017, which claims priority to: U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/439,085, filed on Dec. 26, 2016, and U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/358,230, filed on Jul.\",\n \"5, 2016.The disclosure of each application is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.\",\n \"STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT Not applicable.\",\n \"BACKGROUND Field of the Disclosure This disclosure generally relates to systems and related tools used in oil and gas wellbores.\",\n \"Certain embodiments pertain to a composition of matter useable with systems, related tools, and parts thereof.\",\n \"Particular embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a breakable, dissolvable, disassociatable, and/or degradable material.\",\n \"Some embodiments include a material(s) having a composition of about 100 parts by weight of a resin system that includes an epoxy resin with an anhydride hardener; about 10-20 parts by weight of an additive that may be a clay-based constituent; about 20-30 parts by weight of a fiber; and about 5-10 parts by weight of a glass.\",\n \"The epoxy resin may be a low viscosity cycloaliphatic epoxy resin.\",\n \"Background of the Disclosure An oil or gas well includes a wellbore extending into a subterranean formation at some depth below a surface (e.g., Earth's surface), and is usually lined with a tubular, such as casing, to add strength to the well.\",\n \"Many commercially viable hydrocarbon sources are found in “tight” reservoirs, which means the target hydrocarbon product may not be easily extracted.\",\n \"The surrounding formation (e.g., shale) to these reservoirs typically has low permeability, and it is uneconomical to produce the hydrocarbons (i.e., gas, oil, etc.)\",\n \"in commercial quantities from this formation without the use of drilling accompanied with additional operations.\",\n \"Fracing is common in the industry and includes the use of a plug set in the wellbore below or beyond the respective target zone, followed by pumping or injecting high pressure frac fluid into the zone.\",\n \"A frac plug and accompanying operation may be such as described or otherwise disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,955,605, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety for all purposes.\",\n \"Still, downhole operations may include the use of any number of other devices, tools, etc.\",\n \"(or collectively in general a “tool” or “tools”) including drill bits, flow controllers, packers, plugs, sliding sleeves, related tubing, and more.\",\n \"Some tools may be characterized as having complex mechanical designs, and often require remote control or actuation from the surface via wirelines, hydraulic control lines, coil tubings, and so forth.\",\n \"Other methods of actuation include pressurization, which may occur by sliding a sleeve or dropping a ball in order to block or otherwise obstruct an orifice in the tool.\",\n \"Downhole tools typically have multiple components constructed of steel, cast iron, aluminum, or other alloyed metals.\",\n \"Additionally, or alternatively, tool components may include composite or rubber materials.\",\n \"It is naturally desirable to “flow back,” i.e., from the formation to the surface, the injected fluid, or the formation fluid(s); however, this is not possible until the previously set tool or its blockage is removed.\",\n \"Removal of tools (or blockage) usually requires a well-intervention service for retrieval or drill-through, which is time consuming, costly, and adds a potential risk of wellbore damage.\",\n \"The more metal parts used in the tool, the longer the drill-through operation takes.\",\n \"Because metallic components are harder to drill, such an operation may require additional trips into and out of the wellbore to replace worn out drill bits.\",\n \"In the interest of cost-saving, materials that react under certain downhole conditions have been the subject of significant research in view of the potential offered to the oilfield industry.\",\n \"For example, such an advanced material that has an ability to degrade by mere response to a change in its surrounding is desirable because no, or limited, intervention would be necessary for removal or actuation to occur.\",\n \"Such a material, essentially self-actuated by changes in its surrounding (e.g., the presence a specific fluid, a change in temperature, and/or a change in pressure, etc.)\",\n \"may potentially replace costly and complicated designs and may be most advantageous in situations where accessibility is limited or even considered to be impossible, which is the case in a downhole (subterranean) environment.\",\n \"It is highly desirable and economically advantageous to have controls that do not rely on lengthy and costly wirelines, hydraulic control lines, or coil tubings.\",\n \"Furthermore, in countless situations, a subterranean piece of equipment may need to be actuated only once, after which it may no longer present any usefulness, and may even become disadvantageous when for instance the equipment must be retrieved by risky and costly interventions.\",\n \"In some instances, it may be advantageous to have a device (ball, tool, component, etc.)\",\n \"made of a material (of composition of matter) characterized by properties where the device is mechanically strong (hard) under some conditions (such as at the surface or at ambient conditions), but degrades, dissolves, breaks, etc.\",\n \"under specific conditions, such as in the presence of water-containing fluids like fresh water, seawater, formation fluid, additives, brines, acids and bases, or changes in pressure and/or temperature.\",\n \"Thus, after a predetermined amount of time, and after the desired operation(s) is complete, the formation fluid is ultimately allowed to flow toward the surface.\",\n \"It would be advantageous to configure a device (or a related activation device, such as a frac ball, or other component(s)) to utilize materials that alleviate or reduce the need for an intervention service.\",\n \"This would save a considerable amount of time and expense.\",\n \"Therefore, there is a need in the art for tools, devices, components, etc.\",\n \"to be of a nature that does not involve or otherwise require a drill-through process.\",\n \"Environmental- or bio-friendly materials are further desirous.\",\n \"The ability to save operational time (and those saving operational costs) leads to considerable competition in the marketplace.\",\n \"Achieving any ability to save time, or ultimately cost, leads to an immediate competitive advantage.\",\n \"SUMMARY Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a composition of matter that may include in the range of: about 100 parts by weight of a resin system; about 10-20 parts by weight of a clay; about 20-30 parts by weight of a fiber; and about 5-10 parts by weight of a glass.\",\n \"The resin system may include a low viscosity cycloaliphatic epoxy resin with an anhydride curing agent.\",\n \"The clay may include or be bentonite.\",\n \"The clay may include or be montmorillonite.\",\n \"The clay may be modified montmorillonite.\",\n \"The glass may include or be glass spheres.\",\n \"The composition may include at least one of organic hemp fiber, glass fiber, and combinations thereof.\",\n \"The composition may include a water-soluble material.\",\n \"In aspects, the water-soluble material may include or be one of a salt, a sugar, and combinations thereof.\",\n \"The glass may include or be high-strength, hollow-glass spheres of an average diameter of 22 microns.\",\n \"The composition may include a water-soluble fiber.\",\n \"In aspects, the water-soluble fiber may include or be sodium polyacrylate.\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a device that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein.\",\n \"The device may be selected from one of a downhole tool, a component of the downhole tool, and a frac ball.\",\n \"The device may be made from a cured composition.\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a device for use in a downhole environment that may have (or being made from a material, including cured material, that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein.\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to an apparatus that may have (or being made from a material, including cured material, that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein.\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a downhole tool with one or more components that may have (or being made from a material, including cured material, that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein.\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a frac ball that may have (or being made from a material, including cured material, that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein.\",\n \"The material may include a composition of an anhydride-based cure resin and a flexibilizer comprising clay.\",\n \"The material may include a composition of an anhydride epoxy resin system and a thixotropic rheology modifier comprising clay.\",\n \"The material may degrade at 0.24-17 g/hr at various temperatures.\",\n \"The material may degrade within 24 hours of activation.\",\n \"The clay may include a nano-clay and/or clay particles The material may include polyglycolic acid.\",\n \"Any number of devices, tools, and other components may be made of materials disclosed herein.\",\n \"The material may be or result in a cured material, whereby one or more of the original constituents undergo some amount of change The material may include a sugar-based epoxy.\",\n \"A downhole tool made of a material of the present disclosure.\",\n \"A downhole tool configured with one or more components made of a material of the present disclosure, or a cured byproduct thereof.\",\n \"A device made of a material of the present disclosure, or a cured byproduct thereof.\",\n \"A frac ball made of a material of the present disclosure, or a cured byproduct thereof.\",\n \"A composition as disclosed herein further including a sugar-based epoxy.\",\n \"The material may include a resin.\",\n \"The resin may be an anhydride-cured epoxy resin material.\",\n \"It may be possible to use sodium polyacrylate fiber in conjunction therewith, although any fiber that has dissolvable properties associated with it may be used.\",\n \"Resins described herein may include a flexibilizer distributed therewith.\",\n \"A flexibilizer may include clay(s), hygroscopic clay, nano-clay, bentonite, or any other material that is easily distributable within the resin and reduces brittleness of the resin.\",\n \"Carbon nano-tubes may also add strength but promote capillary water flow through the resin matrix.\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a device that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein, or a cured byproduct thereof.\",\n \"The device may be selected from the group consisting of a downhole tool, a component of the downhole tool, and a frac ball.\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a device for use in a downhole environment that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein, or a cured byproduct thereof.\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to an apparatus that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein, or a cured byproduct thereof.\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a downhole tool with one or more components that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein, or a cured byproduct thereof.\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a frac ball that may have (or being made from a material that may have) any composition of matter disclosed herein, or a cured byproduct thereof.\",\n \"These and other embodiments, features and advantages will be apparent in the following detailed description and drawings.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a more detailed description of the present disclosure, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG.\",\n \"1 is a side view of a process diagram of a conventional plugging system; FIG.\",\n \"2A shows an isometric view of a system having a downhole tool, according to embodiments of the disclosure; FIG.\",\n \"2B shows an isometric view of the downhole tool of FIG.\",\n \"2A positioned within a tubular, according to embodiments of the disclosure; FIG.\",\n \"2C shows a side longitudinal view of a downhole tool according to embodiments of the disclosure; FIG.\",\n \"2D shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a downhole tool according to embodiments of the disclosure; FIG.\",\n \"2E shows an isometric component break-out view of a downhole tool according to embodiments of the disclosure; FIG.\",\n \"3A shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a downhole tool with a hybrid sleeve according to embodiments of the disclosure; FIG.\",\n \"3B shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the tool of FIG.\",\n \"3A with a dissolved sleeve insert according to embodiments of the disclosure; FIG.\",\n \"3C shows an isometric component breakout view of a downhole tool with a hybrid sleeve according to embodiments of the disclosure; and FIG.\",\n \"3D shows an isometric component breakout view of a system using a downhole tool with a hybrid sleeve according to embodiments of the disclosure.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION Herein disclosed are novel compositions of matter useable with apparatuses, systems, and methods that pertain to downhole tools for wellbore operations, details of which are described herein.\",\n \"Embodiments herein may pertain to a downhole tool suitable for use in a wellbore that may include a mandrel sleeve; and a sleeve insert disposed within the mandrel sleeve.\",\n \"The tool may have a first slip disposed about the mandrel sleeve.\",\n \"There may be a second slip disposed about the mandrel sleeve.\",\n \"The second slip may be proximate to a conical surface.\",\n \"There may be a lower sleeve engaged with the second slip.\",\n \"The mandrel sleeve may include a set of threads.\",\n \"At least one of the first slip and the second slip may have a one-piece configuration with at least partial connectivity around the entirety of a circular slip body.\",\n \"Either of the slips may be made of a composite material.\",\n \"Either of the slips may be made of metal.\",\n \"Either of the slips may be surface hardened.\",\n \"The downhole tool may include a seal element.\",\n \"The tool may include a composite member disposed about the mandrel.\",\n \"The composite member may be in engagement with the seal element.\",\n \"The composite member may be made of a first material and comprises a first portion and a second portion.\",\n \"The first material may be a composite material, such as filament wound material.\",\n \"The first portion may be a deformable portion.\",\n \"The second portion may be a resilient portion.\",\n \"The tool may include a seal element positioned on the mandrel sleeve and in between a first cone and a second cone.\",\n \"The first cone may be proximate to the first slip, and/or the second cone may be proximate to the second slip.\",\n \"There may be a bearing plate disposed around the mandrel sleeve.\",\n \"In aspects, the set of threads may be one of shear threads and rounded threads.\",\n \"In aspects, the mandrel sleeve may be made of non-dissolvable composite material.\",\n \"In aspects, the sleeve insert may be made of dissolvable material.\",\n \"In other aspects, the sleeve insert may be configured to dissolve or have some other change in physical characteristic within 24 hours of setting the downhole tool.\",\n \"The sleeve insert may be made of, or otherwise include, an anhydride cure resin.\",\n \"Embodiments herein pertain to a downhole tool for use in a wellbore that may include a mandrel sleeve having at least one set of threads; and a sleeve insert threadingly engaged with the mandrel sleeve.\",\n \"The tool may further include a first slip disposed about the mandrel, the first slip further comprising a circular slip body; a second slip disposed about the mandrel; a lower sleeve engaged with the second slip; a seal element; and a bearing plate.\",\n \"Either of the slips may have a one-piece configuration with at least partial connectivity around the entirety of a respective circular slip body, and at least two grooves disposed therein.\",\n \"In aspects, the sleeve insert may be made of, or otherwise include, a dissolvable resin.\",\n \"The sleeve insert may be made of, or otherwise include, a resin comprising a flexibilizer.\",\n \"The flexibilizer may be or otherwise include clay.\",\n \"The flexibilizer may be or otherwise include nanoclay.\",\n \"The flexibilizer may be or otherwise include clay particles.\",\n \"The sleeve insert may be made of or otherwise include bentonite.\",\n \"In aspects, the sleeve insert may be made of, or otherwise include, a dissolvable resin.\",\n \"The sleeve insert may be made of, or otherwise include, a resin comprising a thixotropic rheology modifier.\",\n \"The thixotropic rheology modifier may be or otherwise include clay.\",\n \"Terms Composition of matter: as used herein may refer to one or more ingredients or constituents that make up a material (or material of construction).\",\n \"For example, a material may have a composition of matter.\",\n \"Similarly, a device may be made of a material having a composition of matter, or a cured byproduct thereof.\",\n \"Degradable Material: as used herein may refer to a composition of matter (including a cured byproduct thereof) having properties and/or characteristics that, while subject to change over time and/or under certain conditions, lead to a change in the integrity of the material.\",\n \"As one example, the material may initially be hard, rigid, and strong at ambient or surface conditions, but over time (such as within about 12-36 hours) and under certain conditions (such as wellbore conditions), the material softens.\",\n \"Dissolvable Material: analogous to degradable material; as used herein may refer to a composition of matter (including a cured byproduct thereof) having properties and/or characteristics that, while subject to change over time and/or under certain conditions, lead to a change in the integrity of the material, including to the point of degrading, or partial or complete dissolution.\",\n \"As one example, the material may initially be hard, rigid, and strong at ambient or surface conditions, but over time (such as within about 12-36 hours) and under certain conditions (such as wellbore conditions), the material softens.\",\n \"As another example, the material may initially be hard, rigid, and strong at ambient or surface conditions, but over time (such as within about 12-36 hours) and under certain conditions (such as wellbore conditions), the material dissolves at least partially, and may dissolve completely.\",\n \"Breakable Material: as used herein may refer to a composition of matter (including a cured byproduct thereof) having properties and/or characteristics that, while subject to change over time and/or under certain conditions, lead to brittleness.\",\n \"As one example, the material may be hard, rigid, and strong at ambient or surface conditions, but over time and under certain conditions, becomes brittle.\",\n \"The breakable material may experience breakage into multiple pieces, but not necessarily dissolution.\",\n \"Disassociatable Material: as used herein may refer to a composition of matter (including a cured byproduct thereof) having properties and/or characteristics that, while subject to change over time and/or under certain conditions, lead to a change in the integrity of the material, including to the point of changing from a solid structure to a powdered material.\",\n \"As one example, the material may initially be hard, rigid, and strong at ambient or surface conditions, but over time (such as within about 12-36 hours) and under certain conditions (such as wellbore conditions), the material changes (disassociates) to a powder.\",\n \"For some embodiments, the material of construction may include a composition of matter (including a cured byproduct thereof) designed or otherwise having the inherent characteristic to change integrity or other physical attribute when exposed to certain wellbore conditions, such as a change in time, temperature, water, heat, pressure, solution, combinations thereof, etc.\",\n \"Heat may be present due to the temperature increase attributed to the natural temperature gradient of the earth, and water may already be present in existing wellbore fluids.\",\n \"The change in integrity may occur in a predetermined time period, which may vary from several minutes to several weeks.\",\n \"In aspects, the time period may be about 12 to about 36 hours.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the material may degrade to the point of ‘mush’ or disassociate to a powder, while in other embodiments, the material may dissolve or otherwise disintegrate and be carried away by fluid flowing in the wellbore.\",\n \"The temperature of the downhole fluid may affect the rate change in integrity.\",\n \"The material need not form a solution when it dissolves in the aqueous phase.\",\n \"For example, the material may dissolve, break, or otherwise disassociate into sufficiently small particles (i.e., a colloid), that may be removed by the fluid as it circulates in the well.\",\n \"In embodiments, the material may become degradable, but not dissolvable.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the material may become degradable, and subsequently dissolvable.\",\n \"In still other embodiments, the material may become breakable (or brittle), but not dissolvable.\",\n \"In yet other embodiments, the material may become breakable, and subsequently dissolvable.\",\n \"In still yet other embodiments, the material may disassociate.\",\n \"Referring now to FIGS.\",\n \"2A and 2B together, isometric views of a system 200 having a downhole tool 202 illustrative of embodiments disclosed herein, are shown.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2B depicts a wellbore 206 formed in a subterranean formation 210 with a tubular 208 disposed therein.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the tubular 208 may be casing (e.g., casing, hung casing, casing string, etc.)\",\n \"(which may be cemented).\",\n \"A workstring 212 (which may include a part 217 of a setting tool coupled with adapter 252) may be used to position or run the downhole tool 202 into and through the wellbore 206 to a desired location.\",\n \"In accordance with embodiments of the disclosure, the tool 202 may be configured as a plugging tool, which may be set within the tubular 208 in such a manner that the tool 202 forms a fluid-tight seal against the inner surface 207 of the tubular 208.In an embodiment, the downhole tool 202 may be configured as a bridge plug, whereby flow from one section of the wellbore 213 to another (e.g., above and below the tool 202) is controlled.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the downhole tool 202 may be configured as a frac plug, where flow into one section 213 of the wellbore 206 may be blocked and otherwise diverted into the surrounding formation or reservoir 210.In yet other embodiments, the downhole tool 202 may also be configured as a ball-drop tool.\",\n \"In this aspect, a ball may be dropped into the wellbore 206 and flowed into the tool 202 and come to rest in a corresponding ball seat at the end of the mandrel 214.The seating of the ball may provide a seal within the tool 202 resulting in a plugged condition, whereby a pressure differential across the tool 202 may result.\",\n \"The ball seat may include a radius or curvature.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the downhole tool 202 may be a ball-check plug, whereby the tool 202 is configured with a ball already in place when the tool 202 runs into the wellbore.\",\n \"The tool 202 may then act as a check valve, and provide one-way flow capability.\",\n \"Fluid may be directed from the wellbore 206 to the formation with any of these configurations.\",\n \"Once the tool 202 reaches the set position within the tubular, the setting mechanism or workstring 212 may be detached from the tool 202 by various methods, resulting in the tool 202 left in the surrounding tubular and one or more sections of the wellbore isolated.\",\n \"In an embodiment, once the tool 202 is set, tension may be applied to the adapter 252 until the threaded connection between the adapter 252 and the mandrel 214 is broken.\",\n \"For example, the mating threads on the adapter 252 and the mandrel 214 (256 and 216, respectively as shown in FIG.\",\n \"2D) may be designed to shear, and thus may be pulled and sheared accordingly in a manner known in the art.\",\n \"The amount of load applied to the adapter 252 may be in the range of about, for example, 20,000 to 40,000 pounds force.\",\n \"In other applications, the load may be in the range of less than about 10,000 pounds force.\",\n \"Accordingly, the adapter 252 may separate or detach from the mandrel 214, resulting in the workstring 212 being able to separate from the tool 202, which may be at a predetermined moment.\",\n \"The loads provided herein are non-limiting and are merely exemplary.\",\n \"The setting force may be determined by specifically designing the interacting surfaces of the tool and the respective tool surface angles.\",\n \"The tool 202 may also be configured with a predetermined failure point (not shown) configured to fail or break.\",\n \"For example, the failure point may break at a predetermined axial force greater than the force required to set the tool but less than the force required to part the body of the tool.\",\n \"Operation of the downhole tool 202 may allow for fast run in of the tool 202 to isolate one or more sections of the wellbore 206, as well as quick and simple drill-through to destroy or remove the tool 202.Drill-through of the tool 202 may be facilitated by components and sub-components of tool 202 made of drillable material that is less damaging to a drill bit than those found in conventional plugs.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the downhole tool 202 and/or its components may be a drillable tool made from drillable composite material(s), such as glass fiber/epoxy, carbon fiber/epoxy, glass fiber/PEEK, carbon fiber/PEEK, etc.\",\n \"Other resins may include phenolic, polyamidic, etc.\",\n \"All mating surfaces of the downhole tool 202 may be configured with an angle, such that corresponding components may be placed under compression instead of shear.\",\n \"Referring now to FIGS.\",\n \"2C-2E together, a longitudinal view, a longitudinal cross-sectional view, and an isometric component break-out view, respectively, of downhole tool 202 useable with system (200, FIG.\",\n \"2A) and illustrative of embodiments disclosed herein, are shown.\",\n \"The downhole tool 202 may include a mandrel 214 that extends through the tool (or tool body) 202.The mandrel 214 may be a solid body.\",\n \"In other aspects, the mandrel 214 may include a flowpath or bore 250 formed therein (e.g., an axial bore).\",\n \"The bore 250 may extend partially or for a short distance through the mandrel 214, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"2E.\",\n \"Alternatively, the bore 250 may extend through the entire mandrel 214, with an opening at its proximate end 248 and oppositely at its distal end 246 (near downhole end of the tool 202), as illustrated by FIG.\",\n \"2D.\",\n \"The presence of the bore 250 or other flowpath through the mandrel 214 may indirectly be dictated by operating conditions.\",\n \"That is, in most instances the tool 202 may be large enough in diameter (e.g., 4-¾ inches) that the bore 250 may be correspondingly large enough (e.g., 1-¼ inches) so that debris and junk can pass or flow through the bore 250 without plugging concerns.\",\n \"However, with the use of a smaller diameter tool 202, the size of the bore 250 may need to be correspondingly smaller, which may result in the tool 202 being prone to plugging.\",\n \"Accordingly, the mandrel may be made solid to alleviate the potential of plugging within the tool 202.With the presence of the bore 250, the mandrel 214 may have an inner bore surface 247, which may include one or more threaded surfaces formed thereon.\",\n \"As such, there may be a first set of threads 216 configured for coupling the mandrel 214 with corresponding threads 256 of a setting adapter 252.The coupling of the threads, which may be shear threads, may facilitate detachable connection of the tool 202 and the setting adapter 252 and/or workstring (212, FIG.\",\n \"2B) at the threads.\",\n \"It is within the scope of the disclosure that the tool 202 may also have one or more predetermined failure points (not shown) configured to fail or break separately from any threaded connection.\",\n \"The failure point may fail or shear at a predetermined axial force greater than the force required to set the tool 202.The adapter 252 may include a stud 253 configured with the threads 256 thereon.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the stud 253 has external (male) threads 256 and the mandrel 214 has internal (female) threads; however, type or configuration of threads is not meant to be limited, and could be, for example, a vice versa female-male connection, respectively.\",\n \"The downhole tool 202 may be run into wellbore (206, FIG.\",\n \"2A) to a desired depth or position by way of the workstring (212, FIG.\",\n \"2A) that may be configured with the setting device or mechanism.\",\n \"The workstring 212 and setting sleeve 254 may be part of the plugging tool system 200 utilized to run the downhole tool 202 into the wellbore, and activate the tool 202 to move from an unset to set position.\",\n \"The set position may include seal element 222 and/or slips 234, 242 engaged with the tubular (208, FIG.\",\n \"2B).\",\n \"In an embodiment, the setting sleeve 254 (that may be configured as part of the setting mechanism or workstring) may be utilized to force or urge compression of the seal element 222, as well as swelling of the seal element 222 into sealing engagement with the surrounding tubular.\",\n \"The setting device(s) and components of the downhole tool 202 may be coupled with, and axially and/or longitudinally movable along mandrel 214.When the setting sequence begins, the mandrel 214 may be pulled into tension while the setting sleeve 254 remains stationary.\",\n \"The lower sleeve 260 may be pulled as well because of its attachment to the mandrel 214 by virtue of the coupling of threads 218 and threads 262.As shown in the embodiment of FIGS.\",\n \"2C and 2D, the lower sleeve 260 and the mandrel 214 may have matched or aligned holes 281A and 281B, respectively, whereby one or more anchor pins 211 or the like may be disposed or securely positioned therein.\",\n \"In embodiments, brass set screws may be used.\",\n \"Pins (or screws, etc.)\",\n \"211 may prevent shearing or spin-off during drilling or run-in.\",\n \"As the lower sleeve 260 is pulled in the direction of Arrow A, the components disposed about mandrel 214 between the lower sleeve 260 and the setting sleeve 254 may begin to compress against one another.\",\n \"This force and resultant movement causes compression and expansion of seal element 222.The lower sleeve 260 may also have an angled sleeve end 263 in engagement with the slip 234, and as the lower sleeve 260 is pulled further in the direction of Arrow A, the end 263 compresses against the slip 234.As a result, slip(s) 234 may move along a tapered or angled surface 228 of a composite member 220, and eventually radially outward into engagement with the surrounding tubular (208, FIG.\",\n \"2B).\",\n \"Serrated outer surfaces or teeth 298 of the slip(s) 234 may be configured such that the surfaces 298 prevent the slip 234 (or tool) from moving (e.g., axially or longitudinally) within the surrounding tubular, whereas otherwise the tool 202 may inadvertently release or move from its position.\",\n \"Although slip 234 is illustrated with teeth 298, it is within the scope of the disclosure that slip 234 may be configured with other gripping features, such as buttons or inserts.\",\n \"Initially, the seal element 222 may swell into contact with the tubular, followed by further tension in the tool 202 that may result in the seal element 222 and composite member 220 being compressed together, such that surface 289 acts on the interior surface 288.The ability to “flower,” unwind, and/or expand may allow the composite member 220 to extend completely into engagement with the inner surface of the surrounding tubular.\",\n \"Additional tension or load may be applied to the tool 202 that results in movement of cone 236, which may be disposed around the mandrel 214 in a manner with at least one surface 237 angled (or sloped, tapered, etc.)\",\n \"inwardly of second slip 242.The second slip 242 may reside adjacent or proximate to collar or cone 236.As such, the seal element 222 forces the cone 236 against the slip 242, moving the slip 242 radially outwardly into contact or gripping engagement with the tubular.\",\n \"Accordingly, the one or more slips 234, 242 may be urged radially outward and into engagement with the tubular (208, FIG.\",\n \"2B).\",\n \"In an embodiment, cone 236 may be slidingly engaged and disposed around the mandrel 214.As shown, the first slip 234 may be at or near distal end 246, and the second slip 242 may be disposed around the mandrel 214 at or near the proximate end 248.It is within the scope of the disclosure that the position of the slips 234 and 242 may be interchanged.\",\n \"Moreover, slip 234 may be interchanged with a slip comparable to slip 242, and vice versa.\",\n \"Because the sleeve 254 is held rigidly in place, the sleeve 254 may engage against a bearing plate 283 that may result in the transfer load through the rest of the tool 202.The setting sleeve 254 may have a sleeve end 255 that abuts against the bearing plate end 284.As tension increases through the tool 202, an end of the cone 236, such as second end 240, compresses against slip 242, which may be held in place by the bearing plate 283.As a result of cone 236 having freedom of movement and its conical surface 237, the cone 236 may move to the underside beneath the slip 242, forcing the slip 242 outward and into engagement with the surrounding tubular (208, FIG.\",\n \"2B).\",\n \"The second slip 242 may include one or more, gripping elements, such as buttons or inserts 278, which may be configured to provide additional grip with the tubular.\",\n \"The inserts 278 may have an edge or corner 279 suitable to provide additional bite into the tubular surface.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the inserts 278 may be mild steel, such as 1018 heat treated steel.\",\n \"The use of mild steel may result in reduced or eliminated casing damage from slip engagement and reduced drill string and equipment damage from abrasion.\",\n \"In an embodiment, slip 242 may be a one-piece slip, whereby the slip 242 has at least partial connectivity across its entire circumference.\",\n \"Meaning, while the slip 242 itself may have one or more grooves (or notches, undulations, etc.)\",\n \"244 configured therein, the slip 242 itself has no initial circumferential separation point.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the grooves 244 may be equidistantly spaced or disposed in the second slip 242.In other embodiments, the grooves 244 may have an alternatingly arranged configuration.\",\n \"That is, one groove 244A may be proximate to slip end 241, the next groove 244B may be proximate to an opposite slip end 243, and so forth.\",\n \"The tool 202 may be configured with ball-plug, check-valve assembly that includes a ball seat 286.The assembly may be removably or integrally formed therein.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the bore 250 of the mandrel 214 may be configured with the ball seat 286 formed or removably disposed therein.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the ball seat 286 may be integrally formed within the bore 250 of the mandrel 214.In other embodiments, the ball seat 286 may be separately or optionally installed within the mandrel 214, as may be desired.\",\n \"The ball seat 286 may be configured in a manner so that a ball 285 seats or rests therein, whereby the flowpath through the mandrel 214 may be closed off (e.g., flow through the bore 250 is restricted or controlled by the presence of the ball 285).\",\n \"For example, fluid flow from one direction may urge and hold the ball 285 against the seat 286, whereas fluid flow from the opposite direction may urge the ball 285 off or away from the seat 286.As such, the ball 285 and the check valve assembly may be used to prevent or otherwise control fluid flow through the tool 202.The ball 285 may be conventionally made of a composite material, phenolic resin, etc., whereby the ball 285 may be capable of holding maximum pressures experienced during downhole operations (e.g., fracing).\",\n \"By utilization of retainer pin 287, the ball 285 and ball seat 286 may be configured as a retained ball plug.\",\n \"As such, the ball 285 may be adapted to serve as a check valve by sealing pressure from one direction, but allowing fluids to pass in the opposite direction.\",\n \"The tool 202 may be configured as a drop-ball plug, such that a drop ball may be flowed to a drop ball seat 259.The drop ball may be much larger diameter than the ball of the ball check.\",\n \"In an embodiment, end 248 may be configured with a drop ball seat surface 259 such that the drop ball may come to rest and seat at in the seat proximate end 248.As applicable, the drop ball (not shown here) may be lowered into the wellbore (206, FIG.\",\n \"2A) and flowed toward the drop ball seat 259 formed within the tool 202.The ball seat may be formed with a radius 259A (i.e., circumferential rounded edge or surface).\",\n \"In other aspects, the tool 202 may be configured as a bridge plug, which once set in the wellbore, may prevent or allow flow in either direction (e.g., upwardly/downwardly, etc.)\",\n \"through tool 202.Accordingly, it should be apparent to one of skill in the art that the tool 202 of the present disclosure may be configurable as a frac plug, a drop ball plug, bridge plug, etc.\",\n \"simply by utilizing one of a plurality of adapters or other optional components.\",\n \"In any configuration, once the tool 202 is properly set, fluid pressure may be increased in the wellbore, such that further downhole operations, such as fracture in a target zone, may commence.\",\n \"The tool 202 may include an anti-rotation assembly that includes an anti-rotation device or mechanism 282, which may be a spring, a mechanically spring-energized composite tubular member, and so forth.\",\n \"The device 282 may be configured and usable for the prevention of undesired or inadvertent movement or unwinding of the tool 202 components.\",\n \"As shown, the device 282 may reside in cavity 294 of the sleeve (or housing) 254.During assembly, the device 282 may be held in place with the use of a lock ring 296.In other aspects, pins may be used to hold the device 282 in place.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2D shows the lock ring 296 may be disposed around a part 217 of a setting tool coupled with the workstring 212.The lock ring 296 may be securely held in place with screws inserted through the sleeve 254.The lock ring 296 may include a guide hole or groove 295, whereby an end 282A of the device 282 may slidingly engage therewith.\",\n \"Protrusions or dogs 295A may be configured such that during assembly, the mandrel 214 and respective tool components may ratchet and rotate in one direction against the device 282; however, the engagement of the protrusions 295A with device end 282B may prevent back-up or loosening in the opposite direction.\",\n \"The anti-rotation mechanism may provide additional safety for the tool and operators in the sense that it may help prevent inoperability of tool in situations where the tool is inadvertently used in the wrong application.\",\n \"For example, if the tool is used in the wrong temperature application, components of the tool may be prone to melt, whereby the device 282 and lock ring 296 may aid in keeping the rest of the tool together.\",\n \"As such, the device 282 may prevent tool components from loosening and/or unscrewing, as well as prevent tool 202 unscrewing or falling off the workstring 212.Drill-through of the tool 202 may be facilitated by the fact that the mandrel 214, the slips 234, 242, the cone(s) 236, the composite member 220, etc.\",\n \"may be made of drillable material that is less damaging to a drill bit than those found in conventional plugs.\",\n \"The drill bit will continue to move through the tool 202 until the downhole slip 234 and/or 242 are drilled sufficiently that such slip loses its engagement with the well bore.\",\n \"When that occurs, the remainder of the tools, which generally would include lower sleeve 260 and any portion of mandrel 214 within the lower sleeve 260 falls into the well.\",\n \"If additional tool(s) 202 exist in the well bore beneath the tool 202 that is being drilled through, then the falling away portion will rest atop the tool 202 located further in the well bore and will be drilled through in connection with the drill through operations related to the tool 202 located further in the well bore.\",\n \"Accordingly, the tool 202 may be sufficiently removed, which may result in opening the tubular 208.Accordingly, components of tool 202 may be made of non-dissolvable materials (e.g., materials suitable for and are known to withstand downhole environments [including extreme pressure, temperature, fluid properties, etc.]\",\n \"for an extended period of time (predetermined or otherwise) as may be desired).\",\n \"Just the same, one or more components of a tool of embodiments disclosed herein may be made of dissolvable materials (e.g., materials suitable for and are known to dissolve in downhole environments [including extreme pressure, temperature, fluid properties, etc.]\",\n \"after a brief or limited period of time (predetermined or otherwise) as may be desired).\",\n \"In an embodiment, a component made of a dissolvable material may begin to dissolve within about 3 to about 48 hours after setting of the downhole tool 202.In other embodiments, components may be made of a material that may have brittle characteristics under certain conditions.\",\n \"In yet other embodiments, components may be made of a material that may have disassociatable characteristics under certain conditions.\",\n \"One of skill in the art would appreciate that the material may be the same material and have the same composition, but that the physical characteristic of the material may change, and thus depend on variables such as curing procedures or downhole conditions.\",\n \"The material (including a cured byproduct thereof) may be or include a resin.\",\n \"The resin may be an anhydride-cured epoxy material.\",\n \"It may be possible to use sodium polyacrylate fiber in conjunction therewith, although any fiber that has dissolvable properties associated with it Some resins may be too brittle (or have too low Tg) for certain downhole conditions.\",\n \"Accordingly, resins described herein may include a flexibilizer distributed therewith.\",\n \"A flexibilizer may include clay(s), hygroscopic clay, nanoclay, bentonite, or any other material that is easily distributable within the resin and reduces brittleness of the resin.\",\n \"Carbon nano-tubes may also add strength but promote capillary water flow through the resin matrix.\",\n \"Of note, smectic clay minerals, including montmorillonite and bentonite, are known to have dramatic shrink-swell capacity.\",\n \"Bentonite is known to have super high affinity for water, which may provide a synergistic effect.\",\n \"That is, bentonite may reduce the brittleness of the tool component, but at the same time induce an additional fracture stress to the tool component so that it dissolves more readily (as upon exposure to water, the volume of the bentonite within the tool component may expand up to about approximately 8× from its original state).\",\n \"Embodiments herein provide for one or more components of a downhole tool (or other downhole devices) to be made of a material of construction that may include a composition of matter (including a cured byproduct thereof) designed or otherwise having the inherent characteristic to change integrity or other physical attribute when exposed to certain wellbore conditions, such as a change in time, temperature, water, heat, pressure, solution, combinations thereof, etc.\",\n \"Heat may be present due to the temperature increase attributed to the natural temperature gradient of the earth, and water may already be present in the existing wellbore fluids.\",\n \"The change in integrity may occur in a predetermined time period, which may vary from several minutes to several weeks.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the material may degrade to the point of ‘mush,’ while in other embodiments, the material may dissolve or otherwise disintegrate and be carried away by fluid flowing in the wellbore.\",\n \"The material may disassociate in some embodiments.\",\n \"The temperature of the downhole fluid may affect the rate change in integrity.\",\n \"The material need not form a solution when it dissolves in the aqueous phase.\",\n \"For example, the material may dissolve, break, or otherwise disassociate into sufficiently small particles (i.e., a colloid), that may be removed by the fluid as it circulates in the well.\",\n \"In embodiments, the material may become degradable, but not dissolvable.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the material may become degradable, and subsequently dissolvable.\",\n \"In still other embodiments, the material may become breakable (or brittle), but not dissolvable.\",\n \"In yet other embodiments, the material may become breakable, and subsequently dissolvable.\",\n \"In accordance with the disclosure, any unlimited number of devices, apparatuses, tools, etc.\",\n \"may utilize one or more components made of a material having a composition of matter according to embodiments herein.\",\n \"One such device may be a “frac ball” or “drop ball”.\",\n \"As such, for some embodiments there may be a frac ball constructed of a material described herein.\",\n \"A downhole tool may also be configured with a “ball in place” (caged ball, etc.)\",\n \"that is similarly construct of a material described herein.\",\n \"In an operation utilizing one or more components made of a material of embodiments of the disclosure, the material may be differentiated in a manner that leads to different rates in physical change.\",\n \"The frac ball of the present disclosure may be constructed of a suitable water-soluble material so that after a predetermined amount of time (presumably after the fracing is done), the frac ball may degrade or otherwise undergo physical change to provide an unobstructed flow path through a tool whereby production fluid may flow to surface.\",\n \"Conventionally, downhole dissolvables fall into two groups: 1) a dissolving thermoplastic with a characteristic of hotter temperature, faster dissolve rate; and 2) dissolving metals, typically alloy-based often with other trace metals with a characteristic of being very expensive and cost prohibitive.\",\n \"The examples to follow illustrate innovation around the prior art and conventional groups of dissolvables.\",\n \"For example, embodiments herein provide for use of constituents that in their own form do not dissolve, e.g., a clay material will ‘swell’ and/or somewhat solidify.\",\n \"Other constituents add differing performance characteristics.\",\n \"A soluble fiber(s), for example, may provide a ‘pathway’ (s) (in various, including random, direction) for fluid to flow therethrough and more readily attack other constituents.\",\n \"Thus, it has been discovered that a dissolving fiber is beneficial (over dissolving powder) because in forming the component or device, ‘pathways’ are formed.\",\n \"The pathways remain once the fiber dissolves, and allows fluid to much more readily move into surrounding contact with the other constituents.\",\n \"It has been further discovered that upon curing of the initial constituents, the material may be characterized as being dissolvable, disassociatable, degradable, and/or breakable, depending upon the composition, curing process, and/or depending upon the surrounding activation conditions Percentages of constituents and length of fibers can be optimized to yield a desired physical characteristic known to occur in certain conditions.\",\n \"Care is needed to avoid temperature conditions that avoid ‘swelling’ the clay and closing of the pathways.\",\n \"Accordingly, embodiments herein provide for a material that may include four primary constituents: 1) a matrix or adhesive; 2) a plasticizer or thickener; 3) strengthener; and 4) a soluble medium.\",\n \"The matrix (or the adhesive) may be the resin or resin system.\",\n \"Among other things the matrix acts to combine and hold other constituents thereto.\",\n \"The resin may be an epoxy based resin system.\",\n \"In aspects, the resin system may be an epoxy resin with an anhydride hardener.\",\n \"The matrix may be an anhydride epoxy, or an epoxy resin hardened with an anhydride, like that of U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,629,379, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.\",\n \"The plasticizer (or thickener) is suitable to ‘thicken’ the resin.\",\n \"The resin may be that which has a low viscosity, whereby other constituents may not be able to properly distribute uniformly therein.\",\n \"The plasticizer helps in uniform distribution of constituents.\",\n \"The plasticizer may be clay-based, including montmorillonite or modified montmorillonite (such as CLAYTONE APA.\",\n \"The strengthener may be suitable to increase mechanical properties of the material.\",\n \"In aspects, it may be desirable to want high compressive strength.\",\n \"An example strengthener includes glass bubbles.\",\n \"The glass does not increase tensile strength, but may increase plasticity—thus dramatically increasing compressive strength of, for example, a frac ball.\",\n \"Normally, a frac ball is brittle, as the compressive strength is not very high.\",\n \"Glass (e.g., glass microspheres) may be added.\",\n \"If not added, the resulting material may not have high compressive strength.\",\n \"The soluble medium is suitable to provide pathways within the cured material.\",\n \"Once the material is subjected to its activation environment, the medium dissolves, and the surrounding fluid can easily and readily infiltrate and reach other constituents via the pathways.\",\n \"The resultant cured material has a synergistic benefit of having a specific gravity of close to one, which of significance is substantially equivalent to most wellbore fluids (which are often predominantly water).\",\n \"Accordingly, the material may be naturally buoyant in the presence of frac fluid, whereby the material may be readily flowed back.\",\n \"This may be the case whether the material is in its original state, such as a solid frac ball, or the material has undergone a physical/chemical change (e.g., solid to dissolved).\",\n \"In some aspects, it may be preferable or desired to flow back a ball.\",\n \"In other aspects, it is undesirable to flow a ball back, and instead preferred to keep materials downhole.\",\n \"Embodiments herein provide for the ability to form a composition useable as a material for a device that can be customized for a specific customer need (e.g., material that is readily flowed back; or material that is not readily flowed back).\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a composition of matter prior to curing that may include in the range of: about 100 parts by weight of an epoxy resin with an anhydride curing agent; about 10-20 parts by weight of a clay; about 20-30 parts by weight of a fiber; and about 5-10 parts by weight of a glass.\",\n \"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a composition of matter prior to curing that may be: a.\",\n \"100 parts by weight of an epoxy resin with an anhydride curing agent; b. about 10-20 parts by weight of a clay; c. about 20-30 parts by weight of a fiber; and d. about 5-10 parts by weight of a glass.\",\n \"One of skill in the art would appreciate subjecting a material having a composition of matter in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure to a curing process.\",\n \"The physical properties of the resultant cured material may dependent in a manner of significance to the selected constituents and/or curing process.\",\n \"The curing process may include two aspects, first pertaining to a curing device, such as an oven, and secondly pertaining to what happens to the material in the oven, with the latter being dependent on the form.\",\n \"Because of the insulating properties of the material, there may be ‘soak’ (i.e., a held temperature) for a period of time to ensure the core reaches desired temp.\",\n \"The constituents may be mixed together in a powered mixer of suitable HP and volume.\",\n \"The mixed material may then be transferred into a mold suitable for the curing process.\",\n \"The mold may be the shape of the desired cured-material device.\",\n \"For example, the mold may be spherical in shape to produce a spherical ball.\",\n \"Just the same, the mold may produce a resultant product that may then be subjected to a finishing process such as grinding or machining in order to produce the desired cured-material device.\",\n \"The curing process may include operating a curing device to start within an initial curing temperature in the range of about 70° F. to about 100° F. The material may then be placed therein, and the device closed in a manner to maintain heat.\",\n \"The curing device may then be heated a ramp up rate of about 0.2-2° F./min to a temperature in the range of about 120° F. to about 200° F. The device may be held at a temperature of 120° F. to about 200° F. for a predetermined amount of soak time of about 30 minutes to about 120 minutes.\",\n \"The curing device may then be heated a ramp up rate of about 0.2-2° F./min to a temperature in the range of about 160° F. to about 250° F. The curing device may then be heated a ramp up rate of about 1-4° F./min to a temperature in the range of about 250° F. to about 350° F. The device may be held at a temperature of 250° F. to about 350° F. for a predetermined amount of soak time of about 30 minutes to about 120 minutes.\",\n \"The curing device may then be ramped down at a rate of about 0.2-2° F./min to a temperature in the range of about 70° F. to about 100° F. The forgoing curing process operation may yield a material that experiences a starting material temperature in the range of about 70° F. to about 100° F. The material experiences a temperature ramp up 12-120° F./hr to a temperature in the range of about 300° F. to about 400° F. The material may have a higher material temperature than the curing device as a result of a thermal reaction from the activity of the selected constituents.\",\n \"The device may be operated to hold the material at a material temperature of about 300° F. to about 400° F. for a predetermined amount of time in the range of about 30 minutes to about 120 minutes.\",\n \"The material may then have its temperature ramped down at a rate of 12-120° F./hr to a temperature in the range of about 70° F. to about 100° F. MATERIAL OF CONSTRUCTION—COMPOSITION—EXAMPLE 1 The composition prior to curing of Example 1 may include a base epoxy system that comprises an epoxy resin with an anhydride curing agent (100 parts by wt.).\",\n \"The base resin system may be desirably prone to break down in high temp/high pressure water.\",\n \"The composition may include about 10 to about 20 parts modified montmorillonite clay.\",\n \"The composition may include about 5-10 parts by weight high-strength (8 ksi collapse), glass spheres.\",\n \"The spheres may be hollow.\",\n \"The spheres may have a diameter of about 1 to about 1000 microns.\",\n \"The spheres may have an average diameter of about 15 to about 25 microns.\",\n \"The composition may include a water-soluble fiber, such as sodium polyacrylate.\",\n \"The material of the present disclosure may include a composition of matter that includes one or more of an epoxy resin with an anhydride curing agent; a clay; a water-soluble fiber; and a glass.\",\n \"Accordingly, embodiments of the disclosure pertain to the composition having a clay comprises modified montmorillonite, and glass that includes high-strength, hollow-glass microspheres.\",\n \"In aspects, the clay may include or be modified montmorillonite; and/or the glass may include or be high-strength hollow glass microspheres.\",\n \"The composition may include a water-soluble material.\",\n \"In aspects, the water-soluble material may include or be sodium polyacrylate.\",\n \"The resin system may be an anhydride-cured epoxy material.\",\n \"The composition is subjected to curing in order to yield a finalized (i.e., cured) product.\",\n \"A device of the disclosure may be formed during the curing process, or subsequently thereafter.\",\n \"The composition may be cured with a curing process of the present disclosure.\",\n \"COMPOSITION—EXAMPLE 2 The composition prior to curing of Example 2 may include a base resin system that comprises an epoxy with an anhydride-based curing agent (˜100 parts by wt.).\",\n \"The base resin system may be desirably prone to break down in high temp/high pressure water.\",\n \"The composition may include about 0 to about 30 parts of a clay-based material.\",\n \"The composition may include about 25 to about 30 parts by weight desiccated bentonite (swelling clay).\",\n \"The composition may include about 5 to about 10 parts Montmorillonite (non-swelling/water-conducting) clay.\",\n \"The composition may include about 0 to about 10 parts by weight of a glass material.\",\n \"In aspects, the glass material may be glass microspheres, typically being between 1 and 1000 micrometers in diameter.\",\n \"In aspects, the glass material may be a low-pressure (˜800 psi collapse) hollow glass nanospheres.\",\n \"The composition may include an organic fiber (such as hemp or comparable) or glass fiber.\",\n \"The composition may include a small or trace amount (by weight) of a water-soluble material, such as salt or sugar (or both).\",\n \"The presence of the water-soluble material may contribute to the material being ‘mushy’ (in contrast to brittle) under certain conditions.\",\n \"The material of the present disclosure may include a composition of matter that includes one or more of an epoxy with an anhydride-based hardener; a swelling clay; a non-swelling clay; and a glass.\",\n \"Accordingly, embodiments of the disclosure pertain to the composition that may have swelling clay that includes bentonite, non-swelling clay that includes montmorillonite, and glass that includes glass spheres.\",\n \"In aspects, the swelling clay may include or be bentonite; the non-swelling clay may include or be montmorillonite; and/or the glass may include or be low pressure hollow glass nanospheres.\",\n \"The composition may include at least one of organic hemp fiber, glass fiber, and combinations thereof.\",\n \"The composition may include a water-soluble material.\",\n \"In aspects, the water-soluble material may include or be one of a salt, a sugar, and combinations thereof.\",\n \"The resin system may be made from or include polyglycolic acid (PGA).\",\n \"The resin system may be an anhydride-cured epoxy material.\",\n \"The resin system may be cast or molded pure resin or may be reinforced with short chopped glass, carbon or natural fiber hemp, canvas or silk.\",\n \"It may be possible to use PGA fiber in conjunction therewith, although any resin that may have dissolvable properties associated therewith may be used.\",\n \"Some resins may be too brittle (or have too low Tg) for certain downhole conditions.\",\n \"Accordingly, resins described herein may include a flexibilizer distributed therewith.\",\n \"A flexibilizer may include clay(s), hygroscopic clay, nanoclay, bentonite, or any other material that is easily distributable within the resin and reduces brittleness of the resin.\",\n \"Carbon nano-tubes may also add strength but promote capillary water flow through the resin matrix.\",\n \"The composition is subjected to curing in order to yield a finalized product.\",\n \"A device of the disclosure may be formed during the curing process, or subsequently thereafter.\",\n \"The composition may be cured with a curing process of the present disclosure.\",\n \"EXAMPLE 3 The composition of Example 3 prior to curing may include about 100 parts by weight base resin system that comprises an epoxy with a curing agent (or ‘hardener’).\",\n \"The base resin may be desirably prone to break down in a high temp and/or high pressure aqueous environment.\",\n \"The epoxy may be a cycloaliphatic epoxy resin with a low viscosity and a high glass transition temperature.\",\n \"The epoxy may be characterized by having high adhesability with fibers.\",\n \"As an example, the epoxy may be 3,4-epoxycyclohexylmethyl-3′,4′-epoxycyclohexane-carboxylate.\",\n \"The hardener may be an anhydride, i.e., anhydride-based.\",\n \"For example, the curing agent may be a methyl carboxylic, such as methyl-5-norborene-2, 3-dicarboxylic anhydride.\",\n \"The hardener may include, and be pre-catalyzed with, an accelerator.\",\n \"The accelerator may be imidazole-based.\",\n \"The accelerator may help in saving or reducing the curing time.\",\n \"The ratio of epoxy to curing agent may be in the range of about 0.5 to about 1.5.In more particular aspects, the ratio may be about 0.9 to about 1.0.Processing conditions of the base resin system may include multiple stages of curing.\",\n \"The composition may include an additive comprising a clay.\",\n \"The additive may be a solid in granular or powder form.\",\n \"The additive may be about 0 to about 30 parts by weight of the composition of a montmorillonite-based clay.\",\n \"In aspects, the clay may be about 0 to about 20 parts by weight of the composition.\",\n \"The additive may be an organophilic clay.\",\n \"An example of a suitable clay additive may be CLAYTONE® APA by BYK Additives, Inc.\",\n \"The composition may include a glass, such as glass bubbles or spheres (including microspheres and/or nanospheres).\",\n \"The glass may be about 0 to about 20 parts by weight of the composition.\",\n \"In aspects, the glass may be about 5 to about 15 parts by weight of the composition.\",\n \"An example of a suitable glass may be 3M Glass Bubbles 342XHS by 3M.\",\n \"The composition may include a fiber.\",\n \"The fiber may be organic.\",\n \"The fiber may be a water-soluble fiber.\",\n \"The fiber may be in the range of about 0 to about 30 parts by weight of the composition.\",\n \"In aspects, the fiber may be in the range of about 15 to about 25 parts by weight.\",\n \"The fiber may be made of a sodium polyacrylate-based material.\",\n \"The fiber may resemble a thread or string shape.\",\n \"In aspects, the fiber may have a fiber length in the range of about 0.1 mm to about 2 mm.\",\n \"The fiber length may be in the range of about 0.5 mm to about 1 mm.\",\n \"The fiber length may be in the range of substantially 0 mm to about 6 mm.\",\n \"The fiber may be a soluble fiber like EVANESCE™ water soluble fiber from Technical Absorbents Ltd.\",\n \"The composition is subjected to curing in order to yield a finalized product.\",\n \"A device of the disclosure may be formed during the curing process, or subsequently thereafter.\",\n \"The composition may be cured with a curing process of the present disclosure.\",\n \"EXAMPLE 4 The composition of Example 4 may be characterized as a material that includes a polyester and aluminosilicate clay.\",\n \"The composition may include an ester-based component, a base resin, and an additive characterized by the ability to become acidic in an aqueous environment.\",\n \"The additive may be Halloysite like that provided by Applied Materials, which may be in the form of a nano-tube.\",\n \"The nano-tube may be made by rolling a sheet of aluminosilicate clay.\",\n \"The additive may become acidic in aqueous environments and suitable to attack plastic, especially thermoplastics having ester groups, like polyethylene terephthalate (PET).\",\n \"The additive may increase the strength of the material.\",\n \"The additive may be suitable for aggressively attacking polyester in aqueous environments.\",\n \"Halloysite may be characterized as an aluminosilicate mineral with the same chemistry as kaolinite but instead of the flatsheets typical of kaolinite, the sheets having been rolled up into tubes by a natural hydrothermal process.\",\n \"The composition may include a modified Halloysite/PLLA (poly (L-lactic acid)/glass fiber.\",\n \"The composition is subjected to curing in order to yield a finalized product.\",\n \"A device of the disclosure may be formed during the curing process, or subsequently thereafter.\",\n \"The composition may be cured with a curing process of the present disclosure.\",\n \"Referring now to FIGS.\",\n \"3A and 3B together, a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a downhole tool with a hybrid sleeve, in accordance with embodiments disclosed herein, are shown.\",\n \"Downhole tool 2102 may be run, set, and operated as described herein and in other embodiments (such as in System 200), and as otherwise understood to one of skill in the art.\",\n \"Components of the downhole tool 2102 may be arranged and disposed about a mandrel or mandrel sleeve 2114, as described herein and in other embodiments, and as otherwise understood to one of skill in the art.\",\n \"Thus, downhole tool 2102 may be comparable or identical in aspects, function, operation, components, etc.\",\n \"as that of other tool embodiments, and redundant discussion is limited for sake of brevity.\",\n \"On occasion, it may be necessary or otherwise desired to produce a fluid from the formation while leaving a set plug in place.\",\n \"However, an inner diameter (ID) of a bore (e.g., 250, FIG.\",\n \"2D) in a mandrel (214) may be too narrow to effectively and efficiently produce the fluid—thus in embodiments it may be desirous to have an oversized ID 2131 through the tool 2102.The ID of the bore is normally adequate to allow drop balls to pass therethrough, but may be inadequate for production.\",\n \"In order to produce desired fluid flow, it often becomes necessary to drill out a set tool—this requires a stop in operations, rig time, drill time, and related operator and equipment costs.\",\n \"On the other hand, the presence of the oversized ID 2131 of bore 2151, and thus a larger cross-sectional area as compared to bore 2150, provides effective and efficient production capability through the tool 2102 without the need to resort to drilling of the tool.\",\n \"However, a reduced wall thickness 2127 of mandrel sleeve 2114 may be problematic to the characteristics of the tool 2102, especially during the setting sequence.\",\n \"Accordingly, a sleeve insert (or liner, reinforcing member, etc.)\",\n \"2153 may be used to provide an effective wall thickness of the mandrel 2114 during the run-in and setting sequence comparable to other embodiments disclosed herein.\",\n \"Referring briefly to FIGS.\",\n \"3C and 3D together, an isometric component breakout view of a downhole tool with a hybrid sleeve according to embodiments of the disclosure, and an isometric component breakout view of a system using a downhole tool with a hybrid sleeve, respectively, in accordance with embodiments disclosed herein, are shown.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3D depicts a wellbore 2106 formed in a subterranean formation (210) with a tubular 2108 disposed therein.\",\n \"A workstring 2112 (which may include a part 2117 of a setting tool coupled with adapter 2152) may be used to position or run the downhole tool 2102 into and through the wellbore 2106 to a desired location.\",\n \"In accordance with embodiments of the disclosure, the tool 2102 may be configured as a plugging tool, which may be set within the tubular 2108 in such a manner that the tool 2102 forms a fluid-tight seal against the inner surface 2107 of the tubular 2108.In an embodiment, the downhole tool 2102 may be configured as a frac plug, where flow into one section of the wellbore 2106 may be blocked and otherwise diverted into the surrounding formation or reservoir.\",\n \"Once the tool 2102 reaches the set position within the tubular, the setting mechanism or workstring 2112 may be detached from the tool 2102 by various methods, resulting in the tool 2102 left in the surrounding tubular and one or more sections of the wellbore isolated.\",\n \"In an embodiment, once the tool 2102 is set, tension may be applied to the adapter 2152 until the threaded connection between the adapter 2152 and the mandrel 2114 (or insert 2153) is broken.\",\n \"For example, the mating threads on the adapter 2152 and the insert 2153 (2156 and 2116, FIG.\",\n \"22A) may be designed to shear, and thus may be pulled and sheared accordingly in a manner known in the art.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the downhole tool 2102 and/or its components may be a drillable tool made from drillable composite material(s), such as glass fiber/epoxy, carbon fiber/epoxy, glass fiber/PEEK, carbon fiber/PEEK, etc.\",\n \"Other resins may include phenolic, polyamide, etc.\",\n \"One or more mating surfaces of the downhole tool 2102 may be configured with an angle, such that corresponding components may be placed under compression instead of shear.\",\n \"In accordance with the disclosure, components of tool 2102 may be made of non-dissolvable materials (e.g., materials suitable for and are known to withstand downhole environments [including extreme pressure, temperature, fluid properties, etc.]\",\n \"for an extended period of time (predetermined or otherwise) as may be desired).\",\n \"In accordance with the disclosure, components of tool 2102 may be made of dissolvable materials (e.g., materials suitable for and are known to dissolve in downhole environments [including extreme pressure, temperature, fluid properties, etc.]\",\n \"after a brief or limited period of time (predetermined or otherwise) as may be desired).\",\n \"In an embodiment, a component made of a dissolvable material may begin to dissolve within about 3 to about 48 hours after setting of the downhole tool.\",\n \"In aspects, the insert 2153 may be made of a composition of material described herein.\",\n \"The insert 2153 may be made of a material that is adequate to provide durability and strength to the tool 2102 for a sufficient amount of time that includes run-in, setting and frac, but then begins to change (i.e., degrade, dissolve, etc.).\",\n \"shortly thereafter.\",\n \"The outer sleeve 2114 may be machined from metal, including such as aluminum or dissolvable aluminum alloy.\",\n \"Alternatively, the sleeve 2114 may be formed from a material (or its cured byproduct) having a clay, glass bubble, water-soluble fiber material further mixed with a dissolving resin.\",\n \"The downhole tool 2102 may include the mandrel sleeve 2114 that extends through the tool (or tool body) 2102.The mandrel sleeve 2114 may include a flowpath or bore 2151 formed therein (e.g., an axial bore).\",\n \"The bore 2151 may extend partially or for a short distance through the mandrel 2114, or the bore 2151 may extend through the entire mandrel sleeve 2114, with an opening at its proximate end 2148 and oppositely at its distal end 2146.The presence of the bore or other flowpath through the mandrel sleeve 2114 may indirectly be dictated by operating conditions.\",\n \"That is, in most instances the tool 2102 may be large enough in diameter (e.g., in a range of about 4-5 inches) that the bore 2151 may be correspondingly large enough (e.g., 3 inches) so that fluid may be produced therethrough.\",\n \"The tool OD should probably not exceed 5.5 inches for standard operation.\",\n \"The small ID should be around 1″.\",\n \"The dissolved ID is preferably 3″.\",\n \"With the presence of the bore 2151, the mandrel sleeve 2114 may have an inner bore surface (2147, FIG.\",\n \"22B), which may include one or more threaded surfaces formed thereon.\",\n \"As such, there may be a first set of threads 2117 configured for coupling the mandrel sleeve 2114 with corresponding threads 2155 of the sleeve insert 2153.The setting device(s) and components of the downhole tool 2102 may be as described and disclosed with other embodiments herein.\",\n \"The tool 2102 may include a lower sleeve 2160 engaged with the mandrel sleeve 2114.The mandrel sleeve 2114 and the lower sleeve 2160 may be threadingly engaged via mated threaded connection 2118.Accordingly, during setting, as the lower sleeve 2160 is pulled, the components disposed about the mandrel sleeve 2114 between the lower sleeve 2160 and the setting sleeve 2154 may begin to compress against one another.\",\n \"This force and resultant movement causes compression and expansion of seal element 2122.Slip(s) 234 may move or otherwise be urged eventually radially outward into engagement with the surrounding tubular 2108.Serrated outer surfaces or teeth 2198 of the slip(s) 2134 may be configured such that the surfaces 298 prevent the slip 2134 (or tool) from moving (e.g., axially or longitudinally) within the surrounding tubular, whereas otherwise the tool 2102 may inadvertently release or move from its position.\",\n \"Although slip 2134 is illustrated with teeth 2198, it is within the scope of the disclosure that slip 2134 may be configured with other gripping features, such as buttons or inserts.\",\n \"Because the sleeve 2154 is held rigidly in place, the sleeve 2154 may engage against a bearing plate 2183 that may result in the transfer load through the rest of the tool 2102.The setting sleeve 2154 may have a sleeve end 2155 that abuts against the bearing plate end 284.The second slip 2134a may include one or more, gripping elements, which may be configured to provide additional grip with the tubular 2108.A ball seat 2186 may be configured in a manner so that a ball 2185 seats or rests therein, whereby the flowpath through the mandrel sleeve 2114 (or sleeve insert 2153) may be closed off (e.g., flow through the bore 2150 is restricted or controlled by the presence of the ball 2185).\",\n \"For example, fluid flow from one direction may urge and hold the ball 2185 against the seat 2186.Ball 2185 may be made of a material of composition of embodiments disclosed herein.\",\n \"It should be apparent to one of skill in the art that the tool 2102 of the present disclosure may be configurable as a frac plug, a drop ball plug, bridge plug, etc.\",\n \"simply by utilizing one of a plurality of adapters or other optional components.\",\n \"In any configuration, once the tool 2102 is properly set, fluid pressure may be increased in the wellbore, such that further downhole operations, such as fracture in a target zone, may commence.\",\n \"The tool 2102 may include an anti-rotation assembly that includes an anti-rotation device or mechanism 2182, which may be a spring, a mechanically spring-energized composite tubular member, and so forth.\",\n \"The device 2182 may be configured and usable for the prevention of undesired or inadvertent movement or unwinding of the tool 2102 components.\",\n \"As shown, the device 2182 may reside in cavity 2194 of the sleeve (or housing) 2154.During assembly, the device 2182 may be held in place with the use of a lock ring 2196.In other aspects, pins may be used to hold the device 2182 in place.\",\n \"The anti-rotation mechanism may provide additional safety for the tool and operators in the sense it may help prevent inoperability of tool in situations where the tool is inadvertently used in the wrong application.\",\n \"As such, the device 2182 may prevent tool components from loosening and/or unscrewing, as well as prevent tool 2102 unscrewing or falling off the workstring 2112.Drill-through of the tool 2102 may be facilitated by the fact that the mandrel sleeve 2114 and other components, etc.\",\n \"may be made of drillable material that is less damaging to a drill bit than those found in conventional plugs.\",\n \"The drill bit will continue to move through the tool 2102 until the slips are drilled sufficiently that such slip loses its engagement with the well bore.\",\n \"Remaining components may fall into the well or onto another tool positioned therebelow.\",\n \"Accordingly, the tool 2102 may be sufficiently removed, which may result in opening the tubular 208.Components, such as the slip 2134 may be prefilled or prefitted with a reactant that aids in destruction of the slip and other tool components once the reactant is exposed to the downhole environment.\",\n \"The reactant may be, for example, anionic, salt-based, caustic, sulfur, sodium polyacrylate, or other suitable material that becomes highly reactive upon wetness or exposure to an aqueous fluid.\",\n \"Advantages The composition(s) of matter disclosed or claimed herein are not limited in utility to downhole conditions or operations (and related tools, devices, etc.\",\n \"), but instead may find utility in many applications in which initial hardness (strength) or durability, and subsequent degradability, dissolvability, breakage, dissociation, etc., is desired.\",\n \"Yet other advantages may be recognized during post-frac, where downhole fluids can flow without intervention of a drilling rig to remove the tool.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, the component or device degrades or undergoes other physical change, reducing hydraulic restriction and allows valuable fluids to be recovered and/or flow back frac water and potentially start oil/gas production.\",\n \"Faster is better.\",\n \"Advantageously this can be done with just a hose and tank truck.\",\n \"While example embodiments of the disclosure have been shown and described, modifications thereof can be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and teachings of the disclosure.\",\n \"These embodiments are exemplary only and not limiting.\",\n \"Many variations and modifications of the disclosure disclosed herein are possible and are within the scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"Where numerical ranges or limitations are expressly stated, such express ranges or limitations should be understood to include iterative ranges or limitations of like magnitude falling within the expressly stated ranges or limitations.\",\n \"The use of the term “optionally” with respect to any element of a claim is intended to mean that the subject element is required, or alternatively, is not required.\",\n \"Both alternatives are intended to be within the scope of the claim.\",\n \"Use of broader terms such as comprises, includes, having, etc.\",\n \"should be understood to provide support for narrower terms such as consisting of, consisting essentially of, comprised substantially of, and the like.\",\n \"Accordingly, the scope of protection is not limited by the description set out above but is only limited by the claims which follow, that scope including all equivalents of the subject matter of the claims.\",\n \"Each and every claim is incorporated into the specification as an embodiment of the present disclosure.\",\n \"Thus, the claims are a further description and are an addition to the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure.\",\n \"The inclusion or discussion of a reference is not an admission that it is prior art to the present disclosure, especially any reference that may have a publication date after the priority date of this application.\",\n \"The disclosures of all patents, patent applications, and publications cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference, to the extent they provide background knowledge; or exemplary, procedural or other details supplementary to those set forth herein.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876120"}}},{"rowIdx":4495085,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["Peer to peer geolocation system","A method and apparatus for location sharing, consisting of sending a location report by a location determining device to a plurality of network enabled devices over a peer-to-peer network, the location determining device being associated with a first digital key pair.","A first of the plurality of network enabled devices, associated with a second digital key pair, performs a validation computation on the location report and submits a validation computation result and the location report to a remainder of the plurality of network enabled devices for inclusion in a shared ledger.","Including the location report creates commercially-valued credits associated with the public key of the second digital key pair recorded in the shared ledger.","A transfer of commercially-valued credits from association with the first public key of the first digital key pair to the public key of the second digital key pair is also recorded in the shared ledger."],["1.A method for sharing location information comprising: determining, by a network connected location determining device, a location status of the network connected location determining device, said location status comprising two or more of: location coordinates of the network connected location determining device, an accuracy of the location coordinates of the network connected location determining device, an altitude of the network connected location determining device, an accuracy of the altitude of the network connected location determining device, a heading of the network connected location determining device, an accuracy of the heading of the network connected location determining device, a velocity of the network connected location determining device, an accuracy of the velocity of the network connected location determining device, an acceleration of the network connected location determining device, an accuracy of the acceleration of network connected location determining device; and generating, by the network connected location determining device, a location report comprising the location status; and transmitting, by the network connected location determining device, the location report to a distributed ledger maintained by a plurality of network connected devices, for inclusion in the distributed ledger.","2.The method of claim 1, wherein the location coordinates of the network connected location determining device are determined by the network connected location determining device using one or more of: a global navigation satellite system receiver, an altimeter, a magnetometer, a gyroscopic sensor, an accelerometer, a wireless local area network module, a wireless wide area network module, a Bluetooth module.","3.The method of claim 1, wherein the heading of the network connected location determining device is determined by the network connected location determining device using one or more of: a global navigation satellite system receiver, a magnetometer, a gyroscopic sensor, an accelerometer, a wireless local area network module, a wireless wide area network module, a Bluetooth module.","4.The method of claim 1, wherein an accuracy of a one or more of: the location coordinates of the network connected location determining device, the altitude of the network connected location determining device, the heading of the network connected location determining device, the velocity of the network connected location determining device, the acceleration of the network connected location determining device, are determined by the network connected location determining device through the use of a one or more of a plurality of wireless components comprising one or more of: a global navigation satellite system receiver, a wireless local area network module, a wireless wide area network module, a Bluetooth module by determining a one or more of: a time difference of arrival of data frames, a signal strength determination, a signal trilateration, an other wireless position accuracy determination technique.","5.The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating a plurality of location reports, by the network connected location determining device; and transmitting, by the network connected location determining device, the plurality of location reports to the distributed ledger maintained by the plurality of network connected devices, for inclusion in the distributed ledger.","6.The method of claim 5, further comprising: encrypting an at least part of an at least one of the plurality of location reports by the network connected location determining device using a cryptographic key.","7.The method of claim 5, wherein the plurality of location reports, in combination, comprise the location status of the network connected location determining device.","8.A client device comprising: a location determining component; a network connectivity component; a plurality of wireless components comprising one or more of: a global navigation satellite system receiver, a wireless local area network module, a wireless wide area network module, a Bluetooth module; one or more processors; and storage media comprising computer instructions, wherein when computer instructions are executed on the one or more processors of the network connected location determining device, operations are caused comprising: determining, by the client device, a location status of the client device, said location status comprising two or more of: location coordinates of the client device, an accuracy of the location coordinates of the client device, an altitude of the client device, an accuracy of the altitude of the client device, a heading of the client device, an accuracy of the heading of the client device, a velocity of the client device, an accuracy of the velocity of the client device, an acceleration of the client device, an accuracy of the acceleration of the client device; and generating, by the client device, a location report comprising the location status; and transmitting, by the client device, the location report to a distributed ledger maintained by a plurality of network connected devices, for inclusion in the distributed ledger.","9.The client device of claim 8, wherein the location coordinates of the client device are determined by the client device using one or more of: a global navigation satellite system receiver, an altimeter, a magnetometer, a gyroscopic sensor, an accelerometer, a wireless local area network module, a wireless wide area network module, a Bluetooth module.","10.The client device of claim 8, wherein the heading of the client device is determined by the client device using one or more of: a global navigation satellite system receiver, a magnetometer, a gyroscopic sensor, an accelerometer, a wireless local area network module, a wireless wide area network module, a Bluetooth module.","11.The client device of claim 8, wherein the accuracy of a one or more of: the location coordinates of the client device, the altitude of the client device, the heading of the client device, the velocity of the client device, the acceleration of the client device, are determined by the client device through the use of a one or more of the plurality of wireless components to determine: a time difference of arrival of data frames, a signal strength determination, a signal trilateration, an other wireless position accuracy determination technique.","12.The client device of claim 8, further comprising: generating a plurality of location reports, by the client device; and transmitting, by the client device, the plurality of location reports to the distributed ledger maintained by the plurality of network connected devices, for inclusion in the distributed ledger.","13.The client device of claim 12, further comprising: encrypting an at least part of an at least one of the plurality of location reports by the client device using a cryptographic key.","14.The client device of claim 12, wherein the plurality of location reports, in combination, comprise the location status of the client device."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>An entity such as a parent of a child, a haulage company or delivery service, a prison system, or a car rental company, may need to track a location of users or assets, for example but not limited to: ensuring safety, for legal reasons, or in order to secure such assets.","A common method for reporting and storing location data is in a database connected to a network such as are known from US2014074667.If a location data is recorded in a database maintained by the entity, there are high costs associated with installing and maintaining the hardware and network infrastructure.","If the location is recorded in a facility maintained by a third party such as a data storage provider, then there is a risk that due to network failure or other technical issues the data storage facility will at some times not be available to be queried by the entity, or to be written to by a location aware device to be tracked by the entity.","In extreme cases the location data may be irretrievably lost.","Furthermore, if the database is maintained by the third party, there is a risk that the location data may be revealed to other parties, hacked, corrupted, or otherwise altered, without the knowledge of the entity or possibly the third party.","It is the intention of the present invention to address the shortcomings of the prior art, i.e.","the problems of establishing and maintaining a network enabled data storage system, ensuring the integrity of the stored data, and providing always-available data access for users of the system.","Furthermore, if the method used is based on a distributed system, no individual maintenance costs arise, there is no single point of failure, and through an inherent cryptographic structure integrity is maintained."],["<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In accordance with the present invention, a solution is provided for reporting, storing and subsequently retrieving the locations of devices or objects in a distributed and secure manner.","The problems are establishing and maintaining a network enabled data storage system, ensuring the integrity of the stored data, and providing always-available data access for users of the system.","If the method used is based on a distributed system, no individual maintenance costs arise, there is no single point of failure, and through an inherent cryptographic structure integrity is maintained.","Embodiments of the invention are based on the reporting of location in a location report by a network enabled location determining device communicating through a peer-to-peer network system to a plurality of network enabled devices.","A first of the plurality of network enabled devices performs a validation computation on the location report and forwards a result of the validation computation to the plurality of network enabled devices for inclusion in a shared ledger of location reports.","The network enabled location determining device may include a location module that may comprise a global navigation satellite system receiver (GNSS receiver), a magnetometer, an accelerometer, an altimeter, and a gyroscopic sensor for determining the location of the device.","Further methods and apparatus for determining the location of the device may include trilateration or time difference of arrival calculations using a wireless local area network (WLAN), Bluetooth, or a wireless wide area network (WWAN) positioning method, position determination using fluctuations in a detected magnetic field, or a hybrid combination of all the aforementioned systems to produce an accurate location fix.","The decision by the network enabled location determining device to determine and report a location may be triggered through: an external request over a communication network channel; on a regular timed basis, for example but not limited to one location determination every ten minutes; an external trigger detected by the network enabled device's sensors, for example due to a change in motion detected by the accelerometer or a change in orientation detected by the gyroscopic sensor or magnetometer; a completion of a computation on the network enabled location determining device; or some other internal or external event.","In some embodiments of the invention the location report may be signed by the network enabled location determining device using an associated public-private key pair, for example using the ECDSA signature scheme, the ElGamal signature scheme, the DSA signature scheme, or some other asymmetric key infrastructure.","In further embodiments of the invention at least part of the location report may be encrypted using an asymmetric or symmetric cryptographic key generated by the network enabled location determining device, to prevent unauthorized third parties from scanning the shared ledger and extracting the location of the location determining network enabled device at reported times.","The cryptographic key may then be shared with selected parties in subsequent reports submitted for inclusion in the shared ledger, or the cryptographic key may be encrypted with the public key of a public-private key pair and appended to the location report.","When the location report is submitted to the peer-to-peer network, a subset of the plurality of network enabled devices associated with the peer-to-peer network may forward copies of the location to a remainder of the plurality of network enabled devices.","Network enabled devices on the peer-to-peer network may be standard nodes, in that they forward location reports on to other devices on the peer-to-peer network, or they may be “miners”, which are nodes that also perform validation computations on a submitted location report in order to solve a proof-of-work or other computationally difficult problem that confirms to other nodes and miners that the submitted location report should be added to the shared ledger.","The first of the plurality of network enabled devices to successfully generate a validation computation result may submit this, together with the location report, to the peer-to-peer network.","The remainder of plurality of network enabled devices may then check the validation computation.","If it is correct, they may add it to the shared ledger.","In this manner, the location report is stored in the shared ledger for future retrieval and examination.","In order to provide an incentive for third parties to join the peer-to-peer network as miners, a commercially-valued credit system may be associated with the described system.","When the validation computation result and location reports are submitted to the peer-to-peer network by the first of the plurality of network enabled devices, it may also submit a notification that a number of commercially-valued credits are to be credited to a public key of a private-public key pair generated by the first of the plurality of network enabled devices.","When the remainder of the plurality of network enabled devices add the location report and the validation computation result to the shared ledger, they also add this notification to the shared ledger.","A submission comprising one or more location reports, a validation computation result and a commercially-valued credit notification will henceforth be described as a “block”.","The awarding of commercially-valued credits on successfully producing an accepted block provides third parties with a motivation to allocate computing resources and hardware to work on the production of blocks.","Blocks may also be constructed to comprise a transaction report that reallocates commercially-valued credits from a first public key to a second public key, by signing the transaction report with a private key of the first public key.","In another embodiment, the location report submitted by the location determining network enabled device may contain an offer of commercially-valued credits that are allocated to a public key of the public-private key pair associated with the location determining network enabled device.","The commercially-valued credits may then be claimed by the first of the plurality of network enabled devices to produce a block accepted into the public ledger, for example by including a transaction notification in the block that reallocates the commercially-valued credits to the public key of the first of the plurality of network enabled devices.","Those skilled in the art will further appreciate the advantages and superior features of the invention together with other important aspects thereof on reading the detailed description that follows in conjunction with the drawings."],["CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation of, and claims priority of, U.S. non-provisional application Ser.","No.","14/981,803, entitled “Peer To Peer Geolocation System”, filed Dec. 28, 2015.The aforementioned United States application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.","TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to computer systems and methods for reporting and recording device locations, and more specifically to the reporting of device locations to a shared file, distributed and maintained over a peer-to-peer network.","BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION An entity such as a parent of a child, a haulage company or delivery service, a prison system, or a car rental company, may need to track a location of users or assets, for example but not limited to: ensuring safety, for legal reasons, or in order to secure such assets.","A common method for reporting and storing location data is in a database connected to a network such as are known from US2014074667.If a location data is recorded in a database maintained by the entity, there are high costs associated with installing and maintaining the hardware and network infrastructure.","If the location is recorded in a facility maintained by a third party such as a data storage provider, then there is a risk that due to network failure or other technical issues the data storage facility will at some times not be available to be queried by the entity, or to be written to by a location aware device to be tracked by the entity.","In extreme cases the location data may be irretrievably lost.","Furthermore, if the database is maintained by the third party, there is a risk that the location data may be revealed to other parties, hacked, corrupted, or otherwise altered, without the knowledge of the entity or possibly the third party.","It is the intention of the present invention to address the shortcomings of the prior art, i.e.","the problems of establishing and maintaining a network enabled data storage system, ensuring the integrity of the stored data, and providing always-available data access for users of the system.","Furthermore, if the method used is based on a distributed system, no individual maintenance costs arise, there is no single point of failure, and through an inherent cryptographic structure integrity is maintained.","SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, a solution is provided for reporting, storing and subsequently retrieving the locations of devices or objects in a distributed and secure manner.","The problems are establishing and maintaining a network enabled data storage system, ensuring the integrity of the stored data, and providing always-available data access for users of the system.","If the method used is based on a distributed system, no individual maintenance costs arise, there is no single point of failure, and through an inherent cryptographic structure integrity is maintained.","Embodiments of the invention are based on the reporting of location in a location report by a network enabled location determining device communicating through a peer-to-peer network system to a plurality of network enabled devices.","A first of the plurality of network enabled devices performs a validation computation on the location report and forwards a result of the validation computation to the plurality of network enabled devices for inclusion in a shared ledger of location reports.","The network enabled location determining device may include a location module that may comprise a global navigation satellite system receiver (GNSS receiver), a magnetometer, an accelerometer, an altimeter, and a gyroscopic sensor for determining the location of the device.","Further methods and apparatus for determining the location of the device may include trilateration or time difference of arrival calculations using a wireless local area network (WLAN), Bluetooth, or a wireless wide area network (WWAN) positioning method, position determination using fluctuations in a detected magnetic field, or a hybrid combination of all the aforementioned systems to produce an accurate location fix.","The decision by the network enabled location determining device to determine and report a location may be triggered through: an external request over a communication network channel; on a regular timed basis, for example but not limited to one location determination every ten minutes; an external trigger detected by the network enabled device's sensors, for example due to a change in motion detected by the accelerometer or a change in orientation detected by the gyroscopic sensor or magnetometer; a completion of a computation on the network enabled location determining device; or some other internal or external event.","In some embodiments of the invention the location report may be signed by the network enabled location determining device using an associated public-private key pair, for example using the ECDSA signature scheme, the ElGamal signature scheme, the DSA signature scheme, or some other asymmetric key infrastructure.","In further embodiments of the invention at least part of the location report may be encrypted using an asymmetric or symmetric cryptographic key generated by the network enabled location determining device, to prevent unauthorized third parties from scanning the shared ledger and extracting the location of the location determining network enabled device at reported times.","The cryptographic key may then be shared with selected parties in subsequent reports submitted for inclusion in the shared ledger, or the cryptographic key may be encrypted with the public key of a public-private key pair and appended to the location report.","When the location report is submitted to the peer-to-peer network, a subset of the plurality of network enabled devices associated with the peer-to-peer network may forward copies of the location to a remainder of the plurality of network enabled devices.","Network enabled devices on the peer-to-peer network may be standard nodes, in that they forward location reports on to other devices on the peer-to-peer network, or they may be “miners”, which are nodes that also perform validation computations on a submitted location report in order to solve a proof-of-work or other computationally difficult problem that confirms to other nodes and miners that the submitted location report should be added to the shared ledger.","The first of the plurality of network enabled devices to successfully generate a validation computation result may submit this, together with the location report, to the peer-to-peer network.","The remainder of plurality of network enabled devices may then check the validation computation.","If it is correct, they may add it to the shared ledger.","In this manner, the location report is stored in the shared ledger for future retrieval and examination.","In order to provide an incentive for third parties to join the peer-to-peer network as miners, a commercially-valued credit system may be associated with the described system.","When the validation computation result and location reports are submitted to the peer-to-peer network by the first of the plurality of network enabled devices, it may also submit a notification that a number of commercially-valued credits are to be credited to a public key of a private-public key pair generated by the first of the plurality of network enabled devices.","When the remainder of the plurality of network enabled devices add the location report and the validation computation result to the shared ledger, they also add this notification to the shared ledger.","A submission comprising one or more location reports, a validation computation result and a commercially-valued credit notification will henceforth be described as a “block”.","The awarding of commercially-valued credits on successfully producing an accepted block provides third parties with a motivation to allocate computing resources and hardware to work on the production of blocks.","Blocks may also be constructed to comprise a transaction report that reallocates commercially-valued credits from a first public key to a second public key, by signing the transaction report with a private key of the first public key.","In another embodiment, the location report submitted by the location determining network enabled device may contain an offer of commercially-valued credits that are allocated to a public key of the public-private key pair associated with the location determining network enabled device.","The commercially-valued credits may then be claimed by the first of the plurality of network enabled devices to produce a block accepted into the public ledger, for example by including a transaction notification in the block that reallocates the commercially-valued credits to the public key of the first of the plurality of network enabled devices.","Those skilled in the art will further appreciate the advantages and superior features of the invention together with other important aspects thereof on reading the detailed description that follows in conjunction with the drawings.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the present invention.","In the figures, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views.","FIG.","1 illustrates a peer-to-peer network with a location determining network enabled device and a plurality of network enabled devices connected to the peer-to-peer network, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","2 illustrates a location determining network enabled device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","3 is a flowchart that shows how the decision to produce a location report by the location determining network enabled device may be made.","FIG.","4 is a signal flow diagram providing a general overview of a method controlling the flow of location data from the location determining network enabled device to the plurality of network enabled devices connected via a peer-to-peer network for inclusion in the shared ledger.","FIG.","5 is a flowchart that shows an example method for the first of the plurality of network enabled devices to generate and broadcast a validation computation result, according to one embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","6 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of a possible embodiment of the blocks in shared ledger.","FIG.","7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for including a block containing a location report and a commercially-valued credit allocation in a shared ledger, according to one embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","8 is a block diagram illustrating a possible structure of a location report encrypted with a cryptographic key, and with the cryptographic key itself encrypted with a public key and appended to the location report.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Aspects of this disclosure will be described in the context of an exemplary system of a plurality of location determining network connected devices and a plurality of network connected devices communicating through the medium of a peer-to-peer network system 100, as shown schematically in FIG.","1.As depicted, the peer-to-peer network 108 is embodied within a packet switched network 101, through the interconnection of the plurality of network connected devices on the peer-to-peer network 108.A location determining network enabled device 102 may connect to the peer-to-peer network, either through a wireless connection by association with a wireless access point 103 as depicted in FIG.","1, or alternatively through a cellular base station, a Bluetooth connection, or other wireless connection that provides access to the packet switched network.","Alternatively, the location determining device may be connected directly to the packet switched network through a wired connection.","Other devices connected the peer-to-peer network may include network connected devices acting as a “node” 104, 105 whose role is to maintain a list of other devices connected through the peer-to-peer network, and to forward on received network messages to those devices on the list, possibly independently, or possibly as a response to a request from another network connected device.","As one skilled in the art will be aware, no individual node is required to have a complete list of all devices, as the process of peer-to-peer networking only requires that a union of a set of all nodes contains a complete list of all devices on the peer-to-peer network, and for every pair of network connected devices there is a network route from one device to the other, possibly via a set of one or more nodes.","Therefore, the only requirement to be a participant on the peer-to-peer network is to establish a connection to one or more of the nodes on said network.","Further devices connected via the peer-to-peer network may include one or more network connected devices 106, 107 acting as a “miner”, whose role is to receive or request location reports and other transaction messages from the peer-to-peer network, process them according to the methods and processes to be described further below, and transmitting the results of said processing back to the peer-to-peer network for inclusion in a shared ledger.","The devices described above may each be implemented through a system comprising a one or a plurality of: general purpose microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific instruction set processors (ASIPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), dedicated application specific integrated chips (ASICs), or other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuitry and peripheral circuitry, connected to a tangible storage medium containing instructions which when executed effect methods and techniques described below.","The techniques additionally, or alternatively, may be realized at least in part by a computer-readable communication medium or record carrier, that carries or communicates code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed, read, and/or executed by a computer.","An embodiment of the network connected location determining device 102 is presented in FIG.","2, and is now discussed in further detail.","The network connected location determining device 102 may comprise a CPU 240 capable of executing instructions stored in a memory 242, and controlling other peripheral components through drivers 244 stored within the memory 242.Further storage 246 may be present.","Optionally, the network connected location determining device 102 may also include an integrated location determining module, comprising one or more of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver 222, an antenna 202 for said GNSS receiver 222, and a sensor module 224, connected to one or more of an altimeter 216, a magnetometer 217, a gyroscopic sensor 218, and an accelerometer 219.The integrated location determining module may determine a longitude, a latitude, a heading, a velocity, an acceleration, and an altitude of the network connected location determining device 102 to a degree of accuracy through the use of some or all of these components.","The network connected location determining device 102 may also include wireless components comprising one or more wireless modules implemented in firmware or hardware, including a wireless local area network (WLAN) module 210 such as a Wi-Fi adapter utilizing an 802.11 protocol, a wireless wide area network (WWAN) module 212 such as GSM, LIE, or other cellular wireless data communication system, or a Bluetooth module 214, each with one or more associated antennas 208, 206 and 204 respectively.","As desired, one or more antennas may be shared between the modules using switching techniques known to those skilled in the art.","The wireless components may provide network connectivity to a packet switched network and hence to the peer-to-peer network for the network connected location determining device.","Alternately the network connected location determining device may be connected to the packet switching network directly through a wired connection.","The wireless components may also be employed to obtain, or help obtain, a location through techniques such as, but not limited to, time difference of arrival determination of data frames at the wireless component, signal strength determination, signal trilateration, and other wireless position techniques know to those skilled in the art.","Furthermore, measurements from the wireless components can be used in conjunction with measurements from the GNSS module 222, and the sensor module 224, to provide a hybrid or combined location result.","Components comprising the network connected location determining device may communicate through a bus 226, which may be implemented as a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) bus, a universal serial bus (USB), a universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) serial bus, a suitable advanced micro-controller bus architecture (AMBA) interface, a serial digital input output (SDIO) bus, or other equivalent interface.","In FIG.","3 an exemplary list of possible events, triggers, or occurrences is provided that may cause the network connected location determining device to perform a location determining operation, generate a location report, and send the location report to the peer-to-peer network.","Event 302 is an internal step and represents a timer event, in which a one-time timer or a repeat timer may be triggered after a pre-set time, causing step 318 to be executed, in which the network connected location determining device 102 generates and sends a location report.","Event 304 may represent a request from an external entity over the packet switched network for step 318 to be executed.","The external request may be issued by an owner of the network connected location determining device, or by a user or entity authorized by the owner, or the option to issue the request may be open to any entity.","Event 306 may represent the network connected location determining device detecting that the accelerometer sensor 219 has experienced a change in output sensor data, reflecting a change in acceleration of the network connected location determining device, and may trigger step 318 to be executed.","Event 308 may represent the network connected location determining device detecting that the magnetometer sensor 217 has experienced a change in output sensor data, reflecting a change in heading of the network connected location determining device or a movement through a varying magnetic field, and may trigger step 318 to be executed.","Event 310 may represent the network connected location determining device detecting that the gyroscopic sensor 218 has experienced a change in output sensor data, reflecting a change in heading or a rotation about an internal or external axis of the network connected location determining device, and may trigger step 318 to be executed.","Event 312 may represent the network connected location determining device detecting that the time difference of arrival of frame data in response to frame request data by the WLAN module 210, the WWAN module 212 or the Bluetooth module 214, has increased or decreased, possibly reflecting a change in the distance of the network connected location determining device from an associated WLAN access point, a WWAN base station or paired Bluetooth device, respectively, and may trigger step 318 to be executed.","Event 314 may represent the network connected location determining device detecting that its position has changed due to a changing position report from the GNSS module 222, and may trigger step 318 to be executed.","Event 316 may represent the completion of some other internal computation result, and may trigger step 318 to be executed.","It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that although FIG.","3 shows a logical OR 320 applied to events 302, 304, 306, 308, 310, 312, 314 and 316, any other logical operator or combination or logical operators could be applied.","For example, the decision to execute step 318 could be undertaken with a logical AND, NOR, or NAND, and applied pairwise to any combination of the events.","A high level flow diagram illustrating one possible embodiment of the system and the steps taken therein is presented in FIG.","4.The interaction of the location determining network enabled device 102 with the plurality of network connected devices, and specifically a network connected device functioning as a node 104, and a network connected device functioning as a miner 106, and finally another one of the plurality of network connected devices 107, is shown.","The flow of a data comprising the location and other associated information determined by the location determining network enabled device through the location report, inclusion in the successfully generated block, and the appending of said block to the shared ledger is also illustrated through FIG.","4.Once the network connected location determining device 102 has determined a location and other associated data, it may generate a location report 402.The location report may then be encapsulated in a network message 404 and sent on to the peer-to-peer network 406.Once the location report encapsulated in the network message has been received by a network connected device acting as a node 104, the node may forward the message to other network connected devices on the peer-to-peer network 408.Other network connected devices may also make requests to the node for network messages that they have not yet received.","Through these means, the location report encapsulated in the network message is forwarded to all interested parties on the peer-to-peer network.","Through these network interactions, the location report encapsulated in the network message may arrive at a network connected device acting as a miner 106.The miner may then extract the location report from the network message as per step 410.After the location report has been obtained, the miner may construct a block containing the location report, a nonce, and any other location reports that the miner has previously received and that have not yet been included in the shared ledger as noted in step 412.The block may also contain other messages and elements, which will be detailed further below.","The miner may then perform a validation computation on the block 414, further details of which will be provided below.","For now, it suffices to note that the validation computation will either return a correct result, or a failure as per step 416.If the validation computation returns a failure, the miner may alter the nonce as per step 417, for example if it is an integer by incrementing or decrementing the value of the number by a chosen amount, or by choosing a new random value, and may then repeat the validation computation on the new block as per step 414.If the validation computation is correct, the block has been successfully verified and the miner may transmit it to the peer-to-peer network 418.Through transmission to the peer-to-peer network, the block may arrive at another network connected device 107, which may constitute another miner, or another node.","The network connected device 107 may then repeat the same validation computation on the block 420 as previously performed by the miner 106 in step 414, and the validation computation will return either a successful result or a failure 422.If the computation result is a failure, the network connected device 107 may discard the block, as shown in step 424.If the validation computation produces a successful result, then the network connected device 107 may add the block to a copy of the shared ledger 426.FIG.","5 presents a flowchart providing further details for one possible embodiment of a miner, and provides a specification for the steps taken once a location report or a plurality of location reports have been received by a network connected device acting as a miner.","In step 502 the miner generates a header for a new block, which in one embodiment may contain data indicating the start of the block, and may contain a link back to the last accepted block in the shared ledger, for example through inclusion of a hash of the previous block.","The header may also contain a time stamp.","In step 504 the miner may append a message to the block, commonly known to those skilled in the art as a “block reward”, which allocates a number of commercially-valued credits to a public key associated with a network connected device.","In other embodiments the number of commercially-valued credits may be associated with one or more of: an email address, an IP address or a MAC address.","In step 506 the miner may append none, one, or a plurality of location reports received from the peer-to-peer network to the block.","The miner may also append a count of the number of reports added to the block.","In step 508 the miner may insert a nonce into the block.","The nonce may comprise a number, a string, or a binary data, and may be selected randomly or according to a predetermined algorithm, for example, the nonce may initially be the number 1, and subsequently incremented by one until a successful result is returned from the validation computation.","In step 510 the miner may conduct a validation computation on the block in its current state.","The validation computation may comprise applying a one or more hash functions to the block, and then possibly applying the one or more hash functions or a different one or more hash functions repeatedly one or more times to the output of the previous hash function applied.","The hash functions used may include SHA, RIPEMD, Whirlpool, Scrypt, HAS-160, or other cryptographic hash function where a hash output cannot be determined from hash input other than by the application of the cryptographic hash function to the hash input.","A final result of step 510 may be a number.","In step 512 the final result is compared to a target value.","The target value may be a fixed value agreed upon by a plurality of participating devices in the peer-to-peer network, or it may be a dynamic value determined in one embodiment by the average time taken for the miners in the peer-to-peer network to produce the last K blocks, where K is a fixed value agreed upon by the plurality of participating devices in the peer-to-peer network.","When the final result is compared to the target value, the result may be determined to be successful if the final result is greater than the target.","In other embodiments of the invention the result may be determined to be successful if the final result is greater or equal to the target value, or less than the target value, or less than or equal to the target value, or by some other Boolean operation on the final result and the target value.","If the result of step 512 is “no”, then step 514 may be executed.","The miner may alter the nonce in the block, for example by incrementing its value if it is a number, or by selecting a new nonce at random, and may then proceed to step 510 again.","The repeated cycle of step 510, step 512, and step 514 is often described in the art as a “proof of work” effort.","If the result of step 512 is “yes”, then step 516 may be executed.","The miner may append a checksum or cryptographic hash to the block, which allows third parties to verify that the preceding data is correct and has not been altered or corrupted during data transfer.","Finally, the miner may execute step 520, by sending the completed block to the peer-to-peer network for inspection by other network connected devices, and subsequent inclusion in the shared ledger.","FIG.","6 is a diagram defining one exemplary embodiment of a block in terms of elements generated through the process described previously in FIG.","5.It should be noted that in although the elements for inclusion in the block are presented in a given order in the preferred embodiment detailed above, the chosen ordering within the block may be decided in an arbitrary manner, provided all participants on the peer-to-peer network agree to the same ordering.","Element 602 is a header, and may comprise: an identifier indicating that the block is intended for a peer-to-peer geolocation system such as is described in this disclosure; a link to the preceding block, for example through a block number identifier or a cryptographic hash of the preceding block; a time stamp.","Element 604 is an integer indicating the block size.","Element 606 is a nonce.","Element 608 is a commercially-valued credit allocation message, and may include a claim to a number of commercially-valued credits to be allocated.","Element 610 is an integer indicating the number of location reports included in the block.","It can be zero, or an integer greater than zero.","In FIG.","6 an example is presented in which N location reports are included in the block.","Element 612 is an example of a first location report received from the peer-to-peer network and included in the block.","Element 614 is an example of a second location report received from the peer-to-peer network and included in the block.","Element 616 is an example of an Nth location report received from the peer-to-peer network and included in the block.","Element 618 is an integer indicating a number of transaction messages may be included in the block.","It can be zero, or an integer greater than zero.","In FIG.","6 an example is presented in which M transaction messages are included in the block.","A transaction message may represent a transfer of commercially-valued credits from an allocation to a one public cryptographic key to an allocation to a second public cryptographic key, and may be signed with a private cryptographic key to authorize the transfer.","Element 620 is an example of a first transaction message received from the peer-to-peer network or generated by the miner and included in the block.","Element 622 is an example of a second transaction message received from the peer-to-peer network or generated by the miner and included in the block.","Element 624 is an example of a Mth transaction message received from the peer-to-peer network or generated by the miner and included in the block.","In a preferred embodiment of the invention, elements 602 through 624 may be cryptographically hashed during the validation computation in the proof of work activity to provide a final result for comparison with the target value.","Element 626 is a checksum or cryptographic hash of elements 602 through 624 that may be included in the block, for example to allow third parties to verify that the preceding data is correct and has not been altered or corrupted during data transfer.","In one embodiment it may be the result obtained from the proof of work activity during the validation computation.","One possible embodiment of a network connected device, henceforth referred to as a verifier, for verifying a block submitted to the peer-to-peer network by a miner is presented in FIG.","7.In step 702 the network connected device may receive the block from the peer-to-peer network.","In step 704 the verifier may perform a same validation computation on the submitted block, as performed by the miner.","In step 706 the verifier may examine a result to determine if the block satisfies the validation computation.","If the result is “no”, the network connected device may proceed to step 708, in which the block is discarded.","If the result is “yes”, the network connected device may proceed to step 710, in which the shared ledger may be scanned for location reports or transaction messages matching those in the submitted block.","The result from step 710 may be evaluated by the verifier in step 712.If the result of step 712 is “yes”, then duplicates have been found, and the verifier proceeds to step 708, in which the block is discarded.","If the result of step 712 is “no”, then no duplicates were found, and the verifier proceeds to step 714, in which the block is added to the shared ledger.","FIG.","8 presents a possible embodiment of a location report message.","The location report header 802 may contain a marker indicating that the rest of the message contains a location report, and other header information such as the length of the report.","The location report may contain the public key 804, the network address 806 and the email address 808 of the network connected location determining device 102 that is to submit the location report.","A data payload of the location report may comprise a longitude 812, a latitude 814, an altitude 816, a time of position determination 818, and a position accuracy 820.The data payload may be encrypted with a cryptographic symmetric key 810, for example to maintain the privacy of the location determined by the network connected location determining device.","The location report may also comprise the symmetric key of 810 encrypted with a public key 822 of an alternate network connected device.","This may allow the alternate network connected device to decrypt the symmetric key using its private key, and subsequently decrypt the data payload 812-820, using the decrypted symmetric key.","The location report may also comprise a digital signature 824, generated with the private key of the network connected location determining device, in order to provide for the veracity of the submitted location report.","As will be appreciated from the above discussion, an advantage of the systems and methods of this disclosure includes distributing effort required to maintain and extend a shared ledger, a file, or a database of location information pertaining to a plurality of network connected location determining devices, thereby providing protection from an existence of a single point of failure, and reducing cost to individual users of the system.","Further, these techniques offer protection of the location data stored through use of cryptographic keys and digital signatures.","Finally, the techniques also allow for rewarding of owners of network connected devices participating in the peer-to-peer network and charging of owners or users of network connected location determining devices providing location reports to the system."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"Peer to peer geolocation system\",\n \"A method and apparatus for location sharing, consisting of sending a location report by a location determining device to a plurality of network enabled devices over a peer-to-peer network, the location determining device being associated with a first digital key pair.\",\n \"A first of the plurality of network enabled devices, associated with a second digital key pair, performs a validation computation on the location report and submits a validation computation result and the location report to a remainder of the plurality of network enabled devices for inclusion in a shared ledger.\",\n \"Including the location report creates commercially-valued credits associated with the public key of the second digital key pair recorded in the shared ledger.\",\n \"A transfer of commercially-valued credits from association with the first public key of the first digital key pair to the public key of the second digital key pair is also recorded in the shared ledger.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A method for sharing location information comprising: determining, by a network connected location determining device, a location status of the network connected location determining device, said location status comprising two or more of: location coordinates of the network connected location determining device, an accuracy of the location coordinates of the network connected location determining device, an altitude of the network connected location determining device, an accuracy of the altitude of the network connected location determining device, a heading of the network connected location determining device, an accuracy of the heading of the network connected location determining device, a velocity of the network connected location determining device, an accuracy of the velocity of the network connected location determining device, an acceleration of the network connected location determining device, an accuracy of the acceleration of network connected location determining device; and generating, by the network connected location determining device, a location report comprising the location status; and transmitting, by the network connected location determining device, the location report to a distributed ledger maintained by a plurality of network connected devices, for inclusion in the distributed ledger.\",\n \"2.The method of claim 1, wherein the location coordinates of the network connected location determining device are determined by the network connected location determining device using one or more of: a global navigation satellite system receiver, an altimeter, a magnetometer, a gyroscopic sensor, an accelerometer, a wireless local area network module, a wireless wide area network module, a Bluetooth module.\",\n \"3.The method of claim 1, wherein the heading of the network connected location determining device is determined by the network connected location determining device using one or more of: a global navigation satellite system receiver, a magnetometer, a gyroscopic sensor, an accelerometer, a wireless local area network module, a wireless wide area network module, a Bluetooth module.\",\n \"4.The method of claim 1, wherein an accuracy of a one or more of: the location coordinates of the network connected location determining device, the altitude of the network connected location determining device, the heading of the network connected location determining device, the velocity of the network connected location determining device, the acceleration of the network connected location determining device, are determined by the network connected location determining device through the use of a one or more of a plurality of wireless components comprising one or more of: a global navigation satellite system receiver, a wireless local area network module, a wireless wide area network module, a Bluetooth module by determining a one or more of: a time difference of arrival of data frames, a signal strength determination, a signal trilateration, an other wireless position accuracy determination technique.\",\n \"5.The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating a plurality of location reports, by the network connected location determining device; and transmitting, by the network connected location determining device, the plurality of location reports to the distributed ledger maintained by the plurality of network connected devices, for inclusion in the distributed ledger.\",\n \"6.The method of claim 5, further comprising: encrypting an at least part of an at least one of the plurality of location reports by the network connected location determining device using a cryptographic key.\",\n \"7.The method of claim 5, wherein the plurality of location reports, in combination, comprise the location status of the network connected location determining device.\",\n \"8.A client device comprising: a location determining component; a network connectivity component; a plurality of wireless components comprising one or more of: a global navigation satellite system receiver, a wireless local area network module, a wireless wide area network module, a Bluetooth module; one or more processors; and storage media comprising computer instructions, wherein when computer instructions are executed on the one or more processors of the network connected location determining device, operations are caused comprising: determining, by the client device, a location status of the client device, said location status comprising two or more of: location coordinates of the client device, an accuracy of the location coordinates of the client device, an altitude of the client device, an accuracy of the altitude of the client device, a heading of the client device, an accuracy of the heading of the client device, a velocity of the client device, an accuracy of the velocity of the client device, an acceleration of the client device, an accuracy of the acceleration of the client device; and generating, by the client device, a location report comprising the location status; and transmitting, by the client device, the location report to a distributed ledger maintained by a plurality of network connected devices, for inclusion in the distributed ledger.\",\n \"9.The client device of claim 8, wherein the location coordinates of the client device are determined by the client device using one or more of: a global navigation satellite system receiver, an altimeter, a magnetometer, a gyroscopic sensor, an accelerometer, a wireless local area network module, a wireless wide area network module, a Bluetooth module.\",\n \"10.The client device of claim 8, wherein the heading of the client device is determined by the client device using one or more of: a global navigation satellite system receiver, a magnetometer, a gyroscopic sensor, an accelerometer, a wireless local area network module, a wireless wide area network module, a Bluetooth module.\",\n \"11.The client device of claim 8, wherein the accuracy of a one or more of: the location coordinates of the client device, the altitude of the client device, the heading of the client device, the velocity of the client device, the acceleration of the client device, are determined by the client device through the use of a one or more of the plurality of wireless components to determine: a time difference of arrival of data frames, a signal strength determination, a signal trilateration, an other wireless position accuracy determination technique.\",\n \"12.The client device of claim 8, further comprising: generating a plurality of location reports, by the client device; and transmitting, by the client device, the plurality of location reports to the distributed ledger maintained by the plurality of network connected devices, for inclusion in the distributed ledger.\",\n \"13.The client device of claim 12, further comprising: encrypting an at least part of an at least one of the plurality of location reports by the client device using a cryptographic key.\",\n \"14.The client device of claim 12, wherein the plurality of location reports, in combination, comprise the location status of the client device.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>An entity such as a parent of a child, a haulage company or delivery service, a prison system, or a car rental company, may need to track a location of users or assets, for example but not limited to: ensuring safety, for legal reasons, or in order to secure such assets.\",\n \"A common method for reporting and storing location data is in a database connected to a network such as are known from US2014074667.If a location data is recorded in a database maintained by the entity, there are high costs associated with installing and maintaining the hardware and network infrastructure.\",\n \"If the location is recorded in a facility maintained by a third party such as a data storage provider, then there is a risk that due to network failure or other technical issues the data storage facility will at some times not be available to be queried by the entity, or to be written to by a location aware device to be tracked by the entity.\",\n \"In extreme cases the location data may be irretrievably lost.\",\n \"Furthermore, if the database is maintained by the third party, there is a risk that the location data may be revealed to other parties, hacked, corrupted, or otherwise altered, without the knowledge of the entity or possibly the third party.\",\n \"It is the intention of the present invention to address the shortcomings of the prior art, i.e.\",\n \"the problems of establishing and maintaining a network enabled data storage system, ensuring the integrity of the stored data, and providing always-available data access for users of the system.\",\n \"Furthermore, if the method used is based on a distributed system, no individual maintenance costs arise, there is no single point of failure, and through an inherent cryptographic structure integrity is maintained.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In accordance with the present invention, a solution is provided for reporting, storing and subsequently retrieving the locations of devices or objects in a distributed and secure manner.\",\n \"The problems are establishing and maintaining a network enabled data storage system, ensuring the integrity of the stored data, and providing always-available data access for users of the system.\",\n \"If the method used is based on a distributed system, no individual maintenance costs arise, there is no single point of failure, and through an inherent cryptographic structure integrity is maintained.\",\n \"Embodiments of the invention are based on the reporting of location in a location report by a network enabled location determining device communicating through a peer-to-peer network system to a plurality of network enabled devices.\",\n \"A first of the plurality of network enabled devices performs a validation computation on the location report and forwards a result of the validation computation to the plurality of network enabled devices for inclusion in a shared ledger of location reports.\",\n \"The network enabled location determining device may include a location module that may comprise a global navigation satellite system receiver (GNSS receiver), a magnetometer, an accelerometer, an altimeter, and a gyroscopic sensor for determining the location of the device.\",\n \"Further methods and apparatus for determining the location of the device may include trilateration or time difference of arrival calculations using a wireless local area network (WLAN), Bluetooth, or a wireless wide area network (WWAN) positioning method, position determination using fluctuations in a detected magnetic field, or a hybrid combination of all the aforementioned systems to produce an accurate location fix.\",\n \"The decision by the network enabled location determining device to determine and report a location may be triggered through: an external request over a communication network channel; on a regular timed basis, for example but not limited to one location determination every ten minutes; an external trigger detected by the network enabled device's sensors, for example due to a change in motion detected by the accelerometer or a change in orientation detected by the gyroscopic sensor or magnetometer; a completion of a computation on the network enabled location determining device; or some other internal or external event.\",\n \"In some embodiments of the invention the location report may be signed by the network enabled location determining device using an associated public-private key pair, for example using the ECDSA signature scheme, the ElGamal signature scheme, the DSA signature scheme, or some other asymmetric key infrastructure.\",\n \"In further embodiments of the invention at least part of the location report may be encrypted using an asymmetric or symmetric cryptographic key generated by the network enabled location determining device, to prevent unauthorized third parties from scanning the shared ledger and extracting the location of the location determining network enabled device at reported times.\",\n \"The cryptographic key may then be shared with selected parties in subsequent reports submitted for inclusion in the shared ledger, or the cryptographic key may be encrypted with the public key of a public-private key pair and appended to the location report.\",\n \"When the location report is submitted to the peer-to-peer network, a subset of the plurality of network enabled devices associated with the peer-to-peer network may forward copies of the location to a remainder of the plurality of network enabled devices.\",\n \"Network enabled devices on the peer-to-peer network may be standard nodes, in that they forward location reports on to other devices on the peer-to-peer network, or they may be “miners”, which are nodes that also perform validation computations on a submitted location report in order to solve a proof-of-work or other computationally difficult problem that confirms to other nodes and miners that the submitted location report should be added to the shared ledger.\",\n \"The first of the plurality of network enabled devices to successfully generate a validation computation result may submit this, together with the location report, to the peer-to-peer network.\",\n \"The remainder of plurality of network enabled devices may then check the validation computation.\",\n \"If it is correct, they may add it to the shared ledger.\",\n \"In this manner, the location report is stored in the shared ledger for future retrieval and examination.\",\n \"In order to provide an incentive for third parties to join the peer-to-peer network as miners, a commercially-valued credit system may be associated with the described system.\",\n \"When the validation computation result and location reports are submitted to the peer-to-peer network by the first of the plurality of network enabled devices, it may also submit a notification that a number of commercially-valued credits are to be credited to a public key of a private-public key pair generated by the first of the plurality of network enabled devices.\",\n \"When the remainder of the plurality of network enabled devices add the location report and the validation computation result to the shared ledger, they also add this notification to the shared ledger.\",\n \"A submission comprising one or more location reports, a validation computation result and a commercially-valued credit notification will henceforth be described as a “block”.\",\n \"The awarding of commercially-valued credits on successfully producing an accepted block provides third parties with a motivation to allocate computing resources and hardware to work on the production of blocks.\",\n \"Blocks may also be constructed to comprise a transaction report that reallocates commercially-valued credits from a first public key to a second public key, by signing the transaction report with a private key of the first public key.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the location report submitted by the location determining network enabled device may contain an offer of commercially-valued credits that are allocated to a public key of the public-private key pair associated with the location determining network enabled device.\",\n \"The commercially-valued credits may then be claimed by the first of the plurality of network enabled devices to produce a block accepted into the public ledger, for example by including a transaction notification in the block that reallocates the commercially-valued credits to the public key of the first of the plurality of network enabled devices.\",\n \"Those skilled in the art will further appreciate the advantages and superior features of the invention together with other important aspects thereof on reading the detailed description that follows in conjunction with the drawings.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation of, and claims priority of, U.S. non-provisional application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/981,803, entitled “Peer To Peer Geolocation System”, filed Dec. 28, 2015.The aforementioned United States application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to computer systems and methods for reporting and recording device locations, and more specifically to the reporting of device locations to a shared file, distributed and maintained over a peer-to-peer network.\",\n \"BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION An entity such as a parent of a child, a haulage company or delivery service, a prison system, or a car rental company, may need to track a location of users or assets, for example but not limited to: ensuring safety, for legal reasons, or in order to secure such assets.\",\n \"A common method for reporting and storing location data is in a database connected to a network such as are known from US2014074667.If a location data is recorded in a database maintained by the entity, there are high costs associated with installing and maintaining the hardware and network infrastructure.\",\n \"If the location is recorded in a facility maintained by a third party such as a data storage provider, then there is a risk that due to network failure or other technical issues the data storage facility will at some times not be available to be queried by the entity, or to be written to by a location aware device to be tracked by the entity.\",\n \"In extreme cases the location data may be irretrievably lost.\",\n \"Furthermore, if the database is maintained by the third party, there is a risk that the location data may be revealed to other parties, hacked, corrupted, or otherwise altered, without the knowledge of the entity or possibly the third party.\",\n \"It is the intention of the present invention to address the shortcomings of the prior art, i.e.\",\n \"the problems of establishing and maintaining a network enabled data storage system, ensuring the integrity of the stored data, and providing always-available data access for users of the system.\",\n \"Furthermore, if the method used is based on a distributed system, no individual maintenance costs arise, there is no single point of failure, and through an inherent cryptographic structure integrity is maintained.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, a solution is provided for reporting, storing and subsequently retrieving the locations of devices or objects in a distributed and secure manner.\",\n \"The problems are establishing and maintaining a network enabled data storage system, ensuring the integrity of the stored data, and providing always-available data access for users of the system.\",\n \"If the method used is based on a distributed system, no individual maintenance costs arise, there is no single point of failure, and through an inherent cryptographic structure integrity is maintained.\",\n \"Embodiments of the invention are based on the reporting of location in a location report by a network enabled location determining device communicating through a peer-to-peer network system to a plurality of network enabled devices.\",\n \"A first of the plurality of network enabled devices performs a validation computation on the location report and forwards a result of the validation computation to the plurality of network enabled devices for inclusion in a shared ledger of location reports.\",\n \"The network enabled location determining device may include a location module that may comprise a global navigation satellite system receiver (GNSS receiver), a magnetometer, an accelerometer, an altimeter, and a gyroscopic sensor for determining the location of the device.\",\n \"Further methods and apparatus for determining the location of the device may include trilateration or time difference of arrival calculations using a wireless local area network (WLAN), Bluetooth, or a wireless wide area network (WWAN) positioning method, position determination using fluctuations in a detected magnetic field, or a hybrid combination of all the aforementioned systems to produce an accurate location fix.\",\n \"The decision by the network enabled location determining device to determine and report a location may be triggered through: an external request over a communication network channel; on a regular timed basis, for example but not limited to one location determination every ten minutes; an external trigger detected by the network enabled device's sensors, for example due to a change in motion detected by the accelerometer or a change in orientation detected by the gyroscopic sensor or magnetometer; a completion of a computation on the network enabled location determining device; or some other internal or external event.\",\n \"In some embodiments of the invention the location report may be signed by the network enabled location determining device using an associated public-private key pair, for example using the ECDSA signature scheme, the ElGamal signature scheme, the DSA signature scheme, or some other asymmetric key infrastructure.\",\n \"In further embodiments of the invention at least part of the location report may be encrypted using an asymmetric or symmetric cryptographic key generated by the network enabled location determining device, to prevent unauthorized third parties from scanning the shared ledger and extracting the location of the location determining network enabled device at reported times.\",\n \"The cryptographic key may then be shared with selected parties in subsequent reports submitted for inclusion in the shared ledger, or the cryptographic key may be encrypted with the public key of a public-private key pair and appended to the location report.\",\n \"When the location report is submitted to the peer-to-peer network, a subset of the plurality of network enabled devices associated with the peer-to-peer network may forward copies of the location to a remainder of the plurality of network enabled devices.\",\n \"Network enabled devices on the peer-to-peer network may be standard nodes, in that they forward location reports on to other devices on the peer-to-peer network, or they may be “miners”, which are nodes that also perform validation computations on a submitted location report in order to solve a proof-of-work or other computationally difficult problem that confirms to other nodes and miners that the submitted location report should be added to the shared ledger.\",\n \"The first of the plurality of network enabled devices to successfully generate a validation computation result may submit this, together with the location report, to the peer-to-peer network.\",\n \"The remainder of plurality of network enabled devices may then check the validation computation.\",\n \"If it is correct, they may add it to the shared ledger.\",\n \"In this manner, the location report is stored in the shared ledger for future retrieval and examination.\",\n \"In order to provide an incentive for third parties to join the peer-to-peer network as miners, a commercially-valued credit system may be associated with the described system.\",\n \"When the validation computation result and location reports are submitted to the peer-to-peer network by the first of the plurality of network enabled devices, it may also submit a notification that a number of commercially-valued credits are to be credited to a public key of a private-public key pair generated by the first of the plurality of network enabled devices.\",\n \"When the remainder of the plurality of network enabled devices add the location report and the validation computation result to the shared ledger, they also add this notification to the shared ledger.\",\n \"A submission comprising one or more location reports, a validation computation result and a commercially-valued credit notification will henceforth be described as a “block”.\",\n \"The awarding of commercially-valued credits on successfully producing an accepted block provides third parties with a motivation to allocate computing resources and hardware to work on the production of blocks.\",\n \"Blocks may also be constructed to comprise a transaction report that reallocates commercially-valued credits from a first public key to a second public key, by signing the transaction report with a private key of the first public key.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the location report submitted by the location determining network enabled device may contain an offer of commercially-valued credits that are allocated to a public key of the public-private key pair associated with the location determining network enabled device.\",\n \"The commercially-valued credits may then be claimed by the first of the plurality of network enabled devices to produce a block accepted into the public ledger, for example by including a transaction notification in the block that reallocates the commercially-valued credits to the public key of the first of the plurality of network enabled devices.\",\n \"Those skilled in the art will further appreciate the advantages and superior features of the invention together with other important aspects thereof on reading the detailed description that follows in conjunction with the drawings.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the present invention.\",\n \"In the figures, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates a peer-to-peer network with a location determining network enabled device and a plurality of network enabled devices connected to the peer-to-peer network, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates a location determining network enabled device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 is a flowchart that shows how the decision to produce a location report by the location determining network enabled device may be made.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 is a signal flow diagram providing a general overview of a method controlling the flow of location data from the location determining network enabled device to the plurality of network enabled devices connected via a peer-to-peer network for inclusion in the shared ledger.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a flowchart that shows an example method for the first of the plurality of network enabled devices to generate and broadcast a validation computation result, according to one embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of a possible embodiment of the blocks in shared ledger.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for including a block containing a location report and a commercially-valued credit allocation in a shared ledger, according to one embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is a block diagram illustrating a possible structure of a location report encrypted with a cryptographic key, and with the cryptographic key itself encrypted with a public key and appended to the location report.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Aspects of this disclosure will be described in the context of an exemplary system of a plurality of location determining network connected devices and a plurality of network connected devices communicating through the medium of a peer-to-peer network system 100, as shown schematically in FIG.\",\n \"1.As depicted, the peer-to-peer network 108 is embodied within a packet switched network 101, through the interconnection of the plurality of network connected devices on the peer-to-peer network 108.A location determining network enabled device 102 may connect to the peer-to-peer network, either through a wireless connection by association with a wireless access point 103 as depicted in FIG.\",\n \"1, or alternatively through a cellular base station, a Bluetooth connection, or other wireless connection that provides access to the packet switched network.\",\n \"Alternatively, the location determining device may be connected directly to the packet switched network through a wired connection.\",\n \"Other devices connected the peer-to-peer network may include network connected devices acting as a “node” 104, 105 whose role is to maintain a list of other devices connected through the peer-to-peer network, and to forward on received network messages to those devices on the list, possibly independently, or possibly as a response to a request from another network connected device.\",\n \"As one skilled in the art will be aware, no individual node is required to have a complete list of all devices, as the process of peer-to-peer networking only requires that a union of a set of all nodes contains a complete list of all devices on the peer-to-peer network, and for every pair of network connected devices there is a network route from one device to the other, possibly via a set of one or more nodes.\",\n \"Therefore, the only requirement to be a participant on the peer-to-peer network is to establish a connection to one or more of the nodes on said network.\",\n \"Further devices connected via the peer-to-peer network may include one or more network connected devices 106, 107 acting as a “miner”, whose role is to receive or request location reports and other transaction messages from the peer-to-peer network, process them according to the methods and processes to be described further below, and transmitting the results of said processing back to the peer-to-peer network for inclusion in a shared ledger.\",\n \"The devices described above may each be implemented through a system comprising a one or a plurality of: general purpose microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific instruction set processors (ASIPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), dedicated application specific integrated chips (ASICs), or other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuitry and peripheral circuitry, connected to a tangible storage medium containing instructions which when executed effect methods and techniques described below.\",\n \"The techniques additionally, or alternatively, may be realized at least in part by a computer-readable communication medium or record carrier, that carries or communicates code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed, read, and/or executed by a computer.\",\n \"An embodiment of the network connected location determining device 102 is presented in FIG.\",\n \"2, and is now discussed in further detail.\",\n \"The network connected location determining device 102 may comprise a CPU 240 capable of executing instructions stored in a memory 242, and controlling other peripheral components through drivers 244 stored within the memory 242.Further storage 246 may be present.\",\n \"Optionally, the network connected location determining device 102 may also include an integrated location determining module, comprising one or more of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver 222, an antenna 202 for said GNSS receiver 222, and a sensor module 224, connected to one or more of an altimeter 216, a magnetometer 217, a gyroscopic sensor 218, and an accelerometer 219.The integrated location determining module may determine a longitude, a latitude, a heading, a velocity, an acceleration, and an altitude of the network connected location determining device 102 to a degree of accuracy through the use of some or all of these components.\",\n \"The network connected location determining device 102 may also include wireless components comprising one or more wireless modules implemented in firmware or hardware, including a wireless local area network (WLAN) module 210 such as a Wi-Fi adapter utilizing an 802.11 protocol, a wireless wide area network (WWAN) module 212 such as GSM, LIE, or other cellular wireless data communication system, or a Bluetooth module 214, each with one or more associated antennas 208, 206 and 204 respectively.\",\n \"As desired, one or more antennas may be shared between the modules using switching techniques known to those skilled in the art.\",\n \"The wireless components may provide network connectivity to a packet switched network and hence to the peer-to-peer network for the network connected location determining device.\",\n \"Alternately the network connected location determining device may be connected to the packet switching network directly through a wired connection.\",\n \"The wireless components may also be employed to obtain, or help obtain, a location through techniques such as, but not limited to, time difference of arrival determination of data frames at the wireless component, signal strength determination, signal trilateration, and other wireless position techniques know to those skilled in the art.\",\n \"Furthermore, measurements from the wireless components can be used in conjunction with measurements from the GNSS module 222, and the sensor module 224, to provide a hybrid or combined location result.\",\n \"Components comprising the network connected location determining device may communicate through a bus 226, which may be implemented as a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) bus, a universal serial bus (USB), a universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) serial bus, a suitable advanced micro-controller bus architecture (AMBA) interface, a serial digital input output (SDIO) bus, or other equivalent interface.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"3 an exemplary list of possible events, triggers, or occurrences is provided that may cause the network connected location determining device to perform a location determining operation, generate a location report, and send the location report to the peer-to-peer network.\",\n \"Event 302 is an internal step and represents a timer event, in which a one-time timer or a repeat timer may be triggered after a pre-set time, causing step 318 to be executed, in which the network connected location determining device 102 generates and sends a location report.\",\n \"Event 304 may represent a request from an external entity over the packet switched network for step 318 to be executed.\",\n \"The external request may be issued by an owner of the network connected location determining device, or by a user or entity authorized by the owner, or the option to issue the request may be open to any entity.\",\n \"Event 306 may represent the network connected location determining device detecting that the accelerometer sensor 219 has experienced a change in output sensor data, reflecting a change in acceleration of the network connected location determining device, and may trigger step 318 to be executed.\",\n \"Event 308 may represent the network connected location determining device detecting that the magnetometer sensor 217 has experienced a change in output sensor data, reflecting a change in heading of the network connected location determining device or a movement through a varying magnetic field, and may trigger step 318 to be executed.\",\n \"Event 310 may represent the network connected location determining device detecting that the gyroscopic sensor 218 has experienced a change in output sensor data, reflecting a change in heading or a rotation about an internal or external axis of the network connected location determining device, and may trigger step 318 to be executed.\",\n \"Event 312 may represent the network connected location determining device detecting that the time difference of arrival of frame data in response to frame request data by the WLAN module 210, the WWAN module 212 or the Bluetooth module 214, has increased or decreased, possibly reflecting a change in the distance of the network connected location determining device from an associated WLAN access point, a WWAN base station or paired Bluetooth device, respectively, and may trigger step 318 to be executed.\",\n \"Event 314 may represent the network connected location determining device detecting that its position has changed due to a changing position report from the GNSS module 222, and may trigger step 318 to be executed.\",\n \"Event 316 may represent the completion of some other internal computation result, and may trigger step 318 to be executed.\",\n \"It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that although FIG.\",\n \"3 shows a logical OR 320 applied to events 302, 304, 306, 308, 310, 312, 314 and 316, any other logical operator or combination or logical operators could be applied.\",\n \"For example, the decision to execute step 318 could be undertaken with a logical AND, NOR, or NAND, and applied pairwise to any combination of the events.\",\n \"A high level flow diagram illustrating one possible embodiment of the system and the steps taken therein is presented in FIG.\",\n \"4.The interaction of the location determining network enabled device 102 with the plurality of network connected devices, and specifically a network connected device functioning as a node 104, and a network connected device functioning as a miner 106, and finally another one of the plurality of network connected devices 107, is shown.\",\n \"The flow of a data comprising the location and other associated information determined by the location determining network enabled device through the location report, inclusion in the successfully generated block, and the appending of said block to the shared ledger is also illustrated through FIG.\",\n \"4.Once the network connected location determining device 102 has determined a location and other associated data, it may generate a location report 402.The location report may then be encapsulated in a network message 404 and sent on to the peer-to-peer network 406.Once the location report encapsulated in the network message has been received by a network connected device acting as a node 104, the node may forward the message to other network connected devices on the peer-to-peer network 408.Other network connected devices may also make requests to the node for network messages that they have not yet received.\",\n \"Through these means, the location report encapsulated in the network message is forwarded to all interested parties on the peer-to-peer network.\",\n \"Through these network interactions, the location report encapsulated in the network message may arrive at a network connected device acting as a miner 106.The miner may then extract the location report from the network message as per step 410.After the location report has been obtained, the miner may construct a block containing the location report, a nonce, and any other location reports that the miner has previously received and that have not yet been included in the shared ledger as noted in step 412.The block may also contain other messages and elements, which will be detailed further below.\",\n \"The miner may then perform a validation computation on the block 414, further details of which will be provided below.\",\n \"For now, it suffices to note that the validation computation will either return a correct result, or a failure as per step 416.If the validation computation returns a failure, the miner may alter the nonce as per step 417, for example if it is an integer by incrementing or decrementing the value of the number by a chosen amount, or by choosing a new random value, and may then repeat the validation computation on the new block as per step 414.If the validation computation is correct, the block has been successfully verified and the miner may transmit it to the peer-to-peer network 418.Through transmission to the peer-to-peer network, the block may arrive at another network connected device 107, which may constitute another miner, or another node.\",\n \"The network connected device 107 may then repeat the same validation computation on the block 420 as previously performed by the miner 106 in step 414, and the validation computation will return either a successful result or a failure 422.If the computation result is a failure, the network connected device 107 may discard the block, as shown in step 424.If the validation computation produces a successful result, then the network connected device 107 may add the block to a copy of the shared ledger 426.FIG.\",\n \"5 presents a flowchart providing further details for one possible embodiment of a miner, and provides a specification for the steps taken once a location report or a plurality of location reports have been received by a network connected device acting as a miner.\",\n \"In step 502 the miner generates a header for a new block, which in one embodiment may contain data indicating the start of the block, and may contain a link back to the last accepted block in the shared ledger, for example through inclusion of a hash of the previous block.\",\n \"The header may also contain a time stamp.\",\n \"In step 504 the miner may append a message to the block, commonly known to those skilled in the art as a “block reward”, which allocates a number of commercially-valued credits to a public key associated with a network connected device.\",\n \"In other embodiments the number of commercially-valued credits may be associated with one or more of: an email address, an IP address or a MAC address.\",\n \"In step 506 the miner may append none, one, or a plurality of location reports received from the peer-to-peer network to the block.\",\n \"The miner may also append a count of the number of reports added to the block.\",\n \"In step 508 the miner may insert a nonce into the block.\",\n \"The nonce may comprise a number, a string, or a binary data, and may be selected randomly or according to a predetermined algorithm, for example, the nonce may initially be the number 1, and subsequently incremented by one until a successful result is returned from the validation computation.\",\n \"In step 510 the miner may conduct a validation computation on the block in its current state.\",\n \"The validation computation may comprise applying a one or more hash functions to the block, and then possibly applying the one or more hash functions or a different one or more hash functions repeatedly one or more times to the output of the previous hash function applied.\",\n \"The hash functions used may include SHA, RIPEMD, Whirlpool, Scrypt, HAS-160, or other cryptographic hash function where a hash output cannot be determined from hash input other than by the application of the cryptographic hash function to the hash input.\",\n \"A final result of step 510 may be a number.\",\n \"In step 512 the final result is compared to a target value.\",\n \"The target value may be a fixed value agreed upon by a plurality of participating devices in the peer-to-peer network, or it may be a dynamic value determined in one embodiment by the average time taken for the miners in the peer-to-peer network to produce the last K blocks, where K is a fixed value agreed upon by the plurality of participating devices in the peer-to-peer network.\",\n \"When the final result is compared to the target value, the result may be determined to be successful if the final result is greater than the target.\",\n \"In other embodiments of the invention the result may be determined to be successful if the final result is greater or equal to the target value, or less than the target value, or less than or equal to the target value, or by some other Boolean operation on the final result and the target value.\",\n \"If the result of step 512 is “no”, then step 514 may be executed.\",\n \"The miner may alter the nonce in the block, for example by incrementing its value if it is a number, or by selecting a new nonce at random, and may then proceed to step 510 again.\",\n \"The repeated cycle of step 510, step 512, and step 514 is often described in the art as a “proof of work” effort.\",\n \"If the result of step 512 is “yes”, then step 516 may be executed.\",\n \"The miner may append a checksum or cryptographic hash to the block, which allows third parties to verify that the preceding data is correct and has not been altered or corrupted during data transfer.\",\n \"Finally, the miner may execute step 520, by sending the completed block to the peer-to-peer network for inspection by other network connected devices, and subsequent inclusion in the shared ledger.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 is a diagram defining one exemplary embodiment of a block in terms of elements generated through the process described previously in FIG.\",\n \"5.It should be noted that in although the elements for inclusion in the block are presented in a given order in the preferred embodiment detailed above, the chosen ordering within the block may be decided in an arbitrary manner, provided all participants on the peer-to-peer network agree to the same ordering.\",\n \"Element 602 is a header, and may comprise: an identifier indicating that the block is intended for a peer-to-peer geolocation system such as is described in this disclosure; a link to the preceding block, for example through a block number identifier or a cryptographic hash of the preceding block; a time stamp.\",\n \"Element 604 is an integer indicating the block size.\",\n \"Element 606 is a nonce.\",\n \"Element 608 is a commercially-valued credit allocation message, and may include a claim to a number of commercially-valued credits to be allocated.\",\n \"Element 610 is an integer indicating the number of location reports included in the block.\",\n \"It can be zero, or an integer greater than zero.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"6 an example is presented in which N location reports are included in the block.\",\n \"Element 612 is an example of a first location report received from the peer-to-peer network and included in the block.\",\n \"Element 614 is an example of a second location report received from the peer-to-peer network and included in the block.\",\n \"Element 616 is an example of an Nth location report received from the peer-to-peer network and included in the block.\",\n \"Element 618 is an integer indicating a number of transaction messages may be included in the block.\",\n \"It can be zero, or an integer greater than zero.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"6 an example is presented in which M transaction messages are included in the block.\",\n \"A transaction message may represent a transfer of commercially-valued credits from an allocation to a one public cryptographic key to an allocation to a second public cryptographic key, and may be signed with a private cryptographic key to authorize the transfer.\",\n \"Element 620 is an example of a first transaction message received from the peer-to-peer network or generated by the miner and included in the block.\",\n \"Element 622 is an example of a second transaction message received from the peer-to-peer network or generated by the miner and included in the block.\",\n \"Element 624 is an example of a Mth transaction message received from the peer-to-peer network or generated by the miner and included in the block.\",\n \"In a preferred embodiment of the invention, elements 602 through 624 may be cryptographically hashed during the validation computation in the proof of work activity to provide a final result for comparison with the target value.\",\n \"Element 626 is a checksum or cryptographic hash of elements 602 through 624 that may be included in the block, for example to allow third parties to verify that the preceding data is correct and has not been altered or corrupted during data transfer.\",\n \"In one embodiment it may be the result obtained from the proof of work activity during the validation computation.\",\n \"One possible embodiment of a network connected device, henceforth referred to as a verifier, for verifying a block submitted to the peer-to-peer network by a miner is presented in FIG.\",\n \"7.In step 702 the network connected device may receive the block from the peer-to-peer network.\",\n \"In step 704 the verifier may perform a same validation computation on the submitted block, as performed by the miner.\",\n \"In step 706 the verifier may examine a result to determine if the block satisfies the validation computation.\",\n \"If the result is “no”, the network connected device may proceed to step 708, in which the block is discarded.\",\n \"If the result is “yes”, the network connected device may proceed to step 710, in which the shared ledger may be scanned for location reports or transaction messages matching those in the submitted block.\",\n \"The result from step 710 may be evaluated by the verifier in step 712.If the result of step 712 is “yes”, then duplicates have been found, and the verifier proceeds to step 708, in which the block is discarded.\",\n \"If the result of step 712 is “no”, then no duplicates were found, and the verifier proceeds to step 714, in which the block is added to the shared ledger.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 presents a possible embodiment of a location report message.\",\n \"The location report header 802 may contain a marker indicating that the rest of the message contains a location report, and other header information such as the length of the report.\",\n \"The location report may contain the public key 804, the network address 806 and the email address 808 of the network connected location determining device 102 that is to submit the location report.\",\n \"A data payload of the location report may comprise a longitude 812, a latitude 814, an altitude 816, a time of position determination 818, and a position accuracy 820.The data payload may be encrypted with a cryptographic symmetric key 810, for example to maintain the privacy of the location determined by the network connected location determining device.\",\n \"The location report may also comprise the symmetric key of 810 encrypted with a public key 822 of an alternate network connected device.\",\n \"This may allow the alternate network connected device to decrypt the symmetric key using its private key, and subsequently decrypt the data payload 812-820, using the decrypted symmetric key.\",\n \"The location report may also comprise a digital signature 824, generated with the private key of the network connected location determining device, in order to provide for the veracity of the submitted location report.\",\n \"As will be appreciated from the above discussion, an advantage of the systems and methods of this disclosure includes distributing effort required to maintain and extend a shared ledger, a file, or a database of location information pertaining to a plurality of network connected location determining devices, thereby providing protection from an existence of a single point of failure, and reducing cost to individual users of the system.\",\n \"Further, these techniques offer protection of the location data stored through use of cryptographic keys and digital signatures.\",\n \"Finally, the techniques also allow for rewarding of owners of network connected devices participating in the peer-to-peer network and charging of owners or users of network connected location determining devices providing location reports to the system.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876122"}}},{"rowIdx":4495086,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["DENTAL TAPE AND FLOSS HOLDER WITH INSTALLATION CASSETTE","A floss holder includes a housing and a spindle for receiving floss and a fork having two ends between which the feed portion of the floss is secured for use.","A first locking plate is operable for receiving a feed portion and a return portion of the floss upon a horizontal surface thereof.","A second locking plate is operable to engage the first locking plate, where a distal end of the second locking plate engages the feed portion and the return portion to substantially constrain the feed portion of the floss on the fork and the return portion, applying tension along the feed portion and the return portion.","A number of protrusions assist in retaining the feed portion and preventing the tape floss from slippage while reducing the friction around the fork; the protrusions are located at the base of the fork and inside the floss holder."],["1.A dental floss holder comprising: (a) a housing comprising a first part and a second part forming in a closed position a fork having two prongs for receiving a feed portion of floss and an aperture on a side of the housing opposite to the fork for enabling a return portion of floss to exit the housing; (b) a spindle or spool contained in the housing, said spindle or spool being operable for receiving a quantity of floss wound thereabout; (c) a first toothed locking plate disposed in the housing, said the first toothed locking plate capable of receiving the feed portion and the return portion returning back over a substantially horizontal surface of the first toothed locking plate; (d) a second toothed locking plate positioned between the first toothed locking plate and a locking button disposed in the housing, said locking button protruding through the housing so as to enable selective operation by a user, wherein teeth of the first locking plate and teeth of the second locking plate are selectively engaged by a user by moving the locking button towards the fork, whereby a distal end of the second toothed locking plate proximate to the fork engages the feed portion of the floss and the return portion of the floss returning back over the substantially horizontal surface to substantially restrain the feed portion and the return portion between the first toothed locking plate and the second toothed locking plate, wherein the act of selectively engaging the locking butting applies a tension force to the feed portion between the two prongs of the fork and the return portion; and (e) a cutting blade connected to the housing for cutting the return portion.","2.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein the locking button includes a plurality of protrusions and a combined thickness of the first toothed locking plate, the second toothed locking plate, and each of the plurality of protrusions is greater than a distance between elements and protruding elements of the housing.","3.The dental floss holder of claim 2, wherein the plurality of protrusions lodge between and thereby engage elements and protruding elements of the housing when the locking button is selectively moved towards the fork.","4.The dental floss holder of claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of protrusions is wedge- or parallelogram-shaped.","5.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein the housing includes a plurality of housing protrusions on the first part and a plurality of housing protrusions on the second part, about which floss moves, creating a plurality of contact points between the floss and the housing, thereby reducing friction between the floss and the housing.","6.The dental floss holder of claim 5, wherein one of the plurality of housing protrusions on the first part is disposed at the base of the fork and wherein one of the plurality of housing protrusions on the second part is symmetrically disposed on the other side of the base of the fork.","7.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein each prong of the fork includes an end for facilitating the smooth movement of floss between the prongs.","8.The dental floss holder of claim 7, wherein the ends are substantially cylindrical or semi-cylindrical.","9.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein each prong of the fork includes a pair of extensions having a space between each of the pair of extensions, each said pair of extensions being positioned to retain the floss during inserting, removing, and flossing.","10.The dental floss holder of claim 9, wherein the space between each of the pair of extension enables a user to reposition floss between prongs of the fork if the floss tears or slips.","11.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein the cutting blade is recessed below a surface of the housing.","12.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein the tension force to the feed portion between and the return portion is applied by a horizontal element of the locking button sliding between the distal end of the second toothed locking plate and the protruding elements when selectively engaged by the user.","13.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein the locking button is a sliding button.","14.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein the distal end of the second toothed locking plate includes at least one notch for engaging the feed portion or the return portion.","15.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein the first part or the second part includes a plurality of fixating plates holding together the first part and the second part.","16.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein the housing includes a seam between the first part and the second part, said seam acting as a hinge or pivot, and wherein the housing is selectively openable by a user to install or replace a quantity of floss by pivoting the first part away from the second part.","17.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein the first toothed locking plate or the second toothed locking plate includes a partition wall aligned with a longitudinal axis of the housing to separate the feed portion and the return portion.","18.The dental floss holder of claim 1, further comprising a locking means for holding together the first part and the second part.","19.The dental floss holder of claim 18 wherein the locking means are selected from the group consisting from latches, locks, snaps, straps, hook and loop attachments, and rails.","20.A dental floss holder comprising: (a) a housing comprising a first part and a second part forming in a closed position a fork having two prongs for receiving a feed portion of floss and an aperture on a side of the housing opposite to the fork for enabling a return portion of floss to exit the housing, wherein each prong of the fork includes a channel for passing the feed portion and the return portion; (b) a cassette contained in the housing, said cassette having a bottom part including a container and a first toothed locking plate connected to the container, said first toothed locking plate capable of receiving the feed portion and the return portion over a substantially horizontal surface of the first toothed locking plate, and a top part including a cover, forming a closable container with the container for holding a spindle or spool being operable for receiving a quantity of floss wound thereabout and a second toothed locking plate connected to the cover, said second toothed locking plate being positioned between the first toothed locking plate and a locking button disposed in the housing, said locking button protruding through the housing so as to enable selective operation by a user, wherein teeth of the first locking plate and teeth of the second locking plate are selectively engaged by a user by moving the locking button towards the fork, whereby a distal end of the second toothed locking plate proximate to the fork engages the feed portion of the floss and the return portion of the floss returning back over the substantially horizontal surface to substantially restrain the feed portion and the return portion between the first toothed locking plate and the second toothed locking plate, wherein the act of selectively engaging the locking butting applies a force to the first toothed locking plate and the second toothed locking plate and a tension force to the feed portion between the two prongs of the fork and the return portion; and (c) a cutting blade connected to the housing for cutting the return portion."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>The present invention relates to a dental floss holder.","Daily flossing is highly recommended by dentists for good oral health.","However, many people do not practice daily flossing.","Some people do not floss because the floss can be difficult to use as it may break, tangle or pinch the fingers during use.","It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a device that holds dental floss during use.","Currently, dental floss holders exist.","However, when using these dental floss holders it is often difficult to hold the floss firmly in the desired position.","Also, the floss may stretch or become tangled during flossing or when removing used floss from the holder.","Furthermore, many dental floss holders require the user to install a piece of floss in the holder before each use or are not reusable and are thrown away after one use.","Some floss holders accept only limited types of floss and may not be suitable for using dental tape and flosses using modern technologies.","Some floss holders require large pieces of floss to be replaced at a time, creating waste.","In other floss holders replacing is time-consuming and the floss can be tangled or twisted.","Yet other floss holders are designed for right hand users and are not as equally convenient for left hand users.","Still other floss holders are not designed for easy access to all areas in the mouth.","In view of the foregoing, there is a need for improved techniques for providing a dental floss holder that firmly holds the floss, generally prevents the floss from stretching, bunching up, or becoming tangled and is easily reused."],["<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>This invention meets the need for an improved dental holder/flosser by providing a device that securely holds the floss, allows the user to easily replace the used section of floss with a fresh section of floss, and prevents the floss from stretching or bunching up.","At the same time, the novel improved dental floss holder/flosser is easy to operate, inexpensive to manufacture, and it addresses the issues present in the dental floss holders/flossers known in the art.","The novel dental floss holder/flosser achieves that by having an innovative securing/locking system for the floss and elements that reduce friction and sticking and promote uninhibited movement of the floss through the device."],["CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of the nonprovisional patent application Ser.","No.","13/825,321, which claims priority benefit under 35 U.S.C.","§ 120 and § 365(c) of the PCT international patent application designating the U.S. Ser.","No.","PCT/US11/52066, filed 18 Sep. 2011, entitled “Dental Tape and Floss Holder with Installation Cassette”, and this application further claims benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.","§ 119(e) to U.S. provisional patent application Ser.","No.","61/403,635, filed Sep. 20, 2010, entitled “Dental Floss Holder with Installation Cassette,” the disclosures of all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes to the extent that such subject matter is not inconsistent herewith or limiting hereof.","FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention was not made pursuant to any federally-sponsored research and/or development.","A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection.","The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office, patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.","The present invention relates generally to dental care.","More particularly, the invention relates to a dental floss holder, which is usable by any person to floss and is easily operable to move and replace the portion of the floss that has been used with a fresh section of floss.","BACKGROUND The present invention relates to a dental floss holder.","Daily flossing is highly recommended by dentists for good oral health.","However, many people do not practice daily flossing.","Some people do not floss because the floss can be difficult to use as it may break, tangle or pinch the fingers during use.","It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a device that holds dental floss during use.","Currently, dental floss holders exist.","However, when using these dental floss holders it is often difficult to hold the floss firmly in the desired position.","Also, the floss may stretch or become tangled during flossing or when removing used floss from the holder.","Furthermore, many dental floss holders require the user to install a piece of floss in the holder before each use or are not reusable and are thrown away after one use.","Some floss holders accept only limited types of floss and may not be suitable for using dental tape and flosses using modern technologies.","Some floss holders require large pieces of floss to be replaced at a time, creating waste.","In other floss holders replacing is time-consuming and the floss can be tangled or twisted.","Yet other floss holders are designed for right hand users and are not as equally convenient for left hand users.","Still other floss holders are not designed for easy access to all areas in the mouth.","In view of the foregoing, there is a need for improved techniques for providing a dental floss holder that firmly holds the floss, generally prevents the floss from stretching, bunching up, or becoming tangled and is easily reused.","SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention meets the need for an improved dental holder/flosser by providing a device that securely holds the floss, allows the user to easily replace the used section of floss with a fresh section of floss, and prevents the floss from stretching or bunching up.","At the same time, the novel improved dental floss holder/flosser is easy to operate, inexpensive to manufacture, and it addresses the issues present in the dental floss holders/flossers known in the art.","The novel dental floss holder/flosser achieves that by having an innovative securing/locking system for the floss and elements that reduce friction and sticking and promote uninhibited movement of the floss through the device.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention is illustrated by way of examples, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which reference numerals refer to elements.","The features, aspects and advantages of the novel invention will become further understood with reference to the following description and accompanying drawings where FIG.","1 is a perspective view of the dental floss holder in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","1A is a side view of the dental floss holder of FIG.","1; FIG.","1B is a front view of the dental floss holder of FIG.","1; FIG.","1C is a rear view of the dental floss holder of FIG.","1; FIG.","1D is a perspective close-up view of the fork of the dental floss holder of FIG.","1; FIG.","2A is perspective view of the dental floss cassette, in a closed position, used with an alternative embodiment of the dental floss holder, illustrating the water-resistant container for floss in a closed position; FIG.","2B is a perspective view of the floss cassette of FIG.","2A in an open position, illustrating the locking plates of the dental floss holder and the water-resistant container for floss in an open position; FIG.","3A is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a locking button of the dental floss holder of FIG.","1; FIG.","3B is a front view of the locking button of FIG.","3A; FIG.","3C is the bottom view of the locking button of FIG.","3A; FIG.","4A is a side view of the alternative embodiment of the dental floss holder in the open position, containing the locking button of FIG.","3A, the floss cassette of FIG.","2A and a blade mounted on the dental floss holder; FIG.","4B is a perspective view of the dental floss holder of FIG.","4A in the open position with the locking button, the floss cassette and the blade removed; DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention is best understood by reference to the detailed figures and description set forth herein.","Various embodiments of the invention are discussed below with reference to the Figures.","However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the detailed description given herein with respect to these figures is for explanatory purposes as the invention extends beyond these limited embodiments.","For example, it should be appreciated that those skilled in the art will, in light of the teachings of the present invention, recognize a multiplicity of alternate and suitable approaches, depending upon the needs of the particular application, to implement the functionality of any given detail described herein, beyond the particular implementation choices in the following embodiments described and shown.","That is, there are numerous modifications and variations of the invention that are too numerous to be listed but that all fit within the scope of the invention.","Also, singular words should be read as plural and vice versa and masculine as feminine and vice versa, where appropriate, and alternative embodiments do not necessarily imply that the two are mutually exclusive.","It is to be further understood that the present invention is not limited to the particular methodology, compounds, materials, manufacturing techniques, uses, and applications, described herein, as these may vary.","It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is used for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.","It must be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include the plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.","Thus, for example, a reference to “an element” is a reference to one or more elements and includes equivalents thereof known to those skilled in the art.","Similarly, for another example, a reference to “a step” or “a means” is a reference to one or more steps or means and may include sub-steps and subservient means.","All conjunctions used are to be understood in the most inclusive sense possible.","Thus, the word “or” should be understood as having the definition of a logical “or” rather than that of a logical “exclusive or” unless the context clearly necessitates otherwise.","Structures described herein are to be understood also to refer to functional equivalents of such structures.","Language that may be construed to express approximation should be so understood unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.","Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs.","Preferred methods, techniques, devices, and materials are described, although any methods, techniques, devices, or materials similar or equivalent to those described herein may be used in the practice or testing of the present invention.","Structures described herein are to be understood also to refer to functional equivalents of such structures.","The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.","From reading the present disclosure, other variations and modifications will be apparent to persons skilled in the art.","Such variations and modifications may involve equivalent and other features which are already known in the art, and which may be used instead of or in addition to features already described herein.","Although Claims have been formulated in this Application to particular combinations of features, it should be understood that the scope of the disclosure of the present invention also includes any novel feature or any novel combination of features disclosed herein either explicitly or implicitly or any generalization thereof, whether or not it relates to the same invention as presently claimed in any Claim and whether or not it mitigates any or all of the same technical problems as does the present invention.","Features which are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment.","Conversely, various features which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable sub combination.","The Applicants hereby give notice that new Claims may be formulated to such features and/or combinations of such features during the prosecution of the present Application or of any further Application derived therefrom.","As is well known to those skilled in the art many careful considerations and compromises typically must be made when designing for the optimal manufacture of a commercial implementation any system, and in particular, the embodiments of the present invention.","A commercial implementation in accordance with the spirit and teachings of the present invention may configured according to the needs of the particular application, whereby any aspect(s), feature(s), function(s), result(s), component(s), approach(s), or step(s) of the teachings related to any described embodiment of the present invention may be suitably omitted, included, adapted, mixed and matched, or improved and/or optimized by those skilled in the art, using their average skills and known techniques, to achieve the desired implementation that addresses the needs of the particular application.","Detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiments are provided herein.","It is to be understood, however, that the present invention may be embodied in various forms.","Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed system, structure or manner.","It is to be understood that any exact measurements/dimensions or particular construction materials indicated herein are solely provided as examples of suitable configurations and are not intended to be limiting in any way.","Depending on the needs of the particular application, those skilled in the art will readily recognize, in light of the following teachings, a multiplicity of suitable alternative implementation details.","A preferred embodiment of the present invention and some variations thereof provide a dental floss holder, which may be used with conventional round floss or dental tape.","Some preferred embodiments allow for the use of many types of floss including, but not limited to, round floss, dental tape, flosses using modern technologies developed for new applications of synthetic materials with elastic effect, ultra-thin floss, wax covered floss, etc.","Some preferred embodiments may be designed to enable them to be produced from plastic with existing technologies used for manufacturing containers for conventional dental flosses and tapes.","Some types of dental tape floss include monofilament nylon, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and microfilament floss.","However, some alternate embodiments may be produced using different techniques and from different materials including, but not limited to, metals, composites, rubber, or a combination of materials.","Some preferred embodiments comprise a small number of parts, which allows for quick and easy installation of the floss and generally ensures minimum costs in the production of the device.","With reference to FIGS.","1, 1A, 1B and 1C an exemplary dental floss holder is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.","In the present embodiment, the floss holder is preferably made for effective use of dental tape.","However, the floss holder also allows for the use of conventional round floss, waxed floss, ultra-thin floss, synthetic floss, elastic floss, etc.","In the present embodiment, the floss holder comprises a housing 2, an optional floss cassette 4, as shown by way of example in FIGS.","2A, 2B and 2C, a locking button 1, which locks a stretched portion of floss 5 within a locking mechanism in housing 2, and a rounded blade 3.The housing 2 is preferably a one-piece part manufactured from plastic, which may be injection-molded.","The housing 2 has a first part 6 and a second part 7 THESE PARTS NEED TO BE SHOWN IN THE DRAWINGS, which are essentially symmetrical versus one another about a longitudinal axis of the housing 2 and can pivot to grant access to the interior of the housing 2 and the floss cassette 4.Alternatively, the first part and the second part may be called a left side and right side of the housing 2 or top part and bottom part of the housing 2.A person skilled in the art will appreciate that the housing may be manufactured several different ways to satisfy these requirements.","The design of floss holder housing 2 and particularly a fork 204 comprising fork-shaped protruding prongs 8 PRONGS 8 and base 9 must be shown in the drawings enables smooth flossing by holding a piece of floss 5 firmly in the desired position and generally preventing floss 5 from stretching and tangling during flossing or while removing used floss.","Indent 217 on housing 2 enables the user to rest the floss holder on a finger while operating locking button 1 to prevent the floss holder from slipping.","As illustrated in FIG.","1D, the ends 210 of the fork 204 are substantially cylindrical and are positioned so that floss, especially tape floss, passes between the ends 210 smoothly, with little friction, and without bunching up because it passes between the side walls of the ends 210, each of which side wall (curvilinear shape) is located between the respective cylinder's faces.","In the preferred embodiment of this invention, the ends 210 are molded into the fork 204 (i.e., in the shape of a half-cylinder or semi-cylinder where the floss comes into contact with the curvilinear shape), but the ends 210 may be separate cylindrical pins inserted into the fork 204, which may be solid or hollow.","Bunching up of the floss is a known problem with the existing flossing devices that use V-shaped cutouts or apertures to thread the floss through, which pulls the floss into one point and thickens the floss material.","This in turn makes it difficult to or unavailable for use by users with closely-placed teeth (i.e., who have tight gaps between the teeth).","The present invention addresses these issues with the substantially cylindrical ends 210 that allow tape floss to retain its intended shape and expand even multi-thread or string floss, approximating it to tape floss.","The ends 210 are designed to keep the wide tape floss in good shape (smoothing the operation and preserving the qualities of the material during refreshing and flossing process by the user and avoiding the effect of folds in two, twisting and compression effect between the prongs 8 of the fork).","Tape floss is usually thin, allowing the user to floss even if the gaps between the teeth and minimal, and tape floss is more effective than string floss because tape floss covers a greater surface of the tooth in use.","Bunched-up tape floss loses these advantageous qualities, but the present invention allows tape floss to retain its intended structure and capabilities.","Further with reference to FIG.","1D, the extensions 209, which are preferably positioned on both sides of the ends 210, retain the floss on the ends 210 of the fork 204, even during aggressive use, especially the stress on the floss during the process of entry into or removal of the floss from the space between the teeth.","Because there is open space between extensions 209, the user can replace the floss back onto the ends 210 of the fork 204 in the event the floss tears, without having to thread the floss through apertures that exist in prior flossing devices.","A free end 5A of floss 5 is pulled out through an opening 207, which enables a user to pull floss 5 through the floss holder after housing 2 is locked in a closed position.","In the present embodiment, opening 207 is located at the end of housing 2 opposite fork 204.However, this opening 207 may be placed in various different locations in alternate embodiments such as, but not limited to, on the front or side of the housing.","In the present embodiment, housing 2 is held in place in the closed position with two housing fixating plates 201, which are locked firmly in place with the help of a locking mechanism, shown by way of example in FIG.","4B.","The locking mechanism of the fixating plates 201 may be a latch, lock, snap, or similar locking mechanism.","These are the preferred attachment methods, although other methods, including straps, hook and loop attachments, or rails may be used.","To open housing 2, fixating plates 201 are unlocked and the two portions of housing 2 are spread apart along a seam 213 on the back with a hinge 214 on the front.","Free end 5A of floss 5, which is the used portion of floss 5, is manually pulled through opening 207 and into a channel 215, which guides free end 5A in the direction of cutting blade 3 where the used portion of floss 5 is cut off Alternate embodiments may be implemented without a channel for guiding the free end of the floss and also be implemented without a blade.","In the present embodiment, housing protrusions 208, which are also located on the inside of housing 2 as shown by way of example in FIG.","4B, reduce friction on floss 5 in the process of sliding floss 5 through the floss holder when the used portion is replaced with a clean portion.","Dimples 216 enable a user to firmly grasp housing 2 when floss 5 is manually pulled through opening 207 and into a channel 215 and capture free end 5A in the process of cutting by the blade 3.Housing protrusions 208 reduce friction by creating several points of contact between the floss tape and the floss holder along the path of the floss tape's movement.","When the floss tape is moved (i.e., to get a fresh, unused portion of the floss between the ends 210 of the fork 204, the use of housing protrusions 208 avoids the undesirable effect of sticking of some types of floss (depending on the material) to the floss holder, and particularly sticking to the prongs 8 of the fork 204.This is especially important for tape floss that has a large contact surface area, or floss that is treated with flavor components, wax, or medicinal additives.","CANNOT SEE the housing protrusions 208 that well, need a drawing similar to page 3 (top view cross section).","In the present embodiment, the floss holder is designed to allow equally easy operation for left or right-handed users.","For example, without limitation, dimples 216 and channels 215 are provided on both sides of housing 2 to enable the used portion of floss 5 to be cut on either side of housing 2.However, alternate embodiments may be implemented as specifically right-handed or left-handed devices.","In the present embodiment, the floss holder provides considerable savings of floss since during the replacement of floss 5 on the fork 204 only about one to one and a half inches of floss are used.","Also, the process of replacing floss 5 is fast and simple, often taking only one to two seconds to complete.","The floss holder is designed so that the clean portion of floss 5 does not come into contact with the used portion at any time during flossing or during the replacement of floss 5 on the fork 204.FIGS.","2A and 2B illustrate an exemplary floss cassette 4 from a dental floss holder, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","2A is a side perspective view of floss cassette 4 in a closed position.","In the present embodiment floss 5 is installed in floss cassette 4 by being coiled around a cylinder 406 then being fed between locking plates 401 and 402 around a plate 404 and a plate portion 404A.","In some embodiments, plate portion 404A includes a notch 412, shown in FIG.","4B, to capture floss 5.In other alternate embodiments, various other means may be used to capture floss 5.From here, floss 5 is placed back through locking plates 401 and 402 then into one of notches 409 and out of cassette 4 so that a free end 5A of floss 5 can exit the floss holder once cassette 4 is installed in the floss holder, as shown by way of example in FIG.","4A.","Further with reference to FIGS.","2A and 2B, the floss cassette 4 includes the water-resistant container 421 and the cover 422 of the water-resistant container 421.The water-resistant container 421 houses the spindle or spool of the floss inside the housing 2, and the user accesses the water-resistant container 421 by separating the top and the bottom parts of the floss cassette 4 to lift the cover 422 off the water-resistant container 421.As disclosed in this specification, the floss may be coiled around a cylinder 406 integral to the interior of the water-resistant container 421.With reference to FIG.","2B, the partition wall 420 is an optional partition, located in either locking plate 401 as illustrated, but may also be located in the locking plate 402, preferably on the middle longitudinal axis of the plate.","The partition wall 420 serves as a separator between the feed portion of the floss (clean, unused floss on the way to the fork 204) and the return (used floss on the way back to the end of the housing 2 opposite to the fork 204, where the return exits the housing 2 through an aperture in the housing.","The partition wall 420 ensures that the used floss of the return does not come into contact and contaminate the clean, unused floss in the feed portion.","Floss cassette 4 comprises a stretching mechanism 403, which holds floss 5 in place and stretches floss 5 on the fork 204 of the floss holder and maintains floss 5 in the stretched position for smooth and easy flossing, as described by way of example in accordance with FIG.","4A.","The stretching mechanism 403 illustrated in FIG.","4A is essentially a curved extension on the end of the locking plate 401 proximate to the fork 204 (i.e., the distal end of the locking plate 401).","The stretching mechanism 403 may include one or two notches for engaging one or both of the feed portion of the floss and the return portion of the floss when the stretching mechanism 403 is engaged by sliding the locking button 1 towards the fork 204.In order for floss 5 to be coiled around cylinder 406, a user may manually wind a long piece of floss around cylinder 406 or a pre-wound spool of floss may be placed on cylinder 406.In some embodiments the cassette 4 may be preloaded with floss.","In these embodiments, the user may obtain the cassette preloaded with a type of floss of his/her choosing.","During the installation in the present embodiment, protruding segments 407 hold floss 5 in place on locking plate 402.After floss 5 is installed in cassette 4, cassette 4 is inserted into the housing of the floss holder.","Openings 405 on locking plates 401 and 402 are installed upon protrusions inside the housing, shown by way of example in FIGS.","4A and 4B.","In the present embodiment, locking plates 401 and 402 comprise zigzagged surfaces with a multiplicity of protrusions (toothed surfaces if viewed in a cross-section).","In alternate embodiments the zigzagged surface may only be on locking plate 401 or only on locking plate 402.The number of protrusions and corresponding hollow segments on locking plates 401 and 402 depends on the size of the floss holder.","In alternate embodiments only one of the locking plates may have a zigzagged surface or the surfaces may have different textures such as, but not limited to, a bumpy or rough texture.","Plates 410 on the top portion of cassette 4 and plate 401 provide unlocking of locking plates 401 and 402, as described by way of example in accordance with FIG.","4A.","The plates 410 are shown in FIGS.","2A, 4A and 4B on the rear part of plate 401.FIGS.","3A, 3B and 3C illustrate an exemplary locking button 1 of a dental floss holder, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","3A is a side perspective view.","FIG.","3B is a front view, and FIG.","3C is a bottom view.","In the present embodiment, locking button 1 comprises an irregular bottom surface with protrusions 101 extending from a horizontal element 102.When locking button 1 is installed in the floss holder, pushing forward on locking button 1 (sliding the locking button 1 forward towards the fork) causes the floss in the floss holder to be held in place.","As illustrated in FIG.","3A, the protrusions 101 are preferably parallelogram-shaped, but they may be wedge- or substantially triangular-shaped.","In use, when the tape floss slides under the protruding elements 206, protrusions 101 of the locking button 1 cause the deformation of the space between protruding elements 206 and elements 212, causing high pressure on the floss material between the locking plates 401 and 402.This happens because of the one-piece injection molded plastic between protruding elements 206 and elements 212 that creates tension when deformed (stretched) because it is trying to return to its initial shape, which is defined by the injection molding form.","This innovative solution allows to hold the floss by blocking it from moving without any additional exertion of force by the user (such as, for example, by pinching it in the hand, holding the blocking button, or any other restrictive manipulations that would limit the user's ability to freely use the floss holder).","To achieve this effect, the distance between elements 212 and protruding elements 206 should be less than the combined thickness of toothed plates 401, 402 and protrusions 101 of the locking button 1 (the thickness of the protrusions 101 is basically the height of the protrusions 101).","For example, if the combined thickness of toothed plates 401, 402 and protrusions 101 is 7.5 mm, the distance between elements 212 and protruding elements 206 should be 7.0 mm.","Furthermore, horizontal element 102 of the locking button 1 generates pressure on the stretching mechanism 403, which exerts pressure onto the floss material (both the fresh, unused floss coming out of the blocking plates 401 and 402 and the return, used floss coming into the plates).","Therefore, the tensioning of the floss materials happens directly on the fork 204 of the dental floss holder.","Elements 101 generate equal pressure along the entire lengths of the locking toothed plate 401, which ensures effective retention of the floss material.","FIGS.","4A and 4B illustrate an exemplary dental floss holder, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","4A is a side view of the floss holder in an open position, and FIG.","4B is a side perspective view of the floss holder in the open position with a locking button 1, a floss cassette 4 and a blade 3 removed.","In the present embodiment, a housing 2 opens by pivoting at a hinge 214.In alternate embodiments, the housing may comprise two halves that are separate from each other that snap together to close.","Other alternate embodiments may comprise doors that swing open, slide open, or snap on and off of the housing to provide access to the inside of the housing to load the floss.","Referring to FIG.","4A, after the installation of floss 5, cassette 4 is closed and inserted into housing 2 of the floss holder.","In the present embodiment, floss cassette 4 is slid into the side of housing 2; however, alternate embodiments may be implemented where the floss cassette is installed in different ways for example, without limitation, dropped in from the top or bottom of the housing.","Referring to FIGS.","4A and 4B, in the present embodiment, a protrusion 212 provides stable positioning for plates 410 on the front of cassette 4.Element 212 is also an element providing the stable positioning for plate 402 inside of housing 2.Openings 405 on locking plates 401 and 402 of cassette 4 are installed upon protrusions 211 inside housing 2 and hold and stabilize locking plate 401 over locking plate 402.Once floss cassette 4 is in place, locking button 1 is installed above floss cassette 4.An opening 207 in housing 2 enables a user to pull a free end 5A of floss 5 out of housing 2 so that the used portions of floss 5 can be replaced with clean floss when floss locking plates 401 and 402 are unlocked, as shown by way of example in FIG.","4A.","The portion of floss 5 around a plate 404 is installed on the fork 204 of the floss holder once housing 2 is closed.","Referring to FIG.","4B, in the closed position, housing 2 is held closed by two fixating plates 201, which are locked firmly in place by locking mechanisms 202 locking into openings 203 on the opposite end of housing 2.The locking mechanism 202 of the fixating plates 201 may be a latch, lock, snap, or similar locking mechanism.","Plate portion 404A is removed from plate 404 and discarded after floss 5 is installed on the fork 204.In the present embodiment, the floss holder allows for effective and convenient flossing thanks to a mechanism for locking and stretching floss 5 on fork 204.This mechanism is located on floss cassette 4 and comprises locking plates 401 and 402 with zigzagged surfaces.","Referring to FIG.","4A, locking button 1 and locking plates 401 and 402 are shown in an unlocked position.","Once housing 2 is closed and floss 5 is placed on fork 204, pushing down locking button 1 causes floss 5 to be locked between locking plates 401 and 402, and sliding locking button 1 towards fork 204 causes a horizontal element 102 of locking button 1 to push down upon a stretching mechanism 403 of floss cassette 4, which results in stretching mechanism 403 being pushed down onto and stretching floss 5 on fork 204 of housing 2.After it is pushed down and slid forward towards the fork 204, locking button 1 holds its position and holds plate 401 in place against plate 402 with the help of protrusions 101 located on locking button 1, which engage with protruding elements 206 on the inside of housing 2.This double locking mechanism provides effecting locking of floss 5 between plates 401 and 402 of floss cassette 4 and stretching of floss 5 on fork 204 by virtue of horizontal element 102 pressing upon stretching mechanism 403.In alternate embodiments, the locking mechanism may be actuated by various different means other than a sliding button such as, but not limited to, a push button, a lever, a dial, etc.","In the present embodiment to unlock floss 5, locking button 1 is slid away from fork 204 and slides off of protruding elements 206.This releases locking button 1 upward away from plates 401 and 402 and therefore enables plate 401 to move upward, away from plate 402.Plates 410 on the top portion of cassette 4 are shown in FIGS.","2A, 4A and 4B, towards the rear part of plate 401.Plates 410 facilitate the unlocking of locking plates 401 and 402.Initially plate 401 is located above the plate 402 with a space between the plates 401 and 402 which is needed for smooth removal of the used portion of the floss.","Plates 401 and 402 preferably have zigzagged surfaces, meaning that the surfaces have ridges (the plates 401 and 402 are toothed if viewed in a cross-section).","That means that there must be a sufficient gap between the teeth on the substantially horizontal surfaces of the plates 401 and 402 in the unlocked position in order to smoothly remove the used portion of the floss, and to feed the fresh portion to the fork 204.In the process of locking, elements 410 bend and provide locking of the floss between the plates.","After unlocking, elements 410 return plate 401 to its previous position allowing space to be created for removal of the used portion of the floss.","A number of housing protrusions 208 located in the housing 2 and preferably at the base 9 of the fork 204 as well (end of the fork 204 opposite to the fork prongs 8), as illustrated in FIG.","4B, reduces friction of floss 5 while floss 5 slides through the floss holder in order to replace used floss with clean floss.","Alternate embodiments may be implemented without these protrusions.","In the present embodiment, a blade 3, which may be rounded, is used for cutting off used floss and is located on the lower portion of housing 2 on a blade plate 205.As shown in FIG.","1A, this location of blade 3 enables blade 3 to be recessed from the bottom surface of housing 2 for the user's safety while leaving a sufficient length of floss outside housing 2 for easy grasping.","However, the cutting blade 3 may be located in various different locations in alternate embodiments such as, but not limited to, near the opening from which the floss exits the floss holder, and other alternate embodiments may be implemented without a blade.","In the present embodiment, the fork 204, which is formed when the two parts of the housing 2 are in the closed position, includes extensions 209 that form a hollow shape which allows for the installation of floss 5 on the fork 204 and holds floss 5 in place during flossing.","In other words, there is a small space between the extensions 209 to accommodate floss if it needs to be reapplied to the fork (in cases of tears or slipping off), but the positioning of the extensions 209 should allow them to retain the floss on the fork 204 during aggressive use (inserting or removing the floss, and the process of flossing itself).","The rounded shape of ends 210 of fork 204 facilitates smooth sliding of floss 5 and generally prevents twisting or breaking during use.","Those skilled in the art will readily recognize, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention that the forks in alternate embodiments may vary in shape.","For example, without limitation, the prongs 8 of the fork may comprise apertures into which the floss is threaded, or the prongs 8 may comprise shallow grooves into which the floss is placed.","In some embodiments the prongs 8 of the fork 204 may be made of rubber or may be covered by rubber tips to protect the mouth of the user and to more securely grip the floss.","In typical use of the present embodiment, which is illustrated by way of example in FIGS.","IA through 4B, a user opens housing 2 of the floss holder along seam 213 and inserts a loaded floss cassette 4 into housing 2, as shown by way of example in FIG.","4A.","Then, the user installs locking button 1 above locking plates 401 and 402 and closes housing 2 by locking fixating plates 201.The user then pulls floss 5 wrapped around plate 404 and plate portion 404A from the floss holder and inserts floss 5 between extensions 209 on fork 204.Once floss 5 is installed on fork 204, the user may break off plate portion 404A.","To tighten and lock floss 5 in place, the user then slides locking button 1 toward fork 204.The user may now hold the floss holder in either hand to use the portion of floss 5 in fork 204 to floss his teeth.","In order to replace the used portion of floss 5 with an unused portion, the user slides locking button 1 away from fork 204 to unlock locking plates 401 and 402 and pulls on free end 5A to slide floss 5 through the floss holder and out opening 207.Once the used portion of floss 5 is pulled out of fork 204, the user slides locking button 1 back toward fork 204 to lock the clean portion of floss 5 in place.","If desired, the user may then take free end 5A of floss 5 up through channel 215 to cut off the excess floss with blade 3.Those skilled in the art will readily recognize, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, that any of the foregoing steps may be suitably replaced, reordered, removed and additional steps may be inserted depending upon the needs of the particular application.","For example, without limitation, locking button 1 may be installed before floss cassette 4, and the user may skip the step of cutting the excess floss from free end 5A.","An alternate embodiment of the present invention may provide a floss holder that does not use a floss cassette.","In this embodiment, the locking mechanism is built into the housing of the floss holder along with floss holding means.","A user installs the floss directly into the housing and feeds the floss through the built in locking mechanism prior to use.","Those skilled in the art will readily recognize, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, that various features of the floss holder illustrated by way of example in the foregoing may vary in alternate embodiments.","For example, without limitation, the forks in alternate embodiments may have various different shapes such as, but not limited to, square forks, the housings may have various different shapes including, but not limited to, housings with finger grooves for improved grip or rectangular housings, floss holders in alternate embodiments may come in various different sizes for example, without limitation, adult and children's sizes, etc.","Furthermore, there are various protrusions illustrated in the foregoing embodiment for guiding the floss and reducing friction.","In alternate embodiments the number and locations of these protrusions may vary greatly, and some embodiments may be implemented without these protrusions.","Yet other alternate embodiments may comprise additional features such as, but not limited to, a dental pick, a tongue scraper, an electric motor to provide vibration, etc.","Having fully described at least one embodiment of the present invention, other equivalent or alternative methods of providing a floss holder according to the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.","The invention has been described above by way of illustration, and the specific embodiments disclosed are not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed.","For example, the particular implementation of the floss cassette may vary depending upon the particular type of floss used.","The floss spools described in the foregoing were directed to relatively short implementations; however, similar techniques are to provide floss cassettes to accommodate floss spools of various different sizes such as, but not limited to, tall spools or wide spools.","In some of these implementations, the configuration of the floss within the cassette may vary depending on the size of the spool in order to fit the floss within the floss holder; for example, without limitation, the spool may be held in the cassette vertically rather than horizontally.","Implementations of the present invention for use with different sizes of floss spools are contemplated as within the scope of the present invention.","The invention is thus to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the following claims.","The above description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the invention.","Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the principles described herein can be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention and the subject matter of the present invention, which is broadly contemplated by the Applicant.","The scope of the present invention fully encompasses other embodiments that may be or become obvious to those skilled in the art.","Claim elements and steps herein may have been numbered and/or lettered solely as an aid in readability and understanding.","Any such numbering and lettering in itself is not intended to and should not be taken to indicate the ordering of elements and/or steps in the claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"DENTAL TAPE AND FLOSS HOLDER WITH INSTALLATION CASSETTE\",\n \"A floss holder includes a housing and a spindle for receiving floss and a fork having two ends between which the feed portion of the floss is secured for use.\",\n \"A first locking plate is operable for receiving a feed portion and a return portion of the floss upon a horizontal surface thereof.\",\n \"A second locking plate is operable to engage the first locking plate, where a distal end of the second locking plate engages the feed portion and the return portion to substantially constrain the feed portion of the floss on the fork and the return portion, applying tension along the feed portion and the return portion.\",\n \"A number of protrusions assist in retaining the feed portion and preventing the tape floss from slippage while reducing the friction around the fork; the protrusions are located at the base of the fork and inside the floss holder.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A dental floss holder comprising: (a) a housing comprising a first part and a second part forming in a closed position a fork having two prongs for receiving a feed portion of floss and an aperture on a side of the housing opposite to the fork for enabling a return portion of floss to exit the housing; (b) a spindle or spool contained in the housing, said spindle or spool being operable for receiving a quantity of floss wound thereabout; (c) a first toothed locking plate disposed in the housing, said the first toothed locking plate capable of receiving the feed portion and the return portion returning back over a substantially horizontal surface of the first toothed locking plate; (d) a second toothed locking plate positioned between the first toothed locking plate and a locking button disposed in the housing, said locking button protruding through the housing so as to enable selective operation by a user, wherein teeth of the first locking plate and teeth of the second locking plate are selectively engaged by a user by moving the locking button towards the fork, whereby a distal end of the second toothed locking plate proximate to the fork engages the feed portion of the floss and the return portion of the floss returning back over the substantially horizontal surface to substantially restrain the feed portion and the return portion between the first toothed locking plate and the second toothed locking plate, wherein the act of selectively engaging the locking butting applies a tension force to the feed portion between the two prongs of the fork and the return portion; and (e) a cutting blade connected to the housing for cutting the return portion.\",\n \"2.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein the locking button includes a plurality of protrusions and a combined thickness of the first toothed locking plate, the second toothed locking plate, and each of the plurality of protrusions is greater than a distance between elements and protruding elements of the housing.\",\n \"3.The dental floss holder of claim 2, wherein the plurality of protrusions lodge between and thereby engage elements and protruding elements of the housing when the locking button is selectively moved towards the fork.\",\n \"4.The dental floss holder of claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of protrusions is wedge- or parallelogram-shaped.\",\n \"5.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein the housing includes a plurality of housing protrusions on the first part and a plurality of housing protrusions on the second part, about which floss moves, creating a plurality of contact points between the floss and the housing, thereby reducing friction between the floss and the housing.\",\n \"6.The dental floss holder of claim 5, wherein one of the plurality of housing protrusions on the first part is disposed at the base of the fork and wherein one of the plurality of housing protrusions on the second part is symmetrically disposed on the other side of the base of the fork.\",\n \"7.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein each prong of the fork includes an end for facilitating the smooth movement of floss between the prongs.\",\n \"8.The dental floss holder of claim 7, wherein the ends are substantially cylindrical or semi-cylindrical.\",\n \"9.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein each prong of the fork includes a pair of extensions having a space between each of the pair of extensions, each said pair of extensions being positioned to retain the floss during inserting, removing, and flossing.\",\n \"10.The dental floss holder of claim 9, wherein the space between each of the pair of extension enables a user to reposition floss between prongs of the fork if the floss tears or slips.\",\n \"11.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein the cutting blade is recessed below a surface of the housing.\",\n \"12.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein the tension force to the feed portion between and the return portion is applied by a horizontal element of the locking button sliding between the distal end of the second toothed locking plate and the protruding elements when selectively engaged by the user.\",\n \"13.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein the locking button is a sliding button.\",\n \"14.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein the distal end of the second toothed locking plate includes at least one notch for engaging the feed portion or the return portion.\",\n \"15.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein the first part or the second part includes a plurality of fixating plates holding together the first part and the second part.\",\n \"16.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein the housing includes a seam between the first part and the second part, said seam acting as a hinge or pivot, and wherein the housing is selectively openable by a user to install or replace a quantity of floss by pivoting the first part away from the second part.\",\n \"17.The dental floss holder of claim 1, wherein the first toothed locking plate or the second toothed locking plate includes a partition wall aligned with a longitudinal axis of the housing to separate the feed portion and the return portion.\",\n \"18.The dental floss holder of claim 1, further comprising a locking means for holding together the first part and the second part.\",\n \"19.The dental floss holder of claim 18 wherein the locking means are selected from the group consisting from latches, locks, snaps, straps, hook and loop attachments, and rails.\",\n \"20.A dental floss holder comprising: (a) a housing comprising a first part and a second part forming in a closed position a fork having two prongs for receiving a feed portion of floss and an aperture on a side of the housing opposite to the fork for enabling a return portion of floss to exit the housing, wherein each prong of the fork includes a channel for passing the feed portion and the return portion; (b) a cassette contained in the housing, said cassette having a bottom part including a container and a first toothed locking plate connected to the container, said first toothed locking plate capable of receiving the feed portion and the return portion over a substantially horizontal surface of the first toothed locking plate, and a top part including a cover, forming a closable container with the container for holding a spindle or spool being operable for receiving a quantity of floss wound thereabout and a second toothed locking plate connected to the cover, said second toothed locking plate being positioned between the first toothed locking plate and a locking button disposed in the housing, said locking button protruding through the housing so as to enable selective operation by a user, wherein teeth of the first locking plate and teeth of the second locking plate are selectively engaged by a user by moving the locking button towards the fork, whereby a distal end of the second toothed locking plate proximate to the fork engages the feed portion of the floss and the return portion of the floss returning back over the substantially horizontal surface to substantially restrain the feed portion and the return portion between the first toothed locking plate and the second toothed locking plate, wherein the act of selectively engaging the locking butting applies a force to the first toothed locking plate and the second toothed locking plate and a tension force to the feed portion between the two prongs of the fork and the return portion; and (c) a cutting blade connected to the housing for cutting the return portion.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>The present invention relates to a dental floss holder.\",\n \"Daily flossing is highly recommended by dentists for good oral health.\",\n \"However, many people do not practice daily flossing.\",\n \"Some people do not floss because the floss can be difficult to use as it may break, tangle or pinch the fingers during use.\",\n \"It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a device that holds dental floss during use.\",\n \"Currently, dental floss holders exist.\",\n \"However, when using these dental floss holders it is often difficult to hold the floss firmly in the desired position.\",\n \"Also, the floss may stretch or become tangled during flossing or when removing used floss from the holder.\",\n \"Furthermore, many dental floss holders require the user to install a piece of floss in the holder before each use or are not reusable and are thrown away after one use.\",\n \"Some floss holders accept only limited types of floss and may not be suitable for using dental tape and flosses using modern technologies.\",\n \"Some floss holders require large pieces of floss to be replaced at a time, creating waste.\",\n \"In other floss holders replacing is time-consuming and the floss can be tangled or twisted.\",\n \"Yet other floss holders are designed for right hand users and are not as equally convenient for left hand users.\",\n \"Still other floss holders are not designed for easy access to all areas in the mouth.\",\n \"In view of the foregoing, there is a need for improved techniques for providing a dental floss holder that firmly holds the floss, generally prevents the floss from stretching, bunching up, or becoming tangled and is easily reused.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>This invention meets the need for an improved dental holder/flosser by providing a device that securely holds the floss, allows the user to easily replace the used section of floss with a fresh section of floss, and prevents the floss from stretching or bunching up.\",\n \"At the same time, the novel improved dental floss holder/flosser is easy to operate, inexpensive to manufacture, and it addresses the issues present in the dental floss holders/flossers known in the art.\",\n \"The novel dental floss holder/flosser achieves that by having an innovative securing/locking system for the floss and elements that reduce friction and sticking and promote uninhibited movement of the floss through the device.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of the nonprovisional patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/825,321, which claims priority benefit under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"§ 120 and § 365(c) of the PCT international patent application designating the U.S. Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"PCT/US11/52066, filed 18 Sep. 2011, entitled “Dental Tape and Floss Holder with Installation Cassette”, and this application further claims benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"§ 119(e) to U.S. provisional patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"61/403,635, filed Sep. 20, 2010, entitled “Dental Floss Holder with Installation Cassette,” the disclosures of all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes to the extent that such subject matter is not inconsistent herewith or limiting hereof.\",\n \"FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention was not made pursuant to any federally-sponsored research and/or development.\",\n \"A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection.\",\n \"The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office, patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.\",\n \"The present invention relates generally to dental care.\",\n \"More particularly, the invention relates to a dental floss holder, which is usable by any person to floss and is easily operable to move and replace the portion of the floss that has been used with a fresh section of floss.\",\n \"BACKGROUND The present invention relates to a dental floss holder.\",\n \"Daily flossing is highly recommended by dentists for good oral health.\",\n \"However, many people do not practice daily flossing.\",\n \"Some people do not floss because the floss can be difficult to use as it may break, tangle or pinch the fingers during use.\",\n \"It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a device that holds dental floss during use.\",\n \"Currently, dental floss holders exist.\",\n \"However, when using these dental floss holders it is often difficult to hold the floss firmly in the desired position.\",\n \"Also, the floss may stretch or become tangled during flossing or when removing used floss from the holder.\",\n \"Furthermore, many dental floss holders require the user to install a piece of floss in the holder before each use or are not reusable and are thrown away after one use.\",\n \"Some floss holders accept only limited types of floss and may not be suitable for using dental tape and flosses using modern technologies.\",\n \"Some floss holders require large pieces of floss to be replaced at a time, creating waste.\",\n \"In other floss holders replacing is time-consuming and the floss can be tangled or twisted.\",\n \"Yet other floss holders are designed for right hand users and are not as equally convenient for left hand users.\",\n \"Still other floss holders are not designed for easy access to all areas in the mouth.\",\n \"In view of the foregoing, there is a need for improved techniques for providing a dental floss holder that firmly holds the floss, generally prevents the floss from stretching, bunching up, or becoming tangled and is easily reused.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention meets the need for an improved dental holder/flosser by providing a device that securely holds the floss, allows the user to easily replace the used section of floss with a fresh section of floss, and prevents the floss from stretching or bunching up.\",\n \"At the same time, the novel improved dental floss holder/flosser is easy to operate, inexpensive to manufacture, and it addresses the issues present in the dental floss holders/flossers known in the art.\",\n \"The novel dental floss holder/flosser achieves that by having an innovative securing/locking system for the floss and elements that reduce friction and sticking and promote uninhibited movement of the floss through the device.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention is illustrated by way of examples, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which reference numerals refer to elements.\",\n \"The features, aspects and advantages of the novel invention will become further understood with reference to the following description and accompanying drawings where FIG.\",\n \"1 is a perspective view of the dental floss holder in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"1A is a side view of the dental floss holder of FIG.\",\n \"1; FIG.\",\n \"1B is a front view of the dental floss holder of FIG.\",\n \"1; FIG.\",\n \"1C is a rear view of the dental floss holder of FIG.\",\n \"1; FIG.\",\n \"1D is a perspective close-up view of the fork of the dental floss holder of FIG.\",\n \"1; FIG.\",\n \"2A is perspective view of the dental floss cassette, in a closed position, used with an alternative embodiment of the dental floss holder, illustrating the water-resistant container for floss in a closed position; FIG.\",\n \"2B is a perspective view of the floss cassette of FIG.\",\n \"2A in an open position, illustrating the locking plates of the dental floss holder and the water-resistant container for floss in an open position; FIG.\",\n \"3A is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a locking button of the dental floss holder of FIG.\",\n \"1; FIG.\",\n \"3B is a front view of the locking button of FIG.\",\n \"3A; FIG.\",\n \"3C is the bottom view of the locking button of FIG.\",\n \"3A; FIG.\",\n \"4A is a side view of the alternative embodiment of the dental floss holder in the open position, containing the locking button of FIG.\",\n \"3A, the floss cassette of FIG.\",\n \"2A and a blade mounted on the dental floss holder; FIG.\",\n \"4B is a perspective view of the dental floss holder of FIG.\",\n \"4A in the open position with the locking button, the floss cassette and the blade removed; DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention is best understood by reference to the detailed figures and description set forth herein.\",\n \"Various embodiments of the invention are discussed below with reference to the Figures.\",\n \"However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the detailed description given herein with respect to these figures is for explanatory purposes as the invention extends beyond these limited embodiments.\",\n \"For example, it should be appreciated that those skilled in the art will, in light of the teachings of the present invention, recognize a multiplicity of alternate and suitable approaches, depending upon the needs of the particular application, to implement the functionality of any given detail described herein, beyond the particular implementation choices in the following embodiments described and shown.\",\n \"That is, there are numerous modifications and variations of the invention that are too numerous to be listed but that all fit within the scope of the invention.\",\n \"Also, singular words should be read as plural and vice versa and masculine as feminine and vice versa, where appropriate, and alternative embodiments do not necessarily imply that the two are mutually exclusive.\",\n \"It is to be further understood that the present invention is not limited to the particular methodology, compounds, materials, manufacturing techniques, uses, and applications, described herein, as these may vary.\",\n \"It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is used for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.\",\n \"It must be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include the plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.\",\n \"Thus, for example, a reference to “an element” is a reference to one or more elements and includes equivalents thereof known to those skilled in the art.\",\n \"Similarly, for another example, a reference to “a step” or “a means” is a reference to one or more steps or means and may include sub-steps and subservient means.\",\n \"All conjunctions used are to be understood in the most inclusive sense possible.\",\n \"Thus, the word “or” should be understood as having the definition of a logical “or” rather than that of a logical “exclusive or” unless the context clearly necessitates otherwise.\",\n \"Structures described herein are to be understood also to refer to functional equivalents of such structures.\",\n \"Language that may be construed to express approximation should be so understood unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.\",\n \"Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs.\",\n \"Preferred methods, techniques, devices, and materials are described, although any methods, techniques, devices, or materials similar or equivalent to those described herein may be used in the practice or testing of the present invention.\",\n \"Structures described herein are to be understood also to refer to functional equivalents of such structures.\",\n \"The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.\",\n \"From reading the present disclosure, other variations and modifications will be apparent to persons skilled in the art.\",\n \"Such variations and modifications may involve equivalent and other features which are already known in the art, and which may be used instead of or in addition to features already described herein.\",\n \"Although Claims have been formulated in this Application to particular combinations of features, it should be understood that the scope of the disclosure of the present invention also includes any novel feature or any novel combination of features disclosed herein either explicitly or implicitly or any generalization thereof, whether or not it relates to the same invention as presently claimed in any Claim and whether or not it mitigates any or all of the same technical problems as does the present invention.\",\n \"Features which are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment.\",\n \"Conversely, various features which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable sub combination.\",\n \"The Applicants hereby give notice that new Claims may be formulated to such features and/or combinations of such features during the prosecution of the present Application or of any further Application derived therefrom.\",\n \"As is well known to those skilled in the art many careful considerations and compromises typically must be made when designing for the optimal manufacture of a commercial implementation any system, and in particular, the embodiments of the present invention.\",\n \"A commercial implementation in accordance with the spirit and teachings of the present invention may configured according to the needs of the particular application, whereby any aspect(s), feature(s), function(s), result(s), component(s), approach(s), or step(s) of the teachings related to any described embodiment of the present invention may be suitably omitted, included, adapted, mixed and matched, or improved and/or optimized by those skilled in the art, using their average skills and known techniques, to achieve the desired implementation that addresses the needs of the particular application.\",\n \"Detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiments are provided herein.\",\n \"It is to be understood, however, that the present invention may be embodied in various forms.\",\n \"Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed system, structure or manner.\",\n \"It is to be understood that any exact measurements/dimensions or particular construction materials indicated herein are solely provided as examples of suitable configurations and are not intended to be limiting in any way.\",\n \"Depending on the needs of the particular application, those skilled in the art will readily recognize, in light of the following teachings, a multiplicity of suitable alternative implementation details.\",\n \"A preferred embodiment of the present invention and some variations thereof provide a dental floss holder, which may be used with conventional round floss or dental tape.\",\n \"Some preferred embodiments allow for the use of many types of floss including, but not limited to, round floss, dental tape, flosses using modern technologies developed for new applications of synthetic materials with elastic effect, ultra-thin floss, wax covered floss, etc.\",\n \"Some preferred embodiments may be designed to enable them to be produced from plastic with existing technologies used for manufacturing containers for conventional dental flosses and tapes.\",\n \"Some types of dental tape floss include monofilament nylon, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and microfilament floss.\",\n \"However, some alternate embodiments may be produced using different techniques and from different materials including, but not limited to, metals, composites, rubber, or a combination of materials.\",\n \"Some preferred embodiments comprise a small number of parts, which allows for quick and easy installation of the floss and generally ensures minimum costs in the production of the device.\",\n \"With reference to FIGS.\",\n \"1, 1A, 1B and 1C an exemplary dental floss holder is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"In the present embodiment, the floss holder is preferably made for effective use of dental tape.\",\n \"However, the floss holder also allows for the use of conventional round floss, waxed floss, ultra-thin floss, synthetic floss, elastic floss, etc.\",\n \"In the present embodiment, the floss holder comprises a housing 2, an optional floss cassette 4, as shown by way of example in FIGS.\",\n \"2A, 2B and 2C, a locking button 1, which locks a stretched portion of floss 5 within a locking mechanism in housing 2, and a rounded blade 3.The housing 2 is preferably a one-piece part manufactured from plastic, which may be injection-molded.\",\n \"The housing 2 has a first part 6 and a second part 7 THESE PARTS NEED TO BE SHOWN IN THE DRAWINGS, which are essentially symmetrical versus one another about a longitudinal axis of the housing 2 and can pivot to grant access to the interior of the housing 2 and the floss cassette 4.Alternatively, the first part and the second part may be called a left side and right side of the housing 2 or top part and bottom part of the housing 2.A person skilled in the art will appreciate that the housing may be manufactured several different ways to satisfy these requirements.\",\n \"The design of floss holder housing 2 and particularly a fork 204 comprising fork-shaped protruding prongs 8 PRONGS 8 and base 9 must be shown in the drawings enables smooth flossing by holding a piece of floss 5 firmly in the desired position and generally preventing floss 5 from stretching and tangling during flossing or while removing used floss.\",\n \"Indent 217 on housing 2 enables the user to rest the floss holder on a finger while operating locking button 1 to prevent the floss holder from slipping.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1D, the ends 210 of the fork 204 are substantially cylindrical and are positioned so that floss, especially tape floss, passes between the ends 210 smoothly, with little friction, and without bunching up because it passes between the side walls of the ends 210, each of which side wall (curvilinear shape) is located between the respective cylinder's faces.\",\n \"In the preferred embodiment of this invention, the ends 210 are molded into the fork 204 (i.e., in the shape of a half-cylinder or semi-cylinder where the floss comes into contact with the curvilinear shape), but the ends 210 may be separate cylindrical pins inserted into the fork 204, which may be solid or hollow.\",\n \"Bunching up of the floss is a known problem with the existing flossing devices that use V-shaped cutouts or apertures to thread the floss through, which pulls the floss into one point and thickens the floss material.\",\n \"This in turn makes it difficult to or unavailable for use by users with closely-placed teeth (i.e., who have tight gaps between the teeth).\",\n \"The present invention addresses these issues with the substantially cylindrical ends 210 that allow tape floss to retain its intended shape and expand even multi-thread or string floss, approximating it to tape floss.\",\n \"The ends 210 are designed to keep the wide tape floss in good shape (smoothing the operation and preserving the qualities of the material during refreshing and flossing process by the user and avoiding the effect of folds in two, twisting and compression effect between the prongs 8 of the fork).\",\n \"Tape floss is usually thin, allowing the user to floss even if the gaps between the teeth and minimal, and tape floss is more effective than string floss because tape floss covers a greater surface of the tooth in use.\",\n \"Bunched-up tape floss loses these advantageous qualities, but the present invention allows tape floss to retain its intended structure and capabilities.\",\n \"Further with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1D, the extensions 209, which are preferably positioned on both sides of the ends 210, retain the floss on the ends 210 of the fork 204, even during aggressive use, especially the stress on the floss during the process of entry into or removal of the floss from the space between the teeth.\",\n \"Because there is open space between extensions 209, the user can replace the floss back onto the ends 210 of the fork 204 in the event the floss tears, without having to thread the floss through apertures that exist in prior flossing devices.\",\n \"A free end 5A of floss 5 is pulled out through an opening 207, which enables a user to pull floss 5 through the floss holder after housing 2 is locked in a closed position.\",\n \"In the present embodiment, opening 207 is located at the end of housing 2 opposite fork 204.However, this opening 207 may be placed in various different locations in alternate embodiments such as, but not limited to, on the front or side of the housing.\",\n \"In the present embodiment, housing 2 is held in place in the closed position with two housing fixating plates 201, which are locked firmly in place with the help of a locking mechanism, shown by way of example in FIG.\",\n \"4B.\",\n \"The locking mechanism of the fixating plates 201 may be a latch, lock, snap, or similar locking mechanism.\",\n \"These are the preferred attachment methods, although other methods, including straps, hook and loop attachments, or rails may be used.\",\n \"To open housing 2, fixating plates 201 are unlocked and the two portions of housing 2 are spread apart along a seam 213 on the back with a hinge 214 on the front.\",\n \"Free end 5A of floss 5, which is the used portion of floss 5, is manually pulled through opening 207 and into a channel 215, which guides free end 5A in the direction of cutting blade 3 where the used portion of floss 5 is cut off Alternate embodiments may be implemented without a channel for guiding the free end of the floss and also be implemented without a blade.\",\n \"In the present embodiment, housing protrusions 208, which are also located on the inside of housing 2 as shown by way of example in FIG.\",\n \"4B, reduce friction on floss 5 in the process of sliding floss 5 through the floss holder when the used portion is replaced with a clean portion.\",\n \"Dimples 216 enable a user to firmly grasp housing 2 when floss 5 is manually pulled through opening 207 and into a channel 215 and capture free end 5A in the process of cutting by the blade 3.Housing protrusions 208 reduce friction by creating several points of contact between the floss tape and the floss holder along the path of the floss tape's movement.\",\n \"When the floss tape is moved (i.e., to get a fresh, unused portion of the floss between the ends 210 of the fork 204, the use of housing protrusions 208 avoids the undesirable effect of sticking of some types of floss (depending on the material) to the floss holder, and particularly sticking to the prongs 8 of the fork 204.This is especially important for tape floss that has a large contact surface area, or floss that is treated with flavor components, wax, or medicinal additives.\",\n \"CANNOT SEE the housing protrusions 208 that well, need a drawing similar to page 3 (top view cross section).\",\n \"In the present embodiment, the floss holder is designed to allow equally easy operation for left or right-handed users.\",\n \"For example, without limitation, dimples 216 and channels 215 are provided on both sides of housing 2 to enable the used portion of floss 5 to be cut on either side of housing 2.However, alternate embodiments may be implemented as specifically right-handed or left-handed devices.\",\n \"In the present embodiment, the floss holder provides considerable savings of floss since during the replacement of floss 5 on the fork 204 only about one to one and a half inches of floss are used.\",\n \"Also, the process of replacing floss 5 is fast and simple, often taking only one to two seconds to complete.\",\n \"The floss holder is designed so that the clean portion of floss 5 does not come into contact with the used portion at any time during flossing or during the replacement of floss 5 on the fork 204.FIGS.\",\n \"2A and 2B illustrate an exemplary floss cassette 4 from a dental floss holder, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2A is a side perspective view of floss cassette 4 in a closed position.\",\n \"In the present embodiment floss 5 is installed in floss cassette 4 by being coiled around a cylinder 406 then being fed between locking plates 401 and 402 around a plate 404 and a plate portion 404A.\",\n \"In some embodiments, plate portion 404A includes a notch 412, shown in FIG.\",\n \"4B, to capture floss 5.In other alternate embodiments, various other means may be used to capture floss 5.From here, floss 5 is placed back through locking plates 401 and 402 then into one of notches 409 and out of cassette 4 so that a free end 5A of floss 5 can exit the floss holder once cassette 4 is installed in the floss holder, as shown by way of example in FIG.\",\n \"4A.\",\n \"Further with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"2A and 2B, the floss cassette 4 includes the water-resistant container 421 and the cover 422 of the water-resistant container 421.The water-resistant container 421 houses the spindle or spool of the floss inside the housing 2, and the user accesses the water-resistant container 421 by separating the top and the bottom parts of the floss cassette 4 to lift the cover 422 off the water-resistant container 421.As disclosed in this specification, the floss may be coiled around a cylinder 406 integral to the interior of the water-resistant container 421.With reference to FIG.\",\n \"2B, the partition wall 420 is an optional partition, located in either locking plate 401 as illustrated, but may also be located in the locking plate 402, preferably on the middle longitudinal axis of the plate.\",\n \"The partition wall 420 serves as a separator between the feed portion of the floss (clean, unused floss on the way to the fork 204) and the return (used floss on the way back to the end of the housing 2 opposite to the fork 204, where the return exits the housing 2 through an aperture in the housing.\",\n \"The partition wall 420 ensures that the used floss of the return does not come into contact and contaminate the clean, unused floss in the feed portion.\",\n \"Floss cassette 4 comprises a stretching mechanism 403, which holds floss 5 in place and stretches floss 5 on the fork 204 of the floss holder and maintains floss 5 in the stretched position for smooth and easy flossing, as described by way of example in accordance with FIG.\",\n \"4A.\",\n \"The stretching mechanism 403 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4A is essentially a curved extension on the end of the locking plate 401 proximate to the fork 204 (i.e., the distal end of the locking plate 401).\",\n \"The stretching mechanism 403 may include one or two notches for engaging one or both of the feed portion of the floss and the return portion of the floss when the stretching mechanism 403 is engaged by sliding the locking button 1 towards the fork 204.In order for floss 5 to be coiled around cylinder 406, a user may manually wind a long piece of floss around cylinder 406 or a pre-wound spool of floss may be placed on cylinder 406.In some embodiments the cassette 4 may be preloaded with floss.\",\n \"In these embodiments, the user may obtain the cassette preloaded with a type of floss of his/her choosing.\",\n \"During the installation in the present embodiment, protruding segments 407 hold floss 5 in place on locking plate 402.After floss 5 is installed in cassette 4, cassette 4 is inserted into the housing of the floss holder.\",\n \"Openings 405 on locking plates 401 and 402 are installed upon protrusions inside the housing, shown by way of example in FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B.\",\n \"In the present embodiment, locking plates 401 and 402 comprise zigzagged surfaces with a multiplicity of protrusions (toothed surfaces if viewed in a cross-section).\",\n \"In alternate embodiments the zigzagged surface may only be on locking plate 401 or only on locking plate 402.The number of protrusions and corresponding hollow segments on locking plates 401 and 402 depends on the size of the floss holder.\",\n \"In alternate embodiments only one of the locking plates may have a zigzagged surface or the surfaces may have different textures such as, but not limited to, a bumpy or rough texture.\",\n \"Plates 410 on the top portion of cassette 4 and plate 401 provide unlocking of locking plates 401 and 402, as described by way of example in accordance with FIG.\",\n \"4A.\",\n \"The plates 410 are shown in FIGS.\",\n \"2A, 4A and 4B on the rear part of plate 401.FIGS.\",\n \"3A, 3B and 3C illustrate an exemplary locking button 1 of a dental floss holder, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3A is a side perspective view.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3B is a front view, and FIG.\",\n \"3C is a bottom view.\",\n \"In the present embodiment, locking button 1 comprises an irregular bottom surface with protrusions 101 extending from a horizontal element 102.When locking button 1 is installed in the floss holder, pushing forward on locking button 1 (sliding the locking button 1 forward towards the fork) causes the floss in the floss holder to be held in place.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3A, the protrusions 101 are preferably parallelogram-shaped, but they may be wedge- or substantially triangular-shaped.\",\n \"In use, when the tape floss slides under the protruding elements 206, protrusions 101 of the locking button 1 cause the deformation of the space between protruding elements 206 and elements 212, causing high pressure on the floss material between the locking plates 401 and 402.This happens because of the one-piece injection molded plastic between protruding elements 206 and elements 212 that creates tension when deformed (stretched) because it is trying to return to its initial shape, which is defined by the injection molding form.\",\n \"This innovative solution allows to hold the floss by blocking it from moving without any additional exertion of force by the user (such as, for example, by pinching it in the hand, holding the blocking button, or any other restrictive manipulations that would limit the user's ability to freely use the floss holder).\",\n \"To achieve this effect, the distance between elements 212 and protruding elements 206 should be less than the combined thickness of toothed plates 401, 402 and protrusions 101 of the locking button 1 (the thickness of the protrusions 101 is basically the height of the protrusions 101).\",\n \"For example, if the combined thickness of toothed plates 401, 402 and protrusions 101 is 7.5 mm, the distance between elements 212 and protruding elements 206 should be 7.0 mm.\",\n \"Furthermore, horizontal element 102 of the locking button 1 generates pressure on the stretching mechanism 403, which exerts pressure onto the floss material (both the fresh, unused floss coming out of the blocking plates 401 and 402 and the return, used floss coming into the plates).\",\n \"Therefore, the tensioning of the floss materials happens directly on the fork 204 of the dental floss holder.\",\n \"Elements 101 generate equal pressure along the entire lengths of the locking toothed plate 401, which ensures effective retention of the floss material.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B illustrate an exemplary dental floss holder, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4A is a side view of the floss holder in an open position, and FIG.\",\n \"4B is a side perspective view of the floss holder in the open position with a locking button 1, a floss cassette 4 and a blade 3 removed.\",\n \"In the present embodiment, a housing 2 opens by pivoting at a hinge 214.In alternate embodiments, the housing may comprise two halves that are separate from each other that snap together to close.\",\n \"Other alternate embodiments may comprise doors that swing open, slide open, or snap on and off of the housing to provide access to the inside of the housing to load the floss.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"4A, after the installation of floss 5, cassette 4 is closed and inserted into housing 2 of the floss holder.\",\n \"In the present embodiment, floss cassette 4 is slid into the side of housing 2; however, alternate embodiments may be implemented where the floss cassette is installed in different ways for example, without limitation, dropped in from the top or bottom of the housing.\",\n \"Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B, in the present embodiment, a protrusion 212 provides stable positioning for plates 410 on the front of cassette 4.Element 212 is also an element providing the stable positioning for plate 402 inside of housing 2.Openings 405 on locking plates 401 and 402 of cassette 4 are installed upon protrusions 211 inside housing 2 and hold and stabilize locking plate 401 over locking plate 402.Once floss cassette 4 is in place, locking button 1 is installed above floss cassette 4.An opening 207 in housing 2 enables a user to pull a free end 5A of floss 5 out of housing 2 so that the used portions of floss 5 can be replaced with clean floss when floss locking plates 401 and 402 are unlocked, as shown by way of example in FIG.\",\n \"4A.\",\n \"The portion of floss 5 around a plate 404 is installed on the fork 204 of the floss holder once housing 2 is closed.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"4B, in the closed position, housing 2 is held closed by two fixating plates 201, which are locked firmly in place by locking mechanisms 202 locking into openings 203 on the opposite end of housing 2.The locking mechanism 202 of the fixating plates 201 may be a latch, lock, snap, or similar locking mechanism.\",\n \"Plate portion 404A is removed from plate 404 and discarded after floss 5 is installed on the fork 204.In the present embodiment, the floss holder allows for effective and convenient flossing thanks to a mechanism for locking and stretching floss 5 on fork 204.This mechanism is located on floss cassette 4 and comprises locking plates 401 and 402 with zigzagged surfaces.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"4A, locking button 1 and locking plates 401 and 402 are shown in an unlocked position.\",\n \"Once housing 2 is closed and floss 5 is placed on fork 204, pushing down locking button 1 causes floss 5 to be locked between locking plates 401 and 402, and sliding locking button 1 towards fork 204 causes a horizontal element 102 of locking button 1 to push down upon a stretching mechanism 403 of floss cassette 4, which results in stretching mechanism 403 being pushed down onto and stretching floss 5 on fork 204 of housing 2.After it is pushed down and slid forward towards the fork 204, locking button 1 holds its position and holds plate 401 in place against plate 402 with the help of protrusions 101 located on locking button 1, which engage with protruding elements 206 on the inside of housing 2.This double locking mechanism provides effecting locking of floss 5 between plates 401 and 402 of floss cassette 4 and stretching of floss 5 on fork 204 by virtue of horizontal element 102 pressing upon stretching mechanism 403.In alternate embodiments, the locking mechanism may be actuated by various different means other than a sliding button such as, but not limited to, a push button, a lever, a dial, etc.\",\n \"In the present embodiment to unlock floss 5, locking button 1 is slid away from fork 204 and slides off of protruding elements 206.This releases locking button 1 upward away from plates 401 and 402 and therefore enables plate 401 to move upward, away from plate 402.Plates 410 on the top portion of cassette 4 are shown in FIGS.\",\n \"2A, 4A and 4B, towards the rear part of plate 401.Plates 410 facilitate the unlocking of locking plates 401 and 402.Initially plate 401 is located above the plate 402 with a space between the plates 401 and 402 which is needed for smooth removal of the used portion of the floss.\",\n \"Plates 401 and 402 preferably have zigzagged surfaces, meaning that the surfaces have ridges (the plates 401 and 402 are toothed if viewed in a cross-section).\",\n \"That means that there must be a sufficient gap between the teeth on the substantially horizontal surfaces of the plates 401 and 402 in the unlocked position in order to smoothly remove the used portion of the floss, and to feed the fresh portion to the fork 204.In the process of locking, elements 410 bend and provide locking of the floss between the plates.\",\n \"After unlocking, elements 410 return plate 401 to its previous position allowing space to be created for removal of the used portion of the floss.\",\n \"A number of housing protrusions 208 located in the housing 2 and preferably at the base 9 of the fork 204 as well (end of the fork 204 opposite to the fork prongs 8), as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4B, reduces friction of floss 5 while floss 5 slides through the floss holder in order to replace used floss with clean floss.\",\n \"Alternate embodiments may be implemented without these protrusions.\",\n \"In the present embodiment, a blade 3, which may be rounded, is used for cutting off used floss and is located on the lower portion of housing 2 on a blade plate 205.As shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A, this location of blade 3 enables blade 3 to be recessed from the bottom surface of housing 2 for the user's safety while leaving a sufficient length of floss outside housing 2 for easy grasping.\",\n \"However, the cutting blade 3 may be located in various different locations in alternate embodiments such as, but not limited to, near the opening from which the floss exits the floss holder, and other alternate embodiments may be implemented without a blade.\",\n \"In the present embodiment, the fork 204, which is formed when the two parts of the housing 2 are in the closed position, includes extensions 209 that form a hollow shape which allows for the installation of floss 5 on the fork 204 and holds floss 5 in place during flossing.\",\n \"In other words, there is a small space between the extensions 209 to accommodate floss if it needs to be reapplied to the fork (in cases of tears or slipping off), but the positioning of the extensions 209 should allow them to retain the floss on the fork 204 during aggressive use (inserting or removing the floss, and the process of flossing itself).\",\n \"The rounded shape of ends 210 of fork 204 facilitates smooth sliding of floss 5 and generally prevents twisting or breaking during use.\",\n \"Those skilled in the art will readily recognize, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention that the forks in alternate embodiments may vary in shape.\",\n \"For example, without limitation, the prongs 8 of the fork may comprise apertures into which the floss is threaded, or the prongs 8 may comprise shallow grooves into which the floss is placed.\",\n \"In some embodiments the prongs 8 of the fork 204 may be made of rubber or may be covered by rubber tips to protect the mouth of the user and to more securely grip the floss.\",\n \"In typical use of the present embodiment, which is illustrated by way of example in FIGS.\",\n \"IA through 4B, a user opens housing 2 of the floss holder along seam 213 and inserts a loaded floss cassette 4 into housing 2, as shown by way of example in FIG.\",\n \"4A.\",\n \"Then, the user installs locking button 1 above locking plates 401 and 402 and closes housing 2 by locking fixating plates 201.The user then pulls floss 5 wrapped around plate 404 and plate portion 404A from the floss holder and inserts floss 5 between extensions 209 on fork 204.Once floss 5 is installed on fork 204, the user may break off plate portion 404A.\",\n \"To tighten and lock floss 5 in place, the user then slides locking button 1 toward fork 204.The user may now hold the floss holder in either hand to use the portion of floss 5 in fork 204 to floss his teeth.\",\n \"In order to replace the used portion of floss 5 with an unused portion, the user slides locking button 1 away from fork 204 to unlock locking plates 401 and 402 and pulls on free end 5A to slide floss 5 through the floss holder and out opening 207.Once the used portion of floss 5 is pulled out of fork 204, the user slides locking button 1 back toward fork 204 to lock the clean portion of floss 5 in place.\",\n \"If desired, the user may then take free end 5A of floss 5 up through channel 215 to cut off the excess floss with blade 3.Those skilled in the art will readily recognize, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, that any of the foregoing steps may be suitably replaced, reordered, removed and additional steps may be inserted depending upon the needs of the particular application.\",\n \"For example, without limitation, locking button 1 may be installed before floss cassette 4, and the user may skip the step of cutting the excess floss from free end 5A.\",\n \"An alternate embodiment of the present invention may provide a floss holder that does not use a floss cassette.\",\n \"In this embodiment, the locking mechanism is built into the housing of the floss holder along with floss holding means.\",\n \"A user installs the floss directly into the housing and feeds the floss through the built in locking mechanism prior to use.\",\n \"Those skilled in the art will readily recognize, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, that various features of the floss holder illustrated by way of example in the foregoing may vary in alternate embodiments.\",\n \"For example, without limitation, the forks in alternate embodiments may have various different shapes such as, but not limited to, square forks, the housings may have various different shapes including, but not limited to, housings with finger grooves for improved grip or rectangular housings, floss holders in alternate embodiments may come in various different sizes for example, without limitation, adult and children's sizes, etc.\",\n \"Furthermore, there are various protrusions illustrated in the foregoing embodiment for guiding the floss and reducing friction.\",\n \"In alternate embodiments the number and locations of these protrusions may vary greatly, and some embodiments may be implemented without these protrusions.\",\n \"Yet other alternate embodiments may comprise additional features such as, but not limited to, a dental pick, a tongue scraper, an electric motor to provide vibration, etc.\",\n \"Having fully described at least one embodiment of the present invention, other equivalent or alternative methods of providing a floss holder according to the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.\",\n \"The invention has been described above by way of illustration, and the specific embodiments disclosed are not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed.\",\n \"For example, the particular implementation of the floss cassette may vary depending upon the particular type of floss used.\",\n \"The floss spools described in the foregoing were directed to relatively short implementations; however, similar techniques are to provide floss cassettes to accommodate floss spools of various different sizes such as, but not limited to, tall spools or wide spools.\",\n \"In some of these implementations, the configuration of the floss within the cassette may vary depending on the size of the spool in order to fit the floss within the floss holder; for example, without limitation, the spool may be held in the cassette vertically rather than horizontally.\",\n \"Implementations of the present invention for use with different sizes of floss spools are contemplated as within the scope of the present invention.\",\n \"The invention is thus to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the following claims.\",\n \"The above description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the invention.\",\n \"Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the principles described herein can be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention and the subject matter of the present invention, which is broadly contemplated by the Applicant.\",\n \"The scope of the present invention fully encompasses other embodiments that may be or become obvious to those skilled in the art.\",\n \"Claim elements and steps herein may have been numbered and/or lettered solely as an aid in readability and understanding.\",\n \"Any such numbering and lettering in itself is not intended to and should not be taken to indicate the ordering of elements and/or steps in the claims.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876126"}}},{"rowIdx":4495087,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["UNA OLIGOMERS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR TREATING AMYLOIDOSIS","This invention encompasses compounds and compositions useful in methods for medical therapy, in general, for inhibiting expression of a TTR gene in a subject.","The compounds have a first strand and a second strand, the monomers comprising UNA monomers and nucleic acid monomers, and the compounds are targeted to a sequence of a TTR gene."],["1.A compound comprising a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-29 monomers in length, the monomers comprising UNA monomers and nucleic acid monomers, wherein the compound has a duplex region of from 14 to 29 contiguous monomers in length, wherein the first strand is a passenger strand for RNA interference and the second strand is a guide strand for RNA interference, and wherein the compound comprises a sequence of bases targeted to inhibit expression of a TTR gene.","2.The compound of claim 1, wherein the compound contains one to seven UNA monomers.","3.The compound of claim 1, wherein the compound contains a UNA monomer at the 1-end (5′ end for non-UNA) of the first strand, a UNA monomer at the second position from the 3′ end of the first strand, and a UNA monomer at the second position from the 3′ end of the second strand.","4.The compound of claim 1, wherein the compound contains a UNA monomer at any one or more of positions 2 to 8 from the 5′ end of the second strand.","5.The compound of claim 1, wherein the compound comprises SEQ ID NOs:60/100, SEQ ID NOs:59/99, SEQ ID NOs:43/83, or SEQ ID NOs:61/101.6.The compound of claim 1, wherein the compound has a 3′ overhang comprising one or more UNA monomers, natural nucleotides, non-natural nucleotides, modified nucleotides, or chemically-modified nucleotides, or combinations thereof.","7.The compound of claim 1, wherein one or more of the nucleic acid monomers is a non-natural nucleotide, a modified nucleotide, or a chemically-modified nucleotide.","8.The compound of claim 1, wherein one or more of the nucleic acid monomers has a 2′-O-methyl group.","9.The compound of claim 1, wherein one or more of three monomers at each end of each strand is connected by a phosphorothioate, a chiral phosphorothioate, or a phosphorodithioate linkage.","10.A lipid nanoparticle-oligomer compound comprising one or more compounds of claim 1 attached to the lipid nanoparticle.","11.A composition comprising one or more compounds of claim 1 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.","12.The composition of claim 11, wherein the carrier comprises lipid nanoparticles or liposomes.","13.The composition of claim 11, wherein the carrier is a lipid formulation comprising any one or more of the compounds ATX-001 to ATX-032.14.The composition of claim 11, wherein upon administering a single intravenous dose to a subject, the composition reduces TTR protein in the subject by at least 50% after 30 days.","15.A method for treating or preventing TTR-related amyloidosis in a subject in need, the method comprising administering to the subject an effective amount of a composition of claim 11 to the subject.","16.The method of claim 15, wherein the TTR-related amyloidosis is ATTR.","17.The method of claim 15, wherein the administering is intravenous, subcutaneous, pulmonary, intramuscular, intraperitoneal, or dermal.","18.The method of claim 15, wherein the effective amount is a dose of from 0.001 to 10.0 mg/kg.","19.The method of claim 15, wherein upon administering a single dose to the subject, the composition reduces TTR protein in the subject by at least 50% after 30 days.","20.A method for inhibiting expression of a TTR gene in a subject, the method comprising administering to the subject a composition of claim 11."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The presence of certain diseases appears to correlate with expression of a mutant allele.","For example, amyloidosis can be correlated to certain transthyretin (TTR) mutations.","In such cases, it is desirable to selectively silence expression of the mutant allele, while maintaining expression of the wild-type variant.","Amyloidosis related to transthyretin (ATTR) involves the depositing of amyloid fibril proteins in various organs and tissues, including the peripheral, autonomic, and central nervous systems.","Transthyretin (TTR) is a secreted thyroid hormone-binding protein that binds and transports retinol binding protein, and serum thyroxine in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid.","The pathology of ATTR may include many TTR mutations.","Symptoms of ATTR often include neuropathy and/or cardiomyopathy.","Peripheral neuropathy can begin in the lower extremities, with sensory and motor neuropathy, and can progress to the upper extremities.","Autonomic neuropathy can be manifest by gastrointestinal symptoms and orthostatic hypotension.","Patients with TTR gene Val-30-Met, the most common mutation, have normal echocardiograms.","However, they may have conduction system irregularities and need a pacemaker.","The ATTR V30M variant can cause lower extremity weakness, pain, and impaired sensation, as well as autonomic dysfunction.","Vitreous and opaque amyloid deposits can be characteristic of ATTR.","Survival upon onset of ATTR may be from five to fifteen years.","The major treatment for ATTR amyloidosis is liver transplantation, which removes the major source of variant TTR production and replaces it with normal TTR.","Liver transplantation slows disease progression and some improvement in autonomic and peripheral neuropathy can occur.","There is currently no pharmacological therapy that can undo the formation of TTR amyloid.","There is a continuing need for therapeutics for ATTR and other amyloid-related diseases.","There is a long-standing need for gene silencing agents that can selectively downregulate a disease-related allele.","There is also a need for active agents that can provide efficient and specific knockdown of TTR."],["<SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY <EOH>This invention relates to the fields of biopharmaceuticals and therapeutics that are operable by gene silencing.","More particularly, this invention relates to the structures, compositions and uses of active agents for inhibiting expression of a TTR gene in a subject.","The active agents are UNA oligomers that can be used for gene silencing, and among other things, in methods for treating transthyretin-related amyloidosis.","This invention relates to the fields of biopharmaceuticals and therapeutics based on allele selective gene silencing.","More particularly, this invention relates to methods for treating transthyretin-related amyloidosis with UNA oligomers capable of allele-selective knockdown of transthyretin.","This invention provides UNA oligomers for selectively inhibiting V30M TTR expression, which can be used in treating amyloidosis.","The UNA oligomers can have a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-29 monomers in length, the monomers being UNA monomers and nucleic acid monomers.","Embodiments include pharmaceutical compositions and methods for treating or preventing TTR-related amyloidosis by administering a UNA oligomer to a subject.","Embodiments of this invention include the following: A UNA oligomer for selectively inhibiting V30M TTR expression, the oligomer comprising a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-29 monomers in length, the monomers comprising UNA monomers and nucleic acid monomers, wherein the oligomer has a duplex structure of from 14 to 29 monomers in length.","The UNA oligomer above, wherein the second strand has at least one UNA monomer in the duplex region.","The UNA oligomer above, wherein the at least one UNA monomer in the second strand is at any one of positions 2-8 from the 5′ end.","The UNA oligomer above, wherein the at least one UNA monomer in the second strand is at any one of positions 9-18 from the 5′ end.","The UNA oligomer above, wherein the at least one UNA monomer in the second strand is at position 6, 7, 15, 16 or 17 from the 5′ end.","The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer has an IC50 for reducing V30M TTR expression of less than 20 pM.","The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer has a selectivity ratio of at least 10, wherein the selectivity ratio is the ratio of the IC50 for reducing wild type TTR expression to the IC50 for reducing V30M TTR expression.","The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer has a selectivity ratio of at least 20.The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer has a selectivity ratio in vitro of at least 50.The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer selectively inhibits V30M TTR expression in vivo.","The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer selectively inhibits V30M TTR expression ex vivo.","The UNA oligomer above, comprising at least one nucleic acid monomer that is base-modified, sugar-modified, or linkage modified.","A compound comprising a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-29 monomers in length, the monomers comprising UNA monomers and nucleic acid monomers, wherein the compound has a duplex region of from 14 to 29 contiguous monomers in length, wherein the first strand is a passenger strand for RNA interference and the second strand is a guide strand for RNA interference, and wherein the compound comprises a sequence of bases targeted to inhibit expression of a TTR gene.","In some embodiments, the compound may contain from one to seven UNA monomers.","In certain embodiments, the compound may contain a UNA monomer at the 1-end (5′ end for non-UNA) of the first strand, a UNA monomer at the second position from the 3′ end of the first strand, and a UNA monomer at the second position from the 3′ end of the second strand.","In further embodiments, the compound may contain a UNA monomer at any one or more of positions 2 to 8 from the 5′ end of the second strand.","In additional embodiments, the compound may have a 3′ overhang comprising one or more UNA monomers, natural nucleotides, non-natural nucleotides, modified nucleotides, or chemically-modified nucleotides, or combinations thereof.","The compound may have a 3′ overhang comprising one or more deoxythymidine nucleotides, 2′-O-methyl nucleotides, inverted abasic monomers, inverted thymidine monomers, L-thymidine monomers, or glyceryl nucleotides.","Embodiments of this invention contemplate compounds in which one or more of the nucleic acid monomers may be a non-natural nucleotide, a modified nucleotide, or a chemically-modified nucleotide.","A nucleic acid monomer may have a 2′-O-methyl group, a 2′-methoxyethoxy, or a 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoro ribonucleotide.","In some embodiments, the compound may not contain fluorine.","A compound may have one or more of three monomers at each end of each strand being connected by a phosphorothioate, a chiral phosphorothioate, or a phosphorodithioate linkage.","This invention further contemplates a lipid nanoparticle-oligomer compound comprising one or more compounds above attached to the lipid nanoparticle, as well as compositions containing one or more compounds above and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.","In certain embodiments, the carrier may include lipid nanoparticles or liposomes.","A composition of this disclosure, upon administering a single intravenous dose to a subject, may reduce TTR protein in the subject by at least 80% after 10 days, or at least 70% after 20 days, or at least 50% after 30 days.","Embodiments of this invention further include methods for treating or preventing TTR-related amyloidosis in a subject in need, by administering to the subject an effective amount of a composition above to the subject.","The TTR-related amyloidosis can be ATTR.","The administering can be intravenous, subcutaneous, pulmonary, intramuscular, intraperitoneal, or dermal.","The effective amount can be a dose of from 0.001 to 10.0 mg/kg.","In some embodiments, upon administering a single dose to a subject, the composition may reduce TTR protein in the subject by at least 70% after 20 days, or by at least 50% after 30 days.","This invention includes methods for inhibiting expression of a TTR gene in a subject, by administering to the subject a composition above.","Further aspects include the use of a composition above for preventing, ameliorating or treating a disease or condition associated with TTR-related amyloidosis in a subject in need, or for use in medical therapy, or for use in the treatment of the human or animal body.","This invention further includes compositions above for use in preparing or manufacturing a medicament for preventing, ameliorating or treating a disease or condition associated with TTR-related amyloidosis in a subject in need."],["REFERENCE TO THE SEQUENCE LISTING This application includes a Sequence Listing submitted electronically as an ASCII file created on Jan. 20, 2018, named ARC1242US_SL.txt, which is 37,860 bytes in size, and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.","BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The presence of certain diseases appears to correlate with expression of a mutant allele.","For example, amyloidosis can be correlated to certain transthyretin (TTR) mutations.","In such cases, it is desirable to selectively silence expression of the mutant allele, while maintaining expression of the wild-type variant.","Amyloidosis related to transthyretin (ATTR) involves the depositing of amyloid fibril proteins in various organs and tissues, including the peripheral, autonomic, and central nervous systems.","Transthyretin (TTR) is a secreted thyroid hormone-binding protein that binds and transports retinol binding protein, and serum thyroxine in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid.","The pathology of ATTR may include many TTR mutations.","Symptoms of ATTR often include neuropathy and/or cardiomyopathy.","Peripheral neuropathy can begin in the lower extremities, with sensory and motor neuropathy, and can progress to the upper extremities.","Autonomic neuropathy can be manifest by gastrointestinal symptoms and orthostatic hypotension.","Patients with TTR gene Val-30-Met, the most common mutation, have normal echocardiograms.","However, they may have conduction system irregularities and need a pacemaker.","The ATTR V30M variant can cause lower extremity weakness, pain, and impaired sensation, as well as autonomic dysfunction.","Vitreous and opaque amyloid deposits can be characteristic of ATTR.","Survival upon onset of ATTR may be from five to fifteen years.","The major treatment for ATTR amyloidosis is liver transplantation, which removes the major source of variant TTR production and replaces it with normal TTR.","Liver transplantation slows disease progression and some improvement in autonomic and peripheral neuropathy can occur.","There is currently no pharmacological therapy that can undo the formation of TTR amyloid.","There is a continuing need for therapeutics for ATTR and other amyloid-related diseases.","There is a long-standing need for gene silencing agents that can selectively downregulate a disease-related allele.","There is also a need for active agents that can provide efficient and specific knockdown of TTR.","BRIEF SUMMARY This invention relates to the fields of biopharmaceuticals and therapeutics that are operable by gene silencing.","More particularly, this invention relates to the structures, compositions and uses of active agents for inhibiting expression of a TTR gene in a subject.","The active agents are UNA oligomers that can be used for gene silencing, and among other things, in methods for treating transthyretin-related amyloidosis.","This invention relates to the fields of biopharmaceuticals and therapeutics based on allele selective gene silencing.","More particularly, this invention relates to methods for treating transthyretin-related amyloidosis with UNA oligomers capable of allele-selective knockdown of transthyretin.","This invention provides UNA oligomers for selectively inhibiting V30M TTR expression, which can be used in treating amyloidosis.","The UNA oligomers can have a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-29 monomers in length, the monomers being UNA monomers and nucleic acid monomers.","Embodiments include pharmaceutical compositions and methods for treating or preventing TTR-related amyloidosis by administering a UNA oligomer to a subject.","Embodiments of this invention include the following: A UNA oligomer for selectively inhibiting V30M TTR expression, the oligomer comprising a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-29 monomers in length, the monomers comprising UNA monomers and nucleic acid monomers, wherein the oligomer has a duplex structure of from 14 to 29 monomers in length.","The UNA oligomer above, wherein the second strand has at least one UNA monomer in the duplex region.","The UNA oligomer above, wherein the at least one UNA monomer in the second strand is at any one of positions 2-8 from the 5′ end.","The UNA oligomer above, wherein the at least one UNA monomer in the second strand is at any one of positions 9-18 from the 5′ end.","The UNA oligomer above, wherein the at least one UNA monomer in the second strand is at position 6, 7, 15, 16 or 17 from the 5′ end.","The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer has an IC50 for reducing V30M TTR expression of less than 20 pM.","The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer has a selectivity ratio of at least 10, wherein the selectivity ratio is the ratio of the IC50 for reducing wild type TTR expression to the IC50 for reducing V30M TTR expression.","The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer has a selectivity ratio of at least 20.The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer has a selectivity ratio in vitro of at least 50.The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer selectively inhibits V30M TTR expression in vivo.","The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer selectively inhibits V30M TTR expression ex vivo.","The UNA oligomer above, comprising at least one nucleic acid monomer that is base-modified, sugar-modified, or linkage modified.","A compound comprising a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-29 monomers in length, the monomers comprising UNA monomers and nucleic acid monomers, wherein the compound has a duplex region of from 14 to 29 contiguous monomers in length, wherein the first strand is a passenger strand for RNA interference and the second strand is a guide strand for RNA interference, and wherein the compound comprises a sequence of bases targeted to inhibit expression of a TTR gene.","In some embodiments, the compound may contain from one to seven UNA monomers.","In certain embodiments, the compound may contain a UNA monomer at the 1-end (5′ end for non-UNA) of the first strand, a UNA monomer at the second position from the 3′ end of the first strand, and a UNA monomer at the second position from the 3′ end of the second strand.","In further embodiments, the compound may contain a UNA monomer at any one or more of positions 2 to 8 from the 5′ end of the second strand.","In additional embodiments, the compound may have a 3′ overhang comprising one or more UNA monomers, natural nucleotides, non-natural nucleotides, modified nucleotides, or chemically-modified nucleotides, or combinations thereof.","The compound may have a 3′ overhang comprising one or more deoxythymidine nucleotides, 2′-O-methyl nucleotides, inverted abasic monomers, inverted thymidine monomers, L-thymidine monomers, or glyceryl nucleotides.","Embodiments of this invention contemplate compounds in which one or more of the nucleic acid monomers may be a non-natural nucleotide, a modified nucleotide, or a chemically-modified nucleotide.","A nucleic acid monomer may have a 2′-O-methyl group, a 2′-methoxyethoxy, or a 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoro ribonucleotide.","In some embodiments, the compound may not contain fluorine.","A compound may have one or more of three monomers at each end of each strand being connected by a phosphorothioate, a chiral phosphorothioate, or a phosphorodithioate linkage.","This invention further contemplates a lipid nanoparticle-oligomer compound comprising one or more compounds above attached to the lipid nanoparticle, as well as compositions containing one or more compounds above and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.","In certain embodiments, the carrier may include lipid nanoparticles or liposomes.","A composition of this disclosure, upon administering a single intravenous dose to a subject, may reduce TTR protein in the subject by at least 80% after 10 days, or at least 70% after 20 days, or at least 50% after 30 days.","Embodiments of this invention further include methods for treating or preventing TTR-related amyloidosis in a subject in need, by administering to the subject an effective amount of a composition above to the subject.","The TTR-related amyloidosis can be ATTR.","The administering can be intravenous, subcutaneous, pulmonary, intramuscular, intraperitoneal, or dermal.","The effective amount can be a dose of from 0.001 to 10.0 mg/kg.","In some embodiments, upon administering a single dose to a subject, the composition may reduce TTR protein in the subject by at least 70% after 20 days, or by at least 50% after 30 days.","This invention includes methods for inhibiting expression of a TTR gene in a subject, by administering to the subject a composition above.","Further aspects include the use of a composition above for preventing, ameliorating or treating a disease or condition associated with TTR-related amyloidosis in a subject in need, or for use in medical therapy, or for use in the treatment of the human or animal body.","This invention further includes compositions above for use in preparing or manufacturing a medicament for preventing, ameliorating or treating a disease or condition associated with TTR-related amyloidosis in a subject in need.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 shows the single nucleotide polymorph (SNP) that exists at position 284 in the V30M mutation mRNA, as compared to the wild type (WT) TTR mRNA.","Conventional siRNAs that are complementary to the WT mRNA can be tiled around position 284.FIG.","2 shows that the conventional siRNAs complementary to the WT mRNA have limited activity in silencing the WT TTR gene, as measured by TTR knockdown in HepG2 cells.","Positions 5, 9, 14 and 15, indicated by arrows, appear to be more accessible to silencing than other positions.","FIG.","3 shows that conventional siRNAs that are complementary to the V30M mRNA can be tiled around position 284.Four conventional siRNA variations, namely V30M-P5, V30M-P9, V30M-P14, and V30M-P15, were prepared.","Also, as shown in FIG.","3, two reporter variants, V30V and V30M, each bearing nucleotide sequence 264 to 304 of human TTR, V30V being without the point mutation at position 284, and V30M containing the point mutation at position 284, were prepared and used in the PSICHECK reporter system in the 3′-UTR region of Luciferase gene.","FIG.","4 shows the activity of the four conventional siRNA variations V30M-P5, V30M-P9, V30M-P14, and V30M-P15 measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay against V30V and V30M gene reporter variants.","The conventional siRNA variations V30M-P5, V30M-P9, and V30M-P15 were more effective against V30M than V30V.","The conventional siRNA variation V30M-P14 was not more effective against V30M than V30V.","FIG.","5 shows IC50 analysis for the four conventional siRNA variations V30M-P5, V30M-P9, V30M-P14, and V30M-P15 measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay against V30V and V30M gene reporter variants.","The conventional V30M-P15 variant was 5.6 times more effective against V30M than V30V.","Thus, the selectivity of the conventional siRNAs against V30M over V30V was no more than 5.6.FIG.","6 shows the structure of UNA oligomers that were effective in silencing V30M TTR, as measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay.","Each of the UNA oligomer embodiments, P15U6, P15U7, P15U14, P15U15, and P15U16, contained four UNA monomers.","In each UNA oligomer, a first UNA monomer was located at the 5′ end of the first strand, also called the passenger strand.","In each UNA oligomer, the second strand, also called the guide strand, formed a duplex region of 19 monomers length with the first strand.","Each UNA oligomer had a duplex region of 19 monomers, and a two-monomer overhang at each end.","In each UNA oligomer, a second UNA monomer was located at the 3′ end of the first strand, in the 20th position, which is in an overhang portion.","In each UNA oligomer, a third UNA monomer was located at the 3′ end of the second strand, in the 20th position, which is in an overhang portion.","In the UNA oligomer embodiments, P15U6, P15U7, P15U14, P15U15, and P15U16, a fourth UNA monomer was located in the second strand at positions 6, 7, 14, 15 and 16, respectively, counting from the 5′ end of the second strand.","FIG.","7 shows the activity of UNA oligomers P15U6, P15U7, P15U15, and P15U16, measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay against V30V and V30M gene reporter variants, as compared to the conventional siRNA V30M-P15.For each of the UNA oligomer embodiments, P15U6, P15U7, P15U15, and P15U16, the UNA oligomers were more effective against V30M than V30V.","Surprisingly, the activity of the UNA oligomer P15U6 was substantially and advantageously superior to the activity of the conventional siRNA V30M-P15, where each is targeted to V30M.","Furthermore, FIG.","7 shows the surprising and unexpected result that the selectivity of the UNA oligomers, P15U6, P15U7, P15U15, and P15U16, against V30M over V30V was substantially greater than for the conventional siRNA V30M-P15.In particular, the selectivity of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30M over V30V was 24, meaning that the IC50 of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30M (37.6 pM) was 24 times lower than the IC50 of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30V (919.9 pM).","This selectivity was advantageously 4-fold superior to the selectivity of 5.6 shown above in FIG.","5 for the conventional siRNA.","FIG.","8 shows the structure of UNA oligomers that were effective in silencing V30M TTR, as measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay.","Each of the UNA oligomer embodiments, P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, P16U16, and P16U17, contained four UNA monomers.","In each UNA oligomer, a first UNA monomer was located at the 5′ end of the first strand, also called the passenger strand.","In each UNA oligomer, the second strand, also called the guide strand, formed a duplex region of 19 monomers length with the first strand.","Each UNA oligomer had a duplex region of 19 monomers, and a two-monomer overhang at each end.","In each UNA oligomer, a second UNA monomer was located at the 3′ end of the first strand, in the 20th position, which is in an overhang portion.","In each UNA oligomer, a third UNA monomer was located at the 3′ end of the second strand, in the 20th position, which is in an overhang portion.","In the UNA oligomer embodiments, P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, P16U16, and P16U17, a fourth UNA monomer was located in the second strand at positions 6, 7, 15, 16 and 17, respectively, counting from the 5′ end of the second strand.","FIG.","9 shows the activity of UNA oligomers P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, and P16U16, measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay against V30V and V30M gene reporter variants, as compared to the conventional siRNA V30M-P16.For each of the UNA oligomer embodiments, P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, and P16U16, the UNA oligomers were more effective against V30M than V30V.","Surprisingly, the activity of each of the UNA oligomers P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, and P16U16, was substantially and advantageously superior to the activity of the conventional siRNA V30M-P16, where each is targeted to V30M.","Furthermore, FIG.","9 shows the surprising and unexpected result that the selectivity of the UNA oligomers, P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, and P16U16, against V30M over V30V was substantially greater than for the conventional siRNA V30M-P16.In particular, the selectivity of UNA oligomer P16U6 against V30M over V30V was 23, meaning that the IC50 of UNA oligomer P16U6 against V30M (92.4 pM) was 23 times lower than the IC50 of UNA oligomer P16U6 against V30V (2119 pM).","This selectivity was advantageously 4-fold superior to the selectivity of 5.6 shown above in FIG.","5 for the conventional siRNA.","FIG.","10 (left) shows the selectivity of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30M over V30V.","The IC50 of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30M (37.6 pM) was 24 times lower than the IC50 of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30V (919.9 pM).","This selectivity was advantageously 4-fold superior to the selectivity of 5.6 shown in FIG.","5 above for the conventional siRNA.","FIG.","10 (right) shows the surprising and unexpected result that the IC50 of UNA oligomer P16U6 against V30M (92.4 pM) was 23 times lower than the IC50 of UNA oligomer P16U6 against V30V (2119 pM).","This selectivity was advantageously 4-fold superior to the selectivity of 5.6 shown above in FIG.","5 for the conventional siRNA.","FIG.","11 shows knockdown of Transthyretin protein in vivo as a result of treatment with UNA oligomers targeting Transthyretin TTR mRNA, delivered in a liposomal formulation to male Cynomolgus monkeys.","Measurements were made following a single intravenous (IV) dose administration.","TTR protein concentration in plasma samples was assessed by LC-MS/MS at various time points.","Animals were administered test doses on Day 1 at 0.3 mg/kg.","Doses were administered as a 15-minute intravenous (IV) infusion, +1 minute, using a pump and disposable syringe.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention provides UNA oligomers for selectively inhibiting V30M TTR expression.","The UNA oligomers of this invention can be used as therapeutics for treating amyloidosis.","In particular, this invention provides UNA oligomers, compositions and methods for treating transthyretin-related amyloidosis.","The UNA oligomers can have a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-29 monomers in length, the monomers being UNA monomers and nucleic acid monomers.","Embodiments of this invention include compositions and methods for treating or preventing TTR-related amyloidosis by administering a UNA oligomer to a subject.","The UNA oligomers of this invention are capable of allele-specific knockdown of transthyretin.","In some embodiments, UNA oligomers are provided for treating amyloidosis related to transthyretin (ATTR).","The UNA oligomers of this invention can reduce the depositing of amyloid fibril proteins in various organs and tissues, including the peripheral, autonomic, and central nervous systems.","In certain aspects, this invention provides therapeutics for ATTR and related amyloid-related diseases.","Aspects of this invention include UNA oligomers that can be used for treating clinical features of ATTR amyloidosis, including neuropathy and/or cardiomyopathy.","In some embodiments, UNA oligomers of this invention are targeted to one mutation Val-30-Met TTR.","This invention can provide a pharmacological therapy that can undo the formation of TTR amyloid.","Homo sapiens transthyretin (TTR) mRNA is found at NCBI Reference Sequence: NM_000371.3.In some aspects, a composition of this invention can provide an unexpectedly advantageous duration of action.","In certain embodiments, upon administering a single dose of a composition containing a UNA oligomer of this invention, the TTR protein in a subject may be reduced by at least 90% after 20 days.","In further embodiments, upon administering a single dose of a pharmaceutical composition containing a UNA oligomer of this invention, the TTR protein in a subject may be reduced by at least 70% for a period of at least 20 days.","In additional embodiments, upon administering a single dose of a pharmaceutical composition containing a UNA oligomer of this invention, the TTR protein in a subject may be reduced by at least 50% for a period of at least 30 days.","A subject can be a primate, a human, or other mammal.","UNA Oligomers The UNA oligomers of this invention can be used for inhibiting V30M TTR expression.","A UNA oligomer of this invention the oligomer may have a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-29 monomers in length.","The monomers of a UNA oligomer can include UNA monomers and nucleic acid monomers A UNA oligomer can be a duplex structure of from 14 to 29 monomers in length.","In some embodiments, the second strand of a UNA oligomer can have at least one UNA monomer in the duplex region.","In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer can have at least one UNA monomer in the second strand at any of positions 6, 7, 15, 16 or 17 from the 5′ end in the duplex region.","A UNA oligomer of this invention may have any number of UNA monomers within its total length.","A UNA oligomer can include a nucleic acid monomer that is base-modified, sugar-modified, or linkage modified.","Embodiments of this invention further provide UNA oligomers that selectively inhibit V30M TTR expression.","In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer has an IC50 for reducing V30M TTR expression in vitro of less than 20 pM.","In further embodiments, a UNA oligomer can have a selectivity ratio in vitro of at least 5.The selectivity ratio is the ratio of the IC50 for reducing V30M TTR expression to the IC50 for reducing wild type TTR expression.","The selectivity ratio of a UNA oligomer of this invention can range from 2 to 1000.In certain embodiments, the selectivity ratio of a UNA oligomer is at least 2, or at least 5, or at least 10, or at least 30, or at least 30, or at least 50, or at least 100.In some aspects, a UNA oligomer of this invention can selectively inhibit V30M TTR expression in vivo.","In certain aspects, a UNA oligomer of this invention can selectively inhibit V30M TTR expression ex vivo.","A UNA oligomer can be an active pharmaceutical molecule being a chain composed of monomers, also called an oligomer.","The monomers of the oligomer can include UNA monomers and other nucleic acid monomers.","The UNA monomers are novel, synthetic molecules that can be attached in a chain to form an oligomer.","The nucleic acid monomers can be naturally-occurring nucleotides, modified naturally-occurring nucleotides, or certain non-naturally-occurring nucleotides.","A UNA oligomer of this invention is a synthetic, pharmacologically active molecule and can be used in the treatment of a condition or disease.","A UNA oligomer of this disclosure can be a double stranded oligomer.","Each strand of the double stranded oligomer can be composed of UNA monomers along with a number of nucleic acid monomers for a total length of 19 to 29 monomers.","A UNA oligomer of this invention can contain one or more UNA monomers in any strand.","The UNA monomers can be in a single strand, or in either strand of a double stranded UNA oligomer, or in both strands of a double stranded UNA oligomer.","UNA Monomers In some embodiments, linker group monomers can be unlocked nucleomonomers (UNA monomers), which are small organic molecules based on a propane-1,2,3-tri-yl-trisoxy structure as shown below: where R1 and R2 are H, and R1 and R2 can be phosphodiester linkages, Base can be a nucleobase, and R3 is a functional group described below.","In another view, the UNA monomer main atoms can be drawn in IUPAC notation as follows: where the direction of progress of the oligomer chain is from the 1-end to the 3-end of the propane residue.","Examples of a nucleobase include uracil, thymine, cytosine, 5-methylcytosine, adenine, guanine, inosine, and natural and non-natural nucleobase analogues.","In general, because the UNA monomers are not nucleotides, they can exhibit at least four forms in an oligomer.","First, a UNA monomer can be an internal monomer in an oligomer, where the UNA monomer is flanked by other monomers on both sides.","In this form, the UNA monomer can participate in base pairing when the oligomer is a duplex, for example, and there are other monomers with nucleobases in the duplex.","Examples of UNA monomer as internal monomers flanked at both the propane-1-yl position and the propane-3-yl position, where R3 is —OH, are shown below.","Second, a UNA monomer can be a monomer in an overhang of an oligomer duplex, where the UNA monomer is flanked by other monomers on both sides.","In this form, the UNA monomer does not participate in base pairing.","Because the UNA monomers are flexible organic structures, unlike nucleotides, the overhang containing a UNA monomer will be a flexible terminator for the oligomer.","A UNA monomer can be a terminal monomer in an overhang of an oligomer, where the UNA monomer is attached to only one monomer at either the propane-1-yl position or the propane-3-yl position.","In this form, the UNA monomer does not participate in base pairing.","Because the UNA monomers are flexible organic structures, unlike nucleotides, the overhang containing a UNA monomer can be a flexible terminator for the oligomer.","Examples of a UNA monomer as a terminal monomer attached at the propane-3-yl position are shown below.","Because a UNA monomer can be a flexible molecule, a UNA monomer as a terminal monomer can assume widely differing conformations.","An example of an energy minimized UNA monomer conformation as a terminal monomer attached at the propane-3-yl position is shown below.","Thus, UNA oligomers having a terminal UNA monomer are significantly different in structure from conventional nucleic acid agents, such as siRNAs.","For example, siRNAs may require that terminal monomers or overhangs in a duplex be stabilized.","In contrast, the conformability of a terminal UNA monomer can provide UNA oligomers with different properties.","Among other things, the structure of the UNA monomer allows it to be attached to naturally-occurring nucleotides.","A UNA oligomer can be a chain composed of UNA monomers, as well as various nucleotides that may be based on naturally-occurring nucleosides.","In some embodiments, the functional group R3 of a UNA monomer can be —OR4, —SR4, —NR42, —NH(C═O)R4, morpholino, morpholin-1-yl, piperazin-1-yl, or 4-alkanoyl-piperazin-1-yl, where R4 is the same or different for each occurrence, and can be H, alkyl, a cholesterol, a lipid molecule, a polyamine, an amino acid, or a polypeptide.","The UNA monomers are organic molecules.","UNA monomers are not nucleic acid monomers or nucleotides, nor are they naturally-occurring nucleosides or modified naturally-occurring nucleosides.","A UNA oligomer of this invention is a synthetic chain molecule.","A UNA oligomer of this invention is not a nucleic acid, nor an oligonucleotide.","In some embodiments, as shown above, a UNA monomer can be UNA-A (designated Ã), UNA-U (designated Ũ), UNA-C (designated Č), and UNA-G (designated Ğ).","Designations that may be used herein include mA, mG, mC, and mU, which refer to the 2′-O-Methyl modified ribonucleotides.","Designations that may be used herein include lower case c and u, which refer to the 2′-O-methyl modified ribonucleotides.","Designations that may be used herein include dT, which refers to a 2′-deoxy T nucleotide.","Monomers for UNA Oligomers As used herein, in the context of oligomer sequences, the symbol X represents a UNA monomer.","As used herein, in the context of oligomer sequences, the symbol N represents any natural nucleotide monomer, or a modified nucleotide monomer.","As used herein, in the context of oligomer sequences, the symbol Q represents a non-natural, modified, or chemically-modified nucleotide monomer.","When a Q monomer appears in one strand of the oligomer, and is unpaired with the other strand, the monomer can have any base attached.","When a Q monomer appears in one strand of the oligomer, and is paired with a monomer in the other strand, the Q monomer can have any base attached that would be complementary to the monomer in the corresponding paired position in the other strand.","Examples of nucleic acid monomers include non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotides, including any such nucleotides known in the art.","Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include 2′-O-methyl ribonucleotides, 2′-O-methyl purine nucleotides, 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoro ribonucleotides, 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoro pyrimidine nucleotides, 2′-deoxy ribonucleotides, 2′-deoxy purine nucleotides, universal base nucleotides, 5-C-methyl-nucleotides, and inverted deoxyabasic monomer residues.","Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include 3′-end stabilized nucleotides, 3′-glyceryl nucleotides, 3′-inverted abasic nucleotides, and 3′-inverted thymidine, and L-thymidine.","Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include locked nucleic acid nucleotides, 2′-O,4′-C-methylene-(D-ribofuranosyl) nucleotides, 2′-methoxyethoxy (MOE) nucleotides, 2′-methyl-thio-ethyl, 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoro nucleotides, and 2′-O-methyl nucleotides.","Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include 2′-amino nucleotides, 2′-O-amino nucleotides, 2′-C-allyl nucleotides, and 2′-O-allyl nucleotides.","Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include N6-methyladenosine nucleotides.","Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include nucleotide monomers with modified bases 5-(3-amino)propyluridine, 5-(2-mercapto)ethyluridine, 5-bromouridine; 8-bromoguanosine, or 7-deazaadenosine.","Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include 2′-O-aminopropyl substituted nucleotides.","Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include 2′-O-guanidinopropyl substituted nucleotides.","Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include Pseudouridines.","Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include replacing the 2′-OH group of a nucleotide with a 2′-R, a 2′-OR, a 2′-halogen, a 2′-SR, or a 2′-amino, or a 2′-azido, where R can be H, alkyl, fluorine-substituted alkyl, alkenyl, or alkynyl.","Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include replacing the 2′—OH group of a nucleotide with a 2′-R or 2′-OR, where R can be CN, CF3, alkylamino, or aralkyl.","Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include nucleotides with a modified sugar such as an F-HNA, an HNA, a CeNA, a bicyclic sugar, or an LNA.","Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include 2′-oxa-3′-aza-4′a-carbanucleoside monomers, 3-hydroxymethyl-5-(1H-1,2,3-triazol)-isoxazolidine monomers, and 5′-triazolyl-2′-oxa-3′-aza-4′a-carbanucleoside monomers.","Some examples of modified nucleotides are given in Saenger, Principles of Nucleic Acid Structure, Springer-Verlag, 1984.Details of UNA Oligomer Structure Aspects of this invention can provide structures and compositions for UNA-containing oligomeric compounds.","The oligomeric agents may incorporate one or more UNA monomers.","Oligomeric molecules of this invention can be used as active agents in formulations for gene regulating or gene silencing therapeutics.","In some embodiments, this invention provides oligomeric compounds having a structure that incorporates novel combinations of UNA monomers with certain natural nucleotides, non-natural nucleotides, modified nucleotides, or chemically-modified nucleotides.","In further aspects, the oligomeric compounds can be pharmacologically active molecules.","UNA oligomers of this invention can be used as active pharmaceutical ingredients for regulating gene expression, and in RNA interference methods, as well as antisense, RNA blocking, and micro-RNA strategies.","A UNA oligomer of this invention can have the structure of Formula I wherein L1 is a linkage, n is from 19 to 29, and for each occurrence L2 is a UNA linker group having the formula —C1—C2—C3—, where R is attached to C2 and has the formula —OCH(CH2R3)R5, where R3 is —OR4, —SR4, —NR42, —NH(C═O)R4, morpholino, morpholin-1-yl, piperazin-1-yl, or 4-alkanoyl-piperazin-1-yl, where R4 is the same or different for each occurrence and is H, alkyl, a cholesterol, a lipid molecule, a polyamine, an amino acid, or a polypeptide, and where R5 is a nucleobase, or L2(R) is a sugar such as a ribose and R is a nucleobase, or L2 is a modified sugar such as a modified ribose and R is a nucleobase.","In certain embodiments, a nucleobase can be a modified nucleobase.","L1 can be a phosphodiester linkage.","A UNA oligomer of this invention can be a short chain molecule.","A UNA oligomer can be a duplex pair.","Thus, a UNA oligomer can have a first strand of the duplex and a second strand of the duplex, which is complementary to the first strand with respect to the nucleobases, although up to three mismatches can occur.","A UNA oligomer duplex can have overhangs.","Some UNA oligomers are discussed in U.S. Pat.","No.","8,314,227, as well as US Patent Publication No.","20110313020 A1.The target of a UNA oligomer can be a target nucleic acid.","In some embodiments, the target can be any TTR mRNA of a subject.","A UNA oligomer can be active for gene silencing in RNA interference.","A UNA oligomer may comprise two strands that together provide a duplex.","The duplex may be composed of a first strand, which may also be referred to as a passenger strand or sense strand, and a second strand, which may also be referred to as a guide strand or antisense strand.","In some aspects, a UNA oligomer of this invention can have any number of phosphorothioate intermonomer linkages in any position in any strand, or in both strands of a duplex structure.","In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention can have a phosphorothioate intermonomer linkage between the last one or two monomers at either end of any strand.","In some embodiments, any one or more of the intermonomer linkages of a UNA oligomer can be a phosphodiester, a phosphorothioate including dithioates, a chiral phosphorothioate, and other chemically modified forms.","Examples of UNA oligomers of this invention include duplex pairs, which are in general complementary.","Thus, for example, SEQ ID NO: 1 can represent a first strand of a duplex and SEQ ID NO:2 can represent a second strand of the duplex, which is complementary to the first strand.","For example, the symbol “N” in the first strand can represent any nucleotide that is complementary to the monomer in the corresponding position in the second strand.","Example UNA oligomers of this disclosure are shown with 2-monomer length overhangs, although overhangs of from 1 to 8 monomers, or longer, can be used.","The symbol “X” in a strand or oligomer represents a UNA monomer.","When a UNA monomer appears in one strand of the oligomer, and is unpaired with the other strand, the monomer can have any base attached.","When a UNA monomer appears in one strand of the oligomer, and is paired with a monomer in the other strand, the UNA monomer can have any base attached that would be complementary to the monomer in the corresponding paired position in the other strand.","Further, when the oligomer terminates in a UNA monomer, the terminal position has a 1-end, according to the positional numbering shown above, instead of a 5′-end as for a nucleotide, or the terminal position has a 3-end, according to the positional numbering shown above, instead of a 3′-end as for a nucleotide.","For example, the UNA oligomer SEQ ID NO: 1 1-X•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•X•X-3 3-X•X•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•X•X•X•X•X•X•X•N-5′ SEQ ID NO: 2 has a UNA monomer 1-end on the first strand, a UNA monomer 3-end on the first strand, a UNA monomer 3-end on the second strand, and a nucleotide 5′-end on the second strand.","Complementarity of strands can involve mismatches.","In certain embodiments, complementarity of strands can include one to three, or more, mismatches.","In some embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention can have one or more UNA monomers at the 1-end of the first strand, and one or more UNA monomers at the 3-end of the first strand.","In further embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention can have one or more UNA monomers at the 3-end of the second strand.","In certain embodiments, a duplex UNA oligomer of this invention can have one or more UNA monomers at the 1-end of the first strand, one or more UNA monomers at the 3-end of the first strand, and one or more UNA monomers at the 3-end of the second strand.","A UNA oligomer of this invention the oligomer may have a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands independently being 19-23 monomers in length.","In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention may have a first strand that is 19-23 monomers in length.","In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention may have a duplex region that is 19-21 monomers in length.","In further embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention may have a second strand that is 19-23 monomers in length.","In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention may have a first strand that is 19 monomers in length, and a second strand that is 21 monomers in length.","In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention may have a first strand that is 20 monomers in length, and a second strand that is 21 monomers in length.","In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention may have a first strand that is 21 monomers in length, and a second strand that is 21 monomers in length.","In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention may have a first strand that is 22 monomers in length, and a second strand that is 21 monomers in length.","A UNA oligomer of this invention for inhibiting gene expression can have a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-29 monomers in length.","The monomers can be UNA monomers and nucleic acid nucleoside monomers.","The oligomer can have a duplex structure of from 14 to 29 monomers in length.","The UNA oligomer can be targeted to a target gene and can exhibit reduced off-target effects as compared to a conventional siRNA.","In some embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention can have a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-23 monomers in length.","In another aspect, the UNA oligomer may have a blunt end, or may have one or more overhangs.","In some embodiments, the first and second strands may be connected with a connecting oligomer in between the strands, and form a duplex region with a connecting loop at one end.","In certain embodiments, an overhang can be one or two monomers in length.","Examples of an overhang can contain one or more UNA monomers, natural nucleotides, non-natural nucleotides, modified nucleotides, or chemically-modified nucleotides, and combinations thereof.","Examples of an overhang can contain one or more deoxythymidine nucleotides, 2′-O-methyl nucleotides, inverted abasic monomers, inverted thymidine monomers, L-thymidine monomers, or glyceryl nucleotides.","A UNA oligomer can mediate cleavage of a target nucleic acid in a cell.","In some processes, the second strand of the UNA oligomer, at least a portion of which can be complementary to the target nucleic acid, can act as a guide strand that can hybridize to the target nucleic acid.","The second strand can be incorporated into an RNA Induced Silencing Complex (RISC).","In some embodiments, a UNA oligomer may have a strand that is a DICER substrate.","A UNA oligomer of this disclosure may comprise naturally-occurring nucleic acid nucleotides, and modifications thereof that are compatible with gene silencing activity.","In some aspects, a UNA oligomer is a double stranded construct molecule that is able to inhibit gene expression.","As used herein, the term strand refers to a single, contiguous chain of monomers, the chain having any number of internal monomers and two end monomers, where each end monomer is attached to one internal monomer on one side, and is not attached to a monomer on the other side, so that it ends the chain.","The monomers of a UNA oligomer may be attached via phosphodiester linkages, phosphorothioate linkages, gapped linkages, and other variations.","In some embodiments, a UNA oligomer can include mismatches in complementarity between the first and second strands.","In other embodiments, a UNA oligomer may have 1, or 2, or 3 mismatches.","The mismatches may occur at any position in the duplex region.","The target of a UNA oligomer can be a target nucleic acid of a target gene.","A UNA oligomer may have one or two overhangs outside the duplex region.","The overhangs can be an unpaired portion at the end of the first strand or second strand.","The lengths of the overhang portions of the first and second strands can be the same or different.","A UNA oligomer may have at least one blunt end.","A blunt end does not have an overhang portion, and the duplex region at a blunt end terminates at the same position for both the first and second strands.","A UNA oligomer can be RISC length, which means that it has a duplex length of less than 25 base pairs.","In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer can be a single strand that folds upon itself and hybridizes to itself to form a double stranded region having a connecting loop at the end of the double stranded region.","Examples of UNA oligomer structures of this invention are shown in Table 1.TABLE 1 Examples of UNA oligomer structures.","First strand Second strand Oligomer 1 to 3′ 5′ to 3′ P15U6 SEQ ID NO: 3 SEQ ID NO: 4 ĞGCCAUGCAUGUGUUCAGAŨmU UCUGAÃCACAUGCAUGGCCŨmU P15U7 SEQ ID NO: 5 SEQ ID NO: 6 ĞGCCAUGCAUGUGUUCAGAŨmU UCUGAAĈACAUGCAUGGCCŨmU P15U14 SEQ ID NO: 7 SEQ ID NO: 8 ĞGCCAUGCAUGUGUUCAGAŨmU UCUGAACACAUGCÃUGGCCŨmU P15U15 SEQ ID NO: 9 SEQ ID NO: 10 ĞGCCAUGCAUGUGUUCAGAŨmU UCUGAACACAUGCAŨGGCCŨmU P15U16 SEQ ID NO: 11 SEQ ID NO: 12 ĞGCCAUGCAUGUGUUCAGAŨmU UCUGAACACAUGCAUĞGCCŨmU Examples of UNA oligomer structures of this invention are shown in Table 2.TABLE 2 Examples of UNA oligomer structures.","First strand Second strand Oligomer 1 to 3′ 5′ to 3′ P16U6 SEQ ID NO: 13 SEQ ID NO: 14 ĞCCAUGCAUGUGUUCAGAAŨmU UUCUGÃACACAUGCAUGGCŨmU P16U7 SEQ ID NO: 15 SEQ ID NO: 16 ĞCCAUGCAUGUGUUCAGAAŨmU UUCUGAÃCACAUGCAUGGCŨmU P16U15 SEQ ID NO: 17 SEQ ID NO: 18 ĞCCAUGCAUGUGUUCAGAAŨmU UUCUGAACACAUGCÃUGGCŨmU P16U16 SEQ ID NO: 19 SEQ ID NO: 20 ĞCCAUGCAUGUGUUCAGAAŨmU UUCUGAACACAUGCAŨGGCŨmU P16U17 SEQ ID NO: 21 SEQ ID NO: 22 ĞCCAUGCAUGUGUUCAGAAŨmU UUCUGAACACAUGCAUĞGCŨmU Examples of sequences of UNA oligomers of this invention targeted to a TTR component are shown in Table 3.“Ref Pos” refers to reference position, which is the numerical position of a reference nucleotide in a TTR mRNA.","In Table 3, a UNA oligomer would be composed of pairs SEQ ID NOs:23 and 63, 24 and 64, etc.","TABLE 3 UNA oligomers for TTR component target sequences SEQ SEQ REF ID Sense (5′-3′) ID Antisense (5′-3′) POS NO SEQ ID NOS: 23 to 62 NO SEQ ID NOS: 63 to 102 626 23 AUGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUac 63 GUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACAU 626 24 AUGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUac 64 GUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACĀŨ 626 25 ĀŨGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUac 65 GUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACAU 626 26 ĀŨGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUac 66 GUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACĀŨ 626 27 AUGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUĀĈ 67 GUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACĀŨ 626 28 AUGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCĀŨUUUUac 68 GUAAAAAUGGAAŨACUCUUGGUUACĀŨ 628 29 GUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUACta 69 UAGUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUAC 628 30 ĜŨAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUACta 70 UAGUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUAC 628 31 GUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUACta 71 UAGUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUĀĈ 628 32 ĜŨAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUACta 72 UAGUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUĀĈ 628 33 GUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUACŨĀ 73 UAGUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUĀĈ 628 34 GUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUŨŨUUACUA 74 UAGUAAAAAUGGAĀUACUCUUGGUUĀĈ 628 35 ĜUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUtt 75 AUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACtt 628 36 GUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUtt 76 AUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACŨŨ 628 37 ĜUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUtt 77 AUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACŨŨ 628 38 GUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUŨŨ 78 AUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACŨŨ 628 39 ĜUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUŨŨ 79 AUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACŨŨ 628 40 GUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUŨŨ 80 AUGGAAŨACUCUUGGUUACŨŨ 628 41 ĞUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUŨŨ 81 AUGGAAŨACUCUUGGUUACŨŨ 628 42 ĞUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUŨŨ 82 AUGGAAŨACUCUUGGUUACAŨ 628 43 ĞUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUŨmU 83 AUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACŨmU 628 44 ĞUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUŨmU 84 AUGĞAAUACUCUUGGUUACŨmU 628 45 ĞUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUŨmU 85 AUGGĀAUACUCUUGGUUACŨmU 628 46 ĞUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUŨmU 86 AUGGAĀUACUCUUGGUUACŨmU 626 47 ĀUGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCŨmU 87 GGAĀUACUCUUGGUUACAUŨmU 626 48 ĀUGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCŨmU 88 GGAAUACUCUUGGUUACAUŨmU 626 49 ĀUGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCŨmU 89 GGAAŨACUCUUGGUUACAUŨmU 626 50 ĀUGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCŨmU 90 GGAAUĀCUCUUGGUUACAUŨmU 635 51 ĀGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUACŨmU 91 AGUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCŨmU 635 52 ĀGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUACŨmU 92 AGUĀAAAAUGGAAUACUCUmU 635 53 ĀGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUACŨmU 93 AGUAĀAAAUGGAAUACUCUmU 635 54 ĀGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUACŨmU 94 AGUAAĀAAUGGAAUACUCŨmU 174 55 ĞACUGGUAUUUGUGUCUGAŨmU 95 UCAGACACAAAUACCAGUCĈmA 174 56 ĞACUGGUAUUUGUGUCUGAŨmU 96 UCAĞACACAAAUACCAGUCĈmA 174 57 ĞACUGGUAUUUGUGUCUGAŨmU 97 UCAGĀCACAAAUACCAGUCĈmA 174 58 ĞACUGGUAUUUGUGUCUGAŨmU 98 UCAGAĈACAAAUACCAGUCĈmA 627 59 ŨGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAŨmU 99 UGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACAŨmU 629 60 ŨAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUŨmU 100 AAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUAŨmU 632 61 ĈCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUŨmU 101 AAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGŨmU 632 62 ĈCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUŨmU 102 AAAAAUĜGAAUACUCUUGGŨmU In Table 3, lower case designates 2′-deoxyribo-N; upper case designates Ribo-N; underlined-lower case designates 2′-deoxy-N; mA, mG, mC, and mU designate 2′-O-Methyl RNA; and Ā Ũ Ğ and Ĉ designate UNA monomers.","In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer may have a duplex region, and have a UNA monomer in the second strand within the duplex region, where the UNA monomer in the second strand is present in any of positions 1 through 19, counting from the 5′ end of the second strand.","In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer may have a duplex region, and have a UNA monomer in the second strand within the duplex region, where the UNA monomer in the second strand is present in any of positions 6, 7, 14, 15 and 16, counting from the 5′ end of the second strand.","In some embodiments, a UNA oligomer may comprise an overhang portion of two monomers in length, or longer, at the 3′ end of the first strand, wherein the overhang monomer immediately flanking the duplex portion is a UNA monomer.","In some embodiments, a UNA oligomer may comprise an overhang portion of two monomers in length, or longer, at the 3′ end of the second strand, wherein the overhang monomer immediately flanking the duplex portion is a UNA monomer.","Methods for Treating Amyloidosis Methods of this invention include the treatment and prevention of TTR-related amyloidosis in human and mammalian subjects.","In the methods of this invention, a subject in need of treatment or prevention can be administered an effective amount of a UNA oligomer.","Administration can be performed for 1, 2, or up to 7 days, or 1, 2, 3, or up to 4 weeks, or longer.","The subject may have TTR-related amyloidosis, also known as ATTR.","In particular, a subject can have a V30M gene.","The methods of this invention can selectively reduce V30M TTR in the subject.","In some embodiments, a method of this invention can selectively reduce V30M TTR in the subject by at least 10%, as compared to control.","In certain embodiments, V30M TTR in the subject can be reduced by at least 20%, or 30%, or 50%, as compared to control.","An effective amount of a UNA oligomer of this invention can be a dose ranging from 0.001 mg/kg to 50.0 mg/kg, or from 0.001 mg/kg to 10.0 mg/kg.","In the methods of this invention, TTR mRNA expression can be reduced in a subject for at least 5 days.","In certain embodiments, TTR mRNA expression can be reduced in a subject for at least 10 days, or 15 days.","In the methods of this invention, peripheral neuropathy or autonomic neuropathy in the subject can be reduced.","In the methods of this invention, peripheral neuropathy or autonomic neuropathy in the subject can be reduced.","In some embodiments, a subject may undergo reduced lower extremity weakness, reduced pain, or improved sensation.","Methods of this invention can reduce occurrence of vitreous opacities in the subject.","In the methods of this disclosure, the administration of a UNA oligomer may not result in an inflammatory response.","In further embodiments, this invention includes methods for inhibiting expression of a TTR gene in a cell, by treating the cell with a UNA oligomer.","In additional embodiments, this invention includes methods for inhibiting expression of a TTR gene in a mammal, by administering to the mammal a composition containing a UNA oligomer.","Pharmaceutical Compositions In some aspects, this invention provides compositions containing a UNA oligomer and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.","In further aspects, this invention includes nanoparticle compositions that can encapsulate and deliver a UNA oligomer to cells with surprisingly advantageous potency.","The nanoparticles can be formed with lipid molecules, for example, any one or more of the compounds ATX-001 to ATX-032 disclosed in WO/2015/074085.In certain embodiments, lipid nanoparticles of this invention can be formed with compound ATX-002, as disclosed in WO/2015/074085, and the nanoparticles can encapsulate the UNA oligomer.","A composition can be capable of local or systemic administration.","In some aspects, a pharmaceutical composition can be capable of any modality of administration.","In certain aspects, the administration can be intravenous, subcutaneous, pulmonary, intramuscular, intraperitoneal, dermal, oral, or nasal administration.","Embodiments of this invention include pharmaceutical compositions containing a UNA oligomer in a lipid formulation.","In some embodiments, a composition may comprise one or more lipids selected from cationic lipids, anionic lipids, sterols, pegylated lipids, and any combination of the foregoing.","In certain embodiments, a composition can be substantially free of liposomes.","In further embodiments, a composition can include liposomes.","In additional embodiments, a composition can contain a UNA oligomer within a viral or bacterial vector.","A pharmaceutical composition of this disclosure may include carriers, diluents or excipients as are known in the art.","Examples of pharmaceutical compositions are described, for example, in Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mack Publishing Co. (A. R. Gennaro ed.","1985).","Examples of excipients for a pharmaceutical composition include antioxidants, suspending agents, dispersing agents, preservatives, buffering agents, tonicity agents, and surfactants.","EXAMPLES Example 1 FIG.","1 shows the single nucleotide polymorph (SNP) that exists at position 284 in the V30M mutation of the human TTR mRNA, as compared to the wild type (WT) TTR mRNA.","Conventional siRNAs that are complementary to the WT mRNA were tiled around position 284.FIG.","2 shows that the conventional siRNAs complementary to the WT mRNA have limited activity in silencing the WT TTR gene, as measured by TTR knockdown in HepG2 cells.","Positions 5, 9, 14 and 15 appear to be more accessible to silencing than other positions.","FIG.","3 shows conventional siRNAs that were complementary to the V30M mRNA were tiled around position 284.Four conventional siRNA variations, namely V30M-P5, V30M-P9, V30M-P14, and V30M-P15, were prepared.","Also, as shown in FIG.","3, two gene reporter variants, V30V and V30M, each bearing nucleotide sequence 264 to 304 of human TTR, V30V being without the point mutation at position 284, and V30M containing the point mutation at position 284, were prepared and used in the PSICHECK reporter system in the 3′-UTR region of Luciferase gene.","Example 2 FIG.","4 shows the activity of the four conventional siRNA variations V30M-P5, V30M-P9, V30M-P14, and V30M-P15 as measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay against V30V and V30M gene reporter variants.","The conventional siRNA variations V30M-P5, V30M-P9, and V30M-P15 were more effective against V30M than V30V.","The conventional siRNA variation V30M-P14 was not more effective against V30M than V30V.","FIG.","5 shows IC50 analysis for the four conventional siRNA variations V30M-P5, V30M-P9, V30M-P14, and V30M-P15 measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay against V30V and V30M gene reporter variants.","The conventional V30M-P15 variant was 5.6 times more effective against V30M than V30V.","Thus, the selectivity of the conventional siRNAs against V30M over V30V was no more than 5.6.Example 3 FIG.","6 shows the structure of UNA oligomers that were effective in silencing V30M TTR, as measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay.","Each of the UNA oligomer embodiments, P15U6, P15U7, P15U14, P15U15, and P15U16, contained four UNA monomers.","In each UNA oligomer, a first UNA monomer was located at the 5′ end of the first strand, also called the passenger strand.","In each UNA oligomer, the second strand, also called the guide strand, formed a duplex region of 19 monomers length with the first strand.","Each UNA oligomer had a duplex region of 19 monomers, and a two-monomer overhang at each end.","In each UNA oligomer, a second UNA monomer was located at the 3′ end of the first strand, in the 20th position, which is in an overhang portion.","In each UNA oligomer, a third UNA monomer was located at the 3′ end of the second strand, in the 20th position, which is in an overhang portion.","In the UNA oligomer embodiments, P15U6, P15U7, P15U14, P15U15, and P15U16, a fourth UNA monomer was located in the second strand at positions 6, 7, 14, 15 and 16, respectively, counting from the 5′ end of the second strand.","Example 4 FIG.","7 shows the activity of UNA oligomers P15U6, P15U7, P15U15, and P15U16, measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay against V30V and V30M gene reporter variants, as compared to the conventional siRNA V30M-P15.For each of the UNA oligomer embodiments, P15U6, P15U7, P15U15, and P15U16, the UNA oligomers were more effective against V30M than V30V.","Surprisingly, the activity of the UNA oligomer P15U6 was substantially and advantageously superior to the activity of the conventional siRNA V30M-P15, where each is targeted to V30M.","Furthermore, FIG.","7 shows the surprising and unexpected result that the selectivity of the UNA oligomers, P15U6, P15U7, P15U15, and P15U16, against V30M over V30V was substantially greater than for the conventional siRNA V30M-P15.In particular, the selectivity of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30M over V30V was 24, meaning that the IC50 of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30M (37.6 pM) was 24 times lower than the IC50 of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30V (919.9 pM).","This selectivity was advantageously 4-fold superior to the selectivity of 5.6 shown by the conventional siRNA.","Example 5 FIG.","8 shows the structure of UNA oligomers that were effective in silencing V30M TTR, as measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay.","Each of the UNA oligomer embodiments, P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, P16U16, and P16U17, contained four UNA monomers.","In each UNA oligomer, a first UNA monomer was located at the 5′ end of the first strand, also called the passenger strand.","In each UNA oligomer, the second strand, also called the guide strand, formed a duplex region of 19 monomers length with the first strand.","Each UNA oligomer had a duplex region of 19 monomers, and a two-monomer overhang at each end.","In each UNA oligomer, a second UNA monomer was located at the 3′ end of the first strand, in the 20th position, which is in an overhang portion.","In each UNA oligomer, a third UNA monomer was located at the 3′ end of the second strand, in the 20th position, which is in an overhang portion.","In the UNA oligomer embodiments, P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, P16U16, and P16U17, a fourth UNA monomer was located in the second strand at positions 6, 7, 15, 16 and 17, respectively, counting from the 5′ end of the second strand.","Example 6 FIG.","9 shows the activity of UNA oligomers P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, and P16U16, measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay against V30V and V30M gene reporter variants, as compared to the conventional siRNA V30M-P16.For each of the UNA oligomer embodiments, P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, and P16U16, the UNA oligomers were more effective against V30M than V30V.","Surprisingly, the activity of each of the UNA oligomers P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, and P16U16, was substantially and advantageously superior to the activity of the conventional siRNA V30M-P16, where each is targeted to V30M.","Furthermore, FIG.","9 shows the surprising and unexpected result that the selectivity of the UNA oligomers, P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, and P16U16, against V30M over V30V was substantially greater than for the conventional siRNA V30M-P16.In particular, the selectivity of UNA oligomer P16U6 against V30M over V30V was 23, meaning that the IC50 of UNA oligomer P16U6 against V30M (92.4 pM) was 23 times lower than the IC50 of UNA oligomer P16U6 against V30V (2119 pM).","This selectivity was advantageously 4-fold superior to the selectivity of 5.6 shown by the conventional siRNA.","FIG.","10 (left) shows the selectivity of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30M over V30V.","The IC50 of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30M (37.6 pM) was 24 times lower than the IC50 of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30V (919.9 pM).","This selectivity was advantageously 4-fold superior to the selectivity of 5.6 shown by the conventional siRNA.","FIG.","10 (right) shows the surprising and unexpected result that the IC50 of UNA oligomer P16U6 against V30M (92.4 pM) was 23 times lower than the IC50 of UNA oligomer P16U6 against V30V (2119 pM).","This selectivity was advantageously 4-fold superior to the selectivity of 5.6 shown by the conventional siRNA.","Example 7: UNA Oligomers Reduce V30M TTR Deposits In Vivo Transgenic mice for human TTR V30M overexpression are used at 6 months age.","TTR wild-type and TTR knockout mice are used as controls.","Animals are housed in controlled environment, and euthanized with ketamine and medetomidine.","For TTR gene silencing, the TTR UNA oligomer, as well as controls, are delivered in liposome formulations.","Mice are injected in the tail vein with TTR UNA oligomer (n=6), at a concentration of 1 mg/kg.","Untreated age-matched controls are treated with blank formulation.","One injection is given per week for 4 weeks, and animals are sacrificed 48 h after last injection.","Liver and colon are removed and collected to 10% formalin and frozen.","Liver and colon mRNA are isolated using phenol extraction (Invitrogen).","Sciatic nerve from V30M mice is dissected from other tissue, and mRNA is extracted with a RNeasy Mini column (Qiagen).","cDNA is synthesized with a SuperScript double-stranded cDNA Kit (Invitrogen).","Extracted RNA is validated with Experion RNA StdSens Analysis Kit (Bio-Rad).","qPCR is performed with primers and iQ Syber Green Super Mix (Bio-Rad).","Double immunofluorescence analysis is performed with sciatic nerve, dorsal root ganglia, and colon from V30M animals that is removed and treated as above.","Comparisons are performed with Student T-test or One-way ANOVA.","Data are expressed as mean values±standard error (SEM).","p-values less than 0.05 are considered significant.","Injection of a composition containing one or more UNA oligomers in V30M mice reduces the V30M TTR deposits in sciatic nerve, dorsal root ganglia, and colon by at least 90% over controls.","Injection of a composition containing any one of UNA oligomers P15U6, P15U7, P15U15, or P15U16, or any combination of these UNA oligomers, in V30M mice reduces the V30M TTR deposits in sciatic nerve, dorsal root ganglia, and colon by at least 90% over controls.","Example 8: UNA Oligomers Reduce TTR Protein In Vivo Primate A single-dose, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic study of liposomally formulated UNA Oligomers targeting transthyretin (TTR) mRNA following intravenous infusion in Cynomolgus monkeys was performed.","Cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) were selected for this study because the TTR mRNA of Cynomolgus monkeys is homologous to human TTR mRNA, making them a good model for screening the potency of UNA oligomers targeting to TTR mRNA.","In this study, the knockdown of Transthyretin protein was evaluated as a result of treatment with UNA oligomers targeting Transthyretin TTR mRNA, based on SEQ ID NOs:46/86, 59/99, and 60/100, delivered in a liposomal formulation to male Cynomolgus monkeys.","Measurements were made following a single intravenous (IV) dose administration.","TTR protein concentration in plasma samples was assessed by LC-MS/MS at various time points.","Twenty-four (24) Cynomolgus non-naïve and naïve monkeys were used in this study.","There were eight (8) groups of animals in the study with three (3) per group and three (3) extra animals.","The animals weighed 2.4 to 6.8 kg and were 3 to 6 years old at pre-study physical examination.","Animals were housed in a temperature- and humidity-monitored environment.","The targeted range of temperature and relative humidity was from 18° C. to 29° C., and from 35% to 70%, respectively.","An automatic lighting system provided a 12-hour light/dark cycle.","Previously quarantined animals were acclimated to the study room for a minimum of 14 days prior to initiation of dosing.","Acclimation phase data was collected from all animals.","Animals in Groups 1 through 8 were administered the test articles on Day 1 at 0.3 mg/kg, dose volume 6.25 mL/kg, concentration 0.048 mg/mL.","Doses were administered as a 15-minute intravenous (IV) infusion, ±1 minute, using a pump and disposable syringe.","For each animal, infusion start and end times were recorded; and subsequent sample collection target times were determined based on infusion end time (t=0).","All blood specimens, approximately 1 mL, were collected by venipuncture from a peripheral vein from restrained, conscious animals.","Knockdown of TTR was observed in all treated groups with observation at Days 10 and 20 after dosing.","The study period was lengthened to 50 days for one group to observe long-term effects.","Referring to FIG.","11, knockdown of Transthyretin protein in vivo was achieved as a result of treatment with UNA oligomer SEQ ID NO:60/100 targeting Transthyretin TTR mRNA, delivered in a liposomal formulation to male Cynomolgus monkeys.","Measurements were made following a single intravenous (IV) dose administration.","TTR protein concentration in plasma samples was assessed by LC-MS/MS at various time points.","As shown in FIG.","11, a single injection in the primates of a UNA oligomer targeted to TTR surprisingly knocked down TTR protein levels to below 50% with a continuous duration of more than one month (30 days).","FIG.","11 shows the unexpectedly advantageous result of over 91% knockdown of TTR in the primates at 20 days, and more than 70% knockdown with a continuous duration of more than 20 days.","The Monkey TTR SRM assay was used, which is a high throughput absolute protein quantitation assay using Selected Reaction Monitoring (SRM) technology platform.","In a single SRM assay, the panel can multiplex up to 200 proteins.","The assay was performed on a targeted absolute protein quantitation platform, where the key technology was SRM, sometimes also referred to as Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM).","In a triple-quadrupole (QQQ) mass spectrometer, SRM/MRM is a tandem selection process where selecting peptides by precursor m/z is followed by selecting fragmentations (transitions) of the targeted peptide.","Further, coupled with liquid chromatography and the addition of heavy labeled internal standards, SRM/MRM is a highly selective, sensitive technology to quantify designated protein with precision.","All publications, patents and literature specifically mentioned herein are incorporated by reference for all purposes.","It is understood that this invention is not limited to the particular methodology, protocols, materials, and reagents described, as these may vary.","It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, which will be encompassed by the appended claims.","It must be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.","As well, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more” and “at least one” can be used interchangeably herein.","It is also to be noted that the terms “comprises,” “comprising”, “containing,” “including”, and “having” can be used interchangeably.","Without further elaboration, it is believed that one skilled in the art can, based on the above description, utilize the present invention to its fullest extent.","The following specific embodiments are, therefore, to be construed as merely illustrative, and not limitative of the remainder of the disclosure in any way whatsoever.","All of the features disclosed in this specification may be combined in any combination.","Each feature disclosed in this specification may be replaced by an alternative feature serving the same, equivalent, or similar purpose."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"UNA OLIGOMERS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR TREATING AMYLOIDOSIS\",\n \"This invention encompasses compounds and compositions useful in methods for medical therapy, in general, for inhibiting expression of a TTR gene in a subject.\",\n \"The compounds have a first strand and a second strand, the monomers comprising UNA monomers and nucleic acid monomers, and the compounds are targeted to a sequence of a TTR gene.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A compound comprising a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-29 monomers in length, the monomers comprising UNA monomers and nucleic acid monomers, wherein the compound has a duplex region of from 14 to 29 contiguous monomers in length, wherein the first strand is a passenger strand for RNA interference and the second strand is a guide strand for RNA interference, and wherein the compound comprises a sequence of bases targeted to inhibit expression of a TTR gene.\",\n \"2.The compound of claim 1, wherein the compound contains one to seven UNA monomers.\",\n \"3.The compound of claim 1, wherein the compound contains a UNA monomer at the 1-end (5′ end for non-UNA) of the first strand, a UNA monomer at the second position from the 3′ end of the first strand, and a UNA monomer at the second position from the 3′ end of the second strand.\",\n \"4.The compound of claim 1, wherein the compound contains a UNA monomer at any one or more of positions 2 to 8 from the 5′ end of the second strand.\",\n \"5.The compound of claim 1, wherein the compound comprises SEQ ID NOs:60/100, SEQ ID NOs:59/99, SEQ ID NOs:43/83, or SEQ ID NOs:61/101.6.The compound of claim 1, wherein the compound has a 3′ overhang comprising one or more UNA monomers, natural nucleotides, non-natural nucleotides, modified nucleotides, or chemically-modified nucleotides, or combinations thereof.\",\n \"7.The compound of claim 1, wherein one or more of the nucleic acid monomers is a non-natural nucleotide, a modified nucleotide, or a chemically-modified nucleotide.\",\n \"8.The compound of claim 1, wherein one or more of the nucleic acid monomers has a 2′-O-methyl group.\",\n \"9.The compound of claim 1, wherein one or more of three monomers at each end of each strand is connected by a phosphorothioate, a chiral phosphorothioate, or a phosphorodithioate linkage.\",\n \"10.A lipid nanoparticle-oligomer compound comprising one or more compounds of claim 1 attached to the lipid nanoparticle.\",\n \"11.A composition comprising one or more compounds of claim 1 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.\",\n \"12.The composition of claim 11, wherein the carrier comprises lipid nanoparticles or liposomes.\",\n \"13.The composition of claim 11, wherein the carrier is a lipid formulation comprising any one or more of the compounds ATX-001 to ATX-032.14.The composition of claim 11, wherein upon administering a single intravenous dose to a subject, the composition reduces TTR protein in the subject by at least 50% after 30 days.\",\n \"15.A method for treating or preventing TTR-related amyloidosis in a subject in need, the method comprising administering to the subject an effective amount of a composition of claim 11 to the subject.\",\n \"16.The method of claim 15, wherein the TTR-related amyloidosis is ATTR.\",\n \"17.The method of claim 15, wherein the administering is intravenous, subcutaneous, pulmonary, intramuscular, intraperitoneal, or dermal.\",\n \"18.The method of claim 15, wherein the effective amount is a dose of from 0.001 to 10.0 mg/kg.\",\n \"19.The method of claim 15, wherein upon administering a single dose to the subject, the composition reduces TTR protein in the subject by at least 50% after 30 days.\",\n \"20.A method for inhibiting expression of a TTR gene in a subject, the method comprising administering to the subject a composition of claim 11.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The presence of certain diseases appears to correlate with expression of a mutant allele.\",\n \"For example, amyloidosis can be correlated to certain transthyretin (TTR) mutations.\",\n \"In such cases, it is desirable to selectively silence expression of the mutant allele, while maintaining expression of the wild-type variant.\",\n \"Amyloidosis related to transthyretin (ATTR) involves the depositing of amyloid fibril proteins in various organs and tissues, including the peripheral, autonomic, and central nervous systems.\",\n \"Transthyretin (TTR) is a secreted thyroid hormone-binding protein that binds and transports retinol binding protein, and serum thyroxine in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid.\",\n \"The pathology of ATTR may include many TTR mutations.\",\n \"Symptoms of ATTR often include neuropathy and/or cardiomyopathy.\",\n \"Peripheral neuropathy can begin in the lower extremities, with sensory and motor neuropathy, and can progress to the upper extremities.\",\n \"Autonomic neuropathy can be manifest by gastrointestinal symptoms and orthostatic hypotension.\",\n \"Patients with TTR gene Val-30-Met, the most common mutation, have normal echocardiograms.\",\n \"However, they may have conduction system irregularities and need a pacemaker.\",\n \"The ATTR V30M variant can cause lower extremity weakness, pain, and impaired sensation, as well as autonomic dysfunction.\",\n \"Vitreous and opaque amyloid deposits can be characteristic of ATTR.\",\n \"Survival upon onset of ATTR may be from five to fifteen years.\",\n \"The major treatment for ATTR amyloidosis is liver transplantation, which removes the major source of variant TTR production and replaces it with normal TTR.\",\n \"Liver transplantation slows disease progression and some improvement in autonomic and peripheral neuropathy can occur.\",\n \"There is currently no pharmacological therapy that can undo the formation of TTR amyloid.\",\n \"There is a continuing need for therapeutics for ATTR and other amyloid-related diseases.\",\n \"There is a long-standing need for gene silencing agents that can selectively downregulate a disease-related allele.\",\n \"There is also a need for active agents that can provide efficient and specific knockdown of TTR.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BRIEF SUMMARY <EOH>This invention relates to the fields of biopharmaceuticals and therapeutics that are operable by gene silencing.\",\n \"More particularly, this invention relates to the structures, compositions and uses of active agents for inhibiting expression of a TTR gene in a subject.\",\n \"The active agents are UNA oligomers that can be used for gene silencing, and among other things, in methods for treating transthyretin-related amyloidosis.\",\n \"This invention relates to the fields of biopharmaceuticals and therapeutics based on allele selective gene silencing.\",\n \"More particularly, this invention relates to methods for treating transthyretin-related amyloidosis with UNA oligomers capable of allele-selective knockdown of transthyretin.\",\n \"This invention provides UNA oligomers for selectively inhibiting V30M TTR expression, which can be used in treating amyloidosis.\",\n \"The UNA oligomers can have a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-29 monomers in length, the monomers being UNA monomers and nucleic acid monomers.\",\n \"Embodiments include pharmaceutical compositions and methods for treating or preventing TTR-related amyloidosis by administering a UNA oligomer to a subject.\",\n \"Embodiments of this invention include the following: A UNA oligomer for selectively inhibiting V30M TTR expression, the oligomer comprising a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-29 monomers in length, the monomers comprising UNA monomers and nucleic acid monomers, wherein the oligomer has a duplex structure of from 14 to 29 monomers in length.\",\n \"The UNA oligomer above, wherein the second strand has at least one UNA monomer in the duplex region.\",\n \"The UNA oligomer above, wherein the at least one UNA monomer in the second strand is at any one of positions 2-8 from the 5′ end.\",\n \"The UNA oligomer above, wherein the at least one UNA monomer in the second strand is at any one of positions 9-18 from the 5′ end.\",\n \"The UNA oligomer above, wherein the at least one UNA monomer in the second strand is at position 6, 7, 15, 16 or 17 from the 5′ end.\",\n \"The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer has an IC50 for reducing V30M TTR expression of less than 20 pM.\",\n \"The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer has a selectivity ratio of at least 10, wherein the selectivity ratio is the ratio of the IC50 for reducing wild type TTR expression to the IC50 for reducing V30M TTR expression.\",\n \"The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer has a selectivity ratio of at least 20.The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer has a selectivity ratio in vitro of at least 50.The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer selectively inhibits V30M TTR expression in vivo.\",\n \"The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer selectively inhibits V30M TTR expression ex vivo.\",\n \"The UNA oligomer above, comprising at least one nucleic acid monomer that is base-modified, sugar-modified, or linkage modified.\",\n \"A compound comprising a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-29 monomers in length, the monomers comprising UNA monomers and nucleic acid monomers, wherein the compound has a duplex region of from 14 to 29 contiguous monomers in length, wherein the first strand is a passenger strand for RNA interference and the second strand is a guide strand for RNA interference, and wherein the compound comprises a sequence of bases targeted to inhibit expression of a TTR gene.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the compound may contain from one to seven UNA monomers.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, the compound may contain a UNA monomer at the 1-end (5′ end for non-UNA) of the first strand, a UNA monomer at the second position from the 3′ end of the first strand, and a UNA monomer at the second position from the 3′ end of the second strand.\",\n \"In further embodiments, the compound may contain a UNA monomer at any one or more of positions 2 to 8 from the 5′ end of the second strand.\",\n \"In additional embodiments, the compound may have a 3′ overhang comprising one or more UNA monomers, natural nucleotides, non-natural nucleotides, modified nucleotides, or chemically-modified nucleotides, or combinations thereof.\",\n \"The compound may have a 3′ overhang comprising one or more deoxythymidine nucleotides, 2′-O-methyl nucleotides, inverted abasic monomers, inverted thymidine monomers, L-thymidine monomers, or glyceryl nucleotides.\",\n \"Embodiments of this invention contemplate compounds in which one or more of the nucleic acid monomers may be a non-natural nucleotide, a modified nucleotide, or a chemically-modified nucleotide.\",\n \"A nucleic acid monomer may have a 2′-O-methyl group, a 2′-methoxyethoxy, or a 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoro ribonucleotide.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the compound may not contain fluorine.\",\n \"A compound may have one or more of three monomers at each end of each strand being connected by a phosphorothioate, a chiral phosphorothioate, or a phosphorodithioate linkage.\",\n \"This invention further contemplates a lipid nanoparticle-oligomer compound comprising one or more compounds above attached to the lipid nanoparticle, as well as compositions containing one or more compounds above and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, the carrier may include lipid nanoparticles or liposomes.\",\n \"A composition of this disclosure, upon administering a single intravenous dose to a subject, may reduce TTR protein in the subject by at least 80% after 10 days, or at least 70% after 20 days, or at least 50% after 30 days.\",\n \"Embodiments of this invention further include methods for treating or preventing TTR-related amyloidosis in a subject in need, by administering to the subject an effective amount of a composition above to the subject.\",\n \"The TTR-related amyloidosis can be ATTR.\",\n \"The administering can be intravenous, subcutaneous, pulmonary, intramuscular, intraperitoneal, or dermal.\",\n \"The effective amount can be a dose of from 0.001 to 10.0 mg/kg.\",\n \"In some embodiments, upon administering a single dose to a subject, the composition may reduce TTR protein in the subject by at least 70% after 20 days, or by at least 50% after 30 days.\",\n \"This invention includes methods for inhibiting expression of a TTR gene in a subject, by administering to the subject a composition above.\",\n \"Further aspects include the use of a composition above for preventing, ameliorating or treating a disease or condition associated with TTR-related amyloidosis in a subject in need, or for use in medical therapy, or for use in the treatment of the human or animal body.\",\n \"This invention further includes compositions above for use in preparing or manufacturing a medicament for preventing, ameliorating or treating a disease or condition associated with TTR-related amyloidosis in a subject in need.\"\n ],\n [\n \"REFERENCE TO THE SEQUENCE LISTING This application includes a Sequence Listing submitted electronically as an ASCII file created on Jan. 20, 2018, named ARC1242US_SL.txt, which is 37,860 bytes in size, and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.\",\n \"BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The presence of certain diseases appears to correlate with expression of a mutant allele.\",\n \"For example, amyloidosis can be correlated to certain transthyretin (TTR) mutations.\",\n \"In such cases, it is desirable to selectively silence expression of the mutant allele, while maintaining expression of the wild-type variant.\",\n \"Amyloidosis related to transthyretin (ATTR) involves the depositing of amyloid fibril proteins in various organs and tissues, including the peripheral, autonomic, and central nervous systems.\",\n \"Transthyretin (TTR) is a secreted thyroid hormone-binding protein that binds and transports retinol binding protein, and serum thyroxine in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid.\",\n \"The pathology of ATTR may include many TTR mutations.\",\n \"Symptoms of ATTR often include neuropathy and/or cardiomyopathy.\",\n \"Peripheral neuropathy can begin in the lower extremities, with sensory and motor neuropathy, and can progress to the upper extremities.\",\n \"Autonomic neuropathy can be manifest by gastrointestinal symptoms and orthostatic hypotension.\",\n \"Patients with TTR gene Val-30-Met, the most common mutation, have normal echocardiograms.\",\n \"However, they may have conduction system irregularities and need a pacemaker.\",\n \"The ATTR V30M variant can cause lower extremity weakness, pain, and impaired sensation, as well as autonomic dysfunction.\",\n \"Vitreous and opaque amyloid deposits can be characteristic of ATTR.\",\n \"Survival upon onset of ATTR may be from five to fifteen years.\",\n \"The major treatment for ATTR amyloidosis is liver transplantation, which removes the major source of variant TTR production and replaces it with normal TTR.\",\n \"Liver transplantation slows disease progression and some improvement in autonomic and peripheral neuropathy can occur.\",\n \"There is currently no pharmacological therapy that can undo the formation of TTR amyloid.\",\n \"There is a continuing need for therapeutics for ATTR and other amyloid-related diseases.\",\n \"There is a long-standing need for gene silencing agents that can selectively downregulate a disease-related allele.\",\n \"There is also a need for active agents that can provide efficient and specific knockdown of TTR.\",\n \"BRIEF SUMMARY This invention relates to the fields of biopharmaceuticals and therapeutics that are operable by gene silencing.\",\n \"More particularly, this invention relates to the structures, compositions and uses of active agents for inhibiting expression of a TTR gene in a subject.\",\n \"The active agents are UNA oligomers that can be used for gene silencing, and among other things, in methods for treating transthyretin-related amyloidosis.\",\n \"This invention relates to the fields of biopharmaceuticals and therapeutics based on allele selective gene silencing.\",\n \"More particularly, this invention relates to methods for treating transthyretin-related amyloidosis with UNA oligomers capable of allele-selective knockdown of transthyretin.\",\n \"This invention provides UNA oligomers for selectively inhibiting V30M TTR expression, which can be used in treating amyloidosis.\",\n \"The UNA oligomers can have a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-29 monomers in length, the monomers being UNA monomers and nucleic acid monomers.\",\n \"Embodiments include pharmaceutical compositions and methods for treating or preventing TTR-related amyloidosis by administering a UNA oligomer to a subject.\",\n \"Embodiments of this invention include the following: A UNA oligomer for selectively inhibiting V30M TTR expression, the oligomer comprising a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-29 monomers in length, the monomers comprising UNA monomers and nucleic acid monomers, wherein the oligomer has a duplex structure of from 14 to 29 monomers in length.\",\n \"The UNA oligomer above, wherein the second strand has at least one UNA monomer in the duplex region.\",\n \"The UNA oligomer above, wherein the at least one UNA monomer in the second strand is at any one of positions 2-8 from the 5′ end.\",\n \"The UNA oligomer above, wherein the at least one UNA monomer in the second strand is at any one of positions 9-18 from the 5′ end.\",\n \"The UNA oligomer above, wherein the at least one UNA monomer in the second strand is at position 6, 7, 15, 16 or 17 from the 5′ end.\",\n \"The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer has an IC50 for reducing V30M TTR expression of less than 20 pM.\",\n \"The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer has a selectivity ratio of at least 10, wherein the selectivity ratio is the ratio of the IC50 for reducing wild type TTR expression to the IC50 for reducing V30M TTR expression.\",\n \"The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer has a selectivity ratio of at least 20.The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer has a selectivity ratio in vitro of at least 50.The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer selectively inhibits V30M TTR expression in vivo.\",\n \"The UNA oligomer above, wherein the oligomer selectively inhibits V30M TTR expression ex vivo.\",\n \"The UNA oligomer above, comprising at least one nucleic acid monomer that is base-modified, sugar-modified, or linkage modified.\",\n \"A compound comprising a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-29 monomers in length, the monomers comprising UNA monomers and nucleic acid monomers, wherein the compound has a duplex region of from 14 to 29 contiguous monomers in length, wherein the first strand is a passenger strand for RNA interference and the second strand is a guide strand for RNA interference, and wherein the compound comprises a sequence of bases targeted to inhibit expression of a TTR gene.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the compound may contain from one to seven UNA monomers.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, the compound may contain a UNA monomer at the 1-end (5′ end for non-UNA) of the first strand, a UNA monomer at the second position from the 3′ end of the first strand, and a UNA monomer at the second position from the 3′ end of the second strand.\",\n \"In further embodiments, the compound may contain a UNA monomer at any one or more of positions 2 to 8 from the 5′ end of the second strand.\",\n \"In additional embodiments, the compound may have a 3′ overhang comprising one or more UNA monomers, natural nucleotides, non-natural nucleotides, modified nucleotides, or chemically-modified nucleotides, or combinations thereof.\",\n \"The compound may have a 3′ overhang comprising one or more deoxythymidine nucleotides, 2′-O-methyl nucleotides, inverted abasic monomers, inverted thymidine monomers, L-thymidine monomers, or glyceryl nucleotides.\",\n \"Embodiments of this invention contemplate compounds in which one or more of the nucleic acid monomers may be a non-natural nucleotide, a modified nucleotide, or a chemically-modified nucleotide.\",\n \"A nucleic acid monomer may have a 2′-O-methyl group, a 2′-methoxyethoxy, or a 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoro ribonucleotide.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the compound may not contain fluorine.\",\n \"A compound may have one or more of three monomers at each end of each strand being connected by a phosphorothioate, a chiral phosphorothioate, or a phosphorodithioate linkage.\",\n \"This invention further contemplates a lipid nanoparticle-oligomer compound comprising one or more compounds above attached to the lipid nanoparticle, as well as compositions containing one or more compounds above and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, the carrier may include lipid nanoparticles or liposomes.\",\n \"A composition of this disclosure, upon administering a single intravenous dose to a subject, may reduce TTR protein in the subject by at least 80% after 10 days, or at least 70% after 20 days, or at least 50% after 30 days.\",\n \"Embodiments of this invention further include methods for treating or preventing TTR-related amyloidosis in a subject in need, by administering to the subject an effective amount of a composition above to the subject.\",\n \"The TTR-related amyloidosis can be ATTR.\",\n \"The administering can be intravenous, subcutaneous, pulmonary, intramuscular, intraperitoneal, or dermal.\",\n \"The effective amount can be a dose of from 0.001 to 10.0 mg/kg.\",\n \"In some embodiments, upon administering a single dose to a subject, the composition may reduce TTR protein in the subject by at least 70% after 20 days, or by at least 50% after 30 days.\",\n \"This invention includes methods for inhibiting expression of a TTR gene in a subject, by administering to the subject a composition above.\",\n \"Further aspects include the use of a composition above for preventing, ameliorating or treating a disease or condition associated with TTR-related amyloidosis in a subject in need, or for use in medical therapy, or for use in the treatment of the human or animal body.\",\n \"This invention further includes compositions above for use in preparing or manufacturing a medicament for preventing, ameliorating or treating a disease or condition associated with TTR-related amyloidosis in a subject in need.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 shows the single nucleotide polymorph (SNP) that exists at position 284 in the V30M mutation mRNA, as compared to the wild type (WT) TTR mRNA.\",\n \"Conventional siRNAs that are complementary to the WT mRNA can be tiled around position 284.FIG.\",\n \"2 shows that the conventional siRNAs complementary to the WT mRNA have limited activity in silencing the WT TTR gene, as measured by TTR knockdown in HepG2 cells.\",\n \"Positions 5, 9, 14 and 15, indicated by arrows, appear to be more accessible to silencing than other positions.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 shows that conventional siRNAs that are complementary to the V30M mRNA can be tiled around position 284.Four conventional siRNA variations, namely V30M-P5, V30M-P9, V30M-P14, and V30M-P15, were prepared.\",\n \"Also, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"3, two reporter variants, V30V and V30M, each bearing nucleotide sequence 264 to 304 of human TTR, V30V being without the point mutation at position 284, and V30M containing the point mutation at position 284, were prepared and used in the PSICHECK reporter system in the 3′-UTR region of Luciferase gene.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 shows the activity of the four conventional siRNA variations V30M-P5, V30M-P9, V30M-P14, and V30M-P15 measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay against V30V and V30M gene reporter variants.\",\n \"The conventional siRNA variations V30M-P5, V30M-P9, and V30M-P15 were more effective against V30M than V30V.\",\n \"The conventional siRNA variation V30M-P14 was not more effective against V30M than V30V.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 shows IC50 analysis for the four conventional siRNA variations V30M-P5, V30M-P9, V30M-P14, and V30M-P15 measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay against V30V and V30M gene reporter variants.\",\n \"The conventional V30M-P15 variant was 5.6 times more effective against V30M than V30V.\",\n \"Thus, the selectivity of the conventional siRNAs against V30M over V30V was no more than 5.6.FIG.\",\n \"6 shows the structure of UNA oligomers that were effective in silencing V30M TTR, as measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay.\",\n \"Each of the UNA oligomer embodiments, P15U6, P15U7, P15U14, P15U15, and P15U16, contained four UNA monomers.\",\n \"In each UNA oligomer, a first UNA monomer was located at the 5′ end of the first strand, also called the passenger strand.\",\n \"In each UNA oligomer, the second strand, also called the guide strand, formed a duplex region of 19 monomers length with the first strand.\",\n \"Each UNA oligomer had a duplex region of 19 monomers, and a two-monomer overhang at each end.\",\n \"In each UNA oligomer, a second UNA monomer was located at the 3′ end of the first strand, in the 20th position, which is in an overhang portion.\",\n \"In each UNA oligomer, a third UNA monomer was located at the 3′ end of the second strand, in the 20th position, which is in an overhang portion.\",\n \"In the UNA oligomer embodiments, P15U6, P15U7, P15U14, P15U15, and P15U16, a fourth UNA monomer was located in the second strand at positions 6, 7, 14, 15 and 16, respectively, counting from the 5′ end of the second strand.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 shows the activity of UNA oligomers P15U6, P15U7, P15U15, and P15U16, measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay against V30V and V30M gene reporter variants, as compared to the conventional siRNA V30M-P15.For each of the UNA oligomer embodiments, P15U6, P15U7, P15U15, and P15U16, the UNA oligomers were more effective against V30M than V30V.\",\n \"Surprisingly, the activity of the UNA oligomer P15U6 was substantially and advantageously superior to the activity of the conventional siRNA V30M-P15, where each is targeted to V30M.\",\n \"Furthermore, FIG.\",\n \"7 shows the surprising and unexpected result that the selectivity of the UNA oligomers, P15U6, P15U7, P15U15, and P15U16, against V30M over V30V was substantially greater than for the conventional siRNA V30M-P15.In particular, the selectivity of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30M over V30V was 24, meaning that the IC50 of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30M (37.6 pM) was 24 times lower than the IC50 of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30V (919.9 pM).\",\n \"This selectivity was advantageously 4-fold superior to the selectivity of 5.6 shown above in FIG.\",\n \"5 for the conventional siRNA.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 shows the structure of UNA oligomers that were effective in silencing V30M TTR, as measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay.\",\n \"Each of the UNA oligomer embodiments, P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, P16U16, and P16U17, contained four UNA monomers.\",\n \"In each UNA oligomer, a first UNA monomer was located at the 5′ end of the first strand, also called the passenger strand.\",\n \"In each UNA oligomer, the second strand, also called the guide strand, formed a duplex region of 19 monomers length with the first strand.\",\n \"Each UNA oligomer had a duplex region of 19 monomers, and a two-monomer overhang at each end.\",\n \"In each UNA oligomer, a second UNA monomer was located at the 3′ end of the first strand, in the 20th position, which is in an overhang portion.\",\n \"In each UNA oligomer, a third UNA monomer was located at the 3′ end of the second strand, in the 20th position, which is in an overhang portion.\",\n \"In the UNA oligomer embodiments, P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, P16U16, and P16U17, a fourth UNA monomer was located in the second strand at positions 6, 7, 15, 16 and 17, respectively, counting from the 5′ end of the second strand.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 shows the activity of UNA oligomers P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, and P16U16, measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay against V30V and V30M gene reporter variants, as compared to the conventional siRNA V30M-P16.For each of the UNA oligomer embodiments, P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, and P16U16, the UNA oligomers were more effective against V30M than V30V.\",\n \"Surprisingly, the activity of each of the UNA oligomers P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, and P16U16, was substantially and advantageously superior to the activity of the conventional siRNA V30M-P16, where each is targeted to V30M.\",\n \"Furthermore, FIG.\",\n \"9 shows the surprising and unexpected result that the selectivity of the UNA oligomers, P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, and P16U16, against V30M over V30V was substantially greater than for the conventional siRNA V30M-P16.In particular, the selectivity of UNA oligomer P16U6 against V30M over V30V was 23, meaning that the IC50 of UNA oligomer P16U6 against V30M (92.4 pM) was 23 times lower than the IC50 of UNA oligomer P16U6 against V30V (2119 pM).\",\n \"This selectivity was advantageously 4-fold superior to the selectivity of 5.6 shown above in FIG.\",\n \"5 for the conventional siRNA.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 (left) shows the selectivity of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30M over V30V.\",\n \"The IC50 of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30M (37.6 pM) was 24 times lower than the IC50 of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30V (919.9 pM).\",\n \"This selectivity was advantageously 4-fold superior to the selectivity of 5.6 shown in FIG.\",\n \"5 above for the conventional siRNA.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 (right) shows the surprising and unexpected result that the IC50 of UNA oligomer P16U6 against V30M (92.4 pM) was 23 times lower than the IC50 of UNA oligomer P16U6 against V30V (2119 pM).\",\n \"This selectivity was advantageously 4-fold superior to the selectivity of 5.6 shown above in FIG.\",\n \"5 for the conventional siRNA.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11 shows knockdown of Transthyretin protein in vivo as a result of treatment with UNA oligomers targeting Transthyretin TTR mRNA, delivered in a liposomal formulation to male Cynomolgus monkeys.\",\n \"Measurements were made following a single intravenous (IV) dose administration.\",\n \"TTR protein concentration in plasma samples was assessed by LC-MS/MS at various time points.\",\n \"Animals were administered test doses on Day 1 at 0.3 mg/kg.\",\n \"Doses were administered as a 15-minute intravenous (IV) infusion, +1 minute, using a pump and disposable syringe.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention provides UNA oligomers for selectively inhibiting V30M TTR expression.\",\n \"The UNA oligomers of this invention can be used as therapeutics for treating amyloidosis.\",\n \"In particular, this invention provides UNA oligomers, compositions and methods for treating transthyretin-related amyloidosis.\",\n \"The UNA oligomers can have a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-29 monomers in length, the monomers being UNA monomers and nucleic acid monomers.\",\n \"Embodiments of this invention include compositions and methods for treating or preventing TTR-related amyloidosis by administering a UNA oligomer to a subject.\",\n \"The UNA oligomers of this invention are capable of allele-specific knockdown of transthyretin.\",\n \"In some embodiments, UNA oligomers are provided for treating amyloidosis related to transthyretin (ATTR).\",\n \"The UNA oligomers of this invention can reduce the depositing of amyloid fibril proteins in various organs and tissues, including the peripheral, autonomic, and central nervous systems.\",\n \"In certain aspects, this invention provides therapeutics for ATTR and related amyloid-related diseases.\",\n \"Aspects of this invention include UNA oligomers that can be used for treating clinical features of ATTR amyloidosis, including neuropathy and/or cardiomyopathy.\",\n \"In some embodiments, UNA oligomers of this invention are targeted to one mutation Val-30-Met TTR.\",\n \"This invention can provide a pharmacological therapy that can undo the formation of TTR amyloid.\",\n \"Homo sapiens transthyretin (TTR) mRNA is found at NCBI Reference Sequence: NM_000371.3.In some aspects, a composition of this invention can provide an unexpectedly advantageous duration of action.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, upon administering a single dose of a composition containing a UNA oligomer of this invention, the TTR protein in a subject may be reduced by at least 90% after 20 days.\",\n \"In further embodiments, upon administering a single dose of a pharmaceutical composition containing a UNA oligomer of this invention, the TTR protein in a subject may be reduced by at least 70% for a period of at least 20 days.\",\n \"In additional embodiments, upon administering a single dose of a pharmaceutical composition containing a UNA oligomer of this invention, the TTR protein in a subject may be reduced by at least 50% for a period of at least 30 days.\",\n \"A subject can be a primate, a human, or other mammal.\",\n \"UNA Oligomers The UNA oligomers of this invention can be used for inhibiting V30M TTR expression.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer of this invention the oligomer may have a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-29 monomers in length.\",\n \"The monomers of a UNA oligomer can include UNA monomers and nucleic acid monomers A UNA oligomer can be a duplex structure of from 14 to 29 monomers in length.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the second strand of a UNA oligomer can have at least one UNA monomer in the duplex region.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer can have at least one UNA monomer in the second strand at any of positions 6, 7, 15, 16 or 17 from the 5′ end in the duplex region.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer of this invention may have any number of UNA monomers within its total length.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer can include a nucleic acid monomer that is base-modified, sugar-modified, or linkage modified.\",\n \"Embodiments of this invention further provide UNA oligomers that selectively inhibit V30M TTR expression.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer has an IC50 for reducing V30M TTR expression in vitro of less than 20 pM.\",\n \"In further embodiments, a UNA oligomer can have a selectivity ratio in vitro of at least 5.The selectivity ratio is the ratio of the IC50 for reducing V30M TTR expression to the IC50 for reducing wild type TTR expression.\",\n \"The selectivity ratio of a UNA oligomer of this invention can range from 2 to 1000.In certain embodiments, the selectivity ratio of a UNA oligomer is at least 2, or at least 5, or at least 10, or at least 30, or at least 30, or at least 50, or at least 100.In some aspects, a UNA oligomer of this invention can selectively inhibit V30M TTR expression in vivo.\",\n \"In certain aspects, a UNA oligomer of this invention can selectively inhibit V30M TTR expression ex vivo.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer can be an active pharmaceutical molecule being a chain composed of monomers, also called an oligomer.\",\n \"The monomers of the oligomer can include UNA monomers and other nucleic acid monomers.\",\n \"The UNA monomers are novel, synthetic molecules that can be attached in a chain to form an oligomer.\",\n \"The nucleic acid monomers can be naturally-occurring nucleotides, modified naturally-occurring nucleotides, or certain non-naturally-occurring nucleotides.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer of this invention is a synthetic, pharmacologically active molecule and can be used in the treatment of a condition or disease.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer of this disclosure can be a double stranded oligomer.\",\n \"Each strand of the double stranded oligomer can be composed of UNA monomers along with a number of nucleic acid monomers for a total length of 19 to 29 monomers.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer of this invention can contain one or more UNA monomers in any strand.\",\n \"The UNA monomers can be in a single strand, or in either strand of a double stranded UNA oligomer, or in both strands of a double stranded UNA oligomer.\",\n \"UNA Monomers In some embodiments, linker group monomers can be unlocked nucleomonomers (UNA monomers), which are small organic molecules based on a propane-1,2,3-tri-yl-trisoxy structure as shown below: where R1 and R2 are H, and R1 and R2 can be phosphodiester linkages, Base can be a nucleobase, and R3 is a functional group described below.\",\n \"In another view, the UNA monomer main atoms can be drawn in IUPAC notation as follows: where the direction of progress of the oligomer chain is from the 1-end to the 3-end of the propane residue.\",\n \"Examples of a nucleobase include uracil, thymine, cytosine, 5-methylcytosine, adenine, guanine, inosine, and natural and non-natural nucleobase analogues.\",\n \"In general, because the UNA monomers are not nucleotides, they can exhibit at least four forms in an oligomer.\",\n \"First, a UNA monomer can be an internal monomer in an oligomer, where the UNA monomer is flanked by other monomers on both sides.\",\n \"In this form, the UNA monomer can participate in base pairing when the oligomer is a duplex, for example, and there are other monomers with nucleobases in the duplex.\",\n \"Examples of UNA monomer as internal monomers flanked at both the propane-1-yl position and the propane-3-yl position, where R3 is —OH, are shown below.\",\n \"Second, a UNA monomer can be a monomer in an overhang of an oligomer duplex, where the UNA monomer is flanked by other monomers on both sides.\",\n \"In this form, the UNA monomer does not participate in base pairing.\",\n \"Because the UNA monomers are flexible organic structures, unlike nucleotides, the overhang containing a UNA monomer will be a flexible terminator for the oligomer.\",\n \"A UNA monomer can be a terminal monomer in an overhang of an oligomer, where the UNA monomer is attached to only one monomer at either the propane-1-yl position or the propane-3-yl position.\",\n \"In this form, the UNA monomer does not participate in base pairing.\",\n \"Because the UNA monomers are flexible organic structures, unlike nucleotides, the overhang containing a UNA monomer can be a flexible terminator for the oligomer.\",\n \"Examples of a UNA monomer as a terminal monomer attached at the propane-3-yl position are shown below.\",\n \"Because a UNA monomer can be a flexible molecule, a UNA monomer as a terminal monomer can assume widely differing conformations.\",\n \"An example of an energy minimized UNA monomer conformation as a terminal monomer attached at the propane-3-yl position is shown below.\",\n \"Thus, UNA oligomers having a terminal UNA monomer are significantly different in structure from conventional nucleic acid agents, such as siRNAs.\",\n \"For example, siRNAs may require that terminal monomers or overhangs in a duplex be stabilized.\",\n \"In contrast, the conformability of a terminal UNA monomer can provide UNA oligomers with different properties.\",\n \"Among other things, the structure of the UNA monomer allows it to be attached to naturally-occurring nucleotides.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer can be a chain composed of UNA monomers, as well as various nucleotides that may be based on naturally-occurring nucleosides.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the functional group R3 of a UNA monomer can be —OR4, —SR4, —NR42, —NH(C═O)R4, morpholino, morpholin-1-yl, piperazin-1-yl, or 4-alkanoyl-piperazin-1-yl, where R4 is the same or different for each occurrence, and can be H, alkyl, a cholesterol, a lipid molecule, a polyamine, an amino acid, or a polypeptide.\",\n \"The UNA monomers are organic molecules.\",\n \"UNA monomers are not nucleic acid monomers or nucleotides, nor are they naturally-occurring nucleosides or modified naturally-occurring nucleosides.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer of this invention is a synthetic chain molecule.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer of this invention is not a nucleic acid, nor an oligonucleotide.\",\n \"In some embodiments, as shown above, a UNA monomer can be UNA-A (designated Ã), UNA-U (designated Ũ), UNA-C (designated Č), and UNA-G (designated Ğ).\",\n \"Designations that may be used herein include mA, mG, mC, and mU, which refer to the 2′-O-Methyl modified ribonucleotides.\",\n \"Designations that may be used herein include lower case c and u, which refer to the 2′-O-methyl modified ribonucleotides.\",\n \"Designations that may be used herein include dT, which refers to a 2′-deoxy T nucleotide.\",\n \"Monomers for UNA Oligomers As used herein, in the context of oligomer sequences, the symbol X represents a UNA monomer.\",\n \"As used herein, in the context of oligomer sequences, the symbol N represents any natural nucleotide monomer, or a modified nucleotide monomer.\",\n \"As used herein, in the context of oligomer sequences, the symbol Q represents a non-natural, modified, or chemically-modified nucleotide monomer.\",\n \"When a Q monomer appears in one strand of the oligomer, and is unpaired with the other strand, the monomer can have any base attached.\",\n \"When a Q monomer appears in one strand of the oligomer, and is paired with a monomer in the other strand, the Q monomer can have any base attached that would be complementary to the monomer in the corresponding paired position in the other strand.\",\n \"Examples of nucleic acid monomers include non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotides, including any such nucleotides known in the art.\",\n \"Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include 2′-O-methyl ribonucleotides, 2′-O-methyl purine nucleotides, 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoro ribonucleotides, 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoro pyrimidine nucleotides, 2′-deoxy ribonucleotides, 2′-deoxy purine nucleotides, universal base nucleotides, 5-C-methyl-nucleotides, and inverted deoxyabasic monomer residues.\",\n \"Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include 3′-end stabilized nucleotides, 3′-glyceryl nucleotides, 3′-inverted abasic nucleotides, and 3′-inverted thymidine, and L-thymidine.\",\n \"Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include locked nucleic acid nucleotides, 2′-O,4′-C-methylene-(D-ribofuranosyl) nucleotides, 2′-methoxyethoxy (MOE) nucleotides, 2′-methyl-thio-ethyl, 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoro nucleotides, and 2′-O-methyl nucleotides.\",\n \"Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include 2′-amino nucleotides, 2′-O-amino nucleotides, 2′-C-allyl nucleotides, and 2′-O-allyl nucleotides.\",\n \"Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include N6-methyladenosine nucleotides.\",\n \"Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include nucleotide monomers with modified bases 5-(3-amino)propyluridine, 5-(2-mercapto)ethyluridine, 5-bromouridine; 8-bromoguanosine, or 7-deazaadenosine.\",\n \"Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include 2′-O-aminopropyl substituted nucleotides.\",\n \"Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include 2′-O-guanidinopropyl substituted nucleotides.\",\n \"Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include Pseudouridines.\",\n \"Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include replacing the 2′-OH group of a nucleotide with a 2′-R, a 2′-OR, a 2′-halogen, a 2′-SR, or a 2′-amino, or a 2′-azido, where R can be H, alkyl, fluorine-substituted alkyl, alkenyl, or alkynyl.\",\n \"Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include replacing the 2′—OH group of a nucleotide with a 2′-R or 2′-OR, where R can be CN, CF3, alkylamino, or aralkyl.\",\n \"Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include nucleotides with a modified sugar such as an F-HNA, an HNA, a CeNA, a bicyclic sugar, or an LNA.\",\n \"Examples of non-natural, modified, and chemically-modified nucleotide monomers include 2′-oxa-3′-aza-4′a-carbanucleoside monomers, 3-hydroxymethyl-5-(1H-1,2,3-triazol)-isoxazolidine monomers, and 5′-triazolyl-2′-oxa-3′-aza-4′a-carbanucleoside monomers.\",\n \"Some examples of modified nucleotides are given in Saenger, Principles of Nucleic Acid Structure, Springer-Verlag, 1984.Details of UNA Oligomer Structure Aspects of this invention can provide structures and compositions for UNA-containing oligomeric compounds.\",\n \"The oligomeric agents may incorporate one or more UNA monomers.\",\n \"Oligomeric molecules of this invention can be used as active agents in formulations for gene regulating or gene silencing therapeutics.\",\n \"In some embodiments, this invention provides oligomeric compounds having a structure that incorporates novel combinations of UNA monomers with certain natural nucleotides, non-natural nucleotides, modified nucleotides, or chemically-modified nucleotides.\",\n \"In further aspects, the oligomeric compounds can be pharmacologically active molecules.\",\n \"UNA oligomers of this invention can be used as active pharmaceutical ingredients for regulating gene expression, and in RNA interference methods, as well as antisense, RNA blocking, and micro-RNA strategies.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer of this invention can have the structure of Formula I wherein L1 is a linkage, n is from 19 to 29, and for each occurrence L2 is a UNA linker group having the formula —C1—C2—C3—, where R is attached to C2 and has the formula —OCH(CH2R3)R5, where R3 is —OR4, —SR4, —NR42, —NH(C═O)R4, morpholino, morpholin-1-yl, piperazin-1-yl, or 4-alkanoyl-piperazin-1-yl, where R4 is the same or different for each occurrence and is H, alkyl, a cholesterol, a lipid molecule, a polyamine, an amino acid, or a polypeptide, and where R5 is a nucleobase, or L2(R) is a sugar such as a ribose and R is a nucleobase, or L2 is a modified sugar such as a modified ribose and R is a nucleobase.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, a nucleobase can be a modified nucleobase.\",\n \"L1 can be a phosphodiester linkage.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer of this invention can be a short chain molecule.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer can be a duplex pair.\",\n \"Thus, a UNA oligomer can have a first strand of the duplex and a second strand of the duplex, which is complementary to the first strand with respect to the nucleobases, although up to three mismatches can occur.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer duplex can have overhangs.\",\n \"Some UNA oligomers are discussed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,314,227, as well as US Patent Publication No.\",\n \"20110313020 A1.The target of a UNA oligomer can be a target nucleic acid.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the target can be any TTR mRNA of a subject.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer can be active for gene silencing in RNA interference.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer may comprise two strands that together provide a duplex.\",\n \"The duplex may be composed of a first strand, which may also be referred to as a passenger strand or sense strand, and a second strand, which may also be referred to as a guide strand or antisense strand.\",\n \"In some aspects, a UNA oligomer of this invention can have any number of phosphorothioate intermonomer linkages in any position in any strand, or in both strands of a duplex structure.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention can have a phosphorothioate intermonomer linkage between the last one or two monomers at either end of any strand.\",\n \"In some embodiments, any one or more of the intermonomer linkages of a UNA oligomer can be a phosphodiester, a phosphorothioate including dithioates, a chiral phosphorothioate, and other chemically modified forms.\",\n \"Examples of UNA oligomers of this invention include duplex pairs, which are in general complementary.\",\n \"Thus, for example, SEQ ID NO: 1 can represent a first strand of a duplex and SEQ ID NO:2 can represent a second strand of the duplex, which is complementary to the first strand.\",\n \"For example, the symbol “N” in the first strand can represent any nucleotide that is complementary to the monomer in the corresponding position in the second strand.\",\n \"Example UNA oligomers of this disclosure are shown with 2-monomer length overhangs, although overhangs of from 1 to 8 monomers, or longer, can be used.\",\n \"The symbol “X” in a strand or oligomer represents a UNA monomer.\",\n \"When a UNA monomer appears in one strand of the oligomer, and is unpaired with the other strand, the monomer can have any base attached.\",\n \"When a UNA monomer appears in one strand of the oligomer, and is paired with a monomer in the other strand, the UNA monomer can have any base attached that would be complementary to the monomer in the corresponding paired position in the other strand.\",\n \"Further, when the oligomer terminates in a UNA monomer, the terminal position has a 1-end, according to the positional numbering shown above, instead of a 5′-end as for a nucleotide, or the terminal position has a 3-end, according to the positional numbering shown above, instead of a 3′-end as for a nucleotide.\",\n \"For example, the UNA oligomer SEQ ID NO: 1 1-X•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•X•X-3 3-X•X•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•N•X•X•X•X•X•X•X•N-5′ SEQ ID NO: 2 has a UNA monomer 1-end on the first strand, a UNA monomer 3-end on the first strand, a UNA monomer 3-end on the second strand, and a nucleotide 5′-end on the second strand.\",\n \"Complementarity of strands can involve mismatches.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, complementarity of strands can include one to three, or more, mismatches.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention can have one or more UNA monomers at the 1-end of the first strand, and one or more UNA monomers at the 3-end of the first strand.\",\n \"In further embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention can have one or more UNA monomers at the 3-end of the second strand.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, a duplex UNA oligomer of this invention can have one or more UNA monomers at the 1-end of the first strand, one or more UNA monomers at the 3-end of the first strand, and one or more UNA monomers at the 3-end of the second strand.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer of this invention the oligomer may have a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands independently being 19-23 monomers in length.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention may have a first strand that is 19-23 monomers in length.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention may have a duplex region that is 19-21 monomers in length.\",\n \"In further embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention may have a second strand that is 19-23 monomers in length.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention may have a first strand that is 19 monomers in length, and a second strand that is 21 monomers in length.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention may have a first strand that is 20 monomers in length, and a second strand that is 21 monomers in length.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention may have a first strand that is 21 monomers in length, and a second strand that is 21 monomers in length.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention may have a first strand that is 22 monomers in length, and a second strand that is 21 monomers in length.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer of this invention for inhibiting gene expression can have a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-29 monomers in length.\",\n \"The monomers can be UNA monomers and nucleic acid nucleoside monomers.\",\n \"The oligomer can have a duplex structure of from 14 to 29 monomers in length.\",\n \"The UNA oligomer can be targeted to a target gene and can exhibit reduced off-target effects as compared to a conventional siRNA.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a UNA oligomer of this invention can have a first strand and a second strand, each of the strands being 19-23 monomers in length.\",\n \"In another aspect, the UNA oligomer may have a blunt end, or may have one or more overhangs.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the first and second strands may be connected with a connecting oligomer in between the strands, and form a duplex region with a connecting loop at one end.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, an overhang can be one or two monomers in length.\",\n \"Examples of an overhang can contain one or more UNA monomers, natural nucleotides, non-natural nucleotides, modified nucleotides, or chemically-modified nucleotides, and combinations thereof.\",\n \"Examples of an overhang can contain one or more deoxythymidine nucleotides, 2′-O-methyl nucleotides, inverted abasic monomers, inverted thymidine monomers, L-thymidine monomers, or glyceryl nucleotides.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer can mediate cleavage of a target nucleic acid in a cell.\",\n \"In some processes, the second strand of the UNA oligomer, at least a portion of which can be complementary to the target nucleic acid, can act as a guide strand that can hybridize to the target nucleic acid.\",\n \"The second strand can be incorporated into an RNA Induced Silencing Complex (RISC).\",\n \"In some embodiments, a UNA oligomer may have a strand that is a DICER substrate.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer of this disclosure may comprise naturally-occurring nucleic acid nucleotides, and modifications thereof that are compatible with gene silencing activity.\",\n \"In some aspects, a UNA oligomer is a double stranded construct molecule that is able to inhibit gene expression.\",\n \"As used herein, the term strand refers to a single, contiguous chain of monomers, the chain having any number of internal monomers and two end monomers, where each end monomer is attached to one internal monomer on one side, and is not attached to a monomer on the other side, so that it ends the chain.\",\n \"The monomers of a UNA oligomer may be attached via phosphodiester linkages, phosphorothioate linkages, gapped linkages, and other variations.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a UNA oligomer can include mismatches in complementarity between the first and second strands.\",\n \"In other embodiments, a UNA oligomer may have 1, or 2, or 3 mismatches.\",\n \"The mismatches may occur at any position in the duplex region.\",\n \"The target of a UNA oligomer can be a target nucleic acid of a target gene.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer may have one or two overhangs outside the duplex region.\",\n \"The overhangs can be an unpaired portion at the end of the first strand or second strand.\",\n \"The lengths of the overhang portions of the first and second strands can be the same or different.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer may have at least one blunt end.\",\n \"A blunt end does not have an overhang portion, and the duplex region at a blunt end terminates at the same position for both the first and second strands.\",\n \"A UNA oligomer can be RISC length, which means that it has a duplex length of less than 25 base pairs.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer can be a single strand that folds upon itself and hybridizes to itself to form a double stranded region having a connecting loop at the end of the double stranded region.\",\n \"Examples of UNA oligomer structures of this invention are shown in Table 1.TABLE 1 Examples of UNA oligomer structures.\",\n \"First strand Second strand Oligomer 1 to 3′ 5′ to 3′ P15U6 SEQ ID NO: 3 SEQ ID NO: 4 ĞGCCAUGCAUGUGUUCAGAŨmU UCUGAÃCACAUGCAUGGCCŨmU P15U7 SEQ ID NO: 5 SEQ ID NO: 6 ĞGCCAUGCAUGUGUUCAGAŨmU UCUGAAĈACAUGCAUGGCCŨmU P15U14 SEQ ID NO: 7 SEQ ID NO: 8 ĞGCCAUGCAUGUGUUCAGAŨmU UCUGAACACAUGCÃUGGCCŨmU P15U15 SEQ ID NO: 9 SEQ ID NO: 10 ĞGCCAUGCAUGUGUUCAGAŨmU UCUGAACACAUGCAŨGGCCŨmU P15U16 SEQ ID NO: 11 SEQ ID NO: 12 ĞGCCAUGCAUGUGUUCAGAŨmU UCUGAACACAUGCAUĞGCCŨmU Examples of UNA oligomer structures of this invention are shown in Table 2.TABLE 2 Examples of UNA oligomer structures.\",\n \"First strand Second strand Oligomer 1 to 3′ 5′ to 3′ P16U6 SEQ ID NO: 13 SEQ ID NO: 14 ĞCCAUGCAUGUGUUCAGAAŨmU UUCUGÃACACAUGCAUGGCŨmU P16U7 SEQ ID NO: 15 SEQ ID NO: 16 ĞCCAUGCAUGUGUUCAGAAŨmU UUCUGAÃCACAUGCAUGGCŨmU P16U15 SEQ ID NO: 17 SEQ ID NO: 18 ĞCCAUGCAUGUGUUCAGAAŨmU UUCUGAACACAUGCÃUGGCŨmU P16U16 SEQ ID NO: 19 SEQ ID NO: 20 ĞCCAUGCAUGUGUUCAGAAŨmU UUCUGAACACAUGCAŨGGCŨmU P16U17 SEQ ID NO: 21 SEQ ID NO: 22 ĞCCAUGCAUGUGUUCAGAAŨmU UUCUGAACACAUGCAUĞGCŨmU Examples of sequences of UNA oligomers of this invention targeted to a TTR component are shown in Table 3.“Ref Pos” refers to reference position, which is the numerical position of a reference nucleotide in a TTR mRNA.\",\n \"In Table 3, a UNA oligomer would be composed of pairs SEQ ID NOs:23 and 63, 24 and 64, etc.\",\n \"TABLE 3 UNA oligomers for TTR component target sequences SEQ SEQ REF ID Sense (5′-3′) ID Antisense (5′-3′) POS NO SEQ ID NOS: 23 to 62 NO SEQ ID NOS: 63 to 102 626 23 AUGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUac 63 GUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACAU 626 24 AUGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUac 64 GUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACĀŨ 626 25 ĀŨGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUac 65 GUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACAU 626 26 ĀŨGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUac 66 GUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACĀŨ 626 27 AUGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUĀĈ 67 GUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACĀŨ 626 28 AUGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCĀŨUUUUac 68 GUAAAAAUGGAAŨACUCUUGGUUACĀŨ 628 29 GUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUACta 69 UAGUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUAC 628 30 ĜŨAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUACta 70 UAGUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUAC 628 31 GUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUACta 71 UAGUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUĀĈ 628 32 ĜŨAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUACta 72 UAGUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUĀĈ 628 33 GUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUACŨĀ 73 UAGUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUĀĈ 628 34 GUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUŨŨUUACUA 74 UAGUAAAAAUGGAĀUACUCUUGGUUĀĈ 628 35 ĜUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUtt 75 AUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACtt 628 36 GUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUtt 76 AUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACŨŨ 628 37 ĜUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUtt 77 AUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACŨŨ 628 38 GUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUŨŨ 78 AUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACŨŨ 628 39 ĜUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUŨŨ 79 AUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACŨŨ 628 40 GUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUŨŨ 80 AUGGAAŨACUCUUGGUUACŨŨ 628 41 ĞUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUŨŨ 81 AUGGAAŨACUCUUGGUUACŨŨ 628 42 ĞUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUŨŨ 82 AUGGAAŨACUCUUGGUUACAŨ 628 43 ĞUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUŨmU 83 AUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACŨmU 628 44 ĞUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUŨmU 84 AUGĞAAUACUCUUGGUUACŨmU 628 45 ĞUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUŨmU 85 AUGGĀAUACUCUUGGUUACŨmU 628 46 ĞUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUŨmU 86 AUGGAĀUACUCUUGGUUACŨmU 626 47 ĀUGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCŨmU 87 GGAĀUACUCUUGGUUACAUŨmU 626 48 ĀUGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCŨmU 88 GGAAUACUCUUGGUUACAUŨmU 626 49 ĀUGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCŨmU 89 GGAAŨACUCUUGGUUACAUŨmU 626 50 ĀUGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCŨmU 90 GGAAUĀCUCUUGGUUACAUŨmU 635 51 ĀGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUACŨmU 91 AGUAAAAAUGGAAUACUCŨmU 635 52 ĀGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUACŨmU 92 AGUĀAAAAUGGAAUACUCUmU 635 53 ĀGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUACŨmU 93 AGUAĀAAAUGGAAUACUCUmU 635 54 ĀGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUACŨmU 94 AGUAAĀAAUGGAAUACUCŨmU 174 55 ĞACUGGUAUUUGUGUCUGAŨmU 95 UCAGACACAAAUACCAGUCĈmA 174 56 ĞACUGGUAUUUGUGUCUGAŨmU 96 UCAĞACACAAAUACCAGUCĈmA 174 57 ĞACUGGUAUUUGUGUCUGAŨmU 97 UCAGĀCACAAAUACCAGUCĈmA 174 58 ĞACUGGUAUUUGUGUCUGAŨmU 98 UCAGAĈACAAAUACCAGUCĈmA 627 59 ŨGUAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAŨmU 99 UGGAAUACUCUUGGUUACAŨmU 629 60 ŨAACCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUŨmU 100 AAUGGAAUACUCUUGGUUAŨmU 632 61 ĈCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUŨmU 101 AAAAAUGGAAUACUCUUGGŨmU 632 62 ĈCAAGAGUAUUCCAUUUUUŨmU 102 AAAAAUĜGAAUACUCUUGGŨmU In Table 3, lower case designates 2′-deoxyribo-N; upper case designates Ribo-N; underlined-lower case designates 2′-deoxy-N; mA, mG, mC, and mU designate 2′-O-Methyl RNA; and Ā Ũ Ğ and Ĉ designate UNA monomers.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer may have a duplex region, and have a UNA monomer in the second strand within the duplex region, where the UNA monomer in the second strand is present in any of positions 1 through 19, counting from the 5′ end of the second strand.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, a UNA oligomer may have a duplex region, and have a UNA monomer in the second strand within the duplex region, where the UNA monomer in the second strand is present in any of positions 6, 7, 14, 15 and 16, counting from the 5′ end of the second strand.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a UNA oligomer may comprise an overhang portion of two monomers in length, or longer, at the 3′ end of the first strand, wherein the overhang monomer immediately flanking the duplex portion is a UNA monomer.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a UNA oligomer may comprise an overhang portion of two monomers in length, or longer, at the 3′ end of the second strand, wherein the overhang monomer immediately flanking the duplex portion is a UNA monomer.\",\n \"Methods for Treating Amyloidosis Methods of this invention include the treatment and prevention of TTR-related amyloidosis in human and mammalian subjects.\",\n \"In the methods of this invention, a subject in need of treatment or prevention can be administered an effective amount of a UNA oligomer.\",\n \"Administration can be performed for 1, 2, or up to 7 days, or 1, 2, 3, or up to 4 weeks, or longer.\",\n \"The subject may have TTR-related amyloidosis, also known as ATTR.\",\n \"In particular, a subject can have a V30M gene.\",\n \"The methods of this invention can selectively reduce V30M TTR in the subject.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a method of this invention can selectively reduce V30M TTR in the subject by at least 10%, as compared to control.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, V30M TTR in the subject can be reduced by at least 20%, or 30%, or 50%, as compared to control.\",\n \"An effective amount of a UNA oligomer of this invention can be a dose ranging from 0.001 mg/kg to 50.0 mg/kg, or from 0.001 mg/kg to 10.0 mg/kg.\",\n \"In the methods of this invention, TTR mRNA expression can be reduced in a subject for at least 5 days.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, TTR mRNA expression can be reduced in a subject for at least 10 days, or 15 days.\",\n \"In the methods of this invention, peripheral neuropathy or autonomic neuropathy in the subject can be reduced.\",\n \"In the methods of this invention, peripheral neuropathy or autonomic neuropathy in the subject can be reduced.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a subject may undergo reduced lower extremity weakness, reduced pain, or improved sensation.\",\n \"Methods of this invention can reduce occurrence of vitreous opacities in the subject.\",\n \"In the methods of this disclosure, the administration of a UNA oligomer may not result in an inflammatory response.\",\n \"In further embodiments, this invention includes methods for inhibiting expression of a TTR gene in a cell, by treating the cell with a UNA oligomer.\",\n \"In additional embodiments, this invention includes methods for inhibiting expression of a TTR gene in a mammal, by administering to the mammal a composition containing a UNA oligomer.\",\n \"Pharmaceutical Compositions In some aspects, this invention provides compositions containing a UNA oligomer and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.\",\n \"In further aspects, this invention includes nanoparticle compositions that can encapsulate and deliver a UNA oligomer to cells with surprisingly advantageous potency.\",\n \"The nanoparticles can be formed with lipid molecules, for example, any one or more of the compounds ATX-001 to ATX-032 disclosed in WO/2015/074085.In certain embodiments, lipid nanoparticles of this invention can be formed with compound ATX-002, as disclosed in WO/2015/074085, and the nanoparticles can encapsulate the UNA oligomer.\",\n \"A composition can be capable of local or systemic administration.\",\n \"In some aspects, a pharmaceutical composition can be capable of any modality of administration.\",\n \"In certain aspects, the administration can be intravenous, subcutaneous, pulmonary, intramuscular, intraperitoneal, dermal, oral, or nasal administration.\",\n \"Embodiments of this invention include pharmaceutical compositions containing a UNA oligomer in a lipid formulation.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a composition may comprise one or more lipids selected from cationic lipids, anionic lipids, sterols, pegylated lipids, and any combination of the foregoing.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, a composition can be substantially free of liposomes.\",\n \"In further embodiments, a composition can include liposomes.\",\n \"In additional embodiments, a composition can contain a UNA oligomer within a viral or bacterial vector.\",\n \"A pharmaceutical composition of this disclosure may include carriers, diluents or excipients as are known in the art.\",\n \"Examples of pharmaceutical compositions are described, for example, in Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mack Publishing Co. (A. R. Gennaro ed.\",\n \"1985).\",\n \"Examples of excipients for a pharmaceutical composition include antioxidants, suspending agents, dispersing agents, preservatives, buffering agents, tonicity agents, and surfactants.\",\n \"EXAMPLES Example 1 FIG.\",\n \"1 shows the single nucleotide polymorph (SNP) that exists at position 284 in the V30M mutation of the human TTR mRNA, as compared to the wild type (WT) TTR mRNA.\",\n \"Conventional siRNAs that are complementary to the WT mRNA were tiled around position 284.FIG.\",\n \"2 shows that the conventional siRNAs complementary to the WT mRNA have limited activity in silencing the WT TTR gene, as measured by TTR knockdown in HepG2 cells.\",\n \"Positions 5, 9, 14 and 15 appear to be more accessible to silencing than other positions.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 shows conventional siRNAs that were complementary to the V30M mRNA were tiled around position 284.Four conventional siRNA variations, namely V30M-P5, V30M-P9, V30M-P14, and V30M-P15, were prepared.\",\n \"Also, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"3, two gene reporter variants, V30V and V30M, each bearing nucleotide sequence 264 to 304 of human TTR, V30V being without the point mutation at position 284, and V30M containing the point mutation at position 284, were prepared and used in the PSICHECK reporter system in the 3′-UTR region of Luciferase gene.\",\n \"Example 2 FIG.\",\n \"4 shows the activity of the four conventional siRNA variations V30M-P5, V30M-P9, V30M-P14, and V30M-P15 as measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay against V30V and V30M gene reporter variants.\",\n \"The conventional siRNA variations V30M-P5, V30M-P9, and V30M-P15 were more effective against V30M than V30V.\",\n \"The conventional siRNA variation V30M-P14 was not more effective against V30M than V30V.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 shows IC50 analysis for the four conventional siRNA variations V30M-P5, V30M-P9, V30M-P14, and V30M-P15 measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay against V30V and V30M gene reporter variants.\",\n \"The conventional V30M-P15 variant was 5.6 times more effective against V30M than V30V.\",\n \"Thus, the selectivity of the conventional siRNAs against V30M over V30V was no more than 5.6.Example 3 FIG.\",\n \"6 shows the structure of UNA oligomers that were effective in silencing V30M TTR, as measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay.\",\n \"Each of the UNA oligomer embodiments, P15U6, P15U7, P15U14, P15U15, and P15U16, contained four UNA monomers.\",\n \"In each UNA oligomer, a first UNA monomer was located at the 5′ end of the first strand, also called the passenger strand.\",\n \"In each UNA oligomer, the second strand, also called the guide strand, formed a duplex region of 19 monomers length with the first strand.\",\n \"Each UNA oligomer had a duplex region of 19 monomers, and a two-monomer overhang at each end.\",\n \"In each UNA oligomer, a second UNA monomer was located at the 3′ end of the first strand, in the 20th position, which is in an overhang portion.\",\n \"In each UNA oligomer, a third UNA monomer was located at the 3′ end of the second strand, in the 20th position, which is in an overhang portion.\",\n \"In the UNA oligomer embodiments, P15U6, P15U7, P15U14, P15U15, and P15U16, a fourth UNA monomer was located in the second strand at positions 6, 7, 14, 15 and 16, respectively, counting from the 5′ end of the second strand.\",\n \"Example 4 FIG.\",\n \"7 shows the activity of UNA oligomers P15U6, P15U7, P15U15, and P15U16, measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay against V30V and V30M gene reporter variants, as compared to the conventional siRNA V30M-P15.For each of the UNA oligomer embodiments, P15U6, P15U7, P15U15, and P15U16, the UNA oligomers were more effective against V30M than V30V.\",\n \"Surprisingly, the activity of the UNA oligomer P15U6 was substantially and advantageously superior to the activity of the conventional siRNA V30M-P15, where each is targeted to V30M.\",\n \"Furthermore, FIG.\",\n \"7 shows the surprising and unexpected result that the selectivity of the UNA oligomers, P15U6, P15U7, P15U15, and P15U16, against V30M over V30V was substantially greater than for the conventional siRNA V30M-P15.In particular, the selectivity of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30M over V30V was 24, meaning that the IC50 of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30M (37.6 pM) was 24 times lower than the IC50 of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30V (919.9 pM).\",\n \"This selectivity was advantageously 4-fold superior to the selectivity of 5.6 shown by the conventional siRNA.\",\n \"Example 5 FIG.\",\n \"8 shows the structure of UNA oligomers that were effective in silencing V30M TTR, as measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay.\",\n \"Each of the UNA oligomer embodiments, P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, P16U16, and P16U17, contained four UNA monomers.\",\n \"In each UNA oligomer, a first UNA monomer was located at the 5′ end of the first strand, also called the passenger strand.\",\n \"In each UNA oligomer, the second strand, also called the guide strand, formed a duplex region of 19 monomers length with the first strand.\",\n \"Each UNA oligomer had a duplex region of 19 monomers, and a two-monomer overhang at each end.\",\n \"In each UNA oligomer, a second UNA monomer was located at the 3′ end of the first strand, in the 20th position, which is in an overhang portion.\",\n \"In each UNA oligomer, a third UNA monomer was located at the 3′ end of the second strand, in the 20th position, which is in an overhang portion.\",\n \"In the UNA oligomer embodiments, P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, P16U16, and P16U17, a fourth UNA monomer was located in the second strand at positions 6, 7, 15, 16 and 17, respectively, counting from the 5′ end of the second strand.\",\n \"Example 6 FIG.\",\n \"9 shows the activity of UNA oligomers P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, and P16U16, measured in the PSICHECK reporter assay against V30V and V30M gene reporter variants, as compared to the conventional siRNA V30M-P16.For each of the UNA oligomer embodiments, P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, and P16U16, the UNA oligomers were more effective against V30M than V30V.\",\n \"Surprisingly, the activity of each of the UNA oligomers P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, and P16U16, was substantially and advantageously superior to the activity of the conventional siRNA V30M-P16, where each is targeted to V30M.\",\n \"Furthermore, FIG.\",\n \"9 shows the surprising and unexpected result that the selectivity of the UNA oligomers, P16U6, P16U7, P16U15, and P16U16, against V30M over V30V was substantially greater than for the conventional siRNA V30M-P16.In particular, the selectivity of UNA oligomer P16U6 against V30M over V30V was 23, meaning that the IC50 of UNA oligomer P16U6 against V30M (92.4 pM) was 23 times lower than the IC50 of UNA oligomer P16U6 against V30V (2119 pM).\",\n \"This selectivity was advantageously 4-fold superior to the selectivity of 5.6 shown by the conventional siRNA.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 (left) shows the selectivity of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30M over V30V.\",\n \"The IC50 of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30M (37.6 pM) was 24 times lower than the IC50 of UNA oligomer P15U6 against V30V (919.9 pM).\",\n \"This selectivity was advantageously 4-fold superior to the selectivity of 5.6 shown by the conventional siRNA.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 (right) shows the surprising and unexpected result that the IC50 of UNA oligomer P16U6 against V30M (92.4 pM) was 23 times lower than the IC50 of UNA oligomer P16U6 against V30V (2119 pM).\",\n \"This selectivity was advantageously 4-fold superior to the selectivity of 5.6 shown by the conventional siRNA.\",\n \"Example 7: UNA Oligomers Reduce V30M TTR Deposits In Vivo Transgenic mice for human TTR V30M overexpression are used at 6 months age.\",\n \"TTR wild-type and TTR knockout mice are used as controls.\",\n \"Animals are housed in controlled environment, and euthanized with ketamine and medetomidine.\",\n \"For TTR gene silencing, the TTR UNA oligomer, as well as controls, are delivered in liposome formulations.\",\n \"Mice are injected in the tail vein with TTR UNA oligomer (n=6), at a concentration of 1 mg/kg.\",\n \"Untreated age-matched controls are treated with blank formulation.\",\n \"One injection is given per week for 4 weeks, and animals are sacrificed 48 h after last injection.\",\n \"Liver and colon are removed and collected to 10% formalin and frozen.\",\n \"Liver and colon mRNA are isolated using phenol extraction (Invitrogen).\",\n \"Sciatic nerve from V30M mice is dissected from other tissue, and mRNA is extracted with a RNeasy Mini column (Qiagen).\",\n \"cDNA is synthesized with a SuperScript double-stranded cDNA Kit (Invitrogen).\",\n \"Extracted RNA is validated with Experion RNA StdSens Analysis Kit (Bio-Rad).\",\n \"qPCR is performed with primers and iQ Syber Green Super Mix (Bio-Rad).\",\n \"Double immunofluorescence analysis is performed with sciatic nerve, dorsal root ganglia, and colon from V30M animals that is removed and treated as above.\",\n \"Comparisons are performed with Student T-test or One-way ANOVA.\",\n \"Data are expressed as mean values±standard error (SEM).\",\n \"p-values less than 0.05 are considered significant.\",\n \"Injection of a composition containing one or more UNA oligomers in V30M mice reduces the V30M TTR deposits in sciatic nerve, dorsal root ganglia, and colon by at least 90% over controls.\",\n \"Injection of a composition containing any one of UNA oligomers P15U6, P15U7, P15U15, or P15U16, or any combination of these UNA oligomers, in V30M mice reduces the V30M TTR deposits in sciatic nerve, dorsal root ganglia, and colon by at least 90% over controls.\",\n \"Example 8: UNA Oligomers Reduce TTR Protein In Vivo Primate A single-dose, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic study of liposomally formulated UNA Oligomers targeting transthyretin (TTR) mRNA following intravenous infusion in Cynomolgus monkeys was performed.\",\n \"Cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) were selected for this study because the TTR mRNA of Cynomolgus monkeys is homologous to human TTR mRNA, making them a good model for screening the potency of UNA oligomers targeting to TTR mRNA.\",\n \"In this study, the knockdown of Transthyretin protein was evaluated as a result of treatment with UNA oligomers targeting Transthyretin TTR mRNA, based on SEQ ID NOs:46/86, 59/99, and 60/100, delivered in a liposomal formulation to male Cynomolgus monkeys.\",\n \"Measurements were made following a single intravenous (IV) dose administration.\",\n \"TTR protein concentration in plasma samples was assessed by LC-MS/MS at various time points.\",\n \"Twenty-four (24) Cynomolgus non-naïve and naïve monkeys were used in this study.\",\n \"There were eight (8) groups of animals in the study with three (3) per group and three (3) extra animals.\",\n \"The animals weighed 2.4 to 6.8 kg and were 3 to 6 years old at pre-study physical examination.\",\n \"Animals were housed in a temperature- and humidity-monitored environment.\",\n \"The targeted range of temperature and relative humidity was from 18° C. to 29° C., and from 35% to 70%, respectively.\",\n \"An automatic lighting system provided a 12-hour light/dark cycle.\",\n \"Previously quarantined animals were acclimated to the study room for a minimum of 14 days prior to initiation of dosing.\",\n \"Acclimation phase data was collected from all animals.\",\n \"Animals in Groups 1 through 8 were administered the test articles on Day 1 at 0.3 mg/kg, dose volume 6.25 mL/kg, concentration 0.048 mg/mL.\",\n \"Doses were administered as a 15-minute intravenous (IV) infusion, ±1 minute, using a pump and disposable syringe.\",\n \"For each animal, infusion start and end times were recorded; and subsequent sample collection target times were determined based on infusion end time (t=0).\",\n \"All blood specimens, approximately 1 mL, were collected by venipuncture from a peripheral vein from restrained, conscious animals.\",\n \"Knockdown of TTR was observed in all treated groups with observation at Days 10 and 20 after dosing.\",\n \"The study period was lengthened to 50 days for one group to observe long-term effects.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"11, knockdown of Transthyretin protein in vivo was achieved as a result of treatment with UNA oligomer SEQ ID NO:60/100 targeting Transthyretin TTR mRNA, delivered in a liposomal formulation to male Cynomolgus monkeys.\",\n \"Measurements were made following a single intravenous (IV) dose administration.\",\n \"TTR protein concentration in plasma samples was assessed by LC-MS/MS at various time points.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"11, a single injection in the primates of a UNA oligomer targeted to TTR surprisingly knocked down TTR protein levels to below 50% with a continuous duration of more than one month (30 days).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11 shows the unexpectedly advantageous result of over 91% knockdown of TTR in the primates at 20 days, and more than 70% knockdown with a continuous duration of more than 20 days.\",\n \"The Monkey TTR SRM assay was used, which is a high throughput absolute protein quantitation assay using Selected Reaction Monitoring (SRM) technology platform.\",\n \"In a single SRM assay, the panel can multiplex up to 200 proteins.\",\n \"The assay was performed on a targeted absolute protein quantitation platform, where the key technology was SRM, sometimes also referred to as Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM).\",\n \"In a triple-quadrupole (QQQ) mass spectrometer, SRM/MRM is a tandem selection process where selecting peptides by precursor m/z is followed by selecting fragmentations (transitions) of the targeted peptide.\",\n \"Further, coupled with liquid chromatography and the addition of heavy labeled internal standards, SRM/MRM is a highly selective, sensitive technology to quantify designated protein with precision.\",\n \"All publications, patents and literature specifically mentioned herein are incorporated by reference for all purposes.\",\n \"It is understood that this invention is not limited to the particular methodology, protocols, materials, and reagents described, as these may vary.\",\n \"It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, which will be encompassed by the appended claims.\",\n \"It must be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.\",\n \"As well, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more” and “at least one” can be used interchangeably herein.\",\n \"It is also to be noted that the terms “comprises,” “comprising”, “containing,” “including”, and “having” can be used interchangeably.\",\n \"Without further elaboration, it is believed that one skilled in the art can, based on the above description, utilize the present invention to its fullest extent.\",\n \"The following specific embodiments are, therefore, to be construed as merely illustrative, and not limitative of the remainder of the disclosure in any way whatsoever.\",\n \"All of the features disclosed in this specification may be combined in any combination.\",\n \"Each feature disclosed in this specification may be replaced by an alternative feature serving the same, equivalent, or similar purpose.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876127"}}},{"rowIdx":4495088,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["Methods and Systems for LIDAR Optics Alignment","A method is provided that involves mounting a transmit block and a receive block in a LIDAR device to provide a relative position between the transmit block and the receive block.","The method also involves locating a camera at a given position at which the camera can image light beams emitted by the transmit block and can image the receive block.","The method also involves obtaining, using the camera, a first image indicative of light source positions of one or more light sources in the transmit block and a second image indicative of detector positions of one or more detectors in the receive block.","The method also involves determining at least one offset based on the first image and the second image.","The method also involves adjusting the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block based at least in part on the at least one offset."],["1.A method comprising: causing a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device to emit one or more light beams toward a field-of-view (FOV) of the LIDAR device, wherein the LIDAR device includes one or more light detectors and a lens that focuses light from the FOV toward the one or more light detectors; capturing a plurality of images using a camera located at a given position in the FOV of the LIDAR device, wherein the one or more light detectors are viewable to the camera via the lens of the LIDAR device, and wherein the plurality of images include: a first image indicating a view of the one or more light beams from the given position of the camera, and a second image indicating a view of the one or more light detectors from the given position of the camera; and based on at least the plurality of images, adjusting the LIDAR device to align the one or more light beams with the one or more light detectors.","2.The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more light beams propagate through the lens toward the camera, and wherein the first image indicates the view of the one or more light beams via the lens.","3.The method of claim 1, wherein the LIDAR device includes one or more light sources that emit the one or more light beams.","4.The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more light sources are viewable to the camera via the lens of the LIDAR device, and wherein the first image is indicative of a view of the one or more light sources via the lens of the LIDAR device.","5.The method of claim 3, wherein adjusting the LIDAR device comprises mounting the one or more light sources in the LIDAR device.","6.The method of claim 3, wherein adjusting the LIDAR device comprises adjusting a position of the one or more light sources relative to the one or more light detectors in the LIDAR device.","7.The method of claim 3, wherein adjusting the LIDAR device comprises adjusting a position of the one or more light detectors relative to the one or more light sources in the LIDAR device.","8.The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the LIDAR device comprises mounting the one or more light detectors in the LIDAR device.","9.The method of claim 1, further comprising: comparing the first image with the second image, wherein adjusting the LIDAR device is further based on the comparison.","10.The method of claim 1, further comprising: moving a light filter to a first position between the camera and the LIDAR device, wherein the one or more light beams propagate through the light filter based on the light filter being at the first position, and wherein capturing the plurality of images comprises: capturing the first image while the light filter is at the first position, and capturing the second image while the light filter is at a second position outside a path of the one or more light beams.","11.The method of claim 10, further comprising: prior to capturing the second image, moving the light filter from the first position to the second position.","12.The method of claim 1, further comprising: illuminating the one or more light detectors with an auxiliary light source, wherein capturing the plurality of images comprises capturing the second image while the one or more light detectors are illuminated by the auxiliary light source.","13.The method of claim 12, wherein the auxiliary light source emits light at a source wavelength of the one or more light beams emitted by the LIDAR device.","14.The method of claim 12, wherein capturing the plurality of images comprises capturing the first image while the one or more light detectors are not illuminated by the auxiliary light source.","15.A system comprising: a mounting platform that supports a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device, wherein the LIDAR device includes one or more light detectors and a lens that focuses light from a field-of-view (FOV) of the LIDAR device toward the one or more light detectors; a camera located at a given position in the FOV of the LIDAR device, wherein the one or more light detectors are viewable to the camera via the lens of the LIDAR device; and a controller that: causes the LIDAR device to emit one or more light beams toward the FOV of the LIDAR device; obtains a plurality of images using the camera, wherein the plurality of images include: a first image indicating a view of the one or more light beams from the given position of the camera, and a second image indicating a view of the one or more light detectors from the given position of the camera; and based on at least the plurality of images, identifies at least one alignment offset between the one or more light beams and the one or more light detectors.","16.The system of claim 15, further comprising: an alignment apparatus that adjusts the LIDAR device based on the at least one identified alignment offset.","17.The system of claim 17, further comprising: a light filter that attenuates light within a wavelength range that includes a source wavelength of the one or more light beams; and an actuator coupled to the light filter, wherein the controller causes the actuator to move the light filter to a first position between the camera and the LIDAR device, wherein the one or more light beams propagate through the light filter toward the camera based on the light filter being at the first position, and wherein obtaining the plurality of images comprises obtaining the first image while the light filter is at the first position.","18.The system of claim 17, wherein the controller causes the actuator to move the light filter to a second position outside a path of the one or more light beams, wherein obtaining the plurality of images comprises obtaining the second image while the light filter is at the second position.","19.A method comprising: causing a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device to transmit one or more light beams toward a field-of-view (FOV) of the LIDAR device, wherein the LIDAR device includes one or more light detectors, a lens, and one or more light sources that emit the one or more light beams; capturing a plurality of images using a camera located at a given position in the FOV of the LIDAR device, wherein the one or more light detectors are viewable to the camera via the lens, wherein the one or more light sources are viewable to the camera via the lens, and wherein the plurality of images include: a first image indicating a view of the one or more light beams from the given position of the camera, and a second image indicating a view of the one or more light detectors from the given position of the camera; and based on at least the plurality of images, aligning the one or more light sources with the one or more light detectors.","20.The method of claim 19, further comprising: interposing a light filter between the camera and the LIDAR device, wherein the light filter attenuates a source wavelength of the one or more light beams emitted by the LIDAR device, and wherein capturing the plurality of images comprises: capturing the first image while the light filter is interposed between the camera and the LIDAR device, and capturing the second image while the light filter is not interposed between the camera and the LIDAR device."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.","A LIDAR can estimate distance to environmental features while scanning through a scene to assemble a “point cloud” indicative of reflective surfaces in the environment.","Individual points in the point cloud can be determined by transmitting a laser pulse and detecting a returning pulse, if any, reflected from an object in the environment, and determining the distance to the object according to the time delay between the transmission of the transmitted pulse and the reception of the reflected pulse.","A laser, or set of lasers, can be rapidly and repeatedly scanned across a scene to provide continuous real-time information on distances to reflective objects in the scene.","Combining the measured distances and the orientation of the laser(s) while measuring each distance allows for associating a three-dimensional position with each returning pulse.","In this way, a three-dimensional map of points indicative of locations of reflective features in the environment can be generated for the entire scanning zone."],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>In one example, a method is provided that involves mounting a transmit block and a receive block in a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device to provide a relative position between the transmit block and the receive block.","The transmit block may include one or more light sources configured to emit light at a source wavelength.","The receive block may include one or more detectors configured to detect light at the source wavelength.","The method further involves locating a camera at a given position at which the camera, when focused at infinity, can image light beams emitted by the one or more light sources and can image the one or more detectors.","The method further involves obtaining a first image using the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.","The first image may be indicative of light source positions of the one or more light sources.","The method further involves obtaining a second image using the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.","The second image may be indicative of detector positions of the one or more detectors in the receive block.","The method further involves determining at least one offset based on the light source positions indicated by the first image and the detector positions indicated by the second image.","The method further involves adjusting the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block based at least in part on the at least one offset.","In another example, a system is provided that includes a mounting platform to mount a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device that provides a relative position between a transmit block in the LIDAR device and a receive block in the LIDAR device.","The transmit block may include one or more light sources configured to emit light at a source wavelength.","The receive block may include one or more detectors configured to detect light at the source wavelength.","The system also includes a camera located at a given position at which the camera, when focused at infinity, can image light beams emitted by the one or more light sources and can image the one or more detectors.","The system also includes an alignment apparatus configured to adjust the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block.","The system also includes a controller configured to obtain a first image from the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.","The first image may be indicative of light source positions of the one or more light sources.","The controller is also configured to obtain a second image from the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.","The second image may be indicative of detector positions of the one or more detectors in the receive block.","The controller is also configured to determine at least one offset based on the light source positions indicated by the first image and the detector positions indicated by the second image.","The controller is also configured to cause the alignment apparatus to adjust the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block based at least in part on the at least one offset.","In yet another example, a system is provided that includes a means for mounting a transmit block and a receive block in a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device to provide a relative position between the transmit block and the receive block.","The transmit block may include one or more light sources configured to emit light at a source wavelength.","The receive block may include one or more detectors configured to detect light at the source wavelength.","The system also comprises means for locating a camera at a given position at which the camera, when focused at infinity, can image light beams emitted by the one or more light sources and can image the one or more detectors.","The system also comprises means for obtaining a first image using the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.","The first image may be indicative of light source positions of the one or more light sources.","The system also comprises means for obtaining a second image using the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.","The second image may be indicative of detector positions of the one or more detectors in the receive block.","The system also comprises means for determining at least one offset based on the light source positions indicated by the first image and the detector positions indicated by the second image.","The system also comprises means for adjusting the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block based at least in part on the at least one offset.","These as well as other aspects, advantages, and alternatives, will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reading the following detailed description, with reference where appropriate to the accompanying figures."],["CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","15/482,722 filed on Apr.","8, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/671,085 filed on Mar.","27, 2015, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.","BACKGROUND Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.","A LIDAR can estimate distance to environmental features while scanning through a scene to assemble a “point cloud” indicative of reflective surfaces in the environment.","Individual points in the point cloud can be determined by transmitting a laser pulse and detecting a returning pulse, if any, reflected from an object in the environment, and determining the distance to the object according to the time delay between the transmission of the transmitted pulse and the reception of the reflected pulse.","A laser, or set of lasers, can be rapidly and repeatedly scanned across a scene to provide continuous real-time information on distances to reflective objects in the scene.","Combining the measured distances and the orientation of the laser(s) while measuring each distance allows for associating a three-dimensional position with each returning pulse.","In this way, a three-dimensional map of points indicative of locations of reflective features in the environment can be generated for the entire scanning zone.","SUMMARY In one example, a method is provided that involves mounting a transmit block and a receive block in a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device to provide a relative position between the transmit block and the receive block.","The transmit block may include one or more light sources configured to emit light at a source wavelength.","The receive block may include one or more detectors configured to detect light at the source wavelength.","The method further involves locating a camera at a given position at which the camera, when focused at infinity, can image light beams emitted by the one or more light sources and can image the one or more detectors.","The method further involves obtaining a first image using the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.","The first image may be indicative of light source positions of the one or more light sources.","The method further involves obtaining a second image using the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.","The second image may be indicative of detector positions of the one or more detectors in the receive block.","The method further involves determining at least one offset based on the light source positions indicated by the first image and the detector positions indicated by the second image.","The method further involves adjusting the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block based at least in part on the at least one offset.","In another example, a system is provided that includes a mounting platform to mount a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device that provides a relative position between a transmit block in the LIDAR device and a receive block in the LIDAR device.","The transmit block may include one or more light sources configured to emit light at a source wavelength.","The receive block may include one or more detectors configured to detect light at the source wavelength.","The system also includes a camera located at a given position at which the camera, when focused at infinity, can image light beams emitted by the one or more light sources and can image the one or more detectors.","The system also includes an alignment apparatus configured to adjust the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block.","The system also includes a controller configured to obtain a first image from the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.","The first image may be indicative of light source positions of the one or more light sources.","The controller is also configured to obtain a second image from the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.","The second image may be indicative of detector positions of the one or more detectors in the receive block.","The controller is also configured to determine at least one offset based on the light source positions indicated by the first image and the detector positions indicated by the second image.","The controller is also configured to cause the alignment apparatus to adjust the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block based at least in part on the at least one offset.","In yet another example, a system is provided that includes a means for mounting a transmit block and a receive block in a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device to provide a relative position between the transmit block and the receive block.","The transmit block may include one or more light sources configured to emit light at a source wavelength.","The receive block may include one or more detectors configured to detect light at the source wavelength.","The system also comprises means for locating a camera at a given position at which the camera, when focused at infinity, can image light beams emitted by the one or more light sources and can image the one or more detectors.","The system also comprises means for obtaining a first image using the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.","The first image may be indicative of light source positions of the one or more light sources.","The system also comprises means for obtaining a second image using the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.","The second image may be indicative of detector positions of the one or more detectors in the receive block.","The system also comprises means for determining at least one offset based on the light source positions indicated by the first image and the detector positions indicated by the second image.","The system also comprises means for adjusting the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block based at least in part on the at least one offset.","These as well as other aspects, advantages, and alternatives, will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reading the following detailed description, with reference where appropriate to the accompanying figures.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG.","1 is a block diagram of a system, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","2A illustrates a LIDAR device, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","2B is a cross-section view of the LIDAR device shown in FIG.","2A.","FIG.","2C is a perspective view of the LIDAR device shown in FIG.","2A with various components removed to illustrate an interior of the LIDAR device.","FIG.","3 illustrates a transmit block, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","4A is a view of a light source, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","4B is a view of the light source of FIG.","4A in combination with a cylindrical lens, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","4C is another view of the light source and cylindrical lens combination of FIG.","4B, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","5A illustrates a receive block, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","5B illustrates a side view of three detectors included in the receive block of FIG.","5A.","FIG.","6A illustrates another LIDAR device, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","6B illustrates a partial cross-section view of the LIDAR device of FIG.","6A.","FIG.","6C illustrates a partial cross-section view of the optics assembly in the FIG.","7A illustrates a system, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","7B illustrates an arrangement of the system shown in FIG.","7A where the light filter is not interposed between the LIDAR device and the camera.","FIG.","7C illustrates a partial view of the system shown in FIGS.","7A-7B.","FIG.","8 illustrates another system, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","9 is a flowchart of a method, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","10 illustrates an image indicative of light source positions, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","11 illustrates an image indicative of detector positions, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","12 illustrates an image in a scenario where light sources and detectors are aligned, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","13 illustrates an image in a scenario where light sources and detectors have an up/down offset, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","14 illustrates an image in a scenario where light sources and detectors have a left/right offset, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","15 illustrates an image in a scenario where light sources and detectors have a forward/backward offset, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","16 illustrates an image in a scenario where light sources and detectors have a roll offset, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","17 illustrates an image in a scenario where light sources and detectors have a yaw offset, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","18 illustrates an image in a scenario where light sources and detectors have a pitch offset, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","19 illustrates an image indicative of a defect or an aberration, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","20 is a flowchart of another method, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","21 illustrates a partial cross-section view of yet another system, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","22 illustrates a front-view of a camera, according to an example embodiment.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following detailed description describes various features and functions of the disclosed systems, devices and methods with reference to the accompanying figures.","In the figures, similar symbols identify similar components, unless context dictates otherwise.","The illustrative system, device and method embodiments described herein are not meant to be limiting.","It may be readily understood by those skilled in the art that certain aspects of the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be arranged and combined in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are contemplated herein.","Within examples, a LIDAR device may include a transmit block and a receive block.","The transmit block may include one or more light sources that transmit light for propagation away from the LIDAR device toward an environment of the LIDAR device.","In turn, the transmitted light may reflect off one or more objects in the environment, and the reflected light may propagate back toward the LIDAR device.","Further, the receive block may include one or more detectors to detect the reflected light.","Through this process, a computing system may process data from the LIDAR device pertaining to the reflected light to determine positions and/or characteristics of various objects in the environment of the LIDAR device.","To facilitate operation of the LIDAR device, a light beam emitted by a given light source and reflected back toward the LIDAR device is received by a corresponding detector.","Within examples, systems and methods are provided for alignment of light source(s) and detector(s) in a LIDAR device.","FIG.","1 is a block diagram of a system 100, according to an example embodiment.","The system 100 includes a mounting platform 102, an alignment apparatus 160, and a controller 180.The system 100 may optionally include an auxiliary light source 170.The mounting platform 102 may provide a platform for mounting some or all of the components of the system 100.As shown, the mounting platform 102 mounts a LIDAR device 104 and a camera 106.In some examples, the mounting platform 102 may also mount a light filter 108.Further, in some examples, the mounting platform 102 may also mount an actuator 112.Accordingly, the mounting platform 102 may be formed from one or more solid materials suitable for supporting the various components, such as plastics or metals among other possibilities.","In some examples, some of the components shown to be mounted on the mounting platform 102 may alternatively be mounted to a separate structure (not shown) or otherwise coupled to the system 100.For instance, the camera 106 and/or the light filter 108 may be alternatively positioned and/or mounted outside the mounting platform 102.The LIDAR device 104 includes a transmit block 120 and a receive block 130.As shown, in some examples, the LIDAR device 104 may optionally include a lens 150.The transmit block 120 includes one or more light sources 122 that may be configured to emit one or more light beams 124.Although not shown in FIG.","1, the transmit block 120 may include additional components such as a mirror or an exit aperture to condition and/or redirect the light beams 124.The one or more light sources 122 may include laser diodes, light emitting diodes (LEDs), vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL), organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), polymer light emitting diodes (PLED), light emitting polymers (LEP), liquid crystal displays (LCD), microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), or any other device configured to selectively transmit, reflect, and/or emit light beams 124 at a source wavelength.","The source wavelength, for example, may include ultraviolet, visible, and/or infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum.","In one embodiment, the source wavelength is 905 nm.","Additionally, in some examples, the light sources 122 may be configured to emit the light beam(s) 124 in the form of pulses.","In some examples, the light sources 122 may be disposed on one or more substrates (e.g., printed circuit boards (PCB), flexible PCBs, etc.).","The receive block 130 includes one or more detectors 132 that may be configured to receive light from an environment of the LIDAR device 104.In one example, a given detector of the detectors 132 is configured and arranged to receive a given light beam of the light beams 124 that is reflected off an object in the environment of the LIDAR device 104 toward the given detector.","Through this process, for example, the LIDAR device 104 may detect various objects in the environment by emitting light beams 124 using the light sources 122 and detecting reflections of the light beams 124 using the detectors 132.Although not shown, in some examples, the receive block 130 may include additional components such as an inert gas, an entrance aperture (e.g., half-mirror), and/or any other component to filter and/or condition light propagating toward the detectors 132.The detector(s) 132 may comprise photodiodes, avalanche photodiodes, phototransistors, cameras, active pixel sensors (APS), charge coupled devices (CCD), cryogenic detectors, or any other sensor of light.","In one embodiment, the detector(s) 132 may be configured to detect light at the source wavelength (e.g., 905 nm, etc.)","of the light beams 124 emitted by the light sources 122 and/or reflections thereof.","The lens 150 may be optionally included in the LIDAR device 104 and may be configured to collimate the emitted light beams 124 and/or focus light propagating toward the detectors 132.In one embodiment, the lens 150 may be a single lens having an optical power to both collimate the light beams 124 and focus light onto the detectors 132.In another embodiment, the lens 150 may include two separate lenses.","For example, a first lens may collimate the light beam(s) 124 emitted by the light source(s) 122, and a second lens may focus light propagating toward the LIDAR device 104 onto the detector(s) 132.Other lens configurations are possible as well (e.g., multiple lenses for collimation and/or multiple lenses for focus, etc.).","In some examples, the LIDAR device 104 may include additional, fewer, or different components than those shown in FIG.","1.Thus, in some embodiments, the system 100 may be utilized for assembly, manufacture, and/or calibration of various LIDAR devices having various configurations, such as the LIDAR device 104 or any other LIDAR device.","Accordingly, in some examples, the LIDAR device 104 may be removably mounted to the mounting platform 102 of the system 100 to facilitate such calibration or assembly.","In some examples, the various components of the LIDAR device 104 such as the transmit block 120, receive block 130, and the lens 150 can be removably mounted in predetermined positions within the LIDAR device 104 to reduce burden of calibrating the arrangement of each component and/or subcomponents included in each component.","In these examples, the system 100 may adjust the relative position between the transmit block 120 and the receive block 130 to align the one or more light sources 122 with the one or more detectors 132.Alternatively, in other examples, the system 100 may be configured to adjust the relative position between each of the subcomponents (e.g., each light source of light sources 122, each detector of detectors 132, etc.).","The camera 106 may be any camera (e.g., a still camera, a video camera, etc.)","configured to capture images of the LIDAR device 104.In some examples, the camera 106 may be located at a given position at which the camera 106 can image the light beams 124 emitted by the one or more light sources 122, and can image the one or more detectors 132.In one embodiment, the camera may be focused at infinity when capturing such images.","By way of example, the camera may be mounted to have a field-of-view along the path of the light beams 124 (e.g., facing the lens 150, etc.).","As an example scenario for operation of the camera 106, the LIDAR device 104 may then be configured to cause the light sources 122 to emit the light beams 124 toward the camera 106.In turn, the camera 106 may provide a first image of the light beams 124.The first image, for instance, may indicate light source position(s) (e.g., bright pixels in the first image, etc.)","of the light source(s) 122.In the scenario, the camera may also obtain a second image indicative of detector position(s) of the detector(s) 132.Other scenarios are possible as well and are described in greater detail within exemplary embodiments herein.","The light filter 108 may be optionally included in the system 100 to facilitate capture and/or processing of the images described above.","For instance, the light filter 108 may be positioned along a path of the light beams 124 between the LIDAR device 104 and the camera 106.In one example, the light filter 108 may be configured to attenuate light within a wavelength range that includes the source wavelength of the light source(s) 122.In this example, the attenuation of the light may facilitate contrasting pixels in the first image that are associated with the light beams 124 against surrounding pixels.","Further, in this example, the attenuation of the light may protect the camera 106 from the intensity of the light beams 124.In another example, the light filter 108 may be configured to attenuate light within another wavelength range that does not include the source wavelength of the light source(s) 122.In this example, the images obtained by the camera 106 may represent features of interest (e.g., light source(s) 122, detector(s) 132, etc.)","in the LIDAR device 104 more clearly due to the light filter 108 attenuating background light having other wavelengths.","Other configurations of the light filter 108 are possible as well and are described in greater detail within exemplary embodiments herein.","The actuator 112 may be optionally included in the system 100.The actuator 112 may be configured to adjust the position of the light filter 108.For instance, the actuator 112 may be configured to actuate the light filter 108 to a first position where the light filter 108 is interposed between the LIDAR device 104 and the camera 106, or to a second position where the light filter 108 is not interposed between the LIDAR device 104 and the camera 106.Example actuators may include motors, stepper motors, pneumatic actuators, hydraulic pistons, relays, solenoids, and piezoelectric actuators among other possibilities.","The alignment apparatus 160 may include any device that couples to one or more of the components in the LIDAR device 104 to adjust the relative position between the transmit block 120 and the receive block 130.By way of example, the alignment apparatus 160 may be a robotic arm that physically couples to the receive block 130 to rotate and/or translate the position of the receive block 130 in the LIDAR 104.Alternatively or additionally, for example, the robotic arm may adjust the position of the transmit block 120.In some examples, the alignment apparatus 160 may adjust the relative position between the transmit block 120 and the receive block 130 based on image(s) obtained by the camera 106.For instance, the alignment apparatus 160 may adjust the relative position to align one or more of the light beams 124 emitted by the light sources 122 with one or more of the detectors 132.The system 100 may optionally include an auxiliary light source 170 that emits light 174 at the source wavelength to illuminate the receive block 130.The structure and form of the auxiliary light source 170 (e.g., LED, etc.)","may be similar to the light sources 122.In one example, where the camera 106 is configured to capture images when focused at infinity for the source wavelength the light sources 122, the auxiliary light source 170 may illuminate the detectors 132 to facilitate the camera 106 obtaining the second image of the detectors 132 while also focused at infinity for the same source wavelength.","In some examples, the light filter 108 may be configured to remain interposed between the camera 106 and the LIDAR device 104 during capture of the first image (e.g., of the light beams 124) and during capture of the second image (e.g., of the detectors 132).","In these examples, the illuminating light 174 from the auxiliary light source 170 may allow the camera 106 to capture an image of the detectors 132 while the light filter 108 is interposed.","In other examples, the system 100 may be configured to move the light filter 108 to another position other than the position between the camera 106 and the LIDAR device 104 prior to the camera 106 obtaining the second image of the detectors 132.For instance, the light filter 108 may be moved by the actuator 112.In these examples, the camera 106 may rely on background light to obtain the second image of the detectors 132, or the system 100 may utilize the auxiliary light source 170 to illuminate the receive block 130.The controller 180 may include one or more processors configured to operate some or all of the components of the system 100 in line with the discussion above.","To that end, the controller 180 may be coupled to the various components via a wired or wireless interface (not shown).","In some examples, the controller 180 may execute program functions stored in a computer readable medium (not shown) to cause the system 100 to perform various functions and processes of the present method.","In a first example, the controller 180 may cause a power source (not shown) to provide power to the various components of the system 100.In a second example, the controller 180 may cause the transmit block 120 of the LIDAR device 104 to emit the light beams 124.In a third example, the controller 180 may operate an actuator (not shown) to position the light filter 108 between the LIDAR device 104 and the camera 106, or to position the light filter 108 at any other position.","In a third example, the controller 180 may operate the camera 106 to obtain the first image (e.g., of the light beams 124) and the second image (e.g., of the detectors 132) in line with the discussion above.","In a fourth example, the controller 180 may operate the alignment apparatus 160 to adjust the relative position between the transmit block 120 and the receive block 130.In a fifth example, the controller 180 may operate the alignment apparatus 160 to mount (or unmounts) various components (e.g., LIDAR device 104, etc.)","to the mounting platform 102.In a sixth example, the controller 180 may operate the auxiliary light source 170 to illuminate the receive block 130 with light 174.In a seventh example, the controller 180 may operate the actuator 112 to move the light filter 108.Other examples are possible as well and are described in greater detail within exemplary embodiments herein.","The system 100 may include additional, fewer, or different components than those shown, and may perform other functions as well.","In one example, the system 100 may include a display (not shown) for displaying image(s) obtained using the camera 106.For instance, the display may have a graphical user interface (GUI) for displaying and/or interacting with images captured by the camera 106, and a human operator or a computer operator may interact with the GUI to adjust the relative position between the transmit block 120 and the receive block 130 by manipulating the images in the GUI.","Other procedures are possible as well for controlling the system 100 in accordance with the present disclosure.","FIG.","2A illustrates a LIDAR device 200, according to an example embodiment.","The LIDAR 200 illustrates an example LIDAR device that can be used with a system such as the system 100.For instance, the LIDAR device 200 may be similar to the LIDAR device 104 of the system 100, and may be similarly mounted to the mounting platform 104 to adjust the relative position between light sources and detectors of the LIDAR 200.As shown, the LIDAR device 200 includes a housing 210 and a lens 250.Additionally, light beams 204 emitted by the first LIDAR device 200 propagate from the lens 250 along a viewing direction of the first LIDAR 200 toward an environment of the LIDAR device 200, and reflect off one or more objects in the environment as reflected light 206.The housing 210 included in the LIDAR device 200 can provide a platform for mounting the various components included in the LIDAR device 200.The housing 210 can be formed from any material capable of supporting the various components of the LIDAR device 200 included in an interior space of the housing 210.For example, the housing 210 may be formed from a solid material such as plastic or metal among other possibilities.","In some examples, the housing 210 can be configured to have a substantially cylindrical shape and to rotate about an axis of the LIDAR device 200.For example, the housing 210 can have the substantially cylindrical shape with a diameter of approximately 10 centimeters.","In some examples, the axis is substantially vertical.","By rotating the housing 210 that includes the various components, in some examples, a three-dimensional map of a 360-degree view of the environment of the LIDAR device 200 can be determined without frequent recalibration of the arrangement of the various components of the LIDAR device 200.Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the LIDAR device 200 can be configured to tilt the axis of rotation of the housing 210 to control the field of view of the LIDAR device 200.The lens 250 mounted to the housing 210 can have an optical power to both collimate the emitted light beams 204, and focus the reflected light 205 from one or more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device 200 onto detectors in the LIDAR device 200.In one example, the lens 250 has a focal length of approximately 120 mm.","By using the same lens 250 to perform both of these functions, instead of a transmit lens for collimating and a receive lens for focusing, advantages with respect to size, cost, and/or complexity can be provided.","The LIDAR device 200 can be mounted on a mounting structure 260 that rotates about an axis to provide a 360-degree view of the environment surrounding the LIDAR device 200.In some examples, the mounting structure 260 may comprise a movable platform that may tilt in one or more directions to change the axis of rotation of the LIDAR device 200.FIG.","2B is a cross-section view of the first LIDAR 200 shown in FIG.","2A.","As shown, the housing 210 houses a transmit block 220, a receive block 230, a shared space 240, and the lens 250.For purposes of illustration, FIG.","2B shows an x-y-z axis, in which the z-axis is in a substantially vertical direction.","The transmit block 220 includes a plurality of light sources 222a-c arranged along a curved focal surface 228 defined by the lens 250.The plurality of light sources 222a-c can be configured to emit, respectively, the plurality of light beams 202a-c having wavelengths within a wavelength range.","For example, the plurality of light sources 222a-c may comprise laser diodes that emit the plurality of light beams 202a-c having the wavelengths within the wavelength range.","The plurality of light beams 202a-c are reflected by mirror 224 through an exit aperture 226 into the shared space 240 and towards the lens 250.The light sources 222a-c can include laser diodes, light emitting diodes (LED), vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL), organic light emitting diodes (OLED), polymer light emitting diodes (PLED), light emitting polymers (LEP), liquid crystal displays (LCD), microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), or any other device configured to selectively transmit, reflect, and/or emit light to provide the plurality of emitted light beams 202a-c.","In some examples, the light sources 222a-c can be configured to emit the emitted light beams 202a-c in a wavelength range that can be detected by detectors 232a-c included in the receive block 230.The wavelength range could, for example, be in the ultraviolet, visible, and/or infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum.","In some examples, the wavelength range can be a narrow wavelength range, such as provided by lasers.","In one embodiment, the wavelength range includes a source wavelength of 905 nm.","Additionally, the light sources 222a-c can be configured to emit the emitted light beams 202a-c in the form of pulses.","In some examples, the plurality of light sources 222a-c can be disposed on one or more substrates (e.g., printed circuit boards (PCB), flexible PCBs, etc.)","and arranged to emit the plurality of light beams 202a-c towards the exit aperture 226.Although FIG.","2B shows that the curved focal surface 228 is curved in the x-y plane, additionally or alternatively, the plurality of light sources 222a-c may be arranged along a focal surface that is curved in a vertical plane.","For example, the curved focal surface 228 can have a curvature in a vertical plane, and the plurality of light sources 222a-c can include additional light sources arranged vertically along the curved focal surface 228 and configured to emit light beams directed at the mirror 224 and reflected through the exit aperture 226.In this example, the detectors 232a-c may also include additional detectors that correspond to additional light sources of the light sources 222a-c. Further, in some examples, the light sources 222a-c may include additional light sources arranged horizontally along the curved focal surface 228.In one embodiment, the light sources 222a-c may include 64 light sources that emit light having a wavelength of 905 nm.","For instance, the 64 light sources may be arranged in four columns, each comprising 16 light sources, along the curved focal surface 228.In this instance, the detectors 232a-c may include 64 detectors that are arranged similarly (e.g., 4 columns comprising 16 detectors each, etc.)","along curved focal surface 238.In other embodiments, the light sources 222a-c and the detectors 232a-c may include additional or fewer light sources and/or detectors than those shown in FIG.","2B.","Due to the arrangement of the plurality of light sources 222a-c along the curved focal surface 228, the plurality of light beams 202a-c, in some examples, may converge towards the exit aperture 226.Thus, in these examples, the exit aperture 226 may be minimally sized while being capable of accommodating vertical and horizontal extents of the plurality of light beams 202a-c. Additionally, in some examples, the curved focal surface 228 can be defined by the lens 250.For example, the curved focal surface 228 may correspond to a focal surface of the lens 250 due to shape and composition of the lens 250.In this example, the plurality of light sources 222a-c can be arranged along the focal surface defined by the lens 250 at the transmit block.","The plurality of light beams 202a-c propagate in a transmit path that extends through the transmit block 220, the exit aperture 226, and the shared space 240 towards the lens 250.The lens 250 collimates the plurality of light beams 202a-c to provide collimated light beams 204a-c into an environment of the LIDAR device 200.The collimated light beams 204a-c correspond, respectively, to the plurality of light beams 202a-c.","In some examples, the collimated light beams 204a-c reflect off one or more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device 200 as reflected light 206.The reflected light 206 may be focused by the lens 250 into the shared space 240 as focused light 208 traveling along a receive path that extends through the shared space 240 onto the receive block 230.For example, the focused light 208 may be reflected by the reflective surface 242 as focused light 208a-c propagating towards the receive block 230.The lens 250 may be capable of both collimating the plurality of light beams 202a-c and focusing the reflected light 206 along the receive path 208 towards the receive block 230 due to the shape and composition of the lens 250.For example, the lens 250 can have an aspheric surface 252 facing outside of the housing 210 and a toroidal surface 254 facing the shared space 240.By using the same lens 250 to perform both of these functions, instead of a transmit lens for collimating and a receive lens for focusing, advantages with respect to size, cost, and/or complexity can be provided.","The exit aperture 226 is included in a wall 244 that separates the transmit block 220 from the shared space 240.In some examples, the wall 244 can be formed from a transparent material (e.g., glass) that is coated with a reflective material 242.In this example, the exit aperture 226 may correspond to the portion of the wall 244 that is not coated by the reflective material 242.Additionally or alternatively, the exit aperture 226 may comprise a hole or cut-away in the wall 244.The focused light 208 is reflected by the reflective surface 242 and directed towards an entrance aperture 234 of the receive block 230.In some examples, the entrance aperture 234 may comprise a filtering window configured to allow wavelengths in the wavelength range of the plurality of light beams 202a-c (e.g., source wavelength) emitted by the plurality of light sources 222a-c and attenuate other wavelengths.","In some examples, the entrance aperture 234 may comprise a half-mirror configured to reflect a portion of the focused light 208a-c and allow another portion of the focused light 208a-c to propagate toward the detectors 232a-c.","The focused light 208a-c reflected by the reflective surface 242 from the focused light 208a-c propagates, respectively, onto a plurality of detectors 232a-c.","The plurality of detectors 232a-c can be arranged along a curved focal surface 238 of the receive block 230.Although FIG.","2B shows that the curved focal surface 238 is curved along the x-y plane (horizontal plane), additionally or alternatively, the curved focal surface 238 can be curved in a vertical plane.","The curvature of the focal surface 238 is also defined by the lens 250.For example, the curved focal surface 238 may correspond to a focal surface of the light projected by the lens 250 along the receive path at the receive block 230.The detectors 232a-c may comprise photodiodes, avalanche photodiodes, phototransistors, cameras, active pixel sensors (APS), charge coupled devices (CCD), cryogenic detectors, or any other sensor of light configured to receive focused light 208a-c having wavelengths in the wavelength range of the emitted light beams 202a-c (e.g., the source wavelength).","Each of the focused light 208a-c corresponds, respectively, to the emitted light beams 202a-c and is directed onto, respectively, the plurality of detectors 232a-c. For example, the detector 232a is configured and arranged to received focused light 208a that corresponds to collimated light beam 204a reflected of the one or more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device 200.In this example, the collimated light beam 204a corresponds to the light beam 202a emitted by the light source 222a.","Thus, the detector 232a receives light that was emitted by the light source 222a, the detector 232b receives light that was emitted by the light source 222b, and the detector 232c receives light that was emitted by the light source 222c.","By comparing the received light 208a-c with the emitted light beams 202a-c, at least one aspect of the one or more object in the environment of the LIDAR device 200 may be determined.","For example, by comparing a time when the plurality of light beams 202a-c were emitted by the plurality of light sources 222a-c and a time when the plurality of detectors 232a-c received the focused light 208a-c, a distance between the LIDAR device 200 and the one or more object in the environment of the LIDAR device 200 may be determined.","In some examples, other aspects such as shape, color, material, etc.","may also be determined.","In some examples, the LIDAR device 200 may be rotated about an axis to determine a three-dimensional map of the surroundings of the LIDAR device 200.For example, the LIDAR device 200 may be rotated about a substantially vertical axis as illustrated by arrow 290.Although illustrated that the LIDAR device 200 is rotated counter clock-wise about the axis as illustrated by the arrow 290, additionally or alternatively, the LIDAR device 200 may be rotated in the clockwise direction.","In some examples, the LIDAR device 200 may be rotated 360 degrees about the axis.","In other examples, the LIDAR device 200 may be rotated back and forth along a portion of the 360 degree view of the LIDAR device 200.For example, the LIDAR device 200 may be mounted on a platform that wobbles back and forth about the axis without making a complete rotation.","Thus, the arrangement of the light sources 222a-c and the detectors 232a-c may allow the LIDAR device 200 to have a particular vertical field-of-view.","In one example, the vertical FOV of the LIDAR device 200 is 20°.","Additionally, the rotation of the LIDAR device 200 allows the LIDAR device 200 to have a 360° horizontal FOV Further, the rate of rotation may allow the device to have a particular refresh rate.","In one example, the refresh rate is 10 Hz.","The refresh rate along with the arrangement of the light sources 222a-c and the detectors 232a-c may also allow the LIDAR device 300 to have a particular angular resolution.","In one example, the angular resolution is 0.2°×0.3°.","However, the various parameters such as the refresh rate and the angular resolution may vary according to the configuration of the LIDAR device 200.Further, in some examples, the LIDAR device 200 may include additional, fewer, or different components than those shown in FIGS.","2A-2B.","FIG.","2C is a perspective view of the LIDAR device 200 shown in FIG.","2A with various components removed to illustrate an interior of the LIDAR device 200.As shown, the various components of the LIDAR device 200 can be removably mounted to the housing 210.For example, the transmit block 220 may comprise one or more printed circuit boards (PCBs) that are fitted in the portion of the housing 210 where the transmit block 220 can be mounted.","Although FIG.","2C shows the transmit block 220 with one PCB, in some embodiments, the transmit block 320 may include multiple PCBs (not shown) that each include some of the plurality of light sources 232a-c.","In one embodiment, each PCB in the transmit block may include 16 light sources, and the transmit block 220 may include four PCBs.","Thus, in this embodiment, the LIDAR device 200 may include 64 light sources.","Other embodiments are possible as well where the transmit block 220 includes a different number of light sources.","Additionally, the receive block 230 may comprise a plurality of detectors (e.g., detectors 232a-c, etc.)","mounted to a flexible substrate and can be removably mounted to the housing 210 as a block that includes the plurality of detectors.","Similarly, the lens 250 can be mounted to another side of the housing 210.FIG.","3 illustrates a transmit block 320, according to an example embodiment.","Transmit block 320 may be similar to the transmit blocks 120 and/or 220 described in FIGS.","1-2.For example, the transmit block 320 includes a plurality of light sources 322a-c similar to the plurality of light sources 222a-c included in the transmit block 220 of FIGS.","2A-2C.","Additionally, the light sources 322a-c are arranged along a focal surface 328, which is curved in a vertical plane.","The light sources 322a-c are configured to emit a plurality of light beams 302a-c that converge and propagate through an exit aperture 326 in a wall 344.Although the plurality of light sources 322a-c can be arranged along a focal surface 328 that is curved in a vertical plane, additionally or alternatively, the plurality of light sources 322a-c can be arranged along a focal surface that is curved in a horizontal plane or a focal surface that is curved both vertically and horizontally.","For example, the plurality of light sources 322a-c can be arranged in a curved three dimensional grid pattern.","For example, the transmit block 320 may comprise a plurality of printed circuit boards (PCBs) vertically mounted such that a column of light sources such as the plurality of light sources 322a-c are along the vertical axis of each PCB and each of the plurality of PCBs can be arranged adjacent to other vertically mounted PCBs along a horizontally curved plane to provide the three dimensional grid pattern.","Alternatively, in some examples, the light sources 322a-c may be arranged along any other surface such as a linear surface.","Further, although the transmit block 320 is shown to include multiple light sources 322a-c, in some examples, the transmit block 320 may include only one light source or a different number of light sources than those shown in FIG.","3.As shown in FIG.","3, the light beams 302a-c converge towards the exit aperture 326 which allows the size of the exit aperture 326 to be minimized while accommodating vertical and horizontal extents of the light beams 302a-c similarly to the exit aperture 226 described in FIG.","2B.","The light emitted by the light sources 222a-c may be partially collimated to fit through the exit aperture 224.FIGS.","4A, 4B, and 4C illustrate an example of how such partial collimation could be achieved.","In this example, a light source 400 is made up of a laser diode 402 and a cylindrical lens 404.As shown in FIG.","4A, laser diode 402 has an aperture 406 with a shorter dimension corresponding to a fast axis 408 and a longer dimension corresponding to a slow axis 410.FIGS.","4B and 4C show an uncollimated laser beam 412 being emitted from laser diode 402.Laser beam 412 diverges in two directions, one direction defined by fast axis 408 and another, generally orthogonal direction defined by slow axis 410.FIG.","4B shows the divergence of laser beam 412 along fast axis 408, whereas FIG.","4C shows the divergence of laser beam 412 along slow axis 410.Laser beam 412 diverges more quickly along fast axis 408 than along slow axis 410.In one specific example, laser diode 402 is an Osram SPL DL90_3 nanostack pulsed laser diode that emits pulses of light with a range of wavelengths from about 896 nm to about 910 nm (a nominal wavelength of 905 nm).","In this specific example, the aperture has a shorter dimension of about 10 microns, corresponding to its fast axis, and a longer dimension of about 200 microns, corresponding to its slow axis.","The divergence of the laser beam in this specific example is about 25 degrees along the fast axis and about 11 degrees along the slow axis.","It is to be understood that this specific example is illustrative only.","Laser diode 402 could have a different configuration, different aperture sizes, different beam divergences, and/or emit different wavelengths.","As shown in FIGS.","4B and 4C, cylindrical lens 404 may be positioned in front of aperture 406 with its cylinder axis 414 generally parallel to slow axis 410 and perpendicular to fast axis 408.In this arrangement, cylindrical lens 404 can pre-collimate laser beam 412 along fast axis 408, resulting in partially collimated laser beam 416.In some examples, this pre-collimation may reduce the divergence along fast axis 408 to about one degree or less.","Nonetheless, laser beam 416 is only partially collimated because the divergence along slow axis 410 may be largely unchanged by cylindrical lens 404.Thus, whereas uncollimated laser beam 412 emitted by laser diode has a higher divergence along fast axis 408 than along slow axis 410, partially collimated laser beam 416 provided by cylindrical lens 404 may have a higher divergence along slow axis 410 than along fast axis 408.Further, the divergences along slow axis 410 in uncollimated laser beam 412 and in partially collimated laser beam 416 may be substantially equal.","In one example, cylindrical lens 404 is a microrod lens with a diameter of about 600 microns that is placed about 250 microns in front of aperture 406.The material of the microrod lens could be, for example, fused silica or a borosilicate crown glass, such as Schott BK7.Cylindrical lens 404 could also be used to provide magnification along fast axis 408.For example, if the dimensions of aperture 406 are 10 microns by 200 microns, as previously described, and cylindrical lens 404 is a microrod lens as described above, then cylindrical lens 404 may magnify the shorter dimension (corresponding to fast axis 408) by about 20 times.","This magnification effectively stretches out the shorter dimension of aperture 406 to about the same as the longer dimension.","As a result, when light from laser beam 416 is focused, for example, onto a detector, the focused spot could have a substantially square shape instead of the rectangular slit shape of aperture 406.FIG.","5A illustrates a receive block 530, according to an example embodiment.","FIG.","5B illustrates a side view of three detectors 532a-c included in the receive block 530 of FIG.","5A.","Receive block 530 may be similar to the receive block 130 of FIG.","1 and/or the receive block 230 of FIGS.","2B-2C.","For example, the receive block 530 includes a plurality of detectors 532a-c arranged along a curved surface 538 defined by a lens 550 similarly to the receive block 230, the detectors 232a-c, and the curved plane 238 described in FIG.","2B.","Focused light 508a-c from lens 550 propagates along a receive path that includes a reflective surface 542 onto the detectors 532a-c similar, respectively, to the focused light 208a-c, the lens 250, the reflective surface 242, and the detectors 232a-c described in FIG.","2B.","The receive block 530 comprises a flexible substrate 580 on which the plurality of detectors 532a-c are arranged along the curved surface 538.The flexible substrate 580 conforms to the curved surface 538 by being mounted to a receive block housing 590 having the curved surface 538.As illustrated in FIG.","5B, the curved surface 538 includes the arrangement of the detectors 532a-c curved along a vertical and horizontal axis of the receive block 530.In some embodiments, the number and arrangement of the detectors 532a-c may be different than those shown in FIGS.","5A-5B.","For instance, the detectors 532a-c may be alternatively arranged along a linear surface, or may alternatively only include one detector, among other possibilities.","As noted above in the description of FIG.","1, the system 100 may be used with various LIDAR devices having various configurations, such as the LIDAR device 200 of FIGS.","2A-2C.","FIG.","6A illustrates another LIDAR device 600 that may be used with the system 100, according to an example embodiment.","As shown, the LIDAR device 600 includes an optics assembly 610, a transmit lens 652, a receive lens 654, a mirror 620, a pin 622, and a motor 670.For purposes of illustration, FIG.","6A shows an x-y-z axis, in which the z-axis is pointing out of the page, and the x-axis and y-axis define a horizontal plane along the surface of the page.","In some examples, the LIDAR device 600 may emit light that propagates away from the mirror 660 along a viewing direction of the LIDAR device 600 (e.g., parallel to z-axis shown in FIG.","6A, etc.)","toward an environment of the LIDAR device 600, and may receive reflected light from one or more objects in the environment.","Accordingly, the optics assembly 610 may be configured to emit light pulses towards the mirror 660 that are then reflected by the mirror 660 towards the environment.","Further, the optics assembly 610 may be configured to receive reflected light that is reflected off the mirror 660.In one embodiment, the optics assembly 610 may include a single laser emitter that is configured to provide a narrow beam having a wavelength of 905 nm.","In other embodiments, the optics assembly 610 may include multiple light sources similarly to the LIDAR device 200 of FIGS.","2A-2C.","As shown, the optics assembly 610 includes the transmit lens 652 for collimation and/or focusing of emitted light from the optics assembly 610 onto the mirror 620, and a receive lens 654 for focusing reflected light from the mirror 660 onto one or more detectors (not shown) of the optics assembly 610.However, in some examples, the optics assembly 610 may alternatively include a single lens for both collimation of emitted light and focusing of reflected light similarly to the lens 250 of the LIDAR device 200.As shown, the mirror 660 may be arranged to steer emitted light from the transmit lens 652 towards the viewing direction of the LIDAR device 600.Further, for example, the mirror 660 may be arranged to steer reflected light from the mirror 660 towards the receive lens 654.In some examples, the mirror 6690 may be a triangular mirror that performs complete rotations about an axis defined by the pin 662.In one embodiment, the vertical FOV of the LIDAR device 600 is 110°.","The pin 662 may be configured to mount the mirror 660 to the LIDAR device 600.In turn, the pin 662 can be formed from any material capable of supporting the mirror 660.For example, the pin 662 may be formed from a solid material such as plastic or metal among other possibilities.","In some examples, the LIDAR device 600 may be configured to rotate the mirror 660 about the pin 662 for complete rotations to steer emitted light from the optics assembly 610 vertically.","In other examples, the LIDAR device 600 may be configured to rotate the mirror 660 about the pin 662 over a given range of angles to steer the emitted light.","Thus, in some examples, various vertical FOVs are possible by adjusting the rotation the mirror 660 about the pin 662.The motor 670 may include any motor such as a stepper motor, an electric motor, a combustion motor, a pancake motor, and/or a piezoelectric actuator among other possibilities.","In some examples, the motor 670 may be configured to rotate various components of the LIDAR device 600 (e.g., optics assembly 610, mirror 660, pin 662, etc.)","about an axis of the LIDAR device 600.For example, the axis may be substantially vertical similarly to the y-axis shown in FIG.","6A.","By rotating the various components of the LIDAR device 600 about the axis, in some examples, the motor 670 may steer the emitted light that is reflected off the mirror 660 horizontally, thus allowing the LIDAR device 600 to have a horizontal FOV.","In one embodiment, the motor 670 may rotate for a defined amount of rotation such as 270°.","In this embodiment, the LIDAR device 600 may thus have a horizontal FOV of 270.However, other amounts of rotation are possible as well (e.g., 360°, 8°, etc.)","thereby allowing a different horizontal FOV for the LIDAR device 600.Thus, in some examples, the LIDAR device 600 may provide an alternative device for scanning the environment or a portion thereof to the LIDAR device 104 of FIG.","1, and/or the LIDAR device 200 of FIGS.","2A-2C.","FIG.","6B illustrates a partial cross-section view of the LIDAR device 600 shown in FIG.","6A.","It is noted that some of the components of the LIDAR device 600 are omitted from the illustration of FIG.","6B for convenience in description.","As shown, the optics assembly 610 comprises a transmit block 620 that includes one light source 622.In some examples, the transmit block 620 may alternatively include more than one light source similarly to the transmit block 220 of the LIDAR device 200.However, for the sake of example, the transmit block 620 includes one light source 622.The light source 622 may be configured to emit one or more light pulses (e.g., laser beams, etc.)","towards the transmit lens 652.For example, as shown, emitted light 602a propagates away from the light source 622 towards the transmit lens 652.In some examples, the light source 622 may be similar to the light sources 222a-c of the LIDAR device 200 of FIGS.","2A-2C.","In one embodiment, the light source 622 may be configured to emit light pulses having a wavelength of 905 nm.","In other embodiments, the light source 622 may be configured to emit light having any other wavelength.","In line with the discussion above, the transmit lens 652 may be configured to collimate the emitted light 602a into one or more collimated light beams 602b and/or may be configured to focus the emitted light 602a as the focused light 602b onto the mirror 660.As shown, the mirror 660 may be a triangular mirror that has three reflective surfaces 660a, 660b, 660c.","However, in other examples, the mirror 660 may alternatively include a greater or fewer number of reflective surfaces.","As shown, the collimated light 602b may then reflect off the reflective surface 602a and into the environment of the LIDAR 600 as emitted light 602c.","For example, a direction of the emitted light 602c is illustrated by arrow 604.In practice, as the mirror 660 is rotated about an axis defined by the pin 662, the emitted light 602c may be steered to have a different direction than that illustrated by arrow 604.For example, the direction 604 of the emitted light 602c may instead correspond to a different direction along arrow 606.Thus, by rotating the mirror 660 about the pin 662, the LIDAR device 600 may be configured to have a vertical FOV, for example.","Consider by way of example a scenario where the mirror 660 is configured to rotate about an axis defined by the pin 662 continuously in a clock-wise direction.","In this scenario, the direction 604 of the emitted light 602c may thereby be adjusted also in a clock-wise direction as illustrated by the arrow 606 until the focused light 602b is reflecting off an edge of the reflective surface 660a.","At this point, the emitted light 602c would be directed towards a maximum extent of the vertical FOV of the LIDAR device 600.Continuing with the scenario, as the mirror 660 continues to rotate, the collimated light 602b may then be focused onto the reflective surface 660b instead of the reflective surface 660a.","At this point, the reflected light 602c may be steered to a direction that is towards a minimum extent of the vertical FOV of the LIDAR device 600.Continuing with the scenario, as the mirror 660 continues to rotate, the direction of the emitted light 602c may then be adjusted in a clock-wise direction towards the maximum extent of the vertical FOV that corresponds to the light 602b being focused onto another edge of the reflective surface 660b.","Similarly, continuing with the scenario, the direction of the emitted light 602c may then be adjusted to scan the vertical FOV of the LIDAR device 600 by reflecting the light 602b off the reflective surface 660c instead of the reflective surface 660b.","Through this process, for example, the LIDAR device 600 may continuously scan the vertical FOV.","As a variation of the scenario above by way of example, the mirror 660 may be alternatively configured to rotate within a given range of angles (e.g., wobble, etc.)","to define a narrower vertical field-of-view than that of the scenario described above.","Other configurations for rotation of the mirror 660 are possible as well.","FIG.","6C illustrates a partial cross-section view of the optics assembly 610 in the LIDAR device 600 of FIG.","6A.","For purposes of illustration, FIG.","6C shows an x-y-z axis, in which the z-axis is pointing out of the page, and the x-axis and y-axis define a horizontal plane along the surface of the page.","As shown, the optical assembly 610 comprises transmit block 620 that includes one light source 622.The light source 622 may be similar to the light sources 222a-c of the LIDAR device 200.In line with the discussion above, in some examples, the transmit block 620 may alternatively include more than one light source.","The light source 622 is configured to emit light 602a toward the transmit lens 652.Further, the optical assembly 610 comprises receive block 630 that includes one detector 632.The detector 632 may be similar to the detectors 232a-c of the LIDAR device 200.Again, in some examples, the receive block 630 may alternatively include more than one detector.","The detector 632 may be configured to receive light 608 focused by the receive lens 654.As shown, the optics assembly 610 also includes an optical shield 612.The optical shield 612 may be configured to provide optical shielding between the transmit block 620 and the receive block 630, at least for the light having the source wavelength of the emitted light 602a.","In turn, the optical shield 612 may mitigate interference with light 608 detected by the detector 632 of the receive block 630.The optical shield 612 may be formed, for example, as a wall coated by a metal, metallic ink, or metallic foam to provide the shielding.","Example metals may include copper or nickel.","Other configurations and/or materials are possible as well for the optical shield 612.As noted in the description of the system 100 of FIG.","1, in some examples, the present method allows alignment of the detector 632 with light originating at the light source 622.By way of example, an alignment apparatus (e.g., apparatus 160) may couple to the transmit block 620 and/or the receive block 630, and may then adjust the relative position between the transmit block 620 and the receive block 630 to perform the alignment.","The optical components (i.e., the transmit block 620 and the receive block 630) of the optical assembly 610 may each have six degrees of freedom (DOF).","Three of the six DOF are translational: forward/backward (e.g., linearly along an axis of the optical component that is parallel to the y-axis shown in FIG.","6C), up/down (e.g., linearly along an axis of the optical component that is parallel to the z-axis), and left/right (e.g., linearly along an axis of the optical component that is parallel to the x-axis).","Further, three of the six DOF are rotational: pitch (e.g., rotation about the axis of the optical component that is parallel to the x-axis), yaw (e.g., rotation about the axis of the optical component that is parallel to the z-axis), and roll (e.g., rotation about the axis of the optical component that is parallel to the y-axis).","In accordance with the present disclosure, the alignment apparatus (not shown) may adjust the relative position between the transmit block 620 and the receive block 630 shown in FIG.","6C by adjusting some or all of the six DOF described above for one or both of the transmit block 620 and the receive block 630.In line with the discussion above, systems and methods herein allow optics alignment for LIDAR devices having various different configurations.","Thus, the configurations of the LIDAR devices 200 and 600 are presented for exemplary purposes only.","Other configurations and LIDAR devices are possible as well for the systems and methods herein.","FIG.","7A illustrates a system 700, according to an example embodiment.","The system 700 may be similar to the system 100 of FIG.","1.For example, as shown, the system 700 includes a mounting platform 702, a LIDAR device 704, a camera 706, a light filter 708, and an alignment apparatus 760 that can be similar, respectively, to the mounting platform 102, the LIDAR device 104, the camera 106, the light filter 108, and the alignment apparatus 160 of the system 100.As shown, the system 700 also includes a mounting structure 710, an actuator 712, and a manipulator 762.The mounting structure 710 may be formed from any solid material (e.g., metal, plastic, etc.)","similarly to the mounting platform 702, and may be shaped to facilitate coupling one or more of the components of the system 700 to the mounting platform 702.As shown, for example, the mounting structure 710 couples the camera 706 and the light filter 708 to the mounting platform 702.However, in some examples, a separate mounting structure may be utilized for each of the camera 706 and the light filter 708.The actuator 712 may be configured to adjust a position of the light filter 708.Example actuators may include motors, stepper motors, pneumatic actuators, hydraulic pistons, relays, solenoids, and piezoelectric actuators among other possibilities.","The manipulator 762 may include any structure configured to couple the alignment apparatus 702 with one or more components of the LIDAR device 704.In line with the discussion above, the system 700 may adjust a relative position between a transmit block (not shown) and a receive block (not shown) of the LIDAR device 704.For instance, the alignment apparatus 760 (e.g., robotic arm, etc.)","may adjust the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block by adjusting the position of the manipulator 762 or changing the orientation of the manipulator 762, among other possibilities.","As shown, the mounting platform 702 includes a plurality of holes, exemplified by holes 702a and 702b.","In some embodiments, the various components such as the LIDAR device 704, the camera 706, and/or the light filter 708 may be mounted to the mounting platform by coupling the various components to such holes in the mounting platform (e.g., by fastening a bolt through the holes).","In other embodiments, the various components may be mounted to the mounting platform 702 via other processes or devices.","In one example, the various components may be mounted to the mounting platform 702 via an application of an adhesive among other possibilities.","In another example, a mounting structure may couple one or more of the components to the mounting platform 702.For instance, as shown in FIG.","7A, the mounting structure 710 may be coupled to the mounting platform 702 (e.g., by fastening a bolt to one of the holes, etc.","), and may also be coupled the camera 706 and the light filter 708 to provide the particular positions of the camera 706 and the light filter 708 relative to the mounting platform 702.Other configurations and shapes of the mounting structure 710 are possible as well.","Further, as shown, the LIDAR device 704 has a configuration similar to the LIDAR device 200 of FIGS.","2A-2C.","However, in some examples, other configurations are possible for the LIDAR device 704, such as the configuration of the LIDAR device 600 of FIGS.","6A-6C among other possibilities.","An example scenario for operation of the system 700 is as follows.","First, as shown, the LIDAR device 704 may be mounted to the mounting platform 702 to have a field-of-view (FOV) through which light emitted by a transmit block (not shown) of the LIDAR device 704 and light received by a receive block (not shown) of the LIDAR device 704 propagates.","For instance, the LIDAR device 704 may be mounted to the mounting platform 702 using the alignment apparatus 760 (e.g., robotic arm, etc.)","or any other device (e.g., mechanical tool, etc.).","Next, the camera 706 may be located at a given position relative to the LIDAR device 704 such that the camera 706 may obtain images of the receive block (not shown) of the LIDAR device 704 and/or light emitted by the transmit block (not shown) of the LIDAR device 704.Continuing with the scenario, the camera 706 may then be focused to infinity for the source wavelength (e.g., 905 nm) of the light emitted by the LIDAR device 704.Next, the light filter 708 may be positioned at a first position to be interposed between the LIDAR device 704 and the camera 706 along the FOV of the LIDAR device 704.For instance, the actuator 712 may be configured to move the light filter 708 to the first position shown in FIG.","7A.","Continuing with the scenario, the system 700 may then cause the transmit block (not shown) of the LIDAR device 704 to emit one or more light beams through the light filter 708 and toward the camera 706.Referring back to FIG.","2B by way of example, the light beams may correspond to the light beams 204a-c propagating out of the lens 250.Next, the camera 706 may obtain a first image of the light beams emitted by the LIDAR device 704.Continuing with the example of FIG.","2B, the first image may indicate light source positions of light sources 222a-c in the LIDAR device 200.At this point in the scenario, the system may then cause the LIDAR device 704 to stop emitting the light beams.","Continuing with the scenario, the system may then cause the actuator 712 to move the light filter 708 to a second position where the light filter 708 is not interposed between the camera 706 and the LIDAR 704.FIG.","7B illustrates the light filter 708 at the second position described above.","In turn, the camera 706 may obtain a second image.","The second image may indicate detector positions of detectors in a receive block (not shown) of the LIDAR device 704.Referring back to FIG.","2B by way of example, the second image may represent the detector positions of detectors 232a-c that are viewable to the camera 706 via mirror 242 and lens 250.Continuing with the scenario, the system 700 may then determine at least one offset based on the first image and the second image.","In one instance, the at least one offset may include distances between adjacent light sources and/or adjacent detectors of the LIDAR device 704.In another instance, the at least one offset may include distances between light beams emitted by light sources in the LIDAR device 704 and corresponding detectors of the LIDAR device 704.Other offsets are possible as well and are described in greater detail within exemplary embodiments herein.","In line with the discussion above, the alignment apparatus 760 (e.g., robotic arm, etc.)","may couple to the transmit block (not shown) and/or the receive block (not shown) of the LIDAR device 704 via the manipulator 762.Thus, in the scenario, the alignment apparatus 760 may then adjust the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block in accordance with the determined at least one or more offset.","FIG.","7C illustrates a partial view of the system 700 shown in FIGS.","7A-7B.","It is noted that some of the components of the system 700 are omitted from the illustration of FIG.","7C for convenience in description.","For purposes of illustration, FIG.","7C shows an x-y-z axis, in which the z-axis is pointing out of the page, and the x-axis and y-axis define a horizontal plane along the surface of the page.","As shown in FIG.","7C, the manipulator 762 includes protrusions 762a-d that may be configured to couple with receive block 730.The receive block 730 may be included in the LIDAR device 704 shown in FIGS.","7A-7B.","It is noted that other components of the LIDAR device 704 (e.g., transmit block, etc.)","are omitted from the illustration of FIG.","7C for convenience in description.","The receive block 730 may be similar to the receive block 230 of the system 200.However, in some embodiments, the receive block 730 may take any other form such as the configuration of the receive block 630 among other possibilities.","Similarly to the description of the receive block 630 of FIG.","6C, the receive block 730 has six degrees of freedom (DOF).","Three of the six DOF are translational: forward/backward (e.g., linearly along an axis of the receive block 730 that is parallel to the z-axis shown in FIG.","7C), up/down (e.g., linearly along an axis of the receive block 730 that is parallel to the y-axis), and left/right (e.g., linearly along an axis of the receive block 730 that is parallel to the x-axis).","Further, three of the six DOF are rotational: pitch (e.g., rotation about the axis of the receive block 730 that is parallel to the x-axis), yaw (e.g., rotation about the axis of the optical component that is parallel to the y-axis), and roll (e.g., rotation about the axis of the optical component that is parallel to the z-axis).","Continuing with the scenario, the system 700 may adjust the position of the receive block 730, when coupled to the manipulator 762, by adjusting the forward/backward position, the up/down position, the left/right position, the pitch, the yaw, and/or the roll of the receive block 730 in line with the discussion above.","In turn, the system 700 may adjust the relative position between the transmit block (not shown) of the LIDAR 704 and the receive block 730.In some embodiments, additionally or alternatively to the adjustments to the position/orientation of the receive block 730, the manipulator 762 may adjust the position/orientation of the transmit block (not shown) of the LIDAR device 704 in a similar manner.","Through this process, for example, the system 700 may align one or more light sources of the LIDAR device 704 with one or more detectors of the LIDAR device 704.In some embodiments, the system 700 may then decouple the manipulator 762 from the receive block 730 (or the transmit block), and the receive block 730 may be configured to remain at the alignment (e.g., relative position) performed by the alignment apparatus 760.By way of example, the system 700 may apply an epoxy or other adhesive to a periphery of the receive block 730 to maintain the receive block 730 at the aligned relative position to the transmit block of the LIDAR device 704.In one instance, the manipulator 762 may remain coupled to the receive block 730 until the adhesive is cured.","However, other processes are possible as well for maintaining the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block 730 of the LIDAR device 704.For instance, the receive block 730 may be fastened to a housing of the LIDAR device 704 using bolts, screws, or any other device among other possibilities.","It is noted that the scenario presented above is for exemplary purposes only.","Other scenarios are possible as well that may include some or all of the components of the system 700, or may include other processes than those described.","A non-exhaustive list of example variations of the scenario is presented below.","In a first example, the system 700 may not include the light filter 708.For instance, the camera 706 may be configured to obtain the first image and the second image without the light filter 708 being interposed between the camera 706 and the LIDAR device 704.In a second example, the camera 706 and the light filter 708 may be mounted separately from the LIDAR device 704.For instance, the system 700 may be implemented in an assembly line where multiple LIDAR devices such as the LIDAR device 704 are located on an assembly belt.","In this instance, the camera 706, the light filter 708 and the robotic arm 760 may be mounted independently adjacent to the assembly belt, and may perform similar functions to the scenario described above to calibrate each LIDAR device in the assembly line.","In a third example, the receive block 730 may be illuminated by an auxiliary light source (not shown) similar to the auxiliary light source 170.For instance, the light filter 708 may remain interposed between the LIDAR device 704 and the camera 706 while the first image of the laser beams emitted by the LIDAR device 704 is captured by the camera 706, and while the second image of the receive block 730 is captured as well.","In this instance, the receive block 730 would be visible to the camera 706 through the light filter 708 due to the illumination by the auxiliary light source with light at the source wavelength that is viewable through the light filter 708.In a fourth example, the LIDAR device 704 may be configured to continue emitting light while the camera 106 captures the first image and the second image.","For instance, the light filter 708 may alternatively attenuate the light beams having the source wavelength emitted by light sources of the LIDAR device 704.Thus, in this instance, the light filter 708 may be positioned as shown in FIG.","7B while the camera 706 is capturing the first image indicative of the light source positions.","Further, in this instance, the light filter 708 may be positioned as shown in FIG.","7A while the camera 706 is capturing the second image indicative of the detector positions.","Thus, various configurations of the light filter 708 may therefore affect the operation of the system 700 in line with the discussion above.","In a fifth example, the camera 706 may be configured to capture a single image instead of the first image and the second image.","The single image may be indicative of both the light source positions of light sources in the LIDAR device 704, and the detector positions of detectors in the receive block 730.Referring back to FIG.","2B by way of example, the single image may capture both the light beams 204a-c and light reflected off the detectors 232a-c. As in the third example above, the receive block 730 in this example may be illuminated by an auxiliary light source such that the detectors 232a-c are viewable through the light filter 708.Other example scenarios are possible as well.","FIG.","8 illustrates another system 800, according to an example embodiment.","The system 800 may be similar to the systems 100 and 700.For example, the system 800 includes a mounting platform 802, a camera 806, a light filter 808, and an alignment apparatus 860 that are similar, respectively, to the mounting platform 702, the camera 706, the light filter 708, and the alignment apparatus 760 of the system 700.The system 800 also includes a LIDAR device 804 that is similar to the LIDAR device 104 of the system 100.The system 800 also includes a manipulator 862 shaped and configured to couple the alignment apparatus 860 with one or more components of the LIDAR device 804.The system 800 also includes an auxiliary light source 870 that is similar to the auxiliary light source 170 of the system 100.As shown, the LIDAR device 804 has a configuration similar to the LIDAR device 600 of FIGS.","6A-6C.","However, in some examples, other configurations are possible as well, such as the configuration of the LIDAR device 200 among other possibilities.","As shown, the light filter 808 is interposed between the LIDAR device 804 and the camera 806.Additionally, the camera 806 is located at a given position at which the camera 806 can image light beam(s) emitted by the LIDAR device 804 and can image detector(s) (not shown) in the LIDAR device 804.Referring back to FIG.","6A by way of example, the camera 806 may be positioned to have a field-of-view facing the mirror 660 of the LIDAR device 600.However, as shown, the system 800 does not include an actuator (e.g., actuator 712 of system 700) to move the light filter 808.Instead, the system 800 includes the auxiliary light source 870 to illuminate a receive block (not shown) of the LIDAR device 804 with light having the source wavelength of light emitted by light source(s) (not shown) in the LIDAR device 804.For instance, such illumination may allow detectors in the receive block of the LIDAR device 804 to be viewable by the camera 806 through the light filter 808.Although the auxiliary light source 870 is shown to be mounted separately from other components of the system 800, in some examples, the auxiliary light source 870 may be alternatively mounted to any of the components of the system 800, such as the alignment apparatus 860, the light filter 808, the mounting platform 802, etc.","In one example, the auxiliary light source 870 may be alternatively mounted inside the LIDAR device 804.Referring back to FIG.","6C by way of example, the auxiliary light source may be alternatively mounted to a wall of the optics assembly 610.Other configurations of the auxiliary light source 870 are possible as well.","As shown, the manipulator 862 has a different shape and structure than the manipulator 762 of the system 700.Referring back to FIG.","6C by way of example, the manipulator 862 may have any shape suitable for adjusting position/orientation of the transmit block 620 and/or the receive block 630.Thus, in some examples, the system 800 may perform similar functions as those described for the system 100 and the system 700, but may include some variations suitable for other LIDAR device configurations, such as the configuration of the LIDAR device 804.FIG.","9 is a flowchart of a method 900, according to an example embodiment.","Method 900 shown in FIG.","9 presents an embodiment of a method that could be used with any of the systems 100, 700, 800, the LIDAR devices 200, 600, the transmit block 320, the light source 400, and/or the receive block 530, for example.","Method 900 may include one or more operations, functions, or actions as illustrated by one or more of blocks 902-912.Although the blocks are illustrated in a sequential order, these blocks may in some instances be performed in parallel, and/or in a different order than those described herein.","Also, the various blocks may be combined into fewer blocks, divided into additional blocks, and/or removed based upon the desired implementation.","In addition, for the method 900 and other processes and methods disclosed herein, the flowchart shows functionality and operation of one possible implementation of present embodiments.","In this regard, each block may represent a module, a segment, a portion of a manufacturing or operation process, or a portion of program code, which includes one or more instructions executable by a processor for implementing specific logical functions or steps in the process.","The program code may be stored on any type of computer readable medium, for example, such as a storage device including a disk or hard drive.","The computer readable medium may include non-transitory computer readable medium, for example, such as computer-readable media that stores data for short periods of time like register memory, processor cache and Random Access Memory (RAM).","The computer readable medium may also include non-transitory media, such as secondary or persistent long term storage, like read only memory (ROM), optical or magnetic disks, compact-disc read only memory (CD-ROM), for example.","The computer readable media may also be any other volatile or non-volatile storage systems.","The computer readable medium may be considered a computer readable storage medium, for example, or a tangible storage device.","In addition, for the method 900 and other processes and methods disclosed herein, each block in FIG.","9 may represent circuitry that is wired to perform the specific logical functions in the process.","At block 902, the method 900 involves mounting a transmit block and a receive block in a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device to provide a relative position between the transmit block and the receive block.","The transmit block may include one or more light sources configured to emit light at a source wavelength.","The receive block may include one or more detectors configured to detect light at the source wavelength.","In one embodiment, the source wavelength is 905 nm.","In other embodiments, the source wavelength may be any other wavelength (e.g., infrared, ultraviolet, x-ray, visible, etc.).","By way of example, the transmit block and the receive block may be mounted by a robotic arm (e.g., alignment apparatuses 160, 760, 860, etc.)","into a housing (e.g., housing 210, optics assembly 610, etc.)","to provide the relative position.","In this example, the relative position may be similar to the relative position between transmit block 220 and receive block 230 of FIG.","2B, or the relative position between transmit block 620 and receive block 630 of FIG.","6C, among other possibilities.","However, in other examples, the mounting at block 902 may be performed by a device other than the alignment apparatus.","For instance, the mounting at block 902 may correspond to an alignment (e.g., adjustment of the relative position) by a system performing the method 900 for a transmit block and a receive block that are already mounted in a LIDAR device.","In some examples, the LIDAR device may include a lens configured to (i) collimate light emitted from the one or more light sources and (ii) focus light onto the one or more detectors, similarly to the lens 250 of the LIDAR device 200.In other examples, the LIDAR device may include a transmit lens for collimation of emitted light and a receive lens for focusing received light, similarly to the transmit lens 652 and the receive lens 654 of the LIDAR device 600.At block 904, the method 900 involves locating a camera at a given position at which the camera, when focused at infinity, can image light beams emitted by the one or more light sources and can image the one or more detectors.","By way of example, the given position may be similar to the position of the camera 706 of the system 700.For instance, a field-of-view of the camera may be aligned with a FOV of the LIDAR device where light emitted from the one or more light sources propagates away from the LIDAR device.","At block 906, the method 900 involves obtaining a first image indicative of light source positions of the one or more light sources.","The first image, for example, may be obtained using the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.","Referring back to FIG.","2B by way of example, the light source positions of the light sources 222a-c may vary according to the particular orientation and position of the transmit block 220.In turn, the direction of propagation of the light beams 204a-c may also vary, and such variation may be represented by pixels in the first image obtained by the camera.","In some examples, the method 900 may also involve obtaining the first image while the one or more light sources are emitting light at the source wavelength.","For instance, a system performing the method 900 may provide power and/or instructions to the LIDAR device to emit the light at the source wavelength, and may provide instructions to the camera to capture the first image while the one or more light sources are emitting the light.","Further, in some instances, the system may provide instructions to the camera to adjust the focus to infinity for the source wavelength.","Alternatively, for instance, the camera may be configured to have the focus prior to capturing the first image.","In some examples, the method 900 may also involve obtaining the first image while a light filter is interposed between the camera and the one or more light sources.","The light filter may be similar to the light filters 108, 708, or 808.In one example, the light filter may be configured to attenuate light having wavelengths other than the source wavelength.","In this example, the first image may be more suitable for representing features of the emitted light beams at the source wavelength.","In another example, the light filter may be configured to attenuate light within a wavelength range that includes the source wavelength.","In this example, the light filter may reduce the intensity of the emitted light to protect components of the camera.","Additionally or alternatively, in this example, the light filter may reduce an amount of light propagating toward the camera that has wavelengths proximal to the source wavelength.","In turn, for instance, pixels in the first image representing the emitted light beams having the source wavelength may be easily contrasted from surrounding pixels having proximal wavelengths.","In some examples, the method 900 may also involve detecting a defect in a light source based on the first image.","In one example, the first image may indicate that one or more of the light sources in the transmit block has a different intensity, brightness, color, or other characteristic compared to other light sources.","For instance, a system performing method 900 may compare pixel properties (e.g., brightness, intensity, color, etc.)","associated with one light source against other pixel properties in the first image associated with another light source.","Alternatively, for instance, the system may compare the pixel properties of the light source with pre-determined pixel properties or pixel properties in a stored image among other possibilities.","In some examples, the method 900 may also involve detecting an aberration in an optical element optically coupled to a light source based on the first image.","Referring back to FIGS.","4A-4C by way of example, the light source may be coupled to an optical element such as the cylindrical lens 404.In this example, the system performing the method 900 may detect the aberration in such optical element by examining the shape or other properties of pixels in the first image that are associated with a light beam from the light source (e.g., compare with other pixels, compare with stored parameters/image, etc.).","Thus, in some embodiments, the method 900 may allow diagnosis of light source(s) in the LIDAR device.","At block 908, the method 900 involves obtaining a second image indicative of detector positions of the one or more detectors.","Similarly to the first image, the second image may be obtained using the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.","Referring back to FIG.","2B by way of example, the second image may represent the detectors 232a-c that are viewable to the camera via the lens 250 and the mirror 242.Referring back to FIGS.","6A-6C as another example, the second image may represent the detector 632 that is viewable to the camera via the lens 654 and the mirror 660.Thus, in some embodiments, the camera may obtain the first image and the second image while the camera is located at the same given position.","In some examples, the method 900 may also involve obtaining the second image while the one or more light sources are not emitting light at the source wavelength.","For instance, a system performing the method 900 may reduce power to the one or more light sources and/or provide instructions to the LIDAR device to stop emitting light beams.","However, in other examples, the method 900 may involve obtaining the second image while the one or more light sources are emitting the light at the source wavelength.","In one instance, a light filter may be interposed between the camera and the LIDAR device while the camera is capturing the second image, and the light filter may be configured to attenuate light at the source wavelength emitted by the one or more light sources.","In this instance, the system performing the method 900 may then obtain the second image indicative of the detector positions while the light filter attenuates the light beams emitted by the one or more light sources.","In another instance, the second image may indicate both the light source positions and the detector positions since the one or more light sources are emitting the light at the source wavelength when the second image is obtained.","Other examples are possible as well.","In some examples, the method 900 may also involve obtaining the second image while the one or more detectors are illuminated with light at the source wavelength from an auxiliary light source.","The auxiliary light source may be similar to the auxiliary light sources 170 and 870 included, respectively, in the systems 100 and 800.In one example, the camera may be focused at infinity for the source wavelength.","In another example, a light filter interposed between the camera and the LIDAR device may be configured to attenuate light having wavelengths other than the source wavelength.","In both examples, the auxiliary light source may illuminate the one or more detectors such that reflections of the illuminating light having the source wavelength are viewable by the camera when capturing the second image.","At block 910, the method 900 involves determining at least one offset based on the light source positions indicated by the first image and the detector positions indicated by the second image.","In one example, the at least one offset may include distances between adjacent regions of the first image that are associated with particular light sources.","In another example, the at least one offset may include distances between adjacent regions of the second image that are associated with particular detectors.","In yet another example, the at least one offset may include an offset between a region of the first image associated with a given light source, and a corresponding region of the second image associated with a given detector.","The offset in the third example may have a horizontal component and a vertical component, or may just be a distance between the respective regions (e.g., number of pixels).","As a variation of the third example, the offset may also include a depth component where the camera is configured to obtain 3D images, for instance.","Other offsets are possible as well.","In some examples, the method 900 may also involve generating a composite image based on overlaying the first image and the second image.","In these examples, the at least one offset may be determined based on separation between one or more pixels in the composite image associated with a light source and one or more pixels in the composite image associated with a corresponding detector.","At block 912, the method 900 includes adjusting a relative position between the transmit block and the receive block based at least in part on the at least one offset.","By way of example, a robotic arm or other device (e.g., alignment apparatuses 160, 760, 860, etc.)","may couple to the transmit block and/or the receive block to adjust the relative position.","The robotic arm, for instance, may translate the coupled component linearly and/or rotate the coupled component about an axis in line with the discussion for the systems 100, 700, and 800.Accordingly, in some examples, the method 900 may also involve adjusting the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block by rotating the receive block about an axis.","Further, in some examples, the method 900 may also involve adjusting the relative position by rotating the transmit block about an axis.","In some examples, adjusting the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block at block 912 reduces the at least one offset.","For instance, where the at least one offset includes an offset between a light source and a corresponding detector, the adjustment of the relative position may reduce the offset to align the light source with the detector.","In other examples, adjusting the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block at 912 causes the at least one offset to correspond to a particular offset.","For instance, where the at least one offset includes an offset between two adjacent light sources, the adjustment of the relative position may cause the offset to correspond to the particular offset.","FIG.","10 illustrates an image 1000 indicative of light source positions of light sources in a transmit block of a LIDAR device, according to an example embodiment.","The image 1000 may be similar to the first image described at block 906 of the method 900.For instance, dark pixels in the image 1000 may represent light beams emitted by one or more light sources in a transmit block.","Referring back to FIG.","3 by way of example, each of regions 1002, 1004, 1006 in the image 1000 may correspond, respectively, to light beams 302a, 302b, 302c emitted by light sources 322a, 322b, 322c of the transmit block 320.FIG.","11 illustrates an image 1100 indicative of detector positions of detectors in a receive block, according to an example embodiment.","The image 1100 may be similar to the second image described at block 908 of the method 900.Referring back to FIG.","5A by way of example, regions 1102, 1104, 1106 in the image 1100 may correspond, respectively, to the detectors 532a, 532b, 532c of the receive block 530.FIG.","12 illustrates an image 1200 in a scenario where light sources in a transmit block and detectors in a receive block of a LIDAR device are aligned, according to an example embodiment.","For example, the image 1200 may correspond to a composite image generated by overlaying the image 1000 and the image 1100, in line with the discussion at block 910 of the method 900.However, in some examples, light sources and detectors in a LIDAR device may not be aligned with one another due to manufacturing/assembly variability or other factors.","FIG.","13 illustrates an image 1300 in a scenario where the light sources and the detectors of a LIDAR device are misaligned along the up/down DOF described in the discussion of FIG.","7C, according to an example embodiment.","Image 1300 may be a composite image determined similarly to the image 1200.For instance, region 1302 may correspond to region 1006 of the image 1000, and region 1304 may correspond to region 1106 of the image 1100.In turn, the at least one offset determined at block 910 of the method 900 may correspond to a distance (e.g., pixel distance, etc.)","between the region 1302 and the region 1304, and a system (e.g., system 700, etc.)","may perform the adjustment of the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block to align the light source associated with region 1302 with the detector associated with region 1304.By way of example, the system may adjust the up/down position of the transmit block and/or the up/down position of the receive block to reduce the determined offset, in line with the discussion above.","FIG.","14 illustrates an image 1400 in a scenario where the light sources and the detectors of the LIDAR device are misaligned along the left/right DOF described in the discussion of FIG.","7C, according to an example embodiment.","As a variation of the discussion for image 1300, an offset in the LIDAR device of image 1400 may correspond to the distance between the regions 1402 (e.g., associated with a light source) and 1404 (e.g., associated with a corresponding detector).","FIG.","15 illustrates an image 1500 in a scenario where the light sources and the detectors are misaligned along the forward/backward DOF, according to an example embodiment.","For instance, as shown in image 1500, the regions that correspond to light source positions appear smaller and closer to one another, than the regions that correspond to detector positions.","Similarly here, one or more offsets according to block 910 of the method 900 may be determined.","An example offset may be a ratio between: (i) the distance between region 1502 and 1504 (e.g., particular detector positions), and (ii) the distance between regions 1506 and 1508 (e.g., corresponding light source positions).","However, other offsets are possible as well such as offsets determined by various image processing algorithms to detect differences in sizing or depth among other possibilities.","FIG.","16 illustrates an image 1600 in a scenario where the light sources and the detectors are misaligned along the roll DOF described in FIG.","7C, according to an example embodiment.","Similarly here, the offset between the roll position of the light sources and the roll position of the detectors may be determined.","For instance, an image processing algorithm may determine such offset, and a system of the present method may adjust the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block accordingly.","Alternatively, for instance, manual operation of a robotic arm may be employed by visual inspection of the image 1600 (e.g., video feed, etc.)","to adjust the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block, among other possibilities.","FIG.","17 illustrates an image 1700 in a scenario where the light sources and detectors are misaligned along the yaw DOF described in FIG.","7C, according to an example embodiment.","For instance, as shown, light beams from light sources at a right side of the image 1700 (e.g., associated with regions 1702 and 1704) are at a greater distance (e.g., offset) to one another than light sources at a left side of the image 1700 (e.g., associated with regions 1706 and 1708).","This variation may be due to the yaw of the transmit block.","In contrast, distances between adjacent corresponding detectors (e.g., associated with regions 1710 and 1712) do not exhibit the same variation, due to the receive block having a different yaw.","Thus, in some examples, the present method may adjust the yaw of the receive block to correspond to the yaw of the transmit block.","Alternatively or additionally, in some examples, the present method may adjust the yaw of the transmit block to correspond to the yaw of the receive block.","FIG.","18 illustrates an image 1800 in a scenario where the light sources and detectors are misaligned along the pitch DOF described in FIG.","7C, according to an example embodiment.","Similarly to the discussion above for the yaw misalignment in image 1700, the transmit block in this scenario has a pitch orientation that is different from the pitch orientation of the receive block.","For instance, a distance (e.g., offset) between light beams indicated by regions 1802 and 1804 is different from the distance between light beams indicated by regions 1806 and 1808, due to the pitch of the transmit block.","Further, corresponding detectors for those light beams are not similarly separated in the image 1800, which indicates that the receive block has a different pitch than the pitch of the transmit block.","In turn, similarly to the discussion above for image 1700, the present method may adjust the pitch of the transmit block, the receive block, or both, to align the transmit block with the receive block, in line with the discussion at block 912 of the method 900.Although images 1200-1800 illustrate composite images overlaying a first image (e.g., image 1000, etc.)","with a second image (e.g., image 1100), in some examples, the present method may determine the various offsets described above for images 1200-1800 without overlaying the two images.","For instance, a computing device herein may determine the various offsets by comparing pixel locations in the first image 1000 with corresponding pixel locations in the second image 1100.Other image processing techniques are possible as well (e.g., filtering, transforms, etc.)","for determining the at least one offset described at block 910 of the method 900.Further, although images 1300-1800 illustrate scenarios where the light sources and the detectors are offset in only one DOF, in some examples, the light sources and the detectors may be offset in more than one DOF.","For instance, a LIDAR device may have light sources and detectors that are offset in both the forward/backward DOF described in image 1500 and the roll DOF described in image 1600.Other offset combinations are possible as well.","Further, although images 1000-1800 represent light sources and detectors of a LIDAR device having a similar configuration to the LIDAR device 200, in some examples, similar images may be generated for any other LIDAR device configuration, such as the configuration of the LIDAR device 600 among other possibilities.","In addition to alignment of light sources and detectors of a LIDAR device, in some examples, the present method may facilitate diagnosis of the various components of the LIDAR device.","As an example, FIG.","19 illustrates an image 1900 indicative of a defect or an aberration.","Image 1900 is an example image of light beams from a transmit block, similarly to the image 1000.For instance, region 1902 of image 1900 may correspond to a light beam from a light source, similarly to region 1002 of the image 1000.In one example, region 1904 may represent a light beam from a defective light source.","For instance, pixels in region 1904 may have a different color, brightness, intensity, or any other characteristic than pixels in other similar regions (e.g., region 1902), due to a defect in the light source associated with region 1904.In another example, region 1906 may be a region where a light beam from a light source is expected, and therefore the associated light source may also be defective.","In yet another example, regions 1908 and 1910 appear distorted compared to similar regions (e.g., region 1902).","In turn, for instance, such distortions may indicate that optical elements (e.g., cylindrical lens 404 of FIGS.","4B-4C, etc.)","coupled to light sources associated with regions 1908 and 1910 may have aberrations, and the present method may therefore detect the aberrations.","Other example defects and aberrations are possible as well.","In some examples, the present method may detect the various defects/aberrations described above by comparing the various regions 1904-1910 with similar regions in the image 1900 (e.g., region 1902, etc.).","Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the present method may detect the various defects/aberrations by comparing the image 1900 with a stored image (e.g., image 1000).","FIG.","20 is a flowchart of another method 2000, according to an example embodiment.","Method 2000 shown in FIG.","20 presents an embodiment of a method that could be used with any of the systems 100, 700, 800, the LIDAR devices 104, 200, 600, 704, 804, the transmit block 320, the light source 400, and/or the receive block 530, for example.","Method 2000 may include one or more operations, functions, or actions as illustrated by one or more of blocks 2002-2004.Although the blocks are illustrated in a sequential order, these blocks may in some instances be performed in parallel, and/or in a different order than those described herein.","Also, the various blocks may be combined into fewer blocks, divided into additional blocks, and/or removed based upon the desired implementation.","At block 2002, the method 2000 involves obtaining one or more images using a camera located at a given position at which the camera can image light beams emitted by one or more light sources in a transmit block of a LIDAR device and can image one or more detectors in a receive block of the LIDAR device.","In some examples, the one or more images may include a single image that indicates both light source positions of the one or more light sources and detector positions of the one or more detectors.","For instance, the single image may be similar to images 1200-1800 shown in FIGS.","12-18.In other examples, the one or more images may include a first image indicative of the light source positions and a second image indicative of the detector positions, similarly to the first image and the second image described, respectively, at blocks 906 and 908 of the method 900.In some examples, the method 2000 may also involve causing an actuator to move a light filter to a first position where the light filter is interposed between the camera and the LIDAR device, obtaining a first image indicative of light source positions of the one or more light sources while the light filter is at the first position, causing the actuator to move the light filter to a second position where the light filter is outside a field-of-view of the camera, and obtaining a second image indicative of detector positions of the one or more detectors while the light filter is at the second position.","Referring back to FIGS.","7A and 7B by way of example, the actuator, the light filter, and the camera may correspond, respectively, to the actuator 712, the light filter 708, and the camera 706.Thus, in this example, the method 2000 may adjust the position of the light filter 708 to the first position illustrated in FIG.","7A to obtain the first image, and to the second position illustrated in FIG.","7B to obtain the second image.","At block 2004, the method 2000 involves adjusting a relative position between the transmit block and the receive block based on the one or more images.","For instance, the adjustment at block 2004 may be similar to the adjustments described at block 912 of the method 900, along some or all the six DOF (e.g., up/down, left/right, forward/backward, roll, yaw, pitch) of the transmit block, the receive block, or both.","Through this process, for instance, the present method may align the one or more light sources with the one or more detectors.","In some scenarios, the process described for yaw or pitch alignment in the description of images 1700 and 1800 is less suitable than other methods herein.","As an example, the variation in distances between adjacent light sources indicated by a first image (e.g., image 1000) and the variation in distances between adjacent detectors indicated by a second image (e.g., image 1100) may be insufficient for detection of yaw or pitch offsets between the transmit block and the receive block.","For instance, the one or more detectors (or the one or more light sources) may be arranged closely to one another.","As another example, the transmit block and the receive block may only include, respectively, one light source and one detector, similarly to the transmit block 620 and the receive block 630 shown in FIG.","6C.","Thus, in this example, there may be no adjacent light sources or adjacent detectors for the determination of the offsets described in the description of images 1700 and 1800.Accordingly, in some embodiments, alternative or additional processes for rotational position alignment (e.g., yaw, pitch, roll) are presented below.","In one embodiment, the receive block may be coupled to a half-mirror positioned along a receive path of the receive block.","Referring back to FIG.","2B by way of example, the half-mirror may correspond to the entrance aperture 234 and may be configured to reflect at least a portion of light incident on the half-mirror, and the receive path may correspond to receive path 208.Further, in this embodiment, the camera may be coupled to at least two light sources positioned along a periphery of a camera lens of the camera.","The at least two light sources may be configured to emit light toward the LIDAR device.","Further, in this embodiment, the method 2000 may also involve causing the at least two light sources to emit light pulses, and obtaining a third image from the camera indicative of reflections of the emitted light pulses off the half-mirror.","In one instance, the method 2000 may also involve determining offsets between the reflections indicated by the third image, and determining the rotational position adjustment accordingly.","In another instance, the method 2000 may alternatively involve comparing the third image with a stored image, and adjusting the relative position based on the comparison.","For example, the stored image may indicate particular pre-determined offsets between the reflected light pulses that correspond to a particular yaw, pitch, or roll of the receive block.","In this example, the method 2000 may adjust the relative position to achieve the particular offsets.","In another embodiment, the method 2000 may additionally or alternatively involve actuating at least two probes adjacent to the receive block toward the receive block.","A given probe (e.g., force sensor, proximity sensor, etc.)","may be configured to provide a signal indicative of contact (or proximity) between the given probe and the receive block.","In this embodiment, adjusting the relative position may comprise rotating the receive block (e.g., adjusting yaw, pitch, or roll of the receive block) such that at least two signals from the at least two probes are provided at a substantially same time.","For instance, the at least two probes may have a particular yaw or pitch substantially similar to the yaw or pitch of the transmit block, and thus by providing the at least two signals at the substantially same time, the yaw or pitch of the receive block may also correspond to the yaw or pitch of the transmit block.","FIG.","21 illustrates a partial cross-section view of yet another system 2100, according to an example embodiment.","The system 2100 may be similar to any of the systems 100, 700, or 800.For instance, as shown, the system 2100 includes a LIDAR device 2104 that is similar to the LIDAR devices 104 and 704 the systems 100 and 700.It is noted that some components of the system 2100 (e.g., alignment apparatus, mounting platform, etc.)","are omitted from the illustration of FIG.","21 for convenience in description.","As shown, the LIDAR device 2104 has a configuration similar to the LIDAR device 200.For instance, as shown, the LIDAR device 2104 includes a transmit block 2120, light sources 2122a-c, receive block 2130, detectors 2132a-c, an exit aperture 2134, and a lens 2150 that are similar, respectively, to the transmit block 220, the light sources 222a-c, the receive block 230, the detectors 232a-c, the exit aperture 234, and the lens 250 of the LIDAR device 200.However, in some examples, the system 2100 may be adapted for use with other LIDAR device configurations such as the configuration of the LIDAR device 600, etc.","Further, as shown, the system 2100 includes an actuator 2190 and probes 2192-2194.The actuator 2190 may be configured to move the probes 2192 and 2194 toward the receive block 2130 in line with the discussion above at block 2004 of the method 2000.Example actuators may include motors, pneumatic actuators, hydraulic pistons, relays, solenoids, and piezoelectric actuators among other possibilities.","The probes 2192 and 2194 may include any probes suitable for detection of the receive block 2130 in line with the discussion above at block 2004 of the method 2000.In one example, the probes 2192-2194 may include force sensors that provide a signal if the probes 2192-2194 contact the receive block 2130.In another example, the probes 2192-2194 may include proximity sensors (e.g., IR range sensors, etc.)","that provide a signal if the probes 2192-2194 are within a threshold distance to the receive block 2130.In the illustration of FIG.","21, a yaw of a component corresponds to an amount of rotation of the component about an axis of the component pointing out of the page.","Further, a pitch of the component corresponds to an amount of rotation of the component about an axis of the component pointing away from the component.","For instance, a pitch of the transmit block 2120 may be the amount of rotation of the transmit block 2120 about an axis perpendicular to one of the light sources 2122a-c, a pitch of the receive block 2130 may be the amount of rotation of the receive block 2130 about an axis perpendicular to the exit aperture 2134, and a pitch of the probe 2192 may be the amount of rotation of the probe 2192 about an axis perpendicular to the probe 2192 that is pointing toward the receive block 2130, etc.","In line with the discussion above, the system 2100 provides an example embodiment for the rotational position alignment described at block 2004 of the method 2000.Consider an example scenario where the probes 2192-2194 have a particular yaw (i.e., amount of rotation about axis pointing out of page) as shown in FIG.","21.In some examples, the particular yaw may be substantially similar to the yaw of the transmit block 2120.In one example, the probes 2192-2194 may be mounted via a mounting apparatus (not shown) to the transmit block 2120.In this example, the mounting apparatus may have a particular structure that causes the probes 2192-2194 to have a substantially similar yaw to the yaw of the transmit block 2120.In another example, the probes 2192-2194 may be mounted to an alignment apparatus (e.g., alignment apparatus 160, 760, 860, etc.)","that provides the particular yaw.","For instance, the system 2100 may determine the yaw of the transmit block 2120 by processing an image from a camera (not shown) in line with the description of the image 1700 of FIG.","17.In turn, for instance, the system 2100 may adjust the particular yaw of the probes 2192-2194 by utilizing a robotic arm or other device coupled to the probes 2192-2194 among other possibilities.","Continuing with the example scenario, the actuator 2190 may move the probes 2192-2194 toward the receive block 2130 in line with the discussion at block 2004 of the method 2000.On one hand, if the two probes 2192-2194 detect the receive block 2130 (e.g., provide a signal, etc.)","at a substantially similar time, then the system 2100 may determine that the yaw of the receive block 2130 corresponds to the yaw of the probes 2192-2192, and therefore also corresponds to the yaw of the transmit block 2120.On the other hand, if the two probes 2192-2194 detect the receive block 2130 at substantially different times, then the system 2100 may determine that the yaw of the receive block 2130 does not correspond to the yaw of the probes 2192-2194, and therefore does not correspond to the yaw of the transmit block 2120.In this case, the system 2100 may then perform the adjustment of the relative position between the transmit block 2120 and the receive block 2130 in line with the discussion at block 912 of the method 900.Through this process, for example, the transmit block 2120 and the receive block 2130 may be aligned with one another, at least with regard to the yaw DOF.","As a variation of the example scenario, the probes 2192-2194 may be arranged vertically (e.g., along an axis pointing out of the page) instead of the arrangement shown in FIG.","21, or the system 2100 may include two additional probes (not shown) that are arranged vertically.","In either case, the probes in this scenario may have a particular pitch (e.g., amount of rotation about an axis pointing away from the probes 2192-2194 toward the receive block 2130).","Similarly to the previous scenario, the particular pitch may also correspond to a pitch of the transmit block 2120.Thus, in this scenario, a similar process to the previous scenario may be performed by the system 2100 to align the pitch of the receive block 2130 with the pitch of the transmit block 2120.As a further variation of the example scenarios above, the probes 2192-2194 may be alternatively moved by the actuator 2192 toward the transmit block 2120 instead of the receive block 2130.In this scenario, the system 2100 may adjust the position of the transmit block 2120 to align the pitch and/or yaw of the transmit block 2120 with the pitch and/or yaw of the receive block 2130.FIG.","22 illustrates a front-view of a camera 2206, according to an example embodiment.","The camera 2206 may be similar to the cameras 106, 706, and 806 included, respectively, in the systems 100, 700, and 800.For instance, the camera 2206 may be located at a given position where the camera can capture images of light beams emitted by a LIDAR device and can capture images of detectors in the LIDAR device, similarly to the cameras 106, 706, and 806.However, in some examples, the camera 2206 may be located in other positions such as inside the housing of a LIDAR device, similarly to the probes 2192-2194 of the system 2100.In these examples, the camera 2206 may be configured to only capture images of the detectors in the LIDAR device, or may be configured to only capture images of light beams emitted by the LIDAR device, among other possibilities.","As shown, the camera 2206 includes a lens 2210 and light sources 2212, 2214, 2216, and 2218.However, in some examples, the camera 2206 may include additional, fewer, or different components than those shown.","In one example, the camera 2206 may alternatively not include the lens 2210.For instance, the camera 2206 in this example may be an image sensor configured to capture images without use of the lens 2210, among other possibilities.","In another example, the camera 2206 may be alternatively configured not to include the light sources 2212-2218, or may be configured to include additional or fewer light sources than the four light sources 2212-2218 shown, in accordance with the discussion at block 2004 of the method 2000.The lens 2210 may include one or more optical element (e.g., convex lens, concave lens, Fresnel lens, mirror, etc.)","arranged to modify, condition, focus, and/or redirect light incident on the lens 2210 toward imaging sensors (not shown) of the camera 2206.In some examples, the lens 2210 may be configured to provide an infinity focus for incident light having a source wavelength.","In one embodiment, the source wavelength is 905 nm.","However, other source wavelengths are possible as well (e.g., infrared, ultraviolet, x-ray, visible, etc.).","The light sources 2212-2218 may include laser diodes, light emitting diodes (LEDs), vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL), organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), polymer light emitting diodes (PLED), light emitting polymers (LEP), liquid crystal displays (LCD), microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), filament light sources, or any other device configured to selectively transmit, reflect, and/or emit light propagating away from the camera 2206.In some examples, the light sources 2212-2218 may be configured to emit light at the source wavelength of light emitted by the LIDAR device (not shown) imaged by the camera 2206.Referring back to FIG.","7A by way of example, the camera 2206 may correspond to the camera 706 of the system 700.Thus, in this example, the light sources 2212-2218 may emit light having the source wavelength that can propagate through the light filter 708 similarly to light emitted by the LIDAR device 704.However, in other examples, the light sources 2212-2218 may be configured to emit light at other wavelengths.","For instance, the light filter may allow propagation of the light from the light sources 2212-2218 even if the light has other wavelengths, or the light filter may not be interposed between the camera 2206 and the LIDAR device, similarly to the configuration shown in FIG.","7B, among other possibilities.","As shown, the light sources 2212-2218 are positioned along a periphery of the camera lens 2210.However, in some examples, the light sources 2212-2218 may be alternatively positioned at a different location.","In one example, referring back to FIG.","7A, the light sources 2212-2218 may be alternatively positioned along a periphery of the light filter 708.In another example, referring back to FIG.","21, the light sources 2212-2214 may be alternatively positioned within a housing of the LIDAR device 2104 similarly to the probes 2192-2194.As a variation of the previous example, the camera 2206 may be alternatively positioned inside the housing of the LIDAR device 2104 as well similarly to the actuator 2190.In yet another example, referring back to FIG.","21, the light sources 2212-2218 may be alternatively positioned at a periphery of the transmit block 2120 or at a periphery of the receive block 2130.Other positions for the light sources 2212-2218 are possible as well.","Thus, in some examples, the light sources 2212-2218 may be utilized by a system of the present method to determine the at least one offset in line with the discussion at block 910 of the method 900, and therefore facilitate the adjustment of the relative position between a transmit block and a receive block of a LIDAR device in line with the discussion at block 912 of the method 900.In one example, the light sources 2212-2218 may facilitate alignment of the rotational position (e.g., yaw, pitch, roll) of a transmit block and a receive block in line with the discussion at block 2004 of the method 2000.As an example scenario for rotational position alignment using the camera 2206, suppose that the camera 2206 corresponds to the camera 706 of the system 700.In the scenario, the light sources 2212-2218 may be configured to emit light that propagates through the light filter 708 (e.g., if the light filter 708 is interposed between the camera 2206 and the LIDAR device 704 as illustrated in FIG.","7A).","Suppose that, for the sake of example, the LIDAR device 704 has the configuration of the LIDAR device 200 shown in FIG.","2B.","In this example, the light from the light sources 2212-2218 may propagate through the lens 250, and then reflect off mirror 242 onto the entrance aperture 234.Further, suppose that, in this example, the entrance aperture 234 includes a half-mirror that reflects at least a portion of the light from the light sources 2212-2218.In turn, the reflected light may reflect off the half-mirror, then reflect off the mirror 242, then propagate through the lens 250 of the LIDAR device, and then propagate into the lens 2210 of the camera 2206.At this point in the scenario, the camera 2206 may capture an image of the reflected light in line with the discussion at block 2004 of the method 2000.Continuing with the scenario, a system of the present method may then analyze the image, in line with the discussion for images 1700-1800, using the properties (e.g., position, shape, intensity, etc.)","of the light beams originating from the light sources 2212-2218 to determine yaw or pitch offsets between the transmit block and the receive block.","As a variation of the scenario above, suppose that the light sources 2212-2218 are alternatively positioned along a periphery of the transmit block 220 of the LIDAR device 200.In this scenario, four mirrors may be positioned at the positions shown for the light sources 2212-2218.In turn, the four mirrors may reflect the light from the light sources 2212-2218 towards the receive block 230 of the LIDAR device 200, and the camera 2206 may capture an image of reflections of that light off the entrance aperture 234 (e.g., half-mirror) to determine a possible yaw/pitch offset between the transmit block 220 and the receive block 230.As another variation of the scenario, suppose that the light sources 2212-2218 are alternatively positioned along a periphery of the receive block 230 of the LIDAR device 200.In this scenario, a system of the present method may analyze an image of light from the light sources 2212-2218 in line with the discussion for images 1600-1800 to determine the rotational position (e.g., roll, yaw, pitch) of the receive block.","As yet another variation of the scenario, the light sources 2212-2218 may be alternatively positioned along a periphery of the transmit block 220 of the LIDAR device 200, and four additional similar light sources may be positioned along the periphery of the receive block 230 of the LIDAR device 200.Similarly here, one or more images of the light from the light sources 2212-2218 and the four additional light sources may be obtained from the camera 2206 and analyzed by the system of the present method to determine rotational offsets (e.g., roll, yaw, pitch) between the transmit block and the receive block.","Thus, various configurations and positions are possible for the light sources 2212-2218 to facilitate optics alignment in line with the discussion above.","It should be understood that arrangements described herein are for purposes of example only.","As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that other arrangements and other elements (e.g.","machines, interfaces, functions, orders, and groupings of functions, etc.)","can be used instead, and some elements may be omitted altogether according to the desired results.","Further, many of the elements that are described are functional entities that may be implemented as discrete or distributed components or in conjunction with other components, in any suitable combination and location, or other structural elements described as independent structures may be combined.","While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.","The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope being indicated by the following claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.","It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"Methods and Systems for LIDAR Optics Alignment\",\n \"A method is provided that involves mounting a transmit block and a receive block in a LIDAR device to provide a relative position between the transmit block and the receive block.\",\n \"The method also involves locating a camera at a given position at which the camera can image light beams emitted by the transmit block and can image the receive block.\",\n \"The method also involves obtaining, using the camera, a first image indicative of light source positions of one or more light sources in the transmit block and a second image indicative of detector positions of one or more detectors in the receive block.\",\n \"The method also involves determining at least one offset based on the first image and the second image.\",\n \"The method also involves adjusting the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block based at least in part on the at least one offset.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A method comprising: causing a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device to emit one or more light beams toward a field-of-view (FOV) of the LIDAR device, wherein the LIDAR device includes one or more light detectors and a lens that focuses light from the FOV toward the one or more light detectors; capturing a plurality of images using a camera located at a given position in the FOV of the LIDAR device, wherein the one or more light detectors are viewable to the camera via the lens of the LIDAR device, and wherein the plurality of images include: a first image indicating a view of the one or more light beams from the given position of the camera, and a second image indicating a view of the one or more light detectors from the given position of the camera; and based on at least the plurality of images, adjusting the LIDAR device to align the one or more light beams with the one or more light detectors.\",\n \"2.The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more light beams propagate through the lens toward the camera, and wherein the first image indicates the view of the one or more light beams via the lens.\",\n \"3.The method of claim 1, wherein the LIDAR device includes one or more light sources that emit the one or more light beams.\",\n \"4.The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more light sources are viewable to the camera via the lens of the LIDAR device, and wherein the first image is indicative of a view of the one or more light sources via the lens of the LIDAR device.\",\n \"5.The method of claim 3, wherein adjusting the LIDAR device comprises mounting the one or more light sources in the LIDAR device.\",\n \"6.The method of claim 3, wherein adjusting the LIDAR device comprises adjusting a position of the one or more light sources relative to the one or more light detectors in the LIDAR device.\",\n \"7.The method of claim 3, wherein adjusting the LIDAR device comprises adjusting a position of the one or more light detectors relative to the one or more light sources in the LIDAR device.\",\n \"8.The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the LIDAR device comprises mounting the one or more light detectors in the LIDAR device.\",\n \"9.The method of claim 1, further comprising: comparing the first image with the second image, wherein adjusting the LIDAR device is further based on the comparison.\",\n \"10.The method of claim 1, further comprising: moving a light filter to a first position between the camera and the LIDAR device, wherein the one or more light beams propagate through the light filter based on the light filter being at the first position, and wherein capturing the plurality of images comprises: capturing the first image while the light filter is at the first position, and capturing the second image while the light filter is at a second position outside a path of the one or more light beams.\",\n \"11.The method of claim 10, further comprising: prior to capturing the second image, moving the light filter from the first position to the second position.\",\n \"12.The method of claim 1, further comprising: illuminating the one or more light detectors with an auxiliary light source, wherein capturing the plurality of images comprises capturing the second image while the one or more light detectors are illuminated by the auxiliary light source.\",\n \"13.The method of claim 12, wherein the auxiliary light source emits light at a source wavelength of the one or more light beams emitted by the LIDAR device.\",\n \"14.The method of claim 12, wherein capturing the plurality of images comprises capturing the first image while the one or more light detectors are not illuminated by the auxiliary light source.\",\n \"15.A system comprising: a mounting platform that supports a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device, wherein the LIDAR device includes one or more light detectors and a lens that focuses light from a field-of-view (FOV) of the LIDAR device toward the one or more light detectors; a camera located at a given position in the FOV of the LIDAR device, wherein the one or more light detectors are viewable to the camera via the lens of the LIDAR device; and a controller that: causes the LIDAR device to emit one or more light beams toward the FOV of the LIDAR device; obtains a plurality of images using the camera, wherein the plurality of images include: a first image indicating a view of the one or more light beams from the given position of the camera, and a second image indicating a view of the one or more light detectors from the given position of the camera; and based on at least the plurality of images, identifies at least one alignment offset between the one or more light beams and the one or more light detectors.\",\n \"16.The system of claim 15, further comprising: an alignment apparatus that adjusts the LIDAR device based on the at least one identified alignment offset.\",\n \"17.The system of claim 17, further comprising: a light filter that attenuates light within a wavelength range that includes a source wavelength of the one or more light beams; and an actuator coupled to the light filter, wherein the controller causes the actuator to move the light filter to a first position between the camera and the LIDAR device, wherein the one or more light beams propagate through the light filter toward the camera based on the light filter being at the first position, and wherein obtaining the plurality of images comprises obtaining the first image while the light filter is at the first position.\",\n \"18.The system of claim 17, wherein the controller causes the actuator to move the light filter to a second position outside a path of the one or more light beams, wherein obtaining the plurality of images comprises obtaining the second image while the light filter is at the second position.\",\n \"19.A method comprising: causing a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device to transmit one or more light beams toward a field-of-view (FOV) of the LIDAR device, wherein the LIDAR device includes one or more light detectors, a lens, and one or more light sources that emit the one or more light beams; capturing a plurality of images using a camera located at a given position in the FOV of the LIDAR device, wherein the one or more light detectors are viewable to the camera via the lens, wherein the one or more light sources are viewable to the camera via the lens, and wherein the plurality of images include: a first image indicating a view of the one or more light beams from the given position of the camera, and a second image indicating a view of the one or more light detectors from the given position of the camera; and based on at least the plurality of images, aligning the one or more light sources with the one or more light detectors.\",\n \"20.The method of claim 19, further comprising: interposing a light filter between the camera and the LIDAR device, wherein the light filter attenuates a source wavelength of the one or more light beams emitted by the LIDAR device, and wherein capturing the plurality of images comprises: capturing the first image while the light filter is interposed between the camera and the LIDAR device, and capturing the second image while the light filter is not interposed between the camera and the LIDAR device.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.\",\n \"A LIDAR can estimate distance to environmental features while scanning through a scene to assemble a “point cloud” indicative of reflective surfaces in the environment.\",\n \"Individual points in the point cloud can be determined by transmitting a laser pulse and detecting a returning pulse, if any, reflected from an object in the environment, and determining the distance to the object according to the time delay between the transmission of the transmitted pulse and the reception of the reflected pulse.\",\n \"A laser, or set of lasers, can be rapidly and repeatedly scanned across a scene to provide continuous real-time information on distances to reflective objects in the scene.\",\n \"Combining the measured distances and the orientation of the laser(s) while measuring each distance allows for associating a three-dimensional position with each returning pulse.\",\n \"In this way, a three-dimensional map of points indicative of locations of reflective features in the environment can be generated for the entire scanning zone.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>In one example, a method is provided that involves mounting a transmit block and a receive block in a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device to provide a relative position between the transmit block and the receive block.\",\n \"The transmit block may include one or more light sources configured to emit light at a source wavelength.\",\n \"The receive block may include one or more detectors configured to detect light at the source wavelength.\",\n \"The method further involves locating a camera at a given position at which the camera, when focused at infinity, can image light beams emitted by the one or more light sources and can image the one or more detectors.\",\n \"The method further involves obtaining a first image using the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.\",\n \"The first image may be indicative of light source positions of the one or more light sources.\",\n \"The method further involves obtaining a second image using the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.\",\n \"The second image may be indicative of detector positions of the one or more detectors in the receive block.\",\n \"The method further involves determining at least one offset based on the light source positions indicated by the first image and the detector positions indicated by the second image.\",\n \"The method further involves adjusting the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block based at least in part on the at least one offset.\",\n \"In another example, a system is provided that includes a mounting platform to mount a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device that provides a relative position between a transmit block in the LIDAR device and a receive block in the LIDAR device.\",\n \"The transmit block may include one or more light sources configured to emit light at a source wavelength.\",\n \"The receive block may include one or more detectors configured to detect light at the source wavelength.\",\n \"The system also includes a camera located at a given position at which the camera, when focused at infinity, can image light beams emitted by the one or more light sources and can image the one or more detectors.\",\n \"The system also includes an alignment apparatus configured to adjust the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block.\",\n \"The system also includes a controller configured to obtain a first image from the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.\",\n \"The first image may be indicative of light source positions of the one or more light sources.\",\n \"The controller is also configured to obtain a second image from the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.\",\n \"The second image may be indicative of detector positions of the one or more detectors in the receive block.\",\n \"The controller is also configured to determine at least one offset based on the light source positions indicated by the first image and the detector positions indicated by the second image.\",\n \"The controller is also configured to cause the alignment apparatus to adjust the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block based at least in part on the at least one offset.\",\n \"In yet another example, a system is provided that includes a means for mounting a transmit block and a receive block in a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device to provide a relative position between the transmit block and the receive block.\",\n \"The transmit block may include one or more light sources configured to emit light at a source wavelength.\",\n \"The receive block may include one or more detectors configured to detect light at the source wavelength.\",\n \"The system also comprises means for locating a camera at a given position at which the camera, when focused at infinity, can image light beams emitted by the one or more light sources and can image the one or more detectors.\",\n \"The system also comprises means for obtaining a first image using the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.\",\n \"The first image may be indicative of light source positions of the one or more light sources.\",\n \"The system also comprises means for obtaining a second image using the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.\",\n \"The second image may be indicative of detector positions of the one or more detectors in the receive block.\",\n \"The system also comprises means for determining at least one offset based on the light source positions indicated by the first image and the detector positions indicated by the second image.\",\n \"The system also comprises means for adjusting the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block based at least in part on the at least one offset.\",\n \"These as well as other aspects, advantages, and alternatives, will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reading the following detailed description, with reference where appropriate to the accompanying figures.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/482,722 filed on Apr.\",\n \"8, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/671,085 filed on Mar.\",\n \"27, 2015, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.\",\n \"BACKGROUND Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.\",\n \"A LIDAR can estimate distance to environmental features while scanning through a scene to assemble a “point cloud” indicative of reflective surfaces in the environment.\",\n \"Individual points in the point cloud can be determined by transmitting a laser pulse and detecting a returning pulse, if any, reflected from an object in the environment, and determining the distance to the object according to the time delay between the transmission of the transmitted pulse and the reception of the reflected pulse.\",\n \"A laser, or set of lasers, can be rapidly and repeatedly scanned across a scene to provide continuous real-time information on distances to reflective objects in the scene.\",\n \"Combining the measured distances and the orientation of the laser(s) while measuring each distance allows for associating a three-dimensional position with each returning pulse.\",\n \"In this way, a three-dimensional map of points indicative of locations of reflective features in the environment can be generated for the entire scanning zone.\",\n \"SUMMARY In one example, a method is provided that involves mounting a transmit block and a receive block in a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device to provide a relative position between the transmit block and the receive block.\",\n \"The transmit block may include one or more light sources configured to emit light at a source wavelength.\",\n \"The receive block may include one or more detectors configured to detect light at the source wavelength.\",\n \"The method further involves locating a camera at a given position at which the camera, when focused at infinity, can image light beams emitted by the one or more light sources and can image the one or more detectors.\",\n \"The method further involves obtaining a first image using the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.\",\n \"The first image may be indicative of light source positions of the one or more light sources.\",\n \"The method further involves obtaining a second image using the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.\",\n \"The second image may be indicative of detector positions of the one or more detectors in the receive block.\",\n \"The method further involves determining at least one offset based on the light source positions indicated by the first image and the detector positions indicated by the second image.\",\n \"The method further involves adjusting the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block based at least in part on the at least one offset.\",\n \"In another example, a system is provided that includes a mounting platform to mount a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device that provides a relative position between a transmit block in the LIDAR device and a receive block in the LIDAR device.\",\n \"The transmit block may include one or more light sources configured to emit light at a source wavelength.\",\n \"The receive block may include one or more detectors configured to detect light at the source wavelength.\",\n \"The system also includes a camera located at a given position at which the camera, when focused at infinity, can image light beams emitted by the one or more light sources and can image the one or more detectors.\",\n \"The system also includes an alignment apparatus configured to adjust the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block.\",\n \"The system also includes a controller configured to obtain a first image from the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.\",\n \"The first image may be indicative of light source positions of the one or more light sources.\",\n \"The controller is also configured to obtain a second image from the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.\",\n \"The second image may be indicative of detector positions of the one or more detectors in the receive block.\",\n \"The controller is also configured to determine at least one offset based on the light source positions indicated by the first image and the detector positions indicated by the second image.\",\n \"The controller is also configured to cause the alignment apparatus to adjust the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block based at least in part on the at least one offset.\",\n \"In yet another example, a system is provided that includes a means for mounting a transmit block and a receive block in a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device to provide a relative position between the transmit block and the receive block.\",\n \"The transmit block may include one or more light sources configured to emit light at a source wavelength.\",\n \"The receive block may include one or more detectors configured to detect light at the source wavelength.\",\n \"The system also comprises means for locating a camera at a given position at which the camera, when focused at infinity, can image light beams emitted by the one or more light sources and can image the one or more detectors.\",\n \"The system also comprises means for obtaining a first image using the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.\",\n \"The first image may be indicative of light source positions of the one or more light sources.\",\n \"The system also comprises means for obtaining a second image using the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.\",\n \"The second image may be indicative of detector positions of the one or more detectors in the receive block.\",\n \"The system also comprises means for determining at least one offset based on the light source positions indicated by the first image and the detector positions indicated by the second image.\",\n \"The system also comprises means for adjusting the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block based at least in part on the at least one offset.\",\n \"These as well as other aspects, advantages, and alternatives, will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reading the following detailed description, with reference where appropriate to the accompanying figures.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG.\",\n \"1 is a block diagram of a system, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2A illustrates a LIDAR device, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2B is a cross-section view of the LIDAR device shown in FIG.\",\n \"2A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2C is a perspective view of the LIDAR device shown in FIG.\",\n \"2A with various components removed to illustrate an interior of the LIDAR device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates a transmit block, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4A is a view of a light source, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4B is a view of the light source of FIG.\",\n \"4A in combination with a cylindrical lens, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4C is another view of the light source and cylindrical lens combination of FIG.\",\n \"4B, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5A illustrates a receive block, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5B illustrates a side view of three detectors included in the receive block of FIG.\",\n \"5A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6A illustrates another LIDAR device, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6B illustrates a partial cross-section view of the LIDAR device of FIG.\",\n \"6A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6C illustrates a partial cross-section view of the optics assembly in the FIG.\",\n \"7A illustrates a system, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7B illustrates an arrangement of the system shown in FIG.\",\n \"7A where the light filter is not interposed between the LIDAR device and the camera.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7C illustrates a partial view of the system shown in FIGS.\",\n \"7A-7B.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates another system, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 is a flowchart of a method, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 illustrates an image indicative of light source positions, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11 illustrates an image indicative of detector positions, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 illustrates an image in a scenario where light sources and detectors are aligned, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 illustrates an image in a scenario where light sources and detectors have an up/down offset, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14 illustrates an image in a scenario where light sources and detectors have a left/right offset, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"15 illustrates an image in a scenario where light sources and detectors have a forward/backward offset, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16 illustrates an image in a scenario where light sources and detectors have a roll offset, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"17 illustrates an image in a scenario where light sources and detectors have a yaw offset, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"18 illustrates an image in a scenario where light sources and detectors have a pitch offset, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"19 illustrates an image indicative of a defect or an aberration, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"20 is a flowchart of another method, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"21 illustrates a partial cross-section view of yet another system, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"22 illustrates a front-view of a camera, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following detailed description describes various features and functions of the disclosed systems, devices and methods with reference to the accompanying figures.\",\n \"In the figures, similar symbols identify similar components, unless context dictates otherwise.\",\n \"The illustrative system, device and method embodiments described herein are not meant to be limiting.\",\n \"It may be readily understood by those skilled in the art that certain aspects of the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be arranged and combined in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are contemplated herein.\",\n \"Within examples, a LIDAR device may include a transmit block and a receive block.\",\n \"The transmit block may include one or more light sources that transmit light for propagation away from the LIDAR device toward an environment of the LIDAR device.\",\n \"In turn, the transmitted light may reflect off one or more objects in the environment, and the reflected light may propagate back toward the LIDAR device.\",\n \"Further, the receive block may include one or more detectors to detect the reflected light.\",\n \"Through this process, a computing system may process data from the LIDAR device pertaining to the reflected light to determine positions and/or characteristics of various objects in the environment of the LIDAR device.\",\n \"To facilitate operation of the LIDAR device, a light beam emitted by a given light source and reflected back toward the LIDAR device is received by a corresponding detector.\",\n \"Within examples, systems and methods are provided for alignment of light source(s) and detector(s) in a LIDAR device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 is a block diagram of a system 100, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"The system 100 includes a mounting platform 102, an alignment apparatus 160, and a controller 180.The system 100 may optionally include an auxiliary light source 170.The mounting platform 102 may provide a platform for mounting some or all of the components of the system 100.As shown, the mounting platform 102 mounts a LIDAR device 104 and a camera 106.In some examples, the mounting platform 102 may also mount a light filter 108.Further, in some examples, the mounting platform 102 may also mount an actuator 112.Accordingly, the mounting platform 102 may be formed from one or more solid materials suitable for supporting the various components, such as plastics or metals among other possibilities.\",\n \"In some examples, some of the components shown to be mounted on the mounting platform 102 may alternatively be mounted to a separate structure (not shown) or otherwise coupled to the system 100.For instance, the camera 106 and/or the light filter 108 may be alternatively positioned and/or mounted outside the mounting platform 102.The LIDAR device 104 includes a transmit block 120 and a receive block 130.As shown, in some examples, the LIDAR device 104 may optionally include a lens 150.The transmit block 120 includes one or more light sources 122 that may be configured to emit one or more light beams 124.Although not shown in FIG.\",\n \"1, the transmit block 120 may include additional components such as a mirror or an exit aperture to condition and/or redirect the light beams 124.The one or more light sources 122 may include laser diodes, light emitting diodes (LEDs), vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL), organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), polymer light emitting diodes (PLED), light emitting polymers (LEP), liquid crystal displays (LCD), microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), or any other device configured to selectively transmit, reflect, and/or emit light beams 124 at a source wavelength.\",\n \"The source wavelength, for example, may include ultraviolet, visible, and/or infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the source wavelength is 905 nm.\",\n \"Additionally, in some examples, the light sources 122 may be configured to emit the light beam(s) 124 in the form of pulses.\",\n \"In some examples, the light sources 122 may be disposed on one or more substrates (e.g., printed circuit boards (PCB), flexible PCBs, etc.).\",\n \"The receive block 130 includes one or more detectors 132 that may be configured to receive light from an environment of the LIDAR device 104.In one example, a given detector of the detectors 132 is configured and arranged to receive a given light beam of the light beams 124 that is reflected off an object in the environment of the LIDAR device 104 toward the given detector.\",\n \"Through this process, for example, the LIDAR device 104 may detect various objects in the environment by emitting light beams 124 using the light sources 122 and detecting reflections of the light beams 124 using the detectors 132.Although not shown, in some examples, the receive block 130 may include additional components such as an inert gas, an entrance aperture (e.g., half-mirror), and/or any other component to filter and/or condition light propagating toward the detectors 132.The detector(s) 132 may comprise photodiodes, avalanche photodiodes, phototransistors, cameras, active pixel sensors (APS), charge coupled devices (CCD), cryogenic detectors, or any other sensor of light.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the detector(s) 132 may be configured to detect light at the source wavelength (e.g., 905 nm, etc.)\",\n \"of the light beams 124 emitted by the light sources 122 and/or reflections thereof.\",\n \"The lens 150 may be optionally included in the LIDAR device 104 and may be configured to collimate the emitted light beams 124 and/or focus light propagating toward the detectors 132.In one embodiment, the lens 150 may be a single lens having an optical power to both collimate the light beams 124 and focus light onto the detectors 132.In another embodiment, the lens 150 may include two separate lenses.\",\n \"For example, a first lens may collimate the light beam(s) 124 emitted by the light source(s) 122, and a second lens may focus light propagating toward the LIDAR device 104 onto the detector(s) 132.Other lens configurations are possible as well (e.g., multiple lenses for collimation and/or multiple lenses for focus, etc.).\",\n \"In some examples, the LIDAR device 104 may include additional, fewer, or different components than those shown in FIG.\",\n \"1.Thus, in some embodiments, the system 100 may be utilized for assembly, manufacture, and/or calibration of various LIDAR devices having various configurations, such as the LIDAR device 104 or any other LIDAR device.\",\n \"Accordingly, in some examples, the LIDAR device 104 may be removably mounted to the mounting platform 102 of the system 100 to facilitate such calibration or assembly.\",\n \"In some examples, the various components of the LIDAR device 104 such as the transmit block 120, receive block 130, and the lens 150 can be removably mounted in predetermined positions within the LIDAR device 104 to reduce burden of calibrating the arrangement of each component and/or subcomponents included in each component.\",\n \"In these examples, the system 100 may adjust the relative position between the transmit block 120 and the receive block 130 to align the one or more light sources 122 with the one or more detectors 132.Alternatively, in other examples, the system 100 may be configured to adjust the relative position between each of the subcomponents (e.g., each light source of light sources 122, each detector of detectors 132, etc.).\",\n \"The camera 106 may be any camera (e.g., a still camera, a video camera, etc.)\",\n \"configured to capture images of the LIDAR device 104.In some examples, the camera 106 may be located at a given position at which the camera 106 can image the light beams 124 emitted by the one or more light sources 122, and can image the one or more detectors 132.In one embodiment, the camera may be focused at infinity when capturing such images.\",\n \"By way of example, the camera may be mounted to have a field-of-view along the path of the light beams 124 (e.g., facing the lens 150, etc.).\",\n \"As an example scenario for operation of the camera 106, the LIDAR device 104 may then be configured to cause the light sources 122 to emit the light beams 124 toward the camera 106.In turn, the camera 106 may provide a first image of the light beams 124.The first image, for instance, may indicate light source position(s) (e.g., bright pixels in the first image, etc.)\",\n \"of the light source(s) 122.In the scenario, the camera may also obtain a second image indicative of detector position(s) of the detector(s) 132.Other scenarios are possible as well and are described in greater detail within exemplary embodiments herein.\",\n \"The light filter 108 may be optionally included in the system 100 to facilitate capture and/or processing of the images described above.\",\n \"For instance, the light filter 108 may be positioned along a path of the light beams 124 between the LIDAR device 104 and the camera 106.In one example, the light filter 108 may be configured to attenuate light within a wavelength range that includes the source wavelength of the light source(s) 122.In this example, the attenuation of the light may facilitate contrasting pixels in the first image that are associated with the light beams 124 against surrounding pixels.\",\n \"Further, in this example, the attenuation of the light may protect the camera 106 from the intensity of the light beams 124.In another example, the light filter 108 may be configured to attenuate light within another wavelength range that does not include the source wavelength of the light source(s) 122.In this example, the images obtained by the camera 106 may represent features of interest (e.g., light source(s) 122, detector(s) 132, etc.)\",\n \"in the LIDAR device 104 more clearly due to the light filter 108 attenuating background light having other wavelengths.\",\n \"Other configurations of the light filter 108 are possible as well and are described in greater detail within exemplary embodiments herein.\",\n \"The actuator 112 may be optionally included in the system 100.The actuator 112 may be configured to adjust the position of the light filter 108.For instance, the actuator 112 may be configured to actuate the light filter 108 to a first position where the light filter 108 is interposed between the LIDAR device 104 and the camera 106, or to a second position where the light filter 108 is not interposed between the LIDAR device 104 and the camera 106.Example actuators may include motors, stepper motors, pneumatic actuators, hydraulic pistons, relays, solenoids, and piezoelectric actuators among other possibilities.\",\n \"The alignment apparatus 160 may include any device that couples to one or more of the components in the LIDAR device 104 to adjust the relative position between the transmit block 120 and the receive block 130.By way of example, the alignment apparatus 160 may be a robotic arm that physically couples to the receive block 130 to rotate and/or translate the position of the receive block 130 in the LIDAR 104.Alternatively or additionally, for example, the robotic arm may adjust the position of the transmit block 120.In some examples, the alignment apparatus 160 may adjust the relative position between the transmit block 120 and the receive block 130 based on image(s) obtained by the camera 106.For instance, the alignment apparatus 160 may adjust the relative position to align one or more of the light beams 124 emitted by the light sources 122 with one or more of the detectors 132.The system 100 may optionally include an auxiliary light source 170 that emits light 174 at the source wavelength to illuminate the receive block 130.The structure and form of the auxiliary light source 170 (e.g., LED, etc.)\",\n \"may be similar to the light sources 122.In one example, where the camera 106 is configured to capture images when focused at infinity for the source wavelength the light sources 122, the auxiliary light source 170 may illuminate the detectors 132 to facilitate the camera 106 obtaining the second image of the detectors 132 while also focused at infinity for the same source wavelength.\",\n \"In some examples, the light filter 108 may be configured to remain interposed between the camera 106 and the LIDAR device 104 during capture of the first image (e.g., of the light beams 124) and during capture of the second image (e.g., of the detectors 132).\",\n \"In these examples, the illuminating light 174 from the auxiliary light source 170 may allow the camera 106 to capture an image of the detectors 132 while the light filter 108 is interposed.\",\n \"In other examples, the system 100 may be configured to move the light filter 108 to another position other than the position between the camera 106 and the LIDAR device 104 prior to the camera 106 obtaining the second image of the detectors 132.For instance, the light filter 108 may be moved by the actuator 112.In these examples, the camera 106 may rely on background light to obtain the second image of the detectors 132, or the system 100 may utilize the auxiliary light source 170 to illuminate the receive block 130.The controller 180 may include one or more processors configured to operate some or all of the components of the system 100 in line with the discussion above.\",\n \"To that end, the controller 180 may be coupled to the various components via a wired or wireless interface (not shown).\",\n \"In some examples, the controller 180 may execute program functions stored in a computer readable medium (not shown) to cause the system 100 to perform various functions and processes of the present method.\",\n \"In a first example, the controller 180 may cause a power source (not shown) to provide power to the various components of the system 100.In a second example, the controller 180 may cause the transmit block 120 of the LIDAR device 104 to emit the light beams 124.In a third example, the controller 180 may operate an actuator (not shown) to position the light filter 108 between the LIDAR device 104 and the camera 106, or to position the light filter 108 at any other position.\",\n \"In a third example, the controller 180 may operate the camera 106 to obtain the first image (e.g., of the light beams 124) and the second image (e.g., of the detectors 132) in line with the discussion above.\",\n \"In a fourth example, the controller 180 may operate the alignment apparatus 160 to adjust the relative position between the transmit block 120 and the receive block 130.In a fifth example, the controller 180 may operate the alignment apparatus 160 to mount (or unmounts) various components (e.g., LIDAR device 104, etc.)\",\n \"to the mounting platform 102.In a sixth example, the controller 180 may operate the auxiliary light source 170 to illuminate the receive block 130 with light 174.In a seventh example, the controller 180 may operate the actuator 112 to move the light filter 108.Other examples are possible as well and are described in greater detail within exemplary embodiments herein.\",\n \"The system 100 may include additional, fewer, or different components than those shown, and may perform other functions as well.\",\n \"In one example, the system 100 may include a display (not shown) for displaying image(s) obtained using the camera 106.For instance, the display may have a graphical user interface (GUI) for displaying and/or interacting with images captured by the camera 106, and a human operator or a computer operator may interact with the GUI to adjust the relative position between the transmit block 120 and the receive block 130 by manipulating the images in the GUI.\",\n \"Other procedures are possible as well for controlling the system 100 in accordance with the present disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2A illustrates a LIDAR device 200, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"The LIDAR 200 illustrates an example LIDAR device that can be used with a system such as the system 100.For instance, the LIDAR device 200 may be similar to the LIDAR device 104 of the system 100, and may be similarly mounted to the mounting platform 104 to adjust the relative position between light sources and detectors of the LIDAR 200.As shown, the LIDAR device 200 includes a housing 210 and a lens 250.Additionally, light beams 204 emitted by the first LIDAR device 200 propagate from the lens 250 along a viewing direction of the first LIDAR 200 toward an environment of the LIDAR device 200, and reflect off one or more objects in the environment as reflected light 206.The housing 210 included in the LIDAR device 200 can provide a platform for mounting the various components included in the LIDAR device 200.The housing 210 can be formed from any material capable of supporting the various components of the LIDAR device 200 included in an interior space of the housing 210.For example, the housing 210 may be formed from a solid material such as plastic or metal among other possibilities.\",\n \"In some examples, the housing 210 can be configured to have a substantially cylindrical shape and to rotate about an axis of the LIDAR device 200.For example, the housing 210 can have the substantially cylindrical shape with a diameter of approximately 10 centimeters.\",\n \"In some examples, the axis is substantially vertical.\",\n \"By rotating the housing 210 that includes the various components, in some examples, a three-dimensional map of a 360-degree view of the environment of the LIDAR device 200 can be determined without frequent recalibration of the arrangement of the various components of the LIDAR device 200.Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the LIDAR device 200 can be configured to tilt the axis of rotation of the housing 210 to control the field of view of the LIDAR device 200.The lens 250 mounted to the housing 210 can have an optical power to both collimate the emitted light beams 204, and focus the reflected light 205 from one or more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device 200 onto detectors in the LIDAR device 200.In one example, the lens 250 has a focal length of approximately 120 mm.\",\n \"By using the same lens 250 to perform both of these functions, instead of a transmit lens for collimating and a receive lens for focusing, advantages with respect to size, cost, and/or complexity can be provided.\",\n \"The LIDAR device 200 can be mounted on a mounting structure 260 that rotates about an axis to provide a 360-degree view of the environment surrounding the LIDAR device 200.In some examples, the mounting structure 260 may comprise a movable platform that may tilt in one or more directions to change the axis of rotation of the LIDAR device 200.FIG.\",\n \"2B is a cross-section view of the first LIDAR 200 shown in FIG.\",\n \"2A.\",\n \"As shown, the housing 210 houses a transmit block 220, a receive block 230, a shared space 240, and the lens 250.For purposes of illustration, FIG.\",\n \"2B shows an x-y-z axis, in which the z-axis is in a substantially vertical direction.\",\n \"The transmit block 220 includes a plurality of light sources 222a-c arranged along a curved focal surface 228 defined by the lens 250.The plurality of light sources 222a-c can be configured to emit, respectively, the plurality of light beams 202a-c having wavelengths within a wavelength range.\",\n \"For example, the plurality of light sources 222a-c may comprise laser diodes that emit the plurality of light beams 202a-c having the wavelengths within the wavelength range.\",\n \"The plurality of light beams 202a-c are reflected by mirror 224 through an exit aperture 226 into the shared space 240 and towards the lens 250.The light sources 222a-c can include laser diodes, light emitting diodes (LED), vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL), organic light emitting diodes (OLED), polymer light emitting diodes (PLED), light emitting polymers (LEP), liquid crystal displays (LCD), microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), or any other device configured to selectively transmit, reflect, and/or emit light to provide the plurality of emitted light beams 202a-c.\",\n \"In some examples, the light sources 222a-c can be configured to emit the emitted light beams 202a-c in a wavelength range that can be detected by detectors 232a-c included in the receive block 230.The wavelength range could, for example, be in the ultraviolet, visible, and/or infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum.\",\n \"In some examples, the wavelength range can be a narrow wavelength range, such as provided by lasers.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the wavelength range includes a source wavelength of 905 nm.\",\n \"Additionally, the light sources 222a-c can be configured to emit the emitted light beams 202a-c in the form of pulses.\",\n \"In some examples, the plurality of light sources 222a-c can be disposed on one or more substrates (e.g., printed circuit boards (PCB), flexible PCBs, etc.)\",\n \"and arranged to emit the plurality of light beams 202a-c towards the exit aperture 226.Although FIG.\",\n \"2B shows that the curved focal surface 228 is curved in the x-y plane, additionally or alternatively, the plurality of light sources 222a-c may be arranged along a focal surface that is curved in a vertical plane.\",\n \"For example, the curved focal surface 228 can have a curvature in a vertical plane, and the plurality of light sources 222a-c can include additional light sources arranged vertically along the curved focal surface 228 and configured to emit light beams directed at the mirror 224 and reflected through the exit aperture 226.In this example, the detectors 232a-c may also include additional detectors that correspond to additional light sources of the light sources 222a-c. Further, in some examples, the light sources 222a-c may include additional light sources arranged horizontally along the curved focal surface 228.In one embodiment, the light sources 222a-c may include 64 light sources that emit light having a wavelength of 905 nm.\",\n \"For instance, the 64 light sources may be arranged in four columns, each comprising 16 light sources, along the curved focal surface 228.In this instance, the detectors 232a-c may include 64 detectors that are arranged similarly (e.g., 4 columns comprising 16 detectors each, etc.)\",\n \"along curved focal surface 238.In other embodiments, the light sources 222a-c and the detectors 232a-c may include additional or fewer light sources and/or detectors than those shown in FIG.\",\n \"2B.\",\n \"Due to the arrangement of the plurality of light sources 222a-c along the curved focal surface 228, the plurality of light beams 202a-c, in some examples, may converge towards the exit aperture 226.Thus, in these examples, the exit aperture 226 may be minimally sized while being capable of accommodating vertical and horizontal extents of the plurality of light beams 202a-c. Additionally, in some examples, the curved focal surface 228 can be defined by the lens 250.For example, the curved focal surface 228 may correspond to a focal surface of the lens 250 due to shape and composition of the lens 250.In this example, the plurality of light sources 222a-c can be arranged along the focal surface defined by the lens 250 at the transmit block.\",\n \"The plurality of light beams 202a-c propagate in a transmit path that extends through the transmit block 220, the exit aperture 226, and the shared space 240 towards the lens 250.The lens 250 collimates the plurality of light beams 202a-c to provide collimated light beams 204a-c into an environment of the LIDAR device 200.The collimated light beams 204a-c correspond, respectively, to the plurality of light beams 202a-c.\",\n \"In some examples, the collimated light beams 204a-c reflect off one or more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device 200 as reflected light 206.The reflected light 206 may be focused by the lens 250 into the shared space 240 as focused light 208 traveling along a receive path that extends through the shared space 240 onto the receive block 230.For example, the focused light 208 may be reflected by the reflective surface 242 as focused light 208a-c propagating towards the receive block 230.The lens 250 may be capable of both collimating the plurality of light beams 202a-c and focusing the reflected light 206 along the receive path 208 towards the receive block 230 due to the shape and composition of the lens 250.For example, the lens 250 can have an aspheric surface 252 facing outside of the housing 210 and a toroidal surface 254 facing the shared space 240.By using the same lens 250 to perform both of these functions, instead of a transmit lens for collimating and a receive lens for focusing, advantages with respect to size, cost, and/or complexity can be provided.\",\n \"The exit aperture 226 is included in a wall 244 that separates the transmit block 220 from the shared space 240.In some examples, the wall 244 can be formed from a transparent material (e.g., glass) that is coated with a reflective material 242.In this example, the exit aperture 226 may correspond to the portion of the wall 244 that is not coated by the reflective material 242.Additionally or alternatively, the exit aperture 226 may comprise a hole or cut-away in the wall 244.The focused light 208 is reflected by the reflective surface 242 and directed towards an entrance aperture 234 of the receive block 230.In some examples, the entrance aperture 234 may comprise a filtering window configured to allow wavelengths in the wavelength range of the plurality of light beams 202a-c (e.g., source wavelength) emitted by the plurality of light sources 222a-c and attenuate other wavelengths.\",\n \"In some examples, the entrance aperture 234 may comprise a half-mirror configured to reflect a portion of the focused light 208a-c and allow another portion of the focused light 208a-c to propagate toward the detectors 232a-c.\",\n \"The focused light 208a-c reflected by the reflective surface 242 from the focused light 208a-c propagates, respectively, onto a plurality of detectors 232a-c.\",\n \"The plurality of detectors 232a-c can be arranged along a curved focal surface 238 of the receive block 230.Although FIG.\",\n \"2B shows that the curved focal surface 238 is curved along the x-y plane (horizontal plane), additionally or alternatively, the curved focal surface 238 can be curved in a vertical plane.\",\n \"The curvature of the focal surface 238 is also defined by the lens 250.For example, the curved focal surface 238 may correspond to a focal surface of the light projected by the lens 250 along the receive path at the receive block 230.The detectors 232a-c may comprise photodiodes, avalanche photodiodes, phototransistors, cameras, active pixel sensors (APS), charge coupled devices (CCD), cryogenic detectors, or any other sensor of light configured to receive focused light 208a-c having wavelengths in the wavelength range of the emitted light beams 202a-c (e.g., the source wavelength).\",\n \"Each of the focused light 208a-c corresponds, respectively, to the emitted light beams 202a-c and is directed onto, respectively, the plurality of detectors 232a-c. For example, the detector 232a is configured and arranged to received focused light 208a that corresponds to collimated light beam 204a reflected of the one or more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device 200.In this example, the collimated light beam 204a corresponds to the light beam 202a emitted by the light source 222a.\",\n \"Thus, the detector 232a receives light that was emitted by the light source 222a, the detector 232b receives light that was emitted by the light source 222b, and the detector 232c receives light that was emitted by the light source 222c.\",\n \"By comparing the received light 208a-c with the emitted light beams 202a-c, at least one aspect of the one or more object in the environment of the LIDAR device 200 may be determined.\",\n \"For example, by comparing a time when the plurality of light beams 202a-c were emitted by the plurality of light sources 222a-c and a time when the plurality of detectors 232a-c received the focused light 208a-c, a distance between the LIDAR device 200 and the one or more object in the environment of the LIDAR device 200 may be determined.\",\n \"In some examples, other aspects such as shape, color, material, etc.\",\n \"may also be determined.\",\n \"In some examples, the LIDAR device 200 may be rotated about an axis to determine a three-dimensional map of the surroundings of the LIDAR device 200.For example, the LIDAR device 200 may be rotated about a substantially vertical axis as illustrated by arrow 290.Although illustrated that the LIDAR device 200 is rotated counter clock-wise about the axis as illustrated by the arrow 290, additionally or alternatively, the LIDAR device 200 may be rotated in the clockwise direction.\",\n \"In some examples, the LIDAR device 200 may be rotated 360 degrees about the axis.\",\n \"In other examples, the LIDAR device 200 may be rotated back and forth along a portion of the 360 degree view of the LIDAR device 200.For example, the LIDAR device 200 may be mounted on a platform that wobbles back and forth about the axis without making a complete rotation.\",\n \"Thus, the arrangement of the light sources 222a-c and the detectors 232a-c may allow the LIDAR device 200 to have a particular vertical field-of-view.\",\n \"In one example, the vertical FOV of the LIDAR device 200 is 20°.\",\n \"Additionally, the rotation of the LIDAR device 200 allows the LIDAR device 200 to have a 360° horizontal FOV Further, the rate of rotation may allow the device to have a particular refresh rate.\",\n \"In one example, the refresh rate is 10 Hz.\",\n \"The refresh rate along with the arrangement of the light sources 222a-c and the detectors 232a-c may also allow the LIDAR device 300 to have a particular angular resolution.\",\n \"In one example, the angular resolution is 0.2°×0.3°.\",\n \"However, the various parameters such as the refresh rate and the angular resolution may vary according to the configuration of the LIDAR device 200.Further, in some examples, the LIDAR device 200 may include additional, fewer, or different components than those shown in FIGS.\",\n \"2A-2B.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2C is a perspective view of the LIDAR device 200 shown in FIG.\",\n \"2A with various components removed to illustrate an interior of the LIDAR device 200.As shown, the various components of the LIDAR device 200 can be removably mounted to the housing 210.For example, the transmit block 220 may comprise one or more printed circuit boards (PCBs) that are fitted in the portion of the housing 210 where the transmit block 220 can be mounted.\",\n \"Although FIG.\",\n \"2C shows the transmit block 220 with one PCB, in some embodiments, the transmit block 320 may include multiple PCBs (not shown) that each include some of the plurality of light sources 232a-c.\",\n \"In one embodiment, each PCB in the transmit block may include 16 light sources, and the transmit block 220 may include four PCBs.\",\n \"Thus, in this embodiment, the LIDAR device 200 may include 64 light sources.\",\n \"Other embodiments are possible as well where the transmit block 220 includes a different number of light sources.\",\n \"Additionally, the receive block 230 may comprise a plurality of detectors (e.g., detectors 232a-c, etc.)\",\n \"mounted to a flexible substrate and can be removably mounted to the housing 210 as a block that includes the plurality of detectors.\",\n \"Similarly, the lens 250 can be mounted to another side of the housing 210.FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates a transmit block 320, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"Transmit block 320 may be similar to the transmit blocks 120 and/or 220 described in FIGS.\",\n \"1-2.For example, the transmit block 320 includes a plurality of light sources 322a-c similar to the plurality of light sources 222a-c included in the transmit block 220 of FIGS.\",\n \"2A-2C.\",\n \"Additionally, the light sources 322a-c are arranged along a focal surface 328, which is curved in a vertical plane.\",\n \"The light sources 322a-c are configured to emit a plurality of light beams 302a-c that converge and propagate through an exit aperture 326 in a wall 344.Although the plurality of light sources 322a-c can be arranged along a focal surface 328 that is curved in a vertical plane, additionally or alternatively, the plurality of light sources 322a-c can be arranged along a focal surface that is curved in a horizontal plane or a focal surface that is curved both vertically and horizontally.\",\n \"For example, the plurality of light sources 322a-c can be arranged in a curved three dimensional grid pattern.\",\n \"For example, the transmit block 320 may comprise a plurality of printed circuit boards (PCBs) vertically mounted such that a column of light sources such as the plurality of light sources 322a-c are along the vertical axis of each PCB and each of the plurality of PCBs can be arranged adjacent to other vertically mounted PCBs along a horizontally curved plane to provide the three dimensional grid pattern.\",\n \"Alternatively, in some examples, the light sources 322a-c may be arranged along any other surface such as a linear surface.\",\n \"Further, although the transmit block 320 is shown to include multiple light sources 322a-c, in some examples, the transmit block 320 may include only one light source or a different number of light sources than those shown in FIG.\",\n \"3.As shown in FIG.\",\n \"3, the light beams 302a-c converge towards the exit aperture 326 which allows the size of the exit aperture 326 to be minimized while accommodating vertical and horizontal extents of the light beams 302a-c similarly to the exit aperture 226 described in FIG.\",\n \"2B.\",\n \"The light emitted by the light sources 222a-c may be partially collimated to fit through the exit aperture 224.FIGS.\",\n \"4A, 4B, and 4C illustrate an example of how such partial collimation could be achieved.\",\n \"In this example, a light source 400 is made up of a laser diode 402 and a cylindrical lens 404.As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4A, laser diode 402 has an aperture 406 with a shorter dimension corresponding to a fast axis 408 and a longer dimension corresponding to a slow axis 410.FIGS.\",\n \"4B and 4C show an uncollimated laser beam 412 being emitted from laser diode 402.Laser beam 412 diverges in two directions, one direction defined by fast axis 408 and another, generally orthogonal direction defined by slow axis 410.FIG.\",\n \"4B shows the divergence of laser beam 412 along fast axis 408, whereas FIG.\",\n \"4C shows the divergence of laser beam 412 along slow axis 410.Laser beam 412 diverges more quickly along fast axis 408 than along slow axis 410.In one specific example, laser diode 402 is an Osram SPL DL90_3 nanostack pulsed laser diode that emits pulses of light with a range of wavelengths from about 896 nm to about 910 nm (a nominal wavelength of 905 nm).\",\n \"In this specific example, the aperture has a shorter dimension of about 10 microns, corresponding to its fast axis, and a longer dimension of about 200 microns, corresponding to its slow axis.\",\n \"The divergence of the laser beam in this specific example is about 25 degrees along the fast axis and about 11 degrees along the slow axis.\",\n \"It is to be understood that this specific example is illustrative only.\",\n \"Laser diode 402 could have a different configuration, different aperture sizes, different beam divergences, and/or emit different wavelengths.\",\n \"As shown in FIGS.\",\n \"4B and 4C, cylindrical lens 404 may be positioned in front of aperture 406 with its cylinder axis 414 generally parallel to slow axis 410 and perpendicular to fast axis 408.In this arrangement, cylindrical lens 404 can pre-collimate laser beam 412 along fast axis 408, resulting in partially collimated laser beam 416.In some examples, this pre-collimation may reduce the divergence along fast axis 408 to about one degree or less.\",\n \"Nonetheless, laser beam 416 is only partially collimated because the divergence along slow axis 410 may be largely unchanged by cylindrical lens 404.Thus, whereas uncollimated laser beam 412 emitted by laser diode has a higher divergence along fast axis 408 than along slow axis 410, partially collimated laser beam 416 provided by cylindrical lens 404 may have a higher divergence along slow axis 410 than along fast axis 408.Further, the divergences along slow axis 410 in uncollimated laser beam 412 and in partially collimated laser beam 416 may be substantially equal.\",\n \"In one example, cylindrical lens 404 is a microrod lens with a diameter of about 600 microns that is placed about 250 microns in front of aperture 406.The material of the microrod lens could be, for example, fused silica or a borosilicate crown glass, such as Schott BK7.Cylindrical lens 404 could also be used to provide magnification along fast axis 408.For example, if the dimensions of aperture 406 are 10 microns by 200 microns, as previously described, and cylindrical lens 404 is a microrod lens as described above, then cylindrical lens 404 may magnify the shorter dimension (corresponding to fast axis 408) by about 20 times.\",\n \"This magnification effectively stretches out the shorter dimension of aperture 406 to about the same as the longer dimension.\",\n \"As a result, when light from laser beam 416 is focused, for example, onto a detector, the focused spot could have a substantially square shape instead of the rectangular slit shape of aperture 406.FIG.\",\n \"5A illustrates a receive block 530, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5B illustrates a side view of three detectors 532a-c included in the receive block 530 of FIG.\",\n \"5A.\",\n \"Receive block 530 may be similar to the receive block 130 of FIG.\",\n \"1 and/or the receive block 230 of FIGS.\",\n \"2B-2C.\",\n \"For example, the receive block 530 includes a plurality of detectors 532a-c arranged along a curved surface 538 defined by a lens 550 similarly to the receive block 230, the detectors 232a-c, and the curved plane 238 described in FIG.\",\n \"2B.\",\n \"Focused light 508a-c from lens 550 propagates along a receive path that includes a reflective surface 542 onto the detectors 532a-c similar, respectively, to the focused light 208a-c, the lens 250, the reflective surface 242, and the detectors 232a-c described in FIG.\",\n \"2B.\",\n \"The receive block 530 comprises a flexible substrate 580 on which the plurality of detectors 532a-c are arranged along the curved surface 538.The flexible substrate 580 conforms to the curved surface 538 by being mounted to a receive block housing 590 having the curved surface 538.As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5B, the curved surface 538 includes the arrangement of the detectors 532a-c curved along a vertical and horizontal axis of the receive block 530.In some embodiments, the number and arrangement of the detectors 532a-c may be different than those shown in FIGS.\",\n \"5A-5B.\",\n \"For instance, the detectors 532a-c may be alternatively arranged along a linear surface, or may alternatively only include one detector, among other possibilities.\",\n \"As noted above in the description of FIG.\",\n \"1, the system 100 may be used with various LIDAR devices having various configurations, such as the LIDAR device 200 of FIGS.\",\n \"2A-2C.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6A illustrates another LIDAR device 600 that may be used with the system 100, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"As shown, the LIDAR device 600 includes an optics assembly 610, a transmit lens 652, a receive lens 654, a mirror 620, a pin 622, and a motor 670.For purposes of illustration, FIG.\",\n \"6A shows an x-y-z axis, in which the z-axis is pointing out of the page, and the x-axis and y-axis define a horizontal plane along the surface of the page.\",\n \"In some examples, the LIDAR device 600 may emit light that propagates away from the mirror 660 along a viewing direction of the LIDAR device 600 (e.g., parallel to z-axis shown in FIG.\",\n \"6A, etc.)\",\n \"toward an environment of the LIDAR device 600, and may receive reflected light from one or more objects in the environment.\",\n \"Accordingly, the optics assembly 610 may be configured to emit light pulses towards the mirror 660 that are then reflected by the mirror 660 towards the environment.\",\n \"Further, the optics assembly 610 may be configured to receive reflected light that is reflected off the mirror 660.In one embodiment, the optics assembly 610 may include a single laser emitter that is configured to provide a narrow beam having a wavelength of 905 nm.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the optics assembly 610 may include multiple light sources similarly to the LIDAR device 200 of FIGS.\",\n \"2A-2C.\",\n \"As shown, the optics assembly 610 includes the transmit lens 652 for collimation and/or focusing of emitted light from the optics assembly 610 onto the mirror 620, and a receive lens 654 for focusing reflected light from the mirror 660 onto one or more detectors (not shown) of the optics assembly 610.However, in some examples, the optics assembly 610 may alternatively include a single lens for both collimation of emitted light and focusing of reflected light similarly to the lens 250 of the LIDAR device 200.As shown, the mirror 660 may be arranged to steer emitted light from the transmit lens 652 towards the viewing direction of the LIDAR device 600.Further, for example, the mirror 660 may be arranged to steer reflected light from the mirror 660 towards the receive lens 654.In some examples, the mirror 6690 may be a triangular mirror that performs complete rotations about an axis defined by the pin 662.In one embodiment, the vertical FOV of the LIDAR device 600 is 110°.\",\n \"The pin 662 may be configured to mount the mirror 660 to the LIDAR device 600.In turn, the pin 662 can be formed from any material capable of supporting the mirror 660.For example, the pin 662 may be formed from a solid material such as plastic or metal among other possibilities.\",\n \"In some examples, the LIDAR device 600 may be configured to rotate the mirror 660 about the pin 662 for complete rotations to steer emitted light from the optics assembly 610 vertically.\",\n \"In other examples, the LIDAR device 600 may be configured to rotate the mirror 660 about the pin 662 over a given range of angles to steer the emitted light.\",\n \"Thus, in some examples, various vertical FOVs are possible by adjusting the rotation the mirror 660 about the pin 662.The motor 670 may include any motor such as a stepper motor, an electric motor, a combustion motor, a pancake motor, and/or a piezoelectric actuator among other possibilities.\",\n \"In some examples, the motor 670 may be configured to rotate various components of the LIDAR device 600 (e.g., optics assembly 610, mirror 660, pin 662, etc.)\",\n \"about an axis of the LIDAR device 600.For example, the axis may be substantially vertical similarly to the y-axis shown in FIG.\",\n \"6A.\",\n \"By rotating the various components of the LIDAR device 600 about the axis, in some examples, the motor 670 may steer the emitted light that is reflected off the mirror 660 horizontally, thus allowing the LIDAR device 600 to have a horizontal FOV.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the motor 670 may rotate for a defined amount of rotation such as 270°.\",\n \"In this embodiment, the LIDAR device 600 may thus have a horizontal FOV of 270.However, other amounts of rotation are possible as well (e.g., 360°, 8°, etc.)\",\n \"thereby allowing a different horizontal FOV for the LIDAR device 600.Thus, in some examples, the LIDAR device 600 may provide an alternative device for scanning the environment or a portion thereof to the LIDAR device 104 of FIG.\",\n \"1, and/or the LIDAR device 200 of FIGS.\",\n \"2A-2C.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6B illustrates a partial cross-section view of the LIDAR device 600 shown in FIG.\",\n \"6A.\",\n \"It is noted that some of the components of the LIDAR device 600 are omitted from the illustration of FIG.\",\n \"6B for convenience in description.\",\n \"As shown, the optics assembly 610 comprises a transmit block 620 that includes one light source 622.In some examples, the transmit block 620 may alternatively include more than one light source similarly to the transmit block 220 of the LIDAR device 200.However, for the sake of example, the transmit block 620 includes one light source 622.The light source 622 may be configured to emit one or more light pulses (e.g., laser beams, etc.)\",\n \"towards the transmit lens 652.For example, as shown, emitted light 602a propagates away from the light source 622 towards the transmit lens 652.In some examples, the light source 622 may be similar to the light sources 222a-c of the LIDAR device 200 of FIGS.\",\n \"2A-2C.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the light source 622 may be configured to emit light pulses having a wavelength of 905 nm.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the light source 622 may be configured to emit light having any other wavelength.\",\n \"In line with the discussion above, the transmit lens 652 may be configured to collimate the emitted light 602a into one or more collimated light beams 602b and/or may be configured to focus the emitted light 602a as the focused light 602b onto the mirror 660.As shown, the mirror 660 may be a triangular mirror that has three reflective surfaces 660a, 660b, 660c.\",\n \"However, in other examples, the mirror 660 may alternatively include a greater or fewer number of reflective surfaces.\",\n \"As shown, the collimated light 602b may then reflect off the reflective surface 602a and into the environment of the LIDAR 600 as emitted light 602c.\",\n \"For example, a direction of the emitted light 602c is illustrated by arrow 604.In practice, as the mirror 660 is rotated about an axis defined by the pin 662, the emitted light 602c may be steered to have a different direction than that illustrated by arrow 604.For example, the direction 604 of the emitted light 602c may instead correspond to a different direction along arrow 606.Thus, by rotating the mirror 660 about the pin 662, the LIDAR device 600 may be configured to have a vertical FOV, for example.\",\n \"Consider by way of example a scenario where the mirror 660 is configured to rotate about an axis defined by the pin 662 continuously in a clock-wise direction.\",\n \"In this scenario, the direction 604 of the emitted light 602c may thereby be adjusted also in a clock-wise direction as illustrated by the arrow 606 until the focused light 602b is reflecting off an edge of the reflective surface 660a.\",\n \"At this point, the emitted light 602c would be directed towards a maximum extent of the vertical FOV of the LIDAR device 600.Continuing with the scenario, as the mirror 660 continues to rotate, the collimated light 602b may then be focused onto the reflective surface 660b instead of the reflective surface 660a.\",\n \"At this point, the reflected light 602c may be steered to a direction that is towards a minimum extent of the vertical FOV of the LIDAR device 600.Continuing with the scenario, as the mirror 660 continues to rotate, the direction of the emitted light 602c may then be adjusted in a clock-wise direction towards the maximum extent of the vertical FOV that corresponds to the light 602b being focused onto another edge of the reflective surface 660b.\",\n \"Similarly, continuing with the scenario, the direction of the emitted light 602c may then be adjusted to scan the vertical FOV of the LIDAR device 600 by reflecting the light 602b off the reflective surface 660c instead of the reflective surface 660b.\",\n \"Through this process, for example, the LIDAR device 600 may continuously scan the vertical FOV.\",\n \"As a variation of the scenario above by way of example, the mirror 660 may be alternatively configured to rotate within a given range of angles (e.g., wobble, etc.)\",\n \"to define a narrower vertical field-of-view than that of the scenario described above.\",\n \"Other configurations for rotation of the mirror 660 are possible as well.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6C illustrates a partial cross-section view of the optics assembly 610 in the LIDAR device 600 of FIG.\",\n \"6A.\",\n \"For purposes of illustration, FIG.\",\n \"6C shows an x-y-z axis, in which the z-axis is pointing out of the page, and the x-axis and y-axis define a horizontal plane along the surface of the page.\",\n \"As shown, the optical assembly 610 comprises transmit block 620 that includes one light source 622.The light source 622 may be similar to the light sources 222a-c of the LIDAR device 200.In line with the discussion above, in some examples, the transmit block 620 may alternatively include more than one light source.\",\n \"The light source 622 is configured to emit light 602a toward the transmit lens 652.Further, the optical assembly 610 comprises receive block 630 that includes one detector 632.The detector 632 may be similar to the detectors 232a-c of the LIDAR device 200.Again, in some examples, the receive block 630 may alternatively include more than one detector.\",\n \"The detector 632 may be configured to receive light 608 focused by the receive lens 654.As shown, the optics assembly 610 also includes an optical shield 612.The optical shield 612 may be configured to provide optical shielding between the transmit block 620 and the receive block 630, at least for the light having the source wavelength of the emitted light 602a.\",\n \"In turn, the optical shield 612 may mitigate interference with light 608 detected by the detector 632 of the receive block 630.The optical shield 612 may be formed, for example, as a wall coated by a metal, metallic ink, or metallic foam to provide the shielding.\",\n \"Example metals may include copper or nickel.\",\n \"Other configurations and/or materials are possible as well for the optical shield 612.As noted in the description of the system 100 of FIG.\",\n \"1, in some examples, the present method allows alignment of the detector 632 with light originating at the light source 622.By way of example, an alignment apparatus (e.g., apparatus 160) may couple to the transmit block 620 and/or the receive block 630, and may then adjust the relative position between the transmit block 620 and the receive block 630 to perform the alignment.\",\n \"The optical components (i.e., the transmit block 620 and the receive block 630) of the optical assembly 610 may each have six degrees of freedom (DOF).\",\n \"Three of the six DOF are translational: forward/backward (e.g., linearly along an axis of the optical component that is parallel to the y-axis shown in FIG.\",\n \"6C), up/down (e.g., linearly along an axis of the optical component that is parallel to the z-axis), and left/right (e.g., linearly along an axis of the optical component that is parallel to the x-axis).\",\n \"Further, three of the six DOF are rotational: pitch (e.g., rotation about the axis of the optical component that is parallel to the x-axis), yaw (e.g., rotation about the axis of the optical component that is parallel to the z-axis), and roll (e.g., rotation about the axis of the optical component that is parallel to the y-axis).\",\n \"In accordance with the present disclosure, the alignment apparatus (not shown) may adjust the relative position between the transmit block 620 and the receive block 630 shown in FIG.\",\n \"6C by adjusting some or all of the six DOF described above for one or both of the transmit block 620 and the receive block 630.In line with the discussion above, systems and methods herein allow optics alignment for LIDAR devices having various different configurations.\",\n \"Thus, the configurations of the LIDAR devices 200 and 600 are presented for exemplary purposes only.\",\n \"Other configurations and LIDAR devices are possible as well for the systems and methods herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7A illustrates a system 700, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"The system 700 may be similar to the system 100 of FIG.\",\n \"1.For example, as shown, the system 700 includes a mounting platform 702, a LIDAR device 704, a camera 706, a light filter 708, and an alignment apparatus 760 that can be similar, respectively, to the mounting platform 102, the LIDAR device 104, the camera 106, the light filter 108, and the alignment apparatus 160 of the system 100.As shown, the system 700 also includes a mounting structure 710, an actuator 712, and a manipulator 762.The mounting structure 710 may be formed from any solid material (e.g., metal, plastic, etc.)\",\n \"similarly to the mounting platform 702, and may be shaped to facilitate coupling one or more of the components of the system 700 to the mounting platform 702.As shown, for example, the mounting structure 710 couples the camera 706 and the light filter 708 to the mounting platform 702.However, in some examples, a separate mounting structure may be utilized for each of the camera 706 and the light filter 708.The actuator 712 may be configured to adjust a position of the light filter 708.Example actuators may include motors, stepper motors, pneumatic actuators, hydraulic pistons, relays, solenoids, and piezoelectric actuators among other possibilities.\",\n \"The manipulator 762 may include any structure configured to couple the alignment apparatus 702 with one or more components of the LIDAR device 704.In line with the discussion above, the system 700 may adjust a relative position between a transmit block (not shown) and a receive block (not shown) of the LIDAR device 704.For instance, the alignment apparatus 760 (e.g., robotic arm, etc.)\",\n \"may adjust the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block by adjusting the position of the manipulator 762 or changing the orientation of the manipulator 762, among other possibilities.\",\n \"As shown, the mounting platform 702 includes a plurality of holes, exemplified by holes 702a and 702b.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the various components such as the LIDAR device 704, the camera 706, and/or the light filter 708 may be mounted to the mounting platform by coupling the various components to such holes in the mounting platform (e.g., by fastening a bolt through the holes).\",\n \"In other embodiments, the various components may be mounted to the mounting platform 702 via other processes or devices.\",\n \"In one example, the various components may be mounted to the mounting platform 702 via an application of an adhesive among other possibilities.\",\n \"In another example, a mounting structure may couple one or more of the components to the mounting platform 702.For instance, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"7A, the mounting structure 710 may be coupled to the mounting platform 702 (e.g., by fastening a bolt to one of the holes, etc.\",\n \"), and may also be coupled the camera 706 and the light filter 708 to provide the particular positions of the camera 706 and the light filter 708 relative to the mounting platform 702.Other configurations and shapes of the mounting structure 710 are possible as well.\",\n \"Further, as shown, the LIDAR device 704 has a configuration similar to the LIDAR device 200 of FIGS.\",\n \"2A-2C.\",\n \"However, in some examples, other configurations are possible for the LIDAR device 704, such as the configuration of the LIDAR device 600 of FIGS.\",\n \"6A-6C among other possibilities.\",\n \"An example scenario for operation of the system 700 is as follows.\",\n \"First, as shown, the LIDAR device 704 may be mounted to the mounting platform 702 to have a field-of-view (FOV) through which light emitted by a transmit block (not shown) of the LIDAR device 704 and light received by a receive block (not shown) of the LIDAR device 704 propagates.\",\n \"For instance, the LIDAR device 704 may be mounted to the mounting platform 702 using the alignment apparatus 760 (e.g., robotic arm, etc.)\",\n \"or any other device (e.g., mechanical tool, etc.).\",\n \"Next, the camera 706 may be located at a given position relative to the LIDAR device 704 such that the camera 706 may obtain images of the receive block (not shown) of the LIDAR device 704 and/or light emitted by the transmit block (not shown) of the LIDAR device 704.Continuing with the scenario, the camera 706 may then be focused to infinity for the source wavelength (e.g., 905 nm) of the light emitted by the LIDAR device 704.Next, the light filter 708 may be positioned at a first position to be interposed between the LIDAR device 704 and the camera 706 along the FOV of the LIDAR device 704.For instance, the actuator 712 may be configured to move the light filter 708 to the first position shown in FIG.\",\n \"7A.\",\n \"Continuing with the scenario, the system 700 may then cause the transmit block (not shown) of the LIDAR device 704 to emit one or more light beams through the light filter 708 and toward the camera 706.Referring back to FIG.\",\n \"2B by way of example, the light beams may correspond to the light beams 204a-c propagating out of the lens 250.Next, the camera 706 may obtain a first image of the light beams emitted by the LIDAR device 704.Continuing with the example of FIG.\",\n \"2B, the first image may indicate light source positions of light sources 222a-c in the LIDAR device 200.At this point in the scenario, the system may then cause the LIDAR device 704 to stop emitting the light beams.\",\n \"Continuing with the scenario, the system may then cause the actuator 712 to move the light filter 708 to a second position where the light filter 708 is not interposed between the camera 706 and the LIDAR 704.FIG.\",\n \"7B illustrates the light filter 708 at the second position described above.\",\n \"In turn, the camera 706 may obtain a second image.\",\n \"The second image may indicate detector positions of detectors in a receive block (not shown) of the LIDAR device 704.Referring back to FIG.\",\n \"2B by way of example, the second image may represent the detector positions of detectors 232a-c that are viewable to the camera 706 via mirror 242 and lens 250.Continuing with the scenario, the system 700 may then determine at least one offset based on the first image and the second image.\",\n \"In one instance, the at least one offset may include distances between adjacent light sources and/or adjacent detectors of the LIDAR device 704.In another instance, the at least one offset may include distances between light beams emitted by light sources in the LIDAR device 704 and corresponding detectors of the LIDAR device 704.Other offsets are possible as well and are described in greater detail within exemplary embodiments herein.\",\n \"In line with the discussion above, the alignment apparatus 760 (e.g., robotic arm, etc.)\",\n \"may couple to the transmit block (not shown) and/or the receive block (not shown) of the LIDAR device 704 via the manipulator 762.Thus, in the scenario, the alignment apparatus 760 may then adjust the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block in accordance with the determined at least one or more offset.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7C illustrates a partial view of the system 700 shown in FIGS.\",\n \"7A-7B.\",\n \"It is noted that some of the components of the system 700 are omitted from the illustration of FIG.\",\n \"7C for convenience in description.\",\n \"For purposes of illustration, FIG.\",\n \"7C shows an x-y-z axis, in which the z-axis is pointing out of the page, and the x-axis and y-axis define a horizontal plane along the surface of the page.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"7C, the manipulator 762 includes protrusions 762a-d that may be configured to couple with receive block 730.The receive block 730 may be included in the LIDAR device 704 shown in FIGS.\",\n \"7A-7B.\",\n \"It is noted that other components of the LIDAR device 704 (e.g., transmit block, etc.)\",\n \"are omitted from the illustration of FIG.\",\n \"7C for convenience in description.\",\n \"The receive block 730 may be similar to the receive block 230 of the system 200.However, in some embodiments, the receive block 730 may take any other form such as the configuration of the receive block 630 among other possibilities.\",\n \"Similarly to the description of the receive block 630 of FIG.\",\n \"6C, the receive block 730 has six degrees of freedom (DOF).\",\n \"Three of the six DOF are translational: forward/backward (e.g., linearly along an axis of the receive block 730 that is parallel to the z-axis shown in FIG.\",\n \"7C), up/down (e.g., linearly along an axis of the receive block 730 that is parallel to the y-axis), and left/right (e.g., linearly along an axis of the receive block 730 that is parallel to the x-axis).\",\n \"Further, three of the six DOF are rotational: pitch (e.g., rotation about the axis of the receive block 730 that is parallel to the x-axis), yaw (e.g., rotation about the axis of the optical component that is parallel to the y-axis), and roll (e.g., rotation about the axis of the optical component that is parallel to the z-axis).\",\n \"Continuing with the scenario, the system 700 may adjust the position of the receive block 730, when coupled to the manipulator 762, by adjusting the forward/backward position, the up/down position, the left/right position, the pitch, the yaw, and/or the roll of the receive block 730 in line with the discussion above.\",\n \"In turn, the system 700 may adjust the relative position between the transmit block (not shown) of the LIDAR 704 and the receive block 730.In some embodiments, additionally or alternatively to the adjustments to the position/orientation of the receive block 730, the manipulator 762 may adjust the position/orientation of the transmit block (not shown) of the LIDAR device 704 in a similar manner.\",\n \"Through this process, for example, the system 700 may align one or more light sources of the LIDAR device 704 with one or more detectors of the LIDAR device 704.In some embodiments, the system 700 may then decouple the manipulator 762 from the receive block 730 (or the transmit block), and the receive block 730 may be configured to remain at the alignment (e.g., relative position) performed by the alignment apparatus 760.By way of example, the system 700 may apply an epoxy or other adhesive to a periphery of the receive block 730 to maintain the receive block 730 at the aligned relative position to the transmit block of the LIDAR device 704.In one instance, the manipulator 762 may remain coupled to the receive block 730 until the adhesive is cured.\",\n \"However, other processes are possible as well for maintaining the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block 730 of the LIDAR device 704.For instance, the receive block 730 may be fastened to a housing of the LIDAR device 704 using bolts, screws, or any other device among other possibilities.\",\n \"It is noted that the scenario presented above is for exemplary purposes only.\",\n \"Other scenarios are possible as well that may include some or all of the components of the system 700, or may include other processes than those described.\",\n \"A non-exhaustive list of example variations of the scenario is presented below.\",\n \"In a first example, the system 700 may not include the light filter 708.For instance, the camera 706 may be configured to obtain the first image and the second image without the light filter 708 being interposed between the camera 706 and the LIDAR device 704.In a second example, the camera 706 and the light filter 708 may be mounted separately from the LIDAR device 704.For instance, the system 700 may be implemented in an assembly line where multiple LIDAR devices such as the LIDAR device 704 are located on an assembly belt.\",\n \"In this instance, the camera 706, the light filter 708 and the robotic arm 760 may be mounted independently adjacent to the assembly belt, and may perform similar functions to the scenario described above to calibrate each LIDAR device in the assembly line.\",\n \"In a third example, the receive block 730 may be illuminated by an auxiliary light source (not shown) similar to the auxiliary light source 170.For instance, the light filter 708 may remain interposed between the LIDAR device 704 and the camera 706 while the first image of the laser beams emitted by the LIDAR device 704 is captured by the camera 706, and while the second image of the receive block 730 is captured as well.\",\n \"In this instance, the receive block 730 would be visible to the camera 706 through the light filter 708 due to the illumination by the auxiliary light source with light at the source wavelength that is viewable through the light filter 708.In a fourth example, the LIDAR device 704 may be configured to continue emitting light while the camera 106 captures the first image and the second image.\",\n \"For instance, the light filter 708 may alternatively attenuate the light beams having the source wavelength emitted by light sources of the LIDAR device 704.Thus, in this instance, the light filter 708 may be positioned as shown in FIG.\",\n \"7B while the camera 706 is capturing the first image indicative of the light source positions.\",\n \"Further, in this instance, the light filter 708 may be positioned as shown in FIG.\",\n \"7A while the camera 706 is capturing the second image indicative of the detector positions.\",\n \"Thus, various configurations of the light filter 708 may therefore affect the operation of the system 700 in line with the discussion above.\",\n \"In a fifth example, the camera 706 may be configured to capture a single image instead of the first image and the second image.\",\n \"The single image may be indicative of both the light source positions of light sources in the LIDAR device 704, and the detector positions of detectors in the receive block 730.Referring back to FIG.\",\n \"2B by way of example, the single image may capture both the light beams 204a-c and light reflected off the detectors 232a-c. As in the third example above, the receive block 730 in this example may be illuminated by an auxiliary light source such that the detectors 232a-c are viewable through the light filter 708.Other example scenarios are possible as well.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates another system 800, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"The system 800 may be similar to the systems 100 and 700.For example, the system 800 includes a mounting platform 802, a camera 806, a light filter 808, and an alignment apparatus 860 that are similar, respectively, to the mounting platform 702, the camera 706, the light filter 708, and the alignment apparatus 760 of the system 700.The system 800 also includes a LIDAR device 804 that is similar to the LIDAR device 104 of the system 100.The system 800 also includes a manipulator 862 shaped and configured to couple the alignment apparatus 860 with one or more components of the LIDAR device 804.The system 800 also includes an auxiliary light source 870 that is similar to the auxiliary light source 170 of the system 100.As shown, the LIDAR device 804 has a configuration similar to the LIDAR device 600 of FIGS.\",\n \"6A-6C.\",\n \"However, in some examples, other configurations are possible as well, such as the configuration of the LIDAR device 200 among other possibilities.\",\n \"As shown, the light filter 808 is interposed between the LIDAR device 804 and the camera 806.Additionally, the camera 806 is located at a given position at which the camera 806 can image light beam(s) emitted by the LIDAR device 804 and can image detector(s) (not shown) in the LIDAR device 804.Referring back to FIG.\",\n \"6A by way of example, the camera 806 may be positioned to have a field-of-view facing the mirror 660 of the LIDAR device 600.However, as shown, the system 800 does not include an actuator (e.g., actuator 712 of system 700) to move the light filter 808.Instead, the system 800 includes the auxiliary light source 870 to illuminate a receive block (not shown) of the LIDAR device 804 with light having the source wavelength of light emitted by light source(s) (not shown) in the LIDAR device 804.For instance, such illumination may allow detectors in the receive block of the LIDAR device 804 to be viewable by the camera 806 through the light filter 808.Although the auxiliary light source 870 is shown to be mounted separately from other components of the system 800, in some examples, the auxiliary light source 870 may be alternatively mounted to any of the components of the system 800, such as the alignment apparatus 860, the light filter 808, the mounting platform 802, etc.\",\n \"In one example, the auxiliary light source 870 may be alternatively mounted inside the LIDAR device 804.Referring back to FIG.\",\n \"6C by way of example, the auxiliary light source may be alternatively mounted to a wall of the optics assembly 610.Other configurations of the auxiliary light source 870 are possible as well.\",\n \"As shown, the manipulator 862 has a different shape and structure than the manipulator 762 of the system 700.Referring back to FIG.\",\n \"6C by way of example, the manipulator 862 may have any shape suitable for adjusting position/orientation of the transmit block 620 and/or the receive block 630.Thus, in some examples, the system 800 may perform similar functions as those described for the system 100 and the system 700, but may include some variations suitable for other LIDAR device configurations, such as the configuration of the LIDAR device 804.FIG.\",\n \"9 is a flowchart of a method 900, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"Method 900 shown in FIG.\",\n \"9 presents an embodiment of a method that could be used with any of the systems 100, 700, 800, the LIDAR devices 200, 600, the transmit block 320, the light source 400, and/or the receive block 530, for example.\",\n \"Method 900 may include one or more operations, functions, or actions as illustrated by one or more of blocks 902-912.Although the blocks are illustrated in a sequential order, these blocks may in some instances be performed in parallel, and/or in a different order than those described herein.\",\n \"Also, the various blocks may be combined into fewer blocks, divided into additional blocks, and/or removed based upon the desired implementation.\",\n \"In addition, for the method 900 and other processes and methods disclosed herein, the flowchart shows functionality and operation of one possible implementation of present embodiments.\",\n \"In this regard, each block may represent a module, a segment, a portion of a manufacturing or operation process, or a portion of program code, which includes one or more instructions executable by a processor for implementing specific logical functions or steps in the process.\",\n \"The program code may be stored on any type of computer readable medium, for example, such as a storage device including a disk or hard drive.\",\n \"The computer readable medium may include non-transitory computer readable medium, for example, such as computer-readable media that stores data for short periods of time like register memory, processor cache and Random Access Memory (RAM).\",\n \"The computer readable medium may also include non-transitory media, such as secondary or persistent long term storage, like read only memory (ROM), optical or magnetic disks, compact-disc read only memory (CD-ROM), for example.\",\n \"The computer readable media may also be any other volatile or non-volatile storage systems.\",\n \"The computer readable medium may be considered a computer readable storage medium, for example, or a tangible storage device.\",\n \"In addition, for the method 900 and other processes and methods disclosed herein, each block in FIG.\",\n \"9 may represent circuitry that is wired to perform the specific logical functions in the process.\",\n \"At block 902, the method 900 involves mounting a transmit block and a receive block in a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device to provide a relative position between the transmit block and the receive block.\",\n \"The transmit block may include one or more light sources configured to emit light at a source wavelength.\",\n \"The receive block may include one or more detectors configured to detect light at the source wavelength.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the source wavelength is 905 nm.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the source wavelength may be any other wavelength (e.g., infrared, ultraviolet, x-ray, visible, etc.).\",\n \"By way of example, the transmit block and the receive block may be mounted by a robotic arm (e.g., alignment apparatuses 160, 760, 860, etc.)\",\n \"into a housing (e.g., housing 210, optics assembly 610, etc.)\",\n \"to provide the relative position.\",\n \"In this example, the relative position may be similar to the relative position between transmit block 220 and receive block 230 of FIG.\",\n \"2B, or the relative position between transmit block 620 and receive block 630 of FIG.\",\n \"6C, among other possibilities.\",\n \"However, in other examples, the mounting at block 902 may be performed by a device other than the alignment apparatus.\",\n \"For instance, the mounting at block 902 may correspond to an alignment (e.g., adjustment of the relative position) by a system performing the method 900 for a transmit block and a receive block that are already mounted in a LIDAR device.\",\n \"In some examples, the LIDAR device may include a lens configured to (i) collimate light emitted from the one or more light sources and (ii) focus light onto the one or more detectors, similarly to the lens 250 of the LIDAR device 200.In other examples, the LIDAR device may include a transmit lens for collimation of emitted light and a receive lens for focusing received light, similarly to the transmit lens 652 and the receive lens 654 of the LIDAR device 600.At block 904, the method 900 involves locating a camera at a given position at which the camera, when focused at infinity, can image light beams emitted by the one or more light sources and can image the one or more detectors.\",\n \"By way of example, the given position may be similar to the position of the camera 706 of the system 700.For instance, a field-of-view of the camera may be aligned with a FOV of the LIDAR device where light emitted from the one or more light sources propagates away from the LIDAR device.\",\n \"At block 906, the method 900 involves obtaining a first image indicative of light source positions of the one or more light sources.\",\n \"The first image, for example, may be obtained using the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.\",\n \"Referring back to FIG.\",\n \"2B by way of example, the light source positions of the light sources 222a-c may vary according to the particular orientation and position of the transmit block 220.In turn, the direction of propagation of the light beams 204a-c may also vary, and such variation may be represented by pixels in the first image obtained by the camera.\",\n \"In some examples, the method 900 may also involve obtaining the first image while the one or more light sources are emitting light at the source wavelength.\",\n \"For instance, a system performing the method 900 may provide power and/or instructions to the LIDAR device to emit the light at the source wavelength, and may provide instructions to the camera to capture the first image while the one or more light sources are emitting the light.\",\n \"Further, in some instances, the system may provide instructions to the camera to adjust the focus to infinity for the source wavelength.\",\n \"Alternatively, for instance, the camera may be configured to have the focus prior to capturing the first image.\",\n \"In some examples, the method 900 may also involve obtaining the first image while a light filter is interposed between the camera and the one or more light sources.\",\n \"The light filter may be similar to the light filters 108, 708, or 808.In one example, the light filter may be configured to attenuate light having wavelengths other than the source wavelength.\",\n \"In this example, the first image may be more suitable for representing features of the emitted light beams at the source wavelength.\",\n \"In another example, the light filter may be configured to attenuate light within a wavelength range that includes the source wavelength.\",\n \"In this example, the light filter may reduce the intensity of the emitted light to protect components of the camera.\",\n \"Additionally or alternatively, in this example, the light filter may reduce an amount of light propagating toward the camera that has wavelengths proximal to the source wavelength.\",\n \"In turn, for instance, pixels in the first image representing the emitted light beams having the source wavelength may be easily contrasted from surrounding pixels having proximal wavelengths.\",\n \"In some examples, the method 900 may also involve detecting a defect in a light source based on the first image.\",\n \"In one example, the first image may indicate that one or more of the light sources in the transmit block has a different intensity, brightness, color, or other characteristic compared to other light sources.\",\n \"For instance, a system performing method 900 may compare pixel properties (e.g., brightness, intensity, color, etc.)\",\n \"associated with one light source against other pixel properties in the first image associated with another light source.\",\n \"Alternatively, for instance, the system may compare the pixel properties of the light source with pre-determined pixel properties or pixel properties in a stored image among other possibilities.\",\n \"In some examples, the method 900 may also involve detecting an aberration in an optical element optically coupled to a light source based on the first image.\",\n \"Referring back to FIGS.\",\n \"4A-4C by way of example, the light source may be coupled to an optical element such as the cylindrical lens 404.In this example, the system performing the method 900 may detect the aberration in such optical element by examining the shape or other properties of pixels in the first image that are associated with a light beam from the light source (e.g., compare with other pixels, compare with stored parameters/image, etc.).\",\n \"Thus, in some embodiments, the method 900 may allow diagnosis of light source(s) in the LIDAR device.\",\n \"At block 908, the method 900 involves obtaining a second image indicative of detector positions of the one or more detectors.\",\n \"Similarly to the first image, the second image may be obtained using the camera located at the given position and focused at infinity.\",\n \"Referring back to FIG.\",\n \"2B by way of example, the second image may represent the detectors 232a-c that are viewable to the camera via the lens 250 and the mirror 242.Referring back to FIGS.\",\n \"6A-6C as another example, the second image may represent the detector 632 that is viewable to the camera via the lens 654 and the mirror 660.Thus, in some embodiments, the camera may obtain the first image and the second image while the camera is located at the same given position.\",\n \"In some examples, the method 900 may also involve obtaining the second image while the one or more light sources are not emitting light at the source wavelength.\",\n \"For instance, a system performing the method 900 may reduce power to the one or more light sources and/or provide instructions to the LIDAR device to stop emitting light beams.\",\n \"However, in other examples, the method 900 may involve obtaining the second image while the one or more light sources are emitting the light at the source wavelength.\",\n \"In one instance, a light filter may be interposed between the camera and the LIDAR device while the camera is capturing the second image, and the light filter may be configured to attenuate light at the source wavelength emitted by the one or more light sources.\",\n \"In this instance, the system performing the method 900 may then obtain the second image indicative of the detector positions while the light filter attenuates the light beams emitted by the one or more light sources.\",\n \"In another instance, the second image may indicate both the light source positions and the detector positions since the one or more light sources are emitting the light at the source wavelength when the second image is obtained.\",\n \"Other examples are possible as well.\",\n \"In some examples, the method 900 may also involve obtaining the second image while the one or more detectors are illuminated with light at the source wavelength from an auxiliary light source.\",\n \"The auxiliary light source may be similar to the auxiliary light sources 170 and 870 included, respectively, in the systems 100 and 800.In one example, the camera may be focused at infinity for the source wavelength.\",\n \"In another example, a light filter interposed between the camera and the LIDAR device may be configured to attenuate light having wavelengths other than the source wavelength.\",\n \"In both examples, the auxiliary light source may illuminate the one or more detectors such that reflections of the illuminating light having the source wavelength are viewable by the camera when capturing the second image.\",\n \"At block 910, the method 900 involves determining at least one offset based on the light source positions indicated by the first image and the detector positions indicated by the second image.\",\n \"In one example, the at least one offset may include distances between adjacent regions of the first image that are associated with particular light sources.\",\n \"In another example, the at least one offset may include distances between adjacent regions of the second image that are associated with particular detectors.\",\n \"In yet another example, the at least one offset may include an offset between a region of the first image associated with a given light source, and a corresponding region of the second image associated with a given detector.\",\n \"The offset in the third example may have a horizontal component and a vertical component, or may just be a distance between the respective regions (e.g., number of pixels).\",\n \"As a variation of the third example, the offset may also include a depth component where the camera is configured to obtain 3D images, for instance.\",\n \"Other offsets are possible as well.\",\n \"In some examples, the method 900 may also involve generating a composite image based on overlaying the first image and the second image.\",\n \"In these examples, the at least one offset may be determined based on separation between one or more pixels in the composite image associated with a light source and one or more pixels in the composite image associated with a corresponding detector.\",\n \"At block 912, the method 900 includes adjusting a relative position between the transmit block and the receive block based at least in part on the at least one offset.\",\n \"By way of example, a robotic arm or other device (e.g., alignment apparatuses 160, 760, 860, etc.)\",\n \"may couple to the transmit block and/or the receive block to adjust the relative position.\",\n \"The robotic arm, for instance, may translate the coupled component linearly and/or rotate the coupled component about an axis in line with the discussion for the systems 100, 700, and 800.Accordingly, in some examples, the method 900 may also involve adjusting the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block by rotating the receive block about an axis.\",\n \"Further, in some examples, the method 900 may also involve adjusting the relative position by rotating the transmit block about an axis.\",\n \"In some examples, adjusting the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block at block 912 reduces the at least one offset.\",\n \"For instance, where the at least one offset includes an offset between a light source and a corresponding detector, the adjustment of the relative position may reduce the offset to align the light source with the detector.\",\n \"In other examples, adjusting the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block at 912 causes the at least one offset to correspond to a particular offset.\",\n \"For instance, where the at least one offset includes an offset between two adjacent light sources, the adjustment of the relative position may cause the offset to correspond to the particular offset.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 illustrates an image 1000 indicative of light source positions of light sources in a transmit block of a LIDAR device, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"The image 1000 may be similar to the first image described at block 906 of the method 900.For instance, dark pixels in the image 1000 may represent light beams emitted by one or more light sources in a transmit block.\",\n \"Referring back to FIG.\",\n \"3 by way of example, each of regions 1002, 1004, 1006 in the image 1000 may correspond, respectively, to light beams 302a, 302b, 302c emitted by light sources 322a, 322b, 322c of the transmit block 320.FIG.\",\n \"11 illustrates an image 1100 indicative of detector positions of detectors in a receive block, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"The image 1100 may be similar to the second image described at block 908 of the method 900.Referring back to FIG.\",\n \"5A by way of example, regions 1102, 1104, 1106 in the image 1100 may correspond, respectively, to the detectors 532a, 532b, 532c of the receive block 530.FIG.\",\n \"12 illustrates an image 1200 in a scenario where light sources in a transmit block and detectors in a receive block of a LIDAR device are aligned, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"For example, the image 1200 may correspond to a composite image generated by overlaying the image 1000 and the image 1100, in line with the discussion at block 910 of the method 900.However, in some examples, light sources and detectors in a LIDAR device may not be aligned with one another due to manufacturing/assembly variability or other factors.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 illustrates an image 1300 in a scenario where the light sources and the detectors of a LIDAR device are misaligned along the up/down DOF described in the discussion of FIG.\",\n \"7C, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"Image 1300 may be a composite image determined similarly to the image 1200.For instance, region 1302 may correspond to region 1006 of the image 1000, and region 1304 may correspond to region 1106 of the image 1100.In turn, the at least one offset determined at block 910 of the method 900 may correspond to a distance (e.g., pixel distance, etc.)\",\n \"between the region 1302 and the region 1304, and a system (e.g., system 700, etc.)\",\n \"may perform the adjustment of the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block to align the light source associated with region 1302 with the detector associated with region 1304.By way of example, the system may adjust the up/down position of the transmit block and/or the up/down position of the receive block to reduce the determined offset, in line with the discussion above.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14 illustrates an image 1400 in a scenario where the light sources and the detectors of the LIDAR device are misaligned along the left/right DOF described in the discussion of FIG.\",\n \"7C, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"As a variation of the discussion for image 1300, an offset in the LIDAR device of image 1400 may correspond to the distance between the regions 1402 (e.g., associated with a light source) and 1404 (e.g., associated with a corresponding detector).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"15 illustrates an image 1500 in a scenario where the light sources and the detectors are misaligned along the forward/backward DOF, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"For instance, as shown in image 1500, the regions that correspond to light source positions appear smaller and closer to one another, than the regions that correspond to detector positions.\",\n \"Similarly here, one or more offsets according to block 910 of the method 900 may be determined.\",\n \"An example offset may be a ratio between: (i) the distance between region 1502 and 1504 (e.g., particular detector positions), and (ii) the distance between regions 1506 and 1508 (e.g., corresponding light source positions).\",\n \"However, other offsets are possible as well such as offsets determined by various image processing algorithms to detect differences in sizing or depth among other possibilities.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16 illustrates an image 1600 in a scenario where the light sources and the detectors are misaligned along the roll DOF described in FIG.\",\n \"7C, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"Similarly here, the offset between the roll position of the light sources and the roll position of the detectors may be determined.\",\n \"For instance, an image processing algorithm may determine such offset, and a system of the present method may adjust the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block accordingly.\",\n \"Alternatively, for instance, manual operation of a robotic arm may be employed by visual inspection of the image 1600 (e.g., video feed, etc.)\",\n \"to adjust the relative position between the transmit block and the receive block, among other possibilities.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"17 illustrates an image 1700 in a scenario where the light sources and detectors are misaligned along the yaw DOF described in FIG.\",\n \"7C, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"For instance, as shown, light beams from light sources at a right side of the image 1700 (e.g., associated with regions 1702 and 1704) are at a greater distance (e.g., offset) to one another than light sources at a left side of the image 1700 (e.g., associated with regions 1706 and 1708).\",\n \"This variation may be due to the yaw of the transmit block.\",\n \"In contrast, distances between adjacent corresponding detectors (e.g., associated with regions 1710 and 1712) do not exhibit the same variation, due to the receive block having a different yaw.\",\n \"Thus, in some examples, the present method may adjust the yaw of the receive block to correspond to the yaw of the transmit block.\",\n \"Alternatively or additionally, in some examples, the present method may adjust the yaw of the transmit block to correspond to the yaw of the receive block.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"18 illustrates an image 1800 in a scenario where the light sources and detectors are misaligned along the pitch DOF described in FIG.\",\n \"7C, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"Similarly to the discussion above for the yaw misalignment in image 1700, the transmit block in this scenario has a pitch orientation that is different from the pitch orientation of the receive block.\",\n \"For instance, a distance (e.g., offset) between light beams indicated by regions 1802 and 1804 is different from the distance between light beams indicated by regions 1806 and 1808, due to the pitch of the transmit block.\",\n \"Further, corresponding detectors for those light beams are not similarly separated in the image 1800, which indicates that the receive block has a different pitch than the pitch of the transmit block.\",\n \"In turn, similarly to the discussion above for image 1700, the present method may adjust the pitch of the transmit block, the receive block, or both, to align the transmit block with the receive block, in line with the discussion at block 912 of the method 900.Although images 1200-1800 illustrate composite images overlaying a first image (e.g., image 1000, etc.)\",\n \"with a second image (e.g., image 1100), in some examples, the present method may determine the various offsets described above for images 1200-1800 without overlaying the two images.\",\n \"For instance, a computing device herein may determine the various offsets by comparing pixel locations in the first image 1000 with corresponding pixel locations in the second image 1100.Other image processing techniques are possible as well (e.g., filtering, transforms, etc.)\",\n \"for determining the at least one offset described at block 910 of the method 900.Further, although images 1300-1800 illustrate scenarios where the light sources and the detectors are offset in only one DOF, in some examples, the light sources and the detectors may be offset in more than one DOF.\",\n \"For instance, a LIDAR device may have light sources and detectors that are offset in both the forward/backward DOF described in image 1500 and the roll DOF described in image 1600.Other offset combinations are possible as well.\",\n \"Further, although images 1000-1800 represent light sources and detectors of a LIDAR device having a similar configuration to the LIDAR device 200, in some examples, similar images may be generated for any other LIDAR device configuration, such as the configuration of the LIDAR device 600 among other possibilities.\",\n \"In addition to alignment of light sources and detectors of a LIDAR device, in some examples, the present method may facilitate diagnosis of the various components of the LIDAR device.\",\n \"As an example, FIG.\",\n \"19 illustrates an image 1900 indicative of a defect or an aberration.\",\n \"Image 1900 is an example image of light beams from a transmit block, similarly to the image 1000.For instance, region 1902 of image 1900 may correspond to a light beam from a light source, similarly to region 1002 of the image 1000.In one example, region 1904 may represent a light beam from a defective light source.\",\n \"For instance, pixels in region 1904 may have a different color, brightness, intensity, or any other characteristic than pixels in other similar regions (e.g., region 1902), due to a defect in the light source associated with region 1904.In another example, region 1906 may be a region where a light beam from a light source is expected, and therefore the associated light source may also be defective.\",\n \"In yet another example, regions 1908 and 1910 appear distorted compared to similar regions (e.g., region 1902).\",\n \"In turn, for instance, such distortions may indicate that optical elements (e.g., cylindrical lens 404 of FIGS.\",\n \"4B-4C, etc.)\",\n \"coupled to light sources associated with regions 1908 and 1910 may have aberrations, and the present method may therefore detect the aberrations.\",\n \"Other example defects and aberrations are possible as well.\",\n \"In some examples, the present method may detect the various defects/aberrations described above by comparing the various regions 1904-1910 with similar regions in the image 1900 (e.g., region 1902, etc.).\",\n \"Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the present method may detect the various defects/aberrations by comparing the image 1900 with a stored image (e.g., image 1000).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"20 is a flowchart of another method 2000, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"Method 2000 shown in FIG.\",\n \"20 presents an embodiment of a method that could be used with any of the systems 100, 700, 800, the LIDAR devices 104, 200, 600, 704, 804, the transmit block 320, the light source 400, and/or the receive block 530, for example.\",\n \"Method 2000 may include one or more operations, functions, or actions as illustrated by one or more of blocks 2002-2004.Although the blocks are illustrated in a sequential order, these blocks may in some instances be performed in parallel, and/or in a different order than those described herein.\",\n \"Also, the various blocks may be combined into fewer blocks, divided into additional blocks, and/or removed based upon the desired implementation.\",\n \"At block 2002, the method 2000 involves obtaining one or more images using a camera located at a given position at which the camera can image light beams emitted by one or more light sources in a transmit block of a LIDAR device and can image one or more detectors in a receive block of the LIDAR device.\",\n \"In some examples, the one or more images may include a single image that indicates both light source positions of the one or more light sources and detector positions of the one or more detectors.\",\n \"For instance, the single image may be similar to images 1200-1800 shown in FIGS.\",\n \"12-18.In other examples, the one or more images may include a first image indicative of the light source positions and a second image indicative of the detector positions, similarly to the first image and the second image described, respectively, at blocks 906 and 908 of the method 900.In some examples, the method 2000 may also involve causing an actuator to move a light filter to a first position where the light filter is interposed between the camera and the LIDAR device, obtaining a first image indicative of light source positions of the one or more light sources while the light filter is at the first position, causing the actuator to move the light filter to a second position where the light filter is outside a field-of-view of the camera, and obtaining a second image indicative of detector positions of the one or more detectors while the light filter is at the second position.\",\n \"Referring back to FIGS.\",\n \"7A and 7B by way of example, the actuator, the light filter, and the camera may correspond, respectively, to the actuator 712, the light filter 708, and the camera 706.Thus, in this example, the method 2000 may adjust the position of the light filter 708 to the first position illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7A to obtain the first image, and to the second position illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7B to obtain the second image.\",\n \"At block 2004, the method 2000 involves adjusting a relative position between the transmit block and the receive block based on the one or more images.\",\n \"For instance, the adjustment at block 2004 may be similar to the adjustments described at block 912 of the method 900, along some or all the six DOF (e.g., up/down, left/right, forward/backward, roll, yaw, pitch) of the transmit block, the receive block, or both.\",\n \"Through this process, for instance, the present method may align the one or more light sources with the one or more detectors.\",\n \"In some scenarios, the process described for yaw or pitch alignment in the description of images 1700 and 1800 is less suitable than other methods herein.\",\n \"As an example, the variation in distances between adjacent light sources indicated by a first image (e.g., image 1000) and the variation in distances between adjacent detectors indicated by a second image (e.g., image 1100) may be insufficient for detection of yaw or pitch offsets between the transmit block and the receive block.\",\n \"For instance, the one or more detectors (or the one or more light sources) may be arranged closely to one another.\",\n \"As another example, the transmit block and the receive block may only include, respectively, one light source and one detector, similarly to the transmit block 620 and the receive block 630 shown in FIG.\",\n \"6C.\",\n \"Thus, in this example, there may be no adjacent light sources or adjacent detectors for the determination of the offsets described in the description of images 1700 and 1800.Accordingly, in some embodiments, alternative or additional processes for rotational position alignment (e.g., yaw, pitch, roll) are presented below.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the receive block may be coupled to a half-mirror positioned along a receive path of the receive block.\",\n \"Referring back to FIG.\",\n \"2B by way of example, the half-mirror may correspond to the entrance aperture 234 and may be configured to reflect at least a portion of light incident on the half-mirror, and the receive path may correspond to receive path 208.Further, in this embodiment, the camera may be coupled to at least two light sources positioned along a periphery of a camera lens of the camera.\",\n \"The at least two light sources may be configured to emit light toward the LIDAR device.\",\n \"Further, in this embodiment, the method 2000 may also involve causing the at least two light sources to emit light pulses, and obtaining a third image from the camera indicative of reflections of the emitted light pulses off the half-mirror.\",\n \"In one instance, the method 2000 may also involve determining offsets between the reflections indicated by the third image, and determining the rotational position adjustment accordingly.\",\n \"In another instance, the method 2000 may alternatively involve comparing the third image with a stored image, and adjusting the relative position based on the comparison.\",\n \"For example, the stored image may indicate particular pre-determined offsets between the reflected light pulses that correspond to a particular yaw, pitch, or roll of the receive block.\",\n \"In this example, the method 2000 may adjust the relative position to achieve the particular offsets.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the method 2000 may additionally or alternatively involve actuating at least two probes adjacent to the receive block toward the receive block.\",\n \"A given probe (e.g., force sensor, proximity sensor, etc.)\",\n \"may be configured to provide a signal indicative of contact (or proximity) between the given probe and the receive block.\",\n \"In this embodiment, adjusting the relative position may comprise rotating the receive block (e.g., adjusting yaw, pitch, or roll of the receive block) such that at least two signals from the at least two probes are provided at a substantially same time.\",\n \"For instance, the at least two probes may have a particular yaw or pitch substantially similar to the yaw or pitch of the transmit block, and thus by providing the at least two signals at the substantially same time, the yaw or pitch of the receive block may also correspond to the yaw or pitch of the transmit block.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"21 illustrates a partial cross-section view of yet another system 2100, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"The system 2100 may be similar to any of the systems 100, 700, or 800.For instance, as shown, the system 2100 includes a LIDAR device 2104 that is similar to the LIDAR devices 104 and 704 the systems 100 and 700.It is noted that some components of the system 2100 (e.g., alignment apparatus, mounting platform, etc.)\",\n \"are omitted from the illustration of FIG.\",\n \"21 for convenience in description.\",\n \"As shown, the LIDAR device 2104 has a configuration similar to the LIDAR device 200.For instance, as shown, the LIDAR device 2104 includes a transmit block 2120, light sources 2122a-c, receive block 2130, detectors 2132a-c, an exit aperture 2134, and a lens 2150 that are similar, respectively, to the transmit block 220, the light sources 222a-c, the receive block 230, the detectors 232a-c, the exit aperture 234, and the lens 250 of the LIDAR device 200.However, in some examples, the system 2100 may be adapted for use with other LIDAR device configurations such as the configuration of the LIDAR device 600, etc.\",\n \"Further, as shown, the system 2100 includes an actuator 2190 and probes 2192-2194.The actuator 2190 may be configured to move the probes 2192 and 2194 toward the receive block 2130 in line with the discussion above at block 2004 of the method 2000.Example actuators may include motors, pneumatic actuators, hydraulic pistons, relays, solenoids, and piezoelectric actuators among other possibilities.\",\n \"The probes 2192 and 2194 may include any probes suitable for detection of the receive block 2130 in line with the discussion above at block 2004 of the method 2000.In one example, the probes 2192-2194 may include force sensors that provide a signal if the probes 2192-2194 contact the receive block 2130.In another example, the probes 2192-2194 may include proximity sensors (e.g., IR range sensors, etc.)\",\n \"that provide a signal if the probes 2192-2194 are within a threshold distance to the receive block 2130.In the illustration of FIG.\",\n \"21, a yaw of a component corresponds to an amount of rotation of the component about an axis of the component pointing out of the page.\",\n \"Further, a pitch of the component corresponds to an amount of rotation of the component about an axis of the component pointing away from the component.\",\n \"For instance, a pitch of the transmit block 2120 may be the amount of rotation of the transmit block 2120 about an axis perpendicular to one of the light sources 2122a-c, a pitch of the receive block 2130 may be the amount of rotation of the receive block 2130 about an axis perpendicular to the exit aperture 2134, and a pitch of the probe 2192 may be the amount of rotation of the probe 2192 about an axis perpendicular to the probe 2192 that is pointing toward the receive block 2130, etc.\",\n \"In line with the discussion above, the system 2100 provides an example embodiment for the rotational position alignment described at block 2004 of the method 2000.Consider an example scenario where the probes 2192-2194 have a particular yaw (i.e., amount of rotation about axis pointing out of page) as shown in FIG.\",\n \"21.In some examples, the particular yaw may be substantially similar to the yaw of the transmit block 2120.In one example, the probes 2192-2194 may be mounted via a mounting apparatus (not shown) to the transmit block 2120.In this example, the mounting apparatus may have a particular structure that causes the probes 2192-2194 to have a substantially similar yaw to the yaw of the transmit block 2120.In another example, the probes 2192-2194 may be mounted to an alignment apparatus (e.g., alignment apparatus 160, 760, 860, etc.)\",\n \"that provides the particular yaw.\",\n \"For instance, the system 2100 may determine the yaw of the transmit block 2120 by processing an image from a camera (not shown) in line with the description of the image 1700 of FIG.\",\n \"17.In turn, for instance, the system 2100 may adjust the particular yaw of the probes 2192-2194 by utilizing a robotic arm or other device coupled to the probes 2192-2194 among other possibilities.\",\n \"Continuing with the example scenario, the actuator 2190 may move the probes 2192-2194 toward the receive block 2130 in line with the discussion at block 2004 of the method 2000.On one hand, if the two probes 2192-2194 detect the receive block 2130 (e.g., provide a signal, etc.)\",\n \"at a substantially similar time, then the system 2100 may determine that the yaw of the receive block 2130 corresponds to the yaw of the probes 2192-2192, and therefore also corresponds to the yaw of the transmit block 2120.On the other hand, if the two probes 2192-2194 detect the receive block 2130 at substantially different times, then the system 2100 may determine that the yaw of the receive block 2130 does not correspond to the yaw of the probes 2192-2194, and therefore does not correspond to the yaw of the transmit block 2120.In this case, the system 2100 may then perform the adjustment of the relative position between the transmit block 2120 and the receive block 2130 in line with the discussion at block 912 of the method 900.Through this process, for example, the transmit block 2120 and the receive block 2130 may be aligned with one another, at least with regard to the yaw DOF.\",\n \"As a variation of the example scenario, the probes 2192-2194 may be arranged vertically (e.g., along an axis pointing out of the page) instead of the arrangement shown in FIG.\",\n \"21, or the system 2100 may include two additional probes (not shown) that are arranged vertically.\",\n \"In either case, the probes in this scenario may have a particular pitch (e.g., amount of rotation about an axis pointing away from the probes 2192-2194 toward the receive block 2130).\",\n \"Similarly to the previous scenario, the particular pitch may also correspond to a pitch of the transmit block 2120.Thus, in this scenario, a similar process to the previous scenario may be performed by the system 2100 to align the pitch of the receive block 2130 with the pitch of the transmit block 2120.As a further variation of the example scenarios above, the probes 2192-2194 may be alternatively moved by the actuator 2192 toward the transmit block 2120 instead of the receive block 2130.In this scenario, the system 2100 may adjust the position of the transmit block 2120 to align the pitch and/or yaw of the transmit block 2120 with the pitch and/or yaw of the receive block 2130.FIG.\",\n \"22 illustrates a front-view of a camera 2206, according to an example embodiment.\",\n \"The camera 2206 may be similar to the cameras 106, 706, and 806 included, respectively, in the systems 100, 700, and 800.For instance, the camera 2206 may be located at a given position where the camera can capture images of light beams emitted by a LIDAR device and can capture images of detectors in the LIDAR device, similarly to the cameras 106, 706, and 806.However, in some examples, the camera 2206 may be located in other positions such as inside the housing of a LIDAR device, similarly to the probes 2192-2194 of the system 2100.In these examples, the camera 2206 may be configured to only capture images of the detectors in the LIDAR device, or may be configured to only capture images of light beams emitted by the LIDAR device, among other possibilities.\",\n \"As shown, the camera 2206 includes a lens 2210 and light sources 2212, 2214, 2216, and 2218.However, in some examples, the camera 2206 may include additional, fewer, or different components than those shown.\",\n \"In one example, the camera 2206 may alternatively not include the lens 2210.For instance, the camera 2206 in this example may be an image sensor configured to capture images without use of the lens 2210, among other possibilities.\",\n \"In another example, the camera 2206 may be alternatively configured not to include the light sources 2212-2218, or may be configured to include additional or fewer light sources than the four light sources 2212-2218 shown, in accordance with the discussion at block 2004 of the method 2000.The lens 2210 may include one or more optical element (e.g., convex lens, concave lens, Fresnel lens, mirror, etc.)\",\n \"arranged to modify, condition, focus, and/or redirect light incident on the lens 2210 toward imaging sensors (not shown) of the camera 2206.In some examples, the lens 2210 may be configured to provide an infinity focus for incident light having a source wavelength.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the source wavelength is 905 nm.\",\n \"However, other source wavelengths are possible as well (e.g., infrared, ultraviolet, x-ray, visible, etc.).\",\n \"The light sources 2212-2218 may include laser diodes, light emitting diodes (LEDs), vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL), organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), polymer light emitting diodes (PLED), light emitting polymers (LEP), liquid crystal displays (LCD), microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), filament light sources, or any other device configured to selectively transmit, reflect, and/or emit light propagating away from the camera 2206.In some examples, the light sources 2212-2218 may be configured to emit light at the source wavelength of light emitted by the LIDAR device (not shown) imaged by the camera 2206.Referring back to FIG.\",\n \"7A by way of example, the camera 2206 may correspond to the camera 706 of the system 700.Thus, in this example, the light sources 2212-2218 may emit light having the source wavelength that can propagate through the light filter 708 similarly to light emitted by the LIDAR device 704.However, in other examples, the light sources 2212-2218 may be configured to emit light at other wavelengths.\",\n \"For instance, the light filter may allow propagation of the light from the light sources 2212-2218 even if the light has other wavelengths, or the light filter may not be interposed between the camera 2206 and the LIDAR device, similarly to the configuration shown in FIG.\",\n \"7B, among other possibilities.\",\n \"As shown, the light sources 2212-2218 are positioned along a periphery of the camera lens 2210.However, in some examples, the light sources 2212-2218 may be alternatively positioned at a different location.\",\n \"In one example, referring back to FIG.\",\n \"7A, the light sources 2212-2218 may be alternatively positioned along a periphery of the light filter 708.In another example, referring back to FIG.\",\n \"21, the light sources 2212-2214 may be alternatively positioned within a housing of the LIDAR device 2104 similarly to the probes 2192-2194.As a variation of the previous example, the camera 2206 may be alternatively positioned inside the housing of the LIDAR device 2104 as well similarly to the actuator 2190.In yet another example, referring back to FIG.\",\n \"21, the light sources 2212-2218 may be alternatively positioned at a periphery of the transmit block 2120 or at a periphery of the receive block 2130.Other positions for the light sources 2212-2218 are possible as well.\",\n \"Thus, in some examples, the light sources 2212-2218 may be utilized by a system of the present method to determine the at least one offset in line with the discussion at block 910 of the method 900, and therefore facilitate the adjustment of the relative position between a transmit block and a receive block of a LIDAR device in line with the discussion at block 912 of the method 900.In one example, the light sources 2212-2218 may facilitate alignment of the rotational position (e.g., yaw, pitch, roll) of a transmit block and a receive block in line with the discussion at block 2004 of the method 2000.As an example scenario for rotational position alignment using the camera 2206, suppose that the camera 2206 corresponds to the camera 706 of the system 700.In the scenario, the light sources 2212-2218 may be configured to emit light that propagates through the light filter 708 (e.g., if the light filter 708 is interposed between the camera 2206 and the LIDAR device 704 as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7A).\",\n \"Suppose that, for the sake of example, the LIDAR device 704 has the configuration of the LIDAR device 200 shown in FIG.\",\n \"2B.\",\n \"In this example, the light from the light sources 2212-2218 may propagate through the lens 250, and then reflect off mirror 242 onto the entrance aperture 234.Further, suppose that, in this example, the entrance aperture 234 includes a half-mirror that reflects at least a portion of the light from the light sources 2212-2218.In turn, the reflected light may reflect off the half-mirror, then reflect off the mirror 242, then propagate through the lens 250 of the LIDAR device, and then propagate into the lens 2210 of the camera 2206.At this point in the scenario, the camera 2206 may capture an image of the reflected light in line with the discussion at block 2004 of the method 2000.Continuing with the scenario, a system of the present method may then analyze the image, in line with the discussion for images 1700-1800, using the properties (e.g., position, shape, intensity, etc.)\",\n \"of the light beams originating from the light sources 2212-2218 to determine yaw or pitch offsets between the transmit block and the receive block.\",\n \"As a variation of the scenario above, suppose that the light sources 2212-2218 are alternatively positioned along a periphery of the transmit block 220 of the LIDAR device 200.In this scenario, four mirrors may be positioned at the positions shown for the light sources 2212-2218.In turn, the four mirrors may reflect the light from the light sources 2212-2218 towards the receive block 230 of the LIDAR device 200, and the camera 2206 may capture an image of reflections of that light off the entrance aperture 234 (e.g., half-mirror) to determine a possible yaw/pitch offset between the transmit block 220 and the receive block 230.As another variation of the scenario, suppose that the light sources 2212-2218 are alternatively positioned along a periphery of the receive block 230 of the LIDAR device 200.In this scenario, a system of the present method may analyze an image of light from the light sources 2212-2218 in line with the discussion for images 1600-1800 to determine the rotational position (e.g., roll, yaw, pitch) of the receive block.\",\n \"As yet another variation of the scenario, the light sources 2212-2218 may be alternatively positioned along a periphery of the transmit block 220 of the LIDAR device 200, and four additional similar light sources may be positioned along the periphery of the receive block 230 of the LIDAR device 200.Similarly here, one or more images of the light from the light sources 2212-2218 and the four additional light sources may be obtained from the camera 2206 and analyzed by the system of the present method to determine rotational offsets (e.g., roll, yaw, pitch) between the transmit block and the receive block.\",\n \"Thus, various configurations and positions are possible for the light sources 2212-2218 to facilitate optics alignment in line with the discussion above.\",\n \"It should be understood that arrangements described herein are for purposes of example only.\",\n \"As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that other arrangements and other elements (e.g.\",\n \"machines, interfaces, functions, orders, and groupings of functions, etc.)\",\n \"can be used instead, and some elements may be omitted altogether according to the desired results.\",\n \"Further, many of the elements that are described are functional entities that may be implemented as discrete or distributed components or in conjunction with other components, in any suitable combination and location, or other structural elements described as independent structures may be combined.\",\n \"While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.\",\n \"The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope being indicated by the following claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.\",\n \"It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876129"}}},{"rowIdx":4495089,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE","A logic circuit in a system LSI is provided with a power switch so as to cut off the switch at the time of standby, reducing leakage current.","At the same time, an SRAM circuit of the system LSI controls a substrate bias to reduce leakage current."],["1-15.","(canceled) 16.A semiconductor device comprising: a first line for a first voltage; a second line for a second voltage lower than the first voltage; a first P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a first control signal and having a source-drain path; a second P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a second control signal different from the first control signal and having a source-drain path; a first static random access memory circuit which includes: first static memory cells, each first static memory cell having a first voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the first P channel MOS transistor, and each first static memory cell being coupled to the second line; first word lines coupled to the first static memory cells; first word drivers coupled to the first word lines, each first word driver having a second voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the second P channel MOS transistor, and each first word driver being coupled to the second line; and first bit lines coupled to the first static memory cells; and a second static random access memory circuit which includes: second static memory cells, each second static memory cell being directly coupled to the first line and coupled to the second line; second word lines coupled to the second static memory cells; second word drivers coupled to the second word lines, each second word driver being coupled to the first line and coupled to the second line; and second bit lines coupled to the second static memory cells.","17.A semiconductor device according to claim 16, wherein each first static memory cell incudes: a flip-flop having a first storage node, a second storage node, a first CMOS inverter having an output coupled to the first storage node and an input coupled to the second storage node, and a second CMOS inverter having an output coupled to the second storage node and an input coupled to the first storage node, the first CMOS inverter including a first P channel load MOS transistor and a first N channel drive MOS transistor, the second CMOS inverter including a second P channel load MOS transistor and a second N channel drive MOS transistor; and first and second N channel transfer MOS transistors, each having a source-drain path coupled between a corresponding one of the first and second storage nodes and a corresponding one of the first bit lines and having a gate electrode coupled to a corresponding first word line, wherein the first and second P channel load MOS transistors have sources coupled to the first voltage supply point.","18.A semiconductor device according to claim 17, wherein the first P channel MOS transistor and the second P channel MOS transistor are arranged at one side of the first static random access memory circuit.","19.A semiconductor device according to claim 17, further comprising: a third P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a third control signal different from the first and second control signals and having a source-drain path, and wherein the first static random access memory circuit includes a read/write amplifier coupled to the first bit lines and having a third voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the third P channel MOS transistor.","20.A semiconductor device according to claim 17, further comprising: a third P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a third control signal different from the first and second control signals and having a source-drain path, wherein the first static random access memory circuit includes a pre-charge circuit, and wherein the pre-charge circuit includes: fourth and fifth P channel MOS transistors having drains coupled to the first bit lines, respectively, and sources which are coupled to a third voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the third P channel MOS transistor, and a sixth P channel MOS transistors having a source-drain path coupled between the drains of the fourth and fifth P channel MOS transistors.","21.A semiconductor device according to claim 17, wherein the first static random access memory circuit includes a row decoder coupled to the first word drivers, and wherein the row decoder has a third voltage supply point different from the first and second voltage supply points.","22.A semiconductor device according to claim 17, wherein the first static random access memory circuit includes a row decoder coupled to the first word drivers, and wherein the row decoder is directly coupled to the first line and to the second line.","23.A semiconductor device according to claim 17, further comprising: a first N channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a third control signal different from the first and second control signals and having a source-drain path, and a second N channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a fourth control signal different from the first, second and third control signals and having a source-drain path, wherein each first static memory cell has a third voltage supply point which is coupled to the second line via the source-drain path of the first N channel MOS transistor, and wherein each first word driver has a fourth voltage supply point which is coupled to the second line via the source-drain path of the second N channel MOS transistor.","24.A semiconductor device according to claim 18, further comprising: a third P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a third control signal different from the first and second control signals and having a source-drain path, and wherein each second word driver has a third voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the third P channel MOS transistor.","25.A semiconductor device according to claim 24, wherein the second word drivers are directly coupled to the second line.","26.A semiconductor device according to claim 19, further comprising: a first N channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a fourth control signal different from the first, second and third control signals and having a source-drain path, and wherein the read/write amplifier has a fourth voltage supply point which is coupled to the second line via the source-drain path of the first N channel MOS transistor.","27.A semiconductor device according to claim 17, wherein the first static random access memory circuit includes a read/write amplifier coupled to the first bit lines (BL,/BL) and a column decoder coupled to the read/write amplifier, and wherein the column decoder is coupled to the second voltage supply point.","28.A semiconductor device according to claim 27, further comprising: a first N channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a third control signal different from the first and second control signals and having a source-drain path, wherein the column decoder and each first word driver have a third voltage supply point which is coupled to the second line via the source-drain path of the first N channel MOS transistor.","29.A semiconductor device according to claim 18, further comprising: a third P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a third control signal different from the first and second control signals and having a source-drain path, and a logic circuit including a CMOS inverter having an N channel MIS transistor and a P channel MIS transistor, the CMOS inverter having a third voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the third P channel MOS transistor.","30.A semiconductor device according to claim 29, further comprising: a bus coupled to the logic circuit and the first and second static random access memories.","31.A semiconductor device according to claim 29, wherein the second static memory cells are directly coupled to the second line.","32.A semiconductor device according to claim 29, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is greater than that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.","33.A semiconductor device according to claim 29, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is the same as that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.","34.A semiconductor device according to claim 17, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is greater than a respective thickness of a gate insulating film of the first P channel load MOS transistor in each first static memory cell.","35.A semiconductor device according to claim 17, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is the same as a respective thickness of a gate insulating film of the first P channel load MOS transistor in each first static memory cell.","36.A semiconductor device according to claim 19, further comprising: a fourth P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a fourth control signal different from the first, second and third control signals and having a source-drain path, and a logic circuit including a CMOS inverter having an N channel MIS transistor and a P channel MIS transistor, the CMOS inverter having a fourth voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the fourth P channel MOS transistor.","37.A semiconductor device according to claim 36, further comprising: a bus coupled to the logic circuit and the first and second static random access memories.","38.A semiconductor device according to claim 36, wherein the second static memory cells are directly coupled to the second line.","39.A semiconductor device according to claim 36, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is greater than that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.","40.A semiconductor device according to claim 36, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is the same as that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.","41.A semiconductor device according to claim 20, further comprising: a fourth P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a fourth control signal different from the first, second and third control signals and having a source-drain path, and a logic circuit including a CMOS inverter having an N channel MIS transistor and a P channel MIS transistor, the CMOS inverter having a fourth voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the fourth P channel MOS transistor.","42.A semiconductor device according to claim 41, further comprising: a bus coupled to the logic circuit and the first and second static random access memories.","43.A semiconductor device according to claim 41, wherein the second static memory cells are directly coupled to the second line.","44.A semiconductor device according to claim 41, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is greater than that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.","45.A semiconductor device according to claim 41, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is the same as that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.","46.A semiconductor device according to claim 21, further comprising: a third P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a third control signal different from the first and second control signals and having a source-drain path, and a logic circuit including a CMOS inverter having an N channel MIS transistor and a P channel MIS transistor, the CMOS inverter having a fourth voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the third P channel MOS transistor.","47.A semiconductor device according to claim 46, further comprising: a bus coupled to the logic circuit and the first and second static random access memories.","48.A semiconductor device according to claim 46, wherein the second static memory cells are directly coupled to the second line.","49.A semiconductor device according to claim 46, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is greater than that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.","50.A semiconductor device according to claim 46, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is the same as that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.","51.A semiconductor device according to claim 22, further comprising: a third P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a third control signal different from the first and second control signals and having a source-drain path, and a logic circuit including a CMOS inverter having an N channel MIS transistor and a P channel MIS transistor, the CMOS inverter having a third voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the third P channel MOS transistor.","52.A semiconductor device according to claim 51, further comprising: a bus coupled to the logic circuit and the first and second static random access memories.","53.A semiconductor device according to claim 51, wherein the second static memory cells are directly coupled to the second line.","54.A semiconductor device according to claim 51, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is greater than that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.","55.A semiconductor device according to claim 51, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is the same as that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.","56.A semiconductor device according to claim 23, further comprising: a third P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a third control signal different from the first and second control signals and having a source-drain path, and a logic circuit including a CMOS inverter having an N channel MIS transistor and a P channel MIS transistor, the CMOS inverter having a fifth voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the third P channel MOS transistor.","57.A semiconductor device according to claim 56, further comprising: a bus coupled to the logic circuit and the first and second static random access memories.","58.A semiconductor device according to claim 56, wherein the second static memory cells are directly coupled to the second line.","59.A semiconductor device according to claim 56, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is greater than that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.","60.A semiconductor device according to claim 56, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is the same as that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.","61.A semiconductor device according to claim 27, further comprising: a third P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a third control signal different from the first and second control signals and having a source-drain path, and a logic circuit including a CMOS inverter having an N channel MIS transistor and a P channel MIS transistor, the CMOS inverter having a third voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the third P channel MOS transistor.","62.A semiconductor device according to claim 61, further comprising: a bus coupled to the logic circuit and the first and second static random access memories.","63.A semiconductor device according to claim 61, wherein the second static memory cells are directly coupled to the second line.","64.A semiconductor device according to claim 61, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is greater than that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.","65.A semiconductor device according to claim 61, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is the same as that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>"],["<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The summary of the representative inventions disclosed in this application will be described as follows.","(1) In a LSI consolidating a logic circuit and an SRAM circuit, the power source of the logic circuit is cut off by the switch at the time of standby, and the SRAM circuit controls the substrate voltage of the MOS transistor so as to reduce the leakage current.","(2) The power source of the control circuit for accessing the memory cell in the SRAM circuit is divided to be cut off, reducing the power consumption.","(3) The SRAM circuit is divided so that some SRAMs hold data at the time of standby and other SRAMs not holding data cut off the power source to reduce the leakage current."],["BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1.Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor device consolidating a logic circuit and a static memory (SRAM) circuit.","2.Description of the Related Art Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No.","Hei 7-86916 discloses a construction in which a logic circuit is provided with a power switch and a MOS transistor constructing the logic circuit is back-gate biased.","Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No.","2000-207884 discloses a substrate bias control technology for a system LSI operable at a low voltage including a static memory.","Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No.","2001-93275 discloses a construction in which a logic circuit is provided with a logic power source and a memory circuit is provided with a memory power source.","Currently, semiconductor integrated circuits called a system LSI (Large Scale Integrated Circuit) integrating an SRAM circuit and a logic circuit on the same semiconductor chip are widely manufactured.","The SRAM circuit refers to a circuit functioning as a memory by only the circuit including arrayed SRAM memory cells and a peripheral circuit for accessing the memory cells.","The logic circuit refers to a circuit subjecting an inputted signal to a specified process for output, other than the memory circuit including arrayed memory cells such as an SRAM, a dynamic memory (DRAM) and a non-volatile memory and a circuit for accessing the memory cells.","A circuit holding data such as a flip-flop in the logic circuit is thought to be part of the logic circuit.","A request for low power consumption of the system LSI and finer transistors in the LSI lower the source voltage of the LSI.","In a 0.13 μm process, a LSI operated at a source voltage of 1.2V is manufactured.","When the source voltage is lowered, the electric current of the MOS transistor is reduced to deteriorate the circuit performance.","To prevent the performance from being deteriorated, a LSI lowering the threshold voltage of the MOS transistor is manufactured.","When the threshold value of the MOS transistor is lowered, a leakage current called a sub-threshold current of the MOS transistor is increased.","The leakage current continues to flow at the time of operation or non-operation of the circuit.","In the standby state, the SRAM does not perform write and read operations, but continues to hold data.","The power consumption in the standby state of the system LSI is the leakage current of the MOS transistor in the circuit.","When the threshold voltage of the MOS transistor is lowered, the power consumption in the standby state is increased.","In the system LSI, the state that the logic circuit is not operated and the SRAM circuit holds data is called a standby state.","The logic circuit is not operated at the time of standby.","The logic circuit cuts off the power source using a switch to reduce the leakage current.","The SRAM memory cell is of a flip-flop construction.","The leak current is relatively small.","In the prior art system LSI, the capacitance of the SRAM circuit mounted is not large and the SRAM memory cell is made by the MOS transistor having a high threshold value.","The leakage current in the SRAM circuit has not been a problem.","However, when the MOS transistor is made finer and a large-capacitance SRAM is mounted on the system LSI so as to lower the threshold voltage of the MOS transistor constructing the SRAM memory cell, the leakage current in the SRAM memory cell cannot be ignored.","The logic circuit can reduce the leakage current at the time of standby when the power source is cut off by the switch.","The SRAM circuit must hold data in the standby state.","The power source cannot be cut off so that the leakage current cannot be reduced.","When the voltage is lowered to reduce the threshold voltage of the MOS transistor, the leakage current in the circuit attached for accessing the memory cell in the SRAM circuit is increased.","SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The summary of the representative inventions disclosed in this application will be described as follows.","(1) In a LSI consolidating a logic circuit and an SRAM circuit, the power source of the logic circuit is cut off by the switch at the time of standby, and the SRAM circuit controls the substrate voltage of the MOS transistor so as to reduce the leakage current.","(2) The power source of the control circuit for accessing the memory cell in the SRAM circuit is divided to be cut off, reducing the power consumption.","(3) The SRAM circuit is divided so that some SRAMs hold data at the time of standby and other SRAMs not holding data cut off the power source to reduce the leakage current.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 is a diagram showing an overview of the relation between a logic circuit and an SRAM circuit of a system LSI to which the present invention is applied and power sources thereof; FIG.","2 is a schematic diagram of the layout of the system LSI of FIG.","1; FIG.","3 is a diagram showing change in voltage of nodes in the circuit shown in FIG.","1; FIG.","4 is a diagram showing an example of a control circuit CNTS in FIG.","1; FIG.","5 is a waveform chart of signals for changing the state of the circuit of FIG.","1; FIG.","6 is a diagram showing an example of a circuit generating signals shown in FIG.","5; FIG.","7 is a diagram showing the relation between the internal construction of the SRAM circuit to which the present invention is applied and power sources thereof; FIG.","8 is a diagram showing the construction of the logic circuit to which the present invention is applied; FIG.","9 is a diagram showing the constructions of transistors of the system LSI to which the present invention is applied; FIG.","10 is a diagram showing a first modification of the switches of the logic circuit; FIG.","11 is a diagram showing change in voltage of nodes in the circuit shown in FIG.","10; FIG.","12 is a diagram showing a second modification of the switches of the logic circuit; FIG.","13 is a diagram showing a third modification of the switches of the logic circuit; FIG.","14 is a diagram of an application of FIG.","13; FIG.","15 is a diagram in which a voltage dropping circuit is applied to the SRAM circuit; FIG.","16 is a diagram showing change in voltage of nodes in the circuit shown in FIG.","15; FIG.","17 is a circuit diagram of a switch circuit CNTV1 in FIG.","16; FIG.","18 is a first modification of the SRAM circuit of FIG.","7; FIG.","19 is a second modification of the SRAM circuit of FIG.","7; FIG.","20 is a diagram in which substrate bias control is applied to the logic circuit; FIG.","21 is a diagram showing a first modification dividing the SRAM circuit part; FIG.","22 is a diagram showing the constructions of transistors constructing a plurality of SRAM circuits in FIG.","21; FIG.","23 is a diagram showing an application of the system of the invention of FIG.","21; FIG.","24 is a diagram showing a second modification dividing the SRAM circuit; FIG.","25 is a diagram showing a third modification dividing the SRAM circuit; and FIG.","26 is a diagram showing a circuit construction example of a power source control circuit CNVT2 in FIG.","24.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 FIG.","1 schematically shows the entire construction of a LSI consolidating a logic circuit and an SRAM circuit using the present invention.","In FIG.","1, a CHIP as the consolidated LSI includes an input/output circuit IO (IO circuit) having power voltage lines VssQ and VddQ from outside as operating voltages; a logic circuit LOGIC executing a predetermined process to data; a static memory circuit SRAM storing data; an nMOS transistor N1 as a switch between a ground voltage line Vss and an operating voltage supply line Vss1 on the low voltage side of the logic circuit; a control circuit CNTS to which a signal stby inputted in the standby state is inputted to be connected to the gate electrode of the N1 outputting a signal cntn controlling the N1; and a substrate bias control circuit VBBC controlling substrate voltages Vbn and Vbp of the SRAM when the stby is inputted.","Unless otherwise specified, the power source with a symbol starting from Vdd is a power source supplying a high voltage, and the power source with a symbol starting from Vss is a power source supplying a low voltage.","An operating voltage difference (VssQ-VddQ) supplied to the IO circuit is typically defined by the standard and is larger than an operating voltage difference (Vss-Vdd) of the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit.","By way of example, 3.3V is supplied to the VddQ, 1.2V is supplied to the Vdd, and 0V is supplied to the Vss and the VssQ.","The signal stby for use in the control circuit CNTS is used via the IO circuit.","FIG.","2 shows the layout of the circuit of FIG.","1 on a semiconductor chip.","A core circuit (the logic circuits and the SRAM circuit) is arranged so as to be surrounded by the input/output circuit IO (IO circuit).","The IO circuit is connected to an input/output pad.","AMOS transistor having a gate-insulating film thickness larger than that of the MOS transistor for use in the core circuit is used for the IO circuit.","Since a source voltage higher than that of the core circuit is typically applied to the IO circuit, the voltage resistance is required.","The power switch, the substrate bias control circuit VBBC, and the power switch control circuit CNTS included in a power source control system POW in FIG.","1 are integrally arranged to increase the integration degree.","It is advantageous when the transistor size (the channel length and the channel width) is different from that of the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit.","The substrate bias control circuit has a control switch and a charge pump circuit.","The nMOS transistor having a large insulating film thickness for use in the IO circuit is used for the N1 in FIG.","1.The substrate voltage of the power switch N1 is connected to the source side.","Unless otherwise specified, the substrate voltages of the N channel type and the P channel type MOS transistors constructing the switch connected to the power source are connected to the source voltages of the transistors.","Use of the thick-film MOS transistor is effective for the tunnel leakage current prevention of the gate.","Since the voltage resistance is excellent, the voltage applied to the gate of the switch N1 can be larger than the operating voltage and the leakage current when the nMOS is allowed to be nonconductive can be reduced.","When there is only one film thickness of the transistor constructing the LSI and the MOS transistor for use in the IO circuit cannot be used in the core part for design, a MOS transistor having a small insulating film thickness can be used as a switch.","In this case, the leakage current cannot be cut off completely by the switch N1.When the leak current is within an allowable range, the MOS switch may be only made by the thin-film MOS transistor.","When the leakage current exceeds the allowable value, the substrate voltage of the logic circuit and the switch N1 or only the switch N1 must be controlled to reduce the leakage current.","The nMOS transistor is used as a switch cutting off the power source.","The nMOS has a flowing current larger than that of the pMOS.","When attempting to flow the same current, the switch size can be reduced.","When the switch size is not considered due to enough area, the switch of the pMOS cutting off the power source Vdd can be inserted without inserting the switch of the nMOS cutting off the ground power source Vss.","FIG.","3 shows an example of the voltages of an active state ACT and a standby state STB of the parts of the circuit.","The active state ACT represents a state that the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit are operated.","The Vdd and the Vss in FIG.","1 are power sources of the core including the SRAM circuit and the logic circuit.","The Vdd voltage is 1.2V and the Vss voltage is 0.0V.","The standby signal stby is low in the active state.","The control signal of the switch is high and the nMOS switch is on.","The Vbn and the Vbp as the substrate voltages of the nMOS transistor and the pMOS transistor of the SRAM circuit are 0V and 1.2V.","The substrate bias Vbs applied to the MOS transistor in the SRAM circuit is 0V.","The threshold voltage of the MOS transistor constructing the SRAM circuit is not changed as compared with values determined by the transistor construction (gate width, gate length and implantation amount).","In the standby state, the standby signal stby is high.","With it, the signal cntn controlling the nMOS switch is low and the nMOS switch is nonconductive.","At the same time, the Vbn and the Vbp as the substrate voltages of the nMOS transistor and the pMOS transistor constructing the SRAM circuit are—1.2V and 2.4V.","A substrate bias of 1.2V is applied to the MOS transistor in the SRAM circuit to increase the threshold voltage of the MOS transistor.","The leakage current of the MOS transistor is reduced.","A circuit generating the signal cntn controlling the switch using the inputted standby signal stby can be realized by the simplified circuit as shown in FIG.","4.When using the circuit of FIG.","4, the high standby signal stby must be always inputted in the standby state STB, as shown in FIG.","3.For example, there is considered the case that the standby signal stby is inputted only in the standby state STB and an active signal ack is inputted when the standby state STB is changed to the active state.","ACT.","FIG.","5 shows the voltage change of the standby signal stby, the active signal ack and the control signal cntn in this case.","When the standby signal stby is inputted, the control signal cntn is low to turn off the power switch, reducing the leakage current.","When the active signal ack is inputted, the control signal cntn is high to make the power switch conductive, supplying power to the logic circuit.","FIG.","6 shows the circuit CNTS for outputting the signals of the waveform of FIG.","5.To store the standby state STB in the circuit, a flip-flop is used.","In this case, a signal for returning to the active state ACT is prepared.","FIG.","7 shows a construction example of the SRAM circuit SRAM in FIG.","1.The SRAM circuit includes a memory cell array MAR, peripheral circuits PERI1 and PERI2 for accessing the memory cells, and an inverter to input an inverted signal of the signal stby transmitting the standby state to the gates of MOS transistor s_sw2 and s_sw1 and s_sw2m as switches for cutting off the power lines Vss and Vdd of the PERI1 or the PERI2.The substrate voltage of the P channel type MOS transistor included in SRAM_CIR is connected to the Vbp and the substrate voltage of the N channel type MOS transistor included therein is connected to the Vbn so as to control the substrate-bias voltage.","The MAR is a circuit having the arrayed SRAM memory cells.","The memory cell has a pair of flip-flops (a first and second P channel type load MOS transistors and a first and second N channel type drive MOS transistors) having the input and the output of a CMOS inverter interconnected, and a first and second N channel type transfer MOS transistors connected between two storage nodes and bitlines (BL,/BL) of the flip-flops.","The gate electrode of the N channel type transfer MOS transistor is connected to a wordline WL.","The operating voltage of the memory cell is given by Vddma and Vssma.","The peripheral circuit PERI1 includes a circuit for controlling the wordline WL of the memory cell including a word driver WDR, a row decoder RDEC, and a memory controller MCNT.","The operating voltage of the circuit included in the PERI1 is given by Vddper and Vssper.","The peripheral circuit PERI2 includes a circuit for controlling a bitline BL of the memory cell including a pre-charge circuit PRE, a read/write amplifier RWAMP as a read/write control circuit connected to the bitline and a column decoder CDEC.","The read/write amplifier RWAMP includes OBUF as an output buffer of a sense amplifier and WCNT as a control circuit of the write amplifier.","The operating voltage of the circuit included in the PERI2 is given by Vddamp and Vssamp.","A low signal is inputted to/stby in the drawing at the time of the standby STB.","At the time of standby, the power line Vdd inputted to the PERI1 is cut off, and at the same time, the power line Vss inputted to the PERI2 is cut off.","The Vbn and the Vbp supplying the substrate voltage of the MOS transistor constructing the MAR, PERI1 and PERI2 are controlled so as to increase an absolute value of the threshold voltage of the MOS transistor.","The substrate bias is applied to the SRAM memory cell.","The substrate bias is applied to the peripheral circuit.","The power source is provided with the switch to reduce the leakage current.","The power consumption of the SRAM at the time of standby can be reduced.","There will be described next a reason why the peripheral circuit is divided into two to cut off the Vss and the Vdd in FIG.","7.The wordline is low in the standby state and is low also in the operating state except for the selected wordline.","The circuit driving the wordline cuts off the power source Vdd as the high voltage to reduce the leakage current when compared to cutting off the power source Vss as the low voltage.","Time for returning from the standby state is shortened.","The switch inserted in the Vdd side is smaller than that inserted in the Vss side.","The bitline is typically charged to the Vdd in the SRAM.","In many cases, the amplifier is of a construction in which the state charged to the Vdd is stable.","The bitline is charged to the Vdd at the time of standby to cut off the power source Vss of the read amplifier and the write amplifier by the switch.","The leakage current can be thus reduced.","Time for returning from the standby state to the active state is shortened.","In the circuit pre-charging the bitline to the Vdd, the Vss of the circuit driving the bitline is cut off, which is advantageous in the leakage current and the return time.","In the circuit pre-charging the bitline to the Vss, cutting off the switch on the Vdd side is naturally advantageous, providing the construction.","The circuit in FIG.","7 is assumed to be the SRAM in the system LSI as shown in FIG.","1, and can be applied to a memory LSI without being limited to the system LSI.","FIG.","7 is a diagram controlling the substrate bias of the SRAM circuit.","When the leakage of the peripheral circuit can be reduced to sufficiently reduce the power consumption in the standby state, the substrate bias is not necessarily applied.","In the case that the characteristic of the MOS transistor will be varied in the future to make the leakage current called a junction leakage of the MOS transistor larger than the leakage current called a sub-threshold of the MOS transistor, the method for controlling the substrate voltage may not reduce the leakage current.","In this case, a construction in which the power sources of the logic circuit and the peripheral circuits of the SRAM in the system LSI are cut off by the switches can be thought to be an important technology.","FIG.","8 shows a construction example of the logic circuit LOGIC in FIG.","1.In a logic circuit LOGIC_CIR, the logic gates such as NAND and NOR as the inverter having the P channel type MOS transistor and the N channel type MOS transistor are combined for multiple-stage connection.","The substrate voltage is not applied to the transistor in the logic circuit.","The substrate voltage of the P channel type MOS transistor is connected to the high voltage side Vdd of the operating voltage and the substrate voltage of the N channel type MOS transistor is connected to the low voltage side Vssl of the operating voltage.","FIG.","9 shows the constructions of the types of a MOS transistor for use in the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit (CORE) in the LSI, a MOS transistor for use in the input/output circuit IO of the LSI, a MOS transistor for use in the switch logic sw cutting off the power source of the logic circuit shown in FIG.","1, and a MOS transistor for use in the switch s sw cutting off the power sources of the peripheral circuits of the SRAM shown in FIG.","7.The threshold voltages of the P channel type.","MOS and the N channel type MOS transistors are different.","The polarity is typically inverted to be designed to be the same value.","FIG.","16 shows its absolute value.","A transistor having a large insulating film thickness is used for the input/output circuit part of the LSI.","A transistor having a small insulating film thickness is used for the internal logic circuit.","In this drawing, there are used a MOS transistor having a large insulating film thickness of 6.7 nm and a MOS transistor having a small insulating film thickness of 2.0 nm.","As the transistor having a small film thickness, a MOS transistor having two or more threshold voltages depending on a difference in impurity amount is often used.","In FIG.","9, a MOS transistor having two threshold voltages Vth of 0.40V and 0.25V is taken as an example.","The current at the time of operation of the MOS transistor having a low threshold voltage is large and the leakage current at the time of standby is increased.","In all the combinations, the MOS transistor of a thin gate-insulating film having two types of Vth is used for the logic circuit LOGIC_CIR and the SRAM circuit SRAM_CIR except for the control switch, and the MOS transistor of a thick gate-insulating film having a high Vth is used for the IO.","In the LOGIC_CIR, a transistor having a low threshold value is used for a critical path and a transistor having a high threshold value is used for the remaining circuits.","In the SRAM_CIR, to reduce the leakage current and to maintain static noise margin (SNB), a transistor having a high threshold value is used for the memory cell array MAR.","Since the peripheral circuit PERI including the pre-charge circuit, the sense amplifier, the word driver and the decoder must be fast, a MOS transistor having a low threshold value is used.","In the combination of Patternl, the thick-film MOS transistor having a high Vth is used for the power switch of the logic circuit, and the thin-film MOS transistor having a high Vth is used for the power switch of the peripheral circuit in the SRAM circuit.","The thick-film MOS transistor is used for the power switch of the logic circuit to reduce the leakage current of the large-scale circuit.","The SRAM controls the substrate bias to reduce the leakage current.","The thin-film MOS transistor having a slightly large leakage is used for the power switch to reduce the entire leakage current.","When the circuit size of the peripheral circuit in the SRAM circuit is not large, the leakage current of the peripheral circuit is considered to be small.","The construction of the Patternl is effective.","When designing the SRAM circuit as a module which can be easily reused, the SRAM circuit can be designed in consideration of the characteristic of only the thin-film MOS transistor.","The switch is made by the thin-film MOS transistor to enhance the design efficiency.","The construction of the Patternl is effective when the size of the SRAM circuit itself is not large, the size of the peripheral circuit in the SRAM circuit is not large, reduction of the leakage current is highly expected by controlling the substrate bias, or the design efficiency of the SRAM is considered.","In the combination of Pattern2, the thick-film MOS transistor having a high Vth is used for the power switch of the logic circuit and the power switch of the peripheral circuit in the SRAM circuit.","This can reduce the leakage current of the circuit other than the SRAM memory cell in the LSI.","The power consumption at the time of standby is smaller than that of the Patternl.","When designing the SRAM circuit, the characteristic of the thick-film MOS transistor must be considered.","The design efficiency is thus lowered.","The combination of the Pattern2 is effective when the size of the SRAM circuit is large, the size of the peripheral circuit of the SRAM is large, or an effect for reducing the leakage current by controlling the substrate bias is not highly expected.","In the combination of Pattern3, the thin-film MOS transistor having a high Vth is used for the power switch of the logic circuit and the power switch of the peripheral circuit in the SRAM circuit.","In this case, the thin-film MOS transistor is used.","An effect for reducing the leakage current is lower than that of the Pattern2.Since the characteristic of the thick-film MOS transistor need not be considered, the design efficiency is enhanced.","The combination of the Pattern3 is effective when the effect for reducing the leakage current of the LSI is less large and the design efficiency is required.","As described above, the power source of the logic circuit is cut off by the switch in the standby state and the substrate bias is applied to the SRAM circuit.","The leakage current of the system LSI is lowered to reduce the power consumption in the standby state.","Embodiment 2 This embodiment shows a modification of the power switch for use in the logic circuit.","FIG.","10 shows a circuit block diagram when the power switch mounted only on the power source Vss of the logic circuit part in the circuit of FIG.","1 is provided in the power sources Vdd and Vss.","The two power sources Vdd and Vss of the logic circuit are provided with the switch to cut off the power source.","The area is increased by providing the power switch.","The leakage current at the time of standby can be cut off more reliably.","FIG.","1 illustrates the IO circuit, but is omitted in FIG.","10.The IO circuit in the CHIP is omitted in other drawings.","FIG.","11 shows the voltages of the parts of the circuit when using the circuit of FIG.","10.In this drawing, a signal cntp controlling P1 of the pMOS as a switch for cutting off the Vdd of the logic part is added to the voltages of FIG.","3.The cntp is low in the active state ACT and is high in the standby state STB.","The internal circuit of a circuit CNTS2 outputting the control signal in FIG.","7 is not particularly described.","A circuit outputting a phase reversal signal can be added to the circuit of FIG.","4 or FIG.","6.In FIGS.","1 and 10, the circuit when the logic circuit in FIG.","1 is unified is described.","FIG.","12 shows a block diagram of a circuit when the present invention is applied to the LSI in which the logic circuit is divided into two or more blocks.","FIG.","12 shows an example when the logic circuit is divided into two blocks.","When it is divided into three or more blocks, the same construction can be applied.","The memory consolidated LSI shown in FIG.","12 has logic circuits LOGIC1 and LOGIC2, ground voltage power lines Vss11 and Vss12 of the LOGIC1 and the LOGIC2, switches N2 and N3 connecting the Vss11 and the Vss12 to the power line Vss of the entire LSI, the static memory circuit SRAM, the control circuit CNTS of the switch, and the circuit VBBC controlling the substrate voltage of the SRAM.","It is of the same construction as the circuit of FIG.","1 except that there are a plurality of logic circuits and the operation is the same as that of the circuit of FIG.","1.The logic circuit is divided into a plurality of blocks which are provided with a switch cutting off the power source.","An optimum switch can be added to each of the blocks.","For example, an nMOS switch cutting off the Vss is added to some logic blocks and a pMOS switch cutting off the Vdd is added to other blocks.","Otherwise, a switch cutting off the two power sources Vdd and Vss can be provided depending on the block.","In the memory consolidated LSI shown in FIG.","13, the power switch is added to each of the blocks of the logic circuit so that the power switch is controlled by other signals cntn1 and cntn2.The LSI has a control circuit CNTS3 which can separately control the control signals cntnl and cntn2.These points are different from FIG.","12.The CNTS3 is a circuit which can control the control signals cntn1 and cntn2 of the power switch and permits control so that the switch N2 is cut off and the switch N3 is conductive depending on the operating state of the circuit Thus, the block of the logic circuit which must be operated in the standby state is operated and the block of the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit which can be stopped are brought into the standby state, reducing the leakage current.","In FIG.","13, as in the case of FIG.","12, when there are three or more logic blocks, it is possible to make a combination cutting off the power source on the Vss side, the power source on the Vdd side or both for each of the blocks.","In the construction of FIG.","13, the power supply for each of the blocks is controlled so as to bring the standby state, that is, the low leakage state.","Not only in the standby state but also in the active state, the power switch is controlled so that the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit which need not be operated are brought into the standby state, minimizing the leakage current.","FIG.","14 shows an example in which the embodiment of FIG.","13 is applied to a system (microcomputer) equipped with a central processing unit.","The system LSI has a logic circuit block CPU called a central processing unit CPU permitting various arithmetic operations, a logic circuit block DSP dedicated for digital signal operation, a static memory block SRAM circuit, a bus BUS connecting the blocks exchanging data, a circuit BSCNT controlling the bus, and a circuit IO exchanging data with outside.","The respective blocks exchange data via the bus in the active state.","Whether the bus is operated or not is found by monitoring the operating state of the bus.","For example, when the entire circuit is not operated, the circuit BSCNT controlling the bus transmits that all the blocks are in the standby state, to the control circuit CNTS3 of the switch by a signal stat1.The CNTS3 makes the cntn1 and the cntn2 low to cut off the switches N2 and N3, reducing the leakage current of the logic circuit.","At the same time, the VBBC controls the Vbn and the Vbp as the substrate voltages of the SRAM to lower the leakage current of the SRAM, reducing the leakage current of the entire circuit.","When only the CPU is operated and there is no access to the DSP and the SRAM via the bus, the BSCNT outputs the information via the statl to allow the substrate voltage of the SRAM to be in the standby state, to cut off the power switch N3 of the DSP to allow the DSP to be in the standby state, and allows only the CPU to be in the active state.","Embodiment 3 FIG.","15 schematically shows the entire construction of the LSI consolidating the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit using the present invention.","The CHIP as the consolidated LSI includes the logic circuit LOGIC; the static memory circuit SRAM; the nMOS transistor N1 as a switch between the ground voltage line Vss from outside and the ground voltage line Vss1 of the logic circuit; the control circuit CNTS to which the signal stby inputted in the standby state is inputted to be connected to the gate electrode of the N1 outputting the signal cntn controlling the N1 ; the substrate bias control circuit VBBC controlling the substrate voltages Vbn and Vbp of the SRAM when the stby is inputted; and a circuit CNTV1 controlling the power line Vddm of the SRAM by the stby signal.","The construction of FIG.","15 is the same as that of the circuit of FIG.","1 except for the CNTV1.Other than the CNTV1, it is operated as in FIG.","1.The CNTV1 is brought into the standby state and the stby signal is inputted.","The source voltage of the SRAM is lower than the Vdd which can hold data from the Vdd.","This controls the substrate voltage of the SRAM in the standby state to reduce the leakage current.","Since the source voltage is lowered, the leakage current can be further reduced.","The power consumption at the time of standby can be lower than that of the circuit of FIG.","1.FIG.","16 shows the voltages at the time of active ACT and the time of standby STB of the parts of the circuit of FIG.","15.The voltage of the power source Vdd of the circuit exhibits 1.2V.","The stby, cntn, Vbn and Vbp are the same as those of FIG.","3 as the operating voltages of FIG.","1.The source voltage Vddm of the SRAM is 1.2V at the time of active ACT which is the same as the source voltage and is 0.6V at the time of standby STB.","This can reduce the leakage current in the SRAM.","The power source control circuit CNTV1 in FIG.","15 can be realized by the circuit of FIG.","16.The CNTV1 has a voltage dropping circuit PDC and a circuit changing switch.","When the SRAM circuit is in the active state ACT, the circuit changing switch connects the power line Vddm supplying the operating voltage to the memory cell in the SRAM circuit to the power source Vdd supplied from outside so that the source voltage of the SRAM circuit is equal to the Vdd.","In the standby state STB, the signal stby switches the circuit changing switch to connect Vddlow which is above the voltage lower than the Vdd produced by the voltage dropping circuit holding data in the memory cell of the SRAM and the power source Vddm of the SRAM circuit.","The source voltage of the SRAM circuit is lower than the Vdd.","In FIG.","15, the voltage is dropped on the high voltage side.","The power source control circuit CNTV1 is connected between Vssm and the Vss so that the CNTV1 can be a voltage raising circuit.","The raised voltage or a combination of the raised and dropped voltages on the low voltage side can obtain the same effect.","Embodiment 4 FIG.","18 shows a modification of the circuit of FIG.","7.In FIG.","7, the power sources of the memory cell array are the Vddma and the Vssma, the power sources of the circuit RWAMP including the circuit driving the bitline are the Vddamp and the Vssamp, and the power sources of other circuits are the Vddper and the Vssper.","The power source in the SRAM circuit is divided into three systems.","A switch having the N channel type MOS transistor is inserted between the peripheral circuit PERI2 for use in control of the bitline and the power source on the low voltage side.","A switch having the P channel type MOS transistor is inserted between the peripheral circuit PERI1 for use in control of the wordline and the power source on the high voltage side.","The switches are inserted in the high voltage side and the low voltage side of the three-system power sources to cut off the power sources at the time of standby.","In this circuit, the switches constructed by the MOS transistor are inserted in all the power sources.","At the time of standby, control signals cntmp1 and cntmp2 become low, a control signal cntmp3 becomes high, control signals cntmnl and cntmn3 become high, and a control signal cntmn2 becomes low.","Switches P6, P7, N6 and N8 are conductive to cut off switches P8 and N7, realizing the construction of FIG.","7.To hold information of the SRAM memory cell, the P6 and the N6 must be conductive at the time of standby.","When the SRAM circuit is divided into blocks, as described later, use of the construction cutting off the P6 and the N6 in the block which need not hold the information is effective in low power consumption.","Without allowing the signal cntmn2 applied to the switch controlling the Vssamp at the time of standby to be low, the cntmp2 is allowed to be high.","It is possible to realize a circuit cutting off the power source on the Vdd side of the read/write amplifier which is considered to be used in the circuit pre-charging the bitline to be low.","In the circuit shown in FIG.","18, some kinds of circuits can be realized depending on the control method of the control signal.","FIG.","19 shows a circuit which partly modifies of the circuit of FIG.","7.The power source of the column decoder CDEC is connected to the Vddper and the Vssper.","In FIG.","7, the column decoder CDEC cuts off the power source on the Vss side.","The column decoder is arranged near the amplifier.","When the same switch as that of the amplifier cuts off the power source, the circuit design is considered to be facilitated.","The power source is shared between the column decoder and the circuit controlling the wordline to cut off the power source of the Vdd side.","Unless the design of the power source arrangement is complicated, the Vdd side can be cut off.","The column decoder controls the bitline and has many nodes having the low voltage at the time of operation as in the word driver WDR (the number of the selection lines is larger than that of the non-selection lines).","It is advantageous to provide the same operating voltages Vddper and Vssper as those of the memory controller MNCT using the switch on the high voltage side.","By the same reason, although not shown, the control circuit WCNT of the write amplifier is desirably connected to the Vddper and the Vssper In FIG.","19, there are prepared the switches for the three-power sources of FIG.","18 (the switches of the P channel type MOS transistors provided between the Vdd and the Vddma, and the Vddamp and the Vddper; and the switches of the N channel type MOS transistors provided between the Vss and the Vssma, and the Vssamp and the Vssper) and the power line not via the switch.","For the construction, depending on whether the switch for cutting off is provided on the low voltage side or the high voltage side, the SRAM circuit is blocked.","The P channel type MOS transistor connected to the Vddamp and the N channel type MOS transistor connected to the Vssper can be omitted.","In this circuit, unlike FIG.","7, the power source connected to the row decoder RDEC is directly connected to the power sources Vdd and Vss outside the SRAM circuit, not to the cuttable power source in the SRAM circuit.","Power is supplied to the row decoder at the time of standby This prevents the transfer MOS in the memory cell from being conductive due to noise on the wordline caused by a time difference in power supply at the time of returning from the standby state.","The noise is produced because the power source of the previous-stage circuit of the power source of the word driver rises quickly to input a low signal to the word driver, and then, the word driver outputs a high signal.","Power is supplied to the row decoder at the time of standby.","The low signal is not inputted to the word driver.","The noise cannot be provided on the wordline.","In FIG.","19, the power source of the entire row decoder is directly connected to the power sources Vdd and Vss supplied from outside.","The circuit construction cannot reduce the leakage current of the row decoder.","Although not shown, the power source of the entire row decoder is not connected to the Vdd and the Vss.","The Vdd and the Vss are connected only to the previous-stage circuit of the word driver, e.g., the NAND circuit.","There can be considered a circuit construction in which the power source cut off by the switch is connected to other circuits of the row decoder.","The circuit construction can reduce the leakage current.","The power source arrangement in the row decoder is complicated so that the design is difficult.","When the size of the row decoder in the SRAM circuit is relatively large and the leakage current of the row decoder must be reduced, the power sources Vdd and Vss supplied from outside are connected only to the previous-stage circuit of the word driver.","The power source which can cut off the power source at the time of standby by the power switch is connected to other circuits of the row decoders.","When the size of the row decoder is not large and the influence of the leakage current of the row decoder is less, all the power sources of the row decoder are connected to the Vdd and the Vss.","This construction is considered to be effective.","As shown in FIG.","19, the power source of the peripheral circuit of the SRAM is divided by function for control to reduce the leakage current of the peripheral circuit of the SRAM.","Embodiment 5 FIG.","20 shows a construction diagram in which the LSI consolidating the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit of FIG.","1, substrate bias control is performed not only to the SRAM circuit but also to the logic circuit.","The CHIP as the consolidated LSI includes the logic circuit LOGIC; the static memory circuit SRAM; the nMOS transistor N1 as a switch between the power source Vss and the ground voltage line Vssl of the logic circuit; a switch SW1 selecting, to which Vdd, Vss, Vbn and Vbp, the substrate voltage lines Vbn1, Vbp1, Vbnm and Vbpm of the MOS transistor constructing the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit are connected; a control circuit CNTS4 outputting the signal cntn controlling the N1 and signals cntvbb1 and cntvbb2 controlling the switch SW1; and a substrate bias control circuit VBBC2 producing the substrate bias Vbn and Vbp.","The voltages of the parts at the time of active and standby are shown in FIG.","3 At the time of standby, the power source of the logic circuit is cut off.","The substrate voltage of the logic circuit is controlled to reduce the leakage current of the logic circuit.","When the power switch of the logic circuit is made by the MOS transistor having a low threshold value, as shown in the Pattern3 of FIG.","9 and there is a leakage current in the power switch, the substrate bias is applied to reduce the leakage current of the logic circuit.","The circuit is thus effective.","In the circuit, the substrate voltages of the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit can be controlled independently.","Only the SRAM circuit is allowed to be in the standby state and the logic circuit is allowed to be in the active state.","When only the logic circuit is operated, the leakage current in the SRAM circuit can be reduced.","The substrate bias is applied to the logic circuit to operate the SRAM circuit, reducing the leakage current of the logic circuit.","The switch which can select whether the substrate bias is applied to the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit is provided, permitting an operation to reduce the leakage current corresponding to the operating state.","The block controlling the substrate voltage is controlled finely.","The substrate bias is applied to change the load amount varying the voltage.","That is, when the switch is provided so as not to apply the substrate bias to the unnecessary parts, the load which must change the voltage is reduced.","Time to change the voltage can be shortened.","Embodiment 6 FIG.","21 shows a first modification in which the SRAM circuit of FIG.","1 is divided into blocks.","In FIG.","24, the CHIP as the consolidated LSI includes the logic circuit LOGIC; static memory circuits SRAM1 and SRAM2; an nMOS transistor N9 as a switch between the power source Vss and the ground voltage line Vssl of the logic circuit; an nMOS transistor N10 as a switch between the power source Vss and a ground voltage line Vssm1 of the SRAM1; the control circuit CNTS outputting the signal cntn controlling the N9 and the N10; and the substrate bias control circuit VBBC producing the substrate bias Vbn and Vbp.","The SRAM circuits SRAM1 and SRAM2 can be of the same construction as that of FIG.","7 and the already described modification of FIG.","7.In the circuit, the SRAM circuit of FIG.","1 is divided into two blocks of the SRAM1 and the SRAM2.At the time of standby, the power sources of the logic circuit and the SRAM1 are cut off and the substrate bias is applied to the SRAM2 to reduce the entire leakage current, reducing the power consumption at the time of standby As compared with the circuit of FIG.","1, the leakage current of the circuit of the SRAM1 can be reduced.","In the construction, however, data stored into the SRAM1 is erased at the time of standby.","Data which must be stored at the time of standby must be stored into the SRAM2.In the system LSI, some SRAM blocks are consolidated so that blocks which must and need not hold data at the time of standby are often consolidated.","In such circuit, the circuit construction is used to provide a large effect for reducing the leakage current.","FIG.","22 shows a combination of the MOS transistors for use in the memory cell circuits of the divided two SRAM circuits.","In the drawing, as in FIG.","9, the MOS transistor having a large insulating film thickness of 6.7nm and the MOS transistor having a small insulating film thickness of 2.0nm are used.","As an example in which the MOS transistor with a small film thickness has two threshold voltages, the MOS transistor having two threshold voltages Vth of 0.40V and 0.25V is used.","A MAR1 represents the MOS transistor of the memory cell of the SRAM1 cutting off the power source.","A MAR2 represents the MOS transistor of the memory cell of the SRAM2 not cutting off the power source.","As described in the table of FIG.","9, the MOS transistor having two threshold values is used for the logic circuit LOGIC_CIR.","The MOS transistor having a low threshold value is used for about 10% in the logic circuit.","They are allocated to the transistors in a critical path.","The MOS transistor of the peripheral circuit except for the memory cell of the SRAM is not shown.","The MOS transistor having the same threshold value as the low threshold value of 0.25V of the logic circuit is used.","The thin-film MOS transistor is used in any case.","The IO represents the MOS transistor for use in the input/output circuit.","The thick-film MOS transistor having a high threshold voltage is used in any of the coMbinations.","In a Pattern1, the thin-film MOS transistor having a high threshold voltage is used for the memory cell in all the SRAM circuit blocks.","The construction is thought to reduce the area of the memory cell and has the excellent operating stability of the SRAM.","In a combination of the Pattern2, the SRAM memory cell to which the power switch is not added is made by the thick-film MOS transistor having a small leakage current to reduce the leakage current.","In the combination, the transistor constructing the memory cell in the SRAM1 including the power switch is made by the thin-film MOS transistor.","The area is small and the operation is fast.","The leakage current can be reduced by the power switch.","The transistor constructing the memory cell in the SRAM2 not including the power switch is made by the thick-film MOS transistor.","The leakage current at the time of standby can be reduced.","The area of the memory cell of the SRAM2 is considered to be increased.","The transistor is used in the circuit in which the circuit area is not cared much and the leakage current must be reduced reliably.","The highest advantage of the circuit is thus obtained.","When the circuit size of the SRAM2 is small, the combination is effective.","In a Pattern3, the memory cell of the SRAM1 is made by the thin-film MOS transistor having a low threshold voltage.","The memory cell of the SRAM2 is made by the thin-film MOS transistor having a high threshold voltage.","When the threshold value of the MOS transistor constructing the memory cell of the SRAM is lowered, there are problems that the leakage current is made higher to increase the power consumption at the time of standby and the operating margin of the SRAM itself is lost so as not to operate the memory cell itself.","The former problem can be avoided by providing the power switch.","The combination can be realized only when using the MOS transistor having a characteristic so as not to exhibit the latter problem significantly.","In a Pattern4, the thick-film MOS transistor is used as the MOS transistor constructing the SRAM2 memory cell of the combination of the Pattern3.This increases the circuit area than that of the Pattern3.The leakage current can be reduced.","FIG.","23 shows an application of FIG.","21.The CHIP as the consolidated LSI includes the logic circuit LOGIC; the static memory circuits SRAM1 and SRAM2; the BUS as a bus transferring data between the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit; an nMOS transistor N9 as a switch between the power source Vss and the ground voltage line Vss1 of the logic circuit; the nMOS transistor N10 as a switch between the power source Vss and the ground voltage line Vssm1 of the SRAM1; a control circuit CNTS5 outputting the control signals cntn and dtran in the standby state; and the substrate bias control circuit VBBC producing the substrate bias Vbn and Vbp.","Typically, in the system LSI, data is exchanged between the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit via the bus.","The bus is considered to exist in the circuit of the system LSI of FIG.","21.The circuit of FIG.","23 is different from the circuit of FIG.","21 in that it has the CNTS5 as the control circuit in the standby state.","The operation of the circuit and the operation of the bus will be described.","When the LSI is allowed to be in the standby state, the control circuit CNTS5 controls the logic circuit using the control signal dtran to escape data in the SRAM1 which must be stored at the time of standby to the SRAM2 via the bus.","Upon completion of the escape, the escape completion is transmitted to the control circuit CNTS5 via the dtran.","The control circuit CNTS5 outputs a signal for change to the standby state to cut off the power sources of the logic circuit and the SRAM1 by the switch.","Then, the substrate bias to reduce the leakage current is applied to the SRAM2.For returning from the standby state to the active state, the control circuit CNTS5 outputs a signal to supply power to the logic circuit and the SRAM1, and then, the substrate bias in the standby state of the SRAM2 is switched to the bias in the active state.","When the source voltages of the logic circuit and the SRAM1 and the substrate voltage of the SRAM2 are stable, the circuit controlling the bus via the control signal dtran is controlled to restore data of the SRAM1 escaped to the SRAM2.The circuit can hold data which must be held at the time of standby and reduce the leakage current of the memory cell of data which need not be held.","FIG.","24 shows the SRAM circuit of a second modification in which the SRAM circuit is divided into blocks and its power source control circuit part.","In FIG.","15, the CNTV1 controls the voltage on the high voltage side of the SRAM circuit by one voltage dropping circuit.","Optimum control (The voltage of the SRAM1 is dropped and the voltage of the SRAM2 is not dropped since read and write operations are performed) can be performed for each of the blocks by dividing the SRAM circuit.","As in the case of FIG.","15, the voltage is not dropped on the high voltage side and the raised voltage or a combination of the raised and dropped voltages on the low voltage side can obtain the same effect.","The circuit shown in FIG.","17 may be used for each CNTV2.The dropped voltage must be above the lowest voltage which can hold the memory of the SRAM.","FIG.","25 shows the SRAM circuit of a third modification in which the SRAM circuit is divided into blocks and its power source control circuit part.","They have four SRAM blocks SRAM1, SRAM2, SRAM3 and SRAM4, switches P9, P10, P11 and P12 constructed by the P channel type MOS transistor cutting off the power sources of the blocks, and a control circuit CNTS6 controlling the power switches.","At the time of standby, the power source of the block which needs to hold data is not cut off and the power source of the block which need not hold data is cut off.","In the circuit construction, the leakage current of the SRAM circuit is produced only in the blocks which must hold data.","An example of the P channel type MOS transistor is described.","As described already, the construction substituting it for the N channel type transistor is advantageous in area efficiency.","In FIG.","21, the block not cutting off the power source is provided and information of another block which must hold information and cuts off the power source at the time of standby is transferred.","This construction need not transfer data.","Means for detecting whether information must be held or not is added.","The means cuts off only the power switch of the block which need not hold information.","There is considered a control method of a control circuit CNTS6 in which the block into which necessary data is stored is stored and in the case of change to the standby state, the power source of the block in which no data is stored is cut off.","In addition, there is considered a control method in which when making the circuit, the block cutting off the power source and the block not cutting off the power source are programmed to cut off the power source corresponding to the program.","Further, there is considered a control method in which the power source of the block to be cut off during operation is programmed to cut off the power source of only the block which must cut off the power source.","In this manner, change of the control methods of the control circuit CNTS6 can realize various power source cutting-off patterns.","In FIG.","26, the CNTV2 of FIG.","24 is a switch connected to any one of three power source states.","The three power source states refer to a state connected to the source voltage Vdd supplied from outside, a state connected to the power source having a voltage lower than the Vdd which can hold data in the SRAM, and a state cutting off the power source.","When the CNTV2 can be connected to the three power source states, the power sources of all the blocks are connected to the Vdd in the active state, the power source of the block which must hold data is connected to the power source having a voltage lower than the Vdd in the standby state, and the power source of the block which need not hold data is cut off This can reduce the leakage current of the block which must hold data.","The PDC in the drawing is a voltage dropping circuit and outputs a voltage lower than the power source Vdd in which the memory cell of the SRAM can hold data.","In the circuit, corresponding to the value of the inputted control signal a cntpl, the switch is switched to connect the power source Vddm of the memory to the Vdd, the circuit dropping the voltage of the Vdd, or a state connected to nothing.","Use of the circuit of FIG.","25 can reduce the leakage current in the standby state.","The power source of the SRAM block accessed in the active state is connected to the Vdd and the power source of the block not accessed is connected to the power source having a voltage lower than the Vdd.","This can reduce the leakage current of the unnecessary SRAM block at the time of active.","The CNTV2 can also be changed from the voltage dropping circuit to the voltage raising circuit, which can be inserted between the power line and the power source on the low voltage side of the memory cell.","In FIG.S.","24 and 25, the SRAM circuit is divided into four blocks As the circuit construction, it can be applied when there are one or more blocks.","The MOS (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) transistor is described above.","The MIS (Metal-Insulated-Semiconductor) transistor using no oxide film may be substituted.","The same effect of the present invention is obtained.","According to the present invention, the LSI consolidating the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit can reduce the power consumption at the time of standby."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE\",\n \"A logic circuit in a system LSI is provided with a power switch so as to cut off the switch at the time of standby, reducing leakage current.\",\n \"At the same time, an SRAM circuit of the system LSI controls a substrate bias to reduce leakage current.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1-15.\",\n \"(canceled) 16.A semiconductor device comprising: a first line for a first voltage; a second line for a second voltage lower than the first voltage; a first P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a first control signal and having a source-drain path; a second P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a second control signal different from the first control signal and having a source-drain path; a first static random access memory circuit which includes: first static memory cells, each first static memory cell having a first voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the first P channel MOS transistor, and each first static memory cell being coupled to the second line; first word lines coupled to the first static memory cells; first word drivers coupled to the first word lines, each first word driver having a second voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the second P channel MOS transistor, and each first word driver being coupled to the second line; and first bit lines coupled to the first static memory cells; and a second static random access memory circuit which includes: second static memory cells, each second static memory cell being directly coupled to the first line and coupled to the second line; second word lines coupled to the second static memory cells; second word drivers coupled to the second word lines, each second word driver being coupled to the first line and coupled to the second line; and second bit lines coupled to the second static memory cells.\",\n \"17.A semiconductor device according to claim 16, wherein each first static memory cell incudes: a flip-flop having a first storage node, a second storage node, a first CMOS inverter having an output coupled to the first storage node and an input coupled to the second storage node, and a second CMOS inverter having an output coupled to the second storage node and an input coupled to the first storage node, the first CMOS inverter including a first P channel load MOS transistor and a first N channel drive MOS transistor, the second CMOS inverter including a second P channel load MOS transistor and a second N channel drive MOS transistor; and first and second N channel transfer MOS transistors, each having a source-drain path coupled between a corresponding one of the first and second storage nodes and a corresponding one of the first bit lines and having a gate electrode coupled to a corresponding first word line, wherein the first and second P channel load MOS transistors have sources coupled to the first voltage supply point.\",\n \"18.A semiconductor device according to claim 17, wherein the first P channel MOS transistor and the second P channel MOS transistor are arranged at one side of the first static random access memory circuit.\",\n \"19.A semiconductor device according to claim 17, further comprising: a third P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a third control signal different from the first and second control signals and having a source-drain path, and wherein the first static random access memory circuit includes a read/write amplifier coupled to the first bit lines and having a third voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the third P channel MOS transistor.\",\n \"20.A semiconductor device according to claim 17, further comprising: a third P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a third control signal different from the first and second control signals and having a source-drain path, wherein the first static random access memory circuit includes a pre-charge circuit, and wherein the pre-charge circuit includes: fourth and fifth P channel MOS transistors having drains coupled to the first bit lines, respectively, and sources which are coupled to a third voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the third P channel MOS transistor, and a sixth P channel MOS transistors having a source-drain path coupled between the drains of the fourth and fifth P channel MOS transistors.\",\n \"21.A semiconductor device according to claim 17, wherein the first static random access memory circuit includes a row decoder coupled to the first word drivers, and wherein the row decoder has a third voltage supply point different from the first and second voltage supply points.\",\n \"22.A semiconductor device according to claim 17, wherein the first static random access memory circuit includes a row decoder coupled to the first word drivers, and wherein the row decoder is directly coupled to the first line and to the second line.\",\n \"23.A semiconductor device according to claim 17, further comprising: a first N channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a third control signal different from the first and second control signals and having a source-drain path, and a second N channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a fourth control signal different from the first, second and third control signals and having a source-drain path, wherein each first static memory cell has a third voltage supply point which is coupled to the second line via the source-drain path of the first N channel MOS transistor, and wherein each first word driver has a fourth voltage supply point which is coupled to the second line via the source-drain path of the second N channel MOS transistor.\",\n \"24.A semiconductor device according to claim 18, further comprising: a third P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a third control signal different from the first and second control signals and having a source-drain path, and wherein each second word driver has a third voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the third P channel MOS transistor.\",\n \"25.A semiconductor device according to claim 24, wherein the second word drivers are directly coupled to the second line.\",\n \"26.A semiconductor device according to claim 19, further comprising: a first N channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a fourth control signal different from the first, second and third control signals and having a source-drain path, and wherein the read/write amplifier has a fourth voltage supply point which is coupled to the second line via the source-drain path of the first N channel MOS transistor.\",\n \"27.A semiconductor device according to claim 17, wherein the first static random access memory circuit includes a read/write amplifier coupled to the first bit lines (BL,/BL) and a column decoder coupled to the read/write amplifier, and wherein the column decoder is coupled to the second voltage supply point.\",\n \"28.A semiconductor device according to claim 27, further comprising: a first N channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a third control signal different from the first and second control signals and having a source-drain path, wherein the column decoder and each first word driver have a third voltage supply point which is coupled to the second line via the source-drain path of the first N channel MOS transistor.\",\n \"29.A semiconductor device according to claim 18, further comprising: a third P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a third control signal different from the first and second control signals and having a source-drain path, and a logic circuit including a CMOS inverter having an N channel MIS transistor and a P channel MIS transistor, the CMOS inverter having a third voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the third P channel MOS transistor.\",\n \"30.A semiconductor device according to claim 29, further comprising: a bus coupled to the logic circuit and the first and second static random access memories.\",\n \"31.A semiconductor device according to claim 29, wherein the second static memory cells are directly coupled to the second line.\",\n \"32.A semiconductor device according to claim 29, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is greater than that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.\",\n \"33.A semiconductor device according to claim 29, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is the same as that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.\",\n \"34.A semiconductor device according to claim 17, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is greater than a respective thickness of a gate insulating film of the first P channel load MOS transistor in each first static memory cell.\",\n \"35.A semiconductor device according to claim 17, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is the same as a respective thickness of a gate insulating film of the first P channel load MOS transistor in each first static memory cell.\",\n \"36.A semiconductor device according to claim 19, further comprising: a fourth P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a fourth control signal different from the first, second and third control signals and having a source-drain path, and a logic circuit including a CMOS inverter having an N channel MIS transistor and a P channel MIS transistor, the CMOS inverter having a fourth voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the fourth P channel MOS transistor.\",\n \"37.A semiconductor device according to claim 36, further comprising: a bus coupled to the logic circuit and the first and second static random access memories.\",\n \"38.A semiconductor device according to claim 36, wherein the second static memory cells are directly coupled to the second line.\",\n \"39.A semiconductor device according to claim 36, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is greater than that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.\",\n \"40.A semiconductor device according to claim 36, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is the same as that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.\",\n \"41.A semiconductor device according to claim 20, further comprising: a fourth P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a fourth control signal different from the first, second and third control signals and having a source-drain path, and a logic circuit including a CMOS inverter having an N channel MIS transistor and a P channel MIS transistor, the CMOS inverter having a fourth voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the fourth P channel MOS transistor.\",\n \"42.A semiconductor device according to claim 41, further comprising: a bus coupled to the logic circuit and the first and second static random access memories.\",\n \"43.A semiconductor device according to claim 41, wherein the second static memory cells are directly coupled to the second line.\",\n \"44.A semiconductor device according to claim 41, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is greater than that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.\",\n \"45.A semiconductor device according to claim 41, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is the same as that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.\",\n \"46.A semiconductor device according to claim 21, further comprising: a third P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a third control signal different from the first and second control signals and having a source-drain path, and a logic circuit including a CMOS inverter having an N channel MIS transistor and a P channel MIS transistor, the CMOS inverter having a fourth voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the third P channel MOS transistor.\",\n \"47.A semiconductor device according to claim 46, further comprising: a bus coupled to the logic circuit and the first and second static random access memories.\",\n \"48.A semiconductor device according to claim 46, wherein the second static memory cells are directly coupled to the second line.\",\n \"49.A semiconductor device according to claim 46, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is greater than that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.\",\n \"50.A semiconductor device according to claim 46, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is the same as that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.\",\n \"51.A semiconductor device according to claim 22, further comprising: a third P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a third control signal different from the first and second control signals and having a source-drain path, and a logic circuit including a CMOS inverter having an N channel MIS transistor and a P channel MIS transistor, the CMOS inverter having a third voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the third P channel MOS transistor.\",\n \"52.A semiconductor device according to claim 51, further comprising: a bus coupled to the logic circuit and the first and second static random access memories.\",\n \"53.A semiconductor device according to claim 51, wherein the second static memory cells are directly coupled to the second line.\",\n \"54.A semiconductor device according to claim 51, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is greater than that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.\",\n \"55.A semiconductor device according to claim 51, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is the same as that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.\",\n \"56.A semiconductor device according to claim 23, further comprising: a third P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a third control signal different from the first and second control signals and having a source-drain path, and a logic circuit including a CMOS inverter having an N channel MIS transistor and a P channel MIS transistor, the CMOS inverter having a fifth voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the third P channel MOS transistor.\",\n \"57.A semiconductor device according to claim 56, further comprising: a bus coupled to the logic circuit and the first and second static random access memories.\",\n \"58.A semiconductor device according to claim 56, wherein the second static memory cells are directly coupled to the second line.\",\n \"59.A semiconductor device according to claim 56, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is greater than that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.\",\n \"60.A semiconductor device according to claim 56, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is the same as that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.\",\n \"61.A semiconductor device according to claim 27, further comprising: a third P channel MOS transistor having a gate coupled to receive a third control signal different from the first and second control signals and having a source-drain path, and a logic circuit including a CMOS inverter having an N channel MIS transistor and a P channel MIS transistor, the CMOS inverter having a third voltage supply point which is coupled to the first line via the source-drain path of the third P channel MOS transistor.\",\n \"62.A semiconductor device according to claim 61, further comprising: a bus coupled to the logic circuit and the first and second static random access memories.\",\n \"63.A semiconductor device according to claim 61, wherein the second static memory cells are directly coupled to the second line.\",\n \"64.A semiconductor device according to claim 61, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is greater than that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.\",\n \"65.A semiconductor device according to claim 61, wherein a thickness of a gate insulating film of the second P channel MOS transistor is the same as that of a gate insulating film of the P channel MIS transistor in the logic circuit.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The summary of the representative inventions disclosed in this application will be described as follows.\",\n \"(1) In a LSI consolidating a logic circuit and an SRAM circuit, the power source of the logic circuit is cut off by the switch at the time of standby, and the SRAM circuit controls the substrate voltage of the MOS transistor so as to reduce the leakage current.\",\n \"(2) The power source of the control circuit for accessing the memory cell in the SRAM circuit is divided to be cut off, reducing the power consumption.\",\n \"(3) The SRAM circuit is divided so that some SRAMs hold data at the time of standby and other SRAMs not holding data cut off the power source to reduce the leakage current.\"\n ],\n [\n \"BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1.Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor device consolidating a logic circuit and a static memory (SRAM) circuit.\",\n \"2.Description of the Related Art Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No.\",\n \"Hei 7-86916 discloses a construction in which a logic circuit is provided with a power switch and a MOS transistor constructing the logic circuit is back-gate biased.\",\n \"Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No.\",\n \"2000-207884 discloses a substrate bias control technology for a system LSI operable at a low voltage including a static memory.\",\n \"Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No.\",\n \"2001-93275 discloses a construction in which a logic circuit is provided with a logic power source and a memory circuit is provided with a memory power source.\",\n \"Currently, semiconductor integrated circuits called a system LSI (Large Scale Integrated Circuit) integrating an SRAM circuit and a logic circuit on the same semiconductor chip are widely manufactured.\",\n \"The SRAM circuit refers to a circuit functioning as a memory by only the circuit including arrayed SRAM memory cells and a peripheral circuit for accessing the memory cells.\",\n \"The logic circuit refers to a circuit subjecting an inputted signal to a specified process for output, other than the memory circuit including arrayed memory cells such as an SRAM, a dynamic memory (DRAM) and a non-volatile memory and a circuit for accessing the memory cells.\",\n \"A circuit holding data such as a flip-flop in the logic circuit is thought to be part of the logic circuit.\",\n \"A request for low power consumption of the system LSI and finer transistors in the LSI lower the source voltage of the LSI.\",\n \"In a 0.13 μm process, a LSI operated at a source voltage of 1.2V is manufactured.\",\n \"When the source voltage is lowered, the electric current of the MOS transistor is reduced to deteriorate the circuit performance.\",\n \"To prevent the performance from being deteriorated, a LSI lowering the threshold voltage of the MOS transistor is manufactured.\",\n \"When the threshold value of the MOS transistor is lowered, a leakage current called a sub-threshold current of the MOS transistor is increased.\",\n \"The leakage current continues to flow at the time of operation or non-operation of the circuit.\",\n \"In the standby state, the SRAM does not perform write and read operations, but continues to hold data.\",\n \"The power consumption in the standby state of the system LSI is the leakage current of the MOS transistor in the circuit.\",\n \"When the threshold voltage of the MOS transistor is lowered, the power consumption in the standby state is increased.\",\n \"In the system LSI, the state that the logic circuit is not operated and the SRAM circuit holds data is called a standby state.\",\n \"The logic circuit is not operated at the time of standby.\",\n \"The logic circuit cuts off the power source using a switch to reduce the leakage current.\",\n \"The SRAM memory cell is of a flip-flop construction.\",\n \"The leak current is relatively small.\",\n \"In the prior art system LSI, the capacitance of the SRAM circuit mounted is not large and the SRAM memory cell is made by the MOS transistor having a high threshold value.\",\n \"The leakage current in the SRAM circuit has not been a problem.\",\n \"However, when the MOS transistor is made finer and a large-capacitance SRAM is mounted on the system LSI so as to lower the threshold voltage of the MOS transistor constructing the SRAM memory cell, the leakage current in the SRAM memory cell cannot be ignored.\",\n \"The logic circuit can reduce the leakage current at the time of standby when the power source is cut off by the switch.\",\n \"The SRAM circuit must hold data in the standby state.\",\n \"The power source cannot be cut off so that the leakage current cannot be reduced.\",\n \"When the voltage is lowered to reduce the threshold voltage of the MOS transistor, the leakage current in the circuit attached for accessing the memory cell in the SRAM circuit is increased.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The summary of the representative inventions disclosed in this application will be described as follows.\",\n \"(1) In a LSI consolidating a logic circuit and an SRAM circuit, the power source of the logic circuit is cut off by the switch at the time of standby, and the SRAM circuit controls the substrate voltage of the MOS transistor so as to reduce the leakage current.\",\n \"(2) The power source of the control circuit for accessing the memory cell in the SRAM circuit is divided to be cut off, reducing the power consumption.\",\n \"(3) The SRAM circuit is divided so that some SRAMs hold data at the time of standby and other SRAMs not holding data cut off the power source to reduce the leakage current.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 is a diagram showing an overview of the relation between a logic circuit and an SRAM circuit of a system LSI to which the present invention is applied and power sources thereof; FIG.\",\n \"2 is a schematic diagram of the layout of the system LSI of FIG.\",\n \"1; FIG.\",\n \"3 is a diagram showing change in voltage of nodes in the circuit shown in FIG.\",\n \"1; FIG.\",\n \"4 is a diagram showing an example of a control circuit CNTS in FIG.\",\n \"1; FIG.\",\n \"5 is a waveform chart of signals for changing the state of the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"1; FIG.\",\n \"6 is a diagram showing an example of a circuit generating signals shown in FIG.\",\n \"5; FIG.\",\n \"7 is a diagram showing the relation between the internal construction of the SRAM circuit to which the present invention is applied and power sources thereof; FIG.\",\n \"8 is a diagram showing the construction of the logic circuit to which the present invention is applied; FIG.\",\n \"9 is a diagram showing the constructions of transistors of the system LSI to which the present invention is applied; FIG.\",\n \"10 is a diagram showing a first modification of the switches of the logic circuit; FIG.\",\n \"11 is a diagram showing change in voltage of nodes in the circuit shown in FIG.\",\n \"10; FIG.\",\n \"12 is a diagram showing a second modification of the switches of the logic circuit; FIG.\",\n \"13 is a diagram showing a third modification of the switches of the logic circuit; FIG.\",\n \"14 is a diagram of an application of FIG.\",\n \"13; FIG.\",\n \"15 is a diagram in which a voltage dropping circuit is applied to the SRAM circuit; FIG.\",\n \"16 is a diagram showing change in voltage of nodes in the circuit shown in FIG.\",\n \"15; FIG.\",\n \"17 is a circuit diagram of a switch circuit CNTV1 in FIG.\",\n \"16; FIG.\",\n \"18 is a first modification of the SRAM circuit of FIG.\",\n \"7; FIG.\",\n \"19 is a second modification of the SRAM circuit of FIG.\",\n \"7; FIG.\",\n \"20 is a diagram in which substrate bias control is applied to the logic circuit; FIG.\",\n \"21 is a diagram showing a first modification dividing the SRAM circuit part; FIG.\",\n \"22 is a diagram showing the constructions of transistors constructing a plurality of SRAM circuits in FIG.\",\n \"21; FIG.\",\n \"23 is a diagram showing an application of the system of the invention of FIG.\",\n \"21; FIG.\",\n \"24 is a diagram showing a second modification dividing the SRAM circuit; FIG.\",\n \"25 is a diagram showing a third modification dividing the SRAM circuit; and FIG.\",\n \"26 is a diagram showing a circuit construction example of a power source control circuit CNVT2 in FIG.\",\n \"24.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 FIG.\",\n \"1 schematically shows the entire construction of a LSI consolidating a logic circuit and an SRAM circuit using the present invention.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"1, a CHIP as the consolidated LSI includes an input/output circuit IO (IO circuit) having power voltage lines VssQ and VddQ from outside as operating voltages; a logic circuit LOGIC executing a predetermined process to data; a static memory circuit SRAM storing data; an nMOS transistor N1 as a switch between a ground voltage line Vss and an operating voltage supply line Vss1 on the low voltage side of the logic circuit; a control circuit CNTS to which a signal stby inputted in the standby state is inputted to be connected to the gate electrode of the N1 outputting a signal cntn controlling the N1; and a substrate bias control circuit VBBC controlling substrate voltages Vbn and Vbp of the SRAM when the stby is inputted.\",\n \"Unless otherwise specified, the power source with a symbol starting from Vdd is a power source supplying a high voltage, and the power source with a symbol starting from Vss is a power source supplying a low voltage.\",\n \"An operating voltage difference (VssQ-VddQ) supplied to the IO circuit is typically defined by the standard and is larger than an operating voltage difference (Vss-Vdd) of the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit.\",\n \"By way of example, 3.3V is supplied to the VddQ, 1.2V is supplied to the Vdd, and 0V is supplied to the Vss and the VssQ.\",\n \"The signal stby for use in the control circuit CNTS is used via the IO circuit.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 shows the layout of the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"1 on a semiconductor chip.\",\n \"A core circuit (the logic circuits and the SRAM circuit) is arranged so as to be surrounded by the input/output circuit IO (IO circuit).\",\n \"The IO circuit is connected to an input/output pad.\",\n \"AMOS transistor having a gate-insulating film thickness larger than that of the MOS transistor for use in the core circuit is used for the IO circuit.\",\n \"Since a source voltage higher than that of the core circuit is typically applied to the IO circuit, the voltage resistance is required.\",\n \"The power switch, the substrate bias control circuit VBBC, and the power switch control circuit CNTS included in a power source control system POW in FIG.\",\n \"1 are integrally arranged to increase the integration degree.\",\n \"It is advantageous when the transistor size (the channel length and the channel width) is different from that of the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit.\",\n \"The substrate bias control circuit has a control switch and a charge pump circuit.\",\n \"The nMOS transistor having a large insulating film thickness for use in the IO circuit is used for the N1 in FIG.\",\n \"1.The substrate voltage of the power switch N1 is connected to the source side.\",\n \"Unless otherwise specified, the substrate voltages of the N channel type and the P channel type MOS transistors constructing the switch connected to the power source are connected to the source voltages of the transistors.\",\n \"Use of the thick-film MOS transistor is effective for the tunnel leakage current prevention of the gate.\",\n \"Since the voltage resistance is excellent, the voltage applied to the gate of the switch N1 can be larger than the operating voltage and the leakage current when the nMOS is allowed to be nonconductive can be reduced.\",\n \"When there is only one film thickness of the transistor constructing the LSI and the MOS transistor for use in the IO circuit cannot be used in the core part for design, a MOS transistor having a small insulating film thickness can be used as a switch.\",\n \"In this case, the leakage current cannot be cut off completely by the switch N1.When the leak current is within an allowable range, the MOS switch may be only made by the thin-film MOS transistor.\",\n \"When the leakage current exceeds the allowable value, the substrate voltage of the logic circuit and the switch N1 or only the switch N1 must be controlled to reduce the leakage current.\",\n \"The nMOS transistor is used as a switch cutting off the power source.\",\n \"The nMOS has a flowing current larger than that of the pMOS.\",\n \"When attempting to flow the same current, the switch size can be reduced.\",\n \"When the switch size is not considered due to enough area, the switch of the pMOS cutting off the power source Vdd can be inserted without inserting the switch of the nMOS cutting off the ground power source Vss.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 shows an example of the voltages of an active state ACT and a standby state STB of the parts of the circuit.\",\n \"The active state ACT represents a state that the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit are operated.\",\n \"The Vdd and the Vss in FIG.\",\n \"1 are power sources of the core including the SRAM circuit and the logic circuit.\",\n \"The Vdd voltage is 1.2V and the Vss voltage is 0.0V.\",\n \"The standby signal stby is low in the active state.\",\n \"The control signal of the switch is high and the nMOS switch is on.\",\n \"The Vbn and the Vbp as the substrate voltages of the nMOS transistor and the pMOS transistor of the SRAM circuit are 0V and 1.2V.\",\n \"The substrate bias Vbs applied to the MOS transistor in the SRAM circuit is 0V.\",\n \"The threshold voltage of the MOS transistor constructing the SRAM circuit is not changed as compared with values determined by the transistor construction (gate width, gate length and implantation amount).\",\n \"In the standby state, the standby signal stby is high.\",\n \"With it, the signal cntn controlling the nMOS switch is low and the nMOS switch is nonconductive.\",\n \"At the same time, the Vbn and the Vbp as the substrate voltages of the nMOS transistor and the pMOS transistor constructing the SRAM circuit are—1.2V and 2.4V.\",\n \"A substrate bias of 1.2V is applied to the MOS transistor in the SRAM circuit to increase the threshold voltage of the MOS transistor.\",\n \"The leakage current of the MOS transistor is reduced.\",\n \"A circuit generating the signal cntn controlling the switch using the inputted standby signal stby can be realized by the simplified circuit as shown in FIG.\",\n \"4.When using the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"4, the high standby signal stby must be always inputted in the standby state STB, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"3.For example, there is considered the case that the standby signal stby is inputted only in the standby state STB and an active signal ack is inputted when the standby state STB is changed to the active state.\",\n \"ACT.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 shows the voltage change of the standby signal stby, the active signal ack and the control signal cntn in this case.\",\n \"When the standby signal stby is inputted, the control signal cntn is low to turn off the power switch, reducing the leakage current.\",\n \"When the active signal ack is inputted, the control signal cntn is high to make the power switch conductive, supplying power to the logic circuit.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 shows the circuit CNTS for outputting the signals of the waveform of FIG.\",\n \"5.To store the standby state STB in the circuit, a flip-flop is used.\",\n \"In this case, a signal for returning to the active state ACT is prepared.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 shows a construction example of the SRAM circuit SRAM in FIG.\",\n \"1.The SRAM circuit includes a memory cell array MAR, peripheral circuits PERI1 and PERI2 for accessing the memory cells, and an inverter to input an inverted signal of the signal stby transmitting the standby state to the gates of MOS transistor s_sw2 and s_sw1 and s_sw2m as switches for cutting off the power lines Vss and Vdd of the PERI1 or the PERI2.The substrate voltage of the P channel type MOS transistor included in SRAM_CIR is connected to the Vbp and the substrate voltage of the N channel type MOS transistor included therein is connected to the Vbn so as to control the substrate-bias voltage.\",\n \"The MAR is a circuit having the arrayed SRAM memory cells.\",\n \"The memory cell has a pair of flip-flops (a first and second P channel type load MOS transistors and a first and second N channel type drive MOS transistors) having the input and the output of a CMOS inverter interconnected, and a first and second N channel type transfer MOS transistors connected between two storage nodes and bitlines (BL,/BL) of the flip-flops.\",\n \"The gate electrode of the N channel type transfer MOS transistor is connected to a wordline WL.\",\n \"The operating voltage of the memory cell is given by Vddma and Vssma.\",\n \"The peripheral circuit PERI1 includes a circuit for controlling the wordline WL of the memory cell including a word driver WDR, a row decoder RDEC, and a memory controller MCNT.\",\n \"The operating voltage of the circuit included in the PERI1 is given by Vddper and Vssper.\",\n \"The peripheral circuit PERI2 includes a circuit for controlling a bitline BL of the memory cell including a pre-charge circuit PRE, a read/write amplifier RWAMP as a read/write control circuit connected to the bitline and a column decoder CDEC.\",\n \"The read/write amplifier RWAMP includes OBUF as an output buffer of a sense amplifier and WCNT as a control circuit of the write amplifier.\",\n \"The operating voltage of the circuit included in the PERI2 is given by Vddamp and Vssamp.\",\n \"A low signal is inputted to/stby in the drawing at the time of the standby STB.\",\n \"At the time of standby, the power line Vdd inputted to the PERI1 is cut off, and at the same time, the power line Vss inputted to the PERI2 is cut off.\",\n \"The Vbn and the Vbp supplying the substrate voltage of the MOS transistor constructing the MAR, PERI1 and PERI2 are controlled so as to increase an absolute value of the threshold voltage of the MOS transistor.\",\n \"The substrate bias is applied to the SRAM memory cell.\",\n \"The substrate bias is applied to the peripheral circuit.\",\n \"The power source is provided with the switch to reduce the leakage current.\",\n \"The power consumption of the SRAM at the time of standby can be reduced.\",\n \"There will be described next a reason why the peripheral circuit is divided into two to cut off the Vss and the Vdd in FIG.\",\n \"7.The wordline is low in the standby state and is low also in the operating state except for the selected wordline.\",\n \"The circuit driving the wordline cuts off the power source Vdd as the high voltage to reduce the leakage current when compared to cutting off the power source Vss as the low voltage.\",\n \"Time for returning from the standby state is shortened.\",\n \"The switch inserted in the Vdd side is smaller than that inserted in the Vss side.\",\n \"The bitline is typically charged to the Vdd in the SRAM.\",\n \"In many cases, the amplifier is of a construction in which the state charged to the Vdd is stable.\",\n \"The bitline is charged to the Vdd at the time of standby to cut off the power source Vss of the read amplifier and the write amplifier by the switch.\",\n \"The leakage current can be thus reduced.\",\n \"Time for returning from the standby state to the active state is shortened.\",\n \"In the circuit pre-charging the bitline to the Vdd, the Vss of the circuit driving the bitline is cut off, which is advantageous in the leakage current and the return time.\",\n \"In the circuit pre-charging the bitline to the Vss, cutting off the switch on the Vdd side is naturally advantageous, providing the construction.\",\n \"The circuit in FIG.\",\n \"7 is assumed to be the SRAM in the system LSI as shown in FIG.\",\n \"1, and can be applied to a memory LSI without being limited to the system LSI.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 is a diagram controlling the substrate bias of the SRAM circuit.\",\n \"When the leakage of the peripheral circuit can be reduced to sufficiently reduce the power consumption in the standby state, the substrate bias is not necessarily applied.\",\n \"In the case that the characteristic of the MOS transistor will be varied in the future to make the leakage current called a junction leakage of the MOS transistor larger than the leakage current called a sub-threshold of the MOS transistor, the method for controlling the substrate voltage may not reduce the leakage current.\",\n \"In this case, a construction in which the power sources of the logic circuit and the peripheral circuits of the SRAM in the system LSI are cut off by the switches can be thought to be an important technology.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 shows a construction example of the logic circuit LOGIC in FIG.\",\n \"1.In a logic circuit LOGIC_CIR, the logic gates such as NAND and NOR as the inverter having the P channel type MOS transistor and the N channel type MOS transistor are combined for multiple-stage connection.\",\n \"The substrate voltage is not applied to the transistor in the logic circuit.\",\n \"The substrate voltage of the P channel type MOS transistor is connected to the high voltage side Vdd of the operating voltage and the substrate voltage of the N channel type MOS transistor is connected to the low voltage side Vssl of the operating voltage.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 shows the constructions of the types of a MOS transistor for use in the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit (CORE) in the LSI, a MOS transistor for use in the input/output circuit IO of the LSI, a MOS transistor for use in the switch logic sw cutting off the power source of the logic circuit shown in FIG.\",\n \"1, and a MOS transistor for use in the switch s sw cutting off the power sources of the peripheral circuits of the SRAM shown in FIG.\",\n \"7.The threshold voltages of the P channel type.\",\n \"MOS and the N channel type MOS transistors are different.\",\n \"The polarity is typically inverted to be designed to be the same value.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16 shows its absolute value.\",\n \"A transistor having a large insulating film thickness is used for the input/output circuit part of the LSI.\",\n \"A transistor having a small insulating film thickness is used for the internal logic circuit.\",\n \"In this drawing, there are used a MOS transistor having a large insulating film thickness of 6.7 nm and a MOS transistor having a small insulating film thickness of 2.0 nm.\",\n \"As the transistor having a small film thickness, a MOS transistor having two or more threshold voltages depending on a difference in impurity amount is often used.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"9, a MOS transistor having two threshold voltages Vth of 0.40V and 0.25V is taken as an example.\",\n \"The current at the time of operation of the MOS transistor having a low threshold voltage is large and the leakage current at the time of standby is increased.\",\n \"In all the combinations, the MOS transistor of a thin gate-insulating film having two types of Vth is used for the logic circuit LOGIC_CIR and the SRAM circuit SRAM_CIR except for the control switch, and the MOS transistor of a thick gate-insulating film having a high Vth is used for the IO.\",\n \"In the LOGIC_CIR, a transistor having a low threshold value is used for a critical path and a transistor having a high threshold value is used for the remaining circuits.\",\n \"In the SRAM_CIR, to reduce the leakage current and to maintain static noise margin (SNB), a transistor having a high threshold value is used for the memory cell array MAR.\",\n \"Since the peripheral circuit PERI including the pre-charge circuit, the sense amplifier, the word driver and the decoder must be fast, a MOS transistor having a low threshold value is used.\",\n \"In the combination of Patternl, the thick-film MOS transistor having a high Vth is used for the power switch of the logic circuit, and the thin-film MOS transistor having a high Vth is used for the power switch of the peripheral circuit in the SRAM circuit.\",\n \"The thick-film MOS transistor is used for the power switch of the logic circuit to reduce the leakage current of the large-scale circuit.\",\n \"The SRAM controls the substrate bias to reduce the leakage current.\",\n \"The thin-film MOS transistor having a slightly large leakage is used for the power switch to reduce the entire leakage current.\",\n \"When the circuit size of the peripheral circuit in the SRAM circuit is not large, the leakage current of the peripheral circuit is considered to be small.\",\n \"The construction of the Patternl is effective.\",\n \"When designing the SRAM circuit as a module which can be easily reused, the SRAM circuit can be designed in consideration of the characteristic of only the thin-film MOS transistor.\",\n \"The switch is made by the thin-film MOS transistor to enhance the design efficiency.\",\n \"The construction of the Patternl is effective when the size of the SRAM circuit itself is not large, the size of the peripheral circuit in the SRAM circuit is not large, reduction of the leakage current is highly expected by controlling the substrate bias, or the design efficiency of the SRAM is considered.\",\n \"In the combination of Pattern2, the thick-film MOS transistor having a high Vth is used for the power switch of the logic circuit and the power switch of the peripheral circuit in the SRAM circuit.\",\n \"This can reduce the leakage current of the circuit other than the SRAM memory cell in the LSI.\",\n \"The power consumption at the time of standby is smaller than that of the Patternl.\",\n \"When designing the SRAM circuit, the characteristic of the thick-film MOS transistor must be considered.\",\n \"The design efficiency is thus lowered.\",\n \"The combination of the Pattern2 is effective when the size of the SRAM circuit is large, the size of the peripheral circuit of the SRAM is large, or an effect for reducing the leakage current by controlling the substrate bias is not highly expected.\",\n \"In the combination of Pattern3, the thin-film MOS transistor having a high Vth is used for the power switch of the logic circuit and the power switch of the peripheral circuit in the SRAM circuit.\",\n \"In this case, the thin-film MOS transistor is used.\",\n \"An effect for reducing the leakage current is lower than that of the Pattern2.Since the characteristic of the thick-film MOS transistor need not be considered, the design efficiency is enhanced.\",\n \"The combination of the Pattern3 is effective when the effect for reducing the leakage current of the LSI is less large and the design efficiency is required.\",\n \"As described above, the power source of the logic circuit is cut off by the switch in the standby state and the substrate bias is applied to the SRAM circuit.\",\n \"The leakage current of the system LSI is lowered to reduce the power consumption in the standby state.\",\n \"Embodiment 2 This embodiment shows a modification of the power switch for use in the logic circuit.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 shows a circuit block diagram when the power switch mounted only on the power source Vss of the logic circuit part in the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"1 is provided in the power sources Vdd and Vss.\",\n \"The two power sources Vdd and Vss of the logic circuit are provided with the switch to cut off the power source.\",\n \"The area is increased by providing the power switch.\",\n \"The leakage current at the time of standby can be cut off more reliably.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates the IO circuit, but is omitted in FIG.\",\n \"10.The IO circuit in the CHIP is omitted in other drawings.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11 shows the voltages of the parts of the circuit when using the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"10.In this drawing, a signal cntp controlling P1 of the pMOS as a switch for cutting off the Vdd of the logic part is added to the voltages of FIG.\",\n \"3.The cntp is low in the active state ACT and is high in the standby state STB.\",\n \"The internal circuit of a circuit CNTS2 outputting the control signal in FIG.\",\n \"7 is not particularly described.\",\n \"A circuit outputting a phase reversal signal can be added to the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"4 or FIG.\",\n \"6.In FIGS.\",\n \"1 and 10, the circuit when the logic circuit in FIG.\",\n \"1 is unified is described.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 shows a block diagram of a circuit when the present invention is applied to the LSI in which the logic circuit is divided into two or more blocks.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 shows an example when the logic circuit is divided into two blocks.\",\n \"When it is divided into three or more blocks, the same construction can be applied.\",\n \"The memory consolidated LSI shown in FIG.\",\n \"12 has logic circuits LOGIC1 and LOGIC2, ground voltage power lines Vss11 and Vss12 of the LOGIC1 and the LOGIC2, switches N2 and N3 connecting the Vss11 and the Vss12 to the power line Vss of the entire LSI, the static memory circuit SRAM, the control circuit CNTS of the switch, and the circuit VBBC controlling the substrate voltage of the SRAM.\",\n \"It is of the same construction as the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"1 except that there are a plurality of logic circuits and the operation is the same as that of the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"1.The logic circuit is divided into a plurality of blocks which are provided with a switch cutting off the power source.\",\n \"An optimum switch can be added to each of the blocks.\",\n \"For example, an nMOS switch cutting off the Vss is added to some logic blocks and a pMOS switch cutting off the Vdd is added to other blocks.\",\n \"Otherwise, a switch cutting off the two power sources Vdd and Vss can be provided depending on the block.\",\n \"In the memory consolidated LSI shown in FIG.\",\n \"13, the power switch is added to each of the blocks of the logic circuit so that the power switch is controlled by other signals cntn1 and cntn2.The LSI has a control circuit CNTS3 which can separately control the control signals cntnl and cntn2.These points are different from FIG.\",\n \"12.The CNTS3 is a circuit which can control the control signals cntn1 and cntn2 of the power switch and permits control so that the switch N2 is cut off and the switch N3 is conductive depending on the operating state of the circuit Thus, the block of the logic circuit which must be operated in the standby state is operated and the block of the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit which can be stopped are brought into the standby state, reducing the leakage current.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"13, as in the case of FIG.\",\n \"12, when there are three or more logic blocks, it is possible to make a combination cutting off the power source on the Vss side, the power source on the Vdd side or both for each of the blocks.\",\n \"In the construction of FIG.\",\n \"13, the power supply for each of the blocks is controlled so as to bring the standby state, that is, the low leakage state.\",\n \"Not only in the standby state but also in the active state, the power switch is controlled so that the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit which need not be operated are brought into the standby state, minimizing the leakage current.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14 shows an example in which the embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"13 is applied to a system (microcomputer) equipped with a central processing unit.\",\n \"The system LSI has a logic circuit block CPU called a central processing unit CPU permitting various arithmetic operations, a logic circuit block DSP dedicated for digital signal operation, a static memory block SRAM circuit, a bus BUS connecting the blocks exchanging data, a circuit BSCNT controlling the bus, and a circuit IO exchanging data with outside.\",\n \"The respective blocks exchange data via the bus in the active state.\",\n \"Whether the bus is operated or not is found by monitoring the operating state of the bus.\",\n \"For example, when the entire circuit is not operated, the circuit BSCNT controlling the bus transmits that all the blocks are in the standby state, to the control circuit CNTS3 of the switch by a signal stat1.The CNTS3 makes the cntn1 and the cntn2 low to cut off the switches N2 and N3, reducing the leakage current of the logic circuit.\",\n \"At the same time, the VBBC controls the Vbn and the Vbp as the substrate voltages of the SRAM to lower the leakage current of the SRAM, reducing the leakage current of the entire circuit.\",\n \"When only the CPU is operated and there is no access to the DSP and the SRAM via the bus, the BSCNT outputs the information via the statl to allow the substrate voltage of the SRAM to be in the standby state, to cut off the power switch N3 of the DSP to allow the DSP to be in the standby state, and allows only the CPU to be in the active state.\",\n \"Embodiment 3 FIG.\",\n \"15 schematically shows the entire construction of the LSI consolidating the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit using the present invention.\",\n \"The CHIP as the consolidated LSI includes the logic circuit LOGIC; the static memory circuit SRAM; the nMOS transistor N1 as a switch between the ground voltage line Vss from outside and the ground voltage line Vss1 of the logic circuit; the control circuit CNTS to which the signal stby inputted in the standby state is inputted to be connected to the gate electrode of the N1 outputting the signal cntn controlling the N1 ; the substrate bias control circuit VBBC controlling the substrate voltages Vbn and Vbp of the SRAM when the stby is inputted; and a circuit CNTV1 controlling the power line Vddm of the SRAM by the stby signal.\",\n \"The construction of FIG.\",\n \"15 is the same as that of the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"1 except for the CNTV1.Other than the CNTV1, it is operated as in FIG.\",\n \"1.The CNTV1 is brought into the standby state and the stby signal is inputted.\",\n \"The source voltage of the SRAM is lower than the Vdd which can hold data from the Vdd.\",\n \"This controls the substrate voltage of the SRAM in the standby state to reduce the leakage current.\",\n \"Since the source voltage is lowered, the leakage current can be further reduced.\",\n \"The power consumption at the time of standby can be lower than that of the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"16 shows the voltages at the time of active ACT and the time of standby STB of the parts of the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"15.The voltage of the power source Vdd of the circuit exhibits 1.2V.\",\n \"The stby, cntn, Vbn and Vbp are the same as those of FIG.\",\n \"3 as the operating voltages of FIG.\",\n \"1.The source voltage Vddm of the SRAM is 1.2V at the time of active ACT which is the same as the source voltage and is 0.6V at the time of standby STB.\",\n \"This can reduce the leakage current in the SRAM.\",\n \"The power source control circuit CNTV1 in FIG.\",\n \"15 can be realized by the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"16.The CNTV1 has a voltage dropping circuit PDC and a circuit changing switch.\",\n \"When the SRAM circuit is in the active state ACT, the circuit changing switch connects the power line Vddm supplying the operating voltage to the memory cell in the SRAM circuit to the power source Vdd supplied from outside so that the source voltage of the SRAM circuit is equal to the Vdd.\",\n \"In the standby state STB, the signal stby switches the circuit changing switch to connect Vddlow which is above the voltage lower than the Vdd produced by the voltage dropping circuit holding data in the memory cell of the SRAM and the power source Vddm of the SRAM circuit.\",\n \"The source voltage of the SRAM circuit is lower than the Vdd.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"15, the voltage is dropped on the high voltage side.\",\n \"The power source control circuit CNTV1 is connected between Vssm and the Vss so that the CNTV1 can be a voltage raising circuit.\",\n \"The raised voltage or a combination of the raised and dropped voltages on the low voltage side can obtain the same effect.\",\n \"Embodiment 4 FIG.\",\n \"18 shows a modification of the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"7.In FIG.\",\n \"7, the power sources of the memory cell array are the Vddma and the Vssma, the power sources of the circuit RWAMP including the circuit driving the bitline are the Vddamp and the Vssamp, and the power sources of other circuits are the Vddper and the Vssper.\",\n \"The power source in the SRAM circuit is divided into three systems.\",\n \"A switch having the N channel type MOS transistor is inserted between the peripheral circuit PERI2 for use in control of the bitline and the power source on the low voltage side.\",\n \"A switch having the P channel type MOS transistor is inserted between the peripheral circuit PERI1 for use in control of the wordline and the power source on the high voltage side.\",\n \"The switches are inserted in the high voltage side and the low voltage side of the three-system power sources to cut off the power sources at the time of standby.\",\n \"In this circuit, the switches constructed by the MOS transistor are inserted in all the power sources.\",\n \"At the time of standby, control signals cntmp1 and cntmp2 become low, a control signal cntmp3 becomes high, control signals cntmnl and cntmn3 become high, and a control signal cntmn2 becomes low.\",\n \"Switches P6, P7, N6 and N8 are conductive to cut off switches P8 and N7, realizing the construction of FIG.\",\n \"7.To hold information of the SRAM memory cell, the P6 and the N6 must be conductive at the time of standby.\",\n \"When the SRAM circuit is divided into blocks, as described later, use of the construction cutting off the P6 and the N6 in the block which need not hold the information is effective in low power consumption.\",\n \"Without allowing the signal cntmn2 applied to the switch controlling the Vssamp at the time of standby to be low, the cntmp2 is allowed to be high.\",\n \"It is possible to realize a circuit cutting off the power source on the Vdd side of the read/write amplifier which is considered to be used in the circuit pre-charging the bitline to be low.\",\n \"In the circuit shown in FIG.\",\n \"18, some kinds of circuits can be realized depending on the control method of the control signal.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"19 shows a circuit which partly modifies of the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"7.The power source of the column decoder CDEC is connected to the Vddper and the Vssper.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"7, the column decoder CDEC cuts off the power source on the Vss side.\",\n \"The column decoder is arranged near the amplifier.\",\n \"When the same switch as that of the amplifier cuts off the power source, the circuit design is considered to be facilitated.\",\n \"The power source is shared between the column decoder and the circuit controlling the wordline to cut off the power source of the Vdd side.\",\n \"Unless the design of the power source arrangement is complicated, the Vdd side can be cut off.\",\n \"The column decoder controls the bitline and has many nodes having the low voltage at the time of operation as in the word driver WDR (the number of the selection lines is larger than that of the non-selection lines).\",\n \"It is advantageous to provide the same operating voltages Vddper and Vssper as those of the memory controller MNCT using the switch on the high voltage side.\",\n \"By the same reason, although not shown, the control circuit WCNT of the write amplifier is desirably connected to the Vddper and the Vssper In FIG.\",\n \"19, there are prepared the switches for the three-power sources of FIG.\",\n \"18 (the switches of the P channel type MOS transistors provided between the Vdd and the Vddma, and the Vddamp and the Vddper; and the switches of the N channel type MOS transistors provided between the Vss and the Vssma, and the Vssamp and the Vssper) and the power line not via the switch.\",\n \"For the construction, depending on whether the switch for cutting off is provided on the low voltage side or the high voltage side, the SRAM circuit is blocked.\",\n \"The P channel type MOS transistor connected to the Vddamp and the N channel type MOS transistor connected to the Vssper can be omitted.\",\n \"In this circuit, unlike FIG.\",\n \"7, the power source connected to the row decoder RDEC is directly connected to the power sources Vdd and Vss outside the SRAM circuit, not to the cuttable power source in the SRAM circuit.\",\n \"Power is supplied to the row decoder at the time of standby This prevents the transfer MOS in the memory cell from being conductive due to noise on the wordline caused by a time difference in power supply at the time of returning from the standby state.\",\n \"The noise is produced because the power source of the previous-stage circuit of the power source of the word driver rises quickly to input a low signal to the word driver, and then, the word driver outputs a high signal.\",\n \"Power is supplied to the row decoder at the time of standby.\",\n \"The low signal is not inputted to the word driver.\",\n \"The noise cannot be provided on the wordline.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"19, the power source of the entire row decoder is directly connected to the power sources Vdd and Vss supplied from outside.\",\n \"The circuit construction cannot reduce the leakage current of the row decoder.\",\n \"Although not shown, the power source of the entire row decoder is not connected to the Vdd and the Vss.\",\n \"The Vdd and the Vss are connected only to the previous-stage circuit of the word driver, e.g., the NAND circuit.\",\n \"There can be considered a circuit construction in which the power source cut off by the switch is connected to other circuits of the row decoder.\",\n \"The circuit construction can reduce the leakage current.\",\n \"The power source arrangement in the row decoder is complicated so that the design is difficult.\",\n \"When the size of the row decoder in the SRAM circuit is relatively large and the leakage current of the row decoder must be reduced, the power sources Vdd and Vss supplied from outside are connected only to the previous-stage circuit of the word driver.\",\n \"The power source which can cut off the power source at the time of standby by the power switch is connected to other circuits of the row decoders.\",\n \"When the size of the row decoder is not large and the influence of the leakage current of the row decoder is less, all the power sources of the row decoder are connected to the Vdd and the Vss.\",\n \"This construction is considered to be effective.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"19, the power source of the peripheral circuit of the SRAM is divided by function for control to reduce the leakage current of the peripheral circuit of the SRAM.\",\n \"Embodiment 5 FIG.\",\n \"20 shows a construction diagram in which the LSI consolidating the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit of FIG.\",\n \"1, substrate bias control is performed not only to the SRAM circuit but also to the logic circuit.\",\n \"The CHIP as the consolidated LSI includes the logic circuit LOGIC; the static memory circuit SRAM; the nMOS transistor N1 as a switch between the power source Vss and the ground voltage line Vssl of the logic circuit; a switch SW1 selecting, to which Vdd, Vss, Vbn and Vbp, the substrate voltage lines Vbn1, Vbp1, Vbnm and Vbpm of the MOS transistor constructing the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit are connected; a control circuit CNTS4 outputting the signal cntn controlling the N1 and signals cntvbb1 and cntvbb2 controlling the switch SW1; and a substrate bias control circuit VBBC2 producing the substrate bias Vbn and Vbp.\",\n \"The voltages of the parts at the time of active and standby are shown in FIG.\",\n \"3 At the time of standby, the power source of the logic circuit is cut off.\",\n \"The substrate voltage of the logic circuit is controlled to reduce the leakage current of the logic circuit.\",\n \"When the power switch of the logic circuit is made by the MOS transistor having a low threshold value, as shown in the Pattern3 of FIG.\",\n \"9 and there is a leakage current in the power switch, the substrate bias is applied to reduce the leakage current of the logic circuit.\",\n \"The circuit is thus effective.\",\n \"In the circuit, the substrate voltages of the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit can be controlled independently.\",\n \"Only the SRAM circuit is allowed to be in the standby state and the logic circuit is allowed to be in the active state.\",\n \"When only the logic circuit is operated, the leakage current in the SRAM circuit can be reduced.\",\n \"The substrate bias is applied to the logic circuit to operate the SRAM circuit, reducing the leakage current of the logic circuit.\",\n \"The switch which can select whether the substrate bias is applied to the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit is provided, permitting an operation to reduce the leakage current corresponding to the operating state.\",\n \"The block controlling the substrate voltage is controlled finely.\",\n \"The substrate bias is applied to change the load amount varying the voltage.\",\n \"That is, when the switch is provided so as not to apply the substrate bias to the unnecessary parts, the load which must change the voltage is reduced.\",\n \"Time to change the voltage can be shortened.\",\n \"Embodiment 6 FIG.\",\n \"21 shows a first modification in which the SRAM circuit of FIG.\",\n \"1 is divided into blocks.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"24, the CHIP as the consolidated LSI includes the logic circuit LOGIC; static memory circuits SRAM1 and SRAM2; an nMOS transistor N9 as a switch between the power source Vss and the ground voltage line Vssl of the logic circuit; an nMOS transistor N10 as a switch between the power source Vss and a ground voltage line Vssm1 of the SRAM1; the control circuit CNTS outputting the signal cntn controlling the N9 and the N10; and the substrate bias control circuit VBBC producing the substrate bias Vbn and Vbp.\",\n \"The SRAM circuits SRAM1 and SRAM2 can be of the same construction as that of FIG.\",\n \"7 and the already described modification of FIG.\",\n \"7.In the circuit, the SRAM circuit of FIG.\",\n \"1 is divided into two blocks of the SRAM1 and the SRAM2.At the time of standby, the power sources of the logic circuit and the SRAM1 are cut off and the substrate bias is applied to the SRAM2 to reduce the entire leakage current, reducing the power consumption at the time of standby As compared with the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"1, the leakage current of the circuit of the SRAM1 can be reduced.\",\n \"In the construction, however, data stored into the SRAM1 is erased at the time of standby.\",\n \"Data which must be stored at the time of standby must be stored into the SRAM2.In the system LSI, some SRAM blocks are consolidated so that blocks which must and need not hold data at the time of standby are often consolidated.\",\n \"In such circuit, the circuit construction is used to provide a large effect for reducing the leakage current.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"22 shows a combination of the MOS transistors for use in the memory cell circuits of the divided two SRAM circuits.\",\n \"In the drawing, as in FIG.\",\n \"9, the MOS transistor having a large insulating film thickness of 6.7nm and the MOS transistor having a small insulating film thickness of 2.0nm are used.\",\n \"As an example in which the MOS transistor with a small film thickness has two threshold voltages, the MOS transistor having two threshold voltages Vth of 0.40V and 0.25V is used.\",\n \"A MAR1 represents the MOS transistor of the memory cell of the SRAM1 cutting off the power source.\",\n \"A MAR2 represents the MOS transistor of the memory cell of the SRAM2 not cutting off the power source.\",\n \"As described in the table of FIG.\",\n \"9, the MOS transistor having two threshold values is used for the logic circuit LOGIC_CIR.\",\n \"The MOS transistor having a low threshold value is used for about 10% in the logic circuit.\",\n \"They are allocated to the transistors in a critical path.\",\n \"The MOS transistor of the peripheral circuit except for the memory cell of the SRAM is not shown.\",\n \"The MOS transistor having the same threshold value as the low threshold value of 0.25V of the logic circuit is used.\",\n \"The thin-film MOS transistor is used in any case.\",\n \"The IO represents the MOS transistor for use in the input/output circuit.\",\n \"The thick-film MOS transistor having a high threshold voltage is used in any of the coMbinations.\",\n \"In a Pattern1, the thin-film MOS transistor having a high threshold voltage is used for the memory cell in all the SRAM circuit blocks.\",\n \"The construction is thought to reduce the area of the memory cell and has the excellent operating stability of the SRAM.\",\n \"In a combination of the Pattern2, the SRAM memory cell to which the power switch is not added is made by the thick-film MOS transistor having a small leakage current to reduce the leakage current.\",\n \"In the combination, the transistor constructing the memory cell in the SRAM1 including the power switch is made by the thin-film MOS transistor.\",\n \"The area is small and the operation is fast.\",\n \"The leakage current can be reduced by the power switch.\",\n \"The transistor constructing the memory cell in the SRAM2 not including the power switch is made by the thick-film MOS transistor.\",\n \"The leakage current at the time of standby can be reduced.\",\n \"The area of the memory cell of the SRAM2 is considered to be increased.\",\n \"The transistor is used in the circuit in which the circuit area is not cared much and the leakage current must be reduced reliably.\",\n \"The highest advantage of the circuit is thus obtained.\",\n \"When the circuit size of the SRAM2 is small, the combination is effective.\",\n \"In a Pattern3, the memory cell of the SRAM1 is made by the thin-film MOS transistor having a low threshold voltage.\",\n \"The memory cell of the SRAM2 is made by the thin-film MOS transistor having a high threshold voltage.\",\n \"When the threshold value of the MOS transistor constructing the memory cell of the SRAM is lowered, there are problems that the leakage current is made higher to increase the power consumption at the time of standby and the operating margin of the SRAM itself is lost so as not to operate the memory cell itself.\",\n \"The former problem can be avoided by providing the power switch.\",\n \"The combination can be realized only when using the MOS transistor having a characteristic so as not to exhibit the latter problem significantly.\",\n \"In a Pattern4, the thick-film MOS transistor is used as the MOS transistor constructing the SRAM2 memory cell of the combination of the Pattern3.This increases the circuit area than that of the Pattern3.The leakage current can be reduced.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"23 shows an application of FIG.\",\n \"21.The CHIP as the consolidated LSI includes the logic circuit LOGIC; the static memory circuits SRAM1 and SRAM2; the BUS as a bus transferring data between the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit; an nMOS transistor N9 as a switch between the power source Vss and the ground voltage line Vss1 of the logic circuit; the nMOS transistor N10 as a switch between the power source Vss and the ground voltage line Vssm1 of the SRAM1; a control circuit CNTS5 outputting the control signals cntn and dtran in the standby state; and the substrate bias control circuit VBBC producing the substrate bias Vbn and Vbp.\",\n \"Typically, in the system LSI, data is exchanged between the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit via the bus.\",\n \"The bus is considered to exist in the circuit of the system LSI of FIG.\",\n \"21.The circuit of FIG.\",\n \"23 is different from the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"21 in that it has the CNTS5 as the control circuit in the standby state.\",\n \"The operation of the circuit and the operation of the bus will be described.\",\n \"When the LSI is allowed to be in the standby state, the control circuit CNTS5 controls the logic circuit using the control signal dtran to escape data in the SRAM1 which must be stored at the time of standby to the SRAM2 via the bus.\",\n \"Upon completion of the escape, the escape completion is transmitted to the control circuit CNTS5 via the dtran.\",\n \"The control circuit CNTS5 outputs a signal for change to the standby state to cut off the power sources of the logic circuit and the SRAM1 by the switch.\",\n \"Then, the substrate bias to reduce the leakage current is applied to the SRAM2.For returning from the standby state to the active state, the control circuit CNTS5 outputs a signal to supply power to the logic circuit and the SRAM1, and then, the substrate bias in the standby state of the SRAM2 is switched to the bias in the active state.\",\n \"When the source voltages of the logic circuit and the SRAM1 and the substrate voltage of the SRAM2 are stable, the circuit controlling the bus via the control signal dtran is controlled to restore data of the SRAM1 escaped to the SRAM2.The circuit can hold data which must be held at the time of standby and reduce the leakage current of the memory cell of data which need not be held.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"24 shows the SRAM circuit of a second modification in which the SRAM circuit is divided into blocks and its power source control circuit part.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"15, the CNTV1 controls the voltage on the high voltage side of the SRAM circuit by one voltage dropping circuit.\",\n \"Optimum control (The voltage of the SRAM1 is dropped and the voltage of the SRAM2 is not dropped since read and write operations are performed) can be performed for each of the blocks by dividing the SRAM circuit.\",\n \"As in the case of FIG.\",\n \"15, the voltage is not dropped on the high voltage side and the raised voltage or a combination of the raised and dropped voltages on the low voltage side can obtain the same effect.\",\n \"The circuit shown in FIG.\",\n \"17 may be used for each CNTV2.The dropped voltage must be above the lowest voltage which can hold the memory of the SRAM.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25 shows the SRAM circuit of a third modification in which the SRAM circuit is divided into blocks and its power source control circuit part.\",\n \"They have four SRAM blocks SRAM1, SRAM2, SRAM3 and SRAM4, switches P9, P10, P11 and P12 constructed by the P channel type MOS transistor cutting off the power sources of the blocks, and a control circuit CNTS6 controlling the power switches.\",\n \"At the time of standby, the power source of the block which needs to hold data is not cut off and the power source of the block which need not hold data is cut off.\",\n \"In the circuit construction, the leakage current of the SRAM circuit is produced only in the blocks which must hold data.\",\n \"An example of the P channel type MOS transistor is described.\",\n \"As described already, the construction substituting it for the N channel type transistor is advantageous in area efficiency.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"21, the block not cutting off the power source is provided and information of another block which must hold information and cuts off the power source at the time of standby is transferred.\",\n \"This construction need not transfer data.\",\n \"Means for detecting whether information must be held or not is added.\",\n \"The means cuts off only the power switch of the block which need not hold information.\",\n \"There is considered a control method of a control circuit CNTS6 in which the block into which necessary data is stored is stored and in the case of change to the standby state, the power source of the block in which no data is stored is cut off.\",\n \"In addition, there is considered a control method in which when making the circuit, the block cutting off the power source and the block not cutting off the power source are programmed to cut off the power source corresponding to the program.\",\n \"Further, there is considered a control method in which the power source of the block to be cut off during operation is programmed to cut off the power source of only the block which must cut off the power source.\",\n \"In this manner, change of the control methods of the control circuit CNTS6 can realize various power source cutting-off patterns.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"26, the CNTV2 of FIG.\",\n \"24 is a switch connected to any one of three power source states.\",\n \"The three power source states refer to a state connected to the source voltage Vdd supplied from outside, a state connected to the power source having a voltage lower than the Vdd which can hold data in the SRAM, and a state cutting off the power source.\",\n \"When the CNTV2 can be connected to the three power source states, the power sources of all the blocks are connected to the Vdd in the active state, the power source of the block which must hold data is connected to the power source having a voltage lower than the Vdd in the standby state, and the power source of the block which need not hold data is cut off This can reduce the leakage current of the block which must hold data.\",\n \"The PDC in the drawing is a voltage dropping circuit and outputs a voltage lower than the power source Vdd in which the memory cell of the SRAM can hold data.\",\n \"In the circuit, corresponding to the value of the inputted control signal a cntpl, the switch is switched to connect the power source Vddm of the memory to the Vdd, the circuit dropping the voltage of the Vdd, or a state connected to nothing.\",\n \"Use of the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"25 can reduce the leakage current in the standby state.\",\n \"The power source of the SRAM block accessed in the active state is connected to the Vdd and the power source of the block not accessed is connected to the power source having a voltage lower than the Vdd.\",\n \"This can reduce the leakage current of the unnecessary SRAM block at the time of active.\",\n \"The CNTV2 can also be changed from the voltage dropping circuit to the voltage raising circuit, which can be inserted between the power line and the power source on the low voltage side of the memory cell.\",\n \"In FIG.S.\",\n \"24 and 25, the SRAM circuit is divided into four blocks As the circuit construction, it can be applied when there are one or more blocks.\",\n \"The MOS (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) transistor is described above.\",\n \"The MIS (Metal-Insulated-Semiconductor) transistor using no oxide film may be substituted.\",\n \"The same effect of the present invention is obtained.\",\n \"According to the present invention, the LSI consolidating the logic circuit and the SRAM circuit can reduce the power consumption at the time of standby.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876132"}}},{"rowIdx":4495090,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["Interchangeable Shelf Label System","An interchangeable shelf label system includes a label mount backing plate, a label sleeve, and a label plate for securing to shelving.","The label mount backing plate has a configured thickness and extends from the distal end of one or more support arms of shelving and presents a front face as a backing surface for the label plate.","The label sleeve includes ridges, extending inwardly from the interior front wall of the label sleeve a target width, with ridges disposed on opposing sides of the label sleeve.","The label sleeve further includes ledges, opposing the ridges, the ledges disposed on opposing sides of the label sleeve.","The ledges extend inwardly a target width from the ridges.","The ledge to ridge area define a first sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label mount backing plate.","The ridge to interior wall area define an adjacent, second sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label plate.","The adjacent sleeve enables the label mount backing plate and the label plate to be simultaneously slidably engaged for an optimum compression fit."],["1.A shelf label system for securing to shelving comprising: a label mount backing plate, a label sleeve, and a label plate; the label mount backing plate presenting a front face as a backing surface for the label plate, the label mount backing plate having a configured width for slidable engagement in the label sleeve; the label sleeve having an upper section, a lower section, a front section and a rear section; the label sleeve having ridges extending inwardly to the interior of the label sleeve a configured, target length; the label sleeve having ledges extending inwardly to the interior of the label sleeve, a configured, target length, the ledges opposing the ridges a configured, target width from the ridges; the ledge to ridge area defining a first sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label mount backing plate and the ridge to interior wall area defining an adjacent second sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label plate; the label plate including a display region and having a configured, target width; and the configured, target widths and material compositions of the label mount backing plate, the first sleeve, the label plate, and the second sleeve selected to result in a compression fit.","2.The shelf label system of claim 1, wherein the rear of the label mount backing plate includes at least one protrusion dimensioned to be contained within a similarly positioned and dimensioned recess disposed on the label sleeve, whereby mating of the protrusion to recess joint resists relative sliding of the label sleeve.","3.The shelf label system of claim 2, wherein the front section of the label sleeve includes an opening presenting a window.","4.The shelf label system of claim 2, wherein the front section of the label sleeve is composed of a transparent material.","5.The shelf label system of claim 2, wherein the label sleeve comprises an ultramid polyamide and the label plate comprises a polyvinylchloride.","6.The shelf label system of claim 2, wherein the label mount backing plate comprises a glass-filled ultramid polyamide, the label sleeve comprises a glass-filled ultramid polyamide, and the label plate comprises a polyvinylchloride.","7.The shelf label system of claim 1, wherein the rear of the label mount backing plate includes at least one recess dimensioned to be contained within a similarly positioned and dimensioned protrusion disposed on the label sleeve, whereby mating of the protrusion to recess joint resists relative sliding of the label sleeve.","8.The shelf label system of claim 7, wherein the front section of the label sleeve includes an opening presenting a window.","9.The shelf label system of claim 7, wherein the front section of the label sleeve is composed of a transparent material.","10.The shelf label system of claim 7, wherein the label sleeve comprises an ultramid polyamide and the label plate comprises a polyvinylchloride.","11.The shelf label system of claim 7, wherein the label mount backing plate comprises a glass-filled ultramid polyamide, the label sleeve comprises a glass-filled ultramid polyamide, and the label plate comprises a polyvinylchloride.","12.A shelf label system for securing to shelving comprising: a label mount backing plate, a label sleeve, and a label plate; the label mount backing plate presenting a front face as a backing surface for the label plate, the label mount backing plate having a configured width for slidable engagement in the label sleeve; the label sleeve having an upper section, a lower section, a front section and a rear section; the label sleeve having ridges extending inwardly to the interior of the label sleeve a configured, target length; the label sleeve having ledges extending inwardly to the interior of the label sleeve, a configured, target length, the ledges opposing the ridges a configured, target width from the ridges; the ledge to ridge area defining a first sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label mount backing plate and the ridge to interior wall area defining an adjacent second sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label plate; the label plate including a display region and having a configured, target width; and the configured, target widths and material compositions of the label mount backing plate, the first sleeve, the label plate, and the second sleeve selected to result in a compression fit.","13.The shelf label system of claim 12, wherein the front section of the label sleeve includes an opening presenting a window.","14.The shelf label system of claim 12, wherein the label mount backing plate comprises a glass-filled ultramid polyamide, the label sleeve comprises a glass-filled ultramid polyamide, and the label plate comprises a polyvinylchloride.","15.The shelf label system of claim 12, wherein the label plate includes one or more protrusions dimensioned to be contained within a similarly positioned and dimensioned recesses disposed on the front face of the label mount plate or front section of the label sleeve, such that mating of the protrusion to recess joint resists relative sliding of the label plate.","16.The shelf label system of claim 12, wherein the front face of the label mount plate or front section of the label sleeve includes one or more protrusions dimensioned to be contained within similarly positioned and dimensioned recesses disposed on the label plate, such that mating of the protrusion to recess joint resists relative sliding of the label plate.","17.A shelf label system for securing to shelving having a label mount backing plate presenting a front face and having a known width, the shelf label system comprising: a label sleeve, and a label plate; the label sleeve having an upper section, a lower section, a front section and a rear section; the label sleeve having ridges extending inwardly to the interior of the label sleeve a configured, target length; the label sleeve having ledges extending inwardly to the interior of the label sleeve, a configured, target length, the ledges opposing the ridges a configured, target width from the ridges; the ledge to ridge area defining a first sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label mount backing plate and the ridge to interior wall area defining an adjacent second sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label plate; the label plate including a display region and having a configured, target width; and the configured, target widths and material compositions of the label mount backing plate, the first sleeve, the label plate, and the second sleeve selected to result in a compression fit.","18.The shelf label system of claim 17, wherein the front section of the label sleeve includes an opening presenting a window.","19.The shelf label system of claim 17, wherein the label plate includes one or more protrusions dimensioned to be contained within a similarly positioned and dimensioned recesses disposed on the front face of the label mount plate or front section of the label sleeve, such that mating of the protrusion to recess joint resists relative sliding of the label plate.","20.The shelf label system of claim 17, wherein the front face of the label mount plate or front section of the label sleeve includes one or more protrusions dimensioned to be contained within similarly positioned and dimensioned recesses disposed on the label plate, such that mating of the protrusion to recess joint resists relative sliding of the label plate."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>"],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Embodiments of an interchangeable shelf label system include a label mount backing plate, a label sleeve, and a label plate for securing to shelving.","The label mount backing plate extends from the distal end of one or more support arms, with the proximal ends of the support arms extending from shelving and the label mount backing plate presenting a front face as a backing surface for the label plate.","The label mount backing plate has a configured thickness for slidable engagement in the label sleeve.","The label sleeve includes an upper section, a lower section, a front section and a rear section.","The label sleeve includes ridges, extending inwardly from the interior front wall of the label sleeve a configured target length, with the ridges disposed on opposing sides of the label sleeve.","The label sleeve further includes ledges, opposing the ridges, the ledges disposed on opposing sides of the label sleeve.","The ledges extend inwardly a configured target distance from the ridges.","The ledge to ridge area define a first sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label mount backing plate.","The ridge to interior wall area define an adjacent, second sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label plate.","The adjacent sleeve enable the label mount backing plate and the label plate to be simultaneously slidably engaged.","The label plate has a configured thickness.","The configured target dimensions and material compositions of the label mount backing plate, first sleeve, label plate, and the second sleeve are selected to result in an optimum compression fit such that the label plate can be slidably engaged and disengaged by hand force while preventing accidental dislodging.","These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, and accompanying drawings."],["BACKGROUND Field of the Invention The invention relates generally to shelf systems and more particularly to shelf display systems.","Description of the Related Art In the merchandising of products in stores, merchandise is often displayed on shelves, where the items can be easily seen by customers and easily removed for placement in shopping carts or the like.","It is conventional to secure label display stickers to the front of such shelves, to display pricing information and/or other information of relevance to a prospective consumer.","Often, the retailer desires to highlight certain items in a manner that will catch the consumer's attention.","Typical methods of highlighting selected products involve attaching adhesive labels to the front of the label holder with the information on the label facing a consumer as he or she walks along a store aisle, such as that shown in the prior art FIG.","9.An example display structure includes shelf-type structures having shelf-type price label holders such as that shown in the prior art figure.","The rear end is slid through a channel and a sticker with the display information is placed on the front face.","When it is necessary to change product information, the sticker is removed from the front face, taking time and energy.","SUMMARY Embodiments of an interchangeable shelf label system include a label mount backing plate, a label sleeve, and a label plate for securing to shelving.","The label mount backing plate extends from the distal end of one or more support arms, with the proximal ends of the support arms extending from shelving and the label mount backing plate presenting a front face as a backing surface for the label plate.","The label mount backing plate has a configured thickness for slidable engagement in the label sleeve.","The label sleeve includes an upper section, a lower section, a front section and a rear section.","The label sleeve includes ridges, extending inwardly from the interior front wall of the label sleeve a configured target length, with the ridges disposed on opposing sides of the label sleeve.","The label sleeve further includes ledges, opposing the ridges, the ledges disposed on opposing sides of the label sleeve.","The ledges extend inwardly a configured target distance from the ridges.","The ledge to ridge area define a first sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label mount backing plate.","The ridge to interior wall area define an adjacent, second sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label plate.","The adjacent sleeve enable the label mount backing plate and the label plate to be simultaneously slidably engaged.","The label plate has a configured thickness.","The configured target dimensions and material compositions of the label mount backing plate, first sleeve, label plate, and the second sleeve are selected to result in an optimum compression fit such that the label plate can be slidably engaged and disengaged by hand force while preventing accidental dislodging.","These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, and accompanying drawings.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 depicts an embodiment of an interchangeable shelf label system as it may exist in operation; FIG.","2 depicts the parts of an embodiment of an interchangeable shelf label system as it may exist in operation; FIG.","3 depicts a top view of parts of an embodiment of an interchangeable shelf label system as it may exist in operation; FIGS.","4A and 4B depict top views of parts of embodiments of interchangeable shelf label systems as they may exist in operation; FIGS.","5A and 5B depict front perspective views of usage of embodiments of interchangeable shelf label systems as they may exist in operation; FIGS.","6A and 6B depict front perspective views of usage of embodiments of interchangeable shelf label systems as they may exist in operation; FIGS.","7A and 7B depict front perspective views of usage of embodiments of interchangeable shelf label systems as they may exist in operation; FIG.","8 depicts a top perspective view of an embodiment of an interchangeable shelf label system as it may exist in operation; and FIG.","9 depicts a prior art shelf label display.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION Detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiment are provided herein.","It is to be understood, however, that the present invention may be embodied in various forms.","Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed system, structure or manner.","As mentioned, it is conventional to secure label display strips to the front of display shelves, to receive and display pricing and other information of relevance to a prospective consumer.","Often the retailer desires to highlight certain merchandise in a manner that will catch the consumer's attention.","Additionally, a retailer often seeks high turnover frequency of the shelf space, with the ability to quickly and uniquely label all sections of the shelf space is desirable.","A consistent problem with the use of conventional labels arises after the label has served its purpose and is no longer needed.","The present invention is directed to an interchangeable shelf label system 10.FIG.","1 illustrates an embodiment of an interchangeable shelf label system 10 of the present invention as it may exist in usage.","Depicted are a label backing plate 12, a label sleeve 20, and a label plate 30.Certain embodiments of the invention include a label mount backing plate 12, operable to support the interchangeable shelf label system 10 and provide a backing support surface for the label plate 30.FIGS.","2 and 3 illustrate configurations of a label mount backing plate 12.The illustrated label mount backing plate 12 extends from the distal end of one or more support arms 16, with the proximal ends of the support arms 16 extending from shelving 08.The label mount backing plate 12 includes a front face and a rear face.","The illustrated label mount backing plate 12 presents a front face 15 having a surface area presenting a backing surface for the label plate 30, conforming to at least a portion of the rear surface of the label plate 30.An exemplary front face 15 is substantially planar.","The label mount backing plate 12 can angularly depend from the support arms 16, with representative suitable angles being about 70° to 100° relative to the support arms 16.The label mount backing plate 12 has a configured thickness W1 for slidable engagement into the label sleeve 20, as will be disclosed.","FIG.","3 illustrates a configuration of a label sleeve 20.The label sleeve 20 is operable is to slidably receive the label mount backing plate 12 and the label plate 30 simultaneously in order to resiliently secure the interchangeable shelf label system 10, employing a compression fit approach, in exemplary configuration.","The label sleeve 20 is composed of rigid materials, including plastics and polymers, such as rigid polyvinyl chloride, ultramid polyamide, glass-filled ultramid polyamide, or others.","The label sleeve 20 includes an upper section 21 and a lower section 19.The label sleeve 20 includes a front section 31 and a rear section 25.In certain configurations, the front section 31 of the label sleeve 20 includes an opening presenting a window 29.In certain configurations, the label sleeve 20 or the front section 31 is composed of a transparent material, such as a polymer or plastic.","The window 29 or transparency enable visibility of the insignia 34 region while the device is in operation, such that the front face 32 or section thereof can be clearly viewed.","The illustrated label sleeve 20 of FIG.","4A includes ridges 24 extending from the upper section 21 of the label sleeve 20 to the lower section 19 of the label sleeve 20, the ridges 24 disposed on opposing sides of the label sleeve 20.In other configurations, the ridges 24 have a shorter height, not extending from the upper section 21 to the lower section 19.The ridges 24 extend inwardly from the interior front wall of the label sleeve 20 a length of W3.The illustrated label sleeve 20 also includes ledges 28 extending from the upper section 21 of the label sleeve 20 to the lower section 19 of the label sleeve 20, the ledges 28 disposed on opposing sides of the label sleeve 20.In other configurations, the ledges 28 have a shorter height, not extending from the upper section 21 to the lower section 19.The ledges 28 are further distal to the ridges 24 from the interior front wall and also extend inwardly a distance of W2 from the ridges 24.The area bounded laterally by the ledge 24 to ridge 28 on the same side of the label sleeve 20, from opposing ledges 24, and from opposing ridges 28 define a first sleeve 22.This first sleeve 21 is dimensioned for receipt of the label mount backing plate 12.The area bounded laterally by the interior wall and the end of the opposing ridges 28 define an adjacent, second sleeve 26.This second sleeve 26 is dimensioned for receipt of the label plate 30.FIG.","2 illustrates configurations of a label plate 30.The label plate 30 is composed of rigid materials, including plastics and polymers, such as rigid polyvinyl chloride, ultramid polyamide, glass-filled ultramid polyamide, or others, and is operable to display the product information on the proximate shelving 08.The label plate 30 includes a front face 32 and a display region 34.It has a thickness W4.The display region 34 can receive a printable medium such as thin gauge printable sheet material, sticker labels, paper, cardstock, paper board, or other similar printable medium, that is printed with textual and/or graphical indicia including generalized information relating to a number of particular items being displayed on the shelf 08 to which interchangeable shelf label system 10 is attached, such as indicia indicative of brand identification, graphical designs and the like.","In other configurations, it may serve as a printable medium, where it can be printed or screened upon.","As disclosed, embodiments of the present invention employ compression fit in the interchangeable label mount system 10, where the front face 32 of the label plate 30 contacts the interior wall of the label sleeve 20, the rear face of the label plate 30 contacts the front face 14 of the label mount backing plate 12, the front face 14 of the label mount backing plate 12 also contacts the ridges 24, and the rear face of the label mount backing plate 12 contacts the ledges 28.The compression of the label mount backing plate 12 and the label plate 30 within the interior of the label sleeve 20 secures the interchangeable label mount system 10 in operation (FIG.","5B).","The first sleeve 22 contains the mount backing plate 12 while the second sleeve 26 contains the label plate 30.The compression is configured with a target resistance force that allows repositioning of the label plate 30 by sliding it laterally and also allows removal when necessary or desired but at the same time effectively prevents accidental dislodging of the label plate 30.In exemplary configuration, the interchangeable label mount system 10 is configured such that the label plate 30 can be removed by a user using thumbs and applying upward force to dislodge the label plate 30 for changing (FIG.","5A).","The embodiments of FIGS.","4B, 6A, 6B, 7A, and 7B include at least one protrusion 18 to recess 38 pair, with the protrusions 18 dimensioned to be contained within a similarly positioned and dimensioned corresponding recess 38.A protrusion 18 fits within its corresponding recess 38 such that the mating of the protrusion 18/recess 38 locks the relative position of the label plate 30 to the label sleeve 20, resisting relative sliding of the label plate 30.The protrusion 18/recess 38 pairs can take different geometries and dimensions for different pairing characteristics.","For example, protrusion 18′ takes a hemispherical geometry, providing a relatively similar lodging and dislodging force locking characteristic.","For example, protrusion 18″ takes an inverse triangular geometry, requiring a strong dislodging force locking characteristic.","The protrusions 18 and recesses 38 can have various dispositions.","In the illustrated embodiments, the label plate 30 includes one or more protrusions 18 dimensioned to be contained within the similarly positioned and dimensioned recess(es) 38 disposed on the front face 14 of the label mount plate 12 or front section 31 of the label sleeve 20, such that mating of the protrusion 18/recess 38 lock resists relative sliding of the label plate 30.In other configurations, the front face 14 of the label mount plate 12 or front section 31 of the label sleeve 20 includes one or more protrusions 18 dimensioned to be contained within similarly positioned and dimensioned recess(es) 38 disposed on the label plate 30, such that mating of the protrusion 18/recess 38 lock resists relative sliding of the label plate 30.Referring to FIG.","3, the target configuration factors include the dimensions W1, W2, W3, and W4 and the material composition of the label sleeve 20, the label mount backing plate, and the label mount backing plate 12.Regarding the dimensions, the proportion of the values relative to each other and/or the total width can alter the target resistance or “snugness” of the fit.","Regarding the material composition, materials with an optimum coefficient of friction are selected.","Below are implementations for one configuration.","Again, it should be appreciated that the dimension values are proportional and can be scaled for other environments.","Width Composition Label Mount 3.2 mm Glass-filled Backing Plate ultramid Thickness (W1) polyamide First Sleeve (W2) 3.2 mm Glass-filled ultramid polyamide Label Plate 1.2 mm polyvinylchloride Thickness (W4) Second Sleeve (W3) 1.5 mm Glass-filled ultramid polyamide Another configuration employed the following: Width Composition Label Mount 2.5 mm Glass-filled ultramid polyamide Backing Plate Thickness (W1) First Sleeve (W2) 2.5 mm Glass-filled ultramid polyamide Label Plate 1.0 mm polyvinylchloride Thickness (W4) Second Sleeve 1.0 mm Glass-filled ultramid polyamide (W3) FIGS.","2, 5A, 5B, and 8 illustrate usage of an interchangeable shelf label system 10.The label mount backing plate 12, the label sleeve 20, and the label plate are brought in proximity and aligned (FIG.","2).","The label sleeve 20 is slidably engaged to the label mount backing plate 12 such that the label mount backing plate 12 occupies the first sleeve 21 (FIG.","5A).","The label plate 20 is slidably engaged to the label sleeve 20 such that the label plate 20 occupies the second sleeve 26 (FIG.","5B).","Completely slidably engaging the label plate 30 leaves the interchangeable label mount system 10 as it would exist in shelf label display usage (FIG.","1).","Insofar as the description above and the accompanying drawing disclose any additional subject matter that is not within the scope of the single claim below, the inventions are not dedicated to the public and the right to file one or more applications to claim such additional inventions is reserved."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"Interchangeable Shelf Label System\",\n \"An interchangeable shelf label system includes a label mount backing plate, a label sleeve, and a label plate for securing to shelving.\",\n \"The label mount backing plate has a configured thickness and extends from the distal end of one or more support arms of shelving and presents a front face as a backing surface for the label plate.\",\n \"The label sleeve includes ridges, extending inwardly from the interior front wall of the label sleeve a target width, with ridges disposed on opposing sides of the label sleeve.\",\n \"The label sleeve further includes ledges, opposing the ridges, the ledges disposed on opposing sides of the label sleeve.\",\n \"The ledges extend inwardly a target width from the ridges.\",\n \"The ledge to ridge area define a first sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label mount backing plate.\",\n \"The ridge to interior wall area define an adjacent, second sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label plate.\",\n \"The adjacent sleeve enables the label mount backing plate and the label plate to be simultaneously slidably engaged for an optimum compression fit.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A shelf label system for securing to shelving comprising: a label mount backing plate, a label sleeve, and a label plate; the label mount backing plate presenting a front face as a backing surface for the label plate, the label mount backing plate having a configured width for slidable engagement in the label sleeve; the label sleeve having an upper section, a lower section, a front section and a rear section; the label sleeve having ridges extending inwardly to the interior of the label sleeve a configured, target length; the label sleeve having ledges extending inwardly to the interior of the label sleeve, a configured, target length, the ledges opposing the ridges a configured, target width from the ridges; the ledge to ridge area defining a first sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label mount backing plate and the ridge to interior wall area defining an adjacent second sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label plate; the label plate including a display region and having a configured, target width; and the configured, target widths and material compositions of the label mount backing plate, the first sleeve, the label plate, and the second sleeve selected to result in a compression fit.\",\n \"2.The shelf label system of claim 1, wherein the rear of the label mount backing plate includes at least one protrusion dimensioned to be contained within a similarly positioned and dimensioned recess disposed on the label sleeve, whereby mating of the protrusion to recess joint resists relative sliding of the label sleeve.\",\n \"3.The shelf label system of claim 2, wherein the front section of the label sleeve includes an opening presenting a window.\",\n \"4.The shelf label system of claim 2, wherein the front section of the label sleeve is composed of a transparent material.\",\n \"5.The shelf label system of claim 2, wherein the label sleeve comprises an ultramid polyamide and the label plate comprises a polyvinylchloride.\",\n \"6.The shelf label system of claim 2, wherein the label mount backing plate comprises a glass-filled ultramid polyamide, the label sleeve comprises a glass-filled ultramid polyamide, and the label plate comprises a polyvinylchloride.\",\n \"7.The shelf label system of claim 1, wherein the rear of the label mount backing plate includes at least one recess dimensioned to be contained within a similarly positioned and dimensioned protrusion disposed on the label sleeve, whereby mating of the protrusion to recess joint resists relative sliding of the label sleeve.\",\n \"8.The shelf label system of claim 7, wherein the front section of the label sleeve includes an opening presenting a window.\",\n \"9.The shelf label system of claim 7, wherein the front section of the label sleeve is composed of a transparent material.\",\n \"10.The shelf label system of claim 7, wherein the label sleeve comprises an ultramid polyamide and the label plate comprises a polyvinylchloride.\",\n \"11.The shelf label system of claim 7, wherein the label mount backing plate comprises a glass-filled ultramid polyamide, the label sleeve comprises a glass-filled ultramid polyamide, and the label plate comprises a polyvinylchloride.\",\n \"12.A shelf label system for securing to shelving comprising: a label mount backing plate, a label sleeve, and a label plate; the label mount backing plate presenting a front face as a backing surface for the label plate, the label mount backing plate having a configured width for slidable engagement in the label sleeve; the label sleeve having an upper section, a lower section, a front section and a rear section; the label sleeve having ridges extending inwardly to the interior of the label sleeve a configured, target length; the label sleeve having ledges extending inwardly to the interior of the label sleeve, a configured, target length, the ledges opposing the ridges a configured, target width from the ridges; the ledge to ridge area defining a first sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label mount backing plate and the ridge to interior wall area defining an adjacent second sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label plate; the label plate including a display region and having a configured, target width; and the configured, target widths and material compositions of the label mount backing plate, the first sleeve, the label plate, and the second sleeve selected to result in a compression fit.\",\n \"13.The shelf label system of claim 12, wherein the front section of the label sleeve includes an opening presenting a window.\",\n \"14.The shelf label system of claim 12, wherein the label mount backing plate comprises a glass-filled ultramid polyamide, the label sleeve comprises a glass-filled ultramid polyamide, and the label plate comprises a polyvinylchloride.\",\n \"15.The shelf label system of claim 12, wherein the label plate includes one or more protrusions dimensioned to be contained within a similarly positioned and dimensioned recesses disposed on the front face of the label mount plate or front section of the label sleeve, such that mating of the protrusion to recess joint resists relative sliding of the label plate.\",\n \"16.The shelf label system of claim 12, wherein the front face of the label mount plate or front section of the label sleeve includes one or more protrusions dimensioned to be contained within similarly positioned and dimensioned recesses disposed on the label plate, such that mating of the protrusion to recess joint resists relative sliding of the label plate.\",\n \"17.A shelf label system for securing to shelving having a label mount backing plate presenting a front face and having a known width, the shelf label system comprising: a label sleeve, and a label plate; the label sleeve having an upper section, a lower section, a front section and a rear section; the label sleeve having ridges extending inwardly to the interior of the label sleeve a configured, target length; the label sleeve having ledges extending inwardly to the interior of the label sleeve, a configured, target length, the ledges opposing the ridges a configured, target width from the ridges; the ledge to ridge area defining a first sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label mount backing plate and the ridge to interior wall area defining an adjacent second sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label plate; the label plate including a display region and having a configured, target width; and the configured, target widths and material compositions of the label mount backing plate, the first sleeve, the label plate, and the second sleeve selected to result in a compression fit.\",\n \"18.The shelf label system of claim 17, wherein the front section of the label sleeve includes an opening presenting a window.\",\n \"19.The shelf label system of claim 17, wherein the label plate includes one or more protrusions dimensioned to be contained within a similarly positioned and dimensioned recesses disposed on the front face of the label mount plate or front section of the label sleeve, such that mating of the protrusion to recess joint resists relative sliding of the label plate.\",\n \"20.The shelf label system of claim 17, wherein the front face of the label mount plate or front section of the label sleeve includes one or more protrusions dimensioned to be contained within similarly positioned and dimensioned recesses disposed on the label plate, such that mating of the protrusion to recess joint resists relative sliding of the label plate.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Embodiments of an interchangeable shelf label system include a label mount backing plate, a label sleeve, and a label plate for securing to shelving.\",\n \"The label mount backing plate extends from the distal end of one or more support arms, with the proximal ends of the support arms extending from shelving and the label mount backing plate presenting a front face as a backing surface for the label plate.\",\n \"The label mount backing plate has a configured thickness for slidable engagement in the label sleeve.\",\n \"The label sleeve includes an upper section, a lower section, a front section and a rear section.\",\n \"The label sleeve includes ridges, extending inwardly from the interior front wall of the label sleeve a configured target length, with the ridges disposed on opposing sides of the label sleeve.\",\n \"The label sleeve further includes ledges, opposing the ridges, the ledges disposed on opposing sides of the label sleeve.\",\n \"The ledges extend inwardly a configured target distance from the ridges.\",\n \"The ledge to ridge area define a first sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label mount backing plate.\",\n \"The ridge to interior wall area define an adjacent, second sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label plate.\",\n \"The adjacent sleeve enable the label mount backing plate and the label plate to be simultaneously slidably engaged.\",\n \"The label plate has a configured thickness.\",\n \"The configured target dimensions and material compositions of the label mount backing plate, first sleeve, label plate, and the second sleeve are selected to result in an optimum compression fit such that the label plate can be slidably engaged and disengaged by hand force while preventing accidental dislodging.\",\n \"These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, and accompanying drawings.\"\n ],\n [\n \"BACKGROUND Field of the Invention The invention relates generally to shelf systems and more particularly to shelf display systems.\",\n \"Description of the Related Art In the merchandising of products in stores, merchandise is often displayed on shelves, where the items can be easily seen by customers and easily removed for placement in shopping carts or the like.\",\n \"It is conventional to secure label display stickers to the front of such shelves, to display pricing information and/or other information of relevance to a prospective consumer.\",\n \"Often, the retailer desires to highlight certain items in a manner that will catch the consumer's attention.\",\n \"Typical methods of highlighting selected products involve attaching adhesive labels to the front of the label holder with the information on the label facing a consumer as he or she walks along a store aisle, such as that shown in the prior art FIG.\",\n \"9.An example display structure includes shelf-type structures having shelf-type price label holders such as that shown in the prior art figure.\",\n \"The rear end is slid through a channel and a sticker with the display information is placed on the front face.\",\n \"When it is necessary to change product information, the sticker is removed from the front face, taking time and energy.\",\n \"SUMMARY Embodiments of an interchangeable shelf label system include a label mount backing plate, a label sleeve, and a label plate for securing to shelving.\",\n \"The label mount backing plate extends from the distal end of one or more support arms, with the proximal ends of the support arms extending from shelving and the label mount backing plate presenting a front face as a backing surface for the label plate.\",\n \"The label mount backing plate has a configured thickness for slidable engagement in the label sleeve.\",\n \"The label sleeve includes an upper section, a lower section, a front section and a rear section.\",\n \"The label sleeve includes ridges, extending inwardly from the interior front wall of the label sleeve a configured target length, with the ridges disposed on opposing sides of the label sleeve.\",\n \"The label sleeve further includes ledges, opposing the ridges, the ledges disposed on opposing sides of the label sleeve.\",\n \"The ledges extend inwardly a configured target distance from the ridges.\",\n \"The ledge to ridge area define a first sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label mount backing plate.\",\n \"The ridge to interior wall area define an adjacent, second sleeve dimensioned for receipt of the label plate.\",\n \"The adjacent sleeve enable the label mount backing plate and the label plate to be simultaneously slidably engaged.\",\n \"The label plate has a configured thickness.\",\n \"The configured target dimensions and material compositions of the label mount backing plate, first sleeve, label plate, and the second sleeve are selected to result in an optimum compression fit such that the label plate can be slidably engaged and disengaged by hand force while preventing accidental dislodging.\",\n \"These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, and accompanying drawings.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 depicts an embodiment of an interchangeable shelf label system as it may exist in operation; FIG.\",\n \"2 depicts the parts of an embodiment of an interchangeable shelf label system as it may exist in operation; FIG.\",\n \"3 depicts a top view of parts of an embodiment of an interchangeable shelf label system as it may exist in operation; FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B depict top views of parts of embodiments of interchangeable shelf label systems as they may exist in operation; FIGS.\",\n \"5A and 5B depict front perspective views of usage of embodiments of interchangeable shelf label systems as they may exist in operation; FIGS.\",\n \"6A and 6B depict front perspective views of usage of embodiments of interchangeable shelf label systems as they may exist in operation; FIGS.\",\n \"7A and 7B depict front perspective views of usage of embodiments of interchangeable shelf label systems as they may exist in operation; FIG.\",\n \"8 depicts a top perspective view of an embodiment of an interchangeable shelf label system as it may exist in operation; and FIG.\",\n \"9 depicts a prior art shelf label display.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION Detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiment are provided herein.\",\n \"It is to be understood, however, that the present invention may be embodied in various forms.\",\n \"Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed system, structure or manner.\",\n \"As mentioned, it is conventional to secure label display strips to the front of display shelves, to receive and display pricing and other information of relevance to a prospective consumer.\",\n \"Often the retailer desires to highlight certain merchandise in a manner that will catch the consumer's attention.\",\n \"Additionally, a retailer often seeks high turnover frequency of the shelf space, with the ability to quickly and uniquely label all sections of the shelf space is desirable.\",\n \"A consistent problem with the use of conventional labels arises after the label has served its purpose and is no longer needed.\",\n \"The present invention is directed to an interchangeable shelf label system 10.FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an embodiment of an interchangeable shelf label system 10 of the present invention as it may exist in usage.\",\n \"Depicted are a label backing plate 12, a label sleeve 20, and a label plate 30.Certain embodiments of the invention include a label mount backing plate 12, operable to support the interchangeable shelf label system 10 and provide a backing support surface for the label plate 30.FIGS.\",\n \"2 and 3 illustrate configurations of a label mount backing plate 12.The illustrated label mount backing plate 12 extends from the distal end of one or more support arms 16, with the proximal ends of the support arms 16 extending from shelving 08.The label mount backing plate 12 includes a front face and a rear face.\",\n \"The illustrated label mount backing plate 12 presents a front face 15 having a surface area presenting a backing surface for the label plate 30, conforming to at least a portion of the rear surface of the label plate 30.An exemplary front face 15 is substantially planar.\",\n \"The label mount backing plate 12 can angularly depend from the support arms 16, with representative suitable angles being about 70° to 100° relative to the support arms 16.The label mount backing plate 12 has a configured thickness W1 for slidable engagement into the label sleeve 20, as will be disclosed.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates a configuration of a label sleeve 20.The label sleeve 20 is operable is to slidably receive the label mount backing plate 12 and the label plate 30 simultaneously in order to resiliently secure the interchangeable shelf label system 10, employing a compression fit approach, in exemplary configuration.\",\n \"The label sleeve 20 is composed of rigid materials, including plastics and polymers, such as rigid polyvinyl chloride, ultramid polyamide, glass-filled ultramid polyamide, or others.\",\n \"The label sleeve 20 includes an upper section 21 and a lower section 19.The label sleeve 20 includes a front section 31 and a rear section 25.In certain configurations, the front section 31 of the label sleeve 20 includes an opening presenting a window 29.In certain configurations, the label sleeve 20 or the front section 31 is composed of a transparent material, such as a polymer or plastic.\",\n \"The window 29 or transparency enable visibility of the insignia 34 region while the device is in operation, such that the front face 32 or section thereof can be clearly viewed.\",\n \"The illustrated label sleeve 20 of FIG.\",\n \"4A includes ridges 24 extending from the upper section 21 of the label sleeve 20 to the lower section 19 of the label sleeve 20, the ridges 24 disposed on opposing sides of the label sleeve 20.In other configurations, the ridges 24 have a shorter height, not extending from the upper section 21 to the lower section 19.The ridges 24 extend inwardly from the interior front wall of the label sleeve 20 a length of W3.The illustrated label sleeve 20 also includes ledges 28 extending from the upper section 21 of the label sleeve 20 to the lower section 19 of the label sleeve 20, the ledges 28 disposed on opposing sides of the label sleeve 20.In other configurations, the ledges 28 have a shorter height, not extending from the upper section 21 to the lower section 19.The ledges 28 are further distal to the ridges 24 from the interior front wall and also extend inwardly a distance of W2 from the ridges 24.The area bounded laterally by the ledge 24 to ridge 28 on the same side of the label sleeve 20, from opposing ledges 24, and from opposing ridges 28 define a first sleeve 22.This first sleeve 21 is dimensioned for receipt of the label mount backing plate 12.The area bounded laterally by the interior wall and the end of the opposing ridges 28 define an adjacent, second sleeve 26.This second sleeve 26 is dimensioned for receipt of the label plate 30.FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates configurations of a label plate 30.The label plate 30 is composed of rigid materials, including plastics and polymers, such as rigid polyvinyl chloride, ultramid polyamide, glass-filled ultramid polyamide, or others, and is operable to display the product information on the proximate shelving 08.The label plate 30 includes a front face 32 and a display region 34.It has a thickness W4.The display region 34 can receive a printable medium such as thin gauge printable sheet material, sticker labels, paper, cardstock, paper board, or other similar printable medium, that is printed with textual and/or graphical indicia including generalized information relating to a number of particular items being displayed on the shelf 08 to which interchangeable shelf label system 10 is attached, such as indicia indicative of brand identification, graphical designs and the like.\",\n \"In other configurations, it may serve as a printable medium, where it can be printed or screened upon.\",\n \"As disclosed, embodiments of the present invention employ compression fit in the interchangeable label mount system 10, where the front face 32 of the label plate 30 contacts the interior wall of the label sleeve 20, the rear face of the label plate 30 contacts the front face 14 of the label mount backing plate 12, the front face 14 of the label mount backing plate 12 also contacts the ridges 24, and the rear face of the label mount backing plate 12 contacts the ledges 28.The compression of the label mount backing plate 12 and the label plate 30 within the interior of the label sleeve 20 secures the interchangeable label mount system 10 in operation (FIG.\",\n \"5B).\",\n \"The first sleeve 22 contains the mount backing plate 12 while the second sleeve 26 contains the label plate 30.The compression is configured with a target resistance force that allows repositioning of the label plate 30 by sliding it laterally and also allows removal when necessary or desired but at the same time effectively prevents accidental dislodging of the label plate 30.In exemplary configuration, the interchangeable label mount system 10 is configured such that the label plate 30 can be removed by a user using thumbs and applying upward force to dislodge the label plate 30 for changing (FIG.\",\n \"5A).\",\n \"The embodiments of FIGS.\",\n \"4B, 6A, 6B, 7A, and 7B include at least one protrusion 18 to recess 38 pair, with the protrusions 18 dimensioned to be contained within a similarly positioned and dimensioned corresponding recess 38.A protrusion 18 fits within its corresponding recess 38 such that the mating of the protrusion 18/recess 38 locks the relative position of the label plate 30 to the label sleeve 20, resisting relative sliding of the label plate 30.The protrusion 18/recess 38 pairs can take different geometries and dimensions for different pairing characteristics.\",\n \"For example, protrusion 18′ takes a hemispherical geometry, providing a relatively similar lodging and dislodging force locking characteristic.\",\n \"For example, protrusion 18″ takes an inverse triangular geometry, requiring a strong dislodging force locking characteristic.\",\n \"The protrusions 18 and recesses 38 can have various dispositions.\",\n \"In the illustrated embodiments, the label plate 30 includes one or more protrusions 18 dimensioned to be contained within the similarly positioned and dimensioned recess(es) 38 disposed on the front face 14 of the label mount plate 12 or front section 31 of the label sleeve 20, such that mating of the protrusion 18/recess 38 lock resists relative sliding of the label plate 30.In other configurations, the front face 14 of the label mount plate 12 or front section 31 of the label sleeve 20 includes one or more protrusions 18 dimensioned to be contained within similarly positioned and dimensioned recess(es) 38 disposed on the label plate 30, such that mating of the protrusion 18/recess 38 lock resists relative sliding of the label plate 30.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"3, the target configuration factors include the dimensions W1, W2, W3, and W4 and the material composition of the label sleeve 20, the label mount backing plate, and the label mount backing plate 12.Regarding the dimensions, the proportion of the values relative to each other and/or the total width can alter the target resistance or “snugness” of the fit.\",\n \"Regarding the material composition, materials with an optimum coefficient of friction are selected.\",\n \"Below are implementations for one configuration.\",\n \"Again, it should be appreciated that the dimension values are proportional and can be scaled for other environments.\",\n \"Width Composition Label Mount 3.2 mm Glass-filled Backing Plate ultramid Thickness (W1) polyamide First Sleeve (W2) 3.2 mm Glass-filled ultramid polyamide Label Plate 1.2 mm polyvinylchloride Thickness (W4) Second Sleeve (W3) 1.5 mm Glass-filled ultramid polyamide Another configuration employed the following: Width Composition Label Mount 2.5 mm Glass-filled ultramid polyamide Backing Plate Thickness (W1) First Sleeve (W2) 2.5 mm Glass-filled ultramid polyamide Label Plate 1.0 mm polyvinylchloride Thickness (W4) Second Sleeve 1.0 mm Glass-filled ultramid polyamide (W3) FIGS.\",\n \"2, 5A, 5B, and 8 illustrate usage of an interchangeable shelf label system 10.The label mount backing plate 12, the label sleeve 20, and the label plate are brought in proximity and aligned (FIG.\",\n \"2).\",\n \"The label sleeve 20 is slidably engaged to the label mount backing plate 12 such that the label mount backing plate 12 occupies the first sleeve 21 (FIG.\",\n \"5A).\",\n \"The label plate 20 is slidably engaged to the label sleeve 20 such that the label plate 20 occupies the second sleeve 26 (FIG.\",\n \"5B).\",\n \"Completely slidably engaging the label plate 30 leaves the interchangeable label mount system 10 as it would exist in shelf label display usage (FIG.\",\n \"1).\",\n \"Insofar as the description above and the accompanying drawing disclose any additional subject matter that is not within the scope of the single claim below, the inventions are not dedicated to the public and the right to file one or more applications to claim such additional inventions is reserved.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876133"}}},{"rowIdx":4495091,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["Packaged Overvoltage Protection Circuit For Triggering Thyristors","In a first embodiment, an ultra-fast breakover diode has a turn on time TON that is less than 0.3 microseconds, where the forward breakover voltage is greater than +400 volts and varies less than one percent per ten degrees Celsius change.","In a second embodiment, a breakover diode has a reverse breakdown voltage that is greater, in absolute magnitude, than the forward breakover voltage, where the forward breakover voltage is greater than +400 volts.","In a third embodiment, a string of series-connected breakover diode dice is provided, along with a resistor string, in a packaged circuit.","The packaged circuit acts like a single breakover diode having a large forward breakover voltage and a comparably large reverse breakdown voltage, even though the packaged circuit includes no discrete high voltage reverse breakdown diode.","The packaged circuit is usable to supply a triggering current to a thyristor in a voltage protection circuit."],["1.A packaged overvoltage protection circuit comprising: a first semiconductor die, wherein the first semiconductor die comprises a breakover diode having a reverse breakdown voltage of at least four hundred volts; a second semiconductor die, wherein the second semiconductor die comprises a breakover diode having a reverse breakdown voltage of at least four hundred volts; a package housing that encloses the first and second semiconductor dice; a first package terminal; and a second package terminal, wherein the first and second semiconductor dice are coupled such that if a positive voltage of adequate magnitude is present between the second package terminal and the first package terminal then breakover of the breakover diodes in the first and second semiconductor dice occurs and a current flows in a current path from the second package terminal, through the breakover diode of the first semiconductor die, through the breakover diode of the second semiconductor die, and to the first package terminal, and such that if a negative voltage of nine hundred volts or less is present between the second package terminal and the first package terminal then neither of the breakover diodes of the first and second semiconductor dice suffers reverse breakdown.","2.The packaged overvoltage protection circuit of claim 1, wherein the packaged overvoltage protection circuit has no package terminal other than the first and second package terminals.","3.The packaged overvoltage protection circuit of claim 2, wherein the package housing encloses no semiconductor die that comprises any component other than a breakover diode.","4.The packaged overvoltage protection circuit of claim 2, wherein the package housing encloses no diode that is not a part of a breakover diode die.","5.The packaged overvoltage protection circuit of claim 2, further comprising: a third semiconductor die, wherein the third semiconductor die comprises a breakover diode having a reverse breakdown voltage of at least four hundred volts.","6.The packaged overvoltage protection circuit of claim 2, further comprising: a first resistor; and a second resistor, wherein the first and second resistors are coupled in series.","7.The packaged overvoltage protection circuit of claim 2, further comprising: a first resistor coupled in parallel with the first semiconductor die; and a second resistor coupled in parallel with the second semiconductor die.","8.The packaged overvoltage protection circuit of claim 2, wherein the first and second semiconductor dice are coupled to block current flow through the current path from the first package terminal to the second package terminal for reverse voltages of nine hundred volts or less.","9.A packaged overvoltage protection circuit comprising: a first package terminal; a second package terminal; a plurality of semiconductor dice, wherein each of the semiconductor dice comprises a breakover diode, wherein the breakover diode has a forward breakover voltage, wherein the breakover diode has a reverse breakdown voltage whose absolute magnitude is greater than the forward breakover voltage, wherein the plurality of semiconductor dice are coupled in series between the first and second package terminals, and wherein the breakover voltage is at least four hundred volts; a plurality of resistors, wherein the resistors are coupled in series; and a package housing that encloses the plurality of semiconductor dice and the plurality of resistors, wherein the package housing encloses no semiconductor die other than said plurality of semiconductor dice.","10.The packaged overvoltage protection circuit of claim 9, wherein each of the plurality of semiconductor dice is substantially identical to each other of the plurality of semiconductor dice, and wherein the packaged overvoltage protection circuit has no package terminal other than the first and second package terminals.","11.The packaged overvoltage protection circuit of claim 9, wherein each of the plurality of resistors is coupled in parallel with each corresponding respective one of the plurality of semiconductor dice.","12.An apparatus comprising: a first package terminal; a second package terminal; and means for blocking substantially all current flow from the second package terminal to the first package terminal for positive voltages less than a first voltage between the second and first package terminals, for initiating conduction of a breakover current from the second package terminal to the first package terminal if a positive voltage equal to the first voltage becomes present between the second and first package terminals, and for blocking substantially all current flow from the first package terminal to the second package terminal for negative voltages less than a second voltage between the second package terminal and the first package terminal, wherein the absolute magnitude of the second voltage exceeds the first voltage, wherein the first voltage is at least nine hundred volts, wherein the means comprises no semiconductor die other than a plurality of semiconductor dice, and wherein each die of the plurality of semiconductor dice comprises a breakover diode.","13.The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the plurality of semiconductor dice are coupled together in series between the first and second package terminals.","14.The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the means further comprises a plurality of resistors coupled together in series to form a resistor string.","15.The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the means further comprises a housing that encloses the plurality of semiconductor dice and the plurality of resistors.","16.The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the means does not block current flow that passes through the resistor string.","17.The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the means is also for supplying a triggering current to the gate of a thyristor.","18.The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising: a thyristor having a gate, an anode, and a cathode, wherein the gate of the thyristor is coupled to the first package terminal.","19.The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising: a thyristor having a gate, an anode, and a cathode, wherein the gate of the thyristor is coupled to the first package terminal, wherein the anode of the thyristor is coupled to the second package terminal via a current limiting resistor.","20.The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising: a snubber circuit coupled between the gate of the thyristor and the cathode of the thyristor."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND INFORMATION <EOH>FIG.","1 (Prior Art) is a symbol of a thyristor 1 .","A conventional thyristor is a three terminal semiconductor device that has four layers of alternating N type material and P type material.","FIG.","2 (Prior Art) shows an example in which the thyristor device 1 has an P-N-P-N structure.","A cathode electrode 2 is coupled to the N type material on one side of the device and an anode electrode 3 is coupled to the P type material on the other side of the device.","A gate electrode 4 is coupled to the P type layer closest to the cathode.","The structure has three PN junctions, serially named J 1 , J 2 , and J 3 , from the anode electrode side of the device.","Operation of the thyristor device is explained in terms of a pair of tightly coupled bipolar junction transistors, arranged in a self-latching way, as illustrated in FIG.","3 (Prior Art).","One bipolar transistor 5 is an NPN transistor whose N type emitter is coupled to the cathode electrode.","The other bipolar transistor 6 is a PNP transistor whose P type emitter is coupled to the anode electrode.","The thyristor is considered to operate in one of three modes: 1) in a reverse blocking mode, 2) in a forward blocking mode, and 3) in a forward conducting mode.","If the cathode electrode has a positive voltage with respect to the anode electrode, then no current flows from cathode to anode because either the J 3 junction and/or the J 1 junction is reverse biased.","These two PN junctions can be thought of as a series connected pair of diodes that are reverse biased.","This is referred to as the reverse blocking mode.","Supplying a triggering pulse into the gate has no effect.","If the anode has a positive voltage with respect to the cathode, but no voltage is applied to the gate electrode with respect to the cathode electrode, then the J 1 and J 3 junctions are forward biased, while the J 2 junction is reverse biased.","Due to the J 2 junction being reverse biased, there is no conduction and the thyristor is off.","This is referred to as the forward blocking mode.","The anode-to-cathode voltage is applied in a direction that could cause conduction were there to be current flow across the J 2 junction, but the thyristor has not been triggered.","At some voltage, the electric field at the J 2 junction grows so strong that the J 2 junction starts to breakdown and a small amount of avalanche current begins to flow, but the amount of current is not adequate to turn on transistor 5 .","If the anode-to-cathode voltage is increased beyond the forward breakdown voltage V (BO)F of the thyristor, then the magnitude of the avalanche current reaches a triggering current, which causes transistor 5 to turn on, and causes the thyristor to start conducting.","This is referred to as the forward conduction mode.","If a positive voltage is applied to the gate electrode with respect to the cathode electrode, then the onset of this avalanche breakdown of the J 2 junction occurs at a lower (but still positive) anode-to-cathode voltage.","The anode-to-cathode voltage at which the thyristor turns on is therefore dependent upon the gate voltage (gate-to-cathode voltage).","This positive gate voltage that causes the thyristor to turn on (due to avalanche breakdown of the J 2 junction) can be caused by injecting a momentary current pulse 7 into the gate electrode 4 .","Whether the triggering on is said to occur due to the gate voltage pulse or due to the current of the pulse, the triggering effect of triggering the thyristor on is the same in that avalanche breakdown of the J 2 junction is started.","Once avalanche breakdown of the J 2 junction has occurred and the thyristor is on and conducting current from the anode to the cathode, the thyristor remains latched in this on state and the thyristor continues to conduct, irrespective of changes in the gate voltage, until either the anode is no longer forward biased with respect to the cathode, or until the current through the thyristor (anode to cathode) is less than a holding current I H .","Once the thyristor has been triggered, removing the triggering current does not turn off the thyristor.","If the anode is positively biased with respect to the cathode, then the thyristor cannot be turned off unless the anode current falls below the holding current I H .","The thyristor can, however, be switched off if an external circuit momentarily causes the anode to be negatively biased with respect to the cathode.","Very large and expensive thyristors are used to switch high voltages in high power applications.","Due to the limited maximum forward voltage drop (anode to cathode) that can be put across a thyristor before it conducts too much current and fails, many thyristors are typically assembled together in series in what is referred to as a stack.","Each thyristor of the stack therefore only has to handle part of the overall high forward voltage drop across the stack.","By controlling the gate voltages of the individual thyristors in the stack, the stack can be made to operate as a single high voltage and high power switch that either conducts from one end of the stack to the other, or that does not conduct.","Thyristor stacks are, for example, used in megawatt scale AC-to-DC and DC-to-AC power conversion, such as for example where the high DC voltage is a voltage on a high voltage DC power transmission line.","If the magnitude of the high voltage DC were to momentarily pulse high, such as due to the power line being struck by lightning, then an intolerably high transient voltage might be momentarily placed across the thyristor stack (the anode voltage is at too high a positive voltage with respect to the cathode), causing excessive current flow through the stack if the thyristors were on, and causing localized overheating and failure of the stack.","To avoid this, and to protect the thyristors of the stack from such a transient overvoltage condition, an overvoltage protection device referred to as a BOD (Break Over Diode) device is used.","BOD devices are coupled to the thyristors of the stack in such a way that the BOD devices turns on the thyristors before excessive over voltage across the thyristors can damage the thyristors.","The BOD overvoltage protection device detects the high voltage condition and turns on, thereby causing a gate current to flow into the gate of each thyristor, and thereby turning on the thyristor.","A BOD diode is a thyristor whose gate electrode is not brought out of the device for external connection.","The BOD diode has an anode electrode and a cathode electrode, but the gate electrode of the device is not brought out.","The BOD diode is not triggered on by an externally applied pulse of gate current as described above in the case of a conventional thyristor, but rather the BOD diode is triggered on by the onset of avalanche current that is generated within the BOD device itself.","Operation of the BOD diode is therefore explained using the terminology employed above in connection with the self-latching bipolar transistor structure of FIG.","3 .","In a forward blocking mode, as the anode-to-cathode voltage increases to the V (BO)F , the J 1 and J 3 junctions are forward biased but the J 2 junction is reversed biased.","A depletion region forms at this reverse biased J 2 junction, and the resulting separation of charge at the junction gives rise to a localized electric field.","The strength of the electric field grows to the point that covalent bonds of the material at the J 2 junction are broken, and an avalanche current flows, with generated electrons being pulled to the relative positive potential of the anode, and with generated holes being pulled the opposite direction to the relative negative potential of the cathode.","The hole flow through the P type layer between J 2 and J 3 results in a voltage drop across the material of the P type layer.","If the avalanche current is of adequate magnitude, then the voltage drop exceeds 0.7 volts, resulting in the base-to-emitter voltage of the NPN transistor 5 (see FIG.","3 ) exceeding 0.7 volts.","This causes the NPN transistor 5 to turn on.","The NPN transistor 5 turning on pulls a base current out of the base of the PNP transistor 6 .","PNP transistor 6 turns on, and supplies current from its collector into the base of the NPN transistor 5 .","The two transistors are therefore latched on in a self-latching way, with each one supplying a base current to the other.","Once the BOD diode has triggered itself on in this way, it will remain on unless either the anode is no longer forward biased with respect to the cathode, or until the current through the BOD diode falls below the holding current I H .","In an overvoltage protection application, the BOD diode is coupled in parallel with a power thyristor of a stack, such that if an excessive forward voltage develops across the power thyristor, then the BOD diode undergoes breakover and turns on, thereby conducting a current.","This current is supplied as a triggering pulse to the thyristor, so that the thyristor is turned on.","Accordingly, when the forward voltage across the thyristor reaches an adequately high voltage, the breakover diode supplies a triggering current to the thyristor and causes the thyristor to turn on.","When the thyristor turns on, the forward voltage drop across the thyristor decreases.","The thyristor is therefore protected from an over voltage condition.","FIG.","4 (Prior Art) is a cross-sectional diagram of a conventional bulk BOD diode 8 .","The PNPN thyristor structure is evident.","Whereas the anode electrode 3 of the PNPN structure of FIG.","2 is illustrated on the top, the anode electrode 9 of the BOD diode of FIG.","4 is illustrated on the bottom.","The P type substrate layer 10 is the first P type thyristor layer, the N− type substrate layer 11 is the second N type thyristor layer, the P type base region 12 is the third P type thyristor layer, and the N+ type region 13 is the fourth N type thyristor layer.","Layers 10 and 11 are both of substrate silicon, so the BOD is referred to here as a “bulk” BOD.","Reference numeral 14 identifies the cathode electrode.","The BOD device has guard rings 15 and 16 , and a peripheral shallow channel stopper 17 .","FIG.","5 (Prior Art) is a diagram that shows the electric field along line A-A′ in FIG.","4 just before the onset of avalanche breakdown.","The peak of the electric field is at the J 2 PN junction.","The J 2 PN junction is between the N− type base layer 11 and the P type base region 12 .","When the electric field strength at this point is high enough, then the avalanche current begins to flow.","If the magnitude of current flow from the junction laterally under the emitter region 13 across the resistance of the P type material of region 12 and to the cathode electrode 14 is adequately high, then the resulting voltage drop will reach 0.7 volts.","This 0.7 volt drop amounts to a 0.7 base-to-emitter voltage on the NPN transistor, so the thyristor will be triggered on as described above.","FIG.","6 (Prior Art) is a diagram that shows the turning on of the BOD device 8 of FIG.","4 .","The BOD device has 8 has a reverse breakdown voltage of −200 volts to −300 volts.","In the forward voltage condition, the solid line 18 in FIG.","6 represents current flow through the BOD device from anode to cathode.","The dashed line 19 is the anode-to-cathode voltage across the BOD device.","As can be seen, the BOD device begins to conduct appreciable current at a forward anode-to-cathode breakover voltage V (BO)F of about +450 volts.","This is the time when the avalanche current in the BOD device has reached the triggering current.","Thereafter the current increases and the voltage across the BOD device decreases.","At time 0.6 microseconds the anode-to-cathode voltage across the BOD device has decreased to zero volts.","The turn on time (T ON ) is the time from the time when the internal triggering current is reached at time 0.1 microseconds until the time when the anode-to-cathode voltage reaches zero volts.","The turn on time (T ON ) is therefore 0.5 microseconds.","Because a high transient overvoltage condition can cause a power thyristor of a stack to be destroyed in a short amount of time, a fast turn on BOD is desired for its thyristor-protection function."],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>In a first novel aspect, an ultra-fast breakover diode has a turn on time T ON of less than 0.3 microseconds, a breakover voltage greater than +400 volts, and the breakover voltage varies less than one percent per ten degree Celsius change.","The breakover voltage is also repeatable over changes in semiconductor manufacturing process.","In one example, an anode metal electrode is disposed on a bottom surface of a P type layer of substrate semiconductor material, and an N type buffer layer of epitaxial semiconductor material is disposed on the P type layer.","The N type buffer layer has an N type dopant concentration between 1×10 15 atoms/cm 3 and 1×10 16 atoms/cm 3 .","A thin layer of N− type base layer of epitaxial semiconductor material is disposed on the N type buffer layer.","This thin layer is less than 130 microns thick.","A P type base region extends from a semiconductor surface down into the thin N− type base layer to a depth D. The P type base region has a peripheral edge at the semiconductor surface, and the peripheral edge has a minimum radius of curvature R that is at least twice the depth D. An N+ type annular emitter region extends down from the semiconductor surface down into the P type base region such that material of the P type base region extends up to the semiconductor surface in the center of the N+ annular region and defines a cathode short region of P type semiconductor material.","The cathode short region has a width at the semiconductor surface that is less than 0.250 millimeters.","A cathode metal electrode is disposed over part of the annular N+ type emitter and over the cathode short region at the semiconductor surface.","A floating metal ring is disposed on the P type base region.","In a second novel aspect, a high voltage breakover diode has comparable forward breakover and reverse breakdown voltages.","In one example, an anode metal electrode is disposed on a bottom semiconductor surface of a P type layer of substrate semiconductor material.","An N− type base layer is disposed on the P type layer, and a P type base region extends from an upper semiconductor surface down into the N-type base layer.","An N+ type annular emitter region extends down from the upper semiconductor surface into the P type base region.","P type material of the P type base region extends up to the semiconductor surface in the center of the annular emitter region and defines a cathode short region.","A P type isolation diffusion region extends from the upper semiconductor surface to the bottom semiconductor surface, and the P type isolation diffusion region surrounds the N− type base layer in the lateral dimension so that the P type isolation diffusion contacts each of four side edges of the die of breakover diode device.","A cathode metal electrode is disposed over part of the annular N+ type emitter and over the cathode short region at the upper semiconductor surface.","The breakover diode device has a forward breakover voltage (V (BO)F ) that is greater than four hundred volts.","The breakover diode device is also able to withstand a reverse voltage whose absolute value is in excess of the forward breakover voltage without suffering breakdown.","In a third novel aspect, a packaged overvoltage protection circuit includes a plurality of identical breakover diode dice, and a plurality of resistors.","The plurality of breakover diode dice are coupled together in series between a first package terminal and a second package terminal.","The plurality of resistors are coupled together in a resistor string, such that one resistor is in parallel with each of the plurality of breakover diode dice.","The plurality of breakover diode dice and the plurality of resistors are enclosed in a package housing from which the first and second package terminals extend.","Each of the breakover diodes has a reverse breakdown voltage that is greater in absolute magnitude than the forward breakover voltage of the breakover diode, and the forward breakover voltage is at least 400 volts.","Of importance, the packaged overvoltage protection circuit need contain no expensive separate discrete diode with a high reverse breakdown capability.","The only semiconductor components of the packaged overvoltage protection circuit are the plurality of breakover diode dice.","Accordingly, the package housing encloses no semiconductor die that comprises any component other than a breakover diode.","In one application, the packaged overvoltage protection circuit is usable to supply a triggering current to the gate of a thyristor.","If the voltage between the anode and the cathode of the thyristor exceeds a first positive voltage, then the breakover diodes in the packaged overvoltage protection circuit will undergo breakover such that a triggering current is supplied from the packaged overvoltage protection circuit and into the gate of the thyristor.","The triggering current turns the thyristor on, and the thyristor conducts a large current to reduce the voltage across the thyristor between the anode and cathode to be less than the first positive voltage.","A large negative voltage between the gate of the thyristor and the anode of the thyristor will not damage the packaged overvoltage protection circuit because the packaged overvoltage protection circuit can withstand a reverse voltage of a second voltage.","The second voltage is a large negative voltage that has an absolute value that is greater than the first positive voltage.","The number of breakover diode dice in series can be increased to increase the first and second voltages.","In one example, the first voltage is +8000 volts, and the second voltage is −10,000 volts.","In one example, a snubber circuit is provided between the gate and cathode of the thyristor to soften ill effects of switching voltage spikes on the packaged overvoltage protection circuit.","A current limiting resistor is placed in series with the packaged overvoltage protection circuit between the thyristor anode and the thyristor gate to limit the magnitude of the triggering current.","A second identical circuit (packaged overvoltage protection circuit, thyristor, current limiting resistor, and snubber circuit) is provided in parallel with the first circuit to protect against large negative voltages that are more negative than −8000 volts.","Further details and embodiments and techniques are described in the detailed description below.","This summary does not purport to define the invention.","The invention is defined by the claims."],["CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C.","§ 120 from, nonprovisional U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","13/892,237 entitled “Packaged Overvoltage Protection Circuit For Triggering Thyristors,” filed on May 10, 2013, now U.S. Patent No.","______ , the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.","TECHNICAL FIELD The described embodiments relate to breakover diodes and to related structures and methods.","BACKGROUND INFORMATION FIG.","1 (Prior Art) is a symbol of a thyristor 1.A conventional thyristor is a three terminal semiconductor device that has four layers of alternating N type material and P type material.","FIG.","2 (Prior Art) shows an example in which the thyristor device 1 has an P-N-P-N structure.","A cathode electrode 2 is coupled to the N type material on one side of the device and an anode electrode 3 is coupled to the P type material on the other side of the device.","A gate electrode 4 is coupled to the P type layer closest to the cathode.","The structure has three PN junctions, serially named J1, J2, and J3, from the anode electrode side of the device.","Operation of the thyristor device is explained in terms of a pair of tightly coupled bipolar junction transistors, arranged in a self-latching way, as illustrated in FIG.","3 (Prior Art).","One bipolar transistor 5 is an NPN transistor whose N type emitter is coupled to the cathode electrode.","The other bipolar transistor 6 is a PNP transistor whose P type emitter is coupled to the anode electrode.","The thyristor is considered to operate in one of three modes: 1) in a reverse blocking mode, 2) in a forward blocking mode, and 3) in a forward conducting mode.","If the cathode electrode has a positive voltage with respect to the anode electrode, then no current flows from cathode to anode because either the J3 junction and/or the J1 junction is reverse biased.","These two PN junctions can be thought of as a series connected pair of diodes that are reverse biased.","This is referred to as the reverse blocking mode.","Supplying a triggering pulse into the gate has no effect.","If the anode has a positive voltage with respect to the cathode, but no voltage is applied to the gate electrode with respect to the cathode electrode, then the J1 and J3 junctions are forward biased, while the J2 junction is reverse biased.","Due to the J2 junction being reverse biased, there is no conduction and the thyristor is off.","This is referred to as the forward blocking mode.","The anode-to-cathode voltage is applied in a direction that could cause conduction were there to be current flow across the J2 junction, but the thyristor has not been triggered.","At some voltage, the electric field at the J2 junction grows so strong that the J2 junction starts to breakdown and a small amount of avalanche current begins to flow, but the amount of current is not adequate to turn on transistor 5.If the anode-to-cathode voltage is increased beyond the forward breakdown voltage V(BO)F of the thyristor, then the magnitude of the avalanche current reaches a triggering current, which causes transistor 5 to turn on, and causes the thyristor to start conducting.","This is referred to as the forward conduction mode.","If a positive voltage is applied to the gate electrode with respect to the cathode electrode, then the onset of this avalanche breakdown of the J2 junction occurs at a lower (but still positive) anode-to-cathode voltage.","The anode-to-cathode voltage at which the thyristor turns on is therefore dependent upon the gate voltage (gate-to-cathode voltage).","This positive gate voltage that causes the thyristor to turn on (due to avalanche breakdown of the J2 junction) can be caused by injecting a momentary current pulse 7 into the gate electrode 4.Whether the triggering on is said to occur due to the gate voltage pulse or due to the current of the pulse, the triggering effect of triggering the thyristor on is the same in that avalanche breakdown of the J2 junction is started.","Once avalanche breakdown of the J2 junction has occurred and the thyristor is on and conducting current from the anode to the cathode, the thyristor remains latched in this on state and the thyristor continues to conduct, irrespective of changes in the gate voltage, until either the anode is no longer forward biased with respect to the cathode, or until the current through the thyristor (anode to cathode) is less than a holding current IH.","Once the thyristor has been triggered, removing the triggering current does not turn off the thyristor.","If the anode is positively biased with respect to the cathode, then the thyristor cannot be turned off unless the anode current falls below the holding current IH.","The thyristor can, however, be switched off if an external circuit momentarily causes the anode to be negatively biased with respect to the cathode.","Very large and expensive thyristors are used to switch high voltages in high power applications.","Due to the limited maximum forward voltage drop (anode to cathode) that can be put across a thyristor before it conducts too much current and fails, many thyristors are typically assembled together in series in what is referred to as a stack.","Each thyristor of the stack therefore only has to handle part of the overall high forward voltage drop across the stack.","By controlling the gate voltages of the individual thyristors in the stack, the stack can be made to operate as a single high voltage and high power switch that either conducts from one end of the stack to the other, or that does not conduct.","Thyristor stacks are, for example, used in megawatt scale AC-to-DC and DC-to-AC power conversion, such as for example where the high DC voltage is a voltage on a high voltage DC power transmission line.","If the magnitude of the high voltage DC were to momentarily pulse high, such as due to the power line being struck by lightning, then an intolerably high transient voltage might be momentarily placed across the thyristor stack (the anode voltage is at too high a positive voltage with respect to the cathode), causing excessive current flow through the stack if the thyristors were on, and causing localized overheating and failure of the stack.","To avoid this, and to protect the thyristors of the stack from such a transient overvoltage condition, an overvoltage protection device referred to as a BOD (Break Over Diode) device is used.","BOD devices are coupled to the thyristors of the stack in such a way that the BOD devices turns on the thyristors before excessive over voltage across the thyristors can damage the thyristors.","The BOD overvoltage protection device detects the high voltage condition and turns on, thereby causing a gate current to flow into the gate of each thyristor, and thereby turning on the thyristor.","A BOD diode is a thyristor whose gate electrode is not brought out of the device for external connection.","The BOD diode has an anode electrode and a cathode electrode, but the gate electrode of the device is not brought out.","The BOD diode is not triggered on by an externally applied pulse of gate current as described above in the case of a conventional thyristor, but rather the BOD diode is triggered on by the onset of avalanche current that is generated within the BOD device itself.","Operation of the BOD diode is therefore explained using the terminology employed above in connection with the self-latching bipolar transistor structure of FIG.","3.In a forward blocking mode, as the anode-to-cathode voltage increases to the V(BO)F, the J1 and J3 junctions are forward biased but the J2 junction is reversed biased.","A depletion region forms at this reverse biased J2 junction, and the resulting separation of charge at the junction gives rise to a localized electric field.","The strength of the electric field grows to the point that covalent bonds of the material at the J2 junction are broken, and an avalanche current flows, with generated electrons being pulled to the relative positive potential of the anode, and with generated holes being pulled the opposite direction to the relative negative potential of the cathode.","The hole flow through the P type layer between J2 and J3 results in a voltage drop across the material of the P type layer.","If the avalanche current is of adequate magnitude, then the voltage drop exceeds 0.7 volts, resulting in the base-to-emitter voltage of the NPN transistor 5 (see FIG.","3) exceeding 0.7 volts.","This causes the NPN transistor 5 to turn on.","The NPN transistor 5 turning on pulls a base current out of the base of the PNP transistor 6.PNP transistor 6 turns on, and supplies current from its collector into the base of the NPN transistor 5.The two transistors are therefore latched on in a self-latching way, with each one supplying a base current to the other.","Once the BOD diode has triggered itself on in this way, it will remain on unless either the anode is no longer forward biased with respect to the cathode, or until the current through the BOD diode falls below the holding current IH.","In an overvoltage protection application, the BOD diode is coupled in parallel with a power thyristor of a stack, such that if an excessive forward voltage develops across the power thyristor, then the BOD diode undergoes breakover and turns on, thereby conducting a current.","This current is supplied as a triggering pulse to the thyristor, so that the thyristor is turned on.","Accordingly, when the forward voltage across the thyristor reaches an adequately high voltage, the breakover diode supplies a triggering current to the thyristor and causes the thyristor to turn on.","When the thyristor turns on, the forward voltage drop across the thyristor decreases.","The thyristor is therefore protected from an over voltage condition.","FIG.","4 (Prior Art) is a cross-sectional diagram of a conventional bulk BOD diode 8.The PNPN thyristor structure is evident.","Whereas the anode electrode 3 of the PNPN structure of FIG.","2 is illustrated on the top, the anode electrode 9 of the BOD diode of FIG.","4 is illustrated on the bottom.","The P type substrate layer 10 is the first P type thyristor layer, the N− type substrate layer 11 is the second N type thyristor layer, the P type base region 12 is the third P type thyristor layer, and the N+ type region 13 is the fourth N type thyristor layer.","Layers 10 and 11 are both of substrate silicon, so the BOD is referred to here as a “bulk” BOD.","Reference numeral 14 identifies the cathode electrode.","The BOD device has guard rings 15 and 16, and a peripheral shallow channel stopper 17.FIG.","5 (Prior Art) is a diagram that shows the electric field along line A-A′ in FIG.","4 just before the onset of avalanche breakdown.","The peak of the electric field is at the J2 PN junction.","The J2 PN junction is between the N− type base layer 11 and the P type base region 12.When the electric field strength at this point is high enough, then the avalanche current begins to flow.","If the magnitude of current flow from the junction laterally under the emitter region 13 across the resistance of the P type material of region 12 and to the cathode electrode 14 is adequately high, then the resulting voltage drop will reach 0.7 volts.","This 0.7 volt drop amounts to a 0.7 base-to-emitter voltage on the NPN transistor, so the thyristor will be triggered on as described above.","FIG.","6 (Prior Art) is a diagram that shows the turning on of the BOD device 8 of FIG.","4.The BOD device has 8 has a reverse breakdown voltage of −200 volts to −300 volts.","In the forward voltage condition, the solid line 18 in FIG.","6 represents current flow through the BOD device from anode to cathode.","The dashed line 19 is the anode-to-cathode voltage across the BOD device.","As can be seen, the BOD device begins to conduct appreciable current at a forward anode-to-cathode breakover voltage V(BO)F of about +450 volts.","This is the time when the avalanche current in the BOD device has reached the triggering current.","Thereafter the current increases and the voltage across the BOD device decreases.","At time 0.6 microseconds the anode-to-cathode voltage across the BOD device has decreased to zero volts.","The turn on time (TON) is the time from the time when the internal triggering current is reached at time 0.1 microseconds until the time when the anode-to-cathode voltage reaches zero volts.","The turn on time (TON) is therefore 0.5 microseconds.","Because a high transient overvoltage condition can cause a power thyristor of a stack to be destroyed in a short amount of time, a fast turn on BOD is desired for its thyristor-protection function.","SUMMARY In a first novel aspect, an ultra-fast breakover diode has a turn on time TON of less than 0.3 microseconds, a breakover voltage greater than +400 volts, and the breakover voltage varies less than one percent per ten degree Celsius change.","The breakover voltage is also repeatable over changes in semiconductor manufacturing process.","In one example, an anode metal electrode is disposed on a bottom surface of a P type layer of substrate semiconductor material, and an N type buffer layer of epitaxial semiconductor material is disposed on the P type layer.","The N type buffer layer has an N type dopant concentration between 1×1015 atoms/cm3 and 1×1016 atoms/cm3.A thin layer of N− type base layer of epitaxial semiconductor material is disposed on the N type buffer layer.","This thin layer is less than 130 microns thick.","A P type base region extends from a semiconductor surface down into the thin N− type base layer to a depth D. The P type base region has a peripheral edge at the semiconductor surface, and the peripheral edge has a minimum radius of curvature R that is at least twice the depth D. An N+ type annular emitter region extends down from the semiconductor surface down into the P type base region such that material of the P type base region extends up to the semiconductor surface in the center of the N+ annular region and defines a cathode short region of P type semiconductor material.","The cathode short region has a width at the semiconductor surface that is less than 0.250 millimeters.","A cathode metal electrode is disposed over part of the annular N+ type emitter and over the cathode short region at the semiconductor surface.","A floating metal ring is disposed on the P type base region.","In a second novel aspect, a high voltage breakover diode has comparable forward breakover and reverse breakdown voltages.","In one example, an anode metal electrode is disposed on a bottom semiconductor surface of a P type layer of substrate semiconductor material.","An N− type base layer is disposed on the P type layer, and a P type base region extends from an upper semiconductor surface down into the N-type base layer.","An N+ type annular emitter region extends down from the upper semiconductor surface into the P type base region.","P type material of the P type base region extends up to the semiconductor surface in the center of the annular emitter region and defines a cathode short region.","A P type isolation diffusion region extends from the upper semiconductor surface to the bottom semiconductor surface, and the P type isolation diffusion region surrounds the N− type base layer in the lateral dimension so that the P type isolation diffusion contacts each of four side edges of the die of breakover diode device.","A cathode metal electrode is disposed over part of the annular N+ type emitter and over the cathode short region at the upper semiconductor surface.","The breakover diode device has a forward breakover voltage (V(BO)F) that is greater than four hundred volts.","The breakover diode device is also able to withstand a reverse voltage whose absolute value is in excess of the forward breakover voltage without suffering breakdown.","In a third novel aspect, a packaged overvoltage protection circuit includes a plurality of identical breakover diode dice, and a plurality of resistors.","The plurality of breakover diode dice are coupled together in series between a first package terminal and a second package terminal.","The plurality of resistors are coupled together in a resistor string, such that one resistor is in parallel with each of the plurality of breakover diode dice.","The plurality of breakover diode dice and the plurality of resistors are enclosed in a package housing from which the first and second package terminals extend.","Each of the breakover diodes has a reverse breakdown voltage that is greater in absolute magnitude than the forward breakover voltage of the breakover diode, and the forward breakover voltage is at least 400 volts.","Of importance, the packaged overvoltage protection circuit need contain no expensive separate discrete diode with a high reverse breakdown capability.","The only semiconductor components of the packaged overvoltage protection circuit are the plurality of breakover diode dice.","Accordingly, the package housing encloses no semiconductor die that comprises any component other than a breakover diode.","In one application, the packaged overvoltage protection circuit is usable to supply a triggering current to the gate of a thyristor.","If the voltage between the anode and the cathode of the thyristor exceeds a first positive voltage, then the breakover diodes in the packaged overvoltage protection circuit will undergo breakover such that a triggering current is supplied from the packaged overvoltage protection circuit and into the gate of the thyristor.","The triggering current turns the thyristor on, and the thyristor conducts a large current to reduce the voltage across the thyristor between the anode and cathode to be less than the first positive voltage.","A large negative voltage between the gate of the thyristor and the anode of the thyristor will not damage the packaged overvoltage protection circuit because the packaged overvoltage protection circuit can withstand a reverse voltage of a second voltage.","The second voltage is a large negative voltage that has an absolute value that is greater than the first positive voltage.","The number of breakover diode dice in series can be increased to increase the first and second voltages.","In one example, the first voltage is +8000 volts, and the second voltage is −10,000 volts.","In one example, a snubber circuit is provided between the gate and cathode of the thyristor to soften ill effects of switching voltage spikes on the packaged overvoltage protection circuit.","A current limiting resistor is placed in series with the packaged overvoltage protection circuit between the thyristor anode and the thyristor gate to limit the magnitude of the triggering current.","A second identical circuit (packaged overvoltage protection circuit, thyristor, current limiting resistor, and snubber circuit) is provided in parallel with the first circuit to protect against large negative voltages that are more negative than −8000 volts.","Further details and embodiments and techniques are described in the detailed description below.","This summary does not purport to define the invention.","The invention is defined by the claims.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, where like numerals indicate like components, illustrate embodiments of the invention.","FIG.","1 (Prior Art) is a diagram of a thyristor symbol.","FIG.","2 (Prior Art) is a simplified diagram of the structure of a thyristor.","FIG.","3 (Prior Art) is a simplified circuit diagram of a thyristor.","FIG.","4 (Prior Art) is a cross-sectional diagram of a bulk breakover diode device.","FIG.","5 (Prior Art) is a diagram that illustrates the electric field along sectional line A-A′ in FIG.","4.FIG.","6 (Prior Art) is a waveform diagram that shows the turn on time TON of the bulk BOD device of FIG.","4.FIG.","7 is a simplified cross-sectional diagram of a breakover diode (BOD) die in accordance with a first novel aspect.","FIG.","8 is a diagram of a package that contains the BOD die of FIG.","7.FIG.","9 is a schematic diagram of the package of FIG.","8.FIG.","10 is a top-down diagram of the BOD die of FIG.","7.FIG.","11 is a view of the bottom of the BOD die of FIG.","7.FIG.","12 is a circuit diagram of a test circuits used to exercise the BOD die of FIG.","7.FIG.","13 is a waveform diagram that shows the turn on time TON of the BOD die of FIG.","7.FIG.","14 is a diagram that illustrates the electric field along sectional line B-B′ in FIG.","7.FIG.","15 is a diagram that illustrates a depletion region in the BOD die of FIG.","7 just before avalanche breakdown.","FIG.","16 is a diagram that shows BOD devices having different turn on times being manufactured as parts of the same wafer.","FIG.","17 is a diagram showing how the forward breakover voltage of the BOD die of FIG.","7 varies less than one percent per ten degree Celsius change in temperature.","FIG.","18 is a diagram showing the V-I characteristic of the BOD die of FIG.","7.FIG.","19 is a diagram of a thyristor protection circuit that involves the BOD die of FIG.","7.FIG.","20 is a table that sets forth aspects of the composition of various parts of the BOD die of FIG.","7.FIG.","21 is a table that shows how the turn on time of a device of the architecture of the BOD die of FIG.","7 can be adjusted.","FIG.","22 is a cross-sectional diagram of a BOD device in accordance with a second novel aspect.","FIG.","23 is a diagram of a package that contains the breakover diode device of FIG.","22.FIG.","24 is a schematic diagram of the package of FIG.","23.FIG.","25 is a top-down diagram of the BOD device of FIG.","22.FIG.","26 is a diagram of the bottom of the BOD device of FIG.","22.FIG.","27 is a cross-sectional diagram of the BOD device of FIG.","22 showing the J1 depletion region for a reverse voltage of about −300 volts.","FIG.","28 is cross-sectional diagram of the BOD device of FIG.","22 showing the J1 depletion region for a reverse voltage of about −500 volts.","FIG.","29 is a diagram that shows the turn on time TON of the BOD device of FIG.","22, when the BOD device is tested in the test circuit of FIG.","12.FIG.","30 is a diagram that shows the V-I characteristic of the BOD device of FIG.","22.FIG.","31 is a table that sets forth aspects of the composition of various parts of the BOD device of FIG.","22.FIG.","32 is a diagram of a packaged overvoltage protection circuit in accordance with a third novel aspect.","FIG.","33 is a circuit diagram of the packaged overvoltage protection circuit of FIG.","32 in use with a thyristor, a current limiting resistor, and a snubber.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION Reference will now be made in detail to background examples and some embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.","In the description and claims below, when a first object is referred to as being disposed “over” or “on” a second object, it is to be understood that the first object can be directly on the second object, or an intervening object may be present between the first and second objects.","Similarly, terms such as “upper”, “top”, “up”, “down”, and “bottom” are used herein to describe relative orientations between different parts of the structure being described, and it is to be understood that the overall structure being described can actually be oriented in any way in three-dimensional space.","The notations N+, N−, N, P+, and P are only relative, and are to be considered in context, and do not denote any particular dopant concentration range.","FIG.","7 is a cross-sectional diagram of a breakover diode (BOD) device 20 in accordance with one novel aspect.","A metal anode electrode 21 is disposed on the bottom surface of a layer of P type substrate semiconductor material 22.An N type buffer layer 23 of epitaxial semiconductor material is disposed on the P type substrate layer 22.The epitaxial layer is grown on the substrate using known processes.","An N− type base layer 24 of epitaxial semiconductor material is disposed on the N type buffer layer 23.The N-type base layer 24 is more lightly doped with N type dopants than is the N type buffer layer 23.The N− type layer 24 extends up to an upper semiconductor surface 25 of the die structure.","The bottom semiconductor surface 26 of the die structure is identified by reference numeral 26.In the illustrated example, the two surfaces 25 and 26 are substantially planar.","A P type base region 27 extends down into the N− type base layer 24 from the upper semiconductor surface 25.An N+ type annular emitter region 28 extends down into the P type base region 27 from the upper semiconductor surface 25 as shown.","The region 28 is annular in that it has a ring-shape when considered from the top-down perspective.","An amount of the P type material of the P type base region 27 extends up in the center of this annular structure so that the P type material reaches the upper semiconductor surface 25.This amount of P type material is referred to as the “cathode short region” 29.Cathode short region 29 has a width W at the upper semiconductor surface 25.A metal cathode electrode 30 is disposed on the upper semiconductor surface 25 so that it makes contact with the N+ type annular emitter region 28 and with the cathode short region 29 at the upper semiconductor surface 25 as shown.","A floating metal ring 31 is disposed on the upper surface of the P type base region 27 so that the floating metal ring 31 surrounds, but does not touch, the metal cathode electrode 30.The floating metal ring 31 is “floating” in the sense that it is not electrically coupled to the cathode metal electrode 30.The floating metal ring 31 does not extend over any portion of the N− type base layer at the surface 25, nor does it extend over any portion of the annular N+ type emitter region 28 at the surface 25.The floating metal ring 31 is only in contact with the P type base region 27.In addition, the BOD device 20 includes two concentric P+ type guard rings 32 and 33.P+ type guard ring 32 surrounds the P type base region 27, and P+ type guard ring 33 surrounds the P+ type guard ring 32.In addition, the BOD device 20 includes an N+ type channel stopper ring 34.FIG.","8 is a side view of a packaged BOD device 40.A BOD die of the type illustrated in FIG.","7 is enclosed in the plastic housing portion 41 the package of FIG.","40.The anode metal electrode 21 of the die is coupled to metal package terminal PT2 42.The cathode metal electrode 30 of the die is coupled to metal package terminal PT1 43.FIG.","9 is a schematic diagram of the packaged BOD device 40 of FIG.","8.The connections 44 and 45 are internal to the package.","FIG.","10 is a diagram of the top surface of BOD die 20.The cathode metal electrode 30 has a square shape when viewed from the top-down perspective, except that the corners of the square are rounded.","The peripheral edge of the P type base region 27 (when viewed from the top-down perspective) has a minimum radius of curvature of radius R. Similarly, the minimum radius of curvature R′ of the floating metal ring 31 is approximately R. From the top-down perspective, the strip-like shape of the floating metal ring 31 follows along the peripheral boundary of the P type base region 27.FIG.","11 is a diagram of the bottom surface of BOD die 20.Substantially the entire bottom surface of the BOD die is covered in metal of the anode metal electrode 21.FIG.","12 is a schematic diagram of a test circuit.","The high voltage DC supply 46 is isolated from the BOD device 20 by 5k ohm resistor 47, capacitor 48, and inductor 49.The values are capacitor 48 and inductor 49 are selected depending on the pulse width and peak current desired.","A 1800V antiparallel diode 50 is disposed in parallel with BOD device 20 in order to protect the BOD device 20 from any large negative transient voltages that might occur as a consequence of the switching.","If a negative transient voltage where to develop across the BOD device 20, then diode 50 would conduct and limit the magnitude of this negative voltage across the BOD device.","A Pearson transformer 51 is provided to detect and measure current 52 that might be flowing.","In operation, the switch 53 is closed so that the DC voltage charges the capacitor 48 through the resistor 47.The voltage on capacitor 48 increases until the V(BO)F of the BOD device 20 is reached.","The BOD device 20 is then triggered on, and current 52 begins to flow.","This current 52 is measured via the Pearson transformer 51.Due to the current flow 52, the capacitor 48 is discharged through the inductance of inductor 49.FIG.","13 is a waveform diagram showing the voltage across the BOD device 20 and the current flow 52 through the BOD device 20.The BOD device 20 of FIG.","7 has a reverse breakdown voltage of −20 volts.","The dashed line 54 in FIG.","13 represents the voltage across the BOD device 20.Solid line 55 shows the current 52 flowing through the BOD device 20.The voltage across the BOD device 20 increases until the avalanche current reaches the internal triggering current of the BOD device 20, at which time the voltage across the BOD device 20 is V(BO)F at time 0.2 microseconds.","The BOD device 20 then undergoes breakover, and current flow through the BOD device 20 rises quickly.","Accordingly, the voltage across the BOD device 20 decreases quickly.","The voltage across the BOD device 20 reaches zero volts by time 0.5 microseconds.","The turn on time TON is the time from the time when the avalanche current reaches the triggering current until the time when the voltage across the BOD device has decreased to zero volts.","The turn on time TON is therefore 0.3 microseconds.","The subsequent part of the voltage and current waveforms involve ringing and transients that are not important for the considerations here.","As compared to the 0.5 microsecond turn on time TON of the prior art BOD device of FIG.","4, the 0.3 microsecond turn on time TON of the BOD device of FIG.","7 is considerably smaller.","In one advantageous aspect, the BOD device 20 of FIG.","7 has a reduced turn on time TON.","This is accomplished by recognizing that the delay in turn on in the prior art structure of FIG.","4 is mainly due to slow diffusion of charge carriers through the neutral part of the N− type layer 11.When avalanche occurs at the PN junction between P base region 12 and N− type layer 11, time is required for the charge carriers to pass through the structure and to reach the electrodes.","In the novel BOD device 20 of FIG.","7, the thickness of the N-base layer 24 is reduced to be less than 130 microns, as compared to the thicker N− type layer 11 of the prior art structure of FIG.","4.This reduces the distance the charge carriers have to traverse in a turn on event.","The forward blocking voltage of the BOD device, however, is limited by the onset of punch-through.","If, under a reverse bias situation, the depletion region at the PN junction between the P type base 12 and the N− type material of layer 11 were to expand so far that it were to reach the top of the P type layer 10, then punch through would occur.","At this point the device would breakdown.","Accordingly, in the conventional design of FIG.","4 the N-type layer 11 is made thick enough so that under the high voltage forward voltages that the BOD device is to be able to withstand, the depletion region does not reach the P type layer 10.In the novel device of FIG.","7, on the other hand, the N− type layer 24 is made thinner and punch through is prevented by providing an extra more heavily doped N type buffer layer 23.Due to the low doping concentration in the N− type layer 24, the depletion region grows relative quickly through this layer as the forward voltage across the BOD device increases, but when the depletion region reaches the more highly doped N type buffer layer 23 the depletion region expands downward much more slowly with further increases in the forward voltage.","The doping concentration of the N type buffer layer 23 is chosen to be high enough that the depletion layer is effectively stopped and does not penetrate deeper than ten microns in the N type buffer layer 23 at the time the breakover voltage is reached.","This defines the lower limit for the N type dopant concentration in the buffer layer to be approximately 1×1015 atoms/cm3.On the other hand, too high an N type dopant concentration in the buffer layer would reduce the injection efficiency of the P type emitter of the PNP transistor.","The P type substrate layer 22 is the emitter of this PNP transistor.","If the injection efficiency of the emitter of the PNP transistor is reduced, then the turn on speed will be reduced.","This defines the upper limit for the N type dopant concentration in the N type buffer layer 23 to be approximately 1×1017 atoms/cm3.The preferred range for N type dopants in the N type buffer layer 23 is 1×1015 atoms/cm3 to 1×1016 atoms/cm3.The thickness of the N type buffer layer 23 should be as small as possible, while still preventing the depletion region from penetrating through the N type buffer layer.","This results in a thickness of the N type buffer layer 23 of approximately 15 microns to 25 microns.","FIG.","14 is a diagram that shows the strength of the electric field along sectional line B-B′ in the structure of FIG.","7.The highest electric field strength is at the PN junction between the P type base region 27 and the N− type base layer 24.From this high electric field strength, the electric field decreases at a relatively lower rate (as compared to the rate of decrease of the electric field in FIG.","5) through the lightly doped N− type base layer 24.The depletion layer extends all the way through the N− type base layer 24, and into the more highly doped N type buffer layer 23.Accordingly, the magnitude of the electric field decreases at a relatively higher rate into the N− type buffer layer 24.The depletion region ends about half way into the N type buffer layer 23, well before the P type substrate is reached.","FIG.","15 is a cross-sectional diagram that shows the contour of the outer extent of the depletion region.","In the diagram, as the forward voltage across the BOD device increases, the depletion region expands from the JN junction (the PN junction between P type region 17 and N-base layer 24) downward and to the right.","Dashed line 56 indicates the outer extent of the depletion region at a point in time before avalanche breakdown occurs.","Dashed line 57 indicates the outer extent of the depletion region at a later point in time when there is a greater forward voltage across the BOD device.","The depletion region has extended into the upper part of the N type buffer layer 23.The P+ type guard rings affect and shape the contour of the boundary of the depletion region so that it has a relatively smooth shape when considered in three-dimensional space.","The N+ type channel stopper ring 34 stops the depletion region from extending laterally out to the side walls of the die.","The maximum possible electric field occurs at the PN junction, at the point of highest curvature in the junction.","This region is indicated in FIG.","15 by reference numeral 58.In the case of the BOD device 20 that has a very short turn on time TON of 0.3 microseconds, the triggering on of the device due to avalanche breakdown has to occur quickly, and there is not adequate time for the current conducting area of breakdown to spread over the whole emitter area.","Current flow is restricted to a small area around the point where avalanche breakdown was triggered.","In a conventional design, such triggering would occur at four points in the bottom corners of the P type base region.","The P type base region conventionally has corners when considered from the top-down perspective, and the bottom corners are the corner PN junction at the bottom of the P type base region in these four corner areas.","In accordance with one novel aspect, the turn on time TON of the BOD device 20 is small in part due to increasing the minimum radius of curvature R (see FIG.","10) of the P type base region.","The minimum radius of curvature R is the radius of curvature illustrated in FIG.","10.In one example, the minimum radius of curvature R is at least twice the depth D 59 of the N− type base layer 24, and is preferably four times the depth D of the N− type base layer 24.The region 58 where avalanche is triggered is therefore closer to a ring than it is to four separate points as in the prior art.","Floating metal ring 31 also facilitates uniform triggering of avalanche breakdown.","Empirically it has been found that providing the floating metal ring 31 reduces TON.","Floating metal ring 31 is thought to assist in the making the onset of avalanche more uniform due to equalizing of what might otherwise be local peaks in the electric field in the semiconductor material below the ring.","In addition to facilitating fast turn on by reducing carrier lifetime in the N-type base layer, and in addition to facilitating fast turn on by promoting uniform and distributed avalanche triggering, fast turn on is further facilitated by reducing the amount of avalanche current that causes the NPN transistor to turn on.","If charge carriers are generated in region 58 in FIG.","15, then holes will move from this region laterally to the left through the P type base region 27, passing under the N+ annular emitter region 28, and to the cathode short region 29, and up to the cathode metal electrode 30.Reducing the width of the cathode short region 29, which may result in an increase in the resistance of the current path at this point, is seen to reduce the triggering current required to achieve the requisite 0.7 volt drop to turn on the NPN transistor.","In one example, the width of the cathode short region is 0.125 millimeters, and the amount of avalanche current required to achieve turn on (the triggering current) is about 10 milliamperes, and the turn on time is 0.3 microseconds or less.","FIG.","16 is a diagram of a wafer 60 of BOD devices being manufactured, where different ones of the BOD devices are fabricated to have different triggering currents due to the BOD devices having different cathode short region widths.","The BOD devices at this point in the semiconductor manufacturing process before wafer dicing are oriented in row and columns on the wafer.","The upper part 61 of the diagram of FIG.","16 is a blowup cross-sectional view of a first BOD device 62.The lower part 63 of the diagram of FIG.","16 is a blowup cross-sectional view of a second BOD device 64.The width W1 of the cathode short region of BOD device 62 is wider than is the width W2 of the cathode short region of BOD device 64.In this way, a single wafer can yield BOD devices having a range of triggering currents.","In addition to the novel BOD device 20 of FIG.","7 having a small turn on time, and a small triggering current, the design of the BOD device 20 also results in reduced variability of the forward breakover voltage over temperature, and over process.","Conventionally, variation in the forward breakover voltages of BOD devices (that ideally should have the same breakover voltage) over temperature is two percent per ten degrees Celsius, or more.","Moreover, one BOD device manufactured using a design and process may have a forward breakover voltage that varies considerably from the forward breakover voltage of another BOD device manufactured on the same wafer using the same design and process.","This variation in the forward breakover voltage is undesirable.","FIG.","17 is a simplified diagram that illustrates BOD forward breakover voltage versus temperature.","Line 65 shows how the forward breakover voltage of the prior art BOD diode of FIG.","4 changes at about two percent per ten degree Celsius change in temperature.","Line 66 shows how the forward breakover voltage of the novel BOD diode 20 of FIG.","7 changes with temperature.","Advantageously, the forward breakover voltage changes less than one percent per ten degree Celsius change in temperature.","In a conventional BOD device where the N− type layer 11 is thick, and where the depletion region expands downward a greater distance, the shape of the bottom extent of the depletion region is not perfectly planar.","Variations in the doping concentration of the N− type layer 11 affect the breakover voltage, and variations of ten percent in dopant concentrations is typical.","In the novel BOD device 20 of FIG.","7, on the other hand, the entire N− type layer 24 typically depletes prior to breakover.","The bottom surface of N-type layer 24 is quite planar.","Further expansion of the depletion region extends into the top of the N type buffer layer 23, but this buffer layer has a much higher N type dopant concentration so the depletion region does not extend far into the buffer layer.","The bottom extent of the depletion region is therefore quite planar and uniform.","As compared to difficulties in controlling the N type dopant concentration in the N type layer 11 of the prior art structure, it is easier to control the thickness of the N− type base layer 24 in the BOD device of FIG.","7.Due to the improved uniformity and repeatability in the way the depletion region grows in devices made using the structure of FIG.","7, the forward breakover voltages of devices made using the structure of FIG.","7 are more uniform and repeatable.","The forward breakover voltage of a particular BOD device is less affected by changes in temperature as shown in the diagram of FIG.","17.FIG.","18 is a diagram that shows the V-I characteristic of the BOD device 20 of FIG.","17.In a simplified explanation, as the forward voltage (the voltage from terminal T2 to terminal T1) increases, the current remains very close to zero and the BOD device is in the forward blocking mode.","At some high forward voltage, avalanche breakdown begins to occur, but the current flow is not equal to the triggering current.","When the voltage reaches the forward breakover voltage V(BO)F, then the avalanche current reaches the triggering current, and then breakover occurs and the BOD device turns on.","The voltage across the BOD device therefore quickly falls to a low voltage VH.","Once the BOD device is on, an increase in the voltage across the BOD device results in a rapid increase in current.","The BOD device is effectively a short.","The BOD device will remain in this forward conductive mode unless the current flow through the BOD device falls below the holding current IH.","The BOD device is not able to tolerate reverse voltages well, so there is no voltage to current relationship shown for negative voltages.","FIG.","19 is a diagram of an overvoltage protection circuit.","Two such circuits may be provided in antiparallel fashion as a crowbar to protect a piece of equipment (not shown) from voltages more positive than +2000V and from voltages more negative than −2000V.","With respect to the +2000V protection circuit, if the positive voltage between node 67 and node 68 grows adequately large, then the large positive voltage will effectively be present across packaged BOD device 40.When the voltage reaches the forward breakover voltage of the BOD device, the BOD device breaks over and turns on.","The resulting current, which is limited by resistor 70, then flows from node 67, through the resistor 70, through a reverse diode 71, through the packaged BOD device 40, and into the gate terminal G of the thyristor 69.This gate current triggers the thyristor 69 on.","As a result of the triggering current flowing into the gate of thyristor 69, thyristor 69 turns on and conducts a large amount of current from node 67 to node 68, thereby reducing the voltage between nodes 67 and 68, and thereby protecting the equipment from overvoltage.","The BOD device cannot tolerate large negative voltages (for example, cannot tolerate a negative voltage greater than −20V), so the reverse diode 71 is provided to block current from flowing upward through the BOD device from terminal PT1 to PT2 during large negative voltage situations.","In addition, the thyristor can turn off rapidly.","When the thyristor turns off it can generate voltage spikes (voltage spikes between the thyristor cathode and the thyristor gate).","The RC circuit of resistor 72 and capacitor 73 is a snubber circuit.","The snubber circuit is provided to soften the effect of the self-induced voltage spikes, and prevents these self-induced spikes from reaching and damaging the BOD device.","As just described, the circuit pictured in FIG.","19 protects the equipment against positive voltages in excess of +2000V.","There is also a similar circuit (not shown) provided in the opposite direction between the same two nodes 67 and 68 to protect the equipment from voltages that are more negative than −2000V.","The variation in the forward breakover voltage as a function of temperature changes is a major problem because margin needs to be provided in the capability of the other parts of the circuit (such as the thyristor), and in the equipment being protected, to account for the changes in the breakover voltage of the BOD device.","When temperature increases, the equipment and thyristor still need to be able to tolerate the higher voltage that may be present (due to the breakover voltage of the BOD device increasing).","The less than one percent change in forward breakover voltage per ten degrees Celsius (see line 66 of FIG.","17) can result in major cost savings in the overall system as compared to the two percent change in forward breakover voltage per ten degrees Celsius of the prior art bulk BOD of FIG.","4.FIG.","20 is a table that shows various aspects of the composition of the BOD device of FIG.","7.FIG.","21 is a table that shows how reducing the cathode short region width results in reduced triggering currents.","FIG.","22 is a cross-sectional diagram of a BOD device 100 having comparable forward breakover and reverse breakdown voltages in accordance with one novel aspect.","BOD device 100 has a forward breakover voltage of +450 volts and a reverse breakdown voltage of −500 volts.","The voltages are comparable in the sense that the absolute magnitude of the reverse breakdown voltage is slightly greater than the forward breakover voltage.","A metal anode electrode 101 is disposed on the bottom surface of a layer of P type substrate semiconductor material 102.An N− type base layer 103 of substrate semiconductor material is disposed on the P type substrate layer 102.The N− type base layer can be formed by diffusing N type dopants down into the P type substrate material from the upper semiconductor surface.","The N− type base layer 103 extends up to an upper semiconductor surface 104 of the die structure.","The bottom semiconductor surface of the die structure is identified by reference numeral 105.In the illustrated example, the two surfaces 104 and 105 are substantially planar.","A P type base region 106 extends down into the N− type base layer 103 from the upper semiconductor surface 104.An N+ type annular emitter region 107 extends down into the P type base region 106 from the upper semiconductor surface 104 as shown.","Region 107 is annular in that it has a ring-shape when considered from the top-down perspective.","An amount of the P type material of the P type base region 106 in the center of the ring extends up so that the P type material reaches the upper semiconductor surface 104.This amount of P type material is referred to as the cathode short region 108.A metal cathode electrode 109 is disposed on the upper semiconductor surface 104 so that it makes contact with the N+ type annular emitter region 107 and with the cathode short region 108 at the upper semiconductor surface 104 as shown.","An optional floating metal ring 110 is disposed on the upper surface of the P type base region 106 so that the floating metal ring 110 surrounds, but does not touch, the metal cathode electrode 109.This structure of the upper portion of the BOD of FIG.","22 is similar to the structure of the upper portion of the BOD of FIG.","7, except that in the case of the BOD of FIG.","22 a peripheral P type isolation diffusion region 111 is provided.","The peripheral P type isolation diffusion region 111 extends from the upper semiconductor surface 104 all the way through the die structure to the bottom semiconductor surface 105.The peripheral P type isolation diffusion region reaches the side edges of the die as shown.","The peripheral P type isolation diffusion region is formed by implanting and diffusing P type dopants into the structure from the upper semiconductor surface 104, and by implanting and diffusing P type dopants into the structure from the bottom semiconductor surface 105, so that the two doped regions meet.","As in the case of the BOD of FIG.","7, two P+ type guard rings 112 and 113 are provided and an N+ type channel stopper 114 is provided as well.","FIG.","23 is a side view of a packaged BOD device 115.A BOD die of the type illustrated in FIG.","22 is enclosed in the plastic housing portion 116 of the package of FIG.","23.The anode metal electrode 101 of the BOD die is coupled to metal package terminal PT2 117.The cathode metal electrode 109 of the BOD die is coupled to metal package terminal PT1 118.FIG.","24 is a schematic diagram of the packaged BOD device 115 of FIG.","23.The connections 119 and 120 are internal to the package.","The BOD device is a N-P-N-P layered device, where the top N type layer is the N+ type annular emitter region, where the next P type layer is the P type base region 106, where the next N type layer is the N− type base layer 103, and where the last P type layer is the P type substrate layer 102.The BOD die 100 does not actually include a reverse diode separate from the BOD diode, but rather the symbols of FIG.","24 indicate a functionality of the device.","The reverse diode function is performed by the PN junction of the J1 junction between P type substrate 102 and N− type base layer 103.FIG.","25 is a top-down diagram of the BOD die 100 of FIG.","22.As in the case of the BOD die of FIG.","10 described above, the periphery of P type base region 106 (when considered from the top-down perspective) has a minimum radius of curvature R, where R is at least twice the depth D of the N− type base layer 103, and is preferably four times the depth D of the N− type base layer 103.FIG.","26 is a diagram of the bottom surface of the BOD die 100 of FIG.","22.Substantially the entire bottom surface of the BOD die is covered in metal of the metal anode electrode 101.FIG.","27 is a cross-sectional diagram of the BOD device 100 under a reverse voltage of −300 volts (the anode is −300 volts with respect to the cathode).","The BOD device 100 successfully blocks this −300 volt reverse voltage.","The depletion region extends from the J1 PN junction into the N-base layer 103.The depletion region also extends from the J1 PN junction into the P type substrate layer 102 and into the P type isolation diffusion region 111.Whereas the reverse breakdown voltage of the BOD device of FIG.","19 is about −200 volts, the reverse breakdown voltage of the BOD device of FIG.","22 is about −500 volts.","The absolute magnitude of the reverse breakdown voltage (−500 volts) is higher than the forward breakover voltage (+450 volts) because in the forward bias direction the base region 106 has a cylindrical junction.","In the forward bias direction, without the guard rings, the device would break down at about +100 volts.","By adding the guard rings the breakdown voltage (−450 volts) in the forward bias direction is increased to about 85% of the breakdown voltage of the bulk silicon.","In the reverse direction, there is no cylindrical junction.","The absolute magnitude of the reverse breakdown voltage of the BOD device (−500 volts) is approximately the same as the bulk breakdown voltage of bulk silicon.","Without the P type isolation region, the reverse breakdown voltage would be approximately −50 volts to −100 volts.","FIG.","28 is a cross-sectional diagram of the BOD device 100 under a reverse voltage of −450 volts.","The BOD device 100 successfully blocks the −450 volt reverse voltage.","The depletion region extends from the J1 PN junction farther into the N-base layer 103 and farther into the P type substrate layer 102 and the P type isolation diffusion region 111.FIG.","29 is a waveform diagram showing the voltage across packaged BOD device 115 of FIG.","23 when the BOD device is put into the test circuit of FIG.","12.The BOD device 115 of FIG.","23 has a reverse breakdown voltage of about −500 volts.","The dashed line 121 in FIG.","29 shows the voltage across the BOD device in a test.","Solid line 122 shows the current flowing through the BOD device.","Avalanche current increases, until the magnitude of the avalanche current reaches the triggering current at the +450 volt forward breakover voltage V(BO)F .","The forward breakover voltage V(BO)F is reached at 0.1 microseconds.","The breakover diode then breaks over, and begins to conduct current.","The voltage across the BOD device drops, and the current increases.","The voltage across the BOD device reaches zero at time 0.55 microseconds.","The turn on time TON is the time from when the avalanche current reaches the triggering current until the time when the voltage across the BOD device has decreased to zero.","The turn on time TON is therefore 0.45 microseconds.","FIG.","30 is a diagram that shows the V-I characteristic of the BOD device of FIG.","22.In a simplified explanation, as the forward voltage (the voltage from terminal T2 to terminal T1) increases, the current remains very close to zero and the BOD device is in the forward blocking mode.","When the voltage reaches the forward breakover voltage V(BO)F of +450 volts, then breakover occurs and the BOD device turns on.","The voltage across the BOD device therefore falls quickly to a low voltage VH.","Once the BOD device is on, an increase in the voltage across the BOD device results in a rapid increase in current.","The BOD device is effectively a short.","The BOD device will remain in this forward conductive mode unless the current flow through the BOD device falls below the holding current IH.","Unlike the BOD device of FIG.","7, the BOD device of FIG.","22 is able to tolerate reverse voltages up to −500 volts.","If the reverse voltage exceeds this −500 volt value, then the BOD device undergoes breakdown and a reverse current flows.","This is the “reverse avalanche region” labeled on the diagram.","The reverse breakdown voltage (also sometimes called the “reverse breakover voltage”) of the BOD device is −500 volts, which is slightly larger in absolute magnitude than the +450 volt forward breakover voltage.","Using the architecture of the BOD device of FIG.","22, the reverse breakdown voltage is made to be a little larger in absolute magnitude than the forward breakover voltage, and the forward breakover voltage can be made to be anywhere in a range from +200V to greater than +900V.","FIG.","31 is a table that shows the composition of the various parts of the BOD device of FIG.","22.In this example, as indicated in the graph of FIG.","30, the BOD device 100 of FIG.","22 has a forward breakover voltage of +450 volts, and a reverse breakdown voltage of −500 volts.","FIG.","32 is a side view of a packaged overvoltage protection circuit 123 in accordance with another embodiment.","The packaged device 123 includes a housing portion 124, a PT2 package terminal 125, and a PT1 package terminal 126.A plurality of BOD dice of the type illustrated in FIG.","22, along with other components, are enclosed in the housing portion 124.FIG.","33 is a circuit diagram of an apparatus and circuit 136.Apparatus and circuit 136 involves the packaged device 123 of FIG.","32 in use in combination with a thyristor 127.The apparatus and circuit 136 includes a current limiting resistor 128, the packaged device 123, and a RC snubber circuit 129, 130.Operation of the circuit of FIG.","33 is similar to the operation of the circuit of FIG.","19 described above.","The packaged overvoltage protection circuit 123 functions similar to a single BOD device that has a forward breakover voltage of +8000 volts, and a reverse breakdown voltage of −10,000 volts.","The contents of the packaged device 123 is shown encircled in the dashed line 123.Within packaged device 123 there are four identical dice 131-134 of the type of FIG.","22, with these dice being coupled in series between package terminal PT2 and package terminal PT1.If the forward voltage drop between PT2 and PT1 reaches the forward breakover voltage of +8000 volts, then the BOD devices undergo breakover and a breakover current flows through the BOD devices in current path 135 from PT2 to PT1.But for a small leakage current that flows through the resistor string 136-139, the packaged device 123 blocks substantially all current flow for positive voltages between PT2 and PT1 unless the forward voltage reaches or exceeds +8000 volts.","The triggering current of the BOD device may, for example, be 10 mA and this current only flows at high forward voltages approaching V(BO)F. In the reverse direction, each of the BOD devices can withstand a reverse voltage of −500 volts before suffering breakdown.","Accordingly, other than for a small leakage current that flows through the resistor string 136-139 and a small triggering current, the packaged device 123 blocks current flow for negative voltages between PT2 and PT1 unless the negative voltage reaches or exceeds −10,000 volts.","The resistances of the resistors is made large so that the current flow through the resistor string is inconsequential.","In operation, if the voltage between node 140 and 141 reaches +8000 volts, then the BOD devices in packaged device 123 undergo breakover, and a current flows from PT2 to PT1 and this current is injected into the gate of thyristor 127, thereby turning on the thyristor.","As a consequence of the thyristor turning on, the thyristor conducts a large current from node 140 to node 141 through the thyristor, and this large current reduces the voltage between nodes 140 and 141 to a voltage below the +8000 volts.","Equipment 142 that is not to experience voltages in excess of +8000 volts is connected across the nodes 140 and 141, so that the circuit of FIG.","33 will prevent the voltage between those nodes from exceeding +8000 volts.","As explained above in connection with FIG.","19, resistor 128 has a current limiting function in limiting the magnitude of the triggering current sent into the gate of the thyristor.","The snubber 129, 130 protects the BOD devices from potentially harmful voltage spikes that the thyristor itself generates between the gate and cathode of the thyristor.","The thyristor may generate such spikes when it turn on and/or off rapidly.","Due the ability of each BOD device to block a reverse voltage of −500 volts, the circuit of FIG.","33 does not include an expensive reverse diode such as reverse diode 71 of FIG.","19.As explained above in connection with FIG.","19, there is typically another circuit identical to the circuit of FIG.","33 where this other circuit is coupled in antiparallel fashion to nodes 140 and 141.The first circuit is to stop positive voltages more positive than +8000 volts from appearing between nodes 140 and 141, whereas the second circuit is to stop negative voltages more negative than −8000 volts from appearing between nodes 140 and 141.Equipment to be protected 142 in this case is not to see voltages whose absolute magnitudes are greater than 8000 volts.","Although an embodiment is shown in which a resistor is coupled in parallel with each individual BOD device, some BOD devices may not have such a parallel-connected resistor in some embodiments.","Although an embodiment is shown in which all the BOD devices are identical, in another embodiments BOD devices that have different forward breakover voltages are provided in the same packaged overvoltage protection circuit to provide a desired different overall forward breakover voltage and a desired different overall reverse breakdown voltage of the overall packaged overvoltage protection circuit.","Although certain specific embodiments are described above for instructional purposes, the teachings of this patent document have general applicability and are not limited to the specific embodiments described above.","Accordingly, various modifications, adaptations, and combinations of various features of the described embodiments can be practiced without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"Packaged Overvoltage Protection Circuit For Triggering Thyristors\",\n \"In a first embodiment, an ultra-fast breakover diode has a turn on time TON that is less than 0.3 microseconds, where the forward breakover voltage is greater than +400 volts and varies less than one percent per ten degrees Celsius change.\",\n \"In a second embodiment, a breakover diode has a reverse breakdown voltage that is greater, in absolute magnitude, than the forward breakover voltage, where the forward breakover voltage is greater than +400 volts.\",\n \"In a third embodiment, a string of series-connected breakover diode dice is provided, along with a resistor string, in a packaged circuit.\",\n \"The packaged circuit acts like a single breakover diode having a large forward breakover voltage and a comparably large reverse breakdown voltage, even though the packaged circuit includes no discrete high voltage reverse breakdown diode.\",\n \"The packaged circuit is usable to supply a triggering current to a thyristor in a voltage protection circuit.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A packaged overvoltage protection circuit comprising: a first semiconductor die, wherein the first semiconductor die comprises a breakover diode having a reverse breakdown voltage of at least four hundred volts; a second semiconductor die, wherein the second semiconductor die comprises a breakover diode having a reverse breakdown voltage of at least four hundred volts; a package housing that encloses the first and second semiconductor dice; a first package terminal; and a second package terminal, wherein the first and second semiconductor dice are coupled such that if a positive voltage of adequate magnitude is present between the second package terminal and the first package terminal then breakover of the breakover diodes in the first and second semiconductor dice occurs and a current flows in a current path from the second package terminal, through the breakover diode of the first semiconductor die, through the breakover diode of the second semiconductor die, and to the first package terminal, and such that if a negative voltage of nine hundred volts or less is present between the second package terminal and the first package terminal then neither of the breakover diodes of the first and second semiconductor dice suffers reverse breakdown.\",\n \"2.The packaged overvoltage protection circuit of claim 1, wherein the packaged overvoltage protection circuit has no package terminal other than the first and second package terminals.\",\n \"3.The packaged overvoltage protection circuit of claim 2, wherein the package housing encloses no semiconductor die that comprises any component other than a breakover diode.\",\n \"4.The packaged overvoltage protection circuit of claim 2, wherein the package housing encloses no diode that is not a part of a breakover diode die.\",\n \"5.The packaged overvoltage protection circuit of claim 2, further comprising: a third semiconductor die, wherein the third semiconductor die comprises a breakover diode having a reverse breakdown voltage of at least four hundred volts.\",\n \"6.The packaged overvoltage protection circuit of claim 2, further comprising: a first resistor; and a second resistor, wherein the first and second resistors are coupled in series.\",\n \"7.The packaged overvoltage protection circuit of claim 2, further comprising: a first resistor coupled in parallel with the first semiconductor die; and a second resistor coupled in parallel with the second semiconductor die.\",\n \"8.The packaged overvoltage protection circuit of claim 2, wherein the first and second semiconductor dice are coupled to block current flow through the current path from the first package terminal to the second package terminal for reverse voltages of nine hundred volts or less.\",\n \"9.A packaged overvoltage protection circuit comprising: a first package terminal; a second package terminal; a plurality of semiconductor dice, wherein each of the semiconductor dice comprises a breakover diode, wherein the breakover diode has a forward breakover voltage, wherein the breakover diode has a reverse breakdown voltage whose absolute magnitude is greater than the forward breakover voltage, wherein the plurality of semiconductor dice are coupled in series between the first and second package terminals, and wherein the breakover voltage is at least four hundred volts; a plurality of resistors, wherein the resistors are coupled in series; and a package housing that encloses the plurality of semiconductor dice and the plurality of resistors, wherein the package housing encloses no semiconductor die other than said plurality of semiconductor dice.\",\n \"10.The packaged overvoltage protection circuit of claim 9, wherein each of the plurality of semiconductor dice is substantially identical to each other of the plurality of semiconductor dice, and wherein the packaged overvoltage protection circuit has no package terminal other than the first and second package terminals.\",\n \"11.The packaged overvoltage protection circuit of claim 9, wherein each of the plurality of resistors is coupled in parallel with each corresponding respective one of the plurality of semiconductor dice.\",\n \"12.An apparatus comprising: a first package terminal; a second package terminal; and means for blocking substantially all current flow from the second package terminal to the first package terminal for positive voltages less than a first voltage between the second and first package terminals, for initiating conduction of a breakover current from the second package terminal to the first package terminal if a positive voltage equal to the first voltage becomes present between the second and first package terminals, and for blocking substantially all current flow from the first package terminal to the second package terminal for negative voltages less than a second voltage between the second package terminal and the first package terminal, wherein the absolute magnitude of the second voltage exceeds the first voltage, wherein the first voltage is at least nine hundred volts, wherein the means comprises no semiconductor die other than a plurality of semiconductor dice, and wherein each die of the plurality of semiconductor dice comprises a breakover diode.\",\n \"13.The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the plurality of semiconductor dice are coupled together in series between the first and second package terminals.\",\n \"14.The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the means further comprises a plurality of resistors coupled together in series to form a resistor string.\",\n \"15.The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the means further comprises a housing that encloses the plurality of semiconductor dice and the plurality of resistors.\",\n \"16.The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the means does not block current flow that passes through the resistor string.\",\n \"17.The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the means is also for supplying a triggering current to the gate of a thyristor.\",\n \"18.The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising: a thyristor having a gate, an anode, and a cathode, wherein the gate of the thyristor is coupled to the first package terminal.\",\n \"19.The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising: a thyristor having a gate, an anode, and a cathode, wherein the gate of the thyristor is coupled to the first package terminal, wherein the anode of the thyristor is coupled to the second package terminal via a current limiting resistor.\",\n \"20.The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising: a snubber circuit coupled between the gate of the thyristor and the cathode of the thyristor.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND INFORMATION <EOH>FIG.\",\n \"1 (Prior Art) is a symbol of a thyristor 1 .\",\n \"A conventional thyristor is a three terminal semiconductor device that has four layers of alternating N type material and P type material.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 (Prior Art) shows an example in which the thyristor device 1 has an P-N-P-N structure.\",\n \"A cathode electrode 2 is coupled to the N type material on one side of the device and an anode electrode 3 is coupled to the P type material on the other side of the device.\",\n \"A gate electrode 4 is coupled to the P type layer closest to the cathode.\",\n \"The structure has three PN junctions, serially named J 1 , J 2 , and J 3 , from the anode electrode side of the device.\",\n \"Operation of the thyristor device is explained in terms of a pair of tightly coupled bipolar junction transistors, arranged in a self-latching way, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 (Prior Art).\",\n \"One bipolar transistor 5 is an NPN transistor whose N type emitter is coupled to the cathode electrode.\",\n \"The other bipolar transistor 6 is a PNP transistor whose P type emitter is coupled to the anode electrode.\",\n \"The thyristor is considered to operate in one of three modes: 1) in a reverse blocking mode, 2) in a forward blocking mode, and 3) in a forward conducting mode.\",\n \"If the cathode electrode has a positive voltage with respect to the anode electrode, then no current flows from cathode to anode because either the J 3 junction and/or the J 1 junction is reverse biased.\",\n \"These two PN junctions can be thought of as a series connected pair of diodes that are reverse biased.\",\n \"This is referred to as the reverse blocking mode.\",\n \"Supplying a triggering pulse into the gate has no effect.\",\n \"If the anode has a positive voltage with respect to the cathode, but no voltage is applied to the gate electrode with respect to the cathode electrode, then the J 1 and J 3 junctions are forward biased, while the J 2 junction is reverse biased.\",\n \"Due to the J 2 junction being reverse biased, there is no conduction and the thyristor is off.\",\n \"This is referred to as the forward blocking mode.\",\n \"The anode-to-cathode voltage is applied in a direction that could cause conduction were there to be current flow across the J 2 junction, but the thyristor has not been triggered.\",\n \"At some voltage, the electric field at the J 2 junction grows so strong that the J 2 junction starts to breakdown and a small amount of avalanche current begins to flow, but the amount of current is not adequate to turn on transistor 5 .\",\n \"If the anode-to-cathode voltage is increased beyond the forward breakdown voltage V (BO)F of the thyristor, then the magnitude of the avalanche current reaches a triggering current, which causes transistor 5 to turn on, and causes the thyristor to start conducting.\",\n \"This is referred to as the forward conduction mode.\",\n \"If a positive voltage is applied to the gate electrode with respect to the cathode electrode, then the onset of this avalanche breakdown of the J 2 junction occurs at a lower (but still positive) anode-to-cathode voltage.\",\n \"The anode-to-cathode voltage at which the thyristor turns on is therefore dependent upon the gate voltage (gate-to-cathode voltage).\",\n \"This positive gate voltage that causes the thyristor to turn on (due to avalanche breakdown of the J 2 junction) can be caused by injecting a momentary current pulse 7 into the gate electrode 4 .\",\n \"Whether the triggering on is said to occur due to the gate voltage pulse or due to the current of the pulse, the triggering effect of triggering the thyristor on is the same in that avalanche breakdown of the J 2 junction is started.\",\n \"Once avalanche breakdown of the J 2 junction has occurred and the thyristor is on and conducting current from the anode to the cathode, the thyristor remains latched in this on state and the thyristor continues to conduct, irrespective of changes in the gate voltage, until either the anode is no longer forward biased with respect to the cathode, or until the current through the thyristor (anode to cathode) is less than a holding current I H .\",\n \"Once the thyristor has been triggered, removing the triggering current does not turn off the thyristor.\",\n \"If the anode is positively biased with respect to the cathode, then the thyristor cannot be turned off unless the anode current falls below the holding current I H .\",\n \"The thyristor can, however, be switched off if an external circuit momentarily causes the anode to be negatively biased with respect to the cathode.\",\n \"Very large and expensive thyristors are used to switch high voltages in high power applications.\",\n \"Due to the limited maximum forward voltage drop (anode to cathode) that can be put across a thyristor before it conducts too much current and fails, many thyristors are typically assembled together in series in what is referred to as a stack.\",\n \"Each thyristor of the stack therefore only has to handle part of the overall high forward voltage drop across the stack.\",\n \"By controlling the gate voltages of the individual thyristors in the stack, the stack can be made to operate as a single high voltage and high power switch that either conducts from one end of the stack to the other, or that does not conduct.\",\n \"Thyristor stacks are, for example, used in megawatt scale AC-to-DC and DC-to-AC power conversion, such as for example where the high DC voltage is a voltage on a high voltage DC power transmission line.\",\n \"If the magnitude of the high voltage DC were to momentarily pulse high, such as due to the power line being struck by lightning, then an intolerably high transient voltage might be momentarily placed across the thyristor stack (the anode voltage is at too high a positive voltage with respect to the cathode), causing excessive current flow through the stack if the thyristors were on, and causing localized overheating and failure of the stack.\",\n \"To avoid this, and to protect the thyristors of the stack from such a transient overvoltage condition, an overvoltage protection device referred to as a BOD (Break Over Diode) device is used.\",\n \"BOD devices are coupled to the thyristors of the stack in such a way that the BOD devices turns on the thyristors before excessive over voltage across the thyristors can damage the thyristors.\",\n \"The BOD overvoltage protection device detects the high voltage condition and turns on, thereby causing a gate current to flow into the gate of each thyristor, and thereby turning on the thyristor.\",\n \"A BOD diode is a thyristor whose gate electrode is not brought out of the device for external connection.\",\n \"The BOD diode has an anode electrode and a cathode electrode, but the gate electrode of the device is not brought out.\",\n \"The BOD diode is not triggered on by an externally applied pulse of gate current as described above in the case of a conventional thyristor, but rather the BOD diode is triggered on by the onset of avalanche current that is generated within the BOD device itself.\",\n \"Operation of the BOD diode is therefore explained using the terminology employed above in connection with the self-latching bipolar transistor structure of FIG.\",\n \"3 .\",\n \"In a forward blocking mode, as the anode-to-cathode voltage increases to the V (BO)F , the J 1 and J 3 junctions are forward biased but the J 2 junction is reversed biased.\",\n \"A depletion region forms at this reverse biased J 2 junction, and the resulting separation of charge at the junction gives rise to a localized electric field.\",\n \"The strength of the electric field grows to the point that covalent bonds of the material at the J 2 junction are broken, and an avalanche current flows, with generated electrons being pulled to the relative positive potential of the anode, and with generated holes being pulled the opposite direction to the relative negative potential of the cathode.\",\n \"The hole flow through the P type layer between J 2 and J 3 results in a voltage drop across the material of the P type layer.\",\n \"If the avalanche current is of adequate magnitude, then the voltage drop exceeds 0.7 volts, resulting in the base-to-emitter voltage of the NPN transistor 5 (see FIG.\",\n \"3 ) exceeding 0.7 volts.\",\n \"This causes the NPN transistor 5 to turn on.\",\n \"The NPN transistor 5 turning on pulls a base current out of the base of the PNP transistor 6 .\",\n \"PNP transistor 6 turns on, and supplies current from its collector into the base of the NPN transistor 5 .\",\n \"The two transistors are therefore latched on in a self-latching way, with each one supplying a base current to the other.\",\n \"Once the BOD diode has triggered itself on in this way, it will remain on unless either the anode is no longer forward biased with respect to the cathode, or until the current through the BOD diode falls below the holding current I H .\",\n \"In an overvoltage protection application, the BOD diode is coupled in parallel with a power thyristor of a stack, such that if an excessive forward voltage develops across the power thyristor, then the BOD diode undergoes breakover and turns on, thereby conducting a current.\",\n \"This current is supplied as a triggering pulse to the thyristor, so that the thyristor is turned on.\",\n \"Accordingly, when the forward voltage across the thyristor reaches an adequately high voltage, the breakover diode supplies a triggering current to the thyristor and causes the thyristor to turn on.\",\n \"When the thyristor turns on, the forward voltage drop across the thyristor decreases.\",\n \"The thyristor is therefore protected from an over voltage condition.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 (Prior Art) is a cross-sectional diagram of a conventional bulk BOD diode 8 .\",\n \"The PNPN thyristor structure is evident.\",\n \"Whereas the anode electrode 3 of the PNPN structure of FIG.\",\n \"2 is illustrated on the top, the anode electrode 9 of the BOD diode of FIG.\",\n \"4 is illustrated on the bottom.\",\n \"The P type substrate layer 10 is the first P type thyristor layer, the N− type substrate layer 11 is the second N type thyristor layer, the P type base region 12 is the third P type thyristor layer, and the N+ type region 13 is the fourth N type thyristor layer.\",\n \"Layers 10 and 11 are both of substrate silicon, so the BOD is referred to here as a “bulk” BOD.\",\n \"Reference numeral 14 identifies the cathode electrode.\",\n \"The BOD device has guard rings 15 and 16 , and a peripheral shallow channel stopper 17 .\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 (Prior Art) is a diagram that shows the electric field along line A-A′ in FIG.\",\n \"4 just before the onset of avalanche breakdown.\",\n \"The peak of the electric field is at the J 2 PN junction.\",\n \"The J 2 PN junction is between the N− type base layer 11 and the P type base region 12 .\",\n \"When the electric field strength at this point is high enough, then the avalanche current begins to flow.\",\n \"If the magnitude of current flow from the junction laterally under the emitter region 13 across the resistance of the P type material of region 12 and to the cathode electrode 14 is adequately high, then the resulting voltage drop will reach 0.7 volts.\",\n \"This 0.7 volt drop amounts to a 0.7 base-to-emitter voltage on the NPN transistor, so the thyristor will be triggered on as described above.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 (Prior Art) is a diagram that shows the turning on of the BOD device 8 of FIG.\",\n \"4 .\",\n \"The BOD device has 8 has a reverse breakdown voltage of −200 volts to −300 volts.\",\n \"In the forward voltage condition, the solid line 18 in FIG.\",\n \"6 represents current flow through the BOD device from anode to cathode.\",\n \"The dashed line 19 is the anode-to-cathode voltage across the BOD device.\",\n \"As can be seen, the BOD device begins to conduct appreciable current at a forward anode-to-cathode breakover voltage V (BO)F of about +450 volts.\",\n \"This is the time when the avalanche current in the BOD device has reached the triggering current.\",\n \"Thereafter the current increases and the voltage across the BOD device decreases.\",\n \"At time 0.6 microseconds the anode-to-cathode voltage across the BOD device has decreased to zero volts.\",\n \"The turn on time (T ON ) is the time from the time when the internal triggering current is reached at time 0.1 microseconds until the time when the anode-to-cathode voltage reaches zero volts.\",\n \"The turn on time (T ON ) is therefore 0.5 microseconds.\",\n \"Because a high transient overvoltage condition can cause a power thyristor of a stack to be destroyed in a short amount of time, a fast turn on BOD is desired for its thyristor-protection function.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>In a first novel aspect, an ultra-fast breakover diode has a turn on time T ON of less than 0.3 microseconds, a breakover voltage greater than +400 volts, and the breakover voltage varies less than one percent per ten degree Celsius change.\",\n \"The breakover voltage is also repeatable over changes in semiconductor manufacturing process.\",\n \"In one example, an anode metal electrode is disposed on a bottom surface of a P type layer of substrate semiconductor material, and an N type buffer layer of epitaxial semiconductor material is disposed on the P type layer.\",\n \"The N type buffer layer has an N type dopant concentration between 1×10 15 atoms/cm 3 and 1×10 16 atoms/cm 3 .\",\n \"A thin layer of N− type base layer of epitaxial semiconductor material is disposed on the N type buffer layer.\",\n \"This thin layer is less than 130 microns thick.\",\n \"A P type base region extends from a semiconductor surface down into the thin N− type base layer to a depth D. The P type base region has a peripheral edge at the semiconductor surface, and the peripheral edge has a minimum radius of curvature R that is at least twice the depth D. An N+ type annular emitter region extends down from the semiconductor surface down into the P type base region such that material of the P type base region extends up to the semiconductor surface in the center of the N+ annular region and defines a cathode short region of P type semiconductor material.\",\n \"The cathode short region has a width at the semiconductor surface that is less than 0.250 millimeters.\",\n \"A cathode metal electrode is disposed over part of the annular N+ type emitter and over the cathode short region at the semiconductor surface.\",\n \"A floating metal ring is disposed on the P type base region.\",\n \"In a second novel aspect, a high voltage breakover diode has comparable forward breakover and reverse breakdown voltages.\",\n \"In one example, an anode metal electrode is disposed on a bottom semiconductor surface of a P type layer of substrate semiconductor material.\",\n \"An N− type base layer is disposed on the P type layer, and a P type base region extends from an upper semiconductor surface down into the N-type base layer.\",\n \"An N+ type annular emitter region extends down from the upper semiconductor surface into the P type base region.\",\n \"P type material of the P type base region extends up to the semiconductor surface in the center of the annular emitter region and defines a cathode short region.\",\n \"A P type isolation diffusion region extends from the upper semiconductor surface to the bottom semiconductor surface, and the P type isolation diffusion region surrounds the N− type base layer in the lateral dimension so that the P type isolation diffusion contacts each of four side edges of the die of breakover diode device.\",\n \"A cathode metal electrode is disposed over part of the annular N+ type emitter and over the cathode short region at the upper semiconductor surface.\",\n \"The breakover diode device has a forward breakover voltage (V (BO)F ) that is greater than four hundred volts.\",\n \"The breakover diode device is also able to withstand a reverse voltage whose absolute value is in excess of the forward breakover voltage without suffering breakdown.\",\n \"In a third novel aspect, a packaged overvoltage protection circuit includes a plurality of identical breakover diode dice, and a plurality of resistors.\",\n \"The plurality of breakover diode dice are coupled together in series between a first package terminal and a second package terminal.\",\n \"The plurality of resistors are coupled together in a resistor string, such that one resistor is in parallel with each of the plurality of breakover diode dice.\",\n \"The plurality of breakover diode dice and the plurality of resistors are enclosed in a package housing from which the first and second package terminals extend.\",\n \"Each of the breakover diodes has a reverse breakdown voltage that is greater in absolute magnitude than the forward breakover voltage of the breakover diode, and the forward breakover voltage is at least 400 volts.\",\n \"Of importance, the packaged overvoltage protection circuit need contain no expensive separate discrete diode with a high reverse breakdown capability.\",\n \"The only semiconductor components of the packaged overvoltage protection circuit are the plurality of breakover diode dice.\",\n \"Accordingly, the package housing encloses no semiconductor die that comprises any component other than a breakover diode.\",\n \"In one application, the packaged overvoltage protection circuit is usable to supply a triggering current to the gate of a thyristor.\",\n \"If the voltage between the anode and the cathode of the thyristor exceeds a first positive voltage, then the breakover diodes in the packaged overvoltage protection circuit will undergo breakover such that a triggering current is supplied from the packaged overvoltage protection circuit and into the gate of the thyristor.\",\n \"The triggering current turns the thyristor on, and the thyristor conducts a large current to reduce the voltage across the thyristor between the anode and cathode to be less than the first positive voltage.\",\n \"A large negative voltage between the gate of the thyristor and the anode of the thyristor will not damage the packaged overvoltage protection circuit because the packaged overvoltage protection circuit can withstand a reverse voltage of a second voltage.\",\n \"The second voltage is a large negative voltage that has an absolute value that is greater than the first positive voltage.\",\n \"The number of breakover diode dice in series can be increased to increase the first and second voltages.\",\n \"In one example, the first voltage is +8000 volts, and the second voltage is −10,000 volts.\",\n \"In one example, a snubber circuit is provided between the gate and cathode of the thyristor to soften ill effects of switching voltage spikes on the packaged overvoltage protection circuit.\",\n \"A current limiting resistor is placed in series with the packaged overvoltage protection circuit between the thyristor anode and the thyristor gate to limit the magnitude of the triggering current.\",\n \"A second identical circuit (packaged overvoltage protection circuit, thyristor, current limiting resistor, and snubber circuit) is provided in parallel with the first circuit to protect against large negative voltages that are more negative than −8000 volts.\",\n \"Further details and embodiments and techniques are described in the detailed description below.\",\n \"This summary does not purport to define the invention.\",\n \"The invention is defined by the claims.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"§ 120 from, nonprovisional U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/892,237 entitled “Packaged Overvoltage Protection Circuit For Triggering Thyristors,” filed on May 10, 2013, now U.S. Patent No.\",\n \"______ , the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD The described embodiments relate to breakover diodes and to related structures and methods.\",\n \"BACKGROUND INFORMATION FIG.\",\n \"1 (Prior Art) is a symbol of a thyristor 1.A conventional thyristor is a three terminal semiconductor device that has four layers of alternating N type material and P type material.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 (Prior Art) shows an example in which the thyristor device 1 has an P-N-P-N structure.\",\n \"A cathode electrode 2 is coupled to the N type material on one side of the device and an anode electrode 3 is coupled to the P type material on the other side of the device.\",\n \"A gate electrode 4 is coupled to the P type layer closest to the cathode.\",\n \"The structure has three PN junctions, serially named J1, J2, and J3, from the anode electrode side of the device.\",\n \"Operation of the thyristor device is explained in terms of a pair of tightly coupled bipolar junction transistors, arranged in a self-latching way, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 (Prior Art).\",\n \"One bipolar transistor 5 is an NPN transistor whose N type emitter is coupled to the cathode electrode.\",\n \"The other bipolar transistor 6 is a PNP transistor whose P type emitter is coupled to the anode electrode.\",\n \"The thyristor is considered to operate in one of three modes: 1) in a reverse blocking mode, 2) in a forward blocking mode, and 3) in a forward conducting mode.\",\n \"If the cathode electrode has a positive voltage with respect to the anode electrode, then no current flows from cathode to anode because either the J3 junction and/or the J1 junction is reverse biased.\",\n \"These two PN junctions can be thought of as a series connected pair of diodes that are reverse biased.\",\n \"This is referred to as the reverse blocking mode.\",\n \"Supplying a triggering pulse into the gate has no effect.\",\n \"If the anode has a positive voltage with respect to the cathode, but no voltage is applied to the gate electrode with respect to the cathode electrode, then the J1 and J3 junctions are forward biased, while the J2 junction is reverse biased.\",\n \"Due to the J2 junction being reverse biased, there is no conduction and the thyristor is off.\",\n \"This is referred to as the forward blocking mode.\",\n \"The anode-to-cathode voltage is applied in a direction that could cause conduction were there to be current flow across the J2 junction, but the thyristor has not been triggered.\",\n \"At some voltage, the electric field at the J2 junction grows so strong that the J2 junction starts to breakdown and a small amount of avalanche current begins to flow, but the amount of current is not adequate to turn on transistor 5.If the anode-to-cathode voltage is increased beyond the forward breakdown voltage V(BO)F of the thyristor, then the magnitude of the avalanche current reaches a triggering current, which causes transistor 5 to turn on, and causes the thyristor to start conducting.\",\n \"This is referred to as the forward conduction mode.\",\n \"If a positive voltage is applied to the gate electrode with respect to the cathode electrode, then the onset of this avalanche breakdown of the J2 junction occurs at a lower (but still positive) anode-to-cathode voltage.\",\n \"The anode-to-cathode voltage at which the thyristor turns on is therefore dependent upon the gate voltage (gate-to-cathode voltage).\",\n \"This positive gate voltage that causes the thyristor to turn on (due to avalanche breakdown of the J2 junction) can be caused by injecting a momentary current pulse 7 into the gate electrode 4.Whether the triggering on is said to occur due to the gate voltage pulse or due to the current of the pulse, the triggering effect of triggering the thyristor on is the same in that avalanche breakdown of the J2 junction is started.\",\n \"Once avalanche breakdown of the J2 junction has occurred and the thyristor is on and conducting current from the anode to the cathode, the thyristor remains latched in this on state and the thyristor continues to conduct, irrespective of changes in the gate voltage, until either the anode is no longer forward biased with respect to the cathode, or until the current through the thyristor (anode to cathode) is less than a holding current IH.\",\n \"Once the thyristor has been triggered, removing the triggering current does not turn off the thyristor.\",\n \"If the anode is positively biased with respect to the cathode, then the thyristor cannot be turned off unless the anode current falls below the holding current IH.\",\n \"The thyristor can, however, be switched off if an external circuit momentarily causes the anode to be negatively biased with respect to the cathode.\",\n \"Very large and expensive thyristors are used to switch high voltages in high power applications.\",\n \"Due to the limited maximum forward voltage drop (anode to cathode) that can be put across a thyristor before it conducts too much current and fails, many thyristors are typically assembled together in series in what is referred to as a stack.\",\n \"Each thyristor of the stack therefore only has to handle part of the overall high forward voltage drop across the stack.\",\n \"By controlling the gate voltages of the individual thyristors in the stack, the stack can be made to operate as a single high voltage and high power switch that either conducts from one end of the stack to the other, or that does not conduct.\",\n \"Thyristor stacks are, for example, used in megawatt scale AC-to-DC and DC-to-AC power conversion, such as for example where the high DC voltage is a voltage on a high voltage DC power transmission line.\",\n \"If the magnitude of the high voltage DC were to momentarily pulse high, such as due to the power line being struck by lightning, then an intolerably high transient voltage might be momentarily placed across the thyristor stack (the anode voltage is at too high a positive voltage with respect to the cathode), causing excessive current flow through the stack if the thyristors were on, and causing localized overheating and failure of the stack.\",\n \"To avoid this, and to protect the thyristors of the stack from such a transient overvoltage condition, an overvoltage protection device referred to as a BOD (Break Over Diode) device is used.\",\n \"BOD devices are coupled to the thyristors of the stack in such a way that the BOD devices turns on the thyristors before excessive over voltage across the thyristors can damage the thyristors.\",\n \"The BOD overvoltage protection device detects the high voltage condition and turns on, thereby causing a gate current to flow into the gate of each thyristor, and thereby turning on the thyristor.\",\n \"A BOD diode is a thyristor whose gate electrode is not brought out of the device for external connection.\",\n \"The BOD diode has an anode electrode and a cathode electrode, but the gate electrode of the device is not brought out.\",\n \"The BOD diode is not triggered on by an externally applied pulse of gate current as described above in the case of a conventional thyristor, but rather the BOD diode is triggered on by the onset of avalanche current that is generated within the BOD device itself.\",\n \"Operation of the BOD diode is therefore explained using the terminology employed above in connection with the self-latching bipolar transistor structure of FIG.\",\n \"3.In a forward blocking mode, as the anode-to-cathode voltage increases to the V(BO)F, the J1 and J3 junctions are forward biased but the J2 junction is reversed biased.\",\n \"A depletion region forms at this reverse biased J2 junction, and the resulting separation of charge at the junction gives rise to a localized electric field.\",\n \"The strength of the electric field grows to the point that covalent bonds of the material at the J2 junction are broken, and an avalanche current flows, with generated electrons being pulled to the relative positive potential of the anode, and with generated holes being pulled the opposite direction to the relative negative potential of the cathode.\",\n \"The hole flow through the P type layer between J2 and J3 results in a voltage drop across the material of the P type layer.\",\n \"If the avalanche current is of adequate magnitude, then the voltage drop exceeds 0.7 volts, resulting in the base-to-emitter voltage of the NPN transistor 5 (see FIG.\",\n \"3) exceeding 0.7 volts.\",\n \"This causes the NPN transistor 5 to turn on.\",\n \"The NPN transistor 5 turning on pulls a base current out of the base of the PNP transistor 6.PNP transistor 6 turns on, and supplies current from its collector into the base of the NPN transistor 5.The two transistors are therefore latched on in a self-latching way, with each one supplying a base current to the other.\",\n \"Once the BOD diode has triggered itself on in this way, it will remain on unless either the anode is no longer forward biased with respect to the cathode, or until the current through the BOD diode falls below the holding current IH.\",\n \"In an overvoltage protection application, the BOD diode is coupled in parallel with a power thyristor of a stack, such that if an excessive forward voltage develops across the power thyristor, then the BOD diode undergoes breakover and turns on, thereby conducting a current.\",\n \"This current is supplied as a triggering pulse to the thyristor, so that the thyristor is turned on.\",\n \"Accordingly, when the forward voltage across the thyristor reaches an adequately high voltage, the breakover diode supplies a triggering current to the thyristor and causes the thyristor to turn on.\",\n \"When the thyristor turns on, the forward voltage drop across the thyristor decreases.\",\n \"The thyristor is therefore protected from an over voltage condition.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 (Prior Art) is a cross-sectional diagram of a conventional bulk BOD diode 8.The PNPN thyristor structure is evident.\",\n \"Whereas the anode electrode 3 of the PNPN structure of FIG.\",\n \"2 is illustrated on the top, the anode electrode 9 of the BOD diode of FIG.\",\n \"4 is illustrated on the bottom.\",\n \"The P type substrate layer 10 is the first P type thyristor layer, the N− type substrate layer 11 is the second N type thyristor layer, the P type base region 12 is the third P type thyristor layer, and the N+ type region 13 is the fourth N type thyristor layer.\",\n \"Layers 10 and 11 are both of substrate silicon, so the BOD is referred to here as a “bulk” BOD.\",\n \"Reference numeral 14 identifies the cathode electrode.\",\n \"The BOD device has guard rings 15 and 16, and a peripheral shallow channel stopper 17.FIG.\",\n \"5 (Prior Art) is a diagram that shows the electric field along line A-A′ in FIG.\",\n \"4 just before the onset of avalanche breakdown.\",\n \"The peak of the electric field is at the J2 PN junction.\",\n \"The J2 PN junction is between the N− type base layer 11 and the P type base region 12.When the electric field strength at this point is high enough, then the avalanche current begins to flow.\",\n \"If the magnitude of current flow from the junction laterally under the emitter region 13 across the resistance of the P type material of region 12 and to the cathode electrode 14 is adequately high, then the resulting voltage drop will reach 0.7 volts.\",\n \"This 0.7 volt drop amounts to a 0.7 base-to-emitter voltage on the NPN transistor, so the thyristor will be triggered on as described above.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 (Prior Art) is a diagram that shows the turning on of the BOD device 8 of FIG.\",\n \"4.The BOD device has 8 has a reverse breakdown voltage of −200 volts to −300 volts.\",\n \"In the forward voltage condition, the solid line 18 in FIG.\",\n \"6 represents current flow through the BOD device from anode to cathode.\",\n \"The dashed line 19 is the anode-to-cathode voltage across the BOD device.\",\n \"As can be seen, the BOD device begins to conduct appreciable current at a forward anode-to-cathode breakover voltage V(BO)F of about +450 volts.\",\n \"This is the time when the avalanche current in the BOD device has reached the triggering current.\",\n \"Thereafter the current increases and the voltage across the BOD device decreases.\",\n \"At time 0.6 microseconds the anode-to-cathode voltage across the BOD device has decreased to zero volts.\",\n \"The turn on time (TON) is the time from the time when the internal triggering current is reached at time 0.1 microseconds until the time when the anode-to-cathode voltage reaches zero volts.\",\n \"The turn on time (TON) is therefore 0.5 microseconds.\",\n \"Because a high transient overvoltage condition can cause a power thyristor of a stack to be destroyed in a short amount of time, a fast turn on BOD is desired for its thyristor-protection function.\",\n \"SUMMARY In a first novel aspect, an ultra-fast breakover diode has a turn on time TON of less than 0.3 microseconds, a breakover voltage greater than +400 volts, and the breakover voltage varies less than one percent per ten degree Celsius change.\",\n \"The breakover voltage is also repeatable over changes in semiconductor manufacturing process.\",\n \"In one example, an anode metal electrode is disposed on a bottom surface of a P type layer of substrate semiconductor material, and an N type buffer layer of epitaxial semiconductor material is disposed on the P type layer.\",\n \"The N type buffer layer has an N type dopant concentration between 1×1015 atoms/cm3 and 1×1016 atoms/cm3.A thin layer of N− type base layer of epitaxial semiconductor material is disposed on the N type buffer layer.\",\n \"This thin layer is less than 130 microns thick.\",\n \"A P type base region extends from a semiconductor surface down into the thin N− type base layer to a depth D. The P type base region has a peripheral edge at the semiconductor surface, and the peripheral edge has a minimum radius of curvature R that is at least twice the depth D. An N+ type annular emitter region extends down from the semiconductor surface down into the P type base region such that material of the P type base region extends up to the semiconductor surface in the center of the N+ annular region and defines a cathode short region of P type semiconductor material.\",\n \"The cathode short region has a width at the semiconductor surface that is less than 0.250 millimeters.\",\n \"A cathode metal electrode is disposed over part of the annular N+ type emitter and over the cathode short region at the semiconductor surface.\",\n \"A floating metal ring is disposed on the P type base region.\",\n \"In a second novel aspect, a high voltage breakover diode has comparable forward breakover and reverse breakdown voltages.\",\n \"In one example, an anode metal electrode is disposed on a bottom semiconductor surface of a P type layer of substrate semiconductor material.\",\n \"An N− type base layer is disposed on the P type layer, and a P type base region extends from an upper semiconductor surface down into the N-type base layer.\",\n \"An N+ type annular emitter region extends down from the upper semiconductor surface into the P type base region.\",\n \"P type material of the P type base region extends up to the semiconductor surface in the center of the annular emitter region and defines a cathode short region.\",\n \"A P type isolation diffusion region extends from the upper semiconductor surface to the bottom semiconductor surface, and the P type isolation diffusion region surrounds the N− type base layer in the lateral dimension so that the P type isolation diffusion contacts each of four side edges of the die of breakover diode device.\",\n \"A cathode metal electrode is disposed over part of the annular N+ type emitter and over the cathode short region at the upper semiconductor surface.\",\n \"The breakover diode device has a forward breakover voltage (V(BO)F) that is greater than four hundred volts.\",\n \"The breakover diode device is also able to withstand a reverse voltage whose absolute value is in excess of the forward breakover voltage without suffering breakdown.\",\n \"In a third novel aspect, a packaged overvoltage protection circuit includes a plurality of identical breakover diode dice, and a plurality of resistors.\",\n \"The plurality of breakover diode dice are coupled together in series between a first package terminal and a second package terminal.\",\n \"The plurality of resistors are coupled together in a resistor string, such that one resistor is in parallel with each of the plurality of breakover diode dice.\",\n \"The plurality of breakover diode dice and the plurality of resistors are enclosed in a package housing from which the first and second package terminals extend.\",\n \"Each of the breakover diodes has a reverse breakdown voltage that is greater in absolute magnitude than the forward breakover voltage of the breakover diode, and the forward breakover voltage is at least 400 volts.\",\n \"Of importance, the packaged overvoltage protection circuit need contain no expensive separate discrete diode with a high reverse breakdown capability.\",\n \"The only semiconductor components of the packaged overvoltage protection circuit are the plurality of breakover diode dice.\",\n \"Accordingly, the package housing encloses no semiconductor die that comprises any component other than a breakover diode.\",\n \"In one application, the packaged overvoltage protection circuit is usable to supply a triggering current to the gate of a thyristor.\",\n \"If the voltage between the anode and the cathode of the thyristor exceeds a first positive voltage, then the breakover diodes in the packaged overvoltage protection circuit will undergo breakover such that a triggering current is supplied from the packaged overvoltage protection circuit and into the gate of the thyristor.\",\n \"The triggering current turns the thyristor on, and the thyristor conducts a large current to reduce the voltage across the thyristor between the anode and cathode to be less than the first positive voltage.\",\n \"A large negative voltage between the gate of the thyristor and the anode of the thyristor will not damage the packaged overvoltage protection circuit because the packaged overvoltage protection circuit can withstand a reverse voltage of a second voltage.\",\n \"The second voltage is a large negative voltage that has an absolute value that is greater than the first positive voltage.\",\n \"The number of breakover diode dice in series can be increased to increase the first and second voltages.\",\n \"In one example, the first voltage is +8000 volts, and the second voltage is −10,000 volts.\",\n \"In one example, a snubber circuit is provided between the gate and cathode of the thyristor to soften ill effects of switching voltage spikes on the packaged overvoltage protection circuit.\",\n \"A current limiting resistor is placed in series with the packaged overvoltage protection circuit between the thyristor anode and the thyristor gate to limit the magnitude of the triggering current.\",\n \"A second identical circuit (packaged overvoltage protection circuit, thyristor, current limiting resistor, and snubber circuit) is provided in parallel with the first circuit to protect against large negative voltages that are more negative than −8000 volts.\",\n \"Further details and embodiments and techniques are described in the detailed description below.\",\n \"This summary does not purport to define the invention.\",\n \"The invention is defined by the claims.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, where like numerals indicate like components, illustrate embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 (Prior Art) is a diagram of a thyristor symbol.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 (Prior Art) is a simplified diagram of the structure of a thyristor.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 (Prior Art) is a simplified circuit diagram of a thyristor.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 (Prior Art) is a cross-sectional diagram of a bulk breakover diode device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 (Prior Art) is a diagram that illustrates the electric field along sectional line A-A′ in FIG.\",\n \"4.FIG.\",\n \"6 (Prior Art) is a waveform diagram that shows the turn on time TON of the bulk BOD device of FIG.\",\n \"4.FIG.\",\n \"7 is a simplified cross-sectional diagram of a breakover diode (BOD) die in accordance with a first novel aspect.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is a diagram of a package that contains the BOD die of FIG.\",\n \"7.FIG.\",\n \"9 is a schematic diagram of the package of FIG.\",\n \"8.FIG.\",\n \"10 is a top-down diagram of the BOD die of FIG.\",\n \"7.FIG.\",\n \"11 is a view of the bottom of the BOD die of FIG.\",\n \"7.FIG.\",\n \"12 is a circuit diagram of a test circuits used to exercise the BOD die of FIG.\",\n \"7.FIG.\",\n \"13 is a waveform diagram that shows the turn on time TON of the BOD die of FIG.\",\n \"7.FIG.\",\n \"14 is a diagram that illustrates the electric field along sectional line B-B′ in FIG.\",\n \"7.FIG.\",\n \"15 is a diagram that illustrates a depletion region in the BOD die of FIG.\",\n \"7 just before avalanche breakdown.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16 is a diagram that shows BOD devices having different turn on times being manufactured as parts of the same wafer.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"17 is a diagram showing how the forward breakover voltage of the BOD die of FIG.\",\n \"7 varies less than one percent per ten degree Celsius change in temperature.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"18 is a diagram showing the V-I characteristic of the BOD die of FIG.\",\n \"7.FIG.\",\n \"19 is a diagram of a thyristor protection circuit that involves the BOD die of FIG.\",\n \"7.FIG.\",\n \"20 is a table that sets forth aspects of the composition of various parts of the BOD die of FIG.\",\n \"7.FIG.\",\n \"21 is a table that shows how the turn on time of a device of the architecture of the BOD die of FIG.\",\n \"7 can be adjusted.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"22 is a cross-sectional diagram of a BOD device in accordance with a second novel aspect.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"23 is a diagram of a package that contains the breakover diode device of FIG.\",\n \"22.FIG.\",\n \"24 is a schematic diagram of the package of FIG.\",\n \"23.FIG.\",\n \"25 is a top-down diagram of the BOD device of FIG.\",\n \"22.FIG.\",\n \"26 is a diagram of the bottom of the BOD device of FIG.\",\n \"22.FIG.\",\n \"27 is a cross-sectional diagram of the BOD device of FIG.\",\n \"22 showing the J1 depletion region for a reverse voltage of about −300 volts.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"28 is cross-sectional diagram of the BOD device of FIG.\",\n \"22 showing the J1 depletion region for a reverse voltage of about −500 volts.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"29 is a diagram that shows the turn on time TON of the BOD device of FIG.\",\n \"22, when the BOD device is tested in the test circuit of FIG.\",\n \"12.FIG.\",\n \"30 is a diagram that shows the V-I characteristic of the BOD device of FIG.\",\n \"22.FIG.\",\n \"31 is a table that sets forth aspects of the composition of various parts of the BOD device of FIG.\",\n \"22.FIG.\",\n \"32 is a diagram of a packaged overvoltage protection circuit in accordance with a third novel aspect.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"33 is a circuit diagram of the packaged overvoltage protection circuit of FIG.\",\n \"32 in use with a thyristor, a current limiting resistor, and a snubber.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION Reference will now be made in detail to background examples and some embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.\",\n \"In the description and claims below, when a first object is referred to as being disposed “over” or “on” a second object, it is to be understood that the first object can be directly on the second object, or an intervening object may be present between the first and second objects.\",\n \"Similarly, terms such as “upper”, “top”, “up”, “down”, and “bottom” are used herein to describe relative orientations between different parts of the structure being described, and it is to be understood that the overall structure being described can actually be oriented in any way in three-dimensional space.\",\n \"The notations N+, N−, N, P+, and P are only relative, and are to be considered in context, and do not denote any particular dopant concentration range.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 is a cross-sectional diagram of a breakover diode (BOD) device 20 in accordance with one novel aspect.\",\n \"A metal anode electrode 21 is disposed on the bottom surface of a layer of P type substrate semiconductor material 22.An N type buffer layer 23 of epitaxial semiconductor material is disposed on the P type substrate layer 22.The epitaxial layer is grown on the substrate using known processes.\",\n \"An N− type base layer 24 of epitaxial semiconductor material is disposed on the N type buffer layer 23.The N-type base layer 24 is more lightly doped with N type dopants than is the N type buffer layer 23.The N− type layer 24 extends up to an upper semiconductor surface 25 of the die structure.\",\n \"The bottom semiconductor surface 26 of the die structure is identified by reference numeral 26.In the illustrated example, the two surfaces 25 and 26 are substantially planar.\",\n \"A P type base region 27 extends down into the N− type base layer 24 from the upper semiconductor surface 25.An N+ type annular emitter region 28 extends down into the P type base region 27 from the upper semiconductor surface 25 as shown.\",\n \"The region 28 is annular in that it has a ring-shape when considered from the top-down perspective.\",\n \"An amount of the P type material of the P type base region 27 extends up in the center of this annular structure so that the P type material reaches the upper semiconductor surface 25.This amount of P type material is referred to as the “cathode short region” 29.Cathode short region 29 has a width W at the upper semiconductor surface 25.A metal cathode electrode 30 is disposed on the upper semiconductor surface 25 so that it makes contact with the N+ type annular emitter region 28 and with the cathode short region 29 at the upper semiconductor surface 25 as shown.\",\n \"A floating metal ring 31 is disposed on the upper surface of the P type base region 27 so that the floating metal ring 31 surrounds, but does not touch, the metal cathode electrode 30.The floating metal ring 31 is “floating” in the sense that it is not electrically coupled to the cathode metal electrode 30.The floating metal ring 31 does not extend over any portion of the N− type base layer at the surface 25, nor does it extend over any portion of the annular N+ type emitter region 28 at the surface 25.The floating metal ring 31 is only in contact with the P type base region 27.In addition, the BOD device 20 includes two concentric P+ type guard rings 32 and 33.P+ type guard ring 32 surrounds the P type base region 27, and P+ type guard ring 33 surrounds the P+ type guard ring 32.In addition, the BOD device 20 includes an N+ type channel stopper ring 34.FIG.\",\n \"8 is a side view of a packaged BOD device 40.A BOD die of the type illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7 is enclosed in the plastic housing portion 41 the package of FIG.\",\n \"40.The anode metal electrode 21 of the die is coupled to metal package terminal PT2 42.The cathode metal electrode 30 of the die is coupled to metal package terminal PT1 43.FIG.\",\n \"9 is a schematic diagram of the packaged BOD device 40 of FIG.\",\n \"8.The connections 44 and 45 are internal to the package.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 is a diagram of the top surface of BOD die 20.The cathode metal electrode 30 has a square shape when viewed from the top-down perspective, except that the corners of the square are rounded.\",\n \"The peripheral edge of the P type base region 27 (when viewed from the top-down perspective) has a minimum radius of curvature of radius R. Similarly, the minimum radius of curvature R′ of the floating metal ring 31 is approximately R. From the top-down perspective, the strip-like shape of the floating metal ring 31 follows along the peripheral boundary of the P type base region 27.FIG.\",\n \"11 is a diagram of the bottom surface of BOD die 20.Substantially the entire bottom surface of the BOD die is covered in metal of the anode metal electrode 21.FIG.\",\n \"12 is a schematic diagram of a test circuit.\",\n \"The high voltage DC supply 46 is isolated from the BOD device 20 by 5k ohm resistor 47, capacitor 48, and inductor 49.The values are capacitor 48 and inductor 49 are selected depending on the pulse width and peak current desired.\",\n \"A 1800V antiparallel diode 50 is disposed in parallel with BOD device 20 in order to protect the BOD device 20 from any large negative transient voltages that might occur as a consequence of the switching.\",\n \"If a negative transient voltage where to develop across the BOD device 20, then diode 50 would conduct and limit the magnitude of this negative voltage across the BOD device.\",\n \"A Pearson transformer 51 is provided to detect and measure current 52 that might be flowing.\",\n \"In operation, the switch 53 is closed so that the DC voltage charges the capacitor 48 through the resistor 47.The voltage on capacitor 48 increases until the V(BO)F of the BOD device 20 is reached.\",\n \"The BOD device 20 is then triggered on, and current 52 begins to flow.\",\n \"This current 52 is measured via the Pearson transformer 51.Due to the current flow 52, the capacitor 48 is discharged through the inductance of inductor 49.FIG.\",\n \"13 is a waveform diagram showing the voltage across the BOD device 20 and the current flow 52 through the BOD device 20.The BOD device 20 of FIG.\",\n \"7 has a reverse breakdown voltage of −20 volts.\",\n \"The dashed line 54 in FIG.\",\n \"13 represents the voltage across the BOD device 20.Solid line 55 shows the current 52 flowing through the BOD device 20.The voltage across the BOD device 20 increases until the avalanche current reaches the internal triggering current of the BOD device 20, at which time the voltage across the BOD device 20 is V(BO)F at time 0.2 microseconds.\",\n \"The BOD device 20 then undergoes breakover, and current flow through the BOD device 20 rises quickly.\",\n \"Accordingly, the voltage across the BOD device 20 decreases quickly.\",\n \"The voltage across the BOD device 20 reaches zero volts by time 0.5 microseconds.\",\n \"The turn on time TON is the time from the time when the avalanche current reaches the triggering current until the time when the voltage across the BOD device has decreased to zero volts.\",\n \"The turn on time TON is therefore 0.3 microseconds.\",\n \"The subsequent part of the voltage and current waveforms involve ringing and transients that are not important for the considerations here.\",\n \"As compared to the 0.5 microsecond turn on time TON of the prior art BOD device of FIG.\",\n \"4, the 0.3 microsecond turn on time TON of the BOD device of FIG.\",\n \"7 is considerably smaller.\",\n \"In one advantageous aspect, the BOD device 20 of FIG.\",\n \"7 has a reduced turn on time TON.\",\n \"This is accomplished by recognizing that the delay in turn on in the prior art structure of FIG.\",\n \"4 is mainly due to slow diffusion of charge carriers through the neutral part of the N− type layer 11.When avalanche occurs at the PN junction between P base region 12 and N− type layer 11, time is required for the charge carriers to pass through the structure and to reach the electrodes.\",\n \"In the novel BOD device 20 of FIG.\",\n \"7, the thickness of the N-base layer 24 is reduced to be less than 130 microns, as compared to the thicker N− type layer 11 of the prior art structure of FIG.\",\n \"4.This reduces the distance the charge carriers have to traverse in a turn on event.\",\n \"The forward blocking voltage of the BOD device, however, is limited by the onset of punch-through.\",\n \"If, under a reverse bias situation, the depletion region at the PN junction between the P type base 12 and the N− type material of layer 11 were to expand so far that it were to reach the top of the P type layer 10, then punch through would occur.\",\n \"At this point the device would breakdown.\",\n \"Accordingly, in the conventional design of FIG.\",\n \"4 the N-type layer 11 is made thick enough so that under the high voltage forward voltages that the BOD device is to be able to withstand, the depletion region does not reach the P type layer 10.In the novel device of FIG.\",\n \"7, on the other hand, the N− type layer 24 is made thinner and punch through is prevented by providing an extra more heavily doped N type buffer layer 23.Due to the low doping concentration in the N− type layer 24, the depletion region grows relative quickly through this layer as the forward voltage across the BOD device increases, but when the depletion region reaches the more highly doped N type buffer layer 23 the depletion region expands downward much more slowly with further increases in the forward voltage.\",\n \"The doping concentration of the N type buffer layer 23 is chosen to be high enough that the depletion layer is effectively stopped and does not penetrate deeper than ten microns in the N type buffer layer 23 at the time the breakover voltage is reached.\",\n \"This defines the lower limit for the N type dopant concentration in the buffer layer to be approximately 1×1015 atoms/cm3.On the other hand, too high an N type dopant concentration in the buffer layer would reduce the injection efficiency of the P type emitter of the PNP transistor.\",\n \"The P type substrate layer 22 is the emitter of this PNP transistor.\",\n \"If the injection efficiency of the emitter of the PNP transistor is reduced, then the turn on speed will be reduced.\",\n \"This defines the upper limit for the N type dopant concentration in the N type buffer layer 23 to be approximately 1×1017 atoms/cm3.The preferred range for N type dopants in the N type buffer layer 23 is 1×1015 atoms/cm3 to 1×1016 atoms/cm3.The thickness of the N type buffer layer 23 should be as small as possible, while still preventing the depletion region from penetrating through the N type buffer layer.\",\n \"This results in a thickness of the N type buffer layer 23 of approximately 15 microns to 25 microns.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14 is a diagram that shows the strength of the electric field along sectional line B-B′ in the structure of FIG.\",\n \"7.The highest electric field strength is at the PN junction between the P type base region 27 and the N− type base layer 24.From this high electric field strength, the electric field decreases at a relatively lower rate (as compared to the rate of decrease of the electric field in FIG.\",\n \"5) through the lightly doped N− type base layer 24.The depletion layer extends all the way through the N− type base layer 24, and into the more highly doped N type buffer layer 23.Accordingly, the magnitude of the electric field decreases at a relatively higher rate into the N− type buffer layer 24.The depletion region ends about half way into the N type buffer layer 23, well before the P type substrate is reached.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"15 is a cross-sectional diagram that shows the contour of the outer extent of the depletion region.\",\n \"In the diagram, as the forward voltage across the BOD device increases, the depletion region expands from the JN junction (the PN junction between P type region 17 and N-base layer 24) downward and to the right.\",\n \"Dashed line 56 indicates the outer extent of the depletion region at a point in time before avalanche breakdown occurs.\",\n \"Dashed line 57 indicates the outer extent of the depletion region at a later point in time when there is a greater forward voltage across the BOD device.\",\n \"The depletion region has extended into the upper part of the N type buffer layer 23.The P+ type guard rings affect and shape the contour of the boundary of the depletion region so that it has a relatively smooth shape when considered in three-dimensional space.\",\n \"The N+ type channel stopper ring 34 stops the depletion region from extending laterally out to the side walls of the die.\",\n \"The maximum possible electric field occurs at the PN junction, at the point of highest curvature in the junction.\",\n \"This region is indicated in FIG.\",\n \"15 by reference numeral 58.In the case of the BOD device 20 that has a very short turn on time TON of 0.3 microseconds, the triggering on of the device due to avalanche breakdown has to occur quickly, and there is not adequate time for the current conducting area of breakdown to spread over the whole emitter area.\",\n \"Current flow is restricted to a small area around the point where avalanche breakdown was triggered.\",\n \"In a conventional design, such triggering would occur at four points in the bottom corners of the P type base region.\",\n \"The P type base region conventionally has corners when considered from the top-down perspective, and the bottom corners are the corner PN junction at the bottom of the P type base region in these four corner areas.\",\n \"In accordance with one novel aspect, the turn on time TON of the BOD device 20 is small in part due to increasing the minimum radius of curvature R (see FIG.\",\n \"10) of the P type base region.\",\n \"The minimum radius of curvature R is the radius of curvature illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"10.In one example, the minimum radius of curvature R is at least twice the depth D 59 of the N− type base layer 24, and is preferably four times the depth D of the N− type base layer 24.The region 58 where avalanche is triggered is therefore closer to a ring than it is to four separate points as in the prior art.\",\n \"Floating metal ring 31 also facilitates uniform triggering of avalanche breakdown.\",\n \"Empirically it has been found that providing the floating metal ring 31 reduces TON.\",\n \"Floating metal ring 31 is thought to assist in the making the onset of avalanche more uniform due to equalizing of what might otherwise be local peaks in the electric field in the semiconductor material below the ring.\",\n \"In addition to facilitating fast turn on by reducing carrier lifetime in the N-type base layer, and in addition to facilitating fast turn on by promoting uniform and distributed avalanche triggering, fast turn on is further facilitated by reducing the amount of avalanche current that causes the NPN transistor to turn on.\",\n \"If charge carriers are generated in region 58 in FIG.\",\n \"15, then holes will move from this region laterally to the left through the P type base region 27, passing under the N+ annular emitter region 28, and to the cathode short region 29, and up to the cathode metal electrode 30.Reducing the width of the cathode short region 29, which may result in an increase in the resistance of the current path at this point, is seen to reduce the triggering current required to achieve the requisite 0.7 volt drop to turn on the NPN transistor.\",\n \"In one example, the width of the cathode short region is 0.125 millimeters, and the amount of avalanche current required to achieve turn on (the triggering current) is about 10 milliamperes, and the turn on time is 0.3 microseconds or less.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16 is a diagram of a wafer 60 of BOD devices being manufactured, where different ones of the BOD devices are fabricated to have different triggering currents due to the BOD devices having different cathode short region widths.\",\n \"The BOD devices at this point in the semiconductor manufacturing process before wafer dicing are oriented in row and columns on the wafer.\",\n \"The upper part 61 of the diagram of FIG.\",\n \"16 is a blowup cross-sectional view of a first BOD device 62.The lower part 63 of the diagram of FIG.\",\n \"16 is a blowup cross-sectional view of a second BOD device 64.The width W1 of the cathode short region of BOD device 62 is wider than is the width W2 of the cathode short region of BOD device 64.In this way, a single wafer can yield BOD devices having a range of triggering currents.\",\n \"In addition to the novel BOD device 20 of FIG.\",\n \"7 having a small turn on time, and a small triggering current, the design of the BOD device 20 also results in reduced variability of the forward breakover voltage over temperature, and over process.\",\n \"Conventionally, variation in the forward breakover voltages of BOD devices (that ideally should have the same breakover voltage) over temperature is two percent per ten degrees Celsius, or more.\",\n \"Moreover, one BOD device manufactured using a design and process may have a forward breakover voltage that varies considerably from the forward breakover voltage of another BOD device manufactured on the same wafer using the same design and process.\",\n \"This variation in the forward breakover voltage is undesirable.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"17 is a simplified diagram that illustrates BOD forward breakover voltage versus temperature.\",\n \"Line 65 shows how the forward breakover voltage of the prior art BOD diode of FIG.\",\n \"4 changes at about two percent per ten degree Celsius change in temperature.\",\n \"Line 66 shows how the forward breakover voltage of the novel BOD diode 20 of FIG.\",\n \"7 changes with temperature.\",\n \"Advantageously, the forward breakover voltage changes less than one percent per ten degree Celsius change in temperature.\",\n \"In a conventional BOD device where the N− type layer 11 is thick, and where the depletion region expands downward a greater distance, the shape of the bottom extent of the depletion region is not perfectly planar.\",\n \"Variations in the doping concentration of the N− type layer 11 affect the breakover voltage, and variations of ten percent in dopant concentrations is typical.\",\n \"In the novel BOD device 20 of FIG.\",\n \"7, on the other hand, the entire N− type layer 24 typically depletes prior to breakover.\",\n \"The bottom surface of N-type layer 24 is quite planar.\",\n \"Further expansion of the depletion region extends into the top of the N type buffer layer 23, but this buffer layer has a much higher N type dopant concentration so the depletion region does not extend far into the buffer layer.\",\n \"The bottom extent of the depletion region is therefore quite planar and uniform.\",\n \"As compared to difficulties in controlling the N type dopant concentration in the N type layer 11 of the prior art structure, it is easier to control the thickness of the N− type base layer 24 in the BOD device of FIG.\",\n \"7.Due to the improved uniformity and repeatability in the way the depletion region grows in devices made using the structure of FIG.\",\n \"7, the forward breakover voltages of devices made using the structure of FIG.\",\n \"7 are more uniform and repeatable.\",\n \"The forward breakover voltage of a particular BOD device is less affected by changes in temperature as shown in the diagram of FIG.\",\n \"17.FIG.\",\n \"18 is a diagram that shows the V-I characteristic of the BOD device 20 of FIG.\",\n \"17.In a simplified explanation, as the forward voltage (the voltage from terminal T2 to terminal T1) increases, the current remains very close to zero and the BOD device is in the forward blocking mode.\",\n \"At some high forward voltage, avalanche breakdown begins to occur, but the current flow is not equal to the triggering current.\",\n \"When the voltage reaches the forward breakover voltage V(BO)F, then the avalanche current reaches the triggering current, and then breakover occurs and the BOD device turns on.\",\n \"The voltage across the BOD device therefore quickly falls to a low voltage VH.\",\n \"Once the BOD device is on, an increase in the voltage across the BOD device results in a rapid increase in current.\",\n \"The BOD device is effectively a short.\",\n \"The BOD device will remain in this forward conductive mode unless the current flow through the BOD device falls below the holding current IH.\",\n \"The BOD device is not able to tolerate reverse voltages well, so there is no voltage to current relationship shown for negative voltages.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"19 is a diagram of an overvoltage protection circuit.\",\n \"Two such circuits may be provided in antiparallel fashion as a crowbar to protect a piece of equipment (not shown) from voltages more positive than +2000V and from voltages more negative than −2000V.\",\n \"With respect to the +2000V protection circuit, if the positive voltage between node 67 and node 68 grows adequately large, then the large positive voltage will effectively be present across packaged BOD device 40.When the voltage reaches the forward breakover voltage of the BOD device, the BOD device breaks over and turns on.\",\n \"The resulting current, which is limited by resistor 70, then flows from node 67, through the resistor 70, through a reverse diode 71, through the packaged BOD device 40, and into the gate terminal G of the thyristor 69.This gate current triggers the thyristor 69 on.\",\n \"As a result of the triggering current flowing into the gate of thyristor 69, thyristor 69 turns on and conducts a large amount of current from node 67 to node 68, thereby reducing the voltage between nodes 67 and 68, and thereby protecting the equipment from overvoltage.\",\n \"The BOD device cannot tolerate large negative voltages (for example, cannot tolerate a negative voltage greater than −20V), so the reverse diode 71 is provided to block current from flowing upward through the BOD device from terminal PT1 to PT2 during large negative voltage situations.\",\n \"In addition, the thyristor can turn off rapidly.\",\n \"When the thyristor turns off it can generate voltage spikes (voltage spikes between the thyristor cathode and the thyristor gate).\",\n \"The RC circuit of resistor 72 and capacitor 73 is a snubber circuit.\",\n \"The snubber circuit is provided to soften the effect of the self-induced voltage spikes, and prevents these self-induced spikes from reaching and damaging the BOD device.\",\n \"As just described, the circuit pictured in FIG.\",\n \"19 protects the equipment against positive voltages in excess of +2000V.\",\n \"There is also a similar circuit (not shown) provided in the opposite direction between the same two nodes 67 and 68 to protect the equipment from voltages that are more negative than −2000V.\",\n \"The variation in the forward breakover voltage as a function of temperature changes is a major problem because margin needs to be provided in the capability of the other parts of the circuit (such as the thyristor), and in the equipment being protected, to account for the changes in the breakover voltage of the BOD device.\",\n \"When temperature increases, the equipment and thyristor still need to be able to tolerate the higher voltage that may be present (due to the breakover voltage of the BOD device increasing).\",\n \"The less than one percent change in forward breakover voltage per ten degrees Celsius (see line 66 of FIG.\",\n \"17) can result in major cost savings in the overall system as compared to the two percent change in forward breakover voltage per ten degrees Celsius of the prior art bulk BOD of FIG.\",\n \"4.FIG.\",\n \"20 is a table that shows various aspects of the composition of the BOD device of FIG.\",\n \"7.FIG.\",\n \"21 is a table that shows how reducing the cathode short region width results in reduced triggering currents.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"22 is a cross-sectional diagram of a BOD device 100 having comparable forward breakover and reverse breakdown voltages in accordance with one novel aspect.\",\n \"BOD device 100 has a forward breakover voltage of +450 volts and a reverse breakdown voltage of −500 volts.\",\n \"The voltages are comparable in the sense that the absolute magnitude of the reverse breakdown voltage is slightly greater than the forward breakover voltage.\",\n \"A metal anode electrode 101 is disposed on the bottom surface of a layer of P type substrate semiconductor material 102.An N− type base layer 103 of substrate semiconductor material is disposed on the P type substrate layer 102.The N− type base layer can be formed by diffusing N type dopants down into the P type substrate material from the upper semiconductor surface.\",\n \"The N− type base layer 103 extends up to an upper semiconductor surface 104 of the die structure.\",\n \"The bottom semiconductor surface of the die structure is identified by reference numeral 105.In the illustrated example, the two surfaces 104 and 105 are substantially planar.\",\n \"A P type base region 106 extends down into the N− type base layer 103 from the upper semiconductor surface 104.An N+ type annular emitter region 107 extends down into the P type base region 106 from the upper semiconductor surface 104 as shown.\",\n \"Region 107 is annular in that it has a ring-shape when considered from the top-down perspective.\",\n \"An amount of the P type material of the P type base region 106 in the center of the ring extends up so that the P type material reaches the upper semiconductor surface 104.This amount of P type material is referred to as the cathode short region 108.A metal cathode electrode 109 is disposed on the upper semiconductor surface 104 so that it makes contact with the N+ type annular emitter region 107 and with the cathode short region 108 at the upper semiconductor surface 104 as shown.\",\n \"An optional floating metal ring 110 is disposed on the upper surface of the P type base region 106 so that the floating metal ring 110 surrounds, but does not touch, the metal cathode electrode 109.This structure of the upper portion of the BOD of FIG.\",\n \"22 is similar to the structure of the upper portion of the BOD of FIG.\",\n \"7, except that in the case of the BOD of FIG.\",\n \"22 a peripheral P type isolation diffusion region 111 is provided.\",\n \"The peripheral P type isolation diffusion region 111 extends from the upper semiconductor surface 104 all the way through the die structure to the bottom semiconductor surface 105.The peripheral P type isolation diffusion region reaches the side edges of the die as shown.\",\n \"The peripheral P type isolation diffusion region is formed by implanting and diffusing P type dopants into the structure from the upper semiconductor surface 104, and by implanting and diffusing P type dopants into the structure from the bottom semiconductor surface 105, so that the two doped regions meet.\",\n \"As in the case of the BOD of FIG.\",\n \"7, two P+ type guard rings 112 and 113 are provided and an N+ type channel stopper 114 is provided as well.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"23 is a side view of a packaged BOD device 115.A BOD die of the type illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"22 is enclosed in the plastic housing portion 116 of the package of FIG.\",\n \"23.The anode metal electrode 101 of the BOD die is coupled to metal package terminal PT2 117.The cathode metal electrode 109 of the BOD die is coupled to metal package terminal PT1 118.FIG.\",\n \"24 is a schematic diagram of the packaged BOD device 115 of FIG.\",\n \"23.The connections 119 and 120 are internal to the package.\",\n \"The BOD device is a N-P-N-P layered device, where the top N type layer is the N+ type annular emitter region, where the next P type layer is the P type base region 106, where the next N type layer is the N− type base layer 103, and where the last P type layer is the P type substrate layer 102.The BOD die 100 does not actually include a reverse diode separate from the BOD diode, but rather the symbols of FIG.\",\n \"24 indicate a functionality of the device.\",\n \"The reverse diode function is performed by the PN junction of the J1 junction between P type substrate 102 and N− type base layer 103.FIG.\",\n \"25 is a top-down diagram of the BOD die 100 of FIG.\",\n \"22.As in the case of the BOD die of FIG.\",\n \"10 described above, the periphery of P type base region 106 (when considered from the top-down perspective) has a minimum radius of curvature R, where R is at least twice the depth D of the N− type base layer 103, and is preferably four times the depth D of the N− type base layer 103.FIG.\",\n \"26 is a diagram of the bottom surface of the BOD die 100 of FIG.\",\n \"22.Substantially the entire bottom surface of the BOD die is covered in metal of the metal anode electrode 101.FIG.\",\n \"27 is a cross-sectional diagram of the BOD device 100 under a reverse voltage of −300 volts (the anode is −300 volts with respect to the cathode).\",\n \"The BOD device 100 successfully blocks this −300 volt reverse voltage.\",\n \"The depletion region extends from the J1 PN junction into the N-base layer 103.The depletion region also extends from the J1 PN junction into the P type substrate layer 102 and into the P type isolation diffusion region 111.Whereas the reverse breakdown voltage of the BOD device of FIG.\",\n \"19 is about −200 volts, the reverse breakdown voltage of the BOD device of FIG.\",\n \"22 is about −500 volts.\",\n \"The absolute magnitude of the reverse breakdown voltage (−500 volts) is higher than the forward breakover voltage (+450 volts) because in the forward bias direction the base region 106 has a cylindrical junction.\",\n \"In the forward bias direction, without the guard rings, the device would break down at about +100 volts.\",\n \"By adding the guard rings the breakdown voltage (−450 volts) in the forward bias direction is increased to about 85% of the breakdown voltage of the bulk silicon.\",\n \"In the reverse direction, there is no cylindrical junction.\",\n \"The absolute magnitude of the reverse breakdown voltage of the BOD device (−500 volts) is approximately the same as the bulk breakdown voltage of bulk silicon.\",\n \"Without the P type isolation region, the reverse breakdown voltage would be approximately −50 volts to −100 volts.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"28 is a cross-sectional diagram of the BOD device 100 under a reverse voltage of −450 volts.\",\n \"The BOD device 100 successfully blocks the −450 volt reverse voltage.\",\n \"The depletion region extends from the J1 PN junction farther into the N-base layer 103 and farther into the P type substrate layer 102 and the P type isolation diffusion region 111.FIG.\",\n \"29 is a waveform diagram showing the voltage across packaged BOD device 115 of FIG.\",\n \"23 when the BOD device is put into the test circuit of FIG.\",\n \"12.The BOD device 115 of FIG.\",\n \"23 has a reverse breakdown voltage of about −500 volts.\",\n \"The dashed line 121 in FIG.\",\n \"29 shows the voltage across the BOD device in a test.\",\n \"Solid line 122 shows the current flowing through the BOD device.\",\n \"Avalanche current increases, until the magnitude of the avalanche current reaches the triggering current at the +450 volt forward breakover voltage V(BO)F .\",\n \"The forward breakover voltage V(BO)F is reached at 0.1 microseconds.\",\n \"The breakover diode then breaks over, and begins to conduct current.\",\n \"The voltage across the BOD device drops, and the current increases.\",\n \"The voltage across the BOD device reaches zero at time 0.55 microseconds.\",\n \"The turn on time TON is the time from when the avalanche current reaches the triggering current until the time when the voltage across the BOD device has decreased to zero.\",\n \"The turn on time TON is therefore 0.45 microseconds.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"30 is a diagram that shows the V-I characteristic of the BOD device of FIG.\",\n \"22.In a simplified explanation, as the forward voltage (the voltage from terminal T2 to terminal T1) increases, the current remains very close to zero and the BOD device is in the forward blocking mode.\",\n \"When the voltage reaches the forward breakover voltage V(BO)F of +450 volts, then breakover occurs and the BOD device turns on.\",\n \"The voltage across the BOD device therefore falls quickly to a low voltage VH.\",\n \"Once the BOD device is on, an increase in the voltage across the BOD device results in a rapid increase in current.\",\n \"The BOD device is effectively a short.\",\n \"The BOD device will remain in this forward conductive mode unless the current flow through the BOD device falls below the holding current IH.\",\n \"Unlike the BOD device of FIG.\",\n \"7, the BOD device of FIG.\",\n \"22 is able to tolerate reverse voltages up to −500 volts.\",\n \"If the reverse voltage exceeds this −500 volt value, then the BOD device undergoes breakdown and a reverse current flows.\",\n \"This is the “reverse avalanche region” labeled on the diagram.\",\n \"The reverse breakdown voltage (also sometimes called the “reverse breakover voltage”) of the BOD device is −500 volts, which is slightly larger in absolute magnitude than the +450 volt forward breakover voltage.\",\n \"Using the architecture of the BOD device of FIG.\",\n \"22, the reverse breakdown voltage is made to be a little larger in absolute magnitude than the forward breakover voltage, and the forward breakover voltage can be made to be anywhere in a range from +200V to greater than +900V.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"31 is a table that shows the composition of the various parts of the BOD device of FIG.\",\n \"22.In this example, as indicated in the graph of FIG.\",\n \"30, the BOD device 100 of FIG.\",\n \"22 has a forward breakover voltage of +450 volts, and a reverse breakdown voltage of −500 volts.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"32 is a side view of a packaged overvoltage protection circuit 123 in accordance with another embodiment.\",\n \"The packaged device 123 includes a housing portion 124, a PT2 package terminal 125, and a PT1 package terminal 126.A plurality of BOD dice of the type illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"22, along with other components, are enclosed in the housing portion 124.FIG.\",\n \"33 is a circuit diagram of an apparatus and circuit 136.Apparatus and circuit 136 involves the packaged device 123 of FIG.\",\n \"32 in use in combination with a thyristor 127.The apparatus and circuit 136 includes a current limiting resistor 128, the packaged device 123, and a RC snubber circuit 129, 130.Operation of the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"33 is similar to the operation of the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"19 described above.\",\n \"The packaged overvoltage protection circuit 123 functions similar to a single BOD device that has a forward breakover voltage of +8000 volts, and a reverse breakdown voltage of −10,000 volts.\",\n \"The contents of the packaged device 123 is shown encircled in the dashed line 123.Within packaged device 123 there are four identical dice 131-134 of the type of FIG.\",\n \"22, with these dice being coupled in series between package terminal PT2 and package terminal PT1.If the forward voltage drop between PT2 and PT1 reaches the forward breakover voltage of +8000 volts, then the BOD devices undergo breakover and a breakover current flows through the BOD devices in current path 135 from PT2 to PT1.But for a small leakage current that flows through the resistor string 136-139, the packaged device 123 blocks substantially all current flow for positive voltages between PT2 and PT1 unless the forward voltage reaches or exceeds +8000 volts.\",\n \"The triggering current of the BOD device may, for example, be 10 mA and this current only flows at high forward voltages approaching V(BO)F. In the reverse direction, each of the BOD devices can withstand a reverse voltage of −500 volts before suffering breakdown.\",\n \"Accordingly, other than for a small leakage current that flows through the resistor string 136-139 and a small triggering current, the packaged device 123 blocks current flow for negative voltages between PT2 and PT1 unless the negative voltage reaches or exceeds −10,000 volts.\",\n \"The resistances of the resistors is made large so that the current flow through the resistor string is inconsequential.\",\n \"In operation, if the voltage between node 140 and 141 reaches +8000 volts, then the BOD devices in packaged device 123 undergo breakover, and a current flows from PT2 to PT1 and this current is injected into the gate of thyristor 127, thereby turning on the thyristor.\",\n \"As a consequence of the thyristor turning on, the thyristor conducts a large current from node 140 to node 141 through the thyristor, and this large current reduces the voltage between nodes 140 and 141 to a voltage below the +8000 volts.\",\n \"Equipment 142 that is not to experience voltages in excess of +8000 volts is connected across the nodes 140 and 141, so that the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"33 will prevent the voltage between those nodes from exceeding +8000 volts.\",\n \"As explained above in connection with FIG.\",\n \"19, resistor 128 has a current limiting function in limiting the magnitude of the triggering current sent into the gate of the thyristor.\",\n \"The snubber 129, 130 protects the BOD devices from potentially harmful voltage spikes that the thyristor itself generates between the gate and cathode of the thyristor.\",\n \"The thyristor may generate such spikes when it turn on and/or off rapidly.\",\n \"Due the ability of each BOD device to block a reverse voltage of −500 volts, the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"33 does not include an expensive reverse diode such as reverse diode 71 of FIG.\",\n \"19.As explained above in connection with FIG.\",\n \"19, there is typically another circuit identical to the circuit of FIG.\",\n \"33 where this other circuit is coupled in antiparallel fashion to nodes 140 and 141.The first circuit is to stop positive voltages more positive than +8000 volts from appearing between nodes 140 and 141, whereas the second circuit is to stop negative voltages more negative than −8000 volts from appearing between nodes 140 and 141.Equipment to be protected 142 in this case is not to see voltages whose absolute magnitudes are greater than 8000 volts.\",\n \"Although an embodiment is shown in which a resistor is coupled in parallel with each individual BOD device, some BOD devices may not have such a parallel-connected resistor in some embodiments.\",\n \"Although an embodiment is shown in which all the BOD devices are identical, in another embodiments BOD devices that have different forward breakover voltages are provided in the same packaged overvoltage protection circuit to provide a desired different overall forward breakover voltage and a desired different overall reverse breakdown voltage of the overall packaged overvoltage protection circuit.\",\n \"Although certain specific embodiments are described above for instructional purposes, the teachings of this patent document have general applicability and are not limited to the specific embodiments described above.\",\n \"Accordingly, various modifications, adaptations, and combinations of various features of the described embodiments can be practiced without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876139"}}},{"rowIdx":4495092,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["VIDEO DISTRIBUTION METHOD AND DEVICE","Embodiments of the present invention relate to the communications field, and provide a video distribution method and a device.","The method includes: receiving, by an SCEF, a first request message sent by a third-party server, where the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; sending, by the SCEF, a second request message to an HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability; sending, by the SCEF, a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC after the SCEF receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request to obtain MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; and sending the MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server."],["1.A video distribution method, comprising: receiving, by a service capability exposure function (SCEF), a first request message sent by a third-party server, wherein the first request message comprises a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; sending, by the SCEF, a second request message to a home subscriber server (HSS) according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability; sending, by the SCEF, a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center (BM-SC) after the SCEF receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; and sending, by the SCEF, the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment (UE).","2.The method according to claim 1, wherein the first request message further comprises port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; the second request message comprises the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; if the second request message comprises the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the second response message comprises second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; if the second request message comprises the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message comprises an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC; the third request message comprises the port information of the third-party server and the media encoding information of the third-party server; and if the second response message comprises the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further comprises the second MBMS capability information; or if the second response message does not comprise the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further comprises the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","3.The method according to claim 2, wherein before the sending, by the SCEF, the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, the method further comprises: receiving, by the SCEF, a third response message sent by the BM-SC, wherein the third response message comprises the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.","4.The method according to claim 3, wherein the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately comprise at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience (QoE) reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, wherein the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information comprising at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information comprises at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","5.A service capability exposure function (SCEF), comprising: a receiver, configured to receive a first request message sent by a third-party server, wherein the first request message comprises a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; and a transmitter, configured to send a second request message to a home subscriber server (HSS) according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability, wherein the transmitter is further configured to send a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center (BM-SC) when the receiver receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; and the transmitter is further configured to send the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment UE.","6.The SCEF according to claim 5, wherein the first request message further comprises port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; the second request message comprises the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; if the second request message comprises the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the second response message comprises second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; if the second request message comprises the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message comprises an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC; the third request message comprises the port information of the third-party server and the media encoding information of the third-party server; and if the second response message comprises the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further comprises the second MBMS capability information; or if the second response message does not comprise the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further comprises the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","7.The SCEF according to claim 6, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive a third response message sent by the BM-SC, wherein the third response message comprises the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.","8.The SCEF according to claim 7, wherein the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately comprise at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience (QoE) reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, wherein the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information comprising at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information comprises at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","9.A third-party server, comprising: a transmitter, configured to send a first request message to a service capability exposure function (SCEF), wherein the first request message comprises a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; a receiver, configured to receive a first response message sent by the SCEF, wherein the first response message comprises exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is used for transporting video content and that is obtained from a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC, wherein the transmitter is further configured to send, to UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and a processor, configured to request, according to the MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast to distribute the video content to the UE.","10.The third-party server according to claim 9, wherein the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately comprise at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience (QoE) reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, wherein the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information comprising at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; the first request message further comprises port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message further comprises port information of the BM-SC, media encoding information of the BM-SC, and a charging rule that are obtained by the SCEF; and, wherein the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information comprises at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","11.The third-party server according to claim 9, wherein the receiver is further configured to: before the transmitter sends the first request message to the SCEF, or after the receiver receives the first response message sent by the SCEF, receive Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request messages sent by at least two UEs, wherein the HTTP request message is used to request same video content.","12.The third-party server according to claim 9, wherein the transmitter is further configured to: after sending, to the user equipment UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, send the video content to the BM-SC or the SCEF."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>OTT (Over The Top) means that an Internet company develops, by bypassing an operator, various open Internet-based video and data serving services, that is, only a network transmission capability of the operator is used, and a third party other than the operator provides an Internet television service or the like.","In an existing service and capability exposure (Service Exposure and Enablement Support, SEES) technology, an OTT third party (for example, Sohu video, LeTV, Baidu browser, or Tencent WeChat) may provide, by using a network transmission capability, a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network with a time period for requesting data, a volume of data sent in a specified region, quality of service (QoS), a priority, and the like.","The 3GPP network sends, according to a request of the OTT third party, specified data according to QoS and a priority of network authorization in a specified region, and provides the OTT third party with a recommended time period, charging policy information, network anomaly information, status information of user equipment (UE), and the like.","If the operator supports an OTT video, none of multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) supporting capabilities of the 3GPP network that include a media format support capability, a media distribution capability, a caching/transcoding capability, and an advertisement insertion capability are described in an existing 3GPP network capability exposure framework.","In this way, the operator needs to perform interoperability testing with each OTT third party and develop and customize a video support capability for each OTT third party.","For the OTT third party, because each operator has a different MBMS capability, if the OTT third party does not use an MBMS video support capability of the 3GPP network, the OTT third party still needs to perform interoperability testing with each operator, to adapt to different operator pipes and video supporting capabilities of different terminals.","This increases IOT (interoperability testing) workload of the OTT third party, causing heavy video distribution and management load."],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Embodiments of the present invention provide a video distribution method and a device, so as to resolve problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network.","According to a first aspect, a video distribution method is provided, including: receiving, by a service capability exposure function SCEF, a first request message sent by a third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; sending, by the SCEF, a second request message to a home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability; sending, by the SCEF, a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC after the SCEF receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; and sending, by the SCEF, the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment UE.","With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementation of the first aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; if the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the second response message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; or if the second request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC; the third request message includes the port information of the third-party server and the media encoding information of the third-party server; and if the second response message includes the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the second MBMS capability information; or if the second response message does not include the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","With reference to the first possible implementation of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation of the first aspect, before the sending, by the SCEF, the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, the method further includes: receiving, by the SCEF, a third response message sent by the BM-SC, where the third response message includes the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.","With reference to the second possible implementation of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation of the first aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","According to a second aspect, a video distribution method is provided, including: sending, by a third-party server, a first request message to a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; receiving, by the third-party server, a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is used for transporting video content and that is obtained from a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC; and sending, by the third-party server to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, and requesting, according to the MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast to distribute the video content to the UE.","With reference to the second aspect, in a first possible implementation of the second aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message further includes port information of the BM-SC, media encoding information of the BM-SC, and a charging rule that are obtained by the SCEF; where the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","With reference to the second aspect or the first possible implementation of the second aspect, in a second possible implementation of the second aspect, before the sending, by a third-party server, a first request message to an SCEF, or after the receiving, by the third-party server, a first response message sent by the SCEF, the method further includes: receiving, by the third-party server, Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP request messages sent by at least two UEs, where the HTTP request message is used to request same video content.","With reference to the second aspect or the first possible implementation or the second possible implementation of the second aspect, in a third possible implementation of the second aspect, after the sending, by the third-party server to user equipment UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, the method further includes: sending, by the third-party server, the video content to the BM-SC or the SCEF.","According to a third aspect, a video distribution method is provided, including: receiving, by a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC, a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution; and sending, by the BM-SC, a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so as to distribute video content to user equipment UE after the SCEF starts an MBMS broadcast according to the first MBMS capability information.","With reference to the third aspect, in a first possible implementation of the third aspect, the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is requested by a third-party server, or the first request message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by a home subscriber server HSS according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter obtained from the third-party server; and before the sending, by the BM-SC, a first response message to the SCEF, the method further includes: determining, by the BM-SC according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; or determining, by the BM-SC according to the second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS and subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.","With reference to the third aspect or the first possible implementation of the third aspect, in a second possible implementation of the third aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message includes port information of the BM-SC, a service portal link for transporting the video content, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","With reference to the second possible implementation of the third aspect, in a third possible implementation of the third aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","With reference to the second possible implementation or the third possible implementation of the third aspect, in a fourth possible implementation of the third aspect, after the sending, by the BM-SC, a first response message to the SCEF, the method further includes: sending, by the BM-SC to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and receiving, by the BM-SC according to the port information of the BM-SC, video content sent by the third-party server, and sending the video content to the UE.","According to a fourth aspect, a video distribution method is provided, including: receiving, by a home subscriber server HSS, a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; and determining, by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.","With reference to the fourth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the fourth aspect, if the first request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the method further includes: determining, by the HSS, exposed MBMS capability information according to the subscription information and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; and sending, by the HSS, a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information, where if the first request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the first response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, to notify the SCEF that the exposure of the MBMS capability is allowed.","With reference to the first possible implementation of the fourth aspect, in a second possible implementation, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","According to a fifth aspect, a service capability exposure function SCEF is provided, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive a first request message sent by a third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; and a sending unit, configured to send a second request message to a home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability, where the sending unit is further configured to send a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC when the receiving unit receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; and the sending unit is further configured to send the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment UE.","With reference to the fifth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; if the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the second response message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; or if the second request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC; the third request message includes the port information of the third-party server and the media encoding information of the third-party server; and if the second response message includes the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the second MBMS capability information; or if the second response message does not include the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","With reference to the first possible implementation of the fifth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the receiving unit is further configured to: receive a third response message sent by the BM-SC, where the third response message includes the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.","With reference to the first possible implementation of the fifth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","According to a sixth aspect, a third-party server is provided, including: a sending unit, configured to send a first request message to a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; a receiving unit, configured to receive a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is used for transporting video content and that is obtained from a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC, where the sending unit is further configured to send, to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and a processing unit, configured to request, according to the MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast to distribute the video content to the UE.","With reference to the sixth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message further includes port information of the BM-SC, media encoding information of the BM-SC, and a charging rule that are obtained by the SCEF; where the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","With reference to the sixth aspect or the first possible implementation of the sixth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the receiving unit is further configured to: before the third-party server sends the first request message to the SCEF, or after the third-party server receives the first response message sent by the SCEF, receive Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP request messages sent by at least two UEs, where the HTTP request message is used to request same video content.","With reference to the sixth aspect or the first possible implementation or the second possible implementation of the sixth aspect, in a third possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the sending unit is further configured to: after sending, to the user equipment UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, send the video content to the BM-SC or the SCEF.","According to a seventh aspect, a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC is provided, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution; and a sending unit, configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so as to distribute video content to user equipment UE after the SCEF starts an MBMS broadcast according to the first MBMS capability information.","With reference to the seventh aspect, in a first possible implementation of the seventh aspect, the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is requested by a third-party server, or the first request message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by a home subscriber server HSS according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter obtained from the third-party server; and the BM-SC further includes: a processing unit, configured to determine, according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; or the processing unit is configured to determine, according to the second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS and subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.","With reference to the seventh aspect or the first possible implementation of the seventh aspect, in a second possible implementation of the seventh aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message includes port information of the BM-SC, a service portal link for transporting the video content, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","With reference to the second possible implementation of the seventh aspect, in a third possible implementation of the seventh aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","With reference to the second possible implementation or the third possible implementation of the seventh aspect, in a fourth possible implementation of the seventh aspect, the sending unit is further configured to: send, to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; the receiving unit is further configured to receive, according to the port information of the BM-SC, video content sent by the third-party server; and the sending unit is further configured to send the video content to the UE.","According to an eighth aspect, a home subscriber server HSS is provided, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; and a processing unit, configured to determine, according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.","With reference to the eighth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the eighth aspect, if the first request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the processing unit is further configured to determine exposed MBMS capability information according to the subscription information and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; and the HSS further includes a sending unit, configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information, where if the first request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the first response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, to notify the SCEF that the exposure of the MBMS capability is allowed.","With reference to the first possible implementation of the eighth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the eighth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","According to a ninth aspect, a service capability exposure function SCEF is provided, including: a receiver, configured to receive a first request message sent by a third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; and a transmitter, configured to send a second request message to a home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability, where the transmitter is further configured to send a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC when the receiver receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; and the transmitter is further configured to send the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment UE.","With reference to the ninth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the ninth aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; if the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the second response message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; or if the second request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC; the third request message includes the port information of the third-party server and the media encoding information of the third-party server; and if the second response message includes the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the second MBMS capability information; or if the second response message does not include the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","With reference to the first possible implementation of the ninth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the ninth aspect, the receiver is further configured to receive a third response message sent by the BM-SC, where the third response message includes the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.","With reference to the second possible implementation of the ninth aspect, in a third possible implementation of the ninth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","According to a tenth aspect, a third-party server is provided, including: a transmitter, configured to send a first request message to a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; a receiver, configured to receive a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is used for transporting video content and that is obtained from a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC, where the transmitter is further configured to send, to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and a processor, configured to request, according to the MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast to distribute the video content to the UE.","With reference to the tenth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the tenth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message further includes port information of the BM-SC, media encoding information of the BM-SC, and a charging rule that are obtained by the SCEF; where the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","With reference to the tenth aspect or the first possible implementation of the tenth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the tenth aspect, the receiver is further configured to: before the transmitter sends the first request message to the SCEF, or after the receiver receives the first response message sent by the SCEF, receive Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP request messages sent by at least two UEs, where the HTTP request message is used to request same video content.","With reference to the tenth aspect or the first possible implementation or the second possible implementation of the tenth aspect, in a third possible implementation of the tenth aspect, the transmitter is further configured to: after sending, to the user equipment UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, send the video content to the BM-SC or the SCEF.","According to an eleventh aspect, a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC is provided, including: a receiver, configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution; and a transmitter, configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so as to distribute video content to user equipment UE after the SCEF starts an MBMS broadcast according to the first MBMS capability information.","With reference to the eleventh aspect, in a first possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is requested by a third-party server, or the first request message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by a home subscriber server HSS according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter obtained from the third-party server; and the BM-SC further includes: a processor, configured to: determine, according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; or determine, according to the second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS and subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.","With reference to the eleventh aspect or the first possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, in a second possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message includes port information of the BM-SC, a service portal link for transporting the video content, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","With reference to the second possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, in a third possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","With reference to the second possible implementation or the third possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, in a fourth possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, the transmitter is further configured to send, to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and the receiver is further configured to receive, according to the port information of the BM-SC, video content sent by the third-party server; and the transmitter is further configured to send the video content to the UE.","According to a twelfth aspect, a home subscriber server HSS is provided, including: a receiver, configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; and a processor, configured to determine, according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.","With reference to the twelfth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the twelfth aspect, if the first request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, when the processor is configured to determine to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the processor is further configured to determine exposed MBMS capability information according to the subscription information and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; and the transmitter is further configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information, where if the first request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the first response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, to notify the SCEF that the exposure of the MBMS capability is allowed.","With reference to the first possible implementation of the twelfth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the twelfth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","The embodiments of the present invention provide a video distribution method and a device.","The SCEF receives a first request message sent by the third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server, and sends a second request message to the home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability.","The SCEF sends a third request message to the broadcast multicast service center BM-SC after the SCEF receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.","The SCEF sends the exposed first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, so that the third-party server starts an MBMS broadcast according to the exposed first MBMS capability information and distributes video content to the user equipment UE.","That is, when multiple UEs access the video content, the third-party server providing the video content may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP network and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","The third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode of the 3GPP, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.","In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT third party in providing a video service is reduced.","Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved."],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of International Application No.","PCT/CN2015/084530, filed on Jul.","20, 2015, which is hereby incorporated by reference in the entirety.","TECHNICAL FIELD The present application relates to the communications field, and in particular, to a video distribution method and a device.","BACKGROUND OTT (Over The Top) means that an Internet company develops, by bypassing an operator, various open Internet-based video and data serving services, that is, only a network transmission capability of the operator is used, and a third party other than the operator provides an Internet television service or the like.","In an existing service and capability exposure (Service Exposure and Enablement Support, SEES) technology, an OTT third party (for example, Sohu video, LeTV, Baidu browser, or Tencent WeChat) may provide, by using a network transmission capability, a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network with a time period for requesting data, a volume of data sent in a specified region, quality of service (QoS), a priority, and the like.","The 3GPP network sends, according to a request of the OTT third party, specified data according to QoS and a priority of network authorization in a specified region, and provides the OTT third party with a recommended time period, charging policy information, network anomaly information, status information of user equipment (UE), and the like.","If the operator supports an OTT video, none of multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) supporting capabilities of the 3GPP network that include a media format support capability, a media distribution capability, a caching/transcoding capability, and an advertisement insertion capability are described in an existing 3GPP network capability exposure framework.","In this way, the operator needs to perform interoperability testing with each OTT third party and develop and customize a video support capability for each OTT third party.","For the OTT third party, because each operator has a different MBMS capability, if the OTT third party does not use an MBMS video support capability of the 3GPP network, the OTT third party still needs to perform interoperability testing with each operator, to adapt to different operator pipes and video supporting capabilities of different terminals.","This increases IOT (interoperability testing) workload of the OTT third party, causing heavy video distribution and management load.","SUMMARY Embodiments of the present invention provide a video distribution method and a device, so as to resolve problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network.","According to a first aspect, a video distribution method is provided, including: receiving, by a service capability exposure function SCEF, a first request message sent by a third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; sending, by the SCEF, a second request message to a home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability; sending, by the SCEF, a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC after the SCEF receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; and sending, by the SCEF, the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment UE.","With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementation of the first aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; if the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the second response message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; or if the second request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC; the third request message includes the port information of the third-party server and the media encoding information of the third-party server; and if the second response message includes the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the second MBMS capability information; or if the second response message does not include the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","With reference to the first possible implementation of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation of the first aspect, before the sending, by the SCEF, the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, the method further includes: receiving, by the SCEF, a third response message sent by the BM-SC, where the third response message includes the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.","With reference to the second possible implementation of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation of the first aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","According to a second aspect, a video distribution method is provided, including: sending, by a third-party server, a first request message to a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; receiving, by the third-party server, a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is used for transporting video content and that is obtained from a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC; and sending, by the third-party server to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, and requesting, according to the MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast to distribute the video content to the UE.","With reference to the second aspect, in a first possible implementation of the second aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message further includes port information of the BM-SC, media encoding information of the BM-SC, and a charging rule that are obtained by the SCEF; where the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","With reference to the second aspect or the first possible implementation of the second aspect, in a second possible implementation of the second aspect, before the sending, by a third-party server, a first request message to an SCEF, or after the receiving, by the third-party server, a first response message sent by the SCEF, the method further includes: receiving, by the third-party server, Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP request messages sent by at least two UEs, where the HTTP request message is used to request same video content.","With reference to the second aspect or the first possible implementation or the second possible implementation of the second aspect, in a third possible implementation of the second aspect, after the sending, by the third-party server to user equipment UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, the method further includes: sending, by the third-party server, the video content to the BM-SC or the SCEF.","According to a third aspect, a video distribution method is provided, including: receiving, by a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC, a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution; and sending, by the BM-SC, a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so as to distribute video content to user equipment UE after the SCEF starts an MBMS broadcast according to the first MBMS capability information.","With reference to the third aspect, in a first possible implementation of the third aspect, the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is requested by a third-party server, or the first request message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by a home subscriber server HSS according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter obtained from the third-party server; and before the sending, by the BM-SC, a first response message to the SCEF, the method further includes: determining, by the BM-SC according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; or determining, by the BM-SC according to the second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS and subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.","With reference to the third aspect or the first possible implementation of the third aspect, in a second possible implementation of the third aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message includes port information of the BM-SC, a service portal link for transporting the video content, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","With reference to the second possible implementation of the third aspect, in a third possible implementation of the third aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","With reference to the second possible implementation or the third possible implementation of the third aspect, in a fourth possible implementation of the third aspect, after the sending, by the BM-SC, a first response message to the SCEF, the method further includes: sending, by the BM-SC to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and receiving, by the BM-SC according to the port information of the BM-SC, video content sent by the third-party server, and sending the video content to the UE.","According to a fourth aspect, a video distribution method is provided, including: receiving, by a home subscriber server HSS, a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; and determining, by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.","With reference to the fourth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the fourth aspect, if the first request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the method further includes: determining, by the HSS, exposed MBMS capability information according to the subscription information and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; and sending, by the HSS, a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information, where if the first request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the first response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, to notify the SCEF that the exposure of the MBMS capability is allowed.","With reference to the first possible implementation of the fourth aspect, in a second possible implementation, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","According to a fifth aspect, a service capability exposure function SCEF is provided, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive a first request message sent by a third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; and a sending unit, configured to send a second request message to a home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability, where the sending unit is further configured to send a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC when the receiving unit receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; and the sending unit is further configured to send the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment UE.","With reference to the fifth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; if the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the second response message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; or if the second request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC; the third request message includes the port information of the third-party server and the media encoding information of the third-party server; and if the second response message includes the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the second MBMS capability information; or if the second response message does not include the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","With reference to the first possible implementation of the fifth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the receiving unit is further configured to: receive a third response message sent by the BM-SC, where the third response message includes the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.","With reference to the first possible implementation of the fifth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","According to a sixth aspect, a third-party server is provided, including: a sending unit, configured to send a first request message to a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; a receiving unit, configured to receive a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is used for transporting video content and that is obtained from a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC, where the sending unit is further configured to send, to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and a processing unit, configured to request, according to the MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast to distribute the video content to the UE.","With reference to the sixth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message further includes port information of the BM-SC, media encoding information of the BM-SC, and a charging rule that are obtained by the SCEF; where the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","With reference to the sixth aspect or the first possible implementation of the sixth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the receiving unit is further configured to: before the third-party server sends the first request message to the SCEF, or after the third-party server receives the first response message sent by the SCEF, receive Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP request messages sent by at least two UEs, where the HTTP request message is used to request same video content.","With reference to the sixth aspect or the first possible implementation or the second possible implementation of the sixth aspect, in a third possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the sending unit is further configured to: after sending, to the user equipment UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, send the video content to the BM-SC or the SCEF.","According to a seventh aspect, a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC is provided, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution; and a sending unit, configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so as to distribute video content to user equipment UE after the SCEF starts an MBMS broadcast according to the first MBMS capability information.","With reference to the seventh aspect, in a first possible implementation of the seventh aspect, the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is requested by a third-party server, or the first request message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by a home subscriber server HSS according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter obtained from the third-party server; and the BM-SC further includes: a processing unit, configured to determine, according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; or the processing unit is configured to determine, according to the second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS and subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.","With reference to the seventh aspect or the first possible implementation of the seventh aspect, in a second possible implementation of the seventh aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message includes port information of the BM-SC, a service portal link for transporting the video content, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","With reference to the second possible implementation of the seventh aspect, in a third possible implementation of the seventh aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","With reference to the second possible implementation or the third possible implementation of the seventh aspect, in a fourth possible implementation of the seventh aspect, the sending unit is further configured to: send, to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; the receiving unit is further configured to receive, according to the port information of the BM-SC, video content sent by the third-party server; and the sending unit is further configured to send the video content to the UE.","According to an eighth aspect, a home subscriber server HSS is provided, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; and a processing unit, configured to determine, according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.","With reference to the eighth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the eighth aspect, if the first request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the processing unit is further configured to determine exposed MBMS capability information according to the subscription information and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; and the HSS further includes a sending unit, configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information, where if the first request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the first response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, to notify the SCEF that the exposure of the MBMS capability is allowed.","With reference to the first possible implementation of the eighth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the eighth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","According to a ninth aspect, a service capability exposure function SCEF is provided, including: a receiver, configured to receive a first request message sent by a third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; and a transmitter, configured to send a second request message to a home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability, where the transmitter is further configured to send a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC when the receiver receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; and the transmitter is further configured to send the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment UE.","With reference to the ninth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the ninth aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; if the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the second response message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; or if the second request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC; the third request message includes the port information of the third-party server and the media encoding information of the third-party server; and if the second response message includes the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the second MBMS capability information; or if the second response message does not include the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","With reference to the first possible implementation of the ninth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the ninth aspect, the receiver is further configured to receive a third response message sent by the BM-SC, where the third response message includes the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.","With reference to the second possible implementation of the ninth aspect, in a third possible implementation of the ninth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","According to a tenth aspect, a third-party server is provided, including: a transmitter, configured to send a first request message to a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; a receiver, configured to receive a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is used for transporting video content and that is obtained from a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC, where the transmitter is further configured to send, to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and a processor, configured to request, according to the MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast to distribute the video content to the UE.","With reference to the tenth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the tenth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message further includes port information of the BM-SC, media encoding information of the BM-SC, and a charging rule that are obtained by the SCEF; where the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","With reference to the tenth aspect or the first possible implementation of the tenth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the tenth aspect, the receiver is further configured to: before the transmitter sends the first request message to the SCEF, or after the receiver receives the first response message sent by the SCEF, receive Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP request messages sent by at least two UEs, where the HTTP request message is used to request same video content.","With reference to the tenth aspect or the first possible implementation or the second possible implementation of the tenth aspect, in a third possible implementation of the tenth aspect, the transmitter is further configured to: after sending, to the user equipment UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, send the video content to the BM-SC or the SCEF.","According to an eleventh aspect, a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC is provided, including: a receiver, configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution; and a transmitter, configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so as to distribute video content to user equipment UE after the SCEF starts an MBMS broadcast according to the first MBMS capability information.","With reference to the eleventh aspect, in a first possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is requested by a third-party server, or the first request message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by a home subscriber server HSS according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter obtained from the third-party server; and the BM-SC further includes: a processor, configured to: determine, according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; or determine, according to the second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS and subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.","With reference to the eleventh aspect or the first possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, in a second possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message includes port information of the BM-SC, a service portal link for transporting the video content, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","With reference to the second possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, in a third possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","With reference to the second possible implementation or the third possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, in a fourth possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, the transmitter is further configured to send, to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and the receiver is further configured to receive, according to the port information of the BM-SC, video content sent by the third-party server; and the transmitter is further configured to send the video content to the UE.","According to a twelfth aspect, a home subscriber server HSS is provided, including: a receiver, configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; and a processor, configured to determine, according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.","With reference to the twelfth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the twelfth aspect, if the first request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, when the processor is configured to determine to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the processor is further configured to determine exposed MBMS capability information according to the subscription information and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; and the transmitter is further configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information, where if the first request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the first response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, to notify the SCEF that the exposure of the MBMS capability is allowed.","With reference to the first possible implementation of the twelfth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the twelfth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","The embodiments of the present invention provide a video distribution method and a device.","The SCEF receives a first request message sent by the third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server, and sends a second request message to the home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability.","The SCEF sends a third request message to the broadcast multicast service center BM-SC after the SCEF receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.","The SCEF sends the exposed first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, so that the third-party server starts an MBMS broadcast according to the exposed first MBMS capability information and distributes video content to the user equipment UE.","That is, when multiple UEs access the video content, the third-party server providing the video content may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP network and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","The third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode of the 3GPP, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.","In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT third party in providing a video service is reduced.","Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or in the prior art more clearly, the following briefly describes the accompanying drawings required for describing the embodiments or the prior art.","Apparently, the accompanying drawings in the following description show merely some embodiments of the present invention, and a person of ordinary skill in the art may still derive other drawings from these accompanying drawings without creative efforts.","FIG.","1 is a schematic flowchart of a video distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","2A and FIG.","2B are a schematic flowchart of a video distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","3A and FIG.","3B are a schematic information interaction diagram of a video distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","4A and FIG.","4B are a schematic flowchart of a video distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","5 is a schematic information interaction diagram of a video distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","6 is a schematic flowchart of a video distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","7 is a schematic flowchart of a video distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","8 is a schematic flowchart of a video distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","9 is a schematic structural diagram of an SCEF according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","10 is a schematic structural diagram of a third-party server according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","11 is a schematic structural diagram of a BM-SC according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","12 is a schematic structural diagram of an HSS according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","13 is a schematic structural diagram of an SCEF according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","14 is a schematic structural diagram of a third-party server according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","15 is a schematic structural diagram of a BM-SC according to an embodiment of the present invention; and FIG.","16 is a schematic structural diagram of an HSS according to an embodiment of the present invention.","DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS The following clearly describes the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention.","Apparently, the described embodiments are merely some but not all of the embodiments of the present invention.","All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.","The embodiments of the present invention may be applied to a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS architecture of an evolved packet system (EPS).","The MBMS is a point-to-multipoint service, can implement data transmission from a single entity to multiple receivers, and may include the following network elements and devices: UE supports an activation/deactivation function of an MBMS bearer service.","A packet data network gateway (P-GW) is a user plane anchor between a 3GPP access network and a non-3GPP access network, and an interface with an external packet data network.","A broadcast multicast service center (BM-SC) is used for charging record generation, member management, MBMS session and transmission management, service notification management, MBMS transmission security support, MBMS session transmission and retransmission schedule determining, identification of each MBMS session, temporary mobile group identity (TMGI) allocation, MBMS bearer resource initiation or termination, and MBMS data sending, and has an error resilience policy, or the like.","In a capability exposure architecture, a service capability exposure function (SCEF) is located between a 3GPP network and a service capability server (SCS)/third-party server (Application Server, AS), and the SCS/AS may initiates a service capability request to the SCEF by using an application programming interface (API) or the SCS/AS directly initiates a request to a network entity.","The SCEF requests a corresponding network capability from the 3GPP network, and then the SCEF sends the obtained network capability/a result to the SCS/AS by using the API.","For broadcast capability exposure, the SCEF is connected to the BM-SC by using an interface, the AS requests allocation/release of a TMGI also by using the interface, to activate/deactivate/modify an MBMS bearer, and the BM-SC notifies MBMS status information to the AS by using the interface.","Based on the foregoing MBMS architecture and capability exposure architecture, an embodiment of the present invention provides a video distribution method.","As shown in FIG.","1, the method includes the following steps.","101.An SCEF receives a first request message sent by a third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server.","For an operator, the third-party server may be referred to the foregoing SCS/AS.","For a user, the third-party server may be referred to as an OTT video server, providing video content to the user.","Before the SCEF receives the first request message sent by the third-party server, UE may first access the OTT video server.","After detecting that at least two UEs access same video content, the OTT video server interacts with an SCEF of a 3GPP, and sends, to the SCEF, the first request message to request for invoking an MBMS video support capability of a 3GPP network.","The first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is requested by the OTT video server, for example, a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication of an MBMS, an indication showing that content caching is supported, or an indication showing that content caching is not supported.","Alternatively, the OTT video server may request in advance an MBMS capability exposure resource from a 3GPP network, to send the first request message to the SCEF.","In this way, when detecting that at least two UEs access same video content, the OTT video server may redirect requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content.","Alternatively, policy information is preconfigured in the third-party server, and when receiving an HTTP request sent by the UE, the third-party server sends the first request message to the SCEF.","This is not limited in the present disclosure.","The first request message may further include port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server.","The port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and a BM-SC.","The media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","102.The SCEF sends a second request message to a home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability.","The SCEF adds the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication in the first request message to a second request message, and sends the second request message to a home subscriber server (HSS).","The MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability.","Therefore, the HSS may check subscription information between the HSS and an operator, to determine whether the MBMS capability is allowed to be exposed to an OTT third party.","If the HSS performs MBMS capability determining, the HSS determines, for example, whether to expose the MBMS pipe capability, whether to expose a media capability (including a content caching capability, a media transcoding capability, or the like), or whether to expose an advertisement insertion capability.","103.The SCEF sends a third request message to a BM-SC after the SCEF receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.","When determining to expose the MBMS capability, the HSS returns the second response message to the SCEF, to represent that the MBMS capability is allowed to be exposed to the OTT third party.","If the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, when the HSS allows the exposure of the MBMS capability, the second response message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","If the second response message includes the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the second MBMS capability information, that is, the BM-SC determines the first MBMS capability information according to the second MBMS capability information determined by the HSS and the subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator.","If the second request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC.","In this case, if the second request message further includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information in the second response message is determined by the BM-SC according to the second MBMS capability information determined by the HSS.","If the second response message does not include the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, that is, the HSS does not perform MBMS capability determining, but the BM-SC directly determines to-be-exposed first MBMS capability information according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator only when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.","The MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","104.The SCEF sends the exposed first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment UE.","Before the sending, by the SCEF, the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, the method further includes: receiving, by the SCEF, a third response message sent by the BM-SC, where the third response message includes the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.","The service portal link for transporting the video content may be a user service description (USD) uniform resource locator (URL) provided by the BM-SC, or a domain name address of the BM-SC, or the like.","The port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server.","The SCEF then sends the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC, the service portal link for transporting the video content, the port information of the BM-SC, the charging rule, and the media encoding information of the BM-SC to the third-party server.","In this way, the third-party server requests the 3GPP network to start an MBMS broadcast, and notifies the video content to the UE according to the MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, that is, redirects a request of the UE to an MBMS broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.","In this way, technical difficulty of the OTT third party in providing a video service is reduced, the OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminal types separately, and workload of the OTT third party is reduced.","This embodiment of the present invention provides a video distribution method.","The SCEF receives a first request message sent by the third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server, and sends a second request message to the home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability.","The SCEF sends a third request message to the broadcast multicast service center BM-SC after the SCEF receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.","The SCEF sends the exposed first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, so that the third-party server starts an MBMS broadcast according to the exposed first MBMS capability information and distributes video content to the user equipment UE.","That is, when multiple UEs access the video content, the third-party server providing the video content may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","The third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.","In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.","Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.","Based on the foregoing embodiment, the following specifically describes an embodiment of the present invention.","For a scenario in which an OTT video server requests, after detecting that at least two UEs access same video content, a 3GPP network to expose an MBMS capability, another embodiment of the present invention provides a video distribution method.","As shown in FIG.","2, the method includes the following steps.","201.A third-party server detects that at least two UEs access same video content.","For example, UE 1 sends an HTTP request message to the third-party server, to request to send video content.","The HTTP request message includes a URL corresponding to the video content.","UE 2 also sends an HTTP request message to the third-party server, and also requests, from the third-party server, the video content corresponding to the same URL.","Therefore, the third-party server detects, according to the URL, that multiple UEs access the same video content.","Then the third-party server determines to invoke a video capability of a 3GPP network to distribute the video content.","202.The third-party server sends a first TMGI allocation request to an SCEF, where the TMGI allocation request includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server.","The MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution is added to an existing TMGI allocation request (Allocate TMGI Request) by using a standard open interface and by using the TMGI allocation request.","That is, the first TMGI allocation request herein is equivalent to the first request message in the foregoing embodiment.","The first TMGI allocation request includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server.","The MBMS capability negotiation parameter may include: a transport mode indication of the video content.","The transport mode indication may include a broadcast mode (Broad Cast only), or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode (hybrid Broad Cast/Unitary Cast, hybrid BC/UC), or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode (dynamic BC/UC), that is, a mode dynamically switching between a broadcast mode and a unicast mode; may further include a security feature indication for using the MBMS (MBMS security feature allowed), where the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; may further include a content transcoding capability support indication (content transcoding capability support), which includes an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; may further include a content caching indication (caching support), which includes an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; may further include an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; may further include quality of experience (QoE) reporting indication, where the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; may further include a network information reporting indication, where the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, and the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; or may further include an advertisement purchasing information indication, where the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","The first TMGI allocation request may further include port information (SCS port information) of the third-party server, for example, an IP address and a port number of an SCS, used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; may further include media encoding information (media layer information) of the third party server, including, for example, video encoding information, such as video H.264/H.265; and audio encoding information, such as adaptive multi-rate wideband coding (AMR-WB), adaptive multi-rate narrowband coding (AMR-NB), or an enhanced voice service (EVS); or may further include other media information, for example, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","Certainly, the first TMGI allocation request further includes a group identifier (external group ID), an SCS ID, UE IDs, and the like of video content already existing in the request.","203.The SCEF sends a subscription information request to an HSS, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability.","When receiving the first TMGI allocation request, the SCEF sends, to the HSS, a subscription information request, which is equivalent to the second request message in the foregoing embodiment.","The subscription information request may carry the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication.","The MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability, or may further include an external group ID, an SCS ID, and the like, so as to request the HSS to expose the MBMS capability to an OTT third party, for example, Sohu video, or LeTV.","204.The HSS detects subscription information, determines whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability to an OTT third party, and sends a subscription information response to the SCEF.","According to the description of step 203, the subscription information request may include the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, or the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, or the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication; or the subscription information request indicates that no parameter or indication is added.","When the subscription information request indicates that no parameter or indication is added, if the HSS receives the subscription information request, the subscription information request may determine, according to subscription information between the HSS and the operator, that is, an external group ID, an SCS ID, and the like, whether to expose the MBMS capability to the third party.","If the HSS determines to expose the MBMS capability to the third party, the HSS sends, to the SCEF, a subscription information response representing that the exposure of the MBMS capability is allowed, and the subscription information response is also equivalent to the second response message in the foregoing embodiment.","If the subscription information request includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication and does not include the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, it may be understood that the MBMS pipe capability includes an MBMS media capability.","When the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS pipe capability, because the MBMS capability negotiation parameter is not carried, a subscription information response including an MBMS capability exposure request indication is returned to the SCEF when no specific capability determining is performed to determine which media capability is to be exposed, so that the SCEF further requests the BM-SC exposed MBMS media capability information.","If the subscription information request does not include the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, but includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, it may be understood that the MBMS pipe capability is represented in the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","If the HSS receives the subscription information request, when determining, according to the subscription information between the HSS and the operator, to expose the MBMS pipe capability, the HSS further determines, according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the subscription information, which MBMS capability is to be exposed to a third party, and returns the determined MBMS capability information to the SCEF by using a subscription information response.","If the subscription information request includes both the MBMS media capability exposure request indication and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, it may be understood that the MBMS pipe capability and an MBMS media capability are in parallel, the HSS first determines, according to the subscription information, whether to expose the MBMS pipe capability.","If the HSS determines to expose the MBMS pipe capability, the HSS further determines, according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the subscription information, which MBMS capability is to be exposed, and returns, to the SCEF, a subscription information response that includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication and the determined to-be-exposed MBMS capability information, so that the SCEF further requests specific MBMS capability information from the BM-SC.","An MBMS pipe represents a capability of data transmission between two nodes.","205.The SCEF sends a second TMGI allocation request to a BM-SC, where the second TMGI allocation request is used to request to obtain exposed MBMS capability information from the BM-SC.","When the SCEF determines that the HSS allows the exposure of the MBMS capability to the OTT third party, the SCEF sends, to the BM-SC, the second TMGI allocation request that is equivalent to the third request message in the foregoing embodiment.","The MBMS capability negotiation parameter or the MBMS capability information that is determined to be exposed by the HSS is added to the second TMGI allocation request, or the foregoing SCS port information, media information, or the like may be further added to the second TMGI allocation request.","That is, if the HSS does not specifically perform determining on the MBMS capability exposed to the third party, the SCEF sends the MBMS capability negotiation parameter obtained from the third-party server to the BM-SC, so that the BM-SC determines, according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator, which MBMS capability is specifically to be exposed.","If the HSS performs capability determining according to the MBMS capability sent by the SCEF, to determine which MBMS is to be exposed to the third party, the BM-SC further determines, according to the subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator, and according to a set of MBMS capabilities in the MBMS capability information that is obtained from the SCEF and that is determined by the HSS, which MBMS capability is further exposed to the third party.","206.The BM-SC determines the exposed MBMS capability information according to the subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, and sends the MBMS capability information to the SCEF.","The BM-SC determines specific exposed MBMS capability information, that is, arbitrates an exposure attribute based on a capability of the BM-SC.","For example, the specific MBMS capability information includes a dynamic unicast/broadcast conversion capability and a media transcoding capability.","In addition, the BM-SC returns the determined specific MBMS capability information to the SCEF.","The specific MBMS capability information may be carried in the first TMGI allocation response message (allocate TMGI response).","The BM-SC may provide, at the same time, port information of the BM-SC (BM-SC port information), a charging rule provided by the BM-SC, media encoding information of the BM-SC, and a service portal link that is used for transporting the video content and that is constructed by the BM-SC according to an arbitration result, for example, a USD URL; and further include an allocated TMGI or the like.","207.The SCEF forwards the MBMS capability information to the third-party server.","The SCEF may add the MBMS capability information, the charging rule, the port information of the BM-SC, the service portal link for transporting the video content, and the encoding information of the BM-SC that are received from the BM-SC to the second TMGI allocation response message, and forwards the second TMGI allocation response message to the third-party server SCS/AS.","In this case, the third-party server is triggered to redirect a request of the UE to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content.","For the foregoing description, it is assumed that the third-party server requests 10 capabilities (features) from the SCEF.","According to different charging fees or an operator policy, the BM-SC provides only five of the capabilities, and then returns the five capabilities to the third-party server by using the SCEF.","The third-party server can use only the five capabilities with the UE/BM-SC.","For example, in a transport mode indication, there are three options for a transmission mode: a broadcast mode, a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, and a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode.","The broadcast mode means that the BM-SC provides only a broadcast capability, and only UE falling within a coverage area of the MBMS can receive media content, and UE falling outside the coverage area of the MBMS can only obtain media content from an OTT unicast server.","The broadcast/unicast hybrid mode means that the 3GPP network provides a unicast/broadcast hybrid transmission capability, and when the UE falls outside the coverage area of the MBMS, the UE may obtain media content from a 3GPP network unicast server.","In the dynamic broadcast/unicast mode, the UE can still obtain media content from the 3GPP network, but the 3GPP network selects an optimal transport manner to send the content to the UE.","A difference between such a method and a hybrid unicast/broadcast mode lies in that: a coverage area of an MBMS in the hybrid unicast/broadcast mode is semi-static.","After the coverage area of the MBMS is selected, although there is a small quantity of receiving users, the mode is still a broadcast mode, and although there is a large quantity of users outside the coverage area of the MBMS, media content can be obtained only in a unicast mode.","For the dynamic unicast/broadcast mode, a broadcast mode or a unicast mode may be dynamically selected according to a user density status within an area, so that a network transmission capacity can be optimally used.","When the OTT third party inquiries, by using a standard open interface, an operator network (SCEF) to query a video capability supported by the BM-SC, and negotiates with the operator network on the transmission mode, in a broadcast-only mode, the OTT still needs to configure a unicast server, while in the hybrid unicast/broadcast mode, the OTT does not need to configure a unicast server, but a 3GPP network capacity is not efficiently used.","In the dynamic unicast/broadcast, use of the 3GPP network capacity is maximized.","The three different transmission modes may correspond to different charging fees.","For another example, for a content caching capability, if the OTT third party does not inquire, by using the standard open interface, the operator network (SCEF) to query the video capability supported by the BM-SC, and it is assumed that the BM-SC does not support the content caching capability, a subsequent unicast request of the UE is still provided by the OTT third party, the OTT third party needs to configure a large quantity of unicast servers, and needs a large server capacity.","On the contrary, if the OTT third party interacts with the SCEF of the 3GPP network, to request for invoking an MBMS video support capability of the BM-SC of the 3GPP network, and the BM-SC supports the content caching capability, a subsequent unicast request of the UE is provided by a unicast server of the 3GPP network.","The unicast server of the 3GPP network may obtain already cached content from the BM-SC, or the BM-SC provides 3GPP network unicast server supporting.","In this case, the OTT third party does not need to be concerned with a problem of server capacity.","It may be understood that the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information may be sent by using a single message.","A process of starting an MBMS broadcast and distributing the video content according to the exposed MBMS capability information may be as follows: 208.The third-party server notifies, by means of HTTP interaction between the third-party server and UE, the UE of a service portal link for transporting the video content.","209.The third-party server requests the SCEF to start an MBMS broadcast.","The third-party server may specifically send, to the SCEF, a request message group message request, which may include an external group ID, an SCS ID, and the like.","210.The SCEF performs, according to the foregoing context, authorization check on the request sent by the third-party server.","211.If it is determined, according to the authorization check, to start the MBMS broadcast, the SCEF queries the HSS whether the third-party server can use an MBMS channel.","Specifically, the SCEF may send, to the HSS, subscriber information request, which includes an external group ID, an SCS ID, and the like, so that the HSS determines, according to the subscription information, whether the third-party server can use an MBMS channel.","212.If the HSS determines that the third-party server can use an MBMS channel, the HSS sends a determining response (subscriber information response) to the SCEF.","213.The SCEF starts the MBMS broadcast.","214.The SCEF sends an MBMS enabling acknowledgment message to the third-party server.","If step 208 is not performed, step 215 may be performed after step 214, that is, the service portal link for transporting the video content may be notified to the UE by the third-party server or by the SCEF, and either of step 208 and step 215 may be selected.","215.The SCEF communicates with the UE, and notifies the UE of the service portal link for transporting the video content, a UE-side MBMS client is ready, and the third-party server sends the video content to the BM-SC/SCEF.","Optionally, in step 206, a USD URL constructed by the BM-SC may not need to be carried, but the domain name address of the BM-SC is carried.","In this way, after the domain name address is notified to the UE by using the SCEF or the AS, the UE may parse the domain name address, and learn that the USD URL is obtained from the BM-SC.","That is, the service portal link for transporting the video content may be the domain name address of the BM-SC.","216.The SCEF sends a bearer activation request message (activate MBMS bearer request) to the BM-SC.","217.The BM-SC establishes an MBMS bearer.","218.The BM-SC sends an MBMS bearer establishment success message (activate MBMS bearer response) to the SCEF.","219.The BM-SC starts a broadcast, and sends the content obtained from the third-party server to a broadcast bearer.","220.The third-party server continuously pushes the video content to the BM-SC/SCEF.","221.The UE obtains the video content by using an MBMS bearer.","The UE obtains the video content by using the MBMS bearer according to an obtained service portal link USD URL of the video content that is provided by the BM-SC.","It may be understood that, if the MBMS capability negotiation parameter sent by the third-party server to the SCEF further includes at least one of an indication showing that QoE is to be reported, an indication showing that network information is to be reported, or an indication showing that advertisement purchasing information is to be reported, after the third-party server distributes the video content to the UE by using the BM-SC or the SCEF, the BM-SC further needs to report at least one of QoE, network information, or advertisement purchasing information to the third-party server, or the UE reports such information to the third-party server by using the SCEF.","This is not limited in the present disclosure.","It should be noted that if media encoding information returned by the BM-SC is different from media encoding information requested by the third-party server, the third-party server needs to transcode the video content according to the media encoding information provided by the BM-SC.","Certainly, if the BM-SC provides a content transcoding service, the third-party server may directly send the video content to the BM-SC, the BM-SC transcodes a media format to a content format supported by the UE, and then the BM-SC sends the content to the UE.","For interaction between network elements in this embodiment, refer to FIG.","3.Therefore, in this embodiment of the present invention, when the UE first accesses the third-party server, if the third-party server detects that multiple UEs access same video content, the third-party server interacts with an SCEF of a 3GPP network, to request for invoking an MBMS video support capability of the 3GPP network.","The 3GPP network allows enabling of the MBMS video support capability, and then the third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content.","By means of the present application, the MBMS capability may be expanded to OTT video supporting.","In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators and different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.","This is equivalent to outsourcing video transmission work to an operator network by the OTT third party.","By using an open transport and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators separately for parameters such as different pipes or video supporting capabilities of terminals.","Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.","When a third-party server requests in advance a 3GPP network to expose an MBMS capability, another embodiment of the present invention provides a video distribution method.","As shown in FIG.","4, the method includes the following steps.","401.A third-party server sends a first TMGI allocation request to an SCEF, where the first TMGI allocation request includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server.","402.The SCEF sends a subscription information request to an HSS, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability.","403.The HSS checks subscription information, determines whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability to an OTT third party, and sends a subscription information response to the SCEF.","404.The SCEF sends a second TMGI allocation request to a BM-SC, where the second TMGI allocation request is used to obtain exposed MBMS capability information from the BM-SC.","405.The BM-SC determines the exposed MBMS capability information according to subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, and sends the MBMS capability information to the SCEF.","406.The SCEF forwards the MBMS capability information to the third-party server.","For a specific implementation of step 401 to step 406, refer to step 202 to step 207 in the foregoing embodiment.","407.The third-party server requests the SCEF to start an MBMS broadcast.","The third-party server may specifically send a request message group message request to the SCEF, where the message may include the foregoing external group ID, SCS ID, port information of an SCS, and the like.","408.The SCEF performs, according to the foregoing context, authorization check on the request sent by the third-party server.","409.If it is determined, according to the authorization check, to start the MBMS broadcast, the SCEF queries the HSS whether the third-party server can use an MBMS channel.","410.If the HSS determines that the third-party server can use an MBMS channel, the HSS sends a determining response to the SCEF.","411.The SCEF starts the MBMS broadcast.","412.The SCEF sends an MBMS enabling acknowledgment message to the third-party server.","413.The third-party server detects that at least two UEs access same video content.","For example, UE 1 sends an HTTP request message (including a URL) to the third-party server, and UE 2 also sends an HTTP request to the third-party server to request video content corresponding to the same URL.","414.The third-party server notifies, to the at least two UEs by means of HTTP interaction between the third-party server and the UEs, a service portal link for transporting the video content.","Specifically, the third-party server may send an HTTP redirection message to the UE 1 and the UE 2 separately.","The HTTP redirection message includes a USD URL provided by the BM-SC, and redirects the UE to receive the video content by means of broadcast.","Alternatively, step 414 is replaced with step 415.415.The BM-SC communicates with the UEs, to notify the UEs of the service portal link for transporting the video content, and that a UE-side MBMS client is ready.","It may be understood that, in step 405, the USD URL may not be carried, and instead, a domain name address of the BM-SC is carried.","In this way, the domain name address may be notified to the UEs by using the third-party server or the BM-SC, so that the UEs obtain the USD URL from the BM-SC according to the domain name address.","That is, the service portal link for transporting the video content may be the domain name address of the BM-SC.","416.The SCEF sends a bearer activation request message to the BM-SC.","417.The BM-SC establishes an MBMS bearer.","418.The BM-SC sends an MBMS bearer establishment success message to the SCEF.","419.The BM-SC starts a broadcast, and obtains the video content from the third-party server.","420.The UEs obtain the video content by using the MBMS bearer.","For interaction between network elements in this embodiment, refer to FIG.","5.Therefore, in this embodiment of the present invention, the third-party server requests in advance an MBMS capability exposure resource from a 3GPP network.","The 3GPP network allows enabling of an MBMS video support capability.","After detecting access requests of at least two UEs, the third-party server redirects the requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive video content.","By means of the present application, the MBMS capability may be expanded to OTT video supporting.","In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators and different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.","Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.","Based on the description of the foregoing embodiment, execution procedures for the third-party server, the BM-SC, and the HSS may be as follows: An embodiment of the present invention provides a video distribution method.","As shown in FIG.","6, the method includes the following steps.","601.A third-party server sends a first request message to an SCEF, where the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server.","The MBMS capability negotiation parameter includes at least one of a transport mode indication of video content, a security feature indication for using an MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication.","The transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode.","The security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state.","The content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported.","The content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported.","The QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported.","The network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported.","The network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state.","The advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported.","The advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","The first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server.","The port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and a BM-SC.","The media encoding information of the third-party server includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","602.The third-party server receives a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is used for transporting video content and that is obtained from a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC.","Before the sending, by a third-party server, a first request message to an SCEF, or after the receiving, by the third-party server, a first response message sent by the SCEF, the method further includes: receiving, by the third-party server, Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP request messages sent by at least two UEs, where the HTTP request message is used to request same video content.","603.The third-party server sends, to UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, and requests, according to the MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast to distribute the video content to the UE.","After the sending, by the third-party server to user equipment UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, the method further includes: sending, by the third-party server, the video content to the BM-SC, so that the UE obtains the video content by using an MBMS bearer.","For a specific implementation of the third-party server, refer to the embodiment shown in FIG.","1 to FIG.","5.Details are not described herein again.","This embodiment of the present invention provides a video distribution method.","The third-party server sends a first request message to the service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server, receives a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is obtained by the broadcast multicast service center BM-SC and that is used for transporting video content, sends, to the UE, the video content for transporting the service portal link, and starts an MBMS broadcast according to the MBMS capability information, to distribute the video content to the UE.","That is, when multiple UEs access the video content, the third-party server providing the video content may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","The third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.","In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.","Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.","An embodiment of the present invention provides a video distribution method.","As shown in FIG.","7, the method includes the following steps.","701.A BM-SC receives a first request message sent by an SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain MBMS capability information during video content distribution.","The first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is requested by a third-party server, or the first request message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by a home subscriber server HSS according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter obtained from the third-party server.","The first request message further includes port information and media encoding information of the third-party server.","The port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC.","The media encoding information of the third-party server includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","702.The BM-SC sends a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so as to distribute video content to user equipment UE after the SCEF starts an MBMS broadcast according to the first MBMS capability information.","The first response message includes port information of the BM-SC, a service portal link for transporting the video content, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.","The port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server.","The media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","Before the sending, by the BM-SC, a first response message to the SCEF, the method further includes: determining, by the BM-SC according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; or determining, by the BM-SC according to the second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS and subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.","After the sending, by the BM-SC, a first response message to the SCEF, the method further includes: sending, by the BM-SC to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and receiving, by the BM-SC according to the port information of the BM-SC, video content sent by the third-party server, and sending the video content to the UE.","The MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","This embodiment of the present invention provides a video distribution method.","The BM-SC receives a first request message sent by the SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution.","The BM-SC sends a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so that the BM-SC and the SCEF start an MBMS broadcast according to the first MBMS capability information, to distribute video content to the user equipment UE.","In this way, when multiple UEs access the video content, an OTT third party may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, so that the third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.","In this way, the OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.","Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.","An embodiment of the present invention provides a video distribution method.","As shown in FIG.","8, the method includes the following steps.","801.An HSS receives a first request message sent by an SCEF, where the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by an AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability.","802.The HSS determines, according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow exposure of an MBMS capability.","If the first request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the method further includes: determining, by the HSS, exposed MBMS capability information according to the subscription information and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; and sending, by the HSS, a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information.","If the first request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the first response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, to notify the SCEF that the exposure of the MBMS capability is allowed.","The MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","This embodiment of the present invention provides a video distribution method.","The HSS receives a first request message sent by the SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability.","The HSS determines, according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.","In this way, when multiple UEs access the video content, an OTT third party may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the HSS, and obtain, from the HSS, an indication for allowing the exposure of the capability, so that the third-party server negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, so that the third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.","In this way, the OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.","Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.","An embodiment of the present invention provides an SCEF 90.As shown in FIG.","9, the SCEF 90 includes: a receiving unit 901, configured to receive a first request message sent by a third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; and a sending unit 902, configured to send a second request message to a home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability.","The sending unit 902 is further configured to send a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC when the receiving unit receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.","The sending unit 902 is further configured to send the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment UE.","Optionally, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server.","The second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability.","If the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the second response message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","If the second request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC.","The third request message includes the port information of the third-party server and the media encoding information of the third-party server.","If the second response message includes the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the second MBMS capability information.","If the second response message does not include the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","Optionally, the receiving unit 901 is further configured to: receive a third response message sent by the BM-SC, where the third response message includes the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.","Optionally, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","The port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC.","The port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server.","The media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","This embodiment of the present invention provides an SCEF.","The SCEF receives a first request message sent by the third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server, and sends a second request message to the home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability.","The SCEF sends a third request message to the broadcast multicast service center BM-SC after the SCEF receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request to obtain MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.","The SCEF sends the exposed MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, so that the third-party server starts an MBMS broadcast according to the exposed MBMS capability information and distributes video content to the user equipment UE.","That is, when multiple UEs access the video content, the third-party server providing the video content may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","The third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.","In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.","Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.","An embodiment of the present invention provides a third-party server 10.As shown in FIG.","10, the third-party server 10 includes: a sending unit 101, configured to send a first request message to a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; a receiving unit 102, configured to receive a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is used for transporting video content and that is obtained from a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC, where the sending unit 101 is further configured to send, to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and a processing unit 103, configured to request, according to the MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast to distribute the video content to the UE.","Optionally, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","The first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server.","The first response message further includes port information of the BM-SC, media encoding information of the BM-SC, and a charging rule that are obtained by the SCEF.","The port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","Optionally, the receiving unit 102 is further configured to: before the third-party server sends the first request message to the SCEF, or after the third-party server receives the first response message sent by the SCEF, receive Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP request messages sent by at least two UEs, where the HTTP request message is used to request same video content.","Optionally, the sending unit 101 is further configured to: after sending, to the user equipment UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, send the video content to the BM-SC or the SCEF.","This embodiment of the present invention provides a third-party server.","The third-party server sends a first request message to the service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server, receives a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is obtained by the broadcast multicast service center BM-SC and that is used for transporting video content, sends, to the UE, the video content for transporting the service portal link, and starts an MBMS broadcast according to the MBMS capability information, to distribute the video content to the UE.","That is, when multiple UEs access the video content, the third-party server providing the video content may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","The third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.","In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.","Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.","An embodiment of the present invention provides a BM-SC 11.As shown in FIG.","11, the BM-SC 11 includes: a receiving unit 111, configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution; and a sending unit 112, configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so as to distribute video content to user equipment UE after the SCEF starts an MBMS broadcast according to the first MBMS capability information.","Optionally, the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is requested by a third-party server, or the first request message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by a home subscriber server HSS according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter obtained from the third-party server.","The BM-SC further includes: a processing unit 113, configured to determine, according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; or the processing unit 113 is configured to determine, according to the second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS and subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.","Optionally, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server.","The first response message includes port information of the BM-SC, a service portal link for transporting the video content, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.","The port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC.","The port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server.","The media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","The MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","Optionally, the sending unit 112 is further configured to send, to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content.","The receiving unit 111 is further configured to receive, according to the port information of the BM-SC, video content sent by the third-party server.","The sending unit 112 is further configured to send the video content to the UE.","This embodiment of the present invention provides a BM-SC.","The BM-SC receives a first request message sent by the SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution.","The BM-SC sends a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so that the BM-SC and the SCEF start an MBMS broadcast according to the MBMS capability information, to distribute video content to the user equipment UE.","In this way, when multiple UEs access the video content, the third-party server providing the video content may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, so that the third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.","In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.","Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.","An embodiment of the present invention provides an HSS 12.As shown in FIG.","12, the HSS 12 includes: a receiving unit 121, configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; and a processing unit 122, configured to determine, according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.","Optionally, if the first request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the processing unit is further configured to determine exposed MBMS capability information according to the subscription information and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","The HSS further includes a sending unit 123, configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information.","If the first request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the first response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, to notify the SCEF that the exposure of the MBMS capability is allowed.","Optionally, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","This embodiment of the present invention provides an HSS.","The HSS receives a first request message sent by the service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability.","The HSS determines, according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.","In this way, when multiple UEs access the video content, an OTT third party may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the HSS, and obtain, from the HSS, an indication for allowing the exposure of the capability, so that the third-party server negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, so that the third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.","In this way, the OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.","Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.","An embodiment of the present invention provides an SCEF 13.As shown in FIG.","13, the SCEF 13 includes a receiver 131, a transmitter 132, a memory 133, and a bus 134.The memory 133 is configured to store data and an instruction.","The receiver 131 executes the instruction and is configured to receive a first request message sent by a third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server.","The transmitter 132 executes the instruction and is configured to send a second request message to a home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability.","The transmitter 132 executes the instruction and is further configured to send a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC when the receiver receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.","The transmitter 132 executes the instruction and is further configured to send the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment UE.","In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server.","The second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability.","If the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the second response message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","If the second request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC.","The third request message includes the port information of the third-party server and the media encoding information of the third-party server.","If the second response message includes the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the second MBMS capability information.","If the second response message does not include the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the receiver 131 executes the instruction and is further configured to receive a third response message sent by the BM-SC, where the third response message includes the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.","In this embodiment, optionally, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","The port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC.","The port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server.","The media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","This embodiment of the present invention provides an SCEF.","The SCEF receives a first request message sent by the third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server, and sends a second request message to the home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability.","The SCEF sends a third request message to the broadcast multicast service center BM-SC after the SCEF receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request to obtain MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.","The SCEF sends the exposed MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, so that the third-party server starts an MBMS broadcast according to the exposed MBMS capability information and distributes video content to the user equipment UE.","That is, when multiple UEs access the video content, the third-party server providing the video content may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","The third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.","In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.","Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.","An embodiment of the present invention provides a third-party server 14.As shown in FIG.","14, the third-party server 14 includes: a receiver 141, a transmitter 142, a processor 143, a memory 144, and a bus 145.The memory 144 is configured to store an instruction and data.","The transmitter 142 executes the instruction and is configured to send a first request message to a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server.","The receiver 141 executes the instruction and is configured to receive a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is used for transporting video content and that is obtained from a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC.","The transmitter 142 executes the instruction and is further configured to send, to UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content.","The processor 143 executes the instruction and is configured to request, according to the MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast to distribute the video content to the UE.","In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","The first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server.","The first response message further includes port information of the BM-SC, media encoding information of the BM-SC, and a charging rule that are obtained by the SCEF.","The port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the receiver 141 executes the instruction and is further configured to: before the transmitter 142 sends the first request message to the SCEF, or after the receiver 141 receives the first response message sent by the SCEF, receive Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP request messages sent by at least two UEs, where the HTTP request message is used to request same video content.","In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the transmitter 142 executes the instruction and is further configured to: after sending, to the user equipment UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, send the video content to the BM-SC or the SCEF.","This embodiment of the present invention provides a third-party server.","The third-party server sends a first request message to the service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server, receives a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is obtained by the broadcast multicast service center BM-SC and that is used for transporting video content, sends, to the UE, the video content for transporting the service portal link, and starts an MBMS broadcast according to the MBMS capability information, to distribute the video content to the UE.","That is, when multiple UEs access the video content, the third-party server providing the video content may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","The third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.","In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.","Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.","An embodiment of the present invention provides a BM-SC 15.As shown in FIG.","15, the BM-SC 15 includes: a receiver 151, a transmitter 152, a memory 153, a bus 154, and a processor 155.The memory 153 is configured to store an instruction and data.","The receiver 151 executes the instruction and is configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution.","The transmitter 152 executes the instruction and is configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so as to distribute video content to user equipment UE after the SCEF starts an MBMS broadcast according to the first MBMS capability information.","In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is requested by a third-party server, or the first request message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by a home subscriber server HSS according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter obtained from the third-party server.","The processor 155 executes the instruction and is configured to: determine, according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; or determine, according to the second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS and subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.","In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server.","The first response message includes port information of the BM-SC, a service portal link for transporting the video content, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.","The port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC.","The port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server.","The media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.","In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","This embodiment of the present invention provides a BM-SC.","The BM-SC receives a first request message sent by the SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution.","The BM-SC sends a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so that after starting an MBMS broadcast according to the MBMS capability information, the SCEF distributes video content to the user equipment UE.","In this way, when multiple UEs access the video content, the third-party server providing the video content may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, so that the third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.","In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.","Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.","An embodiment of the present invention provides an HSS 16.As shown in FIG.","16, the HSS 16 includes a receiver 161, a transmitter 162, a processor 163, a memory 164, and a bus 165.The memory 164 is configured to store an instruction and data.","The receiver 161 executes the instruction and is configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability.","The transmitter 162 executes the instruction and is configured to determine, according to subscription information between the HSS 16 and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.","In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, if the first request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, when the processor 163 is configured to determine to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the processor 163 is further configured to determine exposed MBMS capability information according to the subscription information and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.","The transmitter is further configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information.","If the first request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the first response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, to notify the SCEF that the exposure of the MBMS capability is allowed.","In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.","This embodiment of the present invention provides an HSS.","The HSS receives a first request message sent by the service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability.","The HSS determines, according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.","In this way, when multiple UEs access the video content, an OTT third party may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the HSS, and obtain, from the HSS, an indication for allowing the exposure of the capability, so that the third-party server negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, so that the third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.","In this way, the OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.","Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.","In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed device and method may be implemented in other manners.","For example, the described device embodiment is merely exemplary.","For example, the unit division is merely logical function division and may be other division in actual implementation.","For example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not performed.","In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections may be implemented by using some interfaces.","The indirect couplings or communication connections between the apparatuses or units may be implemented in electronic, mechanical, or other forms.","In addition, functional units in the devices and systems in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each of the units may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.","The units may be implemented in a form of hardware, or may be implemented in a form of hardware in addition to a software functional unit.","All or some of the steps of the method embodiments may be implemented by a program instructing relevant hardware.","The program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium.","When the program runs, the steps of the method embodiments are performed.","The foregoing storage medium includes: any medium that can store program code, such as a USB flash drive, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM for short), a random access memory (RAM for short), a magnetic disk, or an optical disc.","The foregoing descriptions are merely specific implementations of the present application, but are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present application.","Any variation or replacement readily figured out by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.","Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"VIDEO DISTRIBUTION METHOD AND DEVICE\",\n \"Embodiments of the present invention relate to the communications field, and provide a video distribution method and a device.\",\n \"The method includes: receiving, by an SCEF, a first request message sent by a third-party server, where the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; sending, by the SCEF, a second request message to an HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability; sending, by the SCEF, a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC after the SCEF receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request to obtain MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; and sending the MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A video distribution method, comprising: receiving, by a service capability exposure function (SCEF), a first request message sent by a third-party server, wherein the first request message comprises a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; sending, by the SCEF, a second request message to a home subscriber server (HSS) according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability; sending, by the SCEF, a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center (BM-SC) after the SCEF receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; and sending, by the SCEF, the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment (UE).\",\n \"2.The method according to claim 1, wherein the first request message further comprises port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; the second request message comprises the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; if the second request message comprises the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the second response message comprises second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; if the second request message comprises the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message comprises an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC; the third request message comprises the port information of the third-party server and the media encoding information of the third-party server; and if the second response message comprises the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further comprises the second MBMS capability information; or if the second response message does not comprise the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further comprises the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"3.The method according to claim 2, wherein before the sending, by the SCEF, the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, the method further comprises: receiving, by the SCEF, a third response message sent by the BM-SC, wherein the third response message comprises the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.\",\n \"4.The method according to claim 3, wherein the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately comprise at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience (QoE) reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, wherein the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information comprising at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information comprises at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"5.A service capability exposure function (SCEF), comprising: a receiver, configured to receive a first request message sent by a third-party server, wherein the first request message comprises a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; and a transmitter, configured to send a second request message to a home subscriber server (HSS) according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability, wherein the transmitter is further configured to send a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center (BM-SC) when the receiver receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; and the transmitter is further configured to send the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment UE.\",\n \"6.The SCEF according to claim 5, wherein the first request message further comprises port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; the second request message comprises the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; if the second request message comprises the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the second response message comprises second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; if the second request message comprises the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message comprises an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC; the third request message comprises the port information of the third-party server and the media encoding information of the third-party server; and if the second response message comprises the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further comprises the second MBMS capability information; or if the second response message does not comprise the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further comprises the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"7.The SCEF according to claim 6, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive a third response message sent by the BM-SC, wherein the third response message comprises the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.\",\n \"8.The SCEF according to claim 7, wherein the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately comprise at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience (QoE) reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, wherein the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information comprising at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information comprises at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"9.A third-party server, comprising: a transmitter, configured to send a first request message to a service capability exposure function (SCEF), wherein the first request message comprises a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; a receiver, configured to receive a first response message sent by the SCEF, wherein the first response message comprises exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is used for transporting video content and that is obtained from a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC, wherein the transmitter is further configured to send, to UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and a processor, configured to request, according to the MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast to distribute the video content to the UE.\",\n \"10.The third-party server according to claim 9, wherein the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately comprise at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience (QoE) reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, wherein the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information comprising at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; the first request message further comprises port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message further comprises port information of the BM-SC, media encoding information of the BM-SC, and a charging rule that are obtained by the SCEF; and, wherein the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information comprises at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"11.The third-party server according to claim 9, wherein the receiver is further configured to: before the transmitter sends the first request message to the SCEF, or after the receiver receives the first response message sent by the SCEF, receive Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request messages sent by at least two UEs, wherein the HTTP request message is used to request same video content.\",\n \"12.The third-party server according to claim 9, wherein the transmitter is further configured to: after sending, to the user equipment UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, send the video content to the BM-SC or the SCEF.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>OTT (Over The Top) means that an Internet company develops, by bypassing an operator, various open Internet-based video and data serving services, that is, only a network transmission capability of the operator is used, and a third party other than the operator provides an Internet television service or the like.\",\n \"In an existing service and capability exposure (Service Exposure and Enablement Support, SEES) technology, an OTT third party (for example, Sohu video, LeTV, Baidu browser, or Tencent WeChat) may provide, by using a network transmission capability, a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network with a time period for requesting data, a volume of data sent in a specified region, quality of service (QoS), a priority, and the like.\",\n \"The 3GPP network sends, according to a request of the OTT third party, specified data according to QoS and a priority of network authorization in a specified region, and provides the OTT third party with a recommended time period, charging policy information, network anomaly information, status information of user equipment (UE), and the like.\",\n \"If the operator supports an OTT video, none of multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) supporting capabilities of the 3GPP network that include a media format support capability, a media distribution capability, a caching/transcoding capability, and an advertisement insertion capability are described in an existing 3GPP network capability exposure framework.\",\n \"In this way, the operator needs to perform interoperability testing with each OTT third party and develop and customize a video support capability for each OTT third party.\",\n \"For the OTT third party, because each operator has a different MBMS capability, if the OTT third party does not use an MBMS video support capability of the 3GPP network, the OTT third party still needs to perform interoperability testing with each operator, to adapt to different operator pipes and video supporting capabilities of different terminals.\",\n \"This increases IOT (interoperability testing) workload of the OTT third party, causing heavy video distribution and management load.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>Embodiments of the present invention provide a video distribution method and a device, so as to resolve problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network.\",\n \"According to a first aspect, a video distribution method is provided, including: receiving, by a service capability exposure function SCEF, a first request message sent by a third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; sending, by the SCEF, a second request message to a home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability; sending, by the SCEF, a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC after the SCEF receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; and sending, by the SCEF, the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment UE.\",\n \"With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementation of the first aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; if the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the second response message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; or if the second request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC; the third request message includes the port information of the third-party server and the media encoding information of the third-party server; and if the second response message includes the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the second MBMS capability information; or if the second response message does not include the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"With reference to the first possible implementation of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation of the first aspect, before the sending, by the SCEF, the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, the method further includes: receiving, by the SCEF, a third response message sent by the BM-SC, where the third response message includes the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.\",\n \"With reference to the second possible implementation of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation of the first aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"According to a second aspect, a video distribution method is provided, including: sending, by a third-party server, a first request message to a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; receiving, by the third-party server, a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is used for transporting video content and that is obtained from a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC; and sending, by the third-party server to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, and requesting, according to the MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast to distribute the video content to the UE.\",\n \"With reference to the second aspect, in a first possible implementation of the second aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message further includes port information of the BM-SC, media encoding information of the BM-SC, and a charging rule that are obtained by the SCEF; where the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"With reference to the second aspect or the first possible implementation of the second aspect, in a second possible implementation of the second aspect, before the sending, by a third-party server, a first request message to an SCEF, or after the receiving, by the third-party server, a first response message sent by the SCEF, the method further includes: receiving, by the third-party server, Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP request messages sent by at least two UEs, where the HTTP request message is used to request same video content.\",\n \"With reference to the second aspect or the first possible implementation or the second possible implementation of the second aspect, in a third possible implementation of the second aspect, after the sending, by the third-party server to user equipment UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, the method further includes: sending, by the third-party server, the video content to the BM-SC or the SCEF.\",\n \"According to a third aspect, a video distribution method is provided, including: receiving, by a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC, a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution; and sending, by the BM-SC, a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so as to distribute video content to user equipment UE after the SCEF starts an MBMS broadcast according to the first MBMS capability information.\",\n \"With reference to the third aspect, in a first possible implementation of the third aspect, the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is requested by a third-party server, or the first request message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by a home subscriber server HSS according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter obtained from the third-party server; and before the sending, by the BM-SC, a first response message to the SCEF, the method further includes: determining, by the BM-SC according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; or determining, by the BM-SC according to the second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS and subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.\",\n \"With reference to the third aspect or the first possible implementation of the third aspect, in a second possible implementation of the third aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message includes port information of the BM-SC, a service portal link for transporting the video content, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"With reference to the second possible implementation of the third aspect, in a third possible implementation of the third aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"With reference to the second possible implementation or the third possible implementation of the third aspect, in a fourth possible implementation of the third aspect, after the sending, by the BM-SC, a first response message to the SCEF, the method further includes: sending, by the BM-SC to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and receiving, by the BM-SC according to the port information of the BM-SC, video content sent by the third-party server, and sending the video content to the UE.\",\n \"According to a fourth aspect, a video distribution method is provided, including: receiving, by a home subscriber server HSS, a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; and determining, by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.\",\n \"With reference to the fourth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the fourth aspect, if the first request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the method further includes: determining, by the HSS, exposed MBMS capability information according to the subscription information and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; and sending, by the HSS, a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information, where if the first request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the first response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, to notify the SCEF that the exposure of the MBMS capability is allowed.\",\n \"With reference to the first possible implementation of the fourth aspect, in a second possible implementation, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"According to a fifth aspect, a service capability exposure function SCEF is provided, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive a first request message sent by a third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; and a sending unit, configured to send a second request message to a home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability, where the sending unit is further configured to send a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC when the receiving unit receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; and the sending unit is further configured to send the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment UE.\",\n \"With reference to the fifth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; if the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the second response message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; or if the second request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC; the third request message includes the port information of the third-party server and the media encoding information of the third-party server; and if the second response message includes the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the second MBMS capability information; or if the second response message does not include the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"With reference to the first possible implementation of the fifth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the receiving unit is further configured to: receive a third response message sent by the BM-SC, where the third response message includes the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.\",\n \"With reference to the first possible implementation of the fifth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"According to a sixth aspect, a third-party server is provided, including: a sending unit, configured to send a first request message to a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; a receiving unit, configured to receive a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is used for transporting video content and that is obtained from a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC, where the sending unit is further configured to send, to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and a processing unit, configured to request, according to the MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast to distribute the video content to the UE.\",\n \"With reference to the sixth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message further includes port information of the BM-SC, media encoding information of the BM-SC, and a charging rule that are obtained by the SCEF; where the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"With reference to the sixth aspect or the first possible implementation of the sixth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the receiving unit is further configured to: before the third-party server sends the first request message to the SCEF, or after the third-party server receives the first response message sent by the SCEF, receive Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP request messages sent by at least two UEs, where the HTTP request message is used to request same video content.\",\n \"With reference to the sixth aspect or the first possible implementation or the second possible implementation of the sixth aspect, in a third possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the sending unit is further configured to: after sending, to the user equipment UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, send the video content to the BM-SC or the SCEF.\",\n \"According to a seventh aspect, a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC is provided, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution; and a sending unit, configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so as to distribute video content to user equipment UE after the SCEF starts an MBMS broadcast according to the first MBMS capability information.\",\n \"With reference to the seventh aspect, in a first possible implementation of the seventh aspect, the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is requested by a third-party server, or the first request message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by a home subscriber server HSS according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter obtained from the third-party server; and the BM-SC further includes: a processing unit, configured to determine, according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; or the processing unit is configured to determine, according to the second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS and subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.\",\n \"With reference to the seventh aspect or the first possible implementation of the seventh aspect, in a second possible implementation of the seventh aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message includes port information of the BM-SC, a service portal link for transporting the video content, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"With reference to the second possible implementation of the seventh aspect, in a third possible implementation of the seventh aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"With reference to the second possible implementation or the third possible implementation of the seventh aspect, in a fourth possible implementation of the seventh aspect, the sending unit is further configured to: send, to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; the receiving unit is further configured to receive, according to the port information of the BM-SC, video content sent by the third-party server; and the sending unit is further configured to send the video content to the UE.\",\n \"According to an eighth aspect, a home subscriber server HSS is provided, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; and a processing unit, configured to determine, according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.\",\n \"With reference to the eighth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the eighth aspect, if the first request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the processing unit is further configured to determine exposed MBMS capability information according to the subscription information and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; and the HSS further includes a sending unit, configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information, where if the first request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the first response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, to notify the SCEF that the exposure of the MBMS capability is allowed.\",\n \"With reference to the first possible implementation of the eighth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the eighth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"According to a ninth aspect, a service capability exposure function SCEF is provided, including: a receiver, configured to receive a first request message sent by a third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; and a transmitter, configured to send a second request message to a home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability, where the transmitter is further configured to send a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC when the receiver receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; and the transmitter is further configured to send the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment UE.\",\n \"With reference to the ninth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the ninth aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; if the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the second response message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; or if the second request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC; the third request message includes the port information of the third-party server and the media encoding information of the third-party server; and if the second response message includes the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the second MBMS capability information; or if the second response message does not include the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"With reference to the first possible implementation of the ninth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the ninth aspect, the receiver is further configured to receive a third response message sent by the BM-SC, where the third response message includes the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.\",\n \"With reference to the second possible implementation of the ninth aspect, in a third possible implementation of the ninth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"According to a tenth aspect, a third-party server is provided, including: a transmitter, configured to send a first request message to a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; a receiver, configured to receive a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is used for transporting video content and that is obtained from a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC, where the transmitter is further configured to send, to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and a processor, configured to request, according to the MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast to distribute the video content to the UE.\",\n \"With reference to the tenth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the tenth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message further includes port information of the BM-SC, media encoding information of the BM-SC, and a charging rule that are obtained by the SCEF; where the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"With reference to the tenth aspect or the first possible implementation of the tenth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the tenth aspect, the receiver is further configured to: before the transmitter sends the first request message to the SCEF, or after the receiver receives the first response message sent by the SCEF, receive Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP request messages sent by at least two UEs, where the HTTP request message is used to request same video content.\",\n \"With reference to the tenth aspect or the first possible implementation or the second possible implementation of the tenth aspect, in a third possible implementation of the tenth aspect, the transmitter is further configured to: after sending, to the user equipment UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, send the video content to the BM-SC or the SCEF.\",\n \"According to an eleventh aspect, a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC is provided, including: a receiver, configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution; and a transmitter, configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so as to distribute video content to user equipment UE after the SCEF starts an MBMS broadcast according to the first MBMS capability information.\",\n \"With reference to the eleventh aspect, in a first possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is requested by a third-party server, or the first request message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by a home subscriber server HSS according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter obtained from the third-party server; and the BM-SC further includes: a processor, configured to: determine, according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; or determine, according to the second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS and subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.\",\n \"With reference to the eleventh aspect or the first possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, in a second possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message includes port information of the BM-SC, a service portal link for transporting the video content, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"With reference to the second possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, in a third possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"With reference to the second possible implementation or the third possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, in a fourth possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, the transmitter is further configured to send, to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and the receiver is further configured to receive, according to the port information of the BM-SC, video content sent by the third-party server; and the transmitter is further configured to send the video content to the UE.\",\n \"According to a twelfth aspect, a home subscriber server HSS is provided, including: a receiver, configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; and a processor, configured to determine, according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.\",\n \"With reference to the twelfth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the twelfth aspect, if the first request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, when the processor is configured to determine to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the processor is further configured to determine exposed MBMS capability information according to the subscription information and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; and the transmitter is further configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information, where if the first request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the first response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, to notify the SCEF that the exposure of the MBMS capability is allowed.\",\n \"With reference to the first possible implementation of the twelfth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the twelfth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"The embodiments of the present invention provide a video distribution method and a device.\",\n \"The SCEF receives a first request message sent by the third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server, and sends a second request message to the home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability.\",\n \"The SCEF sends a third request message to the broadcast multicast service center BM-SC after the SCEF receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.\",\n \"The SCEF sends the exposed first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, so that the third-party server starts an MBMS broadcast according to the exposed first MBMS capability information and distributes video content to the user equipment UE.\",\n \"That is, when multiple UEs access the video content, the third-party server providing the video content may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP network and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"The third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode of the 3GPP, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.\",\n \"In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT third party in providing a video service is reduced.\",\n \"Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of International Application No.\",\n \"PCT/CN2015/084530, filed on Jul.\",\n \"20, 2015, which is hereby incorporated by reference in the entirety.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD The present application relates to the communications field, and in particular, to a video distribution method and a device.\",\n \"BACKGROUND OTT (Over The Top) means that an Internet company develops, by bypassing an operator, various open Internet-based video and data serving services, that is, only a network transmission capability of the operator is used, and a third party other than the operator provides an Internet television service or the like.\",\n \"In an existing service and capability exposure (Service Exposure and Enablement Support, SEES) technology, an OTT third party (for example, Sohu video, LeTV, Baidu browser, or Tencent WeChat) may provide, by using a network transmission capability, a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network with a time period for requesting data, a volume of data sent in a specified region, quality of service (QoS), a priority, and the like.\",\n \"The 3GPP network sends, according to a request of the OTT third party, specified data according to QoS and a priority of network authorization in a specified region, and provides the OTT third party with a recommended time period, charging policy information, network anomaly information, status information of user equipment (UE), and the like.\",\n \"If the operator supports an OTT video, none of multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) supporting capabilities of the 3GPP network that include a media format support capability, a media distribution capability, a caching/transcoding capability, and an advertisement insertion capability are described in an existing 3GPP network capability exposure framework.\",\n \"In this way, the operator needs to perform interoperability testing with each OTT third party and develop and customize a video support capability for each OTT third party.\",\n \"For the OTT third party, because each operator has a different MBMS capability, if the OTT third party does not use an MBMS video support capability of the 3GPP network, the OTT third party still needs to perform interoperability testing with each operator, to adapt to different operator pipes and video supporting capabilities of different terminals.\",\n \"This increases IOT (interoperability testing) workload of the OTT third party, causing heavy video distribution and management load.\",\n \"SUMMARY Embodiments of the present invention provide a video distribution method and a device, so as to resolve problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network.\",\n \"According to a first aspect, a video distribution method is provided, including: receiving, by a service capability exposure function SCEF, a first request message sent by a third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; sending, by the SCEF, a second request message to a home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability; sending, by the SCEF, a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC after the SCEF receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; and sending, by the SCEF, the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment UE.\",\n \"With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementation of the first aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; if the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the second response message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; or if the second request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC; the third request message includes the port information of the third-party server and the media encoding information of the third-party server; and if the second response message includes the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the second MBMS capability information; or if the second response message does not include the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"With reference to the first possible implementation of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation of the first aspect, before the sending, by the SCEF, the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, the method further includes: receiving, by the SCEF, a third response message sent by the BM-SC, where the third response message includes the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.\",\n \"With reference to the second possible implementation of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation of the first aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"According to a second aspect, a video distribution method is provided, including: sending, by a third-party server, a first request message to a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; receiving, by the third-party server, a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is used for transporting video content and that is obtained from a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC; and sending, by the third-party server to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, and requesting, according to the MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast to distribute the video content to the UE.\",\n \"With reference to the second aspect, in a first possible implementation of the second aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message further includes port information of the BM-SC, media encoding information of the BM-SC, and a charging rule that are obtained by the SCEF; where the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"With reference to the second aspect or the first possible implementation of the second aspect, in a second possible implementation of the second aspect, before the sending, by a third-party server, a first request message to an SCEF, or after the receiving, by the third-party server, a first response message sent by the SCEF, the method further includes: receiving, by the third-party server, Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP request messages sent by at least two UEs, where the HTTP request message is used to request same video content.\",\n \"With reference to the second aspect or the first possible implementation or the second possible implementation of the second aspect, in a third possible implementation of the second aspect, after the sending, by the third-party server to user equipment UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, the method further includes: sending, by the third-party server, the video content to the BM-SC or the SCEF.\",\n \"According to a third aspect, a video distribution method is provided, including: receiving, by a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC, a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution; and sending, by the BM-SC, a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so as to distribute video content to user equipment UE after the SCEF starts an MBMS broadcast according to the first MBMS capability information.\",\n \"With reference to the third aspect, in a first possible implementation of the third aspect, the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is requested by a third-party server, or the first request message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by a home subscriber server HSS according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter obtained from the third-party server; and before the sending, by the BM-SC, a first response message to the SCEF, the method further includes: determining, by the BM-SC according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; or determining, by the BM-SC according to the second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS and subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.\",\n \"With reference to the third aspect or the first possible implementation of the third aspect, in a second possible implementation of the third aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message includes port information of the BM-SC, a service portal link for transporting the video content, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"With reference to the second possible implementation of the third aspect, in a third possible implementation of the third aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"With reference to the second possible implementation or the third possible implementation of the third aspect, in a fourth possible implementation of the third aspect, after the sending, by the BM-SC, a first response message to the SCEF, the method further includes: sending, by the BM-SC to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and receiving, by the BM-SC according to the port information of the BM-SC, video content sent by the third-party server, and sending the video content to the UE.\",\n \"According to a fourth aspect, a video distribution method is provided, including: receiving, by a home subscriber server HSS, a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; and determining, by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.\",\n \"With reference to the fourth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the fourth aspect, if the first request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the method further includes: determining, by the HSS, exposed MBMS capability information according to the subscription information and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; and sending, by the HSS, a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information, where if the first request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the first response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, to notify the SCEF that the exposure of the MBMS capability is allowed.\",\n \"With reference to the first possible implementation of the fourth aspect, in a second possible implementation, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"According to a fifth aspect, a service capability exposure function SCEF is provided, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive a first request message sent by a third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; and a sending unit, configured to send a second request message to a home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability, where the sending unit is further configured to send a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC when the receiving unit receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; and the sending unit is further configured to send the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment UE.\",\n \"With reference to the fifth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; if the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the second response message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; or if the second request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC; the third request message includes the port information of the third-party server and the media encoding information of the third-party server; and if the second response message includes the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the second MBMS capability information; or if the second response message does not include the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"With reference to the first possible implementation of the fifth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the receiving unit is further configured to: receive a third response message sent by the BM-SC, where the third response message includes the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.\",\n \"With reference to the first possible implementation of the fifth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"According to a sixth aspect, a third-party server is provided, including: a sending unit, configured to send a first request message to a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; a receiving unit, configured to receive a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is used for transporting video content and that is obtained from a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC, where the sending unit is further configured to send, to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and a processing unit, configured to request, according to the MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast to distribute the video content to the UE.\",\n \"With reference to the sixth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message further includes port information of the BM-SC, media encoding information of the BM-SC, and a charging rule that are obtained by the SCEF; where the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"With reference to the sixth aspect or the first possible implementation of the sixth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the receiving unit is further configured to: before the third-party server sends the first request message to the SCEF, or after the third-party server receives the first response message sent by the SCEF, receive Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP request messages sent by at least two UEs, where the HTTP request message is used to request same video content.\",\n \"With reference to the sixth aspect or the first possible implementation or the second possible implementation of the sixth aspect, in a third possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the sending unit is further configured to: after sending, to the user equipment UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, send the video content to the BM-SC or the SCEF.\",\n \"According to a seventh aspect, a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC is provided, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution; and a sending unit, configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so as to distribute video content to user equipment UE after the SCEF starts an MBMS broadcast according to the first MBMS capability information.\",\n \"With reference to the seventh aspect, in a first possible implementation of the seventh aspect, the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is requested by a third-party server, or the first request message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by a home subscriber server HSS according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter obtained from the third-party server; and the BM-SC further includes: a processing unit, configured to determine, according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; or the processing unit is configured to determine, according to the second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS and subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.\",\n \"With reference to the seventh aspect or the first possible implementation of the seventh aspect, in a second possible implementation of the seventh aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message includes port information of the BM-SC, a service portal link for transporting the video content, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"With reference to the second possible implementation of the seventh aspect, in a third possible implementation of the seventh aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"With reference to the second possible implementation or the third possible implementation of the seventh aspect, in a fourth possible implementation of the seventh aspect, the sending unit is further configured to: send, to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; the receiving unit is further configured to receive, according to the port information of the BM-SC, video content sent by the third-party server; and the sending unit is further configured to send the video content to the UE.\",\n \"According to an eighth aspect, a home subscriber server HSS is provided, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; and a processing unit, configured to determine, according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.\",\n \"With reference to the eighth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the eighth aspect, if the first request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the processing unit is further configured to determine exposed MBMS capability information according to the subscription information and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; and the HSS further includes a sending unit, configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information, where if the first request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the first response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, to notify the SCEF that the exposure of the MBMS capability is allowed.\",\n \"With reference to the first possible implementation of the eighth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the eighth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"According to a ninth aspect, a service capability exposure function SCEF is provided, including: a receiver, configured to receive a first request message sent by a third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; and a transmitter, configured to send a second request message to a home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability, where the transmitter is further configured to send a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC when the receiver receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; and the transmitter is further configured to send the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment UE.\",\n \"With reference to the ninth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the ninth aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; if the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the second response message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; or if the second request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC; the third request message includes the port information of the third-party server and the media encoding information of the third-party server; and if the second response message includes the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the second MBMS capability information; or if the second response message does not include the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"With reference to the first possible implementation of the ninth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the ninth aspect, the receiver is further configured to receive a third response message sent by the BM-SC, where the third response message includes the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.\",\n \"With reference to the second possible implementation of the ninth aspect, in a third possible implementation of the ninth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"According to a tenth aspect, a third-party server is provided, including: a transmitter, configured to send a first request message to a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; a receiver, configured to receive a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is used for transporting video content and that is obtained from a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC, where the transmitter is further configured to send, to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and a processor, configured to request, according to the MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast to distribute the video content to the UE.\",\n \"With reference to the tenth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the tenth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message further includes port information of the BM-SC, media encoding information of the BM-SC, and a charging rule that are obtained by the SCEF; where the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"With reference to the tenth aspect or the first possible implementation of the tenth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the tenth aspect, the receiver is further configured to: before the transmitter sends the first request message to the SCEF, or after the receiver receives the first response message sent by the SCEF, receive Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP request messages sent by at least two UEs, where the HTTP request message is used to request same video content.\",\n \"With reference to the tenth aspect or the first possible implementation or the second possible implementation of the tenth aspect, in a third possible implementation of the tenth aspect, the transmitter is further configured to: after sending, to the user equipment UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, send the video content to the BM-SC or the SCEF.\",\n \"According to an eleventh aspect, a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC is provided, including: a receiver, configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution; and a transmitter, configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so as to distribute video content to user equipment UE after the SCEF starts an MBMS broadcast according to the first MBMS capability information.\",\n \"With reference to the eleventh aspect, in a first possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is requested by a third-party server, or the first request message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by a home subscriber server HSS according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter obtained from the third-party server; and the BM-SC further includes: a processor, configured to: determine, according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; or determine, according to the second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS and subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.\",\n \"With reference to the eleventh aspect or the first possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, in a second possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server; and the first response message includes port information of the BM-SC, a service portal link for transporting the video content, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC; and the port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"With reference to the second possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, in a third possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"With reference to the second possible implementation or the third possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, in a fourth possible implementation of the eleventh aspect, the transmitter is further configured to send, to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and the receiver is further configured to receive, according to the port information of the BM-SC, video content sent by the third-party server; and the transmitter is further configured to send the video content to the UE.\",\n \"According to a twelfth aspect, a home subscriber server HSS is provided, including: a receiver, configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; and a processor, configured to determine, according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.\",\n \"With reference to the twelfth aspect, in a first possible implementation of the twelfth aspect, if the first request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, when the processor is configured to determine to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the processor is further configured to determine exposed MBMS capability information according to the subscription information and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; and the transmitter is further configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information, where if the first request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the first response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, to notify the SCEF that the exposure of the MBMS capability is allowed.\",\n \"With reference to the first possible implementation of the twelfth aspect, in a second possible implementation of the twelfth aspect, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"The embodiments of the present invention provide a video distribution method and a device.\",\n \"The SCEF receives a first request message sent by the third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server, and sends a second request message to the home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability.\",\n \"The SCEF sends a third request message to the broadcast multicast service center BM-SC after the SCEF receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.\",\n \"The SCEF sends the exposed first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, so that the third-party server starts an MBMS broadcast according to the exposed first MBMS capability information and distributes video content to the user equipment UE.\",\n \"That is, when multiple UEs access the video content, the third-party server providing the video content may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP network and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"The third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode of the 3GPP, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.\",\n \"In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT third party in providing a video service is reduced.\",\n \"Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or in the prior art more clearly, the following briefly describes the accompanying drawings required for describing the embodiments or the prior art.\",\n \"Apparently, the accompanying drawings in the following description show merely some embodiments of the present invention, and a person of ordinary skill in the art may still derive other drawings from these accompanying drawings without creative efforts.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 is a schematic flowchart of a video distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"2A and FIG.\",\n \"2B are a schematic flowchart of a video distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"3A and FIG.\",\n \"3B are a schematic information interaction diagram of a video distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"4A and FIG.\",\n \"4B are a schematic flowchart of a video distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"5 is a schematic information interaction diagram of a video distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"6 is a schematic flowchart of a video distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"7 is a schematic flowchart of a video distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"8 is a schematic flowchart of a video distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"9 is a schematic structural diagram of an SCEF according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"10 is a schematic structural diagram of a third-party server according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"11 is a schematic structural diagram of a BM-SC according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"12 is a schematic structural diagram of an HSS according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"13 is a schematic structural diagram of an SCEF according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"14 is a schematic structural diagram of a third-party server according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"15 is a schematic structural diagram of a BM-SC according to an embodiment of the present invention; and FIG.\",\n \"16 is a schematic structural diagram of an HSS according to an embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS The following clearly describes the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention.\",\n \"Apparently, the described embodiments are merely some but not all of the embodiments of the present invention.\",\n \"All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.\",\n \"The embodiments of the present invention may be applied to a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS architecture of an evolved packet system (EPS).\",\n \"The MBMS is a point-to-multipoint service, can implement data transmission from a single entity to multiple receivers, and may include the following network elements and devices: UE supports an activation/deactivation function of an MBMS bearer service.\",\n \"A packet data network gateway (P-GW) is a user plane anchor between a 3GPP access network and a non-3GPP access network, and an interface with an external packet data network.\",\n \"A broadcast multicast service center (BM-SC) is used for charging record generation, member management, MBMS session and transmission management, service notification management, MBMS transmission security support, MBMS session transmission and retransmission schedule determining, identification of each MBMS session, temporary mobile group identity (TMGI) allocation, MBMS bearer resource initiation or termination, and MBMS data sending, and has an error resilience policy, or the like.\",\n \"In a capability exposure architecture, a service capability exposure function (SCEF) is located between a 3GPP network and a service capability server (SCS)/third-party server (Application Server, AS), and the SCS/AS may initiates a service capability request to the SCEF by using an application programming interface (API) or the SCS/AS directly initiates a request to a network entity.\",\n \"The SCEF requests a corresponding network capability from the 3GPP network, and then the SCEF sends the obtained network capability/a result to the SCS/AS by using the API.\",\n \"For broadcast capability exposure, the SCEF is connected to the BM-SC by using an interface, the AS requests allocation/release of a TMGI also by using the interface, to activate/deactivate/modify an MBMS bearer, and the BM-SC notifies MBMS status information to the AS by using the interface.\",\n \"Based on the foregoing MBMS architecture and capability exposure architecture, an embodiment of the present invention provides a video distribution method.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"1, the method includes the following steps.\",\n \"101.An SCEF receives a first request message sent by a third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server.\",\n \"For an operator, the third-party server may be referred to the foregoing SCS/AS.\",\n \"For a user, the third-party server may be referred to as an OTT video server, providing video content to the user.\",\n \"Before the SCEF receives the first request message sent by the third-party server, UE may first access the OTT video server.\",\n \"After detecting that at least two UEs access same video content, the OTT video server interacts with an SCEF of a 3GPP, and sends, to the SCEF, the first request message to request for invoking an MBMS video support capability of a 3GPP network.\",\n \"The first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is requested by the OTT video server, for example, a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication of an MBMS, an indication showing that content caching is supported, or an indication showing that content caching is not supported.\",\n \"Alternatively, the OTT video server may request in advance an MBMS capability exposure resource from a 3GPP network, to send the first request message to the SCEF.\",\n \"In this way, when detecting that at least two UEs access same video content, the OTT video server may redirect requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content.\",\n \"Alternatively, policy information is preconfigured in the third-party server, and when receiving an HTTP request sent by the UE, the third-party server sends the first request message to the SCEF.\",\n \"This is not limited in the present disclosure.\",\n \"The first request message may further include port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server.\",\n \"The port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and a BM-SC.\",\n \"The media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"102.The SCEF sends a second request message to a home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability.\",\n \"The SCEF adds the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication in the first request message to a second request message, and sends the second request message to a home subscriber server (HSS).\",\n \"The MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability.\",\n \"Therefore, the HSS may check subscription information between the HSS and an operator, to determine whether the MBMS capability is allowed to be exposed to an OTT third party.\",\n \"If the HSS performs MBMS capability determining, the HSS determines, for example, whether to expose the MBMS pipe capability, whether to expose a media capability (including a content caching capability, a media transcoding capability, or the like), or whether to expose an advertisement insertion capability.\",\n \"103.The SCEF sends a third request message to a BM-SC after the SCEF receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.\",\n \"When determining to expose the MBMS capability, the HSS returns the second response message to the SCEF, to represent that the MBMS capability is allowed to be exposed to the OTT third party.\",\n \"If the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, when the HSS allows the exposure of the MBMS capability, the second response message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"If the second response message includes the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the second MBMS capability information, that is, the BM-SC determines the first MBMS capability information according to the second MBMS capability information determined by the HSS and the subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator.\",\n \"If the second request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC.\",\n \"In this case, if the second request message further includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information in the second response message is determined by the BM-SC according to the second MBMS capability information determined by the HSS.\",\n \"If the second response message does not include the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, that is, the HSS does not perform MBMS capability determining, but the BM-SC directly determines to-be-exposed first MBMS capability information according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator only when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.\",\n \"The MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"104.The SCEF sends the exposed first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment UE.\",\n \"Before the sending, by the SCEF, the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, the method further includes: receiving, by the SCEF, a third response message sent by the BM-SC, where the third response message includes the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.\",\n \"The service portal link for transporting the video content may be a user service description (USD) uniform resource locator (URL) provided by the BM-SC, or a domain name address of the BM-SC, or the like.\",\n \"The port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server.\",\n \"The SCEF then sends the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC, the service portal link for transporting the video content, the port information of the BM-SC, the charging rule, and the media encoding information of the BM-SC to the third-party server.\",\n \"In this way, the third-party server requests the 3GPP network to start an MBMS broadcast, and notifies the video content to the UE according to the MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, that is, redirects a request of the UE to an MBMS broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.\",\n \"In this way, technical difficulty of the OTT third party in providing a video service is reduced, the OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminal types separately, and workload of the OTT third party is reduced.\",\n \"This embodiment of the present invention provides a video distribution method.\",\n \"The SCEF receives a first request message sent by the third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server, and sends a second request message to the home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability.\",\n \"The SCEF sends a third request message to the broadcast multicast service center BM-SC after the SCEF receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.\",\n \"The SCEF sends the exposed first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, so that the third-party server starts an MBMS broadcast according to the exposed first MBMS capability information and distributes video content to the user equipment UE.\",\n \"That is, when multiple UEs access the video content, the third-party server providing the video content may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"The third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.\",\n \"In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.\",\n \"Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.\",\n \"Based on the foregoing embodiment, the following specifically describes an embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"For a scenario in which an OTT video server requests, after detecting that at least two UEs access same video content, a 3GPP network to expose an MBMS capability, another embodiment of the present invention provides a video distribution method.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, the method includes the following steps.\",\n \"201.A third-party server detects that at least two UEs access same video content.\",\n \"For example, UE 1 sends an HTTP request message to the third-party server, to request to send video content.\",\n \"The HTTP request message includes a URL corresponding to the video content.\",\n \"UE 2 also sends an HTTP request message to the third-party server, and also requests, from the third-party server, the video content corresponding to the same URL.\",\n \"Therefore, the third-party server detects, according to the URL, that multiple UEs access the same video content.\",\n \"Then the third-party server determines to invoke a video capability of a 3GPP network to distribute the video content.\",\n \"202.The third-party server sends a first TMGI allocation request to an SCEF, where the TMGI allocation request includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server.\",\n \"The MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution is added to an existing TMGI allocation request (Allocate TMGI Request) by using a standard open interface and by using the TMGI allocation request.\",\n \"That is, the first TMGI allocation request herein is equivalent to the first request message in the foregoing embodiment.\",\n \"The first TMGI allocation request includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server.\",\n \"The MBMS capability negotiation parameter may include: a transport mode indication of the video content.\",\n \"The transport mode indication may include a broadcast mode (Broad Cast only), or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode (hybrid Broad Cast/Unitary Cast, hybrid BC/UC), or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode (dynamic BC/UC), that is, a mode dynamically switching between a broadcast mode and a unicast mode; may further include a security feature indication for using the MBMS (MBMS security feature allowed), where the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; may further include a content transcoding capability support indication (content transcoding capability support), which includes an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; may further include a content caching indication (caching support), which includes an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; may further include an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported; may further include quality of experience (QoE) reporting indication, where the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; may further include a network information reporting indication, where the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, and the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; or may further include an advertisement purchasing information indication, where the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"The first TMGI allocation request may further include port information (SCS port information) of the third-party server, for example, an IP address and a port number of an SCS, used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; may further include media encoding information (media layer information) of the third party server, including, for example, video encoding information, such as video H.264/H.265; and audio encoding information, such as adaptive multi-rate wideband coding (AMR-WB), adaptive multi-rate narrowband coding (AMR-NB), or an enhanced voice service (EVS); or may further include other media information, for example, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"Certainly, the first TMGI allocation request further includes a group identifier (external group ID), an SCS ID, UE IDs, and the like of video content already existing in the request.\",\n \"203.The SCEF sends a subscription information request to an HSS, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability.\",\n \"When receiving the first TMGI allocation request, the SCEF sends, to the HSS, a subscription information request, which is equivalent to the second request message in the foregoing embodiment.\",\n \"The subscription information request may carry the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication.\",\n \"The MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability, or may further include an external group ID, an SCS ID, and the like, so as to request the HSS to expose the MBMS capability to an OTT third party, for example, Sohu video, or LeTV.\",\n \"204.The HSS detects subscription information, determines whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability to an OTT third party, and sends a subscription information response to the SCEF.\",\n \"According to the description of step 203, the subscription information request may include the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, or the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, or the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication; or the subscription information request indicates that no parameter or indication is added.\",\n \"When the subscription information request indicates that no parameter or indication is added, if the HSS receives the subscription information request, the subscription information request may determine, according to subscription information between the HSS and the operator, that is, an external group ID, an SCS ID, and the like, whether to expose the MBMS capability to the third party.\",\n \"If the HSS determines to expose the MBMS capability to the third party, the HSS sends, to the SCEF, a subscription information response representing that the exposure of the MBMS capability is allowed, and the subscription information response is also equivalent to the second response message in the foregoing embodiment.\",\n \"If the subscription information request includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication and does not include the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, it may be understood that the MBMS pipe capability includes an MBMS media capability.\",\n \"When the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS pipe capability, because the MBMS capability negotiation parameter is not carried, a subscription information response including an MBMS capability exposure request indication is returned to the SCEF when no specific capability determining is performed to determine which media capability is to be exposed, so that the SCEF further requests the BM-SC exposed MBMS media capability information.\",\n \"If the subscription information request does not include the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, but includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, it may be understood that the MBMS pipe capability is represented in the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"If the HSS receives the subscription information request, when determining, according to the subscription information between the HSS and the operator, to expose the MBMS pipe capability, the HSS further determines, according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the subscription information, which MBMS capability is to be exposed to a third party, and returns the determined MBMS capability information to the SCEF by using a subscription information response.\",\n \"If the subscription information request includes both the MBMS media capability exposure request indication and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, it may be understood that the MBMS pipe capability and an MBMS media capability are in parallel, the HSS first determines, according to the subscription information, whether to expose the MBMS pipe capability.\",\n \"If the HSS determines to expose the MBMS pipe capability, the HSS further determines, according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the subscription information, which MBMS capability is to be exposed, and returns, to the SCEF, a subscription information response that includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication and the determined to-be-exposed MBMS capability information, so that the SCEF further requests specific MBMS capability information from the BM-SC.\",\n \"An MBMS pipe represents a capability of data transmission between two nodes.\",\n \"205.The SCEF sends a second TMGI allocation request to a BM-SC, where the second TMGI allocation request is used to request to obtain exposed MBMS capability information from the BM-SC.\",\n \"When the SCEF determines that the HSS allows the exposure of the MBMS capability to the OTT third party, the SCEF sends, to the BM-SC, the second TMGI allocation request that is equivalent to the third request message in the foregoing embodiment.\",\n \"The MBMS capability negotiation parameter or the MBMS capability information that is determined to be exposed by the HSS is added to the second TMGI allocation request, or the foregoing SCS port information, media information, or the like may be further added to the second TMGI allocation request.\",\n \"That is, if the HSS does not specifically perform determining on the MBMS capability exposed to the third party, the SCEF sends the MBMS capability negotiation parameter obtained from the third-party server to the BM-SC, so that the BM-SC determines, according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator, which MBMS capability is specifically to be exposed.\",\n \"If the HSS performs capability determining according to the MBMS capability sent by the SCEF, to determine which MBMS is to be exposed to the third party, the BM-SC further determines, according to the subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator, and according to a set of MBMS capabilities in the MBMS capability information that is obtained from the SCEF and that is determined by the HSS, which MBMS capability is further exposed to the third party.\",\n \"206.The BM-SC determines the exposed MBMS capability information according to the subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, and sends the MBMS capability information to the SCEF.\",\n \"The BM-SC determines specific exposed MBMS capability information, that is, arbitrates an exposure attribute based on a capability of the BM-SC.\",\n \"For example, the specific MBMS capability information includes a dynamic unicast/broadcast conversion capability and a media transcoding capability.\",\n \"In addition, the BM-SC returns the determined specific MBMS capability information to the SCEF.\",\n \"The specific MBMS capability information may be carried in the first TMGI allocation response message (allocate TMGI response).\",\n \"The BM-SC may provide, at the same time, port information of the BM-SC (BM-SC port information), a charging rule provided by the BM-SC, media encoding information of the BM-SC, and a service portal link that is used for transporting the video content and that is constructed by the BM-SC according to an arbitration result, for example, a USD URL; and further include an allocated TMGI or the like.\",\n \"207.The SCEF forwards the MBMS capability information to the third-party server.\",\n \"The SCEF may add the MBMS capability information, the charging rule, the port information of the BM-SC, the service portal link for transporting the video content, and the encoding information of the BM-SC that are received from the BM-SC to the second TMGI allocation response message, and forwards the second TMGI allocation response message to the third-party server SCS/AS.\",\n \"In this case, the third-party server is triggered to redirect a request of the UE to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content.\",\n \"For the foregoing description, it is assumed that the third-party server requests 10 capabilities (features) from the SCEF.\",\n \"According to different charging fees or an operator policy, the BM-SC provides only five of the capabilities, and then returns the five capabilities to the third-party server by using the SCEF.\",\n \"The third-party server can use only the five capabilities with the UE/BM-SC.\",\n \"For example, in a transport mode indication, there are three options for a transmission mode: a broadcast mode, a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, and a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode.\",\n \"The broadcast mode means that the BM-SC provides only a broadcast capability, and only UE falling within a coverage area of the MBMS can receive media content, and UE falling outside the coverage area of the MBMS can only obtain media content from an OTT unicast server.\",\n \"The broadcast/unicast hybrid mode means that the 3GPP network provides a unicast/broadcast hybrid transmission capability, and when the UE falls outside the coverage area of the MBMS, the UE may obtain media content from a 3GPP network unicast server.\",\n \"In the dynamic broadcast/unicast mode, the UE can still obtain media content from the 3GPP network, but the 3GPP network selects an optimal transport manner to send the content to the UE.\",\n \"A difference between such a method and a hybrid unicast/broadcast mode lies in that: a coverage area of an MBMS in the hybrid unicast/broadcast mode is semi-static.\",\n \"After the coverage area of the MBMS is selected, although there is a small quantity of receiving users, the mode is still a broadcast mode, and although there is a large quantity of users outside the coverage area of the MBMS, media content can be obtained only in a unicast mode.\",\n \"For the dynamic unicast/broadcast mode, a broadcast mode or a unicast mode may be dynamically selected according to a user density status within an area, so that a network transmission capacity can be optimally used.\",\n \"When the OTT third party inquiries, by using a standard open interface, an operator network (SCEF) to query a video capability supported by the BM-SC, and negotiates with the operator network on the transmission mode, in a broadcast-only mode, the OTT still needs to configure a unicast server, while in the hybrid unicast/broadcast mode, the OTT does not need to configure a unicast server, but a 3GPP network capacity is not efficiently used.\",\n \"In the dynamic unicast/broadcast, use of the 3GPP network capacity is maximized.\",\n \"The three different transmission modes may correspond to different charging fees.\",\n \"For another example, for a content caching capability, if the OTT third party does not inquire, by using the standard open interface, the operator network (SCEF) to query the video capability supported by the BM-SC, and it is assumed that the BM-SC does not support the content caching capability, a subsequent unicast request of the UE is still provided by the OTT third party, the OTT third party needs to configure a large quantity of unicast servers, and needs a large server capacity.\",\n \"On the contrary, if the OTT third party interacts with the SCEF of the 3GPP network, to request for invoking an MBMS video support capability of the BM-SC of the 3GPP network, and the BM-SC supports the content caching capability, a subsequent unicast request of the UE is provided by a unicast server of the 3GPP network.\",\n \"The unicast server of the 3GPP network may obtain already cached content from the BM-SC, or the BM-SC provides 3GPP network unicast server supporting.\",\n \"In this case, the OTT third party does not need to be concerned with a problem of server capacity.\",\n \"It may be understood that the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information may be sent by using a single message.\",\n \"A process of starting an MBMS broadcast and distributing the video content according to the exposed MBMS capability information may be as follows: 208.The third-party server notifies, by means of HTTP interaction between the third-party server and UE, the UE of a service portal link for transporting the video content.\",\n \"209.The third-party server requests the SCEF to start an MBMS broadcast.\",\n \"The third-party server may specifically send, to the SCEF, a request message group message request, which may include an external group ID, an SCS ID, and the like.\",\n \"210.The SCEF performs, according to the foregoing context, authorization check on the request sent by the third-party server.\",\n \"211.If it is determined, according to the authorization check, to start the MBMS broadcast, the SCEF queries the HSS whether the third-party server can use an MBMS channel.\",\n \"Specifically, the SCEF may send, to the HSS, subscriber information request, which includes an external group ID, an SCS ID, and the like, so that the HSS determines, according to the subscription information, whether the third-party server can use an MBMS channel.\",\n \"212.If the HSS determines that the third-party server can use an MBMS channel, the HSS sends a determining response (subscriber information response) to the SCEF.\",\n \"213.The SCEF starts the MBMS broadcast.\",\n \"214.The SCEF sends an MBMS enabling acknowledgment message to the third-party server.\",\n \"If step 208 is not performed, step 215 may be performed after step 214, that is, the service portal link for transporting the video content may be notified to the UE by the third-party server or by the SCEF, and either of step 208 and step 215 may be selected.\",\n \"215.The SCEF communicates with the UE, and notifies the UE of the service portal link for transporting the video content, a UE-side MBMS client is ready, and the third-party server sends the video content to the BM-SC/SCEF.\",\n \"Optionally, in step 206, a USD URL constructed by the BM-SC may not need to be carried, but the domain name address of the BM-SC is carried.\",\n \"In this way, after the domain name address is notified to the UE by using the SCEF or the AS, the UE may parse the domain name address, and learn that the USD URL is obtained from the BM-SC.\",\n \"That is, the service portal link for transporting the video content may be the domain name address of the BM-SC.\",\n \"216.The SCEF sends a bearer activation request message (activate MBMS bearer request) to the BM-SC.\",\n \"217.The BM-SC establishes an MBMS bearer.\",\n \"218.The BM-SC sends an MBMS bearer establishment success message (activate MBMS bearer response) to the SCEF.\",\n \"219.The BM-SC starts a broadcast, and sends the content obtained from the third-party server to a broadcast bearer.\",\n \"220.The third-party server continuously pushes the video content to the BM-SC/SCEF.\",\n \"221.The UE obtains the video content by using an MBMS bearer.\",\n \"The UE obtains the video content by using the MBMS bearer according to an obtained service portal link USD URL of the video content that is provided by the BM-SC.\",\n \"It may be understood that, if the MBMS capability negotiation parameter sent by the third-party server to the SCEF further includes at least one of an indication showing that QoE is to be reported, an indication showing that network information is to be reported, or an indication showing that advertisement purchasing information is to be reported, after the third-party server distributes the video content to the UE by using the BM-SC or the SCEF, the BM-SC further needs to report at least one of QoE, network information, or advertisement purchasing information to the third-party server, or the UE reports such information to the third-party server by using the SCEF.\",\n \"This is not limited in the present disclosure.\",\n \"It should be noted that if media encoding information returned by the BM-SC is different from media encoding information requested by the third-party server, the third-party server needs to transcode the video content according to the media encoding information provided by the BM-SC.\",\n \"Certainly, if the BM-SC provides a content transcoding service, the third-party server may directly send the video content to the BM-SC, the BM-SC transcodes a media format to a content format supported by the UE, and then the BM-SC sends the content to the UE.\",\n \"For interaction between network elements in this embodiment, refer to FIG.\",\n \"3.Therefore, in this embodiment of the present invention, when the UE first accesses the third-party server, if the third-party server detects that multiple UEs access same video content, the third-party server interacts with an SCEF of a 3GPP network, to request for invoking an MBMS video support capability of the 3GPP network.\",\n \"The 3GPP network allows enabling of the MBMS video support capability, and then the third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content.\",\n \"By means of the present application, the MBMS capability may be expanded to OTT video supporting.\",\n \"In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators and different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.\",\n \"This is equivalent to outsourcing video transmission work to an operator network by the OTT third party.\",\n \"By using an open transport and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators separately for parameters such as different pipes or video supporting capabilities of terminals.\",\n \"Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.\",\n \"When a third-party server requests in advance a 3GPP network to expose an MBMS capability, another embodiment of the present invention provides a video distribution method.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4, the method includes the following steps.\",\n \"401.A third-party server sends a first TMGI allocation request to an SCEF, where the first TMGI allocation request includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server.\",\n \"402.The SCEF sends a subscription information request to an HSS, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability.\",\n \"403.The HSS checks subscription information, determines whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability to an OTT third party, and sends a subscription information response to the SCEF.\",\n \"404.The SCEF sends a second TMGI allocation request to a BM-SC, where the second TMGI allocation request is used to obtain exposed MBMS capability information from the BM-SC.\",\n \"405.The BM-SC determines the exposed MBMS capability information according to subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, and sends the MBMS capability information to the SCEF.\",\n \"406.The SCEF forwards the MBMS capability information to the third-party server.\",\n \"For a specific implementation of step 401 to step 406, refer to step 202 to step 207 in the foregoing embodiment.\",\n \"407.The third-party server requests the SCEF to start an MBMS broadcast.\",\n \"The third-party server may specifically send a request message group message request to the SCEF, where the message may include the foregoing external group ID, SCS ID, port information of an SCS, and the like.\",\n \"408.The SCEF performs, according to the foregoing context, authorization check on the request sent by the third-party server.\",\n \"409.If it is determined, according to the authorization check, to start the MBMS broadcast, the SCEF queries the HSS whether the third-party server can use an MBMS channel.\",\n \"410.If the HSS determines that the third-party server can use an MBMS channel, the HSS sends a determining response to the SCEF.\",\n \"411.The SCEF starts the MBMS broadcast.\",\n \"412.The SCEF sends an MBMS enabling acknowledgment message to the third-party server.\",\n \"413.The third-party server detects that at least two UEs access same video content.\",\n \"For example, UE 1 sends an HTTP request message (including a URL) to the third-party server, and UE 2 also sends an HTTP request to the third-party server to request video content corresponding to the same URL.\",\n \"414.The third-party server notifies, to the at least two UEs by means of HTTP interaction between the third-party server and the UEs, a service portal link for transporting the video content.\",\n \"Specifically, the third-party server may send an HTTP redirection message to the UE 1 and the UE 2 separately.\",\n \"The HTTP redirection message includes a USD URL provided by the BM-SC, and redirects the UE to receive the video content by means of broadcast.\",\n \"Alternatively, step 414 is replaced with step 415.415.The BM-SC communicates with the UEs, to notify the UEs of the service portal link for transporting the video content, and that a UE-side MBMS client is ready.\",\n \"It may be understood that, in step 405, the USD URL may not be carried, and instead, a domain name address of the BM-SC is carried.\",\n \"In this way, the domain name address may be notified to the UEs by using the third-party server or the BM-SC, so that the UEs obtain the USD URL from the BM-SC according to the domain name address.\",\n \"That is, the service portal link for transporting the video content may be the domain name address of the BM-SC.\",\n \"416.The SCEF sends a bearer activation request message to the BM-SC.\",\n \"417.The BM-SC establishes an MBMS bearer.\",\n \"418.The BM-SC sends an MBMS bearer establishment success message to the SCEF.\",\n \"419.The BM-SC starts a broadcast, and obtains the video content from the third-party server.\",\n \"420.The UEs obtain the video content by using the MBMS bearer.\",\n \"For interaction between network elements in this embodiment, refer to FIG.\",\n \"5.Therefore, in this embodiment of the present invention, the third-party server requests in advance an MBMS capability exposure resource from a 3GPP network.\",\n \"The 3GPP network allows enabling of an MBMS video support capability.\",\n \"After detecting access requests of at least two UEs, the third-party server redirects the requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive video content.\",\n \"By means of the present application, the MBMS capability may be expanded to OTT video supporting.\",\n \"In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators and different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.\",\n \"Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.\",\n \"Based on the description of the foregoing embodiment, execution procedures for the third-party server, the BM-SC, and the HSS may be as follows: An embodiment of the present invention provides a video distribution method.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"6, the method includes the following steps.\",\n \"601.A third-party server sends a first request message to an SCEF, where the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server.\",\n \"The MBMS capability negotiation parameter includes at least one of a transport mode indication of video content, a security feature indication for using an MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication.\",\n \"The transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode.\",\n \"The security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state.\",\n \"The content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported.\",\n \"The content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported.\",\n \"The QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported.\",\n \"The network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported.\",\n \"The network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state.\",\n \"The advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported.\",\n \"The advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"The first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server.\",\n \"The port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and a BM-SC.\",\n \"The media encoding information of the third-party server includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"602.The third-party server receives a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is used for transporting video content and that is obtained from a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC.\",\n \"Before the sending, by a third-party server, a first request message to an SCEF, or after the receiving, by the third-party server, a first response message sent by the SCEF, the method further includes: receiving, by the third-party server, Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP request messages sent by at least two UEs, where the HTTP request message is used to request same video content.\",\n \"603.The third-party server sends, to UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, and requests, according to the MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast to distribute the video content to the UE.\",\n \"After the sending, by the third-party server to user equipment UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, the method further includes: sending, by the third-party server, the video content to the BM-SC, so that the UE obtains the video content by using an MBMS bearer.\",\n \"For a specific implementation of the third-party server, refer to the embodiment shown in FIG.\",\n \"1 to FIG.\",\n \"5.Details are not described herein again.\",\n \"This embodiment of the present invention provides a video distribution method.\",\n \"The third-party server sends a first request message to the service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server, receives a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is obtained by the broadcast multicast service center BM-SC and that is used for transporting video content, sends, to the UE, the video content for transporting the service portal link, and starts an MBMS broadcast according to the MBMS capability information, to distribute the video content to the UE.\",\n \"That is, when multiple UEs access the video content, the third-party server providing the video content may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"The third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.\",\n \"In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.\",\n \"Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.\",\n \"An embodiment of the present invention provides a video distribution method.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"7, the method includes the following steps.\",\n \"701.A BM-SC receives a first request message sent by an SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain MBMS capability information during video content distribution.\",\n \"The first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is requested by a third-party server, or the first request message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by a home subscriber server HSS according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter obtained from the third-party server.\",\n \"The first request message further includes port information and media encoding information of the third-party server.\",\n \"The port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC.\",\n \"The media encoding information of the third-party server includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"702.The BM-SC sends a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so as to distribute video content to user equipment UE after the SCEF starts an MBMS broadcast according to the first MBMS capability information.\",\n \"The first response message includes port information of the BM-SC, a service portal link for transporting the video content, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.\",\n \"The port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server.\",\n \"The media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"Before the sending, by the BM-SC, a first response message to the SCEF, the method further includes: determining, by the BM-SC according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; or determining, by the BM-SC according to the second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS and subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.\",\n \"After the sending, by the BM-SC, a first response message to the SCEF, the method further includes: sending, by the BM-SC to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and receiving, by the BM-SC according to the port information of the BM-SC, video content sent by the third-party server, and sending the video content to the UE.\",\n \"The MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"This embodiment of the present invention provides a video distribution method.\",\n \"The BM-SC receives a first request message sent by the SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution.\",\n \"The BM-SC sends a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so that the BM-SC and the SCEF start an MBMS broadcast according to the first MBMS capability information, to distribute video content to the user equipment UE.\",\n \"In this way, when multiple UEs access the video content, an OTT third party may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, so that the third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.\",\n \"In this way, the OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.\",\n \"Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.\",\n \"An embodiment of the present invention provides a video distribution method.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"8, the method includes the following steps.\",\n \"801.An HSS receives a first request message sent by an SCEF, where the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by an AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability.\",\n \"802.The HSS determines, according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow exposure of an MBMS capability.\",\n \"If the first request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the method further includes: determining, by the HSS, exposed MBMS capability information according to the subscription information and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter; and sending, by the HSS, a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information.\",\n \"If the first request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the first response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, to notify the SCEF that the exposure of the MBMS capability is allowed.\",\n \"The MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"This embodiment of the present invention provides a video distribution method.\",\n \"The HSS receives a first request message sent by the SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability.\",\n \"The HSS determines, according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.\",\n \"In this way, when multiple UEs access the video content, an OTT third party may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the HSS, and obtain, from the HSS, an indication for allowing the exposure of the capability, so that the third-party server negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, so that the third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.\",\n \"In this way, the OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.\",\n \"Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.\",\n \"An embodiment of the present invention provides an SCEF 90.As shown in FIG.\",\n \"9, the SCEF 90 includes: a receiving unit 901, configured to receive a first request message sent by a third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; and a sending unit 902, configured to send a second request message to a home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability.\",\n \"The sending unit 902 is further configured to send a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC when the receiving unit receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.\",\n \"The sending unit 902 is further configured to send the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment UE.\",\n \"Optionally, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server.\",\n \"The second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability.\",\n \"If the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the second response message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"If the second request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC.\",\n \"The third request message includes the port information of the third-party server and the media encoding information of the third-party server.\",\n \"If the second response message includes the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the second MBMS capability information.\",\n \"If the second response message does not include the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"Optionally, the receiving unit 901 is further configured to: receive a third response message sent by the BM-SC, where the third response message includes the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.\",\n \"Optionally, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"The port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC.\",\n \"The port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server.\",\n \"The media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"This embodiment of the present invention provides an SCEF.\",\n \"The SCEF receives a first request message sent by the third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server, and sends a second request message to the home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability.\",\n \"The SCEF sends a third request message to the broadcast multicast service center BM-SC after the SCEF receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request to obtain MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.\",\n \"The SCEF sends the exposed MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, so that the third-party server starts an MBMS broadcast according to the exposed MBMS capability information and distributes video content to the user equipment UE.\",\n \"That is, when multiple UEs access the video content, the third-party server providing the video content may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"The third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.\",\n \"In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.\",\n \"Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.\",\n \"An embodiment of the present invention provides a third-party server 10.As shown in FIG.\",\n \"10, the third-party server 10 includes: a sending unit 101, configured to send a first request message to a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server; a receiving unit 102, configured to receive a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is used for transporting video content and that is obtained from a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC, where the sending unit 101 is further configured to send, to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content; and a processing unit 103, configured to request, according to the MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast to distribute the video content to the UE.\",\n \"Optionally, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"The first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server.\",\n \"The first response message further includes port information of the BM-SC, media encoding information of the BM-SC, and a charging rule that are obtained by the SCEF.\",\n \"The port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"Optionally, the receiving unit 102 is further configured to: before the third-party server sends the first request message to the SCEF, or after the third-party server receives the first response message sent by the SCEF, receive Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP request messages sent by at least two UEs, where the HTTP request message is used to request same video content.\",\n \"Optionally, the sending unit 101 is further configured to: after sending, to the user equipment UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, send the video content to the BM-SC or the SCEF.\",\n \"This embodiment of the present invention provides a third-party server.\",\n \"The third-party server sends a first request message to the service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server, receives a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is obtained by the broadcast multicast service center BM-SC and that is used for transporting video content, sends, to the UE, the video content for transporting the service portal link, and starts an MBMS broadcast according to the MBMS capability information, to distribute the video content to the UE.\",\n \"That is, when multiple UEs access the video content, the third-party server providing the video content may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"The third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.\",\n \"In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.\",\n \"Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.\",\n \"An embodiment of the present invention provides a BM-SC 11.As shown in FIG.\",\n \"11, the BM-SC 11 includes: a receiving unit 111, configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution; and a sending unit 112, configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so as to distribute video content to user equipment UE after the SCEF starts an MBMS broadcast according to the first MBMS capability information.\",\n \"Optionally, the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is requested by a third-party server, or the first request message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by a home subscriber server HSS according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter obtained from the third-party server.\",\n \"The BM-SC further includes: a processing unit 113, configured to determine, according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; or the processing unit 113 is configured to determine, according to the second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS and subscription information between the BM-SC and the operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.\",\n \"Optionally, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server.\",\n \"The first response message includes port information of the BM-SC, a service portal link for transporting the video content, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.\",\n \"The port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC.\",\n \"The port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server.\",\n \"The media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"The MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"Optionally, the sending unit 112 is further configured to send, to the UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content.\",\n \"The receiving unit 111 is further configured to receive, according to the port information of the BM-SC, video content sent by the third-party server.\",\n \"The sending unit 112 is further configured to send the video content to the UE.\",\n \"This embodiment of the present invention provides a BM-SC.\",\n \"The BM-SC receives a first request message sent by the SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution.\",\n \"The BM-SC sends a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so that the BM-SC and the SCEF start an MBMS broadcast according to the MBMS capability information, to distribute video content to the user equipment UE.\",\n \"In this way, when multiple UEs access the video content, the third-party server providing the video content may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, so that the third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.\",\n \"In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.\",\n \"Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.\",\n \"An embodiment of the present invention provides an HSS 12.As shown in FIG.\",\n \"12, the HSS 12 includes: a receiving unit 121, configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability; and a processing unit 122, configured to determine, according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.\",\n \"Optionally, if the first request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the processing unit is further configured to determine exposed MBMS capability information according to the subscription information and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"The HSS further includes a sending unit 123, configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information.\",\n \"If the first request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the first response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, to notify the SCEF that the exposure of the MBMS capability is allowed.\",\n \"Optionally, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"This embodiment of the present invention provides an HSS.\",\n \"The HSS receives a first request message sent by the service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability.\",\n \"The HSS determines, according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.\",\n \"In this way, when multiple UEs access the video content, an OTT third party may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the HSS, and obtain, from the HSS, an indication for allowing the exposure of the capability, so that the third-party server negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, so that the third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.\",\n \"In this way, the OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.\",\n \"Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.\",\n \"An embodiment of the present invention provides an SCEF 13.As shown in FIG.\",\n \"13, the SCEF 13 includes a receiver 131, a transmitter 132, a memory 133, and a bus 134.The memory 133 is configured to store data and an instruction.\",\n \"The receiver 131 executes the instruction and is configured to receive a first request message sent by a third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server.\",\n \"The transmitter 132 executes the instruction and is configured to send a second request message to a home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability.\",\n \"The transmitter 132 executes the instruction and is further configured to send a third request message to a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC when the receiver receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.\",\n \"The transmitter 132 executes the instruction and is further configured to send the first MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, to enable the-third party server to request, according to the first MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast, and distributes video content to user equipment UE.\",\n \"In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server.\",\n \"The second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability.\",\n \"If the second request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the second response message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"If the second request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, the second response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, and the MBMS capability exposure request indication is used to request the first MBMS capability information exposed and determined by the BM-SC.\",\n \"The third request message includes the port information of the third-party server and the media encoding information of the third-party server.\",\n \"If the second response message includes the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the second MBMS capability information.\",\n \"If the second response message does not include the second MBMS capability information, the third request message further includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the receiver 131 executes the instruction and is further configured to receive a third response message sent by the BM-SC, where the third response message includes the first MBMS capability information, a service portal link for transporting the video content, port information of the BM-SC, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.\",\n \"In this embodiment, optionally, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"The port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC.\",\n \"The port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server.\",\n \"The media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"This embodiment of the present invention provides an SCEF.\",\n \"The SCEF receives a first request message sent by the third-party server, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server, and sends a second request message to the home subscriber server HSS according to the first request message, to request the HSS to expose an MBMS capability.\",\n \"The SCEF sends a third request message to the broadcast multicast service center BM-SC after the SCEF receives a second response message returned by the HSS when the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, to request to obtain MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.\",\n \"The SCEF sends the exposed MBMS capability information obtained from the BM-SC to the third-party server, so that the third-party server starts an MBMS broadcast according to the exposed MBMS capability information and distributes video content to the user equipment UE.\",\n \"That is, when multiple UEs access the video content, the third-party server providing the video content may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"The third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.\",\n \"In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.\",\n \"Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.\",\n \"An embodiment of the present invention provides a third-party server 14.As shown in FIG.\",\n \"14, the third-party server 14 includes: a receiver 141, a transmitter 142, a processor 143, a memory 144, and a bus 145.The memory 144 is configured to store an instruction and data.\",\n \"The transmitter 142 executes the instruction and is configured to send a first request message to a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server.\",\n \"The receiver 141 executes the instruction and is configured to receive a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is used for transporting video content and that is obtained from a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC.\",\n \"The transmitter 142 executes the instruction and is further configured to send, to UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content.\",\n \"The processor 143 executes the instruction and is configured to request, according to the MBMS capability information, to start an MBMS broadcast to distribute the video content to the UE.\",\n \"In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"The first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server.\",\n \"The first response message further includes port information of the BM-SC, media encoding information of the BM-SC, and a charging rule that are obtained by the SCEF.\",\n \"The port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC; the port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server; and the media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the receiver 141 executes the instruction and is further configured to: before the transmitter 142 sends the first request message to the SCEF, or after the receiver 141 receives the first response message sent by the SCEF, receive Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP request messages sent by at least two UEs, where the HTTP request message is used to request same video content.\",\n \"In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the transmitter 142 executes the instruction and is further configured to: after sending, to the user equipment UE, the service portal link for transporting the video content, send the video content to the BM-SC or the SCEF.\",\n \"This embodiment of the present invention provides a third-party server.\",\n \"The third-party server sends a first request message to the service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter being requested by the third-party server, receives a first response message sent by the SCEF, where the first response message includes exposed MBMS capability information obtained by the SCEF and a service portal link that is obtained by the broadcast multicast service center BM-SC and that is used for transporting video content, sends, to the UE, the video content for transporting the service portal link, and starts an MBMS broadcast according to the MBMS capability information, to distribute the video content to the UE.\",\n \"That is, when multiple UEs access the video content, the third-party server providing the video content may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"The third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.\",\n \"In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.\",\n \"Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.\",\n \"An embodiment of the present invention provides a BM-SC 15.As shown in FIG.\",\n \"15, the BM-SC 15 includes: a receiver 151, a transmitter 152, a memory 153, a bus 154, and a processor 155.The memory 153 is configured to store an instruction and data.\",\n \"The receiver 151 executes the instruction and is configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution.\",\n \"The transmitter 152 executes the instruction and is configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so as to distribute video content to user equipment UE after the SCEF starts an MBMS broadcast according to the first MBMS capability information.\",\n \"In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the first request message includes an MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is requested by a third-party server, or the first request message includes second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by a home subscriber server HSS according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter obtained from the third-party server.\",\n \"The processor 155 executes the instruction and is configured to: determine, according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC; or determine, according to the second MBMS capability information that is to be exposed and that is determined by the HSS and subscription information between the BM-SC and an operator, the first MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC.\",\n \"In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the first request message further includes port information of the third-party server and media encoding information of the third-party server.\",\n \"The first response message includes port information of the BM-SC, a service portal link for transporting the video content, a charging rule, and media encoding information of the BM-SC.\",\n \"The port information of the third-party server is used for trusted channel data transmission between the third-party server and the BM-SC.\",\n \"The port information of the BM-SC is used for trusted channel data transmission between the BM-SC and the third-party server.\",\n \"The media encoding information includes at least one of video encoding information, audio encoding information, text encoding information, or picture encoding information.\",\n \"In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, the first MBMS capability information, and the second MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"This embodiment of the present invention provides a BM-SC.\",\n \"The BM-SC receives a first request message sent by the SCEF, where the first request message is used to obtain multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability information during video content distribution.\",\n \"The BM-SC sends a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information exposed by the BM-SC, so that after starting an MBMS broadcast according to the MBMS capability information, the SCEF distributes video content to the user equipment UE.\",\n \"In this way, when multiple UEs access the video content, the third-party server providing the video content may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the BM-SC, and negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, so that the third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.\",\n \"In this way, an OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.\",\n \"Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.\",\n \"An embodiment of the present invention provides an HSS 16.As shown in FIG.\",\n \"16, the HSS 16 includes a receiver 161, a transmitter 162, a processor 163, a memory 164, and a bus 165.The memory 164 is configured to store an instruction and data.\",\n \"The receiver 161 executes the instruction and is configured to receive a first request message sent by a service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability.\",\n \"The transmitter 162 executes the instruction and is configured to determine, according to subscription information between the HSS 16 and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.\",\n \"In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, if the first request message includes the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, when the processor 163 is configured to determine to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the processor 163 is further configured to determine exposed MBMS capability information according to the subscription information and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter.\",\n \"The transmitter is further configured to send a first response message to the SCEF, where the first response message includes the MBMS capability information.\",\n \"If the first request message includes the MBMS media capability exposure request indication, and the HSS determines to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability, the first response message includes an MBMS capability exposure request indication, to notify the SCEF that the exposure of the MBMS capability is allowed.\",\n \"In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and the MBMS capability information separately include at least one of a transport mode indication of the video content, a security feature indication for using the MBMS, a content transcoding capability support indication, a content caching indication, a quality of experience QoE reporting indication, a network information reporting indication, an advertisement purchasing information indication, or an advertisement insertion capability indication, where the transport mode indication is a broadcast mode, or a broadcast/unicast hybrid mode, or a dynamic broadcast/unicast mode; the security feature indication is an enabled state or a disabled state; the content transcoding capability support indication is an indication showing that transcoding is supported or an indication showing that transcoding is not supported; the content caching indication is an indication showing that content caching is supported or an indication showing that content caching is not supported; the QoE reporting indication is an indication showing that QoE is to be reported or an indication showing that QoE is not to be reported; the network information reporting indication is an indication showing that network information is to be reported or an indication showing that network information is not to be reported, the network information includes at least one of a UE identifier, a serving cell identifier, or a network congestion state; the advertisement purchasing information indication is an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is to be reported or an indication showing that an event of purchasing advertisement content by a user is not to be reported; and the advertisement insertion capability indication is an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is supported or an indication showing that insertion of an advertisement is not supported.\",\n \"This embodiment of the present invention provides an HSS.\",\n \"The HSS receives a first request message sent by the service capability exposure function SCEF, where the first request message includes a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS capability negotiation parameter for video distribution and that is sent by a third-party server AS by using the SCEF, and/or an MBMS media capability exposure request indication sent by the SCEF, where the MBMS media capability exposure request indication is used to request the HSS to expose an MBMS pipe capability.\",\n \"The HSS determines, according to subscription information between the HSS and an operator, and the MBMS capability negotiation parameter and/or the MBMS media capability exposure request, whether to allow the exposure of the MBMS capability.\",\n \"In this way, when multiple UEs access the video content, an OTT third party may interact with an SCEF of a 3GPP and the HSS, and obtain, from the HSS, an indication for allowing the exposure of the capability, so that the third-party server negotiates with the BM-SC to determine a to-be-exposed MBMS capability according to the MBMS capability negotiation parameter, so that the third-party server redirects requests of the UEs to a broadcast reception mode, to receive the video content, so as to expand the MBMS capability to OTT video supporting.\",\n \"In this way, the OTT third party does not need to perform negotiation and testing with different operators or different terminals, and technical difficulty of the OTT in providing a video service is reduced.\",\n \"Therefore, problems of heavy workload and complex management when an operator exposes an MBMS media capability to an OTT third party, and problems of heavy IOT workload and heavy video distribution and management load when the OTT third party distributes videos by using a mobile network can be resolved.\",\n \"In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed device and method may be implemented in other manners.\",\n \"For example, the described device embodiment is merely exemplary.\",\n \"For example, the unit division is merely logical function division and may be other division in actual implementation.\",\n \"For example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not performed.\",\n \"In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections may be implemented by using some interfaces.\",\n \"The indirect couplings or communication connections between the apparatuses or units may be implemented in electronic, mechanical, or other forms.\",\n \"In addition, functional units in the devices and systems in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each of the units may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.\",\n \"The units may be implemented in a form of hardware, or may be implemented in a form of hardware in addition to a software functional unit.\",\n \"All or some of the steps of the method embodiments may be implemented by a program instructing relevant hardware.\",\n \"The program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium.\",\n \"When the program runs, the steps of the method embodiments are performed.\",\n \"The foregoing storage medium includes: any medium that can store program code, such as a USB flash drive, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM for short), a random access memory (RAM for short), a magnetic disk, or an optical disc.\",\n \"The foregoing descriptions are merely specific implementations of the present application, but are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present application.\",\n \"Any variation or replacement readily figured out by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.\",\n \"Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876142"}}},{"rowIdx":4495093,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["Collapsible, Folding Mattress Support with a Headboard and a Footboard that Fold Out","A foldable mattress support includes a headboard, a central hinge portion and first and second portions of a bedboard frame.","The first and second portions are pivotally attached to the central hinge.","A longer first strut is pivotally attached at a first location to a side bar of the first portion and at a third location to a post of the headboard.","A shorter second strut is pivotally attached at a second location to the side bar and at a fourth location to the post.","The second location is closer to the head end of the first portion than is the first location, and the fourth location is closer to the top of the post than is the third location.","The struts rotate the headboard from an unfolded state that is perpendicular to the first portion down to being parallel and adjacent to the first portion in a collapsed state."],["1-17.","(canceled) 18.A foldable mattress support comprising: a bedboard frame with a first portion and a second portion; a central hinge portion that is pivotally attached to the first portion and the second portion; a headboard frame; and means for rotating the headboard frame from a collapsed state that is parallel and adjacent to the first portion to an unfolded state that is perpendicular to the first portion without pivoting the headboard frame about any axis whose position is fixed with respect to the first portion.","19.The foldable mattress support of claim 18, wherein the first portion has a head end and a center end, wherein the central hinge portion is pivotally attached to the center end of the first portion, wherein the means comprises a first bracing strut that is pivotally attached at a first location to the first portion and a second bracing strut that is pivotally attached at a second location to the first portion, wherein the second location is closer to the head end than is the first location, and wherein the first bracing strut is longer than the second bracing strut.","20.The foldable mattress support of claim 18, wherein the means is pivotally attached to the first portion both at a first location and at a second location, wherein the means is pivotally attached to the headboard frame both at a third location and at a fourth location, and wherein the first location is closer to the second location than the third location is to the fourth location.","21.The foldable mattress support of claim 18, wherein the headboard frame has a top end and a foot end, wherein the means comprises a first bracing strut that is pivotally attached to the headboard frame at a third location and a second bracing strut that is pivotally attached to the headboard frame at a fourth location, wherein the fourth location is closer to the top end than is the third location, and wherein the first bracing strut is longer than the second bracing strut.","22.The foldable mattress support of claim 18, further comprising: a footboard frame pivotally attached to a longer bracing strut and a shorter bracing strut, wherein the longer bracing strut and the shorter bracing strut are pivotally attached to the second portion of the bedboard frame.","23.The foldable mattress support of claim 18, wherein the first portion has a head end and a center end, wherein the central hinge portion is pivotally attached to the center end of the first portion, wherein the first portion has a length from the head end to the center end, wherein the headboard frame has a post with a top end and a foot end, and wherein the post is more than three quarters as long as the length of the first portion.","24.The foldable mattress support of claim 18, wherein the first portion has a head end and a center end, wherein the central hinge portion is pivotally attached to the center end of the first portion, wherein the headboard frame has a post with a top end and a foot end, and wherein when the foldable mattress support is in the unfolded state the head end of the first portion contacts the post of the headboard frame at a location that is closer to the foot end than the top end of the post.","25.The foldable mattress support of claim 18, wherein in the collapsed state the first portion of the bedboard frame is parallel to the second portion of the bedboard frame, and the headboard frame is parallel to the first portion of the bedboard frame, wherein the foldable mattress support is disposed in a packing box, and wherein the headboard frame is disposed between the first portion of the bedboard frame and the second portion of the bedboard frame.","26.The foldable mattress support of claim 18, further comprising: a footboard frame, wherein in the collapsed state the first portion of the bedboard frame is parallel to the headboard frame, and the headboard frame is parallel to the footboard frame, and wherein in the collapsed state both the headboard frame and the footboard frame are disposed between the first portion of the bedboard frame and the second portion of the bedboard frame.","27.The foldable mattress support of claim 18, further comprising: a footboard frame, wherein in the collapsed state the foldable mattress support is disposed in a packing box, and wherein the packing box has a thickness that is only slightly greater than a sum of widths of the first portion of the bedboard frame, the second portion of the bedboard frame, the headboard frame and the footboard frame.","28.A bed frame comprising: a bedboard frame adapted to support a mattress; a footboard frame; a headboard frame; and means for rotating the headboard frame from a collapsed state that is parallel and adjacent to the bedboard frame to an unfolded state that is perpendicular to the bedboard frame without pivoting the headboard frame about any axis whose position is fixed with respect to the bedboard frame.","29.The bed frame of claim 28, wherein the means includes two metal struts of different lengths.","30.The bed frame of claim 28, wherein the means includes a first bracing strut that is pivotally attached at a first end to the bedboard frame and at a third end to the headboard frame, and wherein the means further includes a second bracing strut that is pivotally attached at a second end to the bedboard frame and at a fourth end to the headboard frame, and wherein the first bracing strut is longer than the second bracing strut.","31.The bed frame of claim 30, wherein the first end of the first bracing strut is attached at a first location to a bar of the bedboard frame, wherein the second end of the second bracing strut is attached at a second location to the bar of the bedboard frame, and wherein the first location and the second location are located on opposite sides of the bar.","32.The bed frame of claim 30, wherein the first end is attached to the bedboard frame at a first location, the second end is attached to the bedboard frame at a second location, the third end is attached to the headboard frame at a third location, and the fourth end is attached to the headboard frame at a fourth location, and wherein the first location is closer to the second location than the third location is to the fourth location.","33.The bed frame of claim 32, wherein the fourth location is closer to a top end of the headboard frame than is the third location.","34.The bed frame of claim 28, wherein the bedboard frame has a head end, wherein the headboard frame has a post with a top end and a foot end, and wherein when the bed frame is in the unfolded state the head end of the bedboard frame contacts the post of the headboard frame at a location that is closer to the foot end than the top end of the post.","35.The bed frame of claim 28, further comprising: a packing box, wherein the bedboard frame has a first portion and a second portion, wherein in the collapsed state the first portion is parallel to the second portion, and the headboard frame is parallel to the first portion, wherein the bed frame is disposed in the packing box, and wherein the headboard frame is disposed between the first portion and the second portion.","36.The bed frame of claim 28, further comprising: a footboard frame, wherein the bedboard frame has a first portion and a second portion, wherein in the collapsed state the first portion is parallel to the headboard frame, and the headboard frame is parallel to the footboard frame, and wherein in the collapsed state both the headboard frame and the footboard frame are disposed between the first portion and the second portion.","37.The bed frame of claim 28, further comprising: a footboard frame, wherein the bedboard frame has a first portion and a second portion, wherein in the collapsed state the bed frame is disposed in a packing box, and wherein the packing box has a thickness that is only slightly greater than a sum of widths of the first portion of the bedboard frame, the second portion of the bedboard frame, the headboard frame and the footboard frame."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND INFORMATION <EOH>Conventional beds generally include a mattress resting on a box springs that is supported by a bed frame.","Box springs are generally designed to have the outward appearance of a mattress, being covered by quilted fabric and cushioning, for example.","Typically, box springs have a wooden rectangular frame supporting an array of springs to provide firm support for the mattress.","A box springs is usually constructed in one piece having the same dimensions as the mattress it supports.","A conventional box springs, due to its stiff wooden frame, is often heavy and awkward to handle.","The dimensions of a conventional box spring make it impractical for a consumer to transport the box springs home from a mass-market retail store.","For example, the typical box springs does not fit in the trunk of a car.","Moving such a box-springs into apartment elevators and around corners into bedrooms is often difficult and exposes the box springs and doorways to potential damage.","In addition, the dimensions of a conventional box springs take up valuable retail floor space which discourages mass-market stores from offering box springs to their retail customers.","Attempts have been made to develop folding mattress supports in the form of collapsible box springs or collapsible bed frames upon which a mattress can be directly placed.","For example, FIG.","1 (prior art) shows a foldable bedding foundation 10 as disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","7,376,988.Bedding foundation 10 has wire struts 11 that pivotally secure an upper wire grid 12 to wooden rails of the base 13 .","Wire braces 14 slide along the wire struts 11 and hold the bedding foundation 10 in an erected position when the foundation is unfolded.","The two portions of the upper wire grid 12 are connected to each other by an upper hinge 15 .","Upper hinge 15 is a small piece of plastic that clips onto the border wires of each of the two portions of the upper wire grid 12 .","The two portions of the base 13 are connected to each other by a lower hinge 16 , which is a piece of wire.","Upper hinge 15 and lower hinge 16 are not attached to each other.","The wire braces that slide along wire struts and the upper wire grids that are clipped together with a plastic hinge render bedding foundation 10 less sturdy than a conventional box springs.","Moreover, bedding foundation 10 lacks a headboard and a footboard, so most consumers would prefer to place foundation 10 on another bed foundation whose aesthetic appearance more resembles a bed.","A support for a mattress is sought that provides all of the support, comfort and aesthetic qualities of a conventional box springs supported by a bed foundation but yet that reduces the transportation and storage space requirements of a conventional bed and box springs combination.","Moreover, the novel mattress support should be less flimsy than a foldable bed foundation that employs wire braces, wire struts, wire hinges and wire grids that are clipped together."],["<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>A foldable mattress support includes a headboard frame, a central hinge portion, first and second portions of a bedboard frame and bracing struts.","The headboard frame is parallel to the first portion when the foldable mattress support is completely collapsed and perpendicular to the first portion when the foldable mattress support is completely unfolded.","The first portion and the second portion are pivotally attached to the central hinge portion.","A first bracing strut is pivotally attached at a first location to a side bar of the first portion, and a second bracing strut is pivotally attached at a second location to the side bar.","The first location and the second location are located on opposite sides of the side bar.","The first bracing strut is longer than the second bracing strut.","The second location is closer to the head end of the first portion than is the first location.","The first bracing strut is pivotally attached at a third location to a post of the headboard frame, and the second bracing strut is pivotally attached at a fourth location to the post.","The fourth location is closer to the top end of the post than is the third location.","The first location is closer to the second location than the third location is to the fourth location.","The bracing struts are used to rotate the headboard frame from a collapsed state that is parallel and adjacent to the first portion to an unfolded state that is perpendicular to the first portion without pivoting the headboard frame about any axis whose position is fixed with respect to the first portion.","A footboard frame that is analogously attached to bracing struts is rotated from a collapsed state that is parallel and adjacent to the second portion to an unfolded state that is perpendicular to the second portion.","When the mattress support is completely collapsed, the first portion is substantially parallel to the second portion with the headboard frame and footboard frame sandwiched between the two portions of bedboard frame.","The posts of the headboard frame and the footboard frame are parallel to the legs of the central hinge portion when the foldable mattress support is completely unfolded.","The bracing struts permit the headboard frame to be completely folded under the first portion of the bedboard frame without extending out beyond the head end despite the fact that the posts of the headboard frame are nearly as long as the side bars of first portion.","For example, the posts of the headboard frame can be more than three quarters as long as the side bars of the first portion.","A method of making and packaging a foldable mattress support includes folding down a headboard and a footboard and then folding a bedboard frame in half.","A headboard frame is folded parallel to a first portion of the bedboard frame.","The headboard is folded from a perpendicular orientation down and around the head end of the bedboard frame to being parallel and adjacent to the first portion.","The folding is performed using bracing struts.","A first bracing strut is pivotally attached at a first location to the first portion and at a third location to the headboard frame.","A second bracing strut is pivotally attached at a second location to the first portion and at a fourth location to the headboard frame.","The first bracing strut is longer than the second bracing strut.","The first location is closer to the second location than the third location is to the fourth location.","The footboard frame is also folded parallel and adjacent to the second portion.","The first portion of the bedboard frame is then folded into the second portion of the bedboard frame.","The first and second portions are pivotally attached to a central hinge portion.","The first portion is pivotally attached at its center end to the central hinge portion.","The second location is closer to the head end of the first portion than is the first location.","The folded bedboard frame with the headboard and footboard sandwiched between the first and second portions is then inserted into a packing box.","Instructions are also inserted into the packing box that instruct the user of the foldable mattress support to unfold the folded bedboard frame such that the headboard frame is perpendicular to the first portion.","Further details and embodiments are described in the detailed description below.","This summary does not purport to define the invention.","The invention is defined by the claims."],["CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation of, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C.","§ 120 from, nonprovisional U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/929,202 entitled “A Collapsible, Folding Mattress Support with a Headboard and a Footboard that Fold Out,” filed on Oct. 30, 2015, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.","TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to bedding products, and in particular to a collapsible, folding mattress support with a headboard and a footboard that fold out from under a bedboard frame.","BACKGROUND INFORMATION Conventional beds generally include a mattress resting on a box springs that is supported by a bed frame.","Box springs are generally designed to have the outward appearance of a mattress, being covered by quilted fabric and cushioning, for example.","Typically, box springs have a wooden rectangular frame supporting an array of springs to provide firm support for the mattress.","A box springs is usually constructed in one piece having the same dimensions as the mattress it supports.","A conventional box springs, due to its stiff wooden frame, is often heavy and awkward to handle.","The dimensions of a conventional box spring make it impractical for a consumer to transport the box springs home from a mass-market retail store.","For example, the typical box springs does not fit in the trunk of a car.","Moving such a box-springs into apartment elevators and around corners into bedrooms is often difficult and exposes the box springs and doorways to potential damage.","In addition, the dimensions of a conventional box springs take up valuable retail floor space which discourages mass-market stores from offering box springs to their retail customers.","Attempts have been made to develop folding mattress supports in the form of collapsible box springs or collapsible bed frames upon which a mattress can be directly placed.","For example, FIG.","1 (prior art) shows a foldable bedding foundation 10 as disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","7,376,988.Bedding foundation 10 has wire struts 11 that pivotally secure an upper wire grid 12 to wooden rails of the base 13.Wire braces 14 slide along the wire struts 11 and hold the bedding foundation 10 in an erected position when the foundation is unfolded.","The two portions of the upper wire grid 12 are connected to each other by an upper hinge 15.Upper hinge 15 is a small piece of plastic that clips onto the border wires of each of the two portions of the upper wire grid 12.The two portions of the base 13 are connected to each other by a lower hinge 16, which is a piece of wire.","Upper hinge 15 and lower hinge 16 are not attached to each other.","The wire braces that slide along wire struts and the upper wire grids that are clipped together with a plastic hinge render bedding foundation 10 less sturdy than a conventional box springs.","Moreover, bedding foundation 10 lacks a headboard and a footboard, so most consumers would prefer to place foundation 10 on another bed foundation whose aesthetic appearance more resembles a bed.","A support for a mattress is sought that provides all of the support, comfort and aesthetic qualities of a conventional box springs supported by a bed foundation but yet that reduces the transportation and storage space requirements of a conventional bed and box springs combination.","Moreover, the novel mattress support should be less flimsy than a foldable bed foundation that employs wire braces, wire struts, wire hinges and wire grids that are clipped together.","SUMMARY A foldable mattress support includes a headboard frame, a central hinge portion, first and second portions of a bedboard frame and bracing struts.","The headboard frame is parallel to the first portion when the foldable mattress support is completely collapsed and perpendicular to the first portion when the foldable mattress support is completely unfolded.","The first portion and the second portion are pivotally attached to the central hinge portion.","A first bracing strut is pivotally attached at a first location to a side bar of the first portion, and a second bracing strut is pivotally attached at a second location to the side bar.","The first location and the second location are located on opposite sides of the side bar.","The first bracing strut is longer than the second bracing strut.","The second location is closer to the head end of the first portion than is the first location.","The first bracing strut is pivotally attached at a third location to a post of the headboard frame, and the second bracing strut is pivotally attached at a fourth location to the post.","The fourth location is closer to the top end of the post than is the third location.","The first location is closer to the second location than the third location is to the fourth location.","The bracing struts are used to rotate the headboard frame from a collapsed state that is parallel and adjacent to the first portion to an unfolded state that is perpendicular to the first portion without pivoting the headboard frame about any axis whose position is fixed with respect to the first portion.","A footboard frame that is analogously attached to bracing struts is rotated from a collapsed state that is parallel and adjacent to the second portion to an unfolded state that is perpendicular to the second portion.","When the mattress support is completely collapsed, the first portion is substantially parallel to the second portion with the headboard frame and footboard frame sandwiched between the two portions of bedboard frame.","The posts of the headboard frame and the footboard frame are parallel to the legs of the central hinge portion when the foldable mattress support is completely unfolded.","The bracing struts permit the headboard frame to be completely folded under the first portion of the bedboard frame without extending out beyond the head end despite the fact that the posts of the headboard frame are nearly as long as the side bars of first portion.","For example, the posts of the headboard frame can be more than three quarters as long as the side bars of the first portion.","A method of making and packaging a foldable mattress support includes folding down a headboard and a footboard and then folding a bedboard frame in half.","A headboard frame is folded parallel to a first portion of the bedboard frame.","The headboard is folded from a perpendicular orientation down and around the head end of the bedboard frame to being parallel and adjacent to the first portion.","The folding is performed using bracing struts.","A first bracing strut is pivotally attached at a first location to the first portion and at a third location to the headboard frame.","A second bracing strut is pivotally attached at a second location to the first portion and at a fourth location to the headboard frame.","The first bracing strut is longer than the second bracing strut.","The first location is closer to the second location than the third location is to the fourth location.","The footboard frame is also folded parallel and adjacent to the second portion.","The first portion of the bedboard frame is then folded into the second portion of the bedboard frame.","The first and second portions are pivotally attached to a central hinge portion.","The first portion is pivotally attached at its center end to the central hinge portion.","The second location is closer to the head end of the first portion than is the first location.","The folded bedboard frame with the headboard and footboard sandwiched between the first and second portions is then inserted into a packing box.","Instructions are also inserted into the packing box that instruct the user of the foldable mattress support to unfold the folded bedboard frame such that the headboard frame is perpendicular to the first portion.","Further details and embodiments are described in the detailed description below.","This summary does not purport to define the invention.","The invention is defined by the claims.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, where like numerals indicate like components, illustrate embodiments of the invention.","FIG.","1 (prior art) is a schematic diagram of a foldable bedding foundation that includes wire braces, wire struts, wire hinges and wire grids.","FIG.","2 is a perspective view of a novel collapsible, foldable mattress support that has the appearance of a conventional bed with a headboard, a footboard and a bedboard frame.","FIG.","3 is a perspective view of the mattress support of FIG.","2 in a completely collapsed state.","FIG.","4 is a perspective view of the mattress support of FIG.","3 in which a first portion of the bedboard is being unfolded from a second portion of the bedboard.","FIGS.","5A-F are schematic diagrams of six side views of the bedboard and the headboard as the mattress support of FIG.","3 is unfolded after being unpacked from a packing box.","FIG.","5A shows the headboard adjacent to the bedboard frame before being unfolded.","FIG.","5B shows the headboard being folded out from under the bedboard frame.","FIG.","5C shows the headboard being folded out farther than in FIG.","5B.","FIG.","5D shows the headboard being rotated towards a more vertical orientation.","FIG.","5E shows the headboard being folded out and rotated into an almost vertical orientation.","FIG.","5F shows the headboard in the completely unfolded state perpendicular to the bedboard frame.","FIG.","6 is a perspective view of the first portion of the bedboard frame as the headboard has just begun to be folded out from under the first portion.","FIG.","7 is a perspective view of the first portion of the bedboard frame as the headboard is folded out farther from under the first portion as illustrated in FIG.","5B.","FIG.","8 is a perspective view of the first portion of the bedboard frame as the headboard has been folded out from under the first portion to the position shown in FIG.","5D.","FIG.","9 is a perspective view of the first portion of the bedboard frame as the headboard has been folded out from under the first portion to the position shown in FIG.","5E.","FIG.","10 is a perspective view of the headboard that has been completely unfolded to a position perpendicular to the first portion as shown in FIG.","5F.","FIG.","11 is a perspective view of the second portion of the bedboard frame as the footboard is folded out from under the second portion.","FIG.","12 is a perspective view of the second portion of the bedboard frame as the footboard has been folded out from under the second portion past the position shown in FIG.","11.FIG.","13 is a flowchart of steps of a method of making and packaging the foldable mattress support of FIG.","3.FIG.","14 is a perspective view of the collapsible, foldable mattress support of FIG.","2 upon which a mattress has been placed.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG.","2 shows a sturdy, collapsible, foldable mattress support 20 that has the appearance of a conventional bed frame with a headboard frame 21 and a footboard frame 22.The headboard frame 21 and the footboard frame 22 fold out from under a bedboard frame 23.Foldable mattress support 20 has a central hinge portion 24 at its middle axis at which a first portion 25 of bedboard frame 23 unfolds from a second portion 26 of the bedboard frame.","First portion 25 has a head end 27 and a center end 28.In a completely unfolded state, the head end 27 of first portion 25 contacts headboard frame 21 when the head end of a side bar 29 of first portion 25 abuts a post 30 of headboard frame 21.In the completely unfolded state as shown in FIG.","2, headboard frame 21 is perpendicular to first portion 25 of bedboard frame 23.Similarly, in the completely unfolded state, footboard frame 22 is perpendicular to second portion 26.As the headboard frame 21 and footboard frame 22 are unfolded from under the bedboard frame 23, they are guided by bracing struts 31 from being parallel to the first and second portions of the bedboard frame to being perpendicular to the first and second portions of the bedboard frame.","Central hinge portion 24 has two legs 32-33 connected by a bar 34.In addition, central hinge portion 24 has plates that form hinges that pivotally attach the side bars of the first and second portions of the bedboard frame 23.Two of the plates are connection by a beam 35 (not visible in FIG.","2).","First portion 25 has side bars 29 and 36, and second portion 26 has side bars 37-38.Headboard frame 21 has posts 30 and 39, and footboard frame 22 has posts 40-41.In the unfolded and assembled state, bar 29 abuts against post 30, bar 36 abuts against post 39, bar 37 abuts against post 40, and bar 38 abuts against post 41.The bars of bedboard frame 23 contact the posts of headboard frame 21 closer to a foot end 42 than to a top end 43 of the headboard frame.","FIG.","2 shows that post 30 of headboard frame 21 is parallel to leg 32 of central hinge portion 24 when foldable mattress support 20 is completely unfolded.","In the description and claims, terms such as “over”, “under”, “top”, “bottom”, “up”, and “down” are used to describe relative directions and orientations between different parts of the mattress support system, and it is to be understood that the overall structure being described can actually be oriented in any way in three-dimensional space.","For example, when the headboard is described as being unfolded out from under the bedboard frame, it is to be understood that the headboard may in fact be folded down and over the end of the bedboard frame or even around the end of the bedboard frame.","When a first object is referred to as being disposed “over” or “on” a second object, it is to be understood that the first object can be directly on the second object, or an intervening object may be present between the first and second objects.","FIG.","3 shows mattress support 20 of FIG.","2 in a completely collapsed or folded state.","In the folded state, mattress support 20 is very compact and occupies less than half the volume of a conventional box springs sized for the same mattress size as mattress support 20.When mattress support 20 is completely collapsed, first portion 25 is substantially parallel to the second portion 26 with the headboard frame and footboard frame sandwiched between the two portions of bedboard frame 23.The novel use of the bracing struts 31 permit headboard frame 21 to be completely folded under first portion 25 of bedboard frame 23 without extending out beyond head end 27, despite the fact that the posts 30 and 39 of headboard frame 21 are nearly as long as the side bars of first portion 25.In the embodiment of FIG.","2, for example, post 30 of headboard frame 21 is more than three quarters as long as side bar 29 of first portion 25.The predetermined lengths and pivoting axes of the bracing struts 31 allow headboard frame 21 to rotate from an unfolded state that is perpendicular to first portion 25 to a collapsed state that is parallel and adjacent to first portion 25 without pivoting headboard frame 21 about any axis whose position is fixed with respect to first portion 25.Because bedboard frame 23 does not meet headboard frame 21 at the foot end 42 or top end 43, it would not be possible to fold headboard frame 21 completely under first portion 25 if headboard frame 21 were to pivot about any axis that is fixed compared to first portion 25, such as if a simple rotating hinge were to connect side bar 29 to post 30.By manufacturing the mattress support 20 so that it can fold flat with headboard frame 21 between the portions of bedboard frame 23, the mattress support can be packaged in a smaller box whose dimensions are more likely to fit in the trunk of a car.","Thus, mattress support 20 is better suited than a conventional box springs for sale in mass-market retail stores.","The smaller packing box containing the collapsed mattress support 20 can more easily be brought from the store shelf to the check-out counter and then to the trunk of the consumer's car.","In addition, it is easier to move collapsed mattress support 20 into an apartment elevator, up a staircase or through bedroom doors.","FIG.","4 illustrates how mattress support 20 is initially unfolded after being removed from a packing box in the completely collapsed state of FIG.","3.The consumer first unfolds second portion 26 from first portion 25.Each of the first and second portions has two side bars that are connected by six tubular bars 44 and two beams 45 at the ends.","First portion 25 and second portion 26 are both pivotally attached to central hinge portion 24.However, the two portions 25-26 of bedboard frame 23 rotate about two separate axes 46-47, respectively, that pass through plates of the central hinge portion 24.First portion 25 is pivotally attached at axis 46 at its center end 28 to central hinge portion 24.FIG.","4 shows beam 35 that connects two of the inner plates of hinge portion 24.FIG.","4 also shows that each of the posts 30 and 39 of headboard frame 21 is more than three quarters as long as each of the side bars 29 and 36 of first portion 25.Headboard frame 21 is thereby sufficiently tall to be distinguishable from footboard 22 and to impart the aesthetic appearance of a traditional bed frame.","FIGS.","5A-F are schematic diagrams of six side views of first portion 25 of foldable mattress support 20 as headboard frame 21 is being folded out from under bedboard frame 23.FIG.","5A shows post 30 of headboard frame 21 adjacent to and parallel to side bar 29 of first portion 25 as shown in FIG.","4 before headboard frame 21 is unfolded.","FIG.","5B shows post 30 of headboard frame 21 being folded out from under bedboard frame 23.The term “under” is used to describe only a relative position.","In use, headboard frame 21 is unfolded by the consumer while mattress support 20 is positioned on its side.","Thus, headboard frame 21 is actually unfolded around head end 27 of first portion 25.FIG.","5B shows a first bracing strut 48 and a second bracing strut 49 that are pivotally attached both to side bar 29 of first portion 25 and to post 30 of headboard frame 21.First bracing strut 48 is longer than second bracing strut 49.First bracing strut 48 is pivotally attached at a first location 50 to side bar 29, and second bracing strut 49 is pivotally attached at a second location 51 to side bar 29.Second location 51 is closer to head end 27 of first portion 25 than is first location 50.First bracing strut 48 is pivotally attached at a third location 52 to post 30 of headboard frame 21, and second bracing strut 49 is pivotally attached at a fourth location 53 to post 30.Fourth location 53 is closer to top end 43 of post 30 than is third location 52.In addition, first location 50 is closer to second location 51 than third location 52 is to fourth location 53.First location 50 and second location 51 are located on opposite sides of side bar 29, and third location 52 and fourth location 53 are located on opposite sides of post 30.In the embodiment of FIG.","2, first bracing strut 48 is pivotally attached to the outside surfaces of bar 29 and post 30, whereas second bracing strut 49 is pivotally attached to surfaces of bar 29 and post 30 that do not face outwards from mattress support 20.In FIG.","5, second bracing strut 49 has a dashed outline to represent that the strut rotates on the other side of side bar 29 from the viewer.","In addition to first bracing strut 48 and second bracing strut 49 that rotatably connect post 30 to side bar 29, two analogous bracing struts connect each of posts 39-41 to the side bars 36-39.The bracing struts are pivotally attached to the bars and posts by bolts, nuts and washers.","The struts are made of flat bars of metal.","FIG.","5C shows post 30 of headboard frame 21 being folded out farther from under side bar 29 than in FIG.","5B.","Because first bracing strut 48 is longer than second bracing strut 49, and pivot axis locations 50-51 are closer together than are pivot axis locations 52-53, foot end 42 of headboard frame 21 is pushed downward relative to top end 43 as the headboard frame is moved towards the head end 27 of bedboard frame 23.When the bracing struts 48-49 are more or less vertical as shown in FIG.","5C, top end 43 of headboard frame 21 is already above head end 27 of bedboard frame 23.FIG.","5D shows headboard frame 21 being rotated towards a more vertical orientation than in FIG.","5C.","A path 54 is illustrated through which first bracing strut 48 causes third location 52 to rotate about first location 50.In addition, FIG.","5D shows a path 55 through which second bracing strut 49 causes fourth location 53 to rotate about second location 51.The paths 54-55 and the fixed distance 56 between locations 52-53 on those paths illustrate how the struts 48-49 rotate the orientation of headboard frame 21 from parallel to bedboard frame 23 to perpendicular to bedboard frame 23 as headboard frame 21 moves down and around top end 43 of bedboard frame 23.FIG.","5E shows post 30 of headboard frame 21 being folded out and rotated into an almost vertical orientation.","And finally FIG.","5F shows headboard frame 21 in the completely unfolded state perpendicular to bedboard frame 21.FIG.","6 is a perspective view of first portion 25 of bedboard frame 23 as headboard frame 21 has just begun to be folded out from under first portion 25.The consumer is instructed to stand mattress support 20 on its side after unfolding first portion 25 from second portion 26.Thus, the unfolding step shown in FIG.","6 would preferably be performed by pulling headboard frame 21 from the side away from first portion 25.FIG.","7 is a perspective view of first portion 25 of bedboard frame 23 as headboard frame 21 is unfolded to a degree analogous to that shown in FIG.","5B.","In FIG.","7, headboard frame 21 is folded out farther from under first portion 25 than as illustrated in FIG.","6.The relative positions of longer first bracing strut 48 and shorter second bracing strut 49 are shown that connect bar 29 and post 30 beneath the bars 44 of first portion 25.FIG.","8 is a perspective view of first portion 25 of bedboard frame 23 as headboard frame 21 has been folded out from under first portion 25 to a position similar to that shown in FIG.","5D.","FIG.","8 shows a longer bracing strut 57 and a shorter bracing strut 58 that connect bar 36 and post 39 on the opposite side of bedboard frame 23 from first bracing strut 48 and second bracing strut 49.Struts 57-58 rotate post 39 in an analogous manner to how struts 48-49 rotate post 30 up and around head end 27 of first portion 25.Bracing struts 48-49 and 57-58 are a means for rotating headboard frame 21 from a collapsed state that is parallel and adjacent to first portion 25 to an unfolded state that is perpendicular to first portion 25 without pivoting headboard frame 21 about any axis whose position is fixed with respect to first portion 25.This allows a taller headboard to be folded completely under first portion 25 so that the collapsed state of foldable mattress support 20 is not wider than the length of the side bars 29 and 36.FIG.","9 is a perspective view of first portion 25 of bedboard frame 23 as headboard frame 21 has been folded out from under first portion 25 to a position similar to that shown in FIG.","5E where headboard frame 21 is approaching a vertical orientation.","FIG.","10 shows foldable mattress support 20 in a completely unfolded state when headboard frame 21 is perpendicular to bedboard frame 23 and the head ends of side bars 29 and 36 of first portion 25 abut the posts 30 and 39 of headboard frame 21.Head end 27 of first portion 25 contacts the posts 30 and 39 of headboard frame 21 at locations that are closer to the foot ends than the top ends of the posts 30 and 39.The consumer is instructed to immovably secure the headboard frame 21 to the bedboard frame 23 in the completely unfolded state by inserting bolts 59-60 through the posts 30 and 39 and screwing them into the ends of the side bars 29 and 36.FIG.","11 is a perspective view of second portion 26 of bedboard frame 23 as footboard 22 is being folded out from under second portion 26.Bracing struts 61-64 are used to rotate footboard 22 from a position parallel and adjacent to second portion 26 to a perpendicular orientation.","Bracing struts 61-64 operate on footboard 22 in a manner analogous to how bracing struts 48-49 and 57-58 rotate headboard frame 21.FIG.","12 shows second portion 26 of bedboard frame 23 as footboard 22 has been folded out from under second portion 26 past the position shown in FIG.","11 to a nearly perpendicular orientation.","FIG.","13 is a flowchart illustrating steps 65-69 of a method of packing foldable mattress support 20 into a packing box that is conveniently sized for transporting.","In a first step 65, headboard frame 21 is folded parallel to first portion 25 of bedboard frame 23.Headboard frame 21 is rotated from a perpendicular orientation to a position parallel and adjacent to the underside of first portion 25 by being folded down and around head end 27 of first portion 25.Headboard frame 21 is folded by means of four bracing struts 48-49 and 57-58.First bracing strut 48 is pivotally attached at first location 50 to first portion 25 and at third location 52 to headboard frame 21.Second bracing 49 strut is pivotally attached at second location 51 to first portion 25 and at fourth location 53 to headboard frame 21.First location 50 is closer to second location 51 than third location 52 is to fourth location 53.In a second step 66, footboard 22 is folded parallel to second portion 26 of bedboard frame 23.Footboard 22 is folded down and around the foot end of second portion 26 by being rotated from a perpendicular orientation to a position parallel and adjacent to the underside of second portion 26.In a step 67, first portion 25 of bedboard frame 23 is folded into second portion 26 of bedboard frame 23.First portion 25 and second portion 26 are pivotally attached to central hinge portion 24.Bedboard frame 23 is folded over at two axes the pass through central hinge portion 24.After first portion 25 is folded into second portion 26, headboard frame 21 and footboard 22 are sandwiched between the two portions 25-26, as shown in FIG.","3.In the completely folded state achieved after step 67, the bars 29 and 36-38 and posts 30 and 39-41 are substantially parallel to one another.","In a step 68, the folded bedboard frame 23 as shown in FIG.","3 is inserted into a packing box.","The packing box has a length that is slightly longer than the bars 44 and beams 45, and a width that is marginally longer than the side bars 29 and 36-38.The packing box has a height that is slightly greater than the sum of the widths of two bars 29 and 36-38 plus two posts 30 and 39-41.In a step 69, instructions are inserted into the packing box instructing the user of foldable mattress support 20 how to unfold the folded mattress support after removing it from the packing box.","The instructions instruct the user to unfold the folded bedboard frame 23 and to place a mattress on top of the unfolded bedboard frame.","FIG.","14 shows collapsible, foldable mattress support 20 of FIG.","2 upon which a mattress 70 has been placed.","By manufacturing the mattress support 20 so that it can fold in half and collapse flat, the mattress support is better suited to sell in mass-market retail stores and can more easily be transported from the store to the location of the mattress to be supported.","The large dimensions of a conventional box springs and bed frame take up valuable floor space in mass-market stores.","Less floor space is needed to display boxes of the foldable mattress support 20 on store shelves.","The large size and unitary construction of a conventional box spring also make it impractical for a consumer to transport the box springs home from a mass-market retail store.","The small packing box capable of containing the collapsed mattress support 20, however, can be brought from the store shelf to the check-out counter and then to the trunk of the consumer's car.","In addition, the damage that occurs when conventional one-piece wooden box springs are moved through doorways can be avoided.","The packing box that contains foldable mattress support 20 can more easily be maneuvered up stairs, into apartment elevators and around corners than would a conventional non-collapsible box springs and a bed frame.","Although certain specific embodiments are described above for instructional purposes, the teachings of this patent document have general applicability and are not limited to the specific embodiments described above.","Accordingly, various modifications, adaptations, and combinations of various features of the described embodiments can be practiced without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"Collapsible, Folding Mattress Support with a Headboard and a Footboard that Fold Out\",\n \"A foldable mattress support includes a headboard, a central hinge portion and first and second portions of a bedboard frame.\",\n \"The first and second portions are pivotally attached to the central hinge.\",\n \"A longer first strut is pivotally attached at a first location to a side bar of the first portion and at a third location to a post of the headboard.\",\n \"A shorter second strut is pivotally attached at a second location to the side bar and at a fourth location to the post.\",\n \"The second location is closer to the head end of the first portion than is the first location, and the fourth location is closer to the top of the post than is the third location.\",\n \"The struts rotate the headboard from an unfolded state that is perpendicular to the first portion down to being parallel and adjacent to the first portion in a collapsed state.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1-17.\",\n \"(canceled) 18.A foldable mattress support comprising: a bedboard frame with a first portion and a second portion; a central hinge portion that is pivotally attached to the first portion and the second portion; a headboard frame; and means for rotating the headboard frame from a collapsed state that is parallel and adjacent to the first portion to an unfolded state that is perpendicular to the first portion without pivoting the headboard frame about any axis whose position is fixed with respect to the first portion.\",\n \"19.The foldable mattress support of claim 18, wherein the first portion has a head end and a center end, wherein the central hinge portion is pivotally attached to the center end of the first portion, wherein the means comprises a first bracing strut that is pivotally attached at a first location to the first portion and a second bracing strut that is pivotally attached at a second location to the first portion, wherein the second location is closer to the head end than is the first location, and wherein the first bracing strut is longer than the second bracing strut.\",\n \"20.The foldable mattress support of claim 18, wherein the means is pivotally attached to the first portion both at a first location and at a second location, wherein the means is pivotally attached to the headboard frame both at a third location and at a fourth location, and wherein the first location is closer to the second location than the third location is to the fourth location.\",\n \"21.The foldable mattress support of claim 18, wherein the headboard frame has a top end and a foot end, wherein the means comprises a first bracing strut that is pivotally attached to the headboard frame at a third location and a second bracing strut that is pivotally attached to the headboard frame at a fourth location, wherein the fourth location is closer to the top end than is the third location, and wherein the first bracing strut is longer than the second bracing strut.\",\n \"22.The foldable mattress support of claim 18, further comprising: a footboard frame pivotally attached to a longer bracing strut and a shorter bracing strut, wherein the longer bracing strut and the shorter bracing strut are pivotally attached to the second portion of the bedboard frame.\",\n \"23.The foldable mattress support of claim 18, wherein the first portion has a head end and a center end, wherein the central hinge portion is pivotally attached to the center end of the first portion, wherein the first portion has a length from the head end to the center end, wherein the headboard frame has a post with a top end and a foot end, and wherein the post is more than three quarters as long as the length of the first portion.\",\n \"24.The foldable mattress support of claim 18, wherein the first portion has a head end and a center end, wherein the central hinge portion is pivotally attached to the center end of the first portion, wherein the headboard frame has a post with a top end and a foot end, and wherein when the foldable mattress support is in the unfolded state the head end of the first portion contacts the post of the headboard frame at a location that is closer to the foot end than the top end of the post.\",\n \"25.The foldable mattress support of claim 18, wherein in the collapsed state the first portion of the bedboard frame is parallel to the second portion of the bedboard frame, and the headboard frame is parallel to the first portion of the bedboard frame, wherein the foldable mattress support is disposed in a packing box, and wherein the headboard frame is disposed between the first portion of the bedboard frame and the second portion of the bedboard frame.\",\n \"26.The foldable mattress support of claim 18, further comprising: a footboard frame, wherein in the collapsed state the first portion of the bedboard frame is parallel to the headboard frame, and the headboard frame is parallel to the footboard frame, and wherein in the collapsed state both the headboard frame and the footboard frame are disposed between the first portion of the bedboard frame and the second portion of the bedboard frame.\",\n \"27.The foldable mattress support of claim 18, further comprising: a footboard frame, wherein in the collapsed state the foldable mattress support is disposed in a packing box, and wherein the packing box has a thickness that is only slightly greater than a sum of widths of the first portion of the bedboard frame, the second portion of the bedboard frame, the headboard frame and the footboard frame.\",\n \"28.A bed frame comprising: a bedboard frame adapted to support a mattress; a footboard frame; a headboard frame; and means for rotating the headboard frame from a collapsed state that is parallel and adjacent to the bedboard frame to an unfolded state that is perpendicular to the bedboard frame without pivoting the headboard frame about any axis whose position is fixed with respect to the bedboard frame.\",\n \"29.The bed frame of claim 28, wherein the means includes two metal struts of different lengths.\",\n \"30.The bed frame of claim 28, wherein the means includes a first bracing strut that is pivotally attached at a first end to the bedboard frame and at a third end to the headboard frame, and wherein the means further includes a second bracing strut that is pivotally attached at a second end to the bedboard frame and at a fourth end to the headboard frame, and wherein the first bracing strut is longer than the second bracing strut.\",\n \"31.The bed frame of claim 30, wherein the first end of the first bracing strut is attached at a first location to a bar of the bedboard frame, wherein the second end of the second bracing strut is attached at a second location to the bar of the bedboard frame, and wherein the first location and the second location are located on opposite sides of the bar.\",\n \"32.The bed frame of claim 30, wherein the first end is attached to the bedboard frame at a first location, the second end is attached to the bedboard frame at a second location, the third end is attached to the headboard frame at a third location, and the fourth end is attached to the headboard frame at a fourth location, and wherein the first location is closer to the second location than the third location is to the fourth location.\",\n \"33.The bed frame of claim 32, wherein the fourth location is closer to a top end of the headboard frame than is the third location.\",\n \"34.The bed frame of claim 28, wherein the bedboard frame has a head end, wherein the headboard frame has a post with a top end and a foot end, and wherein when the bed frame is in the unfolded state the head end of the bedboard frame contacts the post of the headboard frame at a location that is closer to the foot end than the top end of the post.\",\n \"35.The bed frame of claim 28, further comprising: a packing box, wherein the bedboard frame has a first portion and a second portion, wherein in the collapsed state the first portion is parallel to the second portion, and the headboard frame is parallel to the first portion, wherein the bed frame is disposed in the packing box, and wherein the headboard frame is disposed between the first portion and the second portion.\",\n \"36.The bed frame of claim 28, further comprising: a footboard frame, wherein the bedboard frame has a first portion and a second portion, wherein in the collapsed state the first portion is parallel to the headboard frame, and the headboard frame is parallel to the footboard frame, and wherein in the collapsed state both the headboard frame and the footboard frame are disposed between the first portion and the second portion.\",\n \"37.The bed frame of claim 28, further comprising: a footboard frame, wherein the bedboard frame has a first portion and a second portion, wherein in the collapsed state the bed frame is disposed in a packing box, and wherein the packing box has a thickness that is only slightly greater than a sum of widths of the first portion of the bedboard frame, the second portion of the bedboard frame, the headboard frame and the footboard frame.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND INFORMATION <EOH>Conventional beds generally include a mattress resting on a box springs that is supported by a bed frame.\",\n \"Box springs are generally designed to have the outward appearance of a mattress, being covered by quilted fabric and cushioning, for example.\",\n \"Typically, box springs have a wooden rectangular frame supporting an array of springs to provide firm support for the mattress.\",\n \"A box springs is usually constructed in one piece having the same dimensions as the mattress it supports.\",\n \"A conventional box springs, due to its stiff wooden frame, is often heavy and awkward to handle.\",\n \"The dimensions of a conventional box spring make it impractical for a consumer to transport the box springs home from a mass-market retail store.\",\n \"For example, the typical box springs does not fit in the trunk of a car.\",\n \"Moving such a box-springs into apartment elevators and around corners into bedrooms is often difficult and exposes the box springs and doorways to potential damage.\",\n \"In addition, the dimensions of a conventional box springs take up valuable retail floor space which discourages mass-market stores from offering box springs to their retail customers.\",\n \"Attempts have been made to develop folding mattress supports in the form of collapsible box springs or collapsible bed frames upon which a mattress can be directly placed.\",\n \"For example, FIG.\",\n \"1 (prior art) shows a foldable bedding foundation 10 as disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"7,376,988.Bedding foundation 10 has wire struts 11 that pivotally secure an upper wire grid 12 to wooden rails of the base 13 .\",\n \"Wire braces 14 slide along the wire struts 11 and hold the bedding foundation 10 in an erected position when the foundation is unfolded.\",\n \"The two portions of the upper wire grid 12 are connected to each other by an upper hinge 15 .\",\n \"Upper hinge 15 is a small piece of plastic that clips onto the border wires of each of the two portions of the upper wire grid 12 .\",\n \"The two portions of the base 13 are connected to each other by a lower hinge 16 , which is a piece of wire.\",\n \"Upper hinge 15 and lower hinge 16 are not attached to each other.\",\n \"The wire braces that slide along wire struts and the upper wire grids that are clipped together with a plastic hinge render bedding foundation 10 less sturdy than a conventional box springs.\",\n \"Moreover, bedding foundation 10 lacks a headboard and a footboard, so most consumers would prefer to place foundation 10 on another bed foundation whose aesthetic appearance more resembles a bed.\",\n \"A support for a mattress is sought that provides all of the support, comfort and aesthetic qualities of a conventional box springs supported by a bed foundation but yet that reduces the transportation and storage space requirements of a conventional bed and box springs combination.\",\n \"Moreover, the novel mattress support should be less flimsy than a foldable bed foundation that employs wire braces, wire struts, wire hinges and wire grids that are clipped together.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>A foldable mattress support includes a headboard frame, a central hinge portion, first and second portions of a bedboard frame and bracing struts.\",\n \"The headboard frame is parallel to the first portion when the foldable mattress support is completely collapsed and perpendicular to the first portion when the foldable mattress support is completely unfolded.\",\n \"The first portion and the second portion are pivotally attached to the central hinge portion.\",\n \"A first bracing strut is pivotally attached at a first location to a side bar of the first portion, and a second bracing strut is pivotally attached at a second location to the side bar.\",\n \"The first location and the second location are located on opposite sides of the side bar.\",\n \"The first bracing strut is longer than the second bracing strut.\",\n \"The second location is closer to the head end of the first portion than is the first location.\",\n \"The first bracing strut is pivotally attached at a third location to a post of the headboard frame, and the second bracing strut is pivotally attached at a fourth location to the post.\",\n \"The fourth location is closer to the top end of the post than is the third location.\",\n \"The first location is closer to the second location than the third location is to the fourth location.\",\n \"The bracing struts are used to rotate the headboard frame from a collapsed state that is parallel and adjacent to the first portion to an unfolded state that is perpendicular to the first portion without pivoting the headboard frame about any axis whose position is fixed with respect to the first portion.\",\n \"A footboard frame that is analogously attached to bracing struts is rotated from a collapsed state that is parallel and adjacent to the second portion to an unfolded state that is perpendicular to the second portion.\",\n \"When the mattress support is completely collapsed, the first portion is substantially parallel to the second portion with the headboard frame and footboard frame sandwiched between the two portions of bedboard frame.\",\n \"The posts of the headboard frame and the footboard frame are parallel to the legs of the central hinge portion when the foldable mattress support is completely unfolded.\",\n \"The bracing struts permit the headboard frame to be completely folded under the first portion of the bedboard frame without extending out beyond the head end despite the fact that the posts of the headboard frame are nearly as long as the side bars of first portion.\",\n \"For example, the posts of the headboard frame can be more than three quarters as long as the side bars of the first portion.\",\n \"A method of making and packaging a foldable mattress support includes folding down a headboard and a footboard and then folding a bedboard frame in half.\",\n \"A headboard frame is folded parallel to a first portion of the bedboard frame.\",\n \"The headboard is folded from a perpendicular orientation down and around the head end of the bedboard frame to being parallel and adjacent to the first portion.\",\n \"The folding is performed using bracing struts.\",\n \"A first bracing strut is pivotally attached at a first location to the first portion and at a third location to the headboard frame.\",\n \"A second bracing strut is pivotally attached at a second location to the first portion and at a fourth location to the headboard frame.\",\n \"The first bracing strut is longer than the second bracing strut.\",\n \"The first location is closer to the second location than the third location is to the fourth location.\",\n \"The footboard frame is also folded parallel and adjacent to the second portion.\",\n \"The first portion of the bedboard frame is then folded into the second portion of the bedboard frame.\",\n \"The first and second portions are pivotally attached to a central hinge portion.\",\n \"The first portion is pivotally attached at its center end to the central hinge portion.\",\n \"The second location is closer to the head end of the first portion than is the first location.\",\n \"The folded bedboard frame with the headboard and footboard sandwiched between the first and second portions is then inserted into a packing box.\",\n \"Instructions are also inserted into the packing box that instruct the user of the foldable mattress support to unfold the folded bedboard frame such that the headboard frame is perpendicular to the first portion.\",\n \"Further details and embodiments are described in the detailed description below.\",\n \"This summary does not purport to define the invention.\",\n \"The invention is defined by the claims.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation of, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"§ 120 from, nonprovisional U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/929,202 entitled “A Collapsible, Folding Mattress Support with a Headboard and a Footboard that Fold Out,” filed on Oct. 30, 2015, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to bedding products, and in particular to a collapsible, folding mattress support with a headboard and a footboard that fold out from under a bedboard frame.\",\n \"BACKGROUND INFORMATION Conventional beds generally include a mattress resting on a box springs that is supported by a bed frame.\",\n \"Box springs are generally designed to have the outward appearance of a mattress, being covered by quilted fabric and cushioning, for example.\",\n \"Typically, box springs have a wooden rectangular frame supporting an array of springs to provide firm support for the mattress.\",\n \"A box springs is usually constructed in one piece having the same dimensions as the mattress it supports.\",\n \"A conventional box springs, due to its stiff wooden frame, is often heavy and awkward to handle.\",\n \"The dimensions of a conventional box spring make it impractical for a consumer to transport the box springs home from a mass-market retail store.\",\n \"For example, the typical box springs does not fit in the trunk of a car.\",\n \"Moving such a box-springs into apartment elevators and around corners into bedrooms is often difficult and exposes the box springs and doorways to potential damage.\",\n \"In addition, the dimensions of a conventional box springs take up valuable retail floor space which discourages mass-market stores from offering box springs to their retail customers.\",\n \"Attempts have been made to develop folding mattress supports in the form of collapsible box springs or collapsible bed frames upon which a mattress can be directly placed.\",\n \"For example, FIG.\",\n \"1 (prior art) shows a foldable bedding foundation 10 as disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"7,376,988.Bedding foundation 10 has wire struts 11 that pivotally secure an upper wire grid 12 to wooden rails of the base 13.Wire braces 14 slide along the wire struts 11 and hold the bedding foundation 10 in an erected position when the foundation is unfolded.\",\n \"The two portions of the upper wire grid 12 are connected to each other by an upper hinge 15.Upper hinge 15 is a small piece of plastic that clips onto the border wires of each of the two portions of the upper wire grid 12.The two portions of the base 13 are connected to each other by a lower hinge 16, which is a piece of wire.\",\n \"Upper hinge 15 and lower hinge 16 are not attached to each other.\",\n \"The wire braces that slide along wire struts and the upper wire grids that are clipped together with a plastic hinge render bedding foundation 10 less sturdy than a conventional box springs.\",\n \"Moreover, bedding foundation 10 lacks a headboard and a footboard, so most consumers would prefer to place foundation 10 on another bed foundation whose aesthetic appearance more resembles a bed.\",\n \"A support for a mattress is sought that provides all of the support, comfort and aesthetic qualities of a conventional box springs supported by a bed foundation but yet that reduces the transportation and storage space requirements of a conventional bed and box springs combination.\",\n \"Moreover, the novel mattress support should be less flimsy than a foldable bed foundation that employs wire braces, wire struts, wire hinges and wire grids that are clipped together.\",\n \"SUMMARY A foldable mattress support includes a headboard frame, a central hinge portion, first and second portions of a bedboard frame and bracing struts.\",\n \"The headboard frame is parallel to the first portion when the foldable mattress support is completely collapsed and perpendicular to the first portion when the foldable mattress support is completely unfolded.\",\n \"The first portion and the second portion are pivotally attached to the central hinge portion.\",\n \"A first bracing strut is pivotally attached at a first location to a side bar of the first portion, and a second bracing strut is pivotally attached at a second location to the side bar.\",\n \"The first location and the second location are located on opposite sides of the side bar.\",\n \"The first bracing strut is longer than the second bracing strut.\",\n \"The second location is closer to the head end of the first portion than is the first location.\",\n \"The first bracing strut is pivotally attached at a third location to a post of the headboard frame, and the second bracing strut is pivotally attached at a fourth location to the post.\",\n \"The fourth location is closer to the top end of the post than is the third location.\",\n \"The first location is closer to the second location than the third location is to the fourth location.\",\n \"The bracing struts are used to rotate the headboard frame from a collapsed state that is parallel and adjacent to the first portion to an unfolded state that is perpendicular to the first portion without pivoting the headboard frame about any axis whose position is fixed with respect to the first portion.\",\n \"A footboard frame that is analogously attached to bracing struts is rotated from a collapsed state that is parallel and adjacent to the second portion to an unfolded state that is perpendicular to the second portion.\",\n \"When the mattress support is completely collapsed, the first portion is substantially parallel to the second portion with the headboard frame and footboard frame sandwiched between the two portions of bedboard frame.\",\n \"The posts of the headboard frame and the footboard frame are parallel to the legs of the central hinge portion when the foldable mattress support is completely unfolded.\",\n \"The bracing struts permit the headboard frame to be completely folded under the first portion of the bedboard frame without extending out beyond the head end despite the fact that the posts of the headboard frame are nearly as long as the side bars of first portion.\",\n \"For example, the posts of the headboard frame can be more than three quarters as long as the side bars of the first portion.\",\n \"A method of making and packaging a foldable mattress support includes folding down a headboard and a footboard and then folding a bedboard frame in half.\",\n \"A headboard frame is folded parallel to a first portion of the bedboard frame.\",\n \"The headboard is folded from a perpendicular orientation down and around the head end of the bedboard frame to being parallel and adjacent to the first portion.\",\n \"The folding is performed using bracing struts.\",\n \"A first bracing strut is pivotally attached at a first location to the first portion and at a third location to the headboard frame.\",\n \"A second bracing strut is pivotally attached at a second location to the first portion and at a fourth location to the headboard frame.\",\n \"The first bracing strut is longer than the second bracing strut.\",\n \"The first location is closer to the second location than the third location is to the fourth location.\",\n \"The footboard frame is also folded parallel and adjacent to the second portion.\",\n \"The first portion of the bedboard frame is then folded into the second portion of the bedboard frame.\",\n \"The first and second portions are pivotally attached to a central hinge portion.\",\n \"The first portion is pivotally attached at its center end to the central hinge portion.\",\n \"The second location is closer to the head end of the first portion than is the first location.\",\n \"The folded bedboard frame with the headboard and footboard sandwiched between the first and second portions is then inserted into a packing box.\",\n \"Instructions are also inserted into the packing box that instruct the user of the foldable mattress support to unfold the folded bedboard frame such that the headboard frame is perpendicular to the first portion.\",\n \"Further details and embodiments are described in the detailed description below.\",\n \"This summary does not purport to define the invention.\",\n \"The invention is defined by the claims.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, where like numerals indicate like components, illustrate embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 (prior art) is a schematic diagram of a foldable bedding foundation that includes wire braces, wire struts, wire hinges and wire grids.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 is a perspective view of a novel collapsible, foldable mattress support that has the appearance of a conventional bed with a headboard, a footboard and a bedboard frame.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 is a perspective view of the mattress support of FIG.\",\n \"2 in a completely collapsed state.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 is a perspective view of the mattress support of FIG.\",\n \"3 in which a first portion of the bedboard is being unfolded from a second portion of the bedboard.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"5A-F are schematic diagrams of six side views of the bedboard and the headboard as the mattress support of FIG.\",\n \"3 is unfolded after being unpacked from a packing box.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5A shows the headboard adjacent to the bedboard frame before being unfolded.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5B shows the headboard being folded out from under the bedboard frame.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5C shows the headboard being folded out farther than in FIG.\",\n \"5B.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5D shows the headboard being rotated towards a more vertical orientation.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5E shows the headboard being folded out and rotated into an almost vertical orientation.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5F shows the headboard in the completely unfolded state perpendicular to the bedboard frame.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 is a perspective view of the first portion of the bedboard frame as the headboard has just begun to be folded out from under the first portion.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 is a perspective view of the first portion of the bedboard frame as the headboard is folded out farther from under the first portion as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5B.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is a perspective view of the first portion of the bedboard frame as the headboard has been folded out from under the first portion to the position shown in FIG.\",\n \"5D.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 is a perspective view of the first portion of the bedboard frame as the headboard has been folded out from under the first portion to the position shown in FIG.\",\n \"5E.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 is a perspective view of the headboard that has been completely unfolded to a position perpendicular to the first portion as shown in FIG.\",\n \"5F.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11 is a perspective view of the second portion of the bedboard frame as the footboard is folded out from under the second portion.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 is a perspective view of the second portion of the bedboard frame as the footboard has been folded out from under the second portion past the position shown in FIG.\",\n \"11.FIG.\",\n \"13 is a flowchart of steps of a method of making and packaging the foldable mattress support of FIG.\",\n \"3.FIG.\",\n \"14 is a perspective view of the collapsible, foldable mattress support of FIG.\",\n \"2 upon which a mattress has been placed.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG.\",\n \"2 shows a sturdy, collapsible, foldable mattress support 20 that has the appearance of a conventional bed frame with a headboard frame 21 and a footboard frame 22.The headboard frame 21 and the footboard frame 22 fold out from under a bedboard frame 23.Foldable mattress support 20 has a central hinge portion 24 at its middle axis at which a first portion 25 of bedboard frame 23 unfolds from a second portion 26 of the bedboard frame.\",\n \"First portion 25 has a head end 27 and a center end 28.In a completely unfolded state, the head end 27 of first portion 25 contacts headboard frame 21 when the head end of a side bar 29 of first portion 25 abuts a post 30 of headboard frame 21.In the completely unfolded state as shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, headboard frame 21 is perpendicular to first portion 25 of bedboard frame 23.Similarly, in the completely unfolded state, footboard frame 22 is perpendicular to second portion 26.As the headboard frame 21 and footboard frame 22 are unfolded from under the bedboard frame 23, they are guided by bracing struts 31 from being parallel to the first and second portions of the bedboard frame to being perpendicular to the first and second portions of the bedboard frame.\",\n \"Central hinge portion 24 has two legs 32-33 connected by a bar 34.In addition, central hinge portion 24 has plates that form hinges that pivotally attach the side bars of the first and second portions of the bedboard frame 23.Two of the plates are connection by a beam 35 (not visible in FIG.\",\n \"2).\",\n \"First portion 25 has side bars 29 and 36, and second portion 26 has side bars 37-38.Headboard frame 21 has posts 30 and 39, and footboard frame 22 has posts 40-41.In the unfolded and assembled state, bar 29 abuts against post 30, bar 36 abuts against post 39, bar 37 abuts against post 40, and bar 38 abuts against post 41.The bars of bedboard frame 23 contact the posts of headboard frame 21 closer to a foot end 42 than to a top end 43 of the headboard frame.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 shows that post 30 of headboard frame 21 is parallel to leg 32 of central hinge portion 24 when foldable mattress support 20 is completely unfolded.\",\n \"In the description and claims, terms such as “over”, “under”, “top”, “bottom”, “up”, and “down” are used to describe relative directions and orientations between different parts of the mattress support system, and it is to be understood that the overall structure being described can actually be oriented in any way in three-dimensional space.\",\n \"For example, when the headboard is described as being unfolded out from under the bedboard frame, it is to be understood that the headboard may in fact be folded down and over the end of the bedboard frame or even around the end of the bedboard frame.\",\n \"When a first object is referred to as being disposed “over” or “on” a second object, it is to be understood that the first object can be directly on the second object, or an intervening object may be present between the first and second objects.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 shows mattress support 20 of FIG.\",\n \"2 in a completely collapsed or folded state.\",\n \"In the folded state, mattress support 20 is very compact and occupies less than half the volume of a conventional box springs sized for the same mattress size as mattress support 20.When mattress support 20 is completely collapsed, first portion 25 is substantially parallel to the second portion 26 with the headboard frame and footboard frame sandwiched between the two portions of bedboard frame 23.The novel use of the bracing struts 31 permit headboard frame 21 to be completely folded under first portion 25 of bedboard frame 23 without extending out beyond head end 27, despite the fact that the posts 30 and 39 of headboard frame 21 are nearly as long as the side bars of first portion 25.In the embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"2, for example, post 30 of headboard frame 21 is more than three quarters as long as side bar 29 of first portion 25.The predetermined lengths and pivoting axes of the bracing struts 31 allow headboard frame 21 to rotate from an unfolded state that is perpendicular to first portion 25 to a collapsed state that is parallel and adjacent to first portion 25 without pivoting headboard frame 21 about any axis whose position is fixed with respect to first portion 25.Because bedboard frame 23 does not meet headboard frame 21 at the foot end 42 or top end 43, it would not be possible to fold headboard frame 21 completely under first portion 25 if headboard frame 21 were to pivot about any axis that is fixed compared to first portion 25, such as if a simple rotating hinge were to connect side bar 29 to post 30.By manufacturing the mattress support 20 so that it can fold flat with headboard frame 21 between the portions of bedboard frame 23, the mattress support can be packaged in a smaller box whose dimensions are more likely to fit in the trunk of a car.\",\n \"Thus, mattress support 20 is better suited than a conventional box springs for sale in mass-market retail stores.\",\n \"The smaller packing box containing the collapsed mattress support 20 can more easily be brought from the store shelf to the check-out counter and then to the trunk of the consumer's car.\",\n \"In addition, it is easier to move collapsed mattress support 20 into an apartment elevator, up a staircase or through bedroom doors.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates how mattress support 20 is initially unfolded after being removed from a packing box in the completely collapsed state of FIG.\",\n \"3.The consumer first unfolds second portion 26 from first portion 25.Each of the first and second portions has two side bars that are connected by six tubular bars 44 and two beams 45 at the ends.\",\n \"First portion 25 and second portion 26 are both pivotally attached to central hinge portion 24.However, the two portions 25-26 of bedboard frame 23 rotate about two separate axes 46-47, respectively, that pass through plates of the central hinge portion 24.First portion 25 is pivotally attached at axis 46 at its center end 28 to central hinge portion 24.FIG.\",\n \"4 shows beam 35 that connects two of the inner plates of hinge portion 24.FIG.\",\n \"4 also shows that each of the posts 30 and 39 of headboard frame 21 is more than three quarters as long as each of the side bars 29 and 36 of first portion 25.Headboard frame 21 is thereby sufficiently tall to be distinguishable from footboard 22 and to impart the aesthetic appearance of a traditional bed frame.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"5A-F are schematic diagrams of six side views of first portion 25 of foldable mattress support 20 as headboard frame 21 is being folded out from under bedboard frame 23.FIG.\",\n \"5A shows post 30 of headboard frame 21 adjacent to and parallel to side bar 29 of first portion 25 as shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 before headboard frame 21 is unfolded.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5B shows post 30 of headboard frame 21 being folded out from under bedboard frame 23.The term “under” is used to describe only a relative position.\",\n \"In use, headboard frame 21 is unfolded by the consumer while mattress support 20 is positioned on its side.\",\n \"Thus, headboard frame 21 is actually unfolded around head end 27 of first portion 25.FIG.\",\n \"5B shows a first bracing strut 48 and a second bracing strut 49 that are pivotally attached both to side bar 29 of first portion 25 and to post 30 of headboard frame 21.First bracing strut 48 is longer than second bracing strut 49.First bracing strut 48 is pivotally attached at a first location 50 to side bar 29, and second bracing strut 49 is pivotally attached at a second location 51 to side bar 29.Second location 51 is closer to head end 27 of first portion 25 than is first location 50.First bracing strut 48 is pivotally attached at a third location 52 to post 30 of headboard frame 21, and second bracing strut 49 is pivotally attached at a fourth location 53 to post 30.Fourth location 53 is closer to top end 43 of post 30 than is third location 52.In addition, first location 50 is closer to second location 51 than third location 52 is to fourth location 53.First location 50 and second location 51 are located on opposite sides of side bar 29, and third location 52 and fourth location 53 are located on opposite sides of post 30.In the embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"2, first bracing strut 48 is pivotally attached to the outside surfaces of bar 29 and post 30, whereas second bracing strut 49 is pivotally attached to surfaces of bar 29 and post 30 that do not face outwards from mattress support 20.In FIG.\",\n \"5, second bracing strut 49 has a dashed outline to represent that the strut rotates on the other side of side bar 29 from the viewer.\",\n \"In addition to first bracing strut 48 and second bracing strut 49 that rotatably connect post 30 to side bar 29, two analogous bracing struts connect each of posts 39-41 to the side bars 36-39.The bracing struts are pivotally attached to the bars and posts by bolts, nuts and washers.\",\n \"The struts are made of flat bars of metal.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5C shows post 30 of headboard frame 21 being folded out farther from under side bar 29 than in FIG.\",\n \"5B.\",\n \"Because first bracing strut 48 is longer than second bracing strut 49, and pivot axis locations 50-51 are closer together than are pivot axis locations 52-53, foot end 42 of headboard frame 21 is pushed downward relative to top end 43 as the headboard frame is moved towards the head end 27 of bedboard frame 23.When the bracing struts 48-49 are more or less vertical as shown in FIG.\",\n \"5C, top end 43 of headboard frame 21 is already above head end 27 of bedboard frame 23.FIG.\",\n \"5D shows headboard frame 21 being rotated towards a more vertical orientation than in FIG.\",\n \"5C.\",\n \"A path 54 is illustrated through which first bracing strut 48 causes third location 52 to rotate about first location 50.In addition, FIG.\",\n \"5D shows a path 55 through which second bracing strut 49 causes fourth location 53 to rotate about second location 51.The paths 54-55 and the fixed distance 56 between locations 52-53 on those paths illustrate how the struts 48-49 rotate the orientation of headboard frame 21 from parallel to bedboard frame 23 to perpendicular to bedboard frame 23 as headboard frame 21 moves down and around top end 43 of bedboard frame 23.FIG.\",\n \"5E shows post 30 of headboard frame 21 being folded out and rotated into an almost vertical orientation.\",\n \"And finally FIG.\",\n \"5F shows headboard frame 21 in the completely unfolded state perpendicular to bedboard frame 21.FIG.\",\n \"6 is a perspective view of first portion 25 of bedboard frame 23 as headboard frame 21 has just begun to be folded out from under first portion 25.The consumer is instructed to stand mattress support 20 on its side after unfolding first portion 25 from second portion 26.Thus, the unfolding step shown in FIG.\",\n \"6 would preferably be performed by pulling headboard frame 21 from the side away from first portion 25.FIG.\",\n \"7 is a perspective view of first portion 25 of bedboard frame 23 as headboard frame 21 is unfolded to a degree analogous to that shown in FIG.\",\n \"5B.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"7, headboard frame 21 is folded out farther from under first portion 25 than as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6.The relative positions of longer first bracing strut 48 and shorter second bracing strut 49 are shown that connect bar 29 and post 30 beneath the bars 44 of first portion 25.FIG.\",\n \"8 is a perspective view of first portion 25 of bedboard frame 23 as headboard frame 21 has been folded out from under first portion 25 to a position similar to that shown in FIG.\",\n \"5D.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 shows a longer bracing strut 57 and a shorter bracing strut 58 that connect bar 36 and post 39 on the opposite side of bedboard frame 23 from first bracing strut 48 and second bracing strut 49.Struts 57-58 rotate post 39 in an analogous manner to how struts 48-49 rotate post 30 up and around head end 27 of first portion 25.Bracing struts 48-49 and 57-58 are a means for rotating headboard frame 21 from a collapsed state that is parallel and adjacent to first portion 25 to an unfolded state that is perpendicular to first portion 25 without pivoting headboard frame 21 about any axis whose position is fixed with respect to first portion 25.This allows a taller headboard to be folded completely under first portion 25 so that the collapsed state of foldable mattress support 20 is not wider than the length of the side bars 29 and 36.FIG.\",\n \"9 is a perspective view of first portion 25 of bedboard frame 23 as headboard frame 21 has been folded out from under first portion 25 to a position similar to that shown in FIG.\",\n \"5E where headboard frame 21 is approaching a vertical orientation.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 shows foldable mattress support 20 in a completely unfolded state when headboard frame 21 is perpendicular to bedboard frame 23 and the head ends of side bars 29 and 36 of first portion 25 abut the posts 30 and 39 of headboard frame 21.Head end 27 of first portion 25 contacts the posts 30 and 39 of headboard frame 21 at locations that are closer to the foot ends than the top ends of the posts 30 and 39.The consumer is instructed to immovably secure the headboard frame 21 to the bedboard frame 23 in the completely unfolded state by inserting bolts 59-60 through the posts 30 and 39 and screwing them into the ends of the side bars 29 and 36.FIG.\",\n \"11 is a perspective view of second portion 26 of bedboard frame 23 as footboard 22 is being folded out from under second portion 26.Bracing struts 61-64 are used to rotate footboard 22 from a position parallel and adjacent to second portion 26 to a perpendicular orientation.\",\n \"Bracing struts 61-64 operate on footboard 22 in a manner analogous to how bracing struts 48-49 and 57-58 rotate headboard frame 21.FIG.\",\n \"12 shows second portion 26 of bedboard frame 23 as footboard 22 has been folded out from under second portion 26 past the position shown in FIG.\",\n \"11 to a nearly perpendicular orientation.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 is a flowchart illustrating steps 65-69 of a method of packing foldable mattress support 20 into a packing box that is conveniently sized for transporting.\",\n \"In a first step 65, headboard frame 21 is folded parallel to first portion 25 of bedboard frame 23.Headboard frame 21 is rotated from a perpendicular orientation to a position parallel and adjacent to the underside of first portion 25 by being folded down and around head end 27 of first portion 25.Headboard frame 21 is folded by means of four bracing struts 48-49 and 57-58.First bracing strut 48 is pivotally attached at first location 50 to first portion 25 and at third location 52 to headboard frame 21.Second bracing 49 strut is pivotally attached at second location 51 to first portion 25 and at fourth location 53 to headboard frame 21.First location 50 is closer to second location 51 than third location 52 is to fourth location 53.In a second step 66, footboard 22 is folded parallel to second portion 26 of bedboard frame 23.Footboard 22 is folded down and around the foot end of second portion 26 by being rotated from a perpendicular orientation to a position parallel and adjacent to the underside of second portion 26.In a step 67, first portion 25 of bedboard frame 23 is folded into second portion 26 of bedboard frame 23.First portion 25 and second portion 26 are pivotally attached to central hinge portion 24.Bedboard frame 23 is folded over at two axes the pass through central hinge portion 24.After first portion 25 is folded into second portion 26, headboard frame 21 and footboard 22 are sandwiched between the two portions 25-26, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"3.In the completely folded state achieved after step 67, the bars 29 and 36-38 and posts 30 and 39-41 are substantially parallel to one another.\",\n \"In a step 68, the folded bedboard frame 23 as shown in FIG.\",\n \"3 is inserted into a packing box.\",\n \"The packing box has a length that is slightly longer than the bars 44 and beams 45, and a width that is marginally longer than the side bars 29 and 36-38.The packing box has a height that is slightly greater than the sum of the widths of two bars 29 and 36-38 plus two posts 30 and 39-41.In a step 69, instructions are inserted into the packing box instructing the user of foldable mattress support 20 how to unfold the folded mattress support after removing it from the packing box.\",\n \"The instructions instruct the user to unfold the folded bedboard frame 23 and to place a mattress on top of the unfolded bedboard frame.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14 shows collapsible, foldable mattress support 20 of FIG.\",\n \"2 upon which a mattress 70 has been placed.\",\n \"By manufacturing the mattress support 20 so that it can fold in half and collapse flat, the mattress support is better suited to sell in mass-market retail stores and can more easily be transported from the store to the location of the mattress to be supported.\",\n \"The large dimensions of a conventional box springs and bed frame take up valuable floor space in mass-market stores.\",\n \"Less floor space is needed to display boxes of the foldable mattress support 20 on store shelves.\",\n \"The large size and unitary construction of a conventional box spring also make it impractical for a consumer to transport the box springs home from a mass-market retail store.\",\n \"The small packing box capable of containing the collapsed mattress support 20, however, can be brought from the store shelf to the check-out counter and then to the trunk of the consumer's car.\",\n \"In addition, the damage that occurs when conventional one-piece wooden box springs are moved through doorways can be avoided.\",\n \"The packing box that contains foldable mattress support 20 can more easily be maneuvered up stairs, into apartment elevators and around corners than would a conventional non-collapsible box springs and a bed frame.\",\n \"Although certain specific embodiments are described above for instructional purposes, the teachings of this patent document have general applicability and are not limited to the specific embodiments described above.\",\n \"Accordingly, various modifications, adaptations, and combinations of various features of the described embodiments can be practiced without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876149"}}},{"rowIdx":4495094,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["MOLECULAR CHEMICAL IMAGING ENDOSCOPIC IMAGING SYSTEMS","The instant disclosure provides for medical imaging systems that may be used in conjunction with an intraoperative medical device, such as an endoscope.","Generally, the disclosed medical imaging systems include an illumination source configured to generate illuminating photons for illuminating a biological sample.","An optical signal modulator is configured to separate one or more of the illuminating photons and photons that have interacted with the biological sample into a first optical signal having first multi-passband wavelengths and a second optical signal having second multi-passband wavelengths.","At least one detector is configured to detect one or more of the first optical signal and the second optical signal and generate at least one image data set.","A processor is configured to analyze the at least one image data set.","In some embodiments, the processor is configured to differentiate between structures of the biological sample, such as between an ureter and surrounding tissue."],["1-57.","(canceled) 58.An intraoperative device comprising: an imaging system including: an illumination source configured to generate a plurality of illuminating photons to illuminate a biological sample and produce a plurality of interacted photons; an optical signal modulator configured to receive one or more of the plurality of illuminating photons and the plurality of interacted photons and generate a first optical component and a second optical component; at least one detector configured to detect one or more of the first optical component and the second optical component and generate at least one image data set; and a processor configured to analyze the at least one image data set.","59.The device of claim 58, wherein the illumination source includes one or more of a halogen light source, a metal halide light source, a light emitting diode (LED), an LED array, a pulsed LED, a pulsed LED array, a laser, and a pulsed laser.","60.The device of claim 58, wherein the optical signal modulator comprises one or more of a plurality of conformal filters, a liquid crystal tunable filter, a multi-conjugate filter, a plurality of multivariate optical elements, and an acousto-optic tunable filter.","61.The device of claim 58, wherein the detector comprises one or more of a CCD detector, a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) detector, an indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) detector, a platinum silicide (PtSi) detector, an indium antimonide (InSb) detector, and a mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe) detector.","62.The device of claim 58, wherein the at least one detector is configured to generate a first image data set (T1) and a second image data set (T2).","63.The device of claim 62, wherein the processor is configured to analyze the at least one data set by applying an optical computation to one or more of the first image data set (T1) and the second image data set (T2).","64.The device of claim 58, wherein the processor is further configured to apply a digital stain to the at least one image data set.","65.The device of claim 58, wherein the processor is configured to analyze the at least one image data set to differentiate structures of the biological sample.","66.The device of claim 65, wherein the structures include a ureter and surrounding tissue.","67.The device of claim 58, wherein the processor is configured to analyze the at least one image data set by applying one or more chemometric techniques selected from a group consisting of a multivariate curve resolution analysis, a principle component analysis (PCA), a partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA), a k means clustering analysis, a band t entropy analysis, an adaptive subspace detector analysis, a cosine correlation analysis, a Euclidian distance analysis, a partial least squares regression analysis, a spectral mixture resolution analysis, a spectral angle mapper metric analysis, a spectral information divergence metric analysis, a Mahalanobis distance metric analysis, and a spectral unmixing analysis.","68.The device of claim 58, wherein the at least one image data set includes a hyperspectral image.","69.The device of claim 58, wherein the first optical component comprises first multi-passband wavelengths and the second optical component comprises second multi-passband wavelengths.","70.The device of claim 58, wherein the optical signal modulator comprises a patterned etalon filter arrangement configured to receive the plurality of interacted photons.","71.The device of claim 58, wherein the optical signal modulator is configured to modulate the plurality of illuminating photons.","72.The device of claim 71, wherein the optical signal modulator comprises one or more of a plurality of conformal filters in a dual polarization arrangement and a plurality of multivariate optical elements.","73.The device of claim 58, wherein the optical signal modulator is configured to modulate the plurality of interacted photons.","74.The device of claim 58, wherein the optical signal modulator comprises one or more of a conformal filter, a liquid crystal tunable filter, a multi-conjugate filter, an acousto-optic filter, a plurality of multi-optic elements, and a patterned etalon filter.","75.The device of claim 58, wherein the at least one detector comprises a first detector configured to detect the first optical component and a second detector configured to detect the second optical component.","76.An endoscopic instrument comprising: a tubular body having a lumen therethrough, the tubular body having a proximal end and an operable end; an illumination source optically connected to the operable end and configured to illuminate a biological sample and generate a plurality of interacted photons; a collection optic disposed on the operable end; an optical signal modulator optically connected to the collection optic and configured to receive the plurality of interacted photons and separate the plurality of interacted photons into a first optical component and a second optical component; at least one detector configured to detect one or more of the first optical component and the second optical component and generate at least one image data set; and a processor configured to analyze the at least one image data set.","77.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the illumination source includes one or more of a halogen light source, a metal halide light source, a light emitting diode (LED), an LED array, a pulsed LED, a pulsed LED array, a laser, and a pulsed laser.","78.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the optical signal modulator comprises one or more of a plurality of conformal filters in dual polarization arrangement and a plurality of multivariate optical elements.","79.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the at least one detector comprises one or more of a CCD detector, a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) detector, an indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) detector, a platinum silicide (PtSi) detector, an indium antimonide (InSb) detector, a mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe) detector.","80.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the at least one detector is configured to generate a first image data set (T1) and a second image data set (T2).","81.The instrument of claim 80, wherein the processor is configured to analyze the at least one image data set by applying an optical computation to the first image data set (T1) and the second image data set (T2).","82.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the processor is further configured to apply a digital stain to the at least one image data set.","83.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the processor is configured to analyze the at least one image data set to differentiate structures of the biological sample.","84.The device of claim 76, wherein the structures include a ureter and surrounding tissue.","85.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the processor is configured to analyze the at least one image data set by applying one or more chemometric techniques selected from a group consisting of a multivariate curve resolution analysis, a principle component analysis (PCA), a partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA), a k means clustering analysis, a band t entropy analysis, an adaptive subspace detector analysis, a cosine correlation analysis, a Euclidian distance analysis, a partial least squares regression analysis, a spectral mixture resolution analysis, a spectral angle mapper metric analysis, a spectral information divergence metric analysis, a Mahalanobis distance metric analysis, and a spectral unmixing analysis.","86.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the at least one image data set includes a hyperspectral image.","87.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the first optical component comprises first multi-passband wavelengths and the second optical component comprises second multi-passband wavelengths.","88.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the optical signal modulator comprises a patterned etalon filter arrangement.","89.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the at least one detector comprises a first detector configured to detect the first optical component and a second detector configured to detect the second optical component.","90.An endoscopic instrument comprising: a tubular body having a lumen therethrough, the tubular body having a proximal end and an operable end; an illumination source configured to generate a plurality of illuminating photons; an optical signal modulator configured to receive the plurality of illuminating photons and separate the plurality of illuminating photons into a first optical component and a second optical component; a fiber optic configured to transmit the first optical component and the second optical component through the lumen to the operable end to illuminate a biological sample; a collection optic disposed on the operable end; at least one detector optically coupled to the collection optic and configured to detect one or more of the first optical component and the second optical component and generate at least one image data set; and a processor configured to analyze the at least one image data set.","91.The instrument of claim 90, wherein the illumination source includes one or more of a halogen light source, a metal halide light source, a light emitting diode (LED), an LED array, a pulsed LED, a pulsed LED array, a laser, and a pulsed laser.","92.The instrument of claim 90, wherein the optical signal modulator comprises one or more of a plurality of conformal filters in dual polarization arrangement and a plurality of multivariate optical elements.","93.The instrument of claim 90, wherein the at least one detector comprises one or more of a CCD detector, a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) detector, an indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) detector, a platinum silicide (PtSi) detector, an indium antimonide (InSb) detector, a mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe) detector.","94.The instrument of claim 90, wherein the at least one detector is configured to generate a first image data set (T1) and a second image data set (T2).","95.The device of claim 94, wherein the processor is configured to analyze the at least one image data set by applying an optical computation to the first image data set (T1) and the second image data set (T2).","96.The device of claim 90, wherein the processor is further configured to apply a digital stain to the at least one image data set.","97.The instrument of claim 90, wherein the processor is configured to analyze the at least one image data set to differentiate structures of the biological sample.","98.The instrument of claim 97, wherein the structures include a ureter and surrounding tissue.","99.The instrument of claim 90, wherein the processor is configured to analyze the at least one image data set by applying one or more chemometric techniques selected from a group consisting of a multivariate curve resolution analysis, a principle component analysis (PCA), a partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA), a k means clustering analysis, a band t entropy analysis, an adaptive subspace detector analysis, a cosine correlation analysis, a Euclidian distance analysis, a partial least squares regression analysis, a spectral mixture resolution analysis, a spectral angle mapper metric analysis, a spectral information divergence metric analysis, a Mahalanobis distance metric analysis, and a spectral unmixing analysis.","100.The instrument of claim 90, wherein the at least one image data set includes a hyperspectral image.","101.The instrument of claim 90, wherein the first optical component comprises first multi-passband wavelengths and the second optical component comprises second multi-passband wavelengths.","102.The instrument of claim 90, wherein the at least one detector comprises a first detector configured to detect the first optical component and a second detector configured to detect the second optical component.","103.A method of differentiating anatomical structures in a biological sample, comprising: illuminating the biological sample with a plurality of illuminating photons to generate a plurality of interacted photons; modulating one or more of the plurality of illuminating photons and the plurality of interacted photons into a first optical component and a second optical component; detecting one or more of the first optical component and the second optical component to generate at least one image data set; and analyzing the at least one image data set to differentiate the anatomical structures.","104.The method of claim 103, wherein modulating comprises passing one or more of the plurality of illuminating photons and the plurality of interacted photons through one or more of a plurality of tunable conformal filters, a plurality of multivariate optical elements, a liquid crystal tunable filter, a multi-conjugate filter, an acousto-optic filter, a plurality of multivariate optical elements, and a patterned etalon filter.","105.The method of claim 103, wherein detecting comprises generating a first image data set (T1) and a second image data set (T2).","106.The method of claim 105, wherein analyzing comprises applying an optical computation to the first image data set (T1) and the second image data set (T2).","107.The method of claim 103, wherein analyzing comprises applying a digital stain to the at least one image data set.","108.The method of claim 103, wherein differentiating anatomical structures comprises differentiating an ureter from surrounding tissue.","109.The method of claim 103, wherein analyzing comprises applying one or more chemometric techniques to the at least one image data set, the one or more chemometric techniques being selected from a group consisting of a multivariate curve resolution analysis, a principle component analysis (PCA), a partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA), a k means clustering analysis, a band t entropy analysis, an adaptive subspace detector analysis, a cosine correlation analysis, a Euclidian distance analysis, a partial least squares regression analysis, a spectral mixture resolution analysis, a spectral angle mapper metric analysis, a spectral information divergence metric analysis, a Mahalanobis distance metric analysis, and a spectral unmixing analysis.","110.The method of claim 103, wherein detecting the first optical component comprises detecting first multi-passband wavelengths and detecting the second optical component comprises detecting second multi-passband wavelengths.","111.The method of claim 103, wherein modulating comprises modulating the plurality of illuminating photons.","112.The method of claim 103, wherein modulating comprises modulating the plurality of interacted photons."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>In performing surgery on the human body, it is essential that surgeons do not accidentally cut or otherwise harm organs, passages or other anatomical structures such as the urethra and ureter.","The presence of blood, fat, arteries, veins, intervening tissue such as muscle and fascia and other highly scattering and absorbing media can make it extremely difficult to locate with great accuracy such organs, passages and anatomical structures in the immediate vicinity of the surgical site.","Light emitting catheters have been used to detect irregularities in a duct, vessel or organ to assist a surgeon in locating anatomical structures of interest to permit the proper performance of the surgical procedure.","However, there exists a need for improved intraoperative imaging tools which are capable of real-time detection of anatomical structures in assisting surgeons performing delicate operations without harming tissue surrounding the surgical site."],["<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE <EOH>The instant disclosure provides medical imaging systems.","The medical imaging systems may be used in conjunction with an endoscope.","Generally, the medical imaging system includes an illumination source configured to generate illuminating photons.","The illuminating photons are transmitted to one or more filters configured to filter a first plurality of illuminating photons and generate a first plurality of filtered photons comprising a first passband wavelength and a second plurality of filtered photons comprising a second passband wavelength.","A sample is then illuminated with the first plurality of filtered photons and the second plurality of filtered photons to generate a first plurality of interacted photons and a second plurality of interacted photons.","One or more detectors are configured to detect the first plurality of interacted photons and the second plurality of interacted photons and generate one or more image data sets.","In another embodiment, the imaging system includes an illumination source configured to illuminate a sample and generate interacted photons.","One or more filters are configured to filter one or more of a first plurality of the interacted photons and transmit a first passband wavelength and a second plurality of the interacted photons and transmit a second passband wavelength.","The first and second passband wavelengths are transmitted to one or more detectors configured to detect the first passband wavelength and the second passband wavelength and generate one or more image data sets.","In yet another embodiment, the imaging system features an illumination source configured to illuminate a sample with one or more of a first plurality of illuminating photons having a first wavelength to generate a first plurality of interacted photons and a second plurality of illuminating photons having a second wavelength to generate a second plurality of interacted photons.","One or more detectors are configured to detect the first plurality of interacted photons and the second plurality of interacted photons to generate one or more image data sets."],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims benefit of and priority to U.S.","Provisional Patent Application No.","62/089,777 entitled “Molecular Chemical Imaging Endoscopic Imaging Systems,” filed Dec. 9, 2014, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.","This application further claims benefit of and priority to U.S.","Provisional Patent Application No.","62/113,958 entitled “Molecular Chemical Imaging Endoscopic Imaging Systems,” filed Feb. 9, 2015, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.","BACKGROUND In performing surgery on the human body, it is essential that surgeons do not accidentally cut or otherwise harm organs, passages or other anatomical structures such as the urethra and ureter.","The presence of blood, fat, arteries, veins, intervening tissue such as muscle and fascia and other highly scattering and absorbing media can make it extremely difficult to locate with great accuracy such organs, passages and anatomical structures in the immediate vicinity of the surgical site.","Light emitting catheters have been used to detect irregularities in a duct, vessel or organ to assist a surgeon in locating anatomical structures of interest to permit the proper performance of the surgical procedure.","However, there exists a need for improved intraoperative imaging tools which are capable of real-time detection of anatomical structures in assisting surgeons performing delicate operations without harming tissue surrounding the surgical site.","SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE The instant disclosure provides medical imaging systems.","The medical imaging systems may be used in conjunction with an endoscope.","Generally, the medical imaging system includes an illumination source configured to generate illuminating photons.","The illuminating photons are transmitted to one or more filters configured to filter a first plurality of illuminating photons and generate a first plurality of filtered photons comprising a first passband wavelength and a second plurality of filtered photons comprising a second passband wavelength.","A sample is then illuminated with the first plurality of filtered photons and the second plurality of filtered photons to generate a first plurality of interacted photons and a second plurality of interacted photons.","One or more detectors are configured to detect the first plurality of interacted photons and the second plurality of interacted photons and generate one or more image data sets.","In another embodiment, the imaging system includes an illumination source configured to illuminate a sample and generate interacted photons.","One or more filters are configured to filter one or more of a first plurality of the interacted photons and transmit a first passband wavelength and a second plurality of the interacted photons and transmit a second passband wavelength.","The first and second passband wavelengths are transmitted to one or more detectors configured to detect the first passband wavelength and the second passband wavelength and generate one or more image data sets.","In yet another embodiment, the imaging system features an illumination source configured to illuminate a sample with one or more of a first plurality of illuminating photons having a first wavelength to generate a first plurality of interacted photons and a second plurality of illuminating photons having a second wavelength to generate a second plurality of interacted photons.","One or more detectors are configured to detect the first plurality of interacted photons and the second plurality of interacted photons to generate one or more image data sets.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 illustrates an endoscope comprising an imaging system having a plurality of conformal filters in a dual polarization configuration, according to an embodiment; FIG.","1A is an end-on view of the endoscope according to the embodiment in FIG.","1; FIG.","1B illustrates a patterned conformal filter configuration with a CCD detector, according to an embodiment; FIG.","2 illustrates an endoscope comprising an imaging system having a plurality of multivariate optical element (MOE) filters, according to an embodiment; FIG.","2A is an end-on view of the endoscope according to the embodiment in FIG.","2; FIG.","2B is a cross-sectional view of the distal end of the endoscope according to the embodiment in FIG.","2; FIG.","3 illustrates an endoscope comprising an imaging system having a conformal filter, according to an embodiment; FIG.","3A is an end-on view of the endoscope according to the embodiment in FIG.","3; FIG.","4 illustrates an endoscope comprising an imaging system having a plurality of conformal filters in a dual polarization configuration for source illumination modulation, according to an embodiment; FIG.","4A is an end-on view of the endoscope according to the embodiment in FIG.","4; FIG.","4B is an end-on view of an alternate embodiment of the endoscope according to the embodiment in FIG.","4; FIG.","5 illustrates an endoscope comprising an imaging system having an acousto-optic filter, according to an embodiment; FIG.","5A is an end-on view of the endoscope according the embodiment in FIG.","5; FIG.","6 illustrates an endoscope comprising an imaging system having a MOE filter wheel, according to an embodiment; FIG.","6A is an end-on view of the endoscope according to the embodiment in FIG.","6; FIG.","7 illustrates an endoscope comprising an imaging system having a patterned etalon filter arrangements, according to an embodiment; and DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present disclosure features intraoperative medical imaging systems which can assist surgeons in various medical procedures.","The systems disclosed herein are suitable for use as stand-alone devices, or may be incorporated into other medical imaging devices such as a robotic platform.","In one embodiment, the systems disclosed herein may be used in conjunction with an endoscope.","The medical imaging systems disclosed herein may provide real-time detection of tumors and anatomic structures during endoscopic procedures.","Generally, the systems disclosed herein provide illuminating a biological sample, collecting photons that have interacted with the sample, detecting the interacted photons to generate an image data set of the sample, and analyzing the image data set.","Interacted photons may comprise one or more of photons absorbed by a sample, photons reflected by a sample, photons scattered by a sample, and photons emitted by a sample.","In one embodiment, the medical imaging system provides multivariate imaging.","Multivariate imaging features generating two or more wavelengths corresponding to a first image data set (T1) and a second image data set (T2).","These first and second image data sets may be analyzed using an optical computation.","Multivariate imaging creates enhanced image contrast and increased discrimination between a target and background.","In certain embodiments, the first image data set and the second image data set feature hyperspectral image data.","In another embodiment, the medical imaging systems feature imaging frame rates of >10 Hz (hyper-cubes/second).","The systems disclosed herein may be used on various biological samples, such as tissues, organs, anatomical structures, physiological systems, cells, blood, fat, nerves, muscle and the like.","In certain embodiments, the systems may be employed in various areas of the body, which would be apparent to one of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.","For example, the systems might be employed to investigate and/or perform surgery in the gastrointestinal tract.","In such an application, the systems may be employed in any of the esophagus, the stomach, the duodenum, the small intestine, the large intestine/colon, the bile duct, the rectum, the anus and the like.","The systems may further be employed on structures of the respiratory tract including, without limitation, the nose, the sinuses and the lower respiratory tract.","In other embodiments, the systems disclosed herein may be used to investigate and/or perform surgery on structures comprising the urinary tract, such as the bladder, ureter, kidneys and so forth.","In yet other embodiments, the systems may be employed on structures comprising the female reproductive system, such as the cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes and the like.","Further, the systems may be employed in medical procedures performed during pregnancy, such as to investigate and/or perform medical procedures on the amnion and fetus.","In another embodiment, the systems described herein may be employed to investigate and/or perform surgery on the structures involving the musculoskeletal system, i.e., orthopaedics, including the structures of the hand, the knee, the elbow, the shoulder, the spine, including the epidural cavity, bursae, muscles, ligaments, connective tissues and the like.","Further, the systems may be configured to discriminate between two or more different biological samples.","For example, the systems disclosed herein may be configured to discriminate between a ureter and surrounding tissue and fat.","In one embodiment, the systems disclosed herein may be employed to differentiate cancer from normal tissue, determine one or more of a cancer stage, cancer progression and cancer grade.","In another embodiment, the systems may be employed during surgical procedures to remove cancer tissue or tumors found on the biological sample.","In yet another embodiment, the systems described herein may be employed to differentiate anatomical structures by identifying a bodily fluid associated with such anatomic structures.","Bodily fluids may include, for example, urine, saliva, sputum, blood, feces, mucus, pus, semen, lymph, wound exudate, mammary fluid, vaginal fluid and the like.","Anatomical structures having an associated bodily fluid would be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.","As disclosed herein, the systems of the present disclosure provide illumination to a biological tissue.","It is known that such illumination may penetrate a biological sample up to several centimeters, depending on wavelength and tissue type.","Thus, such illumination penetration permits the imaging of bodily fluids contained inside an anatomical structure.","Further, the bodily fluids may be directly imaged where their presence resides outside of the anatomical structure or other biological sample.","In another embodiment, the systems disclosed herein may be employed to identify a ureter by detecting urine in or around the ureter.","In another embodiment, the instant systems may be employed with the use of one or more contrasting-enhancing agents.","Contrast-enhancing agents may include one or more stains or dyes.","When only one stain or dye is used, the procedure is referred to as staining.","Multiple staining comprises the use of more than one stain or dye.","As used herein, a “stain” or “dye” is any chemical or biological compound that can bind to a substance in a biological sample, to induce a color.","For example, a stain or dye can bind to a particular cellular or biochemical structure (e.g., cell membrane, organelles, nucleic acid, protein) to induce contrasts when viewed using the systems described herein.","In some embodiments, the stain or dye can induce a color by emitting electromagnetic radiation at one or more wavelengths when excited (i.e., fluoresce).","The one or more stains or dyes can be used, for example, in vivo or ex vivo.","In some embodiments, the stain or dye is any stain or dye suitable for use in a living organism/individual that does not kill cells, i.e., a biological stain.","Examples of biological stains include, but are not limited to, azo dyes, arylmethane dyes, cyanine dyes, thiazine dyes, xanthene dyes (e.g., eosin), natural stains (e.g., alizarin red), steroids, trypan blue, janus green, indocyanine green, alizarin red, propidium iodide, erythrosine, 7-aminotinomycin D, and Nile blue.","In one embodiment, the contrasting-enhancing agent is a fluorescent contrast-enhancing agent.","In one embodiment, the contrast-enhancing agent may include a Flourophor.","Suitable Fluorophores include an immuno-fluorescent compound, a basophilic compound, an acidophilic compound, neutral stains and naturally occurring luminescent molecules.","When one or more stains or dyes are used in conjunction with the systems and methods described herein, a user (e.g., a surgeon) can intra-operatively identify histology, pathology, morphology, position, chemicals, and chemical reactions in or around the biological sample.","For example, some (one or more) biological stains can identify cancerous cells so that the surgeon can resect the tumor.","Other biological stains can also identify living cells (tissue) versus non-living cells.","Once the contrast-enhancing agent is applied to the biological sample, the sample can be irradiated with photons having a wavelength within the illumination wavelength range of the applied contrast-enhancing agent in order to obtain spectral images as set forth in the instant disclosure.","In another embodiment, the contrast-enhancing agent may be ingested by a subject, where the contrast-enhancing agent will appear in a bodily fluid.","In one embodiment, the contrast-enhancing agent may be taken orally, through an IV or through other means as would be apparent to one of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.","Once the contrast-enhancing agent is ingested, the target biological sample may be examined by the systems disclosed herein.","The systems may be configured to detect the contrast-enhancing agent in the bodily fluid to provide contrast between structures comprising the bodily fluid and surrounding biological samples, such as surrounding tissue.","For example, a patient may orally ingest a solution comprising a contrast-enhancing agent where the contrast-enhancing agent at a certain time thereafter appears in the patient's urine.","A endoscopic procedure may be performed on the kidney area of the patient with a system according to the instant disclosure.","The system is configured to detect the contrast-enhancing agent present in the urine located in an ureter to differentiate the ureter and other surrounding tissues.","In another embodiment, a biological tissue may be imaged with a system according to the instant disclosure ex vivo.","In such an application, the biological sample may be removed and analyzed outside of the surgical site.","Traditional staining methods may be applied to the resected tissue to determine one or more biological characteristics of the sample.","Ex vivo techniques are known in the art and would be apparent to one of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.","In another embodiment, the biological sample may be enhanced by applying a digital stain to the sample.","Digital stains are applied to an image data set by using an algorithm.","The use of a digital stain eliminates the need to apply a physical and/or chemical stain to the biological sample.","Digital stains may be applied to any of the image data sets obtained through the systems disclosed herein.","One example of the application of a digital stain to a Raman data set may be found in U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2012/0083678, filed as application Ser.","No.","13/200,779 on Sep. 30, 2011 to Drauch et al.","and entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RAMAN CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF LUNG CANCER WITH DIGITAL STAINING, assigned to ChemImage Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.","Not intending to limit the disclosure in any way, the instant disclosure is directed to analyzing a ureter via an endoscope.","Other medical imaging instrumentation and the detection of other types of biological samples is further contemplated by the instant disclosure and would be apparent to those of skill in the art in view of the instant disclosure.","The medical imaging instruments disclosed herein provide real-time multivariate imaging by generating a multivariate signal using one or more detectors.","The detectors detect the multivariate signal to produce one or more image data sets.","Provided herein are two ways to achieve this result.","One such method includes illuminating a sample, collecting interacted photons that have interacted with the sample, and modulating the collected signal prior to passing the signal on to a detector.","A second method includes modulating the illumination source signal prior to interaction with a sample, collecting interacted photons of the modulated signal, and detecting the interacted photons of the signal.","Both processes provide a modulated signal to produce a multivariate chemical image in real-time with enhanced contrast to assist surgeons with delicate medical procedures.","The embodiments contained herein can further be configured to provide real-time images displayed in stereo vision.","Such a configuration would be apparent to those of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.","Stereo vision further assists a surgeon by providing the depth perception needed in medical procedures employing medical imaging techniques, such as in endoscopic procedures.","Systems and methods recited herein provide exemplary embodiments of the instant disclosure and are not intended to limit the disclosure to any particular embodiment.","In the following illustrated embodiments, like reference characters refer to like parts.","Modulating Collected Optical Signal The following embodiment features modulating an optical signal after the collection of photons that have interacted with a sample.","System Having Conformal Filters in a Dual Polarization Arrangement: Referring now to FIG.","1, a biological sample 100 may be illuminated and/or excited by an illumination source 103.In one embodiment, the illumination source 103 may comprise a quartz tungsten halogen light source.","In other embodiments, the illumination source may comprise a metal halide light source, a light emitting diode (LED), a LED array having a uniform selection of emitters which emit over a constant wavelength range or a plurality of emitters which emit over a diversity of wavelength ranges, a pulsed LED, a pulsed LED array, a laser, a pulsed laser, a broadband illumination source and/or the like.","The illumination source 103 generates illuminating photons that are directed from the illumination source 103 to the distal end of an endoscope 102 through a fiber optic bundle 104.The endoscope 102 is configured to direct interacted photons 101 that have interacted with the biological sample 100 to a polarizing beam splitter 107.Two independently tunable conformal filters 105a, 105b are situated along distinct orthogonal beam paths to filter orthogonal polarization components emerging from polarizing beam splitter 107.Suitable conformal filters for use in the instant disclosure may include those disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2013/0176568 to Priore et al., filed Jan. 4, 2013, assigned to Chemimage Corporation and entitled CONFORMAL FILTER AND METHOD OF USE THEREOF, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference.","In this arrangement, the paths of the filtered beams are not parallel through the conformal filters 105a, 105b, but are directed by appropriate reflectors, i.e., mirrors, 109a, 109b to a beam combiner 111.In alternate embodiments, the beam combiner may be a polarizing cube or polarizing beam splitter.","In another embodiment, the orthogonal components may comprise the same or different multi-passband wavelengths Σλ1 and Σλ2.In the exemplary embodiment, the conformal filter 105a is configured to generate a polarized multi-passband wavelengths Σλ1 and conformal filter 105b is configured to generate a polarized multi-passband wavelengths Σλ2.In the exemplary embodiment, multi-passband wavelengths Σλ1 and Σλ2 are directed to a detector 115 through a lens assembly (not shown).","In another embodiment, the multi-passband wavelengths Σλ1 and Σλ2 may be combined as they are directed to the detector 115.In some embodiments, beam paths from the polarizing beam splitter 107 to the beam combiner 111 may be made symmetrical to avoid, for example, a need for infinitely-corrected optics.","The detector 115 as illustrated comprises a CCD detector.","However, the present disclosure contemplates that the detector 115 may comprise other suitable detectors including, for example, a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor, a (CMOS) detector, an indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) detector, a platinum silicide (PtSi) detector, an indium antimonide (“InSb”) detector, a mercury cadmium telluride (“HgCdTe”) detector, or combinations thereof.","Still referring to FIG.","1, the two conformal filters 105a and 105b may be tuned in unison to the same multi-passband wavelengths (Σλ1=Σλ2) using an controller 117.In another embodiment, the controller 117 may be configured to independently tune each multi-passband wavelengths Σλ1 and Σλ2 to respectively process orthogonal components of the input.","Therefore, by appropriate control, the conformal filters 105a and 105b may be tuned to the same multi-passband wavelengths or to two different multi-passband wavelengths (Σλ1≠Σλ2) at the same time.","The controller 117 may be programmable or software-implemented to allow a user to selectively tune each conformal filter as desired.","In the embodiment of FIG.","1, a fast switching mechanism (not shown) may be provided to switch between the two views (or spectral images) corresponding to spectral data collected by the detector 117 from each of the conformal filters 105a and 105b.","Alternatively, two such spectral views or images may be combined or overlaid into a single image to increase contrast or intensity, or for the purpose of comparison.","The exemplary embodiment in FIG.","1 comprises a single CCD detector 115 to capture the filtered signals received from the conformal filters 105a and 105b.","FIG.","1B illustrates an alternative embodiment of the instant disclosure.","In this embodiment, the beam combiner 111 and mirror 109a may be removed and two detectors may be used.","The first conformal filter 105a is configured to filter and transmit first multi-passband wavelengths corresponding to a T1 state to a first detector 115a where the first detector 115a detects the first multi-passband wavelengths and generates a first image data set (T1).","In similar fashion, the second conformal filter 105b is configured to filter and transmit second multi-passband wavelengths corresponding to a T2 state to a second detector 115b where the second detector 115b detects the second multi-passband wavelengths and generate a second image data set (T2).","U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2014/0198315 to Treado et al., filed Jan. 15, 2014 assigned to Chemimage Corporation and entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ASSESSING ANALYTES USING CONFORMAL FILTERS AND DUAL POLARIZATION discloses the use of conformal filters in a dual polarization configuration as discussed above.","The reference is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.","FIG.","1A illustrates an end-on view of the distal end of the endoscope 102.The distal end features a lens 119 for collecting interacted photons 101 and fiber ends 121 of the fiber optic bundle 103 which illuminate the biological sample 100 to generate the interacted photons 101.The detector 115 detects the multi-passband wavelength from the conformal filters 105a and 105b and is configured to generate one or more image data sets.","The image data set may comprise a T1 image corresponding to the first multi-passband wavelengths Σλ1 and a T2 image corresponding to the second multi-passband wavelengths Σλ2.In one embodiment, the image data set comprises a Raman image data set.","The one or more image data sets generated by the detector 115 may be further analyzed as set forth below.","System Having MOE Filter Arrangements FIG.","2 illustrates another embodiment featuring modulating the collected optical signal.","In FIG.","2, an illumination source 103 generates illuminating photons which traverse along a fiber optic bundle 104 through an endoscope 102 and terminate at a series of fiber ends 121 on the distal end of the endoscope 102 (shown in FIG.","2A).","The fiber ends 121 emit illuminating photons to illuminate a sample 100 to produce a plurality of interacted photons 101.The interacted photons are collected by a first collection optic 231 and a second collection optic 233.The first collection optic 231 collects a first portion of the interacted photons 101 and passes these photons on to a first Multivariate Optical Element “MOE” filter 237 which filters the first portion of the interacted photons 101 to generate a first portion of filtered photons.","The first portion of filtered photons is detected by a first detector 241.Further, the second collection optic 233 collects a second portion of the interacted photons 101 and passes these photons on to a second MOE filter 238 to generate a second portion of filtered photons.","The second portion of filtered photons is detected by a second detector 239.In one embodiment, the first detector 239 and the second detector 241 are CCD detectors.","In other embodiments, the detectors 239 and 241 may comprise other suitable detectors including, for example, a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor, a (CMOS) detector, an indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) detector, a platinum silicide (PtSi) detector, an indium antimonide (“InSb”) detector, a mercury cadmium telluride (“HgCdTe”) detector, or combinations thereof.","In one embodiment, the first MOE filter 237 may be configured to generate a first filtered passband.","In one embodiment, the first MOE filter 237 is configured to generate a first filtered passband consistent with a randomized target or background.","In one embodiment, the second MOE filter 238 may be configured to generate a second filtered passband consistent with the target or sample 100.In embodiments where the first MOE filter 231 is configured to generate a first filtered passband corresponding to a randomized target or background, the second MOE filter 238 may be configured to generate a second filtered passband corresponding to a target or sample.","This type of embodiment permits discrimination of both a target and a background.","MOEs are typically known in the art.","An MOE features wide-band, optical interference filters encoded with an application-specific regression (or pattern) specific to a target.","MOEs provide multivariate optical computing by performing the optical computation based on the pattern of the filter.","In other words, MOEs are uniquely tuned to the pattern that needs to be measured using multivariate analysis on the filter as opposed to capturing multiple measurements at different wavelengths to estimate the full spectrum of a target and processing this information by applying multivariate statistics to the spectrum.","Thus, MOEs increase throughput and efficiency over conventional filters, which can increase the speed of analysis.","Suitable MOEs would be apparent to those of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.","The first detector 241 is configured to detect the first filtered passband from the first MOE filter 237 to generate a first image data set (T1), and the second detector 239 is configured to detect the second filtered passband from the second MOE filter 238 to generate a second image data set (T2).","The first image data set and the second image data set may be further analyzed, as set forth below.","Modulating Illumination Source Signal The following embodiments feature modulating the illumination source signal prior to interaction with a sample.","System Having a Conformal Filter Arrangement FIG.","3 illustrates an illumination source 103 configured to generate illuminating photons which are transmitted through a filter 305.In one embodiment, the filter 305 comprises a conformal filter, as disclosed herein.","In another embodiment, the filter 305 may comprise other filters, such as a liquid crystal tunable filter (“LCTF”), or filters as would be apparent to those of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.","In one embodiment, the filter 305 may include a multi-conjugate filter.","The filter 305 is controlled by a controller (not shown) that is configured to switch the filter configuration to pass first multi-passband wavelengths (Σλ1) and subsequently be switched to configure the filter to pass a second multi-passband wavelengths (Σλ2).","In one embodiment, the rate at which the controller switches between the two states is on a millisecond order of magnitude.","The filter 305 transmits each multi-passband wavelengths, Σλ1 and Σλ2, through a fiber optic bundle 309 to the distal end of an endoscope 102 where each multi-passband wavelengths exits the distal end of the endoscope 102 via fiber ends 321, as shown in FIG.","3A, to illuminate the sample 100 and produce interacted photons 329.The interacted photons 329 are collected by a first detector 331 and a second detector 335 located on the distal end of the endoscope 102.The detectors 331 and 335 of the illustrated embodiment comprise CCD detectors.","However, other detectors, such as disclosed herein, may be employed.","The first detector 331 may be configured to detect substantially only the first multi-passband wavelengths.","In one embodiment, the first detector 331 may be timed, i.e., turned off and on, to detect the first multi-passband wavelengths concurrent with the filter 305 transmitting the first multi-passband wavelengths.","Likewise, the second detector 335 may be configured to detect substantially only the second multi-passband wavelengths.","In one embodiment, the second detector 335 may be timed, i.e., turned off and on, to detect the second multi-passband wavelengths concurrent with the filter 305 transmitting the second multi-passband wavelengths.","In another embodiment, the timing sequence of the modulation between the first multi-passband wavelengths and the second multi-passband wavelengths and the detection of the first multi-passband wavelengths and the second multi-passband wavelengths with the corresponding detector may be controlled by the controller (not shown).","The first detector 231 detects the first multi-passband wavelengths and generates a first image data set (T1) and the second detector detects the second multi-passband wavelengths and generates a second image data set (T2).","In one embodiment, the first image data set and the second image data set may be further analyzed as set forth below.","System Having a Conformal Filters in Dual Polarization Arrangement FIG.","4 illustrates another embodiment of illumination source modulation.","In this embodiment, an illumination source 103 generates an optical signal that is transmitted through a polarizing beam splitter 405 which splits the optical signal into a first polarization signal and a second polarization signal.","The first polarization signal is transmitted to a first filter 409, and the second polarization signal is transmitted to a second filter 411.In one embodiment, the first filter 409 and the second filter 411 each comprise conformal filter, as described herein.","In another embodiment, the first filter 409 and second filter 411 comprise an LCTF.","In one embodiment, the first filter 409 and the second filter 411 each may comprise a multi-conjugate filter.","The first filter 409 is configured to filter the first polarization signal and transmit a first multi-passband wavelengths (Σλ1), and the second filter 411 is configured to filter the second polarization signal and transmit second multi-passband wavelengths (Σλ2).","The first multi-passband wavelengths and the second multi-passband wavelengths are transmitted from their respective filters 409, 411 to the distal end of an endoscope 102 via a first fiber optic bundle 417 and second fiber optic bundle 419.In one embodiment, the first fiber optic bundle 417 and the second fiber optic bundle 419 comprise a polarization-maintaining fiber optic bundle.","FIG.","4A and FIG.","4B illustrate different embodiments of the distal end of the endoscope 102.The first fiber bundle 417 and a the second fiber bundle 419 traverse through the endoscope 102 to the distal end.","The first fiber bundle 417 terminates at first fiber ends 423 and the second fiber bundle 417 terminates at second fiber ends 425.FIG.","4A illustrates one exemplary arrangement of the first fiber ends 423 with respect to the second fiber ends 425.In this embodiment, the first fiber ends 423 are distributed together on one side of the distal end of the endoscope 102 and the second fiber ends 425 are distributed together on the other side of the distal end of the endoscope 102.In FIG.","4B, another embodiment is shown where the first fiber ends 423 and the second fiber ends 425 alternate around the distal end of the endoscope 102.Suitable arrangements of the fiber ends would be apparent to those of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.","The sample 100 is illuminated from the multi-first passband wavelengths and the second multi-passband wavelengths emitting from the first fiber ends 423 and the second fiber ends 425, respectively, to generate interacted photons 435.The interacted photons 435 are detected by a first detector 437 and a second detector 441 disposed on the distal end of the endoscope 102.In the illustrated embodiment, the first detector 437 and the second detector 441 are CCD detectors.","However, other suitable detectors, such as those disclosed herein, may be employed and such detectors would be apparent to one of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.","In one embodiment, the first fiber bundle 417 and the second fiber bundle 419 comprise polarization maintaining fiber bundles.","In such an embodiment, polarizers (not shown) may be disposed in front of the detectors 437 and 441, which are arranged for stereovision, and configured to differentiate between a T1 state and a T2 state on the basis of polarization.","In one embodiment, the first detector 437 is configured to detect substantially only interacted photons generated from the first multi-passband wavelengths, and the second detector 441 is configured to detect substantially only interacted photons generated from the second multi-passband wavelengths.","As such, the location of the first fiber ends 423 and second fiber ends 425 with respect to the first detector 437 and the second detector 441 can be arranged to optimize the detection of the interacted photons corresponding to the first multi-passband wavelengths by the first detector 437 and the interacted photons corresponding to second multi-passband wavelengths by the second detector 441.Once the first detector 437 and the second detector 441 detect the interacted photons 435, the first detector 437 is configured to generate a first image data set (T1), and the second detector 441 is configured to generate a second image data set (T2).","In one embodiment, the first image data set and the second image data set may be further analyzed.","System Having an Acousto-Optic Filter Arrangement FIG.","5 illustrates an embodiment of the instant disclosure employing an acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF).","This embodiment features an illumination source 103 to generate illuminating photons for illuminating a sample 100.A filter 507 is configured to filter photons emitted from the illumination source 103.In one embodiment, the filter 507 comprises an AOTF in which the AOTF transmits a single passband wavelength.","To achieve a >10 fps sampling rate, the AOTF is rapidly switched between target vs background passband wavelengths.","In another embodiment, the filter comprises a conformal filter based on AOTF technology in which the AOTF transmits multi-passband wavelengths simultaneously.","To switch between T1 and T2 states, the conformal filter AOTF is switched in series with microsecond switching speeds.","In other embodiments, multiple conformal AOTFs may be employed in which the T1 and T2 states are selected simultaneously.","In embodiments employing multiple acousto-optic filters, each filter may be tuned to various wavelengths where each filter transmits different multi-passband wavelengths simultaneously.","Acousto-optic filters are known in the art and, generally, operate by passing a beam of source light through a substrate, typically quartz.","The substrate is vibrated by a piezoelectric transducer modulator.","An RF frequency is applied to the modulator, causing the substrate to vibrate.","Source light or radiation is passed through the vibrating substrate, which causes the source light passing through the substrate to diffract, thus creating a filter gradient for the source light.","The source light emitted from the acousto-optic filter can be filtered to a desired passband wavelength by the RF frequency applied to the piezoelectric transducer.","Details on the operation of an acousto-optic filter are described in more detail in Turner, John F. and Treado, Patrick J.","“Near-Infrared Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter Hadamard Transform Spectroscopy” Applied Spectroscopy, 50.2 (1996), 277-284, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.","The passband wavelength transmitted from the filter 507 is transmitted to the distal end of an endoscope 102 through a fiber optic bundle 515.FIG.","5A illustrates the distal end of the endoscope 102 and features a plurality of fiber ends 519 from the fiber optic bundle 515.The fiber ends 519 transmit the passband wavelength from the filter 507 to illuminate the sample 100 to produce interacted photons 521 which are detected by a first detector 525 and a second detector 529 located on the distal end of the endoscope 102.In one embodiment, only one detector is used, i.e., the first detector 525, to detect a plurality of the interacted photons 521.In another embodiment, the interacted photons 521 are detected by both detectors 525 and 529.In another embodiment, a plurality of acousto-optic filters are employed and generate a first passband wavelength and a second passband wavelength.","The first detector 525 may be configured to detect the first passband wavelength and generate a first image data set (T1), and the second detector 529 may be configured to detect the second passband wavelength and generate a second image data set (T2).","In one embodiment, the first image data set and the second image data set may be further analyzed as set forth below.","System Having an MOE Filter Wheel Arrangement FIG.","6 illustrates another embodiment according to the instant disclosure.","An illumination source 103 generates illuminating photons which are transmitted to a filter wheel 605 where the illuminating photons are filtered to generate filtered photons.","The filter wheel 605 comprises a plurality of filter elements 609.In one embodiment, each filter element 605 comprises an MOE.","Suitable MOEs for use in the instant disclosure are known in the art and described herein.","Each filter element 609 may be different and each filter element may be configured to filter and transmit a different passband wavelength.","For example, filter element 609a may be configured to transmit a wavelength corresponding to a background, such as a specific type of tissue or anatomical structure, and filter element 609b may be configured to transmit a passband wavelength corresponding to an anomaly in a tissue sample, such as a cancerous tumor on the tissue.","In this type of embodiment, the filter wheel 605 can be rotated during a surgical procedure to assist a surgeon in distinguishing normal tissue from cancerous tissue.","In another embodiment, the filter elements 609 are configured to detect a plurality of different samples.","In one embodiment, the filter elements 609 are configured to discriminate background tissue from an anatomical structure such as a ureter.","The filtered photons are transmitted via a fiber optic bundle 603 to the distal end of the endoscope 102 and exit the distal end of the endoscope through a plurality of fiber ends 621 as shown in FIG.","6A.","The filtered photons illuminate the sample 100 and generate a plurality of interacted photons 601.The interacted photons 601 are detected by a one or more detectors 619, and the one or more detectors 619 is configured to generate an image data set (T1).","In one embodiment, the image data set may be further analyzed, as set forth below.","System Having a Patterned Etalon Filter Arrangement FIG.","7 illustrates another embodiment of the instant disclosure.","Illumination source 103 generates illuminating photons which are transmitted through a fiber optic bundle 104 to the distal end of the endoscope 102 to fiber ends 121.Illuminating photons exit the fiber ends 121 and illuminate the sample 100 and generate interacted photons 101 from the sample 100.The interacted photons 101 are detected by a first detector 705 and a second detector 707 disposed on the distal end of the endoscope 102.In one embodiment, the first detector 705 and the second detector 707 comprise hyperspectral cameras.","In one embodiment, the detectors 705 and 707 comprise a Fabry-Perot interferometric (patterned etalon) filter configuration disposed on each pixel of the detector.","Suitable examples of patterned etalon filter arrangements and associated detectors are available from Ximea Corporation.","The filter on each pixel is configured to transmit one or more passband wavelengths for each pixel.","In one embodiment, the first detector 705 comprises a patterned etalon filter arrangement in a mosaic snapshot arrangement.","A mosaic snapshot can be acquired over 1088×2048 pixels.","In one embodiment, the mosaic snapshot comprises a 4×4 mosaic having 16 wavelength bands.","In another embodiment, the mosaic snapshot comprises a snapshot of the sample from 465-630 nm at 11 nm intervals.","In another embodiment, the mosaic snapshot may comprise a 5×5 mosaic having 25 bands over a wavelength range from about 600 to 1,000 nm.","The mosaic snapshot may include a spatial resolution per band of about 512×272 with up to 2 megapixels with interpolation and may collect up to 170 data-cubes/sec.","In another embodiment, the first detector 705 and the second detector 707 may comprise a patterned etalon filter arrangement for obtaining a snapshot tiled configuration.","In one embodiment, the snapshot tiled configuration transmits a passband wavelength at each pixel.","The patterned etalon snapshot tiled filter configuration can acquire up to 1088×2048 pixels.","In one embodiment, the tiled snapshot has a spectral resolution of up to 32 bands and can detect wavelengths ranging from 600-1,000 nm over 12 incremental steps.","In another embodiment, the spatial resolution per band is about 256×256.In another embodiment, the tiled snapshot may detect up to 170 data-cubes/sec.","The patterned etalon filter arrangement may also be customized to generate a predetermined response based on the sample to be analyzed and the result desired.","Such customization would be apparent to one of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.","In one embodiment, the first detector 705 and the second detector 707 comprise IMEC mosaic filter arrangements.","In such an embodiment, the patterned etalon mosaic filter arrangements of the first detector 705 and the second detector 707 are configured to transmit one or more different wavelength bands at each pixel.","In another embodiment, the first detector 705 and the second detector 707 comprise patterned etalon tiled filter arrangements.","In such an embodiment, the patterned etalon tiled filter arrangements of the first detector 705 and the second detector 707 are configured to detect a different wavelength band at each pixel.","In another embodiment, the second detector is eliminated and the embodiment employs the first detector 705 having either a snapshot mosaic patterned etalon filter arrangement or a snapshot tiled patterned etalon filter arrangement.","The detectors 705 and 707 are configured to generate one or more image data sets for each passband wavelength transmitted from the filter arrangements.","In one embodiment, the detectors 705 and 707 are configured to generate a first image data set (T1) and a second image data set (T2).","In one embodiment, the image data sets may be further analyzed, as set forth below.","In yet another embodiment, an illumination source may be configured to generate illuminating photons at specific wavelengths.","For example, the illumination source may comprise a plurality of LEDs where a first portion of the LEDs are configured to generate a first wavelength and a second portion of the LEDs are configured to generate a second wavelength for illuminating a sample.","In such an embodiment, a first detector may be configured to detect interacted photons from the first wavelength and generate a first image data set (T1), and a second detector may be configured to detect interacted photons from the second wavelength and generate a second image data set (T2).","Other illumination sources or arrangements may be employed which are capable of producing illuminating photons at a plurality of wavelengths.","In one embodiment, the illumination source comprises a modulating laser which is capable of generating multiple wavelengths.","The image data sets described herein may comprise one or more of an ultraviolet (UV) image data set, fluorescence image data set, a visible (VIS) image data set, a Raman image data set, a near-infrared (NIR) image data set, a short-wave infrared (SWIR) data set, a mid-infrared (MIR) data set, and a long-wave infrared (LWIR) data set.","In another embodiment, the image data set comprises a hyperspectral image data set.","The image data sets of the instant disclosure may further be analyzed.","In one embodiment, the systems disclosed herein may include a fiber array spectral translator (FAST).","Suitable FAST devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","8,098,373 to Nelson et al., entitled SPATIALLY AND SPECTRALLY PARALLELIZED FIBER ARRAY SPECTRAL TRANSLATOR SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE, filed Apr.","13, 2010 and assigned to Chemimage Corporation, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.","In one embodiment, the systems disclosed herein may comprise a processor and a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium in operable communication with the processor.","The storage medium may contain one or more programming instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to analyze the image data sets.","In one embodiment, the analysis may comprise applying an optical computation to the data set.","In another embodiment, the optical computation may comprise one or more of T1, and (T1-T2)/(T1+T2).","Other optical computations known in the art may be applied.","In one embodiment, the analysis may comprise applying one or more chemometric techniques to the image data sets.","The chemometric analysis may comprise one or more of a multivariate curve resolution analysis, a principle component analysis (PCA), a partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA), a k means clustering analysis, a band t entropy analysis, an adaptive subspace detector analysis, a cosine correlation analysis, a Euclidian distance analysis, a partial least squares regression analysis, a spectral mixture resolution analysis, a spectral angle mapper metric analysis, a spectral information divergence metric analysis, a Mahalanobis distance metric analysis, and spectral unmixing analysis.","In some embodiments, the processor may be configured to control operation of the system.","For example, in embodiments where a tunable filter is employed, the process may be configured to cause the a controller to apply voltages to the tunable filter to obtain the desired passband transmission.","Further, the processor may be configured to control timing of an illumination source and detectors so that the correct detector is in operation for the specific illumination.","Other processor configurations are contemplated and would be apparent to one of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.","The systems according to the instant disclosure may further include a display.","In some embodiments, the display may include one or more results from one or more of the detectors.","In another embodiment, the display may include one or more results from the analysis of the processor.","In one embodiment, the display may include one or more results from one or more of the detectors and one or more results from the analysis of the processor."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"MOLECULAR CHEMICAL IMAGING ENDOSCOPIC IMAGING SYSTEMS\",\n \"The instant disclosure provides for medical imaging systems that may be used in conjunction with an intraoperative medical device, such as an endoscope.\",\n \"Generally, the disclosed medical imaging systems include an illumination source configured to generate illuminating photons for illuminating a biological sample.\",\n \"An optical signal modulator is configured to separate one or more of the illuminating photons and photons that have interacted with the biological sample into a first optical signal having first multi-passband wavelengths and a second optical signal having second multi-passband wavelengths.\",\n \"At least one detector is configured to detect one or more of the first optical signal and the second optical signal and generate at least one image data set.\",\n \"A processor is configured to analyze the at least one image data set.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the processor is configured to differentiate between structures of the biological sample, such as between an ureter and surrounding tissue.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1-57.\",\n \"(canceled) 58.An intraoperative device comprising: an imaging system including: an illumination source configured to generate a plurality of illuminating photons to illuminate a biological sample and produce a plurality of interacted photons; an optical signal modulator configured to receive one or more of the plurality of illuminating photons and the plurality of interacted photons and generate a first optical component and a second optical component; at least one detector configured to detect one or more of the first optical component and the second optical component and generate at least one image data set; and a processor configured to analyze the at least one image data set.\",\n \"59.The device of claim 58, wherein the illumination source includes one or more of a halogen light source, a metal halide light source, a light emitting diode (LED), an LED array, a pulsed LED, a pulsed LED array, a laser, and a pulsed laser.\",\n \"60.The device of claim 58, wherein the optical signal modulator comprises one or more of a plurality of conformal filters, a liquid crystal tunable filter, a multi-conjugate filter, a plurality of multivariate optical elements, and an acousto-optic tunable filter.\",\n \"61.The device of claim 58, wherein the detector comprises one or more of a CCD detector, a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) detector, an indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) detector, a platinum silicide (PtSi) detector, an indium antimonide (InSb) detector, and a mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe) detector.\",\n \"62.The device of claim 58, wherein the at least one detector is configured to generate a first image data set (T1) and a second image data set (T2).\",\n \"63.The device of claim 62, wherein the processor is configured to analyze the at least one data set by applying an optical computation to one or more of the first image data set (T1) and the second image data set (T2).\",\n \"64.The device of claim 58, wherein the processor is further configured to apply a digital stain to the at least one image data set.\",\n \"65.The device of claim 58, wherein the processor is configured to analyze the at least one image data set to differentiate structures of the biological sample.\",\n \"66.The device of claim 65, wherein the structures include a ureter and surrounding tissue.\",\n \"67.The device of claim 58, wherein the processor is configured to analyze the at least one image data set by applying one or more chemometric techniques selected from a group consisting of a multivariate curve resolution analysis, a principle component analysis (PCA), a partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA), a k means clustering analysis, a band t entropy analysis, an adaptive subspace detector analysis, a cosine correlation analysis, a Euclidian distance analysis, a partial least squares regression analysis, a spectral mixture resolution analysis, a spectral angle mapper metric analysis, a spectral information divergence metric analysis, a Mahalanobis distance metric analysis, and a spectral unmixing analysis.\",\n \"68.The device of claim 58, wherein the at least one image data set includes a hyperspectral image.\",\n \"69.The device of claim 58, wherein the first optical component comprises first multi-passband wavelengths and the second optical component comprises second multi-passband wavelengths.\",\n \"70.The device of claim 58, wherein the optical signal modulator comprises a patterned etalon filter arrangement configured to receive the plurality of interacted photons.\",\n \"71.The device of claim 58, wherein the optical signal modulator is configured to modulate the plurality of illuminating photons.\",\n \"72.The device of claim 71, wherein the optical signal modulator comprises one or more of a plurality of conformal filters in a dual polarization arrangement and a plurality of multivariate optical elements.\",\n \"73.The device of claim 58, wherein the optical signal modulator is configured to modulate the plurality of interacted photons.\",\n \"74.The device of claim 58, wherein the optical signal modulator comprises one or more of a conformal filter, a liquid crystal tunable filter, a multi-conjugate filter, an acousto-optic filter, a plurality of multi-optic elements, and a patterned etalon filter.\",\n \"75.The device of claim 58, wherein the at least one detector comprises a first detector configured to detect the first optical component and a second detector configured to detect the second optical component.\",\n \"76.An endoscopic instrument comprising: a tubular body having a lumen therethrough, the tubular body having a proximal end and an operable end; an illumination source optically connected to the operable end and configured to illuminate a biological sample and generate a plurality of interacted photons; a collection optic disposed on the operable end; an optical signal modulator optically connected to the collection optic and configured to receive the plurality of interacted photons and separate the plurality of interacted photons into a first optical component and a second optical component; at least one detector configured to detect one or more of the first optical component and the second optical component and generate at least one image data set; and a processor configured to analyze the at least one image data set.\",\n \"77.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the illumination source includes one or more of a halogen light source, a metal halide light source, a light emitting diode (LED), an LED array, a pulsed LED, a pulsed LED array, a laser, and a pulsed laser.\",\n \"78.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the optical signal modulator comprises one or more of a plurality of conformal filters in dual polarization arrangement and a plurality of multivariate optical elements.\",\n \"79.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the at least one detector comprises one or more of a CCD detector, a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) detector, an indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) detector, a platinum silicide (PtSi) detector, an indium antimonide (InSb) detector, a mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe) detector.\",\n \"80.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the at least one detector is configured to generate a first image data set (T1) and a second image data set (T2).\",\n \"81.The instrument of claim 80, wherein the processor is configured to analyze the at least one image data set by applying an optical computation to the first image data set (T1) and the second image data set (T2).\",\n \"82.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the processor is further configured to apply a digital stain to the at least one image data set.\",\n \"83.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the processor is configured to analyze the at least one image data set to differentiate structures of the biological sample.\",\n \"84.The device of claim 76, wherein the structures include a ureter and surrounding tissue.\",\n \"85.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the processor is configured to analyze the at least one image data set by applying one or more chemometric techniques selected from a group consisting of a multivariate curve resolution analysis, a principle component analysis (PCA), a partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA), a k means clustering analysis, a band t entropy analysis, an adaptive subspace detector analysis, a cosine correlation analysis, a Euclidian distance analysis, a partial least squares regression analysis, a spectral mixture resolution analysis, a spectral angle mapper metric analysis, a spectral information divergence metric analysis, a Mahalanobis distance metric analysis, and a spectral unmixing analysis.\",\n \"86.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the at least one image data set includes a hyperspectral image.\",\n \"87.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the first optical component comprises first multi-passband wavelengths and the second optical component comprises second multi-passband wavelengths.\",\n \"88.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the optical signal modulator comprises a patterned etalon filter arrangement.\",\n \"89.The instrument of claim 76, wherein the at least one detector comprises a first detector configured to detect the first optical component and a second detector configured to detect the second optical component.\",\n \"90.An endoscopic instrument comprising: a tubular body having a lumen therethrough, the tubular body having a proximal end and an operable end; an illumination source configured to generate a plurality of illuminating photons; an optical signal modulator configured to receive the plurality of illuminating photons and separate the plurality of illuminating photons into a first optical component and a second optical component; a fiber optic configured to transmit the first optical component and the second optical component through the lumen to the operable end to illuminate a biological sample; a collection optic disposed on the operable end; at least one detector optically coupled to the collection optic and configured to detect one or more of the first optical component and the second optical component and generate at least one image data set; and a processor configured to analyze the at least one image data set.\",\n \"91.The instrument of claim 90, wherein the illumination source includes one or more of a halogen light source, a metal halide light source, a light emitting diode (LED), an LED array, a pulsed LED, a pulsed LED array, a laser, and a pulsed laser.\",\n \"92.The instrument of claim 90, wherein the optical signal modulator comprises one or more of a plurality of conformal filters in dual polarization arrangement and a plurality of multivariate optical elements.\",\n \"93.The instrument of claim 90, wherein the at least one detector comprises one or more of a CCD detector, a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) detector, an indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) detector, a platinum silicide (PtSi) detector, an indium antimonide (InSb) detector, a mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe) detector.\",\n \"94.The instrument of claim 90, wherein the at least one detector is configured to generate a first image data set (T1) and a second image data set (T2).\",\n \"95.The device of claim 94, wherein the processor is configured to analyze the at least one image data set by applying an optical computation to the first image data set (T1) and the second image data set (T2).\",\n \"96.The device of claim 90, wherein the processor is further configured to apply a digital stain to the at least one image data set.\",\n \"97.The instrument of claim 90, wherein the processor is configured to analyze the at least one image data set to differentiate structures of the biological sample.\",\n \"98.The instrument of claim 97, wherein the structures include a ureter and surrounding tissue.\",\n \"99.The instrument of claim 90, wherein the processor is configured to analyze the at least one image data set by applying one or more chemometric techniques selected from a group consisting of a multivariate curve resolution analysis, a principle component analysis (PCA), a partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA), a k means clustering analysis, a band t entropy analysis, an adaptive subspace detector analysis, a cosine correlation analysis, a Euclidian distance analysis, a partial least squares regression analysis, a spectral mixture resolution analysis, a spectral angle mapper metric analysis, a spectral information divergence metric analysis, a Mahalanobis distance metric analysis, and a spectral unmixing analysis.\",\n \"100.The instrument of claim 90, wherein the at least one image data set includes a hyperspectral image.\",\n \"101.The instrument of claim 90, wherein the first optical component comprises first multi-passband wavelengths and the second optical component comprises second multi-passband wavelengths.\",\n \"102.The instrument of claim 90, wherein the at least one detector comprises a first detector configured to detect the first optical component and a second detector configured to detect the second optical component.\",\n \"103.A method of differentiating anatomical structures in a biological sample, comprising: illuminating the biological sample with a plurality of illuminating photons to generate a plurality of interacted photons; modulating one or more of the plurality of illuminating photons and the plurality of interacted photons into a first optical component and a second optical component; detecting one or more of the first optical component and the second optical component to generate at least one image data set; and analyzing the at least one image data set to differentiate the anatomical structures.\",\n \"104.The method of claim 103, wherein modulating comprises passing one or more of the plurality of illuminating photons and the plurality of interacted photons through one or more of a plurality of tunable conformal filters, a plurality of multivariate optical elements, a liquid crystal tunable filter, a multi-conjugate filter, an acousto-optic filter, a plurality of multivariate optical elements, and a patterned etalon filter.\",\n \"105.The method of claim 103, wherein detecting comprises generating a first image data set (T1) and a second image data set (T2).\",\n \"106.The method of claim 105, wherein analyzing comprises applying an optical computation to the first image data set (T1) and the second image data set (T2).\",\n \"107.The method of claim 103, wherein analyzing comprises applying a digital stain to the at least one image data set.\",\n \"108.The method of claim 103, wherein differentiating anatomical structures comprises differentiating an ureter from surrounding tissue.\",\n \"109.The method of claim 103, wherein analyzing comprises applying one or more chemometric techniques to the at least one image data set, the one or more chemometric techniques being selected from a group consisting of a multivariate curve resolution analysis, a principle component analysis (PCA), a partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA), a k means clustering analysis, a band t entropy analysis, an adaptive subspace detector analysis, a cosine correlation analysis, a Euclidian distance analysis, a partial least squares regression analysis, a spectral mixture resolution analysis, a spectral angle mapper metric analysis, a spectral information divergence metric analysis, a Mahalanobis distance metric analysis, and a spectral unmixing analysis.\",\n \"110.The method of claim 103, wherein detecting the first optical component comprises detecting first multi-passband wavelengths and detecting the second optical component comprises detecting second multi-passband wavelengths.\",\n \"111.The method of claim 103, wherein modulating comprises modulating the plurality of illuminating photons.\",\n \"112.The method of claim 103, wherein modulating comprises modulating the plurality of interacted photons.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>In performing surgery on the human body, it is essential that surgeons do not accidentally cut or otherwise harm organs, passages or other anatomical structures such as the urethra and ureter.\",\n \"The presence of blood, fat, arteries, veins, intervening tissue such as muscle and fascia and other highly scattering and absorbing media can make it extremely difficult to locate with great accuracy such organs, passages and anatomical structures in the immediate vicinity of the surgical site.\",\n \"Light emitting catheters have been used to detect irregularities in a duct, vessel or organ to assist a surgeon in locating anatomical structures of interest to permit the proper performance of the surgical procedure.\",\n \"However, there exists a need for improved intraoperative imaging tools which are capable of real-time detection of anatomical structures in assisting surgeons performing delicate operations without harming tissue surrounding the surgical site.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE <EOH>The instant disclosure provides medical imaging systems.\",\n \"The medical imaging systems may be used in conjunction with an endoscope.\",\n \"Generally, the medical imaging system includes an illumination source configured to generate illuminating photons.\",\n \"The illuminating photons are transmitted to one or more filters configured to filter a first plurality of illuminating photons and generate a first plurality of filtered photons comprising a first passband wavelength and a second plurality of filtered photons comprising a second passband wavelength.\",\n \"A sample is then illuminated with the first plurality of filtered photons and the second plurality of filtered photons to generate a first plurality of interacted photons and a second plurality of interacted photons.\",\n \"One or more detectors are configured to detect the first plurality of interacted photons and the second plurality of interacted photons and generate one or more image data sets.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the imaging system includes an illumination source configured to illuminate a sample and generate interacted photons.\",\n \"One or more filters are configured to filter one or more of a first plurality of the interacted photons and transmit a first passband wavelength and a second plurality of the interacted photons and transmit a second passband wavelength.\",\n \"The first and second passband wavelengths are transmitted to one or more detectors configured to detect the first passband wavelength and the second passband wavelength and generate one or more image data sets.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment, the imaging system features an illumination source configured to illuminate a sample with one or more of a first plurality of illuminating photons having a first wavelength to generate a first plurality of interacted photons and a second plurality of illuminating photons having a second wavelength to generate a second plurality of interacted photons.\",\n \"One or more detectors are configured to detect the first plurality of interacted photons and the second plurality of interacted photons to generate one or more image data sets.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims benefit of and priority to U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Patent Application No.\",\n \"62/089,777 entitled “Molecular Chemical Imaging Endoscopic Imaging Systems,” filed Dec. 9, 2014, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.\",\n \"This application further claims benefit of and priority to U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Patent Application No.\",\n \"62/113,958 entitled “Molecular Chemical Imaging Endoscopic Imaging Systems,” filed Feb. 9, 2015, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.\",\n \"BACKGROUND In performing surgery on the human body, it is essential that surgeons do not accidentally cut or otherwise harm organs, passages or other anatomical structures such as the urethra and ureter.\",\n \"The presence of blood, fat, arteries, veins, intervening tissue such as muscle and fascia and other highly scattering and absorbing media can make it extremely difficult to locate with great accuracy such organs, passages and anatomical structures in the immediate vicinity of the surgical site.\",\n \"Light emitting catheters have been used to detect irregularities in a duct, vessel or organ to assist a surgeon in locating anatomical structures of interest to permit the proper performance of the surgical procedure.\",\n \"However, there exists a need for improved intraoperative imaging tools which are capable of real-time detection of anatomical structures in assisting surgeons performing delicate operations without harming tissue surrounding the surgical site.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE The instant disclosure provides medical imaging systems.\",\n \"The medical imaging systems may be used in conjunction with an endoscope.\",\n \"Generally, the medical imaging system includes an illumination source configured to generate illuminating photons.\",\n \"The illuminating photons are transmitted to one or more filters configured to filter a first plurality of illuminating photons and generate a first plurality of filtered photons comprising a first passband wavelength and a second plurality of filtered photons comprising a second passband wavelength.\",\n \"A sample is then illuminated with the first plurality of filtered photons and the second plurality of filtered photons to generate a first plurality of interacted photons and a second plurality of interacted photons.\",\n \"One or more detectors are configured to detect the first plurality of interacted photons and the second plurality of interacted photons and generate one or more image data sets.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the imaging system includes an illumination source configured to illuminate a sample and generate interacted photons.\",\n \"One or more filters are configured to filter one or more of a first plurality of the interacted photons and transmit a first passband wavelength and a second plurality of the interacted photons and transmit a second passband wavelength.\",\n \"The first and second passband wavelengths are transmitted to one or more detectors configured to detect the first passband wavelength and the second passband wavelength and generate one or more image data sets.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment, the imaging system features an illumination source configured to illuminate a sample with one or more of a first plurality of illuminating photons having a first wavelength to generate a first plurality of interacted photons and a second plurality of illuminating photons having a second wavelength to generate a second plurality of interacted photons.\",\n \"One or more detectors are configured to detect the first plurality of interacted photons and the second plurality of interacted photons to generate one or more image data sets.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an endoscope comprising an imaging system having a plurality of conformal filters in a dual polarization configuration, according to an embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"1A is an end-on view of the endoscope according to the embodiment in FIG.\",\n \"1; FIG.\",\n \"1B illustrates a patterned conformal filter configuration with a CCD detector, according to an embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an endoscope comprising an imaging system having a plurality of multivariate optical element (MOE) filters, according to an embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"2A is an end-on view of the endoscope according to the embodiment in FIG.\",\n \"2; FIG.\",\n \"2B is a cross-sectional view of the distal end of the endoscope according to the embodiment in FIG.\",\n \"2; FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an endoscope comprising an imaging system having a conformal filter, according to an embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"3A is an end-on view of the endoscope according to the embodiment in FIG.\",\n \"3; FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an endoscope comprising an imaging system having a plurality of conformal filters in a dual polarization configuration for source illumination modulation, according to an embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"4A is an end-on view of the endoscope according to the embodiment in FIG.\",\n \"4; FIG.\",\n \"4B is an end-on view of an alternate embodiment of the endoscope according to the embodiment in FIG.\",\n \"4; FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an endoscope comprising an imaging system having an acousto-optic filter, according to an embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"5A is an end-on view of the endoscope according the embodiment in FIG.\",\n \"5; FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an endoscope comprising an imaging system having a MOE filter wheel, according to an embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"6A is an end-on view of the endoscope according to the embodiment in FIG.\",\n \"6; FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an endoscope comprising an imaging system having a patterned etalon filter arrangements, according to an embodiment; and DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present disclosure features intraoperative medical imaging systems which can assist surgeons in various medical procedures.\",\n \"The systems disclosed herein are suitable for use as stand-alone devices, or may be incorporated into other medical imaging devices such as a robotic platform.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the systems disclosed herein may be used in conjunction with an endoscope.\",\n \"The medical imaging systems disclosed herein may provide real-time detection of tumors and anatomic structures during endoscopic procedures.\",\n \"Generally, the systems disclosed herein provide illuminating a biological sample, collecting photons that have interacted with the sample, detecting the interacted photons to generate an image data set of the sample, and analyzing the image data set.\",\n \"Interacted photons may comprise one or more of photons absorbed by a sample, photons reflected by a sample, photons scattered by a sample, and photons emitted by a sample.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the medical imaging system provides multivariate imaging.\",\n \"Multivariate imaging features generating two or more wavelengths corresponding to a first image data set (T1) and a second image data set (T2).\",\n \"These first and second image data sets may be analyzed using an optical computation.\",\n \"Multivariate imaging creates enhanced image contrast and increased discrimination between a target and background.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, the first image data set and the second image data set feature hyperspectral image data.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the medical imaging systems feature imaging frame rates of >10 Hz (hyper-cubes/second).\",\n \"The systems disclosed herein may be used on various biological samples, such as tissues, organs, anatomical structures, physiological systems, cells, blood, fat, nerves, muscle and the like.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, the systems may be employed in various areas of the body, which would be apparent to one of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.\",\n \"For example, the systems might be employed to investigate and/or perform surgery in the gastrointestinal tract.\",\n \"In such an application, the systems may be employed in any of the esophagus, the stomach, the duodenum, the small intestine, the large intestine/colon, the bile duct, the rectum, the anus and the like.\",\n \"The systems may further be employed on structures of the respiratory tract including, without limitation, the nose, the sinuses and the lower respiratory tract.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the systems disclosed herein may be used to investigate and/or perform surgery on structures comprising the urinary tract, such as the bladder, ureter, kidneys and so forth.\",\n \"In yet other embodiments, the systems may be employed on structures comprising the female reproductive system, such as the cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes and the like.\",\n \"Further, the systems may be employed in medical procedures performed during pregnancy, such as to investigate and/or perform medical procedures on the amnion and fetus.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the systems described herein may be employed to investigate and/or perform surgery on the structures involving the musculoskeletal system, i.e., orthopaedics, including the structures of the hand, the knee, the elbow, the shoulder, the spine, including the epidural cavity, bursae, muscles, ligaments, connective tissues and the like.\",\n \"Further, the systems may be configured to discriminate between two or more different biological samples.\",\n \"For example, the systems disclosed herein may be configured to discriminate between a ureter and surrounding tissue and fat.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the systems disclosed herein may be employed to differentiate cancer from normal tissue, determine one or more of a cancer stage, cancer progression and cancer grade.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the systems may be employed during surgical procedures to remove cancer tissue or tumors found on the biological sample.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment, the systems described herein may be employed to differentiate anatomical structures by identifying a bodily fluid associated with such anatomic structures.\",\n \"Bodily fluids may include, for example, urine, saliva, sputum, blood, feces, mucus, pus, semen, lymph, wound exudate, mammary fluid, vaginal fluid and the like.\",\n \"Anatomical structures having an associated bodily fluid would be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.\",\n \"As disclosed herein, the systems of the present disclosure provide illumination to a biological tissue.\",\n \"It is known that such illumination may penetrate a biological sample up to several centimeters, depending on wavelength and tissue type.\",\n \"Thus, such illumination penetration permits the imaging of bodily fluids contained inside an anatomical structure.\",\n \"Further, the bodily fluids may be directly imaged where their presence resides outside of the anatomical structure or other biological sample.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the systems disclosed herein may be employed to identify a ureter by detecting urine in or around the ureter.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the instant systems may be employed with the use of one or more contrasting-enhancing agents.\",\n \"Contrast-enhancing agents may include one or more stains or dyes.\",\n \"When only one stain or dye is used, the procedure is referred to as staining.\",\n \"Multiple staining comprises the use of more than one stain or dye.\",\n \"As used herein, a “stain” or “dye” is any chemical or biological compound that can bind to a substance in a biological sample, to induce a color.\",\n \"For example, a stain or dye can bind to a particular cellular or biochemical structure (e.g., cell membrane, organelles, nucleic acid, protein) to induce contrasts when viewed using the systems described herein.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the stain or dye can induce a color by emitting electromagnetic radiation at one or more wavelengths when excited (i.e., fluoresce).\",\n \"The one or more stains or dyes can be used, for example, in vivo or ex vivo.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the stain or dye is any stain or dye suitable for use in a living organism/individual that does not kill cells, i.e., a biological stain.\",\n \"Examples of biological stains include, but are not limited to, azo dyes, arylmethane dyes, cyanine dyes, thiazine dyes, xanthene dyes (e.g., eosin), natural stains (e.g., alizarin red), steroids, trypan blue, janus green, indocyanine green, alizarin red, propidium iodide, erythrosine, 7-aminotinomycin D, and Nile blue.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the contrasting-enhancing agent is a fluorescent contrast-enhancing agent.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the contrast-enhancing agent may include a Flourophor.\",\n \"Suitable Fluorophores include an immuno-fluorescent compound, a basophilic compound, an acidophilic compound, neutral stains and naturally occurring luminescent molecules.\",\n \"When one or more stains or dyes are used in conjunction with the systems and methods described herein, a user (e.g., a surgeon) can intra-operatively identify histology, pathology, morphology, position, chemicals, and chemical reactions in or around the biological sample.\",\n \"For example, some (one or more) biological stains can identify cancerous cells so that the surgeon can resect the tumor.\",\n \"Other biological stains can also identify living cells (tissue) versus non-living cells.\",\n \"Once the contrast-enhancing agent is applied to the biological sample, the sample can be irradiated with photons having a wavelength within the illumination wavelength range of the applied contrast-enhancing agent in order to obtain spectral images as set forth in the instant disclosure.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the contrast-enhancing agent may be ingested by a subject, where the contrast-enhancing agent will appear in a bodily fluid.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the contrast-enhancing agent may be taken orally, through an IV or through other means as would be apparent to one of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.\",\n \"Once the contrast-enhancing agent is ingested, the target biological sample may be examined by the systems disclosed herein.\",\n \"The systems may be configured to detect the contrast-enhancing agent in the bodily fluid to provide contrast between structures comprising the bodily fluid and surrounding biological samples, such as surrounding tissue.\",\n \"For example, a patient may orally ingest a solution comprising a contrast-enhancing agent where the contrast-enhancing agent at a certain time thereafter appears in the patient's urine.\",\n \"A endoscopic procedure may be performed on the kidney area of the patient with a system according to the instant disclosure.\",\n \"The system is configured to detect the contrast-enhancing agent present in the urine located in an ureter to differentiate the ureter and other surrounding tissues.\",\n \"In another embodiment, a biological tissue may be imaged with a system according to the instant disclosure ex vivo.\",\n \"In such an application, the biological sample may be removed and analyzed outside of the surgical site.\",\n \"Traditional staining methods may be applied to the resected tissue to determine one or more biological characteristics of the sample.\",\n \"Ex vivo techniques are known in the art and would be apparent to one of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the biological sample may be enhanced by applying a digital stain to the sample.\",\n \"Digital stains are applied to an image data set by using an algorithm.\",\n \"The use of a digital stain eliminates the need to apply a physical and/or chemical stain to the biological sample.\",\n \"Digital stains may be applied to any of the image data sets obtained through the systems disclosed herein.\",\n \"One example of the application of a digital stain to a Raman data set may be found in U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2012/0083678, filed as application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/200,779 on Sep. 30, 2011 to Drauch et al.\",\n \"and entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RAMAN CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF LUNG CANCER WITH DIGITAL STAINING, assigned to ChemImage Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.\",\n \"Not intending to limit the disclosure in any way, the instant disclosure is directed to analyzing a ureter via an endoscope.\",\n \"Other medical imaging instrumentation and the detection of other types of biological samples is further contemplated by the instant disclosure and would be apparent to those of skill in the art in view of the instant disclosure.\",\n \"The medical imaging instruments disclosed herein provide real-time multivariate imaging by generating a multivariate signal using one or more detectors.\",\n \"The detectors detect the multivariate signal to produce one or more image data sets.\",\n \"Provided herein are two ways to achieve this result.\",\n \"One such method includes illuminating a sample, collecting interacted photons that have interacted with the sample, and modulating the collected signal prior to passing the signal on to a detector.\",\n \"A second method includes modulating the illumination source signal prior to interaction with a sample, collecting interacted photons of the modulated signal, and detecting the interacted photons of the signal.\",\n \"Both processes provide a modulated signal to produce a multivariate chemical image in real-time with enhanced contrast to assist surgeons with delicate medical procedures.\",\n \"The embodiments contained herein can further be configured to provide real-time images displayed in stereo vision.\",\n \"Such a configuration would be apparent to those of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.\",\n \"Stereo vision further assists a surgeon by providing the depth perception needed in medical procedures employing medical imaging techniques, such as in endoscopic procedures.\",\n \"Systems and methods recited herein provide exemplary embodiments of the instant disclosure and are not intended to limit the disclosure to any particular embodiment.\",\n \"In the following illustrated embodiments, like reference characters refer to like parts.\",\n \"Modulating Collected Optical Signal The following embodiment features modulating an optical signal after the collection of photons that have interacted with a sample.\",\n \"System Having Conformal Filters in a Dual Polarization Arrangement: Referring now to FIG.\",\n \"1, a biological sample 100 may be illuminated and/or excited by an illumination source 103.In one embodiment, the illumination source 103 may comprise a quartz tungsten halogen light source.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the illumination source may comprise a metal halide light source, a light emitting diode (LED), a LED array having a uniform selection of emitters which emit over a constant wavelength range or a plurality of emitters which emit over a diversity of wavelength ranges, a pulsed LED, a pulsed LED array, a laser, a pulsed laser, a broadband illumination source and/or the like.\",\n \"The illumination source 103 generates illuminating photons that are directed from the illumination source 103 to the distal end of an endoscope 102 through a fiber optic bundle 104.The endoscope 102 is configured to direct interacted photons 101 that have interacted with the biological sample 100 to a polarizing beam splitter 107.Two independently tunable conformal filters 105a, 105b are situated along distinct orthogonal beam paths to filter orthogonal polarization components emerging from polarizing beam splitter 107.Suitable conformal filters for use in the instant disclosure may include those disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2013/0176568 to Priore et al., filed Jan. 4, 2013, assigned to Chemimage Corporation and entitled CONFORMAL FILTER AND METHOD OF USE THEREOF, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference.\",\n \"In this arrangement, the paths of the filtered beams are not parallel through the conformal filters 105a, 105b, but are directed by appropriate reflectors, i.e., mirrors, 109a, 109b to a beam combiner 111.In alternate embodiments, the beam combiner may be a polarizing cube or polarizing beam splitter.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the orthogonal components may comprise the same or different multi-passband wavelengths Σλ1 and Σλ2.In the exemplary embodiment, the conformal filter 105a is configured to generate a polarized multi-passband wavelengths Σλ1 and conformal filter 105b is configured to generate a polarized multi-passband wavelengths Σλ2.In the exemplary embodiment, multi-passband wavelengths Σλ1 and Σλ2 are directed to a detector 115 through a lens assembly (not shown).\",\n \"In another embodiment, the multi-passband wavelengths Σλ1 and Σλ2 may be combined as they are directed to the detector 115.In some embodiments, beam paths from the polarizing beam splitter 107 to the beam combiner 111 may be made symmetrical to avoid, for example, a need for infinitely-corrected optics.\",\n \"The detector 115 as illustrated comprises a CCD detector.\",\n \"However, the present disclosure contemplates that the detector 115 may comprise other suitable detectors including, for example, a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor, a (CMOS) detector, an indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) detector, a platinum silicide (PtSi) detector, an indium antimonide (“InSb”) detector, a mercury cadmium telluride (“HgCdTe”) detector, or combinations thereof.\",\n \"Still referring to FIG.\",\n \"1, the two conformal filters 105a and 105b may be tuned in unison to the same multi-passband wavelengths (Σλ1=Σλ2) using an controller 117.In another embodiment, the controller 117 may be configured to independently tune each multi-passband wavelengths Σλ1 and Σλ2 to respectively process orthogonal components of the input.\",\n \"Therefore, by appropriate control, the conformal filters 105a and 105b may be tuned to the same multi-passband wavelengths or to two different multi-passband wavelengths (Σλ1≠Σλ2) at the same time.\",\n \"The controller 117 may be programmable or software-implemented to allow a user to selectively tune each conformal filter as desired.\",\n \"In the embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"1, a fast switching mechanism (not shown) may be provided to switch between the two views (or spectral images) corresponding to spectral data collected by the detector 117 from each of the conformal filters 105a and 105b.\",\n \"Alternatively, two such spectral views or images may be combined or overlaid into a single image to increase contrast or intensity, or for the purpose of comparison.\",\n \"The exemplary embodiment in FIG.\",\n \"1 comprises a single CCD detector 115 to capture the filtered signals received from the conformal filters 105a and 105b.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1B illustrates an alternative embodiment of the instant disclosure.\",\n \"In this embodiment, the beam combiner 111 and mirror 109a may be removed and two detectors may be used.\",\n \"The first conformal filter 105a is configured to filter and transmit first multi-passband wavelengths corresponding to a T1 state to a first detector 115a where the first detector 115a detects the first multi-passband wavelengths and generates a first image data set (T1).\",\n \"In similar fashion, the second conformal filter 105b is configured to filter and transmit second multi-passband wavelengths corresponding to a T2 state to a second detector 115b where the second detector 115b detects the second multi-passband wavelengths and generate a second image data set (T2).\",\n \"U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2014/0198315 to Treado et al., filed Jan. 15, 2014 assigned to Chemimage Corporation and entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ASSESSING ANALYTES USING CONFORMAL FILTERS AND DUAL POLARIZATION discloses the use of conformal filters in a dual polarization configuration as discussed above.\",\n \"The reference is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1A illustrates an end-on view of the distal end of the endoscope 102.The distal end features a lens 119 for collecting interacted photons 101 and fiber ends 121 of the fiber optic bundle 103 which illuminate the biological sample 100 to generate the interacted photons 101.The detector 115 detects the multi-passband wavelength from the conformal filters 105a and 105b and is configured to generate one or more image data sets.\",\n \"The image data set may comprise a T1 image corresponding to the first multi-passband wavelengths Σλ1 and a T2 image corresponding to the second multi-passband wavelengths Σλ2.In one embodiment, the image data set comprises a Raman image data set.\",\n \"The one or more image data sets generated by the detector 115 may be further analyzed as set forth below.\",\n \"System Having MOE Filter Arrangements FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates another embodiment featuring modulating the collected optical signal.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"2, an illumination source 103 generates illuminating photons which traverse along a fiber optic bundle 104 through an endoscope 102 and terminate at a series of fiber ends 121 on the distal end of the endoscope 102 (shown in FIG.\",\n \"2A).\",\n \"The fiber ends 121 emit illuminating photons to illuminate a sample 100 to produce a plurality of interacted photons 101.The interacted photons are collected by a first collection optic 231 and a second collection optic 233.The first collection optic 231 collects a first portion of the interacted photons 101 and passes these photons on to a first Multivariate Optical Element “MOE” filter 237 which filters the first portion of the interacted photons 101 to generate a first portion of filtered photons.\",\n \"The first portion of filtered photons is detected by a first detector 241.Further, the second collection optic 233 collects a second portion of the interacted photons 101 and passes these photons on to a second MOE filter 238 to generate a second portion of filtered photons.\",\n \"The second portion of filtered photons is detected by a second detector 239.In one embodiment, the first detector 239 and the second detector 241 are CCD detectors.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the detectors 239 and 241 may comprise other suitable detectors including, for example, a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor, a (CMOS) detector, an indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) detector, a platinum silicide (PtSi) detector, an indium antimonide (“InSb”) detector, a mercury cadmium telluride (“HgCdTe”) detector, or combinations thereof.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the first MOE filter 237 may be configured to generate a first filtered passband.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the first MOE filter 237 is configured to generate a first filtered passband consistent with a randomized target or background.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the second MOE filter 238 may be configured to generate a second filtered passband consistent with the target or sample 100.In embodiments where the first MOE filter 231 is configured to generate a first filtered passband corresponding to a randomized target or background, the second MOE filter 238 may be configured to generate a second filtered passband corresponding to a target or sample.\",\n \"This type of embodiment permits discrimination of both a target and a background.\",\n \"MOEs are typically known in the art.\",\n \"An MOE features wide-band, optical interference filters encoded with an application-specific regression (or pattern) specific to a target.\",\n \"MOEs provide multivariate optical computing by performing the optical computation based on the pattern of the filter.\",\n \"In other words, MOEs are uniquely tuned to the pattern that needs to be measured using multivariate analysis on the filter as opposed to capturing multiple measurements at different wavelengths to estimate the full spectrum of a target and processing this information by applying multivariate statistics to the spectrum.\",\n \"Thus, MOEs increase throughput and efficiency over conventional filters, which can increase the speed of analysis.\",\n \"Suitable MOEs would be apparent to those of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.\",\n \"The first detector 241 is configured to detect the first filtered passband from the first MOE filter 237 to generate a first image data set (T1), and the second detector 239 is configured to detect the second filtered passband from the second MOE filter 238 to generate a second image data set (T2).\",\n \"The first image data set and the second image data set may be further analyzed, as set forth below.\",\n \"Modulating Illumination Source Signal The following embodiments feature modulating the illumination source signal prior to interaction with a sample.\",\n \"System Having a Conformal Filter Arrangement FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an illumination source 103 configured to generate illuminating photons which are transmitted through a filter 305.In one embodiment, the filter 305 comprises a conformal filter, as disclosed herein.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the filter 305 may comprise other filters, such as a liquid crystal tunable filter (“LCTF”), or filters as would be apparent to those of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the filter 305 may include a multi-conjugate filter.\",\n \"The filter 305 is controlled by a controller (not shown) that is configured to switch the filter configuration to pass first multi-passband wavelengths (Σλ1) and subsequently be switched to configure the filter to pass a second multi-passband wavelengths (Σλ2).\",\n \"In one embodiment, the rate at which the controller switches between the two states is on a millisecond order of magnitude.\",\n \"The filter 305 transmits each multi-passband wavelengths, Σλ1 and Σλ2, through a fiber optic bundle 309 to the distal end of an endoscope 102 where each multi-passband wavelengths exits the distal end of the endoscope 102 via fiber ends 321, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"3A, to illuminate the sample 100 and produce interacted photons 329.The interacted photons 329 are collected by a first detector 331 and a second detector 335 located on the distal end of the endoscope 102.The detectors 331 and 335 of the illustrated embodiment comprise CCD detectors.\",\n \"However, other detectors, such as disclosed herein, may be employed.\",\n \"The first detector 331 may be configured to detect substantially only the first multi-passband wavelengths.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the first detector 331 may be timed, i.e., turned off and on, to detect the first multi-passband wavelengths concurrent with the filter 305 transmitting the first multi-passband wavelengths.\",\n \"Likewise, the second detector 335 may be configured to detect substantially only the second multi-passband wavelengths.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the second detector 335 may be timed, i.e., turned off and on, to detect the second multi-passband wavelengths concurrent with the filter 305 transmitting the second multi-passband wavelengths.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the timing sequence of the modulation between the first multi-passband wavelengths and the second multi-passband wavelengths and the detection of the first multi-passband wavelengths and the second multi-passband wavelengths with the corresponding detector may be controlled by the controller (not shown).\",\n \"The first detector 231 detects the first multi-passband wavelengths and generates a first image data set (T1) and the second detector detects the second multi-passband wavelengths and generates a second image data set (T2).\",\n \"In one embodiment, the first image data set and the second image data set may be further analyzed as set forth below.\",\n \"System Having a Conformal Filters in Dual Polarization Arrangement FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates another embodiment of illumination source modulation.\",\n \"In this embodiment, an illumination source 103 generates an optical signal that is transmitted through a polarizing beam splitter 405 which splits the optical signal into a first polarization signal and a second polarization signal.\",\n \"The first polarization signal is transmitted to a first filter 409, and the second polarization signal is transmitted to a second filter 411.In one embodiment, the first filter 409 and the second filter 411 each comprise conformal filter, as described herein.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the first filter 409 and second filter 411 comprise an LCTF.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the first filter 409 and the second filter 411 each may comprise a multi-conjugate filter.\",\n \"The first filter 409 is configured to filter the first polarization signal and transmit a first multi-passband wavelengths (Σλ1), and the second filter 411 is configured to filter the second polarization signal and transmit second multi-passband wavelengths (Σλ2).\",\n \"The first multi-passband wavelengths and the second multi-passband wavelengths are transmitted from their respective filters 409, 411 to the distal end of an endoscope 102 via a first fiber optic bundle 417 and second fiber optic bundle 419.In one embodiment, the first fiber optic bundle 417 and the second fiber optic bundle 419 comprise a polarization-maintaining fiber optic bundle.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4A and FIG.\",\n \"4B illustrate different embodiments of the distal end of the endoscope 102.The first fiber bundle 417 and a the second fiber bundle 419 traverse through the endoscope 102 to the distal end.\",\n \"The first fiber bundle 417 terminates at first fiber ends 423 and the second fiber bundle 417 terminates at second fiber ends 425.FIG.\",\n \"4A illustrates one exemplary arrangement of the first fiber ends 423 with respect to the second fiber ends 425.In this embodiment, the first fiber ends 423 are distributed together on one side of the distal end of the endoscope 102 and the second fiber ends 425 are distributed together on the other side of the distal end of the endoscope 102.In FIG.\",\n \"4B, another embodiment is shown where the first fiber ends 423 and the second fiber ends 425 alternate around the distal end of the endoscope 102.Suitable arrangements of the fiber ends would be apparent to those of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.\",\n \"The sample 100 is illuminated from the multi-first passband wavelengths and the second multi-passband wavelengths emitting from the first fiber ends 423 and the second fiber ends 425, respectively, to generate interacted photons 435.The interacted photons 435 are detected by a first detector 437 and a second detector 441 disposed on the distal end of the endoscope 102.In the illustrated embodiment, the first detector 437 and the second detector 441 are CCD detectors.\",\n \"However, other suitable detectors, such as those disclosed herein, may be employed and such detectors would be apparent to one of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the first fiber bundle 417 and the second fiber bundle 419 comprise polarization maintaining fiber bundles.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, polarizers (not shown) may be disposed in front of the detectors 437 and 441, which are arranged for stereovision, and configured to differentiate between a T1 state and a T2 state on the basis of polarization.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the first detector 437 is configured to detect substantially only interacted photons generated from the first multi-passband wavelengths, and the second detector 441 is configured to detect substantially only interacted photons generated from the second multi-passband wavelengths.\",\n \"As such, the location of the first fiber ends 423 and second fiber ends 425 with respect to the first detector 437 and the second detector 441 can be arranged to optimize the detection of the interacted photons corresponding to the first multi-passband wavelengths by the first detector 437 and the interacted photons corresponding to second multi-passband wavelengths by the second detector 441.Once the first detector 437 and the second detector 441 detect the interacted photons 435, the first detector 437 is configured to generate a first image data set (T1), and the second detector 441 is configured to generate a second image data set (T2).\",\n \"In one embodiment, the first image data set and the second image data set may be further analyzed.\",\n \"System Having an Acousto-Optic Filter Arrangement FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an embodiment of the instant disclosure employing an acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF).\",\n \"This embodiment features an illumination source 103 to generate illuminating photons for illuminating a sample 100.A filter 507 is configured to filter photons emitted from the illumination source 103.In one embodiment, the filter 507 comprises an AOTF in which the AOTF transmits a single passband wavelength.\",\n \"To achieve a >10 fps sampling rate, the AOTF is rapidly switched between target vs background passband wavelengths.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the filter comprises a conformal filter based on AOTF technology in which the AOTF transmits multi-passband wavelengths simultaneously.\",\n \"To switch between T1 and T2 states, the conformal filter AOTF is switched in series with microsecond switching speeds.\",\n \"In other embodiments, multiple conformal AOTFs may be employed in which the T1 and T2 states are selected simultaneously.\",\n \"In embodiments employing multiple acousto-optic filters, each filter may be tuned to various wavelengths where each filter transmits different multi-passband wavelengths simultaneously.\",\n \"Acousto-optic filters are known in the art and, generally, operate by passing a beam of source light through a substrate, typically quartz.\",\n \"The substrate is vibrated by a piezoelectric transducer modulator.\",\n \"An RF frequency is applied to the modulator, causing the substrate to vibrate.\",\n \"Source light or radiation is passed through the vibrating substrate, which causes the source light passing through the substrate to diffract, thus creating a filter gradient for the source light.\",\n \"The source light emitted from the acousto-optic filter can be filtered to a desired passband wavelength by the RF frequency applied to the piezoelectric transducer.\",\n \"Details on the operation of an acousto-optic filter are described in more detail in Turner, John F. and Treado, Patrick J.\",\n \"“Near-Infrared Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter Hadamard Transform Spectroscopy” Applied Spectroscopy, 50.2 (1996), 277-284, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.\",\n \"The passband wavelength transmitted from the filter 507 is transmitted to the distal end of an endoscope 102 through a fiber optic bundle 515.FIG.\",\n \"5A illustrates the distal end of the endoscope 102 and features a plurality of fiber ends 519 from the fiber optic bundle 515.The fiber ends 519 transmit the passband wavelength from the filter 507 to illuminate the sample 100 to produce interacted photons 521 which are detected by a first detector 525 and a second detector 529 located on the distal end of the endoscope 102.In one embodiment, only one detector is used, i.e., the first detector 525, to detect a plurality of the interacted photons 521.In another embodiment, the interacted photons 521 are detected by both detectors 525 and 529.In another embodiment, a plurality of acousto-optic filters are employed and generate a first passband wavelength and a second passband wavelength.\",\n \"The first detector 525 may be configured to detect the first passband wavelength and generate a first image data set (T1), and the second detector 529 may be configured to detect the second passband wavelength and generate a second image data set (T2).\",\n \"In one embodiment, the first image data set and the second image data set may be further analyzed as set forth below.\",\n \"System Having an MOE Filter Wheel Arrangement FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates another embodiment according to the instant disclosure.\",\n \"An illumination source 103 generates illuminating photons which are transmitted to a filter wheel 605 where the illuminating photons are filtered to generate filtered photons.\",\n \"The filter wheel 605 comprises a plurality of filter elements 609.In one embodiment, each filter element 605 comprises an MOE.\",\n \"Suitable MOEs for use in the instant disclosure are known in the art and described herein.\",\n \"Each filter element 609 may be different and each filter element may be configured to filter and transmit a different passband wavelength.\",\n \"For example, filter element 609a may be configured to transmit a wavelength corresponding to a background, such as a specific type of tissue or anatomical structure, and filter element 609b may be configured to transmit a passband wavelength corresponding to an anomaly in a tissue sample, such as a cancerous tumor on the tissue.\",\n \"In this type of embodiment, the filter wheel 605 can be rotated during a surgical procedure to assist a surgeon in distinguishing normal tissue from cancerous tissue.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the filter elements 609 are configured to detect a plurality of different samples.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the filter elements 609 are configured to discriminate background tissue from an anatomical structure such as a ureter.\",\n \"The filtered photons are transmitted via a fiber optic bundle 603 to the distal end of the endoscope 102 and exit the distal end of the endoscope through a plurality of fiber ends 621 as shown in FIG.\",\n \"6A.\",\n \"The filtered photons illuminate the sample 100 and generate a plurality of interacted photons 601.The interacted photons 601 are detected by a one or more detectors 619, and the one or more detectors 619 is configured to generate an image data set (T1).\",\n \"In one embodiment, the image data set may be further analyzed, as set forth below.\",\n \"System Having a Patterned Etalon Filter Arrangement FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates another embodiment of the instant disclosure.\",\n \"Illumination source 103 generates illuminating photons which are transmitted through a fiber optic bundle 104 to the distal end of the endoscope 102 to fiber ends 121.Illuminating photons exit the fiber ends 121 and illuminate the sample 100 and generate interacted photons 101 from the sample 100.The interacted photons 101 are detected by a first detector 705 and a second detector 707 disposed on the distal end of the endoscope 102.In one embodiment, the first detector 705 and the second detector 707 comprise hyperspectral cameras.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the detectors 705 and 707 comprise a Fabry-Perot interferometric (patterned etalon) filter configuration disposed on each pixel of the detector.\",\n \"Suitable examples of patterned etalon filter arrangements and associated detectors are available from Ximea Corporation.\",\n \"The filter on each pixel is configured to transmit one or more passband wavelengths for each pixel.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the first detector 705 comprises a patterned etalon filter arrangement in a mosaic snapshot arrangement.\",\n \"A mosaic snapshot can be acquired over 1088×2048 pixels.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the mosaic snapshot comprises a 4×4 mosaic having 16 wavelength bands.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the mosaic snapshot comprises a snapshot of the sample from 465-630 nm at 11 nm intervals.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the mosaic snapshot may comprise a 5×5 mosaic having 25 bands over a wavelength range from about 600 to 1,000 nm.\",\n \"The mosaic snapshot may include a spatial resolution per band of about 512×272 with up to 2 megapixels with interpolation and may collect up to 170 data-cubes/sec.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the first detector 705 and the second detector 707 may comprise a patterned etalon filter arrangement for obtaining a snapshot tiled configuration.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the snapshot tiled configuration transmits a passband wavelength at each pixel.\",\n \"The patterned etalon snapshot tiled filter configuration can acquire up to 1088×2048 pixels.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the tiled snapshot has a spectral resolution of up to 32 bands and can detect wavelengths ranging from 600-1,000 nm over 12 incremental steps.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the spatial resolution per band is about 256×256.In another embodiment, the tiled snapshot may detect up to 170 data-cubes/sec.\",\n \"The patterned etalon filter arrangement may also be customized to generate a predetermined response based on the sample to be analyzed and the result desired.\",\n \"Such customization would be apparent to one of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the first detector 705 and the second detector 707 comprise IMEC mosaic filter arrangements.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the patterned etalon mosaic filter arrangements of the first detector 705 and the second detector 707 are configured to transmit one or more different wavelength bands at each pixel.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the first detector 705 and the second detector 707 comprise patterned etalon tiled filter arrangements.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the patterned etalon tiled filter arrangements of the first detector 705 and the second detector 707 are configured to detect a different wavelength band at each pixel.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the second detector is eliminated and the embodiment employs the first detector 705 having either a snapshot mosaic patterned etalon filter arrangement or a snapshot tiled patterned etalon filter arrangement.\",\n \"The detectors 705 and 707 are configured to generate one or more image data sets for each passband wavelength transmitted from the filter arrangements.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the detectors 705 and 707 are configured to generate a first image data set (T1) and a second image data set (T2).\",\n \"In one embodiment, the image data sets may be further analyzed, as set forth below.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment, an illumination source may be configured to generate illuminating photons at specific wavelengths.\",\n \"For example, the illumination source may comprise a plurality of LEDs where a first portion of the LEDs are configured to generate a first wavelength and a second portion of the LEDs are configured to generate a second wavelength for illuminating a sample.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, a first detector may be configured to detect interacted photons from the first wavelength and generate a first image data set (T1), and a second detector may be configured to detect interacted photons from the second wavelength and generate a second image data set (T2).\",\n \"Other illumination sources or arrangements may be employed which are capable of producing illuminating photons at a plurality of wavelengths.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the illumination source comprises a modulating laser which is capable of generating multiple wavelengths.\",\n \"The image data sets described herein may comprise one or more of an ultraviolet (UV) image data set, fluorescence image data set, a visible (VIS) image data set, a Raman image data set, a near-infrared (NIR) image data set, a short-wave infrared (SWIR) data set, a mid-infrared (MIR) data set, and a long-wave infrared (LWIR) data set.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the image data set comprises a hyperspectral image data set.\",\n \"The image data sets of the instant disclosure may further be analyzed.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the systems disclosed herein may include a fiber array spectral translator (FAST).\",\n \"Suitable FAST devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,098,373 to Nelson et al., entitled SPATIALLY AND SPECTRALLY PARALLELIZED FIBER ARRAY SPECTRAL TRANSLATOR SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE, filed Apr.\",\n \"13, 2010 and assigned to Chemimage Corporation, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the systems disclosed herein may comprise a processor and a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium in operable communication with the processor.\",\n \"The storage medium may contain one or more programming instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to analyze the image data sets.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the analysis may comprise applying an optical computation to the data set.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the optical computation may comprise one or more of T1, and (T1-T2)/(T1+T2).\",\n \"Other optical computations known in the art may be applied.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the analysis may comprise applying one or more chemometric techniques to the image data sets.\",\n \"The chemometric analysis may comprise one or more of a multivariate curve resolution analysis, a principle component analysis (PCA), a partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA), a k means clustering analysis, a band t entropy analysis, an adaptive subspace detector analysis, a cosine correlation analysis, a Euclidian distance analysis, a partial least squares regression analysis, a spectral mixture resolution analysis, a spectral angle mapper metric analysis, a spectral information divergence metric analysis, a Mahalanobis distance metric analysis, and spectral unmixing analysis.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the processor may be configured to control operation of the system.\",\n \"For example, in embodiments where a tunable filter is employed, the process may be configured to cause the a controller to apply voltages to the tunable filter to obtain the desired passband transmission.\",\n \"Further, the processor may be configured to control timing of an illumination source and detectors so that the correct detector is in operation for the specific illumination.\",\n \"Other processor configurations are contemplated and would be apparent to one of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.\",\n \"The systems according to the instant disclosure may further include a display.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the display may include one or more results from one or more of the detectors.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the display may include one or more results from the analysis of the processor.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the display may include one or more results from one or more of the detectors and one or more results from the analysis of the processor.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15932435"}}},{"rowIdx":4495095,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["TOURNIQUET","A tourniquet with two locking, two release and two tension mechanisms that occludes blood flow in extremities, but can also be used as a pressure strap to hold gauze over wounds on different part of the body including torso."],["1.-23.","(canceled) 24.A tourniquet with two locking, two release and two tension mechanisms that occludes blood flow in extremities, but can also be used as a pressure strap to hold gauze over wounds on different part of the body including torso.","25.The tourniquet of claim 24, including: a first locking and tension mechanism comprising a strap that has serrated teeth all along the length of the strap; a head that has an automatic locking mechanism in the form of teeth that interlock with teeth on the strap; a second locking and tension mechanism comprising: a tension bar, a buckle, and a windlass locking mechanism.","26.The tourniquet of claim 25, wherein the strap with serrated teeth is attached to a plastic plate that also has attached to it a buckle and clips that hold a windlass rod.","27.The tourniquet of claim 26, wherein the buckle is attached to another buckle by fabric material which then the fabric material is threaded into a plastic plate to give support to locking mechanism, the fabric material passes through the tension bar, and the other end of material is attached to another buckle that attaches to the locking head of the automatic locking mechanism.","28.The tourniquet of claim 27, wherein the fabric material is also attached to a tension bar when the tension bar is twisted it draws inward the fabric material and the strap causing more circumference pressure around the object or extremities which causes occlusion of blood flow, so that the more the tension bar is twisted the tighter the tourniquet becomes around the limb.","29.The tourniquet of claim 25, wherein attached to the buckle are two clip mechanisms to store tension rod.","30.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the tourniquet has a double locking mechanism first locking mechanism is the interlocking of strap teeth with the teeth in head, the second is a windlass mechanism, both are used to tighten tourniquet pressure around limb to occlude blood flow.","31.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the end of strap (tail) has a liquid timer strip; it automatically activated when reservoir of timer is ruptured when it passes through mouth of head, it can also be activated by manually pressing down on reservoir with finger, and the timer informs user the length of time the tourniquet has been on.","32.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the tourniquet can also be used as a tactical tool to bound limbs and carry equipment.","33.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the tourniquet is equipped with a body sensor that can read vital signs of body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen level, and the device can also detect if a victim is going into shock from loss of blood.","34.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the tourniquet is equipped with a transceiver and GPS receiver that can transmit victim's voice and vital signs to a remote location.","35.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the tourniquet strap is constructed so two tourniquets can be connected together to form one larger tourniquet.","36.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the strap has a chemical patch attached to it, which can be self-activated by the victim; the patch can be, but not limited to morphine lanacane etc.","for relief of tourniquet pain or from wound.","37.The tourniquet of claim 24, the tourniquet has a visible light or infrared light so it can only be visible with infrared device.","38.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the tourniquet can be stored and packaged in a ready to deploy position, which allows the user to remove tourniquet from packaging using only one hand and slipping the tourniquet on to the limb and tightening, this is accomplished by storing tourniquet tail into mouth of locking head.","39.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the teeth on strap are distanced in millimeters which allows for slight tension adjustment, for partial or full occlusion, also eliminates over tightening that causes pain and possible broken bones.","40.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the material used for strap, is bullet, oil, dirt, water resistant and self-sealing.","41.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein two tourniquets can be connected together to make one larger tourniquet to be used on torso area to hold pressure dressings or to hold in place fractured hip, to use as a junction tourniquet.","42.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein built into the locking head mechanism is a one finger safety release lever to disengage locking teeth in head with teeth on strap and release of pressure.","43.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the tourniquet has a UV inhibitor."],["<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention is directed to tourniquets, and, more particularly, to tourniquets with a windlass tightening mechanism and other accessories.","We now live in a post 911 environment in a World where violent threats and terrorist attacks are literally knocking at our door; school mass shooting, bombings, vehicle attacks is the reality of today.","These attacks cause trauma wounds and hemorrhaging to the extremities and in some cases loss of limb if not immediately treated, the victim will die from blood loss within 90 seconds to 5 minutes.","The White House and Homeland Security has begun a campaign called “Stop the Bleed” it calls for Worldwide distribution of tourniquets to be placed in school, vehicles, first responders, office buildings, airports, stadiums, outdoor events, all law enforcement and everywhere there are first aid kits and defibrillators.","The current tourniquet in use today require prior training in order to apply properly, the current application time is at least 5 minutes, a tourniquet is needed that anyone can apply within a few seconds, a tourniquet that a bystander can apply to a victim without prior training, because no matter how fast a first responder arrives, the bystander will always be first on the scene.","The current invention is the first tourniquet that can be applied within seconds; its familiar design similar to a zip tie, allows almost anyone to be able to apply it.","Its water, oil and temperature resistant, it's been tested and approved by Homeland Security and first responders.","It's also the first tourniquet that has an automatic timer that informs first responders how long the tourniquet was applied to help prevent tissue and muscle damage.","A windlass tightening mechanism is described in U.S. Pat.","No.","7,842,067 see Esposito Nov. 30, 2010.In accordance with the present invention, Esposito tourniquet has an inner strap, that the windlass tension bar pulls in and tightens tourniquet.","Esposito also uses fabric material for the tourniquet strap FIG.","2 # 14 , line 26 “pull the inner strap” as other prior art, the tourniquet strap when made with Velcro which will fail if the Velcro becomes wet, dirty or is exposed to oil, also Velcro is not resistant to high heat or extreme cold.","Rex McDonald U.S. Pat.","No.","8,926,651B2 describes a Windlass Tourniquet that also uses Velcro as a strap."],["<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention has the following features that make it unique: Has a double locking and tension mechanism.","The S.T.A.T.","Tourniquet is designed to interlock with 2 or more extra tourniquets to form one large tourniquet that can be used on the torso to hold pressure on gauze over wound forming a pressure strap.","S.T.A.T.","Tourniquet pressure strap can support fractured hips, skull fractures, or to help occlude abdominal bleeding.","Can be worn on Molle compatible gear.","Self-activating liquid timing strip.","2 tension release levers."],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C.","§ 119(e) to Provisional Application Ser.","Nos.","62/496,016, filed on Oct. 3, 2016; 62/496,017, filed on Oct. 3, 2016; and 62/496,018, filed on Oct. 3, 2016, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.","BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to tourniquets, and, more particularly, to tourniquets with a windlass tightening mechanism and other accessories.","We now live in a post 911 environment in a World where violent threats and terrorist attacks are literally knocking at our door; school mass shooting, bombings, vehicle attacks is the reality of today.","These attacks cause trauma wounds and hemorrhaging to the extremities and in some cases loss of limb if not immediately treated, the victim will die from blood loss within 90 seconds to 5 minutes.","The White House and Homeland Security has begun a campaign called “Stop the Bleed” it calls for Worldwide distribution of tourniquets to be placed in school, vehicles, first responders, office buildings, airports, stadiums, outdoor events, all law enforcement and everywhere there are first aid kits and defibrillators.","The current tourniquet in use today require prior training in order to apply properly, the current application time is at least 5 minutes, a tourniquet is needed that anyone can apply within a few seconds, a tourniquet that a bystander can apply to a victim without prior training, because no matter how fast a first responder arrives, the bystander will always be first on the scene.","The current invention is the first tourniquet that can be applied within seconds; its familiar design similar to a zip tie, allows almost anyone to be able to apply it.","Its water, oil and temperature resistant, it's been tested and approved by Homeland Security and first responders.","It's also the first tourniquet that has an automatic timer that informs first responders how long the tourniquet was applied to help prevent tissue and muscle damage.","A windlass tightening mechanism is described in U.S. Pat.","No.","7,842,067 see Esposito Nov. 30, 2010.In accordance with the present invention, Esposito tourniquet has an inner strap, that the windlass tension bar pulls in and tightens tourniquet.","Esposito also uses fabric material for the tourniquet strap FIG.","2 #14, line 26 “pull the inner strap” as other prior art, the tourniquet strap when made with Velcro which will fail if the Velcro becomes wet, dirty or is exposed to oil, also Velcro is not resistant to high heat or extreme cold.","Rex McDonald U.S. Pat.","No.","8,926,651B2 describes a Windlass Tourniquet that also uses Velcro as a strap.","SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has the following features that make it unique: Has a double locking and tension mechanism.","The S.T.A.T.","Tourniquet is designed to interlock with 2 or more extra tourniquets to form one large tourniquet that can be used on the torso to hold pressure on gauze over wound forming a pressure strap.","S.T.A.T.","Tourniquet pressure strap can support fractured hips, skull fractures, or to help occlude abdominal bleeding.","Can be worn on Molle compatible gear.","Self-activating liquid timing strip.","2 tension release levers.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING(S) FIG.","1 is a perspective of a tourniquet in accordance with the present invention.","FIG.","2 shows one side of the strap component of the tourniquet of FIG.","1.FIG.","3 is another perspective of the tourniquet of FIG.","1 with the leading edge folded over.","FIG.","4 is another perspective of the tourniquet of FIG.","1, showing its initial insertion into the head component.","FIG.","5 is a perspective of the windlass tensioning mechanism of the tourniquet of FIG.","1.FIG.","6 shows a cross section through the head component of the tourniquet of FIG.","1.FIG.","7 shows a side view of the tourniquet of FIG.","1.FIG.","8 shows another perspective of the tourniquet of FIG.","1.FIG.","9 shows a top view of the tourniquet of FIG.","1.Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention which refers to the accompanying drawings.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION In FIG.","1: #101 is the Windlass Locking and tension assembly; #100 is the 2nd locking and tension adjustment head; #6 is the serrated strap of the tourniquet; #9 is the automatic timer; #10 is the finger hole; #11 is the tail of strap; #63 is the buckle that attaches to the strap and plastic plate #151; #61 is the fabric material that connects to Windlass rod #60; #62 are the clips that hold Windlass rod #60; #150 is the buckle that connects to #151 plastic plate and locking head #2; #12 is a protruding mechanism that holds extra strap slack, it also serves as a safety cover over #5 release cover; and #155 is the non-slip finger grips.","In FIG.","6: #2 is the locking head; #156 is the locking teeth that strap teeth interlock with; #5 is the release lever that disengages locking teeth in the head with strap teeth #7; #90 is where strap is inserted; #71 keeps strap #6 straight, so strap evenly locks with teeth #156; #12 is the protruding mechanism that holds extra slack of the strap; #90 is where strap #11 is inserted; and #14 sleeve that covers the Windlass locking mechanism.","FIG.","6 shows a side view of locking head #101.FIG.","4 shows strap #6 entering the locking head #2.FIG.","1 shows the Windlass mechanism #101 and locking head #100 assembly.","FIG.","2 shows the complete tourniquet laid flat and direction of tension bar turning.","FIG.","3 shows strap #6 in slack holder #12, it also shows the timer #9.FIGS.","8, 9, and 7 show a different design tourniquet where there is a sleeve over windlass assembly #101.FIG.","7 shows a side view of tourniquet with windlass sleeve #14.FIG.","5 shows tourniquet with windlass sleeve #14 and fabric material inserted into windlass tension rod.","The present invention eliminates the inner fabric and Velcro, and only tightens the plastic strap 6 FIG.","1.In addition to the windlass tension mechanism.","The present invention has a second tension mechanism to tighten the tourniquet, it uses male teeth in head 90 FIG.","6 and interlocks with female teeth 7 on strap FIG.","1, to interlock with each other; female teeth on strap are only half of a millimeter spacing allow for gradual increase in tension by pulling strap away from head increases tension, tension adjustments in millimeters eliminating over tightening which causes pain, and in some cases the victim (If a child) can break bones.","The tourniquet is also able to ratchet it down to fit the circumference of children, or the elderly.","In order to use the tourniquet, the strap is placed around the limb, the tail #11 of strap is inserted into #90 of locking head #2, the teeth #7 on strap interlock with teeth in the head #156 of FIG.","6.Extra slack of the strap is placed into holder #12; ifs also used as a safety cover for #5 the release lever.","In FIG.","3 to increase circumference tension of strap around the limb, tail #11 is pulled away from the head.","Should blood flow not stop then the Windlass rod #60 would be turned which would pull the fabric material #61 and strap #6 inward which would increase the tourniquet tension; once desired tension is accomplished, Windlass rod is stored in clip #62.In order to release tension wither the Windlass rod #60 is removed from clip #62 and unwound, or release lever #5 can be pulled backward to disengage the teeth on strap with teeth in the head.","According to the present invention, when tourniquet strap teeth engage with teeth in the head an audible sound can be heard to verify tourniquet has been properly applied.","According to the present invention, the locking head has a triple locking mechanism with teeth in the head that engage with teeth on the strap.","According to the present invention, the strap is made of a plastic material, which is flexible and can withstand temperatures of below 0 degrees and up to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.","Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art.","It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"TOURNIQUET\",\n \"A tourniquet with two locking, two release and two tension mechanisms that occludes blood flow in extremities, but can also be used as a pressure strap to hold gauze over wounds on different part of the body including torso.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.-23.\",\n \"(canceled) 24.A tourniquet with two locking, two release and two tension mechanisms that occludes blood flow in extremities, but can also be used as a pressure strap to hold gauze over wounds on different part of the body including torso.\",\n \"25.The tourniquet of claim 24, including: a first locking and tension mechanism comprising a strap that has serrated teeth all along the length of the strap; a head that has an automatic locking mechanism in the form of teeth that interlock with teeth on the strap; a second locking and tension mechanism comprising: a tension bar, a buckle, and a windlass locking mechanism.\",\n \"26.The tourniquet of claim 25, wherein the strap with serrated teeth is attached to a plastic plate that also has attached to it a buckle and clips that hold a windlass rod.\",\n \"27.The tourniquet of claim 26, wherein the buckle is attached to another buckle by fabric material which then the fabric material is threaded into a plastic plate to give support to locking mechanism, the fabric material passes through the tension bar, and the other end of material is attached to another buckle that attaches to the locking head of the automatic locking mechanism.\",\n \"28.The tourniquet of claim 27, wherein the fabric material is also attached to a tension bar when the tension bar is twisted it draws inward the fabric material and the strap causing more circumference pressure around the object or extremities which causes occlusion of blood flow, so that the more the tension bar is twisted the tighter the tourniquet becomes around the limb.\",\n \"29.The tourniquet of claim 25, wherein attached to the buckle are two clip mechanisms to store tension rod.\",\n \"30.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the tourniquet has a double locking mechanism first locking mechanism is the interlocking of strap teeth with the teeth in head, the second is a windlass mechanism, both are used to tighten tourniquet pressure around limb to occlude blood flow.\",\n \"31.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the end of strap (tail) has a liquid timer strip; it automatically activated when reservoir of timer is ruptured when it passes through mouth of head, it can also be activated by manually pressing down on reservoir with finger, and the timer informs user the length of time the tourniquet has been on.\",\n \"32.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the tourniquet can also be used as a tactical tool to bound limbs and carry equipment.\",\n \"33.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the tourniquet is equipped with a body sensor that can read vital signs of body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen level, and the device can also detect if a victim is going into shock from loss of blood.\",\n \"34.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the tourniquet is equipped with a transceiver and GPS receiver that can transmit victim's voice and vital signs to a remote location.\",\n \"35.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the tourniquet strap is constructed so two tourniquets can be connected together to form one larger tourniquet.\",\n \"36.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the strap has a chemical patch attached to it, which can be self-activated by the victim; the patch can be, but not limited to morphine lanacane etc.\",\n \"for relief of tourniquet pain or from wound.\",\n \"37.The tourniquet of claim 24, the tourniquet has a visible light or infrared light so it can only be visible with infrared device.\",\n \"38.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the tourniquet can be stored and packaged in a ready to deploy position, which allows the user to remove tourniquet from packaging using only one hand and slipping the tourniquet on to the limb and tightening, this is accomplished by storing tourniquet tail into mouth of locking head.\",\n \"39.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the teeth on strap are distanced in millimeters which allows for slight tension adjustment, for partial or full occlusion, also eliminates over tightening that causes pain and possible broken bones.\",\n \"40.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the material used for strap, is bullet, oil, dirt, water resistant and self-sealing.\",\n \"41.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein two tourniquets can be connected together to make one larger tourniquet to be used on torso area to hold pressure dressings or to hold in place fractured hip, to use as a junction tourniquet.\",\n \"42.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein built into the locking head mechanism is a one finger safety release lever to disengage locking teeth in head with teeth on strap and release of pressure.\",\n \"43.The tourniquet of claim 24, wherein the tourniquet has a UV inhibitor.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention is directed to tourniquets, and, more particularly, to tourniquets with a windlass tightening mechanism and other accessories.\",\n \"We now live in a post 911 environment in a World where violent threats and terrorist attacks are literally knocking at our door; school mass shooting, bombings, vehicle attacks is the reality of today.\",\n \"These attacks cause trauma wounds and hemorrhaging to the extremities and in some cases loss of limb if not immediately treated, the victim will die from blood loss within 90 seconds to 5 minutes.\",\n \"The White House and Homeland Security has begun a campaign called “Stop the Bleed” it calls for Worldwide distribution of tourniquets to be placed in school, vehicles, first responders, office buildings, airports, stadiums, outdoor events, all law enforcement and everywhere there are first aid kits and defibrillators.\",\n \"The current tourniquet in use today require prior training in order to apply properly, the current application time is at least 5 minutes, a tourniquet is needed that anyone can apply within a few seconds, a tourniquet that a bystander can apply to a victim without prior training, because no matter how fast a first responder arrives, the bystander will always be first on the scene.\",\n \"The current invention is the first tourniquet that can be applied within seconds; its familiar design similar to a zip tie, allows almost anyone to be able to apply it.\",\n \"Its water, oil and temperature resistant, it's been tested and approved by Homeland Security and first responders.\",\n \"It's also the first tourniquet that has an automatic timer that informs first responders how long the tourniquet was applied to help prevent tissue and muscle damage.\",\n \"A windlass tightening mechanism is described in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"7,842,067 see Esposito Nov. 30, 2010.In accordance with the present invention, Esposito tourniquet has an inner strap, that the windlass tension bar pulls in and tightens tourniquet.\",\n \"Esposito also uses fabric material for the tourniquet strap FIG.\",\n \"2 # 14 , line 26 “pull the inner strap” as other prior art, the tourniquet strap when made with Velcro which will fail if the Velcro becomes wet, dirty or is exposed to oil, also Velcro is not resistant to high heat or extreme cold.\",\n \"Rex McDonald U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,926,651B2 describes a Windlass Tourniquet that also uses Velcro as a strap.\"\n ],\n [\n \"<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention has the following features that make it unique: Has a double locking and tension mechanism.\",\n \"The S.T.A.T.\",\n \"Tourniquet is designed to interlock with 2 or more extra tourniquets to form one large tourniquet that can be used on the torso to hold pressure on gauze over wound forming a pressure strap.\",\n \"S.T.A.T.\",\n \"Tourniquet pressure strap can support fractured hips, skull fractures, or to help occlude abdominal bleeding.\",\n \"Can be worn on Molle compatible gear.\",\n \"Self-activating liquid timing strip.\",\n \"2 tension release levers.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"§ 119(e) to Provisional Application Ser.\",\n \"Nos.\",\n \"62/496,016, filed on Oct. 3, 2016; 62/496,017, filed on Oct. 3, 2016; and 62/496,018, filed on Oct. 3, 2016, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.\",\n \"BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to tourniquets, and, more particularly, to tourniquets with a windlass tightening mechanism and other accessories.\",\n \"We now live in a post 911 environment in a World where violent threats and terrorist attacks are literally knocking at our door; school mass shooting, bombings, vehicle attacks is the reality of today.\",\n \"These attacks cause trauma wounds and hemorrhaging to the extremities and in some cases loss of limb if not immediately treated, the victim will die from blood loss within 90 seconds to 5 minutes.\",\n \"The White House and Homeland Security has begun a campaign called “Stop the Bleed” it calls for Worldwide distribution of tourniquets to be placed in school, vehicles, first responders, office buildings, airports, stadiums, outdoor events, all law enforcement and everywhere there are first aid kits and defibrillators.\",\n \"The current tourniquet in use today require prior training in order to apply properly, the current application time is at least 5 minutes, a tourniquet is needed that anyone can apply within a few seconds, a tourniquet that a bystander can apply to a victim without prior training, because no matter how fast a first responder arrives, the bystander will always be first on the scene.\",\n \"The current invention is the first tourniquet that can be applied within seconds; its familiar design similar to a zip tie, allows almost anyone to be able to apply it.\",\n \"Its water, oil and temperature resistant, it's been tested and approved by Homeland Security and first responders.\",\n \"It's also the first tourniquet that has an automatic timer that informs first responders how long the tourniquet was applied to help prevent tissue and muscle damage.\",\n \"A windlass tightening mechanism is described in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"7,842,067 see Esposito Nov. 30, 2010.In accordance with the present invention, Esposito tourniquet has an inner strap, that the windlass tension bar pulls in and tightens tourniquet.\",\n \"Esposito also uses fabric material for the tourniquet strap FIG.\",\n \"2 #14, line 26 “pull the inner strap” as other prior art, the tourniquet strap when made with Velcro which will fail if the Velcro becomes wet, dirty or is exposed to oil, also Velcro is not resistant to high heat or extreme cold.\",\n \"Rex McDonald U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,926,651B2 describes a Windlass Tourniquet that also uses Velcro as a strap.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has the following features that make it unique: Has a double locking and tension mechanism.\",\n \"The S.T.A.T.\",\n \"Tourniquet is designed to interlock with 2 or more extra tourniquets to form one large tourniquet that can be used on the torso to hold pressure on gauze over wound forming a pressure strap.\",\n \"S.T.A.T.\",\n \"Tourniquet pressure strap can support fractured hips, skull fractures, or to help occlude abdominal bleeding.\",\n \"Can be worn on Molle compatible gear.\",\n \"Self-activating liquid timing strip.\",\n \"2 tension release levers.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING(S) FIG.\",\n \"1 is a perspective of a tourniquet in accordance with the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 shows one side of the strap component of the tourniquet of FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"3 is another perspective of the tourniquet of FIG.\",\n \"1 with the leading edge folded over.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 is another perspective of the tourniquet of FIG.\",\n \"1, showing its initial insertion into the head component.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a perspective of the windlass tensioning mechanism of the tourniquet of FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"6 shows a cross section through the head component of the tourniquet of FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"7 shows a side view of the tourniquet of FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"8 shows another perspective of the tourniquet of FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"9 shows a top view of the tourniquet of FIG.\",\n \"1.Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention which refers to the accompanying drawings.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION In FIG.\",\n \"1: #101 is the Windlass Locking and tension assembly; #100 is the 2nd locking and tension adjustment head; #6 is the serrated strap of the tourniquet; #9 is the automatic timer; #10 is the finger hole; #11 is the tail of strap; #63 is the buckle that attaches to the strap and plastic plate #151; #61 is the fabric material that connects to Windlass rod #60; #62 are the clips that hold Windlass rod #60; #150 is the buckle that connects to #151 plastic plate and locking head #2; #12 is a protruding mechanism that holds extra strap slack, it also serves as a safety cover over #5 release cover; and #155 is the non-slip finger grips.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"6: #2 is the locking head; #156 is the locking teeth that strap teeth interlock with; #5 is the release lever that disengages locking teeth in the head with strap teeth #7; #90 is where strap is inserted; #71 keeps strap #6 straight, so strap evenly locks with teeth #156; #12 is the protruding mechanism that holds extra slack of the strap; #90 is where strap #11 is inserted; and #14 sleeve that covers the Windlass locking mechanism.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 shows a side view of locking head #101.FIG.\",\n \"4 shows strap #6 entering the locking head #2.FIG.\",\n \"1 shows the Windlass mechanism #101 and locking head #100 assembly.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 shows the complete tourniquet laid flat and direction of tension bar turning.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 shows strap #6 in slack holder #12, it also shows the timer #9.FIGS.\",\n \"8, 9, and 7 show a different design tourniquet where there is a sleeve over windlass assembly #101.FIG.\",\n \"7 shows a side view of tourniquet with windlass sleeve #14.FIG.\",\n \"5 shows tourniquet with windlass sleeve #14 and fabric material inserted into windlass tension rod.\",\n \"The present invention eliminates the inner fabric and Velcro, and only tightens the plastic strap 6 FIG.\",\n \"1.In addition to the windlass tension mechanism.\",\n \"The present invention has a second tension mechanism to tighten the tourniquet, it uses male teeth in head 90 FIG.\",\n \"6 and interlocks with female teeth 7 on strap FIG.\",\n \"1, to interlock with each other; female teeth on strap are only half of a millimeter spacing allow for gradual increase in tension by pulling strap away from head increases tension, tension adjustments in millimeters eliminating over tightening which causes pain, and in some cases the victim (If a child) can break bones.\",\n \"The tourniquet is also able to ratchet it down to fit the circumference of children, or the elderly.\",\n \"In order to use the tourniquet, the strap is placed around the limb, the tail #11 of strap is inserted into #90 of locking head #2, the teeth #7 on strap interlock with teeth in the head #156 of FIG.\",\n \"6.Extra slack of the strap is placed into holder #12; ifs also used as a safety cover for #5 the release lever.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"3 to increase circumference tension of strap around the limb, tail #11 is pulled away from the head.\",\n \"Should blood flow not stop then the Windlass rod #60 would be turned which would pull the fabric material #61 and strap #6 inward which would increase the tourniquet tension; once desired tension is accomplished, Windlass rod is stored in clip #62.In order to release tension wither the Windlass rod #60 is removed from clip #62 and unwound, or release lever #5 can be pulled backward to disengage the teeth on strap with teeth in the head.\",\n \"According to the present invention, when tourniquet strap teeth engage with teeth in the head an audible sound can be heard to verify tourniquet has been properly applied.\",\n \"According to the present invention, the locking head has a triple locking mechanism with teeth in the head that engage with teeth on the strap.\",\n \"According to the present invention, the strap is made of a plastic material, which is flexible and can withstand temperatures of below 0 degrees and up to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.\",\n \"Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art.\",\n \"It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.\"\n ]\n]","isConversational":false},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15932437"}}}],"truncated":false,"partial":false},"paginationData":{"pageIndex":44950,"numItemsPerPage":100,"numTotalItems":4495096,"offset":4495000,"length":100}},"jwt":"eyJhbGciOiJFZERTQSJ9.eyJyZWFkIjp0cnVlLCJwZXJtaXNzaW9ucyI6eyJyZXBvLmNvbnRlbnQucmVhZCI6dHJ1ZX0sImlhdCI6MTc3NjY1NDAwNSwic3ViIjoiL2RhdGFzZXRzL2hvd2V5L2h1cGQiLCJleHAiOjE3NzY2NTc2MDUsImlzcyI6Imh0dHBzOi8vaHVnZ2luZ2ZhY2UuY28ifQ.pA93yaNszhljvbtn1NyibJ2caWNDhiTmhALs54XaqlDyutgey10AaaPEqY4zDBUqgK3DisGYEVbA9yK-sQCXCg","displayUrls":true,"splitSizeSummaries":[{"config":"default","split":"train","numRows":4495096,"numBytesParquet":108339066781}]},"discussionsStats":{"closed":0,"open":0,"total":0},"fullWidth":true,"hasGatedAccess":true,"hasFullAccess":true,"isEmbedded":false,"savedQueries":{"community":[],"user":[]}}">
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[
[
"N-OPTIONALLY SUBSTITUTED ARYL-2-OLIGOMER-3-ALKOXYPROPIONAMIDES",
"The invention relates to (among other things) N-optionally substituted aryl-2-oligomer-3-alkoxypropionamides and compositions comprising the same.",
"A compound of the invention, when administered by any of a number of administration r... | Patent_15875864 |
[
[
"MINIATURE DEVICE HAVING AN ACOUSTIC DIAPHRAGM",
"A method of forming a device having a compliant member includes creating a membrane having one or more elastomeric layers which are at least partially cured.",
"Another elastomeric layer is provided on the membrane in an uncured state.",
"At least ... | Patent_15875866 |
[
[
"POWER TRANSMISSION SYSTEM OF VEHICLE",
"A power transmission system of a vehicle may include a first input shaft selectively connected to an engine, a second input shaft as a hollow shaft, enclosing the first input shaft without rotational interference with the first input shaft, and selectively connecte... | Patent_15875869 |
[
[
"WIRELESS ENVIRONMENTAL SENSOR",
"A wireless environmental sensor or monitoring device includes a sensor configured to detect an environmental parameter.",
"A radio module is configured to wirelessly communicate data corresponding to the detected environmental parameter to a remote system.",
"The ... | Patent_15875870 |
[
[
"METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR INTRA BLOCK COPY CODING WITH BLOCK VECTOR DERIVATION",
"Systems and methods are described for encoding and decoding video using derived block vectors as predictors in intra block copy mode.",
"In an exemplary encoding method, an encoder identifies at least a first candidate bl... | Patent_15875885 |
[
[
"SEMICONDUCTOR LIGHT-EMITTING DEVICE",
"A semiconductor light-emitting device includes a light-emitting member that includes a first semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type, a second semiconductor layer of a second conductivity type, and a light-emitting layer between the first semiconductor laye... | Patent_15875887 |
[
[
"Workpiece Support Structures and Apparatus for Accessing Same",
"A workpiece container stores at least one workpiece having a bottom surface and a peripheral edge.",
"In one embodiment, a workpiece support structure is located within the container enclosure, which forms multiple vertically stacked st... | Patent_15875890 |
[
[
"CHIMERIC INFECTIOUS DNA CLONES, CHIMERIC PORCINE CIRCOVIRUSES AND USES THEREOF",
"The present invention relates to infectious DNA clones, infectious chimeric DNA clones of porcine circovirus (PCV), vaccines and means of protecting pigs against viral infection or postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome... | Patent_15875892 |
[
[
"SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONTROLLING EMAIL ACCESS",
"Embodiments of the disclosure relate to proxying at least one email resource from at least one email service to at least one client device, determining whether the email resources are accessible to the client devices via at least one unauthorized applic... | Patent_15875893 |
[
[
"Rolling Security Platform",
"A method of rolling security for a system that includes multiple server groups, such as a first server group of one or more servers and a second server group of one or more servers.",
"The method includes repeatedly initiating rebuilding of the first server group of one o... | Patent_15875894 |
[
[
"TOTAL HIP REPLACEMENT SURGICAL GUIDE TOOL",
"Disclosed herein is a surgical guide tool for use in total hip replacement surgery.",
"The surgical guide tool may include a customized mating region and a resection guide.",
"The customized mating region and the resection guide are referenced to each ... | Patent_15875895 |
[
[
"COMPOUNDS AND METHOD FOR TREATING AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES",
"Compounds and embodiments of a method for treating and/or preventing autoimmune diseases are disclosed.",
"The method includes administering to a subject having an autoimmune disease, such as an inflammatory bowel disease, a therapeutically eff... | Patent_15875897 |
[
[
"METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PROCESSING POLYNUCLEOTIDES",
"The present disclosure provides compositions, methods, systems, and devices for polynucleotide processing.",
"Such polynucleotide processing may be useful for a variety of applications, including polynucleotide sequencing."
],
[
"1.A metho... | Patent_15875899 |
[
[
"SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING A FOOD RECOMMENDATION BASED ON FOOD SENSITIVITY TESTING",
"Systems, methods, and computer-readable non-transitory storage medium for protecting a patient from adverse reaction to a food ingredient are provided.",
"The system derives a first confidence level data indica... | Patent_15875900 |
[
[
"APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING BROADCAST SIGNALS, APPARATUS FOR RECEIVING BROADCAST SIGNALS, METHOD FOR TRANSMITTING BROADCAST SIGNALS AND METHOD FOR RECEIVING BROADCAST SIGNALS",
"A method and apparatus for transmitting broadcast signals are discussed.",
"The method can include generating an input strea... | Patent_15875910 |
[
[
"POLYPROPYLENE RESIN FOAMED PARTICLES, METHOD FOR PRODUCING POLYPROPYLENE RESIN FOAMED PARTICLES, METHOD FOR PRODUCING POLYPROPYLENE RESIN IN-MOLD FOAM-MOLDED ARTICLE, AND POLYPROPYLENE RESIN IN-MOLD FOAM-MOLDED ARTICLE",
"An expanded polypropylene resin particle includes a polypropylene resin (X) as a ba... | Patent_15875911 |
[
[
"BUFFER STATION WITH SINGLE EXIT-FLOW DIRECTION",
"A buffer for use in semiconductor processing tools is disclosed.",
"The buffer may be used to temporarily store wafers after processing operations are performed on those wafers.",
"The buffer may include two side walls and a back wall interposed b... | Patent_15875917 |
[
[
"INDUCTION OF PLURIPOTENT CELLS",
"The slow kinetics and low efficiency of reprogramming methods to generate human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) impose major limitations on their utility in biomedical applications.",
"Here we describe a chemical approach that dramatically improves (>200 fold)... | Patent_15875928 |
[
[
"SULPHAMOYLPYRROLAMIDE DERIVATIVES AND THE USE THEREOF AS MEDICAMENTS FOR THE TREATMENT OF HEPATITIS B",
"Inhibitors of HBV replication of Formula (ID) including stereochemically isomeric forms, and salts, hydrates, solvates thereof, wherein X, Ra to Rd and R4 to R6 have the meaning as defined herein.",
... | Patent_15875929 |
[
[
"PROCESS METHOD AND STRUCTURE FOR HIGH VOLTAGE MOSFETS",
"This invention discloses a semiconductor power device disposed in a semiconductor substrate.",
"The semiconductor power device comprises a plurality of trenches each having a trench endpoint with an endpoint sidewall perpendicular to a longitud... | Patent_15875932 |
[
[
"SYSTEM AND METHOD OF SENDING DATA VIA ADDITIONAL SECONDARY DATA LINES ON A BUS",
"A serial low-power inter-chip media bus communications link is deployed in apparatus having multiple Integrated Circuit devices.",
"Communications capabilities of a device coupled to the communications link may be deter... | Patent_15875937 |
[
[
"PROCESS FOR PREPARING 3-[(4S)-8-BROMO-1-METHYL-6-(2-PYRIDINYL)-4H-IMIDAZO[1,2-a][1,4]BENZODIAZEPIN-4-YL]PROPIONIC ACID METHYL ESTER BENZENESULFONATE",
"A process for preparing 3-[(S)-7-bromo-2-(2-oxo-propylamino)-5-pyridin-2-yl-3H-1,4,-benzodiazepin-3-yl]propionic acid methyl ester at a high conversion r... | Patent_15875948 |
[
[
"Crash Event Detection, Response and Reporting Apparatus and Method",
"A crash detection system with a mobile communications device configured for periodically interrogating (a) a motion signal to determine whether a change in motion (acceleration or angular rotation) exceeds a predetermined motion thresh... | Patent_15875949 |
[
[
"DATA SYNCHRONIZATION MANAGEMENT",
"In general, a data synchronization management system is disclosed in which files (and/or other data) are synchronized among two or more client computing devices in connection with a backup of those files.",
"Synchronization polices specify files to be synchronized b... | Patent_15875950 |
[
[
"Data Processing Method, Apparatus, and System",
"A server receives target data sent by a mobile terminal, the target data carrying a parameter set, the parameter set including at least a target posture parameter of the mobile terminal.",
"When the amount of change in posture variation is smaller than... | Patent_15875954 |
[
[
"Method for Producing a Semiconductor Component and a Semiconductor Component",
"A method for producing a plurality of semiconductor components and a semiconductor component are disclosed.",
"In an embodiment the component includes a light transmissive carrier, a semiconductor body disposed on the lig... | Patent_15875955 |
[
[
"GREASE-LIKE GEL FOR REPELLING INSECTS AND PREVENTING UNDESIRABLE BEHAVIOR IN HOOFED ANIMALS",
"Grease-like compositions are provided for repelling insects and preventing undesirable behavior in hoofed animals.",
"The compositions utilize nontoxic mineral, synthetic, or vegetable oil based gels contai... | Patent_15875956 |
[
[
"DOCKING STATION FOR TABLET DEVICE",
"A docking station for a tablet device includes a security frame that is releasably connected to a pedestal.",
"An upper head portion of the pedestal is rotatable through three degrees of freedom to allow for angular adjustment of the frame as it retains a tablet d... | Patent_15875957 |
[
[
"METHODS AND APPARATUS TO COOL A VEHICLE HEAT SOURCE",
"Methods and apparatus to cool a vehicle heat source are disclosed herein.",
"An example apparatus includes a first tank and a second tank.",
"The first tank and the second tank are disposed on a vehicle.",
"The second tank is in fluid com... | Patent_15875958 |
[
[
"INTELLIGENT SENSOR AND CONTROLLER FRAMEWORK FOR THE POWER GRID",
"Disclosed below are representative embodiments of methods, apparatus, and systems for monitoring and using data in an electric power grid.",
"For example, one disclosed embodiment comprises a sensor for measuring an electrical characte... | Patent_15875959 |
[
[
"BONE CONDUCTION DEVICE SUPPORT",
"A prosthetic support, including a structure configured to apply a clamping force to a head of a recipient while extending about a back of at least one of a head or neck of the recipient such that output generated by a device supported by the structure is directed into sk... | Patent_15875960 |
[
[
"TRANSFORMABLE ORTHOPEDIC BRACE FOR INJURY PREVENTION",
"An orthopedic brace for preventing injury to a wearer including a body having a series of liquid filled regions, the body having a first more flexible state wherein the liquid filled regions contain a liquid material and a second more rigid state wh... | Patent_15875962 |
[
[
"TREATMENT COUCH WITH LOCALIZATION ARRAY",
"Fiducial localization methods and apparatus are described."
],
[
"1.An apparatus, comprising: a treatment couch; and a localization array integrated within the treatment couch.",
"2.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the treatment couch is a robotic c... | Patent_15875966 |
[
[
"INTERACTIVELY PREDICTING FIELDS IN A FORM",
"Methods, apparatuses, and embodiments related to interactively predicting fields in a form.",
"A computer system received an image of a form.",
"A user moves a cursor to a first field of the form, and the computer system automatically displays a predic... | Patent_15875969 |
[
[
"ANTI-PD-1 ANTIBODIES AND THEIR USES",
"The present disclosure provides novel anti-PD-1 antibodies, compositions including the new antibodies, nucleic acids encoding the antibodies, and methods of making and using the same."
],
[
"1.-21.",
"(canceled) 22.A method of treating a cancer, comprisi... | Patent_15875970 |
[
[
"METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PORTIONING WORKPIECES USING REFERENCE SHAPE AS A DIRECTLY CONTROLLED CHARACTERISTIC",
"A method and system are provided for automatically portioning workpieces, such as food products, by simulating portioning the workpieces in accordance with the one or more desired shapes of the fi... | Patent_15875974 |
[
[
"LOCALIZATION ARRAY POSITION IN TREATMENT ROOM COORDINATE SYSTEM",
"Localization array position determination in a treatment room coordinate system is described.",
"A method may include imaging, using an imaging system, a position of one or more markers integrated with a localization array in a treatm... | Patent_15875975 |
[
[
"INCREMENTAL LOGIN AND AUTHENTICATION TO USER PORTAL WITHOUT USERNAME/PASSWORD",
"A first set of records is identified as being associated with a first asset.",
"A second set of records is obtained, with the second set of records being associated with a second asset.",
"A confidence score is compu... | Patent_15875977 |
[
[
"SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR DIRECT CONNECTIONS BETWEEN PREVIOUSLY UNCONNECTED NETWORK DEVICES ACROSS ONE OR MORE UNKNOWN NETWORKS",
"The invention presented herein is a system and method for automatically discovering communication capabilities for direct communication between endpoints across one or more unkn... | Patent_15875978 |
[
[
"CEILING PANEL ASSEMBLY AND MOUNTING SYSTEM THEREFOR",
"A module for mounting within a ceiling panel assembly.",
"The module includes an upper mounting frame that includes a main body portion that defines a central opening, a lower mounting frame that is at least partially received in the central open... | Patent_15875980 |
[
[
"TOUCH FREE OPERATION OF ABLATOR WORKSTATION BY USE OF DEPTH SENSORS",
"An inventive system and method for touch free operation of an ablation workstation is presented.",
"The system can comprise a depth sensor for detecting a movement, motion software to receive the detected movement from the depth ... | Patent_15875988 |
[
[
"DOCKING STATION FOR TABLET DEVICE",
"A docking station for a tablet device includes a security frame that is releasably connected to a pedestal.",
"An upper head portion of the pedestal is rotatable through three degrees of freedom to allow for angular adjustment of the frame as it retains a tablet d... | Patent_15875990 |
[
[
"UPDATING EXECUTION OF TASKS OF AN AGRICULTURAL PRESCRIPTION",
"A method begins by a computing device allocating a plurality of tasks of an agricultural prescription for a farming geographic area to a fleet of farming equipment.",
"While executing tasks of the plurality of tasks, the method continues ... | Patent_15875993 |
[
[
"ASYMMETRIC SESSION CREDENTIALS",
"Techniques for using short-term credentials using asymmetric session keys are described herein.",
"A request for a short-term credential is received that is digitally signed with a different credential.",
"In response to the request, short-term credential data is... | Patent_15875995 |
[
[
"PROVIDING PRE-COMPUTED HOTWORD MODELS",
"Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for obtaining, for each of multiple words or sub-words, audio data corresponding to multiple users speaking the word or sub-word; training, for each of the multiple ... | Patent_15875996 |
[
[
"INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME, AND STORAGE MEDIUM",
"An information processing apparatus having a touch panel display includes a first detection unit configured to detect that an object touches the touch panel display, and a second detection unit configured to detect t... | Patent_15875998 |
[
[
"OFF-AXIS EPITAXIAL LIFT OFF PROCESS",
"Embodiments described herein provide processes for forming and removing epitaxial films and materials from growth wafers by epitaxial lift off (ELO) processes.",
"In some embodiments, the growth wafer has edge surfaces with an off-axis orientation which is utili... | Patent_15876001 |
[
[
"BLOOD PRESSURE METER",
"A blood pressure meter includes a pump and a first fluid path provided inside a main body.",
"The first fluid path feeds a fluid from the pump to a fluid bladder or discharges the fluid from the fluid bladder.",
"A pressure sensor is mounted on a first substrate disposed i... | Patent_15876002 |
[
[
"UPRIGHT AND INVERTED MICROSCOPE",
"A dual-configuration microscope is provided that may be converted into an upright or inverted microscope.",
"The microscope includes a body having a plurality of planar surfaces, each planar surface configured to support the body on a working surface as the body is ... | Patent_15876004 |
[
[
"IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS, IMAGE CAPTURING SYSTEM, CONTROL METHOD OF IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS, AND COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM",
"An image capturing apparatus includes: an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image;... | Patent_15876005 |
[
[
"VENTED RESERVOIR FOR MEDICAL PUMP",
"The present invention concerns a medical pump comprising: a.",
"A hard housing comprising a top (24) and bottom (1) hard shells, within which a rigid wall (3) and a movable membrane (2) create three distinct chambers; wherein i. said movable membrane tightly separ... | Patent_15876006 |
[
[
"FOOD POUCH CONTAINER",
"A rigid food pouch container developed to accommodate prepared food packaged in soft containers is designed to prevent a child from squeezing the container and causing its contents to spurt from the container.",
"The food pouch container includes a back portion having an inter... | Patent_15876010 |
[
[
"Systems and Methods for Providing Convolutional Neural Network Based Image Synthesis Using Stable and Controllable Parametric Models, a Multiscale Synthesis Framework and Novel Network Architectures",
"Systems and methods for providing convolutional neural network based image synthesis using localized lo... | Patent_15876011 |
[
[
"PIPELINED VIDEO DECODER SYSTEM",
"Efficient decoding of video content that may involve intra block copy operations, such as copying pixel data from one region of a frame to another region of the same frame is described.",
"For example, a method to decode the video content may involve identifying the ... | Patent_15876015 |
[
[
"HYPERVISOR ENFORCEMENT OF CRYPTOGRAPHIC POLICY",
"Techniques for restricting the execution of algorithms contained in applications executing on virtual machines executing within a computer system are described herein.",
"A first sampled set of computer executable instructions is gathered from a virtu... | Patent_15876020 |
[
[
"SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REAL-TIME MEASUREMENT OF GAS CONTENT IN DRILLING FLUIDS",
"Measuring the amount of individual gases in drilling fluids in real-time may be performed with optical computing devices that are calibrated in real-time or periodically with gas analysis devices to provide more accurate g... | Patent_15876022 |
[
[
"SELECTIVE ADHERENCE OF STENT-GRAFT COVERINGS",
"An endoluminal prosthesis including a radially expandable support member having interior and exterior surfaces and a wall with openings, a first covering member including a biocompatible polymer material at least partially positioned against the interior su... | Patent_15876029 |
[
[
"VEHICLE DISPLAY DEVICE",
"A vehicle display device is configured for installation to a vehicle and includes a mirror element configured to reflect external light entering from a front surface toward the front surface, and a light emitting device.",
"The light emitting device includes a light source c... | Patent_15876031 |
[
[
"DART SCORING SYSTEM",
"A platform for facilitating a dart tournament allows gathering, at an electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, which includes the event or events in which each player is participating.",
"The platform allows generating, at a cloud server a... | Patent_15876037 |
[
[
"ANCHOR BOLT ADAPTOR",
"An anchor bolt adapter (ABA) for adapting a bolt circle of an anchor bolt foundation to a bolt circle of a pole is adapted to secure a base to a foundation.",
"The ABA can comprise a downwardly positioned female threaded opening configured to receive a first one of the anchor b... | Patent_15876042 |
[
[
"LTE-BASED WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR THE M-LMS BAND",
"A receiver capable of receiving and a transmitter capable of transmitting LTE (Long-Term Evolution) signals.",
"The receiver is capable of executing firmware to determine position location from a received LTE-like position waveform over si... | Patent_15876045 |
[
[
"SEMICONDUCTOR PACKAGE WITH CANTILEVER PADS",
"One or more embodiments are directed to semiconductor packages with one or more cantilever pads and methods of making same.",
"In one embodiment a recess is located in a substrate of the package facing the cantilever pad.",
"The cantilever pad include... | Patent_15876046 |
[
[
"APPLICATION SPECIFIC INTEGRATED CIRCUIT INTERCONNECT",
"Systems and methods for providing Chronos Channel interconnects in an ASIC are provided.",
"Chronos Channels rely on a reduced set of timing assumptions and are robust against delay variations.",
"Chronos Channels transmit data using delay i... | Patent_15876047 |
[
[
"Crystalline Semiconductor Growth on Amorphous and Poly-Crystalline Substrates",
"A multilayer semiconductor structure including at least in part a substrate and an III-N film layer.",
"The substrate's constant of thermal expansion being substantially matched to the III-N film's constant of thermal ex... | Patent_15876048 |
[
[
"SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FINGERPRINTING DATASETS",
"Systems and methods for the matching of datasets, such as input audio segments, with known datasets in a database are disclosed.",
"In an illustrative embodiment, the use of the presently disclosed systems and methods is described in conjunction with r... | Patent_15876050 |
[
[
"TRUST METRICS ON SHARED COMPUTERS",
"Particular embodiments of a verification authority associated with a web service may receive a request to access the web service.",
"The request may comprise data uniquely identifying a client device.",
"The request may have been received from a shared device,... | Patent_15876055 |
[
[
"DISPLAY DEVICE",
"A display device is configured to show an image inside a vehicle, and mounted inside the vehicle as an internal component.",
"The display device has a light source configured to emit light, and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source.",
"Th... | Patent_15876056 |
[
[
"APPLICATION SPECIFIC INTEGRATED CIRCUIT LINK",
"Systems and methods for application specific integrated circuit design using Chronos links are disclosed.",
"A Chronos Link is an ASIC on-chip and off-chip interconnect communication protocol that allows interfaces to transmit and receive information.",... | Patent_15876059 |
[
[
"MAGNETIC SHIELD STRUCTURE",
"A magnetic shield structure includes a housing made of a dielectric material, and a magnetic shield body formed by metal plating.",
"The magnetic shield body is partially provided on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form a surface of the housing ... | Patent_15876069 |
[
[
"ELECTROMAGNETIC DEVICE AND ELECTROMAGNETIC RELAY USING SAME",
"An electromagnetic device includes a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole, a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating, a... | Patent_15876072 |
[
[
"METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR VIRTUAL AND PHYSICAL NETWORK INTEGRATION",
"The disclosure herein describes a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) gateway.",
"During operation, the VXLAN gateway receives, from a physical host, an Ethernet packet destined for a virtual machine residing in a remote laye... | Patent_15876077 |
[
[
"Depth Controllable and Measurable Medical Driver Devices and Methods of Use",
"Disclosed are devices and methods for creating a bore in bone.",
"The devices and methods described involve controlling the drive and measuring the drilling energy of a working tool such that a user can avoid injuries to s... | Patent_15876078 |
[
[
"MULTI-CHIP PACKAGE AND METHOD OF PROVIDING DIE-TO-DIE INTERCONNECTS IN SAME",
"A multi-chip package includes a substrate (110) having a first side (111), an opposing second side (112), and a third side (213) that extends from the first side to the second side, a first die (120) attached to the first side... | Patent_15876080 |
[
[
"SPREAD SPECTRUM CODED WAVEFORMS IN ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTICS",
"Techniques, systems, and devices are disclosed for ultrasound diagnostics using spread spectrum, coherent, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms.",
"In one aspect, a method includes synthesizing individual orthogonal coded waveforms to fo... | Patent_15876081 |
[
[
"Electronic Gaming Die",
"An electronic gaming die includes an enclosure, a flexible substrate, a number of light emitting diodes, a sensor, a processor and a battery.",
"The enclosure has N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4.",
"The flexible substrate folds into N sides and fits into an ... | Patent_15876084 |
[
[
"TREATMENT OF GLYCOGEN STORAGE DISEASE TYPE II",
"Methods of treating glycogen storage disease type II, by administering acid α-glucosidase, are described, as are compositions for use in treatment of glycogen storage disease type II."
],
[
"1.A method of treating glycogen storage disease type II i... | Patent_15876086 |
[
[
"CASHBACK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM",
"The disclosed technology provides a cashback management system which allows extra accumulation of cashback based on a consumer ranking in a cashback.",
"In one aspect, the cashback management system is provided to comprise: a ranking setting module for setting a consumer... | Patent_15876089 |
[
[
"SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DISPLAYING VEHICLE INFORMATION FOR ON-DEMAND SERVICES",
"The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for displaying vehicle information for an on-demand service.",
"The method may include sending a request for on-demand service to a server.",
"The method may furt... | Patent_15876092 |
[
[
"MANAGING DATA TRANSFERS OVER NETWORK CONNECTIONS BASED ON PRIORITY AND A DATA USAGE PLAN",
"Embodiments manage use of different network connections for data transfer in view of priority information and a data usage plan identifying threshold limits associated with the different network connections.",
... | Patent_15876094 |
[
[
"Portable Intermediary Trusted Device",
"In one embodiment, an intermediary gaming trusted electronic device for use with an untrusted PED may include a position sensor configured to acquire position information, a memory configured to store at least game session data, and a processor configured to at lea... | Patent_15876095 |
[
[
"ENHANCED ON-DEMAND SERVICE FUNCTIONALITY IMPLEMENTED IN CASINO GAMING NETWORKS",
"Various aspects described or referenced herein are directed to different methods, systems, and computer program products for implementing On Demand Services in Casino gaming establishments utilizing a Communications Network... | Patent_15876097 |
[
[
"METHODS OF TREATMENT OF, AND FORMULATIONS FOR TREATMENT OF ANORECTAL AND GENITOURINARY CONDITIONS",
"This invention relates to a novel method of treating various inflammation-related anorectal and genitourinary conditions using various related, novel formulations.",
"The formulations comprise, at a m... | Patent_15876101 |
[
[
"NOVEL PRESSURELESS IRRIGATION DEVICE",
"The present disclosure belongs to the technical field of farm irrigation, and particularly relates to a novel pressureless irrigation device.",
"The novel pressureless irrigation device of the present disclosure uniformly conveys irrigation water to crop plant ... | Patent_15876108 |
[
[
"MEMORY DIE TEMPERATURE ADJUSTMENT BASED ON A POWER CONDITION",
"A device includes a memory device and a controller.",
"The controller is coupled to the memory device.",
"The controller is configured to, in response to receiving a request to perform a memory access at the memory device, determine ... | Patent_15876119 |
[
[
"COMPOSITION OF MATTER AND USE THEREOF",
"Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a composition of matter having a matrix, a thickener, a strengthener, and a soluble medium.",
"The matrix may be about 100 parts by weight of a low viscosity cycloaliphatic epoxy resin with an anhydride curing agent.",
... | Patent_15876120 |
[
[
"Peer to peer geolocation system",
"A method and apparatus for location sharing, consisting of sending a location report by a location determining device to a plurality of network enabled devices over a peer-to-peer network, the location determining device being associated with a first digital key pair.",... | Patent_15876122 |
[
[
"DENTAL TAPE AND FLOSS HOLDER WITH INSTALLATION CASSETTE",
"A floss holder includes a housing and a spindle for receiving floss and a fork having two ends between which the feed portion of the floss is secured for use.",
"A first locking plate is operable for receiving a feed portion and a return port... | Patent_15876126 |
[
[
"UNA OLIGOMERS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR TREATING AMYLOIDOSIS",
"This invention encompasses compounds and compositions useful in methods for medical therapy, in general, for inhibiting expression of a TTR gene in a subject.",
"The compounds have a first strand and a second strand, the monomers comprising U... | Patent_15876127 |
[
[
"Methods and Systems for LIDAR Optics Alignment",
"A method is provided that involves mounting a transmit block and a receive block in a LIDAR device to provide a relative position between the transmit block and the receive block.",
"The method also involves locating a camera at a given position at wh... | Patent_15876129 |
[
[
"SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE",
"A logic circuit in a system LSI is provided with a power switch so as to cut off the switch at the time of standby, reducing leakage current.",
"At the same time, an SRAM circuit of the system LSI controls a substrate bias to reduce leakage current."
],
[
"1-15.",
... | Patent_15876132 |
[
[
"Interchangeable Shelf Label System",
"An interchangeable shelf label system includes a label mount backing plate, a label sleeve, and a label plate for securing to shelving.",
"The label mount backing plate has a configured thickness and extends from the distal end of one or more support arms of shel... | Patent_15876133 |
[
[
"Packaged Overvoltage Protection Circuit For Triggering Thyristors",
"In a first embodiment, an ultra-fast breakover diode has a turn on time TON that is less than 0.3 microseconds, where the forward breakover voltage is greater than +400 volts and varies less than one percent per ten degrees Celsius chan... | Patent_15876139 |
[
[
"VIDEO DISTRIBUTION METHOD AND DEVICE",
"Embodiments of the present invention relate to the communications field, and provide a video distribution method and a device.",
"The method includes: receiving, by an SCEF, a first request message sent by a third-party server, where the first request message i... | Patent_15876142 |
[
[
"Collapsible, Folding Mattress Support with a Headboard and a Footboard that Fold Out",
"A foldable mattress support includes a headboard, a central hinge portion and first and second portions of a bedboard frame.",
"The first and second portions are pivotally attached to the central hinge.",
"A l... | Patent_15876149 |
[
[
"MOLECULAR CHEMICAL IMAGING ENDOSCOPIC IMAGING SYSTEMS",
"The instant disclosure provides for medical imaging systems that may be used in conjunction with an intraoperative medical device, such as an endoscope.",
"Generally, the disclosed medical imaging systems include an illumination source configur... | Patent_15932435 |
[
[
"TOURNIQUET",
"A tourniquet with two locking, two release and two tension mechanisms that occludes blood flow in extremities, but can also be used as a pressure strap to hold gauze over wounds on different part of the body including torso."
],
[
"1.-23.",
"(canceled) 24.A tourniquet with two l... | Patent_15932437 |